Tiffany's Blog Adventure

There's nothing better than a broken pipe on the day you take the Christmas Decorations down.

2011-01-08T20:04:00.006-07:00

Wouldn't you know it -- Murphy's Law strikes again. On the day we take down all the Christmas decorations, we end up getting to deal with a broken pipe (a "frost free" pipe, of course, that froze in our recent cold spell) that flooded our entire front room.

So, just in case we didn't have enough mess on our hands, we got the chance to put all our furniture out into the foyer and leave the Christmas mess in limbo.

And of course, it was ALSO all in the middle of dealing with trying to process several hundred new items of inventory for my online store. The fun and explosion is uncontainable at this point.
It's taken over the ENTIRE house.

We are terrible parents.

2010-09-21T11:34:00.006-06:00

First of all, I finally cleaned out Spencer's backpack from LAST school year the night before school started THIS year. Strike one.

Strike two? In the enormous pile of papers inside the backpack, I found this lovely note he'd written to Scott and I. (It was probably one of those assignments where the teacher gives them a beautiful piece of stationary to write a letter to someone they love.)

Here's what it said:

In case you can't read it, it says:

"Dear mom and dad I love you but you wouldn't give me a birthday party.

from Spencer."

As my boys would say, we've been duly "moted."

Karly's Wedding

2010-09-20T16:59:00.007-06:00

The boys' latest craze ... Slack-Lining!

2010-09-20T16:49:00.003-06:00

Alex bought this himself some slack-lining gear a few weeks ago, and the boys are actually getting pretty good at it! Here they are giving it a try over at the Stake Center parking lot.

It's nuts... it's essentially learning to walk a tight rope!

Sienna's Baptism!

2010-09-20T16:46:00.002-06:00

Here's the cute Mud family after sweet Sienna's baptism.

Just for you, Chelsea!

2010-09-20T16:28:00.008-06:00

As you can see, I have essentially given up on the blog for the past two years. Ahem.

But, I am posting today JUST FOR YOU Chelsea! I figure I'd better find a way to post some photos you'll want to see, so this is probably my best option!

First, some shots of our trip to San Francisco, and Alcatraz:

The view back into San Francisco.

Here's Dad, waiting to check in to his luxury cell.

And we even got to drive down the "crooked-est" street in the world, Lombard Street!

And we stopped by "Postcard Row" with all the fantastic Victorian painted houses behind us, and a great view of San Francisco.

It's time to get with the program

2008-11-09T16:07:00.003-07:00

So, it's only been about 4 and a half months since I last posted anything on here, and as a result, I've been told it's time to get with the program (by Chelsea). So I'm going to launch back in!

When we last chatted, it was early summer and Chelsea was singing the National Anthem at the Roadrunners game. Oh my. How things have changed! Because I am a stickler for continuity, I feel the ridiculous need to go back in time and try and catch up a bit. Especially since I thought this would be the closest thing I could come to a journal when I started it.

So, I'm going to now "pretend" to go back in time and post a few fun things from the past few months that I should have put on here. Kind of like Marty McFly, only not so cool.

Chelsea goes to Michigan -- GO BLUE!

2008-09-04T21:32:00.000-06:00

It seemed like the time would never come, but on August 27th Chelsea and I flew out to take her to school at the University of Michigan!! Since she would be living in an apartment just off campus, I spent 5 days there helping her get set-up and ready for life on her own.

We'd been able to get her connected with her roommate, Erica Shirts, a violin performance major from Provo, Utah! And LDS, which is a great blessing. Erica had already been in the apartment for a year, and her roommate was moving out in early August, leaving a place for Chelsea. Erica had been gone all summer, and wouldn't be coming back to Ann Arbor until a few days after we got there, which would give us a few days to get Chelsea all settled before Erica got back.

Here's Chelsea in front of her new apartment at Broadview Apartments

And it was a darn good thing we allowed for plenty of time, because when we showed up at the apartment (which was supposed to be vacated by the previous girl, and perfectly clean), THIS is what we found:

Can we just say . . . heart attack???!!!! HOLY CRAP! We stood in shock for the first 10 minutes, cried for the next 10 minutes, and then got busy taking pictures! We couldn't imagine that anyone had actually lived like this. And what about that whole thing with the apartment being ready for Chelsea to move in on the 27th?? We got on the phone with Erica (still in Utah) and gave her the scoop. She got on the phone with previous-roommie, and gave her the word. The girl said she'd be there the next morning to get her stuff and clean up.

Well, that kind of put a kink into our move-in plans, but we filled the first day with necessary errands and looking for the stuff she'd need. By the next afternoon, previous-roommie had come, cleaned (well enough), and taken her stuff. The next surprise was realizing that after she took HER stuff, all that was left in the apartment was a tiny sofa and a kitchen table. Seriously, that was it. No chairs, no lamps, no nothing. (Other than what Erica had in her own bedroom).

At that point we got even busier! Chelsea had a bunch of meetings with her department during the couple of days before school started, which gave me some time to run around looking for cheap furniture. I ended up getting some great stuff at a couple of thrift stores. In total, I paid about $170, and here is what I got:

Coffee Table

4 Antique Kitchen Chairs

Two end tables for the front room

2 Standing lamps and 1 Table Lamp

Nightstand for Chelsea's room

A full set of dishes

Desk Chair

Shutters for decorating

The next project was dealing with the disgusting white walls. The room looked pretty worn out. She has her own bedroom that's big enough for two girls, but for now, she's got it all to herself! (Quite a difference from the tiny dorm rooms her classmates are in.) So, we decided to paint! Chelsea got her new friend and classmate Grace to come help us, and we went to town.

What a difference!

We also had to buy her a bed at Costco, and got some make-it-yourself Sauder furniture to fill in the rest of the necessities -- 2 bookshelves, a desk, and a behind-the-toilet cabinet. And guess who put it all together . . . ME! I have such a handy husband that I never have the opportunity or need to do such things myself. Well, I have to give myself credit, I did a darn good job!

Here I am tearing my hair out trying to put together the etagere (toilet cabinet)

So, after lots of hours and lots of work, she has an adorable bedroom and a great apartment! Here's the finished product:

The much improved (and clean) bathroom

with the cabinet that about made me crazy

The kitchen and dining area

The front room (complete with the coffee table, end table

and kitchen chairs from the thrift store)

We did take time out on Saturday to go to the first Michigan football game of the season. Amazingly, it was against the University of Utah! That stadium is unbelievable -- the largest stadium in the entire country! There we were, with 108,000 other crazy fans in "The Big House." It was just a sea of "maize" (Michigan-ese for yellow). I proudly wore my "Michigan Mom" t-shirt and sat with Chelsea and her classmates in the student section.

In the nick of time, I was able to finish everything before heading back to the airport. I left the same day Chelsea went to her first day of college. And, of course, I HAD to take her "first day of school" picture as well! She resisted, but I got the shot:

First day of school for Chelsea!

I was so sad to leave, as I knew I would be. I cried the whole way to the airport, but knew she was ready for this new adventure in life. I'm so proud of her, she's mature beyond her years, and if anyone can do this, it's Chelsea!

My son, the model

2008-08-21T21:20:00.001-06:00

Business is really thriving at Tiffany's Treasure Gallery on eBay! And I've discovered a new secret weapon for increasing sales-- having my own male model! Who knew I could find one so cheap in my own home??! Alex is the PERFECT model. At 6'2" and lean as a string bean, he looks great in everything he puts on. I just pop up my handy-dandy backdrop and put him in front and he pulls out his best poses for me. Here, he's just being a goofball!

C'mon, show off that jacket!

OK, the finished product below: This is one of the photos I used to list this $400 (Retail value) Ralph Lauren RLX Sweater. Thanks to how great it looked in the photos, I made about $100 profit on it! Of course, Alex insists on being paid for his work -- in clothing! That's a deal for BOTH of us.

My husband, the Bonsai Guru (wanna-be)

2008-08-18T16:21:00.000-06:00

Scott has had an intense obsession with Bonsai trees for years. There's something fascinating about the pruning and creating process that has him hooked. I obviously don't have the patience for such a hobby, but the patience required for bonsai-growing is one of the reasons he is so drawn to it. He loves the analogy of "God is the Gardner," and the idea that he can be the one to sculpt and create something wonderful over time.

Well, he's had some lovely bonsai trees, and a few NOT so lovely. I'm afraid we're currently working on the NOT so lovely variety. Of course, that's just in my opinion. He looks at these shrubs--um, I mean, fledgling plants, and sees nothing but pure beauty in progress!

About a year ago he went to Lowes and bought himself a couple of full-on fiscus trees. Like, 5-6 feet tall fiscus trees. He promptly went to work cutting (hacking!), pruning, and taking them down to a mere memory of their former selves. Since then, they've grown for a year, and it was apparantly time for another hard pruning., according to Scott. And . . . I will now reveal the atrocity we have living in our bedroom:

I have affectionately named her "Audrey II" after the plant that grew out of control in the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." I honestly can't believe this thing is living in my bedroom. It's just a darn good thing that not many people actually GO into my bedroom.

Check her out, the poor thing. Ravaged, chopped, and wired into all sorts of contortionist shapes. BUT, of course, Scott has a "plan" and a "vision" for Audrey II! I just don't know if I have the patience to wait for 20 years to see her come out of her "awkward" phase.

BUT, that's not all!! No, folks, if you look right here in my bathtub, you will see baby Audrey. And yes, she DOES live in the bathtub. Every day. All year long. Nope, no baths for us. Baby Audrey was doing really well, in fact, I really quite liked her. She was far more tame than her big sister, and I thought she had potential to really be quite a lovely bonsai tree. BUT NO!! Scott had another "vision" for baby Audrey. And with that vision, he went to work on her again this week. Cutting (hacking), pruning, and re-shaping her. Wanna know what baby Audrey thought about the gentle "pruning" she'd received? Take a look ---

Yup, that's right. She was MAD!!!!! And to fully illustrate her feelings, she promptly dropped almost all of her leaves. Poor Scott worried for a minute that he might have actually killed baby Audrey. (And I was secretly thinking "that'll show ya!") But in the past few days we've seen a little miracle. Baby Audrey is coming back from the brink of death, and has started to sprout little buds! That little fighter...what a gal!

So apparantly, I will have to wait another 10 years or so to get my tub back. But in the meantime, we will encourage baby Audrey to come back and be fabulous again.

And I will secretly pray that Audrey II has a tragic run-in with a runaway tree chipper . . .

First Day of School 2008!

2008-08-12T21:03:00.000-06:00

You know what they say about mid-August every year? Actually, we sing about it. "It's the most wonderful time, of the year!" And I'm NOT talking about Christmas. It's BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!! Actually, it's not that I want to get rid of my adorable kids, but they NEED to be at school! I've had enough of the lazing around being unproductive. It's time to get to school and learn something! So, I had to take their annual "first day of school" photos on their way out.

Something happened to Alex's photo, but at least it shows he was here -- laces untied, wearing a DHS Ambassador t-shirt, and his new favorite plaid shorts. He's starting his Junior year of high school at Dixie High.

Nathan is ALWAYS so excited to get his picture taken . . . NOT. But he managed to at least give me a smirk. This is the boy who pretty much wears a blue shirt every day of his life. Anything else is a bit too "flashy." Nate is an 8th grader at Pine View Middle School.

And then there's Spencer. He'd take Marco to school with him if he could.

Ok, dog-gone (ha!), so here's the boy and his backpack, on his way to 5th grade at Sandstone Elementary. I can't believe my baby is in his LAST year of elementary school! That's the part that makes me kind of sad. I want to freeze this one in time.

Friends Party at the Terry Ranch!

2008-08-11T21:01:00.000-06:00

I have such awesome high school friends! Every one of them is just amazing. And we're all fortunate to have some pretty amazing husbands as well! Last weekend Trisha Terry Mickelson and her cute hubby Mick invited all of us to spend the afternoon at the Terry Family Ranch up by Enterprise.

We did LOTS of talking, and had a blast going out on the Rhino and 4-wheelers. I totally want a 4-wheeler now!! Here's Nancy & Jason Hauck in the Rhino, with Miriam and Thayne Houston hanging off the back.

The house is so great, and has a fun game room in the basement. We shot a few rounds of pool, and the boys tried to keep the sky train from coming off the rails. Here, Scott gives us an optical illusion with a boot bench, while Rob Rowland tries to save the train.

Trisha and Mick made an awesome dutch oven dinner for us, accompanied by the good stuff everyone else brought. After dinner we played a few games and HAD to take advantage of a great photo-op.

Here's the whole crew!

Front Row: Rob & Billie Rowland, Thayne & Miriam Houston, Jason & Nancy Hauck, Mick and Trisha Mickelson, and us.

Back Row: Kim & Charlie Meinkey, Brenda & Ron Wade, and Toni & Barry Blake.

Larkin Family Reunion - August 2008

2008-08-11T20:15:00.006-06:00

We were all looking forward to having the entire Larkin clan together for a big reunion this month, and were obviously disappointed when we found out that Travis and Maria's family was not able to come at the last minute. But, we carried on, and still had a fun few days together!

We started off by all going to see "Les Miserables" at Tuacahn. It was wonderful, as always. There's no setting quite as spectacular as this canyon ampitheatre! It just can't be beat.

Our next activity was a day at the Veyo Pool. Check out the bathing beauties here! We enjoyed playing in the pool, eating those famous Veyo corn dogs, and the kids participated in their all-time FAVORITE Veyo activity . . . catching crawdads in the stream! Those critters are creepy.

Hmm. . . I couldn't believe that I nearly saw a full moon, right in the middle of the day! Thanks, Jer, for that fabulous shot. It will be a favorite for life.

Chelsea's giving us a little wave and a shout-out from the pool!

Eli has discovered this really cool way to pose for a picture. ROCK ON, DUDE!

Sunday night we all got together at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little family slide show, ice cream, and a few TRULY UNFORGETTABLE performances! We also celebrated the August family birthdays. No birthday gift from our family to Sienna would be complete without one completely ridiulous item. It all started back a few years ago when I forgot to get Sienna's present ahead of time, and so for a Sunday night birthday celebration, I pulled out the only thing I had that might "pass" for a 3-year-old gift. A lovely peach striped neck pillow. Now let me say, it WAS cute and fuzzy and cuddly and all, but I will never live it down. As a result, we've just made it a tradition to keep giving these fabulous, but non-child-friendly gifts to her every year. This year's gift? A lint roller. Ali was thrilled, she really needed one. :) Just check out that convincing smile!! (The girl hasn't figure out that it's a joke yet... but isn't she so polite?!)

Next, we moved on to the evening's performances! Chelsea first favored us with a visit from "Betty Sue" singing about her "Party Dress." The kids all love Betty Sue.

But the icing on the cake was Tacy and Tim's performance of "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli. It all started out innocently enough. Cute little Tacy came out and did a lovely ballet dance to the first half of the song. And then, it happened. TIM happened! In bursts Tim wearing nothing but his 1987 Dixie High School gym shorts, a headband wrap, long socks and some gym shoes. That's bad enough on its own, but then he tried to channel his inner-Michael Flatley and started to dance . . . with gusto!

He "dazzled" us with his amazing (yea, right!) leaps, spins, and poses. It was hard for anyone to really watch, since we were all laughing so hard we were crying!!

After a breathtaking solo by Tim, Tacy graciously joined him to finish out the dance with a bang. They attempted a few couples tricks, and gave the splits a try. Unsuccessfully.

Poor Jer could hardly stand it. All he could say to Tim afterward was, "For Pete's sake, HOW am I ever going to be able to top THAT one??!!"For once, someone made Jer look like the mellow, stable one! Gotta give that Tim some serious credit here. He tossed all pride aside, and gave us something we will NEVER forget!

Pioneer Day in adorable and historic Pine Valley!

2008-07-24T23:13:00.001-06:00

It's pretty much become a tradition for our family to gather in Pine Valley at my parents cabin on Pioneer Day (July 24th). It's such a fun, historic place to celebrate the holiday. First thing in the morning, a little band drives all around the streets playing music to wake everyone up. Then there's a morning patriotic program at the historic Pine Valley Chapel, complete with a few more numbers by the band.
Along with that, there's a breakfast and a morning full of games on the lawn. It's all the classics -- running races for every age group, water balloon toss, licorice eating contests, pie eating contests, the works. Great, all-american fun! Grandpa gave the mop-pony race a try, and Spencer enjoyed a little ride on the wagon pulled by Craig Booth and his tractor.

Scott and Vasu pretty much win the balloon toss every year -- they've got it down to a science! Check out the video above of the END of this year's balloon toss!

Chelsea tried the water balloon toss with her friend Jordan Hammer, but I don't think they lasted too long. Spencer's preparing for a big catch here.

But the best part of all is at the end, when it just turns into a big water balloon fight! We especially enjoyed watching Nathan and his friend McKenna Labrum running all over trying to get each other with water balloons. McKenna lucked out -- Scott was all-too-willing to help her soak Nathan!

July 2008 - The end of the EXIT Hummer

2008-07-20T16:31:00.000-06:00

Well, after four years of paying money every month just to have a business that didn't ever MAKE any money, we decided that we'd had enough fun. We decided it was time to close down EXIT Red Rock Realty. We'd certainly given it a good go, but between the state of the current economy, combined with the disaster that Real Estate is in, we realized that we just couldn't keep waiting for things to turn around.

With that decision came another big step . . . removing the EXIT wrap off the Hummer! As with most things, when we launched into the project, we thought we could get through it pretty quickly. And if we only had to do the sides and the back, it would have been great. The problem was once we hit the hood. That wrap was BAKED on! Absolutely just cracked, discolored, and NOT willing to let go.

We tried everything, including pulling our hair out for a few hours, then I turned to the place where we always know we can find all the answers ... GOOGLE! I typed in "how to remove a vehicle wrap," and sure enough, it came right back with the secrets we'd been dying to know.

The boys were thrilled when they learned that blow torches were involved. So, we worked with the blow torch for awhile, but found that the heat was a bit too much at times. Next, we pulled out the blow dryers, and the magic started to happen. With just the right amount of heat, the wrap just peeled off, yea!! The one casualty was Chelsea's blow dryer, which had to be retired toward the end. It served us well, but it just couldn't handle the pressure and died.

It's sad to see the exciting EXIT Hummer go, and all the crazy stares that went along with it. But underneath we discovered a beautiful Silver vehicle! It actually looks really great. We've found that everyone just thinks Scott got a NEW Hummer. Which is kind-of true, in a way! Unfortunately, now that we no longer need to use the Hummer to advertise for EXIT, we realize that we really don't need the Hummer anymore. Although Scott loves it so much, and would prefer to keep it, we are putting it up for sale. However, with gas prices at over $4 a gallon, it's going to be a tough sell to try and give away a gas guzzler that gets about 11 miles per gallon!

Chelsea sings the National Anthem at the Roadrunners Baseball Game!

2008-06-18T22:53:00.001-06:00

"Oh say, can you see . . ." Chelsea down on that baseball field?! Woohoo! For the first time in her life, she finally was asked to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event! I have teased her forever about the fact that although she's pretty much a rock star singer, she has never been asked to sing the National Anthem -- not even at her own high school! Well, they just don't know what they were missing. On Saturday June 7th she was asked to sing for the Roadrunners minor league baseball game here in St. George. The sad thing was that NO ONE from our family could be there! (I was on my girlfriends' getaway at Lake Las Vegas, and Scott and the boys were working at the girls camp on Cedar Mountain.) Thanks to a friend, we have this photo to verify that she really did it. Gooooo....Chelsea!

Look out St. George, new driver on the loose!

2008-06-17T22:32:00.002-06:00

Well, it only took until two days after his birthday for Alex to get his drivers license . . . and the only reason it took THAT long was because his birthday was on a Saturday! So, look out St. George, we have a new driver on the loose!

Last week, the news was looking grim. Scott called the DMV to confirm what we needed to do for Alex to get his license, and they told him that it was a 2-3 week wait to get an appointment to do the driving part with an examiner -- horror of horrors! Obviously, this boy has been counting down the days to when he could get his license, and that wasn't going to fly. But smart daddy pulled off a brilliant move -- he found out that if we would go to Cedar, we could get right in. Sure enough, he got Alex an appointment for Monday afternoon. I drove him up there --a bit too fast, I have to admit, since we were afraid we'd be late. I just thought the whole way how classic it would have been if I had gotten a speeding ticket on the way to get Alex his drivers license. Hmmm.... not sure the officer would have been too impressed. But, we got there safe and sound. He passed the driving test with flying colors (and one reminder that he shouldn't stop so close to stop signs), and drove home with his license in his pocket. Gotta love the pretty face in this picture (NOT!). Fortunately, his license picture turned out a whole lot better:).

Now, if we can just keep him reigned in. He thinks he needs to go driving just for the sake of driving. But with the current gasoline price crisis ($4.10 a gallon -- ouch!!) we're telling him he'd better cool his jets.

Father's Day 2008 & Alex's 16th Birthday!

2008-06-15T22:25:00.034-06:00

Scott & Marco enjoying a little Father's Day nap.

Happy Father's Day today!

and Happy 16th Birthday (yesterday) to Alex!!

Alex got to spend the past week at EFY in Provo, where he had a fabulous time, as always. That boy is the MOST social creature EVER. He lives to flatter girls, be a gentleman, and make sure that everyone around him is having a great time. He is famous for wearing outrageous outfits to Stake dances, and of course, he took his loudest shirt and tie to wear for the dance at EFY. He makes a habit of looking for the girls who seem to need to be asked to dance the most, and doesn't let a single song go by undanced-to. He went with 5 buddies -- Weston Cummings (his roommate for the second year in a row), Matt Winward, Matt Zappoli (their adorable Catholic friend!), Jake Wixom, and Tyler Nelson. Alex, Weston and Jake auditioned and made it into the talent show, where they sang their rendition of "Cellotape / Tape of Love" (and a zillion other names for this silly song). Alex played the piano, Weston played the bass guitar, and Jake played a the back side of his guitar bongo-style. They were the opening act, and from the sound of it, they brought the house down! He got home on Saturday, his 16th Birthday, which we celebrated on Sunday.....

....which, was Father's Day! We had quite the party at our house on Sunday evening. We had the entire Larkin family over for dinner, which totaled 24 people and two dogs. The exciting news is that Tim and Val arrived in St. George on Saturday night, after a three-day drive from Georgia. This time it's not just a visit -- they are here to stay! We are so excited to have them here. Now, if we could just get Travis' family to move here, we would have everybody. But, that's not likely to happen any time soon, darn it.

The "kiddles table"

The "big kids" table

We had a wonderful pork tenderloin roast dinner with the most fantastic dessert that Megan brought. It was a frozen strawberry concoction on an Oreo crust with frozen cool whip topping and loads of frozen strawberries. Just look at how fabulous this dessert was!!

Then it was SERIOUS present time -- we not only celebrated Father's Day for the 5 fathers who were there, but we added in Abby's 7th birthday, Maura's 11th birthday, and Alex's 16th birthday!! Let me tell you, we had a major pile of paper when all the gifting was over.

For my dad's gift from us, I could NOT decide which of four different Polo pastel shirts to give him. I even asked my mom for her advice, and she was not help either. So, we came up with a great plan. I simply wrapped up ALL 4 shirts, and told him he could CHOOSE his own gift! Fortunately, rather than complain about how he had to give three gifts back, he took the positive-Dale approach and reveled in how wonderful it was go get to choose! After much debate, modeling, and taking votes, we all helped him decide on this great pink gingham camp shirt. Every real man ought to have at least one pink shirt!

We gave Scott a few typical Father's Day kind of things (like razor replacement blades and cologne), but I was pretty excited about his last gift. Earlier in the week he had shown me this ad in a magazine for some "Fly Utah" books he said he'd really like. Well, there was NO way to get them here in time. So . . . I came up with a creative solution. I downloaded pictures of the book covers from online, printed them out on glossy paper, and then taped them over the top of a few books off my bookshelf! When he pulled them out of the bag, he looked pleased, but a little confused. Somehow, of course, the covers looked a little bit strange, and the books weren't the same size he thought they'd be. Once he opened up the first book, he discovered that he was actually holding a copy of the Pocket Guide to Depression Glass. A second look into the other book revealed he actually had an old Royal Doulton china value guidebook. Finally, once the Navigation Chart was fully opened, he had a lovely map of Southern California. Hmmm . . . not quite what he was hoping for. At that point he just said, "Ahh, I get it."

For Alex's birthday, he got a couple of fantabulous Beatles t-shirts, a Beatles hat (he is a Beatles fanatic), a set of 16 Classical Music CD's (and YES, he does love Classical music!), and finally . . . . drum roll please . . . the Henry 22 rifle he's been dreaming of for years. As you can see, he was pretty darned thrilled with this gift. And, as you can also see, Chelsea just did NOT understand what all the fuss was about over a silly gun. He was a sweetheart and made sure to give his Dad (and Mom) a big hug with plenty of thanks. He's darn lucky his dad is such a gun loving fool, or he wouldn't own a single gun. Obviously, mom is just sure that he'll "shoot his eye out."

So You Think You Can DANCE!!!

2008-06-12T18:20:00.011-06:00

Our absolute FAVORITE TV show in the world is "So You Think You Can Dance!" We requested tickets online a couple of weeks ago, and we were so surprised when we got an email notification last Friday that we had tickets for Monday's taping! (Yes, Wednesday night's performance show is taped on the previous Monday). Me, Chelsea, and my sister Allison each got 4 tickets, so we pulled a group of 4 moms and 8 girls together for a spur of the moment trip to LA. The moms were me, Allison, and my friends Brenda Wade and Nancy Hauck. Brenda took three of her girls plus a friend, Nancy took two of her girls, and I took Chelsea and her friend Karly Staples. Allison's daughter India was supposed to go, but got sick the night before.

We had a blast! When we checked in, we managed to get Chelsea, Karly, and Erin Wade chosen for the "VIP" section. They choose just the coolest, hippest kids for that section, because they are the most visible on the cameras! They were thrilled out of their minds. They got to stand up on the railing up above the left side of the stage. Our other, younger girls were placed right on the floor to the right of the stage. And us old moms opted to try for seats in the risers. We got separated, and Nancy and Brenda each got a decent seat. I started out with a decent seat, sitting right next to Courtney Galiano's mother (one of the dancers) until Courtney's best friend arrived late from the airport. Unfortunately, I then got bumped to the standing area on the floor, which was a bit of a bummer, but still TOTALLY FUN.

The luckiest of us moms was Ali! The choreographers all sit on the front row of the risers, with their assistants right behind them. Well, Mandy Moore's assistant (not the singer, but the choreographer), didn't show up, so Ali got placed in HER chair, right behind all the choreographers! She was sitting directly behind choreographers Napolean and Tabitha. She is the person who would MOST hate having to be on tv, so it was just hysterical to watch her try and hide behind Napolean the whole time he was being filmed! Of course, I would have been leaning around and winking at the camera of something...

If you love SYTYCD, keep reading -- otherwise, you'll be bored. But if you love the show, you may find these tidbits to be fun--

We met the moms of both Thayne Jasperson and Matt Dorame and chatted with them for a minute. Thayne is from Mapleton (Springville) Utah, and Matt is originally from Glendale, Arizona but lives in SLC, Utah now. They were super nice, especially Thayne's mom -- she is adorable. I was standing right in front of Ivan from season 2, and Natalie, the best friend of Katee who was the last one to get cut in Vegas when they chose the top 20. Natalie was SO cute, and so supportive of Katee. I heard her tell someone she would probably try out again next year.

Courtney's mom was super cute and nice as well. She is from Long Island, NY, and has a heavy accent. She was a nervous wreck, but so sweet. For the brief time I was sitting next to her, I was also right behind all the other parents, and right in front of Jamie's girlfriend (who also got cut in Vegas.) From previous seasons, we also had Pasha and Anya right by us, as well as Lacey Schwimmer and Donyelle.

Final fun story -- during the commercial breaks there was a guy that was an audience warm-up kind of guy, who tried to keep everyone entertained. At one point, he asked if anyone wanted to sing American Idol style on the stage. Karly and Erin volunteered Chelsea. So she went down and sang "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt for about 30 seconds. Ivan and his friend held up their lighters and were waving them back and forth while everyone laughed and cheered, it was pretty funny! But the cool thing is that Chelsea can now say that she sang for Nigel Lythgoe and all the other SYTYCD judges and choreographers!

The Party Crew!

Front Row: Karly Staples, Amy Hauck, Taylor Wade, Erin Wade

Middle Row: Chelsea Wilson, McKenna Jones, Stephanie Hauck, Ashley Wade

Back Row: Allison Mudliar, Me, Nancy Hauck, Brenda Wade

Girlfriend's Getaway to Lake Las Vegas and Beatles LOVE!

2008-06-09T19:59:00.001-06:00

Billie Rowland, Me, Jackie Darrington, Trisha Mickelson, Brenda Wade & Nancy Hauck.

It's so great to have wonderful friends! The gals from the Dixie High School Class of 1984 (or was it 2004??) haven't gotten together enough since we graduated. We've all been a bit busy getting married, delivering babies, raising kids and now teenagers, working, etc etc.

Even though all of those things are pretty important, we just haven't done enough to have fun TOGETHER. Thanks to Trisha, we finally planned and pulled of a Girls Getaway weekend! Brenda's hubby Ron has a golf membership residence business, and one of their properties is a beautiful 4 bedroom home at Lake Las Vegas. For the cost of cleaning (SO worth it!) we were able to stay for two nights at the Marker's house. The first night we had 7 gals -- me, Billie Rowland, Trisha Mickelson, Brenda Wade, Nancy Hauck, Toni Blake and Dana Moody. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Dana & Toni on here!

We went down on Thursday afternoon, and started out just sitting and chatting for hours. Then we went to dinner at a great Mexican place down by the lake, where they would NOT let me have two different enchiladas. All I wanted was one beef, one chicken. But NO! Mr. waiter dude said that could not be done. I had to have two of a kind. Yeah, right. I did NOT believe him. He was just being lazy. Whatever. ANYWAY, my dear friend Billie was a hero and ordered two chicken, and I ordered two beef. Walah, switch-er-oo, and I have one of each. HA!

We ended up playing Wackee Six back at the house until the wee hours of the morning (2 am-ish), and Trisha just kicked all our hineys after she got the 200 good-attitude-bonus points. Just goes to show what a good attitude can do for ya!

Friday morning, Nancy served us her famous strawberry french toast "al fresco" (I think that means outside on the patio???) Unfortunately, at that point Dana and Toni had to go home, bummer. But Jackie Darrington showed up to fill the gap! We spent a few hours at the pool eating Italian Ices chatting. Then, it was time to get dolled up and HIT THE TOWN!

Off we went to the Mirage Hotel to see "BEATLES LOVE!" The show was quite a trip, kind of like being on drugs, without really being on drugs. But it was beautiful, and so much fun! Check out the fabulous theater -- it was pretty spectacular.

After the show came the big finale -- dinner at the exclusive Members Only "House of Blues Foundation Room" at the top of the Mandalay Bay Hotel! Thanks to a Concierge service that Ron works with, we got reservations to this incredible restaurant, and at that point, we pretty much knew that we were VIP's. And if there was any question about it, we determined that my gargantuous flower necklace practically said "V-I-P." One look at that necklace, and we could probably get in anywhere in Vegas.

Chelsea's Going to Michigan!!!

2008-03-28T17:43:00.003-06:00

After months of stress and agony, Chelsea found out that she has been accepted to the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN's Musical Theatre Program!! We are ALL thrilled out of our minds!

The University of Michigan is one of the top three, most elite Musical Theatre programs in the entire country, and they only take 10 girls and 10 boys each year. This year, they had about 700 apply! It's such a big deal to get accepted that the Dean of Admissions, Laura Strozeski, actually calls each kid personally to let them know they've been accepted. When Chelsea got the call, she was upstairs in her room. She came down the stairs mid-phone call just crying and saying "Thank you SO much" over and over again. When she hung up, she screamed "I got in!" and fell on the floor crying. Once we established that it was indeed Michigan she was talking about, I fell on top of her, and eventually, most everyone else that was home piled on as well. We all just laughed and cried for an hour in shock.

It has been her dream to go to UMich. At this point, I don't know that admissions to any other schools are going to even matter. Her mind is pretty much made up. But, we'll be curious to see where else she gets accepted to! We went out to Texas Roadhouse Grill to celebrate, along with Chelsea's best buddy Trent Cox and her boyfriend Carson Stilson.

Jody marries Rich Holland!

2008-03-26T18:05:00.008-06:00

Earlier this month, on March 6th, my dear friend Jody Lant Stevenett married a wonderful man, Rich Holland! I am so happy for her. They seem to be a perfect match, and this is just what she has deserved for so many years.

I went to SLC and stayed with my other dear friend Kristin Penrose, and we attended the wedding together, along with Kristin's hubby Jeff. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and celebration at Gardner Village.

Jody looked radiant, and so did Kristin. In fact, they both looked so good that I had to crop myself out of the picture below. Sad, but true. I have such beautiful friends!!

Compact Car?? Yeah, right...

2008-03-25T20:21:00.003-06:00

My dear hubby must have a problem with his vision. Or a problem with spatial perception. Or a problem with reality. Whatever his problem is, he somehow determined that his humongous HUMMER was just fine to fit in the COMPACT CAR place at Texas Roadhouse Grill the other night. I'm sure all the other guests really appreciated it as well.

What I plan to rip off from other people's blogs: Item #1 - BAD VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE!

2008-03-21T23:46:00.002-06:00

That title may be a bit harsh, because I don't plan to actually rip anything specifically off of other people's blogs, but my cousin Mindi's blog has inspired me. I just love checking out her "bad YouTube videos of the week."

Now, being a complete YouTube junkie, this idea has tremendous potential. There is a never-ending supply of horrible (ie horribly-funny) stuff on there. However, to balance it all out, I will also be adding in some of my true favorite (good) videos. Of course, many of these will have my fabulous children in them. BUT, I'll try to give everyone equal opportunity to make the blog.

I have just the right one to start off with here. I just have one question, why didn't I try this for the talent competition instead of that stuffy old violin solo??

Meet The Family

2008-03-21T17:49:00.001-06:00

Woohoo! First post is officially up! I feel like I've already accomplished something amazing! Let's be honest here, I REALLY should be doing laundry. Or cleaning. Or playing checkers with Spencer (my almost-10-year-old). But while I'm on a roll, I'd better add some fun stuff. How about pictures? Sure, pictures are FABULOUS!

Let's meet the family. First, my dear hubby Scott! Here we on on our 20th Wedding Anniversary out to dinner at my absolute favorite restaurant of all-time, Texas Roadhouse Grill (there's nothing like having permission to throw peanut shells on the ground in public). But wait, this is supposed to be about him.

Let's add some descriptive words for Scott: Handsome (he just gets better with age - not fair..), aggressive, loud (as in voice, not as in obnoxious -- well, not most of the time at least), smart, determined, capable, handyman extraordinaire, serious, and an amazing dad. Scott is a real estate mogul (well, ok, not really. But he's a mogul in the making!). He drives the most obnoxious teal EXIT Realty Hummer, and it suits him perfectly. And I mean that in only the most loving way. More about him later.

Next, let's meet Chelsea, my future Broadway STAR!!! My firstborn, and my only daughter. She is the most amazing girl on the entire planet. And I'm completely serious about that. Not just saying that because she might read this someday. Really. Anyway, she is a senior in high school, just about to graduate in two more months---yowza!

Chelsea is an unbelievably gifted singer, an amazing actress, and a pretty darn good dancer. In fact, she was just admitted to the University of Michigan to study Musical Theatre for next fall!!!! I'll tell more about that later too, because it's ridiculously huge news. Just a quick fyi for now -- they had about 700 apply to the program, and they took 10 girls and 10 boys -- that's right, my daughter is an ALL STAR! We are just busting buttons, we're so proud of her (or maybe that has something to do with how much I've eaten this week...).

Next up is Alex.

Alex is 15, soon to be 16 in June, and we cannot wait for the day the kid has his own drivers license. I should start a countdown calendar for it, I'm just that excited. Since we are living out of his high school boundaries, he is nowhere near any of his friends. Add to that the fact that he's become bestest buddies with a bunch of girls from as far across town as you can get, and we end up driving him around TOO much. Alex is kind of my clone child. Not that we look exactly alike, but his is pretty much a reincarnate of myself at his age. Main similarities: serious love of loud rock music, never missing an opportunity for a social gathering, has a posse of friends (affectionately called Alex and his pack of wolves), and some fabulous ADD/OCD tendencies. Plus, he's a long, lean string bean. Just like . . . uh . . .I USED to be. He's a fabulous kid and I just adore him. Most of the time.

Coming in third is Nathan! Nate is a new teenager, having just turned the big 1-3. He'll do anything to avoid having attention brought to him (completely UNLIKE his three other siblings). He is totally Scott's child in this regard. As confident as Scott is, the thought of having to ever do karaoke is enough to have him hide in a bathroom somewhere. Anyway, as usual, I digress. Nathan is the strong silent type. Unless it has anything to do with his little brother, Spencer. In that case, he's the big bully type. Gotta love the kid, but he definitely seems to feel the need to be in charge of at least ONE other person in this family. And seemingly, no one on the entire earth is capable of irritating Nathan quite like Spencer. (Probably because Spencer is the loud, constant-talking kind).

However, Nathan is a fantastic kid who is smart, always brings home straight A's, and almost always does what he's told without having to be reminded a hundred times. What a concept! He's turning out to be a very good violinist, although he has adamantly denied any enjoyment of being in the school orchestra. However, he's been complaining less lately, and quite frankly, we think it might have something to do with the abundance of cute girls in orchestra. He also is a great piano player.

And rounding out the team is Spencer! Spencer is a wonderful child with absolutely NO filter between his brain and his mouth. Whatever is going on upstairs is guaranteed to come out the pie-hole. So, that makes life here full of . . . noise. And FUN! As mentioned before, he drives his brothers absolutely batty, but I tend to do a pretty good job just tuning a lot of it out. But just look at that kid, I could just eat him up! He's so adorable. Totally loving, and always willing to share. (Unlike his brother Nathan, for whom sharing is against his personal ethical creed). Spencer is the most like Chelsea -- he loves to sing (at the top of his lungs, and without fear), and I can totally see him being a performer as well. As I type, he is enthralled with watching the Sound of Music on TV. Oh my.

An intro to the fam wouldn't be complete without presenting Marco, our adorable dog! He's a Cavachon, which is a mix between two purebred dogs, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (his father) and a Bichon Frise (his mother). The result is the most perfect family dog on the planet. He doesn't shed, almost NEVER barks, he's hypoallergenic (just like a good shampoo), and he's cuter than anybody else's dog. We love him to death. We got him two years ago from a breeder in Ohio, Century Farms Puppies. HEY! That gives me the greatest idea! I think I can put LINKS in here!!! Oh my goodness, let's try this out. Let's try and put in a link to his breeder's website. http://www.pets4you.com/pages/centuryfarm.html

Holy cow! I think it worked!! The breeders at Century Farms are Rex and Deb Myers, and they were absolutely wonderful to work with. One of our friends loved Marco so much that they ended up getting a cavachon from Century Farms as well. Marco came all the way from Ohio on an airplane, and flew right into St. George on Skywest. He even flew first class (first class cargo that is).

OK, unless I'm forgetting someone, I believe that's all of us! I can't wait to try some more fun blogging tricks next time!

2008-03-21T17:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've wanted to do this for-absolutely-EVER, and I'm finally taking the plunge into Bloggingdom. I don't have a clue what I'm doing, or what this is going to turn out to be. But, at this point, I'm trying to overcome my tendency to over-analyze and over-plan. I am really good at "getting ready to get started." So HAH! There, I'm started!

I absolutely LOVE the internet, more than I should. I have an uncontrollable amount of curiosity in my brain, and the internet is the end-all in information. When (IF) I actually ever finish doing something online and my brain has a momentary lapse, I just think to myself, "Hmmm... what do I want to find out about next?" Ok, that sounds completely stupid. Oh well. NO RULES -- just right! (OUTBACK!! Gee, I must be hungry.) Back to the no rules rule -- I am going to resist the temptation to fix my stupid thoughts after I type whatever flows out of my brain. Stupid thoughts are officially allowed on my Blog Adventure.

So, as I was saying. I love the internet. And I have always wanted a place to electronically store my thoughts, pictures, random events, etc. A journal just doesn't do it for me. Far too one-dimensional. So, I'm thinking that a blog combines my love of the internet, photos, random thoughts, and the ability to share all this uselessness with anyone I want. So, welcome to my world! The Blog Adventure begins!