Christmas Sunday

I actually typed this entry up on the 22, but I was always at work, so I didn't have access to the pictures, so you get it today! I have a couple of other posts from the past couple of weeks too, so keep checking.

Always my most favorite Sunday of the year, the primary program is a close second.

Before 'The Lay Off' I found the kidlets some really great Christmas outfits and I have been looking forward to them wearing them ever since. As you can see, Piper's dress is beautiful and Teague just looks sharp. When I told him how 'sharp' he was going to look he gave me the strangest look and ask, "What the crap does it mean when you look sharp?" Yes, he said crap, he is after all my son. I told him that it meant he would look Really Handsome.

(If you look closely, you will see that we have a rat as part of the nativity scene!?)

(Teague felt like we needed to get a picture of his back since we got one of Piper's)

We were a little bit late for Sacrament, but we did get to sit on a bench (or pew). When I looked over the program I noticed that the primary kids were going to sing "The Nativity Song." I had no idea, I was so excited. I love it when the primary kids sing in Sacrament.

When the kidlets went up, Teague stood front and center (does this surprise you?) and Piper stood right behind him. Piper was so focused, paying close attention to the chorister and singing perfectly. And, she looked beautiful, if I do say so myself! She has such determination to do everything no less than perfect. Teague.....oh my little Teague, did not sing one word of the song, not one! Instead he was pulling faces at the people in the congregation and waving the peace sign, not just once, but during the ENTIRE song.

I wonder if anyone even focused on the song? I was hard not to notice Teague. And I noticed a lot of laughter and I am pretty sure that laughter was directed at Teague. A big part of me was SO PROUD that he was totally being himself! Another, yet smaller, part of me was a little embarrassed, but then again, I shouldn't be, because this is not the first time something like this has happened, in fact here is a list of some of the things Teague has done in church;

*During the Easter program, he was standing in the front row (he may always be in the front row) making fart noises by putting his mouth on his arm and blowing. The whole congregation was laughing. The Bishop came up to me afterwards and said, "You just keep bringing him!" This is not the only time that the bishop has commented on Teague.

*Our little family was sitting on the last row of benches. Aaron was holding Teague on his lap singing softly in his ear (this is what we do when they are a little wound up) Suddenly, Teague yells at the top of his lungs, "Daddy has D..D...Di...Dia....DIAREAH!"

*Our little family was sitting on the first row of chairs, Teague was being so good drawing, he was drawing a picture of a snowman. He finished his snowman and he was so proud, he showed it to me and said, LOUDLY "Mom, look how big his penis is!" I still have this picture in my wallet. It is such a perfect little snowman.....with the hugest penis EVER!

*In his Sunbeam class they were talking about how Heavenly Father and Jesus have bodies just like we do. His teacher told me that she could just see his little brain working, thinking about this, then he looked at her and said, "So Heavenly Father has a penis just like do, because I have a penis, and if his body is just like mine, then he has one too." (or something to that effect)

*In Primary and Sacrament meeting, we sing. I love singing the hymns and so does Piper. I love relearning the primary songs and learning new ones and so does Piper, we both take it very seriously. Teague on the other hand does not take it so seriously. He thinks it is so funny to sing the wrong words to the songs....again, LOUDLY. Not only are they the wrong words, but they are inappropriate words, maybe not inappropriate in the privacy of our own home, or when he is playing, but for church, inappropriate! Fart, Poo, Poop, Poopy, Pooper, Pee, Diareah, Crap, Fartknocker, Butt, Bum, Freakin' etc.....Everyone knows when Teague is singing!

*I ask Teague's Sunbeam teacher how he was behaving in class. She said he is really good, but he likes to say those words (the above mentioned ones), One Sunday when I took Teague up to his class I was having a talk with him, I was telling him that we cannot use bad words in primary. Oh my gosh, the look he gave me was priceless, like I was accusing him of the worst thing ever! Then, in that funny little nasal voice, at the top of his lungs, he said, "AAAAWWWWWWWE!" The adults that were around all started laughing, one, the Elders Quorum President ask, "Did you just tell him not to use bad words?" Yes, yes I did. That is one of my favorite Teague memories.

These are just a few of the many examples of what Teague does or doesn't do during church. I sure do love that little boy! Just think of how boring church would be without him there!

Tagged....seven

One good thing about being tagged is that I can do it at work because I don't need to add pictures! And, I will at least have a post. I have a couple of posts waiting to be posted...I need to add pictures, so keep checking! I know I haven't done a post with pictures forever, so for now.......

7 random things - tagged by Candice

...7 things I can do...
Sing - though I don't do it enough.
Act - and I can't wait to do it again, or study it, which ever comes first.
Burp/Belch - I am better than all four of my brothers, and most of my male friends. Piper is better than me.
Customer Service - I believe in it, so I am good at it myself. (when I work)
Eat - As long as I like it, I will eat it, a lot of it.
Drive - I may not be the best driver, but we always seem to be in the car.
Read - I love to read, good books. I only wish I read more.

...7 things I can't do...
Run - I have always had this dream to run a marathon, but whenever I run it kills my knees and I get shin splints, not to mention the exhaustion part.
Sleep - However.....I am getting better at this one thanks to my doctor!
Be Patient - I'm working on it.
Not Gag - when I hear or see anything that has to do with boogers or mucus.
Sit or lay still - There is always some part of my body moving, usually my feet.
Eat Coconut - I hate it, everything about it! The flavor, the texture. YUCK!
Make over easy eggs or Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - Aaron and Piper can.

...7 things I always say...
Um.....yeah.
Oh.My.Gosh.
Seriously?
Hurry, hurry, hurry!
Would you knock it off? You're bugging me!
TEAGUE!
I'm glad you have the Christmas Spirit, but please, spare the rest of us!

...7 things I always eat...
Seriously? You want me to answer this one? Can't I just put food or candy for all 7?
Tomatoes
UhOh Oreos
Chocolate Donuts (from the gas station)
Coke - that's a food, right?
Cold Cereal - the sugar kind - Honey Comb is my fave
Cheese - I like any kind except blue cheese....yuck!
Potato Chips
I ask Piper to help me on this one, I said to her, "What is something that Mom always eats?" She said, "Food." There you have it!

...7 people I tag...

Christa
Melanie
Stephanie
Delynn
Sharra
Amber
Holly

A Story Problem....

There was a man, he had a job making pretty good money. He had a family - a very cute one - so he had health insurance through his job. He paid about $60.00 a month for this health insurance, which really wasn't a lot, especially since he had the money to pay it.

This man, along with some other co-workers, got laid-off! Not only did he get laid-off, but he didn't get any severance or anything! He did however get to keep his families health insurance through the end of the month.

Now, the important thing to remember here is the man now has NO INCOME, $0.00. Luckily he and his wife have very little debt and some savings. However, the man and his wife want to use the savings to pay the mortgage and utility bills and such, you know, because they probably don't want to lose their house or freeze to death.

The man's wife lovingly figured out what they need to do for health insurance. The 'nice' insurance company sent the family (literally, it was addressed to the entire family) a letter stating that they would LOVE to help the family out for $1,000.00 a month!

Now, for the story problem;

If a man has no income, how does he pay $1,000.00 a month for health insurance?

and....

Why is it that he only had to pay $60.00 a month when he could probably afford to even pay a little more?

*********************************************

Now, it is absolutely no secret that I have a major problem with the American health care system, no secret at all! Just put yourself in my shoes (if you know me well, this won't be hard), and think about how I am feeling about it now. Lot's of bad words are going through my head. Just thinking about it before made me frustrated, but now that it knocks on my front door.......

ARGH! *%#^@!


When Christmas/Western Nut is over, I will be getting a job, but we all know that I am not going to get paid that well, but I will take a small pay for good insurance!

Aaron has a bunch of leads and contacts. We are praying that he will find a job soon. We have found that companies are not hiring right now, in the middle of the holiday season. Maybe after the new year we will have better luck. Keep us posted if you hear of anything.

Luck of the blondes!

When Camille and I were younger, in college, whenever something bad happened or something that we considered bad luck, we would call it "Luck of the blonde's!" I remember my mom getting upset about that, but, we were just being funny.....or so we thought.

Fast forward to today, well actually Monday December 8. I was at the kiosk and I was a little busy, it was about 11:00, Aaron called me, I didn't even say "Hello." I just said, "Hey, I gotta call you back!" Then he said, "I have bad news, so you gotta call!" I said, "okay, I will."

As I was ringing customers up, I couldn't stop thinking about what the bad news could possibly be! I'm sure you have all gone through this before. These are some of the things that I thought of;

Was someone in a car accident?
Did Grandma or Grandpa die?
Did someone have to go to the hospital?
Are all the cousins okay?
Did Aaron lose his job?

As soon as I could, I called Aaron back. He told me that he, along with some other people were laid-off! One third of the company. He would get a paycheck that included all of Monday, but that was it. No severance package, no pay through the end of the pay period, basically no...NOTHING!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

There was absolutely no indication of this, everyone was completely surprised. I am still trying to figure out if we have insurance through the end of the month. Aaron has been extremely busy with finals, so this week has been a little hectic anyway, but now with him looking for a job and studying and finishing up papers that are due, it hasn't been fun.

We will be fine, for a short time anyway, but we need to find something, the sooner the better. So if any of you know of anything, please let us know!

Aaron has is Bachelors Degree in Computer Science.
He is four months away from getting his MBA in Technology Management.
He was a Software Engineer/Programmer.

So, is this "The Luck of the blonde's?"

Oh, and if you usually get a Christmas Card from us, sorry, but I won't be sending them this year.

My Husband is THE GREATEST!

So, since my husband is home in the mornings, he has been taking the kidlets to school. When he got home from dropping Teague off, he ask if he could help by packing me a lunch for work! Of course I said yes, anything helps because I am always running late in the morning and if he wouldn't have packed it for me, I wouldn't have eaten lunch!

He told me what he had packed; A peanut butter and jam sandwich, potato chips, a 'couple of treats' and two cokes (in cans). I grabbed his lunch bag that has skulls and flames on it, gave him a kiss (i think...i hope) and ran out the door.

His lunch bag has two sections, the bottom section is where you put drinks because it is insulated. The top section is where you put the food. It was about 10:30, I still hadn't taken my daily pills (i had them in my pocket), that I usually take first thing in the morning and I had a screamin' headache, so I got some Ibuprofen out of my purse and my other pills out of my pocket and got myself a coke out of the bottom section of the lunch bag. I popped my pills and CHUGGED my coke - you all know that I really can down a can of coke quickly. I think it helped wake me up.

I started to get hungry around 12:30, so I pulled out the lunch bag and opened it, I found my sandwich, my chips, some skittles and some whoppers (my treats! Left over from the kidlets trick or treat bags...I don't care, I still ate them, remember? I LOVE candy.) And, I found a note that said the following;

I love you and I hope you have a better day today. Call me later. Not because I have to tell you anything but because I like to hear your voice.

Aaron
(with the True Love Always sign we all did in elementary school)

Isn't he the greatest?

Forgot the camera, but.....

try to visualize! Ten little (ages 4-7) Hockey players; a goalie, five on the ice (sorry don't know positions yet) and three sitting out.

The score, Davis County Wind - 16, Golden Spike Wildcats - 0.

Teague is about 4 yards from the goal, the puck is hit right to him, he hits it, and....HE SCORES!!! He looks up at his mom in the stands, holds his stick above his head with both hands, and shouts, 'WoooHooo!'

The score now, Davis County Wind - 17, Golden Spike Wildcats - 0.

Teague then decided, since he scored, that he was done playing, so he started doing 'the fish' - this is when your skates/feet go away from each other and then back together as you skate forward - He was so proud that he was doing it, he wouldn't stop showing his coach! This is when one of his teammates made another goal. Then, he sat out the rest of the game and made 'snow' with his skates. (which was only about 5 minutes.)

The final score, Davis County Wind - 18, Golden Spike Wildcats - 0.

Oh, and, by the way, they don't really keep score, but for some reason the players and the moms do!

What the crap is wrong with me?

I said in Relief Society the other night that I didn't know what was wrong with me; I've been so emotional lately crying over everything, seriously, I will be sitting here or there or anywhere and suddenly start crying. Getting angry over nothing. Laughing at things that are not funny. Being HOT at night, and for those of you that know me, you know that I am a cold person, I use my electric blanket in the summertime. Losing my patience (okay, that one is normal). Feeling absolutely stressed out, and easily annoyed.

I am way too young to be going through the change and it is impossible for me to be preggers, so you tell me.......

My emotions are all messed up.

I'm off to clean the house! YES! It's true, I am going to clean.

Oh and another thing, did you hear about the lady in Florida that diluted her babies formula, because she was trying to save money? Well, call me crazy, but isn't breastfeeding free? (The easily annoyed part) I know I am going to get crap for saying that, but, o'well!

Tagged

Christa tagged me to do my fourth photo from my fourth folder (which, by the way, is a tongue twister)....I am so happy to oblige......


That's right! This is Teague when he was in my tummy. It was early January 2003 and we had just found out he was a boy, now the hard part.....coming up with a name.

I tag; Candice, Jill and Demaree (because it will be neato to see what the sisters come up with), and also Marisa!

Wanna Play?

This is another one that I stole from Jenny. It looked like fun, so I thought I would play along and invite you all to do the same.

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. Happy discoveries!

1. Started your own blog - and it has been so fun.

2. Slept under the stars - on Wilderness Trek, we were so close to them, it was amazing.

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland - hopefully we will be there again in the Spring.

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo You may remember this post. Not my only solo, but by far my worst.

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning - I actually got it at The Olive Garden on West Temple.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - When I was 16, and I had a knee brace on.

18. Grown your own vegetables - Cucumbers, Squash and Tomatoes about 3 years ago, but I only got a couple of Cucumbers. I guess only one of those is a vegetable.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train - Just recently, from Shang Hai to Beijing.

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping - In the Pacific Ocean....and other places. It feels so nice.

27. Ran a marathon - something I've always wanted to do.

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - this is one of my dreams....hopefully soon.

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - There's nothing quite like a Utah Sunset.

31. Hit a home run - believe it or not! It was during a Young Womens game.

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - I remember my dad looked like Paddington Bear in the raincoat and hat that were provided.


34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language - Pig latin? And the language that a mom has with her kids.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke - I got a karaoke machine for Christmas one year. I still have it.....somewhere.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance - Anyone remember the last stomp of the year in May 1991?

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - Loved it, but my ears hated it.

52. Kissed in the rain - honestly....I can't remember.

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China - Let's remember this post.

57. Started a business - Does Pampered Chef count? And being a Doula?

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - Ginger. My Madame Alexander baby doll. I LOVED her. She is in storage under my house.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job - Washington Mutual Bank! I won't tell you why though.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible - Um...not cover to cover, but through the years probably.

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox - I was 3 and it was miserable. Am I the only one with Chickenpox scars?

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury - I've been 'called' about 6 times, but have never had to.

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club - I want to, just trying to find the right one.

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby - Two of the most fabulous experiences in my life. See this post.

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - Swam? I've floated in the Great Salt Lake.

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee - I stepped on it on purpose, but I forgot that I was barefoot.

anyone else want to play???

Fair, White, Pale, Pastey or.....

Albino?

I have white skin, it is no secret. In Junior High, a boy, who will remain nameless (but if you really want to know, his initials are M.B.), came up with the nickname 'Al,' short for Albino. I still can't believe how quickly word spreads! Before I knew it, all the boys were calling me Al, and some of the girls. I didn't realize how white my skin really was until this horrible time in my life. However, isn't everybody's life horrible in Jr. High? Anyway, back to the point.

The summer after that school year, I didn't wear shorts. I'll admit it, I didn't wear shorts again until I was 16 and well into my Junior year in High School.

I remember telling people that it didn't bother me, but it did! I would secretly cry in my room. I remember trying to defend myself by saying that white skin was 'in.' Really, who was I kidding? I remember one girl laughing hysterically at me and saying, "White skin will NEVER be 'in'!" My Mom always told me how beautiful my skin was and that I should be proud of it....that was my Mom, like I am going to listen.

After years of begging, My mom finally gave in....I started tanning! I literally went tanning EVERY SINGLE DAY, because... the more I went, the quicker I got tan and the tanner I got, the better. Sometimes, when I could go to two different salons, I would go twice a day. Boys that I dated always told me how good I looked when I was tan. Some of the boys I dated told me that I looked better tan, so guess what? I went more! Then, in 1996, I met Aaron, and guess what? He said that he loved my white skin! WHAT? I haven't been tanning since.

I look back at pictures of myself when I was tan and I cringe. I don't look like Karlyn. I look like some processed teenager. My blond hair didn't even look natural, and it was. I am embarrassed.

I look in the mirror now and I see fair skin with lots of freckles. Freckles are not a bad thing, however, I didn't use to have them, I only had them on my nose. I also see wrinkles..I am only 33, I shouldn't have this many! I see years of skin damage because of the tanning bed. I don't see the beautiful milky white skin that I should have. And, I think of how lucky I am that I haven't gotten skin cancer.

I wear shorts now, and short skirts and I don't care what anyone says. I do notice people staring at me, but I don't know if that is because of my white skin, or because of my beautiful looks! :), but it doesn't bother me. Aaron is still (13 yrs. later) constantly telling me how much he loves my skin, and it still means more to me than he'll ever know. How I wish he were there with me in Jr. High.

As far as Mr. M.B. goes, I don't hold a grudge. Looking back I don't think I ever did, in fact, I remember having a crush on him even though he called me Al. We were in Jr. High, we all did mean things.

Now, for the real reason I am doing this post. As most of you know, I have been back in the Theatre because of my kidlets. I have met some of the most wonderful people, and surprisingly enough, most of these people are in High School! There are two girls that I have met that I admire so much, they both remind me of myself when I was that age, not only that they love the Theatre and performing, but they too have very fair skin!

One of the first times I met 'A,' in February, she was wearing shorts, and her beautiful fair skin was gorgeous. I nearly began to cry, I thought of myself when I was that age, there was no way I would have been caught dead wearing shorts! I wished so much that I would have had her confidence when I was that age. I said something to her about it and she said, "Are you kidding? I love my skin!" I also told her to never go tanning, she said she wouldn't. I hope she doesn't....ever.

I remember the first time that I saw 'E.' She was literally glowing, her skin is so beautifully flawless....and fair....like mine use to be. I would see her around and she was always wearing, not only shorts - short shorts, but tank tops! I was instantly jealous....seriously, why didn't I have that confidence? The first time I talked to her I complimented her skin. She graciously said, "Thank You." What the heck? You mean she didn't feel like she needed to explain why her skin was so beautiful?


Seriously what was wrong with me? Why was I so ashamed? Why did I care so much? But, then again, why are teenagers so cruel? Through the years, I have learned to love my skin. Both of my kidlets have a darker complexion than I do, I don't think they will get a cruel nickname because of their skin, but I don't ever want my kids to feel the way I did and go to an extreme like I did all because of peer pressure. I want them to be proud of their looks and personalities, like 'A' and 'E.'

Thanks 'A' and 'E!' They will probably never know how much I look up to them, or how proud I am of them, not only for their confidence and their amazing talent, but for what they are helping instill in my kidlets.

Worst Mom....EVER!!!

I'm not sure exactly why I am choosing to do this post. It isn't a fun or pretty one, in fact, it is down right embarrassing and mortifying. A little sad too. I am hoping that I am not the only mom that has done what I did. I am also hoping that if you have done something similar, you will let me know, so I don't feel like I really am the worst Mom ever. But if you don't comment, then I guess I will know, I made a really HUGE mistake. And, just so you know, I will NEVER do this again....

Any of you that know my little Teague know that he is not of the shy sort. You also know that he was blessed with "The Hyde voice." This is not always a bad thing. He is a very rambunctious five year old, always running, jumping, hollering, doing little boy things. Teague, however knows when to calm down, when to be quiet, good and respectful and all that, but sometimes he still does it at church. That's okay.

So, yesterday Aaron, Teague, Grammie Annie and I were watching Piper's last performance at Kingsbury Hall. When it was over, I told them that I was going downstairs to the dressing room to help Piper change out of her costume so she could hurry upstairs and talk to Grammie. As I was walking away, Teague said to me, "I wanna go with you!" So, I reluctantly said, "Okay, but if you come with me, you have to stay close to me, you have to be good, listen and not bug the girls!" So, he came.

We went down into the dressing room, I helped Piper change and she ran upstairs to the lobby to talk to Grammie. Since it was the last performance, I made sure that the dressing room was cleaned up. I gathered all of Piper's stuff and put it in her rehearsal bag. I put her costume on in the hangers and in the garment bag and put it on the the big rack out in the hall. Then, I ran upstairs and cleaned up the girls mess that they had made backstage, they had paper, pens, markers etc. to keep themselves entertained while they were offstage. This probably took about 15 - 20 minutes total. Then I went out into the lobby and started talking with Aaron and Grammie, we talked for awhile, five minutes at least. Then I noticed that Teague wasn't with us, I looked at Aaron and said, "Where's Teague?" Aaron said, "I don't know, he was with you!"

I totally forgot Teague! I didn't even remember he was with me until Aaron said so! I handed all of the stuff (purse, rehearsal bag, bag of pens, notebooks, book etc.) that I was holding to Aaron, looked at Piper and said, "Hurry, let's go back down to the dressing room!" Piper took off like a bullet, I was right behind her. We went through the Theatre, down all the flights of stairs and as we started going down the long hallway, we saw a cast member and her Grandma, I ask them, "Is Teague still in the dressing room?" In unison, they said, "yes." Piper, again, took off like a bullet, I wasn't so fast this time, because I knew he was in the dressing room. Suddenly I heard a blood curdling scream, "He's not here! Teague, Teague, Teague, Mom! He's gone, he's not here!" I went into the dressing room and the lights were out and Piper was sobbing, continuing to tell me he was gone. I went into the locker room that is connected to the dressing room while yelling his name. Piper was also screaming his name, he was not there. He was not in the dressing room or the locker room, the green room or the long hall that runs the other direction. He was not in any of the other dressing rooms or the rehearsal hall. Nor was he in any of the restrooms or other rooms on that floor.

Trying to gain my composure while calculating in my head how long it had been since I left the dressing room (awhile), I said to Piper, "Let's find him!" Piper, still sobbing said, "Okay!" We went out into the long hall, the stage manager was there, I ask her if she had seen Teague, she said no. I ask her if she could say something over the intercom, right then, I think she realized that he really was missing, she took off like Piper did (a bullet), up the stairs and onto the stage, Piper and I following closely behind. She had picked up the microphone when Jordan, another cast member, saw me and said, "I have Teague!"

My heart sank and I ran over to her and she was watching Teague play on the grass outside. Piper was close behind me trying to compose herself. I gave Teague a huge hug and he looked at me and said, "I was worried about you."

My little Teague was being SO good in the dressing room! He was sitting on a chair, being quiet and not bugging the girls. He wasn't even snapping (which, by the way, he is great at and does often...with both hands), humming, singing or kicking the chair. He had actually, for once, listened to his mom! He was being so good, so good in fact, that I forgot about him! How in the world could I forget about Teague?

This little experience has taught me something, well, I already knew it, I just had to be reminded. I am so thankful that Teague is Teague! Even though it is SO annoying sometimes, I am so thankful that he is loud, that he snaps ALL THE TIME, that he talks constantly, that he sings inappropriate words to songs....loudly...that he makes fart noises, that he stomps his feet, that he jumps, that he runs, that he growls, that he always making a noise of some sort!!! I would much rather him be this way than the opposite, because if he were the opposite, I would forget him all the time.

The Great Wall

Let me start by saying that the night before we went to The Great Wall, I started feeling a bit crappy, like a cold was coming on. A tickle in the back of my throat, sinus pressure, runny nose, watery eyes etc....

I took 1/2 an Ambien so I could sleep and hopefully feel better in the morning. Well, needless to say, I woke up with a FULL BLOWN COLD! Luckily one of the ladies that was with us (a fellow spouse, there were 5 of us) is a nurse, in fact she has a PhD in nursing (that's something to be envious of!) And she had some non-drowsy cold pills! THANK YOU LAURA! If it weren't for her, my experience at The Great Wall would have been much worse.

We took the bus, that by this point we were all sick of, up to The Wall, I felt like I was back home in Utah! The mountains on the way up were gorgeous, and the mountain that the part of The Wall - that we climbed - was on were also absolutely stunning! It was amazing.

Before we started climbing it was decided that we would meet back at the bus at 12:05. I can't remember what time we started, but it gave us plenty of time to get the whole effect of the wall, so we weren't worried.

We started climbing. The stairs are very interesting, Some were about two inches high, but some were like 18 - 24 inches high, and of course there was all of those in between sizes, so it was kind of difficult to maneuver them, you had to keep looking down at your feet so you wouldn't trip. Every once in awhile there would be a little building or level area that you could stop and take pictures from, or rest. It was at one of these areas that a few people, including myself, decided to be done. Not only was I not feeling well, but I have one of those knees...you know the type...the ones that are okay going up stairs, but going back down stairs it sometimes freaks out. Aaron wanted to continue with some of the other guys, I was totally okay with that because by this point all 48 of us were friends and I didn't have a problem hangin' with anyone. Aaron said something to the effect of, "Okay, you stay here and I'll pick you up on my way back."

When Aaron continued climbing, something told me to just go with him anyway! I had done really good, and I really felt like I could continue, but I decided to stay put. After awhile the people that I was with decided to start back down, so I said bye and told them not to fall and stuff. I actually had a fun time all by myself on The Wall, it was then that I became a celebrity! I posed for pictures with about two dozen people! They really loved my blond hair and blues eyes, and apparently I am really tall (I'm only 5' 7", very average in America)! This was when I tried to get the Chinese people to do the 'rock' sign and stick their tongues out....they weren't so sure about this, but they did think I was pretty funny. I did however get a few people to do it. I called the kidlets, because of all the things we were going to do, this was the most interesting to them. We had incredible cell reception in China, quite cheap. They thought it was pretty awesome that I was talking to them while I was on The Great Wall. I hope they always remember that conversation.

At about 11:35, I realized that people from our group were coming back down the wall, so I kept my eye out for Aaron, whenever I would ask one of them if they had seen my husband, they would say yes. Then....I ask someone and he said, No!! I thought that was kind of strange since everybody else I asked had seen him. So, I decided to start asking everyone that came down, guess what!?! They all said No! Now, I'm starting to worry. My brain was going crazy with horrible thoughts like; Maybe he slipped and fell off of the wall! Maybe he was taking a picture and stumbled over! But, if any of this had happened, of course I would know....right? Then....I was told that there was actually another way down. Aaron must have taken that route. But...why didn't he relay a message to me, so I knew to go back down with someone else? So I figured he just hadn't left the area where everyone else from our group was yet. I decided that the people that hadn't seen him weren't actually 'looking' for him.

Taylor, one of the guys in our group, said that he hadn't seen Aaron, but offered to stay with me and wait (I have to point out here, that Taylor also waited with me at one of the Airports while Aaron was in the restroom and the rest of the group had already started going - he's a really good guy), he also suggested that I walk down with him, that Aaron was probably already down at the bus. But I told him that I wanted to wait a few more minutes. I was scared to leave, because I didn't want Aaron to worry about me, after all, I told him that I would stay put! While Taylor and I were talking, he said to me, "He's the type of guy that will come back up looking for you huh."

YES HE IS!!!!

At 11:55 when I ask three people that were coming down, they told me that they were the last ones from our group up there! What the crap!?! I knew that Aaron was okay, I just knew it, but I couldn't figure out where he was. And again, if he did go down the other way, why no message? I mean there were 48 of us! So now, I was a little angry with my husband.

Let me point out here, in case you forgot....We are in CHINA, climbing THE GREAT WALL, and I am hanging with some dude that I have only known for a week, I don't feel good, I'm scared, angry, frustrated and my knee is starting to hurt. ARGH!!

Finally at 11:55 Taylor convinced me to start walking back down with him. It felt strange not having Aaron with me, and my knee didn't like it either. You know when you are about to cry and you are trying to hold the tears back you get that strange headache and sore throat? Well, that's what was happening. Taylor got ahead of me quite aways because my knee started freaking out so my leg was doing the Elvis (shaking). I was hanging onto the the railing (which, by the way, is gross) and watching my feet as I was going so I wasn't looking up too much. When I was about halfway down to where we started, I looked up...........

There was Aaron climbing up towards me, he was at the same place as Taylor. Taylor pointed up at me and Aaron looked at me and I BURST into tears. Taylor kept going (I think he sensed that Aaron and I needed to be alone).

It ended up that Aaron did take the other route, but he didn't realize he was. Any of you that know Aaron's sense of direction, know that this wasn't a surprise. This is why there was no message relayed to me. He said he kept asking the guys he was with if they were sure that they were going the right direction, they would say yes. He said that he kept asking people if they had seen me, they would say no. When he got back to the bus, he had asked people if they had seen me, they said that I was still up on the wall waiting for him. So, we were both going through the same emotions. It wasn't even a miscommunication between the two of us.....just bad luck.

We didn't get back down to the bus until about 12:30, but at least we were together.

That is my Great Wall story....in a nutshell.

CHINA!!

Not to make excuses or anything........But I'm gonna! Here is my list of excuses;

*Piper is in rehearsals for Captain Bree (link on sidebar).
*My Kiosk opened, so I'm at work a lot.
-I needed to find employees
-I needed to get everything in order with the kidlets and home (actually this still isn't done).
*We pulled the kids from their Psycho Private School.
-A hard decision that was a long time coming.....you can only put up with so much for so long.
*We had to register them in the neighborhood Public School (our options are few, but we feel VERY good about this decision).
- I am so amazed and appreciative. The school's faculty and staff have been fantastic, they are making this transition much easier than expected for my kidlets. In fact I have gotten much more communication from this school in one week than I got from their old school in over three years!
*Aaron is either at work, in school or studying (this is a constant, but it will all be worth it....he's done in April!).
*Not to mention everything else that goes on in the everyday life at the Salazar home.

So, I'm pretty sure that isn't all of my excuses, but it is enough for you to get an idea of our crazy life!

I thought that I would give you a quick rundown of China, then since we have over 1,000 pictures, I would give you a link so you can look at them. Then, if you have any questions....let me know and I will do a separate post with the answers!! That is if you have any questions!

And, this post will be long since I am covering our entire trip. So, if you want to skip down to the end and just look at the pictures, that is totally fine with me....you will however miss out on my outrageous sense of humor, and my keen ability to describe our many adventures.

We left on Oct 16, we had to meet at the Salt Lake International Airport no later than 6:30 p.m.. Everybody was so excited, the energy was so high. We had a really nice flight to LAX. Once there we had to go to the other side of the Airport (we literally walked for about 20 minutes), to the Korean Air terminals, our layover felt like it was forever, I think it was over 2 hours. We finally boarded our plane, and guess who was on it.......DAVID HASSLEHOFF...not that I am a fan, at all, it was just kind of cool. The kidlets thought it was awesome! They know 'The Hoff' from SpongeBob.

After our 12 hour flight, we landed in Korea. It was about 5:30 (I think) in the morning. We were able to get an Internet connection, so we got to talk to the kidlets, we even got to see them because they were borrowing grammies Mac and we had Aaron's. That was neat. The Korean Airport had the most amazing toilets I had ever seen....little did I know how much I would appreciate that 10 days later.........By this time everyone was tired and cranky and our energy level was very low.

Finally we boarded our flight to Hong Kong and got there in the afternoon. Guess what! No resting time, we immediately started doing the whole tourist thing! And, might I add here that we still had on the same clothes (and underwear) that we were wearing when we left Salt Lake? Not just Aaron and I, but ALL 48 of us.

Things we did in Hong Kong;

*Took the 20 minute cable car ride up to see the Big Buddha on the top of the mountain, it was very cool. Aaron and I paid the extra money to hike up the stairs (I know, a shock to all of you that know me). I need to add here that is wasn't that hot, but the humidity was disgusting. I was sweating SO bad, probably more than the rest of the 47 people combined. I know that you are thinking I am exaggerating, but it is true. I had to buy a new shirt.

*We went to the Market. Very Interesting. This is where Aaron got a stamp, and we got some jammies for the kidlets.

*The city does a light show every night at 8:30. All of the buildings have lights on them. Music starts playing and all the lights start going crazy for about 15 minutes. Very cool, a little over the top.

*Victoria Peak, we went to the top of a mountain that that had an incredible view of the entire city, it was amazing.

*We went on a Boat Ride. It showed us all of the fishermen and the families that actually live on their boats a fish for a living. Interesting.

*Aaron and I had full body massages. I LOVED mine, however Aaron hated his. My masseuse actually walked on me. The following day I got a foot massage.

*We went on an entirely too long train ride that was suppose to be a tour of the city.......Our tour guide scheduled it so he could rip us off.

*One of the places that we ate at put some squid down on the table that was still moving! That is when I knew FOR SURE I was going to struggle with the food.

*Outback Steakhouse! I was thrilled.

We flew from Hong Kong to Xi'an, a nice short flight.

My overall thoughts of Hong Kong;

*Claustrophobic is the first word that comes to mind. So many people, so many buildings, so little room. I felt like I could reach out of the bus and touch the buildings...we were on the highway.

*If the land was not covered, it was green and beautiful.

*I loved that they drove on the wrong side of the road!

*I loved that there was no communication barrier. Everyone spoke English.

*It was pretty Westernized.

Things we did in Xi'an;

*We checked into the hotel and the first thing we did was get Aaron's haircut. Wow. It seriously too forever. And it was like 11:00 at night.

*Terracotta Warriors are pretty neat. The whole story behind them is pretty amazing. The old dude that discovered them 30 years ago was there, but he was a mean old man. We were there entirely too long, but it was still cool. We meet some High School girls from England there, they too were doing a business tour. They thought it was pretty funny that the students with us were all old (25-37) and still going to school.

*This is probably the only 'business' meeting that I will bring up because it was amazing. We went to this Beer Distribution place. Holy Smokes. Talk about a lot of beer. For a little Mormon girl like me it was pretty amazing. I have never seen so much beer in my life.

*We went to the city wall, unfortunately it was raining like crazy, otherwise we would have ridden bikes on the wall. This is where we learned about the Dragon Horse; what it meant, where it is suppose to be in your house, the direction it is to face etc.

*We had 'Chinese Foot Massage' almost the entire group had this done, it was quite funny. Again, Aaron hated his, but I LOVED mine.

*We went to one of the oldest Pagodas/Temples in China, it was eight stories (? I think). We lit some candles in front of it and blessed someone while we did so. And guess what? Again, we paid the extra money to climb to the top, and yes, I did it. There was beautiful views of the city.

*We went to a club downtown that was a lot of fun.

My overall thoughts of Xi'an;

*It was dirty, smoggy and stinky. We could not see the sky or the mountains.

*There were bicycles and scooters everywhere. And I mean everywhere.

*There were a lot of beggars, I thought that was interesting.

*I think everyone smokes.

Things we did in Shanghai;

*We went to the TV Tower, some of you may know this building because of its three balls. It was kind of cool, there was a pretty amazing view from the top.

*This silk factory had a pretty hysterical fashion show. But it was really neat to see how the silk was made, and of course we spent some money there.

*We went to some pretty amazing gardens (again, I can't remember the names. We do have the itinerary, but I'm at work, it's at home), they were beautiful and they lead to a market. We got a couple of things there.

*We went to one of the most fabulous restaurants that I have ever been to, and had one the most amazing steaks that I have ever had. We also went to a bakery that had the most amazing eclair. They were in a mall type thing that all American malls should strive to be like. Except for there was a picture of the Statue of Liberty with "Miami" written under it.

*We went to WalMart! I know, I know, I vowed I would never go, however, I didn't have a choice, everyone went, and don't worry, it was dirty, stinky, messy and gross. It may be the same as the ones here in the states.

*We met at a University that works closely with Westminster and went to lunch with some of the students.

My overall thoughts of Shanghai;

*Much cleaner than Xi'an, but still very smoggy.

*Still tons of bicycles and scooters.

*Again, everyone smoked.

*It seems as though they are trying to Westernize this city.

We took a Train ride to Beijing, and it was great, I took an Ambien and slept the entire time.

What we did in Beijing;

*We went to the worlds largest KFC for breakfast. However, they didn't serve any chicken! For breakfast at least.

*We went to Tiananmen square, however we didn't actually get in because there was a summit going on. There were tons of guards out so it was still pretty interesting. It's amazing to me that Mau Se Tung is absolutely everywhere. What an interesting man. We could have gone the next day, but it was closed.

*The Forbidden city is huge and very repetitive, we just kept going and going and going, but it seemed as though we were in the same place the entire time.

*Pearl Market and Jade Market. We all know I was excited about this! They weren't really that interesting except that I got new real pearl earrings and ring for pretty inexpensive and a pair of real purple jade earrings.

*I think it was called 'The Temple of Heaven' It was pretty neat. We only stayed at the actual temple long enough to look at it, but on the way up it was pretty neat, there was this area where people would sing, dance and play instruments, just for fun. There was also places you had to walk through to get there, one called 'Echo Wall.' Don't worry, it didn't echo, well a tiny bit, we were all looking forward to this boisterous echo, and....nothing. This place has NOTHING! We, have the Tabernacle.

*The Silk Street Jade Market was the most fabulous place to shop! Aaron is fantastic at negotiating. We left with so much crap, it was awesome. about 7 floors full of imitation EVERYTHING. I highly recommend this place.

*The Great Wall of China. Really, this should have it's very own post. This is an experience I will NEVER forget. In fact, I am going to do a Great Wall post. I will do it either tomorrow or Wednesday......I promise.

*We went to the dumpiest hotel ever to watch a gymnastics show. It amazes me how this little gymnasts can make their bodies move like that. It was pretty amazing.

*I know this is what you have been waiting for. We saw the birds nest and the water cube and the other Olympic stuff that was around these two most poplar sites. It was pretty surreal being right there.

My overall thoughts of Beijing;

*It was clean, I could actually see the sky!

*Not as many bicycles and scooters.

*It's pretty Westernized.

*Mau Se Tung is everywhere, and it amazes me that some Americans (that were with us) don't know who he is!

*Still, lots of smoking.

We flew back to Korea, then to LAX, then home. There is a 14 hour time difference, but we got home at about 7:30 Utah time on Oct.27. Jet Lag sucks, but it was so good to be home.

And, I want to share some overall thoughts of some of the things that were constant throughout the entire trip;

*Chinese people have no manners. They fart, belch and hack loogies wherever and whenever. They tell you exactly what they think of the way you look.

*The architecture in China is absolutely amazing! I think America should venture outside of the mundane sky risers and get some ideas from the Chinese.

*I am so incredibly thankful that I can sit on a toilet. I don't squat well, so I didn't! I would literally hold it all day so I wouldn't have to! And, I am so glad that I use toilet paper.

*I think it is interesting that the Chinese don't necessarily believe in a God, or Higher Power. It seems like everything is based on Chi, Numbers and Symbols. Everything has to be facing the right direction. You have to live on a certain side of the city. You need to believe in lucky numbers, like 8, etc....I'm not sure how this is actually working for them.

*They have traffic laws, but nobody follows them. Pedestrians don't have the right of way. When I say that they don't follow the laws, I am completely serious. It doesn't matter if the light is read or green or if there is a Stop or Yield sign, they just drive. I have never been so scared that I was going to die as I was in the taxi's.

*Negotiating is awesome. My life would be so much cheaper if I could only negotiate.

*The English Translators need to do a better job! It was very interesting what some of the signs said.

*I have never been so thankful for McDonalds in my entire life. It was hard for me to even look at the food, let alone eat it! And, they eat the same thing every single day. I can only handle so much rice. And...everything seemed to be fried, in what? I don't know.

*It seemed like most of the Chinese people we met, hated President Bush.

*Whenever you take a picture of a Chinese person they do the peace sign and tilt their head. I tried to show them how to do the Rock sign, it only worked a couple of times.

*Chinese children are the most adorable kids (besides mine...of course) on the face of the earth!!

Here are our pictures!!! Enjoy! China Pictures

Hong Kong

I did a huge post on Hong Kong and something happened with google and I lost it! ...stay tuned...

Hello again......

We are home!

China was fantastic. We went to Hong Kong, Xi'an, Shanghai and Beijing. All very different from one another, keep checking for pictures and a post.

We missed the kidlets like crazy, whenever we saw a little Chinese baby or child we would think of our kidlets, not because our kidlets are Chinese but because any child reminded us of them. It was especially hard not to see Teague in his roll of a lifetime, but we were well informed. Apparently he stole the show! YIPPEE.

Madame Butterfly & Captain Bree information

I have put links on the side bar if any of you are interested in the kidlets performance schedules. If you click on the pictures, they will take you right to the site with all of the information concerning show times and purchasing tickets. Thank you!

I've been tagged!!

I have actually done this one before, but I am going to come up with different random facts (if I can).

1- Unlike Tiffany, I do have a side of the bed. I sleep on the side that is farthest from the door. My reasoning is that if someone breaks in, then Aaron can protect me!

2- I like things to be even, and I will count to make sure. If Aaron tickles my right arm for two minutes, then he has to tickle my left arm for two minutes. When I put deodorant on, I count how many times I go up and down, then I do the same on the other side. When I put Piper's hair in Pigtails, I count how many times the ponytail holder goes around, usually five times...on each side. These are just some examples!

3- My bills in my wallet have to be in order from largest to smallest, and they all have to face the same way. I think this comes from the years of being a teller. If I am in your wallet (I don't know why I would be), and your money is not organized, it will be when you get it back. I don't know if this bugs Aaron when I do it to his or not. This is also true when I manage Western Nut, the bills in the drawer must all face the same way, and be organized....I can always tell who worked last....Aaron!

4- Whenever there is a piece of paper or a napkin laying around with a pen near by, you better believe I will be signing my name in many different ways, and doodling, mostly stars, flowers, hearts, smiley faces and peace signs.

5- I hate taking baths (this may be because growing up, in the 'girls bathroom' all we had was a tub), however, I love hot tubs. Actually I find showers annoying too, but you gotta do it right? I am never in the shower longer than 7-10 minutes.

6- I really like long hair and facial hair on guys. But, it can't be just a mustache. It can be just a beard, but not just a mustache. Aaron use to have long hair, but...well....nevermind....and he does have facial hair and I love it oh so much.

7- I love candy...well, sweets in general, candy, baked goods etc....you may remember this post, my most favorite sweet of all. I also have a weakness for chocolate gas station donuts, Dicks Bakery Eclairs, Parson's Bakery, Gourmandise's sweets, Mrs. Cavanaugh, Twix, Take Five...I could go on and on... Aaron, Piper and Teague do not share this love/weakness, so our home very seldom will have treats. In fact, at Halloween time, the bags of candy go untouched (except by ME!), until I throw them out around Christmas time. Same with Christmas, Valentines and Easter candy. Yes, I think they are very strange.

Tag SEVEN people? Okay...Alison, Amy, Jenny, Marisa, Melanie, Sharra and Tara

Here's TROUBLE

Last month (Aug), The Artistic Director of Theatre School said, "I need to talk to you about a possible role for Teague." She then told me that the Utah Opera Company was looking for a 5 year old boy with blonde hair to play the role of Trouble in Madame Butterfly. I thought, "Yeah, that would be Teague, 'trouble'." So, I got the number and called.

The lady ask if he could come and and meet her for a 'cattle call.' I took him in and he was fabulous, he was so social, not shy at all and talked to everyone. They showed him the rehearsal hall, the pictures of Madame Butterfly and the costumes, they were just the right size. We were there for about 1/2 hour, she said that she wanted him to come back and meet the director on Sept. 30....today!

He needed to be there at 4:00, we got there at about 3:50, there was one other little boy there. They came out and got both boys and told the moms that we could come in - I was a little unsure about this, because I thought he would do better if I wasn't there - so I went in and sat in the back. Teague amazed me! The director talked to him, this was their conversation;

Director: What's your name?
Teague: Teague. it's spelled T-E-A-G-U-E.
Director: Okay. Do you guys know what show we are doing?
Teague: I know
Director: oh yeah? What?
Teague: Madame Butterfly.
Director: You're right. Do you sing?
Teague: Yeah.
Director: What kind of songs do you sing?
Teague: I sing the Indiana Jones song! Then he proceed with the tune of Indiana Jones...da da da da......da da da......da da da da......da da da........

Then the director moved on to the next boy. At this point I whispered to one of the ladies that I was going to take off and I would be back to get him at 5:00.

I got back at 5, he was hangin' with the assistant director, talking to her like she was his best friend and had known her forever. They told me that he did a really good job and that they wanted to use him! I couldn't believe it! My heart started pounding with pride. My little turd is going to be doing a show with the Utah Opera Company!! Unfortunately all of his performances will be while Aaron and I are in China. When I told them that we were going to be in China, they said that they would make sure we could see him in one of the final dress rehearsals that happen before we leave. And, so many thanks to my mom who will be in charge of the whole situation while we are gone.

I will post information on the sidebar soon. I will also be adding the Captain Bree Encore information as well. Captain Bree is the show that Piper will be doing at Kingsbury Hall in November.

Lagoon

It was $10.00 more expensive this year than last year, but so worth it. We did the usual, we started out at Dracula's Castle,

The Scrambler,

and The Tilt-A-Whirl,

usually by this time we go to lunch, but we still had a few minutes before lunch started, so Piper and Aaron went on The Rocket

while Teague and I went on The Flying Aces.

Then off to lunch! Usually the hot dogs are scrumptious and anyone who knows me knows that I love a good hot dog (I never use to admit that, for some reason it was embarrassing, but not anymore!), however the hot dogs this year were absolutely positively horrible! I could only gag down two bites, normally I can eat two to three, sometimes four hot dogs...no problem, but not this day! ARGH! I couldn't even 'make' the kidlets eat theirs. So we ate tons of chips to hold us over. Aaron said that the Hamburgers were okay (I don't like Hamburgers.....I know, I know...it's strange). This is the kidlets sittin', bein' cute while Aaron finished his hamburger.

So, we continued on...Grammie Annie came and met up with us after we had done some more rides. We got a huge Snow Cone, of course each kidlet wanted their own, we finally talked them into one SnowCone with two flavors.

Grammie said that she would take Teague to KiddieLand while Aaron, Piper and I did some of the other rides. We went on the old white Roller Coaster - my very favorite - and we loved it. We were on our way to Turn of the Century when Aaron realized that his phone wasn't in his pocket. So we went back to the Roller Coaster to see if it happened to fall out. They stopped the ride while a ride operator walked the premises looking for Aaron's phone, everybody in line was quite upset. They were taking for.ev.er, so I told Aaron that he and Piper should just go over to the other ride and I would meet them there. A few minutes later the ride operator came back cradling an object in his hands as if it were a small animal that was hurt. Um...yeah...it was Aaron's phone....broke into a billion (okay 5 0r 6) little pieces! I started laughing and told the guy 'Thank you.' Who does this happen to? ........The Salazars, of course.

I met Aaron and Piper in line for the next ride and handed Aaron his phone with a smug smile. He looked at me and rolled his eyes. The battery was even bent, nothing salvageable, except - luckily - the sim card and picture card. Aaron and I have the same phone (cheesy, I know!), only different colors, so we put the picture card in mine and we put everything else in a pocket in the bag we had.

So anyway.....we spent the entire day there. I took tons of pictures, but chose a few to post. Aaron and the kidlets went on the carousel, I go on it sometimes, but it is the one ride that I really don't like.


And we let the kidlets go on a few rides all by themselves.

Oh, and this is what happens when you ask the Salazar kidlets to pull a face for a picture.

The entire day Piper kept bugging us about going on The Log Flume and Rattlesnake Rapids. We told her that if we did go on them, they would have to be at the end of the day so we weren't walking around wet all day. We went on them when there was absolutely no line and it was dark and getting cold. We (Aaron & I) were secretly hoping that they would be closed. We did The Log Flume and we all loved it, none of us really got wet, maybe just a little. Then we went over to Rattlesnake Rapids. We were dodging all of the waterfalls like pros, until we hit the major one. Aaron tilted just so, Teague and I were soaked! Piper and Aaron...not so much. It was definitely the funnest ride of the day, we thanked Piper profusely for making us go on it.

On the way out, we let the kidlets play Whack-a-Mole. Of course Aaron and I helped so both could leave with a prize.

WHAT A FUN DAY! But what are we going to do next year? Aaron will be done with school, so we won't be able to go on Westminster Lagoon day for $10.00!!!! I really don't want to pay $140.00 for my little family.......maybe passes?

Innocent Crushes!

Aaron knows about these crushes that I have...he just makes fun of me. The thing is, there is a lot of them...a lot, so many in fact, Aaron had to help me remember them, and I am pretty sure this is not all. I have decided to make my crushes public. I didn't want to put them in an order for fear they may think that I like one of them better than the other, but I will tell you that I have had a crush on two or three of them since I was about 12. So, here they are in alphabetical order;

Orlando Bloom - Really, he needs no explanation. He's hot. When I saw him in "Lord of the Rings" I thought he looked a little girly, but then I saw the real Orlando in "Pirates of the Caribbean."


John BonJovi - He has gotten hotter with age. I noticed on "Ally McBeal" how hot he was getting...today, even hotter!


Eric Close - I discovered him on "Without a Trace." It started out innocently, I would watch it late on Sunday nights when I couldn't sleep. Now I try not to sleep on Sunday nights so I can watch him.


Johnny Depp - Um....can we all say "21 Jumpstreet" Not to mention everything else he has done since. He is just hot no matter what. He is actually my wallpaper right now.


Anthony Edwards - I don't know exactly, I just do. I never missed an episode of ER when he was on. I stopped watching it when he died.


Hugh Jackman - Oh man!! A triple threat! Singing, Acting and Dancing. I use to catch "Oklahoma" on PBS and watch it just to see him as Curly.


Jessie L. Martin - I think it is the smile. He is another "Ally McBeal" discovery. Not to mention "Rent" that he was fabulous in.


Patrick Swayze - I've gone over this before, a couple times."Dirty Dancing" Need I say more?


Sean Patrick Thomas - Now, his smile will knock you over! I discovered him in "Save the Last Dance." Every time he smiled...I did too!


Blair Underwood - Watching "L.A. Law" with my mom as a little girl. I remember telling my mom that I thought he was handsome.



All of these men along with being HOT, are extremely talented, do you really think I would have a crush on them if they weren't?

So now....I ask you, who are your innocent crushes?