So You Think You Can Dance. . . Dance, Dance, Dance

This year for my birthday in July, my kids gave me tickets to the live show of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. The long awaited for date finally arrived this weekend. Since Craig is pretty much done attending concerts, I took Ruth with me. However, Craig did go to Las Vegas with me and we had such a fun weekend staying with Ruth and Dwight. On Friday night we went to Outback for a lovely dinner and then to the Improv. It was such a fun night.
On the way to the Improv, which is in Harrah's, we passed Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill! They humored me just long enough to take this one picture.
The next day we had brunch at the Bagel Cafe, a great deli where everything is so delicious it's difficult to decide what to order! Josh Melvin met us there and came over to hang out for awhile while Charlie and the girls were at Disneyland for the weekend. We got home just in time to have a visit with Jeremy, Stephanie, Shelby and 8 week-old twins Asher and Bridger. It is always so much fun to see them, and the new babies are so cute and look so much like their big sister. Aunt Marcia came by for a visit so we all took turns holding and feeding babies. It just doesn't get much better than that. I think I'm holding Bridger and Marcia is holding Asher.

Marcia Rockwell is Ruth's former sister-in-law and she introduced us while the Melvin's were visiting in Moreno Valley over 15 years ago. It was fun to catch up with my dear friend, Marcia. She teaches Kindergarten and lives in Las Vegas now. Her hair is so cute short!
That evening, Craig and Dwight scored row 13 tickets to the UNLV basketball game while Ruthie and I went to our show. It was such a blast! They did all the best dances, and the dancers all took turns introducing each other. All the dancers did solos and there were video highlights of them from the season. It was so much fun to see those dances we loved from Season 5. I was so glad that even though they didn't make the top 10, Phillip and Caitlyn were included in the entire performance. So that meant we got to see Caitlyn and Jason's bollywood dance and Phillip and Jeanine's hip hop from the first show. The big joke of the night was Phillip and Jeanine sneaking out and trying to do the Russian Folk dance throughout the performance. If you follow the TV show, you'll know how awful that one was. It was really funny and finally towards the end of the evening they got to perform it, and just after they began all the dancers joined them for a much better version. I guess you had to be there, but it was such a fun show, and it was 3 hours long.

The first dance was the disco by Brandon and Jenette that was one of my favorites. We weren't sure how the pictures would turn out, but you can kind of get the idea. I wondered if the dances would be as good or translate as well on the big stage and it was wonderful! Thanks again for such a fun birthday present. You're the best children in the whole world!!!!!

I wrote down all the dances so I could tell the kids, so if you don't watch SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, you can skip the rest of this post. Here's my list of the dances performed:

Brandon & Jenette - Disco

Phillip & Jeanine - Hip Hop (by Tabitha & Napoleon- so sweet)

Randi & Evan - Butt dance

Kayla & Kupono - vampire dance

Top 3 girls: Jeanine, Kayla and Melissa - Super hero dance

Top 3 boys: Brandon, Evan and Ade- Willie Wonka dance

Caitlyn & Jason - bollywood

Melissa & Ade - Romeo & Juliet pas de deux -amazing!

Kayla & Jason - Broadway

Ade & Jenette- Dr Funk, Love, Sex and Magic

Melissa & Evan - get me to the church on time broadway

Brandon & Jeanine - battlefield, contemporary

all 12 - group rumba, tango ( dancing on the table tops - splashing water)

all 12 - group mirror props - one(from chorus line)

Brandon & Jenetter - bank robbers

Kayla & Jason - zombies

Kayla & Brandon -Life ( O.R. table)

all 12 - group russian folk dance spin off

Kayla & Kupono - Addiction

Jeanine & Jason - Heart Necklace by Travis - my very favorite

Jenette & Ade - cha cha

Jeanine & Brandon - paso doble

Melissa & Ade - "this woman's work" about breast cancer

Rogue Disneyland Trip!

My sister Suzy and I had planned to go to lunch after visiting Grandmommie, but I had a wild idea that we should just go to Disneyland and have lunch there. Since I had my season pass, we got one for her and we were set. It had been awhile since she was there so it was super fun. We only stayed for a few hours, but it was a blast. The weather was perfect and the park was the emptiest I've ever seen it. We walked right on the Buzz ride, and then Sue said, "let's go on the Matterhorn just to say we did it". So we almost walked right on that one too, with maybe a 10 minute wait. All the fun Christmas decorations are just beginning to go up. The castle was all done and the shops are filled with Christmas ornaments and other fun stuff for the holidays. It was very fun to go with just adults, no stroller, etc. Weird, but fun! We don't do things on the spur of the moment like this very often, which added to the fun!

We took pictures on our cell phones to send our kids, but this one is much cuter and you can see the pretty sky. We left just in time to be ahead of the traffic, and I got to drive home to the prettiest sunset. Such a great day! I can't wait to go again once all the Christmas Decorations are up after Nov 13! Thank you Disneyland for Southern California Season Passes!!!

My Grandmommie

At almost 97 years old, my Dad's mother is my last living grandparent. (Her birthday is in January). She has given us several scares with her health over the past 10 years, and we have thought several times that we would lose her, but she keeps on rallying. We are so grateful for her energizer bunny constitution! Granmommie was so alert and so happy to see us. Her eyes were so bright. My sister, Suzy, and I have been trying to coordinate a trip to see her for months. Finally the stars all aligned and we were able to meet in at Granmommie's care center in Orange.
My Aunt Sharon has taken such good care of Granmommie all these years. It is a shame the planning and timing always seem to get in the way of our visits and make them much farther apart than we would like.

It was especially fun to share the news with her of Dad's mayoral victory in Parowan the day before. (He beat his opponent with 67% of the vote)She was so tickled and she said, "I knew he could do it!" Then she said "The Mormon's are taking over!" (My Dad is the only member in his family). It was hilarious. The weather was perfect so we sat outside on the patio and had a lovely visit!

HALLOWEEN FUN

Rebecca sent me the cutest pictures of the girls on my phone:

Mark's Mom made these cute costumes for Paige and Claire.

Reese wore Claire's old Fairy Costume. It doesn't seem that long ago that Claire was wearing this.
When I asked Claire on the phone what Reese was going to be for Halloween, Claire said, " A widow fowwee" So adorable! We are so excited to see them in 3 weeks when we fly to Idaho to spend a week with them for Thanksgiving.

Ben & Jamie spent Halloween with Greg & Melissa in Lake Elsinore. Dylan was Buzz Lightyear, Luke was Spiderman, Kaylee was Tinkerbelle, Blake was Smee, Captain Hook's first mate, and baby Austin was the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

It has been so great having Ben home this past week. He left this morning for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he will be in training through Feb. He'll be able to come home for Christmas for hopefully a week or two. He checks in tomorrow afternoon, so it will be interesting to find out the details. Then in March he will be assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Austin and Blake

Josh is having way too much fun in Provo. Here he is with my nephew, Danny as Hans & Franz.

Dylan came to preschool with Luke for our Halloween party. He was very serious about it and was such a sweet boy. The other kids are so nice to him!


Luke flexing his muscles!

Kaylee was the cutest little Tinkerbelle.

Only 2 boys in preschool this year: Luke & Ian

Here's the girls: Lyndsey, Kaylee, Marijane and Cayce. So sad that Kaitlyn was absent and it was her day to be the helper, poor thing.
The class: Kaylee, Cayce (didn't feel like dressing up), Luke, Marijane, Ian and Lyndsey. This is such a fun group of kids.

Bridger and Asher Melvin, Ruthie's new twin grandsons! I lifted this from her facebook page, it was too adorable! They about 6 weeks old, I think.

My Sweet Girls (minus one)

Rebecca flew down with 5 month old Reese for a long weekend to visit Melissa and 8 week old Austin. We had a girls night out and went to the movies. The theater was almost empty, and Melissa snagged someone to take a picture of us all. All we needed was Renee to make it the perfect night. We missed you tons, NeNe! The babies were both really good, but the movie was way too loud so they kept waking up. Fortunately the theater was pretty empty (Fame - go figure) so it all worked out well. Jamie and I had fun holding little babies after being used to Blake the 20-pounder.

I took Rebecca to the airport this morning and was doing great. I got choked up when they left, so that's progress for me since I usually sob. I was so impressed with my composure. Then I had a dentist appt and when the dopey dental asst. wasn't believing me that it hurt and I needed to be numbed (2 new crowns and the prep 3 weeks ago was almost 3 hours of dental hell) big tears started rolling down my face. I FELT SO DUMB! I tried to explain I had just taken my daughter and 5 month old granddaughter to the airport but it just got worse. She was nice, but I'm sure she'll trade if she gets me for a patient again. Fortunately, the dentist, who is a friend that I adore, was not in the room at the time of my meltdown. What can I say? I love my kids and I miss them when they are faraway --- and I hate the dentist. Bad combination I guess. Next time I won't make a dentist appointment on the way home from the airport.

Watch the girls' blogs for cute pictures of the babies!

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. . .

Rebecca's girls seem to enjoy bruising as much as thier mother! When Rebecca was 2 she ran into a card table we had just purchased and set up in the living room to check out. She hit just below her eye and got a huge goose egg that immediately started turning black. This is a few days later! When we'd go out shopping people would see her and gasp and tell us it was the worst balck eye they had ever seen. Then they would look us over carefully to see if we were being truthful about how it happened.


How darling is this little girl? I see a bit of Paige and Claire in this picture. Maybe this is how long Claire's hair would be without her haircut.

We had to take a picture of Ben so he wouldn't feel left out. Notice our cool wall in the background?

Rebecca has always been a busy, athletic girl. I wish I had taken more pictures of her injuries over the years. A year after this, she popped open her eyebrow on a wooden chair at my parents house, and we had to take to the ER for stitches. It took 6 adults to hold her down! Craig and Dana were there as witnesses! When she was in 1st grade she fell out of the tree in the backyard and broke her arm. Then of course there were those glory years of high school/club volleyball when she was constantly spraining her ankles and getting enormous bruises everywhere. Only the threat of casting her ankle got her to be more careful and start taping it and wearing a brace. Then there was the time in college she got such "good ones" that she took pictures of her bruises and sent them to me.

Just think of all the fun she is going to have with 3 little girls hardwired just like her! I love you Rebecca and miss you like crazy.

Easy Chicken Nachos

This was a sample at Costco, and it was so good and so easy, with ingredients that are usually on hand. We made it for dinner and had sour cream and guacamole with it. It would be good in a salad or as a snack, too. The leftovers were really good.

1 can chicken, drained
1 can refried beans
1 cup salsa

Tortilla chips
4 cheese Mexican blend

Preheat skillet to 250 degrees. Pour chicken, beans and salsa into skillet. Mix and stir until warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips and top with shredded cheese.

Memories. . .

I love this quote from my Mary Englebreit desk calendar.

Today Rebecca called and asked me if I remembered when my kids were the ages of hers and did they antagonize each other? I told her that I couldn't remember them really fighting until Ben was 11 or 12 and tortured Melissa with his teasing. Then I told her I should probably look up those years in my journal and see what really happened. I have noticed that as the years have passed the good memories get better and most of the bad memories have faded.

This week I found my journal from 1973, when I was 16! Ahh, those were the days. It has been so sweet to remember friends and good experiences. And so mortifying to see how cheesey and mushy I was --- a hopeless romantic even then, and way too boy crazy for my own good! It's also fun to see how many of those dear friends I am still in contact with.

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Our darling Jamie does not enjoy her birthday, mainly because she misses her Mom, who passed away in 2001 and also because Ben has been away for so many birthdays due to his Army assignments and training, just like this year. Of course we couldn't have that! The morning started off well with lots of, phone calls, cards in the mail and facebook messages --- including several musical tributes. She even got a card from her dog, Roxy. (good one, Craig)

Since we all have season passes and Disneyland gives you Disney Dollars for your birthday, we thought that would be the perfect way to celebrate Jamie's 30th birthday. We planned to just go for a "few hours" and leave right after preschool, since Kaylee and Luke are both in my class this year. It turned out to be the comedy of errors, with hungry, tired babies, Jamie needing to check in at the ticket booth for her birthday moola and appropriate badge, and 3 kids anxious to get down to business at Disneyland. It wasn't crowded but it was HOT and HUMID!
It seemed like a good idea to leave Melissa with her stroller so she could feed 5 1/2 week old Austin in the car in the parking structure and meet up with us. It also seemed like a good idea for Jamie to get her birthday stuff figured out while Craig took Jamie's stroller with Blake & Kaylee and I walked with Luke and Dylan. Then we hit main street and there was every character imaginable and no lines! What to do with 2 sets of hands with 3 kids plus a stroller and camera. . . . Craig hurried and got Kaylee out of the stroller just in time for our turn to visit Mickey. Dylan and Kaylee were afraid of Pluto, and Luke just humored him.

Dylan could barely contain himself when he saw Donald, and when Craig was in line with Kaylee to see Minnie, I was in line to get the boys their mouse ear hats . . . . . so I missed the photo op. We both thought we were together, and apparently we got separated. Did I say it was hot and humid?

Then we lost our window and Kaylee was done taking pictures. So Craig and I bravely took the 4 "big" kids with us to the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland. This is the kids very favorite. Who was the brilliant person who thought of the moving conveyor belts you have to walk on to get on and off rides? Is it really that effective? Did they ever think how tricky that would be carrying a 20 lb baby and a busy 2 year old? I took this cute picture of Luke and Kaylee with Grampa. I had Blake and Dylan and they loved just just looking at everything. And it was air conditioned!
Both Mom's met us when we got off the Buzz ride, and then it was off to Small World and the Carousel. Of course, our favorite place to eat at the Hungry Bear in Critter Country was closed, so we finally settled for the next place we could find that had A/C. Everyone was hot and hungry by this point, and Kaylee did not enjoy dinner. Happy Birthday to Jamie.

It was baby Austin's first trip to Disneyland and he was a trooper. He is still so alert and such a bright eyed baby. He looked so darling at dinner I took this quick picture of him and his adorable Mom. Austin is growing and changing so fast. He has the cutest little round face and he has his own look now. Such a sweet boy!After the Jungle Ride we all headed for the Tiki Room, but Kaylee freaked out because last time the tiki's scared her. . . so Jamie took her kids and went to the baby place to nurse Blake while we stayed for the Tiki Room. This is a picture of Melissa and her boys after the Tiki Room, which they all loved. Luke did a fine job singing and whistling along with the birds! And he loved the "circle ice cream" ( the tasty Dole pineapple sherbet they have at Disneyland and at the Dole plantation on Oahu).

We met Jamie on Main Street after she spent her Disney Dollars and headed for home. We scored on the tram and got to sit in the front row so we didn't have to fold up the strollers. The girls brought pajamas and we changed the kids before we loaded them up and headed for home. Next time we will have to plan our photo ops better.

It wasn't quite the birthday bash we had hoped for, but it was a fun day and we got home in time to watch Vampire Diaries and the new Office. We will continue celebrating Jamie's gala birthday week tomorrow with white Texas chocolate cake and other surprises!

On our way to Disneyland we got the wonderful news that Jeremy & Stephanie Melvin had their twin boys this morning! Check out the cute pictures on Ruth's facebook page!

California Poll

The latest telephone poll taken by the California Governor's office asked whether people who live in California think illegal immigration is a serious problem:

19% responded, "Yes, it is a serious problem.
81% responded, "No es una problema seriosa."

Thanks Kelly, this says it all!

Austin's Blessing Day

Melissa caught Austin smiling! He is such a sweet, alert baby. He is 4 weeks old already and his look is changing. At first we thought he looked just like Dylan, but now he's getting his own look. He wore the same outfit his big brothers wore.

Melissa and Greg with their 3 sons.

All Greg's siblings were there except for his sister, Michelle, who is in Utah. We love this family!
Our numbers are so small these days. It was fun to have Suzy spend the day with us from San Diego.

Ben, Brian Gargalis, Greg & Austin, and Craig
Melissa is such a good Mom. She has her hands full with a newborn and 2 busy boys.

Melissa was so glad to have Ben and Jamie there. Ben left the next day for Officer Training for 6 weeks at Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Austin and Dylan

Melissa called this morning and asked if I could come watch Dylan and Austin while she took Luke to the Dr. Luke's had a cold and he started complaing about his ear hurting. 2 1/2 hours of waiting later, Melissa was glad she waited because Luke did have a raging ear infection, and he was a given a prescription for antibiotics.

In the meantime, at home Austin was happy and bright eyed so I tried to take a few pictures of him since he's already changing so much. It's hard to believe he's 3 1/2 weeks old. No sooner than I was ready to snap the camera Dylan appeared in the middle of the picture to give Austin a love and he wanted to pick him up. . . Dylan is very loving with the baby, but not very soft. He starts out soft, but gets enthusiastic and forgets the soft part. The bottom line is that you never leave the baby alone for a nano-second if Dylan is near.
Look at these darling boys! You can't see Austin very well, but he is really growing and has a little round face like Luke did. He is still so alert and bright eyed. Melissa is able to pump so I gave Austin a bottle and he loved it. He was an angel today and probably slept too much. Dylan and I read every book in the family room and we watched the Thomas the Tank Engine video not once, but twice all the way through. Dylan fell asleep on the couch before lunch watching 'What's the Name of That Song" with me. Luke took a good nap for over 3 hours. The antibiotics already seemed to be kicking in and he was feeling better. I ended up spending 10 hours with Melissa and those sweet boys. A lovely day!

WISH I WAS THERE!!!

I have 2 sisters: Dana and Suzy. Dana lives in Canandigua in upstate New York and Suzy lives in San Diego. Our kids think our voices sound alike on the phone. We used to torture the cousins when we called on the phone, and make them guess which Aunt it was. We would all say "It's your favorite Aunt". Since we sound alike it was always funny to see what the kids would guess. We have been told that we also share the same cackle, and when we are together our cackle in trio truly alarms our children. We love that!!! Since we see each other so seldom (even Suzy & I, just 2 hours away---shame on us) we have stayed close through phone calls, mail and the rare and exciting family get togethers every 3 or 4 years. This year all 3 of us have boys at school at BYU in Provo and Idaho.
On his way to Rexburg, Suzy's son Jonathan stopped to visit Josh and Danny, my sister Dana's oldest. Her second son, Tyler, is also in Provo but missed the photo shoot. (Ty is getting married on Saturday). Dana and I keep missing each other by a few days on our trips to Provo this year. I am so sad to miss Ty's wedding! Greg and Melissa are blessing Austin the next day and it would cut things a bit too close to make it back to Sacrament Meeting in Lake Elsinore by 8:30 a.m.
I haven't seen Dana for over a year and when I saw this picture I got so homesick for her! Isn't she an adorable mother of the groom?

And my darling niece Katie is there too! I'm really missing all the fun. . . Dana sent Suzy and I pictures like this on our cell phones yesterday. I am so glad Josh posted these on facebook so I could see them more clearly and borrow them for my blog! Thanks, honey.

Even though these pictures make me homesick for my son, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, they also fill my heart with so much joy to see what good friends these cousins are . They have truly blessed each others lives. Josh roomed with Danny this summer and they had too much fun. Jonathan and Ty are 23, Danny is 24 and Josh is 22.

Josh and Jonathan reported to the MTC the same day. They were in the same district in the MTC and their missions in Monterrey & Tampico, Mexico shared a border. Danny served in Romania and Tyler served in Las Vegas West. Dana's youngest son, Cameron, just entered the mission field in May and he is serving in San Antonio, Texas.
The picture above is Suzy and I in July, when I spent the weekend with her (while Craig was moving Nick and Renee to Idaho). Not one of my better hair days, but it is such a pretty picture of Suzy.

Disneyland Days

Jamie wanted to do something special with the family before Ben leaves for 6 months (on Sept 7). She thought it would be fun to stay at a hotel near Disneyland for a night or two. . . and once she started checking prices and details, she scored at the Disneyland Hotel with an amazing military discount. We ended up staying three nights, so we were were there last Monday-Thursday. We had adjoining rooms so we could help watch the kids. One night Ben and Jamie went back to the park after dinner and went on the big kids rides and watched the fireworks.

The double stroller was heavy and bulky to fold up on the monorail and on the train( which we did at least 4 times a day), so we brilliantly decided to rent their nice light-weight strollers. The only drawback was no cup-holder. . .
The Disneyland Hotel couldn't have been a nicer place to stay. There is so much to do there even if you don't go to Disneyland! We walked to the Monorail station several times a day and that was lovely to avoid the craziness of entering the park at the ticket booths.

One of the fun things we did was have breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. They have a lovely buffet all day long and the characters mingle around the tables. It was so much fun for Kaylee, who is usually shy around the characters.
Jasmine was so dear and spent lots of time with her. Kaylee picked out her pink Minnie Mouse hat. And don't call it a Mickey Mouse hat either, or you will be corrected!
All our grandkids love Jessie, Woody and Buzz from toy story. This was a big milestone for Kaylee waiting in line and then actually taking her turn to take pictures with a character. Usually at this point she freaks out and changes her mind! While we were waiting in line Woody was waving and blowing kisses to her. It was adorable!

It was so wonderful to be able to return to the hotel in the afternoon for the kids to nap and the adults to recover! I wore my pedometer and we walked between 4-10 miles a day! We timed it perfectly when we made it back in time for the parade. Kaylee got to go in the conga line just like Paige did last spring. We were amazed she participated, and she loved it! 7 month old Blake was an angel the whole trip. He is such a mellow baby and he has the cutest smile and brightest eyes. People were commenting on how darling he was all week long. One night we ate at the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. It was a fun place and the food was surprisingly good. I can't wait to go to the one in Ontario and have Sweet & Sour Stir Fry again.
All Kaylee wanted to do was go on the "pirate ride in the boats" . That was the first thing we did and she said it was "too scary for me". Kaylee had a blast and loved Small World, The Tiki Room and the Buzz ride, which we rode several times. The last time she went with Grampa so that's how she refers to that "go to Disneyland on the Buzz ride with Grampa". We walked clear across California Adventure to wait forever for Toy Story Mania. It was fun but probably not worth the walk or the wait for little ones. Let the record show I got the highest score!

There were no lines, except for Pixie Hollow and Toy Story. It was a great time of the year to be there. It's so nice that our season passes black-out- days are over. It didn't get hot until our last day. We got to see everything we wanted, and the 3 days were just right. The only change I would make is taking an extra day off from Disneyland to just veg during the day at the hotel and enjoy the adorable Neverland Pool, then go back to the park at night. When our ship comes in it would be fun to have a family reunion there and stay in the time suites or time shares. One of us will have to get the big bucks to do that, but it would be a blast. These pictures give you an idea how cute the pool was. There were 2 small water slides and a jacuzzi. At night the sails on the boat lit up and it was really magical. The sign on the boys bathroom said, "LOST BOYS".

Thanks Ben & Jamie for a great week! Jamie will update her blog soon with tons more pictures. I think we had about 175 between our 2 cameras, and Craig also took some cute video. I forgot to mention these beautiful waterfalls just outside our windows. They were beautiful and sounded heavenly.