Nonsense and Sensibility

Our favorite fall activities...

2011-11-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

We LOVE dressing up! So we started this fall off with going to witches night out at Gardner Village. We don't really care for the crowds, which seem to get worse every year, but we can't pass up the opportunity to pull out our dress up box. Crystal also had some great costumes for Red Ribbon Week. Maybe if we pressure her, she'll post them. ;)

Yep, my sisters look pretty amazing!

Next, we went to our next favorite Fall activity, Cornbelly's! Made for kids, but I think we enjoy it more. Sarah unfortunately, couldn't come with us. She was doing something responsible, like visiting teaching, or something.

For those of you who haven't noticed yet. Our family is OBSESSED with Celtic Thunder. Well, everyone except Matthew. Our parents got us hooked and we now watch their DVD's on repeat while crafting, grading papers, cleaning the house....well, really, with whatever we are doing at the moment, I happen to be listening to them right now as I blog. WE LOVE THEM! So, we joined the 90 year old crowd (they're featured on PBS) and went to see them. We LOVED them! We sang along, screamed for our favorites (all of it) and were quite possibly the entertainment for the people sitting around us. We had a great time and wished the rest of our family could be there.

Our Summer Begins. . .

2011-07-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

Okay. Even I am tired of looking at our blog. So, for those of you still checking for updates, let me fill you in on what we have been doing this summer.

Jeni started her summer off by running the Dirty Dash at Soldier Hollow. As the name implies, it is a fairly muddy course. Jeni got a group of co-workers together and they ran as the "Dirty Dukes and Daisies." Jeni and her friend Alex weren't really concerned about getting their best time in this 5K. They were more concerned about keeping their faces out of the mud. Jeni was successful. She actually stayed relatively clean compared to many of the runners.

Also in the beginning of June, Jeni and Crystal took a short trip to Las Vegas. They did all of their favorite things: watching the Bellagio fountains, going to the Coke and M&M factories, and shopping, lots of shopping. What they forgot to do was take pictures.

Mid-June, Crystal had to go back to work, so Jeni kept herself busy hiking--when it wasn't raining. She has been on several hikes with Jessica and a few friends. However, she doesn't want me to post a lot of pictures, so you will have to find them on Facebook.

At the end of June, I took a work trip to New Orleans for the annual meeting of the American Library Association. This really is one of my favorite conferences, although not one of my favorite venues. This is really not a city I would choose to go back to visit. However, I did have a good time because several of my friends were also there. One evening we took a haunted tour of the French Quarter, which was really quite entertaining. The creepiest ghost story told that night was about the hotel in which my friends were staying. That made the rest of their stay a little less comfortable, but makes for a great story. I did a lot of walking and tried some new food. On Sunday, a friend and I drove out to the Garden District for church. That really was my favorite part of the trip. The neighborhoods were so much cleaner and it just felt good to be in a dedicated meetinghouse.

Crystal celebrated her birthday at school. She really doesn't like to work on her birthday. Since that has happened for the last few years, she has a new birthday tradition. Jeni brings cake to school and the whole class celebrates.

Jessica got a job at BYU-Idaho. YEAH! So, over the Independence Day weekend, Crystal, Jeni, Matthew, and Alli moved her into her new home in Rexburg. They worked really hard scrubbing down walls and floors and unpacking all of Jessica's boxes. Hopefully, when she gets her internet connection up, Jessica will tell you a little more about what she is doing now. What I can tell you, is that she likes her job, likes the people she works with, and is very happy to have employment.

I wasn't able to go on the moving trip because I was still working on my talk. I had to speak at the LDS Business College devotional on July 5th. I had known about it for almost two months and had been worrying about just as long. Although I had been working on the talk for about three weeks, I just couldn't get it to all come together--and fill up 40 minutes--until Monday night. I really don't like public speaking and I am very glad that it is over! Crystal, Jeni, and Grandma Sorenson came to listen and give me moral support. We had a nice lunch afterwards, which made the day much more enjoyable.

Crystal, Jeni, and I went to see Harry Potter 7, pt. 2 last Thursday. We have had our tickets to a private showing for months and months. Opening nights have always been fun, but we really don't miss sitting in line for three hours.

Crystal has had her very short summer break and has to head back to work next week. But, while she has been home, she and Jeni have been spending lots of time at the pool. They are both very tan.

We hope to fill the summer up with a few more fun things before it is gone.

A New Start

2011-01-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

I have had a wonderful seventeen months of a slower, more relaxed, peaceful life. However, much of that is going to change on Monday. I start my new job as the Director of Library Resources at the LDS Business College. I am pretty excited . . . and a little nervous. It has been a while since I have had to get up early, but a steady paycheck will make up for that inconvenience.

I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement during the last year. My parents and siblings have been wonderful and I really appreciate everyone that sent me job leads.

Craft Day

2011-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, all of us girls got a craft. A couple of days after Christmas, all of us girls hibernated upstairs, listened to Celtic Thunder, and crafted the day away. It was a little challenging for Jessica since she only had her thumbs and 1 finger, but she did manage to paint the letters in her craft. Here are the finished products.

Jeni's XOXO

Crystal's Wicked

Sarah's Spring

Jessica's Joy

Mom's Home

Alli's Family

Gingerbread Houses

2011-01-16T18:52:00.001-08:00

So mom was feeling really ambitious this year and decided it would be a great idea to make gingerbread houses - from scratch. Not just one, but 3. We divided up into three teams: Matthew and Alli, Mom and Dad and Jessica, and then Sarah, Jeni, and me. It seemed even and fair until we got going. Matthew is a pro landscaper, Mom and Dad are really talented and have experience making these things, but Sarah got stuck with me and Jeni - two elementary teachers. Yikes.

It took 1/2 the day to make the dough, cut out the houses, including the windows and doors, and then bake them. Luckily we have two ovens in Idaho or I think it would have taken us 2 days. The frosting was a mess. We made one kind and decided it wouldn't work, so we had to make another kind. We glued the houses together and filled the windows with sugar glaze. That was really messy and hard. Not sure we're going to do that again. But the windows sparkled when the sun shone through them. We had a few problems putting the houses together - there were some cracked walls and roofs, but it gave the houses character.

Dad was quite creative and cut up a box to keep their roof in one piece.

We were quite impressed with our efforts. And it entertained us for hours.

We were very proud of the duck pond at our house. Jeni is a genius. I personally liked the bench overlooking the pond.

Mom, Dad, and Jessica made a cute little house. I was surprised by how much Dad enjoyed this activity.

We all loved the woodpile, bench, chimney, and the pretty windows.

After all was said and done, Matthew and Alli were the winners of creating gingerbread houses. But I don't know what we were expecting. Matthew immediately started planning the landscaping around the house. He started with the pavers on the back porch and sidewalk. Then he added a water feature and other things.

I wish I had a better picture of the water feature. You can barely see it on the left side of the picture.

It was so much fun, we'll probably do it again next year. With a few changes of course.

Christmas Miracles

2011-01-16T17:28:00.001-08:00

I keep hoping that one day I am going to look at our blog and it will have magically updated itself. Is that lazy?

So here are a few of our Christmas miracles.

1. The night of our family Christmas party, Jessica steamed burned her fingers while she was trying to pick up a roasting oven with Sarah. It was pretty scary. My mom took her to insta-care where they put lots of stuff on them and bandaged them up really good. The miracle is that she didn't burn her thumbs and one finger. The finger that didn't burn had a band-aid on it because a couple of weeks earlier, she cut it really bad with a knife. It was also a miracle that the burns were only 2nd degree burns and not third. Thank goodness! And we were all so blessed that she could go to the bathroom by herself!

Here she is showing off her awesome bandages. Her fingers are recovering nicely. She only has 2 (I think) that are still really tender.

2. Sarah spent many hours working on her beautiful handmade ornaments for Christmas. They can be seen in the previous post. We were getting in the truck to head to Provo, when she dropped one on the asphalt and it rolled down the street. The miracle: it didn't shatter! It really is amazing, since those balls tend to break easily.

3. Christmas miracle number 3 - Sarah had 3 job interviews in the last two weeks of December. It was a bit stressful, but it was such good news. And she had another interview set up for January. I'll let her blog about the outcome of all those job interviews.

But our Christmas was wonderful and we had a lot of fun. More posts will follow.

Odds 'n Ends

2010-12-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Since I have been living a life of leisure, I haven't had much to post on our blog. I love my life-although I really do need to get a job. Besides looking for a job, I keep myself busy working on small projects and taking free mini-vacations.

In October, Jessica and I took a small road trip to Houston to visit our parents. Unfortunately, neither of us had operable cameras at the time, so we don't have any pictures to share. We had a very nice drive and enjoyed the scenery though the center of Utah, all the way through Colorado, three-quarters of the way through Kansas, down through Oklahoma, and through northern Texas. We were a little worried before we left, but it actually turned out to be a pretty drive. We stayed with Mom and Dad for about nine days. The weather was very warm and muggy; but, since we missed the first snow storm of the season here in Utah, I guess I don't have much to complain about. While we were hanging out with Mom, we did a lot of shopping. We explored the Old Spring Town shopping center, which is a lot like Gardner Village, as well as a few malls and fabric/craft stores. We also went to Dad's work party, a business dinner, helped one of Mom's friends assemble wedding invitations, helped set up for Young Women in Excellence, and attended Super Saturday. Unfortunately, during the trip Jessica's purse was stolen. It was a really strange situation, but fortunately she was able to cancel all of her cards and replace everything quickly.

We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and then spent the rest of the weekend at Matthew and Alli's house. Again -- no pictures. We will have to do better for Christmas.

In the way of small projects, I have been experimenting with crochet patterns and have completed a couple of scarves and a doily.

I was really excited about this scarf, which I modeled on one I saw on Etsy.

I only took one picture of the doily before I gave it away and unfortunately it was while it was still under construction. In this picture it is still kind of ruffled, but I did get it to lay flat when I finished it.

This past week, I have been working on Christmas ornaments. I painted designs on some colored glass balls and was really pleased with the overall affect.

I also made snowflake ornaments out of salt dough and added designs with a red felt-tipped pen. Both projects were really simple, but quite fun.

I think that I am now quite ready for Christmas and am looking forward to family parties and two weeks celebrating in Idaho.

Sarah

Just Because...

2010-11-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's way past time for us to update our blog. I am sick of seeing the same pictures. Jessica and Sarah will talking about their lives shortly. We've been pretty boring, but here are a few things we've been up too.

This is what I do at work to entertain myself.

This is what we do at home to entertain ourselves. We like to dress up. Unfortunately we were on our way an 80's party which we thought was for 25-35 year olds. We were one of 10 people dressed up. We had a great time dancing, while others awkwardly stood around. We realize we are getting older, but the people there were super old and boring. I'm not ready to meet 40 year olds just yet. Lesson learned, it's not so bad to stay home. We have a lot more fun doing that.

The Wedding!!

2010-06-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

The event we've all waited for our entire lives finally happened last month. (Okay, maybe not our entire lives, but it sure seems like it.) Matthew and Alli got married. It was a perfect day for a wedding. It had been cold all week, but Saturday turned out to be the most beautiful day of the week, thank goodness! We enjoyed spending time with our family and friends. We are so happy that Alli is part of our family. We love her already! And we love having another sister.

So here are a few pictures of the day. Once again in no particular order because it's so dang hard to get them in the order you want them in. We had such a great day that just between Mom, Dad, Jeni, Jessica, and me we took about 1000 pictures! I won't bore you with all of them. Hope you enjoy because we sure did!

Silly Mom giving us her favorite smile and showing off her beautiful corsage.

Matthew shoving cake in All's face at the reception. Thanks Madison for taking this picture!

The family outside the temple.

Matthew and Alli showing off their boots. Matthew talked about his boots for months - white snake skin. They were pretty fancy.

Matthew and Alli right after they came out of the temple. Aren't they cute!

The four of us girls. I think we took more pictures of us that day than of Matthew and Alli.

Mom and Dad in front of the temple. They were married here almost 35 years ago.

It was the perfect day! Jessica even caught the bouquet. I won't post that picture because she'll kill me, but maybe that catch will bring her good luck!

Hawaii

2010-05-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two months since Jeni and I went to Hawaii, so I thought it was about time to blog about it. We stayed in Waikiki - we decided it was okay to stay in a tourist town because we're tourists. The weather was wonderful, a bit rainy some days, but still beautiful. We stayed for 6 days and enjoyed every minute. We are already to go back again (next time we'd like more company).

We rented a car for our stay. When we picked up our rental car, the man asked us if we wanted a GPS. We said no because really how lost can you get on an island. Well, you can get pretty lost, but you can always find your way home. We saw parts of Oahu that most tourist probably don't see - like the homeless camps. But it was always interesting.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures (in no particular order because that is too difficult). Enjoy!

Jeni and I went for a drive in the pouring rain and this contraption happened to be driving in front of us. I hope they enjoyed their ride!

We went to church at the Honolulu Tabernacle and this beautiful tree is in front. We loved "outside" church!

Before church, from our balcony overlooking Waikiki beach.

"Ha! The Breath of Life" performance at the PCC. Jeni's still talking about it.

Jeni's tatoo in the New Zealand village at the PCC.

Jeni using those pom-pom like things in the New Zealand village. I was terrible at these. I kept hitting myself.

The coconut tree climber. Amazing!!

Jeni and me with our new friend Lani. She sold us our beautiful pearl rings and helped us get around the island.

Pineapple plant at the Dole Plantation.

Pineapple whip - I wish I could've eaten it every day!

Pearl Harbor Memorial - USS Arizona

The Memorial wall on the USS Arizona Memorial.

Jeni in her beautiful muumuu from the swap meet. It even has one pocket!

This picture was taken on our hike to Monoa Falls. It was a small rainforest right on the outskirts of a neighborhood.

Lunch at Keneke's. Jeni loved her garbage plate and the shave iced, but not the beans at the bottom.

The water has so many beautiful shades of blue. We took a lot of pictures of water.

This car was painted with puffy paints. It was crazy!

Jeni snorkeling at Turtle Bay. She wasn't a big fan. I didn't even bother to try it.

This sign made us laugh, but also made us a little more afraid of the ocean.

Jeni at the top of Diamond Head.

Part of the Diamond Head hike. I think one time on this hike is enough. It wasn't my favorite and it was really hot and cramped in the stairwell.

We spent our last day at Sunset Beach, just hanging out until we had to get to the airport. Jeni spent her time doodling in the sand.

Sunset at Sunset Beach.

Jeni running along the beach.

I just got attacked by a wave - not a big wave, but bigger than I anticipated.

Catching up . . .

2010-02-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

I decided that it was time for a short update. We aren't very good at keeping our blog up to date, but we usually hit the highlights.

So, what have we been doing since December 13th? First, we had a fabulous Christmas celebration. Mom and Dad flew in mid-December to close on their new house in Whitney, Idaho. There was lots of driving back and forth, moving, cleaning, unpacking, and fixing plumbing. It was busy, but we got everything ready by Christmas Eve. It was perfect. Everyone had a couple of weeks off of work and school (except Alli, but she was able to spend most of every day with us), so we had lots of quality family time. We went on walks, played card games, played on the Wii, played Beattles Rock Band, watched movies, and put together puzzles. Jeni posted lots of pictures on Facebook, so I will just include this one. Not the greatest composition, but you can't expect perfection when you have to use a self-timer.

In January, Crystal and Jeni had to go back to work, Mom and Dad had to go home, and then Jessica and Matthew had to go back to school. Dad got sick on New Year's day and after he left, I got sick. So, I spent most of January in bed trying to get better and avoid spreading germs. Jeni, Crystal, and Matthew also had colds; so, we are glad that February seems to find us all feeling better. Fortunately, Jessica did not get sick because she has been very busy with her last semester of school. She even got to take a class trip to Monterey, Mexico, for the last five days of January. They toured four businesses to learn about international HR practices and did a little sight-seeing on Saturday. She had a great time and then had one of those conference story type of missionary moments on the flight home.

February finds us all back to our normal routines. I have finally started a serious job search. Jeni and Crystal are preparing for parent-teacher conferences and looking forward to their Hawaiian vacation in March. And, Jessica is writing lots of papers, taking lots of tests, and looking for a job to start after graduation.

Welcome to the Family!!!!

2009-12-12T10:01:00.001-08:00

Matthew and Alli are engaged!!!! We are all so excited. Matthew purposed Thanksgiving morning at sunrise. She is the nicest, sweetest girl and we can't wait until the big day. Which is may-ish, possibly May 15th.

Happy Birthday Alli! We got to meet her mom, sisters, and nephew. We laugh a little too loud for the little guy, but I think he got used to it by the end.

Alli wanted to see the temple lights for her birthday. As always we had lot of fun but it was freezing cold!!!!
Thanks for smiling Matthew!

Fall Fun

2009-10-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post another update on our fall activities for those of you who don't have Facebook. If you do have Facebook, then you probably have seen these pictures already.

Jeni and Crystal fell in love with Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point last year and decided to introduce Jessica and I to its wonders this year. It really was fun. We jumped on a giant air pillow, raced in small tractors, slid down giant slides, explored the inside of a dinosaur, played in a building full of dried corn, and explored the corn maze. Well, we really didn't do the maze justice. We had no idea where we were going and after 20 minutes we ended coming back out of the entrance. However, we had fun. These are my two favorite pictures of the evening.

Then, of course, Witches Night Out at Gardner Village has become a tradition. Each year we add little bits and pieces to our costumes. This year we got sparkly spider bracelets, which, unfortunately, you can't see in this picture.

Also, we were very excited that Jessica could join us for the first time this year. It just isn't as fun if it isn't the four of us. This picture doesn't do them justice, but she had fabulous eyes for the evening.

Crystal talked me into having pink hair. Unfortunately, it turned out orange. Oh well, I guess it goes with the goofy hat.

Crystal went for an elegant look this year and added a classy polka-dot scarf.

I think Jeni's favorite part of Halloween might be having the opportunity to streak her hair with bold colors without seeming rebellious. Isn't she a trendy witch?

Now Jeni and Crystal just need to make it through the official school Halloween party and we can call this fall a success!

Halloween Crafts

2009-10-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Lauri and Lisel inspired me, so I thought I would share our Halloween crafts. A couple of weeks ago, Crystal, Jeni, and I went to our ward Super Saturday activity to make these really cute crafts. The cats were so cute that we couldn't resist. That is right. We now have three black cats to add to our Halloween decor. The wooden pumpkins also turned out really well and have the added benefit of being able to stay out for a couple of months.

When we got home, Crystal was still in a crafting mood and and went straight to work on these cute fabric pumpkins. We have a very festive living room now. Everything looks really cute, but I am not sure where we are going to store them when it is time to put them away!

The Men in Our Lives

2009-10-10T22:40:00.001-07:00

In September, we hit a couple more concerts. We went to see Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley. Both events were spectacular! We had lots of fun and did a lots of singing, clapping, and laughing. Most of you have probably already seen more of our pictures on Facebook, so I am going to keep this short and just say that we had FUN.

Sorenson Family Reunion

2009-10-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

This post is two months overdue, but we have to include something about the Sorenson Family Reunion because it was one of the highlights of our summer. After the Barnes reunion, Jeni and I lounged at a hotel for a few days while Mom and Dad looked at houses. Jessica joined us Wednesday night and on Thursday we headed up to Swan Valley, Idaho, for the much anticipated Sorenson Reunion. Norman and Brenda did a great job finding a beautiful location and planning fun activities for us.

On Thursday, Jessica and Jeni went with several of our cousins on a "little" hike. Everyone had a great time. I am especially impressed that Zack kept up on any hike for which Jessica and Jeni picked the trail. As usual, they went a little farther and it took a little longer than they had planned.

Crystal, Matthew, and Ali joined us on Friday evening. As you can see, there were lots of fun things going on. Smores, babies to hold, little kids to entertain us, nail painting, crafting, more babies to hold and little kids to entertain us.

Of course, one of our favorite activities is the family sing along, which was held each night. It was fun to have so many guitar players!

On Saturday, we all (and I mean all) piled into the truck and took a drive into Jackson and then through Teton National Park. Since our parents met while working in Jackson, they took us on a trip down memory lane. We went to see the house that we lived in. Well, at least Dad, Mom, Jessica, and Sarah lived there for a while. Jackson has changed a lot since we were last there and we barely recognized No Name street. Then, Dad took us on a tour of all of the Bar-T-5 camp sites in the Tetons. It really was a beautiful trip . . . cold, but beautiful.

We had a great time and are looking forward to our next Sorenson Family get together.

Barnes Family Reunion

2009-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

On August 2, all of the Carl and Anavoe Barnes family (or at least most of us - we sure missed Casey, Stephanie, and David) gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the afternoon. It has been a long time since all of us have been together and it was good to catch up.

Check out the slideshow below to see how much fun we had.

Aren't the little kids cute!

Josh Turner

2009-09-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have a ton of catching up to do on our blog. So we are going to try.... Here it goes! July 25th we went to the Josh Turner concert at the Unitah County Fair in Evanston, Wyoming. We decided to arrive early because we thought we could hang out at the fair for a while. WRONG! It was pretty dead. There were like five rides and Jeni treated us to this really awesome ride. It is similar to the music express at Lagoon, but the carts are attached to long arms and you spin around really fast and go up and down - not just like a little hill, but we are talking about a big huge bump in the air. This is Jessica and Alli before the ride began.

Matthew is a wimp when it comes to rides and he opted out. He did enjoy watching and listening to us scream.
We were going so fast and laughing and screaming so hard we were crying. The tears ran sideways instead of down our cheeks. We all felt a little sick when we got off.
After the ride, we weren't sure what to do. So we hung around the fair. There was nothing there, not even the livestock were there yet. It was very disappointing. :( But we were lucky enough to find the obstacle course set up for the dogs and Jeni was kind enough to demonstrate a few of the skills for us.
Since not much was going on at the fair, we decided to go into town to get dinner. And what did we find... the whole town on main street! Beerfest was going on and everyone, and I mean everyone - pregnant ladies, kids, grandparents, was there. We walked around for a while, but lets be honest, beerfest isn't much fun if you aren't drinking and smoking with everyone else. After wasting several hours it was time to go to the concert. Let me just say, I was not pleased with the seating or lack thereof. We walked in and you had your choice of sitting on wooden, splintering, paint-peeling bleachers or standing in the dirt with all of the drunk people. Luckily Josh Turner made up for it all.
Matthew and Alli at the concert. Enjoying the show! We were so glad they could join us and put up with us for so long. Thanks!!
Josh singing - don't know which song, but every song was amazing. I would definitely like to see him again!
All of us kids after the concert. Alli was kind enough to take our picture. We definitely enjoyed the show!

There's more to come, but it is so overwhelming. Does anyone know how to make collage pictures for blogs? If you do, I'd love to know. Thanks!

Happily Unemployed

2009-09-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

After ten years at the Church History Library, I quit my job this month. Yeah! While I have made many good friends and had many good experiences there over the years, it is the right time for me to move on and do something else.

I have been happily unemployed for a week now and I love it! I know that it can't be permanent, but I plan to enjoy it while it lasts. I have already gotten lots of sleep and am making lists of all of the (free) things I want to do while I am looking for a new job.

Sarah

Catching Up!

2009-07-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

What can we say? It's a long time over due. I have no excuse, aside from laziness, but Jessica has been very busy and stressed with school, and Crystal and Sarah have been working very hard and going a little crazy. So here is a brief update on our lives.

In March I went and visited my parents. They are so much fun. I can never get enough of them. They need to come back. We went to the temple, the rodeo (I've been teaching them how to do self-portraits), the beach (it wasn't too pretty so there are no pictures of that), and we went out to eat a lot. I miss you guys!

Then they came to visit for Memorial Day. We took our mom to get pedicures at Gardner Village. The best place ever for pedicures. We love it, and they love it when we come.

Me and Jessica have been hiking a little. I wish it was more. I'm always looking for people to come with me. We went up little Cottonwood Canyon at the temple quarry. And also down south to Kolob and Zion's. Kolob is my new favorite hiking spot. It's gorgeous and there weren't too many people.
Oh, and we REALLY love our camelbaK's.
For Crystal's birthday we went to Vegas. We love Coke Floats, M&M's, and the Bellagio. I could watch the fountain show all night. Happy 30th Crystal!

This past Thursday we went to the Western Stampede. It was totally awesome! However, Matthew didn't enjoy the noise we were making quite as much as we did. If you can see it, he's stuffed napkins in his ears to block our screams, well, mostly Crystal's. :) But we really all had a lot of fun and I think we are living proof that you can be crazy and have a lot of fun without using alcohol.

For the fourth of July weekend we went to Cedar City to visit the Shakespeare festival. We all saw The Secret Garden and we loved it. Honestly I think it's my favorite musical EVER. Crystal even admitted to letting a few tears escape. Then Jessica and Sarah went and saw As You Like It. They really liked this one also.

So that's us! We're hoping to have more adventure's this summer so hopefully it won't be so long before you hear from us again.

Winter Sun

2009-03-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

In January, I decided that I needed to get out of the cold and away from work for while. So a couple of friends and I headed to Cancun for five days. We stayed in a brand new, all-inclusive hotel. It was so new that they were still painting the walls in the hall outside of our room and the front desk wasn't finished. Though the accomodations were interesting and it wasn't the warm paradise we were hoping for, it was lots of fun.

During our stay, we took two excursions away from Cancun -- my favorite part.

Each of the excursions involved very long bus rides. This is Jenny and I getting ready for a three hour ride in our comfy tour bus.

Our first excursion was to Chichen Itza. This is El Castillo, the main pyramid, which is situated in the center of a large complex of buildings and acts as a very sophisticated sun dial.

Patrice, Jenny, and I in front of the East steps of El Castillo. If you clap while standing dead center in front of the steps, the echo comes back as the sound of a quetzl bird.

Me, standing in front of the observatory.

One of my favorite places in Chichen Itza is the Plaza of a Thousand Columns. The columns represent warriors, which are arranged in rows around a small pyramid. When you go behind the pyramid, the columns just seem to stretch on forever.

We took our second excursion out to Xel-Ha, an ecological water park formed where a river joins the Carribean Sea.

Although it was a little cool, we took a bike ride, floated in an inner tube, did some snorkeling, and relaxed for a few mintues in a hammock.

Sunday morning we went to church, which was absolutely fabulous! The ward was very friendly and welcoming, and I actually understood the majority of the meeting.

We spent the rest of our vacation on the beach. We found this shady spot so that it would be peaceful.

It was very hard to come back to the cold weather and the caos at work, so I am just going to have to plan another vacation.

Sarah

Bald Eagles at the Bay

2009-02-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

About a year ago, my friend Becky discovered that bald eagles nest at Farmington Bay in February and March. Who knew? So this year we decided to make an excursion to Farmington Bay to see the eagles. Allisun, Becky, and I loaded into Becky's truck and set out for the bay. The 3 adults in the front seat and

the 3 kiddos in carseats in the back.
It was a tight squeeze, but we managed. It did however make it a little difficult to eat our "picnic" lunch in the truck.

Once we arrived at Farmington Bay, we drove our muddy washboard roads. Amazingly the babies did quite well and slept a good portion of the time.

Seth (Becky's littlest)

Nora (Allisun's little one)

We saw eagles almost immediately. I wish I had Matthew's scope and a better zoom on my camera, but alas, Matthew does not lend such expensive equipment to his sister. However, you can still tell the birds are eagles in most of the pictures.

We figure we saw about 30 eagles that day. On Saturday (Valentine's Day), they were having the real Eagle Day. They do a controlled carp kill and all the eagles come for the feast. They were expecting 300 + eagles that day and a lot of people (that's why we went early).

After watching the eagles and other birds, we headed back to Becky's house. Fortunately, Becky always has live entertainment at her house. Her son Luke is HILARIOUS! He decided to ride my purse like a horse. He is a funny little boy with quite the imagination!
The babies Seth and Nora were also adorable. We had to take their picture in their cute winter hats. We sat them next to each other and they held hands all by themselves. It didn't last long, but it sure was cute!
It was a fun day and I look forward to doing it again next year! Maybe in a bigger vehicle. Thanks girls and cute kids!

Crystal

Everything's Bigger in Texas!

2009-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

Since I am off track again, I guess I better update our blog. Our wonderful, generous parents flew us all to Houston for Christmas this year. We were lucky enough to fly out between the storms or we would have been stuck in Salt Lake - yuck! But we all made it to Houston safely and we had a blast! Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport. On the way home, mom told us about these angels that we just had to see. She didn't say much about them, but we could tell she thought they were funny, but we definitely needed to see them for ourselves. The first two pictures illustrate that everything is bigger in Texas, including the angels!

There was a picture of this house in the newspaper and we had to see it for ourselves. It was incredible! There were a ton of people outside just walking around and taking pictures. One night we went there was even a tour bus! The people who owned the house were serving hot chocolate in the driveway. I couldn't even imagine putting this all up and then taking it down again. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

These are the larger than life angels. Imagine coming upon these in the night. They were quite frightening. If you could see their faces, you would probably even say they were creepy. But we got a good laugh about them.
On Christmas Eve, we had the missionaries over. We had a fabulous time eating and singing. Jeni was giving mom advice on how to take a good picture. Mom is usually talking or making a face while pictures are being taken, so they were practicing. I thought this picture turned out great.
Here's dad with his new toy. This missionaries showed up at our house with gifts from "Santa." They brought him an amp and a new guitar. Nice gift "Santa." We spent most of the evening singing songs while dad and Matthew took turns playing.
I think Matthew was a bit jealous of new guitar and amp. He is quite the guitarist. I am always impressed by his ability because he's never had lessons and he makes playing the guitar look so dang easy. But we sure do enjoy his talent, when he is willing to share!
This is mom and dad on Christmas morning. Notice the shorts - the weather was wonderful! It only got cold enough to wear a sweater. We lounged around all Christmas day in our pjs. We love being lazy!
The day before we left, we took some time to help with the yard work. Who knew yard work could be so hard in December! Matthew and dad did most of the work. They were definitely the muscles behind all the work!

Surprise! We are finally done. 21 garbage bags later - full of leaves, needles and trimmings. What a work out!

We had a fantastic time in Houston. Dad made sure we saw all the shopping we could handle - well at least most of us could handle. I've never seen so many malls in my life - and big ones at that. We took an excursion downtown one Saturday. Apparently, downtown is closed on the weekends, so we didn't get to see the underground shopping. I might have been the only one that was disappointed about that, but next time. Other than that, we just spent a lot of quality time together. Matthew thought we were gone a little too long, but I could've stayed a whole lot longer!

Being a stay at home person

2008-11-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

I have been off track for 2 1/2 weeks now and loving every minute of it. I would love to be a stay at home person. I am quite depressed that I only have a week left and I will spend that week worrying about all the things I have to do when I go back to work.

I thought I would take a few minutes and post a few pictures of what I have been up to lately. Over UEA, Jeni and I went to Cedar City. We stayed with her friends for a few days and then went to Vegas for a day. In Vegas we did the usual favorites. We went to the Bellagio garden which, as always, was beautiful.

Jeni in the garden - it was raining inside, just over this pond and tree. There were tree people, like the one in the picture below. Their eyes and faces moved, and this tree even talked. There were leaf fairies and pumpkin patches. The garden there is like a piece of heaven.

Of course we went to the M&M factory and the Coke factory to have Coke floats. Jeni kept me in check and discouraged me from purchasing any ridiculous items from either store.

We shopped in Las Vegas until our feet were too tired to move another step. Then we rested at the Bellagio fountains to watch some of the water shows. This is Jeni's favorite activity, it was difficult to pry her away, even after 4 or 5 shows.

Jeni, Sarah, and I went to Witch's Night Out at Gardner Village. The village is so fun all decked out in witches. Some people really get into it and have absolutely amazing costumes. We of course, are not those people that get really into it, but we do dress up a little.

Jeni found these awesome glasses, now I wish she would have bought them. Sarah had the freakiest eyelashes. They made it kind of difficult for her to see - so she was not allowed to drive that night. We had a great time browsing, and believe it or not, we didn't buy a thing. Okay, I did buy a carmel apple.
Other than that not much is going on around here. Jeni is crazy busy with work. Sarah is also busy at work and still hates her job. Jessica is chugging along with school with her fractured elbow and all.

Crystal

More PEI and stuff....

2008-10-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am finally adding my input to some our summer's activities and give an update on my life. I won't be able to add any wonderful quotes from L.M. Montgomery or Anne Shirley as did Sarah and Jeni. So, I am going to be like Crystal and include pictures of my some of my favorite moments of us together--hopefully, ones that haven't already been posted.

Yes, we went out in public like this! On one of our lazy mornings, we went on a walk on the beach we could see from our cottage. This is only one of the several "posed" pictures we took--believe me they are all just as good. :-) Hopefully, nobody kills me for putting this on the blog.

We did lots of driving, a trait we inherited from our dad. Most of our scenery pictures were taken from the car window as we drove along. Occasionally, we stopped on the side of the road to take a picture of a church from the car window. You can't see it here, but we discovered a great thing called satelite radio and did lots and lots of singing in the car. It took us about 10 songs with no commercails to realize something was different. The other great things is we knew every song. Then we discovered that besides the hits from the 70's and 80's we could also choose an oldies country station or new country station. We tried a couple others, but these were our favorites.

Although Sarah was the driver on the rental agreement, Crystal was the designated driver and Sarah was the navigator. This arrangement worked fine with the rest of us. It is much easier for Jeni, Mom, and I to sit in the back seat with no responsiblity, although, Jeni became the official picture taker. Jeni and mom fought over who was to sit in the middle. The goal was not mom, but sometimes she was faster.

We did lots of walking, a trait we inherited from our mother. You cant see it, but underneath all the long green grass is water. This path leads to a beautiful sandy beach.

We walked on the beach, we walked on the sand, we walked through woods, and we walked on land. We walked on the street and occiasionally shopped. We were even chased by mosquiotos with our bugs spray in the car over a mile away.

We ate lots and lots--food never tasted so good. From the fish that sent mom straigth into Eurphoria to the ice cream at Cow's that we couldn't get enough of. We often played cards at the end of each day. Mom, Jeni, and Crystal took turns being the winner and Sarah and I just played.

We relaxed and we laughed in the great hotel robes in our posh Charlotte hotel room. I'd post the cute picture, but I think my 3 sisters might kill me. We were content with 2 supposed queen beds and the small cot mom slept on, until we caught a glimpse of the sweet next door suit with it's lavish furniture and three seperate rooms.

The Anne of Green Gables musical was enjoyed by all and the last planned activity of our trip. Little did we know we had yet to pent the night in the La Quardia airport. I didn't know I could sleep so well on a wooden bench, until I tried to sleep on the cold hard ground or play cards the whole night before. I'd post a picture, but the program will no longer let me move the pictures around any more and they get stuck at the top. I think we played cards for hours and hours just trying to pass the time while the second hand ticked slower. Sarah managed to sleep for a couple of hours on 2 of our suitcases set up in an L-shape.

Once we returned to home with some sleep, mom and I went to work preparing for me to move in less than a week. I should say mom prepared for me to move, and I tried unsuccessfuly to study and pass an online statiscs course before August First. My dad is my hero and packed up my moving truck (with some help from some other great men) and off we he went to Utah. Mom and I followed about 3 hours later we had some cleaning and errand to run before we were able to make our exit. We met up for the night in Ontario and only had a minor delay when the Uhaul blew out a tire. We made it to Jerome and waited and waited for a man and his truck to comee and fix it. In no time at all we were back on the road. We made it to Provo where Matthew and the girls (sisters and roommates) helped unload the truck. No, not your typical sabbath activity! It was over 90 degrees so we sweated and sweated.

In the next three weeks I finally passed the online statistics course, unpacked and organized my room, slept in a lot and read for fun when I could. The three weeks flew by as I prepared for school, attended our family reunion and figured out where to put all my stuff. I have finally grown use to the idea that my laundry basket just has to go be between the foot of my bed and the closet. The problem is that so do my gym bag and two--yes two--backpacks.

I made it through orientation and the practise interviews. On the first day of oreintation they told us "you will have more to do than is possible to complete." Oh, Boy, they weren't kidding! I found out the first week. They split us into three class sections and then into 10 study groups. I am in a group of 5. The other woman in my group is from China and a brand new mom. Her baby is now 5 months old. I don't know how she is surving. I guess we do what we have to do.

Although school is challenging and stressful, I love it. I've gotten over the fact that I just can't do everything, there is literally not enough time in a day or a week. I haven't opened my fiance book in over a week and now try to rely on the lectures and the fact that I've learned most of this stuff before. So far that plan is working okay and I'm hoping for B's. I go to bed early (around 10:30) because I was reminded the first week that I need more than 4 to 5 hours of sleep.

I've had three interviews for internships (yes, already!) with a couple more scheduled. But, I am seriously considering teaching college now instead of pursing another corporate career and teaching later.

My journal is lost (packed in a box downstairs, but cannot for the life of me figure out where) which is why this entry is lengthier than planned. So I'll conclude with one last story. A few weeks ago, a counselor in the bishopric asked me to enter a conversation about my schedule and consider being a den leader with my friend, Latrica. Yes, you read right a den leader! Latricia later said she'd been hit from the side, I said I had been hit from behind! I laughed and I grimaced and who knows what else. He said "Tell me about your reaction?" I responded, "I don't know anything about cub scouts. I don't know anything about little boys!" To myself I thought I don't have time, how am I going to do this! We ended the conversation with me thinking it over and wondering how on earth I was possibly going to add this to my plate.

I thought to myself, "What about us said den leader?" I promise you nothing about us says den leader. We told our roommate, Latricia's sister, Margaret and she said, "what?" I told my sisters they laughed and laughed. I told me my mom and she laughed. I told my dad and he laughed. Both of my parents said I don't think you should do it. I pondered and prayed and wondered what to do. I went to school the next day and knew I couldn't do it. No matter how much I wanted to serve the Lord, I knew I wouldn't be able to manage. I was barely surviving this new realm of school and knew I would not be an asset to Latricia if she accepted the calling--which she did. In my ideal world this story would be better if I'd accepted the calling and was able to serve better. But, through the peace in my heart I know I made the right decision. I've already recieved another phone call and know anohter calling is on its way this week, hopefully one that I can fill better. I only share this story, because who would have ever thought of me as a den leader!?!

Jessica

"Lookin' for a good time"...Utah State Fair!!!

2008-09-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Utah State Fair!!! The event Crystal waits all year for. We even went out and bought cowboy boots to help us feel a little bit more country.

We went two nights, once for the rodeo and once for the Lady Antebellum concert. Jessica unfortunately decided to be responsible and stay home and do homework on the night of the rodeo. But we were all got to rock out together for the Lady A concert. Which by the way was totally awesome!!!!

The rodeo was pretty exciting, although it's been so long I don't really remember what happened, except we had fun.These are our boots of course. Now if we only had wranglers I'm sure we would have been mistaken for real cowgirls.

This is Mr. Yummy, as named by the ladies behind us, but better know as the Charlie Jenkins band. And if it wasn't for his CTR and wedding ring we might seriously have become his stalker. He was great.

Then, the concert we'd been getting ready for, yes, we'd memorized all of the words to their songs, and Sarah was even practicing her dance moves in the car. We had so much fun dancing and singing to the music. The were so good! The hot man with the beard even acknowledged our excitement.
Yes we even met them after, I know a little creepy, but seriously he's really attractive, you can't just pass that up.

The three models exiting the grand stand. We of course also did all of the other fair activities such as eat greasy food, look at the junk/craft collection, see all of the art displays, but much to Crystal's dismay me and Jessica were really tired, and our feet hurt (most likely from the cowboy boots) so we went home without seeing the livestock or getting a carmel apple, and whatever else her fair traditions might include. Sorry Crystal, but we did have a lot of fun. After all, we're just "lookin' for a good time"! -Lady A

Unheroic Salty Adventure

2008-09-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago some friends convinced me that I should go floating in the Great Salt Lake. The instigator is not originally from Utah, so I wasn’t sure that he realized exactly how gross this was going to be. But, dredging deep for my adventurous spirit, I agreed to go. In actuality it was more disgusting than I imagined. Those of us who live in a 20 mile radius of the lake can imagine what the undiluted smell of actually being in the lake would be like. But, I was not prepared for the brine shrimp carcasses, the sludge of larvae beds, and the little flies that literally covered the water.

When we arrived and walked out on the beach, I wasn’t sure that I would actually be able to make myself enter the water. I wish I could report that I went staunchly and without complaint.-- I didn’t. --I went, but I think I screamed the whole way through the black muck and then I murmured about the flies the whole time I was in the water. Really, if the flies weren’t there it wouldn’t be so vile. But, instead of being able to relax and enjoy the sensation of effortlessly floating on the water, I was too concerned about keeping the flies away from my face and mouth and keeping my chin above the water to really enjoy the experience.

But, as you can see from the picture, I lived through the experience and there was a beautiful sunset.

Sarah

Yet Another Post About PEI!

2008-08-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know Jeni and Sarah already took their turn writing about our fabulous trip so I'll try to keep it short. We were all supposed to write about our favorite part of the vacation, but really the whole thing was great. So I am just posting a few of my favorite pictures (no particular order).

This is a picture of one of the many lighthouses on the island. I think this is the one at North Rustico.

This is some broken down walkway (I'm sure there's a real word for it, but I don't know it). It was pretty fun to walk on it with the ocean waves crashing around us.

This is at the lookout of a non-working lighthouse at Spinnaker's Landing. Spinnaker's was one of my favorite places. Fun shopping, nice people, and a pretty view of the ocean. Did I mention I love shopping? That was one of my favorite things.

This is my favorite picture of Jeni. She looks like an angel. Her halo is just a bit crooked.

Another one of my favorite things about the trip was driving. I have decided that my next vehicle is going to be a fully loaded - sun roof and all - Ford Escape. I loved driving it!

Okay, this is was a really cool walkway through some sand dunes...mostly wetlands. The bridges were awesome. They were built in short segments that are anchored to the ground, but still float on the water. They were so cool to walk on, kind of scary at first.

Okay, this is another awesome wood plank bridge that we got to drive over.

The potato fields were so beautiful! They were everywhere and the potatoes there taste amazing! I hate to say it because I am an Idaho girl, but they taste better than Idaho potatoes.

Allisun, this picture is for you. This is the Lake of Shining Waters.

PEI has tons of little shops. Sometimes they are just in people's yards, like this sweater shop. I don't have a picture of the best shop we saw, but I am going to attempt to explain it. We were on the beach and there was a small white trailer with turquoise trim with a small shack built around it. They were selling homemade fudge from this interesting building. It seriously was not even as big as a one room apartment.

Those were some of my favorite things about PEI. One other thing, no one was ever in a hurry to do anything - including getting out of bed. YEAH! Unfortunately it was one of the only times in my life I couldn't sleep past 7:30.

Crystal

The Land of Anne

2008-08-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

I had been looking forward to this vacation for a long time. I started planning it two years ago. This winter we finally said: “This is the summer. We are going to make it happen. The five of us are going to have a girls’ trip to Prince Edward Island.” It turned out to be good timing. This June was the centennial anniversary of the printing of Anne of Green Gables. So, I booked tickets and made lodging reservations to make the plans absolutely final. I spent a lot of time looking at the PEI tourism website and thumbing through vacation planning brochures. As it turns out, we only did a few of the activities available, but the planning was fun.

So with all of that anticipation I am having a difficult time deciding what my “favorite thing” is.
I loved spending time with Mom and Jessica and Jeni and Crystal, of course. I also loved the pastoral feel of the island, the slower pace, and the quaint ambience of an island protecting and preserving the past, particularly the past of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

While Jeni will probably have you believing that we did nothing but pay homage to Lucy Maud Mongtgomery, I really only planned one L.M. Montgomery or Anne of Green Gables activity a day. Actually, one day they decided we could do two.

We had a wonderful tour of L.M. Montgomery’s birthplace home at Clifton Corner. The docent there was excellent and gave us a good introduction to Lucy’s life. I loved seeing many of Lucy’s scrapbooks on display. It was interesting to see her collages of cats, flowers, and fashion plates and to read the stories she liked and had clipped out of magazines. There was one that told a legend of the first kiss. I couldn’t read it, but I wondered how much it had influenced her telling of the first kiss in The Story Girl. I was also intrigued by a video and display we saw later at Green Gables, “Imagining Anne,” that described how the pieces gathered in Lucy’s scrapbooks were later incorporated into the creation of the character Anne.

Later in the week we had a nice walk from the McNeil Cavendish home site, through the Haunted Woods to Green Gables.

“The peace and quiet of this dear old spot is very sweet to me. There is no place on earth I love, or will ever love as I do it.” – L.M. Mongtomery

“I can’t go through the Haunted Wood, Marilla … I would be sure that white things would reach out from behind the trees and grab me.” Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 20, “A Good Imagination Gone Wrong.”

“To the west a dark church spire rose up against a marigold sky. Below was a little valley, and beyond a long, gently-rising slope with snug farmsteads scattered along it. From one to another the child’s eyes darted, eager and wistful. At last they lingered on way away to the left, far back from the road, dimly white with blossoming trees from the surrounding woods.” Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 2, “Matthew Cuthbert Is Surprised.”

What girl wouldn’t have fun on a dream vacation like this? At the end of the day, we did Mom’s favorite thing: we went back to our little yellow cottage overlooking the ocean. The cottage was such a tranquil spot that Mom just wanted to sit on the porch and look around her all day long.

I’ve enjoyed every minute of the time. I don’t see how I am ever to return to common life again.

Sarah

Just us Girls!

2008-08-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile now, but all of us girls just went to Prince Edward Island (P.E.I). Talk about fun! We of course we're the loudest people in the airport and created quite the scene. It's no wonder the boys didn't want to come.

"I think I would probably come to the conclusion that I'd like it for awhile...but in the end, I'd still prefer the sound of the wind in the firs across the brook than the tinkling of crystal." Anne ShirleyThis picture was taken from a moving vehicle...pretty good huh? But this was the view everywhere you looked. The scenery was amazing. I loved it when Sarah let us venture away from the Anne of Green Gable sights and see the ocean, sand dunes and wetlands!

I wish I were rich, and could spend the whole summer at a hotel, eating ice cream and chicken salad." Diana

I'm with Diana. I love ice cream, and I'm pretty sure they have the best ice cream in the world, and believe me I've tasted a lot of ice cream. Our favorite treat was Cow's ice cream. They had flavors such as Walnut Moople, Mooie Gooie, Wowy Cowy...this contributed to our 10 lb weight gain, and the fact that my pants no longer fit. But it was so worth it!

"Ruby Gillis says when she grows up, she want to have a line of beaus on a string and make them crazy for her. I'd rather have ONE in his rightful mind" Anne

Well, while we're still looking for one in their right mind I'm glad we took the time to be together, it is seriously one of the best places to visit. And although our airport experience could very well have been "...the most tragical thing that has ever happened to me [us]." Anne (this could be blog all of it's own) It was super FUN!!!!

-Jeni

Disneyland, Wicked, and Shakespeare. What more can a girl ask for?

2008-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

So the reason Jeni and I don't usually write anything is because we aren't usually up to much. We have been enjoying our leisurely summer. We took a break from our relaxing to go on vacation. Sarah had a work conference in Anaheim at the end of June, so Jeni and I tagged along to keep her company and, of course, go to Disneyland. We spent 5 days at Disneyland. Jeni kept reminding me that 5 days is a lot of Disneyland. Lucky for her, I got blisters on day 2, so I took it really easy on her. While we were there, the weather wasn't horrid. The temperature was in the 80's but boy it was humid! We felt like wet towels at the end of every day. Here are some of my favorite pics of the trip - at least the ones I know everyone will agree can be posted.

Jeni, Sarah, and I in the Beast's Library at the Animation Station in California Adventure. That ended up to be one of our favorite spots.

Jeni, Briar Fox, and I waiting to ride the canoe around the river.

The three of us on Big Thunder Mountain. This is Jeni's favorite picture.

Jeni and Sarah - don't know what we were doing.

These two pictures are awesome. This is of course us pretending to be Indian Jones, or at least pretending to wait to be rescued by Indian Jones.

Me and Jeni on day 1. This is the best we looked the entire trip.

Me in the Beast's Library, learning what Disney character I am most like.

Jeni at the Hollywood backdrop.

Jeni on the swinging cart of the ferris wheel. She did NOT like this ride at all.

Jeni and I did take some time out of Disneyland to drive to Hollywood. We were lucky enough to get incredible seats to see WICKED! It was awesome. I feel like I have been waiting forever to see it and I finally did and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend WICKED to anyone.

On our way home from California we stopped in Cedar and saw two plays at the Shakespearean Festival. Everyone should also see Taming of the Shrew. It was so funny!

So now Jeni and I are back to our relaxing. But we are preparing for our next vacation in 1 1/2 weeks. So maybe I'll have something to write again then.

Finally!

2008-06-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it is that Jeni and Crystal started this blog and Sarah and I seem to be the ones that add the most stuff to it, but I find it ironic.

I had to post my good news to the world at large. After taking the GMAT 3 times, I was finally accpeted to BYU's MBA program on Friday, June 26. I am so excited and overwhelmed! I have so much to do in the next 2 months. Take two classes...finish up work...apply for finacial aid (if still can)....figure out what to do with my house....move....and the list goes on.

Jessica

I'm Esmerelda!

2008-06-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

We each took this really great Disney Princess quiz that Jessica found. The pictures are great, too, but we haven't figured out how to add them our post and maintain the formatting.

Try it out: http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354

Our results:

Jessica is Esmerelda

Sarah is Belle

Crystal in Aurora

Jeni is Pocahantas

Conspiracy Theory!

2008-06-03T19:45:00.001-07:00

So, the world is definitely conspiring against today. All four of us if you can believe that! Crazy, huh?

So we'll start with Jessica. She woke up feeling not so great, especially since she received the bad news that the forecast for the next week includes a ton of rain. To cheer herself up a bit she decided to get a haircut. Unfortunately, the haircut was not a success. She now has wings above her ears. Sorry, Jessica! We still think you are beautiful!

Sarah isn't completely happy with her job, but she handles it quite well most of the time. Today was especially bad. Without going into the details or naming names, she actually said she would rather work at Wal-Mart than continue to work there under certain circumstances. Now you know that's bad.

Well, technically my day wasn't horribly worse than any other day, until you consider my normal day and stick me outside for a couple of hours with first graders who continually fight and argue. Then add in some competitive team games and you've got a headache and a sunburn to top it off. And I think my middle toe is broken and my little toe is definitely sprained!

Now, Jeni had quite the "near" death experience. This morning she was busily working on stuff for school for me. She noticed the helicopters flying around. Helicopters really aren't an unusual sound around our house. They are constantly flying above us and are very noisy. Around 10:30 AM she decides to go for a run and the helicopters are still circling the neighborhood. So she runs over a mile from home when a car pulls up next to her. Don't fret, no one wanted to abduct her. The woman leaned out of her car and said, "I don't know if you know, but those helicopters are looking for a mountain lion." Jeni asked if the woman could possibly drive her to the public library just around the corner - past the unsafe street the mountain lion was last spotted on. Keep in mind that she has been running in her skimpy outfit and is all sweaty. She sat in the magazine section of the library, trying to look inconspicuous. Until a young man came and sat next to her and she decided she better leave. She'd only been there for about 10 minutes. Then she ran as fast as she could the rest of the way home - about 1.5 miles. Lucky, she did not become a mountain lion's brunch today. Phew!

Needless to say, we all should have stayed in bed!

Crystal

Another reason I shouldn't live alone!

2008-06-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

So, after a long and delightful weekend with my sisters, I couldn't get up in the morning to go to the gym (which was probably a good thing) and so I slept in on Tue. morning. This of course meant I was running late to work. So, I got into my car about 20 mins to 8:00 a.m. turn the key in the key in the ignition and. . . .nothing. . . . no sound. . . . not even a catch of the engine! Ugh!

But not to worry I didn't cry, I didn't get upset, I just laughed. Don't worry, it has only taken me 3 years of dealing with house floods, broken garbage disposals, hanging my own curtains, and 3 broken garage doors to get to this point. I just think to myself here's another reason I shouldn't be single! Who am I going to call at this time of the morning. So, who do I call? My mom of course! First I did call my friend Amy to see if she could bring her car so I could jump my car. Thankfully, for me she is currently unemployed.

So, then I realized I couldn't shift my car into reverse to back it out of the garage. Again, Ugh! What do I do? I call dad! He told me that I would have to call the dealership to find out how to force the car into reverse. So, for all of you interested, I added yet another skill to my repertoire--don't you hate it when you want to use a word you can't spell, thanks Sarah! I now know how to force my car into reverse. It only took the Honda Dealership Service Center technician, me, a screwdriver, and 15 mins on the phone to learn this new skill.

In the meantime Amy arrived. So, I pulled out my owners manual and my emergency kit--thank you Dad for the great Christmas present--for my jumper cables and I set to work on hooking up the jumper cables. Now, I have been an assistant in this process before but never the one running the show and Amy knows less than I do! Did you know that when you lift up the red plastic cover over the positive charge on a Honda battery there are 3 metal pieces, not just one? So which one is the charge? I have no idea! So, lets just say that after several times of trying to jump the car with couple different connections, and several phone calls to any of the guys we know that might answer their phones at 9:00 a.m. in the morning! At 9:15 we gave up and Amy took me to work. Here is me not quite sure what to do next, I've tried everything!

Fortunately, the Lord looks out for me. When I got home from work--Amy was a dear and not only picked me up from work but waited for a half hour for me in the parking lot--we tried again. Did you know that if you have any rubber stuck in the cables it will not work? I didn't until Craig mentioned it on the phone, nor could I tell if the and rubber was caught in the cables. But as I mentioned the Lord loves me, the cables "jumped" off the connections this time until they were on right, cuz the second I turned on my car, it started, there was noise! Yeah! It worked.

But seriously, how much easier would it be to just call one person! Just one. . . . although I would probably still have to call my mom.

Jessica

"A Perfect Match!"

2008-06-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Last week there was an anomaly in my dating life. . . I met someone nice on a blind date. This truly doesn't happen very often. And between the four of us, we have some experience with blind dates. We have been set up my our mother, brother, sisters, aunts, uncles, coworkers, stake presidents, and friends. We try to be open minded and accept all opportunities, albeit not always with a positive attitude.
Have you ever noticed what the criteria are for married friends and relatives to line up singles? Often, the conversation starts with, "I don't know this guy very well, but he seems nice, and he's single." There you have the two main criteria for setting up a blind date. He's breathing and he's single. It's like they think to themselves, "He's single. She's single. It will be a perfect match!" If only it was so simple. Then, we wouldn't still be accepting blind dates.
I think only about 50% of blind date offers ever actually materialize as dates. Usually I am grateful because sometimes when the line up is successful I find myself wondering just what my friends and family think of me. Did they really think that I would get along well with this person? Wow, I must really need to work on my personal presentation skills.
As awkward and sometimes funny as blind dates are, we continue to accept them because maybe, just maybe, one day one of friends and family will line us up with someone nice. Because as last week proves, statistically we will have to meet someone nice even if the person who set us up doesn't know anything about us.

Sarah

25 "Bad Idea" Dates

2008-05-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

1. Bring another girl.

2. Insufficient funds.

3. Kill 100 bunnies before you can go home.

4. Talk about sex on the first date.

5. Starve your date.

6. Give a marriage compatibility test on the first date. On any date for that matter!

7. Analyze why your date is still single.

8. Ask "What can I do to MAKE you graduate from institute?"

9. Ask "What do you think is more important, the Book of Mormon or the Ensign?"

10. Brag about your income and then make your brother pay for the date.

11. Dance in the parking lot in the rain on your FIRST date when no interest has been shown.

12. Stare at your date's and her sister's boobs.

13. Say "I bet this date is the worst date you've ever been on, huh?" Sadly, the answer was no.

14. Have a picture of you kissing another girl hanging from the rearview mirror.

15. Make your date dance with you in a dark and dingy living room surrounded by pictures of scantily clad women.

16. Leave a note for your date on her windshield explaining that you couldn't give her a hug because you had already given too many insincere hugs.

17. Tell your date her shoulders are broad.

18. Bring up circumcision on your first date.

19. Don't open the car door, but if you happen to, tell her to slide over.

20. Paint pictures of naked ladies.

21. Tell 101 (unfunny) jokes on the freeway.

22. Read "Preach My Gospel" together on the first and only date. You can turn to any page and feel the Spirit.

23. Can't decide who you want to date? Take both sisters.

24. Give your blind date two options: 1. Go to the woods alone. 2. Do baptisms for the dead.

25. Pick up your date and ask if it's okay to walk in the freezing cold - how the heck did he get my number anyway? - Then dance like a 2x4.

Do you still wonder why we don't go on many second dates?

Nonsense and Sensibility

2008-05-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Four single women. Yes it sounds like the start of a Jane Austen book, and in our minds it is. This blog is going to be about the four of us, Jessica, Sarah, Crystal and Jeni. Now when there's four girls in the family and the first sister doesn't get married people look at us and think something's wrong with the boys today. Then the second sister doesn't get married and people are still wondering what's wrong with the boys today. However, as the third and fourth sister are still unmarried people begin wondering..."What is wrong with those girls". We've heard it all, "you must be too picky"..."you're just too intimidating"...or "maybe you should dye your hair." Well, this blog is to explain us and all of the happenings in our lives.