GIRLS GONE WILD (The Mormon Version)

Do you know what happens when 6 Mormon Moms escape and head to the Desert?

GIRLS GONE WILD... Well the Mormon version anyway!

Me, Melissa (Hirschi) Thatcher, Shannon (Herbert) Child, Holly (Olsen) Kneeland, Julie (Peterson) Haskins, and Kari (Skinner) Morrison (taking the pic) took a trip to Palm Desert in June. It took me about a day to start to relax. After that we all really let loose, and I don't just mean Melissa :) (see her blog for details)

Laughing, crying, eating, shopping, swimming, exercising, laying out, playing funny games, driving, getting ready, picture taking, playing tennis, surfing the net for mug shots of people we knew and laughing and eating some more.

LAUGHING

I didn't need to do a single sit up while I was gone, because I did enough laughing to fill several workouts. This can be a little dangerous for those of us who have had a few children. :)

EATING

We definitely did a lot of eating! Here we are at a mexican restaurant eating.

Here we are at brunch after tennis workout.

We went out to eat at Ruth's Chris. I had never eaten there before, but most of the friends had and they raved about it. I am not much of a steak eater, but it was really good! My favorite had to be our dessert though! It was bread pudding with a rum sauce. I was practically licking the plate. Ok I really was!

SHOPPING

Women + vacation = shopping

We spent two days shopping at a really awesome outlet mall in Palm Desert. Melissa was so funny. She always wanted things that others bought. It is way nice to shop with friends and ask them their opinion and not get the default answer of that looks great honey.




EXERCISING/PLAYING TENNIS

I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse, but I can't NOT workout everyday. So we made the venture to the Gold's Gym in Palm Desert on Saturday. That was the most sweaty workout I have ever had at a gym. Hello where was the A/C? It is freaking Palm Desert and is 115 degrees outside! We didn't go back once we discovered the country club fitness center. That is the way to workout! Bottled water and a towel was waiting for you. Every piece of cardio equipment had it's own flat screen. We played tennis there on Sunday. We only lasted about an hour before we were about to black out from dehydration. I have never sweat so much in my life! There was definitely no water weight gain on this trip!



SWIMMING/LAYING OUT




Laying out was serious business for some. I love to be in the sun. It makes me happy, but I coat myself (mainly my face) with sunscreen. The sun is not friendly when it comes to the aging process.





Something I have been noticing since I am "getting old," as Porter puts it. Hanging out by the pool with your friends is one of my happy places!




PLAYING FUNNY GAMES
This is where we played true colors, a really funny game. We talked until the wee hours of the morning most nights, mostly laughing but some crying. Everyone sharing stories of their lives. Reminiscing old stories and sharing new ones. I am glad that we love and trust each other enough to share feelings and stories that are very personal. This is also where we checked out the utah county jail website and looked up people that we knew. This was very entertaining and very sad at the same time. If you know us and you have been arrested then we probably were checking you out.



DRIVING

Ok so let's discuss the driving situation I have been getting a lot of flack for my driving, while I am sure that most of it is true. I would say that I handled things pretty well, considering the

other four girls in the car who didn't know where we were going either and trying to understand four different people trying to tell me which way to go. Patience is usually not a strong suit of mine. If I had a dollar for every U turn we made it would have paid for my trip. We definitely have to go back now that we know where everything is. All I have to say is thank you Brigham Young for doing it the right way here!

PICTURE TAKING
I don't quite remember why we were hugging the tree. This was the last day I think we were all a little crazy due to sleep deprevation.

Holly was making a funny from the movie sixteen candles.

Melissa and I realized that we were the only ones hugging and that made us laugh hysterically.

FUNNY FACES

Julie & Holly were pros at pulling crazy faces.

A big huge thanks to my sweet awesome sister Jill for letting us stay at her beautiful house in Palm Desert!

MVHS CLASS OF 1993
It is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since high school. Wow what a weekend! All my friends are hotties aren't they?! It was really great to get together and talk about the goings on of our lives and realizing that we all have our challenges and no one's life is perfect. It was so good to see Holly! What a woman! After hanging with the girls for a few days, I felt like a new person. I can actually do more than change poopy diapers, cook, clean, do laundry, and chauffer my kids around. Thanks ladies for an awesome time!

THE DEAD COCKROACH

There was a dead cockroach on the floor in the hallway at the house. We probably walked passed it a hundred times, but none of us would pick it up. I am so glad that we do not have them here in Utah.

THE RANGERS "We Are The Champions"

2008 Orem Youth Baseball Major League Champions

The Rangers

Austin is on the back row with the catchers gear on.

THE PROUD PARENTS

Austin played catcher and third baseman.

Watch this clip. This is one of his good hits from the championship game. He hit it to the fence two of the three hits.

CONGRATS AUSTIN!

You are the MAN!

TOP 10 THINGS THAT SYMBOLIZE LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY DAD

1. Holey garments and socks: FINANCIALLY CONSERVATIVE, growing up we all used to tease my Dad for wearing holey garments, socks, shoes, etc. This I did not truly appreciate until I had a large family. I find myself trying to make something due for a little longer to save some money. I had a good laugh at myself when I realized that I had been wearing my garment bottoms with a hole in it for a few months. I now know how much my Dad sacrificed in order to house, feed, and clothe all of us.

2. Worn Brown Triple Combination: SPIRITUAL DILIGENCE, if you went into my parent's bathroom growing up, you would always find a brown triple combination. He has always been an amazing example of scripture study. I know that he has a true love of the scriptures and especially the Book of Mormon. Today if you go into that same bathroom you will find a black triple combination that hopefully one day will be held together by a rubberband, like my Dad's.

3. Dollar Days Sign: ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT, whenever I go into a store that has a dollar sale promotion, I will always think of my Father. We grew up selling things door-to-door, yard sales and helping with promotions at stores. Frequently, I get asked the question why so many of us have our own businesses. This is the reason! He helped us understand that we could do it!

4. Binoculars: LOVE FOR NATURE & SCIENCE, my Dad could tell you the name of just about any bird or plant. He took me bird watching, fishing, camping, etc. I developed a real love for nature. This is coming in handy with my boys.

5. Green K. Swiss Tennis Shoes: WORK ETHIC, my Dad used to wear an old pair of green K. Swiss tennis shoes to mow the lawn. There was always something to be done around our house and my Dad was always busy doing something.

6. Light Switch: CONSERVATION, anyone who has lived with my father can attest to his tireless effort to turn off lights. He also conserved when it came to the thermostat. Growing up, many a winter mornings you could find me sitting on the heater vent with a blanket. Porter has now taken over that position in our house. Sean calls me Jay frequently, but it is mostly when I am turning off lights.

7. Guckum Pucky: YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO BE SILLY, my Dad is wacky! When you mix mayo and mustard you get guckum pucky. We ate it on ham. He had funny wacky phrases, like when we asked what we were going to do for FHE he would say, "Choose up sides and smell arm pits" or we would ask what is for dinner? He would say, "Stewed prunes and sour kraut" And who could forget driving in the car to California and not singing "Jumped on a chicken coup!"

8. Thrifty Ice Cream, Cutie Pies, & Totinos Pizzas: FAMILY TIME IS IMPORTANT, he made time for me even when he was busy and traveling a lot. Saturday Thrifty ice cream cones were the best! Cutie Pies and Totinos Pizzas were for the weekends when he was home. This was a huge treat to us!

9.The Old Brown Spinny Bar Stool: HONORING HIS PRIESTHOOD, this was the blessing chair growing up. My father has given me countless blessing. With nine children it was not a wonder that the stool wore out. He is an amazing example of honoring his priesthood.

10. Liberty Park: GOALS, how to set and achieve your goals. He had a contest with Michael, Me, Ritch, and Jen to get us to say our prayers and read our scriptures. If we reached our goal he would take us somewhere fun. I think that we went to Lagoon as the grand prize. It was this contest that helped me develop the habit for prayer and scripture study as a kid. I am very grateful today for those habits.

Thanks for making me who I am!

I wear my Jay badge proudly!

6th Grade Graduation

This event freaked me out. Austin will be going to Lakeridge Junior High in August. He will soon be a teenager. I couldn't be having any more fun with him. He is such an awesome kid. It is weird that he went to the same elementary school and now the same junior high.

DAD & AUSTIE
MOM & AUSTIE
Austin & Mr. Harward

His teacher taught @ Vineyard when I was there.

Discovery Park

Jack kept trying to eat the bark. It was pretty funny to watch his face as he spit it out.

The Tire Swing

a.k.a.

The Vomit Trap

Jack's 1st Birthday

YUMMY!

I always love watching them eat their cake.

It dawned on me that this would be the last 1st birthday party. I was sad for about 5 seconds, and then I came to my senses.

My 1st Haircut

What a cutie!

Jack has had the most hair of all of my babies. The other three didn't have this much hair until they were two. You gotta love the baby curls!