*Monday Memos* (April Fool's & Spring Break Edition)

*Monday Memos*

 

dear elder wilding, we are glad you let us know you were being transferred last Monday!  I am very excited for you to be going to Barcarena because I read that part of that zone has an island. I'm sure you are going to love that.  I can't wait to hear from you and find out exactly what is up with this new transfer?  Are you still a zone leader?  Patiently waiting for more information!  Though it's looking like we won't be getting an email from you today.  =(

dear april fool's day, you are my favorite holiday (well, at least a close second to Halloween!).  After a few years of total flops on my pranks, this year was sweet!!!  A success! It's getting harder and harder to trick my boys. They are "on to me" and so I have to really be prepared to get them because they are quick!  But this year, I got McKay good!  I told him that my son Taylor's girlfriend Allie was engaged.  He was a bit stunned and said, "Oh man, poor Taylor!".  I asked him if we should tell him or not, since he is on a two year mission for our church in Brazil, and he said, "Probably not".  It was awesome.  He was still convinced until he sat down for breakfast and Dave said something about it being April Fool's Day.  Talk about a spoiler!  Dave has never been a fan of the holiday.  The best part though was when it actually hit McKay that he had been had.  His eyes got real big and then he jumped up and blurted out, "SON OF A GUN!".  I laughed so hard!  Son of a gun?  Who says that?  I have never heard him say that ever!  That may have been the best part of it all!  

 

I also got Dave pretty dang good too!  That doesn't happen very often.  He loves raspberry filled donuts and so I bought some and then took one out and "re-coated" it in baking soda...or was it baking powder?  Whatever it was, it was nasty! The one that I coated I cut in half because I knew he would grab that one.  Sure enough. He ate most of it and then he got a funny look on his face and then spit it out.  He said, "This tastes funny."  I had to tell him it was April Fool's.  Had I not said anything, who knows what he would have thought?  I did the same thing with some mini powdered donuts to try and get Bryce, but he was un-foolable...as usual! 

 

My favorite one of all was the one I posted on Facebook!  I put this photo of a purple cast on there and wrote, "Bye, bye marathon..."

No, this is not acutally my leg!  My toes are short and stubby, not long and lanky. I found the photo on google images.  Still it fooled even my own Mama!  I think since the cast was purple, most peeps totally fell for it.

 But even after I posted this ↓ photo ↓ below in my facebook comments, there were still quite a few who were still writing comments telling me how sorry they were, etc. 

 I finally posted THIS ↓ photo- to prove it was an APRIL FOOL'S prank!

But still, to no avail because a few peeps still sucked it in! 

 Did I mention I LOVE APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!  I totally crack myself up!!!

Not sure I will be able to top that one!  It even went over better than the year I posted that I had decided to give up chocolate.  Well, actually that didn't go over too well.  People immediately knew that was a prank and it didn't go very far.  Imagine THAT. 

I was thinking about some of the other things I have done in years past.  A few years ago I made these:

They are actually cupcakes incognito as mashed potatoes and gravy.  Seriously, how nice can a prank be?  These were way too nice!  And tasty too.

Not as tasty though as the year I baked dried crickets into brownies for my boys.  They still have trust issues with eating ANY of my food on April Fool's Day! But that just means I don't have to make dinner that night!  So WHO is the real fool here?  Not me! =) One year I made rainbow colored pancakes - for fun, not a prank - but McKay refused to eat any of them even though I promised him they were completely safe!  I think it was because when he was about 3 years old, I put pieces of paper inside the pancakes.  Harmless prank.  Totally harmless!  I made the rainbow ones for him a while later (it wasn't even April Fool's Day) and he refused to eat them even then.  Someday my boys will all tell their children, "April Fool's Day is the reason we have trust issues!".   What can I say?  cackle cackle  That just means success!

Sometimes, I even like to fool others when it's not a nationally recognized holiday.  Like, say...girl's camp.  Everyone knows girl's camp is open game on pranks.  Yes, even on the years that they say it's going to be a "prank-less" camp while they glare at me as they emphasis the "less" part.  Who ever heard of such rubbish?  Prank-less camp?  That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one!  I took these one year...

 I was sad I wasn't at camp that year, but when I went up for dinner with the Bishopric I thought it would be nice to leave them a treat...because I'm nice like that. ☺ The girl's immediately asked what was wrong with them!  They are onto me too. I will admit that I DO have the reputation of being a prankster at girl's camp, but still! Maybe it's because the year before I took up sponges that were frosted to look like brownies, and the year before that I put nightcrawlers into their bottled water, and the year before that... well, it's best to not expose ALL of my secrets.  Some things I must keep sacred for future use!  I do have an award certificate (or two or three) I was given naming me as the Queen Camp Prankster that I do have to say I cherish and I am very proud of!  Someone has to lighten things up!

Eventually a couple of the girl's did try these Oreos.  I wish I had a picture of their faces as they realized something wasn't quite right.  I replaced the cream in the middle with toothpaste.  But only the middle row.  Still, all the rest went un-eaten.  Wimps!  hehehe

You can find a few of my other...um... successes here, here, and here!  

 

Yep, I crack myself up!

dear taggarts!  All I can say is YUMMY!  Oh, and the fact that I wish you were closer so I could eat your scrumptious food and treats more often.  But then I would look like a two ton tilly and so I guess it's good you are so far away. 

Yes, we were here on April Fool's Day but these photos are real!  Dawn took them and even though they look fake, this peacock WAS really this gorgeous!  He was strutting his stuff for us today!  His lady friend was total disinterested in him and so he put the moves on us.  It worked!  We gawked and admired him and were thrilled with his "cocky" display of colors! 

Dawn was once again able to re-visit the men's room. ↑ She is getting to know that place pretty well by now!  (click to enlarge)

Cookies as big as your face!

Peek a boo!

I can't get enough of them OR the peacock!

Same photo as above, but we are posed ever so slightly different.  Dawn is now happily squatting on the chief's lap.  I have my hand on my hip but still ruffling the chief's feathers.  Patti's getting in the flow and her fist in now unclenched.  Davaleen is showing Dawn her full support for taking on the name "Squats with Joy".  Kimberly's eyes are wider because Dawn is squatting with so much joy.  It's all about the details people.

Cookies to DIE for!!!

And we ALMOST did die for those cookies because as we headed home we got caught in a huge blizzard!  Mother Nature was trying to be a prankster today as well!  Thankfully Squats with Joy was at the wheel and got us home safely with her amazing driving skills!

A rattlesnake warning in a blizzard!  April Fool's joke?  Possibly.  But I think it was for real!

Oh, and I DID get Kimberly on the way up with my powdered donuts! Dawn and Patti  knew better than to try one, but sweet Kimberly was in total trust that they were just a yummy treat! 
Yes, April Fool's Day, we rocked it this year! 

dear bonnie, thank you for bringing me such a cute gift from Hawaii.  Your card made me cry when you said you thought of me when you saw the palm trees because Tyson loved them so much.  Such a thoughtful gift from an even more thoughtful friend.

dear mr. cat, once again your relaxed poses melt my heart!

dear training, I enjoyed running out at the bird refuge this week.  It is still a little muddy and wet on the trails, but I enjoy the peace and quiet and solitude out there in the boonies.  The training out there is extra good because you have to really be on your toes to avoid stepping in all the bird doo-doo on the trails. 

dear spring, WHY DO YOU KEEP PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK?  There is evidence you are actually coming, but I wish the sun would give me a little more assurance.  I'm sooooooo excited to feel the sun beating on my back as I run.  And I'm so tired of putting on all my winter running gear.  It's time for it to go in storage.  But as we all well know, spring in Utah doesn't mean any guarantees of warmth for an extended time. In fact, it almost guarantees it will be mixed in with winter weather for another few weeks.  But I'm so ready for you to spring forth!  Please hurry!

dear easter, you are late this year, but I am so egg-cited for the big day!

dear mckay, keep shooting those arrows at your dummy bag and not at any animals! 

dear general conference, WOW is all I can say!  This conference was one of my favorites of all time because it just seemed like each speaker hit it out of the park.  There were some really great talks and profound truths taught in so many great ways.  I think President Uchdorph's had to by my favorite though because he spoke about the power of gratitude in helping us with the trials of life and being happy no matter what our circumstances are.  I felt like he was giving the talk I just gave in Bountiful.  Here is a great link to some of the best quotes from this conference.

dear spring break, most people go south.  We go north.  That's because we are crazy.  We have access to a family cabin in Alaska AND one in Alpine Wyoming.  Why not Hawaii, the Bahama's, or even St. George?  No, ours are in the tundra instead of in the tropics.  I think there is something wrong with this picture.  But, I do have to admit it is nice to be able to go somewhere on the spur of the moment.  We love going to Dave's parent's cabin when we can actually get away which is very rare.  The last time we were there was in July.  Even though it is still cold up there right now, it was still nice to just get away.  Going to the cabin is relaxing because you aren't always on a tight schedule trying to do things like you are when on a vacation.  We really do relax while up there. I got a lot of reading in and we watched several movies and we were able to enjoy watching conference together.  I love to bake and even cook when we are up there.  Dave and McKay snowmobiled while I did my long run.  Nope, I can't even get away from the training while on vacation!  It was cold up there, but still a fun get away.  We also made a quick trip to Jackson Hole.  Bryce would have liked to have joined us, but he had to work.  So it was just the three of us.  That was kind of strange!  I took a ton of photos...so brace yourselves!  

The elk winter range on the way into Alpine

 I did my long run (which was relatively short in comparison to my usual long runs) on Friday.  I normally do them on Saturday, but the weather was good (no snow) and so I thought I should get it over with.  The temp was about 34°.  Dave drove me 12 miles up around the Palisade's Reservoir and I ran back down to the cabin.  When I say back down - I mean that in a relative term, because it was NOT downhill all the way.  In fact, I think it was probably a good 50% UP hill!  The sign that is showing a 6% grade downhill for 1 mile, was for the other way.  I ran UP that puppy!  And it didn't end at one mile.  It went on and on!  The grade wasn't as bad, but it was still uphill! And, drum-roll please.... without.  stopping.  once!  That felt like a major accomplishment!  I was expecting a medal to be placed around my neck when I reached the summit. 

 Unfortunately, the only thing I saw waiting for me at the top was a bunch of black birds circling above me. They must have been waiting for me to drop over so they could go in for the kill. I'm sure they were watching me push up that hill and knew that I wasn't going to survive. But I showed them.  I took some photos of some of the sights I saw on the way, including the Grandma street sign (below).  I was hoping it was a sign.  Oh wait, it was.  A sign.  A street sign. But I was hoping it meant that maybe there is hope that one day I will be one of those.  A grandma.  Not a street sign.  Sometimes the best part of running is the interesting things you see along the way.  Maybe they really aren't all that interesting, but after running alone for that long everything starts to seem pretty exciting.  All in all, I was happy with my run.  There was a LOT of UP!  But, I was happy with how I felt and with my time especially considering the altitude is so much higher and it does make it harder to breath! gasp-gasp

 Meanwhile back at the ranch the cabin...the boys were off snowmobiling.  They had a great time.  I was pretty beat and so I came home and took a nice long hot shower! Then I watched a movie and made us a spaghetti dinner.

After they got back, McKay was still in the snowmobile mode and so he messed around in front of the cabin.

We ate dinner and watched the movie Ender's Game.  During our stay we also watched Gravity and Catching Fire.

Saturday I got up early to go on my run.  It was a bit colder.  23°.  Dave drove me 6 miles up the Snake River Canyon and I ran down it.  It was mostly downhill, but not all.  It could've been all uphill and I wouldn't have noticed (well okay that's a slight exaggeration) because it was so breathtakingly gorgeous!  I had to keep stopping so I could take photos of the view.  Wow. It really is a beautiful part of God's world.

 We then headed to Jackson Hole.  I LOVE Jackson!  It is only a 40 minute drive from the cabin and so we decided to go up and grab some lunch and see the elk and do whatever our little hearts desired.  We got our traditional photo with the elk horn arch and then walked around and went in a few stores.  I took them into the candy store and we got some yummy huckleberry fudge.  

We were trying to decide where to eat and ended up at a place by the Million Dollar Bar, but after seeing their prices, we decided to go somewhere else.  We weren't in the mood to fork out $50 just for lunch.  We stopped for some photo opps at the giant moose and bear. McKay was thrilled!  haha  If you look close in the photo of me sitting on Ben Franklin's lap, you can see McKay's reflection in the glass and the look on his face.  He was hungry and food was all he had on his teenage mind!  He was a good sport though for putting on the furry hat so I could take his picture and send it to Taylor since I have one of Taylor in one of those hats too.

 

We ended up eating lunch at Bubba's BBQ just out of the main city square.  It was so delish!  Notice the photo bomb. 

Oh my gosh!  On the way back to the cabin we saw these AMAZING mountain goats right on the Snake River canyon road!  They were so dang cute!  I have decided I want one for a pet.  Look how fluffy they are?!

Click to enlarge

 They were right down on the road at one point!

 You can't really tell, but they were walking vertically - straight up that steep mountain!

A good time was had by all!

dear purple almonds, come to Mama!  Oh. My. Heck.  Mmm....  I found you at the little Alpine grocery store. I never knew you existed until this weekend!  They also had strawberry and raspberry flavored ones.  But I'm sure they don't taste anywhere near as scrumptious as the purple ones.  And you are such a great healthy little treat.  I'm sure the only thing that would make you better is if you were covered in chocolate!  ☺ 

Sidenote:  (because this post isn't long enough- I need to add a little side ☺)Why are blueberries misnamed?  They are NOT blue, they are purple.  They should be called purpleberries!  Same with blackberries.  And how about red cabbage?  That is anything but red.  It's purple too!  And the same with red onions.  They are ALSO purple!  What is up with all this shafting that purple gets?  The rudeness.  I'm sure it is hurting purple's self esteem. I'm going to start calling them as I see them.  Purpleberries, purple cabbage, purple onions, etc. ☺ Give credit where credit is due. No more shafting the only true color  P  U  R   P  L  E  !