Random.

I chatted with the checkout man at Khol's yesterday while I was rifling through my purse to get my wallet and find a coupon. By the time I had everything I needed, I looked up to hand him the coupon. That's when it happened. I let out a little yelp and jumped back! So embarrassing... The seemingly normal Khol's employee had those bold colored/crazy designed contacts in his eyes. Halloween isn't for 6 months buddy. I quickly finished my transaction and got outta there!

Scott goes on business trips about every few months. They are only a few days long, but those are always a long few days. But, after talking with BeeGee (Grandma) I've realized it is kind of nice because I can do whatever I want without feeling selfish (read: SEW), I can skip making dinner if I want to, I can watch the shows I like, and most importantly, it makes having him home all the sweeter once he returns. Welcome home babe!

I found my planner. I'm surprised I never blogged about losing it. Turns out my planner was in my church bag. But, I didn't know that for two weeks since we had conference. Also, I have a really fun time with my primary class. I look forward to hanging out with them and teaching them the gospel. It's a great calling because I love to teach and play fun games, but it is not as intimidating as teaching sunday school. The most entertaining part of class is when a child raises their hand to give an "unrelated comment." Each child gets 2 unrelated comments - an effort to keep the random, long-winded stories down, and learning time up! Two of my favorite comments have been 1) a detailed account of a kid seeing Rudolph and Santa on the neighbor's roof in February and 2) a recount of a taekwando match with an accompanying display of the flying pigeon kick. Don't worry, Scott home teaches that family, so he got to see the kick too. My kids are 7 turning 8. Perfect age :) Primary is always a good time!

Please?

Have I mentioned how much I want this bag? It is meant to hold: a camera body, two extra lenses, a few polarizers/UV filters, a notebook, and perhaps an apple. LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

It's already on my Christmas list.

Actually maybe my birthday list, that's a month sooner!

Wait, do you think the Easter Bunny would go for this?

I doubt it... I better wait for Santa.

(If you went to the link, which color do you like best? I am also diggin the bronze bag!)

Sand to Snow

Wow, what a beauty: We did a quick drive-by on our way home from Best Buy. And then the next morning, we soaked up the sun and the sand at Redondo beach. Uncle Chris and Aunt Sally were so sweet to let us stay the night on such short notice!

So we began the morning in Redondo, then drove 9 hours to Pleasant Grove where we found snow on our front lawn. There is something seriously wrong with this.

Not such a "Free"way

The LA posts are kind of dragging on, so I'm including a lot in today's post! Let me just say that the freeways in LA are not exactly free. It took us ~45 minutes to get to a Best Buy less than 5 miles from the hospital. The morning we went to Olvera street, it took almost an hour and a half, And we were already downtown! It doesn't help when gas prices are looking like this: Luckily we never paid more than $4.50, but that is still a LOT. But, you've gotta do what you've gotta do. And Saturday, Scott HAD to try the Mole on Olvera Street. Olvera is the oldest street in LA, and is pretty famous for it. We listened to a podcast from Amateur Traveler on the way down, where the interviewee told us "You will not forget me if you eat mole at La Colondrina Cafe." Well, turns out that guy was forgettable, but Scott loved the mole! Me? Not so much. I had a kids enchilada meal- delish!

Mole is a sauce, a mixture of ingredients from three continents: North America, Europe and Africa, making it the first international dish created in the Americas. Mole means “sauce” in Nahuatl (or chili pepper sauce in the case of chilmulli). All mole preparations begin with one or more types of chili pepper. Other ingredients can include black pepper, achiote, guaje, cumin, cloves, anise, tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, sesame seeds, dried fruit, hoja santa and many other ingredients. Mole poblano has an average of 20 ingredients; mole almendrado has an average of 26, and Oaxacan moles can have over 30. Chocolate, the key ingredient, is added at the end of cooking. Authentic mole can take over a day to create, letting the flavors blend and simmer together. (Source Wikipedia) The restaurant also had REAL tortilla chips. Like tortillas cut up and cooked. Legit! Luckily we had some entertainment while sitting in all the traffic. We watched people filming: Saw LOTS of sweet cars: Looked in the shops along Rodeo Drive: And even drove through: That's right, we were rollin through Bel-Air! It is only 0.6 mi from John's hospital room. (Shameless plug for our Garmin GPS) At first we saw houses like the one pictured below. Nice, but not really living up to my expectations for Bel-Air. Then, we spotted the "Star Line" tour bus, and followed it to some much higher class neighborhoods :)Most of the homes either had huge cement walls you cannot see over, or were very gated: Or, they were hidden behind trees and such:

We had a good few hours out on the town. Next time we go to LA we will not miss biking and riding the ferris wheel at Santa Monica pier!

Guess Where?

If you were guessing: then you were RIGHT!This place is seriously AMAZING. I would definitely recommend it. Just don't go until 8am. We got there a bit early and those security guards won't let you through until the clock says "8:00." Also, put more time in your parking meter than you expect, or you could end up with a $60 trip to the LA Flower Market like we did... I was hoping it was an April Fools trick, but alas, it was real. Danget.

Two Birthdays!!!

My father-in-law is a CHAMP!

We were able to go to UCLA last weekend when John got his stem cell transplant. This is a very intense procedure we've been anticipating for months. We feel so blessed that he was admitted to UCLA "Best in the west and 5th in the nation" where the physicians and nurses are very confident, intelligent, and hopeful for John.

The hospital staff says that the day of the transplant, the day he got his own, clean cells re-inserted, is the day of his NEW birthday. New cells, new life! It was a special day because that Friday also happened to be SueAnn's birthday too! See John holding his cake? The staff was so good to him and to all of us. They sang happy birthday and brought us a cake that fits his diet. Here is the case from the lab that carried his frozen cells. They harvested his cells about a week ago and have now reinsterted them into his (hopefully!) cancer-free body. The lab tech brought in the cells, took them out of dry ice and thawed them right in our room before pushing them through John's picc line. Isn't modern medicine amazing?

This is kind of what things looked like in the hospital room. John and SueAnn now have a laptop to use in the hospital so they can stay connected with the outside world!

SueAnn's birthday too! (Did I mention that we finally got our Year 1 scrapbook printed through Shutterfly? I love how it turned out! SueAnn is looking through it on her lap.)

John's dad, brother and sister came to visit at the hospital. It was fun to chat and eat lunch together! I think the thing that hit me the most during our time with John in the hospital is the ongoing love and prayers from family and friends. Not only has there been an outpouring of love during this transplant process, but throughout the last few years since this all began. The day of his transplant, the phone was literally ringing nonstop with kind words and encouragement from people who love John and our family. Trials are easier to bear with family and friends surrounding us.

We are blessed to be a family and have the gospel that gives us strength through Jesus Christ and reminds us of the most important things in our lives.

Here's to many more birthdays for all of us!!!

Hairspray

Hale Center Theater has done it again!

We sat on the front row. So high class. It was FUN to have the actors so close and really see every expression. But, I think this may be the first and last time. At least at this theater, our legs really got in the way of the stage entrance and just the stage in general. Only a few of the actors stepped on my toes, and only once did their swift movement uncross my legs.

This musical may possibly be my favorite. It is such a high-energy show!

"Mama, I'm a big girl now" - They did this in such a cool way. Amber, Penny and Tracy were all in conversations with their mothers for this song, so cute! (Amber's mom, the crazy stagemom was perfect. She would get so angry she shook and her on stage shriek was truly ear piercing!)

"I Can Hear the Bells" - This song had me cracking up SO hard! Tracy was so desperate for Link's attention. It was seriously hilarious!

"Big Blonde and Beautiful" - This singer was PERFECT for her role. Well cast, and great costumes!

"Timeless to me" - Creepy. They put a "note to the patrons" in the program explaining to everyone in Utah County that the role of Tracy's mother is always played by a male.

"Without Love" - Seaweed was the star of the show. I told him that afterwards in the parking lot. He did a few standing back tucks and fell into the splits a few times too. Seaweed has skills.

"You Can't Stop The Beat"- Always a favorite!

Our "Tra-cy Turn-BLAD" was awesome. Her voice was so similar to the girl on my running playlist. It was so fun to go with Josh and Katrina. They are always up to do fun things, and we like all the same things! Hopefully we can find some more 2 for 1 coupons and go to another show soon!