Road trippin'

Last week, the kids and I hopped in the car (more like shoved our stuff and ourselves into the car),... drove 10 hours across the great plains of Wyoming and through the ginormous towns of Thermopolis and Meeteetse, finally to arrive in the wonderful town of Red Lodge, Montana to see the best nana & papa around.My cowboy dad and awesome 2nd mom, Shirlee, come down to see us far more often than we get up there to see them. So it was high time for a road trip. We had such a great time just being there with them. The kids adored their 2 dogs, Duffy & Bonnie ........ loved following nana around the greenhouse/room,
... and loved seeing the horses right next door. Look at my city kids out on the ranch. :)Easily Christian's favorite part was shooting the bb gun with papa, and eventually the girls got into the action, too. My dad is a gun guy and most of his grandkids have had a chance to shoot some type of gun with him at some point.We went to the local zoo, which is actually a rescue center for orphaned and hurt animals. The best part of that outing was Paige announcing on the way there that she wanted to see a "ferocious bunny rabbit." That phrase alone made us all laugh but when you add her inability to say her r's (a fewocious bunny wabbit), it was even funnier.Those are real dead mice by the owls. One had its head bitten off. Even Christian wasn't so sure he liked seeing that.What does a bear say, Elle?This little moment made me cry. Seeing all of my kids with my dad who's in the fight of his life right now. I love you, dad.The kids thought it was great riding around in the back of papa's truck.We played at the park...... and drove to the top of the Beartooth Pass, which heads down into Yellowstone if you keep going.My beautiful Haley at the top of the pass.The kids LOVED the hotel more than I expected they would.Every time daddy would call, Paige would tell him excitedly, "Dad! You should see this place! We have TWO queen beds here!" Clearly, my kids don't get out much. We swam every day and I appreciated having free breakfast every morning. Especially loved maid service. Gotta get me some of that at home.

The drive wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had feared either, thanks almost entirely to modern technology. At any given point during the trip, one kid would be playing the Nintendo DS, one would be listening to an iPod and the other 2 would be watching a movie on the portable DVD player. There was still a fair amount of good old-fashioned fun (coloring, playing with Barbies, reading) but I was amazed at how well everyone did during the long drive. Elle would occasionally get antsy so I would try to divert her. "Look, Elle! A cow!" She'd grumpily reply, "I hate cows!" "Look, baby - horses!" "I hate horses! " Cracked us all up, which I'm sure wasn't the response she was going for.

Other memories: rummaging around nana's kitchen while she was at work to make cookies, showing the kids Remington Ranch (dad's vision and their first home in Red Lodge), making bubble beards with the foam in the hotel's hot tub, shopping with Shirlee in the boutique'y shops downtown, good old-fashioned fried food at the Red Boxcar, Paige asking why I was forcing her to "break the Sabbath day" by suggesting we go swimming on Sunday (she's apparently the morality police), the kids choosing Macho Man bubble gum cigarettes for daddy, giant blueberry pancakes, being pulled over for speeding by a Wyoming cop while Paige asked, "Why were you breaking the law?" (again with the morality police!), my inability to find a fountain Diet Coke in the entire town thanks to a Pepsi plant being up the road, getting up close and personal with a buffalo, having cart blanche in the toy aisle at nana's work (surprisingly hard to make a choice when given so many options), watching the branch president's eyes bug out of his head when he saw a new family walk into church and considering the possibilities as we increased their numbers and then seeing him deflated when he heard we were just visiting, squeaky toy games with the dogs, and just loving and hanging out with nana & papa. We love you guys! Thanks for a great time.

My dad is stronger than yours!

Driving Paige and her friend, Cameron, home from preschool the other day, I chuckled as they got into an argument about whose dad was stronger. To make his point, Cameron finally said, "Well, my dad can pick all 3 of us kids up at the same time!" Paige admitted that our dad had never done that before, which only made her more determined to prove that he could. And never shying away from a challenge, dad was happy to try it out. Here you go, Paige. Your daddy is pretty darn strong.

San Francisco, part 1

I spent the weekend in San Francisco with an unlikely group -- my dentist, his wife & daughter and two of his dental assistants. Not your typical trip, true, but I had a great time and was in great company.

I have had porcelain veneers on my top teeth since I was 23 (boring story) and they have needed to be replaced for a few years now. My dentist asked if I'd be willing to be his sample patient at a dental conference/training for porcelain veneers in San Francisco. Ummm, let me think about that .... Yes, please! It means travelling to SF for 2 weekends -- first to have my old veneers taken off and temps put on and then back a few weeks later for the permanent veneers. This past weekend was the first of the 2 trips.

This is where all of the dentists worked on their patients. If you're scared of the dentist at all (good thing I'm not), this room would definitely be your nightmare. Lots of drilling and shots of novacaine happening here.(Why won't my cute red camera let me turn these pictures??) Dr. Adrian is a master at what he does and I was happy to be in good hands. His two assistants, Cleo (aka Rosario Dawson) and Katie (aka Liv Tyler), were not only fun travel companions but were so great during the 4 hour procedure. Good times. Here's the team:The rest of the time that I wasn't in the chair was spent hanging out in the city. I love San Francisco. It was my second home as a kid. We did some sightseeing, shopping, people watching, good eating and just enjoying the city.These guys were amazing tap dancers. I think we need more street performers in SL.My first time to Alcatraz, oddly enough.Dr. Adrian, Jamie and Holland.This was the best surprise of the whole trip. Paige made me this "paper hug" and she stashed it away in my suitcase. If I missed her and needed a hug, I could wrap this ribbon and her little cut-out hands around myself. :)

M.T.C.

Today is my 16 year anniversary of going on my mission. I entered the MTC on May 12, 1993. I probably wouldn't have remembered that except that my MTC companion, Jenn, blogged about it. Reading hers started me down Memory Lane .... remembering that day and the whole MTC experience.

I was so excited to be going on a mission. A sign language mission, no less! I was thrilled. Sister Williams and I hit it off right away and we had a great time together. We're still friends all these years later, so that says something right there. We had a great district .... some knew sign, others of us knew very little. Being together for 18 hours straight every day for 2 months can test relationships but we survived, and still liked each other in the end.

MTC memories: long, silent days, Celestial Service (seriously - who came up with that name?), "redecorating" the other sisters' room with special sacks :), large group meetings with Elder Belot, front row reserved seating for the ASL missionaries, SYL (Speak Your Language), awesome teachers, Taibjee's cow imitation, 'How do you feel today?' pictures on the wall, weekly temple trips, running stairs to wake up between classes, Stephenson doing "I'm a little teapot,"3 Amigos, last minute changes in mission calls, the Tagalog elders, cafeteria food, discussion practices, signing a song as a district for new mission presidents, mail, dork dots .... Good times.

My mission changed me, made me stronger, tested me, stretched me -- both physically [little weight gain :)] and emotionally ... best thing I had ever done up until that point in my life. And I can't wait to do it again with Mike someday.

Big or small, we'll save them all!

A few of my friends and I did the Race for the Cure last year and quickly realized what a great event it is, so we decided to make it a yearly tradition. So many people are affected by breast cancer and thousands and thousands of people come out in great support of those courageous fighters. The fun part about the race is the lively atmosphere -- lots of pink, outrageous outfits, hilarious t-shirts... Here are a few highlights from this year:"Jigglers 2009 -- Jiggling our way to a cure""Breast Jordan Buddies" instead of West Jordan, for you out-of-towners."Save the man boobs -- big or small, we'll save them all""Bra bandits"And my personal favorite ... "Save second base"I ran into my friend, Crissy. Seriously, Crissy, would you have guessed back in high school that we'd be running a 5k together? Awesome. :)And then we were off .... all 19,000 of us.It was a little comical trying to run with that many people but it was worth it. More fun t-shirts...."Save the ta-ta's" and "Save the hoo-ha's".... grown women wearing pink capes ........ people to cheer us along ....... and remembering the reason that we were there in the first place.Seeing these cards on so many people's backs with names of many who have died and so many who continue to fight made for an emotional day. Seeing women with no hair who are in the fight for their lives, literally, made me so grateful for life and health and the blessing of friends and family.

This was our group at the beginning of the race........and here's who I finished with.N'Lice, Krista and I slowly jogged our way through the race, with only 2 small walking breaks. I was proud of us. I haven't run that far .... hmmmm, ever. The goal for next year is to run the whole thing, no walking, and improve my time. I'm just happy to be part of the whole event. And I plan to be there year after year.

Spray-on tan

One of the blogs I like to follow is called "And Then There Was That One Time... Musings and Memories of my Most Mortifying Moments." Kimi is a great writer and definitely knows how to weave a tale. So I thought I'd follow in her footsteps and share one of my most mortifying moments.

A couple of years ago, Mike gave me an awesome Mother's Day gift of a day at the spa. When I arrived, the girl at the front desk said, "Would you like to add a spray-on tan to your treatments today for only $10?" Sure! 10 bucks, instant tan, you bet! I'd been tanning in one of those stand-up pod things before. I assumed this would be similar but with little sprayers that would cover me with tan juice. Awesome.

After the girl did my facial, manicure & pedicure, she took me to the spray-on tan room. We stood outside the door and she smiled and said, "OK, I'll meet you here after you're done so we can finish things up." I opened the door and was horrified to see a beautiful, thin, fit young woman wearing a plastic apron and holding a hose with a spray nozel. Are you kidding me? NOOO thank you! And especially not by HER ... Barbie.

My mouth must have been gaping because she said, "Is this your first time?" Ummm, yea. "OK, just hang your robe on the hook there and we'll get started." I just stood there, knowing that I absolutely did not want to stand buck naked in front of this beautiful girl. I had just had a baby not too long before and still had stretch marks, breast-feeding boobs and extra pounds to show for it. Even still, though, had I been at my goal weight and in great shape I'm not in the habit of just dropping my robe for people. I stood, horrified, rooted to the spot. She handed me something small and paper and said, "You can put these spa panties and bra on if you'd like." I took one look at the tiny paper panties and knew they wouldn't fit me even if I'd wanted them to. In a final attempt to calm my fears, she said, "If it makes you feel any better, I have done this on all kinds of bodies ... men, women, old, young, thin, not-so-thin. Doesn't bother me at all." So I was faced with a choice -- tell her I'd made a huge mistake and run quickly from the room or just go for it, knowing that I'd likely never see this girl again. After far too much arguing with myself about the pros and cons to both, I finally chose the latter.

Mustering all of the fake confidence I could, I took off my robe nonchalantly and stood completely naked in front of Barbie with the hose. She did her thing and I pretended not to care that she could see every minute flaw and bit of flab I had. Before long, it was over and I was substantially more tan. Bonus. After I had "dried" (nothing like standing around making small talk with someone while you're standing there naked and they aren't), I put my robe back on and stepped back into the hallway.

There stood the girl who had done my other treatments and who suddenly looked a lot more sheepish than she had earlier. She asked, "Do you feel violated?" We both started laughing and I asked, "WHY didn't you warn me? I totally thought I'd be alone in some booth rather than with an actual human in there spraying my naked body!" She thought I had known and was just braver than she was. Yeah, no.

On my way out of the spa, I saw another woman at the desk telling the receptionist that she was there for her spray-on tan. I wanted to grab her hand and run her back out to the parking lot, just to save her some of the embarrassment that was sure to follow. Then I noticed her swimsuit straps peeking out of her shirt. Are you kidding me!?! I could have worn a swimsuit during all of that??

Easily one of my top 3 embarrassing moments. The other 2 will remain untold. Enough public humiliation for me.

Thankful Thursday

* I'm thankful that my body works well enough to attempt another 5k this Saturday. Extremely slow, yes, but still able to run.

* I'm thankful for Mike who totally gets me. He puts up with a lot from me and he's still there smiling and telling me how hot I am. Only in your eyes, babe. :)

* I'm thankful that my children are happy, healthy, spunky, feisty little people.

* I'm thankful for great friends to do so many things with: laugh, eat, travel, exercise, play, share, cry, talk, serve, plan church events, e-mail, blog, Facebook, cherish...

* I'm thankful for traditions: family gatherings, daddy surprises, Sunday dinners, "happenings", holidays...

* I'm thankful for DVR. Changed my life. :)

* I'm thankful for great neighbors: borrowing tools (definitely a one-sided thing), talking out on the lawn while the kids play, street bbq's, impromptu dinners on our lawn...

* I'm thankful for good entertainment: great books, movies, t.v., music ...

* I'm thankful for beliefs and values that center me and have made me who I am.

* I'm thankful for family -- for the people who gave me roots and continue to love and support me and my own little family now.

I'm lovin' it

This is my brother's McDonald's commercial - finally! I hadn't seen it until tonight, even though it isn't on the air anymore. Tom is the one whose mom is wiping his mouth. Having Thomas get small parts in commercials and movies makes me overly aware of all extras in commercials, tv shows and movies. I find myself thinking, "Look at that lady walking behind the main actors. You know her family is sitting around their tv straining to catch a glimpse of her." And that's us when it comes to Thomas. Go bro! So proud of you. :)

Things that crack me up:

* Each of my kids have loved Dora the Explorer when they were little (2-3 yrs old). Elle loves Dora right now, but the older kids are sick of having to watch it. At the end of every Dora show, she says, "Thanks for helping me today. What was your favorite part?" and then pauses for a minute so the kids can say something in response. My kids now say things like, "When you got chicken pox and DIED!!" or "When you played with dynamite and blew up!" Dora will then answer, "I liked that, too" and then my kids laugh hysterically and decide that watching the show was worth it after all.

* The way Mike flexes at himself in the mirror everytime he walks by. He doesn't think I see him do this.

* The way Paige poses constantly: hand on her hip, hip cocked to one side. Maybe she has been watching her father pose in the mirror.

* Christian's sarcastic sense of humor. The other day while getting his haircut, he kept joking with the woman cutting his hair. She said, “I bet you crack your mom up every day” to which he instantly replied, “More like every hour.”

* These two blogs. Laugh out loud funny. http://www.laurensbite.blogspot.com/ and http://www.myregisblog.com/.

* 30 Rock. Tina Fey is brilliant.

* The Office. It used to crack me up all the time but less so lately -- until the Korean woman kept trying to get in the van a couple of weeks ago ... I definitely laughed at that.

* The current state of my house. I just have to laugh or I'd be depressed about having to clean it up tomorrow.

* My kids, on a daily basis.

Law Day 5K

Today was the Law Day 5K at the U. We woke up bright and early ... to rain. Lots of rain. Good times ahead! I could feel it. This was my first clue:Paige wasn't crying because her parents were forcing her to run/walk in the rain. She was crying because we forced her to wear a Law Day t-shirt over the top of her cute outfit. I'm not kidding. Christian thought he looked pretty cool, but then he usually thinks so.Eventually we were ready to go....... and everyone was so happy to be there!Who are these crazy people who wear next to nothing in 50 degree rainy weather?Not us - no way! We bundled up.Didn't help, though. We were all soaked pretty early on. Then the real battle began -- trying to convince my kids that this was an adventure, not a punishment. At one point, Christian said, "I'm so dizzy -- I'm getting sick. I think it's the swine flu." If he had said that with a smile on his face, I would have laughed. Well, I did laugh anyway but Mike and I both said, "Suck it up! Let's go." Elle screamed for at least half of the race. Apparently it's hard work to sit in a comfortable, dry jogger-stroller. At last a good samaritan mom gave her a baggie of treats. Note to self: next year bring a baggie full of marshmallows and candy to the race. The sugar high did her some good.

The kids actually cheered up quite a bit once we were on the downhill stretch and we started jumping in puddles and enjoying the thorough soaking we were receiving. By the time we got back in the car, the kids had almost forgiven us.We all went, dripping wet, for breakfast and big steaming cups of hot chocolate. I think the kids have forgiven us now and are genuinely gaining a love of fitness. Well, maybe. They all said that they don't "ever, ever, ever want to do the Law Day 5K ever again."