Memorial Day Trip to the Beach

For Memorial Day weekend/week, we took some friends down to my parents beach house. We headed down in 3 separate shifts. Brindi and I, along with our babies started the journey Friday afternoon. Mind you, I've been going this route to Florida my entire life, but have yet to drive it myself. I have zero sense of direction and get lost going to the grocery store. But I was feeling good and confident and sure I would recognize my way. You see where this is going. So we're heading through down town Atlanta, stuck in holiday weekend getaway traffic. Our children are fussing already, and I HATE driving 85. HATE those big highways. They freak me out. So I pick the left lane and stick to it. We get through Atlanta incident free and are cruising our way to the Alabama border on 85. Or so I thought. About 2 1/2 hours in, I'm looking for my exit. (Don't know the exit number, just the name. Helpful). When all of the sudden, 75 and 475 split. !?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I had managed to get on 75 (NOOOOOO ONE told me 75 and 85 merge in Atl!!!!) and bring us to Macon. Um...yeah that's the OPPOSITE direction of Alabama. As if this trip wasn't going to be painful enough, I just added a good 2 hours on the journey. So my life-saving mother mapped us out a new route and we trek across Georgia heading for Columbus. A few hysterics, tears, fits and monsoons later, we fiiiiiiiiiiinally make it to the house. 9 1/2 hours people. Why do I have such traveling problems?!?!!? But we made it safe and sound and Brindi and Aiden, who were trusting me completely to get us there, were total troopers and didn't yell at me once.

The boys and Kristen get there late that night, and the Futrals meet up with us Saturday morning. Finally we're all together and ready for fun!! Too bad the forecast was rain for the entire week. Luckily we had good company, a Wii, movies and children to entertain us. But alas, the sun shone through for a few hours Saturday for us to go to the beach. Jack was terrified of the ocean and wouldn't go near it. He spent his time wondering the sand, pulling up little plants on the dunes. Hey, it was awesome letting him run a muck and get as messy as we wanted. And let me just tell you, this child was pooping sand for days. Too much info? Oh well.

Jack just lookin' handsome

He put that hat on himself. Here he is just wondering.

Matt and Kristen ready for some crab hunting. :)

Me and my hunka hunka burning love.

By day 2, Jack decided water wasn't so scary and became a complete kamikaze. He would run to the ocean, nothing holding him back. At the pool, he would run in ahead of me and be ready to jump. Didn't want to stay on the stairs or in my arms. He was ready to swim away. Too bad he can't swim!!! Anyway, weather ended up clearing up and we got a GORGEOUS day to celebrate our Memorial Day.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's one with a lot of the group minus Ryan and Matt. Brindi and Aiden are laying down, Futrals are above her and Kristen to the left.
Fun game of burying the golf ball...
...and digging out the golf ball. Exciting stuff.

We hit the beach and pool and ended our day with a BBQ feast. Our boys headed out around 5, to go back to life and work, but the girls stayed on for the rest of the week. Hooray!! We hit the outlets, ate ice cream, fudge, more ice cream, went to the pool, walked around Seaside, read and watched girl movies. In Seaside, this is how our children entertained themselves was by stomping and jumping on a metal plate that made a loud noise. Too cute! By the way, this is Tiffany's little girl Ainsley. She's two weeks younger than Jack and just a little angel! She's a good influence on my little monster.

It was so awesome getting to just spend time with our friends and not having to worry about getting home to put your baby to bed. Ya'll are awesome!!!

American Idol

Yes I have issues. I am COMPLETELY torn between these last two contestants!! I know people have issues with Adam (including my husband) because he very much resembles a woman with the tight pants and eye liner. But I cannot lie. I looooooooove him! Some of his performances have been better than others, but just LISTEN to what's on my playlist. He's AMAZING. Chills eeeeeeeeeevery time.

Then, there's Kris, who I wasn't really into until about a month ago when he did "Ain't No Sunshine". THEN I became a true convert with his re-mix of "Heartless". I love his style and boy next door feel.

My last comment is.....WHY do they always have such rotten cheesy songs for their first single?!?! Seriously???? That one last night was probably the worst. It just seems so unfair (especially to rocker boy Adam) to have his first single be some cheesy song like that.

So 12 hours to go until the finale and I can't wait!!! I seriously love both of these contestants and I'll be so excited for whoever wins!!!

Ok, last thing. I got hooked into watching Glee last night and LOVED it!!! I was rocking out by the end, and sang the whole way upstairs to bed. Just scroll to their song and my playlist and you'll see what I'm talking about. It takes a bit of restraint for me not to get up and sing into my hand mike right now as I'm listening to it. Hmm....maybe a little head bop in my chair isn't so loser-ish. Did I say that outloud?

Post Wedding trip with Amanda!

As I headed out to BYU for my first summer at college, I was terrified I was going to get stuck with some weirdo roommate. We'd e-mailed some, and she seemed normal enough, but still, I was worried. I arrive at DT for orientation, and alas, my roomie was not a weirdo. Infact she has ended up being my best friend and one of the coolest girls ever. We have remained great friends over the years, and have managed to stay close even though we're living on opposite sides of the country.

We decided it would be a great idea to extend my trip after the wedding and to go spend some time with her in Colorado. Both of us had a baby the other had never met, so this little reunion was way past due!!

After the wedding, I went with Amanda and Alan back to Eden where her family lives. Her very awesome and very brave little sister had watched 4 children, including mine, the night before so we could go to the reception. So I figured it was time to go and collect him. The next 2 days were awesome. We just chilled, ate a million chocolate chip cookies, I ga-ga-ed that it was snowing, we hot-tubed and just spent a lot of time with family. (I know I say that like they're my family, but they feel very much like my adopted family away from home.) I ate the most delicious chocolate cake ever, and got to see my first Lacrosse game! Go Weber! :)

Once we were back in Colorado, the pampering really began. :) Amanda got us babysitters and treated me to a massage. I loved being in our puffy robes with hot wraps around our necks, sipping herbal tea. Never wanted to leave that warm fireplace and trickling waterfall.

But alas, there was plenty more fun to be had. That night we saw 17 Again in a creepier than all get out abandoned movie theater, and laughed and swooned over Zac Efron in our own private showing. We went to the park, the mall and one very eventful trip to Target.

Zack loved those loli-pops!

Amanda's brilliant 3-year-old Jaida, and Jack on the playground.

Night before I left, Jack started throwing up. So I'm up for a good portion of the night changing sheets and cleaning carpet. After a brief moment of alarm, thinking my child had the swine flu, I realized he had no fever and we were both able to go back to sleep. Next day, all seems normal. My very talented roommate started highlighting my hair while our children were "napping." Unfortunately the napping didn't last long and we ended up having two nearly naked children clinging to our feet as she's trying to time the bleach just perfectly.

Quite hilarious. But it turned out awesome so we must've done something right!

So after very few tears, we're at the teeny Grand Junction airport saying goodbye. I board my 20 passenger commuter plane and am airing my way to Denver. Started to feel really nauseous on this first leg and thought it was because of all the turbulence. I board my next plane home out of Denver, and things start to get bad. I have a screaming over-tired toddler in my lap who is refusing to go to sleep and nothing else will make him happy. I feel like I'm going to throw up so I quickly make friends with the girl next to me, leave Jack and run for the bathroom. Hmm...still sick but no action. After time and time again of running to the bathroom, I think I might die. I can barely sit, let alone wrestle with my insane child. He ends up just sitting in my lap, SCREAMING for a good hour. All together this baby screamed for 2 hours before finally falling asleep. Normally I would be mortified that the other passengers were being tortured by my child, but at this point I only cared about staying conscious. Jack falls asleep as we're starting our descent. I lay my head back, wishing for unconsciousness. No such luck. I finally start throwing up. In a barf bag no less in my seat. (I don't recommend making your sickness public on an airplane when there's a global pandemic circulating.) We land and the flight attendant asks if I need a wheelchair. "Nooooo" I say. "I'm fine." We're on the tarmac, pulling up to the gate, and I realize I can't stand. How am I supposed to carry my luggage and push a child when I can't even sit up? So I grab the flight attendant and tell her maybe the wheelchair wasn't such a bad idea. I wait on the plane as everyone exits. I'm laying across a seat, with Jack sleeping in the isle next to me. The pilot comes up to me and says "sorry ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay on board a while. I had to report you to the airline and I'm waiting to hear what they need me to do. Do you need the paramedics?" "No no no." I said. "I just want to go home." Mind you, it's after midnight by the point. We're all so tired and my poor husband is waiting, so excited to see us. I'm cooperative and I lay in the seat another half hour. After a long time, the paramedics show up, trying to take me and Jack to the hospital to check us for Swine Flu. Did they not hear me say no?! "No" I said. "We don't have the swine flu. Neither of us have a fever or sore throat, it's only nausea, diarrhea and vomiting." So after some major protesting, they agree to let me go. It's after 1:00AM when they load me up in the wheelchair, a sleeping Jack in my arms. The paramedics and flight crew are standing around me saying "who can push the wheelchair?" "Not me"...etc. Oh my gosh. I was beginning to loose it by this time. "Forget it!" I said and I wobble up and load Jack in the stroller and stumble out to meet my husband. He was so excited and wanting to hug and kiss me. "Dying" I had to remind him. We make it home, I'm barely alive and collapse into bed. But behold, I was not dead the next morning, so I didn't take myself to the doctor like I'd promised the paramedics I would if I still wasn't feeling good. It took me the weekend to recover from the trauma of the sickness and the flight, and I felt almost human again on Monday. So for all of you who think you have the worst flying with a child story....bring it. :)

Despite the rotten ending, I had a great time reconnecting with my friends!! I got to have so much girl time, and it's amazing how you feel no time has past when you get back together. I'm so grateful to have such awesome friends!!

Vanessa's Wedding!

The last of my roomies from BYU got married this past weekend in the Salt Lake Temple. She's a BYU grad and returned missionary and one of the most wonderful people ever. It was so great to finally meet her fiance and especially to reconnect with all my old friends. Lizzy left work early and picked me up Thursday from the airport. We drove up to American Fork to see Jamie (another one of my bridesmaids!) where she works at Olive Garden. That night was just hilarious anyway because our children started in booster seats, and ended up being complete hellions and crawling all over the table by the time we left. Poor Jamie.

Next day, we did our bridesmaidly duties and ran errands for our little bride to be. She trusted us to take her ring and get it cleaned. We spent a lot of time putting it on our finger, imagining what it would be like to own such a "sea of sparkle". Her ring is magnificent to say the least! She also put us in charge of her bouquet which I got to hold in my lap in the car for 2 days.

Smelled fabulous though so I can't complain too much. After a quick trip to the Wilk for some Lettuce Wraps (YUM) we battled graduation traffic and headed out for a few moments of quiet relaxation getting pedicures. Jamie came and met us too so it was awesome to get to spend more time with her!!! And I'm SO SORRY I didn't take get a picture with Jamie!!! She's pregnant, due in like 10 weeks and looks so fantastic.

The day of the blessed event arrives. The bride is beautiful and everything is perfect for their sealing in the temple. Now, you would think that your spring wedding would be warm and glorious....hmm..not so much thank you Utah weather. It was FREEZING and raining. We're waiting for the bride and groom in high heals, silk dresses that don't look so great with water marks on them, running from cover to cover and huddling together trying to stay warm. The rain finally stopped though and the landscaping was glorious with everything in bloom. I'm sure her pictures will be perfect.

Now, Vanessa does nothing mediocre and wouldn't have anything less than a show stopping reception. It looked like something off of Platinum Weddings with her viney orchids centerpieces, harpist, 7 piece band, "moch-aritas" with edible orchids and spectacular wedding cake (including pineapple upside down cake, chocolate chocolate chip, white chocolate and raspberry and strawberries and cream)...I have a thing for cake if you can't tell. Anyway, in typical Emily fashion, I spill red cocktail sauce on my dress within the first five minutes of the reception. Other than that, it couldn't have been more perfect. Food was magnificent, laughed a lot with my old roomies reminiscing about our crazy days. I had 4 pieces of cake and danced my heart out. Now, Vanessa is from Columbia, and these people know how to party! I look like a total doof tyring to dance next to their perfect rythm. So Uncle Carlos taught me how to salsa!! He said my hips move just right. Woo hoo!! (Not so talented in the doing anything coordinated department, so this was big excitement for me!)

p.s. Not so impressed with "edible orchids". They just taste like a flower.

p.s.s. Yes I had Jack with me. I chose to omit the comments on how this was probably the most stressful weekend of my life. I think I'd like to document the happy memories.