And the awards go to . . .

The other night Chase and I were winding down for the night as we watched a little TV.  We flipped the channel to TNT, and there we watched a portion of "Jurassic Park."  It's been years since I've watched that show, and I'd forgotten how much I love love love it.  It started me thinking, "What other shows have I not seen in awhile that are good enough that I want to root them out and find them?"  One thing led to another, and I have  a list of my top favorite films in recent history:
(Be warned: My films usually fall on the quirky side of things, so this list may not be for everyone, but it is for me!)

8. Lord of the Rings Trilogy:  This film blew my mind.  My favorite thing about it?  First,  gorgeous cinematography.  Second, the stuff they have to deal with is so hard, that it makes me feel like I can't complain about anything.  Their noble-ness rubs off.

7. Rudy.  I know that guys have been known to cry in this movie, but I love it too!  The poor guy tries so hard!

6. Ever After.  There are Drew Barrymore-haters out there who may disagree, but I liked this show a lot.  The music is pretty, and the setting is interesting.  Plus, the evil stepmother and stepsister are so unlikeable, that it makes me happy when they have to wash laundry forever (I am now exposing a slightly vicious streak . . .)  But seriously, when was the last time you watched a chick flick not produced by A&E or BBC that didn't have any sexual content?  They are few and far between, and therefore must be treasured.

5.  Muppet Treasure Island.  This show is plain funny and full of one-liners.  You are never too old for the muppets:)

4. Princess Bride.  Here is a show that has it all!  As the grandpa says, there's adventure, danger, sword fighting, giants, poison, six-fingered villains, revenge, R.O.U.S.'s, and, of course, true love.  The great compromise for chic/flick loving girls and action loving boys.  Besides, where else could you hear a line like this:  "Fezzick, are there rocks ahead?"  "If there are, we'll all be dead!"

3.  Clue.  I must bust Clue out about 4 times a year.  This movie is clever, surprising, and funny.  And, as if one good ending weren't enough, they give you three!  Come on, people!

2.  Beauty and the Beast.  I don't know what it says about me, that I have so many kid movies in this grouping, but this show is great!  I could go on and on about why I like this cartoon, but it's too hard to say a little, and too easy to say too much.

1.  Jurassic Park.  I want you to close your eyes and remember the part where the kids are in the jeep with the scummy lawyer, and suddenly they hear an impact tremor.  The water in the glass shakes as the tremors get stronger.  Silence. The goat is missing, and suddenly, you see a giant clawed arm rip down the metal wires.  Did you get chills?  Yeah, this movie is great.

Well, folks, that's my list.  I am sad to say that I only own 2 of these 8 movies, but after writing this list, I will not be surprised if a few more of them don't find their way to my DVD shelf.

24, 25, 26 . . . 39!

I consider myself a young person.  For those of you who are my age and older, I bet you would consider me young too.  For those of you who are younger than me, you may think that 26 is a ripe old age.  I certainly never did, but yesterday may have changed my mind.

Piano Student: It's almost my birthday.
Me: Cool!  How old will you be?
Student: Eleven.
Me: Wow, that's great.
Student: How old are you?"
Me: Guess.  (I know, I know, I was asking for trouble!  I don't know why I said that!)
Student:  . . . . You're forty-two!
Me:  What??????????
Student:  Ha ha ha ha ha just kidding!
Me: Oh, good!
Student:  I really think you're thirty-nine.

Gaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuggghhhh!  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!  When did I stop becoming young in children's eyes?  When?
For those of you near the age of 39, let me just say, I still think you're young, so please don't be offended by this post.  It's not so much the age I'm struggling with, it's the sudden jump of thirteen years. It would come as a shock to anyone.  Right?

St. George Trip

I have always thought taking a vacation to a warmer climate is a good idea in February.  After all, we've already plowed through (literally!) several months of winter, and my desire for warm weather really rises this time of year.  Luckily for me, I got to go to St. George with my Sainsbury side of the family over Presidents' Day weekend.  Thank you Englands for letting them stay at your house down there!
Here are some of the fun activities we did.

 Mckay is a HUGE fan of the hot tub!  He would stay in there until he turned into a raisin if we let him.

 I managed to get Chase in the pool, if only for this family shot.

 Chase took us on the "short and scary hike" (the hike above the 'Dixie' sign).  It was lots of fun, and gave me a chance to try out this little baby pack.

We had a wonderful time in St. George.  I am excited for when it's 60 degrees in Orem!

Quarter of a century!

Chase had a birthday last week . . . the big 25.  He is now officially a quarter of a century!

 We spent his birthday weekend up at the England Kamas cabin.  Later that night, we went to Park City's Main Street to celebrate Chase's b-day and to enjoy pizza for dinner.

 I got some cake decorating supplies for Christmas.  Here is my first attempt to use them.  I think, all in all, that I did a pretty good job.  The blobby shape in the bottom right corner was supposed to be a football . . .

 The devil is in the details.  I forgot the candles!  Luckily, Chase improvised.

 Hooray for birthdays!

Family Home Evening was spent on the farm.  There, Chase got Birthday Celebration Round II.
All in all, turning a quarter of a century has it's perks.

Look out . . . he's mobile!

My child can crawl.  This is a day that I have waited for, yet now that it is here, I find that I can't turn away from him for one SECOND, or else he - and therefore me - gets in trouble.
On the other hand, it is really great to see Mckay explore his new world.

Though I wish that look of excitement was because he was crawling towards ME, the next picture will show you his favorite toy . . .

Yes, that's right, my baby is already in love with cell phones.  They develop expensive taste so young!  This picture also captures the first time he accidentally phoned someone . . .  I apologize in advance if you get a phantom phone call from me:)

Ah yes, let's not forget the "boingy thing".  Is this thing called a door stop, or a wall guard?  Whatever it is, it is a Mckay magnet.

Sorry, I thought this image was properly rotated.  Anyway, the heating vent is the new, coolest thing!  He literally spent 15 minutes running his hand down it.

Thus begins a new and exciting chapter in Mckay's development.

My Favorite Things

I have been reading several blogs lately that have people sharing some of their favorite things, and I thought, "Hey, I have some things that are MY favorite!"  So I am taking this opportunity to share them with you all.  Caution:  viewing people's favorite things will leave you with a desire to buy/try/rent them. . . you have been warned.

1. Guittard Chocolate chips.  Can I just say yum?  These chocolate chips are not only really good, but they are really big, and since chocolate is my favorite part of any cookie, this is a must-have for a cookie-phile like myself.  In fact, just posting this makes me want to go open a bag . . .

2. "Matched", by Allie Condie, is my new favorite book.  For those of you who love Uptopia/dystopia books like Hunger Games,  this is the book for you!  The only downside to this book is that it is the first book in a series, so I am, once again, stuck waiting to see what happens.  Oh well, I guess half the fun is looking forward to these type of things, right?

3. Ticket to Ride is my favorite game.  If you love board games, you will love this one!  If you don't love board games, I'm willing to bet you will still enjoy this one.  'Nuff said.

4. I hated winter until I bought these boots from R.E.I.  But ever since I bought these little babies, winter and I get along fabulously.  I can tromp through the snow or just a wet slushy parking lot, and my little toes stay toasty warm!

5.  Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags are wooonnnndddeerrrffffull!  They are not cheap, but I am willing to skimp in other areas for this bag.  Considering that I lug the thing everywhere, there are worse places to sink your dollar.  My favorite thing about this bag, besides being cute, is that they have back pack straps so that you don't injure one of your shoulders and a built in changing pad.  

 

6.  I had to give a shout-out to my favorite cooking blog,  simplysogood.blogspot.com.  Looove this blog.  It has some fabulous recipes and the author, Janet Barton, gives you the step-by-step instructions so even a dummy in the kitchen (like me) cannot possibly go wrong.  I also like that her recipes contain mostly basic household ingredients.  You may have to go buy one thing, but not six.  

So there you have it folks.  These are some of my favorite things. . . I had so much fun writing about these things, I will probably have to do this every couple of months.  Let me know what your favorite things are, I love learning what makes others happy . . . and usually I want to try/see/know about them too!

Cruises and Christmas!

The Christmas season is over.  I always feel like after Christmas I am completely exhausted from doing a lot of relaxing.  But on the other hand, what a lot of fun, relaxing things we did!
Our Christmas present from Todd and Jeannette this year was to go on a cruise to the Caribbean!  We left early the 18th of December for San Juan, Puerto Rico, and from there, on to St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and then back to San Juan.  The weather was hot, the beaches were beautiful, and the islands lush and green.  We enjoyed going to the beaches, shopping, and just spending time on the ship with family.

Mckay and Chase at the beach.  In the background, our ship, the Serenade of the Seas, is in port.

Mckay was afraid of the ocean (see the first picture) , but he looooved the swimming pool.  Check out my white legs. . . yeah, instead of bringing back a tan,  I only brought back a few freckles.

Most nights we opted for the fancy dinner rather than the buffets.  It was so fun not having to cook or clean up.

Chase and I spent our last day walking around historic San Juan.  We both thought this part felt like a hot, humid Europe.

We arrived home to cold and snow, just in time for Christmas Eve.  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day on the farm.

As per tradition, we read the story of the birth of Christ, and the grandkids acted out the nativity.  Talia and Aerom were the cutest Mary and Joseph!  Mckay was sick, so the role of baby Jesus went to Talia's old doll.

 Christmas morning on the stairs!

Mckay was quite sick on Christmas, but he still managed to love and play with his new toys.

All in all, it was a spectacular day.  The rest of the holidays we spent relaxing, eating, visiting family, relaxing, eating, getting sick, getting better, and watching movies.  It was a perfect way to say goodbye to 2010 and hello 2011.