CONFESSION!!!

I love to read, but it has been a really long time since I have had the time to do it. Y'all know how it gets. Anyway, I saw all of these people reading the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer, and I was curious as to what this fellow BYU grad could come up with. WOW! I know these are books meant for teens and they are fairly easy reads, but I LOVED them! I can't wait for the fourth to come out this Friday. This in a nut shell will tell you how much I enjoyed them:

Friday, July 18: Bought "Twilight" after work and began reading it.
Sunday, July 20: Finished "Twilight" (around 500 pages).
Monday, July 21: Bought "New Moon" after work and began reading it.
Wednesday, July 23: Finished "New Moon" after work (500 pgs) and bought "Eclipse" and started reading it.
Thursday, July 24: Pioneer Day=no work in Utah so I read all of "Eclipse" by the end of the night (600 pgs plus the 1st chapter of "Breaking Dawn").

So I wasn't a really good mother or wife for a week, and my house wasn't that straight, but every once in a while MOTHERS NEED A BREAK from the everyday reality of life. And I took full advantage...by the way, Matt already knows not to bother me this coming weekend b/c I'll be reading again...

St. George, Utah July 3-6, 2008

Matt's dad has a place in St. George, UT and so we decided to take advantage of a long weekend (especially since no one had claimed the house-we've never gotten to use it b/c ever other sibling hogs it!). Our nephew Jeff was already down there and we needed a babysitter for one night so he stayed with us. We always have a good time with Jeff. We drove down after work, and then hit up In-N-Out right away. Matt has decided that he can't eat like a teenager anymore-he learned this the hard way after trying to out eat Jeff. We relaxed at the pool, and Zack is starting to enjoy the whole swimming thing. For the 4th we went putt-putt (not a good idea yet with Zack-he is good at hitting the ball but he is impatient with everyone else!) and were able to see fireworks over the city. It's really cool how they do the fireworks down there-they shoot them off in 2 different places (in the main part of the city and up on one of the red rock cliffs) and it is really a treat. Matt and I were able to go on a date (it is a miracle-probably only the 2nd or 3rd time in 2 1/2 years!) to go see Les Mis at the Tuacahn ampitheater. It was a really great performance, and the heat wasn't unbearable for St. George in July. Last time I went to Tuacahn it was 9 pm, I was pregnant with Zack, and it was 118! On Sunday before we left, we went to the St. George Temple Visitors Center. When we arrived we saw these people leaving-it was Matt's aunt and uncle who are serving a mission there! It was good to see them. Zack was able to walk around and see various things. Matt and I discussed that we should have gotten married here-it was a lot prettier than I had remembered. It would have been nice...anyway, afterwards we drove home and listened to the DVD "Cars" for about the millionth time! (Zack is hooked on that movie now.)

Tigers @ Padres game 2!

June 21, 2008

This was the next night when we went to the second game of the series. Zack was really cute when he got his first autograph. It was from Curtis Granderson and he was really nice to Zack. He had a big grin on his face when he saw the little red-head just barely able to hand him his ticket and Sharpie! Matt was the one who called him over to come sign autographs for the fans. They say Granderson is just a really nice, laid back kind of person. Zack was good for this game. He slept a few innings and then there were fireworks afterwards. The Tigers won this game so that was worth the money for the price we paid this night for the good seats (not like the cheap seats the night before).

Now that I'm finally caught up from June I'll be able to tell you what we did in July (now that it's almost August!). I'm always on top of things!

Zack's First MLB Game!

June 20, 2008
San Diego, CA

Matt sort of scheduled our trip purposely around the San Diego Padres inter-league games with the Detroit Tigers. Matt always said that Zack would have to attend a Tigers game first, so even though it wasn't in Detroit, this counted and Matt was happy. When we walked in I was a few feet behind but the usher-lady stopped me and said "I saw your son's face when he walked in and saw the field. I can tell it is his first time. His jaw dropped and he is so amazed." Matt said he saw Zack's face and loved it b/c it reminded him of his first trip to Tiger stadium. We arrived early enough to see them practicing, and Matt was able to meet Todd Jones who threw the last pitch in old Tiger Stadium on Sept. 27, 1999. He even signed a ball for Matt. (Matt is really like a big kid at these kinds of events.) Zack wasn't exactly the best kid while we were there. In fact, he basically got us thrown out of our seats, but thankfully the ushers thought that he was so cute and they hooked us up with some sweet seats. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, it pays to have a bad child!

The best story occurred while Matt had taken Zack down to the kids area to run around. We had gotten a Tigers pennant just like Matt had gotten at his first MLB game. The San Diego Padre cheer people came around and handed out items like little balls and baseball cards. They left Sirley and me with one of their signs that said "Go Padres". Well I held up the pennant over it so that it said "Go Tigers". Then out of nowhere one of the mascots that walk around the park yanked the pennant out of my hand and started to pretend to fight me for it and then proceeded to "wipe his butt" with it! I was so embarrassed. I'm just glad I didn't end up on the jumbo-tron or even worse ESPN highlights. It really was histerical, and Sirley was about to crawl under her seat. Matt couldn't believe he missed it. We left a little early b/c the Tigers lost, however we did go back the next night...more pics to come of that too!

June 20, 2008 (Rewind...)

The Pacific Ocean

While we were in CA a month ago (I know this is long overdue, but hey-no computer, busy, etc...) we went to the beach. It was Zack's first time in the Pacific Ocean, and it was almost exactly 1 year to the day from his first time in the Atlantic Ocean. I'd have to say for a 2 year old he is pretty well traveled (in the USA anyway). It was a hot day and we weren't able to spend nearly as long as we'd like to at the beach, but it was fun. Zack thought that the sand was "gross", so by this point I was thinking that he wasn't enjoying himself on our vacation (reminder-previous day was Disneyland that was "so scary"). Kids...can you ever please them?!

Veronica tagged me a while ago and I'm sorry to say I'm just getting around to it. I haven't had lots of access to the computer lately, but hopefully I can get one of my own one day! I still have lots of catching up to do on our most recent (in the past month...) events too, so stay tuned!

Three Fears---
1. Failing as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc...
2. Sickness and Death
3. Flying


Three Goals---
1. Being a good wife, mother, (see list above)
2. Read more, scrapbook more, blog more
3. Be more spiritual


Three Obsessions---
1. Matt and Zack
2. Chocolate (I love plain M&M's)
3. Dr. Pepper!!!


Three Random Facts About Me---
1. I've been to more Hootie and the Blowfish concerts than any other bands concerts (something like 7 times or more!)
2. I actually like to cook (when I have time and I can be creative, and try new recipes...and when I'm not being lazy)
3. I'm SO picky when it comes to food


Three people I tag---
1. Ginger
2. Ashley
3. Mama (Frana)

Disneyland!

June 19, 2008

The "Scariest" Place on Earth!

Disneyland with a 2 year old is pretty interesting. We didn't have any help with us (family, friends, etc.). We were determind to have a family adventure on our own, and we did. We got up bright and early and went to the park. Zack knew something was going on, but he wasn't quite sure what. We had told him that we were going to Disneyland and he kept repeating it, but he didn't really know. We bought our tickets and ran into the park. We had to get the passes to the Indiana Jones ride first. Then we went to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. This is when Zack started to tell us that everything was "sooooo scarrryyyy". Next we went on Jungle Cruise (dumb) and to the Tarzan tree house (which was very similar to the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse...). Finally it was our turn on the Indiana Jones ride. I have always wanted to ride that and I thoroughly enjoyed it. When we planned our trip we had checked the weather and it was supposed to be in the 80's, but it was in the HIGH 90's. WHOA! It was hot and so I tried to go to places where we could cool down. Later in the day we did the kids part "Fantasyland" but Zack still thought it was scary. I forget about the witches and weird creatures from some of the movies. He also saw Darth Vader and hated him too. Overall we had fun, even Zack, but I wouldn't recommend it with a little one unless you have a little girl dying to see the princess people, and even they are hard to find. In fact, as we were leaving I said "We didn't see any stupid characters." Of course then I looked up and there was Mickey Mouse and so we got our picture with him! After that we went out to eat and then headed to my friend Sirley's in San Diego.

Road Trip!

June 17-18, 2008
Heading Out with a Happy Kid!



We left on Tuesday after I got off of work. We stayed at Matt's Dad's place in St. George, UT. We got there around 10pm and Matt just had to hit up the new In-N-Out Burger. It is almost a tradition that if we ever come up on one we have to stop and get something. (Thankfully the closest one is about 4 hours or my butt would be bigger than it already is!)

The next morning we got up and took it easy so that we would be ready for Disneyland on the following day. We still had quite a way to go and we wanted to spread it out. Our first stop on the way-Las Vegas, NV. (Matt also had to hit up the In-N-Out here too.) We decided to walk around the shops at a few casinos hoping to wear Zack out enough to sleep in the car at least as far as Barstow, CA!



At the Wynn waterfall and at the Venetian waterway...



Some pictures are just too tempting not to take!
(Zack thought it was a video game!)
We did not gamble in our time in Las Vegas. We are good people after all.

Zack didn't sleep much on the rest of the ride. Our plan to wear him out walking failed. We made it to Anaheim without much going on in between. That night at dinner (Mimi's Cafe-mmmmm!) Zack didn't want to eat anything. He took his fork out and ate the butter. I gagged and laughed at the same time. Isn't that gross? I had to take a picture of it. He is so boy. And then he proceeded to yell in the restaurant that he needed to go poopoo! Needless to say, I left Matt to pick up the check!