Screams, Laughs, and Good Eats

The title pretty much sums up our Spring Break. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home, but we had to get away from the never ending snow. We headed to Las Vegas for four fun packed days. We got into town just in time to check in (at the Stratosphere), take a potty break, and rush over to Planet Hollywood for our first show. We saw the Fab Four which is a Beatles Impersonator Band. It was a little cheesy, but they had all of us dancing in our seats. Allison, however, got picked from the audience to play the tamborine with them on stage.

The weather was forcasted to get chilly and windy the next few days so we spent the rest of our first day/night riding the rides around town while we could. We went over to the New York New York for some arcade games, New York style Pizza, and then we hit the rollercoaster. I love these pictures that they always take on the rides. The kids' faces are priceless!

It was about 9:00 pm, but still warm outside so we went back to our hotel and rode the elevator to the observation deck which is 800 feet "way too high" up. Brendan, Allison, and I were having a hard time just standing out there and trying to look over the edge. Jake and Jordan rode all the rides which dangle you off the edge. It was hilarious to see Jordan sweating and VERY SCARED as he came off the Rocket which shoots you up an additional 200+ feet in the air. Jake, however, was Mr. Cool.

The next day we spent a few hours at The Luxor. We are all huge Criss Angel fans and couldn't wait to see his magic store. It's not anything like the one they show on "MindFreak," so that was a bust.

From there we went through the 4 floors of the M&M store and took a little break at the Coke store. There we bought a taste tray of sodas from around the world.

Some were good, some were just ok and one was the absolute most disgusting thing we have ever tasted. NEVER drink "Beverly" from Italy. Jake said that next time he goes to the dentist, he's going to request a swig of "Beverly" to numb his mouth. It tasted kind of like carbonated ground up cloves. It really was sick. We had fun watching all the people around us try their tray of drinks and then get to #8! From there, we did a little window shopping at the extravagant stores at the Venetian. One of the things we were looking forward to was eating at The Grand Lux! We loved it a few years ago in Chicago and couldn't wait to eat there again. We were so full though, that we couldn't cram in dessert! Dang! We even had to go find some alka seltzer for Jordan who had stuffed himself to the brim!

From there, we headed down to the Blue Man Group Theater to enjoy one of the best shows ever! We laughed the whole time and marvelled at the creativity of these talented guys. The music was great, the stunts were hilarious, and the toilet paper covered audience at the end was a great way to end the whole thing. We took our tickets up to the them afterward for autographs, but they gave us "blue" kisses and fingerprints on them instead. It took almost 3 days for the paint to dry!

After the show, we found out that there is ANOTHER Grand Lux in the adjoining Palazzo Hotel so we headed over for some incredible dessert! Heads up for you Grand Lux lovers, the Venetian restaurant does not have the Beignets, so make sure you eat at the Palazzo one.

We spent the next day shopping at the outlets for some spring clothes, sunglasses, and basketball shorts for Jake. That kid lives and breathes basketball every minute of every day. He was having some withdrawels from not playing for two days. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and ended the night at Treasure Island to see Mystere Cirque de Soleil.

Such an amazing show, but also so dang funny. They took a really cool picture of us at the show, but it was $45 to buy it so we'll just have to remember that one in our heads! Holy Cow....Seriously? $45 for a picture in a little leather folder? Jordan snuck these photos in during the show, which was strictly prohibited.

An usher crawled over through our row to where Jordan was. Brendan and I thought, "He's busted!" But actually they talked to the guy sitting right next to Jordan and confiscated HIS camera. He was taking photos too, but he held his camera way too high and got caught. Whew! Jordan learned his lesson thank goodness.

We couldn't believe that our lawn and streets were covered with snow when we got back. I've lived here long enough to know that yes, it sometimes snows in April, but you don't have to shovel and get your streets plowed in April. Our house was a freezing 57 degrees since we had turned the heater off. Welcome back to Utah!

Spoiled

I really LOVE to spoil those that I love, but once a year I feel a little of it myself. This year was no exception. I really loved my birthday this year because it was filled with many different intimate moments with family and friends. I didn't have a big party filled with lots of people. Instead, I experienced lots of little celebrations throughout the week with those that mean the most in my life.

I spent my birthday weekend "working" at the scrapbook expo. My friend and neighbor is a partner for the expo and needed a few helping hands. I volunteered working at one of the booths. Since it was only a few days, I had SO much fun helping set up all this great scrapbook stuff and then working the register and restocking. I got paid by the company plus was given tons of fun product. It was honestly so much fun! Everyone had cleaned the whole house while I was gone which is always my favorite gift.

Saturday night we drove down to Provo to have dinner at Brick Oven. Their salad and pasta bar were calling my name. It was nice to be with just our family. I was pleasantly surprised that Jordan decided to come with us and missed out on a friend's birthday party. That meant a lot. Forgot my camera, dangit!

Sunday I found presents and balloons at the table from Brendan and Allison. Brendan was gone to meetings for much of the day, but still spent every minute home making me feel special and pampered. I just love him so much because he makes me feel that way everyday! He made all the meals for the day and baked my favorite oatmeal cookies. Brendan apologized for not baking a cake, but didn't think he could pull that off. Just then, Ed and Maria called and said they were all coming over with a freshly baked cake! Yummy! I love having my little munchkins over even if they pull faces for the camera.

We tried and tried for smiles, but they just couldn't resist these poses. It was wonderful to receive phone calls from family members, especially from my mom and dad who are so far away. Thank you for everyone who called, emailed, and wished me a Happy Birthday on facebook....I still don't get why everyone loves that, but that's a whole different post.

Monday I was so excited to go to lunch with Michele and Jenny. We went to the newly opened Zupas and fell in love with the food. We ended up getting some treats from Dippy-Dee's and enjoying them at Michele's. Her home has such a special spirit there and Jenny and I were missing it after celebrating Gracie's one year old birthday just a few days before. It was so great to spend some time at Michele's and reflect on life, death, friendship, and eternity. We have grown so much closer this past year, if that is even possible, and the bond I feel with them is one of my most treasured blessings. SO MUCH has happened since we celebrated my birthday together last year. Wow! What a year it's been. They gave me this beautiful necklace that I love so much. I have worn it every chance I get.

On my way home from Michele's, I got a text from Jordan's friend Liz. It said, "Don't make dinner tonight." OK...no one has to pull my leg to not cook. I couldn't believe it. She and Nicole spent all afternoon planning and preparing this delicious, gourmet italian meal. They know I love Italian food and that I also love seafood. They brought over fettucini with a white clam sauce, italian salad complete with peppers and olives, and garlic bread.

They both can't stand seafood and said they were gagging as they were opening the clam cans, but that they had to do it just for me. Is that the nicest thing ever?!!!! I know that when I was their age, I had never pulled off a meal like that. I'm barely getting there now at age "old." I invited them to eat with our family. We had a great evening and the food was fabulous! (They ate it, but picked out the clams.) I have since added the recipe to our family favorites!

Wednesday my awesome neighborhood friends took me out to lunch. We were going to go to the old Cafe Rio stand by, but tried the newly opened Rubios instead. It's so much fun to have all these new restaurants open up so close. We ended up eating and chatting for 3 hours! So fun!

Then the following week on Friday, Debra and I took each other out to lunch to celebrate both of our birthdays that are just one week apart. We ate lunch at Dear Lizzie which has "Debra's flair" all around. It was a beautiful lunch spent with a beautiful, cherished friend.

There you have it....a wonderful way to celebrate turning old. Thank you to everyone for being such a special part of my life. I am so blessed to be surrounded by some of the best people on earth!

Torn

Now a total 180 degree change from Paul Cardall....

Since the first time I saw him on the auditions show I have been a huge Danny Gokey (aka Robert Downey Jr. in our house) fan and he had my vote to be the next American Idol. But I'm feeling torn these last few weeks. Danny is still amazing and his story is so touching. He deserves to win...afterall, he lost his wife recently and he is so talented. He needs a break.
But then Adam came along.....I can't get enough of his last song. (Turn up the volume on your computer, but click on the pause button on my playlist for this.)

Time and votes will tell. They'll both go far no matter what. All I know is I hope the American Idol tour comes to Salt Lake City this year! I need 5 tickets please!

Living for Eden Concert

Michele and Gracie introduced me to Paul Cardall's music as it played constantly alongside her crib at the hospital and at home. I had heard of him, but really didn't know much about him or his music. It turns out that Paul was also born with a heart defect almost 36 years ago. He struck up an instant connection and friendship with the Gledhills. So....if you're Michele's friend, you are automatically adopted as my friend too, whether you like it or not.

His music and his life story are both amazing. I love his songs so much that my playlist has turned into my own little Paul Cardall mini concert. We were so fortunate to be able to attend a benefit concert for him this past week entitled Living for Eden (Paul's 3 year old daughter). It was put on by several well known local LDS musicians including Kurt Bestor, Peter Breinholt, Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, and a few others. The audience was packed with over 3,000 people. Every penny went to Paul and his sweet family to help with medical expenses as he is home waiting for a heart transplant. There was also a silent auction with hundreds of items. I won some cute wrapping paper with matching homemade cards. We tried to bid on BYU football tickets, but didn't win those. Paul has been waiting on the heart transplant list since last August. You can click here to learn more about Paul's heart journey .

It was such a treat to spend the evening with friends listening to all of these incredible musicians. In the middle of the show, Peter Breinholt read an entry from Paul's blog where he wrote about Gracie and dedicated a song to her. Pictures of beautiful little Gracie were shown on the large screens on stage. Tears and sniffles were heard everywhere. It was so special to feel the love and spirit of Gracie all around us.

The musicians ended their performances and tributes to Paul and we were speechless with the talent that had been showcased. Then, out of the blue Paul and his wife and little girl, Eden, got up from the front row and walked up to the stage. I might add, Paul walked a little slowly and with his little oxygen tank close to his side he made it up the stage stairs. His voice was fragile and quiet, but his faith and testimony were loud and strong! He thanked everyone for coming and for their support. Then he reverently spoke about "a little girl named Gracie" that had touched him deeply. He hasn't played the piano much, let alone written a song in over a year because of his health, except for one...Gracie's theme. He walked over to the piano and played it. I have had it one my playlist for a while now, but to hear him play it live was overwhelming. Gracie will live on forever through "HER" song. Michele captured it on video and it's on her blog. If you want to hear it click here.

We are praying for Paul to receive the phone call soon that a heart has come his way. The world needs his music and his family and friends need his presence.

Going out with a bang!

We already said our last goodbyes to Jordan's high school football career and we're slowly getting used to that. Then last month was another sad goodbye as we watched him play his last Young Men's basketball games and the Lehi City Jr. Jazz games - EVER. Those of you that have kids that play ward/city sports know how much time this takes on a family. But cherish those moments because to look out over the boys that have grown up in our ward and realize that this will be the last Young Men's game they ever play is so sad...maybe, it's just me. I'm an emotional wreck lately over the dumbest little things.

Our ward has so many Young Men that we have two Deacon's teams, one teacher's team, and one priests team. Because the other wards in the stake don't break up their teams our younger boys were eliminated early on, but our priests went on to take 2nd in the Stake championship. Then it was on to Region.

**Note to reader: I say "we" as if I was playing or part of the team. But you know, it's all the same, right?

Our weekend went like this:

Friday March 15th

6:00 pm Young Men's Semi Final Region game---we won!

7:00 pm Jr. Jazz Quarter-Final game -- we won!

9:00 pm Jr. Jazz Semi final game -- we won!

That's a lot of basketball for one night on very hard bleachers!

Saturday March 16th

8:00 am Young Men's Final Region game--we won! Way to go 26th ward Priests!

Then on to the Legacy Center for more....

1:00 pm Jr. Jazz Final game -- we won! But it was a double elimination tournament and the other team had gone undefeated all year until now. So we had to play them again to win the whole thing!
4:00 pm. Jr. Jazz REAL final championship game -- we won!

It was a nail biter until the last second! We won by 5!

No way did anyone expect Jordan's team to win much, let alone win the whole thing. Their team name was "THE NAUGHTY PAIRATES" and full of football players, definitley NOT basketball players. They haven't made it very far in the tournament in past years. They usually overshot the ball, got a TON of fouls that were mostly hilarious, and had the best time out on the court together. Look at this team though.....Do they look like champions? Double click on the photo to get a good look at these guys!

Some look a bit rowdy, but they are all seriously the SWEETEST/FUNNIEST guys and OUTSTANDING students, athletes, and friends and I would be proud to call any of them my son. They suprised even themselves win after win. The finals were a battle/war and players from the other teams got technical after technical after being frustrated at not being able to get ahead and beat the Pirates. The NP's laughed at themselves mostly, but really came together at the end to win with grace and confidence. I ADORE these boys as I have watched them all grow up playing football and basketball together since 6th grade. They are now men and about to enter the big world. It's been a blast and I'm so thankful to have been able to be there to enjoy every minute of it!

I'm proud of you guys and am going to miss watching you play Josh, Jordan, James, Colby, Travis, E'an, Tyler, Chris, Calvin, Joey, and Danley!

So if you have to say good-bye you might as well do it with a bang!

Allison's new grown up room

Soon after we moved in (almost ten years ago) I spent an entire weekend painting pink and white stripes on Allison's walls. I even remember my neighbors calling and wondering if I was sick because my whole family was at church, but not me. (I've since repented). Point is, it was a lot of work. We have re-decorated it several times since then but I've always tried to figure out how to incorporate the stripes. I just can't bring myself to paint over them.

BEFORE

Allison has had the pink/mint green theme for a few years and she seemed to need a little more grown up look. Afterall, she IS in Jr. High now. So I spent the entire past year buying a few things here and there as I could fit it into the budget and hiding it in our basement. We decided we would do it for her for Christmas. She got a few presents under the tree but had no idea that more was coming. A few days after Christmas our neighbors called her to babysit for the entire evening until about midnight. I saw this as my perfect opportunity to do the makeover!

Her room was the usual disaster zone so it took me an hour or two just to clean and declutter it all! I went through every drawer, every bin under hear bed, every shelf, organized every inch of her TWO closets and threw out 2 large bags of garbage and junk. Don't worry....no privacy issues were compromised and I only threw out crap....not sentimental things that mean something to her only.

By then I was sweating! I ripped open package after package, had Brendan help me move her bed and hang up her black out velvet curtains (had to describe them since I don't have a photo of them), made the bed, vacuumed the room, and then I had to tackle the huge mess I had made in the hall with all the old stuff. Those one hour makeover shows are full of crap! You can't do all that in one hour....I guess if you have a whole crew to help, but still. Thank goodness she got home a little late. We all pretended to be going to bed when she came home. She opened the door to her room and found this....

AFTER

HER LITTLE MAKE-UP TABLE and "BEARY-ANN." Because you can never fully grow up.

She was so surprised! She loved it and was so happy. That was the goal. I'm so happy with the way it turned out. We still need to get her a desk and accessorize her walls, but that's all we can do for now. She has a lot more room to hang out with her friends in there and dance to her music. It's helped motivate her to keep it a little cleaner, but that issue will never be over I'm afraid. I love surprises and I love being sneaky with my family. This was was definitely worth it---and we didn't have to paint over the stripes!