New Moon Mania

Lucky me, I went to 2 New Moon social events, one with my own sisters and friends, and one with my in-laws (read below for theirs).

My sister Misty scored a bunch of tickets to one of the first midnight showings a couple of months ago. At the time, I thought, "I'm not one of THOSE fans" so I passed her up on the offer. As time got closer, and ok...I reread the book...I decided that I had to be there. Luckily she had two people back out on her, so I was able to invite my friend Natalie and go to the show. We arrived at Gateway around 10:30, hung out at Z' Tejas for an hour and a half just talking and having a great time, then headed into the madness inside the theater. WOW. I've been to midnight showings before. But this one topped them all. By the time it was all over, I got home at 3:30 and sank into my warm bed. Only 3 hours of sleep that night, but so worth it. Yes, I loved the show. No, it will not win any Oscars by any means.

My cousin Linsey, sister Erin and sister Misty.

Partners in crime: Team Cullen. This picture is proof that I'm not one of THOSE fans: I decided that I was Team Edward just hours earlier standing in Hot Topic based solely on the fact that I liked the Cullen's t-shirt design better. So there.




FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT NIGHT...

I've said it before...no one throws a party like my in-laws, and Friday night was no exception. For weeks, my twin sisters-in-law Adri and Audrey have been planning their New Moon party and I was one of the fortunate few to be invited. The dinner table was a sight to behold with a red and black theme, the effect being slightly macabre and elegant at the same time. Quite fitting.

A bottle of blood with your dinner? Don't mind if I do.







My favorite touch - these glass goblets were dipped in red liquid hard candy mix then placed upright. The hot liquid dripped down the sides creating a sucker around the rim of the glass. Both of the twins burned their hands in the process but it was worth it!


True to Sharples style, there were door prizes. And this was mine:

After dinner, we had a photo session with the life-size cutouts of Edward, Jacob and Bella, although we tried to cut Bella out of most of the pictures making it look like the two beautiful monsters were fighting over our middle aged hot bodies. Notice how Edward STILL can't keep his eyes off of Bella?

Apparently we only have to wait until Summer 2010 for the Eclipse release. I'm sure more mania will ensue, and I fully intend to be a participant!

Memorable Night

Tonight I had my big brother Quinn and 3 of his 4 kids over for dinner. I haven't seen his kids for months even though we live in the same town and have actually never spent the kind of quality time with them that we did tonight. I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner, a LOT sooner. One of my biggest failings is not acting on all the many good intentions I have in my heart. I let my fear of cooking for others or not being an entertaining hostess keep me from opening my home to many special people in my life. I need to work on that.

His two boys, Grant (12) and Jake (9), were so excited to see their dad who they haven't seen for a week.
And little Sofia (4) smothered her dad in kisses. I don't think he minded. From the looks of it, he's savoring every one of them.
Quinn spent time reading books and playing Littlest Pet Shop with the little ones...

and belting it out to Rock Band with the big ones downstairs...




Simon and Sofie played dress up (for her), swords (for him), and played outside before the snow hit...


Tonight was a lesson learned for me. Don't delay anything for stupid reasons like fear, insecurity or inconvenience. The rewards to be had from moments like this are too precious.

My 3 Happy Thoughts

Simon's blog

Zach has started a new blog for Simon called the "SOS International Airport" that is dedicated to their commercial airport/airplane hobby. It's pretty cute.

I love it when Zach does things like this for the kids. It reminds me of when Emmy was 3 or 4 and Zach got the idea in his head that it would be fun to make Emmy think she could become an actual princess. He created an official looking application that she helped him fill out and they mailed it off to the Queen of England herself. She was at that perfect age to think that sort of thing could really happen. Lo and behold, a few weeks later an actual certificate and letter arrived in the mail signed by the Queen conferring upon Emmy the title of Princess with the most beautiful swarovski crystal bejeweled crown nestled on a purple velvet pillow inside of a hat box. 9-year-old Connor even believed it was legit. For years Emmy told people that she was a real princess which was adorable until she hit 1st grade at which time we had to let her down gently and explain how the monarchy actually worked.

HEADLINE: Aspiring Young Luchador Meets with Disappointing Injury

Murray, Utah

Not since the likes of Nacho Libre has the world seen such promising Luchador talent than in two-year-old Simon Oliver Sharples. However, he was injured Sunday night in a crucial wrestling match at his Grandpa and Nana's house against a worthy foe, his Daddy. Simon was attempting an advanced luchador maneuver - "pile drive to the face" - but his opponent was distracted by the new Call of Duty X-box game and didn't see it coming. This caused little Simon to go flying over daddy's shoulder, landing squarely on his head and right shoulder. It was apparent to his trainer (Mommy) within a few minutes that all was not well with the little guy. After medical examination, a fractured clavicle was the diagnosis. Simon was set up with a snazzy Snoopy sling and ace wrap to keep his movement to a minimum, but several witnesses have reported seeing him trying to wield a Nerf battle sword in his delicate condition. Simon is obviously disappointed in this turn of events. His trainer had to break the news to him that his luchador training will have to wait until he is at least three. Fans will obviously be disappointed but opponents (aka Kelly, Connor, Emmy and Zach) will welcome the break from those exhausting and sometimes violent matches. We will keep you abreast of the developments in this breaking story.

Adventures with Elle Grace

Simon's cousin Elle graced our presence yesterday while my sister Misty got her hair done. They are only 2 weeks apart but Elle seems light years ahead of him in size and maturity. Aren't girls always more mature than boys? They had some really cute moments that I captured on film...

What's not to love?

Back in the day when I was a teenager, I remember my Young Women teachers/leaders always telling us how much they loved us. And I thought in the back of my head, "They just have to say that. They don't really love us." I guess that was the cynical side of me coming out, but I honestly didn't think they, or my primary teachers, or my school teachers REALLY loved me. They just said they did. Totally okay - I had enough love at home from my family so I didn't feel any loss of love when I decided they didn't love me.

Now I'm on the flip side. I've been a YW leader for 4 years now. I've seen most of these girls come through my beehive class (12-13 year olds) and are on their way out of Young Women in the next year or two when they turn 18. I have history with them. I've never been the favorite leader due to the fact that I am a little more reserved around them but I do think they like me. I don't usually text them unless they text me. They usually don't come to me to talk about life or anything. But I love sitting back and watching them grow up. And guess what? I actually love them. I decided that last Tuesday at our Young Women in Excellence night. It was a red carpet night with "You're a star!" as the theme. We had a popcorn machine and sodas for the audience, and awards for each girl to come up and receive.

I was in charge of making a movie showcasing each girl talking about or performing their particular project ranging from improving their talents (singing, karate, piano) to reading the scriptures more to cake decorating to organizing humanitarian projects. This was such a fun project for me! I love editing video and making family DVDs. I do it all the time with my family video so my kids are used to the camera being in their face. Some of the girls weren't so cool with me filming them, but they did it anyway and it turned out so great. Some of them even performed on camera without hesitation.

Did I say that I love them yet? I love these girls. They are so special in their own way. I've seen some of them struggle socially but come out confident in themselves in the end. I've seen some of them struggle with us leaders but stick it out. I've seen some totally inactive girls become our most enthusiastic young women.

Track Day for Simon

What does a dad do when left with a very busy 2-year-old for the day? Some dads might stick them in front of the TV, or take them to the park, or to a playland. Not my husband.

My busy weekend last Saturday coincided with a great car event at the Larry H. Miller Motor Sportsway that Zach wanted to take advantage of. For a couple cans of food, anyone could take their car out on the track for a couple of laps which normally costs a pretty penny. BUT... he was on Simon duty that morning. I shoulda known that wouldn't stop him :) He buckled the car seat into the back of the Shelby and headed to Tooele. After waiting most of the morning to get on the track, they were off! Simon commented on the first turn of the track "Daddy! We fall off?" Taking those turns at 60 mph does stop the heart a little. But he was giggling the rest of the way. They had to follow a pace car so it never was dangerous to have Simon out there.

I hope hope hope this is a father-son moment that he will remember when he grows up. Not every kid gets to do that!

Jewel Kade weekend

This last week proved to be one of my busiest since starting as a stylist for Jewel Kade. I hosted 2 parties (thanks NICOLE and ADRI!!!). I took Emmy with me for the first time to Adri's party. She has been begging to come along to a party since I started and I didn't really think it was appropriate until this time. Turns out she didn't help me at all but played with her cousins all night long, which was just as well.

Friday morning I took my wares up to an awesome home in Bountiful for a 2 day boutique. Being my first boutique, I didn't know quite what to expect as far as sales. It's kind of a different situation when people aren't coming to look just at your stuff and there's a lot more to grab their eye. But since I didn't have to stay there the whole time, I thought it was worth experimenting. Turns out it did just as well as a party and I didn't have to spend any time there so I will be doing that again if the chance comes along.

Friday night was the 1st annual JK stylist success reception at the Blue Lemon in Alpine (great restaurant if you're down that way). I was able to hang with Janet Kinkade, the lady who started it all, and a lot of the stylists from around the country. I got a lot of great ideas about different ways to sell and different ways to wear the jewelry. It was kind of intimidating since it was totally obvious that a lot of these ladies are super serious about making a living at this and I'm just kind of doing it for fun.

Saturday morning was a JK jewelry show at the Bungalow in Pleasant Grove. All of the stylists in town were there to sell to the public as well as trying to recruit new stylists, but the ratio of stylists to the public was a little heavy on the stylist side. I was one of the fortunate ones to have some of my own customers come down for the event (I was the only one from Utah so I had that in my favor) so it was worth my time to be there. Emmy also wanted to go with me to this event, but after the first half-hour she was bored out of her mind. I think she is cured of wanting to tag along with me at these kind of things. A definite highlight of the event was meeting Heather Beers (star of "Charley" and "Baptists at our Barbeque" as well as the BrideAccess tv show host). She writes all of the copyright material for JK so she made an appearance. She is super nice and I was a little tongue tied trying to keep a conversation going with her so I felt kind of dumb.

All in all - a good Jewel Kade weekend. My December calendar is wide open if anyone wants to host a party! *hint hint* I will throw in a free Christmas charm of your choice on top of all the free stuff you earn for hosting a party.