Home & Reflections of a Good Trip

So much to write about, so much that I feel a little overwhelmed and the procrastination bug starts itching. We all know where that'll get me, in deeper or hotter water, not a good place. So here goes...

We are back home in Washington the girls and I. We had great time in Utah as we were able to see my family and a few friends. The only down-side was my mother got sick on Tuesday and then disappeared...meaning she didn't want to get anyone sick and so she locked herself in her bedroom and would only open the door for food when no one was around. It sounds kind of funny, but it was really sweet of her. Too bad Tyler also got sick at the same time with what I think is the same crappy illness. I was not as sweet as I didn't know how I would be able to lock Tyler in a room and instead I selfishly took her out on our last day in Utah. I did try and keep her at bay from all other children, adults, and things... in a nutshell here are the highlights from the last few days there.

Grandma chasin T Tyler n Cousin Kierra
Tuesday morning while my sister and I ran to Wal-Mart and our 1-yr olds took naps my sweet Brother-in-Law Gregg took his daughter Maddie (age 2-1/2) & McKenna to the park. The sun was shining it was beautiful, and it was FREEZING! He was such a trooper! I had to laugh when my sister called to ask him a question and found out that the girls had convinced him they were hot and needed to take off their coats. I don't know that they lasted too much longer after that, although maybe that was his strategy. :)

That afternoon my dear friend Ashlee Dorius took me shopping. Ashlee cracks me up! She's always so happy, positive and full of energy despite having 4 kids...yep 4; 3 boys and 1 girl! She tells me she's going crazy and with some of the stories she has to tell I almost believe her. We stopped at Rumbi's for lunch and then headed to the mall to look for jeans. She'd found this place called Skinz in the Layton Hills Mall that only sells levi's. They had every brand imaginable...brands I'd never heard of although I think Big Star is a common name. They even had jeans that were $200-$300. Really? People pay that much for levi's? I went through a LOT of levi's to find some long enough and that were comfortable and I have to say I'm THRILLED with my purchases. Ashlee actually bought me a pair of Silvers and I bought a pair of Joe's. Never heard of them, but they are really comfortable and almost worth the insane amount of $$ I spent on them. My sister Shelly had been nice enough to keep an ear out for my sleeping children, unfortunately I think they have radar on me because both of them woke up unusually early. Murphy's Law right?

Symptoms of a cold began to appear with Tyler Tuesday night and come Wednesday morning she wasn't doing too well...which left me with a delima. I had made plans to see my old roommate & dear friend Tiffany and last minute plans to see some high school friends. I called and chatted with them about Tyler and after talking it over we decided we'd keep the kids in a public place with lot of air and space between them.

Tiffany & I didn't do much mostly ran errands (bank, Target, beauty Supply, of Course McDonald's for the kids), but it's what we do...even as roommates we used to go grocery shopping together and clean the apartment and we always had a great time doing it, although Wednesday we had too good of a time as we lost track of time and I found myself late for lunch with my high school friends. I was very excited as during our errands I got a new flat iron (Thanks Tiffany!) and a plethora of new shirts due to arrive just in time for my birthday!

Matthew, Tiffany & Faith Kirkham

Between already running a lil late, a last minute diaper change and the commute to the restaurant being longer than expected I was an embarrassing 45 minutes late. Sadly I'm usually about 5-15 minutes late, something I thought I was working on but 45 minutes? I think I learned a lesson that day...about rudeness!

Blogging really has been a wonderful experience for me as I've had an outlet for my rantings and through it I have been able to catch up with friends I haven't seen or talked to in 15 years. I can't believe I'm old enough to say that...but it was fun to meet up with Jelina (McIntire) Petzinger, Kristy (Rigby) Major, and Susan (Allen) Mooney, we definitely missed Carrie (Gale) Cooper who we also hung out with in High School but is currently living in CO.

We got together at TGIF with our kids, 2 a piece (with the exception of Kristi who has 3, her oldest was in school). It was a lil chaotic but the waitor's were really nice! I couldn't believe how great the girls looked. I think we've all echo'd the same thought that everyone of those girls hasn't aged and looks as good as they did when they graduated. Even Jelina who's pregnant, her baby being due in June, her belly was a bit rounder and bigger but other than that she looked fantastic. The kids were adorable...see for yourselves:

Mel, Jelina, Susan, Kristy