Eleven Things

My oldest daughter, ElemenoB, is 17 years old today. She was born on 11/11, eleven days earlier than her due date. She is in the 11th grade and her favorite number is... (wait for it) ... 11. So in honor of her birthday I am excited to tell you 11 things I love about my ElemenoB. But since she is 17 years old (and so dang cute!) I get to use 17 pictures.


1. ElemenoB is super creative. She takes pictures, tries new recipes, loves interior design and enjoys finding empty containers that she can mod-podge with photos torn from magazines.


2. She is athletic. Elle runs cross country and plays on the basketball team at school. She has run in the Ragnar Relay twice and she loves playing ultimate Frisbee. She is such a great sport that she used to apologize to her opponents when she played aggressively against them in basketball.


3. She is musically talented. Elle can play the piano and she's trying to teach herself to play the guitar. My favorite instrument, though, is her voice. She thinks she sings off-key, but I love hearing when she and Thumbelina are singing together to the radio or a Relient K song on her iPod.


4. She can be a tomboy and a girly-girl. We knew from the time she was little that she was tomboy-ish. ElemenoB used to scream when we put jeans on her because they were "tooooo tight!" We thought she would never stop wearing pants with an elastic waistband. She would always rather have been climbing a tree than having a tea party. Anytime I would curl her hair as a kid she would get 'that look' on her face and as soon as I was done she would lock the bathroom door, get her hair wet and 'smooth out' what I had done. The girly-girl side started to come out when our neighbor, Amy, would dress our girls up for fun and it still shows up on occasion when she goes to formal dances and shops for dresses or shoes.


5. ElemenoB knows how to find beauty all around her. She appreciates things like mountains and flowers and trees and clouds and sunsets. When she takes pictures they capture the beauty of seemingly insignificant things. She is fascinated by the inner workings of the human body and wants to be an athletic trainer or physical therapist.


6. She has a twisted sense of humor. I'm not sure how to explain this one except to say that sometimes the things she thinks are funny really are not. But then she starts laughing and before you know it we're all laughing and thinking maybe it was funny after all.


7. She would rather shop at thrift stores than the mall. That's my girl!


8. ElemenoB is a good big sister. She loves her younger siblings (most of the time) and is a great help to them. She gets a kick out of the funny things they say and do.


9. She is a young woman of hidden talents. Her English accent is amazing when she wants to use it. She also has a talent for acting (you should have seen her in the role of Golem in the 5th grade production of The Hobbit!) and actually enjoys doing the neighbor's yard work.


10. She is a loyal friend. Some of her best friends she has known since elementary school. She is always making new friends, too. ElemenoB also has a knack for making others feel included.

11. ElemenoB is beautiful, inside and out.

Happy 17th Birthday, ElemenoB! I hope all your wishes come true.

The Big One-Eight

Tonight, on 6/28 at 6:28 p.m., eighteen years will have passed since the day I first became a mother.


Has the age for a child to become an adult changed? Because I swear this 6'3" kid is still my baby boy. (Yeah, moms see things in a warped reality sometimes.)


Happy 18th birthday to my oldest child, my biggest little boy. I can't wait to see what adventures the next 18 years have in store, Coolister. I am so proud of who you are.

(All photos taken by Jason of Backroads Photography)

Michael Buble LIVE!

After hearing for the past couple of years that it was worth getting a second mortgage on your home just to see Michael Buble perform live, we jumped at the chance to purchase tickets last December. I may have even joined his fan club simply for the opportunity to purchase advance tickets before they were available to the general public. (I totally did.)

The seats were secured and looked up online. We found a picture which showed that our seats were here:

Just to the right of the stage in the upper concourse, only 3 rows back. Best seats we'd ever had at a concert!

The night of the concert we dragged out my birthday a bit more by leaving early and seeing "How To Train Your Dragon" in 3D. Loved it. If it had some political agenda or underlying message, I didn't catch it. This is a fun flick to take your kids to - although the scarier dragons might freak them out a bit at first...

I realized after we left the house that I had forgotten my camera. Blast it all!! However Allen reminded me that I now had a fancy-schmancy phone with picture-taking abilities, so all was not lost. However, the photo quality is not super awesome. But, alas, there are pictures. AND video.

We went for dinner and then headed to the venue. And here I'd like to give a little (sarcastic) shout-out to the architect who designed the E-Center and its parking lot. Can we say CONGESTION?! Holy mackerel... there were cars lining every road to the E-Center for MILES! We were starting to wonder if we'd even make it in before the crooning began. Luckily my friend Cami had arrived plenty early and was giving me updates via cell phone. We had not missed Mr. Buble yet. The opening act took nearly a full hour, thank goodness, and we got in for their last 2 songs before the lights came back up and we had to wait a bit for the MB show to begin.

Here is a picture of the opening-act guys. I can't remember their name except that it was (Something) 7. And they were full of energy and super talented.

But, wait, Gerb... you're wondering, how did you get such great pictures of the stage with seats on the third row in the upper concourse?

Maybe because it turns out that our seats were on the third row in the LOWER CONCOURSE!! As in, right by the stage! As in, Michael Buble could LOOK RIGHT AT US if he wanted to! Happy birthday to me from the E-Center!! (I may even forgive them for the parking fiasco. Because these seats were AWESOME!!)

The lights went down, the music started and the crowd went crazy!



And then, there he was. Just singing and talking to all 10,000+ of us like we were a couple of his friends. To start off he made a couple of off-color jokes but as soon as he noticed a young girl in the front row, he switched gears. He asked her name, introduced himself as 'Mike' and thanked her for coming to his concert.

He talked to the crowd quite a bit, telling us about his newest engagement and about how much he hated concerts as a kid because they were always so boring and stuffy. Which is why he does his best to make the crowd a part of his concerts. About halfway through he proved his point by making his way out through the audience...



And ending up on a stage near the back of the venue. He started by saying, "Everyone back here paid for their tickets, too." He then sang a couple of songs there with his guitar player accompanying.


He made his way back to the main stage and shared a few more songs with us. Michael sang one of my favorite of his songs, Everything. If you listen closely, you will be rewarded at the end with Allen's "la la la la laaaaaa la la la" solo.



I didn't want to post a bunch of his songs since you can watch the videos on YouTube, minus the screaming fans, but I decided to post another one. You don't have to watch it, I'll never know. But here he is singing Haven't Met You Yet.



Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, he pulled off this little impression of someone he claimed to always have wished he could sing and dance like...



Before we knew it, he was leaving the stage.


And of course, after the crowd screamed for an encore, he returned for a couple more songs.

And confetti for everybody!

This concert ranks among my favorites. I think that part of what made it so great was the AWESOME SEATS!! (in case you forgot about that little tidbit) but also the full orchestra onstage with him. It's one of the reasons I used to love (old-school) Oingo Boingo. Their concerts were amazing with the varied live accompaniment. You don't get a whole lot of that anymore, and I love it.

This concludes my awesome birthday.

Thanks for enjoying it with me.

Birthday Recap

My birthday was... amazing. It lasted almost a full week, which made it even better.

I woke up the morning of my birthday just after 9:00 a.m. Can you believe I slept that long?! I smelled fire and quickly jumped out of bed to investigate. Allen was in the bathroom, lighting candles. Hubba saw me first and said, "Shhh... we're getting things set up." Allen turned and nicely asked me to please go back to bed.

I laid there for a few minutes, wondering if it would be permissible to grab a book to pass the time, when my alarm went off.

"Does this mean I can get out of bed now?" I called. There was no answer. Everyone was gone. I turned off the alarm and ventured into the bathroom for a nice soak in the tub without kids asking when I'd be done or notes written in crayon being passed under the door.


Right about the time I was draining the tub some music began to play from somewhere on the bathroom counter. It was coming from some strange device I was unfamiliar with. I grabbed it and attempted to follow the instructions on the front but could not figure it out for the life of me. (Technologically smart, I am not.)


He had gotten me a fancy-schmancy phone, the abilities of which I can still not fully comprehend. (P.S. My one request was NO texting, so don't try. That's a whole separate post in and of itself.)


Finally, after 2 more songs, I found the lock and answered. It was my friend Jenny calling. Arrangements had been made for us to go for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. She picked me up and we enjoyed some omelets, potatoes and muffins along with some great conversation. (It's always a good time with Jenny!) The waiter came to our table and asked which of us was Gerberta then handed me a card.

(like son, like father...)

The note inside explained that we were next going for pedicures & manicures. Can I add that the only thing better than doing all of this on my birthday was being able to do it all with a friend? We both lamented over our lack of recently-shaved legs but decided that they were used to such things at pedicure places. My hands and feet have never been so happy.

(No picture because I did not bring my camera and did not realize that my phone could take pictures. And besides that, my funky feet would likely frighten you. You're welcome.)

We made our way back to Jenny's house where Allen and the kids were hanging out with her family and then headed home for a bit.

Once the kids had returned from school and their dinner was ready, Allen and I met up with Dave and Jenny again, this time for a trip to our favorite local second-hand store. I had mentioned to Allen before that it would be fun to find some awesome outfits there and then go on a date wearing the newly acquired outfits sometime... so this is what we did.

We spent more time than we had originally planned in putting our outfits together but the selection was huge and the end result was well worth it. (My favorite? The shoes. On everyone.)

(He IS BYU. For reals.)


(Have you ever seen a more awesome pair of twinner jackets?! If only they'd had time to grow their hair into mullets...)

(They're having twins. One for each.)

(If those shiny jackets are hurting your eyes, I know.)

As we checked out with our awesome clothing purchases the cashier handed me an envelope with my name on it. Inside was a note from the store itself, thanking me for my hours of time and hoards of cash that have been spent there over the years:

Along with this card:

(Those D.I. workers can get a little risque!)

And then it was time for dinner.

Everyone at Olive Garden was obviously unsure if we were serious or not. Our waitress came to the table with a huge smile every time, as if she was thinking, If you're trying to be funny, I'm thinking you're funny. If you're really like this, then my smile means bless your dear, sweet hearts.

Once dinner was enjoyed we told them it was my birthday so that we could all share the dessert. Smiley-Waitress informed us, "We don't do dessert for birthdays, but we can sing you a rousing birthday song!" We had already (painfully) witnessed that at another table and decided to pass. Besides, the kids were waiting with treats at home. (Just thought y'all would like to know that before you head to Olive Garden for your birthday... they don't do birthday desserts anymore. But you still get an Andes Mint after dinner, which may qualify as dessert. You make the call.)

After modeling our new threads for Dave & Jenny's kids, Allen and I went home to celebrate with the kiddos. They had arranged my favorite treats into this, complete with 38 candles:

Can you say: awesome?

First off, I want to say that my husband ROCKS my world. All of the thoughtful planning that went into making my birthday so memorable was pulled off without my knowing one thing. I am so loved by he and my sweet kids. Thanks, family.


I had also received a plethora of treats, cards and surprises throughout the day and in the days following the anniversary of my day of birth...



Yes, I am spoiled. And I love it. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday awesome. From the 80+ birthday wishes on Facebook (!!) to the comments on my birth-day post to the treats and phone calls not mentioned or pictured here, my birthday was

A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

You people rule.

So, this seems like a good place to end things. But oh, no... it is not over yet. Because on Wednesday of this week, specifically March 31st, Allen and I celebrated with a gift I purchased for myself back in 2009... along with a couple of surprises thrown in.

I think that those deserve a post all their own.

(stay tuned...)

Thirty Eight Years And Counting

Thanks, Mom, for marrying dad and then for letting me join the party 38 years ago.

So far, it's been awesome.

p.s. This is my 500th post!

Cowgirl Loves Pancakes

It is my sweet Cowgirl's 9th birthday today. NINE years! Where does the time go? I can still remember what an angel she was as a baby. She rarely cried, even as a newborn. She would wake up in the morning and just lay there in her crib, waiting for someone to come get her for breakfast. She has grown into such a beautiful girl and her heart is as tender as they come.

Cowgirl has been reminding me for an entire month that she has never had a birthday party (no SuperMom status here) and that I needed to get some invitations ready pretty soon or it would be too late. Yesterday when I picked her up from school the first thing she asked about were those blasted invitations.

I had none.

But little does she know that today after school I have arranged for she and 4 friends to dine on pizza and ice cream and then to go see a movie that she has been dying to see.

Redemption.

And then, to make it even better, I arranged for IHOP to give away a free short stack of pancakes to every person who comes in from 7 am to 10 pm today. How cool is that?! SuperMom status, achieved!

(Okay, actually, I lied. They were already doing that at IHOP. But let's not tell Cowgirl, okay?)


Happy birthday, Cowgirl. We love you to the moon and back again infinity times.

Fifteen Years

Fifteen years ago today, I fell in love.


We were expecting our second child and had decided not to find out the baby's gender. We already had a boy, and I was secretly wishing for a girl. My wish was granted in the early morning hours of November 11, 1994 as we welcomed ElemenoB into our family.

I loved everything about her from the start. Her thick, dark hair, her pouty little lips and large, inquisitive eyes... every tiny feature seemed perfect.

It is amazing to watch the transformation of a human being over the course of fifteen years. She has grown from a small, completely dependent little infant into a confident, beautiful teenager. She has changed from the toddler with screaming tantrums and a love for nothing but elastic waistbanded pants to a young woman who is a fiercely loyal friend and shopaholic.

She is a kind-hearted, creative, generous, gifted, stylish, outgoing, studious, fun-loving individual.

Happy 15th Birthday, ElemenoB!

I am so thankful to call myself your mother.

The Big FOUR-OH!

I have been looking forward to telling you everything that I am thankful for today. This one's easy... I am thankful for this guy.


Today Allen celebrates his 40th birthday. So first off, let's give credit where credit is due: I am thankful to my sweet mother-in-law for getting him here. And for raising him the way that she did so that I could have such a great man for my husband.

I won't get into too much detail here, but let me tell you a few reasons why I am thankful for this man of mine.

I am thankful that he is service-minded. He is always going out of his way to do kind things for others, even when he doesn't always have the time to do so.

I am thankful for his ability to make or fix or build or do ANYTHING he sets his mind to. If he doesn't know how to do something, he's not afraid to learn.

I am thankful that he loves kids as much as I do.

I am thankful that he has such an amazing family which I have called my own from the start. I have the best in-laws on this planet!

I am thankful that he works hard and takes pride in a job well done.

I am thankful that he knows when to be serious... and when to be silly. It is so fun to have a spouse who laughs at my jokes and makes me laugh as well.

I am thankful he is mine.

Happy Birthday, Allen! Here's to many, many more years to celebrate together.

Creative Genius

On Sunday our family enjoyed dinner with cousins Glen and Jeannette. It is not often that our large family is invited over for dinner - and understandably so. However, Glen and Allen were born less than a week apart from each other and grew up more as brothers than cousins, so we were invited over and enjoyed celebrating their birthdays together.

Cousin Glen (pronounced Guh-Len, in case you wanted to know) was thoughtful enough to get Allen a gift in celebration of his upcoming big 4-0. The difficult part of wrapping a gift from one manly-man to another is that whole cutesy factor. I mean, they don't exactly make gift bags and tissue paper with ATVs and mud and guns plastered all over them. Well, with a little tape and creative genius, cousin Glen solved that problem.


One word: Awesome.

p.s. Today I am thankful for cold cereal and warm socks... and cousin Glen's creative genius.

Sixteen

picture by my talented daughter ElemenoB

Is it weird to you that I have a sixteen-year-old? Because it's weird to me. Around here, sixteen is a magical age. Not only is it the official age to obtain a driver's license (which is not happening anytime soon), in our home it is the age our children are allowed to start dating.

We took Coolister out for the customary Birthday Dinner With Mom And Dad and there attempted to establish the ground rules for dating. I think we did pretty well, but this is uncharted territory, you know? Coolister was agreeable and took everything well.

I know he'll make good choices. I fully trust his judgment when it comes to girls. But... it will be difficult (impossible?) for any girl to ever be good enough for him in my eyes.

To make this easier on me, as well as potential dates, I came up with the following short list of questions to ask each young woman who would like to spend any amount of time with my son:

1. What do you like to do for fun?
2. What kind of classes are you taking at school?
3. What is your current GPA? If below a 3.0, please explain.
4. Are you planning on going to college after graduation?
5. What are your favorite 3 books and why? (Certain answers will disqualify you, so please think this one through before answering.)
6. Do you have a FaceBook account? If so, would you be willing to 'friend' me?
7. Do you get along with your parents?
8. Do you have any body piercings or tattoos?
9. Tell me about what DRESSING MODESTLY means to you.
10. Have you earned or are you currently working on your Young Womanhood Recognition award?
11. How did you and Coolister meet... and what are your current intentions?
12. What do you think about kissing before marriage?

If the teenage female in question answers these to my liking she will pass round one and be allowed a first date.

What do you think? Am I being too lenient?

Should I ask more questions?