9/11

So, the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning was about the World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and North Korea. I've been counting down the days to 9-10 for about the past 2 months and now it's finally here.
As I sat and watched the game with rapt attention, I had a clear flashback to six years ago - sitting in front of the television on another Tuesday morning. I'm sure everyone can remember where they were when they first heard of the attacks. I was driving home from the temple in S.L. at about 7:00 a.m. and heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. Picturing in my mind a small private plane gone off course, I hurried home to see if any news stations might be covering the crash. When I realized the seriousness of the situation, I called for Brad to come see. It was about this time that the second plane hit. We watched and listened horrified as we heard reports of the Pentagon being hit as well as the downed plane in Pennsylvania.
Six years later, I still have a difficult time wrapping my brain around the events of 9/11/01. We have visited Ground Zero a couple times since. The first time was a few months after the attacks. I remember directing my brother and parents to the site and, when my dad asked which street it was on, I realized that I had always used the towers as my guide. I had no children in 2001 and it will be years before mine hear about those events with any kind of understanding or sympathy. I don't really know if I have a point to all of this beyond just remembering and honoring the victims and heroes of that day. We live in a great country - flawed, no doubt, but great nevertheless. I just want to voice my gratitude today for all of our freedoms and opportunities - we are blessed!

30 going on 13...

So, I had brunch with Daph and Lisa a couple days ago and, after hearing this story, Daph said I should blog it.
It all started on Trek about a month ago. For anyone who might not have experienced pioneer trek, just imagine about 300 people all dressed in pioneer garb, pulling handcarts, walking in families and companies through the Wyoming/Utah wilderness for about 26 miles over 4 days. Pretty authentic, no? Well, it is at least until you look to the front or end of the pioneer train and see motorized vehicles carrying food and pulling porta-potties along.
Two other characters are critical to this story. So, let me introduce Ken and Tamara. Ken is the husband of my ward's RS prez - a really great, fun guy. He is one of those big cowboy looking guys that loves everyone and always winks at you when he goes by. Tamara is a blast - she was the chair of my committee (activities), loves to talk in loud speakers, and get the kids to do funny cheers that they normally wouldn't be caught dead yelling. Her husband is the bishop of her ward and she's a few years older than me.
So, after herding kids up a very long, difficult hill, Tamara and I both really needed the potty. So, we asked the driver if we could just sneak on the trailer and use one (the trailer pulled about 6 porta-potties). He said we'd just have to take the plug out of one - I'm sure you can understand that they put plugs in them when they drive to prevent (ugh) splashing. We figured out how to do it and I went first. While Tam was in there, Ken came down to see what was going on. Once he got to the trailer, the trail boss radioed him asking him to bring the trailer up to the kids. Radios were carried by all the company leaders, drivers, medical people, etc. There were a lot of radios out there and they were always on. So, when Ken got on his radio and said, "I can't do that right now because if I start driving, Tamara will get it all over her butt!" there were probably at least 30 people who heard it - including Tamara - which explained the screaming - "I heard that Ken and you are DEAD!". And he and I LOST IT. She came running out, yelling threats, still hoisting up her bloomers and Ken and I were literally in tears and he was on the ground laughing.
It was a running joke for the rest of Trek; all the while, Tamara tried to come up with good revenge. Nothing came to her and Trek ended. The very next day was Fast Sunday and, as I mentioned, Ken is in my ward. It was a real shock when he got up and shared the story from the pulpit (he did change the word 'butt' to 'fanny'). Tamara is not in our ward but does share the building. As I walked out of sacrament meeting, she caught me in the hall and had already heard that he told the story (props to the Mormon grapevine). I think this was the last straw for my friend Tamara because she called me at 9:30 that night and asked for help in getting Ken back. OF COURSE I was in.
40 rolls of toilet paper strewn around his perfectly manicured front AND back yard as well as his cars and front porch - along with the words "ha ha" written on his back lawn with toilet paper and rocks - later, her revenge was complete. We also attached a note to his front door that said something like, "Dear Ken. We heard you've been telling some potty stories - so here's some toilet paper to go along. P.S. - Debi (his wife) is not allowed to clean up any of this." I talked to Debi later that week. She didn't.
She took some photos so if I can get a hold of them, I'll post later....

And Diggity's Look-alikes

So he'll either be a political activist or a big-time comedian!

Anushka's Celebrity Look-alikes

OK - maybe I'm getting carried away but this site is pretty fun...

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Just a blatant ripoff from Daph's blog...
BB and I both got a 'Buffy' actor (actually BB has 2!)??? SWEET!!!

BB's Celebrity Look-alikes

Back from Everything...Next Project...

Girls' Camp .... check!
BB's reunion .... check!
My mom's reunion .... check!
Pioneer Trek .... check!
My Dad's reunion (at Bear Lake:) .... check!
So, We're back to the land of the living and this is the first week in recent memory where I don't have a packing list I'm working from. Nushka is now in pre-ballet and pre-school and loving both. Diggity has been a pretty big grump lately and I just noticed he's cutting his back molars.

Now I could really use some Deli-Sub advice on what we should do with the yard this fall... planning a visit anytime soon?

Check out BB wakeboarding on his first try ever! I spent the day with half the lake up my nose and really sore arms for all my trouble. Good thing we had some skis for back up.