Friday, October 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Kimber!




Most people know I have a Kimber. Most know that we were acquaintances in junior high, friends in highschool, roommates in college, served simultaneous missions, got engaged around the same time, got married a week apart and were each other’s maid of honor. Most people see her at all the important occasions of my life and me at all of hers. But I’m betting that when it comes to me and Kimber and what our friendship is like, most people don’t know the half of it.

First off, Kimber and her family have carted me around on their family vacations since I was sixteen and haven’t stopped. Even after I was married with several children, they took me to Cabo, Mexico for a week of what can only be described as heaven. Her sweet mother treats me like another one of her kids, which makes me feel so honored. Knowing Kimber has given me a whole second fabulous family, and I already had a good one!

I guess you have to understand that when we met, we were polar opposites. Kimber was a tall blonde popular cheerleader, and I was kind of a nerd from a giant family who didn’t have any money. Plus, I was all timid and conservative and she is a big-time thrill seeker. If we hadn’t both been members of the church, I’m positive our paths would NEVER have crossed. But Kimber never seemed to care about status. I’m not sure she even knew she had any.

One time, in college, our roommates were planning a skiing trip. I was actually a pretty okay skier, but the money I made waitressing barely paid my bills and I couldn’t afford a lift ticket. I told Kimber to go and have fun and that was the last I thought of it. That night Kimber came to the Mexican restaurant where I worked and asked to be seated in my section. She ordered dinner, all alone (I seriously thought she was just bored), but after she left there was a 65 dollar tip on my table – exactly the cost of a lift ticket. She has always done things like this; found ways to include me without flaunting or making me feel like I owe her something. Instead, she just makes me feel like she really wants me there, and I love that. Just a few weeks ago, in fact, she enrolled my 4-year-old in a gymnastics class, without my permission. I would not have had the money to do that for him, and it is the highlight of his week, every week. And, for fifteen years she has been loaning me cute clothes to wear whenever I ask for them. In fact, I just borrowed a lovely little outfit last Sunday!

A couple birthdays ago, Kimber surprised me by organizing a girl’s weekend away in Utah with our college roommates. It was amazing. If I go into detail, this post will be so much longer than it already is. She also threw me a surprise birthday party when I turned 30, and has thrown me at least two baby showers and a bridal shower. That poor girl has had to be my husband many times since he got busy with medical school. She witnessed the births of my children, held my hand during ultrasounds. She has even had me and my kids over for weekend slumber parties when my husband was on out-of-state rotations. She is my best remedy for missing him, and she always seems to know when I need that. And the list of day-to-day mundane favors she does for me is endless. Like two nights ago when she took all four of my kids (including a newborn) and put them to bed at her house so my husband and I could go to the U2 concert.

I have had so many good friends over the years, but usually life takes them away to another place for whatever reason. I don’t know how or why, but Kimber has always stayed close – and close by. I know it’s rare, and I feel really, really lucky. Some friends stay friends so long, they're more like family. I absolute consider her an important part of mine. And I hope she has a happy birthday.
























Thursday, October 22, 2009

Daughter of the Week




Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 60 years old. He has ten kids and 27 grandkids. He could build or fix ANYTHING - including cars. He loved butter-soaked popcorn and blueberry/pecan Blizzards. He was a complete sports junkie. He played golf like it was an addiction and he could do a standing slide at second base, well into his forties. His trademark displays of affection were choking, punching, wrestling and tickling. He once drove 12 hours to my college apartment to change my brake pads and take me to dinner, just to turn around and drive all the way back. He loved to take us on fun trips - to Sunrise, to Rocky Point, to Disneyland. Most days he would throw up his hands and say, "Kids! Why do we have kids?!" Most weeks he would tell me I was daughter of the week. Of course, he was telling all his other daughters the same thing :)

I really miss that.





















I Love U2




Thanks to the good graces of my beautiful little sister and her awesome husband and their unfortunate illness, we ended up at the U2 concert on Tuesday night (preceded by the Black Eyed Peas). Scott couldn't decide which band he was more excited about! And I agree, they were equally awesome. One of my favorite parts was when Will.I.Am asked everyone to "light up the night." Every single person in that jam-packed stadium held up their cell phones. Sounds lame, but it was so beautiful! I guess I was so impressed because back when I was a concert-going girl, lighters were the thing and it wasn't nearly so magical. The other highlight of the evening was when U2 played "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Bono started it off, but he pretty much let the crowd sing the whole thing. We all knew every word! It was so fun to sing along.




Blessed Day





Look at all those kids! Can you believe it? Admittedly, we have never been so poor and only now are we learning what it means to be frugal, but lately when I look around, I feel so rich. These four gorgeous little people belong to me and I get to keep them forever! That tiny one on the right was just blessed on Sunday and I can't wait to watch him do and become all the things his blessing promised.




































Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A New Kind of Camping




We've been camping lots of times, but this was our first time to do it in the desert. You might think I would follow that statement by saying things like, "It wasn't as pretty...It didn't smell as nice...I'll never do that again"...and so forth. And though some of that is true, I actually enjoyed it immensely. It was very laid back, required very little preparation or effort, cost absolutely nothing, and my favorite part of all...didn't get lower than sixty-five degrees at night. For some reason there was a lot of dried cow poo laying around, because of which we had to endure a plague of flies. But we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, road quads, shot targets, found a rattle-snake skin, saw two scorpions and befriended a little red fox (and we did it all with my friend Cheryl, who happens to be my brother's wife, and their cute kids). All in all, a worthwhile adventure!










































Thursday, October 8, 2009

My Middle Child




Colby is best described by the word “surprising.” I was surprised that a darkie like me could have a blonde haired, blue-eyed, pink skinned baby. If you saw us together, you wouldn’t know we were related, but I love being his mom! He is just himself – full of fire, painfully energetic, comical to a fault. He tells outlandish stories with dramatic fervor. He LOVES dinosaurs and race cars. He has two deep dimples, but not in his cheeks - under his eyes (surprise!). He is scared to death of dogs and bugs (except Meeka). He is far too affectionate with his baby brother. Favorite food: peanut butter and honey (hold the bread). He just got a new hair cut and I think he deserves a little spotlight.






























I love this "stay-at-home-mom" thing.