My Date With Elder Holland

Okay so it's not really a date, and I'm sure I won't be sitting at his table, BUT we will be having dinner with him so it ALMOST counts as a dinner date. I have to say I am pretty excited.

I should probably explain. Adam is the Stake Clerk. So between the Stake Priesthood Session and the Stake Adult session, the Stake Relief Society feeds the Stake Presidency (and they include the Stake Clerk and the Stake Exec. Sec.)

Sooo since Elder Holland is going to be speaking at each session he will be joining us for dinner. So hopefully I don't sweat too much, or say something stupid, and hopefully Preston stays happy. Oh my so many things to think about.

I've thought of some really funny conversation starters, but I have since decided that they would really embarrass my mother, or they might get me ex-communicated so I should stick to keeping my mouth SHUT and smiling pretty.

So Wish me luck Hopefully I don't pee my pants! (Since by now you all know that that could be a possibility).

OH and if anyone has any GOOD things to mention or talk about let me know.

I hate our TownHome

Actually, I'm just being a whiner. I don't actually hate where we live. In fact, it's the opposite. I LOVE where we live. We have had the great opportunity to live in these townhomes surrounded by many other student families (the majority of them are LDS). It's actually like a mini-Provo (it some ways). We have dozens of children playing outside at any given moment. And we usually have 8-10 pregnant women wandering the streets chasing their 8-10 children (OKay, so I'm totally exageratting there, but it sounded more Provo-like).

I will stop rambling as I always do and start to get to my point (Probably will never make it there).

So because 98% of all of these amazing people are students, every year people leave. People Graduate, they say goodbye, they hop in their trucks and drive into the sunset. It stinks. Actually, in the previous years I haven't been too affected. When the people leave, I would watch their trucks leave and kinda think "Oh, they were nice folks." Then I would continue on with my day.

This year I have not been so lucky, this year I have lost an extrodinary friend... and I am sad. I am sad, because I am selfish. Not only was she my great friend, she was part of my day. She was my "Exercising Buddy" (If you call what we did exercise) and She was my eating Buddy (Oh and boy did we know how to do that) .

If either of us were struggling or going through a tough patch, the other one knew it was her responsibility to show up with food... anykind, even if we knew they wouldn't eat it, at least we would get a good laugh out of it.

I'm forgetting a very important part about this. She is the mother of Kelly's BFF. Now these 2 were a piece of work. About 3 times a week they would be upset at each other about something. It was followed quickly by a "Can I go play with...", where suddenly all wrongs were forgotten and the only thing on their mind was who was going to play "MOM" this time.

They whispered secrets in each other's ears, they spent countless hours having "club" outside my house, beneath a jungle gym. They thought they were hilarious. They went into this friendship with honesty. One of the first things I remember hearing Brynn say was, "When my dad graduates, we will be moving". At the time it sounded like such a simple concept. They have talked about it frequently and the fact that they ended up in STL helps, but it still hurts.

So yesterday they left. They got in their big moving van, we all cried, and they drove into their sunset. And this morning I sit where I always have. I stare out my window like usual... but they are not there, they have started the next chapter for their family.

Somehow all 3 of these monsters ended up in the same class? Pretty amazing we thought.

Brynn, Sophie & Kelly there were 10 kids from our townhomes in their Kindergarten Grade

How fun to have your best friend live so close. These 2 were such a fun pair to watch.

Oh oh oh ohh, oh oh oh oh

You must know where I am going with this post right? I hope so, because if not then you can not call yourself a TRUE New Kids on The Block lover. If you are a true fan (which I am sure you all are) then you know that the New Kids are going on a Reunion tour.

It's like an early Birthday Present! Oh wait and the news gets even better... They are coming to Kansas City! Wahooo! Just when I thought the news couldn't improve (oh you are going to pee your pants) the night before they are going to perform in ST. Louis!!! It's like Christmas and Hanukkah. So if I really wanted to, I could watch them in STL, then get in my car and drive back to Kansas City and see another performance. Oh I love my life!!

I mean, whenever I am having a hard day I just think "What would the the New Kids say?", and we all know that right? "Hangin' Tough". Or when I think I'm just not that great of a person, I'm reminded of what Donnie once sang "You've got the right stuff, baby". These men are truly inspirational. I mean Donnie rocked my world. He was the "older, bad boy" and he was mine. Most girls couldn't handle his manly-ness (yep that's a word), they wimped out and settled for Jordan or Joey, but Donnie... we had a connection. And it was deep.

So I guess this is where I find out who my true friends are. Who will join me to Celebrate my first big crush. Who will be a true friend and get all giggly with me? Who will buy me a bedazzler so that I can make myself a denim jacket that will be soo perfect to wear to the concert? Who will bring the hairspray so that my hair will be fluffy and teased enough? If I have to I will travel this one alone, but I'd much rather have some friends by my side, to sing along with me.

You might just pee your pants

My mother started a blog.

No really I'm not joking. Most of my friends know my mother. If you know me, than you know my mother. She happens to be one of my very best friends. And yes we have an odd relationship, but it is our relationship and you can't pick on it.

So back to the point. My mother (yes the one who has my FATHER send most of her emails) has decided to start a blog. I think this is crazy talk coming from the women who doesn't know how to turn on the computer.

I actually should start a poll to see how long it will last. Do you think she will get more than one post or try and post daily? Maybe she will make it through the Summer and then quit. I'm not really sure yet, but I almost peed my pants when she told me (So not really, but I could have.)

Well good luck mom! I wish you well on your journey into the blogging world. And I hope you had a wonderful birthday, even though we were not there to share it with you.

Now everyone must go and read her first post, please don't pick on any spelling errors or anything, I don't know if she could handle the critique this early in her Blogging Experience.

http://www.nonnieandpoppy.blogspot.com/

I HATE FORWARDS

Yes, I know all of our family and close friends already know this, but it's one of those tidbits that we like to share with people before they add us to their "Forward List". I mean I'm sure some of what is sent is true, but for the most part I don't believe the stuff anyway (I should have saved some of my favorites from back when we did read them).

Honestly it was just too annoying to read ALL of the forwards, especially when they ended with "if you want happiness in your life then you need to send this to 10 people in the next 10 minutes"

If you are wondering where I am going with this post, don't fret I will get to my point eventually. But in the meantime... keep reading

So back to our not reading forwards, or videos or stuff sent to your ENTIRE ADDRESS BOOK.... I've found some people have started doing it on their blogs too, which I prefer, because I can just scroll past it. (Which of course is what I normally do.)

So continuing on...I was on my friend Cheryl's blog, and she had a link to a video up and said she liked it and BELIEVE IT OR NOT I actually watched it. and I loved it.

I have had several friends lately that have been struggling with this whole "am I enough" situation.

Am I a good enough Mother

Am I a good enough Teacher

Do I really make a difference?

Does anyone really care?

I have tried to find the words that would express how amazing they are, but I don't feel as if my words are enough.

So I am posting a link, basically I am posting a "forward". I don't expect you to click on it, or watch it or love it as much as I did. I am just posting it. It is as close to a "forward" as I will ever get, and I don't expect you to send it to your 10 closest friends, because it wasn't meant for them, it was meant for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

WISH I WERE THERE!!!

So it's Sunday. We returned from our Glorious trip yesterday. It was a wonderful trip (as I have already mentioned, about 50 times). Saturday turned out to be just as "magical" as the rest of the trip.

We went to Silver Dollar City one more time. We checked out of the condo at 10am and then went straight to SDC. (It was only 2 miles away). My mom and I watched the 4 monsters so that Adam and Poppy could go ride a couple of adult rides. (Adam and I had already gone the night before to ride several rollarcoasters, but I opted out this time)

Later in the day, Kelly and I were getting onto a Pirate Ship ride and she totally went Nose first into a metal bar. It made a scary loud noise as it hit. They got her off of the ride and had a medic come and look at it. We were lucky it wasn't broken or bleeding. Then they gave her a coupon for free ice cream and of course that made everything better.

The Highlight came when we went to get her free ice cream and they told us that the WHOLE family got FREE ICE CREAM!! HURRAY!!! So we finished up our fun-filled trip by eating a ton of free ice cream.

So here are some more pictures. And Karen I even included one of my mother. Just for you!

WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!

I know that my friends in KC are desperately missing me, so I thought I would uplift their lives and let them know that I will be back soon. Do not cry too much I will make my grand return back into the world of KC, Dental School and daily Laundry! In the meantime, we are LOVING Branson!

We have gone to Silver Dollar City, Dixie Stampede, gone miniture golfing, baths in huge tubs, dropping baseballs off of our balcony (okay that was just Tommy) and trips out to the lake to stare at the water.

This trip has been heavenly. We go to Silver Dollar City one more time tomorrow and then we make our trek home to Kansas City. Adam goes back to school on Monday so our vacation is almost over.

Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm on Vacation! So I have to go take a bath in my huge Tub that I give back tomorrow morning at 10AM.

Wish you were Here!

I love this one. Paige kept putting her head down on top of Poppy's to snuggle with him. I'm sure he was in Heaven, because I was just watching those 2.

I know this isn't the best picture of me, but I'm not usually in many pictures so I don't have many to choose from.

I Love this Picture of the girls. I wish time would slow down. I feel like the days are passing much faster then I am ready for. I'm such a sentimental sap, I need to get a grip.

Like I said, STOP GROWING UP! Goodness this isn't fair, I'm supposed to be blogging about my amazing fantastical trip, and now all I can think about is how blessed I am to have a beautiful family.

Do they get any cuter? Notice the shirt, it's definately not a typical Jen shirt, but I found it at the GAP outlet and I couldn't resist.

Someday they MIGHT dance as good as me

This past Saturday was Paige's 1st big recital. She was super excited and did a great job. I love watching the girls get older. To be honest... I don't love recitals. I love watching my kids dance, but the other performances bore me. I mean unless they are messing up during the performance. Now that is funny. I do love watching the little once wave to their parents, blow kisses, count the steps REALLY loud (like Paige) or forget to leave the stage when they are done. That's what makes a good performance for me.

For example, Paige sings during her performance and then when the words stop She keeps singing. By the end she even has the other children convinced that they should be singing. I found it pretty amusing.

So Paige was pretty excited about getting to wear the makeup. Kelly loves it too, but it didn't seem as big of a deal as it did for PaigeMonster.

Nonnie and Poppy drove out for this special occasion. It was a short trip, but we will see them tomorrow when we go to Branson. It was nice that I got to spend Mother's Day with my Best Friend.

Kelly is the one with the blurry arm. She used to be so scared of performing. I never knew if she would even make it onto the stage. Even if she made it on the stage, I couldn't count on her dancing. It really has been nice watching her conquer her fears. Her first year in dance, she couldn't even get her picture taken because she was too scared of the man taking the picture. Now it's not a problem.

Paige is a natural. A Natural what I don't know.

You can not deny her cuteness. Neither can she.

Ain't she sweet. She's cute too, I was kind of disappointed with her costume though. It's cute, but there were some others that I liked more. Luckily we go to a reasonable priced dance studio so we didn't have to pay too much.

I am not a sewer

But I play one on TV. Well not really that either. I get out my sewing machine to rig purses or Rooster Hats or Blankets. I wouldn't call myself a sewer, probably just a rigger. Here is my latest "Sewing Project"

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I'm glad that you can't see it any better, because if you could look closely you would see that I messed up in one of the corners. It's hard to explain, especially when you aren't a sewer. After I made the blanket and matching burp cloth, I wrote a little poem to give her to apologize for my crappy sewsmanship (I made that word up all by myself).

The stitches are not perfect, and the squares are not precise. The fabric puckers at the corners and it looks “almost right”

But in no time at all, those mistakes will fade away. Because it will hold “perfection”, In this blanket she will lay.

Also I should have this in as a disclaimer. If you are pregnant DO NOT expect me to make you a blanket or an anything for that matter. Ali, got super duper lucky... so to all of my many friends that are "with child" so sad, too bad.

P. S. I recently bought 10 patterns, because that's what sewers do right? They buy patterns.

Little Known Fact:

Did you know that when I was in the 5th grade I had to take one of those "Gifted" tests to see If I qualified for the gifted program.

They asked me which direction the Sun set.

I said Down.

I am not gifted.

The End.