Memories of Me

Kate made me do this on her blog so now you all have to do it on mine.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Now, let's play!!

Kate's 40th Birthday

I love pulling off surprises! I don't think I like them done on me so much, but I love it when I can pull one off on someone else. Kate turned 40 yesterday and my plan was to drive to Kennewick Friday night as soon as Todd got off work and surprise her. So, I had Todd call Clint during the week to let him in on what I was gonna do and to make sure she would be home. All went according to plan. I took Raquel with me so she could see Allison and we left about 6:45 p.m. on Friday night. It takes a little over two hours to get there and I was a little nervous because it would be dark when we got there and Todd wasn't with me and I wasn't familiar enough with the area. But never fear, I had my mapquest instructions in hand and all would be well.

Mapquest sucks.

I followed every turn and street it told me to take and I ended up on the wrong street in the wrong part of town and then I was screwed. I had no idea where I was and I just kept driving and getting more lost. I called Todd totally freaking out that if I couldn't get there on my own that it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I had to call her for directions!! My ever calm husband got onto Google and found street maps and we figured out where I was and where I had to go to get to Kate's.

Google rocks.

I show up on her doorstep after 10:00 p.m. (another two hour trip that took three) with flowers and a birthday cake in hand, with lit up candles and all. We rang the doorbell and she answered and she was totally surprised! She had no idea!! Yeah!! We had so much fun the next day shopping and eating and just celebratin' the big 4-0! Much love to you my bestest girl. I love ya'!

Closet Twilight Fan (Sorry Clint)

I have to tell on Clint. For those of you who might not have the privilege of knowing him, he is the husband of my best friend Kate. Clint is a police officer and very much a manly man. He has been giving Kate and I all kinds of crap about the Twilight series and being such huge fans. Well, when we were camping with them last weekend someone was on book number two and whenever we weren't playing games he had book in hand and was reading. (Don't worry Clint, I don't think they know it was you - yet.) Then, when I was down visiting Kate this past Saturday we were all out to lunch and guess who is talking my ear off the whole entire time about book four? (I still don't think they think it could be you Clint.) Well, I have hard evidence that it is indeed Clinton Armitage and he is just a big a fan as all of us girls, so be sure to congratulate him on his conversion to the dark side the next time you see or talk to him!!

Camping with Armitage's

We went camping this past weekend with our bestest buds the Armitage family in Moses Lake. Once we got there, we had a blast, but let me first tell you a story of simply trying to get there.

The plan was to leave Friday night as soon as Todd got off work at 6pm because it was a two hour drive and we just wanted to get there and get set up and then be able to enjoy all of Saturday. So, I'm thinking I have all day Friday to pack the car and be totally ready to go by 6, right?!? Wrong!! I swear little kids know more about what is going on than they let on. Sometimes, I get scared. My little baby, who is only six months old, seemed to truly realize that mommy had a lot of crap to get done that day and decided, yup, today is the day that I want my mom to hold me all day or else I am gonna scream like someone is killing me. Seriously. If I was holding her all was well in the world of Raigan. If I set her down to, oh, I don't know, pee - it was as if I had dropped her on her head and left her there. I am so not kidding. It's as if she knew. . .

And on top of that she decides that taking a nap is not on her agenda for the day. So, I have to pack basically one handed because the other one is holding her and not just for myself mind you, oh, no, I have to pack for myself, my husband and the kids and all the camping stuff and food and anything you might just need when you are going camping for two days!! Aaaaahhhhhh!! Believe it or not, we were packed and all in the car waiting for daddy when he got home. Yes, I know, I am truly amazing. So, we head off down the road to our camping destination. Now, for those of you not too familiar with eastern Washington, once you leave Spokane there is nothing. I mean, literally nothing for miles and miles. And wouldn't ya' know it - my kids both wait until we are out in the middle of all that nothingness to decide that they both have to go pee-pee. AAAAHHHH! We pull over on the side of the freeway (I know some of you are flashing back to childhood right now, it's okay, I'll wait) . . . . . . . . . . . to go potty in the great outdoors. This might not seem a big deal to some but this was our first time and we wanted to treasure it.

My awesome and amazing husband stays in the car to take pictures without my knowledge while I traipse through weeds to take the kids to the bathroom. Marcus is potty trained, but he still sits on the potty so this was his first experience trying to pee standing up. Now, picture this if you will, standing on the side of the road with your son's pants down around his ankles holding his wee-wee for him to point it in the right direction and coaxing him, "Come on, you can do it, just pee!!" Ah, the joys of motherhood. Well, we had success and I must say the boy was pretty darn proud of himself. Next was my sweet girl Raquel who was absolutely mortified that I was having her take her pants off on the side of the road, but come on ladies, don't we all know it's hard to squat and pee without getting it on your pants? It's just easier to pull one leg out. And boy did that girl have to pee!! So, back in the car we go to get on our way because it's only a two hour drive and we just wanna get there.

But wait, remember Raigan thought the day was all about her? Not even fifteen more minutes down the road she decides that she doesn't want to be in her car seat and/or look at Raquel anymore. And cue the screaming. Not just regular baby screaming, this is I have been harmed in someway screaming that is ear-splitting. (I really like it when she does it in the middle of Walmart for no apparent reason.) So, guess what? We pull over again. And hey, guess what else - if we had waited for fifteen more minutes we could have peed at the rest area where we stopped to calm down Raigan. Weird, huh? Turns out my girl is a bit of a momma's baby and she wanted to see my oh, so gorgeous face for the rest of the trip. Now, if you are married to law enforcement you can just stop reading right now. I put my oldest girl in the front seat so I could squeeze my fat butt in-between Marcus' seat and Raigan's seat in the back. Heck, I was in there so tight I didn't even need a seat belt. I was hip to hip slammed right inbetween those two car seats. All so my baby could look at me the rest of the way to Moses Lake and be happy. And yes, Raquel sat in the front seat and she isn't old enough and I don't even want to hear it. A momma's gotta do what a momma's gotta do.

Well, then we continue on our "short" drive to Moses Lake and finally get there. Then, we proceed to get lost for another half an hour because apparently, according to Todd, I don't read mapquest directions correctly. Whatever. No joking, our drive should have taken two hours or less and it took us three hours just to get to our campsite. We made it though and had a great weekend with the Armitage's.

Nick's Visit

Nick was here to visit the week after we moved to Spokane. We didn't do as much fun stuff as we normally do, but we had a good time. He hates it when I try to take his picture, hence the very GQ "I am too cool to have my picture taken" pose. He helped me so much I was really sad to see him go. He of course helped with his brother and sisters but he also helped me hang up pictures on walls for like a whole day. And for anyone that has moved, the sooner you can get stuff hung up the sooner it feels like home. Seriously, Nick is so tall it's like having my own ladder that moves itself!! We also went bowling, to the movies and played a ton of games. It's so hard for everyone when he has to leave and go back to Utah. I managed to get a few good pics and then I had to throw down because he wouldn't let me take more. I won.

Not Worried/Worried

I was pondering some things about my kids today and these pictures seem to say it all. I am not worried about my daughter dressing up like a pretty princess in her pink high heels. . . . But should I be worried that I caught my son strutting around the front room in them?
And, we bought this bouncy house for our kids to play outside in because we moved somewhere that the sun actually shines and thought this would be a great way to get them outside and moving, but as you can see I can only get my girls to actually bounce. . . .
My Marcus is terrified of the thing and won't go anywhere near it. He'd rather blow bubbles! So you see I am not worried about my girls, but my boy, oh my boy - you worry me!!

Breaking Dawn

To all my fellow Breaking Dawn fans, wasn't Friday night wonderful!?!? I like any dedicated Stephenie Meyer fan was at my local Barnes & Noble at about 9:00 p.m. I went with my dearest girlfriends, Lavonda & Annie, who were here visiting and believe it or not - my little Raquel wanted to come too!

They were going to start handing out wristbands at 10:00 p.m., so we got in line for that at about 9:15 and we were the second group of people in line. I started visiting with the group of ladies in front of us because they saw my homemade t-shirt and just loved it. We were all so giddy with anticipation and in such a good mood. The best part was telling all the people who walked in the door that we were the front of the line and the back was somewhere WAY back there!! The gasps and looks of shock were priceless I tell you, priceless. We got our wristbands at 10 and we were in group A, which would be the first group to get their books and they were only allowing 20 people per group so we felt pretty special. Then, we claimed a corner of Barnes & Noble and proceeded to hang out for the next two hours until they released Breaking Dawn. I found out that my newfound friends were in fact all LDS and from a ward in Post Falls, Idaho, which is about 20 minutes from where I live. We had a funtastic good time and by the end of the night I was officially dubbed their new friend - "Traci From The Line".

We got in line about a quarter to twelve and yes, as you all might suspect I was counting down right along with all the teenagers and I am not ashamed to say that I hooted and hollered and screamed when midnight struck as well. I got my copy and was home by 12:30 to read until I fell asleep with the book in my hands at about 3:00 a.m. I woke the next morning and diligently ignored my family until I was about half way done and then they made me pay attention to them. I seriously thought about taking it to church with me on Sunday, but it was too big to hide behind my scriptures so I could read. I finally finished it on Monday when my family left me alone and can I just say - Stephenie Meyer, you rock!! LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!! I want to change my name to Mrs. Edward Cullen - anyone else?

Check out my t-shirt that I made. It says Edward, Jacob, Edward, Jacob on the front and Cullen vs. Black on the back. I totally rock!!