Survivor

As many of you know I have gone to help my mom this week with her cancer recovery. This is the first time in a long time that I have not had a child with me at some point in the day. I miss them and can't wait to get home to them, but this has been a nice time to visit with my parents and help them out. The time here has made me even more grateful for my sister Ellen and sister-in-law Amy for all that they have been doing to help my mom this past year.

The flight I took to come here was the first time I have ever flown alone. While we lived in San Diego I took many flights to visit both grandparents with the kids. As I borded the airplane and sat down I began to think of all of the times I flew alone with the kids and I began to smile as I thought of the adventures.

There is one time inparticular that I would like to document on my blog. It was during spring break of 2004 Joseph was only a few months old and Emily was 4. Our seats were in the very back of the plane, but we preboarded because I was traveling with two small children. We got in our seats and were waithing for everyone else to board. All of the sudden Emily's face lit up and she yelled "I know you, your on Survivor." I looked up and saw the man coming toward the back of the plane and thought, ok he looks a lot like Colby.
But the next thing out of her mouth was "You're RUPERT!"

We watch survivor at our house and that season Rupert was one of our favorites, but the man looked nothing like him. Everyone with in ear shot laughed at the comment and it turned out he was sitting in the seat right next to Emily. He was a really nice guy and had two young boys of his own, but he had never been on Survivor. He and Emily visited during the flight and I thought she had figured out that this was not Rupert, but when we got to our destination and we were getting off the plane Emily said in a loud voice. "I'll see you on Thursday" (that is when Survivor is on TV)

How boring would life be without kids.

Happy Valentine's Day

Emily made this Valentine at school. I thought it was sweet so I wanted to share it.

It says:

Love is a happy feeling when.....

My brother hugs me,

Mom kisses me,

Dad stays home from work.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whatever It Takes

At 3:30pm yesterday I still needed to get to the post office in time to mail out Valentines, Pick some things up from the grocery store, make dinner and figure out what we were going to do for FHE.
I got it all done, but I am grateful for Macey's car shopping carts that sit high up so the boys wont climb out of it, and 50 cent ice cream cones in the deli. I know it was right before dinner, but sometimes you have to do whatever it takes .....right?

Perfect Match

Ryan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary yesterday. We wanted it to be special but nothing really sounded right. Dinner was a given, but after that everything we could think of was not great for chatting. (like Movie or Temple) I just wanted to spend the few precouse hours of child free time being together and talking. We had the babysitter until 10:00 so we headed off to dinner. After a really nice dinner we decided that we would go to IKEA. I know this does not sound romantic, but one opened up a while ago near our house. We had never gone to it because we know what a maze it is and with children it can be a nightmare. We had a fun time looking at all of the furniture and nicknacks. By the time we got to the end of the maze Ryan had picked himself up a new pillow and I ended up getting a mud rug for our entryway. We left the store at 9:00pm and still had an hour until we needed to be home but we both admitted that we were too tired to do anything else so we returned home and went to sleep.

I know this sounds like we are old boring people but it really was fun just spending time together. I love Ryan and am grateful that he is just happy to spend time with me. Even if it means just wandering through and endless obis of college dorm room furniture.

Hannah Montana

Ryan and I took Emily to the Hannah Montana 3D Concert Movie on Saturday. (The boys went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play) I was not sure what it would be like, but we had lots of fun. The theatre was filled with little girls, and just as the previews were ending and the concert was about to start the theatre was filled with exciting chatter, and then I heard a big sigh come from Ryan. Emily loved the show and had a hard time holding still (not that we made her try). I was surprised that the kids pretty much stayed in their seats. I have to say that this was a great way to see the concert, because the only ear shattering screaming was coming from the movie, and you could hear the music without going deaf. You had better than a front row seat and they showed a lot of behind the scene things. Emily really liked the 3D effects. Her favorite part was when Miley sang a song about her Grandpa and in the back ground they had a movie clip of horses running.
It was really fun to have a night out with Emily doing something she likes. (Ryan even admits that he had a good time.)

President Hinckley

I will always remember the first time I met president Hinckley. The story still makes me laugh when I think about it.

When I was a senior in high school I was in a show choir. Each choir got to choose their own costumes and unfortunately I was in a group that didn't have much taste. Each girl had to go out and find a pattern and fabric samples. Then we all presented what we found and the group voted. The outfit was actually OK until we got to the pants and someone suggested striped pants. There were some of us who did not like the idea, but majority ruled. (Unfortunately the only picture I have of the outfit is at my parents house, so I can't post it right now.)

December 2004 our choir was able to go sing at the Church Administration building. We were excited because we were going to be able to sing for members of the first presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. President Hunter was not in the office that day but both president Monson and Hinckley stopped by to listen to us sing. When President Hinckley came out of his office, with a smile on his face, he said something along the lines of, "Oh you came to sing to us in your pajamas."

Needless to say some of the girls were horrified. I thought it was kind of funny, and it gets funnier every time I think about it. He was gracious and after we were done thanked us for coming and said we sounded nice.

I loved president Hinkley and will miss him. He was a great prophet and had a great sense of humor.

Tag I'm it

I was tagged by my friend Laura a couple of weeks ago and I am finally getting around to it.

The Rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
or

Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.
or

Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.

Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

I have chosen 5 top places I want to see or see again.

1. Paris, France. I have always thought it would be fun to go to France but I wouldn't want to go there by myself. Now that I could have Ryan as a tour guide (he went there on his mission) I think this would be a fun place to visit. I know Ryan would like to go back during the Tour de France season so maybe we will get there in a few years.

2. Washington DC. I went to Washington with my family the summer before I got married and had lots of fun. We were able to see a lot while we were there but there was a lot we didn't get to see and I would like to go back someday and see more.

3. New York. There are three main things I want to see in New York. One is the statue of Liberty another is the Church sites there (the sacred grove) and the third is a show on Broadway.

4. Southern California. when the kids are older I would like to go on a trip to California with them. We did a lot while we lived there but Emily and Joe were so young that they only really remember it because we have pictures. So I would like to take them there in a couple of years and do the whole tourist thing of Southern California.

5. Camping in Utah. Ryan will not like this one but I want my kids to see all of the fun national parks in Utah. Ryan will probably be willing to go to these places because he likes to mountain bike and hike, but I don't think I will ever get him to camp over night. I think it would be fun for the kids to experience at least one night camping out.

Now it is time for me to tag people. It says I have to tag 5 people but I don't even know if I know five people who have blogs that I can tag. So if you read this and want to do it, Tag Your It! (Is that cheating?)