AZ Trip Part II - a.k.a. Electric Boogaloo

Half way through our week in Arizona, we decided to surprise my cousin Kay (Her birthday is the 21st of January) and her family by gracing them with our presence. Her sweet husband, Jace, was the only one who knew we were coming. I truly do not know what I was thinking, but I didn’t get any pictures of her face of the moment she saw us, but I can assure you, she was very surprised!

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

It was so good to see everyone and visit and hang out – so much fun! And, of course, we had to take them to Chino Bandidos (west side location) for her birthday as well – SOOOOO GOOD!! If you’re ever in Arizona, it is truly a “MUST GO THERE” kind of place. The Jade chicken – mmmmmm, I want some right now!!!

Now, if you’ve ever been in Arizona during the winter time, you may know that the citrus is in PRIME!! I realized that I had NEVER pulled an orange off of a real orange tree – nor had I pulled a grapefruit either – and as luck would have it, my aunt Flo and Uncle Delwyn have both in their back yard, so here I am pulling my first citrus of the trees…. Lame I know, but it was fun for me.

Here are a few more photos of our time with the Meyers / Belnaps…

This trip was highly needed and so much fun! I do look forward to being able to go again next winter – it’s definitely something you should do if you live in a 4 season area.

Thank you to Bob and Lenn (Michelle’s parents) for putting us up for the short time we were there.

And, thank you to the Meyer family for letting us crash in your home.

We love you all very, very much and our lives would be nothing but empty without you in them.

Many hugs to all of you!!

A New Tradition - a.k.a. AZ Trip I

~ Summer's are miserable in Arizona.

~ Winter's are miserable in Utah.

So, Me, Trevor and my friend, Michelle, have come up with a solution.. ...

In September, Michelle came to visit us in Utah. It was a nice break from the hot, hot, hot AZ weather, and it was lovely chance to spend some time together.

......Fast Forward to January.

This past January, we decided we needed a break from the cold and flew to lovely AZ for a visit. It was wonderful! One of the highlights was when we hit a street fair in Glendale called Glendale Glow. There were air balloons, street bands, and tons... and tons... and tons of food. We loved it!

It was so amazing being so close to air balloons that were so close to each other. And, it was rather cold, so it was also nice to be next to something so warm.

Don't we look cute! After 20 years it's an older cute, but I think we pull it off.

This is Trevor and I looking even cuter. .. yes, in Arizona you wear T-shirts in the January cold.

I LOVE IT!


What can I say. Some girls can just rock a hat. .... I'm that girl, by the way.

This is how close we were to the balloons, and how close they were to the buildings. CRAZY!

"The Oak Creek Band" was wonderful to listen to. We loved them so much,

we bought their c.d... .. it's great.




This is a little food joint that was on Dinners, Dives, and Drive ins. It's called Chino Bandido, and they serve ~ Are you ready ~ Chinese-Mexican food. True Story. I can not tell you HOW GOOD the food was. Who knew!

It was sooooo nice to see one another after only a few months apart (as opposed to a few years). So, we decided to start a new tradition, and make the "breaks away from weather/spend time with old friends" something we do every year. Michelle, Trevor and I have done the traveling thing. We've also done the youthful party thing. Now, it's all about just being together in nice weather.

I love getting older with old friends!

Go Harry! Go Carla! Go Trevor

So, there are very rare moments in life when you get to tell people “I’m famous!” Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I am famous, but my “mug shot” that’s been on Fox 13 News for the past few days. Which, by all logic means, stardom is just around the corner. (wink, wink)

Trevor and I were fortunate enough to score some tickets for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part II premiere from a friend of ours (YOU ROCK AMY!) last Thursday afternoon. With all the hype of the show, and this being the last movie of one of the greatest epic book / movie series of all time, I decided to attend the premier with some flare. So, I put on my Professor McGonagall witch hat, threw on my Griffindor scarf and headed out. Trevor was sporting his “Voldemort Stole My Parking Spot” T-shirt as well for some added zing,

And then… there it was, a TV camera in my face, with a VERY bright light. At that point, I figured, okay – I’ll go with it. I smiled and gave two thumbs up, with a big smile on my face ~ tah dah! Apparently, that was enough to get myself on the news, and two pictures of us on the Fox 13 News website.

Pretty cool huh!!

Strangely, I’m still getting recognize by co-workers, friends, and even people I don’t know. For instance, someone came up to me yesterday in our cafeteria at work asking me if I was the one on the news for the Harry Potter premiere. Yes…, stardom, very close! I can feel it!

Hey! Remember me? ? ?

So, I realized that it’s been months since I’ve posted anything on my blog, and of course, we’ve done many many thing since then. But, I figured that it was time for me to throw something your way, just so you all knew we are still alive!

In narrowing down what I wanted to post, I knew I wanted to share with you the latest and greatest cake we created.

As many of you know, I come from a fairly large family and, with a large family comes many aunts, uncles, cousin.... thus, many nieces and nephews, right? So, because we are large in number, it means we have many celebrations and events that take place. Well, this year was no different. In the fact, that I had 2 nieces and 1 nephew graduate from High School. Definitely something to celebrate!! So, Trevor and I put our brains to work and came up with one large cake that would suffice for all three.

SKYLYER – GO PANTHERS!!! Snake River High School – Rockford, ID

KAYCEE – SOOO BRAVE!!!! Bountiful Braves - Bountiful, UT

KYLAH – OUR MIGHTY MOOSE!!! Palmer Moose – Palmer, AK






















We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate all three graduations together at my parents house in Idaho, and it was a FABULOUS weekend! Tons of family, tons of food and LOTS of love! The best weekend EVER!!


Congratulations my three darlin's!! May your new-to -discover lives find you full of happiness and health!!

Halloween

So if any of you know the Wirths at all, the month of October is usually Halloween day all month long. This month we were able to decorate (a little bit due to busy schedules), visit the Haunted Village, attend Rogers Memorial version of “Clue”, make Halloween treats and dress up for work as well as for Halloween itself..... whew!

For work, a group of us got together and decided to dress up as the cast of Gilligan's Island. I had the fortunate role of Lovey Howell. We had a good time and of course we won the best group prize. Splitting 50 bucks up between 7 people, totally worth it!! It was a TON of fun and we all had a good time!



For Halloween day, Trevor and I were in charge of our Wards Trunk-or-Treat again this year. It would have been a FABULOUS time had the weather cooperated and enabled us to keep the event outside, but alas, Mother Nature decided to put her anger costume on and hand out torrential rain out for candy instead. Which of course, forced us to frantically gather it all up and run inside the church to continue the party. Luckily, the evening turned out to be a good time and I think everyone else had a good time as well.

Trevor won the vote of BEST COSTUME (congratulations my dear) dressed as Beetleguise and I wore my glamorous witches costume that my dear mother made for me last year. (Having lost 30 pounds since last year, it nearly drowned me, but I don’t care I LOVE that costume!!!)





All in all, it was a good Halloween. As fun as it is and as excited as we are to have it come and do the things that we love to do, we’re generally just as glad to see it come to an end to ring in the next fun holiday!! BRING ON THE TURKEY!!!!

Da' Birthday Girls

Because my first 20 years of adulthood was soooo wonderful, I figured I'd continue the good luck by ringing in my next 20 years the same way. So, I grabbed the girls I spent my 20th bithday with and had another weekend blowout! The peerfect middle meeting place for all the girls was Logan, UT in good ol' Cache Valley.

Play-by-play, this is how the weekend went down ~ ho-down, that is..

Friday afternoon/ evening: We carpooled (thank you so much Cammie!!) to Logan, checked into our hotel. We were all in pretty silly moods and, of course, so, I had my girlfriends give me a ride on the luggage cart down the hall... waving like a queen, with a tiara on of course.....It was good times!

We decided to try a cafe called "The Blue Bird." Pretty good food, and way good service!! Our waitress was fantabulous! After dinner, we went back to the hotel and talked and laughed 'till 3:30am (Well, most of us did anyway...)



Saturday: We got up around 9:30ish and attended the hotel's free breakfast. Not that great, but it was food, and I was hungry, so I ate it.



After breakfast, we were all too tired to really worry about going out or putting ourselves together to go anywhere (helloooo 40!), so we put on our swimsuits and headed for the indoor pool.... Where we swam for nearly the entire day. IT WAS SO RELAXING!!!! There wasn't anyone in the pool the entire time except us! Couldn't have asked for anything better! We swam, we talked, we giggled, we dried off, then we swam some more, giggled some more, and just had a GREAT time!! Around 3:00, we headed upstairs to change and get ready for our Saturday night "Shin-Dig."



Now to set this up for you so you can possibly understand and get a full vision of how this event went down, I have to give you a quick run down of all of us. Myself, I'm from Idaho. Cammie, she's from Idaho too. Glenna, from Idaho.... Becky, yup - Idaho, and Byee, Utah originally. And last but not least, we have Vickie. Vickie is a true blue, through and through New Yorker!! She migrated over to Utah about 5 or 6 years ago to be amongst all of us. She has the accent, the lingo, and the eastern attitude to boot. So, placing this fabulous person in the middle of a western, ho-down, knee slappin', hootin' hollerin' good time event was... well... amusing.... to us at least. Not so much on Vickie's part.

Now, to be perfectly honest, the evening started out to a bit questionable as to whether or not we all were going to have a good time. The meal - didn't dig it, the atmosphere was great, but we still felt a little uneasy about the western ho-down kind of setting. THAT IS UNTIL.... We laughed and poked fun at us, them, it until the mood was lightened, by that time the show began. By that time, the laughing had a life of it's own, so we knew we were in trouble. To keep things mildly mature (mildly) we placed the code word "Shin-Dig" to call out when we we were at the point of not being able to handle it anymore and needed to get out.

But then..... dat ta ta da da dahhhh.... "Singin'Jenny" saved the night!!!

Singing Jenny was AMAZING!!! She was so hysterical, so hilarious and so funny, we thought we were going to die due to laughter. She was the lady villain in the show. Between her facial expressions and her mannerisms, she literally stole the show!!! And made the whole night a laugh fest for all.

Soooo, needless to say, we HAD to get our picture taken with her so we could have proof that our night wasn't a complete bust! And Vickie - she had a good time too.....Thank goodness!!!

After the show we went and got some ice cream to... you know.... feed the fire of hyperness, and then we headed back to the hotel for yet another evening/morning of all night talking, giggling, laughing and getting busted by hotel management fun. It was a BLAST!!! Just like it was when I turned 20 - hanging with the girls and getting into trouble.

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.!

Sunday: We packed it up and headed home. Sad face :(... but.. we needed the sleep (hellooo... 40 again!)

So, here's to my 5-buddies!! Thank you girls for being my long-loved-friends, for helping me bring in the 40s with a bang and for getting me into trouble! It was the best birthday weekend getaway retreat EVER!! I love you all!!

You Say It's My Birthday!

For the past three months, I've obviously known that my 40th Birthday was rapidly approaching.

40 years of living the dream right??

I started to reflect back on my life of what I have done, places I've been and then started thinking about the things I should be doing and should have done by now, and I realized that life gets away from you before you can stop it. But that's just it!!



YOU CAN'T STOP IT!!!

No matter how much you don't think about it or try to not make it happen, it does just that - IT HAPPENS. So, I decided to not let it get to me by just embracing the situation and roll with the punches. I live my life to the best possible way I know how. I do the best I can in making the right decision, and my decision on turning 40 was to loooooooove it, accept it and tell as many people as I know that it's coming and to help me celebrate it.

YEAH BABY!

On the morning of my birthday, I walked into my office, and my cubicle was completely decked out with streamers, decorations, lights and confetti. It was fabulous!! Several people told me that they didn't believe I was 40 that they thought I was lying. (I wish) How cute is that!!?? But I had friends take me to lunch and my husband took me to dinner, and it turned into a fun, fabulous and very positive day! It was GREAT!



So, here is to the people in my life that made my day the best it could have been. I am very greatful to all of you for your love, your friendship, and for all the birthday wishes out there. THANK YOU!!

So far, 40 ROCKS!!!

A Fourth For The Blogs

The fourth of July weekend this year was definately one for the Blog!

The weekend started off with your typical BBQs, fireworks and family get together. However, on Monday the 5th, my family hosted an Ol' Backyard Neighborhood Reunion.

The Bybees and the Jacobias(Blackfoot, ID neighbors) were all there to help celebrate this fun event, in which one of those family members, from both those families, were two of my best friends growing up. Jamie (now Jamie Bowers) and Kim (now Kim Heward) were two of the three (Candis was unable to attend due to the face that she just had a baby 5 days prior) friends I grew up playing barbies with, had sleep overs with, and had my first business with ~ lemonade stands with and basically rattled the neighborhood with.



It's been over 20-years since we'd all been together, and I have to say, nothing has changed. We are all the same!! Well, maybe a little taller, wider and definitely wiser!

It was such a pleasure to sit down, laugh and talk about the old times. It brought back so many memories and good times.

Made we wanna be a kid again --- almost.

Our parents were also a hoot to watch. To sit and look at them as they probably looked at us those twenty years ago, made me realize just how quickly time flies and how quickly life can slip away from you. 20-years is a long time to let go by without seeing the people who had such an influence in your life..... So, with that said, I want to dedicate this blog entry to all the people I grew up with. Thank you to you wonderful neighbors for your influence, your advise, and most of all your love! I know that I would not be the person I am today without the guidance and love from you! Thank you!

And, God Bless America!!

Family Tree

There a few moments in life when you know exactly who you are and where you belong. This past weekend was one of those moments for me.

The Jackson reunion is one of the most wonderful events for Trevor and I. Aside from the games, food and, fun, there is love... .. love... .. love. This year, Trevor and I decided to capitalize on that love with desert.

Wanting to do something special this year for the reunion, Trevor and I thought, "What says family better than a family tree"? Immediately the wheels began turning. With Trevor's creativity and my baking genius, we came up with an eatable token to the Jackson family.



With a little pipping and paint, Trevor constructed the tree. Then, with cake, frosting and 400 leaf cut pieces of fondunt, I constructed the rest.

Each family member had leaf, and each family had a cake. As we constructed our Jackson tribute, members of our Jackson clan began to gather. Before we knew it, there were tears and smiles. Our hearts lept out of our chest. The spirit of our family, past and present, stood before us and.. .. my cup runith over.

This small tribute of cake and creativity became more than a delightful treat, it became apart of our remembrance - past - present - future.

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a blast this year!

For work, it was my bosses idea, Rachael, to all dress up at the Three's Company cast. Which all worked out perfectly!! I was Mrs. Roper. The costumes worked out perfectly and we all looked FABULOUS!! It was so much fun! Our group won 50 bucks, and we also got a trophy. It was a fun time!

For Halloween day, I dressed in my witches costume again. Trevor went as a Ghostbuster. He made his own proton pack and everything - it looked AMAZING!!!! (We aren't into doing the "couples" kind of costumes as much.) We had a trunk or treat at our ward house (that we helped out with in the planning cause we are on the Activities Committee I might add) which was a HUGE success!! We had sooo many kids and people there, it was awesome! We actually ran out of candy. We did Hot Dogs, Hot Chocolate and Apple Juice, and just had a blast!





My sister, Brother-in-law and little nieces and nephews came up for the fun as well. After the trunk or treat, we took a few minutes and stopped by our friends Cammie and Ed's place for some dinner, and then went over to my sisters place, picked up the older girls and their friends, and went up to the Bountiful Temple to go Trick or Treating. We had SUCH A GOOD TIME!!!!! Those girls were so much dang fun!!!

Sigh.... Oh Sigh ... now that Halloween is over we don't start thinking about it again until January. Then, we begin the planning for our next Halloween adventure!

Witches Night Out

Every year here in Salt Lake, there is an event called "Witches Night Out". It's for everyone to dress up as Witches and gather at a place called Gardner Village. It was a ton of fun. EXTREMELY crowded! But still a ton of fun. It's really an excuse to get dressed up and hang out with my girlfriends. I, of course, had to go with a details character costume. If you can't tell, I am Winifred Sanderson, from the Sanderson sisters, from the movie Hocus Pocus. One of my favorite Halloween movies EVER!

We danced, laughed and of course took tons of pictures. After we were tired of being on our feet, we went to get something to eat (still dressed up), and then went to the movies (still dressed up). We found more joy in the evening when people were looking and staring and making comments - such a BLAST!!!

How FREAKING COOL IS HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Me and Lindsay

Me and Lindsay in character..

Me and Charity.. love the hat!

Heidi, Charity, Lindsay and Me

Vacation Celebration

Trevor and I had two-weeks of use it or lose it time. With a newly fixed truck, we had no other option than to do a ROAD TRIP!

Our first stop was Arizona!

Michelle and Taeven: In the Summer of 1991, I traveled up to Ricks College (a.k.a BYU-I) to attend cosmetology school. I, of course, needed housing while going to school, so I took advantage of Ricks housing. Ricks housing is a bit different from most universities. The landlords try to pack as many girls into one room to A: cut costs and B: make money. So, needless to say, I was crammed in with 5 girls.

To make a long story short, my roomy - roommate was Michelle Chandler (now Thompson). From the moment we met we have been best-pals! I keep her grounded, and she keeps my life interesting. Here it is almost 20-years later.. We have seen one another through boyfriends, weddings, fights and fun.



For Three days Me, Trevor, Taeven (Michelle's husband) and Michelle ate, chatted, giggled, ate, watched t.v., scrap booked (well, I did), ate, reminisced, hung-out, and laughed, laughed, laughed! .. .. this photo would be eating at In and Out Burger ~ yummm!


We, of course, brought Max. Michelle and Taeven's dog, Winnie, was so excited to have someone to boss around and steal snacks and bones from... as you can see from the picture, she was shameless about it too!


Poor Max....

Kay and Jace: The next stop was to see my cousin Kay and her family. When we got there, Kay, Jace, Trev and I and the two older girls (out of 6 kids) all went to lunch. Wow! How big they've all grown! We then found a Halloween store to go to for Trevor - he was thrilled!!! That evening, Jace, Kay, Trev and I had a double date. We went to dinner and then went to a park afterwards and just talked, and talked, and talked.

The next day, all of my cousins that still live in Arizona all came over for Sunday dinner. We had a HUGE Fiesta!! Every kind of Mexican food you can imagine was there. It was awesome!! It was soooo good to see all my cousins. Some of them, I hadn't seen in like 5 or 6 years.


We were having such a good time, we had to stay an extra day. That morning Kay did my hair and then Trev and I went to the SAS fabric store. It's this amazing warehouse of EVERY KIND of fabric you can imagine, at a SUPER discount. Seriously, they sell it by the pound.. .. Trevor was in heaven! Afterwards, we met Kay at Chino Banditos. Get this, it's actually, Chinese Mexican food. Who would have thought the two would go together, but let me tell you it was crazzzy awesome!

Home Sweet Home: Unfortunately, Trevor had to go back to work. So, with one quick stop in Ut, we grabbed a night out with my sister Christa and her husband Dan. We decided to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary, Christa's 43rd birthday, and Carter's (her son) 5th birthday. Pizza, conversation and fun.. .. really, does it get any better?

The next day Trevor drove me to the ID/ UT border. We met up with my mother and she took me the rest of the way to Idaho to stay with my mom and dad the remainder of my vacation.

Mom and I started on my Halloween costume~ a witch! And can I just tell you - my mother is an absolute GENIUS!!! She is so smart and brilliant at sewing. She had some difficulties figuring out a certain part of the dress part, but she did it. She made that dress look beautiful!! No pictures ~ yet. Not until Halloween! Lets just say, I'm going to look soooo damn awesome!!

Trev drove up on Friday night and spent the remaining time with us.

All in all, it was a fabulous fabulous vacation!