28 Going on 50

Last Thursday I turned 28, but I may as well have been turning 50. When I was growing up, I was always the youngest in my class or group of friends. I always wanted to be older. And then when I "grew up", I never understood the horrors of getting old. Who cares?! When you're older, you're wiser, right? More respected, more experience. All good things. What's a few wrinkles or gray hairs? Certainly not worth all the fuss it's given.

Well then June 29th happened.

(Just kidding. I don't remember the exact day, but it was about a month ago)

We had invited the missionaries over for dinner. There are 4 in our ward and they were sitting around the table talking while I finished up the cooking at the stove. The topic was EFY and Elder Hallum was waxing strong about how much he hated EFY because he was from Rexburg and his dad taught on campus so adults were always mistaking him for an EFY kid and yelling at him for wearing shorts. I laughed, then turned to add my two cents, saying, "Well I know I'm older than you, but......" Here is where I got cut off as Elder Hallum tipped his head back to laugh and interrupt me with a scoff, saying, "Ya, much MUCH older!"

EXCUSE ME?!?!

Did you just interrupt me with the sole purpose of exaggerating the supposed immense difference in our ages?! Was that really necessary? Was the second "much" really necessary?! Or even the first?

I'm pretty sure my jaw went slack for about half a second as I decided I just couldn't let this go.

As I teasingly chastised him for his naive lack of tact when dealing with "older women", Trav just shook his head and chuckled, before adding his own, experience- taught advice on how to talk to girls. We all had a good laugh while I simultaneously decided I indeed did NOT enjoy getting older.  

Then if you'll recall my less than savory week with Collin and my heart breaking blow to my blog and you'll understand why I just wanted to stay in bed all day and pretend July 21, never happened!

Well, thanks to a fantastic husband and wonderful friend, that was not to be.

I got to sleep in then wake up to a clean house (that was previously littered with "beach gone bad" paraphenalia. That, in and of itself, was wonderful. I got to have delicious Paula's donuts for breakfast. (Where would the world be without Bavarian cream, I ask you?!)

 Then Rachel took me out to lunch at Olive Garden and I drowned my previous troubles in Chicken Gnocci and Italian dressing. What follows next may have been the best thing that's ever happened to me. Travis sent me to the mall to go shopping.... by myself! No children and no time limit (well, kind of... Weston does like to eat every once in a while).  I can't even put into words how theraputic this was. My "shopping dreams" had started again and that's never a good sign. When your subconscious has to act out what you can't do in real life. I think I touched every article of clothing on the bottom floor of Forever 21. And now our mall has an H&M! I almost had to leave without getting something and that would have even been ok. It was enough to go shopping knowing I had the possiblity to buy something. But as it was I found some really cute capris, a shirt and a couple necklaces. Nirvana for the soul.

For dinner we got some Chipotle burritos (best Mexican food out here... feel sorry for us?!) then went swimming with the Shaws. A family in our ward that just moved (and couldn't sell their house)had an underground pool that they said we could use whenever we wanted. I can't remember the last time I really went swimming. Like got my hair wet, did laps, flips, handstands, etc. It was super marvelous.

Check out this stink face! He was sporting a huge pouty lip before I could grab my camera. I think he was just mad he wasn't in the water yet.

 I am in love with these two! Oh, they are too much!

 Favorite. Picture. Ever! Haha.

 Here is a good example of when it would be great to have a nice camera! I know nothing about lighting, and yet, this lighting seemed to call to me. I wanted to capture the moment SO BAD. Alas, my camera is terrible and this is what I got. Also, Collin has gotten a sprinking of freckles on his nose and under his eyes (like maybe 8) and I want a picture of them!!! I die for freckles. (Bet you couldn't tell, given my husband :)

After the kids were in bed I got to watch a movie with my honey and check Facebook to see all the happy birthday comments on my wall. Facebook might be worth it just for birthday comments. You could be the lamest person ever and still feel like the most popular person in the world after reading your birthday comments! Am I right?! So thank you to everyone that made my birthday special. And just for future reference, I'll be staying 28 for the rest of my life! 

An Evans Kind of Summer

Since we now have 3 bums we have to pay for when flying (Collin turned two), it was just too pricy to fly home for the summer. Quite the disappointment! However, we were lucky enough to have some of Travis's family make the trek out to see us! We were really looking forward to it. His brother Marcus came out with his family and stayed with us Saturday through Monday. They have 5 kids, including a 3 month old, and were doing the whole {church history} tour on the east coast, starting with Palmyra and the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Bravery! I don't think I could ever attempt such a trip with so many little ones, but Marcus and Megan are invinceable! Here are most of the crew coming back from a walk to the park. I was pulling in the driveway as they walked up and had to capture the parade. :)

Collin had A BALL with his cousins. And he referred to them not by name, but collectively as "the cousins". This is Sunday dinner of taco salad and Collin was just tickled pink to be surrounded by other kids.

 Weston and his cousin, Orson, are 10 weeks apart. Hopefully we'll get to live closer someday so they can be buds. I love Weston's hand clasp!

 All the ducks minus Ruthie. Adele and Collin are just a few weeks apart in age also.

 So the M&M's departed Monday and then Trevor flew in that Wednesday night. On Thursday we went to the zoo and swimming in a friend's backyard. Then Travis's parents arrived that night.

All was well until Collin woke up from his nap on Thursday with a fever. Rats! This happened about a month ago and only lasted 24 hrs. so I was hopeful this would turn out similarly. Not so. This kid was SO SICK for 5 straight days and then grumpy as all get out for another 2 days. Basically the entire time the family was here. So, instead of participating in all the things I had planned for the week, I spent most of it at home with a sick Collin. I hear some kids are mellow when they're sick, but this one is ornery! I can't really blame him though. Not sure what he had... maybe a virus... maybe Hand, Foot, Mouth (even though he didn't get sores, his gums were swollen). At one point his fever spiked to 105. That's when I had to take him to Urgent Care. It happened to be when everyone was in Palmyra watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I think I was the most disappointed to miss that. It would have been my last time being able to see it out here. If you had called me on Saturday, I could have invited you to my pity party.

Exhibit A of Ornery kid:

 On Friday they went to the dental school to see his operatory, then to Niagara Falls to do Maid of the Mist. Saturday was spent in Palmyra.

 Sunday night we went to see the fireworks over Niagara Falls. They do them on Fri. and Sun. nights during the tourist season at 10pm. It was really crowded! And it only lasted maybe 5 min.....so not super cool. But I've never seen the falls at nights, all lit up, so that was neat.

On Monday, they all went to Kirtland for the day then came and got us at night to go to Chee Burger, Chee Burger (or CheecheeBurger as we call it). Collin was doped up on medicine and still unpleasant.

On Tuesday, the fever had mostly broken, but Collin was still whiny and seeking the "sick treatment" he had been getting, including extra pacifier priviledges and blankie time. Not gonna happen. And I was bound and determined to participate in the days activities. We had heard doing a Lockport Cave tour was fun so we drove 40 min. to Lockport where the Eric Canal passes through and you can see some of the old fashioned "locks" that boats used. I thought the whole 70 min. tour was on a boat. It turned out to be mostly outside walking around. And it was a bloody hot, humid day. And I didn't bring the baby sling so I had to carry Weston the whole time. And Collin cried and whined the entire time and made Trav carry him. And it wasn't that cool of a tour. AND.... just kidding.

Here is our tour guide in front of the entrance to the "cave". Mental note: going on tours with kids means learning NOTHING from the tour.

 I think the only thing I'll remember are these millstones. Don't know what they were used for but now I have a mental image for the scripture "It would have been better if a millstone were hung about your neck and drowned in the depths of the sea!". Possibly a better fate than a 70 min. tour with Collin.

 Walking down the cave tunnel.

 Most of our time was spent walking along a "river" of water in an area that used to be filled with water.

 The last 10 min. or so we finally got our boat ride! It was lame sauce. We got on a rickety, fishing type boat and coasted down the "river" for a few minutes, then coasted backwards to the starting point. And here I thought we'd actually be on a boat on the Erie Canal and get to go through a real "lock". Oh well. Live and learn..... then get Depends.

 That night we managed to finish up dinner and get the kids bed in time to make a reasonable showing (we are old and don't see movies that start later than 9:30pm) of........... HARRY POTTER!! Deathly Hallows part 2. This was monumental folks! Do YOU remember the time you saw the first Harry Potter in theaters? Well I don't! But I do remember seeing possibly the 2nd or 3rd one at midnight when I was at BYU and that was AGES ago! Seeing this movie was like closing a chapter of my life. (No pun intended, haha) Come to think of it, I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not dressing up or something. Regardless, it was AMAZING. Loved it loved it! Go JK Rowling. The only weird part was when a few people came in and sat right next to me, when there was an entire empty theater waiting to be filled. Who does that? Complete violation of personal space. Just because we both love Harry Potter, doesn't mean I want your Griffindor scarf touching my arm because you decided to forgo the "one seat of space" rule when sitting down.

 On Wednesday we went to Crystal Beach because Trevor wanted to see Canada and had gone through the trouble to have his passport overnighted when he realized he had forgotten it. Pretty much another miserable experience. It started the moment the sand hit Collin's flip flops and burned his feet. We were not forgiven for taking him to that sand burning hell hole until the moment he was returned to his carseat and on his way back to air conditioned paradise. I think we lasted maybe 2 hours and he truly cried and whined the entire time. Poor Rachel and Gavin had come too and it was the first time Collin had seen Gavin in a month and he still didn't give a hoot to play. It was so frusterating. Especially factoring in the time it takes to get everything packed and lunch made and driving out, just to have a miserable time and return home to put everything away.

THEN, that afternoon was when I found out that all my blog pictures were deleted, never to return, so I got to have a nice, mind numbing cry on my bed for a few hours. Not the best way to end an already crummy week. (The ONE week, by the way, that I was actually looking forward to!) Somehow I managed to pull myself together and go out to eat at Mississippi Mudds.

Exhibit B of Ornery kid:

(Not to say there weren't Exhibit  C-Z not pictured)

 We also got icecream and crossed the street to walk along the river. We were all posed to take this picture when Collin realized my icecream was conveniently close to his mouth and couldn't resist a taste.

Despite the setbacks, it was still good to see family and spend time together. When the kids were asleep, we got to play some games and visit and that was a lot of fun. Grandma also reminded Collin of the hours of fun they had together back in March by reliving the magic of playdough. Grandma is totally his playdough buddy.

They also came bearing gifts which included a belated "4th of July" package, a simply enormous bag of Cinnamon bears, a belated Father's day gift for Trav, a birthday present for me, a couple of toys for Collin aaaaaaaand....... uncooked tortillas!!!! You know, the kind that are doughy and you have to cook them on the skillet? They are no where to be found out here and since they have to be refrigerated, Paula stuffed a huge package in an insulated bag and took it on the airplane with her. I about dropped dead when she presented them to us. Oh the simple things!

Thank you for coming to see us! I am so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws. We are so grateful for the time we had with you!



WARNING WARNING WARNING

Maybe you've noticed that for the past week or so, my header picture, side pictures, and all pictures on posts prior to July 4 were missing.

Well, today I finally figured out why.

A couple weeks ago Travis caught the Google+ bug and set up an account. Then he thought he'd set one up for me as well. Apparently there was a question during set-up regarding Picassa albums and whether he'd like to delete them or share them with Google+. Since he didn't think I'd want to share all my photos, he chose to have them deleted.

In his defense, he had no idea that Picassa was connected to our blog. Or that I had thousands of pictures stored on Picassa.

Now gone.

3 years worth of blog pictures gone. GONE!!! And I can't figure out how to bring them back.

Anyone that has done considerable blogging might be able to comprehend how devastated I am.

Luckily, I have all my pictures still stored on my computer. But there is no way that I'll be able to figure out which ones went in which place or which post. I'll still try. I have only printed one blogger book for 2008, which will help for that year, but for the rest, I'm screwed. For each picture I put on my blog, I usually have 3 or 4 ones just like it. It takes me forever to do just one post because I spend forever evaluating each picture then making a list of the ones I want to post. Then add in uploading and formating..... it makes me want to cry thinking about it.

I literally sobbed for hours this afternoon. So many hours gone. I still feel like I'm in shock. I don't think there is any other tangible thing in my life that I've spent more time on than my blog.

So I tell you this in warning. I've read online about this happening to other people too. Don't let it happen to you! If you start a Google+ account, make sure to not delete any albums. And spread the word.

5 Years

We celebrated 5 years married last Thursday and what better way to celebrate than going to the Buffalo Museum of Science! :) I'm afraid that anniversaries are falling to the wayside already, like birthdays. Even though we keep saying "Someday when we have money, we'll really celebrate." (But then I think we can't be doing too bad because I have memories growing up and being family camping and suddenly my mom will say, "Oh! It's our anniversary!" And my Dad would say, "Oh yeah, happy anniversary honey!" And they both would laugh) But honestly, I loved our day. Just spending it together made me happy. I had heard that you can get a free pass to the museum through the library and it was true! You have to go to the Central Library downtown (Trav stayed in the car while I ran in so we didn't have to find parking, which made it way easier) and you just go to the information desk where they give you a laminated "pass" that you check out like you would a book and take it to the museum. Of course you have to return the pass after a week, but my local library took it so I didn't have to go back downtown.

They have a hands-on room that we spent most of our time in that Collin loved.

 OK, funny story about this pump. Trav started pumping the handle, but nothing was coming out. So he half said to himself, "Maybe I need to prime it first". So he poured water down the top and sure enough, it started pumping water! He was cracking up but I totally didn't get it. I guess there was an old, cheesy seminary video about "Priming the pump". (How did I miss it?!) He told me all about it and it would take too long to explain, but maybe some of you remember it?! Well, know that it works! haha. Just prime the pump and you'll have everlasting water/eternal life. :)

 Our babysitter for the night fell through, but the Goode's saved the day and watched Collin so we could go out to dinner. Cheesecake Factory of course. We had a gift card (thanks Paula!) but I would have chosen there anyway.

 OK, pay close attention.... I have found the most AMAZING meal there! I was already in love with the Navajo Taco and dipping it in their ridiculously delicious ranch, but I had just gotten it a couple weeks ago on our girls night, so I decided to venture out. On their add on menu page, they had Caramel Chicken. It looked like what I had gotten at their sister restaurant, Grand Lux, in Scottsdale. I substituted out the rice (yuck) for mashed potatoes and I was in food heaven! Really, words don't do it justice. Remember, While You Were Sleeping, "These mashed potatoes are so creamy"?... well I was doing that times 10! Mmmming and ahhhhing through the whole meal. Trav's salmon was totally jealous of my devotion. And best part was, it was huge, so I got to relive the magnificence the next day too. So get the Caramel Chicken and thank me later. Or now. Whichever.

 For dessert I made a Red Velvet cake because that's what we fed each other at our reception. We didn't have cake (not a huge fan of wedding cake), but the top layer of our fake one was real so we could do the "feeding" thing. I tried saving it in the freezer so we could thaw it and eat it after 6 months or a year (I forget which one), but someone had thrown it out! Sad day. So after 5 years it was time to relive the magic :) I searched forever for a good recipe and it still turned out dry, HOWEVER, I did find the most mouth watering cream cheese frosting recipe. I will never use another one! So I have to share:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

1 1/2 (360 ml) cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to spread. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

I couldn't find Mascarpone in my rushed trip to the store so I doubled the cream cheese and it was still phenomenal, but next time I really want to use the real thing.

HaPpY 5 YeArS to my best friend.

We watched our wedding video after the kiddos went to bed and I fell in love all over again. (Although it made me feel a little old to hear our comments of "Man look how skinny we were.... or tan.... or what was it like to have French tip nails?! Maybe we've frumped out a bit sooner than our time. Well, I won't speak for him, but I certainly feel that way!"

A couple months ago at book club, Diana made the comment that of course you love your husband when you get married, but you can never tell for sure how he will be with you when you're at your worst or how he'll be with your kids, etc until those things happen and "sometimes don't you just feel like you got incredibly lucky?" I couldn't agree more. I really believe he is perfect for me and sometimes I wonder why it is that I got to be so happy when so many aren't. Maybe I'll never know, but I am supremely grateful!

4th of July

 The 4th turned out to be a really fun day with the fam. We had a red, white, and blue breakfast of crepes with pudding, strawberries and blueberries. Then whipped out our awesome pool that struggles to hold water and got our tan on. I love when he just wears the swim diaper. The speedo/European-esque look is endearing. :)

And this little dude put on his speedo for the first time this summer even though the water turned out too cold for him.

Then, for the first time we decided to go to the Cheektowaga Town Park Parade. And guess who forgot her camera?! Bug! And it was the boys' first parade! :( We weren't sure what to expect, so we took the back roads, parked, and ended up leaving the chairs so we could walk faster and not miss the beginning. Harlem Road was already packed, but we found a spot and parked it on the curb. Only then did we realize why this particular spot was left vacant... we were right on top of a sewer grate! Lovely smells wafting our way. Well that was just the beginning of our ghettotastic experience. To our left was a sunburned gentlemen... shirtless, scraggly hair, covered in tattoos and smoking away. Then we hear his raspy voice prepping his kids..."Ok, guys, now remember- be aggressive! When they start throwning the candy, you gotta be fast! Now any candy from the sewer over, is yours. That lady over there (referring to myself) will block the grate so none goes down the sewer. (I was glad to have received my instructions early on). Any from the sewer over, is that boys (referring to Collin... how nice)." And then, throughout the parade, whenever candy was being thrown, he'd hobble to his feet and started drunkenly waving his arms and shouting at the top of his hoarse lungs, "EW! EW! EW!" . I had no idea what sound was emanating from his mouth, but apparently it was meant to signal, "Throw the candy over here or I'll come smother you with my B.O." I'd say it was entertaining, but that might be pushing it. Then our left was poor, drug addict mom with her swarm of children. I'll just say it felt like Buffalo. :) But don't let me mislead you, we really did have a fun time. Collin loved the fire trucks (even though I was truly afraid our eardrums would burst from the noise) and had fun running to get the candy and watching the fancy "Fast and Furious" cars and marching band. Not a shabby parade, all things considered.

In the evening we went to our ward's BBQ in the stake center parking lot which is perfect since it's right next a school playground. You could definitely see the void that 15 families makes after all the moving though.

(Our patriotic family picture :)

 

 We came home to bathe Collin then went and watched the Cheektowaga Town Park fireworks from the cemetery. Yes, you read correctly.  Best place with wide open spaces. We weren't admist headstones though. I think it might be land that will be used for that eventually.

Don't be fooled by this picture. When we told Collin that the fireworks were starting, he plunked down contentedly for about point 2 seconds, then was back to the races.
Also, notice his shirt..... it's inside out. Cuz on the other side it says Espana in big, bold letters. I wasn't thinking when we threw it on him after his bath and rushed out the door! Then as he's running around before the fireworks it occurred to me how obnoxious it seemed to be flaunting an Espana shirt. Oops!

Here he is with a little friend he found to run around with. Only she didn't last nearly as long as he did and yet he acted surprised when he realized he was the only one running circles anymore. SO MUCH ENERGY.

 The show was pretty spectacular. Even worth the hour wait. We thought they would start at 9pm when the sun went down, but it was closer to 10pm. And we were Collin's jungle gym for every second. He finally conked out around 10:30pm on the drive home but was up bright and early at 7am the next morning. No sleeping in for this guy.

It was such a fun day, but a bit sad to realize that it was probably our last 4th in the Buff. On the way to the ward BBQ the song by Journey, Don't Stop Believing, started playing and we had to crank it up and sing along. That song seemed to be on the radio constantly our first summer out here and so quickly became our {theme song} for this experience in dental school. I can't believe I'm already getting nostalgic and we still have a year left! Yikes, time to reign in the hormones. :)

Happy Birthday America! We love our country!