Looking back on '08, even if I'm a little late

I realize I have blog ADD. I jump around in time and don't really stay relevant or current. But I'm the same way in real life. I start paying some bills, I get up to go get some stamps, and all of a sudden I'm sorting through coupons by the stamps. Next thing you know, I'm writing a shopping list, when I check to see if I'm out of flour. Ooh, I see brownie mix--I'm now making brownies. I get tired of standing and so I go watch Jon and Kate while I fold some laundry. The glare from the playroom light bugs me so I go to turn it off. The toys in the playroom irk me so I start cleaning them up. I find that Lego piece Ethan was looking for so I take it up to his room, where I find my cell phone I left in there earlier while putting clothes away. I see missed calls and so I return them. See where this is going? Sometimes I work all day without ever completing one whole task. Total ADD.

That said, I have stuff I really want to write down. And so I continue to blog in my own peculiar way. Now, because it seems appropriate for this time of year, and because I, once again, managed to keep up my streak of not sending out Christmas cards, I give you my 2008 highlights!

Family Stuff:


The twins started walking and sort of talking this year and broke records for cuteness and screaming louder than any known persons on the planet. They love shoes, clothes, babies, jumping in their cribs, "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree," fighting with each other, and eating. Their favorite TV show is the Wiggles.

Lucy

Lane

Ethan continued his devotion for all things Star Wars and discovered a passion for Indiana Jones and Legos, and won the "Best Friend" award at pre-school. He spent the summer living outside in the park pretty much and then began Kindergarten in the fall. He recently lost his first tooth after using it to tear Legos off of creations instead of his fingers. He continues to be his mother's living, breathing Id. His favorite TV show is The Suite Life of Zak and Cody, so he says, but his mom refuses to let him watch it so she makes him watch the Wiggles with the girls.


Mila discovered her inner tomboy this year as she developed an affinity for Pokemon, Legos, and Club Penguin. But she still loves American Girl so she's "girly-girl" enough. She spends her recesses with her male friends wearing out holes in her jeans because she is "Evee and Evee goes on all fours." She loves school and drama and is quite the little actress. She got baptized in August and it was a happy day. She continues to be her mother's living, breathing Superego. Her favorite TV shows are Ace of Cakes and How It's Made.



Ben has been at school every single day this whole year. Not really, but it sure feels like it. He did spend a month in Bucharest, Romania, and a week backpacking with his brothers in California and a weekend in St. George golfing, and took a couple trips to New York to get wined and dined so don't feel too bad for him. He got a job for next summer with a firm in Manhattan, so I guess he's doing good at that school of his, where they call him by his last name only. Ben also started biking this fall, and by biking, I mean he rode his bike to school about three times. BUT he's going to ride it tons more in 2009, I'm sure. Ben's favorite TV shows are The Office, 30 Rock, Psych, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica and Iron Chef.



As for me, you know what I've been doing this year: mom stuff, wife stuff, church stuff and friend stuff. And I went back to being a redhead. My favorite stuff to eat right now: the white pizza from Pizzeria 712 (had it last night), Bangkok Grill Thai food, Red Mango frozen yogurt, panini sandwiches (try one with Nutella and sliced bananas-trust me!) I think my favorite movie of last year was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I say that because I saw it last night and I was trying so hard not to bawl out loud that it hurt me inside. So bring Kleenex. My favorite TV shows are Mad Men, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, The Office, Lost, Pushing Daisies, SYTYCD, Project Runway, The Amazing Race, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Jon and Kate, and I think and hope that's it.


**Family pictures taken by Travis Deming


Performances of 2008:

There were many Thrillionaires shows last year. My favorite moments included the musical portion of the Kirby Heyborne show, the Shakespeare play in the Orlando Seale show (our best to date), the uniqueness of the Laura Bedore show, and the fun had by all at the Alex Boye show. I also loved performing on the outdoor stage up at Sundance, where I was once given the secret from an audience member that I was, in fact, a man. Don't worry, it all worked out, and I got to cradle carry Maclain in the end. I will also remember the 80's show in September, which was seamless from start to finish. Then there was that Christmas show with a ridiculously small audience, but Lisa and I giggled all the way through and I loved every minute of it.





In April, I was asked to play Becca in a performance of Rabbit Hole at UVU. I had to warm up my dramatic chops but it was nice to know that they were still in there somewhere. Performing this well-written piece with Chris, Jenny, Chris, and Laura was truly awesome and challenging and I was grateful for the chance. I loved watching Chris C. and Jenny's scene, and my favorite scene in the play was the "lemon bars" scene I had with Chris B.



The summer brought Little Women. It was the first time I had done a musical in nine years. It was also the first time I was a thirty-one year old playing seventeen. It was great to be able to sing so much again and I had a blast finding the "Jo" in me. Once again, I was able to work with close friends and met many new ones.




Jet-Setting:

In 2008, I travelled to Romania and Paris, and found within me the burning desire to travel to many other places. I adored Paris, but I don't think that is a secret. I also got to go on a last-minute trip to Manhattan and found it to be lovely and thrilling. Again, something about staying in Times Square overlooking the TKTS booth brought forth this yearning in me to see every single play that was in that town. I am so going back. Especially since I will most likely be living there. We took family trips to Eden, Utah, Arizona and California and loved being with cousins and grandparents. Our families are amazing and so are our friends and we are truly lucky.




Other highlights of 2008:

Many nights at Lisa's, eating popcorn with M&Ms while we watched our stories, theater dates with Jenny, highly anticipated visits from Mimi (my mom), birthdays and holidays with Rachel and Co., Jake and Matt got married (not to each other), beautiful girls Margaret and Ella were born, all of our parents came to town for Mila's baptism, Brett and Amelia's sealing, the Clark family miracle, Thanksgiving with Dad and Janine and Michelle and Jacqui and families, and partying in AZ for Christmas with Ben's awesome (loud) family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Funny Friends

I am not going to lie, I have some funny people in my life. You must read what my friend Eric wrote here. Whether you are a fan or not, you have to admit it's pretty hilarious.

My lovely New Yorker friend Ryan made this gem:



I love my friends.

Paris is le bomb.com (Day 1)

I never wrote about my trip to Paris. And you probably thought that I didn't write about it because I hated it so much. But that is simply ridicule. Because I loved that dang place. And so I AM going to write about it, and it's going to be detailed so consider yourself warned.

On Monday, June 30, in the wee dark Romanian hours, Ben and I hopped on a flight to Paris. As sad as I was to leave Romania... Scratch that, Romania is a strange place, and three days in Bucharest was enough time for me to discover that I was going to starve to death there. Bring on the French!

When we got to Charles de Gaulle airport, I carefully rehearsed in my mind everything I was going to say to the cab driver. I really hoped that he wasn't going to ask me any questions because I knew I could speak French, but I just wasn't so sure I could understand real French people. However, when I told our driver the address for our hotel, he didn't look confused at all. He simply nodded and we were on our way. Our hotel was located on a side street that was off one of the "bicycle spokes" of the Arc de Triomphe. It didn't really sink in that we were actually in Paris until we first came upon the Arc. I could hardly believe it. We went inside our hotel and I geared myself up for more French. Turns out, everyone in the hotel and restaurant business in Paris speaks English. It makes tourist life easier, I suppose, but I could never figure out how they knew we were Yanks before we even opened our mouths. Ben and I spent much of the week trying to be as French as possible, short of smoking, as to fool somebody, anybody, into mistaking us for bonafide Parisians. I guess we lacked that certain je ne sais quoi, however, because they got us every time!

After dropping off our luggage, we headed out to find food, which is like the easiest thing to do in Paris EVER! There are cafes every ten steps you go, so it is basically my kind of town. We walked down to the end of the block and decided on Cafe Kleber. I ordered a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, with chocolate mousse for dessert. Ben ordered something with some awesome au gratin potatoes. It was all divine. I loved sitting out there in the afternoon sun, observing all of the beautiful French people. There are many. There are also many not beautiful ones, and they are the Americans. Just kidding. Sort of.

Following lunch, we crossed the street to the Trocadero. We walked out into the middle of the square and BAM! There it was. One of the top ten sights that will be permanently etched in my brain if I suddenly go blind. La Tour Eiffel. Oh my goodness, it is so stunning in real life, I cannot even begin to explain it. I fell fast, I fell hard. It was A-mazing.

After standing in awe for a few minutes, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit. Paris was much like Romania in that you walk your little feet off. Maybe that is why Bucharest is called "Paris of the East," because I'm hard-pressed to find many other comparisons. Does it sound like I'm dissing Romania? I guess I sort of am, but I feel bad now because I really did love going to Romania, as crazy an experience as it was. Maybe I'll just say it's the difference between Wal-Mart and Target and leave it at that.

Nap-time was followed by walking back to L'Arc de Triomphe. We climbed up to the top and admired the Paris cityscape from every angle. I was beyond happy. Maybe you don't know that I studied French from ages 12-22 and had about four blissful semesters of French History and Culture at BYU. I don't remember everything, of course, but I was finally in the place I had been dying to see for the past twenty years. So awesome.

You really should make this one big so you can see my crazy facial expression.

We descended the Arc and headed up the Champs-Elysees. It was cool, but not really my favorite part of the whole trip. There were lots of stores and stuff, but I wasn't really that interested in shopping in Paris. Because what would be the point in paying three times as much for a shirt in Paris that I could get in the States? Call me crazy, but I was there for the food, the sights, and the history. We walked the entire length of the Champs and then turned towards the Pont Alexandre III. Along the way, we passed building after beautiful building. We crossed the bridge and headed back the way we came. We passed the tunnel where Diana was killed and then I'm not sure what happened after that. Dang. I knew I should have written this sooner.






At any rate, we made it back to the hotel to change for dinner. Ben had researched all of the restaurants he wanted to eat at months before, and he'd made reservations at some of them. Ben is an even bigger foodie than me, if you can believe it. But the difference between us is that he likes super fancy food and I eat anything that tastes good. As we were leaving our hotel to walk to the restaurant, I noticed for the first time that we had a view of the Tour herself, right from our bedroom window, in fact. I was giddy.


That night, we ate at a restaurant called Chez Georges. If you want to know the story behind it or why it is so awesome, you will have to ask Ben because sometimes I zone out when he talks about that stuff. It's only fair. Do you think he really listens to me when I talk theater? I doubt it.

The important thing about this particular dinner is that I really embarrassed myself. I ordered prime rib in French and felt pretty awesome until I got a bowl of curly rubbery things, which Ben guessed was maybe beef fat. Sick. I tasted it and said, "I believe this is calamari." Which it was. It turns out that the word for prime rib, entrecote, is very similar to the word for calamari, which is entre-something. So, basically, it wasn't my bad French, but the waiter's mistake because he very clearly saw what I was pointing at on the menu while I was so "confidently" ordering in French. He must have scribbled "entre" on his pad (I can understand, I was a waitress, after all. Chx, anyone?) and then didn't realize his mistake. And if he DID realize his mistake, he probably wondered why in the world the blond bimbo in the polka dots was mistaking calamari for beef. What kind of moron does that? Well, maybe the kind who is terribly non-controversial in her own country, and therefore to the umpteenth degree in a foreign one, that's who! I just could not bring myself to send it back. And so I sat there and chewed my squid. And that's how my first restaurant dining experience in Paris turned into a total bust. You can laugh at me--lesson learned.

Later that night, I opened the doors to the balcony of our room so I could see the pretty tower. It just so happened it was sparkling all over at that moment. A magical ending to a magical day. Except for the squid part. Gross.

Obsessed Much?

I deleted my last post per request of someone close to me, but if you want to talk about it any more, feel free to e-mail or FB me.

The other morning, when I was in the shower and thinking of random things as I often do, I thought about how I might answer the question: "What do you obsess over?"

I know what I would NOT say. Not exercise. Not cleaning. Not scrap-booking. Not crafting. Not sports. Not pets. Not money, really. Not sleep (shut up, Ben, I am much better now.) Not my husband. That last one sounds bad, but while I like my husband a whole lot, I am not obsessed with him (don't even tell me you don't know at least one woman who stalks her own husband, because they are totally out there.)

I would have to say I do obsess over the following:

1) My kids. I am around them all the time and they rock my Cheerio-scattered, diaper-infested, laundry-covered, papers-piled everywhere world. They are my full-time with double over-time job. They drive me crazy and I drive them crazy. I want them to grow to be respectful, honest, sympathetic people and so they would probably say things like "I have the meanest mom in the neighborhood," but I take that as a compliment, thank you very much.

2) Food. As I write this, my mouth is watering over the medium-sized pomegranate and original swirled frozen yogurt topped with strawberries and mangoes I had this morning. I have been known to call Rachel and say things like, "I love ham so much I want to marry it."All my best friends share my obsession with food (including my husband,) and I don't think I could be in better company. Funny thing is, I'm not so much a cook. But my husband is. So life is good.

3) TV/Tivo. I think about my stories while I'm doing dishes. Knowing that I have TV night at a friend's house to look forward to at the end of the day is sometimes all I need to pull through. My favorite thing to do with Ben is sit on either end of the couch on Thursday nights under a blanket to watch Pam and Jim and Jack and Liz. What could be better? I will occasionally read crazy TV gossip websites and some of my friends started a TV blog, which makes me oh so happy. Once again, I have actually acquired friendships through conversations about TV. If you don't believe me, ask my friend Jenny about the first time we met and she'll tell you we talked about a certain lad named Blake who could do a certain straightleg-kick-somersault on a certain summer dance competition show. Or talk to Annette, whose porch I stood and chatted on during the glory days of Alias. The writers' strike was a dark time for some of us. We'd call each other and discuss the weather, of all things. And why did they have to do it during the winter, of all times?

4)Target. Red and white until I die. I am so happy there, and I make my kids be happy there, too, with suckers! And if they're not happy, I ignore them and get carried away into a lovely land of cute, cheap clothes and awesome shoes and must-have holiday decorations. I have not gone into a Wal-Mart in months, and I don't plan on returning any time soon. I am nothing if not loyal. Plus, Wal-Mart really bites and I cry with my kids there.

Your turn...

October Recap

Since October is long over and I am slowly coming out of a sugar-induced coma, what better time to post pictures of last month's festivities?

Not really Halloween-related, but here is a cool picture of Andrew, Mila, Emma, and Ethan up at Snowbird

Lane, enjoying the fall leaves

Because I'm such an awesome mom, I drove my kids all the way to Hee-Haw Farms on a day they were out of school. Because I thought I was so awesome, I was punished by the Halloween gods because Hee-Haw Farms was closed that day...

We DID make it to Cornbelly's however--I love this pic of Lucy on the train

Halloween night--my little "Laney-bug"

And then there's, um, a "Lucyfly?" Maybe not. She was a butterfly, OK?

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, pictured here with an invisible light saber (also with his Jedi pants falling down, but whatever)

Ms. Mila as a sassy black cat

Lucy caught on to the trick-or-treating racket pretty fast--here she is, counting the spoils

Hello, November!

We're a little giddy over here--how are things in your neck of the woods?

P.S. Taking two babies trick-or-treating seemed like an awesome way to beat the system and get twice as much candy for me (I showed you, suckas!) But now that Halloween's over and I still have shloads of candy to consume, my body has to keep reminding my brain that I'm no longer five.

This just in

For Family Night tonight, Ben was at school and Mila taught the lesson. She quoted something from the Proclamation on the Family, and so I took the opportunity to touch on the part of that document that pertains to marriage. After I explained a little bit about the importance of children having both a mother and a father, Mila said,

"Yes, also because the mother has to have the baby and the father is necessary because he has to fertilize the egg."

"Um, where did you learn that?"

"Well, I watched this Magic School Bus episode about chickens once and so I just assumed it was the same with humans. That was my hypothesis, anyway."

I swear to you, I do not make this stuff up. It looks like we will be having that "talk" sooner rather than later. At least half the work has already been done for me. Oy vay, chickens? Magic School Bus? Really?

Good stuff

I'm kind of a strict mom, I guess. In our house, the "f" word is "fat," the "s" word is "stupid," and the "d" word is "dumb." It makes reading Junie B. Jones books out loud a real challenge (I just act as a human ClearPlay.) We also have a ban on "real" swear words, even though Ben and I get busted for "crap" like every day. But sometimes, you have to express yourself about something (believe me, I know) and so I have to give my kids points for creativity. Ethan's expletive of choice is "Oh, Peanuts!" It's cute, but sometimes I cringe when he says it in public because I know what he's saying, but you know?

Mila's expression of choice? "Oh, Snap!"

So, I couldn't resist this $5 find at Old Navy today:


I may have also purchased these slippers, but are you kidding me? I'll wear these bad boys all day long all winter long (I'm wearing them right now):

After going to Old Navy, Ethan and I got Red Mango because we love it--it is our "hot date" locale of choice! (Did anyone else have "hot dates" with their parents growing up? What the? Why did we call it that? Mom? I don't call it that with my kids, btw, I only did here. Crazy non-politically correct 1980's...) Anyway, Ethan gets original with strawberries and I get whatever, as long as it's medium and has mangoes! Sometimes we share with the twins, and sometimes we don't. Depends on our mood and how hungry we are. (He chooses it over getting a Happy Meal--the kid is so 2008.)

I also watched this just now and it made my day. Talk about cheap thrills! Ben is going to love it, especially when it shows the black and white footage of the lady not being able to use her phone AND a blanket! Oh, the horror! I think they all look like a crazy cult or Masons group. So awesome. Thanks for posting it, Jenny, my dear!

Finally, The Book Thief is being made into a movie, of course--total no-brainer. On imdb.com, it says 2010, but gives no other info. Who do you think should be cast?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put on my Snuggie so I can watch The Amazing Race and eat Halloween candy! (Only one of those things was a lie.)

This Morning

7:20: I open my eyes and look at the alarm clock. I think, "Got to get up and get ready for church..."

7:45: I open my eyes again. "Oh no, we have to leave in one hour--we'll never make it..."

7:56: I get out of bed and walk to Mila's room. She is awake already, reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I sit on her bed.

Mila: It's 8:57, Mom.

Me: Huh? (I look at her clock. It says 8:57.)

Mila: It's Daylight Savings.

Me: Ohhhh, but you're supposed to move your clock an hour backward not forward, which makes it...6:57! Later!

6:57: I run back to my room. Ben has turned on the light and is heading towards the bathroom. I turn off the light.

Ben: What are you doing?

Me: I forgot it was Daylight Savings! We can go back to bed!

6:58: We both jump back in bed. I can hear the girls in the room next to us begin to stir, then talk, then jump up and down in their cribs. But I don't even go in there for another 10 minutes.

8:50: We arrive at church ten minutes early. Yes! It's about time Daylight Savings showed me some love.

Mila's Musings on a Brisk Fall Walk

"You know what? Money can't buy happiness."

A pause. Then,

"But Nature can."

Speaking of obsessions...

The girls have begun exhibiting some disturbing behavior that I like to refer to as "All-Out Mama Brawling." Basically, they both charge me and fight over which one gets to be picked up, if I'm standing up, or, if I'm sitting down, it's who can get closest to my face. In their effort to accomplish these aforementioned goals, they bust out their best pinching, hitting, pushing, and eventually biting moves to knock the other girl out of competition. I am totally caught in the middle and it's like breaking up a dog fight, meaning that I usually suffer some casualties in the process. If I stand up and walk away, they both run after me screaming, trying to get closest to my legs. They do this no less than 15 times a day. Even now, I'm hurriedly typing this because the Wiggles caught their attention long enough for me to make an escape. I suppose I should be somewhat flattered--I haven't had two people fight over me so passionately since high school, and even then, I never saw those boys pinch or bite each other once (at least not in my presence.)

So, what am I supposed to do about this? I already broke down the cage, er, playpen, and asking them to "use words" to achieve world peace is futile, since they only have like three words and they are "mama," "mine," and "no," all clearly unhelpful in this situation. I have heard from other moms of twins who have gone before me one of two things: 1)The first twelve months are the hardest, or 2) No way, 12-18 months is the hardest. I'd like to go on the record by saying that they are all wrong, and they must have sedated themselves or sent their twins to boarding school when they hit 22 months because dang!

Lane just brought me my empty wallet. Awesome. (Note: on some occasions, "awesome" is my favorite word to drip with sarcasm.) Ack! Lucy is giving me the evil eye--gotta run!

Oh, October, how I love you...

I wanted to have a picture of them together so I could say "Happy October!"

But try as I might, I could not get both their faces in a picture at the same time!

This particular October has been incredibly busy and doesn't really show signs of slowing down. To start out the month, Ben's youngest brother, Davey, came to stay with us over Conference Weekend. Lucy and Laney called him "Baby," which was cute because that is what his family used to call him as he is, well, the baby. We watched Conference and accused each other of snoozing through talks even though there were some where we all were. What? It's like the best nap time EVER. We also had a rousing game of Monopoly and I kicked everyone's trash. Ben has been seeking revenge ever since.

This is the only picture I took of Davey while he was here--sorry, bro!

After Davey left, we packed up and went to California for Ben's fall break. We went to Disneyland last Thursday and we were totally hardcore. We subscribed to RideMax before we went, and it was right on! The park was crowded (darn you, fall break!) and yet we went on 15 rides or something. Crazy success! We also found out about this beautiful thing called a Ride Switch Pass. Why has no one ever told me about these before? If you have small children with you who can't ride the roller coaster type rides, you ask for a switch pass before you get on the ride, then you give the pass to whoever was watching the kids during the ride and they get to go right on in the fastpass line. GENIUS! Thank you, strangers in front of us who overheard Ben and I arguing about who was going on Indiana and who was sitting out for Space! It also worked out well for Mila, our roller coaster addict who got to ride nearly every one twice. Might I also recommend Jedi Training? My kids didn't get "picked" (major junior high flashbacks) but the Jedi Master was hilarious and my kids had fun anyway. (If you do not have a child in your house who talks about Star Wars 13 hours a day, this might bore you incredibly.)

Ethan, Lucy, I believe, and Ben on Dumbo

Mila, Lucy and I on "Pirates"

It's not ALWAYS the happiest place on earth (and don't you worry, people LOVE to say that loudly when they hear screaming children, trust me...)

The second day of our California trip, Ben golfed and I went to Target. Don't be too jealous about my crazy vacation plans! But Target actually turned out to be quite an adventure because the twins began screaming and hitting and biting in their stroller. They didn't have shoes on (they always take them off in the car) so I couldn't let either of them out and I couldn't just walk out like you're supposed to because I needed to get like two things. So I decided to pretend like I was by myself. I calmly headed towards the snack aisles, unfortunately located on the other side of the store. I knew I wasn't in Utah anymore when everyone actually stopped what they were doing to watch us pass by. I can only imagine what was going through their minds: "What is that piercing noise? Oh look, it's that red stroller! There are two of them screaming!! Oh, good heavens, there are TWO more trailing behind?! And their poor mother/nanny is deaf--she seems to not hear them!!!" But I ask you, what other option did I have? I really needed those two items! We made it to the snack aisle where I promptly tore open a box of Cheezits and bought myself enough time to check out and get the h out of there.

To reward myself for my sufferings we went straight to 21 Choices, where I told the girl working there, "Yeah, I'm going to need to taste Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Three Musketeers Bar AND Strawberry Guava." If you haven't already heard, 21 Choices is pretty much the best frozen yogurt place in the world and no one else comes close. I decided to go with half Three Musketeers Bar and half Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with cookie dough mixed in. When my step mom got home later, she informed me that there was actually a new 21 Choices store in the Village as well. Guess where we went for dessert? This time it was Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Heath Bar mixed in. I know. You might call it excessive. I like to call it obsessive. If I would have ever gotten around to telling you about my other two days in NYC, you would have discovered that I walked to two different Pinkberrys in Manhattan on the same day. I also went to three different H & Ms, but in my defense, their layouts were totally different!

Lane and I at my dad's house (yes, I have a different color hair now)

Back to California. On Saturday, I got to see my awesome friends from high school and their cutest babies and new houses and all that fun stuff. Saturday night, I went to see The Duchess with my step mom and her friend. My friend compared Keira Knightley to a praying mantis, and now that's all I see. I mean, are we really supposed to believe that, over the course of the movie, she has given birth to like eight children? Afterward, we ate dinner at Le Pain Quotidien and had vegan split pea soup, a tartine topped with goat cheese and Bartlett pear, and a cup of steaming hot milk that we poured little pots of chocolate into. In between bites of goat cheese tartine, I actually tried to get my step mom to go with me to Paris that minute (she used to live there, after all.)

When we came home to our house in Utah, it was 52 degrees inside. Apparently, the seasons changed from summer to fall to winter, all while we were gone! I should mention that I also finally finished The Book Thief on our trip. This book should come with a warning: "You will be reduced to a puddle of sobs." That's what happened to me, anyway. I haven't reacted that way to a book in a long time. I actually need to stop talking about it right now...


Two days ago, for UEA, we packed up the kids and headed up to my grandparents' condo at Snowbird Ski Resort. We hiked and fed birds and hung out with "Papa GG,"and all in all it was a wonderful escape from the daily grind.

P.S. My daily grind is nutso! Do you want to know how much household damage two damage-minded 22 month-olds can inflict on a house within two hours? I didn't think so. I'm not going to survive the winter. Can I come over?

The Thrillionaires Halloween Show with Guest Alex Boye

Here's what you MUST see this weekend:

The Thrillionaires’ October 18 performance will feature special guest artist and musician, Alex Boyé. After winning a singing competition in 1996, Boye gained success singing in an internationally acclaimed group called “Awesome.” Since then, Boye’s voice has accompanied superstars such as the Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC, Mary J. Blige and George Michael. Local audiences may remember him for his roles in “Smokey Joe's Cafe," "Big River," "The Civil War," and the film “David and Goliath."

Buy your tickets online for only $7 at www.coveycenter.org! It's sure to be a spooky good time!