I won! I won! I won!

I entered my name in an online contest...and I won a pair of FREE concert tickets!!!  Ryan wanted to stay home with the kids (whaaaa?) so I took my Dad to the concert and we ROCKED out to Sir Elton.  It was a night to remember! Sorry the pictures are so dark, I forgot my camera {{FOREVER will I regret}}and I only had my phone.

Our seats were so awesome! Even though we were situated BEHIND THE STAGE...I had the PERFECT VIEW of his magical fingers and piano keyboard the entire three hours he performed.  It was so surreal.  I had goosebumps during my most favorite song of his...ROCKETMAN.  Oh man.  What a show!! I could see the piano keys the entire time. 

We honestly weren't THAT far away from him.  My respect for him as a musician grew, he truly is so passionate about his work and he loves what he does.  It was so remarkable!!


The drummer, Nigel Olsson, is 62 years old and has been with EJ since 1969...when EJ first started his career.  Absolutely AMAZING.  They both know how to rock and aren't slowing down anytime soon! Nigel is in the green shirt on the drums.  While EJ is on the piano, it's kinda hard to see him in the pictures...but he's THERE!!!!

He, of course, performed all of his classics.  Then he sang some of his new stuff from his album that came out last year.  Truly, absolutely amazing! It was so loud that my ears are still tender and my left one is still ringing a little! So worth going deaf to see a legend. I want to go again! 

Brenda was right.

 

something's missing

He's got a lisp! He can't bite anything! He's missing two front teeth!

They were so loose and painful, so I wrapped floss around those puppies and YANKED. He was a brave dude and got compensated from the T.F. She sure had to save her pennies. I didn't realize how much it costs per tooth now a days! SHEESH!

Inflation, man. It's a killer.

she's HOW old?

She's NINE!? Am I really that old?

Happy Birthday to my April Fool's Day Girl! Born on April First, she is a wonderful gal is growing up beautifully. She got a few presents from her family party and awaits in great anticipation being able to go on her "Daddy-Daughter Date" with Ryan to go to Sleeping Beauty ballet in a couple weeks. So grown up! Had ice cream for breakfast, a birthday tradition started when she was little...it was a super fun day! Happy Birthday April Fool's Girl!

wanna play?

My kids role-play when they're playing make-believe.
And it seems like it's much more sophistocated than it was in my day.

Why is that?

stresses of being a groupie

Now they've changed the date of their concert to November 1st. Well, I can't go to both! I asked Ryan and he said, "NO!" so I have to pick one.

Grump. Make up your mind! Will you be in Boise 11-1 or 11-11? I wish I could go both concerts, but I can't. I really really really want to make it to the one at the Morrison Center, that would be awesome and smaller. But that also makes the tickets harder to get. Ahhhhhh!

P.S. Happy CELTIC THUNDER DAY! I mean, Happy St. Patty's Day and Happy Birthday to Katie!

11-11-11 is magical

I check the website with anticipation.

Every single week, if not more often.



And then I see it...'Boise, ID'...



Yes, Celtic Thunder is coming to the Morrison Centre on November 11, 2011. IN BOISE FREAKING IDAHO!! I'm on mailing lists, I'm going to be checking daily to see when tickets go on sale. Or should I start camping out now at the box office?



Oh yeah. Harkin. 'Nuff said.

Tá grá agam duit

"Buachaill ón Éirne me 's bhréagfainn cailín deas óg
Ní iarrfainn bó spré léI tá mé fhéin saibhir go leor
'S liom Corcaigh da mhéid é, dhá thaobh a' ghleanna 's Tír Eoghain
'S mura n-athraí mé béasaí 's me n' t-oidhr' ar Chontae Mhaigh Eo..."

The notes are arranged perfectly. Their voices blend magically. I am touched in my heart in places that words cannot express. The musicians are disgustingly multi-talented. Plus, have I mentioned how adorable the guys look in their KILTS?!

Hubba Hubba, Harkin! Sing to me, Keith!

From Left to Right: Paul, Ryan, Keith, Damien, George

They are so cute with their hair, accents, dimples and smiles!
Since last December, Paul has left. They've added Emmet, which I'll get to see in person this year...


Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm going to their concert in SLC in NOVEMBER?!!!! HECK YES!!!! November 2nd! They're going to the Maverik Centre in West Valley and I'm so there. I am waiting with bated breath. See you then, my Irish loves!
They ARE coming to Boise on November 1st for a couple hours to the Morrison Center! However, tickets were $250 and they only had 50 of them...so I didn't get to go. Although I would have PAID it. Definitely.

Last night, my sister Ashley came over and we watched their new show "Heritage" that was PBS. We tattooed all over (with green glittery ones) and ate gummy bears and sang and danced and SWOONED. It was so much fun! We are so their number one fans. She wore her CT shirt and we drank diet coke from our celtic mugs and just had so much fun. My voice hurts today, but I'm thinking we need an ENCORE performance. What do you think, Ash??

oh no obama

Thanks to my Uncle Craig for sending this to me via email this morning:

I was eating lunch with my daughter and 12 year old grandson when his mom asked him, "What is tomorrow?

He said, "It's President's Day"
She asked, "What does that mean?"

I was waiting for something profound...

He said, "President's Day is when Obama steps out of the White House and if he sees his shadow, we have two more years of unemployment."



Note from the Authoress:
Now I don't care your political affilitation. My blog, my thoughts. I dislike our president and so does Matt Damon. I figure if Jason Bourne can dislike him, so can I. I don't want to hear how it's not Obama's fault for messing up our country, blah blah blah. Yes it is. He's ruining our beautiful country. So please, spare me the comments sticking up for him?
I have to have a certain respect for the president of our country. But OH my. I don't have to like him.

P.S. Yes, I do feel better now.

oh my carterness

I was sick and stayed home from church several weeks ago. I was in the mood to watch a movie, something light, something that if I fell asleep in the middle of; I wouldn't miss much. I found it.

2012.

Carter and I laid in bed lazily while watching the movie while I sneezed and sniffed. And then I heard the line emit from the television set...

"Come on, you stupid [donkeys]!!"

Carter gasped.

He covered his mouth. I paused the movie and was absolutely MORTIFIED. I immediately fell into my pleading apology:

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm SO sorry you heard that word!"

He shook his said and retorted calmly,

"Yeah, we don't say STUPID."

family pictures...finally!

A couple months ago, my friend from high school came and did a photo shoot with a family. She is just incredible! She captured the interest of my kids the whole entire time (no easy feat...) and the pictures turned out just beautifully. You rock, Kristina! It was so fun to chat about the fun old band days. She lives in Rexburg, but travels over to Boise and I was lucky to catch her. She is awesome!! Check out her blog here. Thank you Kristina!

Isn't this cool? This is the SAME TREE that we used to play in as kids...we had pictures taken in it when I was a kid too. Talk about deja vu!

By the end...however the kids were DONE! They were good sports.

well, hello there!

Blogger Friends, forgive me for I have not posted, for it has been, well, a long time since my last posting...

Since my last real post, we've celebrated:

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and numerous other daily events.

But I'm SO FAR BEHIND and it's so overwhelming. Rather than put it off any longer (I can't find the little card that was in the camera that held the Halloween photos...don't tell Ryan...I'm telling him I am still looking for it)

2011 HAS BROUGHT US SO FAR:

-I am a klutz. I sneezed (rather HARD, I may add) as I was flying down our hardwood stairs and slipped and fell. Slipped disc in back, E.R. visit, weeks of being down... But now I'm on the MEND!

-I am Primary Chorister. No longer Mia Maid Advisor! I love my girls, they will always have such a special place in my heart. And I DARE you to keep me away from Mutual!

Those are the highlights thus far. I hope that's as wild as it gets.

from carter's perspective

A couple days ago my Mom wanted me to lie down and have a nap.

This particular day, I curled up by Mom and she was falling asleep. I had other ideas in mind, I wanted to play with my Lego's and cars that were under my pillow.

When I was playing with my cars, there was a rogue sucker from the Halloween candy that just happened to find itself under my pillow. I don't know how it got there... I stuck it in my mouth and slurped and slobbered all over. I guess I'm not too fond of cherry flavored suckers because I didn't want it after a couple minutes.

Mom was dozing off next to me and I saw her opened hand next to me. She gets mad at me when I throw things in the carpet, and I didn't want to get into trouble if I got out of bed. So I did the only thing I could think of with my little tiny 3 year old brain:

I took that sucker out of my mouth and PLOPPED it into Mom's opened hand. She didn't wake up either. It dried to her palm and she woke up a few minutes later to me giggling at her.

Good thing I'm so cute.

hang on!

My life is a roller coaster, a topsy-turvy one that makes loop-de-loops and makes you throw up your corn dog that was purchased from a very over-priced vendor.

Okay, that was slightly exaggerative. And a little gross.

Here's an update of what we've been up to:

-I drive kids up to THREE TIMES A DAY to and from the school...there's NO bus.

-Soccer is finally over, which means that we get our Mondays and Thursday evenings and Saturdays back. Ryan coached Dawson's team this year.

-Am constantly helping/volunteering/giving/donating: time/money/blah blah blah to the kids' school...it's NEVER ENOUGH!

-Am done with earning my Medallion for Personal Progress, as a leader except for reading the B.O.M. completely. I'm in Mosiah 15.

(that's actually stinking cool, I've been working really hard on that)

-Still fulfilling my calling as a Mia Maid Advisor...and loving it. I LOVE my girls!!!

-Am participating in a 6-month MIGRAINE study to see what else can be done about this horrid headaches I get every other week.

-Ryanna's homework is very intense, she's studying stuff I didn't learn until middle school...but that's expected I suppose. (she's in the full-time G/T program)

-Did I mention that Ryanna's starting violin lessons?

-Dawson's loving Kindergarten, learning lots. He is especially loving learning Italian and has

memorized phrases to "talk" to my dad; who knows Italian.

-Carter's just Carter. He goes to Nursery without complaint now! (Huge relief) and is a big fan of Lego's, "Potter Potter" (Harry Potter) and Dragons.

-Ryan goes to work and works hard...was on the news a few weeks ago! He's so handsome and I watched it over and over and over...I'm NOT proud of him am I? His firm is doing well. If you want to see him, click HERE to see the video!

I am so excited for Halloween and can't wait to post pictures from my most favorite Holiday ever! Someday I'll get to it...

ready for school

The kids all dressed and ready for school, they just looked so cute!

 Ryanna's in THIRD GRADE this year, Dawson's in KINDERGARTEN and Carter's stuck with me. 

Ryanna looks so pretty!

Dawson looks so handsome on his way to get some knowledge!

What the heck? Carter got dressed by himself today.  Apparently for the nude rodeo coming to town.  And YES, he posed on his own.

Oh goodness.

loud and proud to be...

Hello.  My name is Angie.  And I'm a VANDAL living in the heart of Bronco Land. 

Not only that, my other half; my love, my best friend, my soul mate is a Bronco. 

All of his family are Bronco Fans. 

I guess you might say that we're a split family.  I can't wait until the next time we renew our license plates.  I'm still KEEPING the LATAH COUNTY on it.  I'm adding the VANDAL LOGO.  Oh yeah.  That will make Ryan squirm.  Besides it's MY van.  Wa ha ha.

I respect the Broncos, we cheered for them before cheering for them was even cool.  Before the famous FIESTA BOWL 4 years ago, long before Ian Johnson was a household name.  We lived across the stadium when Ryanna was born (2002) and attended games and those were sure fun (and LOUD) nights!

I guess when it comes down to it, I'm proud to be a VANDAL.  I wear my pink U of I hat proudly.  Ryan laughs and shakes his head and says, "But you didn't even GO there!!" And I come back with, "Yeah, but YOU DID!" No pride I tell you.  It reminds me of Moscow.  I still miss it every day.  Boise is where I live, but Moscow is my home. 

Whether you cheer for BYU or are a Ute, cheer for your team loudly and proudly.  I love football season, but I don't admit that too loudly.  I know more than I let on.  I will start talking shop talk with Ryan and then he'll stop, look at me with raised eyebrows and be silent.  Oh yeah, I know how to talk fooseball. 

P.S. I think The Ostrich is a hottie.

my younger, but taller, sister rocks

I miss this face today!

I wish wish wish oh wish that we lived closer so we could go to lunch or hang and do nails or something.  I HATE how far away Utah is and how much gas it takes to get there!

I love my little sis, I'm proud of you for teaching and working so hard.  You rock and am an inspiration for me.  (Ash, you are too, but you're another post...)

Love you AIMEERS SCREAMERS!!!!!

party in franklin, idaho

Huff Family Reunion! We partied in the OLDEST TOWN IN IDAHO a couple weekends ago and it was a blast.  Getting there was a challenge...but that's another post for another day! The HUFF family is my mother-in-law's mother's family.  So Ryan's grandmother's family.  I think.  I get confused easily.

Jail and Franklin City Hall.  It was actually used until only FOUR YEARS AGO! (according to my sources...aka a website where I got this info) It's teeny tiny. 

Ruins of the first sawmill in Idaho.

The Doney House. I believe that it was actually BUILT by Ryan's great great grandparents.  Seriously COOL. It's among one of the oldest homes in Idaho!!!

We had such a long trip the day before trying to get to Logan and then got up extra early to make it to Franklin and my diet coke was wearing off...can you tell?

This is the FIRST ZCMI! So cool, although I doubt they would have had much of a clearance section.  It was really neat. Built in 1860 and closed in 1900.  I would have LOVED to see it in action. (notice Jayme with her party cup...she took that thing everywhere that day) ha

The RELIC HALL.  This was one of my favorite parts of the day.  It had all sorts of treasures inside.  From hats to bullets to a full size wagon used back in the day, it was there.  Pictures of Ryan's ancestors up on the wall and a piano...it was awesome. Built in 1937 and very well kept up.

Max and Dawson playing games.

MarLeah getting ready for the raffle.  I have to hand it to her, she's one amazing woman!!! She planned, gathered, shopped, prepared and got ready for this raffle for over THREE YEARS.  She had 200 items and see all those bags behind her? Those all had raffle tickets in them and she did such a great job.  WAY to go, MarLeah!!!

More family arrive.

Gaylan helping with the fishing game, which the kids all LOVED!!!!

Dawson got a kick out of the frisbee game.

Kayleigh helping with the raffle.

Carter being Carter.

Andrew playing

Carter loves his olives!

Parachuting with the cousins

Ryanna and Morynn facepainting.  We all had something sort of masterpiece on our cheeks from the artists from the facepainting!

Carter didn't want his face painted!

Hi Aunt Pam!

Sisters Pam and MarLeah

Carter loved this drinking fountain! He was constantly in it.

By the end we were all slowing down, I had to put this picture on the blog...look how wilty we all are! Look at me in the background--I have this dazed look on my face and I'm not even sure where I'm going! It was such a success but so tiring.  And I didn't even help that much.

After we won our loot from the raffle, we made the long journey back to Boise...and it was LONG! But it was so fun to be apart of the Family Reunion.