Barbies

So as a child I was not one to get all excited over Barbies.  I think I may have had one or two, or they were just my older sister's or more likely, my mother's old Barbies.  However I wasn't interested and they remained in the 'Detective" briefcase in the musty Barbie cupboard.  

Jennifer Ostler was not okay with this knowledge and my so called deprivation, when she learned of it in high school.  According to her, Barbies are an essential part of any proper young girl's life.  (Whatever, I had a doll house, a Fisher Price kitchen, and plenty of Little People.  I read Pippi Longstocking, Little Women, and Ramona Quimby.  And I played outside.)  She was devastated for me, for my lack of Barbie playing.  And so from there on out, if it was a birthday or Christmas, I got a new beautiful Barbie to complete my girly childhood.  They pretty much sat on a shelf in my room looking pretty and entirely disproportionate and unrealistic.  That is until a couple days ago, when I played Barbies for my first time.

It was Thanksgiving and my 3-year old niece decided to name one Juice and the other grape.  Mine were named Princes Consuela and Barbie.  They sang some songs like ABC's, the Aggie fight song, and Strait Up by Paula Abdul.  They danced on their heads and made their hair go crazy.  They spoke in high-pitched voices.  It was pretty intense and lasted nearly twelve minutes.

My girly childhood is now complete.  At least according to Jennifer.

This is when they were all smooching.

Okalee is holding Juice (she's 36 years old) and grape.  I have Princess Consuela which is not a Jennifer Barbie.  I believe she's one of Stefanie's.  (As is the baby I am holding.)  Oaklee was showing me their hair.  "Oh no!  My hair is just going so crazy!"

Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday.  The concept of being all thankful is great but to be honest, I'm not a turkey eater, and unless we were in Sun Valley, it generally seems like just another family dinner.  There is the exception of a few times at Granny's house.  Which, oh my, hilarious.  I do Thanksgiving for one reason: Carrot Soup.  My dad makes this amazing Citrus Carrot soup.  The first time he made it was a Thanksgiving when I was deathly sick and it was all I could eat.  One would think after such and experience I would never want to see that soup again.  But oh no, I can't get enough.  That's how good it is.  It's pretty much carrots, oranges, and some onions.  That's it.

So anyway, Thanksgiving happened.  We went to my parents house with Stef, Kam, and all their kiddies.  Dan was in charge of finding a nice quote about being thankful to kick off our dinner.  He read a John F. Kennedy quote, in what I thought to be a pretty good impression of his voice.  I at least knew he was impersonating a president. (Wow I just wrote principal then changed it to prophet before I could think of the right word.)

We had fun.  I played lots of childish games and made some yummy pies (Raspberry Lemonade, and chocolate cheesecake with a raspberry glaze.  Which was so yummy I wish I had eaten it all.)  Of course when it came time to serve the raspberry lemonade pies (which were no bake) they somehow never set up.  Plus I found one of them like this.  (See the four fingerprints in the pie on the left?  Ya, Oaklee enjoyed it and apparently it spilled too.)

My mother is famous for her multi-layered Jello (Never does it involve green flavor or carrots.  Just deliciousness.)  I believe it was Dayton's favorite of the night.  He also enjoyed the fake potatoes he helped me stir.  You could see in his eyes how upset he was when my mother took the bowl from the spot he placed them on the table.  (Right in front of him.)

I don't think that Kyndi or Oaklee ate anything more than some rolls and their Jello. (Girls after my own heart.)

After dinner, grandpa took the kids out to sled.  It was freezing and as soon as Oaklee and Dayton got their hands wet they were not happy.

After sledding, Oaklee and Dayton were ready for their second helpings and then we all had about nine different desserts to eat.  

 I just had to add this picture of my mom and Jersi because it looks so much like a picture of me and my Granny on my blessing day.  She's smiling all happy at me and I'm screaming my guts out.

One of my favorite things of the day was discovering Dayton thinks Dan is James.  Dayton wasn't even 18 months when James left so I don't even know how James is in his vocabulary but okay.  (By the next day he was referring to him as Dan, James, or James-Dan.  "Where James-Dan Charlie?")

Kamron and my sister left that night for Vegas and left all the kids but Jersi at my parents, so I got to put Kyndi and Oaklee to bed a bit which was fun.  And that was Thanksgiving.  (I brought home a half-gallon ice cream bucket full of Carrot Soup.)

It Did Exist

So I just want to set the record strait that the blizzard DID happen.  At least for a few hours between Garland and Logan.  Now most people say it didn't happen in Logan because we got just as much snow as any regular storm.  I will now cite Wikipedia (And yes, Wikipedia is legit.)

A blizzard is a severe storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy snow. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).^[1] Additionally, blizzards must reduce visibility to 400 metres (1,300 ft) or less and must last for a prolonged period of time — typically three hours or more.

My drive home from school usually takes about 25-30 minutes.  It took me nearly an hour and a half that day.  (UHP was advising not to drive if you didn't have to and to avoid at all costs, one road, UT-30.  The road I was on.)  It was snowing hard, and yes, that is normal.  But it was also about ten degrees outside.  And then there was the wind.  It was strong enough to blow my car and others all over the road and then you'd go sliding all over trying to correct.  The snow was falling so hard and being blown so much that most of the drive I could hardly even see the lights of the car in front of me.  Even when stopped behind it, I couldn't tell you what color it was.  The wind had already blown more snow over the tracks of the cars in front before I reached them and so a good part of the drive I was guessing where the road was.  Sometimes I could see the ruts they recently made on the road (the kind that make noise as you drive over them) because they made them so deep that you could kind of see the bumps in the snow that lay on top of the ruts.  I passed many cars that had slid off the road.  (And probably more I couldn't see because the snow was so thick)  I went sliding lots of times and twice where I barely regained control before I went off the road as well.  We went 20 mph most of the time.  Though I did get up to thirty once.   I didn't know where I was until I reached the first stoplight in Logan on 10th West, only 12 blocks from my house.  Visibility cleared up a bit then as buildings were blocking the wind some.  And then I could see cars sliding off the road.  I even watched a suburban do a complete 180 clear across the road, and there I was in my tiny car.  I did eventually make it home and was glad to watch the storm for the next four or five hours from the comfort of my own house.

So yes, you nonbelievers, that was a blizzard.  It did happen.

Dan out shoveling the next day. (Oh and the footprints across our yard?  Those came from our neighbor we've never met around 9:00 in the morning to tell us to shovel our sidewalk because it wasn't done yet and we didn't do it enough last year.  She didn't even realize we didn't live here last year.  She's a real pleasant lady.)

 See how much he's shoveling from under the carport behind the car?  The wind does that in blizzards.  Not regular snowstorms.

So my dear grandmother turned 80 last month.  There was a big party for her at The Eldredge Manor.  I recently discovered a few pictures taken at said event and thought I'd share.

 Kyndi and Grandma Stella

 Stef and almost all her family

 Jonathan and Jen's Anna

 She's really been working on growing her extra neck skin.

 Me and Dan Bronson and STELLA!!!

A few fun things/memories about grandma....

-We always got to eat Superman ice cream at her house.  (On the multi-colored rug of course.)

-Grandma is hip.  She was always more stylin' than any other grown up I knew.

-She would take you shopping for new school clothes every year!

-She still mocks me to this day that I had holes in my jeans during family pictures.

-"What am I doing with all my money?  Oh paying taxes and buying heroine and stuff." -Grandma

-She took all the grandkids to Disneyland!

-She makes sure I have a whole basket of rolls when we eat at her house.

-Yummy cheesecake.

-She somehow managed to put up with my dad.  (And Floyd)

-She didn't hate Dan after he taught three-year-old Tate to scream STELLA! every time he saw her.

Anyway, I love my grandma!

Halloween

So I had a birthday.  We won't discuss it.  However, I will say that my husband is awesome and got me pretty much every Disney movie ever, up to 2008.

A few days afterwards, my older sister, Stefanie, invited us all to a Halloween dinner.  She served us nasty things like Animal Dropping Stew, Brains, and Witch's Brew.  I don't know how the girl manages to be so creative with such things and still have the guts to invite family over to eat, plus then cook it all, with seven kids running around.  But it was great and so much fun.  It's always good to see those seven kids.  Especially since this time Dayton decided to not avoid me.

See?  We're friends now.

 Oaklee and my parents

 Tyson looking cute with Jersi

 

 Kyndi took the next two gems

For Halloween, Dan and I were Jerry and Elaine.  We went to the Aggie Basketball game, cause they're awesome, where we met up with our friend Pee-Wee and his Jazz fan girlfriend.  We were pretty cool.  Then Jake came over and I think maybe we just watched dumb scary movies all night.  On actual Halloween, Dan's little brother AJ spoke in church before leaving on his mission so we hung out at the Bronson's all day and talked with all his cousins he hadn't seen forever.  It was fun.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

 Jerry and Elaine

 I think these are Jake's regular clothes.

 Sick.

 Elaine Dance

 

 More of the game.

Dan's siblings and some cousins

Oh and I almost forgot, we went at some point during Halloween time to Nightmare on 13th street.  The last time I went there was Rachael Jones' 10th birthday.  It was pretty impressive.  And being the only girl, I was picked on quite a bit.  Except when we got to the room with the chainsaw and Dan nearly wet himself just smelling the exhaust.  Then they chased him around.

 So don't worry that it looks like Jake and I are dating...