my happy little things

Resolutions.

2012-01-03T14:42:00.001-07:00

(Niagara on the Lake - July 2010)

I got a text message from my sister Courtney a few days ago that said:

I miss you sissies ... I wish

some of you didn't have

to work today, I wish

our children could fend

for themselves

(for just a spell),

I wish we lived

down the street from each

other, I wish we could

sit, and eat and laugh

and tell stories all the

live long day. Love you

all, to infinadee and

beyond ...

And then Leslie, Spring, and I, dropped what we were doing, and met for lunch. Because sometimes, that is just what you need to do. Family is the one thing that is a constant after all, right?

I decided to take a little break from blogging. I'm not sure how long I will stay away, but with the new year, and new resolutions, there are some other things that maybe need more attention from me. Just some things that need some work ... some fixing ... some focus.

Love you!

Leslie's house.

2011-12-29T22:20:00.003-07:00

About this time last year, I took you on a Christmas house tour ... there was mine, my sister Spring's and my sister Courtney's. But I do have another sister, Leslie, who missed the house tour last year, so I decided to feature her home on my blog this year.

I absolutely love the way Leslie decorates. She is our family's own Martha Stewart. If Leslie is in charge of an event, you know it will be beautiful. She is a wedding coordinator by trade (among other things), and every wedding is as beautiful as the next. (You might want to peek at the one I posted about here ... just in case you missed it.)

Even as you approach her front door, I think her porch is adorable and inviting ....

You never know what Leslie's living room tree will look like on any given year ... but it is always stunning!

There is a peaceful feeling in her living room too ... this is where she displays most of her nativity collection.

Her family room is more of a Country French/Nordic theme ... (well, that is what I would call it anyway.)

And in her kitchen above her cabinets is a display of cute wintery white things ... LOVE.

And if you aren't too tired of seeing Christmas houses yet, you can see last year's houses ...

here, here, and here.

Cookies for Santa.

2011-12-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

My kids were with their dad on Christmas eve ... they beat me home that night. When I walked into the living room, this is what greeted me.

happy.little.thing!

Christmas wishes.

2011-12-23T16:31:00.002-07:00

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday weekend and a

Very Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Thumbelina.

2011-12-22T10:40:00.003-07:00

When I was cleaning up my office a while back, I went through several boxes of pictures. It was actually really fun. I kept running different pictures into where my girls were and we all had some good laughs over the nostalgia. (Especially my old family pictures with my mom in her wigs. My girls roared! Remember when moms used to wear wigs? My mom had two plus a "hair piece". She kept them on styrofoam heads in her closet and I thought they were SO cool and loved trying them on.)

Here is one of the pictures I came across from those wig wearing days ... late 60's. What was so fun for me about finding this picture after all these years was seeing my little Thumbelina doll again. (That would be the doll in front of the lady bug place mat, right next to the slinky.) I have been asked a few times what my favorite all time Christmas gift was and she was definitely one of them. (It is a toss up between her and a couple of other dolls ... I was so into dolls. LOVE them still! I used to tell my older sister that she was missing out because she didn't really like dolls. I told her the same thing about the Osmonds: You are missing out on so much fun because you don't like the Osmonds, Leslie!!! (She liked the Carpenters way more.)

My family had friends who owned an ice skating rink not too far from our house, so on several Christmases, we would go ice skating on Christmas day. What I remember about the Christmas that I got Thumbelina was that I sent her home with my friend Kathy that day, and she sent me home with her Barbie kitchen carousel. Kathy's family was at the staking rink too and we both loved each others presents so we made a temporary trade.

My mom didn't like us playing with Barbies so I didn't have any of my own. I thought Kathy's kitchen carousel was pretty much the coolest thing I had ever seen. There was an oven and sink and dishwasher all in a round, with cabinets above them ... pink and yellow, I think. The cabinets had tiny dishware that I wanted to eat it was so adorable! I am remembering water and sound effects for the appliances too .... anyway, I did love that carousel but was also happy to get my little Thumbelina baby home.

She had a string on her back that you pulled and she would move around and wiggle like a little baby. She was so tiny and so sweet ... I wish I still had her. I do still have my Velvet doll. Do you remember her? She was Chrissy's little sister? Chrissy had red hair and Velvet had blonde. They had buttons on their back that when you turned changed the length of their hair. Turn it one way, and hair from the center of their head would grow. Turn it the other way, and the hair disappeared again into the doll's head. You could make their hair any length you wanted. It was pretty ingenious ... maybe it is time for a come back. I don't think there is anything like that now - and they were sooooooo pretty! I probably wanted to be Velvet! ;)

And speaking of the Carpenters .......

For a little while Leslie was a member of the Carpenters' fan club. One year she got this Christmas card from them.

I was D.E.A.D!

(I am such a groupie.)

Christmas glimpses.

2011-12-19T12:22:00.002-07:00

I was talking with my mom a couple of weeks ago and asked, "So are you guys all decorated for Christmas now?" (New York is, sadly, too far to run over and see what they have done.)

And she answered, "Well, you know your father. He just keeps getting boxes out of the barn and bringing them in to find places for more and more decorations."

I know just how that is ... we tend to just keep on going in our family. My sister Leslie has said there are years that she has added things to her tree, or set something out as late as Christmas eve.

Another sister has said she even likes to find places for the items that she buys at the after Christmas sales before she boxes everything up for the season. We really get into the merriment of decorating. I don't think we have come to the realization yet that enough is enough.

Although I have been decorated for awhile now, I haven't gone around my house to get pictures yet this year, but here are some glimpses into some Christmas joy at our house ....

(I loved a little message about spreading joy over at bluebird notes today ... click here to see.)

... are you ready?

Tidings of Comfort ... and J.O.Y!

2011-12-15T15:58:00.001-07:00

Last night, my four kiddos (still at home) and I went to get our pictures taken for our Christmas cards. I know, I know. It is a little late to be getting our pictures taken, but as long as cards are post marked by the 24th we're good, right? I love Christmas cards SO much that they can keep on comin' all the way through the new year as far as I'm concerned and I would be tickled pink to get them.

Chloe happens to be working with a photography studio during this Christmas season, so she scheduled our appointment to be the last one of the day. That way, she could leave her post to be a subject in the photo without a problem.

Since Mike, the photographer, knows Chloe, he took all kinds of time with our family. Mike posed all
of the kids and took some serious shots of each of them.

I don't ever take serious shots of my kids.

Chloe doesn't often strike serious poses.

She prefers to take photos like this one ....

pure joy.

Pottery Barn Christmas.

2011-12-14T16:45:00.005-07:00

Last year I mentioned how much Pottery Barn had inspired me to switch up my Christmas decor just a little bit ... this year, it is just as inspiring. I think I have been to the Pottery Barn store at least six times so far this season. (And it isn't even that convenient to my house.) I think I could just move in and be really content.

I always look forward to getting their Christmas catalog too. There are SO many ideas on those pages - it is just earthy and pretty. Last year after visiting their store in Salt Lake, I put the garland on my stairs without any decorations on it. I added some boxwood (which is all over PB) to my (really old) evergreen garland, white lights, and that was it. Same for this year, and I am loving it. Haley walked into the house the other night and said, "Oh I just love our garland on the stairs!" Nothing like greenery and lights to make your house feel festive and Christmasy!

I walked over to the Pottery Barn Kids store too and was dying at how cute their window displays were.

(these kids! these toys!)

One of these days I decided that I need to ask Santa for some Christmas bedding. I know it's a little impractical, but I have been eye balling this set for a few years now. I am C.R.A.Z.Y. about it!

Mr. Snowman.

2011-12-12T14:02:00.002-07:00

I just LOVE all of the cute little pictures and crafts that come home with your kids from elementary school around holidays. Especially at Christmas. (I have at least three burlap banners with wreaths made out of little hand prints.) Sadly, those days for me are long gone, but as I was organizing my office recently, I came across this picture Chloe made out of torn construction paper. I did a blog post a while back where I shared an organizing tip about this very subject.

The "experts" suggest that instead of hanging on to all of those projects, that you don't know quite what to do with or how to store, take a picture instead. It's much more manageable and the memory is kept. So before the colors completely faded on this adorable little snowman, I captured it's cuteness on film.

Oh, and speaking of snowmen .....

dear snow,

come already. it's time.

love you,

polly dove

My Christmas helper.

2011-12-08T14:44:00.001-07:00

I had a chubby cheeked little jammied up Christmas cherub come over the other night. She wanted to help me decorate the tree ... and she did.

She piled lots of silver balls on branches of the tree.

As I was trying to take pictures of it, Libby said, "No pictures Grammie."

Not until she was finished, that is. She was quite proud of herself when she had placed all of those balls on the tree. And then she wanted pictures taken!

(My decorating is still a work in progress. I want to be done already.)

DC.

2011-12-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

I heart you.

Hot chocolate.

2011-12-05T13:41:00.002-07:00

When I left my house this morning it was 19 degrees outside. BRRRRRR!!!! Two thoughts crossed my mind: I still haven't turned off my water main yet and I might have missed out on the window of opportunity to hang my outside Christmas lights. Doggone it.

Then I got to my office, saw a post over at Amy Atlas' blog featuring this adorable "haute" chocolate party, (I wanna come) and then I went to McDonald's and got a peppermint hot cocoa ... it was delish!

A clean office.

2011-12-01T15:29:00.004-07:00

Believe it or not, I have a reputation for being extremely organized. This is a picture of my office that I took about a year ago. I have mentioned (a time or two) that I renovated my basement last September, and I now have renters. My basement is around 1,300 square feet and part of that square footage was a really good size storage room. However. A downside of being a good organizer, is that I fit a LOT of stuff in that room. Now where was I supposed to put it all? It was no easy task.

In fact, it is still a work in progress. Somehow, even though I have sent car loads of stuff to the thrift store and given away tons of other stuff, and put some in a storage unit, and filled my third car bay in the garage with shelves of stuff ... one year later, I still have stuff that needs to find places to rest.

After my divorce, I put my house on the market. When it didn't sell, I took that as a sign that maybe we were meant to stay put for awhile.

A couple of weeks ago I got a call out of the blue from a guy who goes to my church asking if I was still interested in selling my house. We had held a church pot luck and outdoor movie in my back yard a few years ago and this particular couple loved the size of my back yard and wondered if I had any plans to move. (The wife had said to her husband, "I don't think she's selling her house Josh." Her husband's reply was, "Oh, everything's for sale.")

When I got the call from him, I answered, "I am always interested in selling my house."

"Great. We have family coming into town for Thanksgiving. Can we come over and see it and take some pictures?"

Um, well? Nothing like a home tour to get you motivated to clean up is there?!?!? Although I still have corners of rooms that need attention (you know how that is), the office was the last remaining COMPLETE disaster of a room that finally had to be addressed. It was one of those projects that was so overwhelming and daunting to me that it was just easier to close the door. It became the new storage room, but it was anything but organized! Frankly, I didn't even know where to begin.

(At one point during the course of the past year I did enlist the help of some rather large, rather heavy shelves from IKEA. My brother helped me put them together and they do hold a lot of stuff .... I filled those puppies up in no time.)

Have you heard that saying, How do you eat an elephant? And the answer is, One bite at a time? This was my elephant, and my game plan was just to pick up one item at a time and decide what to do with it.

Several trash bags later ....

Ta Daaaaaaaa!!!!

You can see my carpet again! Let the Harold Angels sing, ALLELUIA!!!

And while there is still some fine tuning left to be done on those shelves and in those baskets, almost every single item in that room was touched and analyzed. It felt good. And as an added bonus - I came across almost $500 worth of gift cards. SWEET! (Even better than finding a $20 in the pocket of your old jeans.)

FM 100.

2011-11-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite things about this time of year is the music. There are two local radio stations that start playing Christmas carols the day after Halloween, which for me, even as much as I love it, is a little too early. Why is it that retailers find the need to completely overlook Thanksgiving and jump right into Christmas? (Okay, that is probably a rhetorical question.)

But one of those radio stations, FM 100, also puts on a series of free Christmas Concerts at the mall a couple of times a week and my girls and I went to the first one of this season about a week ago and I will admit, it was a great way to get me into the Holly, Jolly spirit! There are a lot of local artists who are incredible and play to sold out concerts here, so we are lucky that they take the time to fit in a free concert during the day too.

I have been going to these for years. Some of the bigger name artists that have come before are Jim Brickman, an amazing composer, who I LOVE ... Collin Raye, who I also LOVE (and happens to sing one of my favorite Jim Brickman songs, The Gift ... and Donny Osmond, who has also happened to sing with Jim Brickman (here).

I went to see Collin Raye with my friend Shelley. After the concert, we headed to the drive thru line at McDonalds. Collin Raye just happened to hop out of the car in front of us and walked inside the restaurant. I might have freaked out a little bit and said, "SHELLEY! Oh my gosh! When he comes back out, get out and ask him if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with me! Tell him we just saw him at the FM100 concert and he was fabulous and your friend loves him. He won't mind, he'll be flattered. Just get out of the car when he comes back and they can just pull over until I get through the line!!!!"

Shelley didn't want to. She said, "I'm not like that. Here, switch seats with me and you do it." I was boxed in next to the wall. We would have had to climb over each other. I was doing my best to talk her into it but, meanwhile, Collin Raye walked back out, got into the car and off they went. Photo opportunity missed. BOO.

But when Donny was going to be performing, I thought ahead that day and took a Christmas card for him to sign for my friend Diane. I took pictures of him signing it and put one in the card and sent it to her. I even had a guy address the envelope so she would be completely surprised when she opened it up and found her Christmas card from Donny. Now that was a happy little thing. It was so fun to do it for her because I don't know anyone else who would have appreciated it more. :)

Let the CAROLS begin!

Breaking Dawn Premiere!!!

2011-11-23T07:56:00.006-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, my Nelson nieces are die hard Twilight fans (affectionately known as "Twihards"). At our last family gathering they were SO excited because they were heading down to L.A. for the Hollywood premiere of Breaking Dawn. "Yay! We are going down for the red carpet event!"

They didn't really have a plan, but they had the desire and doggone it, they wanted to get a glimpse of those Twilight stars! Now, I am pretty sure they were going to be five of several hundreds of fans all trying to catch that same glimpse, so I was crossing my fingers for them that they would find a good spot along the fan route.

As it turned out, Yahoo was hosting a big event for the fans who were doing just what the Nelson girls were doing. My nieces had heard there were wrist bands so the first goal was to GET A WRIST BAND! (Wrist bands are always a good thing when it comes to crowds.)

They arrived in L.A. at around 12:30 in the morning and checked into their hotel .... the hotel being their place to shower and hold their belongings. They had heard about "Tent City" so they also had a tent.

Bright and early the next morning, those girls GOT those wrist bands and secured their spot at the premiere .... which was four days later, and said HELLO to their new resting place, TENT CITY!!! Let the party begin!

The girls said that once they got there, they realized they were in a completely different league as far as Twihards go. So they got busy getting with the program by making posters and shirts .....

(Paige, Taryn, Taylor, Brynne, Lindsay.)

.... which got them a little bit of media attention. Every day there were cameras!

And some days ..... Twilight stars came by to say hey .... like "Emmett" who brought 50 boxes of donuts, hugs, and thanks for being great fans. (He's the girls' new favorite.)

.... Carlisle Cullen - who the girls said was SOOOOO handsome in person.

... and Seth, one of the wolf boys!

..... Stephenie Meyer who brought some autographed copies of her books! (One night, Yahoo also put on a concert for the fans with the various artists who sang on the soundtrack from the movie. Bonus!)

Then, as if it couldn't get any better, IT DID!!!! On the night of the premiere, with a great spot on the carpet, those lucky little girls got filled to the brim with celebrity sightings - including (but by no means limited to), Emily, Alice, Kate, Seth, Samantha, Lucy, Eric, Billy, Sam, Felix, Renesmee, Esmee, Jasper, Charly, Rosalie, and ...

Jacob .... Bella .... and Edward!!!!!!

And all three of them signed Lindsay's arm!!!!!

But I am pretty sure that what I got the biggest kick out of, was seeing the professional pictures, shot by the "real" photographers that showed up on Yahoo.com and Today.com with a familiar face beaming in the crowd!!!! (Hey, Paige!)

No doubt, the trip of a lifetime for these Twihards .... they dubbed Tent City, The Happiest Place on Earth!

(And then they were surprised with a ticket to attend the premiere with all of those stars!!! Sigh.)

Dreams really do come true!!!

Breaking Dawn.

2011-11-16T22:51:00.001-07:00

Is Twilight frenzy going on in your neck of the woods?! While I did read the first two books and started the third (until Haley came and said she needed to read it first), I have just not really gotten into the movie madness so much. I think some of that has to do with the fact that I didn't love who they chose as the characters. You know how it is when you read a book and you have someone in mind for a particular character? Well, at one point, before the movie was actually cast, I remember seeing the choices that Stephenie Meyer would have picked to portray her characters and I liked her choices better. Clearly, I am in the minority, I know ... since the Twilight Saga has catapulted new(er) actors into SUPER STARS! I couldn't even say weather I am team Edward or team Jacob - I am team neutral ... although I am all for true love so if Edward is Bella's true love, then that is who she should be with - absolutely.

And the fact that in this one they get married and have a baby ... awesome. (I did see previews.) So there is a wedding - and there is wedding attire. And one day last week I went to the movies and some of that wedding attire was on display at the theater. What? I couldn't believe it. How cool is that? Shoes and accessories too ... I got a little excited!

When I inquired as to why our theater was lucky enough to have this display, I was told that Utah is number one in the nation for ticket sales for the Twilight movies. (Why does that not surprise me?) I am sure that part of that reason is because Stephenie Meyer is somewhat of a local girl - in that she graduated from BYU with her bachelors in English. (She and I have that in common ... well, the difference is that although I attended BYU and wanted to graduate in English, she actually did. Sigh.)

I am pretty sure the other reason is because 5 of the world's BIGGEST Twilight fans live here. They are sisters, they are my nieces, and they just got back from the Hollywood premiere of "Breaking Dawn." And there were definitely celebrity sightings, and you know how much I LOVE celebrity sightings .....

(... stay tuned.)

Veteran's Day.

2011-11-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, I got a message on my cell phone from Sophie's school. The message said that they were having a special assembly recognizing and honoring veterans and those currently serving in the military and to invite anyone we may know to join in the celebration and recognition. I thought that was an awesome idea.

Yesterday, I was having lunch at Smash Burger (which is rapidly becoming my new favorite burger ... can you believe it?) and there was a card on the table offering free sides to all military personnel this weekend. In fact, there are tons of restaurant chains all over the country giving away free sides and fries and all kinds of guys to our military all week. It seems like such a small gesture, but it is the continual small gestures that will let our military know how grateful we are to them and their sacrifice on our behalf to fight for our freedom and safety.

As I walked out my front door this morning, I had a flag in my yard. The scouts had come around and placed the flags before most of us even got up. It made me really happy to see that!

Right next to Draper, is the city of Sandy. And every 9-11, on the vast lawn in front of Sandy City Hall, over 3,000 flags are put up in memory of the lives lost in the attacks on 9-11. I know there are lots of "healing fields" like that all over the country and I can't even begin to express how touching it is to see those rows and rows of flags. I make it a point to go witness that each year. This year, 9-11 fell on a Sunday. It was after dark when I realized that I hadn't yet seen the healing field, so Elliott, his friend Conner, Sophie and I took a little drive.

There was quite a crowd ... the flags were awesome ... but this year there was something new. A bronze statue. A replica of those three fire fighters raising the American flag on the rubble after the terrorist's attack. It causes reverence ... I teared up ... I love this country.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Country music.

2011-11-10T15:34:00.004-07:00

(Lady Antebellum ... love them.)

So. I want to talk a little bit about the CMA's (Country Music Awards) that were on last night. McCall and I usually remind each other when they are on (well, McCall is usually the one who has to remind me since I forget everything) because we love the live performances. I didn't grow up liking country music as a rule because so many of the artists were way too twangy sounding for my taste. Like Reba McIntire ... I really do like her as a person, but I just don't think I could listen to a whole album of hers. (She should ask Nicole Kidman if she could spare some of her collagen for her lips. Reba - not enough plump in that top lip. And it isn't like she is against plumping ... hello?! But Nicole - what is she thinking?)

These days, on the other hand, there are tons of country artists that I enjoy and I thought the awards show last night was pretty darn spectacular. Those country folks sure know how to have a PaRtaY!!!

Here are my thoughts about the show:

I loved the stage. I thought it looked sophisticated and modern and classy. And I loved how they had a smaller stage in the center of the audience. When Martina McBride sang (she is such a classic country queen) it was one of my favorite parts of the night ... the audience was all dark but at least every other person held up their cell phones (think lighters back in the day) and she looked like she was surrounded by bright stars in the night sky. I don't even think the producers could have staged that number any better.

Faith Hill sang. Where has she been? Loved it, love her. To me, she is one of the most beautiful women that has ever lived. But she was a little too skinny. (Yes, you can be too skinny. Not me mind you, because that would never happen, but there is such a thing as too skinny.)

I would venture a guess that most people haven't even heard of the group Little Big Town, but they are one of my very favorite country bands. They sang last night too. Hot, HOT harmonies. They are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Rascal Flatts ... oh how I LOVE. I have loved them for years, but have never seen them in concert because, frankly, they usually kind of choke during their live performances on these awards shows. Last night, they were right on. I especially loved their duet with Natasha Bedingfield, who I am also a fan of, and I was crazy about the song they did with Lionel Ritchie.

I know - Lionel Ritchie on the CMA's? Random, but so awesome. His songs and voice sounded great with anyone who was singing them. It was a nice tribute to one of the music industry's "greats".

I thought the same thing about the tribute they did for Glen Campbell. Glen Campbell was one of those country artists that I actually did like back in the 70's. And one of his hit songs, (that Keith Urban, my main country man, sang last night) Witchita Lineman, has one of the most romantic lines of all time in it -

And I need you more than want you ... and I want you for all time.

(I think it is about the sweetest line ever.)

There have been quite a few random country duets in the last few years which have been pretty good. Like Kelly Clarkson with Jason Aldean, Sheryl Crow with Kid Rock, Sugarland with Jon Bon Jovi ... I thought Sugarland was great last night too. I went to a Sugarland concert this summer, mostly because Sara Bareillis was the opening act. They were fantastic live, but I have to admit, we left early ... she has a great voice, but just a little too twangy - can't take it for too long.

One of my very favorite country voices is Vince Gill. It was good to hear him last night. I think he is doing more behind the scenes stuff so he isn't recording much anymore. Oh, except as a backup vocalist for Carrie Underwood on her cd's . And Carrie Underwood? Come on. How flawless is she?

Little bits of snow.

2011-11-08T12:17:00.003-07:00

On Friday night, it started to snow. Oh how I love the snow. But already? Really?

When I woke up Saturday morning, there was actually quite a bit of it. Well, all things being relative, for this time of year, there was quite a bit of it. (I haven't even finished raking the leaves yet.) I don't ever remember having snow fall in my Halloween graveyard, so I thought I needed to get a picture of that.

While I was out in my front yard, I heard some laughing and one of my neighbors telling his little boy, "Here comes the hill!"

This really did make my heart smile.

It is just so sweet.

A pumpkin grin.

2011-11-04T14:36:00.000-06:00

It is so interesting for me how eager I am to put away decorations once a specific holiday has passed. It is making me a little crazy to drive up to my house and see ALL of my Halloween decor out in front of my house, even though it was just four days ago!

But before I put all of my Halloween posts to rest for this season, I wanted to post a picture of one of thee cutest pumpkins I have ever seen. My friend carved this for his daughter who just got braces.

How adorable is this?!

A little bumble bee.

2011-11-02T15:43:00.000-06:00

As much as I love Halloween ...

my favorite part about it this year was a special little bee at my door.

.... A Zombie portrait.

2011-10-31T16:44:00.008-06:00

When I was clearing out the storage room in my basement last year, I came across my wedding portrait that had been in a box ever since we had moved to Utah from California. I looked at it and thought, what in the world am I going to do with this? And then I had a brilliant idea ... at least I thought it was brilliant. I wanted to have us painted into Zombies. Since I am divorced, I knew I would not be hanging that wedding portrait up again the way it was, but since I am a little into Halloween, I thought it was a great idea. (One of my girls said, "Mom, that is epic!")

I talked to an artist friend of mine about doing it for me. He currently makes his living painting portraits of fallen soldiers so I knew I couldn't just ask him to do it for nothing. I told him my idea was to just dirty up our clothes, grey up our faces with dark circles around our eyes and make our cheeks look sunken. He could maybe make my ex's eyes red ... easy peasy. But when Layne got to thinking about it he said, "I know once I get started, I won't be able to stop. I could spend a day and a half on it and I really can't take that kind of time." He said, "Maybe I can just do a little bit this year and then little bit more next year. It can be a work in progress."

Well ... we worked out a trade. He finished it all in the next few days. It is my new favorite Halloween decoration. (He did change my ex enough that it doesn't look like him anymore ... phew.)

Kay, I know it is a little gruesome, but "epic" none the less. I LOVE it. It gets a really great response hanging right there in my entry way too. And I think whether you are divorced or not ... it is pretty classic for Halloween. Layne said his kids want him to paint them all as Zombies in a family portrait now.

When my kids were little I didn't even have a hint of anything spooky or scary at our house. Maaaaaybe just a hint of a spider .... but now .... I lean much more toward the spooky.

(The cute is being overtaken ... a little bit at a time.)

Happy Halloween!

.... Thriller.

2011-10-28T13:35:00.000-06:00

There is a beautiful outdoor amphitheater nestled deep in the red rock mountains of Southern Utah called the Tuacahn. My extended family had a reunion down in St. George about ten years ago and that was the first time I had seen a production at the Tuacahn theater. We saw "Oklahoma" and I don't think there could have possibly been a better setting for that play .... especially when Curly came riding down the mountain on horseback singing, OOOOOOOK - lahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!

That is just one of the many attributes of this theater. Chloe was in their summer productions two years ago when they put on Footloose, Annie, and Aida. My favorite of the three was Aida, and one of my favorite parts of that show was when water came thundering down the mountain and flooded the stage so the "Nubians" could dance in the river. It was quite spectacular.

Once the summer season ends, the Tuacahn has other artists come and perform concerts into November. One of the traditions is to have the Odyssey Dance Company perform their Halloween show, Thriller. I have seen it once before, here in Salt Lake, but this year Haley, Sophie and I went down and saw it at the Tuacahn. It runs for one week - just before Halloween.

The night we went it was cool and cloudy and windy and drizzly and spooky and pretty amazing ....

Chloe was a Zombie.

She had gone down to visit her partner in crime and BFF, Trevor, a couple of weeks ago to see this years productions of Grease and The Little Mermaid. (Chloe and Trevor actually met during her junior year at the Tuacahn High School of performing arts.) The Odyssey Dance Company happened to be holding auditions for "dancing Zombies" while Chloe was there so she decided to try out. They both made it and couldn't be having more fun. (Except by day three their poor little faces were raw from the makeup removal.)

The Zombies walk around among the crowd before the show, during intermission, and after the show and then dance the finale number of Thriller with the cast. Some of the Zombies are all up in your face (which I do NOT like), or they stay by your side far too long, making you extremely uncomfortable.

Chloe was my favorite Zombie. She didn't do that. She would just appear in really random places, minding her own business, but making sure she was noticed.

She was definitely noticed.

Obviously, being a Halloween show, most of the numbers had a twist of the macabre side of Halloween .... like the one where Frankenstein and his bride are wheeled onto the stage on their tables. They both arise and start dancing a ballet number together until Frankie breaks his brides neck and the rest of the number is performed with her dead, being flopped around on stage like a rag doll.

There is an Egyptian number where princesses are dancing and then the mummies come to life and join them. (Real camels walked across the stage during that number ... way cool.) There is a number where a group of students all gather in a circle to tell ghost stories in a corn field. The scarecrows come alive and attack the students with machetes ... some survive, some don't.

My very favorite number was when eight dancers came out to perform a Riverdance. The dance is going along spectacularly (I love Riverdance) and then a sniper shoots and kills one of the girls. Chaos ensues among the dancers, but only for a minute. The music is still playing and the show must go on. One by one, the dancers get shot until only one remains. As she is taking her final bow - DOWN she goes. (It is actually really funny because the sound effects as the shots are fired are like the clanging of the metal in the duck shooting range at a carnival. I thought it was very clever.)

I thought it was thoroughly entertaining ....

And speaking of Zombies ....

.... Lagoon.

2011-10-27T17:10:00.003-06:00

... I really do love a good coincidence. It turns out that Gray knows Shanlee who sang with Haley in the girls group "Echo," and Daniel who sang in the boys group "Frequency," because they used to perform at Lagoon with Gray. The older I get, the smaller the world gets and the greater the connections grow - it is a little freaky.

Lagoon is our local amusement park. I had only ever been once in the fifteen years that I have lived in Utah. Why? I didn't think I would like it. It looked really cheesy to me. Growing up in Southern California and going to Disneyland about a hundred and two times, I just didn't even have a desire, thinking that nothing would compare ... that, and I don't like roller coasters and rides that make me sick. Lagoon is full of those.

It was probably five years ago when I went for the first time during the summer season and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! I was rather impressed with this little local park and thought it was completely charming. And the thing that I was most impressed with was the talent in the stage shows. I thought it was every bit as good as Disney (dare I say?!).

One of the stylists that works in the same salon with Haley has also sang at Lagoon for at least the last five years. She mentioned to Haley that they were holding an invitation only audition for dancers for their "Hackenslash" show and she would put Haley on the list. Haley LOVES to perform so she took advantage of the opportunity and went to the audition. She made it. So happy.

Sidenote: When rehearsals for the show first started, Haley didn't think she would make it. She said they are in full costumes with boots, gloves, masks and wigs and they dance with real chainsaws. She said the chainsaws weigh 18 pounds. And then she showed me some of their dance moves ... I didn't think she would make it either. But so far, so good - and they kind of blew me away when I saw their show for the first time. I had no idea how entertaining it would be, how complicated the choreography was, or what a fun variety of songs they would dance to. (Katy Perry's California Girls is my favorite.)

(Haley is on the right ... creepy, isn't it?)

The regular summer season for Lagoon ends at the beginning of September. The park closes for a few weeks and then reopens through the month of October for their Frightmares. I thought they did such a cute job (relative word use there) of revamping the park into a spooky fall festival. I especially got a kick out of the tombstones.

(Trick or Treating ...)

Libby was loving it too .... until it got dark ... and the chainsaws started. How do you convince a two year old that the person underneath that scary mask and wig is her Auntie Hee? (You don't ... you just keep your distance.)

The Hackenslash dancers were the opening number for both of the stage shows. Once they danced a few ... theeeeeen Libby LOVED the singing and dancing ...

(This little baby , on the other hand, knew which one was her mama.)

As for me ... I loved all of it ... but especially watching the Hackenslash dancer wearing the darker wig! ;)

And speaking of creepy stage shows ...

.... The X Factor.

2011-10-24T16:18:00.003-06:00

Our DVR is almost always full ... my girls have every singing and dancing show set to record. One night I was getting caught up, watching episodes of the X Factor - which I am absolutely crazy about.

I had seen clips on YouTube from the X Factor that they film in the UK (think Susan Boyle) and was really looking forward to it when I heard they were bringing it to American television with Simon Cowell as a judge. Awesome. I have kind of missed him since he left American Idol. I wasn't ready to stop seeing that smarty pants on TV just yet.

Simon and Paula Abdul are together again, and I like it. (Paula's hair is looking A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. this season.) I had heard the name L.A. Reid before, from his reputation in the music industry, but hadn't really seen him and I am loving just about everything about him. (Mr. Cool, with a capital C.) But Nicole Scherzinger? Not that much. (Simon was on Late Night being interviewed once and the host asked him who was crazier between Paula and Nicole, and he said "I would have to say Nicole. Sometimes she is just so weird." )

When they put the groups together on American Idol, it tended to be slightly disastrous, but on the X Factor it has been anything but. I thought the group part of the audition process was fantastic. All of the singers are so good in their own right and together they were even better. There seemed to be a really sweet camaraderie between the contestants ... very supportive of one another.

And of course we were all really excited when the group, The Anser, from Salt Lake made it into the final round. In fact, I was watching that very episode when Sophie said, "Mom, see that guy in the knit hat? That is who Haley is on a date with tonight."

WHAT?

"Yeah, Haley is out on a date right now with him. His name is Gray." (I had no idea.)

And you KNOW I got a big kick out of that. (Gray is a doll ... so cute, so friendly, so conversational ... and we got an inside scoop about who made it through too.)

One of the things I really do love about the X Factor is that they don't have the same age restrictions that American Idol has. One of my very favorite little singers is Rachel Crow and she was only 13 when she auditioned and made the show. Then there is LeRoy Bell who is 59 and also amazing. (My girls call him Papa Gray .... we think this is what Gray will look like when he is older .... actually, they look pretty much just alike now.)

When Haley first met Gray, he mentioned that he had worked as an entertainer at Lagoon (our local amusement park) for the last eight years. Well that is a coincidence, because Haley is working at Lagoon right now .....

And speaking of coincidences ...

.... Soccer and The Sing Off.

2011-10-19T15:14:00.003-06:00

I think it is just "All American" to play soccer, isn't it? I would venture to say that most of the families that I know have, have had, or will have a child who plays soccer.

Way back in the day, we did too. McCall is the girl with that cute little white fanny up above ... she was our first to play soccer and she didn't really like it. I can't remember now if she played for one season or two, but she was quick to realize that running around after a ball on the field was not something she was interested in.

And then there was Haley. Haley played soccer too and was absolutely crazy about it. She was a real natural at it too. In her very first year of soccer, her coaches started to tell us that she had a "future" in soccer. I had to think about what a "future" in soccer actually meant .... high school team, college team, possible college scholarship ... I could totally support that idea. A couple of them even said she looked like she would have a good shot at an Olympic team some day.

We moved to Utah when Haley was just nine years old. She had been playing for a few years by then. I was listening to what the coaches were saying and got excited about thinking that she could possibly go to college on a soccer scholarship.

In fact, when we were deciding where to live in Utah, we knew that one of the high schools around Salt Lake had a nationally ranked girls soccer team. That absolutely played into where we bought a house. The plan was to get Haley on the Alta High School soccer team.

Elliott had also expressed an interest in soccer, so we signed that little boy up too . (He is the one with the cute little grin and chicky-bum hair in the photo below.) It was working out well to have the two of them playing because the games were always on the same field ... different times, but the same field totally works. The whole family would go, we would grab lunch in between the games - welcome to Soccer Saturdays ... until Haley started to play competitively.

Since we were fairly new to Utah, I hadn't learned how the grid system of streets worked yet. Haley had games scheduled all over the Salt Lake Valley and I didn't have a clue where any of the places were and I had a heck of a time trying to navigate my way around. Quite often, I was fit to be tied by the time I finally found the school or field where her game was .... but hey, all in the name of a scholarship and the Olympics, right? (Don't I always say, A girl can dream?)

One of the competitive teams Haley was on was called the Gators. That little girl loved her coach, loved her team, loved the game, and that season the Gators played undefeated. And that made them move up to a higher division ... where they didn't do as well. They were the young team. Their coach became a different kind of coach to those girls, and Haley didn't like it anymore. She didn't want to play soccer anymore.

WHAT? Haley? How could you not want to play soccer anymore? You were going to play into your young adulthood! Are you sure?

She was sure.

I wasn't going to force her to continue playing, but I have to admit, I was bummed .... I wanted to go to the Olympics as a Team USA mom, darn it! And I thought I wasn't going to have to pay for her education. Now what?!?!?!

Well. Now.... Haley decided that she wanted to audition for a "Girl Band" they were forming locally. "Mom, Alex and I really want to try out!!!! It would be SOOOOO fun!!! They are putting together a girl group and a boy group! Mom, PLEEEEEEEEESE?!?!?!?!"

But Haley, you don't sing.

Apparently, she did. Because she made that "Girl Band" and that became our family's new running all over Salt Lake and the state of Utah activity. And really, we all loved it.

They performed at fairs all over the state ....

Special events and grand openings ....

Outdoor concerts in the park, mall events ...

They even signed autographs ...

And had posters ...

And even though some of the other girls came and went from the group, Haley was the one original member who stayed with the group all through the next few years ....

One of the longest standing "Boy Band" members was McKay Crockett. We loved McKay. He was so nice, so fun, so talented. And now he is singing in a group at BYU called Vocal Point ....

Maybe you have seen them on a show called "The Sing Off." We love that show at our house. And I am loving Sara Bareilles as one of the judges. I think it was the second week when she said something like, "You guys don't really know me yet, but I hope you're getting to know me ....."

Her personality and adorableness completely rival her level of talent. LOVE that girl.

Love McKay ... Love The Sing Off.

And speaking of singing reality shows ...

.... One Republic.

2011-10-11T17:48:00.003-06:00

My kids and I love the group, One Republic. When I told them that they were going to be doing a post game concert at an upcoming Real Soccer game they got soooo excited! Especially Haley. She said, "Mom, I have been dying to go to a Real game, can we please go as a family?"

We went as a family. (And I didn't even have to buy the tickets ... thanks Frank. You're a doll.)

We stopped at IN-N-OUT on the way for burgers and crammed into a little five seater car. It was definitely a night of togetherness and we had a ball.

The game was awesome. The Real team won. The score was zero to one.

Professional sporting events are always so much fun. The energy in the crowd was awesome.

There are some serious Real fans ... we got a kick out this guys shirt. We sat in section 26 too. I am guessing he must be a season ticket holder!

After the game, they announced that you would be able to stand on the field for the concert if you wanted to. Of course my kids wanted to. McCall and I, not so much. So Haley, Chloe, Elliott and Sophie waited with the rest of the crowd ready to run for a good spot in front of the stage.

When the announcer said it was time to let the crowd on to the field, my kids held hands and made a run for it (even though the announcer also said, Please do not run across the field. Everyone ran anyway and there was NO way of stopping them!) I thought it was absolutely adorable. Definitely something that made this mommy's heart smile.

There were so many people that McCall and I lost sight of where they went. I told McCall to send a text message and have one of them jump up so we could tell where they were ....

Oh my gosh, when we saw Sophie we laughed so hard! And then Chloe texted us back and said that she was going to jump up too.

I told them to have Haley do it so I could get a picture of her .... Oh, oops ... cotton candy man got in the way ... "Tell Haley she has to do it again."

THERE SHE IS!!! We laughed again. It was just so funny to see them.

Shortly after the concert started, I told McCall that I had changed my mind and was going to go down on the field so I could get some pictures. How could I not, right?

McCall sat all alone during the show, which she wasn't completely thrilled about. Mom, I didn't know you would be gone the whole time. (Sorry about that Bug.)

She did join us on the field for some jumping though. (Gotta get those jumping pictures.)

Chloe was non stop ... I seriously do NOT know where she gets her energy.

The game was great. The concert was fun. But the best part of the event for me was being with these five kids of mine. They sure know how to have a good time. And I am lucky that they don't mind the company of their mama.

(Pretty sure we closed out the place.)

And speaking of soccer ...

.... the beach.

2011-10-07T16:12:00.002-06:00

It was later in the day and starting to get a little dark when we drove out to Sconset. Of course I wanted to stop the car all along the way to get different pictures. (I really do love taking pictures.) But my mom was so worried that we wouldn't get to all of our regular romps out that way if we didn't hurry it up!

My dad pulled the car over by the beach so we could "step foot on the sand" for Spring.

I suggested that we take some fun pictures of us jumping on the beach. You know, the kind that my kids do all the time .... OH.MY.WORD was that ever funny. First of all, each of us tried to jump, laughing our heads off in the process. We barely lifted our feet off the sand in our attempts to jump and even that hurt. (I did take some pictures of the attempt but had to swear that I wouldn't post them publicly because of the humiliation they may cause - and not just to my sisters, but to our children as well. They weren't pretty.)

Then our sweet daddy got out of the car so we could get a sister's pic .... this was take one. OOPS. Courtney ... Leslie ... watch the hair.

There we go ...

Here is one of the old tiny cottages that the NY actors would stay in ...

And right across the street from that one is one of the oldest cottages in Sconset ....

I don't know how it is still standing. 1676 ..... really.

This is one of our very favorite houses on the bluff ...

One of the things I would do at my house if money was no object, is to rip up my front and back yards and completely redo the landscaping. (Big Dream!) I would want it to look something like theirs - and then, of course, hire a gardener to maintain it this meticulously.

Down and around the corner in Madaket is the "Crooked House". Guess who lived there? Mr Rogers. I wouldn't mind being his neighbor here.

By the time we drove over to the lighthouse at Sankaty, the wind was really ripping and it was SO dang cold.

After I had gotten out and taken several pictures, I climbed back into the car and my mom said, "I wonder if anyone realizes the lengths you go to to get pictures for your blog." (I had to laugh. I do love getting just the right picture, but not just for my blog ... okay ... maybe it is for my blog ...)

I get such a kick out of this sign. It strikes me as so funny.

My parents have restored three homes on Nantucket. They have all been such beautiful homes when they were done, but I think my favorite was the house they restored on Pleasant Street. This is it ....

I have blogged about this house before, but just mentioned how incredibly perfect the address is ...

And speaking of ONE ....

(Okay, admittedly, I am having to be a little creative tying this post and the next one together.)

.... Nantucket

2011-10-06T12:27:00.009-06:00

One of my favorite things about my last trip to Nantucket, was taking my early morning walks. I had been waking up before any of my sisters did, so I thought I would take advantage of that time to get a little exercise and take the camera out to get some of my favorite shots - or I should say, shots of my favorite spots. But as I walked around the island, while it was barely waking up, just about every where I looked was a favorite spot.

We stayed a little out of town this trip so I started my walks heading down the crushed shell driveway ...

Then past one of my favorite "beachy" looking houses ...

I passed a few boats at the end of driveways ...

And when I reached the row of mailboxes, I took a left ...

And then another left into town ...

And headed down Main Street ...

This was the first trip I was out early enough to see Main Street with hardly any cars parked along the curb. Not one single car was in front of the "Three Bricks" ...

I absolutely love the porches and stairways ...

And I can't ever get enough of all of the flower boxes ...

We passed this house everyday too and just love it. It's on the market. Only $11 million. My sisters and I were thinking about pooling our money ... girls can dream, right?

But I could easily be content to live in this little one ...

Or this one ....

I tend to obsess over the doors here too. I want mine to look like this ...

And you know me and my license plate obsession .... how fun are these?

This one is my mom and dad's ... I love it!

When our children were younger, the beach was always part of the trip. Now that we are older, and come without our children - not so much. We don't get in bathing suits these days. :)

But we do like to drive to the other side of the island anyway. Out into Siasconset (aka: Sconset). Now as the story goes, Sconset used to be the part of the island away from town, where actors from New York would come to get away from it all, and away from the tourists. My mom said that the people out in Sconset at one point wanted their own zip code too - thus distinguishing themselves from the regular folks. (My mom knows as much about the history of this island, the people and the houses as any native there. She is a fabulous tour guide with a wealth of information.)

Spring said, "I can not be on this island and not step foot on the beach." Out to Sconset we went.

And speaking of beaches ...

Another birthday.

2011-10-03T16:15:00.004-06:00

Wow, right?!?! I haven't blogged in weeks. I have had four different people recently ask me what is up with that? My friend, Shelley said, "I keep up on what is going on in your life through your blog and you aren't blogging. I need to know what is going on with you lately!"

My sister, Spring said, "Come on Peeps! Every time I check your blog, I see Libby turning two. We know she is two. I have seen those pictures enough already. Update your blog!"

So, today I am updating my blog. But this is still Libby turning two. Because I just had a birthday as well ... and this was the cute card that McCall made me. (She is a really great card giver, I loved this one. Haley's was pretty fun too. On the outside of the card that Haley gave me, it said "Happy Birthday, You've Still Got it." And then on the inside, it said, "You put the HOT in hot flashes." It made me laugh out loud.)

There have been nights where I will lay in bed and think about all of the things that I have wanted to blog about and just didn't do it because I have been letting the busy-ness of my days prevent me from taking the time to blog and I miss it. I didn't even finish my posts about Nantucket because I got distracted by my posts about Extreme Home Makeover in Salt Lake (which I heard was on last night and I forgot to watch it. I am just hoping that someone remembered to set the DVR to record or I will not be happy about it. In fact, I am not even letting myself think about it right now.)

What I decided to do (because I thought it would be kind of fun) is tie all of these upcoming posts together (the posts that should have already been done but have not) this way:

And speaking of ...

For example: this post. I could have ended the previous post by saying: And speaking of birthdays ...

Or I could have said: And speaking of Libby ...

Get it? (Okay, it really won't matter a bit to anyone else but me. It is just something I have been thinking about and want to try to do. I guess it is like my friend who likes to do Sudoku puzzles. I don't, but she gets a kick out of them and it makes her happy. This is me getting a kick out of tying my blog posts together - or attempting to - and it will make me happy, so here we go.)

And speaking of Nantucket ...

(Because I mentioned it in this post - get it?)

Birthday LOVE.

2011-09-06T16:55:00.000-06:00

Libby turned 2 last week so we had a little celebration at my house. She is currently in love with the Disney movie Tangled so her daddy got her a Tangled themed cake and Libby just loved it. She loved the candles too and surprised us all when she knew to blow them out after we sang the happy birthday song to her. (Although it did take a few tries and some help from her mama.)

And speaking of Disney and her mama ... Does anyone remember that Libby's mom and I signed up to run a half marathon at Disneyland right about now? We had such high hopes and the best intentions when we signed up last February. We were scheduled to run on September 4th.

Yeah ... that didn't happen though. The race happened ... it just happened with two less participants.

When I finally decided to actually "train" (and I do use that word very loosely), my body wasn't really cooperating. My 50 year old knee was giving me grief .... (this is where I was going to write about my really painful sciatica problem and seeing the chiropractor everyday and speaking with a back surgeon who told me that now was not the best time in my life to take up the sport of running, but I don't really need any excuses besides I am old and it just didn't happen ... do I?)

Since McCall is newly pregnant and hasn't been feeling very well herself for the last couple of months, she decided that running the marathon probably wasn't the best idea for her either. (Half the reason we signed up was because we thought the Disney medals they give at the end of the race are so awesome. Disney really knows how to do things right. But, darn it, guess we missed out on those.)

McCall and her little family still went down to southern Cali though. And McCall thought the least she would do is get her marathon t-shirt - which she did, and then said it totally wasn't worth the wait in line.

But at least she gets to be with this little ray of sunshine at

The Happiest Place on Earth,

enjoying all of the Disney Princesses at Disneyland ... right this very moment .

Ahhhhhhh .......

Hello Kitty.

2011-09-02T15:52:00.000-06:00

I have always LOVED Hello Kitty. Always. When I was younger, I would walk into a store that carried anything Hello Kitty and wished that I had the money to buy all of it. And then when there was an entire Hello Kitty store? Forget about it.

When McCall finds something she really, really loves online, she will send me an email with the link and with the caption:

WHAT?

And if it is really cute:

WHAAAAAAT?????

Kay, sorry about it, but this Hello Kitty snack tray?

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!

Are you kidding me?!?!?! That is food. That is a little rice sandwich and a cracker with cheese on it. That is a bunny made out of a slice of bread, all resting on a bed of lettuce! And all for a little three year old's birthday party. I was dying when I saw it. It is so stinking ADORABLE! Come on ... A Hello Kitty snack tray? How precious is that?

I saw it over on Amy Atlas' blog ... it wasn't her party ... but she featured it ... you can see it here. (The rest of the party doesn't really hold a candle to the cuteness of the snack tray though.)

Sigh ... love.

A woman's expo.

2011-08-31T17:39:00.009-06:00

Last week, one of the hospitals in Utah County was holding a Women's Expo and Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogues was the guest speaker, so McCall and I decided to go. I told McCall that I would pick her up from her house and we could head on down to American Fork together. So after work, I gave her a call to confirm the plan. When McCall answered her phone she was crying.

"What's the matter Bug?"

She replied, "Everything. I hate my job, I hate having to work, I hate leaving Libby, I have the worst skin and I think I have shingles again around my eyes which happens every time we are about to leave on a vacation!"

I really did feel her pain. So instead, we decided to meet in the parking lot of IN-N-OUT so we could grab a burger on our way. (Okay, and fries and a neapolitan shake. When tears are involved, diets are immediately abandoned for any food that is high in calories.)

We talked, we commiserated, we ate, we enjoyed. And then as luck would have it, on our way into the Expo, McCall's dermatologist happened to be walking our way. He took a look at her face and said that it didn't look like shingles and gave her a remedy or two to try. (My poor Bug is always having to try a remedy or two to clear up her skin, and with her being pregnant, it only adds to the ailment ... but she is SO excited to be pregnant and realized that she and Stephanie's little embryos are the same size - about the size of a blueberry now.)

We sat and listened as Stephanie spoke. Stephanie was sharing with the group that the hardest moment since her accident - the very hardest moment - was when her little daughter, Jane, did not want to look at her or have anything to do with her. She said that when Jane went into her hospital room for the first time after the accident, she wouldn't look at her and then as Jane walked out of the room she said to her sister, Claire, "You do not want to go in there."

Big tears streamed down McCall's cheeks. She said she couldn't even imagine how awful it would be if her Libby didn't want to have anything to do with her.

Stephanie shared a lot about the difficulties associated with her "new" life, post plane crash, but also shared the message of hope and how grand the role of woman is. I know that Stephanie has blogged about mean comments and emails she receives from women who have criticized her for being vain and for the way she mothers and for not being very frugal with her resources.

My thought about that: Really? Can you give the girl a break? Would you want to be in her position?

To me, Stephanie is just a girl who was handed a raw deal and is doing the best she can with it. She has certainly been an inspiration to a lot of people, and that night, it was clear that she is a celebrity in her own right. There was a long line of women who just wanted to meet her, give her a hug and thank her for being an uplifting influence in their lives.

I thought she looked beautiful too. She has certainly come a long way. And it certainly puts your own life's trials into perspective.

I had mentioned to my sister Spring that we would stop by her house after the Expo because I had to pick something up from her. Now I know I have already mentioned this, but Spring lives right around the corner from the Nielsons. I decided since I had my camera, and since I had just been taking pictures of Stephanie, I would just go ahead and snap a picture of her house too.

I will admit, I felt like a ~~stalker~~ paparazzi and slightly uncomfortable, so I pulled over to the side of the road and said, "McCall, keep an eye out for their big black SUV. Let me know if you see it coming."

And then McCall said, "Mom, it is sitting in their driveway."

Oops. So it was.

(It is rapidly becoming common knowledge that I have officially lost my mind.)

A wedding.

2011-08-22T21:41:00.005-06:00

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned that my sister, Leslie, is a wedding coordinator ... she is. And she is very good at what she does. Leslie has done lots and lots of weddings over the years, all different, and each one is just as beautiful as the others. (She sort of never ceases to amaze me with her talent.)

This past Friday, Leslie did a wedding for her good friend Mary's daughter, Jessica. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the reception was held in their backyard. I was talking to Mary before the reception began and complimenting her on her gorgeous new home. They have only lived there for the past eight months but you would never know it by how settled they were and by how spectacular their yard was. Mary told me that she had designed the yard to be a "wedding reception" yard .... I think I would hire Mary to come and plan my "reception" yard - it was SO incredible.

I LOVED how the cakes were displayed ...

Here's a closer look ...

The candy jars were beautiful ...

A closer look ...

There was a table set up for guests to write some advice or marriage tips for the couple ...

The guest book table ...

Mary had her mother's wedding dress on display too. Pale pink ... how precious is that?

I am crazy about this picture of Jessica. Her dress looks so "Anthropologie" to me ... loved it!

Congratulations to the newlyweds ...

to Kevin and Mary on their daughter's wedding ...

and to Leslie, for another job well done my sista'!

And then there were two.

2011-08-19T16:19:00.001-06:00

I am so crazy in love with this little girl, sometimes I can hardly stand it! She knows she can get away with stuff with me too. Like endless fruit snacks, when her mommy only likes her to have one. And like sips of my diet coke when her daddy would rather she not. And when she climbs up on my lap to eat what I'm eating when I would rather she not. But look at that precious little face. How can I not cater to her desires? And she has very sensitive feelings too .... this baby can cry some crocodile tears, let me tell you. It is almost heart breaking. So I give in ... most of the time.

I had heard about how amazing it was to be a grandparent all of my life, but you can never really know exactly what everyone is talking about until it happens to you. These little people just hold a really special place in your heart. And it's different from that of your own children. It is rather magical, actually. I love it.

Little Miss Libby is almost two now. She stopped by my house the other day. She showed me her pink nails, and we went out on the swings together. She learned how to climb up the ladder to the slide all by herself too. She likes to do things by herself ... which makes her mommy a little bit frustrated at times. McCall sometimes calls her sassy pants - I think its adorable.

When Libby was heading out into the street, McCall and I both were calling to her, Libby! Don't get near the street, sweetie! - Libby! Momma said not to go near the street! - Libby! Stay on the grass! Libby! Do not go into the street! No, no, Libby!

But she walked a little ways into the street anyway. Look at this expression as she just stood there and waited for McCall to get to her. Little naughty. We both laughed.

Psssst. Did you notice her shirt? Just in case you need a closer look:

SO EXCITED!!!!!

Katy and her Smurfette dress.

2011-08-17T15:35:00.004-06:00

I read today that Katy Perry has tied Michael Jackson's record for the most #1 hits off of a single album. And some people are upset about it. They don't think she "deserves" it ... ?????

My thought ... it is what it is folks. Record sales sort of speak for themselves.

Now while I don't condone all of her songs' lyrics (I do need to say that), I think Katy Perry is adorable and sooooo talented, and I want her smurf dress. (But really only if I looked like her in her smurf dress.)

Looking at this picture conjures up a couple of different memories for me: I had a pair of blue shoes just like that once. It was after I had had my third baby, Chloe. We were going to have her blessed at church, as an infant, and I wanted a new outfit. I really needed a pick me up, so I went to Nordstrom. (Ladies, you know how that is after you've given birth, right?) I found a white floral skirt that had a matching top and I was absolutely crazy about it. I don't fall in love with too many items of clothing, especially church attire, but I just had to have this outfit. It was kind of expensive though (relatively speaking), but I called my husband and asked if it would be okay if I got it. He said yes. (One of the nicest things about being single is now I don't ask anyone before I buy an outfit ... okay, and it is 20 years later ... do women still ask their husbands if they can buy an outfit?)

After I had my bag in hand and was walking through the shoe department, I saw a pair of periwinkle blue shoes that matched the blue in the fabric perfectly ... I had to have them. They were $60. I had NEVER spent $60 on a pair of shoes before and lamented over it for the longest time. And then I bought those too.

To this day, that remains one of my top five outfits of all time. (Do you have outfits like that too?)

Next memory: See that blue carpet Katy is standing on? Yeah, that bright blue carpet? When our family moved to Utah from Southern California, we had had our house built. I got to choose the carpet color, and I chose blue. At the time, in Southern California, I had blue carpet. Lots of people had blue carpet. It was totally stylish. But in Utah, apparently ... not so much.

After it was installed, my sister Spring stopped by the house and called me up. (We were still living in California while the house was being built.) She said, "Polly! They just installed electric blue boog-a-loo carpet in your house! Did you really pick this color?!?!?!?" And I said that I did. And she said no one in Utah has blue carpet like that and what was I thinking?

(Just a little sidenote: Another time, my sister in law called me after they installed the counter top in my kids bathroom and said, "Polly! They just installed a bright blue counter top in this bathroom! It has to be a mistake! You would not have picked this color!" Oops ... I had. It wasn't really that bad ... she totally exaggerated.)

Fortunately, we didn't have to live with our "electric blue boog-a-loo" carpet too terribly long though. About four years later we had the house re-carpeted with a really gorgeous dark sage green carpet that I still absolutely love. To save a little bit of money though, I decided to keep the blue carpet in two of the kids' bedrooms upstairs because it worked with the decor in those rooms.

Not too long ago, my son-in-law said to McCall, "Why in the world would your mother have picked out this carpet for these bedrooms?"

When McCall told him that our whole house used to be that color he laughed his head off.

What was I thinking?

Puppy dog walks.

2011-08-15T15:44:00.001-06:00

McCall sent this picture to my phone the other day ... I laughed out loud!

(Libby finally gets it when you tell her to say cheeeeese!)

Donny.com - Day #3

2011-08-09T19:20:00.003-06:00

I would have to say that the third day of the Donny Get Together, was by far the best. Everyone gathered in the Flamingo Showroom where Donny and Marie do their show. Donny put together a program at last year's get together and called it M.A.D. - Making A Difference. He gave ten participants a video camera and $300 to see where their idea of "making a difference" took them. They were to work on their projects during the next year and report back ... we all listened to the presentations and then a panel of judges chose a winner, who was awarded a trip to Hawaii. (Awesome.)

After that, Donny has what he calls a Donny Dance Off where whoever wants to, comes up on stage and dances to the "Yo-Yo" routine that we learned for the flash mob dance that was filmed on Day #2. You just keep on dancing until one of Donny's dancers taps you on the shoulder, which meant: You're eliminated and have to leave the stage ... sad. This went on until there were just ten participants left. Those ten then go off with Donny's dancers to learn a routine from the Flamingo show and then they come back to dance with Donny. The audience then chooses a winner by applause and the winner of that gets a trip to Disneyland! (Not bad.) That was what Diane was REALLY looking forward to the most. And she did make the top ten and she did dance with Donny and she was just a little bit happy about that, as you can imagine.

It was kind of a bummer for the top ten though (sorry Di) because while they went off to learn the dance routine, Donny gave a mini concert for the rest of us while we waited, and it was a blast. He took requests ... anything we wanted him to sing, he sang. He sang Puppy Love, Go Away Little Girl, Close Every Door, a really pretty song called Keep Her in My Mind (that he had to look at his phone for the lyrics) ... he started to sing The Twelfth of Never and then laughed saying he wanted to do it Elvis style, which was pretty adorable. (Someone recorded it and you can see it here - it's only two minutes. If you like Donny, you should see it, he is so cute doing it.)

BUT. I must say, as great and fun as all of that was, and it was, the best part of those morning activities was when Donny stood up in front of the group and started to talk about the singing audition he had held.

The original plan was to choose three winners, but as he began to speak he said he couldn't decide on just three so he had chosen twelve. He was explaining how things were going to work: This is going to be a lot of fun ... we'll go grab a bite here in the hotel at "The Burger Joint" ... I'm going to have our makeup artist, Kim Goodwin, put some nice makeup on you ... We'll mike you properly ... I will be with you, it'll just be you, the cameraman, and myself so no need to worry about being nervous and all that kind of stuff, at which point the audience laughed, 'cause that wouldn't make you nervous or anything!!!!

Donny read the first name, "Allissa Letts. Are you here Allissa?" He read the second name, "Polly Wood. Polly Wood, c'mon up."

SAY WHAT?

And then these thoughts ran through my head: No. He can not be serious. He did NOT just say my name. He did not just say my name. How could he have picked me? He did not.

But then when I got up to go to the stage to get my pass, Diane knocked me back down into the booth, hugging me and screaming, He picked you!!! He picked you!!! I told you!!! I knew he would!!! Oh my gosh!!! I told you!!! You didn't believe me!!!! So then I figured it must be true.

Can you believe that? I was going to grab a burger with Donny Osmond and then record a song with him. It was totally surreal in that moment in time. But then it really happened ... I grabbed a burger with Donny, we visited. When it was my turn to record, as I was walking into the room, John (remember him, Donny's right hand man for the event?) said, "Donny, here comes Hur-ray forrr .... " and then Donny sang, "Po-lly-woooood."

And then how could I not think, Is this really happening right now? Donny Osmond and I were in a room together ... He sang, then I sang ... I made a silly face, he made the same silly face and told me to try it again without that face at the end - so I sang that particular line again and he told me that the second time was perfect and he got a little excited about that with his cameraman and they high fived each other.

SO FUN. SO COOL. SO CRAZY.

I gave Donny a hug at the end of our little segment and thanked him for the opportunity and said, This has been a privilege. And it was. (Wow, right?)

(BTW, I do NOT like this picture of me ... it doesn't even look like me, thanks to Kim the makeup guy, or the angle of my head or something ... but IT'S DONNY! I had to post it.)

... and that's a wrap.

Donny.com - Day #2

2011-07-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

(Donny giving everyone a pep talk before we started ... look how happy Diane is to be near him.)

(This is Donny's son Brandon. He was taking video all weekend ... so cute.)

On the second day of the Get Together Donny and Marie performed a matinee of their show at the Flamingo just for the Donny.com crowd. They are both really great entertainers and the show was awesome. I can't believe they are both around my age and can get up and perform like they do show after show.

I mean, for heaven's sake. Diane sent me a link from youtube of Donny doing a dance routine for "Yo Yo." That was the song he wanted everyone to learn for his flash mob dance at the Forum Shops at Ceaser's Palace. The second night of the event was when it was happening. They closed down the mall, filed all of the Donny crowd across the street from the Flamingo, and away it went. Filming started around midnight.

Diane had been practicing the dance for about a month and I had about a week ... there was no way I was going to get this routine down. Chloe (bless her little heart) said, "Mom, I will help you learn it. We can work on it every night together. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you have to do it so I can live vicariously through you!" (Now being a part of a flash mob dance would really be super cool - if you are familiar with a flash mob dance. If you aren't, click here for one of my favorites. This, however, ended up being a MOB of people dancing along with Donny ... not so flash "mobbish" afterall.)

I did try. And I tried a few more times in the hotel room once we got there, but it just wasn't happening. I am old ... I haven't danced in 100 years so I told Diane that I would be happy to just document the event for her. And that is what I did. (I am telling you ...me and the paparazzi ... same. I walked into that Forum Shop mall, noticed Donny's wife and son sitting in a roped off area and planted myself right there.)

Good stuff happening over in that little area:

(Donny with his wife, Debbie and their son, Josh.)

(Donny surveying the scene ... a daughter in law with her kids.)

(This is my favorite photo of the entire weekend!!!)

(Three different news anchors were there for an interview.)

(Uh oh. Pretty sure Donny noticed me ... since I was everywhere.)

AND THEN THE PARTY STARTED .....

It really was a blast to be a part of this. Donny said he wants to do it every year and get bigger and bigger until his crowd fills Las Vegas Blvd. Who's in?!??!?

Donny.com - Day #1.

2011-07-28T19:30:00.000-06:00

This is Diane and I with cardboard Donny ....

And this is real Donny ...

About four years ago, Diane and I went to the Osmond's 50th Anniversary concert in Las Vegas. It had been a really, really long time since that family had done a concert together and I think they were blown away by the fact that it sold out in about five minutes. They added another concert and it sold out as well. Fans came from all over the world (literally) and it was one of the best times E.V.E.R!!! Diane and I felt like teenagers again and reconnected with faces we hadn't seen in years as well. It was a whole weekend of different events where you got to interact with the brothers and take photos, etc. All the brothers, that is, except for Donny.

But since then, Donny has put together a special weekend each year for his own fans (affectionately known as Donny.commers.) Diane went with her husband last year, but this year she had a change of heart and decided that her good friend Polly would probably be a lot more fun (good thinking Di), so I got to use his ticket.

One of the reasons Diane was excited to have me join her was that Donny was going to hold an audition for anyone who wanted the chance to sing with him. When she called me to tell me about it, she said, "Donny is picking three people to win! You get to have dinner with him and make a recording with him and YOU WILL WIN so you have to come!!!!!" Now. I do know how to sing, but I don't consider myself a singer. (Cee-lo Green said the same thing about himself on The Voice this season and I totally knew what he meant.) I can carry a tune, I can sing in church, I sing with my girls, but I am definitely NOT a solo artist. But sweet Diane is one of my biggest fans, so I told her that if I won, since my chances were slim to none, she was welcome to take my place and she could have dinner with Donny instead.

The catch to the audition was, you couldn't choose your own song to tryout with. Donny had written a song called "One Dream" and that was what you had to sing. He wrote it, he sings it, and it is completely out of my range. But I told Diane I would do it ... she decided that she would do it too ... so she signed us both up. Her audition time was Thursday at 4:12 and mine was three minutes after that.

Diane came out of her audition all flustered and said she had done horribly, and was cracking up. I came out of my audition all flustered, said I had done horribly, but I wasn't really laughing - because it was kind of embarrassing, actually. The song was so low that in a couple of places my voice just disappeared into a whisper that I doubt was audible from even two feet away. Donny wasn't there. It was his son, Brandon, the guy doing the filming, and John (Donny's right hand man for the weekend), who was walking us in and out of the room. Donny was going to watch the video later and choose the three. AH.BOY.

Shortly after that, on the first night of the get together, we went to a buffet where Donny makes an appearance. He walks around to all of the tables and its a great opportunity to say hello, shake his hand (or hug him, pull at him, give him gifts - whatever your preference, depending on the kind of fan you might be), and take your picture with him. John stayed real close and scooted Donny right along since he is always on a tight time schedule. Someone at our table did snap a picture of me with Donny, but it didn't flash and the picture was blurry, darn it. I figured that I had missed my chance. But then I thought again ....

I handed my camera to Diane and told her that I was going to walk in the vicinity of Donny. "Just start taking pictures as soon as I get near him."

I'm so glad I did.

Flamingos all around.

2011-07-21T16:00:00.000-06:00

I am heading off to the sweltering heat of Las Vegas for a few days ... lots of Donny in store this weekend!

(He is "hosting" a flash mob dance Friday night at the Forum Shops in Ceasars Palace. My girlfriend sent me the link on youtube so I could try and learn it. I only had a few days. It isn't going to happen. I guess I need to change my status on the paper work to be spectator instead. I think it will still be tons of fun.)

A special delivery.

2011-07-20T13:09:00.000-06:00

I got a special delivery to my office yesterday ... how sweet is that?!?!

"Thirst Has No Curfew."

2011-07-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

McDonald's has a fairly new saying on their cups ... when I read it, I thought of my partner in "diet coke crime" ... my sister Spring. We love diet coke. And we especially love McDonald's diet coke. And we love late nights and good times ... which reminded me of our last little vacay to New York.

.... where SO many beverages were consumed, we couldn't even begin to count how many (total).

(And it was also especially funny and fun when Spring made Leslie laugh so hard she lost some of her beverage. Leslie isn't used to consuming mass quantities the same way Spring and I are.)

The four of us were on our daily jaunt to get some chocolate frozen custard with almonds.
Courtney and I were waiting outside the store wondering what in the world was taking Spring and Leslie so long to get out of the car. Then the door opened up and we saw Leslie lean out ... oops.
We were kind of bummed we missed that good of a laugh though.

Draper Idol.

2011-07-15T11:58:00.001-06:00

Every year at this time in July, our little city of Draper has a big celebration called "Draper Days." There are tons of activities throughout the week: a Rodeo, neighborhood parties at different parks with food and entertainment, a big parade ... The biggest park is set up with vendors, games, rides, food and fun for Friday and Saturday with big stage entertainment and a huge fireworks show on Saturday night.

They also hold an annual "Draper Idol" which took place last night and three of my girls sang at that. May I just say that this generation of youth can sometimes blow my mind with the talent? At one point, while a previous winner was singing, I said to McCall, "I should get pictures of him because I bet he'll be famous one day." I thought the same thing about last year's winner, Ellee Duke ... she is a star.

It is always entertaining to go, especially when I am partial to certain performers! ;) We (I can say we since it's a family affair, right?) brought home one award, but if I had been on the judges panel it would have been a three way tie for first place ...

Good times kiddos!

Sugar Cookie Fix.

2011-07-13T15:27:00.004-06:00

Whenever I want to kick start any kind of weight loss, I always rely on my standard protein diet. It has been good to me over the years, and I can lose a pound a day when I stick to it. (I usually only stick to it about three days in a row because it is so super boring. Then I just watch what I eat. I enjoy food waaaaaaaay too much to be restricted on what I am supposed to be putting in my mouth.)

The plan is to eat as much of these foods as you want during the course of the day and pretty much nothing else: eggs (and even bacon if you want), grapefruit or grapefruit juice (I don't really like these so I drink Ruby Red even though I know that is SO not the same thing - but it does seem to suffice), lean red meat, veggies/salad (totally limit the dressing) ... that's about it.

It has worked fabulously over the past 30 years or so. When I have done it, I have lost a pound a day ... Awesome. Except, I have done this the past two days and I didn't lose two pounds ... Bummer. I decided not to do it today. About mid-morning I really craved a Sweet Tooth Fairy cookie, so I got one. It was way good.

I think it could pass for an egg ... just saying.

20/20.

2011-07-11T16:13:00.001-06:00

I logged into my hotmail account this morning and noticed that I have 2020 unread messages in my inbox. And then my mind started to wander about 20/20 in general ...

Like how hindsight is 20/20 and how I would give just about anything to be able to have a redo on several decisions in my life - but only if I could go back and redo with the 20/20 ...

And how I watched the show 20/20 a few weeks ago when Stephanie Nielson was on telling her story about her plane crash and her life now. She lives on my sister's street. I passed her the other day in her big black SUV and she waved to me. That was cool. (I like to think I have a connection.) :)

And I do wish I had 20/20 vision ... I used to. And then I got pregnant, and it has just never been the same. I don't really like wearing glasses so I have been thinking about getting Lasik surgery. It is still pretty expensive though. One of the top Lasik corrections centers is right here in Utah - Hoopes Vision. Phil Hoopes lives close to me and we go to the same ward (church). I bet he would give me a deal. Right now I see perfectly fine up close, I just need the glasses for seeing far away. I think after my Lasik though I may have to start wearing reading glasses. Sooooo, which is the lesser of two evils? I am leaning toward reading glasses ....

I would love a new pair of sunglasses though. I stopped liking mine a few years ago, but they are so expensive to replace. Do I want to spend a few hundred dollars on new sunglasses if I am going to get Lasik? Pretty sure I have been saying that for at least two years now ....

My favorite pair of sunglasses was the pair I got before McCall's wedding four years ago. I loved the look, but not how they functioned. Since I see perfectly fine up close, the glasses I wear don't have rims on the bottom so I can look down and see beneath my glasses which totally works well for me ... like bifocals function, except I don't need bifocals. Those sunglasses had thick rims. I'm glad EyeMasters has a good return policy.

Ha ha ha ... that totally reminds me of when I was in Tennessee with my girls this last trip. I was texting and they both laughed at me because I would put my head down to read the message and then have to lift it up to type on my phone. Chloe said I looked like a bobble head. I bought my son-in-law a bobble head of Dwight from The Office .... he loves that show.

I can't believe it has been four years ago just last month that he and McCall got married. And Libby is going to be two in a couple of months. She is just the sweetest little thing. Well ... to me she is, to McCall she is a little bit sassy. But that's how two year olds can be. Her little voice is so adorable. I always thought my kids had the cutest little voices too. Boy, it was a lifetime ago that my kids were little ....

I probably had all of these thoughts in the course of a minute. It amazes me how our minds function and what they are capable of.

Theeeeeen ... how come, on most days, I feel like mine doesn't function all that well anymore ..... ?

This tiny tot.

2011-07-08T14:32:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was this little girl's daddy's birthday, so I got to tend her while he and her mom went out for the night. Now, I have five children of my own, but I have never known a busier little toddler in my life ... and I mean that in a good way.

Some kids need to be entertained all day long, but not Libby ... she can entertain herself all day long. Her favorite thing when she comes to my house is my purse and it has been for quite some time. McCall knows that my purse is the first thing Libby will head towards (after me) as soon as she comes inside, so yesterday she put it up on the desk in the kitchen hoping that Libby wouldn't pay any attention to the fact that it wasn't in its usual place on the floor under the desk.

Libby and I were spending our time alone together - she was playing with the other toys I have for her in the family room, and then I got a phone call. Before I knew it, that little girl came into the room with the biggest grin on her face and my purse dangling from her arm. I just looked at her in awe and thought, How in the world did she get that down??? (And you can forget about taking it away from her once she has it too.)

She sat down and proceeded to busy herself with all the things that she loves in grammie's purse: my wallet, my numerous chapsticks, my mints, my glasses, my phone ... and then she pretended to be the mommy to her little baby doll. Sooooo stinkin' adorable. It is so precious how little girls just have that instinct to be a mommy - I love it.

At one point in the evening, Libby was sitting on my lap and we were reading her favorite book, What Can I Dream About? and I sneezed. She turned her head around, looked at me, and said, "Besh you." I sneezed again and she said, "Besh you."

WHAT???

It blew me away. It was the cutest thing I think I have ever heard. How, what, when? She isn't even 2 yet!

You know how you always think your baby is a genious? Well I am pretty sure that Libby really is! :)

And I am so in love with her. She is definitely a HAPPY.LITTLE.THING in my life!

Festivities on the 4th.

2011-07-07T10:47:00.003-06:00

The 4th of July has become one of my favorite holidays of the year. Last year we discovered the celebration that the city of Sandy puts on ....

BEST.4th.EVER.

We decided to try a repeat of last year. SO much to enjoy. Here is a taste of our day:

Lots of Beauty Queens ...

Lots of Fun Floats ...

Lots of Clowns ...

Adorable kids everywhere you looked ...

Really great entertainment ...

All day and night ...

Fun people watching ...

(These girls took tons of self pics, right in front of the whole crowd ... it was hilarious!)

(Oh, and this guy wasn't alone. There was a grey and a black suit in front of him too.)

Fantastic Fireworks, set to music ...

Great company ...

It was a super fun day .... Happy Birthday America!

Little Miss Liberty!

2011-07-05T14:22:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday!

I did ... mostly due to my own

little Miss Libb-erty.

The "Reveal."

2011-07-01T14:55:00.003-06:00

McCall had heard that the Makeover "Reveal" (move that bus) was going to be at four o'clock. I knew it would be packed with people so I had thought about heading over to Daybreak by at least three. I had also thought that I would bring a step ladder ... that way, even if I didn't have a good view (which I figured would probably be the case), I could set that up behind the crowd and be able to see what was going on. I had mentioned that to Wendi and she said I could use theirs.

Chloe called me from work around noon and said that things were slow and she would be able to take the afternoon off and come with me. Yay. She stopped by my office around 1:30, ate her lunch and we headed out a little after two.

When we got close, the streets were packed. I managed to find a decent spot, parked and then we headed down the block. I looked ahead and said, "Chloe. Oh my gosh. That is the limo right there. The family is on their way, we have to hurry. Run!"

It was really, really exciting for me to be there for this. I couldn't reach Wendi though so I didn't have a step ladder and I was a little bummed. There was no way I was going to squeeze through this crowd to get any kind of a decent view. We walked into the crowd a ways and then just stopped, not sure what my plan was going to be. We happened to be standing right next to (what appeared to be) an abandoned, white, plastic lawn chair so I started to ask around, "Is this your chair?" It wasn't that guys.

I tapped someone else, "Is this your chair?" It wasn't his either. I asked another few people and got the same response.

SA-WEET! It wasn't a step ladder, but it was a nice, impromptu substitute. Up I went, and the view became oh so much better.

I could see the Salt Lake REAL soccer team ....

I could see that those cool copper colored cars we passed earlier were for the grand entrance of the design team ...

I had a great view of that crazy character, Ty, getting out of the car ...

Looking as cool as ever ...

And making his crazy faces, as always ...

I got to watch Michael Moloney again. He seems so sweet, so personable, so fun ....

I got to watch Ty open the door of the limo as it pulled up (on the third take) ...

I was lucky enough to watch the designers all come out and greet the Gomez family with hugs ...

And see that adorable little Jonah so excited!

We were all thrilled when the guy with the megaphone told us to get ready for "move that bus!"

And then everyone started chanting ... Move that bus! Move that bus! Move that bus!

The mom's reaction was priceless. (She dropped to the ground too.)

I don't know what was being said, but all of the designer's got a little emotional.

And then it was time to go "check out the rest of the house."

And then they were gone. The family, Ty, cute Michael, Exzibit, beautiful Paige and the camera crew. I imagine the filming of the inside of the house would probably take a few hours so we headed home.

The REAL soccer team left too. I am guessing that this player is our version of David Beckham ... yeah?

Chloe and I passed the abc news van and I noticed the anchor was sitting inside. So, being the wanna be paparazzi that I am (I really think I missed my calling) I walked up and asked if I could get a picture. "Of course. Do you want me to step outside?"

"No. You're good." (I think news guys never mind having their picture taken.)

And then it was all over. It was hot, and dusty, and windy as all get out, and I loved every minute of it.

Day #6.

2011-06-29T13:32:00.001-06:00

Landscape is in ... furniture on it's way in ...

And then I saw him. Is that? I think it is.

YAY! It is Michael Moloney! I LOVE him!

So I watched him for a little while. And it was really, really cool.

The big reveal is later today ... I am going to go. It would be way cool to see Ty too.

Day #4.

2011-06-27T20:10:00.001-06:00

When I talked with Todd from Holmes Homes on Thursday, he told me a little bit about the family they are building this home for. It is for a single mom with a couple of kids who currently live with her parents. Her seven year old little boy, Jonah, has sickle cell anemia. Todd said that they won't have a mortgage but to help the family out even further, they are building a little guest house next to the main house. She could either rent that out, or live in it and rent out the main house to help with her expenses.

My daughter McCall was watching the Gold Cup Soccer game (from the Rose Bowl) last Saturday and said that Jonah was there as the honorary ball boy ... I am guessing Extreme Home Makeover just might have had something to do with that. ;)

Sunday afternoon, my girls and I decided to take another drive out to Daybreak to check on the progress. We picked up Wendi again and headed on down to the building site. It was amazing how different that whole scene was since Thursday. Tons more barricades had been set up, security guards all around, trailers all over the place, the big Sears tent was up, the Kraft food service trailer was parked (gotta love that) and there were tons more spectators.

Wendi and I were standing watching the workers at the main house and noticed this guy:

Hmmm. Looks like a construction calendar boy to me ...

Then Wendi said, "Don't you remember that commercial where the construction worker took off his shirt for the diet coke?" Where's a diet coke when you need one.

Then we weren't sure if maybe he actually started posing ... what do you think?

(We were busting up.) And then we headed back to the car.

As we were loading up though, Wendi ran into a neighbor who was one of the volunteer heads. She told us that they were filming for the show under the Sears tent and that if we walked through the church parking lot (where all of the TV show trailers were) we would probably be able to get close enough to see what's going on.

Sooooo, we may or may not have noticed the sign that said Production Crew Only ... but we went ahead and tried to act like we belonged there. I walked up to a group of really attractive people standing beside the tent and asked if it would be okay to take a few pictures. They looked at each other, looked at me, looked at each other again - I guess waiting for someone else to say something. And then one cute, tiny gal said, "I guess you can since you have that zoom lens."

Sweet. I walked right up to where I knew darn well that I wasn't supposed to be and snapped a few pics. And when we were leaving and the security guard noticed that we seemed a little out of place, he approached us and asked if we had permission to be there. Wendi said that we did, because her friend (remember, one of the head volunteers) had told us we could ... and then she gave the security guard her friend's name and told him that I needed pictures for "the blog". He thought for about a nano second and said, "They are pretty strict about who is back here, you should probably leave since your contact didn't call and let me know."

We left, but not before snapping this shot ... which we thought was pretty hilarious ... only in Utah!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

2011-06-24T13:56:00.004-06:00

Well lookie who rolled into town! McCall called me yesterday afternoon and said that outside her office they heard an "ice cream" truck in their parking lot so she and a few of her coworkers walked outside to get a treat. She said it was the CUTEST pink truck and also had fresh baked cupcakes for sale. (Oh the yummy-ness of cupcakes.) How fun is that? The truck driver told them that they had been out to the Daybreak development earlier that day where Extreme Makeover was going to be building a house for an upcoming episode. WAY COOL. I LOVE Extreme Makeover.

So McCall, Haley and I decided we had to go check it out for ourselves. My friend Wendi lives out in the Daybreak development and she knew right where it was, so we headed over to Wendi's and then walked with her down to the lot where they would be building. And it was JUST a lot. There was no home to be torn down - which is a first for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Yesterday was Day #1.

Wendi mentioned that the company doing the house for the family was Holmes Homes. I know the Holmes brothers. And then as we walked toward the beginning phase of the excavation, I saw a few of the blue volunteer shirts standing out in the lot ... and then I saw Todd walking toward them. Todd works for Holmes Homes and was the guy in charge of my basement renovation I did a few months ago. I was pretty excited ... ya gotta know I'd get a kick out of that little connection! :)

We watched for just a little while ... the TV cameras hadn't even arrived yet, but the big night lights were being hoisted up. It will be a crazy 7 days and nights for this crew. And I plan on watching the project as it progresses in the coming week!

SO FUN!

(A family friend and his wife were volunteers that first day.)

(Look how AMAZING this sky was as we drove back out of the development ... unbelievably beautiful.)

"Town."

2011-06-23T21:37:00.001-06:00

(Kay, I knooooooooooow you have already heard this, but ...) Nantucket truly was a wonderful respite from the rest of my world for those few days. I think the population on the island year round is just around 12,000 but during the summer months it jumps to around 50,000. Kind of crazy.

Whenever my parents have restored a home there, it is always with the intention of renting it out during those busy summer months. Nantucket pulls some pretty hefty rent prices, especially if the house is located near town. (All three of the houses they have renovated were within close walking distance to town.)

So, when any of us have visited, it has been during the off season and not during those busy summer months ... and I love that. First, because I don't like battling crowds (department store sales - blow out/close out sales - day after Thanksgiving early morning deals of the century sales - no thanks), and second, because the weather is usually absolutely perfect. This trip - we couldn't have ordered up better weather from Mother Nature herself.

All five of us siblings took a big family trip and brought our own children to Nantucket back in 1994. One of the kids' very favorite daily activities was walking into town to the candy store. And now when we girls go with our mom and dad, one of our very favorite daily activities is going into town too ... not for the candy, but for SO many other reasons:

(My dad had the girl check the price on this fabulous boat he liked. It was $1500. He didn't get it.)

(My all time favorite children's clothing store is pinwheels!)

(The cute flowers outside of the "TOY BOAT".)

(Courty and I fell in LOVE with this puppy! He belonged to the owner and would just follow her around the shop!)

(We opted not to disturb this sleeping pup.)

(Best sandwich shop ever ... it is a given we will have lunch there at least once during our stay!)

(A new bakery had opened up ... oh my! Unbelievably delicious pastries! Whoa.)

(We had pretty much just rolled out of bed!)

(Flowers on Chestnut ... LOVE everything about this shop.)

(So cute.)

For the love of Nantucket ...

2011-06-22T23:08:00.004-06:00

Just a couple of weeks before we left for New York my mom sent all of us girls an email saying, Daddy would really like to take a trip to Nantucket. What do you think? Well, I for one, did not need any thinking time on that one. My response was a definite, yes please!

The last time I had visited Nantucket was on another sister's trip about five years ago. I had just gone through a pretty rough break up and was still in the throws of heartache - crying, depressed, apathetic ... you know. Courtney had said, "If you are going to be like this the whole trip, you can't come. You can't cry while you are here." In hind sight, that is pretty funny. At the time, not so much. Not that my sisters weren't totally supportive and sweet and tried to empathize with me, but they all just thought enough already!!! It was still a great trip then, despite my emotional state, but it was an even better trip this time, maybe because of my emotional state.

We drove down from upstate NY and took the car over on the ferry from Hyannis, Massachusetts.

I am telling you what. As soon as that ferry approached the Nantucket harbor, I was so happy to be back. It is a slice of heaven on earth and I felt so lucky just to be there again.

My parents have good friends, Jeff and Porter, who have a second home on Nantucket and they were gracious enough to offer it to us for the time we were there. Jeff, Porter and their children were waiting for us at the dock, so excited to take us out to their favorite seafood shack for dinner. (Someone forgot to tell them none of us really ate seafood ... I am sure they thought we were nutty for passing up the lobster, cod, and salmon and opting for chicken fingers. I can admit that that is a bit of a shame, isn't it?)

But it was a nice beginning to an incredible few days on the "Grey Lady" ... the scenery in that corner of the harbor was pretty incredible too.

The "Granary."

2011-06-20T14:40:00.002-06:00

Now, to give a brief history of what brought my parents to this particular spot along Mitchell Road in Pittsford, New York (and for you little Libby, so when you are asked about your great grandparents in a history class, you will have this story to tell) ... back in 1999, my parents were in the process of restoring a home on Nantucket island when my dad received a call to serve in the presidency of the new LDS temple they were building in Palmyra, NY. (He literally received a phone call from the church office building and spoke with President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the prophet at that time. It was pretty thrilling for my dad, as you can imagine.)

President Hinckley kept asking my dad during the course of their conversation, "Now, you are fully retired, right?" He wanted to make sure that my dad would be able to devote most of his time and energy to this new calling as a counselor to the president of the temple. Both of my parents are from upstate NY (where Palmyra is located) so they were as happy as can be to have a reason to get back to their roots. My dad told my mom they would need to sell that Nantucket house and head off the island. (Bitter sweet at the time, but they didn't stay away too terribly long ... yay.)

Way back when, in fact it was back around the mid 1800's, a big beautiful equestrian farm was built on Mitchell Rd. The grounds were (and still are) absolutely stunning. The primary residence is on one side of the street and across the road there is a big beautiful barn with stables for the horses (the carriage house), to the right of that, a large barn where the grain and feed was kept, and behind the granary was the bull barn. The horse barn, the granary, and the bull barn had all been for sale for a few years as a group - that's what my mom wanted. And now she could have it - oh, except that when they went to make an offer, they were told that there already was an offer in, but just on the horse barn.

It broke my mom's heart. She did NOT want to see that little trio of structures split up and so they offered the new buyer more than what they had paid. They didn't bite. (It really is such a unique piece of real estate.) Sad. The timing was terrible. BUT. Mom and dad did decide to go ahead and purchase the granary, which had previously been renovated into a home and the bull barn, which was pretty much just home for all of the critters who ventured out from the woods behind it. My mom's dream was to someday make that old dilapidated bull barn into a charming little cottage that she was going to call, La Petite Maison.

On the other side of that fabulous carriage house however, was another beautiful historic home that happened to be for sale as well, so my parents purchased that as their primary residence. We all loved it, and loved all the wonderful renovations they did in that home during the course of the next eleven years. The land around that house was beautiful too, but because it sat on eight acres and my dad is pretty much the sole "grounds keeper" (which he loves), it became too much of a house for them and they decided to sell. Frown.

Enter plans for the granary. (I'm still not sure why my mom decided to renovate the granary and not the bull barn though.) The outside structure of the house is original, but they decided to gut the interior and start from scratch. They are really good at what they do - that being home renovations. We girls were blown away ... again! Lots of oohs and aahs ensued.

Here is the kitchen as you walk through the french doors:

To the left of the kitchen is their step down living room:

Then you go up the stairs to their family room:

Beyond the family room, through the doorway is their bedroom and bath. (Which I did not get a picture of .... in fact I was snapping these as I was walking out the door to the airport to come home. I should have taken my time during the week ... sigh. Hind sight, right?)

It was just delightful to stay here. We thought it would be tiny and cramped because we knew it was only a one bedroom house. But the sofas do pull out. Leslie and I slept upstairs, Spring and Courtney slept downstairs. It was like a big, long college dorm sleepover with two really great "hall" residents who let us do whatever we wanted!

Thanks momma and daddy! We miss you!

xoxoxoxox

Pittsford Regatta.

2011-06-16T17:14:00.004-06:00

My parents had flown all of us sisters out to New York using their frequent flyer miles (thanks momma and daddy), and had scheduled the trip way back in January or February. They were making a move from a larger home they owned on about 8 acres to a smaller home just two doors down.

With four of us going, and with each of us having a minimum of five children, conflicts with the timing of that trip arose and so we postponed it until the end of May. In the meantime, my parents went ahead and moved. BUT. Since it was a significant downsizing for them, my mom still planned on all of us girls spending lots of time sorting and going through totes and boxes out in their (bull) barn, behind their house, where all of the excess items were being stored.

We were kind of excited about that because we all love most of our mom and dad's items and we thought (finally) we get to pick and choose the things that we might have wanted for years and years and years. (Although we also pretty much anticipated there being some tension since we would undoubtedly want much of the same stuff. My parents are fair to all of us children, almost to a fault - no offense mom, that is a good thing. So her idea, theory, plan, whatever you want to call it, is this: Leslie, the oldest, gets to choose what she would want first. Then I, the second born, would choose next and so on. BUT. Because she is fair, and it isn't Courtney's fault that she was the last one born, on the second go round Courtney gets to have the first pick and then we go in reverse order from there.)

Sidenote: My mom and dad have several antique pine pieces that they have had through all of our growing up years and all of us would take any one of them. My mom called me several months ago and said, "You know Polly, where will you even put this big pine corner cupboard when we get it out to you?" And I thought, SWEET! I get the corner cupboard! I have always wanted that corner cupboard for as long as I could remember. But when we got out to the bull barn and there it was, in all it's glory, Leslie mentioned how much she loved it and my mom let her know that it was already sort of promised to me. (Picture Leslie wide eyed, surprised, and a little annoyed.)

My mom said, "Leslie, Polly has always wanted that corner cupboard and I have told her for years that she could have it when we couldn't use it anymore." It is sort of a done deal ... it isn't going to be part of the selection. I get to have it. (happy, happy, happy!)

(Here is a little tip for those of you who might have favorite things at your parents house that you are hoping to have one day - put your name on it asap.)

So there we were. Pulling into mom and dad's driveway off Mitchell Rd, so excited to see how they had restored what used to be an old farm grainery. My sisters headed into the house first but I heard shouts coming from the canal (the grainery is right along the Erie Canal). I asked my dad what it was and he told me they had been having boat races all weekend. It was the annual Pittsford Regatta. There were rowing races for men and women, boys and girls, high school and varsity teams and Masters as well. The shouts were from the crew member at the top of the boat , literally yelling ... one, two, three, row (or whatever he was shouting) ... I loved it.

I grabbed the camera from the back of the van and headed down the little embankment to get a closer view.

Seriously?

How cool was this?

I literally stood there with the biggest smile on my face, shaking my head and thought, It is gonna be a good week. This is awesome.

Chicago ... O'Hare International.

2011-06-13T16:32:00.001-06:00

I can't even count how many times I have been in the Chicago O'Hare airport. That was the routine layover on our way from Los Angeles, California to Rochester, New York all the while I was growing up. My mother always had us dress up for our flights too ... I think that was much more the norm for everyone in those days. O'Hare seemed so overwhelmingly huge to me. When we would get into Rochester (okay, we did leave from LAX which was also an enormous airport so Rochester didn't really stand a chance against that and O'Hare), the plane would land and we would walk down the ramp, out onto the runway and make our way through the airport doors - out of the elements, whatever those might be at that particular time of year. It was a tiny airport for a long, long time.

My how things have changed .... where there once were only souvenir/magazine/snack stands, now there is just about anything you would need, and things you would never need from an airport. (It would make for being stranded a little less bothersome, except that the stores tend to keep "normal" store hours - where is the 7-11 when you need it?!?!?!) O'Hare had several restaurants (we wanted to eat at their Macaroni Grill but the wait was a little long), all kinds of stores and sundries ... but what kind of blew my mind the most was the grocery store. It was tiny, but, a grocery store? Pretty cool. (No, I don't get out much for those of you who have experienced these things for years now.)

I loved seeing the big Oprah banners all over the airport too. But it reminded me of two things - first, I had 25 years to try and get to the Oprah Winfrey show and never made it, and second, I don't think I had ever stepped foot outside of the airport once in all these years ... until this time, because ~~as luck~~ due to an unfortunate circumstance, my sisters and I actually spent the night in Chicago. And although it wasn't really a good, happy thing - it could have been worse.

Our plane was seriously delayed in Salt Lake. The counter attendant said that there would be no way we would make our connecting flight in Chicago and there was nothing else leaving for Rochester until the next morning. Bummer. But she did book us two hotel rooms and gave us vouchers for food and made sure our bags would end up in Chicago, not all the way to New York since we would be spending the night. That's a good thing, right?

When we arrived in Chicago, however, our connecting flight was also delayed and we absolutely could have made the flight! Leslie tried sooooo hard to get on that flight into Rochester. She was not keen on losing a day in her "beloved" Pittsford with our mom and dad. The problem was, they had already given up our seats and our luggage was already unloaded and would be sitting on the carousel down in the bag claim area. Oh, all of our luggage except Leslie's, that is. Hers was somehow misplaced.

I don't know how long we paced and Spring cursed the airlines before we did end up finding Leslie's bag in a "lost luggage" area. There was another girl whose luggage had been lost too. She had missed her connecting flight home, and hadn't even been comped a hotel room ... lots of tears were happening all around us. So I said to the girlies, "Hey, look at the bright side. At least we don't have kids with us and we are with each other. It will be fun."

Spring wasn't buying it. She didn't think that $10 for dinner and $5 for breakfast was nearly enough, what with airport prices and hotel food prices as high as they were, plus the inconvenience of it all. I told her I thought that the hotel they had set us up in was in the Marriott family so it would be nice. She wasn't buying that either. She was sure it would be some seedy joint that we wouldn't ever choose to stay in.

I felt so bad for the girl that was crying though - and she kept crying too. As we were standing in a line to find out where the bags might have disappeared to, she said, "I have never flown alone before. I don't want to be like this either." My heart went out to her, so I said, "You can stick with us if you want. They comped us two hotel rooms and you can have one of them. My sisters and I can all just stay in one room." I knew my sisters wouldn't mind, and they didn't. So we all waited together for the shuttle to the Renaissance Hotel.

I was right. The Renaissance was indeed part of the Marriott family, and dare I say one of the nicest hotels I have been in. It was pretty darn swanky. And $10 for dinner bought me a yummy chicken ceasar salad from the cooler by the front desk, and lots of treats for my sisters. (Oh, and the girl who tagged along said, "You know, I can just have my work pay for a room for me, but thanks for your hospitality." So we ended up with our two original, really great rooms after all!) And in addition to that, because we got into Rochester during the day instead of at midnight the night before, we kept tradition alive by getting to stop off at our FAVORITE frozen custard place on the way home from the airport! Four double chocolate almond custards with extra nuts - heavy on the extra nuts please.

Yum, yum, and double yum!

Ronald McDonald.

2011-06-10T12:23:00.002-06:00

When my sisters and I take a trip to visit my parents, we pretty much know that fast food is not going to be on the agenda. As I have mentioned a time or two already, my mother (and sister, Leslie) wouldn't eat at a fast food drive thru if their lives depended on it. I have tried to tell them both that McDonald's and Wendy's have really incredible salads that they would like, but they still take a pass on it.

While we were in New York last week, Spring and I really needed our diet cokes though. Spring would give me the signal that it was time by pretending to hold a cup and sip through a straw (she is so funny.) And since McDonald's does have our favorite diet cokes, we would find a way to take a detour the next time we were heading out someplace. My mom or dad would inevitably ask, Why are we turning here? And Spring or I would coyly say, Well ... you know ... we just need a little drink. My mom would let out a sigh, shake her head and my dad would gladly buy the drinks to make his girls happy.

After our first weekend in New York, we drove down to Nantucket to spend a few days. Boy I love Nantucket. But if I ever lived there I am sure I would go through withdrawls from my beloved Mickey D's. There isn't even the slightest hint of fast food anywhere near that vicinity. And it's a good thing I suppose, because you really do feel like you are in another place and time there ... so far away from your reality, its just so amazing.

The day we were leaving the island, I was a little down in the dumps. As soon as the car drove off of the ferry and we all piled in I said, "Dad, I really need you to find me a McDonald's." I needed a pick me up and I knew that that was going to help. (I really like knowing that there will almost always be a McDonald's somewhere close by. In fact, all the way down the thruway in NY the rest stops all had McDonald's in them ... love.)

Well, my sweet daddy found me a McDonald's close by in Cape Cod. My dad, Spring and I (of course) walked in, and then I walked right back out to get the camera.

How fabulous is this painting? And it really is an honest to goodness oil painting ... it was pretty incredible. (And for the record, I did feel a tad bit happier after my plain double cheese burger and fries.)

A happy graduate.

2011-06-08T12:54:00.001-06:00

Alta High School graduation ... June 7, 2011 ... University of Utah.

Elliott Scott Wood ... you did it, son.

Jared, McCall, Elliott, Mom, Haley, and Sophie. (Chloe, we missed you.)

Truly ... a proud moment for this mother.

I LOVE the energy and excitement in the air on graduation day!

Four down and one to go! It was a happy, happy, happy day!

Congratulations son ... I am so proud of you!!!

Sister's trip.

2011-06-06T12:03:00.003-06:00

Wow, it seems like I have been gone from the blogging world and my reality for a long time. I took a nice, fun, crazy, eating-fest, laughing-fest vacation with my favorite traveling companions. We had the best time ... we usually do. It is always bitter sweet to come home though. I will miss my sisters too much (even though we all live within minutes of each other, we don't live together and they are so fun to live with) ... but I missed my kids too much. (I like living with them too.)

And it is good to know that they missed their mama while I was away ....

(The Biebs is becoming a regular greeter at our house.)

Mike Mulligan.

2011-05-27T11:25:00.001-06:00

Several months ago ... I think it was probably early fall, I drove around the little bend in the road that I always drive around on my way to work (after my stop at McDonald's, it is the back way to my office), and tho and behold, LOOK at what I saw. In that moment I seriously felt like a little boy must feel when he sees something like this. Look at the size of that crane!!! I had never seen a crane that big before. I think I actually said an audible, WHOA! and pulled over. It totally reminded me of the book, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel that I used to read as a little girl. I loved it.

I was so excited that something "so big" was being built ... but I had no idea what in the world it could be.

Every day, I watched the progress of that enormous structure ... and I could NOT figure out what it was going to be.

It just kept getting bigger and bigger and BIGGER. A hospital? No. There were no windows and a new hospital was just built less than a block away ... a huge parking structure? No. Why would they need that right there? It couldn't be an office complex without any windows .... hmmm?

I hadn't noticed this sign on the OPPOSITE side of the structure. DUH. How did I not figure that out? (Sometimes I do have blond moments. I would call it a senior moment, but the blond reference is the lesser of the two evils.)

They just put the marquee up the other day. Trees are planted. Lines are being painted in the parking lot.

Let the long lunches begin! (Shhhh ...)

Team "HINEKYM".

2011-05-25T10:47:00.004-06:00

I don't think I have ever been more happy to see a contestant win the mirror ball trophy as I was last night when Hines Ward won on Dancing With the Stars. I LOVE him. I love Kym. And I love them together. I know I have already posted about how much I have enjoyed Kirstie Alley on the show, but these two could not be any more darling and any more deserving of the win.

(Not that Elliott sits and watches this show with his mom and sisters every week, but the other night he was in the kitchen and looked into the family room while Hines and Kym were dancing. He said, "Haley and I think those two should be a couple." I totally agree. They have great chemistry beyond the dance floor and truly seem to enjoy each other. In fact, this morning Good Morning America had an "after party" with the top three couples from the show and Hines had on a black hoody with big white block letters spelling H.A.P.P.Y. - so cute. And I know, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just a reality show but I am a romantic that way and can believe in a happy ever after for them. They really do seem happy together, and happy together is a good thing.)

I am not a follower of football so I had no idea who Hines Ward was when they introduced him at the beginning of the season, but I am pretty sure I'll be watching some of this coming football season when the Pittsburgh Steelers play. (He said he will have to use some of his dancing moves in the end zone now after a touch down - so cute.)

On Good Morning America, Robin, one of the hosts, made a comment to Kirstie about how she had a goal that she wanted to achieve during the show. Robin asked if she had reached it. Kirstie kind of laughed and then they showed a clip where Kirstie had said, "Well, I figured every week with all the dancing is about five pounds and I still have 40 to go, so honestly, I do have to make the finals if I want to reach my goal."

After watching this season, and seeing a pretty dramatic transformation of Kirstie (at age 60! I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around that), I decided that maybe dancing is how I am going to get in shape (at age 50!). It seems just a little more fun than my walking/jogging. Okay, it's a lot more fun ... I bought Zumba for the XBOX the other day. Right after Elliott set it up he danced to a few songs. He doesn't like it. I think it might be a little too girlie for him. I hope I like it . I want a transformation too. (Kym's body is my "goal" ... a girl can dream.)

If you haven't ever seen Hines and Kym dance, click here or here - you will love them too - so cute.

Guitars.

2011-05-23T13:00:00.002-06:00

I don't think it would be a very big stretch to say that lots of kids start piano lessons at some point in their childhood. My oldest sister started lessons first in our family and just loved playing the piano. Practicing, lessons, and recitals - not so much.

I think Leslie only took lessons for about three years before she begged our mother to let her quit - which my mother very reluctantly gave in to - but Leslie did keep playing the piano, she loved it so much. Instead of having to play the songs that her strict, (mean) piano teacher made her play, Leslie would buy sheet music of songs that she enjoyed playing and singing along to. She spent hours at the piano and became quite good at it. She still is too. And she is a great accompanist.

My mom continued to encourage the rest of us to play the piano as well. I don't know how many times my brother and I started and stopped piano lessons. My two younger sisters have the same story. The thing that we all remember the most is being embarrassed to go to our lessons because we hadn't practiced nearly enough, and our one teacher who gave us candy bars whether we had practiced or not.

(Winebrenner family stats for piano players: one out of five.)

I am also fairly certain that all of those same moms who started their children in piano lessons said, "You will thank me for this when you are older." Or, "You will wish that you played the piano when you grow up if you don't practice now." And all of those moms would be right.

And then all of us kids, who didn't practice the piano, would repeat the cycle with our own children. All of mine had lessons for at least a little while - two of them play, at least a little bit. McCall and Haley stuck with it long enough to be able to read music and enjoy playing on occasion.

Elliott took cello lessons when he was in elementary school one year and actually did really well, which was a very good thing since he was the only cello player in the orchestra and at the recital you would know if he wasn't holding up his end of the song. He was going to continue playing in middle school but bullying the little guy with the big cello became a problem on the bus and he wasn't interested anymore. Sigh. I can't say I blame him though.

I figured since the fingering was probably about the same, he should take up the guitar. I was very encouraging ... Elliott, girls love a guy who can play the guitar and sing. Really. I bought him one for Christmas one year. Haley bought one too. She thought it would be fun to learn to play together.

On my last trip to Tennessee to visit my girls before they came back home, I heard Haley playing and singing softly in her room next to mine. I had forgotten that she knew how to play a little bit. It was really sweet for me to see that.

And then just last night I heard some soft little strumming and singing in our living room. I walked into the hallway and there was Sophie, sitting on the chair, looking at guitar chords on her phone. Saturday she decided that she wanted to learn to play as well. We have four guitars in the family - so far only one knows how to play. Maybe this will change that.

(Wood family stats for guitar players: one and a half out of five.)

Rain.

2011-05-19T10:45:00.000-06:00

I bought these little pansies a few weeks ago but haven't planted them yet. I have enjoyed having them just sitting on my kitchen window sill though. I am reminded to water them everyday, (they are pretty much in my face, how could I not?) so they are staying cute and the blooms keep on coming.

We have been getting a lot of rain lately, as is most of the country. Fine by me. Oh, how I LOVE the rain! Especially at this time of year when my lawn is trying so hard to recover from the brutal winter, and do its best to green up for me because it knows how much I LOVE a green lawn!

I love being home on a rainy day. (And especially a dark and stormy day.) I would love to be home right now cleaning and organizing and listening to the sound of the rain.

This morning, as I was standing at my sink, looking out at my beautiful view of the mountains, I couldn't help but notice these little colorful "heads" and how they are all turned toward the window. Normally I recognize that they are reaching for the sun ... I love how flowers do that, don't you? But this morning, when I looked at them, I saw something completely different. I couldn't help but think how much they resembled little children, staring sadly out into the wet yard, with raindrops streaking the windows, (think Sally and her brother in The Cat in the Hat) wishing they could go out and play and that made me smile a really, really big smile.

Cake graffiti.

2011-05-17T10:57:00.003-06:00

(Images from Sweetapolita blog.)

Remember my last license plate post: RUKDNME?

Well .... ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Have you ever seen anything like this?!?!?! I am dying at how adorable this is! And what child wouldn't have a blast decorating their own birthday cake? And mommy actually letting them do it?!

I am in love .... (not sure I would have the patience, but this is one of the cutest things I have ever seen.)

A zoom lens.

2011-05-13T16:10:00.003-06:00

The Christmas after my oldest baby had turned one, I got one of my very best gifts of my life. It was a Canon T50 - 35 mm camera with a detachable flash. I cried when I opened it. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. And not too long after that, I got the best zoom lens EVER to go with that camera, and I knew that I had died and gone to heaven. It was with that camera and lens that I started to love photography and started taking better pictures.

I became the official unofficial family photographer. All of the best pictures my sister Leslie and I have of our little children (because Leslie and I were the only ones who had any children at that time) were taken with that camera. That Canon did me proud for years - until one extremely unfortunate, sad day, seventeen years later.

It was the very last day of the 2002 Winter Olympics that were being held here in Utah. Haley was in a little teeny-bop girl band at the time and they were performing one morning in Olympic Square. I had gone up with all of my kids and my parents were in town from New York so they came with us too. We had a ball .... the kids rode on the mock luge ride, they got into the giant snow globes and I took their pictures. We walked up to the Olympic torch and took pictures. It was just a really thrilling thing to be able to take part in.

Later on in the day Martina McBride was giving a concert right there too ... and I had four tickets. So my older three girls and I got to see her. I sent my dad home with my two younger ones and the video camera. I kept the Canon to get some pictures during the concert. (Even with a zoom lens Martina was just a tiny little speck through that lens. And as luck would have it, I only had two more pictures left on the roll of film anyway.) I should have sent that camera home with my dad.

After the concert, the girls and I wandered over to my brother's booth before we headed to the car. He was selling Olympic memorabilia - shirts, hats, bags ... all kinds of stuff ... and of course, Olympic pins.

When we drove into the driveway, I looked around for the camera. It wasn't there. I said, "Who had the camera? Where is it?!?!?!?!" Panic struck. My little Chloe started to cry because she had been in charge of the camera.

"Mom, I'm so sorry. Maybe I set it down at Drew's booth."

I called Drew. "Please tell me you have my camera there with you."

He said, "I saw a camera sitting here on my counter and thought it was an awfully nice camera to be unattended. I should have picked it up, but I didn't. It isn't here."

I cried again over that camera. Not happy tears. Aching, sorrowful tears as if I had lost a child. I had had that camera longer than I had had most of my children. I just laid on my bed and wept. Seriously. It was a tremendous loss for me. I hated losing all of those pictures we had just taken too ... all of those memories.

I don't remember whose camera I borrowed, but after I had cried for a while, I told the kids to get bundled up again and we were going back to Olympic Square to try and recreate our memories. (Have you ever done that?) Moans and groans ensued ... they didn't want to. I made them.

When we got to the gate there were military guards ushering people out and keeping anyone else from getting in. The Olympic experience had come to an end. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! LET ME IN!!!!! I told one of the guards that I had left my camera at one of the booths and I needed to check at the lost and found to see if anyone had turned it in. (It was cold and raining too but I didn't care. I was going to RECAPTURE the memories on film if it killed me!!!!!)

He said that I could go in but my kids would have to stay outside of the gates. NOOOOOOO!!!! LET US IN!!!! I can't even remember now how in the world I finagled it, but I did, and my kids and I were all inside the gates. It was looking pretty deserted by then but I kept running all over the place telling my poor kids to get in a shot ... "You guys - quick, stand over there! Hurry, get in there and look at me! Wait, just Elliott and Sophie." It was terrible. Especially since my camera wasn't at the lost and found. I filled out a form and was told that I could keep checking back at an address in Salt Lake City for the next few weeks to see if it ever showed up.

I knew it wouldn't. I was right. I was so sad. The only consolation, all these years later, is that I wouldn't be using it now anyway since pretty much everything is digital. And I never have gotten another zoom lens.

But Chloe did .... and I took it to Elliott's track meet the other day and had a really good time with it.

I captured Elliott way down on the field. I captured he and his friends and their fun antics. And then I spotted a girl who looked just like the girl over at the blog meohmy! I was sure it was her. It looked like her to me ... and the guy she was with looked like the husband over at meohmy too. (She was so adorable in person too. And soooo tiny.) Then she reached into her stroller and picked up her little boy.

Oh. Nevermind. The girl at meohmy has a cute little girl named Presley. Not her.

(Elliott and his friend.)

(Elliott and more friends.)

(Elliott, his friends, and their antics.)

(The girl who looks so much like the girl from meohmy.)

(The girl and her husband who looks similar to the husband from meohmy.)

And then I saw this guy through the eye of the zoom lens.

Hey? Isn't that the guy who used to work right next door to my office? That I had a little crush on because he is so handsome and charming?

Yes it was. I took his picture. And then I completely felt like a stalker.

Shoot. (I need to get a zoom lens.)

Extensions.

2011-05-11T16:43:00.000-06:00

This is Haley ... my daughter who is a cosmetologist. During Haley's schooling, as is typical of most cosmetology students, she ran the full gammet. ( ... gammet is being underlined as an incorrect word. I tried to look up the spelling in the dictionary and I can't find one. I tried: gamet, gammit, gamat - nothing. Didn't you think that was a real word too? You know what I mean when I say gammet though, right? I mean like, the full spectrum, the whole nine yards ...) Anyway, suffice it to say she went through all kinds of hair colors and styles and cuts and usually liked all of them, which I think is pretty cool about Haley. I am such a creature of habit that the few times I have ventured away from my "norm" I always grow it right back out to the way it used to be.

But not my Haley ... she likes to change things up.

When she first got her job in Tennessee last year she was a red head with a rather predominate blonde streak. Then she went to just the red ... then back to a more natural light brown ... added a few blond highlights and could hardly wait to come up to change it up some more. Yesterday, Haley was as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning because she was going to get hair extensions. (And I don't know anyone who takes better care of their hair with extensions on - she is a natural born stylist for sure.)

And I am pretty sure that if I was able to get hair extensions when I was growing up, I would have felt like a movie star. (Especially after a bad perm .... some of you know exactly what I am talking about to, don't you?)

What a difference a few hours can make these days ....

Graduation time.

2011-05-09T17:14:00.002-06:00

There is something special in the air on the day of a graduation. My son in law, Jared, graduated from college last week in Business and all of us girls went down to watch him "walk."

I can remember being a student in college and just a little envious of the other students who were married. I thought that would have been so much fun.

(Now ask McCall or Jared that right about now and I know they would think I was crazy! What is so fun about having a mortgage, car payments, a baby, full time jobs and homework on top of all that? But still.)

Congratulations Jared!

You did it!

Adorable texts.

2011-05-06T16:26:00.002-06:00

My son is a boy of very few words. He only sometimes responds with a "love you too" after hearing that from his mama. Getting this text message from him ... caught me completely off guard and totally made my day!

LoVe!

(I am very aware that my phone borders on prehistoric. But you can't beat the monthly cost and it works just fine for me, kids .... you know it does.)

A remarriage.

2011-05-05T14:59:00.000-06:00

Did you hear the news???? Marie Osmond remarried her first husband, Steve Craig! I guess they know how to keep a secret 'cause I don't think anyone got wind of this until after the fact ... and I am really, really happy for them!

Back in my days as a student at Brigham Young University, Steve Craig was one of the basketball stars at that time. Big man on campus too. He was SO attractive. I remember one time I happened to be walking back to my dorm and he was walking not too far in front of me. When it was time for me to turn toward my dorm, I didn't. I kept on going in the direction that he was going. I wasn't quite done looking/gawking/admiring/enjoying him. (I did all kinds of silly things back then.)

When he and Marie got engaged I didn't think, Wow, lucky Steve! He got Marie Osmond! I thought, Wow, lucky Marie! She got Steve Craig!!!!!

They had their wedding reception here in Salt Lake City at a beautiful hotel which (back then) was called the Hotel Utah. One of my closest friends' family was good friends with the Osmonds. Her father had worked with some of them on various projects so they were invited to the reception. But as luck would have it, it wasn't a good night for most of their family so I volunteered to go with one of the sisters in the family ... yay me!

We stood in line for about 3 hours (seriously), but it was worth it. Marie's dress really was so stunning and she was just glowing. And there I stood, face to face with Steve Craig and got to shake his hand ... sigh.

I love that she wore the same dress this time too. As the story goes, she wasn't intending to but the one she was hoping to wear wasn't working out so she found her old one. "I can't breathe, but I'm in it!" (Marie's words.)

It was a complete surprise to hear this news today, but I wish them all the best! I hope Marie is happy now.

Sidenote: I already have mentioned that I attended Marie's wedding reception. Do you remember that? It was back in the blog post about wedding dresses? When I mentioned it would be so fun to see everyone's dresses and talk about why we picked the one that we picked? Hint, hint .... smile.

LP sighting.

2011-05-03T17:28:00.001-06:00

McCall found this plate and sent it to me. I am LOVING it!!!

(Sadly, I have been using this expression far too much lately.)

The Royal Wedding.

2011-04-29T10:20:00.000-06:00

I knew that all things Royal Wedding would be featured on lots of blogs this morning and I was right. However, I am sad to say that I have seen very little of any of it. But how stunning is this?

W.O.W.

One of my cute readers, Libbie, posted that she and her little girl (complete with a princess crown and veil) went over to her sister's house in the middle of the night to watch the event together. How fun is that? I have lots of daughters and lots of sisters - why didn't we have a party? Shoot. (Oh yeah, I work ... big frown.)

We did TiVo it though, and I do plan on watching it, and I will love all of it, just like I did when I watched Lady Di marry Prince Charles. I SO remember that day .... which reminds me of that post I did quite some time ago about wedding dresses .....

Hmmmm.

Do you remember that? I wanted you to send in a picture of you in your wedding dress (yes, that means you, and you, and you too) and tell me why you chose it. So here is another excuse to reminisce about that special day! And June is coming up too - how does that song go about June Brides? Another perfect ~~excuse~~ reason to share the bridal LoVe!!!! (It'll be fun.)

Go to my "view profile" - click on my "email" - write a little story wedding dress story - attach a photo - hit "send" ... you'll be glad you did! (I will be soliciting too.)

Mint chocolate chip.

2011-04-28T17:32:00.000-06:00

And then there are those days when everything is making me absolutely crazy and I say, "Diet Shmiet .... I need a Baskin Robbins run!"

Because this truly IS one of my happiest little things. Best ice cream cone ever - no battle!!!

Protein Style.

2011-04-27T09:36:00.004-06:00

You know what the beauty of being on "my" diet for me is? I still get to eat my favorite food for lunch. I just order it protein style and I'm good to go.

My sister, Leslie, thinks I'm lucky that my protein diet works so well for me; lean meat, veggies, eggs - bacon if you want, grapefruit juice. I can usually drop a pound a day on it. (She doesn't like it because she isn't a big meat eater.) But it does get mighty boring after a while, as most diets do, so I only do it a couple three days. (That's an expression I remember my grandparents using ... its kind of funny.) Losing a few pounds fast is a good way to motivate you to then watch what you eat and keep going, right?

Leslie sent me this picture yesterday on facebook and wrote:

"polly, saw this pic and strangely......thought of you."

Guess I'm lucky that ~~one of~~ my favorite drink is on my diet too, huh? :)

Easter wishes.

2011-04-25T18:20:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.

My children were gone for the whole week on a Spring break trip and arrived home Sunday afternoon around 1:00. It felt really, REALLY good to have all of my kiddies back home in the same place again! I missed them so ....

The Tennessee experience.

2011-04-21T21:51:00.002-06:00

One of the main reasons I have been SO busy and don't have enough hours in the day is largely due to the arrival of these two sillies. Their year contract with the "Tennessee Shindig" show was up as of April 1st and they were just a little bit ECSTATIC to come home. They absolutely LOVED performing every night, loved their cast mates, their new friends, the state of Tennessee (note the large orange T and Tennessee plate), and life on their own - but they were ready to come home. I just wasn't quite ready for their arrival back home.

The remodel of the basement happened while they were away, as did the move in of renters, so it has been an adjustment since both of their rooms were in the basement. I have a wall of totes and boxes in the garage belonging to them. And see those two cars up above? Those cars drove home filled to the brim with lots and lots more stuff ... which happens when you are girls who love to shop, make good money with very few bills, and have several outlet malls right down the street from you. The task ahead, of finding space for all of it, remains challenging.

BUT! It really is so fun to have them home. They add lots of spunk and energy to our family dynamic. (Can you tell?) I just adore them. I will miss my getaways to TN and watching them perform though - I sure loved those shows. When I took all of the kids last November, McCall said, "I could watch this show every night." I have to agree. Here is what we saw, and what we will miss: (warning - picture overload).

Lots of dancing ...

Lots of singing ...

Impersonators - like the Blues Brothers ...

And Reba ...

And cute Dolly ...

Lots of Elvis' ...

And "handsome Michael" ...

The Bendys dressing room antics ...

The Beatles ...

Little Richard and Obama ...

Marilyn ...

One of my favorite numbers - Cherokee Nation ...

The patriotic finale ...

And getting to say, "Those are my girls!"

It was a great run girlies! And bitter sweet to see that chapter of their/our lives close. (At least for me.)

Asparagus.

2011-04-20T19:01:00.000-06:00

I guess I have been a little absent from the blogging world lately and I don't like it.

I have taken lots of pictures lately and have lots of happy little things to blog about, but the thing that I lack right now is hours in a day. I am overwhelmed at home, overwhelmed at work, and going a little bit crazy.

But I did feel the NEED to post so I remembered how incredible the asparagus was that I fixed and devoured on Sunday night.

I think I have probably bought asparagus .... oh ... maybe, once. Ever. (If I did buy it twice, I never fixed the second bundle and ended up throwing it out. Partly because I do that, and partly because I don't really know how to fix it and have it taste really, super yummy.) But on Sunday afternoon, I stopped by my friend Vicki's house and she had a bundle. She and her husband were heading out of town so she asked if I wanted it. I said sure.

Then Vicki proceeded to show me how she makes it - because when she makes it, it is really, REALLY good. She showed me how she breaks the stems where they want to be broken. (She said, "Just bend the ends back and they will break off right where they should.) Then she said she puts butter in a frying pan, adds a little lemon juice, sprinkles on a little bit of seasoning salt and cooks them for about 4 minutes.

So that's what I did as soon as I got home. See that bundle up above? That's about how much asparagus I ate all by myself - prepared exactly the way Vicki instructed and may I just say, I think that is going to be one of my new favorite things to eat ...

(Magically) D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!

The color of spring.

2011-04-11T18:18:00.000-06:00

I went to my bank today during lunch and noticed a beautiful splash of color.

Spring has sprung ...

Dancing Kirstie.

2011-04-06T14:20:00.000-06:00

I have never been a huge fan of Kirstie Alley ... and its not that I don't like her, I guess I am just indifferent about her and her career. BUT!!! Have you SEEN her on Dancing with the Stars???? What a surprise she has been!

She is an amazing dancer and looks fantastic! (Who would have guessed that about her?) And I can't even believe that she is 60 ... 60!?!?! Oooooo ... and that Maks ... LoVe him ... always have. I am just a little envious that Kirstie gets to have Maks as her "personal trainer." I certainly wouldn't mind a guy like that teaching me ballroom dance moves and giving me a workout everyday. (Just sayin'.)

In case you haven't watched Dancing with the Stars yet this season - I highly recommend you tune in. It's a great cast this year - lots of good dancers. But, Kirstie? She is the one I look forward to watching the most, truly.

Snow globes.

2011-04-04T11:19:00.001-06:00

It snowed yesterday ... quite a bit, in fact.

It looked like a HUGE snow globe ... all day long.

Spring is definitely showing signs of coming ...

This is just a little set back for her ...

And I'm not complaining one tiny bit. It was beautiful.

Justin B.

2011-04-01T12:03:00.000-06:00

My littlest baby girl turned 16 today ...

All she wanted was a visit from her biggest crush, Justin Bieb.

How could I not accommodate her request???

Doesn't the expression on her face just make the cost of a personal visit totally worth it?

... and such a polite young man. I was impressed.

Running socks.

2011-03-30T12:47:00.001-06:00

I believe it was back in the beginning of February that McCall and I signed up for the Disney half marathon. We signed up thinking that that would be some really good motivation for getting in shape and losing a few of those extra pounds that make you jiggle. Well, I do know that since then I have ran a total of zero times and this week makes my total of walking days 4. I do still have 5 months until the marathon, but I'm pretty sure I better get this show on the road. (I actually had a dream recently that it was the day before the marathon and I hadn't even done one thing to prepare and I completely panicked. Not good.)

A couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday, when I probably should have been out walking/running, I was sitting on my couch having a relaxing movie marathon day. One of the movies that happened to be on was "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. I LoVe that movie.

In one of the scenes, Mel Gibson (as an ad executive) is presenting his idea for a new ad for running shoes (and maybe clothes too - I can't remember). In the commercial he is showing the potential clients, you see a lot of road ... with one lone female runner. He says something like, "The road doesn't care what you look like, or what you're wearing, or what you weigh. It only cares that you pay it a visit once in awhile." I decided it was time to pay my road more frequent visits.

The first time I walked, I was pretty tired. The second time, surprisingly, I went farther and didn't even feel sore. The third time I walked about half way up my street and as my socks were slipping down from my ankles, under my heel, and bunching up in the arch of my foot (that fast), I decided I better turn right back around and change my socks. I grabbed a pair of Elliott's and headed back out the door.

A few days ago, I was on the phone with a friend of mine. I was telling him that I hadn't even begun my training and I really needed to get more pro-active and less lazy about it. We talked about the right shoes, and starting slow, and preventing injuries ... and then the next morning I got a text message from him that said, "I have a little something insignificant for your training. Do you want it now, around 1 pm, or never?" And about two minutes later, he stopped by my office with socks - breathable, lightweight, made for running, special socks. How adorable is that?

And who knew socks would make SUCH a difference in your comfort level? (I guess he did - but I certainly didn't.) 'Cause wow - the next time I got out and walked, it was pretty amazing. I felt a little spoiled and really comfortable and a little guilty that my son runs track and I haven't gotten him his own special running socks.

(I'm heading to the sports store during lunch today.)

Those golden arches.

2011-03-28T17:13:00.000-06:00

Now, before I get completely off the subject of the Biltmore House, do you remember how I ran into that lady in the parking lot of McDonald's the day before I left for Tennessee? I happened to think her license plate was cute, but missed getting the picture of it because my camera was full? And she was the one who suggested I go to the Biltmore House in the first place?

Well, after I missed out on getting that picture of her plate, I called McCall to vent my frustration and she said, "Mom, maybe she goes to McDonald's a lot too and you'll see it there again." (How's that for a cute, optimistic response?)

Guess what? That little girl of mine was right. Because the day after I got home, I drove through my Mickey D's on my way to work, and as I was heading out of the parking lot that same plate was right in front of me leaving the parking lot too. And as tempted as I was to follow her - I didn't. I thought, You know ... I already blogged about it, I already explained how I missed the picture. It's okay. And I let that little car drive away from me.

AND THEN ... the morning after THAT, as I was driving through the parking lot heading toward the drive-thru, LO and BEHOLD - yup, no kidding, there was that little silver car parked in almost the exact location of the first sighting, and I just had to stop. I parked a few spaces down and walked into that McDonald's to say hello.

As I approached her table, she looked up and me, I said, "Do you remember me? I met you the day before I left for Tennessee and we talked about the Biltmore House?"

And she said, "Yes I do! So did you end up going to see it? Wasn't it just beautiful? How was your visit with your girls?" And then Connie and I had a nice long visit about Asheville, and leaving my luggage, and the Biltmore and the Tennessee Shindig show and her daughter's recent divorce and being single and ....." She is a darling, darling woman.

She asked if we had eaten at the Biltmore and I said, "Actually no. We had heard that we really needed to go to the McDonald's right by the Biltmore because it was pretty fancy."

And it was ... definitely the swankiest McDonald's I 've seen:

(Complete with player piano.)

(Oh, and of course I got the picture of the plate this time.)

The Biltmore House.

2011-03-25T15:40:00.000-06:00

So Haley, Chloe and I made the 2 hour drive back to Asheville and debated about going to the Biltmore House. We heard that the admission tickets were $39.00 each so we were actually indecisive as to whether or not we would go inside. We thought we might just drive by and take a few pictures ... until we got there.

No chance at all of seeing that house without a ticket. The grounds are so expansive and it is surrounded by rolling hills that unless your means of transportation is a helicopter, you need a ticket. We bought tickets. (It felt like a hike at girl's camp just getting from the parking lot out into the wild blue yonder of Biltmore-land.) The place is pretty spectacular and I don't think there is anything else like in the whole country. I can only imagine how fabulous the grounds look in full Spring color - or at Christmas time when they completely deck the halls.

They didn't allow photographs to be taken of the inside of the house but it was out of control amazing. I am always blown away by the craftsmanship and detail of these old structures which were built before our modern machinery. Just a little bit of a background on the house - On Christmas eve in 1895 George W. Vanderbilt officially "opened" the Biltmore house. Three years later, he brought his bride Edith to Biltmore, and in 1900, their only child Cornelia was born there.

George died in 1914 and Edith remarried the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil ten years later. Edith and her husband lived and entertained in the Biltmore house. In response to requests to increase area tourism during the Depression and to bring in money to preserve the estate, the Cecils opened the house to the public in 1930.

Vanderbilt's grandson, William A.V. Cecil, owns Biltmore today and it is still a family run business. Along with 1800 employees (can you believe that? 1800?), they continue the preservation of this national treasure.

We were really glad that we decided to go. We had such a fun time .... my girls are pretty silly, but SO fun to be with!

(I tried to jump too ... didn't have the same high, happy results!)

Pleasant flights.

2011-03-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

When I was a little girl I used to get motion sickness REAL bad. In fact, I remember driving to church once and having to sit in the back of the station wagon, backwards, and throwing up in the lid of a board game after about 15 minutes in the car. It was a given that if we got on an airplane, I would be throwing up. Even as an adult, I was sitting next to a guy on a plane one time and he was chatting away with me when I started to feel sick. I reached for that dreaded little bag from the seat back pouch in front of me and mentioned that I thought I was about to be sick. He kept on watching me, asking if I was okay ... even after I did indeed utilize that bag. I was like, "Seriously? Could you please stop looking at me now!!!!"

Well, needless to say, I have been embarrassed on many a trip - in the car, on a plane, on many boats and many amusement park rides. Roller coasters are definitely a thing of the past for me. I'm not sure what flipped the switch inside my body, but I would venture a guess that it has been at least ten years or so since I have had that kind of motion sickness. (Yay for me, 'cause I sure hated that.)

So although I really don't like flying, I sure enjoy the fact that I don't get sick on planes anymore.

My first leg of my trip to Tennessee last week took me to Atlanta. It was a nice, pleasant three hour flight (even though the toddler two rows back cried the ENTIRE three hours. It made me happy that it wasn't my baby disturbing everyone else on the plane.)

The second leg of the trip was only about an hour and we flew into Asheville, North Carolina. Great flight, incredible smooth landing - I can really appreciate those too. It was a small, absolutely charming airport with lots of spring colors already in bloom outside. White blossoms on the flowering pear trees, forsythia in spectacular array, daffodils everywhere and lots and lots of green in the trees!

As I was waiting for my luggage at the bag claim carousel, I decided I would walk over to the enterprise counter and grab my rental car. The guy at the desk was adorable, had the cutest southern accent and gave me his best deal of the day, with a free upgrade. He gave me clear instructions on how to get to Pigeon Forge. It was a beautiful drive too. It took me about 2 hours to get to the girls' hotel and I was so excited to freshen up and meet them over at the theater.

When I went to get my suitcase from the back of the car I realized that I never did go back to that bag claim carousel to get my piece of luggage. Oops. I couldn't believe it. I had just driven two hours from Asheville, North Carolina to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee without my luggage. (Really, Polly? I truly lose more and more of my mind with every passing day.)

To make a long story short, remember that lady that I met in the parking lot of McDonald's the day before I left on my trip? The one who had the license plate WER4BYU that I took a picture of and drove away from before I realized that the picture didn't save because my phone was full? And the one who told me that if I was going to be going to Asheville I must go see the Biltmore Mansion? Well, I decided that since I had to go back to Asheville for my luggage, maybe the girls and I could take that opportunity to do just that.

And so that is what we did. We visited the Biltmore Mansion, and it was SO worth the drive .....

(To be continued .... )

A happy birthday day.

2011-03-16T13:50:00.000-06:00

(I am totally crazy about these Sherwin Williams paint swatch sculptures.)

So today is my little Hee's birthday ... again, already. I had just dropped her off in Tennessee for a year at this exact same time last March and now she will be heading home in just two more weeks. Sigh.

Here is what has been fun for me about today. I pulled into McDonald's this morning for my diet coke on my way to work. I noticed that one of the cars in the parking lot had the license plate: WER4BYU. That's a pretty darn cute one, right??? So I decided to go past the drive thru and head back around to where that car was so I could take a picture with my cell phone.

As I pulled back around the building, a lady, apparently the owner of the car, was walking towards it. Shoot! Now what? (I don't know how people feel about having a stranger take a picture of their license plate. I try to get my pictures veeeeeery discreetly.)

Sidenote: But that does remind me of the time I was with Sophie and her friend, Makayla. We were on our way home from a school function, it was nighttime, and I noticed that the car in front of us at a stop sign had the plate:

I saw that and said, "Oh my gosh, you guys, look at that plate - Love Everyone. I need a picture." So we started to follow the car. It was pretty close to our house. We were on the main street that runs alongside our neighborhood. That particular street is fairly dark, the speed limit is 45 - and that car was alllllllllll over the road. I thought, this guy is either drunk or really, really tired. The car was swerving and going pretty darn fast.

Now I guessed that the owner of the car probably didn't live too far from where I did, and it isn't like I was going to follow him all the way to his house (well, maybe not), but I was hoping he would turn into the gas station which was just a little bit further down the way which would then make it a lot easier and more convenient to get a picture.

As luck would have it, that car did pull into the gas station down the road and I thought, there's my photo op. So the guy pulls into a parking space in front of the Redbox and staggers out of the door. I approached him and said, "I love your license plate, do you mind if I take a picture of it?" He said he didn't, stumbled back against his door and then opened his door to get the front plate from off of his dashboard too.

Then, in his drunken stupor, he walked to the back of his car with me and held up the second plate and just kept on mumbling about how I should take a picture of both of them together and how his wife and he had the idea and isn't it just so fun and his kids love it too ....

And then I thought, Dude. You should soooooo be concerned right now that I am not taking a picture of this to turn into the Draper police department to report you for drunk driving. (And maybe I should have, but I really hoped that he lived just up the street and would get home in one piece.)

So, back to my other story about having to ask permission to take a picture ... Here was this cute little lady coming out of McDonald's in the raging wind this morning and a stranger (that would be me) rolls down her window and says, "Your license plate is so cute, do you mind if I take a picture of it?"

And then she said, "Oh not at all. We love that plate. We moved here from Tennessee about 2 and a half years ago and we had that same plate there. Then we came out here and were so happy that no one else had it already."

Well then you KNOW a sweet little conversation ensued between us about Tennessee and how I am heading there tomorrow, in fact, for one last visit before my girls come home, and how she thinks Pigeon Forge is just the cutest, most fun little resort town, as is Gatlinburg, and what fun for them, and since I was flying into Asheville, North Carolina (because it was way cheaper) then I must go visit the Biltmore Mansion and did I know that that was where President Obama vacationed with his family, and how it is really a great place to go if you have money and it is just soooooo beautiful and one of her favorite places?!?!

The sad thing about this story is that I did get out of my car, in the raging wind, and took a picture of that plate. I heard it click, I thanked her and said goodbye, and then I couldn't find it on my phone. My photo memory must be full and it didn't save. And then I drove out of McDonald's without my diet coke because I had gotten a little distracted.

Oh, silly, silly me.

A new generation of crafting.

2011-03-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I stopped by my sister Courtney's house to pick up a few things. As I walked into her house, she was standing with a glue gun and a cute little chick in her hand and said, "My house is such a wreck." This is what I walked in on in her living room ....

And this .....

Because she had been creating these ....

And these ....

And some of these ...

.... for a boutique that was coming up.

Really Courtney? Her creativity never ceases to amaze me.

But this "Queen of the Circus" takes the cake ...

Her skirt is a bird cage ... and look what's inside ...

I was with my friend and she said, "Wow, I didn't realize I liked elephants so much!"

But who wouldn't when they look this cute?!?!?!

(I call this kind of crafting, the new generation of crafters ... back in the day when I opted to craft, we did a little bit of tole painting and made a few frames and puff painted t-shirts. This kind of stuff takes on a whole new meaning of the word crafting - I don't have that kind of patience anymore. Maybe I never did.)

Special checks.

2011-03-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

Remember when we were in grade school and we wrote the date on top of our papers? It seemed like it took forever before the year would change ... from 1968 to 1969, and then finally to 1970. (I know I'm old, but even for me it seems strange that I could have possibly written 1968 on a school paper, but I did. Ouch.)

What happened? How come time has to fly by so darn fast now? And time is no respecter of age either. It flies by for my kids too. How is it that a whole year has gone by since my two daughters left for the "adventure of a lifetime" and now that is already coming to an end? I can't believe it. But a year ago this month, Haley and Chloe took off from their regularly scheduled lives - Haley from her job as a hair stylist in a salon and dance instructor at a studio, and Chloe from her schooling at Southern Utah University, to move to Tennessee as singers and dancers in a stage show. Two shows a night, six nights a week. Crazy.

I drove back with Haley to settle her in before Chloe joined her just a few days later. A few months into the girls' stay, they were missing their mom "too much" so I flew back for a quick three day visit. The rest of the kids and I went back in November - had such a great time ... and it was on that trip that McCall said, "Wow Mom. You have been back here three times already to see them and you never visited me once when I was a nanny in Manhattan."

Hmmm. She was right. And all I have to say about that now is, WHAT. WAS. I. THINKING???? Silly, silly mama. Why do we let opportunities pass us by? Manhattan? A brownstone? Crazy.

Back in January, the girls' show was completely revamped ... new songs, new dances, new performers ... and they really want me to see it. When I said that I probably shouldn't spend the money on a flight right now, they sent me these checks to help get me there ... and that did this mama's heart some good, and I'm glad the bank didn't mind that the check wasn't actually made out to me. ;)

Music with a message.

2011-03-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

I sometimes listen to Pandora radio at my desk at work. Not all the time since some of my tasks require concentration. (I don't understand how kids can do their homework with the radio playing in the background. If something requires me to think, I need quiet around my head.) But if I am doing a mindless task like addressing envelopes or getting an order packaged up, I will turn on Pandora.

One of the Pandora stations I created is "My Immortal", and one of the songs that happened to play on it is this one by Jon McLaughlin. I LOVE this song, and I love Jon McLaughlin. I don't know where he came from, what else he sings, or how long he has been out there, but the guy is about as adorable as I think they come.

And I think I read somewhere (after I heard this song) that he is a minister too - and doing much of his ministry through his music ... which brings up another blog post I have been planning to do about how much I love Christian music - and Christian radio.

Sophie was in the car with me the other day and said, "Mom, you always have the most random stuff on the radio." And I reminded her that I like to listen to KLOV radio, which was the random stuff she was talking about.

Some of my favorite male vocalists are Christian artists. I have always loved Steven Curtis Chapman, I like Jeremy Camp, a guy named Jason Gray, and I love Mercyme. But the CD that has been stuck in my car stereo for the last little while is one by Casting Crowns - I can't get enough of it.

There is just something about incredible vocalists, singing about the Savior that moves me. It is a great musical score when driving too ...

(Make sure you tell your girls how beautiful they are .... whoever your girls might be! )

Silly sleepers.

2011-03-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

McCall sent me this picture of Libby a few days ago and I just had to laugh. I used to LOVE checking on the kids before I went to bed to see what kind of position they were in. And McCall was always the one who would be in the craziest positions of all. And not just as a baby ... at 6, 8, and 10 years old as well.

This reminded me of my Sophie when she was a little girl. When her dad and I would go out for the night, we always put one of the big girls in charge. (It was usually McCall.) If Sophie woke up anytime during the night, she would always go into the sister who had been in charge of her. Even though I was home too, that's just the way her little mind worked.

One night, I was checking everyone's beds and I didn't see Sophie. She wasn't in anyone else's bed either and I started to panic just a bit. I woke up McCall and asked her where Sophie was. She didn't know. We searched all over the house and finally found her on the far side of McCall's bed next to the wall. She was too tiny to climb up into McCall's big bed and hadn't woken her up to help her, so Sophie just laid down and went back to sleep on the floor. It was so cute ... and as much as I am glad (at my age) I don't have babies at my house anymore, I sure miss those happy little moments with them - the ones that really do make your heart smile.