What is a "Ricky"?

What is a Ricky? Well, Randy and I have a terrible habit of calling each other names (don't let him fool you... he calls me names just as much as I call him names). Quite a few years ago, we started calling each other "Ricky", because Ricky Retardo was just too long. Everyone has a Ricky in their lives.... Ricky moments are like, when you walk out of the house and out of habit, you shut the door behind you not realizing that your significant other is right there, that's when they would yell, "hey Ricky!!! You don't think it was my turn to come out?". Some other word for Ricky would be, idiot, moron, dumb "a", ect... but for some reason our name went from Ricky Retardo to just Ricky. Well, this wasn't too much of a problem until we were planning a trip with my Albrecht family several years ago and one of my favorite uncles was coming with us... that's right, my Uncle Ricky. I love him so much. But he also... is a Ricky. We had to modify our words that week to not make him feel bad that we were using his name as a derogatory term. It wasn't easy. Anyhow, if you have been with us for more than a couple of hours, surely one of us has called the other a Ricky, and now you know why!!! Here is the latest Ricky picture of Randy. He had just taken our Christmas tree out... notice the head lamp that looks like a jock strap, the boots untied... pants tucked in, one glove and the cheesy smile.... THAT'S A RICKY!!! Unfortunately, I have a lot of Rickys in my life. I live with 4 of them, I am one, anyone I have ever lived with was one, anyone I am related to is one, there are a lot that drive on Bluff Street at the same time I do, all of my friends are Ricky's at some point in life, pretty much... EVERYONE is a Ricky, be on the look out!!!

The 6th time I got "stoned"

So, the day after Christmas Randy and I were laying in bed talking about the plans for the day... I always go shopping the day after, I love it, but then what? Play in the snow? Take the kids to the "dizzy" park? Madagascar 2? What should we do? We hadn't decided yet, so we were just going to see where the day took us. When I got up to go to the bathroom, all my plans went out the door, a feeling that I know all too well...... A KIDNEY STONE!!! That's right, I was going to give birth instead of play that day. I was so mad. I decided to try to shop, so I took do pyridium (dialates the urinary tract to make the stone pass "easier") and headed out to Target. I got as far as the gas station and decided to go back home. On the way home, I noticed that our friend, Paul was in front of me, so I texted him to go to my house for a blessing. Thank goodness he was there in no time, Randy and Paul gave me a Priesthood blessing and I was off to the doctor's office to get pain pills. This would be my 6th kidney stone since April 2004. At least I know the tricks.... pyridium, percocet, and more water than a camel would drink. Unfortunately, I have to take enough percocet that I can't function as a mom. I'm lucky that Randy was there. I was pretty much delirious the whole day. Thank goodness for Heather bringing dinner, I was thinking the kids would be happy with popcorn, she's so considerate. So, 19 short hours later, I gave birth to a stone that I named, "Little Big Juan" (sounds like One). This one was one of the easier ones I have had, no hospital and not a lot of throwing up, so it wasn't a bad labor. Next time, I'm going right to labor and delivery and asking for an epidural!!! When I was in Heaven and filled out the questionaire, the one that asked if I wanted to get stoned, I thought it sounded like fun and marked YES... that'll teach me.

Christmas fun 2008!!!

This year, Christmas was a lot of fun... as always. Our traditions are... the Sunday before Christmas is our Clyde family party & Christmas Eve is always my family party. Christmas morning we always eat white powder donuts after we unwrap our gifts and see what Santa brought. Here are some of our favorite gifts this year...

Cambelle loves the "wobe" she got and all the Reece's peanut butter cups.



Tyler got 138 Pokemon cards... he's a happy boy!!!
And Maddison loves the i-dog she got from Great Grandma Albrecht.
Randy got a special gift this year. He saw these scriptures on his mission (100 years ago) and fell in love with them. They are compact scriptures, but they are separate. You can get a compact quad anywhere, but he wants the compact triple combo and Bible separate. They stopped making them when he was on his mission and we haven't been able to find them anywhere... until a couple weeks ago. I called his mom and told her to get right down to the distribution center and get them, who knows when they'll stop making them again. Randy had no idea he was getting them until he opened them on Christmas morning. Needless to say, he was VERY HAPPY!!!

I think my favorite gift this year is from my best friend, Anna. My b-day is in November, she told me my gift was a b-day/Christmas gift. I was fine with that. When I opened this denim quilt with a big "H" in the middle and hot pink backing, I couldn't control my tears. I know how much time and love she spent on this. I will treasure it for years to come!!!

When we're done at our house, we stop at my parent's house for a bit before we head to Hurricane. When we get to Randy's parent's house, we open presents from each other and then we go to the family room for our presents from mom and dad. When Randy and his brothers and sister were little, their mom got the idea to not put names on the gifts, instead, she puts them into categories. One year it was different shapes, so, thing that are round (Randy), things that are square (Hope), oval (Jamie), and so on. So, on my gifts that year, the tags said... "tiles", and "saltine crackers"...ect. We have to figure out the categories and then which category belongs to who.


This year's categories... 

*things that stink (Amy) example... feet, fish, ect.

*things that glow (Steven) example... flashlight, worm, ect.

*things that tear (Randy) example... notebook pages, the knees in your pants, ect.

*things that peel (Hopie) example... your fingernails, oranges, ect.

*things with a window (Jamie) example... envelopes, your soul, ect.

*things that are sticky (Cory) example... spider web, boogers, ect.

After the Hurricane fun is all over (it takes about 3+ hours), then we head back to my parent's house to play games and chill out. As always, we had a great time. Traditions are always a big part of Christmas, I love our traditions!!! I tried to upload a couple videos, but it was taking too  long, maybe later. I hope everyone had a fun Christmas... now to New Year's Eve... PARTY AT OUR HOUSE!!!!

Happy Birthday

Who's birthday is it anyway? Just remember what this next couple of days is all about. I have the coolest friends and family and I hope you all have a great holiday. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

All I want for Christmas...

The later part of this year has been a little rough for me. One of the negative side effects from all of that is that I have had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, but one thing I have REALLY enjoyed is all the music. My favorite right now is All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey. I love it because my kids love to dance to it. Whenever they hear it coming on, they run from all corners of the house and we all dance in the big room together. It's been a lot of fun for us. I hope all my friends and family are having a fun holiday season so far!!!!

Our "winter storm"

It's fun to have snow for a minute... that's my theory. I love the look of Snow Canyon with snow on it. It's such a Heaven/Hell thing to me. I always associate Snow Canyon with the 115 degree summers we have here, so to see that white stuff on it is always fascinating to me.
This was yesterday afternoon, taken from the Sugarloaf (Red Hill, DIXIE rock). Pretty, huh?
This is the hill I see when I pull out of my drive way. It always takes my breath away when there is this much snow on it. Snow is fun in St. George because it goes away fast. It's like... a vacation spot for snow. It rushes is, makes a mess and leaves as fast as is came... doesn't that sound like company?

Baby it's cold outside!!!

Here are the kids in their knit hats that my Grandma Albrecht made for the kids last year. We don't usually get to wear them because it's always like 60 degrees here, but this week has been fun for the kids to get to wear them. It's funny to hear all of us "southern Utah natives" talk about the snow. For years, my friend, Angie (who grew up in Logan) has laughed at me for being so... snow retarded. Now I look at "us" and laugh too!!! It really is funny to see how excited everyone gets over 1/4 inch of snow!!!

I had to take a picture of Randy's bike. That is such a contradiction to me that it's funny. I guess it doesn't take much to entertain some!!! Cambelle has been throwing up all afternoon. She just wants to be held. I am so lucky to have the McInnes family as friends. I told Heather that Cambelle wasn't feeling good and an hour later she was here with dinner for my family. What an amazing friend. She was thinking of our family in a very selfless way. She is just as busy as me, but she took the opportunity to serve. What a great example to me. After dinner, that was fabulous by the way, there was a knock at the door. A plate full of yummy treats from some "elves". I feel so lucky. Unworthy, but thankful for all the great people in my life that do so much for me and my family.

The day I thought I was going to die!!!

Last week I was talking to my mom on the phone, looking at our Christmas tree, when I saw one of the branches moving. What I found on that branch was a praying mantis. I called the kids in, we all got excited and then Maddison said, "move everyone, I'll get it!!!". After tackling her to the ground, I informed her that she would NOT be touching a bug in our house. It's bad enough that it's in the house, she doesn't need to go handling it. So, I forgot about the praying mantis UNTIL TODAY!!! I was on the phone with Holly, having a great conversation when I went to put a book in my scripture bag, that was on the couch, right next to the tree. As I leaned down to grab the handles, I saw something on them, and when I was ONE INCH away from it, I realized that is was the praying mantis !!!$#%()#@&%)@(*#$)(@# I screamed and then some vulgarity came out of my mouth. Poor Holly was on the phone and thought someone had just died and I felt like I was having a stroke. HOLY COW!!!! I hate bugs so much, obviously, because I rarely swear, so it must have been bad. Ohhhhh, I finally calmed down enough to tell Holly that I had NOT just cut off my hand and got Randy in there to take the 8" beast out of the house. I am sure it was 8" big, that's how big it looked during "the incident". Anyhow, I'm so glad that my heart is in good working order. Fshewww!!! Escaped that one!!!

Family pictures!!!

One of the best things about being a wannabe photographer is taking all my friend's and family's pictures and being creative, one of the worst things is that I never get our family done!!! Well, today my sweet niece, Brittney, came with us to shoot our family pictures. The kids did great and Brittney was a life saver. Here is one of my favorites.

A big THANK YOU!!!

To everyone who has been concerned for Tyler. I talked to the doctor a couple times today and what did I find out? If he is fully immunized (and he is), the risk of him getting whooping cough is really low. Even with his compromised lung, he SHOULD be OK. He also told me that if we ever were worried about him having whooping cough or being exposed to it, we can go to the ER where they can do a nasal secretion test for pertussis. I love that our doctor is so knowledgeable about our son's condition and will answer my calls for advice. We have the best doctor ever!!! When we were leaving Primary Children's, when Tyler was a baby, the staff at PCMC was insisting on us getting a pediatrician, we expressed how happy we are with our doctor, they still strongly suggested a pediatrician. Our doctor is a family doctor and when they called Dr. Chamberlain to give him the discharge info on Tyler, they all came to us and let us know how impressed they were with him. He knew all about Tyler already and was prepared to take the best care of him. If there have ever been times when Tyler needed a specialist, Dr. Chamberlain has sent us to the right ones. I trust him so much. He really has done a lot for our family and we appreciate that. With Tyler, he has re-written medical books by being so healthy, but we can't take that for granted. We must always be on our toes. Thank you for all of your concern. We hear your prayers and appreciate them very much. If you want more info on diaphragmatic hernias and what Tyler has been through, you can click on the pink and blue ribbon to the right.

A worried mom.

I was just reading up on whooping cough. There has been an outbreak in Hurricane and I am really worried about Tyler. We have lots of family over there that we are in regular contact with. Who knows if they have been exposed, thus, exposing Tyler. His left lung, on x-ray looks like a normal sizes lung, the problem is that we have never done a lung function test (because of his age, he'll have to follow specific instructions), so we don't know if that left lung functions as a full lung. I doubt it does. Therefore, if he gets whooping cough, it would mean definite hospitalization for him, possible life support, and.... So, can you see why I am worried about this? Even though we all have our full vaccinations, with his compromised lung, this is reason for us to worry about him. I have a call in to our Doctor to see if there is anything else we can do to prevent him from getting it and to see what the earliest signs are. If you know me, you know I am not a "worrier", this is different. I don't ever want to see my son on life support again. I don't think I could go through that again. Please keep him in your prayers. We also need to pray that those who have whooping cough will do what they're supposed to do and stay home so it stops spreading. Ahhhh.... after almost 7 years, I thought this would all get easier, I was wrong.

This always cracks me up!!!

I have seen this video a hundred times, but it's just a goody!!! I think this guy is really on to something, I look at commercials a little differently now!!!

Randy's cold shower...

You already have the wrong idea. Our water heater has been naughty lately, Randy decided (because of my whining) to see what the problem was. He figured it out... a fried thermostat. When he finally got to that point, it was 9:05pm. Home Depot, Lowe's, Ben Franklin... all closed and they don't sell them at Wal-mart. We wont be able to get the part till tomorrow. No biggie, right? I didn't need a shower, but he did. I told him to go to my parent's house, Gina's, Paul and Heather's, I'm sure the Rindlisbacher's would have let him come over to shower.... NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!! He's taken cold showers before, he'll just hurry. Well, I couldn't resist watching this fun, so I pulled up a seat on the toilet and enjoyed our see-through shower curtain!!! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!!! Randy dancing around the shower, trying to pretend that the water is not ice cold!!! Oh jeesh, I'm still crying. He kept saying, "my body is red cuz I am rubbing it so fast, it's not because it's freezing cold!!!!". I was dying of laughter!!!! Ohhh.... what a fun way to end the night, Randy taking a cold shower!!! We should do this again tomorrow!!!

The Joy in my life!!!

There has been a lot of joy in my life, but the one I am going to talk about today is Joy. I met Joy when I was 15. I dated her son for almost 4 years and got to be really close to her. She was such an influence to me. We got really close. She was never judgemental towards me. She was always loving and kind even when I gave her reason to not be. She loved me like a daughter. She taught me a lot of lessons that I think of EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life. She had a huge influence on how I look at things. Well, after Scott and I broke up, Gina and I stayed best friends. That kept me close to Joy. It was a very special relationship. Well, 5 years ago today, Joy died of breast cancer. She knew she had a lump and ignored it. I wonder what life would be like had she got that lump checked out. Sometimes I get mad because I feel that she died senselessly and then I remember how she changed me. She did more in her short life than some do in a lot more years. Every October, I think of her every day. I have a pink breast cancer ribbon bracelet that I wear with her in mind. But every Dec. 7th, I take Gina to lunch to talk about her mom and how important she was to us in similar and different ways. It's a very special tradition we do. This year, her death anniversary landed on Sunday so we went to lunch yesterday. It was enjoyable. We usually laugh a little and cry a little. Yesterday was no different. I miss Joy so much but I know there's a special angel watching over my family and my best friend. Today is the day I remember and celebrate a great person in my life, Joy McLaws!!! I love you.

This song is pretty cool.

The other day, my head felt like it was going to explode with stress. I was driving and heard this song by Brandy for the first time. It was just what I needed. It's not one that will make me run to the mountain tops to scream about it, mainly because I'm fat and that would just make me really tired... but it is a fun song. I can definitely groove to it!!! See what you think!!!

I love concerts!!!

I just got a text from my cousin Rebecca that lives in Vegas and goes to all the rockin concerts down there. She said Britney Spears is coming in concert there. That would be SO fun. I love going to concerts. I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie, the energy of concerts is THE BEST!!! I've been to a few concerts, usually the ones here or in Cedar, like Sawyer Brown, Diamond Rio, SheDaisy, stuff like that. I love them, they have always been great. I also went to 2 concerts in 2 days in Jan. 1999. New Year's Day, I got last minute tickets to N'Sync (Britney Spears opened for them, it was great) and took my niece, Brittney with me. She was the only one young enough to not laugh at me when I told her I wanted to go. We had a blast. The next night, my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Gus took Randy and I to Shania Twain for part of our Christmas present. That was the BEST concert I have ever been to. Shania was FABULOUS!!! It was a great time!!! I would love to go to a really good one again. Rebecca just went to Justin Timberlake, I would give my right arm to go. That would be such a great concert. Well, I'm left handed anyway!!! It wouldn't be THAT bad!!! Now I need to go find a song to go with this post, it wont be Shania Twain though... I always end up pregnant when I listen to her!?@$# Whatever that means.

Out of Cambelle's mouth

We were on the way home from her dance class yesterday when we saw a Volkswagen van and Cambelle said, "that's a funny truck". I told her that it was called a Volkswagen and she said, "HEY!!! We have a wagon, it's green!!!" I laughed so hard!!! Funny girl!!!

What you don't know....

There is a lot about me that you don't know. I had an awesome friend tell me today that she has a sister a lot like me as far as attitude goes. The way she described it was a, "it's my way or eat shit" kind of attitude. Which is usually how I am just out of survival for some reason. There have been things that have happened in my life that require me to be that way. The thing people don't know about us with "alpha", or "type A", or "red", or whatever you want to call our personality is that we hurt just like everyone else. We cry just as hard as the rest. The difference is that it will take a lot more to hurt me than it will to hurt you and when I get hurt, I won't be able to turn my cheek as quick as you think I should. It's not always fun being this way. I like making people happy. My favorite thing in the world is to make people laugh. When I love, I love with so much passion that it makes the sting that much worse when I get hurt. I like to be with those who build me up. I like to be the one who brings a smile to your face. When I tell you that I love you, I really do and that should never be questioned. I am very loyal. I will be your friend for eternity if you just treat me with respect. Those who have known me a while, know that. I don't ever give up on relationships. Why the rant? Just because. I am having such a hard time with some things lately and I want everyone to understand me and my "type" a little better. You need to know that on the surface, it's all fun and games, but there is a lot more to me. There is a person that has had to deal with abandonment, loss, and a lot of other hard situations. I am no different than you. I have so many friends and family that are so supportive, for that I am grateful. My mind was racing, so I thought blogging about it would help. We're all here to learn from each other and grow. I hope I have helped someone look at the people in their life a little different. I wouldn't change my life for anything. I wouldn't change the people in my life for different ones. I love my family and friends very much. I am truly blessed.

Our Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

Thanksgiving weekend this year DID NOT disappoint!!! We started out on Wednesday morning, waiting for my Grandma Albrecht to get here from Vegas to go to my Uncle Barry's house is Pleasant View, UT (also known as the great white tundra). We pulled the kids out of class early so we could get there at a descent time. On our way up it was raining like crazy, we weren't too worried about our luggage in the cargo carrier, atop the Tahoe, after all, it was "water resistant". We had the opportunity to take every one's pop tabs to the Ronald McDonald House in SLC to help give back to the house from when we stayed there almost 7 years ago... ANYHOW, we had SO MANY tabs THANK YOU EVERYONE and they were so happy to see us. It is always an emotional place for us to go. It brings back so many scary memories. So, on we go.... up north even further!!! We got to my aunt and uncle's house in pretty good time. It was so great to be with them again. As we got our luggage out of the cargo carrier, we realized the difference in "water resistant" and "water PROOF".... our clothing was SOAKED!!! I ended up drying and re-folding ALL of our laundry for the 4 day trip 5 people X 4 days... lots of laundry!!! Uhggg.....The next day was Thanksgiving.


Dinner was SO FREAKIN YUMMY!!! My Uncle Barry is the best cook!!! Yummy, yummy and more yummy!!! Bear and Iva brined the turkey this year, the bucket wasn't big enough, so someone had to keep going out to "squirt Bob's (the turkey) a**". Couldn't leave his butt out of the fun!!! We have a lot to be thankful for. As a tradition, we go around the table to tell something we are thankful for. When we came to Tyler, he requested to go last. When it was his turn, he simply said, in his cute little 6 year old voice, "I am thankful to have my mom and dad and sisters". I am such a baby!!! I cried so hard. He didn't say anything about his gameboy or Pokemon cards. THAT'S what it's all about. As a special bonus, we got to see another one of my favorite cousins, Rebecca, up from Vegas to see her mom. It was great!!! That night my Aunt Iva decided since the boys were going buffalo hunting for 2 days that we should do something before they leave, just the girls. So, we went to Twilight. I haven't read the books, so I didn't really know what all the fuss was about. All I can say is.... I'm in love with a vampire!!!! Woohooo Edward Cullen!!!! My grandma is a Jacob fan, but for me.... Edward all the way!!! I absolutely LOVED the movie!!!








The next day, Bear, Randy and Dallen, were on their way to Montana for a buffalo "harvest". Not really a "hunt", but you get to kill a big, huge, buffalo. When I found out they would be right by Yellowstone, I made sure Randy would take a picture of himself by the sign, just for Gina. She loves Yellowstone and I thought it would be fun to tease her!!!



The boys had fun "bonding". I don't need to know what they do when there aren't girls around, do you? Too much burping and farting, if you ask me!!!












This is the mighty hunter man and his nice kill. They brought the hide home. I took pictures, but they make me gag, so I didn't put them on here. It's just gross.








On the way home from Montana, they got into some snow, glad it was them and not me!!!












Before we knew it, it was time to come home. The kids played so much and had such a great time. My cousins Elizabeth and Danielle are just the best and Dallen totally rocks. Whenever we are with that family, it reminds me of how much I love them and miss them. We were lucky to get to spend the whole time with my grandma too. She is the best grandma anyone would ask for. I am 32 and she still makes me feel like I am the most important person in her life. I want to be that kind of grandma.





We got home pretty quick.... um, well, considering my brother-in-law is a UHP trooper, maybe I shouldn't say how fast we got home. Our speedometer hasn't been working right and after a few hours in the car, it feels like you're going slower than you really are. We got home in 5 hours, including a lunch break and 2 potty stops. I am SO glad I have a heavy foot, when we pulled
in what did I find? My 2 best friends, Anna and
Gina trying to sabotage my house as payback from a previous prank I pulled on Anna.... GOTCHA!!!!! It was great to catch them red-handed!!! Anyhow, it was one of the best holidays ever. We all had such a wonderful time. I love my family. I am so blessed, I never take that for granted. I hope you all had as good of a time with your families too!!!!

Monkey see.... monkey do....

I took this video of Cambelle that I thought was pretty funny. Randy had just got home from playing paintball with the scouts (thus the camo) and started to look at the new toy magazine. Cambelle decided to check it out with him. The funny part is Cambelle licking her finger because Randy licks his. She doesn't know why he (or she) licks it, she doesn't care. She's just doing what her daddy does.... ENJOY!!!! By the way, we're going to my Uncle Barry's house up north for Thanksgiving, I'll have fun stuff to blog when I get home because Randy gets to go on a buffalo hunt while we are there, so until then HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We saw Ellen!!!

Here's the scoop on our Ellen Show in Vegas. First I want to say that in the perfect world, I would have had ALL my friends and family there, in reality... that just didn't happen for this show. I look forward to going again and going with everyone that wanted to go and couldn't because of ticketing. So, the day was filled with excitement. We (my sisters, Blanche and Launa, my niece, Brittney, Gina) started out at Brittney's at 9am. Watch out Vegas!!! When we got to Caesar's Palace we had time to get our tickets from Carlos (his dad works with Blanche), we ate and got in line for the show. Amy (another niece) got there just in time to walk in the doors. There was no more parking at Caesar's, she had to valet park. We were all so excited.


















This is Gina and I in the Colosseum before the show.


































On this show we knew we were going to see Bette Midler, Pink and an illusionist. We were all the most excited to see Pink!!! But I must say that the illusionist totally had me, I had no idea that the bulge in the platform he was standing on was a girl that would appear from nowhere!!!! THAT was great!!! (refer to past blog post titled "Wanna know what I hate")







Bette was so fun. She's tiny!!! But Pink, ohhhhh baby!!!! She rocked that show so much!!! She was so much fun. She sang So What and then her newest song, Fun House. Absolutely wonderful!!!















2 of my sisters, Launa and Blanche.

















The whole gang, Gina, me Brittney, Blanche, Amy and Launa.


The Colosseum holds 4000 people. It was full plus a riff raff room (if you watch the show, you know what that is). This is Carlos that got us our tickets!!! He was great!!! Before we got into the Colosseum, Carlos showed us the stand-by line... 600 people waiting for tickets (3 hours before the doors opened) and the line was getting longer!!!




Our seats were 15 rows back on the main floor!!! They were great seats. At one point Ellen came dancing down our isle (Launa was on the isle seat) and then danced one row behind us. She was so close to us, I could see where her hair was streaked blond. Look there's Tony!!!














Anyhow, the atmosphere was a lot like a concert. Lots of dancing, singing along to great music with the coolest sound ever, screaming, ect... During commercial breaks, they would play fun music and everyone would dance and sing. The energy was amazing!!!

This is in the powder room of one of the bathrooms. With pregnant chicks and old chicks, you find out where all the bathrooms are!!!


















So, it was an experience of a lifetime. I just wish everyone could have gone. Our show will air this Monday. If you watch the show, look for us!!! When you're looking at the stage we are over by Tony (the DJ). We are in the left section (looking at the stage), 15 rows back. With 4000 people in the audience, there is a good chance we wont even be seen, which is fine with me. But, you never know I guess!!! If you ever have the chance to go to a filming of the Ellen DeGeneres show, I would go!!! It was really a great time!!! Overall, we laughed, we were sweaty, we sang, we rocked out, we got really tired and had a BLAST!!! Wish you all could have been there!!! Maybe next time!!!

Ellen update

So, everything is set for tomorrow. She films a day early, so our show SHOULD be the one that airs on Monday. I'll let you know if that's not right. On her show today, she stated that for her Vegas show, her guests would be Pink (so excited), Bette Midler (pretty cool), and an illusionist!!!! I have a blog post recently about my love of magic... can't wait for that one!!!! We are all so stoked, who's going? Me, Gina, my sisters, Blanche and Launa, and my nieces, Amy and Brittney!!!! It's gonna be a blast!!! I'll let you know when it's on!!!!

Woohoo!!!

Guess where I am going on Friday!!!! That's right.... to a taping of the Ellen DeGeneres show in Vegas!!!! I just barely got the e-mail confirmation for our tickets!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

I am thankful...

I am thankful that I don't have to deal with the terrible things happening in California right now. I am so sad for our brothers and sisters in CA. When Randy and I went to the Temple on Saturday, I had a thought of how hard it would be to go in those doors with people yelling at us and calling us names. What would I do? I know I would feel horrible. There are a lot of people that are not of our faith that voted for Prop. 8 and yet our members are taking such a hit. Can you imagine on your wedding day, outside the Temple that you have dreamed of your whole life, getting ready to take the pictures that will hang on your wall forever and hearing the awful things that the protesters are yelling. My hearts go out to our members in CA and those that don't understand why we feel the way we do on this matter. I hope Heavenly Father can help everyone find love in their hearts.

I want to go dancing!!!

Have you ever had an itch that you can't scratch? Well, I have one right now.... I want to go dancing so bad I hurt all over!!! I need a fix really bad. When the kids sleep at the grandparent's houses, we used to go dancing, well, since John closed the Dance Factory, we haven't had anywhere to go. I HATE IT!!! Randy and I have taught dancing at some ward parties and other gatherings before and that has helped with this issue, but nothing lately and I am going nuts!!! We love dancing, I say WE and mean it. Randy has always been a good sport, but when it comes to going dancing, he was the one that got ME into it. It's a lot of fun for us. When I was huge pregnant with Cambelle, I wanted to go one more time before I had her, my sister, Blanche threw a fit and said I would need to get authorization from my doctor... so, not only did I get his blessings, I have a note on my fridge that is written on his prescription pad that says, "Hope CAN go dancing" with his signature at the bottom!!! So that's what I did, 3 days before the scheduled c-section, we all went for one last hoorah. How awesome is that? I am so desperate right now, that I called my friend that books the church to see if it was booked this Saturday... I thought, "I'll just make my our dance party!!!", but someone had already reserved it.... bummer. Anyhow, there WILL be a dance party soon, I just don't know when. I need it, don't we all?

National Adoption Day... CELEBRATE!!!

Today is National Adoption Day and there should be a big party. My adoption was a little different than most that are celebrated today, but not any less special that's for sure. The facts are that my biological parents couldn't take care of me the way they needed to, so fortunately for me, my maternal grandparents were able to adopt me which I know couldn't have been easy. That made me the youngest of 6 girls!!!! My whole life, I have always been told, and truly believe, that I was supposed to be in this family, I just had to get here a different way. My sisters believe that and my parents do to. I am so lucky to have the best parents in the world and family that has supported their decision my whole life. I was 3 1/2 when I was adopted and 5 when I got sealed to my parents. I remember those days IN COLOR. I knew they were important days and I have been blessed with the memories to stay with me. I have friends that are adopted and friends that are and have been in the process of adoption. I applaud you all. I admire you very much. I also admire the birth parents who have put children up for adoption for the opportunity they give for their kids to have the life they deserve. Celebrate today for love, there is a lot of hate out there right now, this is something positive to celebrate!!! This picture was taken at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary party with my parents, all of my sisters and brother-in-laws!!!

Yea, I have an opinion!!!

If you came here from Facebook... WELCOME!!! I have a lot to say about nothing, now that you're here, enjoy!!! Everyone has opinions and this happens to be an outlet for me. I love blogging and the friends that I have that blog also. Love who you are and what you believe in. I know I do!!!

My new favorite song

I was watching Cross Roads on CMT the other night with Taylor Swift and Def Leppard, weird combo you would think but they were AMAZING together!!! Anyhow, I heard a song I can't get out of my head, it's a Taylor Swift song called Love Story. I love the way it flows, I love her voice and I just think it's the cutest song. I can't get enough of it, take a listen!!!

Ahhh.....

Yesterday was so much fun. I got a new church dress on Saturday from my Aunt Vicky and Grandma in Vegas. So, I got to wear a new outfit to church!!! That was cool. Randy had meetings from 8am to 4:40pm, so we didn't see him much, but then we went to Randy's parent's house for by "birthday dinner". His mom will make anything you want for your birthday!!! It's so cool how birthdays are such a big deal in that family!!! I chose for dinner, mayonnaise chicken, green bean casserole and funeral potatoes (for the whimps that wont eat the green beans), corn bread muffins, and my FAVORITE.... sugar cookies with pink frosting!!! Oh, I am so lucky!!! It was more fabulous than I can even say, even if Steven keeps telling me that the green bean casserole looks like throw up, I still love it!!! I asked Steven to sing for me, he wouldn't but he did offer to use his taser on me!!! Oh, the love!!! No really, I'm convinced that's how he shows love, threatening me with the taser!!! I got so many calls, e-mails, text messages, facebook and blogger comments yesterday. THANK YOU!!! When we got home, I was so pooped that I fell asleep on the big bag at 10pm!!! Weird. Anyhow, the celebrations continue today with my birthday lunch with my sisters and nieces, then dinner with the Clyde's tonight!!! Why is my butt so big? So hard to figure out!!! I just hope my sisters ordered the stripper I wanted for lunch!!! YEA!!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

And I like birthdays!!! So we're gonna celebrate by dancing on the table at my in-law's house tonight!!! Hope they don't mind!!! Wooohooo!!!

How do you sleep?

I found this funny article about how the position you sleep in determines what kind of personality you have. I thought it was interesting. I have always been a stomach sleeper and an extreme snuggler. My apologies to anyone who had ever had to sleep with me, my sisters, other family members (Amy), drill team members (Natalie and Kammee, cuz they fought less than everyone else when it came to sleeping with me), Gina, Anna and the one who is still affected by this, Randy. I LOVE snuggling. Not just, "let's touch" snuggling, I'm talking, full-body-on-you snuggling. Randy makes no jokes when talking about how when we were first married, it took him a solid month to sleep at all trying to get used to being mauled. Me? I slept fine!!!
So what's the big deal? Randy teases that we have a king bed and we really only need a twin... I would be fine with that!!! Other than snuggling, I LOVE being on my stomach. FLAT on my stomach arms under my pillow, or if I am on the floor, under my thighs. I don't know what it is about laying on the floor, flat on my face. I will fall asleep every time like that, my mother-in-law can testify to that!!! So, the personality thing is pretty right for me. I'm trying to catch my kids in one sleeping position to test them, but I haven't been able to do that yet. My kids all got the cuddle gene too, especially Tyler. That boy can spoon!!! Wooooeeee!!! Anyhow, I had fun reading this article, you might too!!! Happy sleeping!!! By the way... like the picture? Doesn't Tyler know he is in the "danger zone"?


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/162208/what_does_your_sleep_position_say_about.html?cat=58

Wanna know what I hate?

Magic. That's right, magic. I can't ever figure it out, it just leaves me confused and angry. Why am I annoyed by it now? I just saw some on a commercial. Uhhhgggg.... annoying!!! I don't care if it's a simple card trick, or cutting a cute girl in half... I hate it!!! You know what would make it entertaining for me? Actually cutting the girl in half on accident.... that would be fun to watch!!! I don't like it when someone pulls a quarter out of my ear, seriously, let's see you do a $50. THAT'S MAGIC!!! What about a rabbit out of a hat? Come on, now!!! If you ever want to do a magic trick on me, think again. The only magic trick I want to witness is watching the 80 pounds I have gained since I was 20, disappear!!! Or how about magically putting $10,000. in my savings account? THAT'S MAGIC!!! My mom would ask me at this point of the post, "do you feel better now?" and my answer would be, "YES"!!! Now, go enjoy a magic trick!!!

MySpace Countdown Clocks

People tag

I saw this on Steph's blog. I always think it's fun to see what other people have to say about their loved ones. So, I thought I would give it a whirl...

Go through your list of blog links and tell a little about each one.

Holly Zitting- sister from another mister. Should have been enemies in the "past life", can't live without each other now!!!
Michelle Campbell- our husbands served in Scotland together, we could definitely hang!!!
The Owens Bunch-Micah and Angie went to school with me. It's fun to see what they are up to.
Angie Anderson- one of my favorite neighbors EVER!!! I love her to pieces. The first words out of my mouth to her, "are you the cleaning lady?". Beat that!!!
Heather Hansen- another neighbor I love. She cracks me up!!! Killer sense of humor.
Steve and Megan Johnson- our boys grew up on H-town together. We've become great friends.
The Dennison's- I love Brenda. She is what I want to be when I grow up, even if she's only a couple years older than me!!!
The Stratton's- Holly's sister-in-law. We fight over who had their "Lip Trix" sticker on our car first!!! We rock!!!
Katie Smith- her mom was one of the most influential people in my life. Katie is really someone to look up to. Beautiful inside and out.
Jenny McLaws- umm.... let's just say we were almost sisters-in-law!!! I love Jen!!! NEXT!!!
Laura Hall- her husband and I were cell mates for homicide. We became friends after that!!!
Charmiane Hansen- I was one of her bratty girls in YW or Merry Miss, can't remember. Then she moved to Randy's ward in Hurricane and then when Randy and I got married, Gene and Charmaine were in our ward!!! Lots of connections.
Brian and Kim McLaws- I love them!!! We've known them since the pre-existence (that means 80 pounds ago).
Yvonne Bohne- married one of Randy's favorite cousins. Making her a favorite cousin also!!!
The Baker's- Holly's sister, Randy's uncle's step-daughter. Heidi is friends with too many of Randy's ex-girlfriends, if you ask me!!!
Miranda Ford- I worked at the gym with her for a while. LOVE HER!!!
The Palmer People- Maryann, when did we meet? I have no idea, but she's amazing and we just found out we both kissed the same guy 100 years ago!!! Not Randy. Not naming.
Venna Rae Bradshaw- belongs to mine and Blanche's "fat club". You can't join unless you are initiated properly.... all three of us were!!! Believe me!!! She kills me.
Alton Fam- Gina, hmmmm....I don't remember how we know each other.... oh yea!!! I almost married her brother, dumped him, kept her, married Randy and lived happily ever after. I like that one!!! I also predicted that she would marry Mike!!! I win!!!
Brandi Johnson- I'm her stalker, don't tell her.
Sarah Clyde- notice the last name? She's Randy's cousin that is dying because her fiance isn't in America with her.
Andrea Dennison- Brenda's daughter, cutest girl in our YW!!!
Doug and Tiff McLaws- refer to Jenny McLaws above. I love them!!!
Angie and Jeromy Holmes- fellow ward mates and friends. I knew Angie from the bank I used to work at. He's one of the most talented painters on Earth and she's one of the most beautiful!!! Good combo.
Bryan and Aubrey Clyde- notice last name? Yep, cousins!!!
Twila Kay- her sister married Randy's brother but our families go WAY back!!!
Dallen Albrecht- one of my favorite cousins. I was born an Albrecht...can't get away from it so I guess I'll embrace it!!!
Sara Hirschi- grew up with her, kinda. We were on Jetettes together and both of us fell for those cute Hurricane boys!!!
Angel and Kelby Clyde- do you see a pattern? Cousins. Love them!!!
Cam and Ronni Blair- neighbors first, friends now... greatest sense of humor!!! They kill me!!!

This was kinda fun. I did it in blog order on latest posts. One of the fun things I like about blogs is we get to see people we all know but didn't know we knew!!! Make sense? If you want to do this... I tag you!!!

THRILLER!!! Also known as the night I wont forget!!!

So, tonight was the big night... Thriller at Tuacahn. I have been 3 times before and LOVE it with the exception of the zombies. They freak me out so bad and I don't know why.

I think it's cuz they are real people and can touch me. Anyhow, I was going to be tough and not cry this year. That didn't work out so well. "Mister Limber" found us before the show in our seats and breathed on me for like 45 minutes. (Yes, Chanieca is holding his leg...it's actually attached to his body) During intermission, I really needed to use the bathroom, no problem, Yvette will go with me.... PROBLEM... I lost her when we got done in the bathroom and I surely was NOT going back to our seats without someone to hide behind. So, I called Randy and he came up to protect me.
As you know, I don't like being called a baby, so after the show, I agreed to a photo with a zombie as long as I was on the end. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. In the group photo with "Mister Limber" is Zach, Emily, me (yelling "HURRY"), Jeff, Chanieca, Megan, Addison, Yvette and Mike. Randy was taking the picture. That's when Emily had a GREAT idea, "I'll take a picture of you and Randy together with the zombie". Not wanting to be a big baby, I agreed. BIG MISTAKE!!!
They REALLY freak me out.
I am actually crying in these photos and Randy is so concerned for the well being of my mental health.









Don't these pictures make you want to go to the show?










Anyhow, we had a great time, despite my temporary black outs from fear. We have the funnest friends in the world!!!









Thanks to Jim and Peggy for tending the kids VERY LATE. We appreciate it SO MUCH!!! Thanks to Chanieca for getting us cheap tickets and thanks to the zombies for making me pee my pants!!! If you click on these photos, it enlarges them and you can get a really good look at a 31 year old, thinking she is going to die!!!