The boy with the "perfect" color of red hair

Too bad his hair is hidden by the cowboy hat. And please excuse my, um...bow tie? Whatever it is, it's not my favorite costume accessory-but as a whole I really liked that costume. Not like it matters anymore, but it's fun to remember, I guess.

Get back, get back, get back to the woods...

...because you ain't, you ain't, you ain't got the goods.

Today is finally done! And I have horrible chemical burns on both forearms to prove it. Leaving snowshoe felt so normal-it felt like I was leaving for a "24 hour break". A couple hours after leaving, we all went to the football game and it felt so right. Just how it's supposed to be, with us all together having fun...leaving the game was weird. It was the first time I realized that we were leaving each other for good. Okay, we'll see each other at games and maybe on campus and maybe get together once in awhile, but it's going to be different!

But oh, I'm so glad and ready to start school.

Good news: Jordanelle is finished!

Yesterday evening I went with my parents and Mariel to the pre-dedication dinner at the new Jordanelle hydropower plant! Yehaw, it's finally finished! I'm not going to lie, but at first I wasn't very excited to be there. However, we went on the tour and it was cool to see all the work that had gone into it and how my dad had helped bring this dream to pass. That thing is massive-holy smokes, so much water.

It was also fun to see some family friends who are involved-Brother Pitcher, the Pullans, some guy from Myton, and KC was even there. I didn't know he was involved with this, but there he was. It was nice to talk to him; I used to be in love with his son because I thought he had the "perfect" color of red hair.

Wardrobe malfunction

Through the years, my sisters and I have had multiple opportunities to have costume tribulations. I was just thinking about one that I will attempt to relate...

We were in Oklahoma! at the Shell. One night of the run, our friend was really ill so he went to lay down backstage. Karly and I went to talk to him. We sat back to back on the ground next to him and spoke for a while. Soon Karly had to leave, so she tried to stand up. We didn't know it, but I was sitting on Karly's dress. When she stood up, the whole bottom half of her dress ripped off at the waistline. So we quickly fixed it up with safety pins and she wore it that way for the rest of the run. Awkward.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...

A visit from our fairy is the most anticipated aspect of a new school year. The week school starts, all the grandchildren wait with bated breath for a series of rapid rings from the doorbell. When that finally comes, we all rush to the door in a manner that would make us difficult to beat on shows such as The Amazing Race. "Oh, and look at that! The Elison kids are pulling ahead! Yes---yes, I think they've done it, Stan! In a shocking turn of events, we see that food and--what is that?---underwear?--is what will motivate these kids and give them the last bit of power they need to dominate this competition."

The rush to the door is mainly a rush to see if we can catch the culprit-it has been known to happen; tonight, however, we were unsuccessful. Chocolate milk, cereal, socks, and other necessities await us on the front doorstep. Ah. A great tradition.

Reunion in Heber

This is one of my favorite pictures from the family reunion. We look like Grandpa's bodyguards, standing there with our oars crossed in front of him. "Don't you dare touch my Grandpa...!"

You can see more of our family reunion pictures right here!

More proof

The other day I was looking at pictures on our computer and I came across this picture of my dearest friend Mark that Karly took at his graduation. My mom was sitting on the couch a little ways across the room, and she looked over at the computer right as I pulled up this picture. "Oh," she said in surprise, "is that you?"

"No, Mom." I told her. "That's definitely my best friend Mark."

Apparently I look Asian.

Well said

"Natalie and I have a love-hate relationship. It looks like hate, but it's really deep love. She's not mad, it just looks like it."
-Ryan

Yesterday I was alone in the store for a while (which is unusual for me) and I realized how much I rely on the boys for my entertainment and happiness. They're pretty great. So thanks, boys!

Go ahead. Laugh. I do.

I posted this picture so that all the faithful readers of my blog may have a good laugh. It will probably be deleted in a few days. I have come to terms with my past as a tart...oh heavens.

Cake!

Tuesday was a declared 'cake day'. I don't really know why; we just wanted cake. So I made the boys a cherry chocolate cake (I even put heart sprinkles on it for them). I used a recipe that we found randomly on the internet, and I was kind of nervous about how it would turn out. They boys seemed to like it, and Brandon even gave it his "stamp of approval". Here is the recipe:

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 can (21 oz.) Wilderness cherry fruit filling

Combine cake mix, eggs and cherry fruit filling. Mix well.
Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350
degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake springs back
when lightly touched. Frost when cool with the following:

1 c. sugar
5 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. milk

In a saucepan combine above 3 ingredients and bring to boil,
stirring constantly cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat,
stir in 1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate pieces
until melted and smooth. Spread over cake.

The frosting was different than a normal chocolate frosting, but it was good. We refrigerated the cake for a few hours before we ate it, and it was really good.

Warming up before the show

Confession!

I love watching House. I stopped watching it a couple of weeks ago because it seemed to make me more of a hypochondriac, but last night I caved and watched an episode. It was toward the end of Season 1, "Babies and Bathwater", and I loved it. It is by far my favorite episode. Anyway, during the course of that hour, I started to love Dr. Wilson. He is now my favorite doctor. Yehaw.