Rollin' With My Homies

I hung out with a group of 12 girls through most of my high school career and we were C-R-A-Z-Y (right Mom? Although she probably shouldn't be the one to judge because I'd bet that if she were Mother Theresa's mom, she still probably would have found some reason to ground her. Like how about when Mother Theresa blew up a tv up the canyon and then lied about it or when she got caught BIG TIME sluffing Honors English three times in a row? Geez MT, those probably weren't the smartest things to do so maybe you deserve the grounding afterall). So anyway, a couple of weeks ago in Utah I got the RARE chance to hang out with six of those friends (some of whom I hadn't seen in YEARS!) and their kids.

Speaking of "that group," our group of friends was called The Freaks. Nice name, huh? Pretty sad that we actually embraced the name even though it was given to us as a gesture of insult. All I can say is we had a pretty good amount of self-esteem.

So we went to Harmony's new BEAUTIFUL house in Alpine and had a BBQ. The food was great (which I take no responsibility for at all since my assignment was a bag of chips and I failed to even work that out in the end -- hey! I'm a travellin' (wo)man!) and the company was even better!

Here's Henry getting to know Mandy and Tyler's darling little Olivia. I don't mean to brag but I think the boy's got skillz:
Skills? I should say! Look who we found a few hours later trying to elope in a Radio Flyer! Like I told Mandy, let the record show that I wholeheartedly support betrothing these two. How cute would their kids be?!?!

So here's the crew:

Me, Harmony, Nicole, Mandy (Parker), Mandy (Ivie), Jane, and Aime.

Between the seven of us, there were 14 kids so it was awesome. It was so much fun to see my friends as real, "grownup" women! I'm sorry that not everyone was there but we need to plan a reunion soon!

Thanks again ladies for a hilarious night!

Woh, Mexico, it sounds so simple, I just got to go.

Wait! Before you say anything let me explain my absence -- I've been out of town like crazy these days AND I maxed out the memory on my computer so I had no way of uploading pictures. My computer is from the Ice Age so it's no surprise that I managed to fill all 40 gigabytes of memory. (And don't even think about harassing me because your iPod has like 67 times more memory than my pathetic computer. Don't you think I know that already?) Moving on ...

VIVA MEXICO!!

A few weeks ago I went on a girls' cruise to Mexico with Scott's mom (Sharon), two sisters (Becca and Kate), his brother's wife (Nikell), one sister's friend (Ally), and a partridge in a pear tree. And boy was it fabulous!

(Nikell, Me, Becca, Kate, Ally, and Sharon)

Here are some of the highlights:

Parasailing in Cabo San Lucas.
We decided to go three at a time so I went with Becca and Sharon. How awesome is it that the guy on the boat asked us our weight and decided that the heavy one (ME!) had to be in the middle and there's my skinny mother-in-law and sister-in-law evening me out?


Eating, eating, and more eating! Our food was, for the most part, fabulous! I think I honestly gained five pounds on this trip (and worth every calorie if you ask me!).

Bunking with Nikell. It was so fun to spend some quality time with her as we only get to seem them a few times a year and our crazy children never really give us a chance to talk. So now we know each other's life stories because of our late night pillow talks. Well, realistically, it's more like she knows mine and I know some of hers (I talked more than she did -- shocker, right?). But I love her unexpected, dry humor -- she would have me cracking up in our room. I think most nights the crazy young moms were the last to go to sleep and subsequently, the last to get up in the morning. It was glorious!
Formal Nights (beautifully modeled above by Nikell and Becca). I love dressing up -- I mean, seriously! How often do we get to do that as moms? At home, my idea of dressing up is wearing a white shirt because you know THAT doesn't happen often!

Laying on the Beach. We had beautiful weather after parasailing so we took full advantage and had lunch on the beach and then spent the afternoon working on our skin cancer. It's the simple pleasures in life, really, that just get me excited. Like guesstimating how many times I can badly burn my face before being diagnosed with skin cancer. Ahhh ... feel those rays!

(our ship in the background)

Kate's Humor. Seriously, Kate is the craziest girl sometimes. After asking their room attendant, Percy, where he was from (she was unaware it was proudly displayed on his name tag), he replies, "India," and she gives him the "air gun" action and drawls out, "Excellent," and then walks away.

Gettin' my Groove On. I love cruising with the ladies because we went dancing. I didn't dance on our last cruise because Scott would never go and I just couldn't get into it (maybe it was because I was there with a former drill team member and two former cheerleaders who actually knew how to move their bodies in a non-Elaine fashion). Becca and Kate's styles are much like my own -- crazy and totally unrepentant of how we may look.

All the Love the Single Ladies got. Exhibit A:

This was about the most any of them got. Who knew Pinocchio could be such a good time?

La Noria. Our tour guide, Marco, took us out to this small, country town about 45 minutes outside of Mazatlan called La Noria. We got to see a few different shops and the way things traditional things like leather sandals, belts, saddles, and tortillas are made. It was really cool to see a "real" Mexican town. What I like most about this next picture is NOT the fancy new saddle but how Becca looks like she's about to attack Marco from behind. Don't worry, Marco, I got your back.
Speaking of...

Marco. He was definitely a highlight. He was the one who told us he's "kind of married," a "family man on a bad day," and also said he had some soda, water, and "pouquito beer" for us in the cooler, and most importantly, that he "checks ID ... most of the time." Wow, thanks for instilling a lot of trust in you.

Cute little guy. This darling little guy followed us all around La Noria giving us tiny little flowers. I wanted to think it was because we were so gorgeous he just couldn't help himself but we knew his real intent. So Becca threw him a bone and gave him a stick of gum. She's got such a big heart, that girl.
Phillip. Becca and Ally met this cute, dedicated Christian young man in the hot tub one night (like I said earlier, there was no funny business to be had by any of our super cute, available, boyfriend-seeking, single ladies ... now that I put it that way -- what was their problem?!?! Oh, was it that every guy their age was drunk every night up in the Viking Crown Lounge dirty dancing with all the drunk, skanky girls? Oh, that might explain a thing or two...)

Anyhoo, back to Phillip. He told the girls he was a singer so they convinced him to do karaoke (for his first time) and he blew us all away! The crowd was so into him! He sang Bryan Adams and honestly, I don't think I can ever listen to another Bryan Adams song the same way. My Bryan Adams' heart now belongs to 19 year-old Phillip from Turlock, CA.
Ally can be seen above sporting Phillip's friend's, lens-less glasses, to which she most "seriously" asked upon first seeing him in them, "Hey Mark, are those prescription?"

The Zip Line in Mazatlan.

Green tank top and white shorts: 45 dollars
Petzl Harness: 75 dollars
Petzl Helmet: 100 dollars

This picture of Ally: PRICELESS!

Kate, showin' us how it's done:
She's got style, she's got grace, she's a winner.
She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, she's a Lady.
Sharon, demonstrating the lady-like way to zip line. Go girl!

Hey!?!? Why didn't anyone tell me Elton John was in our group?!?!
Buh-buh-buh-Becca and the jets!
Cobblestone Streets of Puerto Vallarta (or Puerto "Why-arta" as our Norwegian boat captain called it).


Puerto Vallarta 's "boardwalk" was filled with weird modern sculptures.
Watching the Mexican kids trying to catch the pigeons. They were so into it! One little boy finally caught one and all I can say is, I felt really sorry for that pigeon.

And finally, our waiters! We loved our waiters! Mekjimo was from India and Francisco was from Chile and we wanted to bring them home. (I definitely miss Mekjimo, particularly this week because Scott's out of town and I feel like all I do is make and clean up meals for my kids. I never realize what a big help Scott is until he's gone! But I digress...) Oh Francisco, where are you to bring me Diet Coke after Diet Coke, followed by the best sourdough rolls I've ever had? Your English wasn't great but I feel like we really had something there ... was it just me? or was it just the sourdough rolls?


Well, thank you ladies for such a wonderful trip! We had so much fun and I look forward to making this a yearly event ... right ladies?!?!

This One Goes Out to the One I Love - Part IV (Seriously? Another b-day? Yes, actually)

Get your party hats out again 'cuz here we go.

Today is my older sister's Liz's birthday. I don't know if she's passed the age when you stop telling people how old you are but she's a confident woman so I don't think she'll mind.

Yay Liz! You've made it to 34!

Here are just a few things that I love about my older sister:

She is a caretaker!! She is one of those people that sees when people are in need and will go WAY out of her way to take care of them and their family. Adrienne reminded me of the time Liz, my parents, and I went down to So. California for Adrienne's little boy, Ezra's, baby blessing. Liz was just so stoked to be somewhere without her 5 (at the time) children that she just hit the ground running. She made all the food, got up early to make her famous homemade French bread, cleaned the house, and spent all of her down time reading books to Adrienne's little girl. Seriously, she probably did more than my mom, Adrienne, and I combined! And on top of that, she was sick the entire time, started coughing up blood and later found out she had a bad case of bronchitis! She is a workhorse!

So it probably comes as NO surprise that as a natural caretaker, Liz has SIX children -- four girls and two boys -- and they are all two years apart! They are: Taylor (10), Christian (8), Brooke (6), Paige (4), Ellie (2), and Cameron (3 months--who is so chubby that my brother Spencer calls him the Happy Sumo! Ha ha!). My parents had seven kids but I am still baffled by women who are capable of keeping their sanity while successfully running a home and raising good kids.

Which brings me to my next point, Liz is an INCREDIBLE mother. I know all moms have their faults but besides threatening her kids with ridiculous threats like, "So help me Brooke if you don't stop that you're going to get sit outside in your carseat for two weeks!" she really seems almost perfect. I feel terrible that my siblings and I used to giver her a crap when she was first to have children and now?!? We're all just wishing we could be as patient, tender, nurturing, PATIENT, and loving as she is to her children. Her six kids are so lucky to have her as their mother. So lucky in fact that I think it's unfair how lucky they are so I'm going to send my kids to her house so they can get in all that free luck.

She has adorable, good-natured children. Here's Brooke in all her princess glory.


She is a crazy good cook / baker. She seriously can bake like nobody's business. Before my grandma Hazel passed away, Liz made it a point to spend quality time with her and learn some of her baking secrets. Even while pregnant and now a busy mom of six, it's routine at her house to always have homemade wheat bread, fresh, homemade meals, the craziest, sweetest desserts you've ever had. In fact, "homemade" is such a huge part of their lives that she made her little Paige a sandwich on white, Granny Bread (which to me, is quite a treat), and Paige looked at it and said, "Mom! You know I don't eat white bread!"


Liz is a crier. She is one of the most tender-hearted people I know. If I ever need someone to really feel my pain, I call her. She would be the first to cry with me and offer support like no one else could.

She is an iron woman. After about six weeks of having her sixth child, she was out pounding the pavement in the early hours. She runs about three times a week (at least three miles every time) and then does Tae Bo on her off days. Excuse me? Where are all the excuses? Here were mine: "Oh, I just had a baby six months ago, I better not overexert myself, I'm still recuperating." "Uh, yeah, I'm still nursing my 11 month old and I'm afraid running on a regular basis will affect my milk supply so I better not." Not Liz. She is out there at 6:30 a.m. running her little heart out.

Speaking of running, she is a bit on the Speedy Gonzales side. After having finally dusted off my running shoes and gotten into a somewhat regular running routine, I still don't think I could beat my 34 year-old, mother of six, sister in a running race. She played full-back on her high school soccer team and I still remember her haulin' her B-U-N-S (as she calls them) back to defend the goal. She was also quite the screamer at those games. Kay, the mom, didn't like the yelling so much but we were proud of our speedy sister.

She has beautiful blue eyes and passed them on to her kids. This is a straight-out-of-the camera shot of Ellie, her second to youngest.

Liz is a trooper. She hardly bats an eye at the idea of packing up all her kids up and going camping -- even when the weather might be bad. I seriously don't know anyone like her. She believes in really helping her kids experience life and the daunting task of packing, driving, quarrel-stopping, and camping hardly seems to phase her.

Liz, Adrienne and I talk about you all the time. Now that we're both moms, we're in even more awe about how patient and loving you are. Parenthood is not easy, we know that, but you make it seem truly manageable and fun. I look up to you and respect you as the perfect older sister, who has set such an incredible example for me to ATTEMPT to follow. Thank you for being my best friend.

I love you!

Happy Birthday!

This One Goes Out to the One I Love - Part III

And to my other sister-in-law who is turning the big 2-3 today ...

Happy Birthday Becca!!!

Becca is Scott's other sister (third in line in the fam). Here are the just a few of the weird, wacky, and unique things about Becca that I love:

She is not afraid to be herself. I've never known her to compromise her standards to appease other people. Seriously, she is an outspoken lover of all things teen. Adolescent literature (or "juvenile reading" she once mistakenly called it)? Loves it. Teeny-bopper movies and shows? Unabashedly crazy about them. She is a person with a strong sense of self and self confidence. Take a look at this picture. Need I say more? (Becca is the 12 year-old looking one on the right -- this picture was taken last fall).


She is funny. She is one of those people who probably won't compete for air space so you might think she's kind of quiet. However, get her in a smaller, more comfortable group and get ready for her hilarious, snarky comments. She can be quite the feisty one.

Becca loves her mom. I think it's so sweet how much Becca (and Kate) love their mom. It seems like they are the center of each other's universe and I feel like that's the way it should be between mothers and daughters.

Becca is a scrapbooker. She is my scrapbookin' buddy at the cabin and I love the bonding time we have while messin' with the Cricut, croppin' photos, and tellin' Kate to back off 'cause she just doesn't understand.

She loves her sister. Becca is the caretaker in her and Kate's relationship. If they both live to be old maids, Becca would be like my great-aunt Afton who lived with her sister, Isabelle, until they both died in their late 90s. Becca would take care of Kate, make their doctor's appointments, schedule their hairdo appts, and arrange for their older brother to take them to those appointments ("older brother" being my grandpa Dan, in this case ... but it's a toss-up for who it would be in the Christensen family ... let's just say, Scott over Cody, because then I would get to sit in the back seat too and we would be three old ladies driving to get our hair done and we would laugh and laugh 'til our dentures fell out, although Kate would probably not have hers in because Becca failed to remind her that morning). But seriously, I have never seen two sisters who are so different in personality yet who get along so perfectly and who love each other so much. It's like their souls are intricately connected somehow. Like spiritual identical twins. They were made for each other.

As Kate said on their blog, Becca sure does love a good nap.

Becca has this crazy tendency to dress up in 80s attire and hit the dance clubs ... or to just go out to dinner with Kate and Seth. I'm not one for dressin' up, but then again, if I looked that good while trying to be a doofus, I think I'd dress up more often.

She is one of the most organized people I know. Even as a kid she was very thorough and dare I say ... anal? Every year, on the day before school started, she would strip her bed and remove all of the tags from her new clothes and wash them all (along with her towels), just to make sure she got a good fresh start to her academic year.

Becca has such a sweet side that my kids, especially Ruby, love. This past weekend at the cabin, Ruby reached for Becca after being there less than an hour. This might not seem like a big deal to some of you who have outgoing children. But mine? Outgoing? Not so much.

Although she can get herself gussied up with the best of 'em, she has a tough, flexible, athletic alter-ego. She might seem skinny and girly but she is one of the most aggressive tubing competitors I've ever gone up against. She will send herself flying recklessly through the air to pull people off the tube to put them in her place. She and Kate fight for the title of who's the "scrappiest," and sorry Kate, I think I have to give that title to Becca. Becca the Scrappy. Hmm ... it has a nice ring to it.

Notice the hot bod in the picture? (I realize that my last three posts have focused a bit on my sisters-in-law's svelte physiques but really, can you blame me?)

She is beautiful. Seriously one of the cutest girls I know. Sort of weird but she used to date my little brother. The reason I bring this up is not to embarrass anyone but rather to provide more example of this "natural" beauty. My mom has always loved Becca so when she was dating Nick my mom was thrilled. Once she said, "You know what I like about Becca? She is beautiful and just exudes femininity. Some women feel they have to force their 'sexiness' (that's right, Kay used the word 'sexiness') on men but Becca has this subtle feminine beauty about her that I just love." Well said.
Becca, thank you for always making me feel welcome in your family. I have always felt like I belonged and it was in large part due to your (and Kate's) acceptance and love for me. Thank you for being such a great friend and sister.

We love you!
Happy Birthday!

This One Goes Out to the One I Love - Part II

Today is a special day -- the birthday of TWO of my sisters-in-law.

First up is Heather, who married my older brother, Spencer, in 2000. It's hard to believe she willingly consented to join our loud, crazy family but we're sure glad she did!

Just a few things that I love about her:

She is DO-er. I think it was an adjustment for her to join such a big, crazy family that pretty much does nothing. We have what you might call, "homebody tendencies." But Heather has always been there to help nudge us along, help us make plans, and get us out the door. And if she's unable to get our lazy b-u-n-s off my mom's glorious couch (that I think I've decided I want to be buried with, at least one section of it), she's still happy and content to just hang out, Smith-style (aka sit around and watch the brothers berate each other in German, humiliate ourselves via Karaoke, and eat and eat and eat. We're not THAT gluttonous ... okay, maybe we are. Thanks for loving us anyway Heather!).

Heather is quite the athlete and takes risks. For example, she signed up for a co-ed soccer league with Spencer -- she's never played soccer. Sure, she was a star track athlete in high school and college but picking up another sport to play, in front of and with other people? You can count me out. I even played high school soccer but most likely would not enter a co-ed league with Scott because I'm that big of a wuss.
Heather can SLEEP like nobody's business. And I'm not sure why, as I feel it's a bit of an injustice, but the Lord blessed her with a child that SLEEPS IN! Excuse me? I didn't even know they existed. When we were at my mom's house a few months ago, one morning Heather and Ava slept in until 11 a.m. Secretly -- or maybe not so secretly -- I was consumed with jealousy.

She's got great L'eggs. Seriously. Shortly before she married my brother, my dad made this comment, "I have to say, and I mean this in no perverted way, shape, or form, it'll be a sad day for mankind when Heather has to cover up those legs" (all you other Mormon folk know what I'm talking about). I took this picture while in Vegas last month and here she is over six months pregnant and still sporting the stunning, sculpted legs! As far as I'm concerned, this is a form of cruel and unusual punishment ... at least to leg-of-mutton peeps like myself.


Well, as Dr. Phil would say, "It's time that I start gettin' real." Heather not only has great legs, she pretty much has a bangin' bod all around. (Now what, pray tell, is the deal with all of my sisters-in-law? Seriously -- all three of my brothers' wives and both of Scott's sisters have incredible bodies. Not sure how this happened but I think it's the tiniest bit unfair ...) Here's Heather with Ruby on a beach on Maui. Um ... yeah ... my arms and shoulders totally look like that.

Heather has what I like to call, "Mom smarts," it's kind of like street smarts but specifically related to running a household. If you ever have a laundry question, call Heather. If you ever want to know how to decorate a house, call Heather. If you ever want to learn how to style your child's hair, call Heather ...

Or there's this fancy 'do ...

Kidding. (I only joke because I need an excuse to put pictures of Heather's little girl up. Basically, Ava is one of my favorite little kids of all time. Even when her hair isn't crazy, she puts a smile on my face every time she walks in the room. I sure do love me some Ava!) But seriously, her Mom Smarts are killer. Here's one of my favorite tricks I learned from her -- to remove a pesky stain from clothing, try washing it and then drying it in the sun!

Heather is one of those people who can always see what needs to be done and just jumps in and does it. Try as I may, I am NOT one of these people. I finally catch on to a project that needs to be done when people like Heather have already completed about 90% of it. Even at my mom's house, she's always the one helping with the meals, cleaning up after dinner, picking up the toys, etc. And my favorite example: when we were getting ready to move from Idaho, she called me and asked if she could fly up with Ava and ... help me pack! Seriously? Who does that?

And I could go on and on, but as you know, I'm doing two posts in one day, which is a record for me, but finally I'll say, Heather has always been such a good friend of mine. I still remember meeting her for the first time at Utah State at Spencer's house. I thought she was so nice and such a darling girl. One of my favorite memories is right before I went on my mission (Dec. '00) I was crocheting a scarf. I asked Heather's input (due to her impeccable taste) about the colors and design and she helped me create a "cute" scarf (as "cute" as my mediocre crocheting abilities allowed me to create). Christmas came just a week after I left on my mission and she opened her present from me and guess what it was? You guessed it Sherlock Holmes -- the scarf. When my mom later told me Heather cried when she opened it, I cried too. I've always loved Heather and am so glad she is part of our family!

We love you Heather!
Happy Birthday!