Happy Birthday Reeny-Ray!

Maureen is my second oldest sister, born a mere 13 months after Emily. I think of the six of us, she has the most unique look, mostly because she is the only one of all the kids that doesn't have brown eyes. Her eyes are a gorgeous aquamarine. Bright and shiny with absolutely no brown in them.

Maureen with my mom before my parents left on their mission

Her eyes might distinguish her physically, but her musical talent is what really distinguishes her from the rest of us. We all possess some musical talent. I think we can each attribute any talent or aptitude for music to our parents, who both possess skill and a natural gift. But Maureen got a double dose. Actually, more like a ten-fold dose. Music comes effortlessly for her. It always has but I think it took awhile for her to embrace her gift.

She does the Elton John thing better than anyone. Here, she is singing and playing, "When I Fall In Love" at my wedding reception.

I think everyone assumed Maureen would be a professional musician. It took her awhile to agree and she good-naturedly allows us to bring up the seven years of BYU to reach the same conclusion. I certainly didn't mind because it meant I was actually able to be at college with her for two years. We even had a choir class together!

We made the church news when we sang at conference with BYU's Combined Choirs.

I think my dad might have hoped for a quicker education but I believe she took several semesters off to do important telemarketing work at Western Watts:) Finally, she accepted what everyone else already knew, that her calling in life was to touch people around her with her gift. She does this now by teaching high school students about the joys of choral music and singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Every year, Maureen's high school choir goes on tour. She takes turns inviting someone to go for free as a chaperone and I was invited to go to Boston with them. Here we are standing in front of the Old North Church after we had eaten and purchased some memorabilia at the famous Cheers restaurant and bar.

Maureen's A cappella Choir at some old famous mill around Boston. Can you imagine taking this many teenagers around the country every year? They are surprisingly very well behaved young people.

Maureen conducts her Madrigal's class while Sammy tries to help

A bad shot of her singing with MoTab when they performed Mozart's Requiem in April. If you want to look for her during conference or concerts, she is usually two or three in on the top row from the dividing line between women and men in the middle section.

She has other loves. She loves to travel. Love might actually be an understatement. She prefers traveling to owning furniture! I don't even know how many years she went without a dresser because she would rather spend her extra money on a European experience or wherever the wind might be blowing that year. She's been to South America, the Middle East, China, India, all over Europe, the Caribbean, the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, Australia, Canada and Mexico are givens and I wonder if there is a state she hasn't been to yet. If you invite her, she will come. If you suggest it, she will go. Those of us who have bought dressers instead like to call her Peter Pan. But she does have a dresser now. She is also in Paris right now. I don't think she conceded much.

She loves to read,

this picture so perfectly captures the essence of Maureen. I'm not sure why Emily wanted to take a picture with her right then, but you can see Maureen's unwillingness to put her book down.

to dance, to hike, to ski and go to the lake, to change her hair color, to shop, to sleep, and to see her nieces and nephews.

Maureen and Henry at our family reunion last summer

Maureen and Henry playing peek-a-boo at Thanksgiving.

She is a very supportive aunt and makes the sacrifice to be at baptisms, blessings, and birthdays if she can.

Hugs from her nephews.

Maureen dressed up as Billy Blazes, the Rescue Hero, and manned a rescue station for Seth's fifth birthday party. What a sport.

Maureen with a young Brendan.

She hates talking on the phone or writing emails so she's the hardest to stay in touch with. She also hates being in pictures so I had my research to do to find all of these. I'm looking forward to being so close for a year. It means I get to go to all of her fabulous concerts, get out the piano duet books we love so much, have someone who breaks out into harmony with me at the drop of a hat. Sarah should have a great time being around us as I know how much she loves it when we start singing along!:)

Maureen is good to be goofy with.

I'm not sure when Maureen will read this, if she'll get a chance to drop in an internet cafe some time during her trip, but when she does, I hope she knows that sister Lu loves her and wishes her a very happy day!

Frigid, Atlantic water!

Because you introduced me to Wicked - I dedicate this to you!

Faith Precedes the Miracle

I really like our new ward. Our records were transferred and the bishop read our names over the pulpit and had us stand. Sure enough, no one objected to us being there.

Henry started nursery today. I don't think their schedule is as inspired as our old ward (the little ones enter the room to chairs set up in a semi-circle so they can have singing time first, then a prayer, then a lesson, then they color and then snack. Only after all those things do they get the toys out.) but Henry still enjoyed himself and had no problem when I left him. I feel really blessed to have children who are well adjusted enough to handle this move, their new classes and new schedules and go with all the belief in the world that it will be just fine. They do it and they absolutely are.

The lesson in Relief Society was about Faith and Obedience and the instructor ended by telling a story about Daniel and the Lion's Den. Rather than focus on the miracle that that single event was, she reminded everyone about the kind of life Daniel had lived up to that point. Being in the lion's den certainly wasn't the first time he had relied on his faith. He lived his entire life practicing his faith and by so doing, was ready and able to receive and enjoy the promised miracle of shutting the lion's mouths.

The teacher then asked what miracles we have experienced in our lives when we have acted in faith, the kind of question I usually dread because my mind always goes blank because I have never really experienced one of those cool-share-in-relief-society stories.

But in my mind, I answered her question with this thought:

Today was my miracle. Showing up at a building that I've never stepped foot in, sitting among people I have never seen or met, taking my children to classes taught by adults I don't know, introducing myself with enthusiasm and friendliness knowing that it will be reciprocated requires some faith on my part, I think. Having people introduce themselves, ask about my family, write down my address and phone number with promises to visit, shaking hands with curious sisters who saw me stand up in sacrament meeting...that is the miracle that could never had happened had I not done what I was supposed to do - GO TO CHURCH.

I believe Heavenly Father loves me and has set up an organization to channel that love. Because I have that knowledge, and that blessing, I am required to go - to put my faith into his plan, and be willing to do my part so that can receive even more blessings. I think it matters, going to the ward we are supposed to go to, being where we are supposed to be and doing what we are supposed to do.

Then the miracles can happen. Seth came home from church completely elated. He loves his new teachers. His class consists of six boys! Sammy was home sick and Jay stayed with him but Henry was completely fine at nursery. I met some really nice,new people.

I consider today to be a miracle.

I'll Take It

I think I'm going to like it here. Yesterday, it was 102 degrees outside. That is the kind of number that usual makes me unusually surly, but I found myself in a surprisingly good mood all day. I think it may have something to do with having an air-conditioning unit that actually works. It stays cool inside! Wonder of wonders. Most of it, though, is probably due to having family nearby.

After nine straight years of not living a hop, skip and a jump next to any of our family, I discovered why living near parents, siblings, in-laws is so high on so many peoples' lists.

We decided to escape out house and the heat by going to the dinosaur museum (more accurately, the Museum of Ancient Life) at Thanksgiving Point and I called Sarah to see if she was interested in coming. There is always that awkwardness between the two of us, because we are both pleasers, to say the right thing. She didn't want to let me down, but it finally came out that she didn't, in fact, want to spend her day at a museum. Then the glorious moment happened. She asked, "Do you want me to keep Henry?"

Hallelujah!

Honestly, it hadn't crossed my mind to leave him at home. He's just part of the family and any plan for the day also takes into consideration the necessary mood required to follow him around as he wanders away, watch him touch and possibly break things he shouldn't, listen as he makes more noise than allowed and other totally appropriate eighteen month-old behavior. But, to suddenly have freedom from that, for a couple of hours, was thrilling. The pleaser part of me tried to make sure I wasn't abusing her, and stranding her with Big H, but she assured me that she was fine and wouldn't mind spending the day with him at all.

We left Sarah and Henry here and drove to Lehi where we proceeded to purchase the family pass at Thanksgiving Point. I hope we get our money's worth. I have a feeling that I'm going to be a sucker for more than one family pass around here. I think the business scheme is to make a daily admission seem unaffordable and a family season pass affordable enough to pay for itself if the entire family merely goes twice. That deal seemed hard to pass up so we are now card carrying members of the Thanksgiving Point family. Woot!

We began our adventure by watching one of the two 3D movies about dinosaurs they have on their mega-screen. We all loved it. I have never watched a 3D movie before and they are really fun. The one we saw starts with a space scene describing, in scientific terms, how the earth might have began and I felt like I was actually sitting there in space with meteors and stars all around me. Irreverent as it may seem, I couldn't help but think that another film dealing with space and the beginning of the earth could benefit from that really cool 3D technology and mega-screen. But, I suppose if we had to wear 3D glasses, our strangeness would just be interpreted as that much stranger. Still though, very cool effect. All of us jumped a time or two when a large dinosaur opened its jaws right at us.

Us in our cool 3D glasses

The museum itself is world class. I think it is just as well cone as the Museum of Natural History in DC. Their hands on exhibits are readily available and both Seth and Sam were excited about ancient history and science by the end. We'll definitely be making a return trip.

Before going inside

Jay is one of those dads that kids love. Our kids certainly do. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't crawl through the kid hole unless one of my kids were screaming inside or someone had taken off with my purse.

The museum had several different computer stations set up for more learning.

I love watching Seth discover.

Freakishly large pre-historic shark. Egads.

Another hands-on area. The kids took brushes and brushed away sand to find fossils.

Sammy shows up the enormous pre-historic fish. If you can call that a fish.

The erosion exhibit. Sammy could have spent hours here.

We were looking forward to trying out one of the supposed gluten-free restaurants here in the city and went to Famous Dave's, a BBQ place. Very unfortunately, when we requested gluten-free menu items, they replied that nothing was guaranteed and they no longer provided a list. Jay, thinking safety first, couldn't order anything and I sat there and ate my beef brisket with haste and guilt.

At least the boys got a turn taking a picture with one of their NASCAR heroes - Jeff Gordon.

Seth's turn

We came home and Jay went and discovered a great store here called Against the Grain. Everything in the store is gluten free. The owner's daughter has Celiac and possesses the kind of personality to make a difference so started a business that applied all of the research she has done about the best brands and companies that make gluten-free food. No more reading labels and wondering if this particular company's "natural flavors" or "modified food starch" could be trusted or not. Jay even bought some bread that tasted good! It's soft! And sweet! It's also four dollars a loaf but what the heck...it's bread!

Later that evening, Sarah and I went to see a girly movie. I chose it, making my decision to see something that I knew jay would never want to see, even as a rental. We saw the movie Evening and it was quite possibly one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen. What a travesty to have Claire Danes, Glen Close, Toni Collette, and Meryl Streep all sign on to do such a plotless, pointless, purposeless film. It was just under two hours long and it honestly felt like five. The only thing that kept my mood up were the giggles that started to pass between Sarah and I as each ridiculous death scene started again. If I wanted to torture myself, I'd watch it again and count how many times the two daughters of the woman dying woke her up from her sleep to ask if she was alright to just say, "Go back to sleep, Mom. You need your rest." Well then...just let the poor lady sleep!! Crimeny!

I needed to run to Wal-Mart after the movie to get stuff for Sunday dinner. Apparently, so does everyone else in Utah. 9:30 at night is NOT a good time to run in for a quick item. It didn't help that a recent shipment had come in and they had unloaded all of their boxes into the aisles. I needed a ham and could not find one. Finally, Sarah spotted them in one of those middle bin-like freezers but the problem was the multitude of boxes that completely shut that particular freezer in. Undeterred, I shimmied and squeezed between some boxes, climbed up on the edge of the freezer and found my ham! And yes, the effort made it all the more enjoyable while eating it today.

The lengths I had to go to get that ham!

If this was a typical weekend day, I'll take it. It probably isn't but I think the future looks bright.

My Solution For World Peace

This week's big Live Earth concert has me thinking about how our leaders try and solve problems. I just don't think a big world wide concert is the answer. Today, I conducted my own mini experiment to test a theory that has been building in my mind. It's much, much more simple (not to mention leotard free) than hiring Madonna to dance and flex her yoga-toned body on stage.

I think when you need a solution to a problem, and you need level heads, the best thing to do is this:

Feed the people.

I have noticed a trend this week among my own waring factions. Hungry boys are aggressive and mean to each other. Fill their tummies....mend their tempers.

I think the world must be hungry because it sure is cranky lately. I know a little food does wonders over here.

Pretty deep, huh?

Book Review #9 - New Moon

I decided I had had enough waiting and went and bought this book at Wal-mart. Is it only in hardcover? Well, I'm hooked up now because along with the hardcover price, I also now have my very own tattoos of Bella's name, Jacob's name and Edward's name, not to mention a tattoo of the book cover art. Totally stoked about that (just trying to sound like the young adult the author geared these stories towards).

I am glad I bought it. It was the kind of book I couldn't put down. I started it in the morning and finished it in the evening. Obviously, it deserves kudos for being hard to put down. It's great. But, at the same time, it's not GREAT, but I think that's because it's young adult fiction so it still isn't something that I can totally admit to loving without any reservations.

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight and apparently the middle of Meyer's Edward/Bella trilogy. Her last book, Eclipse, is due out next month. The book starts with Bella turning 18, a birthday she despises because she is now a year older than eternally 17 Edward. She is not excited, at all, about any celebration of her big day and grudgingly goes to a birthday party thrown by Edward's sister, Alice at their big vampire mansion in the woods. She gets a paper cut opening one of her gifts and one of Edward's brothers (they aren't actually related but have all lived together for years and years under the leadership of Carlisle and Esme - their parents - who have created this non-human blood diet which makes them more humane) attacks her on whiffing her highly desirable, fragrant blood.

This freaks Edward out, again, that she is constantly in danger around him and he lies and tells her that he doesn't want to be together anymore. Bella is devastated.

The rest of the book deals with her devastation. I suppose it's possible for young people to experience that kind of all-consuming love. I know teenagers themselves, think they are constantly experiencing it, but it's the 30ish me that realizes in hindsight that that consuming feeling, that intense desire, isn't necessarily that eternal, end-all, be-all love. There's my skepticism. BUT...now there is romance unfulfilled and lots of tension as Bella tries to move on, develops a strong friendship with Jacob (who has a surprise of his own) and cope with her great loss.

Not enough Edward in this book, in my opinion, but it was a great set-up for this last book where it will be decided if Bella herself will become a vampire (her greatest desire) and what will happen when Edward and Jacob finally have to duel. I admit to being totally and completely hooked.

Book Review #8 - New England White

If you love smart mysteries, you need to check out Stephen L. Carter. He is a brilliant writer and I always feel a little bit more in the know when I am done with his books. I've only read two now, and I think the other one was his debut - The Emperor of Ocean Park. This novel, New England White, takes two minor characters from Emperor's and creates an entire new, scandalous, earth-shattering mystery. It's about money, and race, and politics and secrets....highly enjoyable.

Julia and LeMaster Carlyle are weathly upper class members of the darker nation(Carter's description. I am a member of the paler nation) living among the New England White. LeMaster is the current president of a prestigious university and Julia, his wife, is the dean of its divinity school. One winter evening, they drive off an icy road and happen upon a body. It's someone they know. It's Julia's former lover who also happens to be a member of the darker nation. After this discover, she begins to find all sorts of coded clues he left for her if he happened to be killed. It might involve her husband and his former roommates in college - one who happens to be the President of the United States and one, a senator running for the presidency. It all seems to have something to do with a 17 year old girl who was murdered thirty years ago by a young black man. The young black man was shot and killed by police but what if he didn't do it? Julia and LeMaster's young daughter seems obsessed and troubled by this old story and once Julia decides to follow the clues left for her, so did her former lover.

It's complicated and scary and troubling and very good. Both of his novels are hefty with lots of details but I doubt you'd be sorry if you decide to take them on.

I tried

Maureen and Henry

I have been trying to figure out why I'm such a Grinch when it comes to holidays anymore. I've always wanted to be THAT mom whose kids grow up saying, "my mom always created these wonderful traditions for Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, etc., etc." But, wouldn't you know it, every holiday that rolls around, the effort to truly make it grand simply overwhelms me and we end up barely celebrating.

We've been told that to do the fourth right, we had to go to the Freedom Festival. We decided last night to give it a go, the older boys went to bed with dreams of sparkly floats in their heads, and Henry proceeded to writhe and cry in what seemed to be pain, for hours! I finally got him to sleep on my chest at around 9:30 and must have made a mental decision that the parade was off because when the alarm went off, I had no guilt ignoring it.

When Seth and Sam came tumbling downstairs at 8:00, they were horrified that we weren't going to brave the parade. I'm not a huge parade lover to begin with, but thought, while we're here, we'll pull out all the stops. But who has to pull out the stops?? Mom! And that's me! I'm always up for going along with something, but to be the planner, the organizer, the packer, the referee, the sunscreen applier, the feeder...that is a whole different ballgame.

We decided at 10:00 that we weren't going to let the entire day go to waste and headed on over to Murray for their fourth of July celebration.

Seth decides to be a Big Baby:)

I'm going to count it, because we tried, darn it...but it was pretty lame. Not their effort. But our boys were whiny and we hadn't planned to make a day of it like the other people there seemed to, so didn't have a picnic lunch and tables and chairs set up. We moved through some of the booths, wasted some money on "face painting" (total rip off. $1.00 for those little stickers you get out of cereal boxes or gum)

Sammy's spiderman tattoo.

Seth's Lighting McQueen number tattoo

We paid for the little fishing booth (total rip off. Sammy seems pleased here, but he's wise enough to realize a useless toy when he sees one.

What is it??? Oh....

And about five seconds after this picture, he realized it.) We saw the tail end of a magic show, did the quarter search,

Thinking about it but suddenly became super shy and unwilling

and then was horrified that he missed his age group

Seth went right to work when it was his turn

and came up with two quarters! Phew. For awhile, we were worried we were going to have some major tears to deal with.

had snow cones, and then got to the other end where we needed to buy tickets for children's carnival games and decided that we had been festive enough.

Henry was happy once he got a balloon

A water balloon toss that lasted mere seconds.

We went to Pei Wei for lunch and then took the boys swimming for a couple of hours which was really fun. It's hot here and that's what we felt like doing anyway. Then I had to run to the grocery store and we bbq'd with the George Foreman grill (oh yeah) and used lettuce for our buns. I'm not sure Maureen and Sarah are as impressed with our gluten free kitchen as we are. Seth loved it. He kept saying, "Who needs buns?" Love that kid.

Jay got all sorts of energy tonight and took Seth and Sam to watch fireworks. Again...what is wrong with me? I had settled for the night. Getting on my mom face at 10:00 at night did not appeal to me at all. So, I visited with Sarah, danced a bit with Henry (cute, cute, cute with his little baby bop) and am now recapping my day. It's harder to blog here. I think it's a mixture of summer, computer in a less accessible location and having family around.

I also got this wonderful new home package from Jenny. What a gal. Love the candle and cards with the "L". I feel like Laverne! Thanks so much. My refrigerator needed a nice magnet too. I pretty much threw all my old ones away with the move so I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Thanks Jenny!

I hope you all had nice 4ths. I'll try to do better next year.

Decked out in our red, white and blue! See...we were kind of festive.

Book Review #7 - Deal Breaker

Yuck. I kind of liked the other Harlan Coben book I read last year, Tell No One. This one has a totally different feel, which, I suppose, is kind of a compliment to Coben.

Dealbreaker is the story of Myron Bolitar, a college basketball superstar, NBA bust (injury), former FBI working, wisecracking, handsome 30ish year-old man turned sports agent.

Truthfully, I found Myron to be...annoying. You know those funny guys who just can't be anything but? Yes, he gets in some great one-liners. It's that dry, sarcastic wit that authors love to use and abuse and Coben WAY overdoes it with Bolitar. Everything uttered from his lips, it seems, has to have us softly chuckling - from his comeback lines, his name calling, to his smooth replies when someone from the mafia holds a gun to his head.

It didn't help that this novel is about the seediest lifestyles possible. One of Bolitar's big clients, rookie quarterback Christian Steele, is spooked when his former fiancee's picture shows up in an adult magazine after she had been supposedly murdered a year before. Bolitar uses his former investigation skills to solve the crime which drags the story through the ugliness of professional sports, the mafia, the porn industry and the lifestyles of the rich and elite. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Didn't like it. Apparently, Coben plans to write a bunch of novels for this new protagonist of his. No thanks. Dealbreaker was a dealbreaker for me.

Book Review #6 - The Making of Pride and Prejudice

Andrea got me this book for my birthday last year, knowing how I feel about this gem of a movie/mini-series. I've skimmed through it before, but actually sat down and read most of it last week.

I would never want to be involved in the making of movies. What a headache. I'm so glad that I was able to simply enjoy the magic they created in their adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved novel.

I enjoyed the interviews with the screen writers and actors, although, really, they are kind of full of themselves. And Jennifer Ehle...Elizabeth...is actually a blond! It's all wigs!

I still like to think of Longborn, Netherfield, Pemberly and Rosings as the homes of these great characters instead of homes all across England that fit the mold.

Read this if you like to know how period pieces are made. If not, enjoy the magic anyway!

Book Review #5 - Charms for the Easy Life

This is chick-lit a la Fried Green Tomatoes or Secret Life of Bees. Very matriarchal and southern, the story is character driven although the natural progression of time throughout the story lends itself to a plot of sorts.

The narrator is the granddaughter of Charlie Kate who begins telling the story when her grandmother would have been dating her grandfather. Charlie Kate is one of those before-the-times, tough, natural healers who does what she wants when she wants. She follows her calling in life and begins her career as a healer who practices medicine in a rudimentary way without any formal training. When she saves a black man from a bungled lynching while traveling along a road, she receives a railroad watch, a tin of excellent snuff and an easy-life charm ( which was "the hind foot of a white graveyard rabbit caught at midnight, under the full moon, by a cross-eyed Negro woman who had been married seven times")as payment and thanks.

While nobody would look at her life as easy (her husband leaves her, she is constantly dealing with the poor, uneducated, neglected in her medical practice, her daughter ignores her advice and is trapped in a bad marriage) her no-nonsense view of life makes it seem pretty enjoyable. She loves her daughter and granddaughter but her big hang-up is that she doesn't trust men.

Margaret's, the granddaughter, and Sophia's, the daughter, stories progress as Margarets narration travels through time. I don't think Margaret gives us her name until the last few chapters. It's as if it isn't her story yet, and since she continues to only observe, we readers don't need it.

I liked this book quite a bit. I got a great feel for southern mystical medicine, the difference between classes and the feel for what it might have been like for southern women during an interesting time of history (up to World War II).

But mostly, I just liked Charlie Kate, Sophia and Margaret. Three great female characters in literature.

When Mom's Away, She Plays, Plays, Plays

If you ever get a chance to go back to the place where you moved from about a week after you leave for a weekend - do it! I had the time of my life.

Jay will agree with me that I needed to go. I had this build up of momstress that had to be diffused. He took me to the airport on Thursday and from the minute I stepped out of the car, I felt different...lighter. Even going through the security checkpoints at the airport was enjoyable. I saw a group of missionaries coming home and their families all decked out with signs and smiles as they reunited. I admit to wiping away a watery eye. The flight was uneventful; it left on time and arrived on time. Andrea picked me up and we drove to Rebecca's house where her older kids were. Rebecca had them all making necklaces, which I thought was so fun. We got to chatting and then KariAnn called and came over too.

We girls possess the gift for gab.

Just like old times! We gabbed until about 4:30 and then I drove down to check in at my hotel - The Davenport Tower. It's the new upscale addition to the classy Davenport Hotel. I really enjoyed it. The entire hotel is done in this safari theme so my room had the feel of an elegant African adventure with its leopard print chaise lounge and pictures of elephants, zebras and rhinos all over.

My view from my 18th floor. That is Jay's old hospital - The Great and Spacious Building

Serendipitously, July's book group had been moved to that Thursday evening to accommodate vacations etc. so I was able to attend. I suggested having it at my hotel room as something fun and different. We met at P.F. Changs for dinner and enjoyed it family style (my favorite!!) and then went back to the safari where we got pretty giggly.

Our spread. Delicious.

The chaise lounge beckoned as a prop for a photo shoot and when Kristin whipped out the hair dryer as a wind machine, I knew my weekend was going to be a good one. (I had my turn on the chaise, but none of the pictures taken were with my camera. I'm a bit nervous about where they might turn up!)

Kristin in a demi-recline pose.

Andrea - a little wind blown.

KariAnn shows off some of her former cheerleader moves.

Rebecca feels the jungle within her.

Our bookgroup evenings are notoriously late, but I think the big comfy bed had everyone nodding off a little earlier than usual. It was shortly after midnight when everyone was starting to drift off and decide it was time to go. Like I said...it goes late so when I told Jay everyone left at midnight he even said, "well...that's earlier than I was expecting."

We all had some diet pepsi in an attempt to revive ourselves.

Rebecca decided to just get comfortable and don one of the plush robes.

It's no good. Everyone is tired.

I slept in until 9:00 the next morning and then called my sister Jen to see where she was at. She had decided to drive up for a couple of hours to hang out with me and was about an hour away. I showered and got ready and met her outside at around 10:30.


We drove out and had lunch at Staggering Ox and then shopped the summer clearance sale at Old Navy. I feel like summer just started so was loving all of their five dollar shirts and flip flops. Then we headed back downtown to shop at Riverpark Square and then Jen took off around 2:30.




I made the unfortunate/fortunate decision to get a bra-fitting at Nordstroms. AWKWARD! Yes, I was way off on my size so I suppose I need to be eternally grateful for the attractive, young twenty year-olds prodding and checking me out in a dressing room, but I felt awfully exposed. I hope I don't have to do that again for awhile!

I drove to KariAnn's, where I was staying the night, and drove by our old house. So bizarre to see other people inside. They had my sheer white curtains pulled all the way to the side so I could see them inside. They had trimmed the tree that caused so much annoyance to me this spring but whose makeover I didn't want to tackle. Other than that, it looked exactly the same. My flowers out front, our big black door with the ship on it.

I had a ball at Chad and KariAnn's house. We drove out for dinner at Prospecters (a Claim Jumper cousin or imitator) and ended up getting free appetizers because we had to wait for so long. If you've eaten there, you know about their portion sizes so by the time the food we actually ordered arrived, we were all full. We drove home and spent the rest of the evening playing Texas Hold 'Em with pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters from their coin jar and Pinochle. I had never played poker before, and I know it gets a bad name from gambling, but it's pretty fun if you're just playing for bragging rights. KariAnn earned those with both games.

The next morning, I left around 9:30 to go and buy something for Sandy, my visiting teaching companion who was going through the temple for the first time, and the main reason I returned to Spokane. I went to a church book store and bought her a book with a bunch of quotes and pictures of the temple and then enjoyed going through a session with her.



We had lunch at her home teacher's home afterwards and then I got on the road for my long drive back.


When Sandy told me about her temple date, we realized we could kill two birds with one stone if instead of paying for a tow for one of our cars or flying one of our siblings up to drive it back, we could just leave our van there for a week and I could drive it back. It worked out great, although I left later than I originally planned. I didn't get on the freeway until 3:30 and it's a 10-11 hour drive and I was going to lose an hour when I crossed a time zone.

I enjoy driving, though, so I started undaunted. I realized fairly early on, however, that my ipod was out of batteries, I had one CD in the car and my cell phone was only half charged. I made do with silence until Missoula where I found a Barnes and Noble and went and bought a book on CD. That made the rest of the drive go quite fast. It was uneventful until I got to Utah where I ran over some kind of medium sized animal that ran right into me (a porcupine, dog or something that sizish) and then had to swerve out of the way and screech to a halt when some car was driving down the wrong side of the freeway where all of the construction around Ogden was going on. Scared me something fierce....but it did get the adrenaline pumping through me which kept me awake the rest of the way. I was getting pretty tired.

I got home at 2:30 and didn't hear anything until 11:00 the next morning when Jay and the boys came home from church.

I'm all caught up on sleep now and am excited for life to return to normal. We are going to have to live it up the next few weeks because I found out Seth's new school is on a year round track and he actually starts in three weeks! Crazy. I'm trying to get a little more excited about it. I still have a lot to do around here to get a sense of home, but I don't want to spend Seth's short summer break shopping and organizing. Suggestions? What should we do these next three weeks?