Damn Yankees

Grace and I went to see Damn Yankees at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. Grace had to see a musical for a Drama class assignment and I was interested in seeing it because of all the memories I have of being in it so many years ago.

I think they actually did a great job. I found myself comparing it to the production that I was in and liking different things about each one. It brought back a lot of memories! All in all it was a fun night.

 Grace with the Devil/Mr. Applegate

her favorite character of the show

 Me with their Gloria

That's the role I played in the MLT production of it back in 1996!

...and just for fun...
Here are some pics from back then :)

Rehearsing my big number
Shoeless Joe

Backstage fun

Flashback Friday - Chocolating

One evening several years ago, when we livied in NC, Grace came down the stairs with brown stuff all over her. 

I was curious...and a little hesitant, to figure out what she was covered in. Not to worry, turns out it was chocolate frosting.

When I asked her what happened she told me that Dallin did it to her, so, of course I called Dallin down and asked him what on earth he was doing.

The response, which he gave me very matter-of-factly, was..."I was chocolating her." 
Like that is a normal, every day thing to do!

Well, naturally I spread the word of this to my family and everyone thought it was pretty funny.

When time came around for their next visit my sister Jan decided to go out and buy some frosting and have a chocolating party in the backyard. Most of the kids (and some of the adults) really got into it. Ironically though, Dallin did NOT like it at all. He loosened up a little as we got going, but I think he preferred to be the chocolater...not the chocolatee!

Love this pic of Noah!

Once Isaac put his hand in his mouth, he didn't take it out

 

The chocolaters (me, my sister Jan and my brother Bob) did, however, end up getting chocolated ...some more than others! 

Anyway, by the time we were done, it started raining...and it wasn't a particularly warm rain, so we went inside to clean up. Oh. my. goodness! The ring around my bathtub was something else :)

Flashback Friday - NC House

I've seen several friends do Flashback posts and have always thought it was a good idea, so I think maybe I'll take a stab at it. My friend Tina has a journal jar that she pulls ideas out of, since I don't have one of those I'm just going to wing it. 

This is something I have told people about before but never got around to posting so here's my first Flashback Friday with a look at our home when we moved to North Carolina. 

When Mike got accepted to Duke Law School we took a weekend trip to North Carolina to look for a house, talk about stress for someone who can't decide on anything in one weekend, let alone a house... Anyway, after searching we narrowed it down to house A and house B. 

I really liked house A (but didn't check out the neighborhood, schools, etc...) Mike liked house A too, but didn't think the neighborhood or the school was very good. So, off we drove to house B. Our Realtor assured us that the neighborhood was wonderful, and as a bonus it was very close to the church we would be attending.

Well, as soon as we pulled up to it I said NO WAY, I hate it! I think Mike was shocked that I would think that anything with purple on it could be ugly. He looked at me and said that we should take a look on the inside.

This home was a foreclosure so the inside was a mess. You couldn't take a step on the main floor without stepping on a dead roly poly, the carpet upstairs had burn holes all over it and the fridge...let's just say something died in there and leave it at that. I was not sold. My dear sweet husband and our wonderful Realtor felt great about it. As we walked out and drove away, I was still had visions of house A in my head.

We came home and against my husbands better judgement, we made an offer on house A. But...for some reason Mike just didn't feel good about it so I finally bent my will and listened to my husband and we withdrew the offer and placed an offer on house B.

What do you know, we got house B...and I'm so glad we did. Yes it was a lot of work, but we had some of the best neighbors we have ever had (we have moved over 13 times so we've had a lot of neighbors) We still keep in touch with them and have gone back to visit several times, and they have come to visit us too. 

Yes great neighbors are a huge bonus...but my house was still ugly! So with the money that we saved buying house B instead of house A we set to work on the inside and finally on the outside. When we finished painting the outside we had a neighborhood barbecue. Several of our neighbors thanked us for painting the "eyesore" of the neighborhood. One neighbor joked, however, that now he couldn't just tell people to turn left at the blue house to get to his house. The HOA was thrilled since the previous owner had painted the house without approval and they had tried to get him to change it back with no luck.

Anyway...long story. For the 1 or 2 of you who are still reading, here is a before and after picture of the house.

We ended up loving that house and made many great memories and friends while we lived there. 

Am I really THAT old?

This past weekend we traveled down to Georgia to attend my 20 year high school reunion.

20 years!

Yep, I guess I am that old...

I actually had a great time, a better time than I thought I would.

On Friday they went on a tour of the high school, unfortunately we didn't make it to town in time for that, but we went to Meldino's to hang out after the tour.

Oh yeah...there was some karaoke involved!

Sorry Ian, I know you are trying to forget the karaoke ever happened, but I'm afraid it did :)

Saturday we went to the family picnic at the Robins Museum of Aviation. It was a scorcher, but still a good time.

Dallin is missing from this picture, he was in the bouncy castle, and apparently we didn't get another family shot.

The kids enjoyed the museum too. I think we also enjoyed  the air conditioning :)

Saturday night was the main reunion gathering.

We had a great time. It was fun to reconnect with people and catch up. Mr. Dyson even made an appearance, he was our principal.

They gave out some awards and I got a few.

I tied with Philisa for having the most kids, 5. I tied with Beth for living in the most states, 7. Jay and I got the awards for the most changed.

I guess I have to post my old high school picture, try not to make too much fun of it...well go ahead, it's ok :) I don't have one, so I just took a picture of the one from the yearbook.

This is the picture that was on my name tag at the reunion.

Here's the group shot.

What a fun time!

Glad that Mike and I got to go.

Thanks to my Mom and Dad and my sister Jan for letting us stay with them and for taking care of the kids both nights.
My one regret is that I didn't take enough pictures...