The Wilkes' Week Blog

Santaland

2009-12-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

With only two days to go before the big day we finally made it downtown to visit Santa.

Between Clark, Cali and Jim's work schedule Wednesday morning was the only chance we had to go downtown for our traditional family photo with Santa. This year was our 25th year of visiting Santa in what is now Macy's Santaland (formerly Meier & Frank Santaland).

The boy's did give me a little bit of a hard time this year as they stood in line with dozens of children under ten! Not sure how many more years I'm going to get away with this but I will as long as they let me!!!

Each of them took their turns on Santa's laps and made their requests.

We got the photo!

The kids couldn't resist squeezing into one of the old monorail cars in the monorail museum. It's hard to believe they were actually small enough to fit years ago!! Clark didn't even try to squeeze in!!

Thanks Santa!!

Go Cougars!!

2009-12-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night was the big BYU vs. OSU football game. In our neighborhood we live between two Beaver households. Our neighbors the Adams both went to OSU

and on the otherside the Osbornes are Beaver fans too - the hosts of our party!

There was lots of yummy food although the cookies were a little one sided - orange and black!

I brought BYU brownies!

The neighbors were all decked out in their Beaver gear!

Our neighbor's the Quillins were there too - they tried to stay neutral but Declan and Joe came over to the cougar side!!

But the Cougar fans ruled!!!

Hannah and Cali started out the evening like this.....

but ended it like this!! Cali had a gift for Hannah - a new BYU t-shirt!

Hannah bet Logan that if BYU won she would put a picture of herself with a Go BYU sign as her Facebook Profile - so here's the photo!

Go Cougars!!

FHE Caroling

2009-12-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

For FHE this week we went caroling with a group of friends from church. We sang at an Alzheimer's facility that is just about 1/2 a mile away from our house. An older couple in our ward lives in the home so we were able to see them and sing for them too. Bro. Thompson, who lives there with his wife use to be our home teacher.

Cali had dinner before the caroling with her friends - the Crew - a group of girls from church/girl's camp. They met us at the home to sing.

Cali did a good job leading us in carols.

Logan sang a duet with Jenny Appel and with Cali - they all sounded great.

Actually the whole group sounded pretty good and our audience seemed to enjoy themselves!

After we sang we went back to our house and enjoyed the hot chocolate bar and homemade cookies. Marsha brought her chimes along and we did a few carols with those too at our house. It was a fun evening!

The Phoenix

2009-12-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Monday night Tessa went to a birthday party. The theme of the party was Narnia and the guests were asked to come dressed as a mythical creature.

Tessa decided to be a Phoenix - the bird that rises from the ashes. Her friend Rachel went as Mother Nature. They had fun putting their outfits together. They also had their makeup done by the gal that does Rachel's hair. They looked pretty amazing!

Tessa's red and gold outfit was perfect.

and her make up was amazing! We made Tessa's headband from some things she found at the craft store and she found the red feather earrings at the mall. The rest of her outfit came out of her closet although I did have to give her one of her stocking stuffers early - the yellow gold tights!

She and Rachel looked darling and were the best dressed mythical creatures at the party!

Silly girl!

Beach Babe Holiday Tea

2009-12-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

As soon as we finished cleaning up from Breakfast with Santa we started setting up for my Beach Babe Tea. It was a fun and busy Saturday.

It was my turn to host the tea this year and with help from the other babes there was lots of yummy food.

I made a combination of Wisconsin Cauliflower soup and Tomato Basil soup - it worked out perfect when I poured it into the bowl and looked so pretty. I topped it with a yummy cheese crisp!

The two soups are n awesome combination. Shauna brought a yummy salad and I made red pepper crostinis and tomato and goat cheese tarts. April brought a yummy fruit salad and Julie provided a nice selection of teas.

For dessert I made grapefruit/pomegrante cupcakes and there were some yummy almond/apricot shortbread and other fun treats!

Patrice with Julie who was decked out in all her holiday gear!

Leigh Anne, Shauna and April... as always we brought a favorite book we had read during the year to exchange. Another fun holiday tradition - good food and good friends!!

Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was our annual Breakfast with Santa that we host for our neighbors. It is one of my favorite parties of the year!

This year we added a hot chocolate bar which was a big hit! Our neighbor Mike said he would even give up drinking if he could have a hot chocolate bar at home!

Breakfast was our traditional menu - pancakes, little sausages, fruit, juice, hot chocolate and a yummy egg dish made by our neighbor Katie. There was also a syrup bar with four different choices!

The cul de sac girls.....

and some of the cul de sac boys!

Declan had a wrestling match so he missed the party and we missed him!

After breakfast we had the traditional gingerbread building fun.

And then our special visitor arrived with gifts for all the kids!

Anxiously awaiting their turn on Santa' s lap.

Then lots of visiting in our jammies....

See you next year Santa!

Guys and Dolls

2009-12-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

This spring Westview is doing the musical Guys and Dolls. Auditions were last week and the cast list was posted Friday night.

Tessa is excited that she will be one of the Hot Box dolls!

She will also be the Spotlight dancer in the Havana scene which she is very excited about!

It will be a fun show. I already have fabric and a pattern to start working on. I'll be working on the Hot Box girl's costumes!

The show is in March and we'd love to have you come!

They're Home!

2009-12-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

They're home! All six of us are once again under the same roof and I love it!

Logan was the first to arrive. Jim picked him up from the airport on Wednesday when I was at a holiday luncheon and book exchange. Things always get a little louder and more fun when Logan comes home!

He arrived home just in time to attend the Winter Choir Concert with us. Of course they did a great job and Tessa looked darling as usual!

There was lots of beautiful holiday music.

Logan and I did a little shopping down in the NW 23rd area on Friday and then had to stop by our favorite pizza place for lunch where Jim met us - yum!

Friday night we all drove out to the airport to pick up Cali and Clark. On the way home we stopped for a walk down Peacock Lane. Visiting Peacock Lane has been a family tradition since we lived just a few blocks away from it. It is a quaint street of tudor style homes. The whole street is decorated.

One of our favorites - The Grinch!

I loved the big bow made out of lights!

And at the end of the street was this house - the kids all said - Hey Mom, it's your word! Jim offered to take a picture of me next to the word but I said - no thank you!

We had a busy weekend full of parties - will share pictures soon!

Holiday Happenings

2009-12-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

We're a little late with this week's update. We've been busy digging out the boys room ( I kind of took it over with my craft/sewing stuff). I thought they might appreciate a bed that wasn't covered in scrapbooking supplies, fabric, ribbon etc. I've also been busy decorating the trees for each of their rooms and then there was that obnoxious hacker who got into one of my blogs and caused all kinds of chaos, including losing all the posts I had worked so hard on to post during the holidays so I could take a little blogging break!! Back to square one with that one!

We have been in full holiday mode around here. In addition to the Grotto last week we had two fun holiday parties to go to - both of them white elephant gift exchanges. We prepared all week for a major ice storm which never happened - such a disappointment. We did get a skiff of snow during Sacrament meeting on Sunday but that was it!

Tessa did a lot of babysitting this weekend and earned some much needed money for Christmas gift giving! She also helped out with a Senior Prom at a local retirement center as part of a National Honor Society project. She had a great time and I am sure gave some of the old men a thrill when she danced with them! One of them was an old time actor who had been in Twilight Zone!

I also helped out another ward in our Stake when their Enrichment Leader quit the week before their holiday dinner. I got a lesson in fondant making from my friend Meg and then decorated holiday cupcakes for them - chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting with a yellow fondant star on top. Yummy!

Cali was busy doing a little holiday baking herself. She and her roommates made sugar cookies and hosted a holiday party for some of their friends who will not be returning to school. When we went to Utah for Thanksgiving I took a oven thermometer to test the heat in Cali's apartment oven as she said everything was burning. Well, when an oven is cooking 50 degrees too hot that happens! Once they adjusted the temperature things turned out great - including their cookies.

Now they just need to learn how to focus their camera or take a few lessons from Your Homebased Mom on food photography!!

Cali had a busy week preparing for finals and her voice recital. She and two other girl's sang a medley of holiday songs - Cali sang Susie Snowflake. I think she looked darling in her outfit!

Thanks to Emily and girls for going and supporting her and her two brothers. At least I think Clark was there, he just didn't hang around for the photo I guess!!

Some of Cali's roommates were also there to support her - just wish we could have been there!!!

Clark and Cali are busy studying for and taking finals although Clark did manage to squeeze in a date this weekend - they decorated gingerbread houses.

Logan went to the movies and DJ'd a dance. He has been doing a lot of job interviewing and it looks like he has a couple of good prospects! We're keeping our fingers crossed.

All the kids arrive home this week. Logan on Wednesday and Clark and Cali on Friday. We can't wait!!!

The Grotto

2009-12-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Each holiday season the Westview Concert Choir and Les Chanteuse perform at the Grotto. The Grotto is a 62 acre Catholic shrine and botanical garden. There is a beautiful chapel where they sang. They performed Thursday night this year at 9:00 p.m.

The Chapel of St. Mary

The Chapel inside has amazing acoustics!.

They did a great job and we got a preview of their Christmas Concert material

Tessa is a member of the Les Chanteuse, the women's treble choir.

Before they performed we were able to walk around the area and view all the beautiful lights. I loved all the candles.

Here are Tessa and some of her friends.

It was cold but fun!! Thank goodness they had hot chocolate!

Cali's Voice Recital

2009-12-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hey any of you Utah friends and family!!!! Cali's voice recital is tomorrow evening at BYU and she would love to have any of you there!! I wish I was going to be thee!!

The Wilkes' Kid Report

2009-12-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

I am not calling it the College Kid Update this week because we need to update you on Tessa too!

The highlight of her week was getting her boot off after six long weeks! She is still wearing boots, just a more stylish kind!!

She was able to get it off in time to do baptisms at the Temple with the YW on Thursday. She also volunteered at Target Kids on Saturday morning. The activity began at 7:15a.m. so she got up at about 6 a.m. - a real sacrifice as it was a Saturday morning. They take underprivleged children shopping at Target to buy gifts for their family. It was an activity through NHS. Some of the money is provided but the NHS kids are encouraged to also bring some money to help out. Tessa was very generous with her time and money. It was a fun experience for her.

While I finished up my CM Holiday Breakfast Saturday morning Tessa and Jim spent Saturday afternoon attending an Open House at the Art Institute of Portland . Tessa is very interested in studying fashion merchandising and they have a great program. Unfortunately BYU does not! Jim and Tessa were both very impressed. The only problem is their tuition is a little more than BYU's - like five times!! There are scholarship and financial aid options available though.

She and a few friends went to see Blindside Saturday early evening.

The college kids are busy gearing up for finals.

Cali went to see Blindside on Thursday with her roommates and on Friday went to see Children of Eden with cousins Brendy and Cecilia. Saturday was a busy day for her with a haircut/color, headshots for MDT auditions and then she helped a friend make a film for their film class. We are counting down the days until she and her brothers are home for Christmas!

Clark did a lot of studying and sports watching this week. He had his Ward Christmas Party this weekend and Sheri Dew was the guest speaker (her niece is in his ward) I guess Clark and Sister Dew are now on a first name basis as he was her go to computer guy! He had a date on Wednesday - it got him to go to Institute!

Logan was able to do some part time work this week which was great. He did some deliveries around town for a company and then DJ'd a dance wiith his buddy Mark. His job is still up in the air so he is actively networking and pursuing other options.

I received this photo of Logan and Mark on my cell phone Saturday morning.

It was followed with this text...

"We got messed up at the dance last night. We were packing up at one in the morning and got jumped. Only have three broken ribs!"

I guess he thought that was funny!!

Actually he and Mark were helping a friend with a film project and were playing the role of wounded soldiers!

Blazer Game

2009-12-06T13:24:00.001-08:00

Saturday night Jim and I went to the Blazer Game. Aflack is one of the sponsors of the Blazers so Jim's manager had some tickets to give out. They had a private party/dinner before the game and the Blazer's announcer (Mr Rice, I think) came and spoke to us and gave us some inside scoop on what was going on in the locker room, who was hurt ( alot of them) etc. Jim thought that was way fun! Then two of the Blazer dancers came in and Jim got his picture taken!

During the dinner they raffled off some Blazer shirts etc and Jim was excited to win a nice long sleeve shirt that he put on right away.

We had great seats - the best seats we have ever had at a Blazer game. We were in the 15th row. I could actually even see faces without binoculars!

Being the rabid Blazer fan that I am (LOL!!) I didn't even take a book this time. I watched the whole game, except for the few times I dozed off (I don't think Jim noticed) I even saw Greg Oden fall and break his patella seven minutes into the game.

I thought for sure the Blazer's were going to lose. The Blazer's always lose when I go to the game but this time they pulled it off - winning by a point.

Jim kept in close contact with Logan during the game giving him updates as it went along.

And here's proof that I was there!

A little out of focus but there!!

NaBlogPoMo 2009

2009-11-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Lights on Temple Square

2009-11-30T07:38:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday, Nov. 30th - the last day of November and that means I did it! I reached my goal of posting everyday in November. Thanks to all of you who played along and acutally read each of the posts. And a bigger thank you to those of you who left comments - especially my top commenters Tamara and Emily. I appreciate all of you!!

To finish up the month I need to finish out our Utah trip.

Friday, after the movie and dinner the Jim Wilkes family headed up to Salt Lake to see the lights on Temple Square which had just been turned on that night. Tessa had never seen them. In attempts to be more green and environmentally conscious the display is not nearly as large or grand as it has been in years past but it is still beautiful.

There is a very sweet nativity presentation too between the Tabernacle and the Visitor's Center that we watched.

and I especially loved the floating lights on the reflection pool across the street from Temple Square.

Also, I loved the lumineres that lined the sidewalks by the church office building. They all had Christmas words (joy, peace, love etc.) punched in them in all different languages.

But of course the best part was being there with these people!!

The weather was great - chilly but not too cold. Afterwards we went to Hatch Family Chocolates up in the Avenues of Salt Lake and enjoyed some amazing hot chocolate. It was just like drinking a melted candy bar. Jim chose peppermint ice cream instead!!

Saturday was game day! The boys and Cali went to the big U of U/BYU football which BYU won!! I chose to check out a few quilt shops instead! The game went into overtime so the boys didn't arrive at the Blazer/Jazz game in Salt Lake until half time. I met them at the freeway entrance with a bag of McDonalds - and they headed up to Salt Lake. Unfortunately the Blazers lost that one.

All the girls got together while all the Wilkes men were at the Blazer/Jazz game at Emily's We ordered in pizza and Bajio and had a fun craft night together. We learned how to solder and made some cute necklaces from glass and wire - so fun! Thanks Emily!!

A fun day! I even got some Christmas shopping done!!

Home Safe and Sound

2009-11-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

We made it home safe and sound in about 12 hours! It was an easy trip with great weather. We were so blessed to have sunny weather coming and going.

It's good to be home but I am missing these faces already!!

We had a wonderful time!

A special thank you to David and Tricia for always making us feel so comfortable and welcome and to Tricia for all her hard work to create an amazing Thanksgiving dinner! Tricia is always a great shopping companion too.

Thanks to Eric for letting us use his bedroom and to Eryn for letting Tessa and Cali invade her space!

Thank you to Wynn and Emily for letting us borrow their car to Salt Lake and to Emily for hosting a fun dinner and craft night!! And for their continued love and kindness to our children!

We loved seeing the Wynn Wilkes family too and thanks for a fun basketball game!

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Wilkes for driving down to spend the time with all of us and to Grandpa Wilkes for great hugs - I love his big bear hugs the best!!

Thanks to BYU for pulling through and winning on Saturday (we wish the Blazers had done the same!)

Black Friday

2009-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Jim and I ventured out to make one purchase on Black Friday. I have been eyeing the Cricut Inspiration machine for a while - for those of you who don't know what it is - it is a machine that cuts different shapes out of paper - great for scrapbooking, posters, banners, etc. I have some fun plans for it on my party blog so stay tuned!

Thanks to a Black Friday sale at Roberts and Grandma Wilkes' Christmas money I am now the proud owner of one! Now I just need to figure out how to use it!

Friday afternoon all the Wilkes men and two women (Mikala and Cecelia) had a family basketball game over at the church. It was the Wynn Wilkes family agains the Jim and David Wilkes family. The Wynn Wilkes showed up in uniform thinking they would intimidate the other team but it didn't work! We won!

They did look pretty fancy in their uniforms though - I think Micah wins the prize for the most stylish!

And then Wynn's headband was pretty sweet - it says Pooh and Friends on it and it is actually the elastic waistband from a pair of underwear - way to repurpose Wynn!!

They even let our old man into the game for a few minutes!

Clark couldn't play because his knee is messed up - he's going to the doctor to have it check out next week!

I think my favorite photo I took is this one of Eric doing his little ballet leap!

After the basketball game we munched on leftovers for lunch and then went to the movies. A group of the girl cousins went to see New Moon (a repeat for several of them) and 9 boy cousins and Jim and I went to see Blindside. I HIGHLY recommend this movie. It is one of the best I have seen in a long time.

I must admit I am rather partial to one of the main character's names - the one played by Sandra Bullock - her name is Leigh Anne - spelled the right way.

It is definitely a feel good movie and will move you to tears. It was Logan's second time seeing it and he cried again. Of course Jim cried through most of it - go see it!

After the movie Grandma and Grandpa treated us to dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Our family then headed up to Salt Lake to see the lights of Temple Square as Tessa had never seen them before - pictures of that posted soon!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

There was lots of food and lots of people for Thanksgiving dinner - 35 people to be exact. Thanks to David and Tricia our gracious hosts for a fun and yummy day.

Before the eating began there was the official weigh- in. Most of the kids and a few of the adults weighed themselves before they ate and after to see who would gain the most!

I chose not to participate :)!!

There was plenty of food with a ham and a turkey and all the fixins! Pots and pots of mashed potatoes and hundreds of homemade rolls!

Little cousin Carter especially enjoyed his meal! Aren't those eyes amazing!!

And my cute boy

Here's Logan's plate - he didn't go hungry!!

And of course there was pie - lots of pie!! Apple, Banana Cream, Key Lime, Pecan/Cranberry, Raspberry Cream, Lemon Truffle, Chocolate and apple dumplings!!

Hope your Thanksgiving was a happy one!!

The Best Part of Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

What's your favorite part of Thanksgivng?

I think the best part of Thanksgiving this year was cousins! Lots of cousins! The biggest benefit of spending Thanksgiving in Utah is getting to share it with lots of our Wilkes cousins!

Logan and his new girfriend Jacky!

Lots of cute girl cousins! Cali, Tessa and Eryn

Cali, Tessa, Cece

lia and Mikala

Llittle Miss Jacky

and her handsome brother Ward!

The newly engaged cousin - Eric and his fiancee Diane. We enjoyed meeting her for the first time! Way to go Eric - you got a good one!

Some of the college, almost college, and just graduated from college cousins

and some of the boy cousins patiently waiting for dinner.

And best of all we got to see Grandma (and Brendy)

and Grandpa Wilkes!

How to Survive a 13 Hour Car Ride to Utah

2009-11-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Tuesday after school we left for Utah.

Bye bye Portland!

We had been praying all week for good weather and it was a beautiful, sunny day!

Mt. Hood was gorgeous as we headed out of town. We made it to Ontario by about 9:30 p.m.and spent the night there. We saw a little snow along the roadside but the skies were clear!!

With all the car drives we have made to Utah over the years we have learned there are some crucial items you must have in order to survive the 13 hour drive!

The first is a sack of good treats! I made a trip to Trader Joes before we left and we had lots to snack on! Austalian red licorice and maple cookies are a must!

Tessa had her i-pod and a few new magazines and she was a happy camper. She also liked the fact that she got the back seat all to herself!

A portable DVD player with a season's worth of Gilmore Girls and the movie Clueless also help!

A book on tape - Twenties Girl - also kept all three of us entertained!

We arrived in Salt Lake about 2:00 p.m., made a quick stop at Tai Pan (I was in and out in about 45 minutes) and then headed down to David and Tricia's where Logan and Cali met us. Clark worked until 6:00 p.m. and we met him at Cafe Rio for dinner.

Cafe Rio and all my kids - it doesn't get any better!!!

Fashion Shoot

2009-11-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

After church on Sunday we decided to have a little fashion shoot in the backyard.

Tessa got the camera first and I was the model. Showing off my amazing purchase I made a couple of months ago. I have become such the bargain shopper. Here is my $358.00 dress - except that is not what I paid for it!! I only paid over $50.00 for it. Added my $20.00 Target sweater to it and not bad!

I guess Tessa thought his was my best angle!

My new tights looked pretty cute too - don't you think!?

Now it was Tessa's turn. I am going to take this as the highest form of flattery - when your 16 year old daughter wants to borrow your dress! Look at the cute outfit Tessa put together with my dress!!

So I did fill it out a little more in certain places but how cute is she!!

She put it on over a vintage petticoat she has, added a black leather belt and a totally different look!

And by the way - it was cold outside!!

Jim was feeling a little left out so we took a picture of him too - his outfit wasn't nearly as cute!

Turkey Bowl

2009-11-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Cali's ward had a Turkey Bowl last Saturday.

The day started out with a little snow!

A little snow was not going to stop the fun though!

Not sure which team won but they had fun! Love the hats girls!

Look at that form - what a girl!!

The Sensous Sandwich

2009-11-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday night Cali and a group of her roomates and friends went out to dinner.

They had dinner at the Sensous Sandwich in Provo.

They have a special wall there -

this wall is covered with photos of people who have been able to eat an entire 24 inch sandwich in 30 minutes!!

Not only do you get your photo on their Wall of Fame but you also get a t-shirt.

Everytime you wear the t-shirt to the shop you get a free drink.

Well, Cali and her friends decided they wanted a t-shirt - they wanted their photo on the wall!

Why not - all you have to do is eat THIS!!

No problem!!

Well... they ate....and they ate....and they ate.....

Ok so this picture is before they ate - they look a lot happier in this photo!

Not quite so happy here.

or here....

Well....Cali didn't make it - she did eat 18 of the 24 inches though.

Her roommate Amanda was successful though and two of the guys! They got the t-shirt!!

Cali said it would be a long time before she was ready to face another sub sandwich!!

Good try Cali!!

College Kid Update

2009-11-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

As my college kids like to remind me it has been a while since I have done a College Kid Update - so here goes!!
Logan - Logan is still in a holding pattern with his job - waiting for financing to be cleared through Homeland Security. A few extra prayers in his behalf would be appreciated!! He is managing to keep himself busy though. He has helped his buddy Mark out by DJ ing a few dances for him and also painting Emily and Wynn's piano. This weekend he went to the BYU football game with his buddy Lincoln.

After the game they elebrated his roommate Lane's birthday with dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and a get together at their apartment afterwards.

Logan also gave a talk on Gratitude in Sacrament today - he shared a copy of it with us and we just wish we could have been there to hear him! Love ya boy!!

Clark - Clark played in an Elder's Quroum football game Saturday morning. We are hoping it is not too serious but he heard his knee pop and has had quite a bit of pain and stiffness since then. He will have it checked out tomorrow. It is not the knee he blew out before his mission - we are hoping he does not now have a matching set!! Despite the pain, he went on a group date Saturday night up to SLC and went ice skating on it! He is now thinking maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Friday night he and some friends went to the Thrice concert in Salt Lake.

Cali has been keeping busy as usual!! Friday night she attended a photography exhibit at the HFAC that features photos taken of students and faculty from the deaf school in Provo. She was able to spend a couple of hours signing with people, which she loved! After that she had a date - the majority of the date was spent watching the Boise State football game - she was thrilled!!

Saturday she had a dance rehearsal for the dance show she will perform in in February (Feb. 6th) she then went to the BYU football game. Afterwards a group of her roommates and friends went out to eat. This experience deserves a post all of it's own so you are going to have to wait until tomorrow to see and read all the details! Beware - it involves A LOT of eating and the photos might make you nauseous!!

So Tessa is not a college kid but she is a student so you get an update on her too. School and homework keep her pretty busy with her two AP classes and honors. She is on the countdown for her boot removal- only two more weeks to go!! Of course the highlight of her week was going to see New Moon so Friday night was spent hanging out at home and catching up on her sleep.

Saturday she helped out with a National Honor Society project and distributed toy collection bags through different neighborhoods. After that the three of us went out to dinner and checked out a new restaurant - Cha-Cha-Cha, a local Mexican chain that was in the Pearl District. We all liked it and will definitely go again!

Our neighbor Katie hired Tessa to be a party helper for Molly's 12th birthday party. Tessa was there most of the evening Saturday helping out with the 15 girls in attendance. I helped Katie set up the cupcake and candy bar which turned out great - pictures will be posted on my new party blog in a week or so!!

After the party Tessa hung out with Kat, one of Cali's friends. They made homemade banana ice cream and brownies and watched a movie.

We are getting ready and excited to head to Utah on Tuesday - can't wait to see our college kids. We will hopefully make it to Ontario Tuesday night and then arrive in Provo mid day on Wednesday. Hoping to make a stop at Tai Pan Trading on the way into town!!! We are so excited to see everyone!!

New Moon College Style

2009-11-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

Tessa and I weren't the only family members crazy enough to go the midnight premiere of New Moon!

Cali and her roommates waited in line OUTSIDE for two hours - in cold Utah!!

But when you are sporting a stylish Snuggie you don't need to worry about the cold!!

Those Snuggie's sure come in handy! I bet Brittany wished she had one too!

I guess all the standing in line paid off when they scored great seats in the theater!

Fortunately for Cali she doesn't have classes on Friday so she could sleep in!