3/24/82 - 9/22/03

Happy Memorial Day! Today has been a busy day working in the yard. But we have all our old dead sod pulled up, the ground has been tilled and raked, the sprinkler guy is here adjusting and repairing a few things and the new sod is ready to lay! By the end of the week we should have a pretty sweet back yard!

Now, as the evening gets closer we're preparing to head off to barbecues with family and friends. On this day of remembering loved ones, I pay tribute to my big brother, Brian. After serving a faithful LDS mission he developed Lymphoma and passed away five months after returning home.

He was a great older brother - always good for some teasing, some laughs and lots of favor requests (which I always faithfully fulfilled!). He loved life and friends and having a good time. He ran track and played a bit of soccer. He loved listening to music and watching MASH and old Star Trek episodes. He was tall, and skinny, and could eat! In fact, he thrashed his companion in a rice-eating contest in Japan - a restaurant had a deal where if you could eat a pound of rice in a certain amount of time (30 minutes?) it was free. He cleaned up his plate with a big grin and without breaking a sweat.

We watched dozens of movies together the summer he was home and undergoing treatment. We downed armloads of gatorade and popsicles and the casseroles brought in by the relief society. He was a beloved son and brother, and the best uncle. He is missed by all, but was valiant and faithful and is no doubt shredding things up in the spirit world.

We love you, Brian!

cereal

When wal-mart has amazing, tasty, brand name cereals on sale for around $2 a box I do what most people would do . . . stock up!

The other night I was picking up a few things and came home with about 8 boxes of cereal. I love it. And I'm about to pour myself my sixth (give or take) bowl of the day. Mmmmmm.

nothing to post

Well, it's time for another post but I'm really out of good ideas. Lately we've been working on re-doing our backyard. McKay has some landscape plans drawn up and we have borrowed my Dad's truck, rented a sod cutter, ordered new sod and picked up some stones for a path. We are excited for the little fire pit we plan on putting in the corner.

In other news, we went bowling again with McKay's family! Kimball and Wendy are in town on their way to spend their summer in California. We bowled two games and I am happy to report that I won the second game with a score of 135.

Glad it's sunny and a long weekend! Hopefully my next post will be cool.

fire and food

This post commemorates a couple fun events from the last week that didn't really fit into any other posts. First, we had a roomie reunion on Saturday at our house. We had almost all the Hampton Court roomies + husbands over for a barbecue and games. It was so fun to see everyone - and I don't know how we forgot to get at least one photo of the event!

The four of us girls lived together for two years and loved each other! We all started dating our now husbands during the same summer and then one by one got engaged and married, starting with Kristen and Davis (first date in July, engaged in October, married in January). She was the quick mover! Taniel and Isaac got married on Valentine's Day, McKay and I got married in June, and Christine and Jason (McKay's room mate) got married in August.

We roasted hot dogs on our baby charcoal grill and played the game Loaded Questions. It was fun - I won! It was a good time, love you girls!!

This past Monday we got a free meal at Carabbas. A few weeks ago we got a postcard in the mail offering us a free meal if we would RSVP to attend a "Fire Safety in the Home" presentation beforehand. So we called and reserved our spot and got to invite a few friends. We thought it sounded a bit suspicious and were prepared to get a sales pitch. It actually ended up being a pretty informative presentation. We got a tasty free meal and learned about how to prevent and prepare for home fires. And then, sure enough, Dave tried to schedule in-home appointments to sell the revolutionary MasterGard fire detector products.

We declined (after a 2 hour presentation!) and headed to Macey's for soft serve with our friends instead. Oh, but before we left there was a drawing for a free gift. McKay, who had been the peanut gallery of comments during the evening, won! His prize? A "fire bat". It looks like a short baseball bat and is used for breaking out of hard to open windows when the oxygen gets sucked out of a room. He was so proud. He even carried the bat around Macey's while we ate our ice cream. Now it lies under our bed, ready to break open windows, or robbers' faces.

treasure

Today I went looking for a file cabinet from DI. I managed to find a couple beat up two-drawer metal wonders and picked out a $10 beauty with drawers that opened and closed easily. I hoisted it into my cart and it half-balanced, half-wedged itself still while I took it to the register (along with two new used games for our collection).

When I got to my car I realized that getting it into the backseat would be a bit tricky. It wasn't too heavy for me, but it was kind of unwieldy and awkward. I managed to lift it off the cart but couldn't get it free as the cart just rolled along with it. Finally, by gently kicking the cart away - so it wouldn't hit the van next to me - I freed it from the cart's grasp.

Unfortunately, I had chosen the wrong side of the backseat. The side which had a reclined passenger seat, evidence of McKay's nap on our way to Sunday dinner. So, I heaved the cabinet back on the cart, to head to the other side. This time the wedge-balance trick didn't take and as we rounded the back of the car my already beat up cabinet took a nose dive for the pavement. Crash. Muttering altered profanities under my breath I walked over to assess the damage.

The drawers had little bulges on both sides making it impossible to utilize them. Great! Unwilling to accept defeat I shoved it into the back seat and drove home, the abused metal rattling in the back. When I got home I hauled it out of the car and upstairs to the office. Then I grabbed the hammer, pounded out my frustration, and returned it to its original shape! Now the drawers work great, the handles are where they are supposed to be, and you wouldn't even know if I put an extra scratch or two on it in that parking lot. One man's trash . . .

HUNGER GAMES

I've been obsessively reading since Monday. I just finished Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. I'm happy that I didn't start reading the books until now - because I was able to plunge right into the second book when the first one ended. AND, I only have to wait 14 weeks until the final book comes out (on August 24- happy birthday to me!).

Wow. What a great ride!

sewing

confession: I am not good with a needle and thread.

My mom is an excellent seamstress. I always knew I should learn from her when I was growing up, but it just never stuck with me. We made skirts and pajamas and pillow cases together but I never remembered anything from one project to the next. I'm just not a sewer.

McKay is the cub master and is having his first pack meeting tonight. He has a blue polo shirt that needs his Cub Master patch sewn on. We had a little needle and thread travel set at one point, but I think I lost it in the move. So I'm off to the store to get a needle and thread and hope I can get the patch on straight.

pathetic.

phone death

Let's be honest - we all love technology. We've gotten so used to being able to google, mapquest, text, and call anyone and anything. It's convenient and useful. But sometimes, when things go awry, our dependence on technology can backfire on us.

Flash back to Tuesday night. It's my long day teaching piano. I'll be in Mapleton from 3:00-5:30 and then in Provo from 6-8. McKay and I have a gift card to Outback Steakhouse that we've been waiting for the perfect time to use. I get the idea that tonight is that perfect time. So I text McKay and ask him if he wants to meet me in Orem for dinner at Outback. He agrees to the adventurous plan and asks me what time. I reply. Then a few minutes later I realize that he'll need to get the gift card from the blue Christmas box in my closet (that I put all our gift cards and fun things in). So I text him the instructions and finish my day.

Hungry, I head in the rainy dusk to University Parkway. On my way I called McKay to touch base on his status. No answer. I figure he must be taking care of some work things so I wait a bit and call again. Once again, no answer. So I send him a text telling him to call me. As I get closer to the restaurant I wonder what is going on, so I begin calling him over and over and over until I arrived at the restaurant. Well, maybe his phone died and he's waiting for me there, I thought. So I scurried through the rainy parking lot and stepped inside the restaurant. No McKay.

Hmmmm. I sat down and began a series of frantic/desperate/funny texts and emails to McKay. If his phone died he could at least get an email, if he was near his computer. Five minutes passed, ten minutes. I couldn't leave, what if McKay showed up? Maybe he got caught up in traffic, maybe he was close! But should I just wait? What if he fell asleep at home or something? What if he would never come and I'd wait to eat until closing time?? Fifteen minutes. I used the bathroom. Twenty minutes. Maybe I should just get a table and get some dinner for myself. Twenty-five minutes.

FINALLY McKay calls me. Here's what happened. He was in Draper doing a few things before going to Outback when his phone died. The phone death occurred right after I told him what time to meet me, but before I gave him the gift card instructions. When he was about half way to Orem he realized that I probably didn't have the gift card on me and he turned around to look for it at home.

Once home he frantically searched nooks and crannies hoping to spot the gift card. Unable to locate the card (which was in a pretty remote place, I'll admit). He plugged in his phone to see if he could reach me. While he waited for it to charge he checked his email which contained the frantic messages from me. Then a series of text messages came pouring in on his phone. Laughing/hating the situation, he called me back and told me the sad tale.

So we were faced with two options. I could either drive the 30 minutes home and we could scrounge around the pantry for dinner. Or I could get a table, start some drinks and appetizers and wait 30 minutes for McKay to arrive with the gift card. Easy decision!

I got a delightful Wild Berry Coconut smoothie and got munching on a bloomin' onion while McKay cruised down. When he arrived we perused the menu and ordered up steak and seafood and heaps of mashed potatoes.

The only problem . . . by the time the food arrived I was pretty full from the smoothie and bloomin' onion. But it made for a great story, a great date night, and great leftovers!

Fun memory.

weekend fun

We had a great weekend of fun and adventures.

On Friday we enjoyed lunch with Rachel and Greg at our house. They head off to their Texas reception, then their honeymoon cruise, and then their semester interning in Paris, Texas on Monday so it was nice to spend some time with them before they take off.

While we ate lunch McKay baked a cake and worked on this fun birthday video to celebrate his brother, Kimball's, birthday (who is in Boston).

On Friday evening we began the fun with a walk around our neighborhood. We switched off choosing whether we would go right or left at intersections but we pre-determined our turns before we began our walk. McKay chose right, right, left, right, right, and I chose all left turns. Then we headed out. We saw kids out playing, stopped by the park close by, ran into some ward friends and then came home. Our directions took us perfectly back to our house!

Next we headed off to Smith's to buy some hotdogs, buns, and a miniature barbecue grill.

While McKay put it together I took pictures and videos and ate the new Pretzel M&M's we bought to try.

When the grill was done and the coals were hot we grilled up some hotdogs and watched Fantastic Mr. Fox - a movie we both loved! As often happens when we watch late-night movies, we fell asleep on the couch for a few hours following our movie. I woke up around 2:30 am and stumbled up to bed . . . only to find that the sheets I put in the washer earlier were still there! Blast!! So I tossed them in the dryer, grabbed my phone charger and bedded down in the living room for the night. Good thing we have comfy couches.

The next day we enjoyed a leisurely/productive Saturday morning. Pancakes. Pantry re-organization. We enjoyed the beautiful weather at a friend's wedding reception in the afternoon. When we got home that evening I was feeling cranky and tired. So McKay hatched a brilliant plan for us - mostly to get me up and doing something - to write and film a movie!

We got through the first scene, where Annie Worthington - former lawyer and current member of the Witness Protection Program - is introduced and we get a mysterious piece of mail addressed to her in our mailbox. That was it. Then we got tired of the movie-making business and headed over to Rob and Monta's to watch the jazz game.

One of the greatest things happened after that heartbreaking game - we. went. bowling!! McKay hates bowling, and I love it. So when the in-laws offered to take us it was the perfect end to my evening. McKay even had a good time and won the second game!

Some action shots: Monta gearing up

Rob throwing a strike (most likely)

Sunday was my first official Mother(-to-be)'s Day! McKay made me breakfast in bed, complete with FRESH-SQUEEZED-ORANGE-JUICE! We enjoyed lunch with my mom and family and dinner with McKay's mom and family. For Mother's Day gifts we decided to get creative and retro. We made coupon books for our moms - but not just any coupon books. Digital coupon books. Check them out. We had fun with them! We ended the evening by having McKay's grandma over to our house for a little Mother's Day piano concert and ice cream.

We love weekend!

bunnies and bands

If you haven't played the game Killer Bunnies, you probably should. McKay and I have enjoyed a few wild rounds of this entertaining carrot-quest-card-game with friends and family over the past week, and it's become a new favorite!

The object of the game: have the winning carrot at the end of the game - chosen at random from a pile of numbered cards. Your chances of winning are 1 in 12 at best IF you have a living bunny, and at least one carrot by the end. The rest of the game is spent trying to kill other's bunnies, steal carrots, buy food, deflect weapons ( like black holes and chainsaws) and keep a bunny and a carrot alive until all the carrots are gone for the slight chance that your carrot is the winner.

It's a riot. Entertaining, random, and creative.

Also this week was my brother, Scott's 35th birthday. We had a BBQ at their new house and stayed late playing Band Hero on the Wii. With a guitar, bass, drums and vocals, my nieces, Scott, McKay and I had a pretty rockin time and left exhausted, hoarse, and danced-out. My favorite songs were Mr. Roboto (AWESOME on the guitar!) and ABC by Jackson Five (featuring me on vocals). Taylor Swift was a frequent choice by Megan (age 9) who rocked the vocals.

There's something about having a fake instrument in your hands that transforms you into a rock star. I was jamming out and making up sweet moves while I tapped out the colored tabs on medium difficulty. So fun.