Wouldn't it be Awful if...

Wouldn't it be awful if Aunt Flo were visiting and she made a mess of your favorite pants while en route to your family vacation destination? And then you had to change your clothes in a nasty gas station bathroom? Of course, this didn't really happen... I'm just sayin'.

Wouldn't it be awful if your 3 year old son pooped his pants at your favorite theme park and you didn't have a change of underwear with you? And then you had to clean him up in the bathroom with muddy floors from all the park goers that have ridden The Water Ride of Death? And you had to throw away his brand new Spiderman underwear? And you had to put on one of his sister's size 4 diapers that didn't really fit because even though he's three he's the size of a 6 year old? Of course, this didn't really happen... I'm just sayin'.

Wouldn't it be awful if your 3 year old son pooped his pants again the next day at your favorite theme park and you didn't have a change of underwear with you? And then you had to clean him up in the bathroom with muddy floors from all the park goers that have ridden The Water Ride of Death? And wouldn't it be even more awful if when you took his shorts off you notice that the mess is ALL over his legs, shorts, socks, and shoes? And you had to throw away his OTHER brand new pair of Spiderman underwear along with his socks? And you had to clean out his shorts in the toilet because you've done cloth diapers before and you know that the toilet actually gets cleaned regularly and it's probably not gonna kill him to wear soaking wet shorts that have been cleaned out in the toilet? And then you have to try to clean off his shoes with diapers wipes and dig the poop out of the bottom tread? And then you try not to break into tears once you're reunited with your family and they are wondering what the heck happened to you? Of course, this didn't really happen... I'm just sayin'.

Flashback Friday

For today's Flashback Friday I've chosen this picture:

This was taken in the fall of 1999. Geoff and I had just graduated from OSU, Aspen was just born and we had spent the summer living with my dad while Geoff worked for him in the surveying field. When the summer ended we moved to Hastings, MI where Geoff grew up. We actually lived in his parents house while they were in Arizona taking care of Geoff's grandparents. We wanted to take some family photos so we went to a local park and set up the tripod and used the self timer on the camera and snapped a ton of pictures! This is one of them. We took a picture by this pole only because someone had previously carved a heart in it with these words "Jeff + Steph Forever" Cute, huh?! Here are some more photos from that photo shoot:

Comic Relief

This is on the marquee at our local Taco Mayo:

Memorial Day Weekend

In the past we have spent some really great Memorial Day weekends with our friends The Capeners and The Dahles. I'll have to post some pics and video from some of those visits later. But this year we're just too far apart! ::sniff sniff::

We originally planned on sticking around here and getting a couple of projects done but at the last minute on Friday decided "What the heck! Let's go to Branson!!" When we were there in December we bought season tickets to Silver Dollar City and haven't had a chance to use them yet this year. So we loaded up Saturday morning and headed that way! We actually drove through my dad's hometown on our way there and picked up my sister Terra and one of her daughters (Emma) and they came along for the fun! Man did we ever create some memories this weekend! We got there Saturday afternoon and stayed that night. We were going to head to my dad's after spending a few hours at SDC on Sunday but we were having such a great time that we stayed again Sunday night! Terra's husband, Jeff, drove up Sunday night and we all went back to SDC on Monday! Now, it may seem like we went a little overboard but not one complaint was heard from our kiddos and it fed a need that my sister and I had for reliving our childhood memories! We all had a fabulous time!

Here are some fabulous photos of the wonderful occasion!

I must report that Terra and I are suckers for roller coasters! Our husbands... not so much. The 'Tea Cups' and the 'Balloon Ride' held a certain fascination and excitement for the kiddos (and I guess for Geoff and Jeff, too) but we wanted to do some 'big kid' rides too! On the last day that we went we were able to finally go on a couple of 'high thrill' rides. Our conversation as we approached Wildfire (really big roller coaster) went something like this...

Me: "This is gonna be so fun!"

Terra: "I'm so excited! I can't wait!"

Me: "Finally, we get to do the fun rides!"

Terra: "Yeah! I love roller coasters!"

(We're getting a lot closer and we hear people screaming...)

Me: "What are we doing? I don't think that I want to do this!"

Terra: "What!? Come on, it'll be fun!"

Me: "I don't think I can do this! I gotta pee! I'm gonna wet my pants!"

Terra: "You're kidding, right?"

Me: "Uh, yeah. Just kidding... let's do this!"

(We get there and there is absolutely NO line! No time to rethink it. Only time to get on and panic inside! Then, we're off!)

Me: "HOOOLLLYYY CRRRAAAPPP!!!!!!"

Terra: (laughing hysterically!)

Me: "OOHH MYYY GOOSSHH! WEEE'RREE GOONNNNAAAA DIIIEEE!!!"

Then it was all over in like 15 seconds! I am happy to report that I did not wet my pants!

Me: "OH MY GOSH I THINK I'M HYPERVENTILATING!" (BREATHING HEAVY)

Terra: (looking at me with great concern)"ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU REALLY HYPERVENTILATING?"

Me: "No."

Terra: "Oh my gosh. I thought you were serious!"

We got off The Ride of Death and walked over to the booth set up with all the snapshots of our faces during the ride. This was ours:

HEELARIOUS! The guy in the foreground had obviously ridden this ride many times and knew exactly where the cameras were!

Me: "We GOTTA do that again!"

Terra: "Absolutely!"

Instead of going on Wildfire again (because we're all talk) we thought we would try our hand at something even scarier! The Giant Barn Yard Swing! I must admit that I was even more scared with this one! I think it had something to do with the fact that on the roller coaster there was no time to think about possible death! On The Giant Swing, however, it slowly gets you going and you have plenty of time to think about how painful your death would be falling from that thing!!!

Ironically enough, my sister DID NOT want to go on this one! I had to talk her into it! We sat and watched a round of it and I took this short video (toward the end of the ride):

Notice at the end you can hear me say: "That's not bad." Believe me, folks, it WAS bad! I kept saying "YOU CAN STOP NOW!!"

So, that was our trip to Silver Dollar City! We have done some of the shows in the past (The Dixie Stampede is really fun!) but they are so expensive and with season passes to the park we can go as many times as we want with very little expense! Christmas time is really magical there! We'll be back!!!

More Movies

Friday night my friend Jennifer invited me over to watch an old movie from her vast collection! This is what we chose: If a Man Answers. I highly recommend it! I thought it was super cute!

Then today Shelley mentioned that she really liked 'The Man Who Knew Too Little' so I've added it to my list! This morning I watched 'An Affair to Remember' and the kiddos and I started 'Oklahoma!' this afternoon! Good stuff I tell ya!

FYI, I have added a 'Just Watched' section to the sidebar. You can click on the picture and it will take you to IMDB where you can read about the movie and check out user reviews!

Long Weekend!

We're back from a long weekend in Missouri! I can't wait to update the blog! Lots of good stories to share!

Flashback Friday

I came across a blog that does a 'Flashback Friday'. Every Friday she posts about something in her past. I thought this was a great idea because I have some really good stories from my past that are just itching to make it on my blog! So this will be a great platform for them!!

I chose the following photo only because it is the oldest photo on my hard drive. I scanned it sometime back for one reason or another. It's a photo of me and my friend Warren Mueller.

I met Warren right after I joined the Church in '92. He was a missionary. We became friends and when I moved out to Utah I spent a lot of time with him and his family. They were avid skiers but I really never had the time or opportunity to go with them (not to mention - I don't ski). So, the last weekend of the season Warren dragged me up to Alta Ski Area (I only had like 45 minutes free) and we did a couple of rounds on the 'training ropes'. I never actually made it to the slopes! But as you can see from the photo - we had a great time!!

Missed One!

I forgot to add these photos to the previous post.

I tried to take some photos of Andyn next to Shelley's really pretty flowers but Andyn wouldn't really cooperate. This was the only descent one! So pretty!

Just Call Me Alice

I've been waiting for Shelley to post about my trip to NJ because I didn't want to upstage her and she finally came through! So, this is MY side of the story!

It was sooo good to see Shelley. It's been almost a year and a half since we last saw each other. That's way too long. That's too long for two people who speak on the phone sometimes several times a day and have rarely missed a day! It was also good to get a little bit of a break from the craziness of my house. I did take Andyn with me but Shelley's boys totally kept her entertained. So it really was very little work.

Here are a couple of pictures of her hanging out with the boys. She LOVED them.

At first she called them all "Sissy" (which is what she calls her siblings) but after a couple of days she was actually trying to say their names. Here are some pics and a video of the little "cave" that the boys made for Andyn to play in. She loved it!!

I think Sam asked his mom for a baby sister at least 3 times the first day we were there!

Early in the week Shelley started calling me Alice - from the Brady Bunch. It became a little inside joke. Whenever I would ask her if she wanted me to do something she would say "Sure! Why don't you get on that, Alice!" All kidding aside, I just wanted to make her life easier. I didn't do a lot. But what I DID do I felt she appreciated.

I also got to take one of her Zumba classes. It was a total blast! She's so good at what she does.

We ate something chocolate everyday. We made these mini cookies

and this .

And I made this

for her because her kids don't like lasagna and so she never gets it. They seemed to like this recipe, though! I swear it was like we were both pms'ing! Look at this!

Now, Shelley teaches something like 10-12 classes a week so she can eat like a horse and not gain any weight. I, on the other hand, cannot do that! I had to have gained at least 5 pounds!

All in all, we had a great time relaxing, watching t.v., staying up late chatting, and Shelley enjoyed playing dress-up:

I took the boys to the park one day, made them French Toast for dinner, and made them call me Aunt Steph (JK). Man, Shelley, I miss you already!

I was really worried about the flight home because it was going to be 4 hours long right before Andyn's bedtime! But she was a champ! We got REALLY lucky and nobody was sitting in our row so we had lots of elbow room!! Toward the end of the flight I did have to take out my last resort: Marshmallows! Here are some photos of Andyn with marshmallows between her toes... Hey! It kept her happy and busy!

And her she decides that Bear needs one too:

PS What she said about me and the snoring thing is ALL LIES!! :) If you listen carefully on the video above, at the end, Shelley mocks my moaning!

Classic Movie List

To the right I have added a link that you can click on and it will take you straight to the comment box of the Classic Movie Post. So, if you think of more classic movies that you would like to add to the list click there.

I have added all of the movies that have been suggested to the column on the right and will continue to do so when new ones are added.

As a special feature, in one of the columns on the right I will highlight a movie that our family has just watched from the list.

Here are a couple that my friend Sis. Walch suggested:

South Pacific

Pride and Predjudice (Prejudice - nice, Shelley. I didn't proof read.)

Yee Haw!

In light of my previous post about classic movies I found this photo of Andyn that makes me want to see "Annie Get Your Gun"!

I Are Gradiated

My sweet friend Laura (I call her Lolly) graduated from college on Saturday! Woo hoo!!! Congratulations! She asked me to help her design a graduation announcement. Here it is: Isn't she beautiful? Good job, Lolly!!

Kick Back & Enjoy the Show

So, summer is kind of sneaking up on me!! Just 2 weeks left of school and I'm SO not prepared! Over the weekend I gave some thought to what I wanted from this summer. We're planning on still moving so I'll have the stress department all covered! It's the fun department that needs some work. We'll probably do our reading tree again (like last summer - BEFORE and AFTER). For Christmas Santa brought Andyn the Annie movie and my kids LOVE it!! They watched it over and over again on the trip to see my family this weekend! Aspen played 'Hard Knock Life' over and over singing at the top of their lungs! So, one thing I'd like to do is watch lots of the classic movies and musicals with the kids. That's where I need you're help! What are your favorites? As you share them with me I will post them on the side of the blog so everybody else can check them out as well!

Here are a few that I'm looking forward to watching. They have links to the IMDB listing and they are in no particular order!

Newsies

I watched this years ago when I was in college in Utah. I remember loving it but really don't remember a lot of the story line. So, I absolutely want to see this again!

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Once

Honestly, I don't know a lot about this one except that I was reading someones blog and they were commenting on being obsessed with this soundtrack and the fact that it's not a 'classic'. I still want to see it. It got 8 out of 10 stars on IMDB user reviews. So, it can't be that bad!

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Grease

I have never seen this movie. There. It's out. Please do not send hate mail! I'm trying to be honest here. I will be redeeming myself this summer.

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Brigadoon

I saw this play at the Scera Shell Outdoor Theater in Provo when I was in college and loved it. I want to see how the movie version turned out.

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The King and I

Never seen it. Always wanted to.

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West Side Story

Once again... never seen it... hear it's great.

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Casablanca

Never seen this one either! Come on, give me a break! I grew up in Oklahoma for heaven's sake! I didn't even see the musical 'Oklahoma' until I was 18 years old and I lived in Utah!! Which reminds me... next....

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Oklahoma

I live there... why not?!

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Gone With the Wind

This one is for Shelley. I really want to read the book but just don't have a couple of years to finish it! So... I'm going to watch the movie!!

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So that's a few to start us off! Most of them are musicals but I really want to hear about some great old movies!!