Heber Valley Railroad North Pole Express

Last week my family and I had and amazing opportunity to drive to Heber to ride the North Pole Express.

We eagerly arrived at 15 minutes to spare before the train boarded. I didn't tell the kids where we were going. I think childhood needs to be FULL of surprises. When we arrived the kids were ecstatic and over joyed to be in such a magical place.

We sat in the very front of our car. I wished later that we had been more toward the middle, as I felt like that is where all of the action was.

The train was decorated beautifully for the Christmas holiday. We were given cookies and hot cocoa (that was THE perfect temperature, even Millz was able to partake). Our hostess was such a delight. She led us in singing Christmas songs. The classics. Like, "Up on the Housetop" and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". There were stories like T'was the Night Before Christmas and funny elf jokes. Even Hubbs got in on the action.

Mrs. Claus even made an appearance. She sat down with my kids and gave us her secret special recipe for Christmas cookies.

Then the big moment arrived. We stopped at the North Pole. My kids, along with about 7 other kids piled into one seat to catch a glimpse of Santa. During the huge pile I hear someone exclaim, "Ew! Someone farted!" After which the seat cleared out to about 3 kids. I'm guessing the farter stayed, because, my kids were still sitting near the window waving at Santa. Yes, it was my kid. My oldest kid if you must know. (On the way back he shared his goodness as he was sitting next to me.) Sigh.

Santa boarded the train and we were off. He sang some songs to the kids, ran up and down the isle (but didn't quite make it to us). Then he took time to talk to each girl and boy. He didn't ask my kids what they wanted, but we did get to take a photo with him, which was so so so fun for Joth and Memms. Millz was a little freaked out, which is completely normal at her age.

Santa gave each child a wooden top. Which Millz promptly put in her mouth.

We arrived safely back to the station. The kids were on cloud nine. The Christmas spirit had bitten them. We finished up the night with a visit to Dairy Keen, where the train whooshed around above our heads reminding us of the train ride that night.

Want to give your kids the magical experience of the North Pole Express? Here's how.

Families Experience a Magical Holiday Journey Aboard The North Pole Express

Heber Valley Railroad’s “North Pole Express” Gives a New Twist to a Family Tradition

HEBER CITY, Utah — Heber Valley Railroad’s “North Pole Express” is a magical journey Utah families will treasure this holiday season. As a new twist on an old tradition, the North Pole Express will feature a live reading of “The Night Before Christmas,” a classic holiday favorite that will come to life as families enjoy a festive ride to the North Pole.

Guests aboard the North Pole Express will enjoy singing carols, sipping hot chocolate and eating cookies while reading along or listening to the “The Night Before Christmas.” Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas for the ride. Upon arrival at the North Pole, Santa and his sleigh will greet the children and give each child a special Christmas gift.

Tickets are now on sale for this popular holiday train, which is a long-standing tradition for thousands of Utah families. First class service is available most weekends during the North Pole Express schedule. Due to the high demand for tickets, the Heber Valley Railroad is offering two matinee excursions on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 23-24, 2010.

The North Pole Express will depart every Monday through Saturday through December 24, 2010.

Nightly Excursions

• Depart 5 p.m.; return 6:30 p.m.
• Depart 7:30 p.m.; return 9 p.m.

Matinee Excursions (December 23-24 only)

• Depart 2 p.m.; return 3:30 p.m.

Schedule and Fares

Family Night: December 1, 2, 6, 13

• $29 adult, $26 senior (ages 60 and above), $18 child (ages 3-12)

Coach: December 3, 4, 7-11, 14-18, 20-23

• $32 adult, $29 senior (ages 60 and above), $21 child (ages 3-12)

First Class: December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20-23

• $47 adult, $44 senior (ages 60 and above), $36 child (ages 3-12)

Matinee: December 23, 24

• $29 adult, $26 senior (ages 60 and above), $18 child (ages 3-12)

Tickets can be purchased by calling SmithsTix at 800-888-TIXX, by calling the railroad at 435-654-5601, online at www.HeberValleyRailroad.org, or at the Heber Valley Depot, 450 South 600 West, Heber City. For more information and directions, contact the Heber Valley Railroad at 435-654-5601 or visitwww.HeberValleyRailroad.org.

**Full disclosure: My family was given free tickets to ride the train. This post and the opinions contained herein are my own.**

"I'm not your assistant!"

Monday was a busy day. I was rushing to get J-Man to his first day of school, rushing to get us all dressed and out the door so we girls could get haircuts after we dropped off J-Man.

In my rush I asked Memms to help me feed Millz. (I have always held her bottle for her, she can hold it, but it is really up to her to decide if she feels like doing so. On this particular occasion she was adamant that she wasn't going to hold it. Hence my asking Memms for help.)

The conversation went as follows:

Me: "Memms! Mama needs your help to feed Millie, will you come hold her bottle for her?"

Memms (directed toward Millz): "Zilly, I am not your assistant!"

Me: Full on laughing my guts out, and running to grab the camera as proof.

Don't you think the point is made even clearer by Millzies hands ABOVE HER HEAD.
GAH! The hilarity.

Love these girls. Love them. Love that even though Memms is really NOT Millz's assistant, she does it anyway because she loves her.

I hope that they are always besties.

Home Made Bump-its

Have you seen that commercial for bumpits?

Well, my kids have. And apparently they have seen it a lot.
I caught them the other day making home-made bumpits.
(I am not sure if I am more disturbed that bumpits is one word
(think bum-pits)
or just disturbed period?)

See for yourself:







I about died when my friend Jon saw these and was all, "Is that a bumpit?!"
Hilarity.
According to J-Dawg this was the "Hollywood Tall Bumpit".
After eating lunch in Provo last week, and I saw all the hair...I am wondering if Utah County is the number one buyer in the country of bumpits.
(love you Utah County!)

Still rolling.

Tell me YOUR bumpit story.

Yoga Master

Film goodness, shot on Fuji 400H

Namaste.

Freaking INSOMNIA...and that one post I promised.

Dood.

It is three in the fracking morning.

I cannot sleep.
Perhaps it was the four miles I ran in the ffffreezing cold today.

Perhaps it was the chocolate I HAD to eat before my first attempt at going to bed.
(I totally knew better.)

Perhaps it is because there are SO many things I want to do with my family, my photography, my life...
that my head
just! won't! stop!

I knew I should have taken that Tylenol P.M. at midnight. If I had I would be blissfully sleeping right now. Speaking of Tylenol...do you guys want to send me to Blogher '10?!
I am totally looking high and low for someone to sponsor my trip...huh?! Would you???
E-mail me.
(This is an entirely different post altogether. I am not kidding either.)

Okay...onto other things.

Shall we discuss the 'trial of the year', or in our hopes the 'trial of the decade' in hopes we don't E-V-E-R have to go through something so silly EVER again?

Somehow I deleted the email from Hubbs that had all of the deets.
I will try to recall them from my own memory as I laughed my head off as each event occurred (while secretly being terrified for him.)
*Please note, names have been changed to protect the innocent, er the crazy...and everything is via my own account, Hubbs has nothing to do with this post. Hold me accountable for every single word.

So Hubbs had this client who was selling HIS house.
Meaning, the client was
the. only. one. on. the. freaking. title. to. the. house.
Hubbs is an amazing man, I tell you what! He works SO hard at EVERTHING he does, it is incredible. With the economy all slumpy, he has put forth extra effort to make sure he goes the extra EXTRA mile in his work. This means in church, school, and his real estate. ESPECIALLY his real estate.
I think anyone who has worked with him can attest to such.
He amazes me.

Anyway, back to this client, we will call him Jorge*. Jorge had his house listed FOR FREAKING ever. Even before the housing market hit the slopes. Hubbs plugged along with refusal to lower the selling price, on the market, off the market, and so on and so forth. Jorge happened to work out of town A LOT and was NEVER home to make sure the house was in order and ready to be shown. The other problem? Jorge's mom. We will call her Mama* a.k.a 'the debil' yes the deBil. I like it like that.

Mama lived in Jorge's house. Mama was crazy. As in certifiably crazy. She refused to let anyone in the house. ANYONE. She was certain that people coming to see the house were going to take her things (understandable...but let's be honest there was probably nothing worth taking). She did her best to make sure the house would. not. sell. The only times the house was able to be shown was if Jorge happened to be in town.

On a number of occasions Hubbs would stop by the house, and Mama would attack him verbally with all sorts of interesting phrases. Once this home hit the 1+ year on the market and it went under contract despite Mama and her attempts to sabotage such...she became 'evil, wicked, mean and nasty' to the tenth power.

One day in particular Hubbs went to meet with Jorge to sign papers or something, and Mama had ruined his brand new lock box...she had spray painted it...trying desperately to make it unusable so that no one would have further access to HER house.

While Hubbs was there she took a brick to said box and began pummeling it...Hubbs tried to convince her to stop and then said brick was then thrown into Hubbs direction.
Luckily for Hubbs and his glasses, Mama was a poor shot.
When said brick neglected to connect with Hubbs, Crazy Mama grabbed a water bottle and ran across the lawn and slapped Hubbs in the face with said water bottle.
That is when Jorge tackled Mama to the ground.

Now, do you see where this is going?
Hubbs probably should have gone to the police.
Hubbs is SO nice he did nothing of the sort.
He just talked to Jorge, went about his job and healed from this attempted head smashing.

Me? Well I had no idea ANY of this was going on.
Hubbs never let me in on it until...

Daaaaaa daaaaaa daaaaa....

(Commence scary, theatrical music.)

The day the new owners were suppose to move in, and Crazy Mama
had barricaded herself into 'HER' house.
Long story short, and several hours later
(on J-dawgs birthday I might add...thanks for ruining an important day for us Crazy Lady.) after the police were called in to take her from the premises...she finally had the choice to go to jail, or to go home with another of her son's.
She finally chose to go with her other son.
Sadly, at this point no one wanted to take care of her.
Very sad actually.

...one month after the closing we get a knock on our door late one night.

A man.
Serving us with papers.

Crazy Mama was suing Hubbs for $10,000.
Gulp.
I felt faint, a little dizzy, and a little more than absolutely clueless as to why.

I paced back and forth, I couldn't sleep that night.
Then Hubbs begins to tell me all about these stories, in more detail.

Two months pass and trial day comes.
Luckily we were 90% sure that this lady had no case.
But still in the back of our minds we were really scared at what could possibly happen to our little family if she won.

She didn't win.
Poor thing.
Even after attempted mediation, she still went before the judge...and he still ruled in our favor.

Hubbs?
Well, after the trial, he and his broker and his broker's wife sat in the courtroom and talked for three hours to this Crazy Mama...who was basically homeless and living in her car.
They talked about ways to help her try to find a place to live.\

FOR THREE HOURS

Tears.

That was two weeks ago.

Even today Hubbs was on the phone trying to track her down.
No one can find her.
Her sons won't answer their phones, nor return messages from Hubbs or the broker.
Hubb's broker is also trying to find her to no avail.
It is so sweet, words cannot express my love for my sweet husband
and all he is doing for this woman.

My point?

I am thankful that we won and did not have to shell out 10k to Mama.

I am thankful I married such an amazing guy.



And if you need to sell your home or buy a new home,
he is your guy.

Just promise not to throw any bricks at him please.
I kind of really like his face the way it is.

Ross the Intern and My Grandpa Jerry

I have forgotten the hilarity of Ross the Intern
when he crossed paths with my Grandpa Jerry a few years back.

It wasn't until some friends and I were discussing when

Ross met Danny,

the newest winner of The Biggest Loser on Tuesday night.
How that Ross had us in stitches.

My Grandpa Jerry, (my dad's stepdad) passed away a few years ago.

Go and enjoy the hilarity for yourself:

HERE

Is the last thing Jerry says to Ross not the funniest thing you have EVER heard?

I miss him. I know my brother misses him dearly.

What a treasure this video is.

Alien Names

****If you weren't aware, Hubbs originates from the land of Brazil.
He came to the United States just shy of age 18.
This is important information to have upon reading this post.
Enjoy.***

A few weeks back, we were all driving in the car as a family.

We are conversing about names and whose dad is "Grandpa Fur-Face", and what is
his REAL name, and what is Grandma's name, etc...etc.

So I begin to tell J-dawg and Memms:

"Well, my mom's name is Mary.
her Husband is Joseph.

My dad's name is Don.
his wife's name is Tisha.

Grandma Lorraine's name is Lorraine.

Get it?"

To which J-Man promptly replies:

"Wow! At least they aren't alien names."

Me: "Alien Names?! What do you mean?"

J-Man: "You know Alien Names like: Flavio, Zuleide and Claudio."

The names of his dad, grandma and grandpa.

What I will or will not admit is that maybe just maybe I think they sound a bit alien too.
Hubbs just broke out into sheer laughter.

Needless to say upon further discussion,
(according to him mind you)
J-Man will under
no circumstances
be passing
along ANY of these family names to his children.

"Why One Should Never Blog While Under the Influence"

Proof:

Uhm, so I prolly should not be allowed to post EVER.

Especially not when having taken a mezcla of painkillers, antibiotics, and anti-depressants followed by a heaping amount of sleep deprivation.

Tee hee.

It wasn't until last night during my crazy dream frenzy (that I have nightly) that I dreamed I was at my aunts house going through the family pictures.
FAMILY PICTURES?!
What?
Oh ya, a month ago almost!
I. Took. Our. Extended. Family. Pictures.
We got dressed up for it and EVERYTHING!
You would think I would remember putting makeup and clothes on. Apparently it wasn't eventful enough.

I rushed down here to my computer, and much to my relief there was a family picture,
and it is actually fairly cute.
(Thanks Jill.)

I can die a happy woman.

If you are wondering what the H I am talking about, please read the previous drug induced post...and laugh, like I just did.

Lunatic. See?

"Corcunda"

Finally digging myself out of the messy house that accumulated while I was sick. Feels SO good to be back to my old self...and not that I ENJOY cleaning, but to be able to clean my house today was a big blessing.

I love being a good wife, and a good mother.

I love feeling like I have accomplished something, even if it is something small.

I love putting away the folded laundry. (And sniffing it of course.)

I love the smell of my kitchen after I have wiped everything down with Clorox.

I love walking on the floor and not feeling crumbs.

I love walking on the freshly vacuumed carpet,
and feeling my feet actually SINK into it. Ahhh.

Bliss.

It is the little things.

At the beginning of June I put my kids into swimming lessons.
Something I was not able to have myself until I was 11.
ELEVEN!
I am STILL afraid of water and I am NOT a strong swimmer at all.



When the opportunity arose to have my kidlets in swimming...I jumped at the chance.

I only wish I was rich enough to keep them in ALL summer.

They love it, they adore it...and J-Man is SWIMMING...
...he is SWIMMING...Memms is not far behind.

I am amazed at the growth they have made in just three weeks.
This is our last week...and it is bitter sweet.
I am taking my camera on the last day to capture their sweet faces at the actual pool.



For now, feast on these babies...and laugh
as we do each day when we have to put on the swim caps.

When the children (mostly J-Dawg) turn into the
"Corcunda".



What is Corcunda you ask?

Well, The Hunchback of Nortre Dame of course...





Poor Jay...I laugh hysterically every morning when I put his little cap on...



One of him keeping his eyes un-Corcunda-ish.

Oh how I will miss laughing at this every morning
...what a great start to our days this has been!

School Daze --"And I Was a B"

James* and me circa 2000
(Not the name he goes by, I love to protect the innocent. Heart you James.)

So, do ya'll recall that time I mentioned about the TI 89 in Mr. Reynolds class?

I am here to further detail the horror that was this particular mathematics class for me. New girl, new school, knows NO ONE...sits next to amazingly cute James.

James and I became SUPER great friends.
I think in some ways James and I were in similar boats, we kind of both left a lot of our friends behind to go to a new school. James started eating lunch with me and my friend Candie.
So we got to know each other really well.

The one thing James had going for him that I didn't...
was that his sister was SUPER beautiful and SUPER popular, and also a Student Body Officer...

...so I think that helped him transition better than I did.

Since high school is SO large and full of SO many people and different clubs and stuff, James and I mostly just talked during our Algebra class.

(I think it was Algebra...James is super smart and just graduated as a Pharmacist...see he was SUPER good at math.)

Anyway, this one particular chapter in the book was a struggle for seemingly EVERYONE in the class.

We had a test coming up and I studied for it and studied for it to no end,
as did James.

The day comes for the test and we all take it with palms sweating and our little index card full of notes.

A few days later Mr. Reynolds, lisp and all hands back the tests to each of us...and I look at my score (it was a GOOD score) and with a HUGE smile on my face turn to James to see how well he had done...

...the entire time knowing he would have it ACED and would have it down.

We concur.

Here is where it went wrong, and hell as we know it broke loose.

I did better than James did on the test.
WHAT?!!
For the first time in months...
...I DID BETTER THAN JAMES ON A TEST?! IN MATH?!

So instead of being the sweet person I normally was, I start RUBBING in the fact that I did better than James.

Even worse, it carries over into lunch time, and my pride gets the better of me, and in front of many people, I begin to declare my smartiness over James'.

It got so bad.
SO BAD.

James has had enough and he yells,

"YOU ARE SUCH A B****!"

...in front of EVERYONE.
(wouldn't you have done the same thing?)

I was crushed.
Yet, I deserved it more than ANYTHING.

James and I didn't talk for months.
I don't even think we talked until the next school year.

I finally fully understood the error of my ways, and apologized for being such a biznatch.

James apologized too, and our friendship was what it was before.

I love me my James.
We are still friends to this day, albeit through facebook mostly.

That is okay, I am thankful to know such a smart and talented young man...
...and through the horror of being called a 'B' in front of many of your friends,
I learned a valuable lesson:

Pride goeth before the biznatch.

Secretly...

Or not so secretly anymore I guess, I freaking love this show. If I could get my butt out of bed a half hour earlier to watch it each day I would...just to watch it. Secretly, I kind of get excited when my kids wake up that half hour earlier so we can. Tee hee.

Why do I like it so? Well, I think it is just a smart show. I really think the writers do a great job at making it "smart". For me, as an adult, I love it, but my kids love it too.

One of the funniest things is the titles and words they use and manipulate to title the show etc. For instance, Memms and I were watching this week and the title of one such show was, "Vomitrocious". Hilarious no? Reminds me of how this lady talks. So we began watching and I laughed seriously out loud. It was about puking in school (everyone's worst nightmare no?!) and teasing the kid who always got a bloody nose (I don't recall that...but seriously funny stuff.) After the little show was over they had real kids talking about puking, complete with drawings and animation.

Anyway, I am laughing right now just thinking about it. I highly recommend. Shhh, don't tell you heard it from me, I might deny it.

"Nobody likes me, everybody hates me..."

September 2008



We went fishing in Midway. This was my kids' first ever encounter with worms. It was freaking hilarious. I wish I could remember where we went, but kids could fish for free without a license and I *think* the worms were free! So so so so so gross. I'll admit I am 100% girl in the regard when it comes to bugs and spiders and ants, anything creepy or crawly. I try really hard to hide that fact from my kids and encourage them to explore. Even if I wanted to throw up a little.



J-Man thought it was THE coolest thing ever. He wanted to keep them. He was super bummed when I told him we couldn't. He was so fascinated, we taught him all about what happens when you cut them in half, how they make "two worms". (I remember learning that...do you?) So, like good parents we cut some in half and showed him. He loved it, then was eager to share the love:



With sissy. She did quite well. Not too enthralled as brother was, but she held it nonetheless. (Gag...ew...that's my girl! Actually she told me today that she doesn't like ants, she only likes "rolly pollies". I get that.)



So we fished and didn't catch a single thing. :( But it was SO relaxing and fun to teach our kids something new.



My favorite grin. Love that nose. Love that space.



Divalicious as always.

If you don't pee yourself...

...don't say that I didn't try. Mmmmk?

Thanks Janay!