The Kids and the Bees

My parents were so kind to take Tim and Maren to the Bees game on Monday as their little FHE entertainment. They also took Alec and Kelli so everyone had a friend cousin to hang with. When they first arrived at the stadium, they had the opportunity to get an autograph from a player. Kelli had a hat that she had signed and Maren let him sign her shirt! Then they also got to have the Bee sign as well!! So Maren's shirt doesn't look new anymore but that's okay...it's signed by #31 and the Bee!! Grandma and Granpa also spoiled them by buying them a big foam finger and lots of ballpark goodies. They had a great time.

Ready for some silly, goofy fun?

Look what I found! This guy Matt Harding goes all over the world and dances. He's goofy and a really bad dancer but it is a great video. Also if you want to see more of his videos, here's his site...http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Then, after this video, look on the bottom of the You Tube for the video with the treadmills!! HILARIOUS!!! It's called "Here we go again". Good stuff!!

My Stress-Free Weekend

This last weekend, my wonderful hubby sent me to California to stay with Alden and Emily. They are down there for the summer and have a spare room which they offered to anyone who wants to come visit. So here's how it went...
On Friday, I arrive at the Long Beach Airport to my personal cheerleaders rooting me off the airplane. A. and E. were jumping and waving as if they haven't seen me for a year! It was great! Then on the ride home, we could see a fire off in the distance on one of the hills. Alden said, "I think that fire is in our ward." Emily said, "No, that's too far north." Well, Alden was right. It was right behind Emily's house about half a mile. So we watched the helicopters and airplanes fight the fire before we even took in my luggage. Welcome to L.A.
On Saturday, I went and had my haircut by a guy named Tab. Great haircut, love it! Then we went shopping at South Coast Plaza. I bought some new shirts at Nordstrom and then we went to Abercrombie and guess who was at the door waiting for us? A half naked male model greeting everyone who came in. So I asked if I could have my picture taken with him and I sent that picture to my hubby at home. Andrew didn't get it. Oh well.
Then we went to the Corona del Mar beach. This beach is awesome. It's not like Huntington Beach where it's just miles of sand. This one is a little cove with a wave breaker and boats floating and lifeguards and grass and nice beach houses about to fall down the cliff into the water. We went into the water and dodged waves and seaweed and body surfers. Then I treaded water for what seemed like another hour. It was awesome. If only I could do that everyday! Then, all too soon, it was time to go.
On Sunday, Emily sang in sacrament meeting and she was terrific! After church, we just had a relaxing day around the house and cooked dinner. Just what I needed.
On Monday, I went to the Grand Californian on Disney property and had a massage and salt scrub. Ahhh. Way expensive...I'll be paying for that one for awhile. Then walked around Downtown Disney and bought some stuff for the kids. I found some great stickers to go on the back of our car (photo on the right). Later, we were going to rent a little boat and float around Balboa Island and watch the sunset but they were out of boats. So I decided to make my last day memorable and went into Disneyland by myself. It's very different going there without family of any kind. For one thing, you can go on any ride you want and weave in and out of the strollers very quickly. On the other hand, waiting in lines more than 20 minutes long gets kind of lonely. So I text messaged Andrew while in line. He couldn't believe I went into the park by myself. He was way jealous and told me I owe him big time! And I do.
So there is my itinerary of my trip to L.A. by myself. I would do it again but bring Andrew with me. Next time...

Swim girls, swim!

Yes, the girls have started swimming lessons. A long time ago (it seems) we had the boys swimming at the West Jordan swimming pool. They never got past the first session. So now all our hopes for Olympic greatness lies with the girls. They are taking lessons at the South Davis Rec Center here in Bountiful. They are SO happy! Maren can't stop telling EVERYONE she meets about her 25 minutes in the pool. The guy behind the counter at the local Corner 22 convenience store...the kid playing hide and seek at the park...her friends at church...yes, we've heard a lot about her amazing 25 minutes of water time. So today I took some pictures to share with the few people who haven't had the pleasure of Maren or Emma telling their exciting tale.

Connor is Maren's instructor. He's 16 years old according to Maren. And the only other girl in her session is Caitlyn. He lets them splash him in the face with water and the girls think it's great. He's teaching them to jump in by themselves and to bob under water. She has made instant friends.

Emma's class has 3 other girls. She doesn't like going under water, but she does enjoy kicking and splashing with the others. Today they put on life vests and floated around the pool. Emma looked so content I thought she'd fall asleep right there! They also really like being in the shower after their lesson. They stay in there and play almost as long as their lessons take! All in all it is proving to be worth it. The girls are getting along a lot better than before and I get to spend some time reading my book. Win, win situation. Until it's time to go home, that is. Then I get screaming and crying...Oh well. I get 25 minutes of peace anyway. Have fun y'all.

Recent Reads

I thought I'd give an update on some of the books I've read this year. My very first blog entry was a top 10 book list and since then, I've left you hanging. So here goes.
In January we read "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas Foster. We really enjoyed this because it taught us some tricks that writers use. What hidden meaning is behind this and what does that character stand for. Very informative.
In February we read "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan. It was about a mother/daughter relationship from different countries. One brought up in China and the other in America.
In May we read "Princess Academy" by Shannon Bryner Hale. It's more for teens than adults but still a good read. Shannon is from Utah and it was interesting to know that from the start. It makes you think that you could be a writer, too.
We are now reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's about Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet during his presidency. Over 900 pages...we should have started this a couple of months ago. I can't be reading a huge book the same month Harry Potter comes out!! I tried to tell book club to do HP instead of a regular book but they didn't want to hear it. I'm just the youngin' in the group. (By 10 years) Most of them haven't read even one of the HP's!!
On the side I read "the Secret Fan" by Lisa See. It's about two girls who are arranged friends in Japan. They bind their feet together and grow up together. And then separated by jealousy and misunderstanding. It was good. I actually cried. It will make a good movie someday.
Have I bored you enough? I only write to inform and entertain. So hopefully I have done a little of both. Either given you an idea of one you want to read or saved you some money on some that you don't. Read on.

Gone Trekking

On June 11, we had the opportunity to get in touch with our pioneer heritage and go on a trek. We drove up to Martin's Cove in Wyoming (6 hours with one stop at Walmart for pillows) and met our group. Our ward in Bountiful decided that everyone over the age of 12 was invited to come so it was a little vacation for me not having Emma to worry about. We met for lunch at Independence Rock and after we ate, we climbed up it to see some history. Around the back was a little cave and our climb started there. It was a little steep but not bad. The girls who were only wearing their flip flops didn't make it. It was pretty cool being up there knowing that we were truly seeing what the pioneers saw as they came through that area. Nothing has been changed except the highway is paved now. People have carved their names and dates in the rock and most are still pretty clear despite the age.

Then we met at Martin's Cove for our handcart experience. We were all dressed as pioneers (except our shoes were modern walking shoes) and we were all adorable! We had 5 gallon buckets to carry our stuff that we needed while walking so our handcarts were considerably lighter than the pioneers. All our other stuff we took to camp in the car and all the food was taken care of by ward members. We were a little spoiled in that department. We walked for 3 miles from the visitor's center to camp and there were only a couple of hills to worry about. Then we set up camp and had dinner and square dancing. That night, Josh and his two friends had a tent all to themselves and stayed up laughing and shining their flashlights on all the other tents. All the other camp members were yelling at them to go to sleep and they got tired of hearing it. So they unstaked their tent and moved as far away as possible from all the other tents and set up there. This had to have been some time past midnight and they did it so quietly that when we got up in the morning, we looked outside and they were gone! Like a tornado came and swept up there tent and no one else's. It kind of scared me. Where were they? From then on they were called the reject tent.

We ate like kings on trek. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, french toast, fruit for breakfast. Sandwiches and 3 kinds of snacks for lunch. Chicken, beans, baked potatoes, ice cream bars, creamies for dessert. Wow. I know the pioneers didn't eat this good.

We headed up to Martin's Cove on another 2 mile walk, plus another mile into the cove. It was cloudy all morning until we in the cove having a talk and the clouds parted and the sun came out and lit everything up. And when we headed out again, the clouds came back. It hit me that here we were standing in holy places and as the clouds parted, the veil parted just a little to let the spirit in and the past mingle with the present. It was very powerful.
However. The bishop told us that we were not really experiencing what the pioneers had to go through in this place. We had it too good. And so right as we finished our lunches, the dark clouds rolled in and the icy wind blasted through and the rain came down. We were freezing and supposed to cross the Sweetwater River. So on we walked in the cold rain until we came to the river and suddenly the rain stopped so we could cross. Everyone cold, they pushed through the river with their skirts hiked and pants rolled. Of course my family didn't feel the need to cross the river. Josh and Tim were chicken because it was still very cold outside. Andrew and I decided we would take pictures and root everyone on. I'm sorry but I didn't want to be more wet and cold with a 2 mile walk still ahead. And the no sleep from the two nights before was wearing on me. I already felt I had experienced enough to feel like a pioneer. Sorry--not an outdoor kind of gal.

After the river walk, the men were called away to go fight in the Mexican War and the women were left alone to push the handcarts up the big hill by themselves. Well that would have been fine except I was the only girl on my handcart. We had 5 teenage boys and 2 men on my handcart and they all left me... I was all ready to give it a try when the Muhlestein girls saw my problem and volunteered to help. So I had five girls come to my rescue and we made it up the hill! The men at the top cheered and clapped and then rejoined us for the 2 miles back to camp.
The next day we took the handcarts back and then walked to the devil's gate. And then we drove home. I was ready for a hot shower and a warm soft bed. I don't know if I would have made a good pioneer. My lack of camping skills definitely showed. The only time I've camped is up at Cherry Hill in August every year and usually we come home and sleep because of my little kids. It was definitely an eye opening experience even though we had it REALLY easy. If you ever get a chance to go, please do. It will change you.

CHALLENGE!!

I am starting Weight Watchers online again and in one of the community message boards there was a challenge. To do 100 sit ups a day. So I thought, "I can do that!" And so far, so good. But it actually isn't that hard. So I'm also doing arm toning at the same time. I'm using hand weights and a band to get it done. So maybe when we go to Park City I'll be a little more toned for the new swimsuit I bought! So I issue the challenge to anyone else who wants to try. 100 sit ups a day til summer. Email me if your game...CHALLENGE!