Because I said so...

Ode to Loola Mae

2012-01-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is Kylie. I've hacked my mom's blog not to surprise her or do a kind deed, but because tragedy has struck recently in the Earl home. Loola Mae, my dear dear cat and best friend, is gone. I got the call from my mom last night and immediately broke down. I loved that cat more than I love my own sisters (sorry guys) and she was the bright shining star in my somewhat dismal life. The world has never known a love like the love the two of us shared; just a girl and her cat, taking on the world by storm.

I thought I might just take this moment to share some of my favorite memories of Loola Mae. These are in no particular order:

Sometimes she would sleep on the end of my bed like a faithful dog. I loved those nights. I would have to hold really really still and be careful not to move my body in the slightest, otherwise she would get T.O'ed and leave.

When I was doing my makeup in the morning and sitting in front of my mirror, she would sit in my lap so I couldn't lean over to my make up bag. Then she would swat at me while I tried to put on my mascara and leave me looking like a cheap hooker. Precious.
I liked to pick her up and hug her as tight as I could until she could fight her way out of my arms. Sometimes this would get her real riled up and then she would stalk me like her prey and chase me through the house. Oh the memories!
She loved sparkly things and dresses and this is for real. Those of you who know me know that I don't keep a very tidy room so naturally there are clothes everywhere, but regardless of all the options anytime a dance costume or fancy dress touched the floor she was all over that business. I raised her right.

One time I called her fat and she glared at me for like 5 full minutes, no exaggeration. (and yeah not only do I talk to my cat but I insult her when I'm having a rough day, Ok?)

So apparently Loola Mae just went "missing" suddenly. I know, my first thought was Dad with the candlestick in the T.V. room too, but mom swears he didn't. She and Kendall had both noticed she hadn't been around for a few days so they told my dad and had some house wide search for the dead cat. No sign of her. Best they can guess is that she got out when the front door was accidentally blown open or something. That cat was raised by me, therefore she is not bred for the outdoors...

My dear roommate/BFFL Nicole Roxanne Hamilton saw that I was having a rough time with the disappearance of my precious kitty, and being the poetic genius that she is came home with this little beauty to cheer me up. Oh how it worked. I know that this news will come as a shock to all of you faithful readers out there and so I wanted to share this piece of comfort with you, even though it is very specifically written for me. Not you guys. Just me. Not you. Because I loved her most. Here goes:

Loola Mae wasn't just a cat,

she was oh so much more than that.

She brought you so much happiness and joy,

she was a great substitute for your lack of a boy.

I know you loved that cat a whole lot,

but it is still debatable whether she liked you back or not.

With Loola Mae you loved to cuddle and play,

during which she only tried to run away.

Loola thought your obsession with her was creepy and weird,

And it was clear that your feelings for her were not mirrored.

I feel terrible for that cat, but not cuz she's dead,

but because something was clearly wrong in her head.

Who wouldn't want your love and devotion,

and getting rubbed down with the finest of lotion*?

Who wouldn't want to be held in your arms,

And to wear a sparkly pink collar all covered in charms?

I hate to say it, but Loola Mae was kinda a beezy of a cat,

Who wouldn't want your McLovin' and all that?

I know you wonder why she went out that door,

Maybe it's cuz she thought her life needed more.

Or perhaps like in Modern Family animal suicide is real,

But either way did that selfish cat consider how you'd feel?

No she did not, that little whore,

But don't get down, your life has so much more.

Like a roommate that wrote you this blessed poem,

and a loving family, and friends, and a beautiful home.

Incredibly stunning really really ridiculously good looks,

and a growing collection of children's books.

not to mention the most wondrous of baking skills,

and a sweet gaze that gives the manliest of men the chills.

Yes it is true that Loola Mae is physically gone,

but her memory and legacy will forever live on.

*As weird as my relationship with my cat may have been, I did not on any occasion rub her down with fine lotions. That would have just made her fur greasy.

See why Nicole's my BFFL? truly inspiring words.

Loola Mae I love you and I miss you already. Lucky for you, I'm not a great cat owner so you will have tons of friends in kitty heaven. You're welcome.

Every family should have a Kacey!

2012-01-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say that when one has a child, most of us parents hope that the child will turn out to be like us(at least the good things) and eventually maybe even surpass us in abilities and accomplishments one day... down the road. I had no idea that my first born daughter would surpass me in almost every way possible by the time she was 28!

Kacey is the consummate leader. You would probably think that it wasn't necessary to have any more leaders in a family with two red personalities such as David and myself, yet it seems like it is always Kacey who has the best plan for the day and actually makes it happen. She has a way of leading people and making it fun, unlike me who is the resident "fun sucker" and David who can be counted on for fun but not much leading. Kacey is the perfect blend of both of us.

She has always been very capable but now she has added new accomplishments to her repertoire like cooking and sewing. She cooks way better than I do! She uses spices I've never heard of. She gets these bountiful baskets of fresh vegetables each week from the farmer's market with the contents being chosen for you, and instead of throwing out the ones she doesn't recognize (like I would), she researches what they are and finds something delicious to make with them. To be fair, I wouldn't intend to throw them out. I'd leave them on the counter and stare at them for a week fully intending to figure out what they were and how to cook them, but they would most likely go bad before I solved the mystery and then I would throw them out.

She made these delicious truffles for David:

I think I can probably still sew better than she can but not for long because she sews every week with her sewing club. Yes, sewing club!

Look at this adorable pillow she made me for Christmas!

She made matching Christmas pajamas for her kids:

And sewing club is at her house while throngs of small children run amuck! I don't know how to spell that word but I bet Kacey does because she reads a ton too. She has a book club too that she started herself. I think it's still going, but with or without the peer pressure of a book club, she reads a ton!

She is the best mother. I can't even go into how many wonderful things she does with her kids. All I did with Kacey was turn on Sesame Street and let them teach her the alphabet! (Although, in all fairness to me, my method was extremely successful with Kacey. She could recognize her letters at 20 mos. I know that because I was keeping a journal for Kacey back then. Those were the days!)

Asher is 5 months and still not sleeping too well at night. Kacey has to get up with him 2-3 times yet she seemed to have more energy than anyone else at our house at Christmas. She never took a nap. She is like the energizer bunny!

All through the Christmas holidays while everyone was home, she just keep organizing us all and getting us to play games and other activities, all the while planning and cooking what we were going to eat in addition to taking care of her three small children! She does not pawn off her kids on other people like most of us do - well, maybe just me. Isn't that what family's for? Pawning off your kids on their grandparents and aunt and uncles to get the much needed break you deserve? Not Kacey. She will allow us to play with them and will accept some offers of help but insists that they are her burden (I mean blessing) and no one else's.

Well she sounds great, you say, but does she have any other tricks up her sleeve? Yes, she does! How about training for the half-marathon she is going to run tomorrow? Seriously! Her baby is 5 months. She ran 12 miles when she was here. That is out to Moses Pointe and back to our house with an extra loop around the Peninsula. Moses Pointe!!! I get tired just thinking about driving that far.

She is the best older sister! She helps her sibs with whatever they need, whether it be advice or actual help with a project. Kacey is the one to turn to or the shoulder to cry on. I swear Kacey is wiser than I am and has been for years!

I could really go on and on extolling her virtues but it would just make everyone else feel bad. I never got her birthday blog done because as many of you know I was busy celebrating her birthday in Florida without her. The least I could have done is get her blog done, right? Geesh. She would have gotten mine done if the tables were turned. Wow, now I feel really bad. Hopefully this impromptu tribute will suffice.

Her husband, Jon, is a pretty remarkable guy in his own right, but this blog is not about Jon so he will have to wait his turn. He does deserve one, though.

Yes, Kacey is remarkable and I just feel bad for any family that doesn't have a "Kacey" because she is the turning out to be the family event planner we never knew we needed. Kacey just handles things like a pro and can juggle ten things at once. She puts me to shame. I get overwhelmed with chaos and too many things going on at once. I do better one task at a time. Or maybe 2 or 3, but anything over that and I'm like a dog chasing my own tail.

Thanks, Kacey, for making our holidays so joyful! Good luck on your half-marathon tomorrow. You're my idol!

Mom

PS - Did I mention she brined our turkey? Delicious!

Happy 20th birthday, Kylie!

2011-12-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

There are countless things that we love about Kylie but in honor of her 20th birthday today, we have listed the Top 20 things we love about Kylie (in no particular order!):

20. her laugh
19. her love of cats
18. her Goodwill sleepwear
17. her beautiful voice
16. her freckles
15. her chocolate chip cookies
14. her lips
13. her lip gloss collection
12. her devotion to her baby blanket
11. her ability to finally master the art of riding a bicycle
10. her nail polish collection
9. her portrayal of Mayzie
8. her wit
7. her brain
6. her hair
5. her large calves (a gift from her mother)
4. her portrayal of Sharpay
3. her testimony
2. her smile
1. her continued love of Barbie movies

We have cherished you for two decades! May there be many many more to come. Thank you for all that you have given to our family and continue to give. We love you so much!

Happy birthday, Kylie!

Anyone have any more things they love about Kylie? Feel free to share as you leave a comment...

A few video tidbits for your viewing pleasure...

2011-12-05T01:10:00.000-08:00

I hate being so behind on my blogging but life is just so busy right now. I'm not sure when I am going to catch up but I'm still determined to try! Here are a few videos I wanted to share...

We had a small group at Thanksgiving. Brad, Courtney and Kylie went to Kacey's in Vegas because it's much closer and warmer. I don't blame them but we missed them. We had fun, anyway, with the group we had which included my two nieces, Makenna and Haley, who are Becky's daughters. Tney came for a visit and we had the best time with them. They were able to join in our Fruit Ninja competition. Lucky them!

Here is some video of Courtney competing at the Fall Dansport competition at BYU with her partner, Tim Colvin. I just love watching them dance. Angie, Qiana and Kim were able to join me which made it doubly fun. I love those girls. Courtney was mesmerizing and it just makes me so happy and proud to watch her glide across the floor. See for yourself...

Brad and Kylie were there, too, to cheer Courtney on. What a good brother Brad is! By the way, the crowd cheers for their favorite couples so even though I would rather sit and watch quietly and take it all in, I shout now and then so that Courtney and Tim know they have fans. You're welcome, Courtney and Tim.

What a fun weekend it was to share with so many people I love!

Brad turns 24!

2011-11-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Brad turned 24 this week. His birthday blog is late because I've been shirking my maternal responsibilities and have been galavanting all over the globe! Sorry about that Brad.

There are many, many reasons why I love Brad so much but here are the Top 10 reasons why I love Brad. (These are in no particular order except for #1. #1 is the number one reason!):

#10 - He takes such great care of his 2 sisters who are also in Provo attending BYU which gives me peace of mind which I really appreciate.

#9 - He started a blog. He is so funny and I'm so happy that other people get to see that side of him.

#8 - He is fairly neat and tidy (not OCD or anything but pretty clean for a boy.) I know this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I just prefer things neat and organized.

#7 - He keeps his car really clean! (See supporting reason above.)

#6 - He is a great example and big brother to Bryan. You can't put a price on a good big brother! Every family needs at least one.

#5 - He almost always does what I ask him to. Even if he doesn't want to, he usually does it anyway if I insist. (except for asking out Chelsea Hightower - no way on that one - he thinks girls don't want to get asked out by guys they only met one time - that's only if the guy is weird - am I right? - what girl wouldn't love to be asked out by Brad even if she's semi-famous - right? - I'm right - Mom's always right!)

#4 - He speaks Slovak. (Or at least he used to and that can't be easy!)

#3 - He is a diligent student. Nothing makes parents happier than kids who get their schoolwork done no matter what the age.

#2 - He can reach things that I can't. (I told you it was in no particular order.)

#1 - The number 1 reason why I love Brad will be evident to all who view the following video. This is from last Christmas.

Kacey had the idea that we should have a family talent show. I'm not sure why. I think it's because she wanted her kids to perform and she wanted competing entertainment that made her kids look even more talented. I'm not even sure who put Kacey in charge but she is one hec of a leader so when she gives an edict - people obey. I can't remember what she threatened as the punishment for not participating in the talent show but I just assumed Brad would take the penalty rather than participate and I figured Bryan would follow right behind him and choose the hard labor over performing. Imagine my surprise and utter delight at Brad and Bryan's talent show entry.

Kendall joined their group late because she ended up being the odd man out and lest you think that Kendall was the mastermind of this number, she was not. She added some flair, no doubt, but the choreography had already been done by Brad so I'm told. Brad? Choreography? Maybe he didn't hate being in Showstoppers as much as he told me he did? Hmmm...

I just love that he did this for his family. I hope he doesn't kill me for posting it. It just made me so happy. And that he got Bryan to do it with him gives him double points. I love these boys! They say that if you want to know what sort of a husband a guy would be then you should look at how he treats his mother. Well, here is a guy who is going to make the best husband ever (and he has a brother!)

Without any further ado, the #1 reason why I love Brad...

By the way, the move where he puts his hands behind his head and wiggles his hips is a signature move he has had since he was about 8. And the tongue sticking out is proof that he's concentrating!

Happy Birthday, Brad!

50 People Who Love David on his 50th Birthday

2011-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday dad!!! There is a planet full of people who would love to wish you a happy birthday and help you ring in a half a century of life, but here are the 50 people who are willing to share their thoughts with 24 hours notice :)

Without further ado, the 50 people who love you on this day, your 50th birthday!

1 Have a Wonderful Birthday Buddy! May your heart be filled with gratitude for the blessings that the Lord has given you: your wonderful wife, your good children, great parents and many friends. You deserve to be happy. You're a kind and generous man.

Thanks for being so good to us, we owe you lots!! Julio & Alina Luna

2 WE are definitely on the list of fifty people that love David Earl.... It's hard to really describe our love for DAVID. Never met anyone who is so demanding, controlling, yet so kind and unselfish. David believes if he likes it YOU WILL TOO!! David thinks that he knows whats best for you and your family....and you know what 95 percent of the time he's right.... I just don't want him telling me. We love vacationing with him, we (REID) loves letting him win at GOLF, we love watching sporting in events and eating out. He's kind to everyone he meets. He is not judgmental. He is extremely caring.

Happy Birthday DAVID. Here's to another fifty years together as FRIENDS!!

Lori, Reid and family

3 Uncle David,
We love you! We enjoy anytime that we get to spend with you! We always look forward to hearing your stories and your opinions about things. We always know it is going to be a good time when you are around. Thank you for your incredible example. It is such a blessing to call you family. Happy 50th Birthday! We wish you many more! Love, Alysha and Brandon

4 Happy Birthday Uncle David!! You have always had a special place in my heart. You have been a wonderful uncle to me and a great example. You took me to my first broadway play. You took me skiing for the first time (and second), and even paid a little chinese man to give me lessons. (I remember the man staring down at me when I couldn't stand back up and he said, "Your uncle told me you were athletic!") You played ball tag with us in the pool, and once after babysitting for the afternoon you told me to stick out my hands and then you filled them to the brim with loose change. I thought it was pretty hilarious. You taught me the correct way to eat a bowl of cereal- I remember one morning I was eating breakfast at your house and I poured a huge bowl of cereal (since at my house we were only allowed one bowl). You made me put half of it back and told me I could have as many small bowlfuls as I wanted, but that there was no use in pouring such a big bowl that would become soggy in 2 seconds. And of course I loved working for you all through high school and during the summers.

I have a lot of great memories of you from my childhood, but I appreciate you now even more as a grown up. I think you are a generous and kind person, and always SO much fun to be around. I've always been so proud to be related to you, and I always feel completely at ease and welcome in your home. You are one of my people, and I feel really blessed to have you in my family. I love you and hope you have a great birthday!

Love, Sam

5 I feel like I haven't had enough time to put together something totally funny, but I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to say Happy Birthday.

I am so thankful for all you have done for me. It has been a pleasure working with you for almost 10 years. Thank you for providing me with hours of laughter. I appreciate someone who is willing to give their opinion, even if it wasn't asked for and could possibly offend someone in the room. I love that you constantly have a drawer full of lotion and dental floss in your office. You are the only one I know that can get away with saying, "I don't have ADD, I just don't care about what you are saying", and people just laugh.

You have the hugest heart, and the brightest outlook on life and people. For this girl, the eternal pessimist, it is slightly unbelievable but quite admirable. You are one of a kind, and I love you!

Angie

6 Dr. Dave, as he is affectionately know, is one of the most tender, kind, love, giving persons that we know. His sense of humor is infectious. He is a joy to spend even a minute with as he will lighten your day. And on top of all that we get to call him Brother.

Tom & Gail

7 Uncle David, you have always been such a great influence to me in my life. You've always seemed to walk the line between being the successful and smart uncle and the crazy and super fun uncle. I appreciate everything you've done for me in my life, and I've enjoyed all the time I've gotten to spend with you over the last couple of years. Have a great birthday uncle David! P.s: "No... you're wrong, I'm right." Hahaha, that's a little bit of a running joke with my friends about a common quote of yours . Love you uncle. Happy birthday!

Parker Weech

8 Happy 50th Birthday David!!! I'm so lucky my sister has incredible taste in men and brought you into our lives 30+ years ago...and you are still the same huge-hearted, fun, loving, giving, awesome person today. Oh, I forgot to throw in cute...you're still cute too!! I love you!!!

Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed! And you be makin' goin' 'over the hill' look gooooood...

Julie

9 Happy Birthday David. Wow, the nifty Fifty has hit you. Now you only have 50 more to go. Make it a great one. Thanks for all you do for me and my family.

Love, Karen and Kevin Earl

10 Dave, you are one of my favorite people. The little things you have done for me have added up and have helped me become the person I am today. Thanks for everything you have done for me. I wish you had the time and resources to help more people! Happy Birthday!

Joseph Johnson

11 Happy Birthday, David. I have LOVED you from the first time you took over at a service activity when I was YW pres in 6th ward. I loved knowing that when we planned an activity that you and Reid would make it "over the top fun." I love those "good ol' days." (oh yes, and you are a great MD too!)

Kathy Perrins

12 David, you make 50 look great! I love you even more at 50 than I did when you were 18. You have had such an impact on my life, I could never be more grateful. Bryan & Becky Weech

13 Happy birthday to the greatest father out there! Dad you set such a great example to all of us kids of what kind of people we need to be. You truly have a love for everyone and you are always giving to others. I hope you have a great day today because you deserve it!

Kendall

14 Please include us in joining you in celebrating David's 50th birthday. Best wishes that this age will finally be the age of responsibility we've been hoping for!

Curtis & Denise Clifford

15 We love Dr. David Earl!

Pat & Lori & family

16 Dad i love you! You are the greatest father anyone could ever ask for and i hope you have an amazing day!

Bryan

17 Happy Birthday, David! Thanks for always looking out for Breanna... :)

Michele & Jody Haddican

18 50? What a baby! Thanks for all of your professional care :) My family owes you a great debt of gratitude. And David would say, "good thing you went to Hawaii while you were still young enough to enjoy it :p" Hope it's Happy!

Tami Lybbert

19 Happy 50th B-day David!!! You have accomplished so much.. beautiful wife, incredible children and precious grandchildren. Your contagious smile lightens all of our lives. Thanks for always being a friend... ENJOY!!!

Sharon McConkie Sanderson

20 Happy Birthday, David, from your 4th Grade Teacher! I have always kept track of you since you and my daughter are the same age and were friends all through school! You are such a good friend to our family and you take such good care of us as our doctor! We also appreciate you as our Bishop! We love the way you relate to your Young Adults! Hard to believe you are now a half a century old! :)

Lora Bailey

21 Happy Birthday, David, from all the Wise's. You re an amazing person, and I feel so blessed to be a part of your family. You and your family hold a really special place in my heart. I know your day will be great because you always have a smile on your face and make it happen!

Kim Bates Wise

22 Happy Birthday, Dave!! Our clan thinks you are the best! Thanks for helping my sons become men as their YM president. I had fun working with you in YM/YW. I have enjoyed and admired your children in Young Women, singles ward and piano lessons. We still treasure the cruise to the Carribbean with you and Peggy and your mad jeep driving on Grand Cayman! You have taken such good care of us as the doctor to our family and extended family. You are such a great man and we thank you for your friendship, service, kindness and good example to our family!

DeAnne Wiberg

23 We are definitely in the Top 50 of people who love David. I would love to wish him a Happy Birthday! Congratulations on the new grandchild!

Eric Knudson

24 Well, we've been the same age for a month and a half, but once again, you proceed first into the darkness! Happy Birthday, and thanks for all the support, good cheer and good advice over the years! Keep up the good work!

Bill Waites

25 Happy Birthday, David. The Lawsons love you!! Thanks for always being there for our family!!!

Vickie & Billy Lawson

26 Hey Bishop Earl - thanks for all your advice, support and guidance. Happy Birthday!!

Chris Nelson

27 Happy Birthday, David! You have been a huge influence in my life since I've know you. I won't forget all you've done for me. I hope you have a great birthday with many more to come!

Dustin Killinger

28 Dad, even though I got my thin lipped smile and squinty eyes from you, I am so grateful to call you my dad. You have taught me so much throughout my life by the way you life. You are the most charitable and loving person that I know. You never let anything get you down and I hope nothing ever does because you deserve to be so happy. You have made my life great and I am thankful every day for the example that you have given me. I love you so much and I hope that you have a great birthday!

Love, Courtney

29 Happy Birthday, David. Have a wonderful day and celebrate you.

Vickie Wittmayer

30 I love my uncle David because he took me to Maui. He is the coolest cat around to vacation with except when he turns on the lights, pulls back your covers, flings open the blinds and yells "it's time to get up!" every morning at 7am. That's when you start to question if you're really on vacation or if you're living at home again! Haha. I also love my uncle David because he jumped off the biggest cliffs with me in Maui and proved his manhood one last time before he turns in his man card on his 50th birthday! Your over the hill now David! No more cliff jumping for you old man. However I may give you your man card back if you're able to do those 50 push ups in a row on your 50th birthday! We will see haha hope you have a wonderful, amazing, fantastic day of birth! You're the man... Regardless of what Peggy might say! Love you uncle David

Love your favorite nephew!
Brandon Earl

31 David is one of the most generous people I know. He is almost always upbeat, optimistic and full of enthusiasm for life. He is always up for a fun time. With that short little span of attention...,

(to quote Paul Simon -

"A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long")

...the fun time often changes to another fun time.

Over the years we have had a great time in competition, whatever the game may be. To determine who is the better athlete, we basically say "pick your best 10 events" and whoever wins the most events is the best athlete. So there are things I could pick that I would win easily like racketball or wrestling (I know it's gross but I weigh more - you have to go with your strengths). David has his events - like he could run faster. The funny thing is that we each would pick basketball, so it all came down to playing basketball against each other and the winner would be determined from week to week. Now we have golf.

From both of us, we wish you a most enjoyable 50th birthday with a heartfelt expression of love and thanks for all you do.

Jeff and Becky

32 We love him and he is a great doctor! Happy Birthday, David!!!

Dan & Sheila Piper

33 DR. DAVE, You've been our doctor and friend for many a year! Thanks for all you've done for us. We wish you a HAPPY 50TH and many more years of doctoring and friendly chats to come.

Vaughn and Loye Hunsaker

(This is a picture of our grandson, Jacob Vela, who is just today arriving in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Isn't that where you served?)

34 DAVID, you finally made it to 50. What took you so long? Even though you might be 50, it will be a long time until you can actually act like you are 50. You are not yet capable of accepting the responsibility and the seriousness of such a high and holy position. No matter what you do, you will never be as old as I am. So there!! We love you. You are our Hero. Hang in there as long as you can.

Doug and Connie Earl

35 Happy Birthday, David!! We are glad to have you here to make all the decisions! What would the world do without you? We appreciate you and all you do! Really!

Love, The Pyles

36 Dear Uncle David,

Happy Birthday!!! We hope you feel loved and celebrated today. I have many memories of you from coming to visit you in California and getting to drive your scooter around (I was only 11!), going to Disney, to watching you at family reunions run all the games, to playing Monopoly on Sunday's after having a waffle breakfast and followed by candy bar milkshakes, to working at your office, to babysitting your kids, to snow skiing, to summer fun, to keeping a close eye on my dad after surgery, to going to San Diego for Alysha's wedding and having you just order for all of us at every meal (hilarious but great!) and arrange everything else, and so many other things. I always think about how cool it is that we travel with our aunts and uncles and cousins. I don't think that is a common thing for most people. You are such a good, kind, patient, funny, gracious, honest person and I am grateful to have you in our life.

Love you,
Daishan & famly

37 There are a lot of things that I love about you Dad, like A LOT, but the thing that I love most about you is that you have always taught us that the most important thing in life is to be a good member of the church. All growing up, you would tell me every night before I went to bed, "I love you. Don't forget your prayers, I'm not visiting any of my daughters in Hell." And because of that I never forget to say my prayers at night. You always remind us not to sweat the little things, that money is just money and there will always be more, and to always attend your church meetings and activities because "that's just what we do". When I hear President Monson's quote about not letting a problem that needs to be solved get in the way of a person that needs help, I always, always think about you because that is exactly the type of person that you are. Thank you for always taking care of us and everyone around us. I love you so much and I know that I am so blessed to have such an amazing Dad. Happy Birthday!!!

Kylie

38 Dad, you are my hero. I can't think about you without smiling. I love how you are so caring and how much you love it when others around you are having fun. I've learned so much from you. One of my favorite David Earl glory stories is when you and the older Earl boy cousins raced around that water park and later got banned for life. I can just picture some teenager blowing his whistle at you while you dive past him down the slide. Classic David. I love you Dad and I'm excited to celebrate our birthdays together this weekend.

Kristy

39 Happy birthday David! Thank you for introducing me to world of food and fine living. I am better person because of it... or at least a little more wordly!

Trevor

40 David, you take care of everyone. You are one of the most generous people we know. You always help those in need, never looking for recognition. We love you and are grateful to have you in our lives.

Love, Cali and Joey Emig

41 Wow.. how amazing, I can't imagine David reading all of this but maybe he will!

I too love my Uncle David. What a caring and generous man. One of the best there is! Happy 50th!

Ashley Boice

42 Happy 50th Birthday David. Thanks for great friendship, fun, food, and fandom (byu cougars) over the years. From waffles and hot fudge sundaes in Brasil to California Pizza Kitchen in Orem - fun trips and visits, you are the greatest.

Love, The McKinnons - Brad, Sherry, and gang.

43 Uncle David, You are the bomb. When I think of you through my child eyes, You were the Uncle who took all of us crazy Earl kids and organized us into a fun game or competition. I think you may have invented ball tag at grandma Earl's pool! Sounds right, because it was super fun and a little dangerous.

You have refereed many cousin races and have always thrown in a motivating dollar or piece of candy. I remember visiting you all in California and you had some sort of motorcycle, and you tried your best to motivate me to take a ride, which I did but was terrified! If you were not so morally centered, you would have made a successful con artist! And I mean that as a compliment, cause you could con any of us into something fun no matter how terrified we thought we were!

I remember we had a run of intense monopoly board game throw downs at your house. You had several games set up and had us cousin's organized in age groups playing till a champion emerged. Then the champs played each other. I don't remember who they were, but I remember playing monopoly several Sundays in a row and all the delicious treats, and thinking this could happen every Sunday for the rest of my life!

I remember several road trips you included me on. One was to Big White Ski Resort, I think for Kacey's birthday. The van was full of girls and you let us sing at the top of our lungs the whole way there. There was a particular Celine Dion song that you allowed over and over! That song still makes me think of that trip! Another was to Silverwood, just for fun?! And you took us four, Kacey, Samantha, Myca and I, to the play Oklahoma in Spokane, complete with dinner at Cyrus O'Leary's!

And now when I think of you through my adult eyes, You are the Uncle who has saved my children in some real awful health emergencies! Iryk with weight checks as an infant, stitches, and a concussion; and Sibel having a crazy asthma attack. I know we are covered medically, anytime we are in Moses Lake!

And most importantly, I know you have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You may have teared up a couple of times when you've shared it!

Happy 50th Birthday Uncle David! Love you and your family!

Britney, Jason, Iryk, Sibel and Izlyn

44 I love to golf with David because I can usually beat him! No, really he's really fun and entertaining to be with. Happy Birthday!

Darin Calder

45 Dad, Your birthdays are always pretty uneventful because it is your style to give and give without receiving much yourself. If I had money I would fly us both to Oregon to play Bandon Dunes, but I don't, so we'll have to stick with blog posts for now. You have taught me so much and I consider myself lucky everyday that I have a father that I can look up to so proudly. Have a great birthday. I love you Dad.

Brad

46 Hi there Dave! Happy Birthday you old man! I knew you'd catch up with me!

Love, Owen

47 Dad, what more can I do to say I love you than to stay up way too late one night making sure you know how many people love you! :) Well, if this blog entry isn't loud enough, I love you dad and hope you have fantastic day!

Love, Kacey

48 When I first met you David I thought you would be taller, having such a tall daughter. But I soon realize you were definitely not lacking in personality. Happy 50 years!

Jon Wayne Nielsen

49 We love our Papa! Happy birthday. Are you going to eat M&Ms? Can you share some with me? (Rhode) I love you SOOO much! (Scarlet)

50 What can I say about someone I've spent over half my life with? By now, he's an appendage! We balance each other out perfectly... He always has a sunny disposition - I tend to be partly cloudy. He loves adventure - I like my comfort zone. He's the fun parent - I'm the queen of rules. He thinks he's invincible - I assume he's going to get hurt. He is trusting - I am skeptical. His first instinct is to say yes - my first instinct is to say no. He sees the good in everyone - I can be a tad bit judgmental. On the other hand... He is habitually late - I keep him aware of the time. He thinks rules are for other people - I try to keep him out of jail. He wants to golf all the time - I tell him no. He constantly loses things like keys, wallet and phone - I.. I.. Well I just get exasperated every time it happens and roll my eyes that he hasn't worked out a system yet, so I guess that doesn't really count as balance. (I bet you thought I was going to say that I help him find them, right? Wrong. I don't. He's a grown man, people. He's 50 years old for goodness sakes!)

David is one of a kind and I liked him from the minute I saw him on my first day at BYU. The best thing about David is that he loves me unconditionally. He doesn't try to change me at all. I, on the other hand, am determined to mold him into something truly great! I kinda wish he would do the same for me but it is kinda nice having someone think you're perfect just the way you are. That's the best gift he could ever give me and he gives it to me day after day after day. Ya gotta love him! And I do... all 50 years of him!!!

Love, Peggy

Happy 26th Birthday Kristy!

2011-08-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

I know most of you are not going to believe it but Kristy turns 26 today! I honestly can't believe she's that old. That's just a hop, skip and a jump to 30! (...but don't tell Kristy)

I can't do a birthday blog without pulling out a few old pictures. Birthdays just remind of of when they were young I guess! Kristy was a beautiful baby - she just was. Even with this frown, look at how adorable she was!!

Then this is her as Mickey Mouse at Halloween. Kacey was Minnie, of course. Kristy usually got the male counterpart of all costume themes. Yes, she was definitely a tomboy. (I wonder where that word comes from. I'll have to look that up someday.)

I pulled out this picture of her short, spiky haircut because I think it is just so cute on her. The camera has always loved Kristy. Right after she got this haircut in Seattle she had a modeling agent come up and give her her card.

It's funny because when I think back about Kristy's childhood, she ended up having more birthday parties than any of our other children. I kind of had an informal every four years policy on birthday parties, but with Kristy I really wanted to make sure that she had friends.

You see, Kristy was a great kid but she was... Kristy. It's just hard to describe her if you didn't know her then. Lovable yet annoying. Friendly yet mean. Sweet yet abusive. I just really wasn't sure how well she would play with others! So every time her birthday rolled around I would get this idea to throw Kristy an extra fun birthday party so that she would be sure to cultivate some friendships. The funny thing is, I did it almost every year forgetting that she had had a party the year before. It didn't help that her birthday was in August so it was natural party time anyway. The reality was that she had lots and lots of friends (there were a ton of girls her age) and they seemed to like her without any help from me! It makes me laugh now to think that I was worried!!

Kristy has just been called to teach seminary in her Bellevue stake. Wow! That's a big responsibility but they absolutely were inspired to choose her. I know she will do a great job. She has such a firm testimony and always has. I was a little worried about her going on a mission because I could just see her telling people that they were idiots if they couldn't see that the gospel was the greatest gift they would ever be given. I had visions of her throwing Books of Mormon at people's heads to knock some sense into them. Luckily, she survived and so did the people of Ireland - or so I heard. I know she will keep her students engaged, entertained and spiritually well fed.

Happy Birthday to one of my all time favorite people on this earth... who just happens to be my daughter!

And a belated Happy Birthday to Kristy's husband, Trevor, who also has an August birthday. I think he turned 26 too? I should probably know that. Trevor is a gem. We love him! But so far in-laws do not get birthday blog posts. I'm not sure why - that's just the rule... for now.

Kendall wins the title Distinguished Young Woman

2011-06-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! This is Kendall and for my mother's birthday I am going to make a whole blog about me and how wonderfully amazing I am. I know the whole family just did a blog post for her mother's day gift but she liked it so I'm just going to stick with it. Besides she's impossible to shop for. Or at least I think, I've never actually tried it before... (haha modern family)
Alright so this blog is a little behind the times since I received my title April 16. But that's okay I'll get you all caught up.
So as I said the program was April 16. The program was a lot of fun because all of the six contestants either had been a friend of mine or we became friends. Still I had been under the impression that family would come up to visit since it was such a big night for me. Sadly that was not the case. Sure I'm the last one in the family that can participate in the program and sure I was there supporting all of them but still I'm not important enough to come watch. Hahah no really it was because everyone would already be missing school and work for the cruise coming up in the next week they couldn't come up (Or so they tell me). But we did get Aunt Julie and Kristy to come up from Seattle!

The program was a Rockstar theme so for opening number we had eighties outfits. Eighties and rockstar pretty much go together right???

After that came the poise section of the night. We had so many different color of dresses up there and they were all beautiful! It was a great year for poise. And at the end of poise a group of boys came out and sang to us.

After that came talent. My talent was a clogging dance where I played a birthday girl who had just gotten dumped by her boyfriend moments before her big party. I absolutely LOVE my dance. It is so much fun and the crowd was perfect and made just the right sympathetic sounds.

Fitness was last and all I can say about that workout dance is that I made it through with a smile on my face! Although I've been told my facials need to be calmed down just a little. Apparently open mouthed smiled is not what they wanted to see every time I turned back to face the front....

After a fun filled night, it was finally time for the awards ceremony. The spirit of distinguished young women went to Avery Maxfield. The talent award went to Dayna Bergeson. The fitness award went to Samantha Calder. The interview, self-expression, and scholastic award went to me. At long last the results were read and Samantha got second finalist, Dayna got first finalist, and I got the title of Moses Lake's Distinguished Young Woman. No I did not get a crown. In fact, not only did I not get a crown but my medallion was actually sewed backwards. But hey, who's complaining?

I got a lot of congratulations, compliments on my dress, praise for my adorable solo... Yeah I really enjoyed that night.

Now I have had my title for about two months and I've gotten to do some fun things with it. First I got to be in a car for the lilac parade with America's DYW Rianne Jones. Then I got to run the chalk on the block for spring festival with my court (I think we did more drawing than anyone else there). After that we got to judge all the other floats that came to participate in our parade. And finally we got to be in our parade.

A funny story about our float... Originally our float was going to be a spring garden theme. We were all going to get to wear our beautiful colorful formals on it. I was very excited for it! Then Osama got killed. That one event led to our float changing from a bright happy float, to a more solemn patriotic float. And, we had to get brand new dresses. Luckily, it ended happily and we had a very nice patriotic float that our beautiful red, white, and blue dresses added the sparkle it needed.

Now I need to start preparing for state which is August 6.... Way too soon!!

Thank you so much mom for all your love and support! I could never have done it without you. Happy Birthday!!

This has been one crazy dance year!

2011-06-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

This has been the craziest year in dance! It all started with So You Think You Can Dance auditions in Salt Lake in January. Courtney, Kylie and one of our dancers and dear friends, Caitlynn Lawson, auditioned for the show. Kylie didn't really want to but we talked her into it hoping that Courtney and Kylie would be the sisters that they had to split up for drama on the show. (Dang it was Sasha and Talia that got the part!) All 3 girls made it past the first round so that was exciting! Kylie made it to the second round before getting cut - yay! Then Courtney made it to the third round before getting cut - double yay! And then Caitlynn they sent straight through to Vegas! We had a feeling they would love her but you just never know what to expect so we were all ecstatic!!

When the Salt Lake auditions aired they showed Courtney flipping her hair and they showed Kylie in some crowd scenes so we all got to scream with delight at our televisions which is always good fun! (I guess you can tell we are from a small town?) They didn't show nearly as much of Caitlynn as we had hoped. Nigel said that Caitlynn was his favorite girl of the day. Yes! So while we were waiting for things to progress on SYTYCD...

Then in February America's Got Talent came to Seattle and my partner, Lori, had the good idea to go audition so we took our oldest group of dancers at our studio (which includes Kendall and McKayla) and had them audition with a clogging number. We had to find a sub for Caitlynn because she was already committed to SYTYCD. It was crazy and fun and the girls did a great job. Long story, short... they made it all the way to dance in front of the celebrity judges and they put them through to Vegas! Funniest Howie line... ours was a clogging number and the girls were dressed in orange prison jumpsuits with handcuffs and Howie said, "I feel like I'm watching Lindsay Lohan the Musical!" It was hilarious and the judges talked about how much they all liked them but Howie thought they were good but just not quite edgy and exciting enough. Then Piers told Howie that he was crazy and had no idea what he was talking about! It was so awesome to have Piers go to battle for the girls and say how much he liked them and thought they were very edge and that it was a powerful performance!

It was a split vote with Howie voting no, Sharon voting yes, and Piers voting yes! Lori, Janet and I were standing offstage with Nick Cannon waiting for the verdict and then jumping up and down with Nick. It was awesome!

Sorry, Howie, but the edgiest that these sweet girls get is dressing up in prison garb and putting a scowl on their faces!

But getting voted through by the judges is just one more step... what they do on AGT is they let the judges put however many people through they want and then when they have been through all of the cities, the producers narrow down the Vegas round to ensure that they have a balanced amount of talent and not too many similar acts. So, sadly we found out about a week before the Vegas round that we would not be moving on. Darn! Oh well. The girls had a great time and the show treated us all really well! We would do it again in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, when the Seattle auditions aired they only showed glimpses of the girls. They showed them the most when they came back from a commercial and the girls shouted, "Seattle's Got Talent." Here is a still shot taken from the TV!

But Caitlynn's journey on SYTYCD is far from over... it's just beginning! She is in the Top 20 and we are all so excited for her!!! Caitlynn has always had that star quality. She is an amazing dancer and an even better human being. She started with us when she was 3 years old and was just this beautiful child with the most perfectly curled hair for performances. Her sense of timing and musicality was not quite developed... ha ha! But she was adorable and always tried her hardest. She has an amazing mother who guided her and drove her and practiced with her and supported her as she developed her talents. She was dancing with us just last week and now she's in the Top 20!!!

Me, Caitlynn and Lori Baker

I would love to take credit for Caitlynn's amazing dance abilities but there have been many, many people who have been integral to Caitlynn's training along the way. The majority of the credit goes to her! She is just a sponge that soaks up all the training that is presented to her. She is a hard, hard worker and she is the nicest, kindest girl who is generally more concerned about the people around her than she is about herself. Seriously, you would never believe that this girl is as sweet as she is! She has the highest moral standards and her integrity is unparalleled. You couldn't ask for a better role model for little girls to look up to. You would all love her if you knew her!

It should be noted that Caitlynn auditioned in Salt Lake with a solo that Courtney choreographed for her and I helped to fine tune. And she did that same solo in the Vegas round. How awesome is that! I should disclose that when I choreograph for Caitlynn it mainly consists of Caitlynn trying different things and me telling her whether I like them or not. Ha ha! I haven't taught Caitlynn anything in at least 4 years now! But little did I know that by guiding her as she did most of her own choreography, I was actually preparing her to sail through the choreography round in Vegas!! Who sails through the choreography round in Vegas? It's supposed to be drama and tears and breakdowns and sleepless nights. Her group actually got along really well, made their dance up quickly, rehearsed it, shopped for outfits and still got to bed at a decent hour. What the hec???? That never happens. (I wonder if she was wishing I was there to give her group a thumbs up or a thumbs down as they were choreographing? I bet she was!) Here is her choreography group...

Top 20!

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago, Caitlynn was here dancing with us. Unfortunately, she had to miss her last recital with us and she also has to miss high school graduation and Big Bend graduation because she is a running start student so she will be graduating high school with her Associate's Degree. Yes, she's smart too! I know - is there nothing this girl can't do?!!

Here is Caitlynn with Kendall (on left) and Ciarra (on right) in the opening of their contemporary number this year. I think this makes Kendall a Top 20 dancer once removed, right?!!!

Group huddle before competition. That's Kendall's face in top Left corner and that's Caitlynn on the right.

Hip Hop performance earlier this year...

Jazz Club Elite 2011 - We love our teammate, Caitlynn!!!

Back row: Caitlynn Lawson, McKenna Ries, McKayla Earl, Kendall Earl, Camiel Bruneel, Ciarra Garza
Front row: Sam Calder, Amber Frakes, McKenna Rutty, Chelsea Manly, Megan Roylance, Dayna Bergeson

Everyone needs to go to Caitlynn's fan page on Facebook today and "like" her. Then, hopefully, soon enough we can all be voting for her! You can also follow her on Twitter (which I am finally going to figure out what it is so that I can follow Caitlynn.)

Congratulations, Caitlynn! Everyone at TG and everyone in Moses Lake is so happy for you. Your dreams are coming true and no one is more deserving!!! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 21st Birthday, Courtney!

2011-05-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Courtney turns 21 today! This lucky girl gets to spend her 21st birthday in Preston, England because she is on a BYU European Study Tour. The trip is 5 weeks and she gets to visit Scotland (Edinburgh), England (Preston, Birmingham, London), Netherlands (Amsterdam), France (Paris), Switzerland (Bern, Gruyere, Wengen), Germany (Munich), Austria (Vienna), Italy (Padova, Parma, Florence, Perugia, Pescara and Rome.) Doesn't that sound awesome?

Since the tour is through the Marriott Business Department at BYU they get to visit various companies while they are over there such as: The Scottish Microelectronics Center, Kraft Foods Cadbury World, Flower Auction in Amsterdam, Mercer, Brinks, La Maison Du Gruyere Cheese Factory, BMW and KPMG, United Nations in Vienna, Barilla Pasta Factory, Perugia Chocolate Factory, Ducati Factory, Brioni Factory and Tailoring School, etc.

I am just so excited for her and all the things she will get to experience. I can't wait to hear about it. One of the chaperones is keeping a blog and I have added that link to my blog list so be sure to check it out if you are interested.

How do I possibly pay tribute to the 21 years that Courtney has graced our family? It's impossible to express how much joy and happiness she brings into our lives so I won't even try. Courtney is just an awesome girl. When she was little, Kylie (19 months younger) always hogged the attention and Courtney good-naturedly let her have it. I think Courtney was wise beyond her years and knew that Kylie had a need for the spotlight and Courtney didn't. Courtney was content to wait her turn. Kylie was always like, "Watch me dance" or "Listen to my song" etc. and then she would perform and it was usually pretty darn good or at least highly entertaining. Courtney never demanded attention, we usually had to beg her to do things so it was always surprising that she did them well. I think that's why to this day we are always blown away whenever Courtney performs because she is so good yet so humble. I guess it took us a while to figure out that just because Kylie told us she was going to do something spectacular and Courtney didn't, did not necessarily make it so! Ha ha!!

Courtney is just so humble about her talents and doesn't toot her own horn like some of the other members of our family. (I'm afraid it's true - Kylie is not the only child in our family who often spoke very highly of herself... cough... Kristy.) In all fairness, in our family you kind of have to be vocal or you get left at Dairy Queen or IHOP! Suffice it to say that Courtney has always been very quiet and unassuming and humble about her talents and abilities and she constantly surprises us and amazes us with what she can do. She is so multi-talented and everything is just more fun when Courtney's around!

I am attaching some recent videos so you can get a little insight into how fun it is to get to watch Courtney perform in whatever she does.

Here are just a few highlights from Dansport 2011. Courtney is on the BYU Backup Ballroom Team (2nd highest ballroom team at BYU.) She has auditioned for the BYU Touring Team (highest team) and will find out in a few weeks if she made it. It's such an honor to be selected for that team and there are so few spots. We are all crossing our fingers.

Some of the ballroom video is not that great - a little blurry and some of the sound is distorted. (I did my best but won't use that camera again. It's such a sacrifice to video because I just want to sit and enjoy it and then the darn camera doesn't cooperate. Ugh!) It's not too bad, though, and you get the idea. Courtney's partner is Tim Colvin and he is a great guy in so many ways. We are so glad that she has a good partner she can depend on because they go through a lot together. We love you, Tim! These dances are from the most recent Dansport Nationals at BYU in March 2011 where Courtney and Tim were the Prechamp Smooth National Champions! It was so exciting!!!

I think you can tell which one Courtney is. She has a red dress with gold that she wears for her Standard dances and a pink dress with a black bow on the back that she wears for her Smooth Dances. When they couples are paraded in for opening ceremonies, that is only for Amateur events which is the highest level at Dansport. This was the first year that Courtney got to participate in that. I just love watching her. I wish all her friends and family could be there because you would love it. I'm so glad Cali, Ashley, Kaelynn and Brooklyn got to come!

Last Christmas, when our cruise was postponed we spent the holiday together in California. Kacey decided that we would have a family talent show (probably mostly because she wanted Rhode and Scarlet to perform.) Well, I was highly doubtful that everyone would be willing to participate because, let's be honest, no matter how good your talent is it just won't compare to anything that the adorable grandchildren do. Right? But when Kacey gives an edict... people snap to attention... including me and David! (Some would call it being a good leader but we just call it being bossy!)

So the true boss of our family organized a talent show and there was a punishment for not participating but I can't remember what it was. Maybe dishes for the entire trip? Whatever it was, it was bad enough that everyone participated. Permission was granted to team up. Here is Courtney and Kylie's talent show entry, an original version of "Gold Digger" by two BYU co-eds. We loved it!

I know everyone is wanting to see the other talent show entries from the fam. I have been keeping you in suspense for months now just so you will truly appreciate it when they are posted (and because it takes me forever to get from camera to computer to blog - but I'm getting better!)

So it's easy to see why we love having Courtney in our family. She is smart and funny and talented and kind and generous and just an all around gem! Did I mention she's beautiful too? She doesn't think she is but she is! And she's even more beautiful on the inside!!

Courtney, we are your biggest fans. We look forward to any time that we get to spend with you. Thanks for all that you do to contribute to our family dynamic. Eternity is going to be a blast! Have a spectacular time on your trip. We miss you but we are so happy that you get this experience. Treasure it!

Happy 21st Birthday! We love you!!

Another installment of Peggy's Pearls...

2011-05-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy but in a really good way! I am way behind on blogging and need to catch up so I don't really have time for this, but it's been a long while since I've posted one of Peggy's Pearls. I came across this excerpt from an article by the Church's Head of Public Affairs, Michael Otterson.

There has been a series of interesting events and/or notable people that have sparked interest in the church recently like Jimmermania, Brandon Davies' honor code violation, Book of Mormon the Musical on Broadway, possible presidential bids from Romney and Huntsman, Marie Osmond's remarriage to her first husband - BYU basketball star Steve Craig, etc. etc.

I enjoyed this article and I agree that these were three important things people should know about Mormons. It also served as a reminder to me to take a look at myself and be sure that I am doing an adequate job of practicing what I preach. I think I'm doing okay but always plenty of room for improvement!

Here is the excerpt from the article...

Perhaps most significantly as the church grows, more people have a Mormon co-worker, neighbor, or friend. And, as people get to know Mormons they get a clearer, fuller, and more accurate picture of our faith. This is vital, since real understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lags far behind its visibility.

In that vein, let me offer three things you should know about Mormons which are neither trivial nor stereotypical.

1. Mormons follow Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God and at the center of our belief and – to the best of our ability – our behavior. Some people like to define “Christian” in very precise and narrow terms. To me, it’s quite simple. We try to reflect Jesus Christ’s teachings in our lives and rely on his love and mercy when we make mistakes.

2. Mormons are friends of the family. Many of those who know Latter-day Saints realize how important the family is to us. Ideally, that means a mother, father, and their children. Today’s reality, though, means that sometimes we have broken families, remarriages, and single parents. And a large proportion of our church membership is single adults. Still, the nuclear family lies deep at the core of our belief about the purpose of life and the nature of God. It is, we believe, the fundamental unit of our society and of the eternities. While the traditional family is increasingly under threat, Mormons continue to sustain it as part of the divine order and the ballast of society.

3.Mormons are big on incorporating their religious beliefs into their day-to-day actions. Service is a hugely important principle, whether serving in the church or out of it. For some, that means partnering with others to help the people of Haiti or Japan. For others, it’s cooking a meal for a sick neighbor. At whatever level, service is as much a part of our religious culture as going to church on Sunday.

The first presidency of the Church:

Henry B. Eyring, Thomas S. Monson (president), Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The quorum of the twelve apostles

The pictures were not in the article. I added them for interest and for those who can't stand to read anything without pictures (like me!) I firmly believe that I would not be the person I am today without the guidance and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The church does not force me to do anything. It teaches me divine principles and let's me decide for myself. I feel like the LDS doctrine is a recipe for happiness and if you follow it as outlined (like a tried and true cooking recipe), happiness is guaranteed. That doesn't mean that we will always get what we want or that we are promised a life without sadness or tragedy or disappointment, but knowing why we are here and where we are going gives us the perspective to deal with life's ups and downs and still be happy.

I am so grateful for the restored gospel and I cherish Sundays and the opportunity it gives us all to dwell on those things. The peace and contentment that the gospel brings is a gift that I wish I could give to everyone. The missionaries spend every day for two years trying to give it away. It's kind of funny when you think that those two young men in white shirts, bad ties and dorky bike helmets (not to mention sisters in skirts of various extremely unflattering lengths) knocking on your door are actually giving away a gift beyond measure - the chance to hear the gospel. It's ironic that the unimportant things in this life are wrapped up in beautiful packaging both literally and metaphorically and are accessible to only a very small percentage of the world's population. Yet, the key to true happiness is free and easily accessible and even comes knocking at your door occasionally but most people don't realize what it is when they see it. The image of it makes me chuckle yet it's so sad at the same time.

I didn't mean to wax so philosophical, I just wanted to share those 3 things I came across and it just reminded me how grateful I am.

The Best Mother's Day Present Ever!

2011-05-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy that not only have I not had time to update my blog but I've haven't even been able to keep up with reading other people's blogs. I love doing both so it's hard not to have enough time to get to it. But I had a few minutes before church so I thought I'd look at the blogs and try and get caught up. Imagine my surprise when I see a recent post on my own blog about our recent vacation! I had to blink and look 2 or 3 times to make sure I was on my own blog. (Okay, so the surprise took a few seconds to sink in - I'm not that bright!)

Oh man what a great present! It brought my heart so much joy that I could hardly contain myself. I was thoroughly entertained and touched by each entry. I laughed. I cried. Thank you all so much. And thank you to Kacey who spearheaded the effort. Wow! It was the best present ever!!!

I do have just a couple of disclaimers, though. We actually had 5 staterooms for the 13 of us and not 4, as Kristy stated. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression and picture us as the cruise version of the family who houses 4 generations in a 3 bedroom house and parks our cars on the lawn. It was close but it wasn't that bad!

Also Kylie referred to our family as a "good looking bunch." I'm not sure it's okay to call yourself good looking unless you're Kristy. She does it and, for some reason, it's just not offensive when she does. If Kristy feels she is looking good, she will be the first to admit it and I admire that. Why wait for compliments? Just start dishing them out yourself. What I think Kylie meant is that we are good looking compared to what we looked like before we all got cleaned up for dinner. I think the final picture (when compared to the way we looked just an hour before) would have be considered good looking based on the marked improvement!

And the last thing I would like to address is our quest for the cheap, plastic, gold-colored cruise ship trophies that were being given out as prizes for different contests. I'd like to tell you that it's absolutely not true that I suggested we cheat... but I cant. Kristy is the one who wanted the trophy so badly and I just had to get it for her. Thank goodness it didn't cost money to enter the contests or I would have been one of those crazy people at fairs who spend $100 to win a $5 stuffed animal.

Okay, now I'm not claiming that individually my family members (including myself) are anything to brag about, but collectively...? And then you throw in our amazing sons-in-law...? I mean, come on! We could balance the national budget by the time the Jeopardy music ran out! Well, at first it was just surprising that we were getting beat by some less-than-stellar-looking teams. But after a while I was fairly confident that there was a certain amount of dishonesty going on out there as people were scoring their own answers and that was bugging me. I am no cheater! My husband and family can attest to that. Winning by cheating is no win at all! But I must have been dehydrated or something and starting to hallucinate because it is true that I did suggest that we find a more creative way to score so that we could get our hands on that darn .25 cent trophy because I knew that we deserved it! I am not proud of my actions. It was probably just a mild form of scurvy but I did have to have my children remind me that a tainted win was not worth it.

Other than that, they got it all just about right. It was a great trip and I just love being with my family. We "get" each other. No explanation necessary. I guess that's what makes family great.

I love, love, love my kids, my kids-in-law and my grandkids! And I thank them from the bottom of my heart for the best Mother's Day present ever!!

PS - So since you guys are so good at it and since I have a 50th birthday coming up next month, how about we parcel out the past blog entries that need to be done... September trip to Paris, Christmas in California (I'm hoping to somehow copy Kacey's blog post over to mine), Kendall wins Junior Miss, and so on. Any takers?

Earl Family Cruise - Day 7

2011-05-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

And Kacey here, back to wrap up this whole week of adventure.

Our last day on the ship was another at sea, windy, cold day so we had to come up with our own adventures.

But before I get to the adventures, I want to backtrack to some of the other daily adventures we enjoyed throughout the week.

Eating: Always a great experience on a cruise. Our group was so big we always had to split between two tables.

I didn't notice the trend at first, but I soon caught on that the desired table to choose was the one that I was not sitting at. I wonder why...

We ate at the restaurant for almost every meal. Jon commented that while it was kind of fun to order as many appetizers as he wants, it is not that different from his real life. He gets hungry, and someone makes him good food.

I, on the other hand, as the creator of that deliciously scheduled food, very much appreciated my week free of dishes, cooking, chopping, grocery shopping, not to mention bed making, room cleaning... it was heavenly.

Think how relaxing my week could have been without the added belly bulge and two appendages my parents lovingly refer to as the grandchildren. Thankfully the drinking age on the ship was pretty lax...

Just kidding... though they did keep trying to serve me alcohol. Seriously people? Do we need more screwed up babies in this world?

Our waiters were also frequently disrupted from our several course dinners to bust a move. It was mildly entertaining, until we made Courtney and Scarlet go up and join them one evening.

And Courtney says she is always left out. Look at the fun we let her have sometimes!

And back to day 7. We all had one goal of the day, to win a cheap plastic cruise shaped trophy. It was really Kristy's goal, but, having nothing better to do, we all adopted it as our own. The day was full of different trivia games and we were determined to be the winner at one of them.

My kids spent their second full hour of the whole week at "Camp Carnival" (aka daycare, which by the way most parents were dropping of their kids full time, even when they left the ship) and I joined the trivia seeking bunch. We combined all of our skill efforts and competed in the following:

Fact or Fiction

Ultimate Mind Game

Scattegories

Super Duper Trivia

Triviathon: Slogans

Triviathon: 80's Guess that Song

How many trophies did we come home with, you ask? Two? Three?

Try zero. My mom was so ticked by the end, convinced all of the "winners" were just adding a few points at the end she was seriously ready to just announce us as the winners no matter what score we got. We convinced her the high honor of the lead painted cruise ship would be forever ruined with our deceit. So instead we just lost a lot of trivia games.

The last show of the evening was called "Carnival Legends" where our fellow cruise attendees dressed up as famous people (i.e. Britney Spears, Madonna) and sang on stage. After witnessing a few rounds of karaoke on the ship, we steered clear of that promising evening and found an abandoned trivia room to play a little Trivial Pursuit, Team Edition. I should mention we found the abandoned room after my dad politely kicked us out of his cabin, claiming our combined body heat and utter disregard for his well made bed made us unwanted guests.

We didn't get around to doing more than throwing out a few random questions so officially decide which of us was actually the smartest, but it was a great way to spend our final evening. We laughed, wrestled around with the kids one last time and enjoyed just being together. It was such a great experience to be able to go on such a fun vacation with all of us, but I think we all realized we tend to have fun wherever we go. The cruise was just icing on our already happy cake family.

Too soon it was morning and time to send the airport people off, the college people off, and make the drive back home. My kids still ask when we get to go on the boat again, but more frequently they ask when we will see Grandma Peggy again.

Happy Mother's Day, mom. We really are grateful to be your children.

Earl Family Cruise- Day 6

2011-05-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Heyo, this is Bryan. I got assigned basically one of the easiest days, most likely because this family knows how lazy I am. Anyway the 6th day was basically just lounging about the ship, eating and napping and whatnot. It was a cold and windy day so swimming and laying out in the sun was not all that fun. We even tried to play mini golf on the top deck but it was like trying to hit the ball in a hurricane. You would set it down at the beginning of the hole and it would instantly roll off the green.

We decided to go play bingo and then they gave out ridiculously low prizes. Like $200 was the top prize, when they had at least 300 people playing who each payed $20. Which is just dumb. Especially when there are 10 of us and none of us win.

So after our bad experience at bingo, everyone most likely ate a before-dinner meal (I know Brad and I did) because it was free and delicious. Then we got all dressed up for dinner and took a bunch of pictures. I'm not going to show any of the good ones because seriously, how many pictures of us looking happy and smiling do you really need to see? Here is what we were really thinking the whole time.

You are lucky we are stuck together forever because a week with you family is making me crazy!

This is what we look like when someone makes us wake up before 10 a.m.

What Jon and Kacey really thought about having to bring their kids along on the cruise.

Sorry, we tried our hardest to take a bad picture, but we are just too good looking.

And... I can't post a bad picture of Kacey. She's extra bossy and cranky when she's pregnant.

And... since its Mother's Day...

After all of the pictures. we all had a wonderful dinner (with at least 2 desserts for each person). There was a short moment when Brad talked me into ordering the Escargot, promising me it was really delicious and that he was excited to order it himself. I felt kinda dumb until I found out Jon Wayne had ordered it without being tricked and eaten it. Now who looks like the dumb one!

After dinner we went to one of the last shows on the cruise called "Vroom." The cruise dancers did remakes to lots of rock and roll songs that everyone in the audience knew. My sisters say the dancing was much better in the one than the others. I just liked the full sized bobble head Beatles dancers and the crazy laser show in the middle.

One of the dancers looked EXACTLY like Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite so every time he did anything he looked funny doing it. We were all actually enjoying ourselves when two guys came out dressed in costumes that could only be describe as "Hot Cops" (look how hot they are!) dancing to "Macho Man". One of them was Pedro and then they both took off their shirts and started waving them around. We all thought "oh, thats kind of funny I guess," then they took off their pants and were wearing something basically just a little bigger than a speedo and started dancing. Scarlet and Rhode got to stay up for the show this night and we all looked accusingly at Jon and Kacey for letting their children see a strip show. It got even worse when the Village people came out for YMCA not wearing much more that the stripping cops. The girls may not have appreciated this as much but seeing Pedro dancing almost naked was basically the funniest thing I saw on the cruise... it was hysterical.

Earl Family Cruise - Day 5

2011-05-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

For my (Courtney) blog post I decided that I needed to give out awards to the deserving participants of our family cruise. For those of you who didn't realize that our reunion was a constant competition of who is the smartest, best looking, most athletic...etc, then you probably aren't an Earl....

It's no shock to any of you that I win the most awkwardly quiet award (I was actually the only one in our family eligible for this award ever since Rhode learned how to talk). So I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking in this blog.

The competition started out with a nice little van drive over to a waterpark called Aquaventura. Dad almost took the Gringo Translator Award with his bilingual skills in portuspanglish getting us there, but Trevor pulled ahead at the last second by scoring us some taxi rides back home. Trevor wins! (Although I think that they might have both been disqualified because of how much sunblock they had to put on in the water park...embarrassing)

So we went to the park and watched a dolphin show. We watched the trainers being launched in the air and doing back flips and were all wondering the same thing... How in the world is swimming with sea lions going to be cooler than this?

But we had faith in my dad's patient who told him that our "swim with the sea lions tour" we had pre-signed up for would be more fun than swimming with the dolphins. This is our excited faces as we were lead to the pool to go meet the sea lions...

...and this is Pepe...

Yup... This is about how interested we were in learning about sea lions. (How fast can those dolphins swim?)

I'm pretty sure that this next conversation went like this...
Kristy: How long do we have to pet this thing for?
Trevor: I don't know... I'm going to pretend to be excited and give a thumbs up so they don't see how weird this actually it.

Turns out they changed the program so you don't get to actually swim with the sea lion (turns out, its kind of dangerous, whoda thought?). But you do get to watch it do poses and you get to pet it while it lays there like a tub of lard in front of you. (I think it would have actually been less gross to pet a tub of lard) Luckily we got a nice award out of this and so the Best sea lion picture goes to Mom!

(although I'm not really sure it was a fair competition because this was the only time that Pepe decided to do anything cool)

Luckily for us, Mexicans don't like to give money back and dad is good at pretending like he is rich so we got a free lunch and we got to visit with the dolphins later that day! Dad gets the King of getting whatever he wants award for that display.

Sidenote: At lunch our table was swarming with bees. Kacey made us all feel stupid for being afraid of them because of course "if you leave them alone they wont sting you." Let me tell you, I was about two seconds away from crying and showing her kids my bee sting so they would be scared of bees forever just to get back at her...

So this is our newest friend Dori...

Yeah I know... Bring back Pepe! We want to see some more of that beastly face and moldy fur! But I guess Dori will just have to do.

We got to feel, shake hands, and even kiss the dolphin. (I guess it's ok for dolphins to give out their kisses like pretzels) Although this picture was a great contender for best dolphin picture, unfortunately it lacked the kind of dedication that it takes to be a winner. (Scarlet couldn't reach the dolphin on her own...aren't you Kacey's kid?) But there is nothing cuter than seeing a baby kiss a dolphin.

And the Best picture with a Dolphin award goes to Mom! Just look as she accepts that kiss with such style in her designer sunglasses. Plus it's mothers day. (Kylie stop crying...The judges were sick of talking about how cute you were when you were little...)

Here is a shout out to my father who for once actually looks blind in one eye in this picture.

So what's my excuse?....

We also had a great day just running around and going on all the different slides. This also opened up a lot of opportunities for awards. First we are going to start with the best toilet bowl slide picture. To explain, the toilet bowl slide is a crazy contraption. You jet down this water slide at full speed and it launches you into this circular bowl. You take a few speedy circles around the tube until you go falling out the bottom.

Now you would think that Brad would have won because he is the biggest (fattest?) and could go down the slide the fastest.

Or it could have gone to Jon Wayne who likes to pose for the camera while he is going down.

But no.... Neither of them are writing this day's blog... So the award for Best toilet bowl picture goes to me! (Courtney... in case you forgot who I was because of the middle child curse) I won because I'm pretty sure this looks exactly like what Barbies look like when they get flushed down the toilet.

You have to look closely at this next picture to see what exactly is going on but Scarlet is "helping" Rhode go down the slide by bossing him around and making sure that he is waiting for his turn.

So the award for having kids who are exactly like you goes to Kacey! (Kacey just called to order me to finish my blog right now...some things never change)

After the eventful time at the water park, all the competitors walked down the beach of Puerto Villarta. There were many different interesting things along the way. This is one of the first things that we saw.

Yes... he stacks rocks for a living. At first, you might think it is a little pathetic. But your next thought is probably...this is what Bryan can do! So the Finally we found some useful skill for this kid award goes to Bryan! We were all so happy to find something that our poor little Bryan might actually be able to accomplish with his life. (I think this might be his first award ever)

Joking Bryan... we all know those rocks would be too heavy for you to lift...

There were also a lot of sand castle artists that we enjoyed looking at along the way. There was one certain piece of artwork that was my personal favorite. In case you can't tell, it is a sculpture of the last supper made out of sand.

Yeah, it was pretty amazing. So the Something Jon Wayne can't do award goes to.... Jose? Carlos? Juan?.... I'm sure one of them is right.

Then we all went back on the ship and ate dinner after a long day of competing. It really was such a fun time for us all. I think most of us would agree that Puerto Villarta wins the Best day of the vacation award. Not because of all the fun things that we got to do... Mostly because we got to do them with each other. I am so blessed to have been born into such a great family. And even more blessed to have such an incredible mother! We would be nothing without you mom. I love you and Happy Mothers Day!

Earl Family Cruise - Day 4

2011-05-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hey this is Kendall! I got the task of Day 4 of the cruise, our second day in Cabo. This day started off with splitting into two groups, the tough ones and the weak ones. Alright alright we won't call them that. We'll call the two groups the Swikers and the Shoppers.

For those of you who don't know, Swiking is a combination of hiking and swimming. Jon led dad, Brad, Bryan, Courtney, and me over rocks and through water on a swike to Lover's Beach.

We got to go see the Arch up close until we were shooed away for "our own safety". Then we got to sit around waiting for the shoppers to show up so that we could get some dry clothes and towels.

The shoppers had a great start to their day in Cabo too. The shoppers included mom, Kacey, Kristy, Trevor, Kylie, Scarlet, and Rhode. When they got off the boat they straight away went to go take pictures with a lion and tiger cub. Kristy's tiger cub started to bite at her so it got taken away...
Then they actually did some shopping and Scarlet got a beautiful necklace which she bargained down for all by herself. She informed the very nice sales lady that she only had a few birthday dollars left and the lady let her buy it anyway. So far she hasn't tried the strategy at Walmart... yet. The necklace was popular at first but was quickly misplaced until her very dutiful and loving aunt Kendall found it in her bag.Finally the Shoppers came to Lover's Beach to give much needed food and clothing to the Swikers. We all chilled for a bit on the beach. Which was mostly just a lot of sitting and picture taking...

Getting back on the water taxi was an adventure. One of our favorite parts about sitting on the beach was watching all of the workers try desperately to get large tourists hoisted up onto their boats to get them off the beach. The water came in fast so it was usually a one shot effort to get them on or off. Sometimes it took two or three people to get a particularly large tourist back into their boat. A blooper reel of some of the fantastic wipe outs we saw.... well it would be legendary.

And we laughed about it up until it was our turn to do the boarding. The water had picked up speed and our boat was having a really hard time staying close to the shore. Us smaller people were literally tossed onto the boat while the more fragile ones (well pretty much the pregnant Kacey) had to time well and pray with all their might that they would not be making any other beach walkers blooper reels. We all made it, Rhode told us that was the best part of the day, and we sailed back to the ship. Back to our 5 course meals and chocolate melting cake.

Earl Family Cruise Day 3

2011-05-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Brad will be our Day three emcee.

Day 3 of the cruise was our first day in Cabo San Lucas. Everyone but me had already been to Mexico multiple times so there were different levels of excitement for being in Mexico. We planned to go to Chilleno Bay, which is about 15 miles from Cabo. Jon warned us about all the merchants that would be bothering us as we walked down the docks and, for being such nice people, I would say we did an excellent job of ignoring just about everyone in our path.

The only distraction we had was the "Take a picture with a lion and tiger." It's not everyday you see a baby tiger. We were able to say no for now but that didn't last long. Kristy knew that she had to get her picture taken with that tiger before she left, but more about that later. We were able to find some taxis big enough to take us all over to the beach thanks to the espanol skills of Dad and Trevor (emphasis on the Trevor part of that duo). Mom likes to joke that mine and Jon's mission experiences are totally useless to the family. I just say we need to go on some bigger vacations to Eastern Europe and Korea. But anyways, we got to the beach and had a great time. We found some great snorkeling spots and just hung out on the beach. Luckily only Jon and Trevor were stung by sea creatures and none of the wimpier people (myself included) had any problems with out aquatic friends. Here are some pictures from Chilleno Bay:

Scarlet found some seashells while swimming in the ocean

Lookin good guys

Chilleno Bay

Courtney and Kylie enjoying the waves

"This will protect me from the hot Mexican sun" -Buster Bluth

Scarlet was loving the water. We couldn't get her out of it!

Courtney and Kylie even entertained us with a little synchronized ocean swimming

But it's all fun and games until...

Someone drops their older sister on their head.

After we had enough of the beach we took taxis back to the city and got dropped off at a local place that made some really good pork tacos.

Then we got back on the ship, enjoyed a very funny prop comedy routine (so funny even Scarlet got a few of the jokes) and passed out. It was such a fun day but that Mexican heat really took it out of us!

Earl Family Cruise- Day 2

2011-05-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's my turn (Kylie) to tell you all about Day 2: Our First Day at Sea. In my opinion, pictures say it best. So here goes.

The day started with a little bit of lounging, reading, and enjoying the beautiful sunshine up by the Lido deck.

Scarlet showed off her hot swimming bod. There was a photographer going aroung taking pictures of people in these sailor hats. I guarantee that Scarlet and Rhode wore it best. The best part of lounging next to the Lido deck is the fact that the ice cream machine happens to be located on the Lido deck, meaning that never-ending ice cream was always just a few steps away. All of us, especially Scarlet and Rhode, were pretty stoked about that. And they were surprisingly good at sharing to so kudos to you Kacey, you must be doing something right.

That night was the first formal dinner where everyone is supposed to dress up for the dining hall, and so my mom decided it was the perfect time to snap some precious family pics. We got all done up in our matching red, white, and black, and were looking pretty good if I do say so myself.

And now, prepare yourself for some serious adorableness, because Scarlet and Rhode all dressed up is just about as adorable as it gets. Look at that suit! And those curls! oh my, its just too much cuteness.
Here's the rest of us, looking good but significantly less cute.
Mom and Dad
Jon Wayne, Rhode, Kacey, and Scarlet, who was a little nervous to be close to the ocean.
Kristy and Trevor
Bryan and Brad
All the single ladies

Yeah did I mention we were a good looking group? After dinner, some of us headed over to the Karaoke lounge because we felt like torturing ourselves apparently. I have a very hard time believing that those people were drunk enough to really believe they sounded good, but hey I guess it's possible.

Luckily at least one talented, sober person graced the stage for a brief but show-stopping moment (**comment added by Kacey)

After that, it was time for bed and on to day three.

Earl Family Cruise Day 1

2011-05-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Kristy here to fill you in on day one of our Earl Family Cruise.

The day of the cruise had finally arrived. Six of us flew over from Seattle in the tiny sardine plane to Long Beach, Jon and Kacey flew from Spokane, and the rest of the college kids drove from Vegas with Kacey's kids. It was so much fun to be reunited again. Brad, Courtney and Kylie were in charge of having some Easter fun with Rhode and Scarlet before they headed out on the road. The kids loved it and had loads of candy left for the drive over. Brad said they literally ate candy the entire drive over.

{Funny Story- After eating most of her candy, Scarlet told Brad that her ears were starting to hurt her. Being the great uncle he is, Brad explained to her that her ears hurt because she had eaten so much candy that it was now coming out of her ears. Kylie sweetened the story by looking in Scarlet's ear and saying, "I think I see a jellybean in there." After that comment Scarlet just lost it and burst into tears screaming, "I don't want candy to come out of my ears, just my mouth!" I think they told her the truth...eventually.}

After waiting in every single line imaginable we arrived to see this beautiful site.

It really is amazing just how huge these ships are. We had such high hopes for our trip and then we walked in and saw this...

Yep, this is the decor we were stuck looking at for a week. One reviewer described the color scheme as "pink zebra." Rhode, on the other hand, described everything he saw as "so beautiful". We all think Kacey should rethink her assurance that he isn't colorblind.

For those of you who haven't been on a cruise let me tell you that the first day is the worst. It starts off with finding your rooms. Trevor and I sweet-talked our way into the first room and we loved it. I usually am not impressed with hotel bedding but it was heaven. Plus when you turned off the lights it was pitch black and if you wanted to you could sleep all day long.

Everyone else had a harder time finding the perfect room arrangement. We had four rooms all together. The original plan was to put Rhode in with the boys to give Jon and Kacey a break but the bunk beds were super high because they came out of the ceiling. Rhode is a crazy roller at night and we decided he was too cute to lose so Kacey and Jon were stuck with both of their kids. Courtney, Kylie and Kendall were in one room and Brad and Bryan somehow scored their own room.

Right when we had started relaxing in our rooms we heard the siren that meant it was time to go to our muster stations for the safety drill. All we did was line up with all of other people in our designated area and listen to the unintelligible Charlie Brown style announcement.

{Funny story- Kacey had a fun time with this because her kids were being stinkers and wouldn't sit still so she bent down to help them and lost her balance and crashed into the people behind her. Of course it would have been more hilarious if she had done this in the front row just to see how many people she could take out.}

Another fun part about the first day is you're always waiting for your luggage to arrive at your door. In our case, luggage was mixed up and we all ended up with each other's luggage. We sorted it all out and unpacked our stuff just in time for dinner.

Dinner was the greatest. My favorite part was the never-ending fresh warm bread that our waiters would bring us. Some meals were better than others but it was always pretty good. The funny part is that most waiters are nice to you because they want a nice tip but the only time ours ever spoke to us was when Courtney ordered a lot of food and he made a pig noise. I will admit it's a little awkward with so much gluttony when you're being served by people from poor countries. You could always feel their judging eyes and picture them thinking "this plate could feed my entire village" as they take your uneaten food away.

After dinner we headed to the first entertainment show and met our soon-to-be nemesis, Felipe. Felipe was our overly-peppy cruise director who kept trying to get all cruise members to say "woo-hoo" every time we saw him or anyone else to remind us how much FUN we were having. Felipe was everywhere, he heard his voice multiple times a day and he was always on the huge screens throughout the ship. This guy even had a morning show where him and his buddy would wait for cruise members to call in and discuss the daily topic. It was torture. We weren't surprised when we heard that the channel with the ship's front camera got more viewers than his talk show.

But luckily, every other cruise day was more and more fantastic than the last. To continue our story...

Earl Family Cruise - Intro

2011-05-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Kacey here.

For those of you who don't know, for several years now my mom has asked us to forgo gifts in exchange for memories from our childhood. This includes Christmas, birthday, and mother's day. You would think that would be an easy exchange... but a few years later and we are all running a little low on memories. Its not like we didn't have fantastic childhoods but remembering stuff? Once we got past all of the obvious ones, wrote down a few "half-remembered" ones supplemented with pictures, and even hit the "I am pretty sure this happened to me and not in a movie I saw one" ones, we were all running a little low.

That is when we came up with our fantastic Mother's Day plan. We would save my mom the trouble of writing her cruise blog! Seven days, seven of us, now that is too much of a coincidence to pass up on!

So here it is mom, straight from us to you to let you know how much we love and appreciate you. Thank you for letting us enjoy this week together, thank you for being our mom, thank you for being so behind in your blogging that we knew you wouldn't get to it before we did, and mostly thank you for putting up with all of us!

From all of us,

Love, Kacey, Kristy, Brad, Courtney, Kylie, Kendall & Bryan

Happy 17th birthday Kendall!

2011-01-29T20:52:00.001-08:00

Kendall is 17! Her birthday was last Thursday, the 27th. (Yeah, I know I'm late - you didn't have to mention it!)

Look at this cutie patutie! Kendall is just a doll. She's a sweetheart who gets along with everyone she meets. She has such a kind heart and a great sense of humor. She does have her occasional moods (in spite of me telling her to snap out of it because she's not a moody person) but all in all she is happy and pleasant and fun.

I am really enjoying her company as the last girl in the house and I'm especially enjoying her clean room! (That counts for a lot in the quest to be the favorite child!!) She is so helpful and considerate and just plain fun to have around. I just love this girl!

For her birthday, she and her "twin sister from another mother" (Chelsea) decided to spend their birthday shopping out of town. So the two of them headed to Tri-Cities armed only with a GPS and a credit card. They made it back alive! The credit cards were well worn but the car was in good shape so all is well.

Kendall thought that the shopping day was her only present but we had a surprise for her (and by we, I mean I! Although David does get the credit for saying yes and paying for it, so I guess that counts for something.)

Here is a picture of Loola Mae just before Kendall's family party. (This is for Kylie.)

We called Kendall in to open a plethora of presents wrapped in pink. Each present had something to do with the color pink. There was a coloring book, a cook book, socks, headphones, dominoes, an umbrella, a Barbie DVD, candy, etc. and it was all pink. It was so cute because she was thrilled with each little present. I thought for sure she would get a funny look on her face that meant, "What the hec is with all these weird pink presents." But she is our sweet little Kendall and seemed happy and grateful for each one.

The very last gift she opened up was tickets for her and a few friends (plus mom - yay!) to see "Legally Blonde the Musical" in Spokane in February!

Happy Birthday, Kendall! Thanks for filling our house with love and laughter. (It's a big house so that's a lot of love and laughter!)

We love you!!!

Help!

2011-01-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's about time to publish my 3 years worth of blogging. (So much for the goal of doing it yearly!) Help! I don't know anything about it - who, what, where, how? Is it easy? hard? affordable? expensive? I need some expert advice and I know it's out there...

Thank you - in advance!

Mockingjay Rebuttal and Blogging Etiquette...

2011-01-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that at least some people agreed with me and really surprised that more didn't. I was quite flabbergasted that most of my offspring disagreed with me! What the hec??? I guess everyone has a right to their opinion - even if it's wrong. Ha Ha!

As I was discussing it in person with a few people, I remembered that I liked the first book more than I admitted in my review. I remembered that there were quite a few moments when I was lost in Suzanne Collins' imaginary games. So I just want to be sure to give credit where credit is due. (I'm sure that will mean the world to her!)

I do have to wonder if some of my kids were "skimming?" Some of the missing details may not have been so apparent if one were skimming. I am not a good skimmer. I don't know why but I'm just sure I am going to miss vital information if I don't read every word. It's not a conscious choice, I just can't skim.

I loved all of your comments (except Kacey's - her opinion means more to me than most and she didn't even share it in detail so let's make her all feel bad about that.)

Kathy - no one has ever called me a supermodel before and I'm sure no one ever will again. You were already one of my favorite people but now you have been inducted into my personal Hall of Fame. (Sorry, there's no trophy or plaque... not even a t-shirt.) Congratulations!

Brenda - you called me adorable and that is so generous! It's not enough to get you into the Hall of Fame but... a few more comments like that and you can expect an invitation in the future.

Blogging etiquette:

Non-bloggers don't understand that comments mean a lot to a blogger. Not all readers realize that the comments are often more interesting than the blog. I'll often ask David what he thought of so-and-so's comments and he tells me, "I don't read the comments." I tell him that he is missing out and he needs to read the comments.

When Kacey first started her blog I would read it but I wouldn't comment because I didn't know how, but I didn't think it was a big deal. It became apparent that it meant something to Kacey so I figured out how to comment and tried to leave one when I read her entries which was an easy and fun thing to do once I understood it.

When I started my own blog, then I finally understood about the comments! It's so nice to know who is reading your blog even if someone just says "Hi!" Then some of the comments are so hilarious. Jared Bates' comments are a treat! He is so funny. So is Angie. It must run in the family! Comments are just plain fun to get.

I am thrilled that people actually take time to read my blog. That's not really why I do it. I do it mostly as a record for me of the things that are going on and I think that's why most people do it, but it's so fun to hear back from cyberspace. It is so nice to stay connected with friends and family and even nicer to find you have a connection with people you barely know and get to become better friends with them in this way. It cracks me up when people shamefully admit that they blogstalk me. No shame in that. Blogstalk away! You're all invited!!!

Now, even though I know how to comment, it doesn't always mean that I have time to comment and I think we can all appreciate that. So if you don't have time - that's okay. But let me say this on behalf of all bloggers out there...

If you are continually reading a person's blog, then please leave a comment from time to time! We have site meters. We know you are reading our blogs!! (We just don't know who you are - at least I don't. Maybe the CIA does.) I think most of us bloggers welcome readers, if not we would go private. But please... leave a comment... at least occasionally. Getting a google account is free and easy and it doesn't lead to any unwanted emails that I am aware of.

So to those of you who left your opinions of Mockingjay and dieting - thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed them. It's not too late. What is your opinion of the book? Or of dieting? Or of people not leaving comments on blogs? Now's your chance!

Random thoughts on dieting and Mockingjay

2011-01-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

Dieting:

So you might be wondering how my Ideal Protein diet went? It went great! Ideal Protein works like a charm if you do it right and I rewarded myself with not one, but two pairs of jeans with sparkly pockets!! I went off IP and have been eating regularly through the holidays. Finding the right balance of exercise and regular food intake that still allows me to fit into my expensive jeans is proving challenging. Apparently my idea of how much I should be able to eat and still not gain weight is not the same as my body's. Ugh! I hate that!!!

It is so not fair that weight is so hard to lose and takes so long - yet so quick and so easy to gain back! Seriously! What sort of a system is that? It should be the same on both sides. If the weight took a long time and was hard to get off, then putting it back on should take at least the same amount of time and require some pretty intensive eating. Am I right? I'm right.

When it comes to my weight I feel like I have multiple personalities inside...

"Flo" is the happy, chubby housewife inside me who is almost 50 and who has birthed 7 kids so she has earned the right to have a poochy belly and eat what she wants. She knows that her husband loves her no matter what size she is and she also understands that nobody else in the world really cares if she is a size 8 or a size 14. Good food makes her so happy!

"Svetlana" is the supermodel inside me who thinks my extra pounds are absolutely disgusting. She is sure that if she just exhibits just a marginal amount of self-control and discipline that she can hang on to some semblance of the body type that she was born with. Svetlana does not live to eat, she eats to live.

And these two are constantly battling inside me. Who will win? Stay tuned...

Mockingjay:

So I finally finished Mockingjay. My kids all read it but I haven't allowed anyone to talk about it around me because I didn't want anyone to ruin it for me so I don't really know what anyone else thought of it. Well, if you haven't read it and plan to, then don't read any further. I won't spoil the plot or the ending for you but I am going to share my opinion - fair warning!

I hated it!!! I enjoyed Hunger Games. I didn't love the writing but I enjoyed the story and the symbolism behind it. I'm not really sure what it symbolized but I felt that there were political and religious lessons to be learned there if I was a deep enough thinker. The author didn't spell them out easily for me, like I would have preferred, but I felt that they were embedded within the plot for a smarter reader. I rarely feel that a movie can be better than a book but even as I read it, I was sure that Hunger Games - the movie was going to be way better than the book and I started looking forward to it along about Chapter 4. (I am hoping somebody does a PG version so they capture all of the adventure and only hint at the violence and gore. Too much to ask? Well, it's my dream so deal with it.)

Catching Fire was fine. I felt like it was "less than" Hunger Games in many ways. I guess I feel like the flaws in Hunger Games were magnified in Catching Fire, but I was still enjoying the story line and still convinced that the movie version of the sequel was going to be better than the book as well. For me, I didn't get lost in the books. I felt like I never forgot for a second that someone had written a story and I was reading it. Good books just take you away and it's as if no one wrote them, they just exist on their own because they happened. I feel the same way about actors in movies.

I'm no movie critic but I often judge an actor's ability on whether or not I forget who they are. Sometimes I watch a movie and think to myself, "There's Tom Cruise playing a German soldier" and I don't forget for one second that it's Tom Cruise. And then there's Meryl Streep who morphs from one life form to another and it's difficult to remember that it is the same person playing all those characters. In my opinion she is the quintessential actress. (Except for Mamma Mia! What were they thinking? And by "they" I am referring to producers, casting agents, managers, anyone involved in making that decision and Meryl herself. Oy vay! I wish I could erase that memory from my brain!! And don't even get me started on the casting of Pierce Brosnan in that movie. Seriously, what were "they" thinking? Personally, I think we were all punked! Ashton, you can reveal yourself now.)

So... back to Mockingjay! To tell you the truth, I think from the very beginning I just didn't enjoy the writing. I was intrigued by the story and impressed by its creative nature but nowhere near lost in it and that feeling got progressively worse with each book. I felt like a cat toy that was being batted back and forth. I was a pawn in a conspiracy to suck me in and get me involved in the story and the characters and then once they had me I was their prisoner to torture as they pleased. I was handcuffed so I couldn't get away and they knew it. They knew they had a captive audience so they didn't even bother to produce a quality literary product that would entice people to stay.

I felt like I was reading a 13-year-old's creative writing assignment and I could tell the 13-year-old was really proud of it. Most of the names in the book drove me crazy. I actually like the name Katniss but the majority I couldn't stand. I don't know - they just didn't flow for me. They didn't sound like they came out of the same civilization! There was a mixture of old and new and ethnic and sci-fi that just didn't gel for me. It was like a 3-year-old naming her dolls.

I thought much of the violence was gratuitous, without context and out of character. There was very little information that tied everything together. The story moved along so slowly and then bam, bam, bam - all sorts of things started happening with not nearly enough set up or history or reason for why they were happening and how it got to that point. I was ready for a giant overview of the trilogy and what it all meant and for all loose ends to be tied up and all relationships to be explained and an ending that put the world right again. You can imagine my disappointment! There were pivotal characters thrown into this third book which were never formally introduced. We knew nothing about them or where they came from or what made them who they were, yet they played a major role in the outcome.

I felt like I was reading a first draft of the third novel. I could picture the millions of corrections that were likely written in red in the margins like, "Who is this person?" "How did they get here?" "You're trying to make the song about The Hanging Tree very dramatic and purposeful when all it is is a really bad poem." "Brainwashing, fainting, sickness and extreme fatigue is not an acceptable out when you are stuck as to where to go with your characters." "You can't just introduce a random tiger-human/revolutionary/shop keeper without setting the ground work for it." (I change my mind. I am going to ruin it for you so... Spoiler alert!) "You can't just willy-nilly murder the beloved little sister in the hopes that it will make up for a crappy book!"

I felt like the ending was anti-climactic, devoid of any emotion, not in harmony with characters and plot lines, and just plain ridiculous. I am hoping beyond hope that some screenwriter fixes it and turns it into what it should have been. (I'm not sure what it should have been - but I know that wasn't it!)

I don't claim to have any expertise, I am just sharing my opinion as one who can read. I am sure that it is difficult to write a book and I am probably not giving the author the credit she deserves for almost writing a great book. I guess she is a best selling author and I am just a housewife who writes a fairly entertaining Christmas letter from time to time, so she's got that going for her! I really haven't read anything about her.

Maybe, like Twlight author - Stephenie Meyer, this author also claims not to be a great writer but just a good story teller. I like that Stephenie Meyer says that about herself. I have to admit that I rolled my eyes quite often reading the Twilight saga. I progressed to audible groans in the last book. It's been a while so I can't quite recall in detail the things that caused me literary pain. But it was different than reading Mockingjay. In Breaking Dawn, I felt like I was a willing prisoner of war. During Mockingjay, I felt like a straight up victim!

So I do agree that they are both good storytellers. And my hats are off to them! I wish that I was currently selling the movie rights to my best seller!! I have also not looked up any reviews on the book to see what anyone else thought. These are my opinions and mine alone. So if I am echoing anything that is already out there, know that I have not been influenced by any media sources. I have no idea if I am in the majority or minority here. The only person I've talked to about the book is my 16-year-old daughter, Kendall, and she enjoyed the book without being encumbered by the many aspects that made me want to rip my eyeballs out of their sockets.

That's just my opinion and in the words of my esteemed son, Brad, and Charles Barkley, "I could be wrong... but I doubt it." What did you think of the book?

P.S. - While I am in the process of criticizing people that I have no right to criticize... did anyone see the People's Choice awards? I only saw a small portion but during the parts that I saw Queen Latifah was not only not funny - it was uncomfortable to watch. Did anyone see the Twilight Stars accept their award in the end? My impression from just those speeches: Robert Pattinson - a good natured idiot, Kristen Stewart - just a plain idiot, and Taylor Lautner - the only semi-normal one of the bunch. He didn't have much to say either but at least he had the sense to plug his movie. Maybe I need to switch my alliance from Edward to Jacob? Hmmm... I'll get back to you on that one.

The Secret to Raising Amazing Children...

2010-12-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

What's the secret to raising amazing children? Just sign up for 6 easy payments of $19.95 and I'll send you my book! No - just kidding. It's quite simple actually...

start with one amazing child and the rest will follow!

Kacey was a gem from the moment we got her. Well, she did spit up a lot so I guess she wasn't perfect - but she was pretty darn close. I still say that the reason we had so many kids was that Kacey made it seem so easy. She kind of duped us. Before we knew it, the kids got progressively harder and Bryan won the distinguished award for "Straw That Broke the Camel's Back!" (but this blog is not about Bryan so those stories will have to wait.) It's about our amazing Kacey who turns 27 today!

She was such a good baby. Every first baby should be like Kacey. She wasn't one of those "slept all night the first night home from the hospital" babies or anything, but she was such a good baby. She ate every four hours and slept in between just like she was supposed to. She would sit in her infant seat and just look around at people. We would carry her in from the car and just leave her in her seat and people would be amazed because their kids would never just sit there.

She would sit in her swing and swing for hours. We had the kind of swing that got its motion from pushing a weighted bear to the top of the leg and then it stopped when the bear reached the bottom. David used to say that if we could rig it so the bear would keep dropping for a couple of hours, we wouldn't have to get a sitter. She would just swing and be happy.

When we got her a Johnny Jump Up, she enjoyed jumping in it just like babies are supposed to. I never did have any other babies that liked their Johnny Jump Up as much as Kacey did. She did most everything by the book and she made us feel like we were the best parents in the world. Little did we know that we were total incompetents but we were lucky enough to get the best baby in the world!

Kristy came along and Kacey was a model big sister. She was always kind and patient with all her siblings (well except for the stalagmite/stalagtite thing but it's hard to be patient when no one else is paying attention!)

I think there's a saying that goes, "With great hair comes great wisdom" or something like that. In Kacey's case, it surely is true. She was always wise beyond her years and look at that hair!

Motherhood has brought me the greatest joy in my life and it all started with Kacey! She seemed to pave the way for the rest. She wasn't afraid to give talks in primary so when any of the other kids would get nervous about it, they would just look to Kacey's example and know that it was going to be fine (and Kacey would confirm to them that it was indeed true that when you give a talk you got to go to Frank's Market for candy the next day.)

I'm not sure I could have raised as many kids as I did without Kacey's help. She set an excellent example and she helped the others along the way.

And somehow in just 27 short years, she went from being my daughter to being my equal! I figured that day was coming but I thought I would be much older. She has organized the food assignments for our upcoming family trip and she also organized a family talent show and sent out assignments without even telling me. Seriously, does it get any better than that? How lucky am I?

She is an excellent mother - way better than I was. She even has potty training parties! She's so awesome and I really don't know what I would do without her. Her advice and opinion means more to me than just about anyone. I knew by the time she was 21 that if anything ever happened to David and me that left our children without parents (which was my biggest fear) that it would be Kacey that I would trust to raise them. I had no doubts that she would most likely do an even better job than I would!

(Sorry, Bryan didn't make the cut for this blog post!)

So the recipe for raising great kids... start with one Kacey and add 6 more slowly, one at at time (well you could try multiples but I can't vouch for that recipe!)

Happy 27th Birthday Kacey! Thanks for leading the way so brilliantly and making it look like your father and I knew what we were doing!!! We love you.

She's cute!

2010-12-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

She was cute then and she's still cute now at 19!

Kylie, you have been keeping us entertained for 19 years now! (Well, actually 20 because you were pretty entertaining as in infant too. Yes, you just came with all that talent!) I never get tired of watching you perform whether it's dancing, singing, acting or my personal favorite... all 3!

I wonder if your favorite audience is still our shiny gold fireplace trim that you could see your reflection in? Probably! That trim was pretty and shiny and best of all - silent. (Unlike your mother who usually told you that it was good... but it wasn't your best.) I can't help it that I am able to see how truly talented you are - it's a blessing and a curse! (Don't be hatin' - it's my job.)

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to watch you grow into the beautiful person that you are today both inside and out. I'm so proud of you! You were so cute then and you still are. I love being your mom.

Happy Birthday Kylie!!!

What happened?

2010-12-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened. A few nights ago we went to sleep in Moses Lake and somehow we woke up in North Dakota!

Table for 9?

2010-11-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

We had a delightful Thanksgiving! It was a small gathering, which was odd for us, but still nice. We all fit around one table - is it a real Thanksgiving celebration if you can fit around one table? No small kids around which made it peaceful but not nearly as interesting. Kristy & Trevor headed to Utah to spend it with the Lacey's and Jon & Kacey & kids headed to Gridley. So we had Brad, Courtney and Kylie here who drove up together from BYU. They left Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. and arrived Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. after having to turn around at the Idaho border and spend the night in Brigham City waiting for the road to open up again. Long drive but I'm grateful they did it because I loved having them home!

I usually forget to pull out the camera at times like these but luckily I remembered. I set up to take a nice shot of everyone around the table and I was greeted with these hands. Whose idea was that and how did they orchestrate it so quickly!

Then I made them put their hands down and took some shots of our group.

Bryan (15), David (49) & Brad (23)

Kylie (almost 19), Kendall (17) & Courtney (21)

Grandma Earl (84 years young - isn't she amazing!)

This is Dan Heldt (19ish?) who is a friend from 7th ward. We had to invite at least one non-Earl to keep us all in line. (Question: How do you keep a Mormon from drinking all your beer? Answer: Bring more than one! Ha ha. )

David, Peggy (also 49) & Brad

And that's when Kylie took over my camera...

Kylie decided she could help best with cleaning up by photographing our efforts!

Apparently she found the sweet potatoes picture worthy! (Not that anyone would eat them! Haven't people discovered yet that sweet potatoes are nature's candy? Who doesn't love a vegetable with marshmallows on top!)

Kendall's idea of cleaning up:

Then the kids opened up their Christmas ornaments from Grandma:

This is my Aunt Dee Dee who is up visiting my dad and helping to take care of him after his knee surgery. She's a gem and I just love her. I'm proud to be named after her (Peggy Dee.)

We played games and put a couple of puzzles together. This one was our most challenging. Luckily, Courtney is kind of a puzzle whiz. She see has a gift!

My BYU kids with grandma.

One of the highlights of our Thanksgiving Day was playing WII's Let's Dance 2 with the fam. Even grandma got in on the fun! We have some great video but it wouldn't upload to blogger so checkout my Facebook if you want to put a smile on your face!

I would love to say that our next adventure is our Christmas cruise that we planned 6 months ago but, alas, it has been canceled. Major bummer! We were scheduled to take a cruise on that same Carnival ship that caught fire a few weeks ago and they canceled all sailings on that ship through through the middle of January. We are so bummed because we were really looking forward to that family adventure. They are giving us a refund plus 25% off of a future cruise (not nearly enough compensation for canceling our Christmas if you ask me... but no one did.) Instead, we are going to be staying in California because we were all headed there anyway. We are going to be staying a few days in Newport Beach and a few days in Palm Springs. We still get to be together so it will be fun. We will just be so sad to do our own cooking and cleaning - ha ha!

So grateful for our many, many blessings!

Happy Birthday Brad! Czech it out...

2010-11-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

In honor of Brad's 23rd birthday, I am finally going to blog about our trip to Prague to pick him up from his mission. I really wanted to blog about it right after we got back but it takes so long to get through the hundreds of pictures I took and whittle them down to the best ones. So here is my Prague blog post which is long overdue. (Anyone who is following my blog posts will see a common theme that I am trying desperately to make up for being such a slacker mom to my kids!)

Brad served in the Czech, Prague mission which includes both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He was originally called to serve in Czech and to speak Czech but a few weeks afer opening his original call we got a letter changing his call to serve in Slovakia and to speak Slovak. The reason for that change is known as the Slovakian Miracle. (Click on link to read more about that.) Brad had the privilege of being one of the first full-time missionaries in Slovakia. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who was born in what is now the Czech Republic, dedicated Slovakia on May 12, 2006.

First - a little history/geography lesson. (Those with ADD feel free to skip ahead to the pictures - except you, David - you have to read it all!)

Most of us are more familiar with the sovereign state in Central Europe known as Czechoslovakia because that is what we learned in school, but on January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Many different reasons are given for the split of Czechoslovakia, but debates around the reason for the dissolution of Czechoslovakia centers around inevitability versus events that occurred between the velvet revolution of 1989 and the end of the joined state in 1992.The people who argue inevitability point to the stereotypes between the two nations, problems with the shared state during communism, the failure of the communist state in Czech lands and its success in the Slovak lands, and the 1968 constitution that had a minority veto. The people who argue events between 1989 and 1992 point to international factors such as the situation the breakaway of the Soviet satellite nations, the lack of unified media between the Czech and Slovak republic, and most importantly the actions of the political leaders of the two nations. (According to Wikipedia - Brad may have a different story.)

The Slovak Republic (short form: Slovakia) has a population of over five million and an area of about 19,000 sq mi. Slovakia is a landlocked country bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south.

The Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in the world. Historically, the Czech people have been characterized as "tolerant and even indifferent towards religion". According to the 2001 census, 59% of the country is agnostic or atheist, 26.8% is Roman Catholic and 2.5% is Protestant. In contrast, Slovakia is 68.9% Roman Catholic.

David and I arrived in Prague about 3 days before Brad's release. (We were flying on frequent flyer miles so you pretty much go whenever they say you can.) So we tooled around Prague on our own just following guidebook recommendations. It was fairly easy to get around the city and there were lots of people who spoke English. Ordering in restaurants was another story. We didn't have a clue what anything was so we stuck with familiar American chains like Fridays and Hard Rock Cafe until we were with Brad. We stayed at the Marriott and it was very nice. We felt right at home. European hotels are starting to provide the sort of comforts that Americans have become accustomed to - even American outlets. It's great!

Prague is a BEAUTIFUL city. Here are some different views of the city:

When you get up to higher ground, the roofs are all oranges and rusts and browns and it looks so beautifully color coordinated.

We picked up Brad at the mission home on Thursday. I was so nervous and excited. We left our hotel early to allow time to get lost because we weren't sure where we were going and (I know you'll be surprised) no one seemed to know where the mission home was. So we allowed some getting lost time and low and behold we stepped out of the subway and the mission home was right in front of us. We thought we were going to have to walk a couple of miles so that was a nice little surprise.

Mission home:

Close up of the name:

Brad's mission president was Pres. and Sister Slovacek. They have a Czech name and Czech roots but are from Florida and do not speak Czech or Slovak! Wow, that would be a challenge. Brad really liked them. He didn't get to spend too much time with them since it's quite a ways from Slovakia to Prague but he really admired them. We did too after meeting them and were so glad we had that opportunity.

Brother & Sister Slovacek and Brad

I guess he's our problem again!

Leaving the mission home for good.

Brad served all of his mission in Slovakia but had to go to Prague to the mission home to be released. Our original plan was to spend our time in Slovakia seeing his mission haunts. Brad told us that there really wasn't much to see in Slovakia and it was such a long ways away. Here is a map to give you some perspective. You can see on this first map how far Prague is from Slovakia.

This map of Slovakia I found on Google just happens to show only the 3 cities that Brad served in. Weird - but very handy for me. He was in Bystrica for a year, Kosice for 6 months and Bratislava for 4 months.

Note: While in Bratislava, Brad was just 15 minutes from Austria but the missionaries were not allowed to cross over into that country. David was aghast that Brad and his companions had actually kept that rule with the mission president all the way over in Prague. Cross over to Austria for P-day, who would know? When I elbowed him, he said he was just kidding. Hmm...

So, after looking at all of our options and with Brad's recommendation, we decided that we would not go into Slovakia at all and stay in Prague and tour around there together since Brad had not gotten to see much of that city except the mission home (and that was only twice I think!) Normally when parents pick up missionaries they go to meet the member families who helped take care of their missionary son and maybe some of the people they had baptized or reactivated. There weren't a lot of either of those in Slovakia!

You see, in Bystrica, where Brad served for over a year there were two single members and neither one of them lived in the city. On Sundays, they were lucky if both their members came and so generally there were 2 missionaries and 2 members at church unless they had some investigators (which was not a common occurence.) I think they generally held a 40 min. sacrament mtg. and a 20 min. Sunday School mtg. and that was it. No primary. No mutual. No Relief Society. No Elder's quorum. No ward parties. No members to feed them. We are talking "pioneers" here! Brad and the other Slovakian missionaries basically knocked on doors and gave street presentations all day long, every day. There is no doubt that the church will grow in that area and amazing things will happen, but it's a slow process.

Brad's mission was so different than David's in Brazil where he was teaching people all day long and never had to knock on doors because they just got referral after referral. I really admire Brad and the other missionaries who served in Slovakia because I can't imagine how hard that must have been. Yet, he always seemed to be positive and obedient and just did his best to lay the foundation for a great work to come forth some day. There have already been great strides made and impressive things are happening but definitely at a more European pace than a South American pace.

Brad learned to love the people and he learned the language well which was no easy feat. They didn't even have the Book of Mormon in Slovak to teach from. I haven't heard if the translation is finished yet or not. It is in Czech which is similar but not the same. Bottom line is - missionary work was not easy in Slovakia and I am so proud of Brad and his fellow missionaries in Slovakia who represented the church so well. They were strong enough to be far away from the supervision of the mission president and still work hard day after day after day getting the message of the restored gospel out to as many as would listen. It must have been so tempting to slack off or goof off, but it doesn't sound like Brad did nor any of the other missionaries he worked with. Brad often commented that he felt that they had very strong missionaries in Slovakia. It sounds to me like they had to be and I was so proud that Heavenly Father knew that Brad was one of the strong ones who could handle that type of mission.

So, we stayed in Prague with Brad and basically vacationed together. I guess it wasn't your typical pick up a missionary experience but it was awesome and I loved that undivided time we had with him. As we saw the sights of Prague, he would describe to us the things that were similar to Slovakia and he would share his experiences there.

The people in Czech seemed very nice. They are generally very good looking people. Brad says the Slovaks are known for being even more good looking. You rarely see an overweight person there and Brad says when you do they always turn out to be American. Part of that reason is that they eat a little healthier than we do and another reason is that a lot of people smoke. I would have been hard pressed to tell a Slovak from an American. We had a waitress from Slovakia at Hard Rock Cafe and her and Brad were speaking Slovak together. She and Brad could have been plotting our murders for all we knew because it's impossible to pick out anything that sounds familiar. She was a cute, blonde girl and if she had said she was from California we wouldn't have known any different judging by her looks.

Enough dialogue - now mostly pictures. One thing we were struck by is the beauty of the architecture in Prague. Nearly every building is a work of art. I think I must have been an architect in a previous life because I feel like I have a real appreciation for it. I don't love it enough to want to become one or anything (that sounds like a lot of homework) - I just find myself oohing and ahhing over buildings and wanting to congratulate whoever designed it. Is that normal?

Here are some pictures of building in Prague:

The guards love it when you take pictures with them. It makes all of that military training so worth it I'm sure!

Old Town Square:

Same square at night:

So not all of the buildings are old, beautiful and classic. This modern building is known as somewhat of a monstrosity. Interesting...

We got around on the subway okay, though it was alot easier once we had Brad with us. London still gets our vote for easiest subway system to understand.

We rented a car and David and Brad got to play a round of golf at Karlstejn Castle. It is a private course and the concierge at the hotel had arranged for David to play there. Well, apparently they don't allow beginners on the course so when they saw David's and Brad's rented clubs, the pro decided to come out and watch them tee off to see if they were good enough to play the course. Well, David makes Brad go first who hasn't swung a golf club in over two years! The pro and a few other guys from the pro shop are standing there watching them (that's not nerve wracking!) David said Brad hit a beautiful drive 280 yards with a slight draw. Whew! David stepped up and didn't embarrass himself so they allowed them to play the course.

There was not enough time to play a round of golf and tour Karlstejn Castle so I decided to go off and tour the castle by myself but... I had to drive there. Yikes! We had not been drivng before this and we had a very tough time finding our way to the course with 3 adults and Brad sort of knowing the language (remember it's Czech not Slovak!) So I can see the castle off in the distance but I still need to find my way there and it's not a straight shot. I seriously considered just hanging around and waiting for them to finish golf but that wasn't very appealing. So I faced my fears head on and took off alone to find the castle. They do drive on the right hand side of the road there but still the street signs and everything are just so different. I can't understand any warning signs or information signs (and I had no cell phone.) I managed to find my way to the castle and took a tour and got myself back to the golf course - yay! I was so so relieved when I was back with the guys.

Karlstejn Castle:

That is David putting as Brad looks on.

The view of the castle from the lowly townsfolk who live below it (probably servants in the old days.)

View of the countryside on the opposite side of the golf course as the castle:

I have come to realize after visiting Prague (and other European cities), that our country is seriously lacking in statues. Where have all the sculptors gone? (Probably budget cuts - the arts are the first to go!) Statues are everywhere in Europe.

I couldn't talk Brad into posing with David for this pic pretending to drink when he's really nowhere near it and look how sweet it turned out! I bet he's regretting that decision.

How about a few statues to adorn your entry way?

The Loreto - some statues are on the buildings:

Closer veiw of the Loreto:

And more statues on the Loreto:

And some buildings have statues on top of the building. Maybe for people who just happen to be flying by in helicopters?

More elevated statues:

There are statues on bridges apparently for passing boats (why should the helicopters have all the fun?)

There are lots of very old statues:

And some more modern:

And some crazy modern statues:

These crawling babies were about 8' tall! Those crazy Czechs!!

Brad was always a very picky eater and I wondered how he would do with foreign food. It turns out that the food there was actually very good. Lots of meat and potatoes and things that Brad liked. He ordered some local favorites for us and we enjoyed what we ate. Still don't think we could have done it without him, though.

Subway in Prague? David had to get some chocolate chip cookies and they did taste pretty darn good. There really aren't as many American chain restaurants as I expected to see. They have McDonalds, of course, but the TGI Fridays and the Hardrock Cafe that we ate at had just opened. In fact, it was Hardrocks very first week!

Me and Brad. I will absolutely treasure that time we had with him. Even though we didn't go into Slovakia, I still feel I have a good sense of what it is like. There is nothing that makes a parent more proud than sending out a missionary. But it sure is nice to get them back!

Happy Birthday, Brad. I love you!

Sometimes being from a big family sucks...

2010-10-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Being from a big family is a wonderful thing... most of the time! Lots of love and lots of laughter and lots of great memories for the most part. But sometimes being from a big family kinda sucks... like when your dad unknowlingly leaves you at Dairy Queen and doesn't even come back to get you or when your mom promises that she will get your graduation announcements out and she never quite gets around to it. I'm pretty sure that sort of stuff doesn't happen to only children! So Kylie... this blog is f0r you!

Consider this my apology for not getting any graduation announcements sent out for you. That really stinks and might even be enough to drive some kids into counseling. Kylie, you need to know that you will have to share the therapist's couch with Brad too. He never got any announcements either. While I can't picture Kacey's announcements in my head, I'm pretty sure I didn't fail right off the bat. (She'll correct me if I'm wrong.) I got one done for Kristy and for Courtney but poor Brad and Kylie missed out. Even the ones I did, I only sent to about 5 people. I don't know why. I don't mind receiving announcements, in fact, I like it. But for me it just seems like I'm bothering people.

My kids are amazed when they hear that other kids actually get money (sometimes enough for a laptop!) from people for graduation and they look at me with incredulous looks that say, "Why haven't you ever told us about this?" I shrug sheepishly and try to explain that it's not likely that anyone will send them graduation money when they don't know they're graduating because they haven't received a graduation announcement. Ooops!

So I would like to formally declare that Kylie did actually graduate from high school this past year, in spite of it not being announced. She also graduated concurrently from Big Bend Community College with her Associate's Degree in Arts and Sciences. Normally I don't like to go around bragging about my kids accomplishments, but in light of the circumstances - I feel I must. Please bear with me as I brag away in the hopes that my daughter will one day forgive me.

Kylie not only graduated - but she did really well. She was actually #9 in her class. Well... sort of! The principal told us that technically she was in the Top Ten and that we were free to tell prospective colleges that she was #9 but she would not be recognized at graduation as such. You see, shortly before graduation the high school recalculates the GPA's giving extra points for each AP class. (Kylie took 3 AP classes before heading out to BBCC. She would have taken more but she was a little busy... attending college!) After the recalculation, Kylie was knocked out of the Top Ten. Now don't get me wrong, I am completely in favor of weighting GPA's for students who take Honors and AP classes. I just have a problem with giving students extra points for taking AP classes and not giving them extra points for taking actual college classes. I believe they should both be weighted the same, but I don't have a Master's Degree so what do I know. It's a wonder I can tie my own shoes. I wonder if there's a Master's in common sense?

Kylie, the smarty pants that she is, also broke the family record for highest ACT score - 31! This did not make Kacey happy at all. You see... (as you can tell I really love dot dot dots - they add drama) Kacey got a 30 on the ACT and we were so proud of her. We wanted the other kids to be motivated to do just as good as Kacey (if not better) but as we looked over our lazy brood we could see the future and it looked pretty unmotivated. So we decided to offer $1000 to whoever got the highest ACT score in the family. (We are smart enough to know that high ACT scores will likely lead to scholarships so that $1000 would pay for itself.)

Kacey's 30 made it past Kristy (28), Brad (29), Courtney (29) and Kylie (29) and she figured she was home free... but on Kylie's 3rd try she got a 31! The family's response was really quite unkind. All the older siblings were like, "Kylie? Seriously? Are you kidding me?" She should have been offended but she was too busy gloating. Kylie thought she was home free and feeling very confident about her chances of winning the $1000 (which should be offensive to Kendall and Bryan) until... Kendall tied Kylie's 31! Poor Kylie didn't even have much time to enjoy being on top. At least Kacey got to enjoy the top spot for a good 6 years. Kendall got a perfect score in Reading! But wait, this is Kylie's post...

So, the bottom line is - Kylie is a lot smarter than she looks! (There's a line you don't see on too many Josten graduation announcements.) She received a 1/2 tuition scholarship to BYU Provo where she is now attending school. Way to go, Kylie!

Kylie accomplished so much in her four years of high school. She truly is amazing to me. She is so talented. I am her biggest fan. When I think back at how adorable she was as a child, it amazes me that I was able to tear myself away from her entertaining antics long enough to get any housework done. She was so cute and so precocious. I guess there was just so much cuteness that I knew that if I left it, it would be there when I got back. Somehow we all managed to have a life in spite of Kylie's adorableness.

Let's begin our stroll down Kylie's high school memory lane...

There are so many good memories with drill team. Kylie was Lieutenant her junior year and captain her senior year along with her good friends, Kenzie Baker and Mattie Bergeson. Over their 4 years on drill team, they earned 7 state titles and 2 national titles. This was a talented group with an awesome coach, Lori Baker, and we enjoyed so many great experiences together. Kylie got to be on drill team for two years with Courtney and two years with Kendall. The pinnacle of her drill team experience would be last year when the team went undefeated (1st place at every competition in every category) and was the first ever in Washington state history to win 3 state titles in the same year - Kick, Military and Dance! What an incredible day. Kylie also opened the competition by singing The National Anthem with teammates Breanna, Lauren and Mattie. I am so proud of Kylie and all of these girls and will treasure those memories. (That's all we have left now is memories - don't get me started!)

Kick - Jai Ho

Captains and Lieutenants showing off their new hardware!
Karlee, Kenzie, Mattie, Kylie and Caitlynn

Kylie and big sis, Courtney

Kylie and little sis, Kendall

One proud mom!

Dance - Africa

Pom - Knock on Wood

Kylie and best bud, Kenzie

Kylie, Karissa and Courtney getting ready to rock out for guy/girl

Kylie & Dylan - her guy/girl hero!

Breanna, Lily and Kylie

Military - Superman

3 happy captains with 3 state titles - Kylie, Kenzie, Mattie

There are also so many great dance memories. Hopefully, Kylie has more good memories of me and dance than bad. It's not always fun to have your mom as the director! Some of the highlights were:

taking home the huge trophy at Dance America nationals in Utah
winning the production award and having two Elite numbers in the Top 4 at Spotlight nationals in Seaside
performing at Disneyland and Universal Studios
performing at Gonzaga basketball games
so so many other great experiences that I can't even begin to list them all!

Suffice it to say that sharing all of these dance experiences with Kylie has been priceless!!!

Elite - Out of Your League

Chillin' at Chili's after competition - Kendall, Kylie, Kenzie, Mattie, Dayna

Elite - When I Grow Up

We have attended some great workshops and worked with top choreographers like Jaymz Tuaileva. Here is Courtney and Kylie with Jaymz.

Bring on the awards!

Kylie even added Nutcracker to her resume!
Kayci, Aja, Kenzie, Kylie

Love these girls!

We also had some great pageant experiences together. (Well, at least the experience is fun when it's all over - ha ha!) Here is Kylie being crowned Miss Moses Lake's Outstanding Teen by best bud, Caitlynn Lawson.

Time to get your wave on!

Kylie with Miss Washington, Kristen Eddings

Kylie was Junior Miss 1st finalist along with good friends, Mattie Bergeson (Jr. Miss) and Katelynn Reed (2nd finalist).

What an truly outstanding group of girls who ran for Junior Miss this year. It's unfortunate that they had to run against each other because it was so close and any one of them could have earned the title in a different year. I really wish they could have all been on the court because they deserved it. What an amazing group of girls Kylie was fortunate to share the experience with.
Lauren, Katelynn, Mattie, Kylie and Kiersten

The best Elle Woods ever! Kylie performing song for Junior Miss from Legally Blonde the Musical.

Kylie and escorts at Junior Miss

My two best friends and I got to take our girls with us on our annual trip to New York. Here is Kenzie, Kylie and Mattie in Times Square. We had a fantastic time! I am so grateful that we all shared this experience together. What a fun group!

I could watch Kylie perform all day long. I sat through many rehearsals and multiple showings of Suessical and I didn't want it to end. (Well, I could do without the slow songs!) Kylie was amazing as Mayzie La Bird. (Kendall was also a fantastic Cat in the Hat and Bryan was a pretty good Wickersham - but once again this post is not about them.)

Mattie as Gertrude and Kylie as Mayzie - birds of a feather!

Kylie, Kenzie and Breanna in all their Suessical glory!

Kylie also delivered a stunning performance as Sharpay in High School Musical. Here she is with Nicole (Gabriella) and Jordan (Troy.) Troy (Jordan) asked Sharpay (Kylie) to be his date for the Homecoming dance at the conclusion of the first show and there were so many confused little girls in the audience who were just beside themselves at the thought of Troy going to Homecoming with Sharpay and not Gabriella. Some even refused to shake his hand. It was so cute and funny.

Ryan and Sharpay (Mitchell and Kylie) They made a great team!

Other memories I will treasure is seeing Kylie perform at the Young Ambassador's Camp at BYU. Here she is with her West Side Story cast mates. (Kylie is back right in green.)

Here she is with her Lion King cast mates.
(Kylie is on far right.)
I love, love, love watching this girl perform.

Kylie also took choir all 4 years and was a member of the Jazz Choir her junior and senior years. It took a major amount of juggling to make that work but it was well worth it. What a great group of kids she was able to sing with including two of her good friends, Lauren and Breanna.

Here are some of the Jazz Choir kids with their director, Mr. Holloway. I will miss hearing these kids sing! Thanks for the memories!!!

Another great thing about Kylie is that she would actually talk to me and tell me about her day and things that were going on in her life - unlike the other kids. Kacey was okay unless I wanted to know who she liked and that was classified information. Brad and Courtney were like Fort Knox. I had to pry information out of them with a crow bar. Actually, Kristy was always willing to share so she also gets a gold star in that category. (It's just that her life wasn't as interesting as Kylie's.) So thanks for sharing Kylie - I enjoyed it!

Kylie was blessed to have such an outstanding group of friends to grow up with. Here are some of them at seminary graduation. (Rest assured, the future of the Church is in good hands!)

Here are some of them at high school graduation.

Kylie & Kenzie - best buds forever!

Kylie & Kenzie at prom. (No, they weren't each other's dates - not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Kylie is a great sister.
Here are Kendall and Kylie all ready for school... or maybe it was Halloween - who can remember!

Courtney and Kylie

Kylie, Bryan and Kendall dressed up for New Year's dance of decades

The many faces of Kylie... all of them exquisite!

Kylie, it has been a pleasure to be your mother all these years and I am so proud of all that you accomplished in high school. I hope that you have a daughter just like you so that I can do it all over again. (Only this time you get to be the bad guy so it will be so much better!) I am so sorry that I never got your graduation announcement done. Hopefully you will forgive me.

You are amazingly talented and even more beautiful on the inside than you are on the outside. You always made good choices and never gave us cause to be concerned - how is that possible? Yes, you can be a brat but I suppose that's what keeps you from being translated. I really do admire everything about you. Being your mom is pure joy.

I would like to thank those very thoughtful people who gave Kylie a graduation gift even though they never received an announcement. You are so kind! Like I said, she had an amazing group of friends and they have amazing parents. She lucked out. I wish all kids could have such a strong group of peers to grow up with. It certainly does take a village to raise a child so I want to thank my village for helping me raise such an outstanding young woman!

I simply adore each and every one of my children and often wonder how they turned out so incredible in spite of my lackluster DNA contribution. One might suppose (if they didn't know him) that the majority of the good traits must have come from their father. That theory is entirely possible but since none of my kids (to my knowledge) walk into people's homes and help themselves to anything that might be in the fridge without asking, we all have to wonder how much of David is really in them? Hmmm... But this post is not about all of my kids - it's about Kylie. And every once in a while in a big family, you should get something all to yourself and not have to share. This post is just for you!

If you can't already tell... I love you, Kylie!

It's good to be the king!

2010-10-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

That is one of David's favorite things to say and my inspiration behind our costumes for the 7th Ward Halloween dance. We haven't dressed up in years so it was kinda fun and much easier to dress up when you don't have to get anyone else ready for Halloween.

I have to say that David does make a pretty dashing king! The bad part was that every time I told him he couldn't do something (like fast dancing by himself cuz he looked like a dork) he kept saying, "Yes I can, I'm the king!"

Ideal again? We'll see...

2010-09-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Bon jour! We are back from Paris and we had a great time! I will try to blog about it in a timely manner. (Ha! What are the chances? But I'm really going to try.)

I ate whatever I wanted and it was pretty heavenly. It would have been even better if I was able to speak French and knew which delicious foods I should order. It could be that the language barrier saved me some calories, who knows? There were plenty of delicious tarts and pastries that needed no translation!

My official weight loss before I left was 14 lbs. in the month that I was on Ideal Protein (minus the Boise binge.) I was surprised that it wasn't more because it felt like I had lost more weight than that but I think it was possibly because I was also building some muscle. Before I left I believe Emily West was down 40 lbs. in less than 2 months but she was nice to say that she thought possibly my weight loss rate was a little less than some others because I didn't have as much to lose. We'll just go with that!

As much as I enjoyed eating everything I wanted, I did kind of miss the way I felt on Ideal Protein. You can just tell that you are doing your body a favor. I think I gained back maybe 2-3 lbs. It's a little hard to tell exactly. I am back on Ideal Protein and hoping to get to my goal weight before I head to New York in about 10 days (so I can eat Crumbs cupcakes - yum!)

If anyone is interested in learning more about Ideal Protein, there is a representative from the company who will be giving a presentation explaining the program and how it works at David's office on Thursday (Sept. 23rd) at 6:00. It should take about an hour. It's free and anyone is invited. No need to RSVP, just show up. Bon appetit! (Yah, I know - enough with the French words! It's annoying. I hear ya...)

Okay... so I'm less than ideal!

2010-09-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you are all wondering how the ideal patient is doing? Well, I was pretty ideal until I had to go out of town to Boise for 3 days about 12 days into it. I told myself that I was going to show some self-control and not go hog wild. I did okay the first day. Then the second day things started getting out of hand and then I just gave up all together. Well, 3 days off did not do me any favors! I haven't been able to get into the office for any official weigh ins but it seemed that I gained back about 3 lbs. during my 3 days. It seemed to take my body a while to get back to it's optimum weight burning cycle.

It was very hard to stay on the diet when I went out of town (at least it was for me.) First off, I felt bad for the people I was with (Courtney, Kylie, Kendall and Lori.) It felt like every time they ordered something yummy and I ordered something nutritious like plain fish and broccoli, it's like I was subconsciously saying to everyone at the table, "I'm going to order something sensible but you feel free to stuff your face with that high caloric meal and let's just all watch and see which part of your body it goes to first." That is certainly not what I was saying but it just seems like the dieter is always judging.

The fact that I stare at food with such a desperate longing in my eyes doesn't help the awkwardness of eating with a dieter.

Well, I am now one month into it (with the exception of the 3 days) and I wish I had an official weigh in to report but I don't yet. I will try to get by the office tomorrow. According to my bathroom scale (which is way off from the office in the wrong direction) I think I've lost about 16 pounds. I feel really good but no one really seems to be noticing. My kids look at me and say they can't tell a difference. I'm not sure whether that is a compliment or not.

I keep thinking that I will have to get all new clothes but the reality is that the clothes I own still fit, they just fit like they were supposed to I guess. I'd like to apologize to anyone who had to be seen with me wearing super tight clothing. I guess I didn't realize how much I was squeezing into things! Sorry about that!!

It hasn't been that tough to stay on this diet but it has take quite a bit of self control. I find it easier when I'm at home and can control things. I just eat when I'm supposed to and then stay out of the kitchen.

We leave for Paris Friday morning and I am so excited to eat! How much will I gain back? That is the $64,000 question!

Happy 49th Birthday David!

2010-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today is David's 49th birthday! (I turned 49 in June so I am sooo much older!)

So I thought we'd take a little stroll down memory lane...

David - 4 years old. Isn't he just adorable!

Look at this cute family!

Here is one of the few pictures that David is taller than Pat. David is 5 and Pat is 3.

I had to include at least one embarrassing photo. This is 7th grade. What is up with that hair? And get a load of the print shirt and the pink vest! I am the same age as David and even I think this outfit is ridiculous. The 70's was a crazy time for fashion!!

Ahhh... 9th grade. Looking better! I don't know about other couples but David and I sometimes look at old pictures of each other and play the "Would I have liked you then?" game. Even though I have said that I wouldn't have liked him in 7th grade and I wouldn't have liked him when he had his silver tooth in the front, the truth is... I most likely totally would have. He is and always was exactly my type.

This is what he looked like as he headed for BYU. (He's just about to meet me!)

Even though I am not that big of a baseball fan, I love a guy in a baseball uniform! Don't all girls?

This is one of our first dances together as freshmen at BYU. (My goodness dance dresses are soooo much more fun now! I look like I'm wearing a fancy nightgown!!)

This is me and David serving as Maid of Honor and Best Man at our roommates' wedding. My roommate married David's roommate. We used to joke about switching roommates!

The happy newlyweds... (Hats were very "in" that year so give me a break!)

David and I are 49 and we just celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. It's crazy when you reach the age that you have been married longer than you were single. Memories of a life without David hardly exist. Being together that long has its ups and downs. Unfortunately, I know him way too well! I know exactly which stupid thing he is thinking before he says it, so he gets in trouble without even opening his mouth. I know that's hardly fair but that's what happens when you can read each other's minds!

Recent example -

We wanted to grab a bite to eat the other day before Brad headed back to BYU. (It was David, me, Kendall, Bryan and Brad - Courtney and Kylie had already left.) David called J's Teriyaki to order ahead as we were driving there. They told him they were about to close because they had to get ready for some remodeling. David told them we would be there in 5 minutes and we would take it to go and didn't really give them a choice in the matter (in true David style!) So the guy agrees and we drive up and David hops out to get it and tries to get us all to come in and we told him we would just wait in the car.

I told the kids, "Here is what's gonna happen. In about 30 seconds, your father is going to lean out of that door and wave us in and tell us it's fine." Sure enough, it happened right on cue. Then as we were walking in I told them, "Now we are going to walk in and sit down confidently thinking that Dad has cleared this with someone only to find out that he hasn't and he is just doing what he wants." Everyone sort of chuckled at this thought we walked in. There were still a few people sitting and finishing their meals in the restaurant but the employees were frantically cleaning up. David told us to go sit down and so Brad and Bryan sat down at a table and we could see the panicked look on one employees face who was trying to mop and stack chairs. I asked David, "You didn't ask anyone if we could eat here, did you?" He said, "No, but look there's other people in here. It's fine." We assured the panicked employee that we were not staying and all was well. David looked at us and shrugged his shoulders with that cute smile of his that is similar to the look a 2-year-old gets when they have been into the cookie jar without permission. I really don't relish being right when I predict David is going to do something embarrassing that the rest of us don't want him to do, but I'm afraid I usually am! He's an acquired taste but we love him!!!

But, alas, David is the yin to my yang...

He is bold and confident and likes being the center of attention while I am more reserved, full of self doubt and prefer to blend in.
He thinks most rules are not meant for him, and I think all rules (even trivial ones) should be obeyed. I always assume someone has put some thought to the rules.
I hate uncomfortable situations of any kind and David thrives on them. He doesn't get uncomfortable (and I still don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing? I do know that it's not easy being married to the person who doesn't get uncomfortable!)
David is always happy and positive and sees the good in everyone and everything. I am the realist who worries about every little thing that could go wrong.
David's answer to most anything the kids ask permission for is "yes" and mine is "no."
David loves adventure while I prefer to be surrounded by familiarity.

We are definitely best friends and soul mates. It seems like we were childhood sweethearts even though we didn't meet until college. It's been so long. One of our claims to fame is that neither of us ever told anyone else that we dated that we loved them (except each other.) I was pretty confident when he left on his mission that he was the one for me. I couldn't help but think that if he wasn't the one for me and if there was someone better than David out there for me, then I was one lucky girl!

Well, I am one lucky girl and I love all 49 years of him!!!

Happy Birthday, David!

Happy 25th Birthday Kristy!

2010-08-30T22:12:00.001-07:00

Kristy is 25 today! I thought that in honor of her birthday, I would finally finish her wedding blog. It's not that blogging about these kind of wonderful events is a chore or anything, it's so much fun - it just takes so much time. What a joy it has been to go back over the wedding events, though. (So scroll down and take a look at the last two entries.)

It was so much fun to plan this wedding with Kristy. It's not that Kacey was difficult or anything, she was great. But Kristy is just so cute about things. She gets so excited about some of the smallest details. I don't know how to describe it, but it was just fun!

I am just so proud of Kristy and feel so privileged to be her mother. She is one of a kind and I don't know exactly what it is, but there is just something special about her. I'm glad that Trevor saw it too because they make a great couple. We couldn't be happier with her choice. Even though their wedding trumped Christmas (and it will be remembered less than fondly by some members of our family) it was a magical time and I will treasure those memories.

Happy Birthday Kristy!

The Moses Lake reception!

2010-08-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

The final event in Kristy’s wedding activities was the Moses Lake reception. We decided to have the reception at our home. When Kacey got married it was just too overwhelming to have the reception in our home. I was worried about the weather and if it turned back would we fit inside, etc. etc. There were just too many things to stress about if it were at our house and with that being my first one, we decided to do it elsewhere. Since then, we have had quite a few receptions in our home so I was getting a little better at handling the details. So we decided to go for it.

And what better to do when you are planning a reception than to do a little redecorating! Our entry way had needed some sprucing up for years but it was a huge project and I just didn’t know where to start because one change led to another. I had a few ideas but I wasn’t quite sure if they would work. I had consulted with a couple of professionals and they had their own ideas about changes and they were all very expensive. I didn’t really want to spend $30,000 on my entry way!

So my niece, Nena, is very creative and talented and when I told her a few of my ideas and described my vision she said, “I could totally do that!” So we let her!! She got right to work and the plan was to have it done by Thanksgiving (which I pretty much knew was wishful thinking but it was worth a try, right!) The wedding was in Utah on Dec. 30th, the reception was scheduled in ML for January 2nd and we were leaving for Utah on Dec. 26th. I was hoping to have all of the improvements finished and the decorations up the beginning of December so that we could all enjoy the holidays and not have to stress about the wedding. It was a good plan people! It just didn’t turn out quite that way.

This was how the house looked just before Thanksgiving:

The redecorating wasn't actually finished until the day before Christmas and we spent Christmas Eve putting up decorations. The kids thought I was kidding when I announced we needed to start decorating after we opened our pajamas. It was, in the kids’ opinion, officially the worst Christmas ever! There really weren’t any presents to speak of. (Weddings are expensive! And our kids have just about everything they need – maybe not everything they want, but everything they need.) Jon, Kacey, Scarlet and Rhode weren’t there because they were coming after Christmas for the reception so we didn’t even have little kids to enjoy the holiday with. I do have to agree, it pretty much sucked to spend Christmas Eve putting up decorations that would have to be taken down a week later. The kids were pretty good sports, though, and while it may be our worst Christmas to date - it certainly was a memorable one. And my memories are of great kids who chipped in and got the job done. We all complained but we laughed a lot too!

The house turned out great! Nena is a genius!! It was definitely worth the wait. I wish I had better pictures to show how the whole thing looked but I was too busy to take any and hadn’t arranged for a photographer since we already had the wedding pictures done in Utah. Luckily, my good friend and neighbor and professional photographer, Julie Waites, came over and took some pictures on very short notice so we were able to capture some of it. Thank you Julie! You are a true friend!! The house looked just beautiful inside and out (thanks to lots of people helping - Thank you Lori B. and Janet and Heather and Gail and Lori E!) and we had a wonderful time. It was cold and snowy and, as usual for that time of year, there were lots of people out of town that we missed but it was a wonderful evening.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

David finally got these trees to light up on both sides of our walk the day of the reception. They kept tripping the breakers but he finally got it figured out - which is a huge feat for David. He is not electrically or mechanically inclined (to say the least) but he did it!

Nena did this gorgeous array above my doorway. She definitely has a gift!

Kristy and her sisters and Scarlet:

A proud mom:

Kristy makes everything fun!

The Lacey's:
(I know she's actually my daughter but did Trevor marry his mother or what!)

The Earls (minus Jon, Scarlet and Rhode):

The Earls and the Laceys:

Cutting the cake:

Adorable Scarlet:
Scarlet and Rhode:

The wedding waltz:

We rocked the reception... again! We kinda forgot to practice between the two receptions and since our first performance was sketchy at best, we could have used some serious rehearsal time - but it was fun!! Thanks to Angie who (unlike many of our other relatives) had all her moves down and even handled some new ones that were thrown at her with style and funk. And thanks to the groom and all of the groomsmen who were such good sports to do this!

It's a wrap!

What a great couple they are! We adore our new son-in-law and his family is the best. We love having Kristy and Trevor only 2-1/2 hours from us and we get to see them fairly often.