Meltdowns, Movies, Spiders, Snails, and More

I just spent two wonderful weeks with my older sister, who was in town with her kids from Nebraska. Here are some highlights:

Mom, Cara (29), me (27), and Lissa (24)

TRIP: Temple Square


HIGHLIGHT: Attempted swims in the reflection pond and a family melt down in front of the Christus.




TRIP: Our family cabin in Heber

HIGHLIGHT 1: Dad's famous root beer floats - made with homemade root beer and homemade ice cream - I died and went to heaven.

HIGHLIGHT 2: What do the following characters have in common: Goldilocks, Papa Bear, Snow White, the Wicked Witch, Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Hansel, and Gretl? They were all wood wanderers! So what would happen if they ran across each other? Some day I might actually post the movie we made to answer that question. ;)


HIGHLIGHT 3: Our last morning there I finally started getting adjusted to seeing insects all the time, especially indoors. So I decided to show Sam how brave I was by pointing out my fascination with the spider that had just caught a fly in the living room.

me: Look Sam! That spider is crawling down to get the fly. It's kinda cool, huh.
Sam: [hesitating] Um, that's a black widow.

I renege on both bravery and fascination.

TRIP: Attempted Provo Float (we had tube problems, and then most of the girls wimped out because the water was ice, so only Liam and I went, with Seara and Elijah on laps)


HIGHLIGHT: Floating along with my 16 year-old brother Liam and the kids, and getting compliments all along the way from fellow floaters and fishers on "what a cute family" we were. Apparently the 10 year age-difference and amazing family resemblance wasn't so obvious.




TRIP: The public pool


HIGHLIGHT: Two teenage girls, standing next to my mom in the pool, having the following conversation about Liam from a distance:

Girl 1: Oh, I know that kid, he goes to my school!
Girl 2: Let's go talk to him!
[Liam walks over to me and starts chatting.]
Girl 1: Oh no! He's with his mom.
[They wimp out, and instead casually walk by us and set up their towels where they can stare safely.]

My question: I look old enough to be his mom?! Three days before I was his wife, and now I'm his MOM?!



TRIP: Dinner at Macaroni Grill with Uncle Rob and Aunt Monta


HIGHLIGHT: Using the restroom, and while walking out seeing a "men's" sign on the inside of the door. What?! I was actually in the right room, but someone thought putting the opposite sign on the inside of the door would be funny. It was.



TRIP: Visit to Great-Grandma Smith (she's my grandma, but the kids' great-grandma)


HIGHLIGHT: Discovering Enoch with a snail in hand ... only to find out that he'd been collecting snails from the garden, carrying them up to the porch, and drowning them in grandma's fountains. Ooops.

TRIP: Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House, just Sease and I with Cara and cousins


HIGHLIGHT: Hoping that something would stick with Seara as I told her all about the temple as we walked through, and then having her mention in her prayers later that night, "Thank thee that mommy and daddy got married in the temple." Okay, that was a tender mercy.