Road Trip -- Part Two

With Daughter #3 and her new husband heading off to BYU to attend university, they decided they could use our help moving their belongings to Utah.  The Mr. and I thought it would make a fun little vacation, seeing as how we had nothing else planned for the summer.

A call ahead to speak with a customs agent at the U.S. border indicated to us that we would need to cross the border at the same time as the newlyweds, since we were bringing their stuff in our vehicle.  I expected that would mean that it might take more time than usual to clear customs, but the only question they asked us was whether or not we were bringing any weapons into the United States.  I hadn't specifically asked Daughter #3 about that, but I was pretty confident that they weren't packing anything dangerous.

Our first stop after the border pretty much set the tone for the rest of our trip:  eating!  The all-you-can-eat buffet in Great Falls, Montana pretty much just got us limbered up for the next week!

Along with eating, we did manage to do a few other things:

1)  Visited with my sister and her family.

(I was experimenting with my new camera, telling her to just keep talking because I wasn't really taking her picture -- I was just practicing.  It turns out I never got any real pictures of her after my experimenting.)

Tyler and Amber and their cute family

(Apologies to the rest of the family.  You got away before I remembered I had a camera with me!)

2)  Helped unload the newlyweds belongings, taking a grand total of 25 minutes.  (Oh, if only all the moves I've been involved with were so easy!!)

Arriving at the "Married Student Housing" complex.  (Pretty exciting to start a new chapter in life!)

Outside their new home.

3)  Took a trip to Salt Lake City.

4.  Visited Thanksgiving point.

 Pretty cool name!

The gardens were beautiful!

5)  Toured the Pioneer Village in Provo.

Look where The Mr. is pointing.  The original BMW??

This man insisted that we shouldn't smile for the picture to keep it authentic to the era.  I apparently didn't take him seriously.

6)  Stopped in at the BYU Creamery (cause we hadn't been eating enough already).

In keeping with the theme of my previous post, check out the fifth flavor.

7)  Travelled to Park City.

Stopped along the way at Bridal Veil Falls.

Rode the ski lift to the top of a mountain....

....so we could do a little hiking.

Just about chickened out, but I rode the Alpine Coaster AND the Alpine Slide for Karen and Amber -- and screamed all the way down!  

(Obviously these pictures aren't of me.  I had to steal them from the internet.)

8)  Visited with friends.

 Meeting the parents of one of the missionary girls staying in our home.  It turned out that they are just as cool as she is!

Our dear friends who just moved back home to Utah after a three-year stint as Mission President of the Canada Edmonton Mission.

9)  Attended a wedding on the way home.

Logan and Amy outside the Calgary Temple.

10)  Returned Home.  Be it ever so humble, there's no place like it!

Dixie 

Road Trip

Eighteen hours to the south of my home lies an area of the world that never ceases to amaze me.   Here you will find an extremely unique subculture - a subculture with which I'm not sure how I feel.   Part of me wants to smile, because it's part of my personal life.   But the other part of me wants to cringe because it's so blatant!  

But, for better of for worse, that's where The Mr. and I spent a little time for our summer vacation.   In honor of this trip, I have decided to rename my post:

You Know You're in Utah When...

The billboards look like this:

The scenery looks like this:

The capital city has lots of people like these:

There are some of these on every corner:

And some of these in every restaurant:

The stores have names like this:

And even Walmart sells things like this:

An interesting place, no?

Dixie

1. slack·er

   ˈslakər/

   noun

   informal

1.

a person who avoids work or effort.

synonyms:

idler, shirker, malingerer, sluggard, laggard;

Okay, I'll admit it -- I've been a slacker when it comes to the blogging department!  And truthfully, I'm pretty disappointed with myself.  

But I'm pretty sure I can find a good excuse somewhere.  Please choose from the following list:

1. Blame it on Daughter #3.  I like the idea of blogging in chronological order so that things will be historically accurate.  This, of course, means that I should have already written a post about Daughter #3's wedding, as it happened almost two months ago!!  But since she just barely gave me access to their wedding pictures, I couldn't have possibly blogged any sooner, right?  
2. Much too busy.  I've had so much going on this summer, that I haven't had time to blog.  You know, things like doing crossword puzzles, window shopping, snacking, taking naps, reading.  It's exhausting, really.
3. No camera.  My nephew once said that he doesn't like to read blogs that aren't accompanied by pictures, so I figured I shouldn't write anything until I got a new camera.

Well, now that I have a few wedding pictures, have a new camera, and my busy summer has come to an end, I guess I need to stop procrastinating and become a better blogger.

Starting tomorrow.

Dixie

Hooray For Son 1A!!

Okay, I'm a little late with the pictures, but wanted to send a congratulations to Son #1A for his recent graduation from the University of Alberta.  Our little boy is growing up.  Sniff.

In keeping with tradition, he kept telling us that he didn't even want to attend the convocation.  And in keeping with tradition, we kept telling him he had no choice.  Thankfully he was a good sport and smiled for the pictures.

And, also in keeping with tradition, he smuggled in a book under his gown to read when the convocation speakers got boring.  Luckily this time around the book was hardly given a glance -- the speakers were very entertaining!

So now Son 1A is a certified teacher, hoping to work with junior high school students.  He needs a job.  Along with a thousand other young graduates.  

Now, if only all those retired teachers would remove their names from the "Substitute" list so all these young kids could get some subbing experience and eventually get offered a job.

Congratulations Son 1A -- We're proud of you!!!

Dixie

Happy Anniversary

Today The Mr. and I celebrate 32 years of wedded blitz bliss.  The previous sentence was written as a shout out to my mom who told that little joke over and over and over again.  It never got old.  Almost.


Anyway, this is what we looked like on the big day 32 years ago.

And this is what we look like now.  

Happy Anniversary, honey!!  Hope the next 32 are just as fun!

Dixie

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

So yesterday was the first day of Summer!  What??  How did that happen?  Where did Spring go?  It seems like Christmas was just a couple of months ago.  In retrospect, here's a run down of my Spring -- the good, the bad and the ugly:


The Good

• A girls' weekend.   After picking up Daughter #3 from university in Idaho, we met up with Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 in Lethbridge.  It was the most central spot for all of us to meet, to watch Daughter #3 try on wedding dresses.  So, so fun!
• The Showbiz Kids Production.  The kids were awesome, and I was so proud of them!  I can't wait for another year.
• Seminary Graduation.  Not only did the students graduate, but so did I (my four-year calling is finished), and I have to say... it feels pretty good.
• Preparing for the wedding.  Checking out pinterest, clipping coupons for Michaels, and  scanning garage sales for vintage-type items has taken up a fair amount of time.
• Preparing for missionaries.  After the wedding we'll begin taking our turn to house the missionaries from our church.  So, I've been trying to get the space ready for them that they will need.  It's interesting how you start looking at your house in a totally different way when you know total strangers are coming to stay with you.
• Convocation of Son #1A.  We're pretty proud of him.  I'll post pictures in a later post.
• A Change in the Recycling.  Town Council announced the new program that just made recycling so much easier.  No more removing the paper labels from the tin cans!  No more peeling the stickers from the plastic wrap!!  And best of all, no more separating the paper envelopes from their little plastic windows!!!  Who knew this little change could make me such a happy woman?

The Bad

• The Dress (check out my earlier post)
• The Rain (check out any newspaper)

The Ugly

• Finding my first grey eyebrow hair.  I don't think I even need to expand on that.

Dixie

Happy Father's Day

I know I'm a couple of days late, but in honor of Father's Day, I wanted to post a few pictures.  These old snapshots of The Mr. with his children are some of my favorites over the years.

Mocking of clothing styles, eye glass styles, and home decor is strictly forbidden.  JUST KIDDING!!  Where would be the fun in that?  Please, mock away.

 He later grossed them out as they watched him clean it.

Acting out the Nativity on Christmas Eve.

Modelling their Christmas Eve pajamas.

Dressing up for the Primary pioneer party.

Christmas Day 1988.

"London's noble fire brigade" in Hillaire Belloc's poem Matilda.

Patiently waiting for the Angel Moroni statue to be placed on the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

The happiest place on earth.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

Modelling Christmas Eve pajamas. 

Father's Day circa 1997.

Another Father's Day -- a couple of years later.

St. Patrick's Day.

"Supervising" the Sunday dinner dishwashing.

Embracing their nerdliness.

Christmas Day 2007 -- trying out our new Wii game.

Good sports at the "gender bender" version of our annual murder mystery.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE MR.   YOU'RE MY FIRST PICK FOR SHARING THIS WHOLE PARENTING THING.  LOVE YOU!!

Dixie

The Dress

With the impending nuptials of Daughter #3, I've been looking for a "mother-of-the-bride" dress for the big day.  I wasn't having much luck.  It kinda seems like you get two choices.

This                                                                                                                          

Or this

I was kind of hoping for somewhere in between. 

So at the suggestion of Daughter #2, I viewed a website that looked a little more promising.  There were a ZILLION choices, and after perusing the first 150 pages -- not even joking --  I finally decided on one I had seen on page 7.  The style was perfect for me:  V-neck,  3/4 sleeves, and most importantly, a skirt that hit just slightly below my knees.  

I was a little nervous to order something on-line, but Daughter #2 has done this sort of thing before and didn't seem to be concerned.  Not only was she ordering her own dress to wear to the wedding, but she was also ordering 3 little dresses for the Bride and Groom's nieces, and a few personal items.

I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

• Free shipping promised - check.
• Precise measurements taken - check.
• Color selected from the minuscule color chart - a little dicey, but - check.
• Submit credit card payment of $88 - check.

A couple of weeks later the package came.  Complete with a $22.10 international duty tax.  (So much for free shipping.)  

Daughter #3 and I were so anxious to see if the color was right.  We hovered around the parcel full of anticipation, then squealed with delight when we found the color to be PERFECT!!  I quickly lifted the dress up by the shoulders and let out a huge gasp!  The dress was short!  About 12 inches too short.  Let's just say, it looked a little closer to the second picture shown above than the first one.  

I tried it on hoping I could at least salvage the top half, and maybe wear it as a blouse of some kind.  What a joke.  One of the shoulders was way wider than the other, and would not be enticed to stay up where it was supposed to.  

It was a hideous first attempt at an on-line purchase.  

A hideous attempt that cost me $110.10

I quickly called Daughter #2 to warn her to expect the worst:  Poor quality sewing, not the right size, and an unexpected tax at the door.

Well, the force was apparently with her that day, because not only did everything fit perfectly and was better than expected, but she didn't have to pay any taxes at the door, AND they charged her LESS money than advertised. 

Now, I ask you, "Where is the justice in that?"

Oh well.  I'm actually in negotiations with the company as we speak to see if I can get my money back. If not I think I'll try and find someone with just the right figure to give this dress to.

You know, someone who's really short and whose left shoulder is far wider than their right one.   ;)

Dixie

The Crazy Lady

When I stepped out of my car today at the mall parking lot, I heard a woman's angry, scolding voice.

"YOU'RE MAKING ME SO MAD!!   DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!

I assumed it was some mother yelling at her child, and my first thought was, "Oh, you poor kid.  My heart aches for you to be yelled at like that." 

As I looked in the direction of the yelling, I couldn't see which parked car the voice was coming from.  

"STOP IT!!  I TOLD YOU NEVER TO DO THAT!!  I HATE YOU!!"

I saw a woman walking by in the general vicinity of the yelling, and figured she was getting quite an earful.  

"STOP LIEING TO ME!!  YOU MAKE ME SICK!!"

Then I realized just how close she was to the angry woman.  She WAS the angry woman.  Certifiably crazy.  

I felt sorry for her and sent a quick thanks heavenward that I wasn't like that.  And then the realization set in.....

I AM like that.  Minus the yelling, of course.  But I totally talk to myself all the time.  The Mr. is always asking me who I'm talking to.  I just tell him that I'm talking to myself, but it's okay because I KNOW that I am.  As long as you KNOW that you're talking to yourself you're still sane, right?

Right?  (crickets chirping.)

Well, at least I've never answered myself.

Dixie

Mother's Day Thoughts

So another Mother's Day came and went, and for good or for bad, here were my thoughts (pretty much in order):

          *   I love being a mom.

          *   I'm so lucky to have such great kids.

          *   That was so nice of The Mr. to arrange for the kids to come and
               make brunch for all of us.

          *   Brunch was actually pretty tasty.

          *   Wow!  The Mother's Day gifts were pretty cool.

          *   No more tissue paper and pipe cleaner flowers.  The kids have
               definitely grown up.

          *   I love my mom.

          *   I miss my mom.

          *   My mom wasn't perfect, but she was the best mom I could ask
               for.

          *   I wish I could be a better mom.

          *   Are the church speakers telling the truth?  Are their moms really
               that perfect?

          *   I really need to be a better mom.

          *   I sure hope the Mother's Day gift from the church is chocolate.
              My flowers always die.

         *   Okay, that was rude.  I shouldn't even expect a gift from the
              church.

          *   But I sure hope it's chocolate!

          *   I really need to be a better mom.

          *   I really need to stop obsessing about chocolate.

          *   Yes!!!  A three-pack of Lindts by Lindor.  My favorite.

          *   I suppose it would be polite to offer one to The. Mr.

          *   I hope this is one of his "healthy-eating" days and he turns me
              down.

          *   Bummer.  He wants one.

          *   Okay, I need to be a better mother AND a better wife.


All in all a really great day.  And this card from my animal-loving granddaughter was the perfect ending.  (I'm pretty sure it even beat out the chocolate.)

Dixie

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's a big day for me.  My children's musical theatre group -- Showbiz Kids -- is putting on their year-end show.  And I'm excited!

Although we got off to a late start, the dress rehearsal today went surprisingly well.  Okay, that's a lie.  The microphones were causing us a little grief.  But the children were delightful!

Their sweet voices.

                 Their adorable faces.

                                   Their scary memory lapses.

                                                        Their hilarious wardrobe malfunctions.

I love it all!  And I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow night brings.

Dixie

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

Today's post is a quickie.  All you have to do is look at the following four pictures, and guess what these men all have in common.

Mark Walberg

Ashton Kutcher

Channing Tatum

The Mr.

No, it's not that they're all wearing a suit coat.

Give up?

Answer:  They've all had modelling careers.  

Okay, so technically The Mr. doesn't have a modelling career.  But while at work on Friday, he walked past an area where they were set up for a photo shoot, and the cameraman approached him and asked him if he'd like to do some modelling for a business magazine.  Apparently the cameraman told him he "looked pretty good".

Oh, great!  There's gonna be no living with him now.

Dixie

Blogging Time Interrupted

It's official.  I'm a slacker.  I haven't posted on this blog for over a month.  That's ridiculous.  

I've been trying to figure out what I've been doing for the past few weeks that has kept me busy enough to take away any free blogging time.  Here's what I've come up with:

• Our trip to Washington D.C.  
• JRCLS Law Conference -- PLEASANT 
• Library of Congress -- AMAZING
• Capitol Building -- BEAUTIFUL
• Smithsonian Museums -- IMPRESSIVE
• Lincoln Memorial -- MAJESTIC
• Washinton Monument -- ADEQUATE
• Washington D.C. Temple -- SERENE
• The Metro -- DELIGHTFUL
• Weather -- DISAPPOINTING
• Feet -- SORE 

• Stake Women's Conference
• I was in charge of the entertainment during the brunch.  Rearranging the words to several Broadway show tunes (to fit the theme of "The Power of Kindness") and watching the various women perform was so much fun for me.

• Stake Road Show
• Do you suppose it's a coincidence that my two favorites were my ward's play and my sons' ward's play?
• I was involved in a little "intro act" which has caused me to decide that I definitely prefer to be involved in the organizing, and not in the actual performing.

• Daughter Number #2's Visit
• She was finally here long enough to fit everything in.
• Love, love, love seeing my grandchildren. 

• Seminary Mid-Year Conference
• Whenever I have to present at one of these conferences I almost become paralyzed.  I worry for days/weeks because I wonder what on earth I can teach the teachers who have far more experience and scriptural knowledge than I do.  
• When it's finally over, the emotional stress release leaves me wanting to do nothing but sleep and eat for the rest of the day.  (And yes, I realize that is totally pathetic!)

• Showbiz Kids
• Finding the music and preparing costumes/props always takes a fair amount of time.
• I absolutely LOVE planning the choreography for the shows and trying to teach it to the kids.  (Of course the final project is never as great as I had imagined in my mind's eye -- no crisp, precise movements to the exact beat of the music -- but they are, after all, children, so it shouldn't surprise me.)

• Snow Shovelling
• Just when we thought Spring was on its way, we got dumped on with a foot of snow.  It just kept coming.  And coming.  And coming.  

• A Little More Company Than Usual
• Some came to stay, others just for a meal.  Either way, I love having them.

So, that's probably what's been keeping me busy.  Not really busy enough to stop me from blogging, though.  There must be something else.  

Oh, wait.  I remember what that other thing was....

• Pinterest
• Daughter #2 introduced me to this little obsession while visiting.  Wow!  Who knew you can find EVERYTHING on Pinterest?  And who knew how addicting it can be?
• Should I let Daughter #3 know that I have her entire wedding planned?  Or should I let her and her fiance have a say in something?

Dixie