Angel of Music

We did it.

We went to Vegas.

And we even took the kids.

Oh, it was a wonderful 18-hour vacation.  It really was too bad that it didn't last longer.  But I'm so glad we got to dash out when we did.

We stopped at the Hoover Dam on the way.

Dam.

We took a dam tour, walked the dam sidewalks, took some dam pictures, and stopped at the dam shop to buy some dam souvenirs.  We had some dam fun.

Dam bridge

We got to our hotel (the Mirage) and checked in.  The kids LOVED our "fancy" room but we all hated having to walk through the casino to get to the elevators.  Major bummer there, but we survived.

We were a little early for Phantom so we took a trip to the Secret Gardens behind the Mirage where you can see a pool of dolphins and the animals once used by Siegfried and Roy.  The two magicians just happened to be there right then and they agreed to take some pictures with fans.  We took the opportunity to steal a few photos of them.  We noticed the animals sense their trainers as they neared the cages, despite the fact that Siegfried and Roy were completely surrounded by other people.  The animals would all get up and come to the area of the cage their trainers were standing by and seemed to be waiting for instruction.  It was quite a phenomenon.  After Siegfried and Roy moved away from the cage, the animals would all go back to sitting still just as they had before.

Watching the dolphins

On our way out we watched the dolphins swimming around.  We went below deck to see them underwater.  I've never seen dolphins before so I think I was just as amazed as the kids.

Finally it was time to go to dinner and our show.  We went across the street to the Venetian and had dinner at the restaurant connected to the Cheesecake Factory, which happened to be next door to the Phantom theater.  Dinner was good.  But who really remembers that when you have Phantom to look forward to?

We walked into the theater and were immediately awed.  The theater was custom built for the show and cost $40 million.  And you can tell.  It's been running at the Venetian for six years, but will finally close on September 2.  We HAD to go now so we didn't miss our opportunity to see it.  And it was absolutely worth it.

The view from our seats

Our seats were in the mezzanine (balcony area) and were definitely the "affordable" seats.  But our view was just as amazing as it could've been anywhere else in the theater.  We didn't realize it until later, but we had the best view of the chandelier, which in this production is as much a live character as any of the people singing and dancing on stage.

As the lights finally dimmed, I watched Matt out of the corner of my eye.  He sat between Josh and me because he was worried the play would be as scary as the movie.  But his eyes grew WIDE as he saw the actors come alive onstage and as the chandelier began its surge to life (I can't explain this to you without taking away some of the magic of it, so you'll just have to go with it and see the production yourself) Matt grabbed the sides of his chair as he nearly jumped out of it, mouth agape, and eyes about to pop.  I couldn't help but be moved by his reaction.  He was loving the magic of theatre, something I love so very much.  My eyes filled with tears and probably didn't stop filling until half an hour after the show ended.  The girls sat on the other side of Josh and he said their reactions were just about the same.

The show itself was incredible.  There wasn't a weak link in the performance.  The acting and singing was amazing.  The casting had been spot on.  There was more scenery in this production than I remember seeing in San Francisco in 1995.  But the curtain-sweeping scene changes still flowed beautifully from one scene to the next.  The special effects wowed the audience.  And that darn Phantom just showed up all over the place.  He's at the bottom of the stairs, then suddenly back at the top.  He's above the rooftop.  He's hanging from the chandelier!

The music was absolutely brilliant.

There is really only one word that can describe the show and the reactions of my children to it: Magical.

Afterward we asked the kids about their favorite parts.

Emma: She couldn't pin down one favorite moment.  In fact she told me, "I can't even name my favorite 1000 parts!"

Abby: "The whole thing!"

Matt:

• When Phantom hung from the chandelier
• When Phantom went from the bottom of the stairs and in a poof of smoke appeared at the top of the stairs
• When Phantom appeared in the mirror and took Christine to the dungeon
• When Phantom disappeared at the end
• (Can you guess Matt's favorite character?)

All in all, it was a quick trip, it cost us a bit of our state tax refund, and we were a bit late getting home (I was about 20 minutes late for the Cub Scout meeting being held at our house).  But it was definitely time and money well spent.  

A memory we will always remember.

The Phantom...Is Here Inside My Mind

There are some things my family loves:

Pizza

Disneyland

LDS Temples

and 

Phantom of the Opera

Every night for the last week I've listened to the three older kids sing selections from the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera as they clean up the kitchen.

So when Josh suggested we go to Vegas to watch the show before it closes at the end of the summer, I told him we could never tell the kids we went.  They'd freak out.  Luckily for our children, they have the coolest dad ever and he said, "Then let's all go."

And we are.  It's our Valentine's gift to our family.  A night in Vegas staying at the Mirage.

And then a trip to the Venetian for a couple hours as our family creates memories we will (hopefully) always remember.

The only bummer is we will need to leave Millie behind.  Oh, the sadness of being 3 and energetic.  But someday we'll make more memories with her included.

In the meantime, I am so excited to go with our family and enjoy a night of theatre.

Border Woes

In case you didn't know, when you travel along the roads in the southwestern US, and you are close to the Mexican border, you pass through Border Patrol Checkpoint Stations. 

It doesn't matter that I'm a legal US citizen.  Nor does it matter than all of the people in my vehicle are US citizens.  I get a bit intimidated by the whole thing.  There are working dogs, men with guns, the whole sha-bang.
So when we go to visit my parents and have to stop at one of these checkpoint areas, I automatically sit up straighter, use words like "yes sir," and hope I don't say something stupid.  Because they don't check my I.D.  They ask me questions.





Today we visited Mom and Dad for Labor Day.  And on the way home tonight I was asked, "What nationality are you?"  I immediately replied with my answer, but couldn't help but wonder as we drove away, What if I'd gotten mixed up and nervous and said the wrong thing? 




So now that all of these thoughts have come into my head, next time I visit my parents I'm going to be thinking extra hard about what my answers should be.  Not because I'm lying, but because I don't want to say the wrong thing!

Young Would Make Me Restless

I've already posted our camping trip pictures.  They are cute.  You should check them out.  You can go Here or just scroll down.

Here's some of our post-camping adventure.

It didn't take long for us to get to our camp area but the last 20 miles were spent mostly on a dirt road.  Because we were only another 20 miles from the community of Young, we decided to drive through it on our way home and check it out.... we're always on the look out for where we may want to live after Josh finishes school. 

We drove along the dirt road and barely avoided the few oncoming vehicles as they came toward us on the narrow roads with the very soft shoulders.  I was relieved when we hit pavement, came off of the mountain and saw the little town plotted out in front of us.  The first building we saw was the Young Public School.  It was obvious that the town was small enough for a K thru 12 school. 

We came across the homes comfortably spaced apart from each other and it all revealed a very Mayberry-esque community.  There were only a few sparsely placed businesses and a small LDS chapel.  The town was surrounded by the towering pines and mountains. 

Young, AZ Post Office

It just seemed so...... lovely.

There really wasn't anywhere to stop, so we continued to drive through the town.  We followed the highway through town and headed toward Payson.  I figured that anyone in town would just jot over to Payson for any of their shopping or entertainment needs.  It's about 60 miles, but if you can go about 60 mph, it won't take too long to get there. 

We drove a few miles out of town and found a surprise.  Another dirt road.  About 15 miles of loose, windy, mountainous dirt roads. 

There is no paved road to get to Young, AZ.

I'm thinking we'll have to keep looking for that perfect town to end up in.

Adults-only Trip

I filed our taxes yesterday.  Wham, bam, thank you Uncle Sam. 

Really, this year was pretty simple.  It may be because I've been doing my own (and eventually Josh's) taxes since 1996.  Deductions are easy to figure out.  We had one W-2 and we spent all of 2010 in Arizona, so only one state to file in.  Easy.  Plus, Josh didn't take all of the deductions allowed to him at work, so we knew we had overpaid our taxes and we'd be getting a refund.

So..... what to do, what to do?

First, good-bye credit cards.  All of them.  Luckily, we have a relatively low balance of them (much less than the national average of $15,788). 

So now.... what to do, what to do?

I'll tell you what the heck to do.  You take your husband and go away for a few days.  Why?  Because the last time you did it was less than 24 hours about 45 miles away from home.  The time before that was about four days with your theatre group and you had to attend seminars and performances and not even sleep in the same room as each other.  And the time before that you didn't have kids. 

We tried to get Josh's schedule clear for the entire week of Spring Break, but it seems that everyone else had the same idea.  We were originally going to visit family in Colorado, but since Josh has to work part of Spring Break, we had to downsize our plans.

Luckily my parents have accepted the invitation for the kids to stay with them for a few days.  And then Josh and I will be off.

And so now..... where to go, where to go?

I have a feeling Southern California will be accepting us and our reservations in one way or another.  I know you're dying to know more information.  I'll happily share it as soon as I know it myself.

#18 I'm Thankful For.....

Today's thankful post is pretty straight forward: I'm thankful we had a successful road trip today. 

I'm thankful we had no mechanical issues.

I'm thankful we had no weather issues, except for that bit of wind that lasted about 20 miles.

I'm thankful the kids were mostly good.

I'm thankful we only had to stop four times because Millie couldn't sit still any longer.

I'm thankful my husband supports and loves me enough to encourage me to have fun, even if it's without him.

I'm thankful for Diet Cherry Pepsi.

I'm thankful it was only 13.5 hours on the road.  It really could have been much, much worse.

#17 I'm Thankful For.....

Some people endure high school.  Like Josh.  High school was not his favorite time of life, I think.  When we go driving through the beautiful highlands lying north of the valley, Josh often points out the lakes and/or ice cream shops that he visited during regularly scheduled school days.

Yesterday Emma was allowed to hang her campaign posters.  She's running for student body president.  I took the kids to school early and we hung the posters before all the good spots were taken.  Funnily enough, the politics of elementary school aren't nearly as cutthroat as they seemed to be in high school.  Anyway, I asked Josh if he ever ran for office in school.  He just kind of looked at me. 

I ran a couple times.  I never won.  But I did successfully help a few of my friends campaign.  I got to be on the student council since I was the Honor Society President.  I served with several of my friends.  My best friends included the FBLA president, the Senior class president, some Sterling Scholars, the Key Club president, Student Body President, various athletes, members of choirs and bands, and (of course) the drama club.  There's more.  I just can't remember it all.

I loved high school.  Obviously.  I was always busy.  A typical day could easily include practices for assemblies, play practice, choir practices, football games, basketball games, voice lessons, student council meetings, NHS meetings, Seminary Council meetings (we had released time LDS seminary and I served on that council as well), homework for my classes (including AP classes), and my 10-hour/week part time job as the "Snack Bar Girl" at a roller skating rink.  And I loved every second of it. 

I had the best friends.  We did so much together and kept each other on track.  I'm not always the easiest person to love.  I know that shocks you, but it's true.  Yet, so many of my friends from 14 years ago are still my friends, despite the fact that I've had 17 different addresses in 4 different states since we graduated. 

And I get to see some of them this weekend -- starting tomorrow night when I land at Cindy's house.  I love that we are taking this trip.  The kids are just as excited as I am.  I think we've all been wanting a chance to get out of the house.  The only bummer is that Josh has to work so he's not coming.  That's really sad.  (I'm going to miss you, Baby!)  But I'm still really looking forward to being with my friends, meeting spouses I haven't met before, watching my kids play with theirs. 

I'm so thankful for my wonderful memories of high school and for my friends that I've been able to keep.

San Diego 2010

There is no Bloggest Loser this week because I had an inkling that we were going to be out of town.

And we were.

Monday morning we left to go to San Diego to visit Josh's grandparents.

He hasn't seen them since he was about 16 and his grandfather is in very poor health. We knew we had to make the trip before school started and not wait until it was convenient. We had a bit of time and low funds, but we still had a wonderful trip.

Monday night we saw Gramma and Grampa Essary.

We stayed at a hotel between their house and the beach.

The next morning was overcast and cool, but we decided that we HAD to see the ocean while we were there. We didn't change into our swimsuits since it was so chilly, but all four children ended up wet from their shoulders down.

We had some lunch and the sun came out, so we decided to go back to the beach. This time we wore our suits and did some major shell collecting. It was a good day.

It was a very fun, although fast, trip. I can't wait to do it again. Next time we'll have some more ideas of where to go and what to do.

The kids' first time in the ocean.

Tombstone or Bust!

Yesterday Josh and I took the kids out for an adventure. We called it:

ADVENTURE!!!!

I know. Such a creative name. Really, anyone else may look at our adventure and think that it was just a bunch of unpreparedness. Well, so what if it was? We had fun, so that's all that matters.

I told the kids that we were going to go on a field trip. The girls got all excited and asked where we were going. I told them Tombstone. They started screaming and clapping and jumping up and down. Finally, after a good 60 seconds of celebration, they calmed down and asked me what Tombstone is. They're so weird.

I explained it's an Old West town and had some museums in it. They were excited (again) to go.

First, we left very late in the day. I don't know if my children have told you lately, but I'm pretty mean and made them do all their chores before we could leave.

Then, we grabbed the atlas and took off. We couldn't remember how far away Tombstone is since the last time we went there we had no children. But we knew it would be a couple hours.

Three hours later, we arrived in town. We went over to the O.K. Corral to check it out.

Unfortunately, we got there 15 minutes after it closed. And 15 minutes after most of the shops in town closed.

But there were a couple of shops open. We had promised the kids they could buy whatever they wanted as long as they didn't go over their $10 max. So we now have a few new horses and cap guns laying around our house.

Josh and I thought it was kind of funny that the movie stills we saw were mostly from the Kurt Russell Tombstone instead of the Kevin Costner Wyatt Earp. Even the town of Tombstone thinks Kevin Costner sucks. Ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

We saw a buggy driving down the streets of Tombstone, but we missed the shoot out in the streets.

We completed our adventure by taking the backroads home. It shaved about thirty minutes off our drive, even in the dark. It was a bit after midnight when we got home, but it was fun.

ADVENTURE!!!!

We now have a much better idea of how to do a good visit to Tombstone. The only thing really worth seeing in town is the O.K. Corral and it's accompanying museum. So, next time we'll plan it a little better. We will drive the backway to Tombstone and visit some really cool caverns in one of the towns nearby. Then we'll go to Tombstone for lunch, visit the O.K. Corral and watch the 2pm shoot out in the streets.

So, some may consider our six hours in the car for an hour look around Tombstone a waste of time, but we had lots of fun together. And that's never a waste.

I do think we need to go get the BlueRay copy of Tombstone. Who doesn't love Kurt Russell, especially as someone as cool as Wyatt Earp? He's awesome. Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton are wonderful as the other two Earp brothers, although Sam Elliot is my favorite of the two. And, of course, my loyalty to Joshua has numbed my affinity for Val Kilmer, but I still think he's great. Plus, he's got some of the best lines.

I'm your Huckleberry.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas, Everyone! I hope your Christmas was a great as ours!

Polar Express

We started our Christmas Eve off with a challenge for the kids. We began watching The Polar Express and were talking about how cool it would be for the Polar Express to show up in our yard. But the problem was that we didn't have any snow at our house. So, we realized we needed snow. Also, the train seemed to go through a canyon of some sort. We put the two clues together and figured out that we could go to the Grand Canyon to look for the Polar Express.

The kids were worried about missing Santa, so I told them that we could for sure be back in time for Santa. To sweeten the deal, I told them they could each bring one present to open. The catch to that was that they had to chose the present labeled "Don't open until Dec 24."

We drove to Flagstaff and then headed west toward the Grand Canyon. In the book, the boy's sister discovers the bell from Santa, so family is also very important to the story. Because of that, we decided to stop in a town called Williams (my maiden name). We had the choice to go either right (toward the Grand Canyon) or left (toward Williams). Abby needed the restroom, so we decided to stop in Williams and take the Historic Route 66 like in the movie Cars.

We got in to town and low-and-behold there was a train station with a giant train labeled Polar Express!!! We saw that the people there were all wearing their pajamas and we wondered if we'd be allowed on the train. We all got really nervous. While the rest of us went to the potty, Josh went to see if the train was expecting us, like they did for the kids in the story.

We found Josh and discovered that we couldn't enter the train without jammies. Then the train left. It left without us! We couldn't believe it! I thought we needed something to help us feel better, so the kids opened their presents. They were shocked to discover that each of them just opened a gift of PAJAMAS!!!

We still needed tickets. Josh asked the kids what the conductor told the boy to do in the movie. The conductor said to check his pocket. Josh looked in his pocket--nothing. Then we remembered the conductor told the boy to look in his other pocket. And there were the tickets! So we had tickets for the next train, pajamas, and a picnic dinner which we ate out in the freezing cold.

Matt was a bit miserable.

Abby remembered how to bundle up.

Emma happily gobbled her homemade sugar cookie as we waited.

Josh and Millie were so cute!!

This picture almost didn't make it on here. Who's that fattie with Emma? Gross. ('Fess Up Friday resumes next week!)

We entered the train, rode to the North Pole, listened to a reading of the Polar Express, got to the North Pole, saw Santa and his elves, got a gift from Santa and a few gifts from the Polar Express people, sang carols, and had a magical time. It was a great trip, but I think our anticipation was the most exciting part of the whole thing. I'll happily go again. But probably not on Christmas Eve. We'll do our exploring earlier in the season next year, I think.

In case you didn't get a good idea of what Josh's jammies looked like, here's a better shot. Isn't he the cutest thing in the whole world? Just ask the people of Black Canyon, AZ. Sorry, inside joke.

Christmas Morning

To avoid the huge montage of pictures we took this morning, here is one of each kid. This year's homemade gift was a pottery piece I painted with my sister, Tara. Tara made piggy banks for her boys and I made collectibles for each of my kids.

Emma has been asking for a turtle, so I got her one.

Abby loves horses, princesses and pink. So she got a pink unicorn.

Matt likes frogs.

I didn't know what Millie would grow up to like, so I chose this really cute lady bug for her. And it was really cool that we found a really cute new onesie with a lady bug on it too. It was on sale.

We had a wonderful time together. Josh shocked me with getting me Rockband Beatles. How the heck he pulled it off is a mystery. He's tricky. I can't wait to rock out with him.

'Fessin' and Stuff

'Fess Up Friday

I exercised. I tried to eat right. I had a few days that I didn't. I lost a pound or two. I wish I could drop lots of weight immediately. It won't happen, so I'll just keeping pouting about that and keep trying. *Pout*

Zoolights

Last night we went to the Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo. It was really cool. No exhibits were open, it was really dark, there were lots of people and we had to wait in some really long lines. But, it was still kind of cool to be there and it was even cooler later in the evening when most of the people were gone. It was almost like we had the whole park to ourselves. I liked that part the best.

Doctor's Office

Matt got his cast off his arm Friday morning. Everything is healing well, he just needs to rebuild the strength in his wrist. But his doctor's office is one of the worst I've ever been to. It's got a very crowded waiting room (with or without people) and wait we do. For a long time. Now, my question is, why is it that we are expected to be on time or even early for an appointment and we sit ignored for 40 minutes, but if we were to have shown up 40 minutes late and bypassed the waiting period we would've been denied our appointment? And I swear, if some medical person tells me some practical reason why this is, I promise you that I will go sockless and literally run around in my shoes all day long and then come to your medical office, take off my shoes, and rub my smelly, sweaty feet on your carpet.

I may need to go to bed.

'Fess Up Friday

This week's 'Fess Up Friday is brought to you by:

Dictionary.com

curve ball or curve·ball (kûrv'bôl') n.
1. Baseball: Any of several pitches that veer to the left when thrown with the right hand and to the right when thrown with the left hand.
2. Slang: Something that is unexpected or designed to trick or deceive: That last question on the exam was a real curve ball.

Needless to say, some curveballs have been thrown at our family. Everything is fine, and I'll expound on it all later, but I didn't get to exercise at all this week and I've got to get back to working on it next week. Not this week. Our "quick" trip to Colorado wasn't so quick and I'm just beginning to recoup from that one. I'm really hoping for a very uneventful weekend.

'Fess Up Friday and the Camping Trip

This week my exercising consisted of camping and boating. My healthy diet included Matt's birthday cake and S'mores. So, yeah, another week, another bust. Next week I'll try again!

But our camping this week was SO FUN! I love getting out and having fun with my family, and with Josh's decrease in overtime, we may have lots more chances to camp this year than we did last. I'd tell you where we went, but then everyone will want to go there and we won't have as much quiet as we did this time! Here are a few highlights of our trip:

Millie did NOT like her life jacket for the boat. Every time she had it on she got really mad then shut down and fell asleep. Either that or we kept catching her at nap time.

The kids were on the dock waiting for Dad to bring the boat around so we could board for the first time.




Abby got to steer.

Matt, Emma, Millie, and Josh.

Have you ever seen the movie "Master of Disguise"? It's pretty cute and stars Dana Carvey. He has one scene where he's trying to fit into the local Turtle Club and instead of looking like a yuppie, he dresses up like a turtle. "Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club. Turtle, turtle, turtle!" Millie reminded me of that.

Josh and Abby jumped into the lake. Later Abby wanted to go in again. The first time she just kind of got into the water. The second time she shocked her system by jumping in and she began to freak out. The quote of the week is, "I...changed...my...mind!"

The water was pretty.

Matt got in too, but he was not a happy camper!

He was so traumatized that this picture was taken about ten minutes later.

The girls had lots of fun at the front of the boat as we raced toward the shore.

Inspired by my BIL Jabon's beautiful photography, I decided to try to capture the sunset as we headed home yesterday. Not great, but a decent try I think.

So, I've got to restart my workouts again. It is harder to restart than I remembered. Plus, summer schedules are totally messing me up. How'd you do?

Go Jump Off a Cliff

Before Lori and her boys head for home (they're leaving in the early AM), Dad took us to see the First People's Buffalo Jump. It's not even 10 miles away from Great Falls. I didn't realize we had so many historical sights so close by. What have we been missing???

The kids stood next to a buffalo. Don't worry it was stuffed. And they were allowed to touch it, so that made it even better.

The way the jump worked was that a young man, about 13 to 16 years old, would wear a bison calf cape and act like an injured calf and play up to the lead cow. She's follow him up the hill and the rest of the herd would follow her. Then about four other young men would wear wolf capes and start freaking out the herd. They'd be following the lead cow who would be led by the "injured calf" and he'd take them to the edge of the cliff. Because of the buffalo's poor sight, they would not be able to tell that they were actually heading off a cliff until it was too late. It was actually a bit freaky to realize what the young men had to do to have these HUGE animals stampeding behind them. The young men would jump off the cliff onto a shelf and quickly scramble out of the way so they wouldn't be kicked off the hill too.

Dad led Abby and Emma to the edge of the cliff. The grass color change is where the cliff begins.

This is what the shelf looked like. At the edge of the rock is the steep decent to DEATH! It was a bit scary. The cliff ran about a mile long.


Dad and Matt at the edge of the shelf. Matt said being at the edge of the cliff "was fweaky."

Millie slept until about five minutes before we left. She was such a good girl.

As we left, Dad asked the kids what they learned. I think it was Emma that said, "Never jump off a cliff!" Smart kid.

The Dam Joke

I've never felt too restricted in my religion, but I've never been one to shy away from a little rebellion. Although I try not to swear, this is one of my favorite jokes.

The other day we went to one of the dams. Here's what's pretty cool. There are several dams built on the falls that Great Falls is named for. The falls were discovered by Lewis and Clark in their infamous trip through the Louisiana Purchase. So we took a dam excursion.

The dam.

This is the dam suspension bridge you have to cross to get to the dam island in the middle of the Missouri River.

We had lunch on the dam island.

The kids were all running to use the dam bathrooms.

Trent and Millie. There ain't no dam joke for this one.

Dad took the kids up the dam island rocks.

Mom and the kids looking into the dam water.

I know it's a lame joke, but the dam joke makes me giggle.