New York City

Brendan and Brandan surprised Shalice and I to a trip to New York for our 15 year anniversary. Has it really been that long?

Saw this bike walking under the Brooklyn Bridge. Loved it! I wonder where he got the pattern and couldn't help but think how lucky this guy was to find a pattern that fit his bike. :)

Our WICKED night

Finally, after waiting for a year, Wicked is here! I had "connections" on getting the tickets. I loved that my family was finally able to see this with me so they could know what I have been talking about for the last couple of years. I have seen wicked twice before- in new york and in chicago. Both times were with some of my best girlfriends. I love going away for a quick, "all girls" trip. However, I loved having this night with my family. Brendan, Gavin, Lissy finally got to see the show, now they can appreciate the music with me. I love it! I didn't think Luke would enjoy sitting for that long, so he got to spend the night with Dani and Dee Hadley. They are awesome friends! He was very excited to have his own night with them. These are just a few of the photos we took that night. It was AWESOME! I loved that my sisters (that includes you, Joann), my mom, London, cousins and several friends were able to come along.

That's my Lissy

Today we were at church. Yes, I know, good job.
Anyway, Lissy's class came into the chapel, we were preparing to start sacrament meeting. (I think our stake is one of the last to still have sacrament last) Her entire class were wearing cute, little badges on their dresses that read "I will keep my promises". Lissy's was in her hand, she handed it to me and asked me to write FBI in big letters on the back. I did it, she took the tape and put it on the "cute" side and stuck the badge now reading "FBI" on her shirt. Then said, matter-of-factly, "There, that's better". Lissy never ceases to amaze me in her creativity and just how stinkin' funny she is.
Later, in the afternoon. Luke and Lissy were playing on our massage chair and she said to Luke, "Luke, will you be a doll and go get me a drink?"
What would we do without her? She's "a doll"

Disneyland November 4-10, 2008

We finally made it. After 2 years of begging, and one large temper tantrum thrown(yes, the tantrum thrown was by me and I believe there were tears, also from me), I managed to convince Brendan to take us to the "Happiest Place on Earth". Walt didn't disappoint. The weather was perfect and the lines were non-existant. We literally ran onto each ride. The Nemo ride had a 20 minute wait and my kids refused to go on it, waiting that long was not an option. (I did make them ride it, because I hadn't been on it and we can't have that) We managed to make it to Universal Studios, Sea World, and Hollywood (better named as Hollywierd! Holy cow, if I never go back there again, it will be too soon)
The trip was a success and Disneyland was the highlight.
Gavin's favorite rides:
Screamer (California Adventure), Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain
Lissy's favorite rides:
Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Screamer, Buzz Lightyear, and Toy Story Mania (California Adventure)
Luke's favorite rides:
Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania (California Adventure), Star Tours, and Nemo

Halloween 2008

Here are my munchkins for Halloween. Gavin made me use my creative juices (which I do not have a lot of), but it was a fun costume to pull off and he got a lot of compliments. He was happy about it.
Lissy only had two requirements- her costume couldn't be anything "girlie" and blood had to be involved. She was excited when we pulled off the vampire costume.
Luke's costume was bought a month before Halloween, "womising" (promising) that he wouldn't change his mind if he saw another costume that he liked better. Of course, he forgot about that promise and threw several fits throughout the month. Usually when we would enter a store and he would find any other costume he thought was cool. I held strong though and made him stick with the original. However, I did have to bribe him with the purchase of a weapon that would go with his ninja costume. Weapons solve most of our problems in this family, and then they create new ones. Oh well, what ya gonna do?
As for me, I actually dressed up this year. It was lovely. My kids were embarrassed to be seen with me though and begged me to take it off all night. I love torturing them so I did not take it off for quite a while. They told me to never wear it again. We didn't get any pictures, and I'm not so sure I regret that decision. I was probably the ugliest nerd in the history of ugly nerds. I'm not that big of a Halloween fan, so I'm glad it's over and I managed to get everyone a costume on time. Peace out for now.

Trek 2008

Here is the proof that I went on Trek. Would you believe this is not my first time going? Yes, that is me camping, yet again. For any of you who really know me, you know this is a huge deal. Need I mention the fact that this is REAL camping. The whole, sleeping in tents (no campers), no running water (just a pump), washing out of a bucket, needing to zip up the tents each day so rattlesnakes don't decide to cuddle up and wait for my return. They do like snuggling up in warm places. Do you see the mouse on the tarp, his attempts to get into the tent were thwarted and he managed to slide underneath. I wonder if he was sleeping when he was flattened or if he was trying to escape. Who knows, I'm just glad he wasn't trying to get cozy in my sleeping bag. Hey there dad, look at me doing the things you tried to get us girls to do when we were younger, and I even did it without a large 5th wheel camper. You would be so proud, I didn't shower for 3 days!

Even though I complain about camping and all that goes with it, I do have to admit that this is an amazing experience. Brendan and I went 2 years ago with our Stake in Murray. When we got home from that I said I loved it and I was glad that I went, however, I never wanted to do it again. Little did I know we would be asked to go again when we moved to Pleasant View.

Even though we went to the same place and did the same things, it was a totally different experience. Both experiences were awesome and I can see now that I needed both of them. It just goes to show that there is always room for spiritual growth and always a need to gain appreciation for what we have. I love the gospel, I love what the early pioneers did for us, I love what people are doing now for the work of the Lord. I am grateful for my home, my kids, my husband, my family, and most importantly, my knowledge of who I am and where I come from.

I can not imagine one day meeting the people whom I have walked for on these Treks and having to tell them that I couldn't make it because it was just too hard. Their legacy will always be something I can pull from in times I feel I am pushing my own handcart through unknown territory, in harsh conditions. I am grateful to them, and how I can return the favor is by living right.

Now that being said, I sure hope I learned all I needed to learn, so I can really say that I never have to do that again. However, if I am asked to go again, I will do it, and be excited and grateful for the opportunity.

The drive to Girl's Camp

Yes, it is absolutely necessary for "the drive" to girl's camp to have its own post. Clumping it with the rest of the girl's camp experience would not do it the justice it deserves. As you can see by the pictures, it was an adventure. Let's begin:

You know when you are going to a place you have never been before: you mapquest it, print all the papers, know which exit you are supposed to take, and make all the preparations necessary. As you are officially on the road and ready to roll, you look at the city on the map that is the furthest from your destination, and you throw out the joke, "if we end up in (insert that city here), we'll know we've gone to far". Funny joke right. Well have you ever ended up in that city a mere 45 minutes later. I have, and this city, Evanston, Wyoming, is where it all began. This is where Holly and I decided to turn it into an adventure. Some say, we're doomed; we chose to say, "adventure".

Let me point out here and now: Never at any point were we lost; at any given time I could have told you where we were on the map. The problem was, our destination was always just on the other side of those mountains. And jumping those, my friend, is no easy task.

Back to Evanston. When we started to see all of the, what should have been illegal, firework stands we began to realize we were no longer in Utah. Now, we knew eventually we would be leaving Utah, however that was not supposed to happen for another 2 hours. Luckily, for us we were hungry and we had heard there was a really good Arby's in the now nearby Evanston, so we stopped there for a bite. No one wants to be in any random spot on the map on an empty stomach. After eating, we realized we had 2 options. Backtrack and take the correct exit or take Highway 150, which goes down and back a little. Actually, it even took us closer to our desired road than we would have been had we done it the "correct" way. What Luck! The unforeseen problem, the road we thought we wanted, was not the correct road (not really our faults, if you could have seen the logic and the maps, you would have come to the same conclusion). But I am jumping ahead of myself, approximately 55 miles. Which is a big 55 miles as far as the story goes.

As we drove down HWY 150 we saw the sign, "Welcome to Wasatch National Forest". Oh yeah, baby! I have never been to Wasatch National Forest, now seemed like as good a time as any. That 55 mile road was the entire length of the Wasatch National Forest- top to bottom. By this time, we figured out that we needed pictures for this trip. We could tell it was going to be a whopper. Therefore, the pictures with the map and by the sign. You'll have to excuse the crookedness on some of these pictures, the car hood was our tripod.

During out drive, we realize there is a dirt road which cuts through the mountain range and puts us onto the other road which we are heading to. A SHORTCUT- who could ask for anything more on such an adventure, especially one that is not paved- I say again, What Luck! For the last 30 miles of the road we were turning off onto anything that looked like it might be a dirt road that went into the mountains, they all ended up being just a campground, so we would have to turn around and get back on the main road. We never gave up though, we only gave a little bit more time with each turn off. Needless to say, we didn't find the road (however, we did find where it came out from when we were on the other side of the mountain, going the other direction. Too late now. We decided the Uintah National Forest has better sign postage for their dirt roads, or I should say, their dirt road) And yes, I did say Uintah National Forest. How many of you can say they have been to 2 National Forest in one day. Well maybe more than I know, but I too can say it now. That other road we are trying to get to is on the other side of the mountain range because it is "The Uintah National Forest". But let's not skip the last 16 miles of the Wasatch National Forest because a lot happened in that time. First- a moose, which led to another photo-op and losing more time. And then, just as we were heading out of the Forest, low and behold we should happen across, a nudist ranch. Can I just say, What Luck! Can you say, Photo-op. Yes, that is us in front of the "Beaver Creek Nudist Ranch" (name?- on purpose or not?) We took a picture, signed our names, and snapped one more picture of the underwear laying in the middle of the road at the entrance. Can you say, "Hold your horses." or at least your underwear. It must be a happenin' spot. Except for the sign that is posted that reads, "Closed due to mosquitos". I bet the person who left their underwear wished they hadn't been so hasty in the placement of his/her clothes.

Moral: make sure mosquitos are not indigenous to the area where you are thinking of joining and/or starting a nudist colony.

After driving through a couple of small, small towns that have more cemetary's than homes, we were onto our next leg of the trip. The Uintah National Forest. It is here that we were supposed to find a dirt road that took the back way, and therefore cut some time off of our travels, and hooked up to the dirt road that leads to Reid Ranch (our destination). We found exactly where that road should have been, but we didn't find the road. Even when we passed going West, we didn't see it. Again, let me point out the fact that, I know where we are on the map, I know where our destination is on the map, I know where the road we need is on the map (still- NOT lost) The road just never appeared.

After driving around that area for quite some time, we happened across a UPS man. We love those guys in brown, especially because they know where those secret dirt roads are. Unfortunately, the UPS guy did not want to tell us where this dirt road was because he did not trust that we could make it the back way on the dirt roads. He thought we might get lost. WHAT- like we could ever do that. I mean, I knew where we were on the map. So instead he made us take the long way around, and I do mean around, we had to drive around the Uintah mountain range and come up the road that we would have come up if we had just followed the original instructions. But really, who does that. Can anyone blame us for wanting to cut out some time in an already long trip. Our, supposed to be, 3 hour trip turned into a 6 hour adventure. Full of illegal fireworks, arby's, national forests (note the plural), random bathrooms, a moose, nudity (not ours mind you), dirt roads, unmarked roads, a really nice UPS guy, and pictures to remind us of it all. (Longing sigh)

Our only regret would be that the girls were apparantly dying of thirst up at camp and we had all the water. Sorry girls. All I can say to that is, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". I have no idea why, that's just what I have to say to that. Did I mention the girl's rode horses while we were not there. Good times, good times!