Girl's weekend! TOFW - Las Vegas part 2

TOFW - LAS VEGAS

Girl's weekend #2 started with Girl's weekend #1 here. We were supposed to be 5 but ended up with 3. We originally planned to go to TOFW (Time Out for Women) in Las Vegas back in February but because of President Hinckley's funeral it was postponed to September. We went from 5 to 4 at first because Becky just had her 4th child and wasn't ready to take a road trip with a new baby. Here are the 5 of us at our last GNO - dinner at Texas Roadhouse - YUM!

L-R Me, Becky, Nikie, LeAnn and Kim.

The story of how we went from 4 to 3 will have to come at a later date. We started the trip Friday morning driving straight to Vegas with a few potty stops (Kim is pregnant.. that should say it all!) but forgot to get gas so we barely made it to the edge of Las Vegas on fumes! We also had to plan out our meals around Kim's schedule.. every 4 hours she would ask what we were going to eat next.. it became a fun game to guess when she would mention it again! We love you Kimmy Sue!

We spent a great deal of time in the Caesar's Palace Forum shops Friday afternoon and evening..especially at FAO Schwartz. We helped Kim find some Christmas gifts for her kids. We went to dinner at La Salsa a Mexican restaurant that evening and then headed to the Von's grocery store to get some treats for TOFW the next day. I almost stole a protein bar but luckily remembered I had accidentally stuck it in my purse instead of on the check stand. It could have been awkward sitting at TOFW feeling guilty about not paying for my bar. Good thing I figured it out then so I could pay for it before leaving.

We stayed at a hotel approx 5 miles or so from the strip and the convention center. It was surprisingly nice and a great set up for 3 women to get ready bright and early in the morning. We were upgraded to a golf course view for free and didn't get to see it until the morning as we were leaving. oh well...

The next morning we headed to the Time Out event. (Click here for more of an explanation of what TOFW is and my previous experience.) We thought we were getting there early but when we arrived, there were 4 lines of at least 40 women in each line. Luckily, we still found great seats right up front. I was able to see Hilary before the event and chat with her a bit before getting started. I have only been to TOFW events where she has been performing and I can't imagine one without her. With her fun sense of humor and strong testimony she has it all!

The day started with having each presenter introduce themselves and a little bit about what they were going to speak on. We were fortunate to have Virginia Pearce stay over from the previous day to fill in for Carolyn Rasmus who was ill. She was so inspiring and by far my favorite speaker of the day. Amanda Dickson was presenting at a Time Out for the first time outside Utah and she was fabulous! She was so hilarious and really spoke on a level for many to enjoy. We also heard from Michael Wilcox, Pam Hansen and Chris Stewart who were all great as well. Overall, a great day filled with inspirational presentations that made me laugh and cry all at the same time! This weekend was a great way to relax and really evaluate where I am in my life.

Here we are with Hilary.. L-R Kim, Hilary, LeAnn and Me.

Just us girls!! Aren't we cute? All color coordinated..that is what the lady who took our picture said!

We had such a great time laughing and making memories! Thanks Kim and LeAnn for making this a very memorable trip! Love you both!

We can't wait until next time when Nikie and Becky can join us. We missed you guys!

Girl's weekend Las Vegas TOFW ...Part 1

A little something to get you excited for the official Girl's weekend TOFW post!

September 19-21, 2008

Top 10ish list (ok 62! Thanks to LeAnn for putting this together)

( In no particular order)

1. Kim’s sweater hitting the baby in the carrier right behind her seat and the mother getting snippy and throwing her sleeve back at her. Kim didn’t know there was a baby right behind her.
2. The bathroom at the 7-Eleven saying “Out of Order, Not a public restroom.” And when Kim asked about it, the cashier replied, “There’s a reason it says that.” Then he let Kim and Angela use it.
3. Kim’s conversation with Laurel Christensen and trying to figure out how they knew each other. “She asked if I went to BYU, not if I lived in Provo!” They were in the same singles ward in Provo.
4. Running into MaryKay Orgill at the event and Angela asking her if she knew Traci Norris. She also asked Laurel Christensen if she knew Traci. She’s apparently the only common link if Angela knows them as well.
5. The Thunder From Down Under billboard of hot men in Vegas. Angela and LeAnn took pictures of it through the open sunroof.
6. Angela yelling at the man standing on a barricade “You’re hot!” out LeAnn’s side of the car.
7. Angela asking a man/worker in the Forum Shops “If I were a bathroom, where would I be?”
8. Playing in the FAO Schwartz store and trying to find gifts for Kim’s kids.
9. Kim’s fajitas not sitting well with her and eating 20 tums in an hour.
10. . Disgusting Nephi bathrooms – separate building from the gas station store – worse than the ghetto 7-Eleven in Las Vegas.
11. Hilary asking LeAnn if she says offensive things too after Kim said, “I can tell this is an old CD because your picture is old” after Hilary commented that she chose an interesting CD – it was her Christmas one.
12. Hilary telling Kim she looked like she was 10 minutes pregnant.
13. LeAnn talking with Amanda Dickson while she had Michael Wilcox sign her book.
14. Borrowing Shannon’s (a girl behind us) sharpie marker so Hilary could autograph Kim and LeAnn’s CD’s. Then the break was over and Shannon wasn’t able to get Hilary’s autograph.
15. Discovering we’re BFF’s (Best Friends Forever) with Hilary Weeks because of two degrees of separation through Angela.
16. The waiter burning his finger on Kim’s hot fajita plate at La Salsa and showing Kim how quickly it blistered.
17. Kim asking “Where are we going to eat?” at the beginning of each day and around meal times. 18. Angela trying to get LeAnn to jump up on the back of a statue in a fountain at the Forum Shops and pull its tail.
19. Walking up the stairs in the Forum Shops and getting winded. So we decided to take the curved escalators the rest of the way.
20. Getting a view room of the golf course at the Sun Coast Hotel and not being able to see it until morning.
21. Going to bed Friday night in Las Vegas around 10:30 p.m. – heading back to our hotel at 9:30 p.m. So much for staying up late on the strip!
22. Angela and Kim giving LeAnn dating advice.
23. Parking LeAnn’s car at Angela’s parents’ house. “Does your car leak?” – Angela. “I don’t think so. Oops it must, there’s a puddle there now that I’ve moved it!”
24. Driving down Las Vegas Boulevard and Kim trying to remember where her sister Heidi got married. It was the Little White Chapel of Flowers – same place that Dennis Rodman and Carmen Elektra got married.
25. Kim measuring the beds in the hotel room in St. George with her arms because she thought one was a queen and the other was a double. Nope, both are doubles.
26. Semi truck tire blowing out on the drive home from St. George. Kim telling Angela to hurry and get past him, “Go, go, go!”
27. Driving down to Las Vegas on one tank of gas. We stopped a couple of time for breaks but never thought to fill up on gas.
28. Eating brunch at Gandolfo’s in Mapleton. Tasty breakfast sandwiches.
29. Picking up our lunch boxes behind the stage and then eating outside on a shady hill and digging in our heels so we don’t roll down.
30. Trying Power protein bars. LeAnn picked a different type and Angela later told her she should always listen to her recommendations.
31. Kim saying “I hate to say this, but I feel better already” after Angela got her to drink some Bragg’s apple cider vinegar and water.
32. Kim asking frequently, “Will that detach my placenta?” or reassuring us that it wouldn’t.
33. Laughing hysterically at the “4 Christmases” preview in the movie theater when Vince Vaughn was struggling to keep vomit down after a baby threw up on Kate Hudson.
34. Kim throwing up in her mouth when she smelled LeAnn’s banana that she brought with her in the car.
35. Kim saying her baby was the length of a banana. LeAnn kept calling her baby a banana.
36. Three ladies completely zonked out during the TOFW afternoon break.
37. Crawling over a railing to get to our seats because we were sitting next to an older lady and a lady with a cane. Kim saying that a pregnant lady shouldn’t have to go over rail.
38. LeAnn asking Kim if she was concerned that she had 3 bottles of drinks with her when she came out of the gas station store. She had thought LeAnn went to the bathroom more than she did as a pregnant lady who goes 10 times a day.
39. Kim telling LeAnn that she needs to get her phone number unlisted.
40. Kim giving us a fashion show of her outfit choices and being worried about wearing red shoes with the brown pants with pink and white plaid print and having to readjust because her pants were too big.
41. Kim trying two times to push the door open to go into the bathroom while Angela was in it in the middle of the night in St. George. She had her ear plugs in and couldn’t hear Angela saying she was inside.
42. The really loud air conditioner and brown box filtration that drowned out the outside motel noise in St. George.
43. Mini teddy grahams – small portions of chocolaty goodness.
44. Angela almost not paying for her protein bar. She stuck it directly into her purse when she picked it up.
45. Buying treats the night before the TOFW and Kim getting a Savings Von’s card. We all used it and then left it in the hotel.
46. Leaving the melted yogurt covered pretzels in the St. George motel freezer. We forgot to take them in from the car during TOFW.
47. The ladies from Hurricane, UT getting teased throughout the TOFW. Hilary asked people to shout out the states where they were from if she didn’t already mention them. After hearing them she said, “I didn’t ask for cities. Let alone a town!”
48. Kim saying we should have a prayer for safety after the semi truck tire blowout “Ok LeAnn will you say it!” 49. Kim buying a couple of Halloween cups and saying that her kids will be scared of the skeleton head one but will later fight over it.
50. Walking through the casino lobby at 7:30 a.m. and seeing people who looked like they hadn’t gone to bed yet.
51. Walking out of the TOFW for lunch break and seeing a woman from the Home Show next door smoking a cigarette.
52. Angela telling us about Hilary Weeks on the drive down.
53. Using the men’s bathrooms converted to women’s during the TOFW event.
54. Wishing the Cold Stone Creamery was open at 9:30 a.m. We frequently talked about getting some ice cream but never did.
55. Our post event critique of what we think should be done differently or what we thought went well.
56. LeAnn calling it TOWF, TFOW and mixing up the sequence.
57. Pam Hansen saying that when the sound guy turned on her microphone she “would be hot!” Later she asked “Am I still hot?” when she forgot to release us for a break.
58. Telling Amanda Dickson that we would vote for her to continue on the TOFW events. This was her first one out of state. We made sure to let Laurel Christensen know.
59. The lady telling us we looked color coordinated before taking our picture at the TOFW.
60. LeAnn and Amanda Dickson calling themselves Amazons.
61. Kim asking if we thought Cesar would have a puppy for her when she got back.
62. Kim’s cashier at 7-Eleven giving her change in poker terms – full house and some change. He said that his job at 7-Eleven was just math practice.

Nephews.....

I meant to post this over a month ago.. not sure what happened.. They now have a cute little sister that was born on my birthday!

Here are some great pictures of our nephews... Sam, Ben and John. They are trully expressing their personalities! Brad's sister Natalie just sent these in celebration of Sam getting braces! I haven't had any decent pictures to post of this part of our family, I guess I need to have Natalie send me some of the entire family.. now that I think about it I think she did send pictures of Sam's baptism..oops. I wasn't in the blogging mood then I guess.. sorry Nat!

Anyway, I wanted to make a shout out to cute nephews and Sam's new braces!

Happy Birthday Lance!

Today is my little brother Lance's birthday. He turned the big 30 today!

I have some great memories from our childhood and most of them involve funny things like acting out movies, especially play fighting like on the movie The Karate Kid... having concerts singing to our favorite music (I think I was 9 or 10 yrs old) with a flashlight as the microphone (it had a magnetic side and we could put in on the vacuum as a stand), tennis rackets as guitars and we rocked! I guess this was the 1st version of Rock Band.. why didn't we patent that? Sounds like we were totally geeks and we probably were but we had so much fun. Especially when mom and dad were out on their date night and we could turn the music up as loud as we wanted. Some popular tunes were "We Built this City" by Starship and "Wake Me up before you GO-GO" by Wham. Gotta love the 80's!

We also had a pool when we lived in Tennessee. There was a slide, diving board and of course the roof off the screened in porch right next to the pool. My mom hated it when we jumped off of the roof! I remember one time Travis and I stole Lance's swim trucks and I don't remember how but they ended up in the deep end of the pool. That really wasn't nice and we got in big trouble!

Lance has been a great little brother. He always knows how to make me laugh! He is someone that you enjoy being around because when you are with him, he makes you feel better about yourself. Wish you were out here to spend it with you. Enjoy your day little brother! Love you!

I will post pictures next week.. I still have to pack for my girls weekend in Vegas!!

Lake Powell... need I say more...

Who doesn't just absolutely LOVE Lake Powell? Especially when staying on a houseboat like this! It is one of the most relaxing, beautiful, and fun places to vacation. We didn't think we would make it this year but my parents called us a couple weeks before they were going and asked if we wanted to join them. Duh?! Of course we would go. It was a business trip of sorts for my dad and others on the trip but it was still enjoyable.

Brad and I are running out of vacation time so we went down a week ago on Wednesday and we headed home on Saturday. The rest of the group went down the Monday before and some left on Thursday which made the 2nd half of the trip even better with less people.

The weather was perfect mid 80's and at night in the 60's, the water temp was perfect as well. Lots of great food! Thanks to Paula & Eleisha! We also reconnected with old friends. We spent time reading, talking, playing card games, watching movies, water skiing, swimming, tubing, knee boarding, and of course taking showers in the lake! Good memories!

Brad's first time knew boarding and he was able to do a 360! Nice job honey!


Brad working the 360!

My parents showing us how it is done on the tube! It is very difficult to throw them off.

With having broken my ankle 4 weeks previously I tried knee boarding for a bit but got nervous I would fall and hurt myself again (it stinks to get old!) so I let go outside the wake. Then my mom talked me into the tube.

It wouldn't be a Lake Powell trip without waiting for my mom to jump off the top of the boat- she is afraid of heights and always has to think about it for several minutes...(the first time was over an hour!) before she finally jumps in.

Here is Brad showing her how to just jump off.. it is not that hard!

Anyway, thanks to mom and dad for thinking of us and for Scott and Paula for giving us the opportunity to go! You guys are great!

Another First....

Well it finally happened! We got toilet papered the night of my birthday! It was the first time we have ever been TPed. I know I should be a little upset but I thought it was funny.. plus we don't have gigantic trees....yet!

I also have fond memories of toilet papering when I was in high school. Although I know there are a few of you out there that disagree with toilet papering (cough..Tasha!) In fact one time I was in the flower bed up by the house and didn't notice the HUGE window well next to the bush I was carefully wrapping with toilet paper. While I was stepping around the bush I stepped right into the window well and landed on my rear end.. boy that one left a mark! I was so nervous that someone heard me and I couldn't get out by myself (it was very deep). I had to whisper loudly to a friend who helped pull me out and we all took off. There was also another time we toilet papered my YW President's house (guess I had that one coming!) and they turned on their sprinklers to get us wet! Good times...

I thought the best time to hit a house was after midnight but these pranksters decided to hit us at 9pm! I thought I could hear some noises on our porch but Brad told me I was hearing things.. then finally I hear a pop and said ok.. I really think someone is outside. We went to the door and saw someone running away. We decided to try to catch them. Brad headed one way around the house and I went the other way. We could tell they were novices when we found them in our backyard instead of down the street on the other side of the fence. Here are some pics of the event. I should have taken a full picture of the whole front yard but didn't get that one. There was a "Happy Birthday" sign on the garage door and more balloons on the tree out front and lots more toilet paper.

Thanks Miller girls and Garett!

Happy Birthday

Ok.. so my mom has been talking for over a month about writing a "special" post for my birthday. Well.. she finally wrote it by late yesterday afternoon but with Young Women's last night I didn't have time to search for the pictures my mom wanted me to post along with this.

Anyway, My birthday is Sept 8th so I will back date to that day.. just play along ok? I didn't edit this in anyway so here we go...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!!!! Sorry it is a day late!!!

I wanted to write a birthday tribute to my wonderful, beautiful, talented daughter. Too many adjectives?? Oh well. Your dad and I couldn't be more proud of the wonderful young woman you have become.

September 8, 197_ was one of the best days of my life. We welcomed a beautiful blond haired (actually she was bald but hey I think we could see the blond coming in!), blue eyed, 8lb. 3oz., 21 inches long — bundle of pure joy. She was the happiest and most contented baby I have ever seen. She slept through the night from day one. I told her she definitely spoiled us and didn’t prepare us for sleepless nights her other siblings made up for.

Before Ang was born her dad was so sure it was a boy. (This was before ultra sounds) What is it with men that they think they have to produce a male child?? My nephew asked Ron what he would do if it was a girl and he jokingly said he would flush her down the toilet. When my nephew heard that we had a girl he told his mom he needed to get to the hospital fast to save Angela. Not to worry, her dad fell in love with her at first sight and said that little girls were made for dad’s to protect and that is what he has been doing her whole life.

Angela was impatient to grow up. She began crawling at 6 months, walking at 9 months and speaking sentences at 10 months. Maybe it was just being the first child but she seemed to learn very fast. Needless to say she was an adult by the time she was a year old. Oh, did I mention she was potty trained sometime around 10 months?? (Thanks to her Grandma Weeks who tended her!) Angela was a very active child. But she was easy to discipline and followed rules pretty good. With one exception, she loved wearing her father’s shoes. You know the ones with the high heels; it was the 70’s remember!! She would clomp around in them all day if she could get away with it; her dad was very fussy with his possessions. If you know anything about Ron he is very meticulous of his things. He really didn’t like Ang wearing his shoes but it was so darn cute it was hard to keep her from doing it. So I took a picture.

Ang grew up to be a tomboy. She was very good in all sports. In our Smithfield, Utah neighborhood all the children would get together to play baseball in the field next door. One day I answered a knock on the door and one of the boys was standing there. He looked up at me and said, “Angela’s a tomboy huh?? She just knocked the baseball clear over into the next field! Girls aren’t supposed to hit like that. My sister says Angela can because she is a tomboy, is that right?” So began her life’s goal to be good at any sport she tried out for. In high school she played Tennis Singles and took 2nd in region. She also played softball and soccer.

Ang (age 12), Travis (age 9), Jamie (age 2).. Lance's (age 7) head on the far left!

I was able to be her Young Women’s leader. It was so much fun going to young women’s with her and teaching her the gospel. Camp was a lot of fun. Even though Angela loved to tease and pull pranks she always knew her boundaries and when she needed to be respectful and listen. She was always willing to do whatever her leaders asked her to do. She was a great leader and example for the other girls. I can honestly say she never pushed the button of the leaders once except for one small time at stake camp in Memphis Tennessee. I think she was a Mia Maid. Her and a friend asked the leaders if they could go pull a few harmless tricks to the other campers. We told them nothing destructive, like pulling down the tents, etc. and that they had to be back to camp by 11:00 PM. Were we cool leaders or what??? So Ang and Jennifer went out and came back right on time. Since we didn’t hear any screaming or other leaders yelling we thought they had been good and never caused any problems until the next morning . . . .!! We went to flag ceremony and all around the pool fence, (yes Memphis girls camp ground had flushing toilets, showers and a swimming pool, they really knew how to camp!!) Anyway, hung to the fence were bra’s everywhere!!! They had even climbed up the flag pole and hung a few on the top!! As the flag was raise so were the eyes of the stake leaders and they wanted to know who had done this. Jennifer’s mom was one of the stake leaders, she and I just looked at each other but never said a word. (yes, we were chicken!!!) We looked at Ang and Jen, that’s all it took; they started to go and gather up all the bra’s and return them to the girls. Angela knew how to have fun. She was always looking for ways to include the younger girls and making sure that camp was fun and willing to participate in the planned activities. For the most part she would follow the rules, be supportive and helpful.

Girls' camp Jenny, Ang (age 14), Hiedi, Shelby and Maridyn. We had so much fun at camp!

Angela has excelled in work as well as sports. She is very competitive and doesn’t like to lose which has been good for her brothers because they have learned it ok of a girl beats them! It was really good for her brother Lance who is just as competitive as she is. Angela has been a great older sister to her 2 brothers and one sister. She is so willing to always help and give advice which can sometimes annoy her siblings and so they remind her that they already have a mother. But she is such a good example for them, they love and respect her and appreciate her wisdom and her willingness to help them anyway she can.

Angela thanks for being such a great daughter. We are so proud of you and appreciate all that you do for us!

We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Now just to clarify the Girls' camp prank... Jennifer and I were just taking care of our own. My mom forgot that the previous day the YCL's had raided all the new 1st year's bags in our ward and hung their bras on the flag pole that morning. Sooo Jennifer and I did the only sensible thing....we sought REVENGE! Ok.. so not one of my proudest moments but still a great memory! I never liked to see my mom disappointed in me so that day when she gave me the "look", I quickly obeyed.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great memories! I couldn't have asked for better parents, thanks for all you do! I love you!