Bound for Berthoud

Between family reunions and EFY down in Utah, we decided to take a little jaunt east-erly.

(A friend suggested posting a few pictures so anyone who wanted to can see the pictures of the Adams new stomping ground! I know they have lots of Portland friends.)

Jody and I met when we were called to work in Cub Scouts together 3 years ago. 

Aah, the sweet memories.

 We became fast friends, both being new to the area, and our friendship was sealed when we found our HUSBANDS finishing each others sentences.  Eerie, really.

They sadly moved away this spring to new job, new schools, new house and new life.  :(

We decided since we were "so close" in Utah we might as well take a few days to go for a visit.

We had a very troubled start with our car's air conditioning conking out a few days earlier.  With no one being able to fix it in time, we decided to rent a car, making the space a little cramped for Lucas, Jonah and our nephew Jackson.

Also, Jonah tends to get a little car sick any time we travel over two hours. Have I mentioned that?  Or if we are driving Provo Canyon with all the twists and curves. (One early morning driving from Heber to Provo to see the hot balloon take offs, Jonah leaned over and puked all over his cousin Bennett.  Missed himself entirely but dunked his oh-so-patient cousin.)

So this morning we were trying to get Jonah to take his Dramamine as we drove out of town.  Didn't go so well.  He gagged on the medicine and threw up.  That just seemed to prime the pump. By the time we made it to Heber (normally 20 minutes through the canyon), it had taken us an hour and the poor kid had thrown up 4 times.  We almost gave up and just went back home.

But a stroll around Walmart and a dose of Dramamine later, he was good to go.

The lovely images of side-of-the-road upchucking.

So, a few hours behind schedule and one speeding ticket later (not mine :), we finally pulled into Berthoud, Colorado and the corn fields where our friends had moved.  It lays north of Denver, south of Loveland.

Below is a picture of the road toward their neighborhood.  You can see a small collection of houses wa-ay off in the distance, directly in the center of the picture.  That is the Adam's new subdivision!

 I didn't get any pictures of their home, but it is a beautiful brand new place that fits their family comfortably. 

But I did get the view from their back deck.

I couldn't get over how peaceful it felt and how beautiful it was.  This is definitely big sky country!

Did I mention they get around 300 days of sun each year??   (I just don't know if I'll ever become a real Northwest girl and love our 300 days of grey rain.)

They go out the back, hunting gophers and snakes with their air rifle enjoying the space and room to roam. Jody said the only drawback is that they are 10 minutes from anything: church, stores, schools, anything.  But I thought it would be well worth the drive to enjoy that view.

Our first day we took all the kids to the lake.  It was perfect weather and the kids had a blast.

The kids took turns burying each other.

Jonah thought it was the best thing ever!

Racing out to the buoys.

Saturday we went downtown to the Denver Aquarium where the sharks and mermaids were plentiful. Plus one random tiger.

We miss these cute girls!  They showed me their box of sticker earrings and we wore our "Girl Club" earrings all weekend, we read books and they showed me where they put everything in their new room.

 

Here's my one picture of the boys, and not even all the boys!  I did a very poor job documenting our trip.  I know Jody took more pictures but I didn't get very many.

We got to go to their new ward and everyone was so friendly.  It's small and I'm sure appreciate such a large, wonderful family!

We left in time to get Lucas and his cousin Jack to EFY in Provo. 

Driving north out of town.

Good friends and a great visit.  They are missed!  But I guess it's nice to know they love their new stomping grounds. I guess.

We got Dramamine into JB before the drive this time and it kicked it pretty fast.

Luckily not one upchuck all the back to Utah.

Life & Times #8

We just got back from a month long visit to Utah.  I'll post about family reunions, EFY, and a quick jaunt down to Colorado later.  But we had a few car sickness adventures that reminded me one particular incident I will never forget...

Almost every summer growing up we would drive from Chicago to Utah to visit my grandparents.  I have the best memories of picking raspberries in their backyard for morning cereal, Grandpa J making fresh squeezed orange juice, walking around BYU campus, Grandma Jackson reading us "Keeko," the matching animal towels and wash cloths, dancing to the Peter Pan and Bambi soundtrack on their record player.  I could go on and on.  They were wonderful trips!

We drove these trips.  All 24 hours of it.  And my mom was the master car trip planner.  She always had fun snacks we didn't have at other times, small surprises like Mad Libs or Pez when we hit the half way mark and her famous Herman the Worm stories.   This worm always tagged along on our summer trips and had adventure after adventure with the Jackson clan.  Ask her next time you see her to do her Herman voice.  You'll love it!!

We had a station wagon for the first years and my mom made foam pads so one adult could fully lay out and sleep while the other drove until they switched. They liked to drive all night but I got car sick every single year when I woke up in the morning. The worst.


This trip I was 15 or 16 and we had moved on to a mini van.  We were in the middle of Nowhere, USA.  Plains of Nebraska or corn fields of Iowa.  Can't remember.

We had gotten back in the car after lunch with my sister Genet and I in the back seat of the mini van.  We had gone maybe 20 minutes and we got to laughing about something.  I have no idea what it was about but we got the giggles and couldn't stop.  One of those times that just got funnier the more you laughed.

In the midst of laughing I slipped forward on the car seat and fell down in the small space between the back of the front bench and seat of the back bench. But my knees got pushed up to my chest, so I got stuck folded in half between the two seats with mt knees at my chin..  Really stuck. And we just laughed harder and harder because I couldn't get out.   We thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing.

Well, remember we had just stopped for lunch about 20 minutes earlier.   I had a full stomach. And apparently laughing so hard you could pee your pants and getting stuck in such a squished position does not lend itself well to holding down said lunch.  And so amid the laughter I started to throw up.  All. over. myself.  And yet still I could not stop laughing.  Genet was laughing so hard she could hardly get the words out, "She's throwing up!  She's throwing up!"

My dad pulled to the side of the highway and Genet had to grab some part of me not covered in vomit so she could pull help un-stick me.  It was beyond disgusting yet we still couldn't stop laughing.  I finally made it out of the van and on to the side of the highway, covered in my lunch.

Now these were the olden days where we kept all our luggage in a hard plastic car top that wasn't too easy to get in an out of.  There were locks and matching up slots and steel poles. Not an easy feat on a normal day let alone on the side of the highway.  Plus we were in the middle of nowhere and having just stopped for lunch no one wanted to stop again. So that meant I had no clean clothes to put on.

On the side of the highway,Genet held up a blanket while my sweet mother helped me removed the awful clothes and I got to travel the rest of the afternoon wrapped in a blanket. Not my proudest moment.  But now I got a pretty great laugh from my boys as I told of the time I puked all over myself. And in the long run, that's what really matters.  Others getting a kick out of your humiliation.  :)

Speaking of humiliation, I'll leave you with just one of the pictures we have of Jonah ready to lose his own lunch on the side of the highway.  Poor kid.

Chip off the ol' Block

Jonah had a GREAT time at the Emergency Fair last night.

Yep.  He full-on lays one on her at the end. :)

Life & Times #7

Summers between semesters of college, my sisters and I would come home from BYU to work.  We were blessed with a dad who worked at Motorola and who could help us get jobs with the summer intern program.  I got to work as an admin in International Human Resources for three summers.  It was a small group of 4 women and then me doing whatever copying, filing, typing proposals, etc they needed. It was actually interesting to see how the company planned and compensated those employees they sent to work out of the country or who they invited to come to the States.   I couldn't have asked for a better summer job.

(Sitting here typing, I remember when my sister and I went to get our mandatory drug testing before that first summer.  Easy, right?  Just pee in a cup.  Well, I get pee-fright (it's real thing) and could not for the life of me produce anything.  The lady was NOT patient with me and just said to keep drinking water and to try again.   After an hour or so, the nice lady knew I was hiding something but said I would just have to come in a different time.  Resigned to having to go through this stupid ordeal again, we left.  Only we got about 5 minutes from the building before I had to relieve myself of the gallon of water I had just drunk.  I was in so much pain, we had to stop at a gas station during the 10 minute drive home.)

Anyway, one summer day I decided to run home for lunch and grab something to eat.  Our house was only 10 minutes away but this time I was running a little late, so I ran inside, ate something quickly with my mom and ran out to get back.

Only...my car wasn't in the driveway where I left it.  What??  I was sure I had parked right next to the walkway but there was now NO CAR.  I checked the garage just in case I had somehow parked there without remembering it?  No luck.  It hit me, "Someone stole my car!"

I began to walk around in a daze wondering who in the world would steal my car when I noticed two tire tracks at the end of the driveway.  Two tire tracks that led into the grass and down the lawn.  Two tire tracks that led through the backyard and right out into the pond that lay 50 yards beyond!

Apparently in my haste, I had forgotten to pull the emergency brake and apparently there was JUST BARELY enough of an incline to the driveway that the car rolled by itself to edge of the grass where it picked up momentum and launched itself down the hill and into, yep, the pond.

This is where I found it.

My mom and I called my dad who came home from work and called a tow truck.  My parents handled it all very calmly and didn't make me feel too stupid. :)

I had to get back to work so I didn't see the rescue but my parents told me when the tow truck driver pulled up, he said this wasn't the first time he pulled a car out of this pond!  We found out later that earlier that year he had towed out our stake president's car!  His family lived down the road from us and kept a canoe under our deck to use on the water. We were out of town but he had come over to check on the canoe and parked right at the top of our driveway, and before he knew what was happening, his car was coasting down toward the water. Our neighbor saw it happening and called out to his wife, but she didn't believe him because he was hung over from the night before. :)

Anyway when it was all said and done, I was beyond lucky!  The damage could have been much worse.  When the car rolled it actually swerved to miss the gazebo and swerved AGAIN to miss the dock at the edge of the pond!  Plus it hadn't rained in a few weeks so the water was super low.  The car ran into 10 inches of mud instead of the 3-4 feet of water that is usually there.  Our stake president had major water damage and a foot of water/mud to clean out of the inside.  This time the tow truck pulled it out of the pond, hosed it off and drove it back up to the driveway.  There was no damage at all!  Like I said, I was beyond lucky!

My not-to-scale, very rudimentary, very awful depiction of the events.

My dad had sent the Pond Picture to me last year saying it was one of his favorite stories.   I'm so glad.  It could have been a very expensive event for me!  Luckily, luck was on my side.

My sweetie turned 40!

1. He's the perfect guy to have at parties.
2. He is super frugal when it comes to himself.
3. But also is the most generous person I know when it comes to other people.
4. His crazy perfectly compliments my crazy so he knows how to support and encourage me.
5. He has big hands that make mine disappear when he holds them.
6. He is usually the first one to apologize after an argument, no matter who's fault is is.
7. He's patient & supportive with all my crazy projects even when he doesn't see the vision.
8. He is righteous man who follows Christ and serves diligently in every calling he has ever had.
9. He is a gifted teacher and knows how to draw out a good discussion.
10. He can talk in almost every accent from around the world.

11. He is not one who waits for an invitation to serve. He sees a need & gets to work.
12. He can do "Magic String" with his face.
13.  He served a righteous mission in Buenos Aires. 
14. He takes the boys swimming every week even when I just sit on the sidelines. (Cold water phobia. It's a real thing.)
15. He has read to Lucas every night since he was a baby.  Still does.
16. He took over putting Jonah to bed so they could start reading together every night.
17. He has a cute crooked smile.
18. He came from a wonderful family who I love dearly.
19. He rocks at Trivial Pursuit and is a Scrabble king.

20. He is one fabulous kisser.
21. He is always telling me I'm gorgeous and makes me feel beautiful, no matter what condition I'm in.
22. He plays board games with our family even though he doesn't like them all that much.
23. He has some pretty awesome dance moves.
24. He irons.
25. He has a mind for movie quotes and he's passed on that talent to both our two boys.
26. He picked my mother up and twirled her over his shoulder the first weekend he met her, thus adding a whole new dynamic to our family.
27. He was my rock throughout all our years of infertility treatments.
28. He likes to flirt with older ladies.
29. He's a mama's boy and still calls to talk to her regularly.

30. He works tirelessly to support our family, even at times when he has hated his job.
31. He's a talker of feelings and all things relationship.
32. He's always there to do the heavy lifting in my home projects.
33. He is the mighty wrestler of our boys.
34. He leads our family in scripture study, FHE, prayers & service.
35. He takes me to the temple on our dates and works hard to live his covenants
36. He is aware of his weaknesses and faults and makes goals to help overcome them.
37. He makes some mean scrambled eggs.

38. He is my greatest supporter and cheerleader, always encouraging me. My best friend.
39. He has unwavering testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, His gospel and His church.
40. He is wonderful father who is teaching our boys how to work hard, to serve the Lord and how to be men.

 Love this old man of mine.

My husband is a saint

I've wanted to make over the dining room for awhile.  And I wanted to start with a new table.  We've loved the one we have. Just an IKEA wood table we bought 7-8 years ago.  It's held up very well but I just wanted a change.  I searched around for a new table and every one I wanted was WAY more than I wanted to pay for it.

So, I decided I was going to make one.  (Of course you did. As my sister would say :)  I found instructions for a sturdy farm house table, started pricing wood, etc.  And then I thought I really just wanted to do a different table top.

Anyway, to make a long story short, after talking to Aaron about it, we decided to use the table we had and just add a new table top.  So much easier!!

We were going to make one that lifted off the existing table but then that got to be too much and too heavy, so the new top went straight onto the old one.

I already knew what I wanted to do.  A herringbone design.  So off to Home Depot I went to get wood, glue, sandpaper, etc.

I measured out the table and wood as best I could (me and my math skills) and then just went for it.  Aaron helped cut the wood since the table saw makes me nervous. I hate it when the wood kicks back and flies of the table if you're not doing it just right.

Then came the fun part.

I got out my handy nail gun I got for Christmas the year before.   Yippee!

And I basically just keep nailing until I covered the entire table.  Some angles got the teeniest bit off, so I had to fill the cracks in with slivers of wood and putty. 

Then came the messy part.  Sanding.  This table is big and heavy so we just kept it in the dining room while I worked on it.  So now I hung sheets over the doorways hoping to keep some of the sawdust out of the rest of the house.

I sanded and sanded.  And then Aaron cut off the edges of the nailed pieces of wood to line up with the edges of the real table.  I tried but I couldn't keep my lines straight! I added strips of 2 x 1/4 in to the sides to cover up the line between the two tops.

Now came the scary part.  I chose poplar because of price and variation of the wood but it is notoriously hard to stain just right.   I thought I could handle it but now that the time came I knew I was just going to mes it up.

This is where my husband's patience comes in.  I started this table in....yikes.  I just looked up when I took that first picture and it was Jan 17th, folks.   That's how long our dining room has been out of commission!  Ok, I've been done a few weeks now but still!  My sweetie is a saint and was just supportive as I figured out what I was going to do.

And I warn everyone that was where my own, personal Crazy started peeking. 

1. Tried "Driftwood" stain to bleach it out and add grey. The look I was going for.
2. One coat, waited two days, second coat.  And don't like it.  Just looks dirty, mottled, messy.
3. Sand everything down.  And set it aside for a week to come up with Plan B. (Yes, I did test it in a smaller piece of wood.)
4. Decided to change look completely and go for a dark brown finish.
5. Stain looked great!  But you totally lost the pattern I had worked so hard to make. Waited a few days, still didn't like it. Didn't take a picture.
8. Sanded it all down.
9. With the two different stains and sandings, the top actually looked like I wanted it!  Happy mistakes!
10. Polyurethaned it to finish, seal and protect.
11. Poly completely drew out all the yellow. So nothing looked grey or bleached out anymore, just yellow.
12. Found out most poly's did that.
13. Found a "non-yellowing" poly finish.
14. Sanded everything down again.
15. Used the non-yellowing finish on the table.  All the yellow was again showing up on the wood!
16. Decided "I hate this table." And just left it

 Aaron loved it. Or atleast said he did because was as done with this table as I was. I painted the legs a dark grey because that's what I had in the garage and then I decided I didn't care anymore and left it. 

  I

For about a month....but in the back of my head, I just didn't like it.  It's not what I had in my head and after mulling it over for a few weeks, I decided I didn't want to leave it when it wasn't what I wanted. 

I know. It's my Crazy.

I knew enough to wait until Aaron went out of town for two days so he didn't have to see this crazy.  And yes, I sanded it all down a.g.a.i.n.  No judging.  I am aware.

I decided to color my own wax from a stain I had and just used wax.  And I now love it!  No, the wax isn't as durable as polyurethane, but I'm not caring at this point.

Aaron handled it perfectly and just smiled when he got home and said he loved it too. 

I know it's not everyone's taste but I love it and when I get the whole dining room together, I'm thinking it'll all look great.

I have these whites Eames-knock off chairs I want to put in here with upholstered end chairs.
 

I also painted the room again. From a beigey-green to white.  Changed out the chandelier (which is a whole other story) and added curtains so far.  (I still need to hem them.)  I want to do a paneled wall and add art work but that comes in stages. I've moved on right now. We painted and decorated on of the guest bedrooms and I painted the playroom, which had paint test patches on it for two years.

 

Anyway, back to the table. I like that it's a bit rustic, nail holes, imperfect wood, etc.

I took a long time.  Longer than I ever thought.  But I'm pleased and I am so grateful for my dear husband who was patient and supportive the whole time, even though we had enough sawdust in the house you'd think we rebuilt the entire dining room. 

 I haven't told him yet but I've a hankering for more nail gun projects.  I have a few that have been rolling around in my head for a while.

But don't worry honey, these ones will take shorter than 4 months, I promise.

I'm a fake

I kill plants.   Every time.  I don't know what it is.  I always give them too much water.  Not enough water.  Too much or not enough of something.  Every time.

But I keep trying anyway.  This time I knew I had a lot stacked against me but I wanted pots out by the front door. Pots that would get very little direct sunlight.  Like hardly any.  I searched for shade plants as best I could, planted them, gave them a good watering and crossed my fingers.

I watered them every other day really well but of course it wasn't right.  Everything died on me, like always.  So I had a decision. 

- Buy more plants and keep trying to not kill them.
- Don't have pots out at all.
- Go fake.

I know some people are vehemently against fake plants but that is all I have in my house.  I love greenery but my thumb is just not green. Not even a hint.  And I'd never ventured the fake stuff out side.

Then IKEA and Michael's had some cute, semi-realistic looking greenery and I said to heck with it, Fake it is.

(Everything looks a little askew in this picture.  I've fixed the leaves but too frustrated with my computer to upload a new picture. And before we put up our little sign, we had solicitors stopping by to chat ALL THE TIME. I had to put a stop to it. Some still stop by even with a sign.)

I like it.  It fits my "Set it & Forget it" mentality of plants and nothing has to come to my house to die.  I consider it a win-win.

I also bought a new rug and saturated it with water-proofing stuff to help keep the stains and junk down. 

Yep, all about low maintenance around here.

Life & Times #6

This story actually focuses on our little sister Amanda. She kindly gave me permission to write this one out.  I would not want this story lost to our progeny.  For years she couldn't talk about this incident even though we all thought it was hilarious.  I guess you just don't understand unless you were the one left naked in the middle of the lake.

It was a holiday of some sort and we had gone to swim in a nearby lake with close family friends. I can't remember all the details but Dads and older sibling were not there.  I do remember it was cloudy and not too hot so we had Fox Lake basically to ourselves.    I was 13, our friend Heather was 13 as well and Amanda was 11.  We swam out a ways and played in the water.  There was nobody else around and things got boring real fast, so we came up with a most fabulous idea.

What if we all changed bathing suits in the dark water of the lake and then went into lunch and see who notices?!  We thought we were just hi-larious.  So that's what we did.  We quickly did the ol' switcheroo and swam back to the shore.

Of course our mothers noticed right away and were for some reason not as amused as we were.  3 preteen daughters changing suits out in the open water?   Not funny.

But we were so amused with ourselves. After lunch we swam back out in the water to change back into our original suits.  Both Heather and I made our hand offs without any incident but something happened with Amanda, and just like our mothers forewarned, she missed the toss and in a split second her suit was swept into the dark depths of Lake Fox.  Gone.

We searched and searched but that suit was no where.  Being the wonderful and supportive friend and sister, Heather and I busted up laughing from shock and the hilarity of it all. But poor Amanda, the one left with nothing to put on, soon f.r.e.a.k.e.d.out.  She starting hyperventilating thinking she was going to be stuck out in the lake until the cover of night and then Mom was going to kill her.   We tried to comfort her and calm her down all the while trying to stop laughing ourselves.  For some reason she did not see the tremendous humor we saw in our situation.

A man about 30 yards from us (one of about 5 other people at the lake) noticed how upset she was and asked if everything was ok and started to wade closer to us.  Amanda yelped and dove under the water while we assured him all was well.

Amanda was NOT okay at this point and was sobbing while Heather and I debated who got to go ashore and explain to The Moms what happened.  We had to decide who could keep the straightest face and look the most remorseful when we broke the news. 

Somehow I got picked to go in while Heather stayed to try and soothe my sister.   The moms reacted about how any mom would react and were somewhere stuck between anger, righteous "I told you so" and compassion for the daughter left stranded.  We had to figure out the best way to get Amanda to shore.  Luckily Heather's mom had brought her suit and handed it over so I could swim it out to her.

Amanda was so grateful and was finally calming down until she actually had to get out of the water realizing just how badly this woman's suit did not fit a 11 year old's body.  The long straps hung past her armpits and the crotch swung down at her knees.   We met her as far out as we could without soaking the towel but the sight of her having to wear this large bathing suit sent Heather and I back into fits of laughter.  Amanda was just ticked at this point, traumatized and angry.  She wanted nothing to do with us the rest of the day and just would not see the humor we saw in the whole event.

I remember we all went to a movie that night with Heather and I relating the incident to all the other family members and my sister getting all upset again.  In fact she would not talk about it for years.

I'm re-reading this and realizing how mean I was!   It was just so funny to me that I ignored how traumatized my sister was.  I want to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to my sweet little sister.  If we had to do it all over again...sorry, I probably would still laugh but not quite so raucously.

I love you Amanda! You're a good sport!

Life & Times #5

This happened when I was a teacher at the MTC.  I cannot remember which district it was or how long I was teaching, but this little snafu occurred during a vocabulary lesson.

The way vocab was taught when I was there oh-so-many years ago was that we wrote the Spanish words on the board, then while the missionaries stood, the teacher yelled each word in English or Spanish and the missionaries always repeated the word in Spanish.  We yelled I guess because it kept them focused and attentive??

For example: the word in this little scenario was "descanzo."

I yelled out "Desanzo!"

Missionaries: "Descanzo!"

I would yell it in English: "To take a break or a rest!"

Missionaries: "Descanzo!"

Me: "Rest!"

Missionaries: "Descanzo!"

Me: "Break!"

Missionaries: "Descanzo!"

Me: "Rest!"

Missionaries: "Descanzo!"

Me: "BREAST!"

Missionaries: .......*crickets chirping*

Not knowing how to react, I just silently turned myself to face the black board.

Then there was a stifled laugh.  And everyone busted up.  

I had yelled "BREAST!" to a group of little missionaries and no one just went with it.  They had to call me out with their complete silence.  I don't know who's face was more red, mine or theirs.

 One good thing: I doubt they ever forgot what "descanzo" meant.

Flying Fail. FHE Win.

Last week I finally gave in to Jonah who has been asking for a kite every time we go to Costco. 

"Mom, I have always wanted a kite my whole entire life!"

"It would be such a fun activity to do as a family activity!"

"I'll pay for part of the kite with the money in my piggy bank!"

Yes, I gave in.  I have great memories of kite flying when I was little.  We'd go to a park by our house right behind Dominic's and it being the Windy City, I don't remember ever having real problems.

Well, that night in Tualatin was not a Windy City night.  There was absolutely no wind.

Aaron made a good attempt.

He's good daddy.

Can you hear the puberty in Lucas' voice??

Jonah was SURE he could get the kite flying.

It was such a nice night out, none of us really minded the kite not flying. We decided we need to take the T-Rex kite to the coast in order to find our wind. 

We tried to top off our fun evening with frozen yogurt but then Jonah threw a maniacal tantrum because we weren't going to cross the park to play in the playground.  Oh well.  You just have to treasure the pleasant moments when you can.

My Life & Times #4: How I Became a Bird in Sacrament Meeting

It was my sophomore year at BYU.  My friends and I had moved out Helaman Halls and into Condo Row just off campus.  It was a great apartment with a pretty good ward.  We decided that to get know people better we needed to be involved, so 3 of us joined the choir. It was a good sized choir of about 40 people and it was fun to sing together.

A few months in, our choir director introduced a new song to perform.  She started out by telling us a little bit about her family. She and her brother were American Indians adopted by a white family.  And they were a large musical family.  They even traveled places to put on shows, singing and playing their instruments.  She goes on to say her family was very respectful of her and her brother's heritage and would perform a few numbers representing the American Indian culture.  Her brother had passed away when he was teenager and she wanted to do a tribute to his memory.  He apparently always sang "The Lord's Prayer" while the family did sign language in the background.  But this wasn't American sign language. This was American Indian sign language that included wide swinging arms, poking beaks, swirling bodies and extra large gestures.

Now this was pre-mission and I was easily embarrassed and easily made uncomfortable.  Apparently I wasn't the only one.  Every week our choir group dwindled by a few more members and a few more members.

My friends and I sat down to have a frank talk.  Now we did not want to be disrespectful or rude to her brother's memory or culture and we wanted to support our director, but not one of us felt comfortable doing this in sacrament meeting and in front of our young single adult ward.  Not one of us wanted to do it AT ALL.  But we felt bad because people were dropping like flies and pretty soon she wouldn't have a choir any more and nobody to support this special tribute.

So we came up with a plan. We'd quietly talk to the bishopric and tell them we didn't feel this number was appropriate for sacrament meeting.  The 2nd counselor listened to us and said he would check it out.  At our next practice he sat in the front row and we knew he would think this was not quite right for church.  Much to our chagrin, he came up to us afterward praising the number! Saying it was beautiful and just right for church.

Dang it.  The performance date was approaching and one roommate and I had missed some practices due to school so didn't know it very well, adding to our desire to run away like the rest of the cowardly choir.  Again we sat down and talked. And we decided to do the right thing and just go for it.  Who cares really!?  This meant so much to our choir director and she had no one left. We would do the right thing.

So that Sunday, out of 40 or more people in our thriving choir, only the 4 of us showed up to perform.  Me, my two roommates and the director climbed on stage (because we had church in the Varsity Movie Theater in the Wilk).  We made our one roommate stand in front because she knew it the best.  "Dubber," our good friend, sang beautifully while we danced/signed/pretended to have beaks and made eye contact with no one.

I know.  You had to have seen it in order get the full picture and to truly appreciate this story, but let me tell you, it was glorious! And I'm sure no one has given it two thoughts since that day, but it was years before my face stopped blushing while retelling that story.

My Life & Times #3

A few weeks ago I was talking with a good friend about most embarrassing moments and I realized that I have just a few quality experiences in my life.  It got me thinking.  A lot of my experiences are most likely preserved in a journal somewhere, I'm sure. But others I'm not so sure.  So I decided to record them for all to enjoy. 

So, enjoy!

They will be written in no particular order or schedule.  :)

The year was 1996.  I was at college.  And on a date.  The boy and I had known each other for 4-5 months but only recently started to go on actual dates. 

We had gone to a play in Salt Lake and were now back at my apartment.  It had been a great evening, good conversation and a fun time. It was curfew and time for the Boy to go home.  I walked him to the door and he goes in for the very first good night kiss.  All of a sudden I start to feel nauseous and light headed...and I faint.  Yes, folks.  I fainted during our first kiss.

And it wasn't a graceful "movie" fall to my side with the back of my hand on my forehead. It was a slumping to the floor, falling back, head hitting the wall, knees flying open along with my skirt kind of faint.  Not graceful nor cute. It took me a minute to figure out what had happened and then I was too shocked to even react.

The Boy helped me to couch as surprised as I was.  He got me some juice and we sat there just awkward.  And then we just busted up laughing.  I realized that with class, homework, the gym, and getting ready, I hadn't eaten since 3:00pm. And it was midnight.

I looked at the Boy and said, "You must feel very swanky, as Grandpa J would say.  Feel pretty good, Mr. Suave?"

He tried to be serious and say he was just worried about me, but he couldn't resist smiling and we laughed again.    And he said he wouldn't tell anyone but then we decided we had to share with roommates. I was completely embarrassed but it was a classic story.  It was too good not to share.

For the next few weeks, I had to live through a few knowing smiles from the Boy's roommates while he suffered through "way-to-go!" nudges.  Poor guy.

At least he'll have a good story to tell when his own son starts dating.

Random Jonah Quotes

Aaron and Jonah had gone swimming as usual. Which is funny because Jonah can't swim.  Aaron  throws him and he can paddle enough to get his tiny face above water until Aaron rescues him.  Aaron was getting ready to toss him and he yells, "Physics don't fail me now!"

Sitting in church I hear Jonah excitedly whisper, "Yes! I WON!  I am SO awesome!" I look over and he's fist-pumping with joy. I look down and he's playing Tic Tac Toe...with himself.

 

Playing on my phone with a new "pottery game" he turns to me so serious, so determined,

"I need to create something rather dashing!"

Aaron carries a screaming Jonah into the house after he accidentally gets hit in the head with a metal pole as the boys were putting up the trampoline.  When this kid gets hurt he doesn't want anyone to look at him or his wound until he's ready.  So he runs upstairs and slams his door.  I give him a few minutes to calm down and then go in.

In the most pathetic, sad wail you have ever heard, "They were right!!  I was wro-ong!!  I'm just a little boy!  I'm NO-OBODY!"

I just lay down next to him to cuddle on his bed. He is so sad and so devastated.  Whaa?  Nobody??  I couldn't track where his thoughts had gone and why they had landed here.

"I'm nobody!  I should just go to another family!"

What is going through his brain and how in the world can this boy think he is nobody? We talk a few minutes about how he's my favorite 5 year old in the universe, how there wouldn't be a Team Williams without him, etc.  Not quite sure what is needed.

And then it was like something in his brain switched on and his countenance completely changed. He smiles and jumps up.
"I'm not down!  I'm ready to take them on! (Fist-pumping) Jonah is back in the game, baby!" 

Off he runs back outside ready to take on the world just like his old, confident  self.

We have a strange kid.