A snake in the grass & Two Parties

Kalyana was out playing in the yard this morning and I heard her yell, "Mom! Snake, snake!!" I couldn't figure out what she was doing. I was on the phone at the time and therefore processing both conversations halfway and didn't realize there was actually a snake in the grass. I know if Tarl would have been outside with us he would have picked it up and examined it but I'm not as wild animal friendly as he is so instead I just got pictures and video. If you look closely (click on the picture to make it larger) you can see the body all the way to the end of the tail on the middle on the left.

Today was pretty busy. I also got to go to my friend Alysa's baby shower (she's so adorable!). We had to guess who's baby picture belonged to who. Man that was hard! Although I think 1/2 the people got mine because they said I looked just like Makayla. I'd have to agree.

Our family also went to a party for some folks Tarl used to work with. I really enjoy this group of people because everyone gets along well and has a great sense of humor. Tarl worked there for about 2 years (back when Kaly was first born) so it's neat to get updates on everyone also!

Stroller & Games

Makayla, Tyce and I went for a wonderful walk today down on the beautiful river trail. It was very hot but some of our walk was under some big pretty trees and the sound of the river was just refreshing. We stopped at the grocery store for some popsicles and had a fun little adventure.

This evening we had our fun game night and a little barbecue. The kids had a great time playing outside and getting to stay up a bit later. We tried our hands at Upwords and Ticket to Ride.

Tyce, The Man, Tyce

Tarl had finished with his weights while Tyce was scootin' around and was trying to use these to stand up on. It cracks me up because it just screams 'he's all boy' to me. Earlier today I was walking from one room to another and passed the television. Tarl was playing a video game at the time and Tyce was craning neck to get a better view even after it was no longer possible to see. Boys and their toys.


About two and half weeks ago Tyce started actually crawling. He started with just getting up on his knees and going one or two steps. By last week though he was all over the place! Now he goes from one room to another with a mix of a lot of crawling and some rolling. He even pulls himself up to a stand. He is still hesitant at taking steps around the furniture but I've seen him take a few so I know he's interested. Just today Tarl pointed out the new trick they've been working on. Check out the video to see (it's after the crawling). (It's funny to note that it took him a while to learn this new trick because we just never showed it to him since everyone is always around him.)

Cold Water is no Deterrent

With all the pictures I've been taking lately I'm constantly switching between my 4GB and 2GB memory cards and sometimes I forget to download the other cards.

Last Tuesday we finally got to pull the pool out for the first time. The girls were so thrilled! I had Tarl fill it up early in the morning while I took Makayla to the gym and Kaly was at school. It takes a while to fill up and then we hoped the water would warm up but even though it was very warm th sun stayed behind the clouds. When the kids got in a few hours later at noon it was still mighty cold.

It didn't seem to bother anyone too much though. What kid can resist water, even if it gives you hypothermia? I love pulling out the pool because it entertains all the kids for a good part of the day. We love having friends come over!

Cousin Austin came over to play to and afterwards he wanted to help feed Tyce and then of course Makayla wanted to play too. Poor little Tyce was covered in food but I think he enjoyed all the attention.

Land of the free because of the brave!

I saw a sign the other day that I thought said it so well.
Land of the free because of the brave.
I am so grateful for all those who choose to serve our country to help us to feel safe and live free.

For our long Memorial Day weekend our family went up to my parents house to play.
My sister Heather was in town so the kids had a blast getting to play with her. (I think the last time they saw her was about 5 months ago.) Heidi, Anthony and Austin were there too so we had a fun zoo and grandpa and grandma loved every minute of it. A few fun things of the weekend. Park, games, playing, reading, Indiana Jones. Once again the weather was a crazy. Hot hot one day, sheeting rain the next. It was fun getting to spend time with my family!

Loosin' his locks

Today Tyce got his very first haircut. Tarl did an awesome job and even gave the boy a little style (trimming the back and sides a smidge shorter than the the top). Don't worry, I didn't let Tarl cut Tyce's hair to look like his own.

Tyce thought the whole ordeal was a bit fun and was trying to figure out what this buzzing, vibrating thing was on his head. I know Tyce had long hair, but I didn't realize we could cut off so much and still have some left. Check out all those locks! I LOVE his new style!! Besides his dirty face I can already tell this guy is gonna be a heart breaker!

Before
&
After

Kalyana Graduates from Preschool!

Today was Kalyana's last day at preschool. Our whole family got to go and and visit the classroom. We started with free time and snack. Makayla thought it was great that we got to participate in all the classroom activities. Every morning when I drop off the kids she takes off her coat and tries to stay.

The kids had a program for us and they sang a few songs and we watched a video of all the friends in class. Afterward They had a little carnival around the classrooms. These are Kalyana's teachers Miss Heather, Miss Cassie and Miss Sulem. Miss Sophia used to be there before Miss Cassie but left about a month ago.

Kids Incorporated

I didn't get a chance to write about our happenings last week. Tarl went out of town again so the kids and I tried to keep busy with lots of playing. (I'll have to explain more in a later post but he's applying for a job, hence the several trips lately.)

Tyce is a mover now. He gets up on his knees and crawls about a step or two and then rolls around. He can generally get anywhere he wants at this point but up the steps. His favorite thing is to find plugs and cords. Ack!

Kalyana and her friend Tyler love playing together. They've been playing kissing tag recently and Kaly is still working on understanding how to play with boys (that she likes) so when she gets shy she'll start hitting and screaming. *shaking head* We're still working on that.

The Short Story of my Stephenie Meyer Adventure

Top Ten AMAZING Things That Happened to ME this Weekend:

1-I talked to Stephenie Meyer twice!

2-My book club appeared (and were sometimes featured!) on Channel 2, 4 and 13 (I'm on here about 20 sec in)and in the Deseret News on Sunday!

3-We got to play with sister Emily (Stephenie's sister she wrote the books for) and cousin Melanie (who the Host character was named after) at our Ice cream social. We actually got to talk to them because there were only 28 of us there besides them.

4-Our group got in to Thanksgiving Point (2.5 hours before the signing) without having to wait in line!

5-Stephenie answered three of MY questions (and my friends got a few too!) during her Q&A: My questions--
-What was it like to Orson Scott Card contact you??
-If you could choose any ONE medicine from the Host what would it be?
-Why is that cute scene in the ARC not in the published version?
My friends questions--
-Why is Wanderer so self sacrificing (my friend Holly's!)
-Will you ever post outtakes of the scene of Melanie and Jared reuniting on your website? (my friend Lori's question)
-Why were Sharon & Maggie so bitter towards Wanda? (my friend Luisa's question)

6-I gave Stephenie Meyer a tote bag with goodies from some fans on her website.

7-I now have a memorable story about her signing my book and having a conversation with me.

8-I met Alphie and Pel who run her biggest fan site on the internet, and got to play with them all weekend.

9-I won an audio version of Twilight!

10-I got to play with my book club ALL weekend!!!! (These are some incredible ladies that I am privileged to call my great friends!)

I just have to say that my parents are the greatest ever!! They were great to watch my kids ALL three days so I could play.

* * If you want more details then read the rest. * *

The Long Story

*~*~Warning~*~*

This is mostly for my own benefit since this is my scrapbook/journal. Read at your own risk. It's lengthy!! (Also this will make much more sense if you're familiar with Stephenie Meyer[SM], Twilight, The Host, and the fandom websites.)

Thursday

Some of the girls met at the airport to welcome Laura (Pel) from NJ. More of us met at Gardner Village for lunch and fun stories and shopping. Afterwards a few left to get Lori (Alphie) from the airport (coming in from TN) while the rest of us prepared for dinner later that night.

We met at Danylle's for dinner and almost the entire group was there. We got fun stories from Laura and Lori about fans of Twilight, visiting the movie set, running the twilightlexicon and more. After dinner we all handed out our goodies. We all wanted to know more about Laura and Lori so we came up with a list of questions for them. They had 6 prizes so Christie picked her top six and two of them were mine! I won an audio version of Twilight. We got I love Ian/Jared buttons, Lexicon postcards signed by Alphie & Pel, "Sanity" medicine from Emily and our club shirts from Rachel!

We made our host name sashes (Kayla had the great idea to have Miss America style sashes to show our host love) , buttons (mine said 'Ian is my no pain'. Shauna came up with that!) After the party we visited until 12 (some of us until 1:30) and left to get rest for all of Fridays activities. Some good news of the evening was that Nancy announced she had hookups at Thanksgiving Point so we didn't have to stand in line all day Friday like we originally planned.

Friday

Danylle, Christie and Cami were in the studio audience for 'Good Things Utah' where SM was interviewed. After the show Danylle was interviewed by the station as one of SM's biggest fans (she found the books a few years ago and has been to several events over the years that she is now recognized by SM).

Instead of having to stand in line, we headed up to SLC to see Stephenie on TV (UT's channel 2). The studio is in front of huge windows so they panned outside to the fans reactions and I got on TV! We then jumped on Trax and headed over to the Gateway to eat lunch and brainstorm questions.

It was then time to head down to Thanksgiving Point so we took off to gather our books, 'flare' and other girls. We met up at the dinosaur museum and got our 'insertions' (Kayla painted souls on us), put on our 'host name' sashes -mine was "Friend of all worlds" and got the call to meet at the back door so we could get in before the crowd. We were in front and center row 5! While we waited for SM to come out we took pictures, visited with other fans, and wrote questions. After 2.5 hours it was time to start! I videotaped the Q&A but this is Rachaels video because mine isn't downloaded yet.

When the Q&A was over we were called by rows to get our books signed. It took 1.5 hours to get to our row (everyone had stacks! of books). I gave SM a little gift of her favorite drink and snack and she smiled and said thanks.

When our group was finished with the signing we headed over to Shauna's house for our ice cream party. We invited SM's sister Emily to come play and she did! She brought a few of her friends and her cousin Melanie (yup the same one that The Host was named after). It was enjoyable to get to visit with them and they were very sweet! I asked Emily if she'd tell us why SM's husband goes by Poncho (when someone asked SM before she said it was a stupid story and didnt tell it) and Emily said, 'sure' and told us. They told us some fun stories and then left since it was getting late and they had a long drive home.

We gave our 'SLC hosts the Lexicon' gifts to Laura and Lori which was filled with some fun Utah things for them to remember us by. We shared more stories and laughs and we were all starting to nod from our long day so we took off since we had another one the following day.

When I got home I got all my stuff ready for the next day and took care of a few things and got into bed around 1am. After having several ideas and thoughts I got back out of bed and went and typed up some questions, and downloaded my pictures (to clear my memory card for more video). I finally made it to bed around 3am.

Fox 13 had their cameras inside and I was on the news the following day with a few of my friends holding our banner.

Saturday

I woke up at 6am to feed Tyce and get ready. My kids were staying at my parents house so I'd see them in the morning and be home to feed Tyce at night. (My parents are AMAZING!) I got the kids ready for the day, fed them breakfast and finished gathering my things for the days events. I was a bit nervous with my lack of sleep and energy level but I ended up not getting sick and started feeling better by the time my friend showed up to go.

We took off for Highland High and met up with the rest of our group in line. They opened the doors at 10:30 and we found our seats and started visiting. SM came out around 11:30 to sign books early because they needed to have the venue cleared sooner then they anticipated. They called us by group numbers (we were assigned a group number in the order we purchased our tickets. The morning the tickets went on sale we called in before the store opened. I called in 45 minutes before opening and was still in group 4!)

When I got to SM I gave her the tote bag from our group (the protocol is to give it to Elizabeth her publicist who is standing next to her). I said, "This is from the Twilight Lexicon gals." And SM looked up from the book she was signing of the gal ahead of me with a huge smile on her face and says, 'Oh how fun. That is so awesome. Thank you.'

Then she gets my books and sees the names on the books. (We were able to have our Host books personalized and two of her other books just signed. The protocol was to have a post it note on the page with your name so she could spell it correctly.) She sees my book says Linda (Since I got my book the first day I was able to get others the second day for my mom) and she says, "Are you Linda?" And in an effort to claim the book was mine and be simplistic I answered, "yes". Then she says, "Oh wait, your name tag says Debbie. Are you Debbie?" I say, "OH yeah, well Linda is my mom. I'm getting a book for her because she's nice enough to watch my kids so I could be here to see you." To which SM replies, "Haha, well you don't have to say you're Linda if you're not Linda." Oh goodness! I just lied to Stephenie Meyer and I GOT CAUGHT! Hahaha!!

She signed books for about an hour and then went backstage to go through questions and prepare for her Q&A. While we waited we took more pictures, visited with other fans and told them our knowledge of the extra stuff and facts we found on the websites and I even got to talk to my cousin Jamie and friend Jerusha.

SM came back around 1pm and had some fun questions to answer. My videos are here, part 1 and part 2. You'll notice they get a little shaky because I got a little excited that she answered THREE of my questions!! I say in the video which ones are mine.

After the Q&A more of our group got their books signed and then a few of my friends (Danylle and Shelli) were interviewed by the Deseret News .

We all headed over to Jamie's house for dinner and Host Pictionary. We could all tell the weekend was catching up to us since we were all slouching in our chairs, not as wild as usual and I think perhaps a bit quieter (could that be?!?). We watched Lori being interviewed on Fox 13 and were excited to see she did a great job! We finally decided to end our weekend and get back home to our families.

I got home around 9:30 and just sort of had an emotional overload. It was an amazing weekend full of intense experiences and awesome times with some amazing women who I'm blessed to call my friends!

Visuals of my stories

Our group at Highland High.


Lunch at Gardner Village with Laura


Debbie, Emily (SM's sister) & Michelle


Emily, Shelli, Debbie, & Laura riding Trax


Holly, Luisa, Shauna & Debbie


Stephenie at Highland High-she's adorable!


SLTA waiting at Thanksgiving Point


Laura & Lori being questioned. Haha.


Stephenie signing my book at Thanksgiving Point


SLTA at Thanksgiving Point


Danylle being interviewed by Angie at Channel 4


Fox 13 cameras about to get us on film at Thanksgiving Point


SLTA going in the back door for our reserved seating


SLTA in line at Highland High


Debbie, Jenni, Melanie (yes THE Melanie), & Michelle


Christie, Debbie, & Havilah in line at Highland High


Kayla painting on my Soul


Jamie's Soul almost inserted


Stephenie signing my book at Highland High. Yup I lied to sweet gal. Haha.


Debbie and Lori


SLTA at Danylle's the first night of partying