Memories with Sandra & the old neighborhood, Part 2....

OK, so as I mentioned the other day, I recently got to see Sandra Kidd again. How funny to think about some of the memories we've had together. I completely forgot a moment, until I saw her comment, that I think to myself...how could I forget?! How could I not have included this in the "Get to know Sandra". Many years ago, as young & oh so smart teens, we felt the need to confirm our lifetime friendship. You must have some kind of ritual for this bonding moment to be memorable(and yet, I still forgot), right? Of course! So, let me try to give you the best visual of the moment while I try to recall the specifics. I'm sure it's in my journal actually....humm, maybe I should go find it. It describes the moment Sandra & I became true blood sisters. Now this was before Aids was even talked about, or anything that should suggest you should not share blood. (fortunately we didn't have much to worry about at the time :}). So, we had the music set...I can't recall which music; but, we're sure it had to have been Purple Rain since we listened to that on a daily basis :}. If not, then I'm guessing it was Depeche Mode's Blasphamous Rumors (another one listened to often with us two!). We got the razor blades & put our bloody fingertips together over the candle flame & said our little ritual. It was like a "Girls of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" moment. :} Ha Ha....that just makes me laugh. We we're such dorks! We, in our sense of rebellious nature & obvious destructive behavior, had all ready done silly things like carving erasure burns in our hands for the initials of our crushes at the moment (and we had a lot....man, I think back & know I was waaaayyy to boy crazy!! Please help me if Kaley is anywhere near that!!). Good thing my name also starts w/ S, made it easier to explain! :} Though, really...how do you actually explain burning your skin w/ an erasure until it is raw?! And then, having a new crush, and changing that to a B... OK, seriously, teenagers are so stupid sometimes! I do have the remaining scars that, despite reminding me of how dumb I was, makes me smile all the time! :} Speaking of scars, there could be a whole nother blog...oh the stories each one could tell! :} Kind of like our blood line & family history, they are reminders of what you've been through up until now, good & bad. (OK, so got sidetracked...we'll call that the ADD in me :}). Sooo, yea, we both had hard lessons to learn in becoming who we are today. You really have to wonder how we lived through some of them, honestly. But, here we are...SURPRISE, WE'RE STILL HERE! :}

And as I think about times with Sandra, of course I think of the neighborhood as a whole. Which makes me think a lot of our times hanging out in "the field". What a fun place to have in a neighborhood full of kids! (now a bunch of nice homes :(). Many of you will remember this field...next to our elementary, Twin Peaks. Just across from the church. This is the field that my brother, and the late & great, Kelly Gunderson (oh I miss him! we hung out in that field many a times! :}), and friends started a mattress on fire. (It's funny now! :}...and that was nothing like the time he burnt his leg while jumping off the roof of the church & started his pants on fire with the matches & rubber bands in his pocket...yea, not so funny! That was Steve, gotta luv my bro!! :}) So anyway (there I go again), many things happened in that field , whether it was when we were little & playing "Charlie's Angels" (I have visuals of Melissa & Pam running up the hill back to back with their hands held out as if they had the guns :}); many rounds of hide & seek; riding our bikes for hours...learning how to master the jumps & where the good ones were; cutting through to get to Jill Chytraus or Heidi Stewart's house to play in their pools or tennis court, or whatever fun activities we could find (what fun houses those two had!); or, hanging out down in the hidden valley, our cool cubby, to drink a beer or whatever other things we shouldn't be doing; or, for all the 1st kisses that may have occurred there! :}...oh, the stories the land could tell! :} Please remind me to be understanding & forgiving to my kids as they enter their teenage years.. I guess now that I write this & think it through, the real question is....how did our parents survive?! Maybe that's the lesson we had to learn?! As we are now parents trying to survive raising our kids. Who knows?! So really, let's be honest, the "What goes around comes around" scares the hell out of me!!

As long as we're laughing about the silly old days...let me throw in a few pictures that she had that certainly should give you a good laugh!

Don't ask.....just go ahead & laugh!

One of our many camping trips where we had to be daring enough to swim down the river in our bras & panties (I'll leave those pictures out thanks :})...such rebels at church camp!

And a couple of others of us on our visits over the years..

Sorry folks, we're still here & not going anywhere anytime soon! :} At least, not that we know of!

Enjoying Hot Summer Days & Nights...

Oh, we begged & begged for warmer weather, so we got it! Man is it hot right now in Salt Lake City! I love the weather here though really, you get it all! We just had a little too many cold days for too long, so I did my little sunshine dance & well, Mother Nature listened. Sorry for those that are hating it! :} See, the point is...you've got to enjoy them! Make the most of it, find a way to cool yourselves down! If you're not fortunate enough to have your own pool, well, there's certainly got to be one in the neighborhood, right? We headed back to Kearns Park, there by the Olympic Skating Rink, which is a fun one. The fact they're open later helps too when you can't go play until work is done! :} Doug joined us later as he had work to do out on the roads (never ends for him, poor guy!). He is so fun to watch with the kids...just don't mess with Daddy too much, 'cuz he'll fight back! :} That's our "B-Dizzle", as he calls himself these days :}

Seriously Daddy's Girl in every way, she's got him wrapped around her finger all ready! :}

They have lots of fun little slides there. Here's cute Dyl playing with his sister! :} But, we love "The Bucket" the best! :} Here's the girls, Kaley & Asia (who saw her other friend there too), anxiously awaiting for it to drop! Oh, and side note...some of you know the "must go to Justice" story. Here's her cute swimming suit that she "HAAAAAD to have because it is JUST SOOOO CUTE!" :} Oh my goodness, she is SUCH a girl! :}

Despite Dylan being his mischievous self, he is awfully cute with his siblings at times, as we saw above. Though here he is waiting for Kaley to come down to scare her. That's our Dyl! :} "Wheeeee!!...."
Perfect way to cool off I'd say!

So, besides the pool, you should also enjoy just being outside. Enjoy the fresh air! Whether that's in your own yard, up in the mountains, on the beach (of course, that all depends where you live! :})...take it in! OK, so it's hot...deal with it. Get a fan, turn on the fountain, get on the good tunes, cook up something yummy on the BBQ, have nice cold drinks on hand & just chill on the patio. Always a good answer too! (So, if you don't have any of the above, just do your best to adjust as needed :}). By the way...Have I told you love my man! :}

Now add some good friends along with it....all the better!! :} Melissa & Paul joined us for the night. I don't know how to explain how Lissa (as I call her) & I are such good friends, we've just got each other from the beginning. We've known each other 10 years now, that's crazy too. And despite things that are hard to talk about, hard to deal with, you hope you have someone who will listen & do their best to understand regardless. I won't get into it, it's not my place. I also know this is hard for some people who may be reading. It's hard to see someone move on when needed, when you love all the people involved. It doesn't mean I stop caring about those friends & don't want anything but the best for them! But, what I will say, is I do believe you should go with your heart, and know there is a reason for everything! Know what the difference is of course (what's in your heart verses the moment); but, don't hold yourself back from being the person that you are inside, and do whatever you have to do to keep your soul alive & well. Love the life we've got, right? As Bob Marley says, "Everything's Gonna Be All Right!" :} We've had some tough conversations & I believe in Lissa, she is truly good person. I love her zest for life & her way with words. I tell ya, and I've said it before, there's something about those Melissa's in my life! :} And Paul is a great guy...an AMAZING photographer, works in ATC, loves the nature, appreciates life, like Lissa. I'm very happy for them & wish them all the best!!

Luv ya Lissa...thanks for a fun night & more great conversations! :}

Hope you're enjoying your summer so far too!! If not, we'll it's not too late; but, you better hurry because it's all ready 2/3rd's over! :{

Have you met my friend, Sandra?....

Meet another long time friend, Sandra (Kidd) Pannell. Sandra lived on my same street growing up. A lot of her siblings were the same age/friends with my siblings, so we seemed to know each others families well! I love that about our old neighborhood! There was so many kids, we were all a pretty tight nit group. I'm sure I've mentioned it before; but, I loved the traditional outside games we used to play together like Kick The Can, Steal The Flag, or whatever fun activity allowed us to run around in the streets of the neighborhood. You see those emails that talk about "the good old days" and that kind of neighborhood. Ours was definately it! We played until the parents would scream out the door telling you it was time to come in. There was the 4 of us who would tend to always be together, especially on those summer days/nights! This was Melissa Workman, Sandra Kidd, Pam Jones & I. We were always switching clothes (OK, let me rephrase....they would let me wear thier clothes despite me always ruining them & after I got a job & actually started buying a few of my own, they would borrow them every now & then :}). We would have so much fun at camps together, usually the ones that were causing a bit of mischief! :} Like one year, after Poltergeist came out, and we stacked all the chairs from the different camps into the middle of the field in the middle of the night. I can't tell you how many times we sat in our rooms talking about the boys, or singing & dancing to that fabulous music of the 80's! I will always think of Sandra when it comes to Prince...we probably listened to Purple Rain 200 times or more while sitting in her room (oh, the smile that brings me :}). We definately went through our rebellious stages together...though she had one up on me with the mohawk & spiky hair! :} Of course, my "80's Hairstyle" wasn't any better! Probably one of my favorite "rebellious moments" was when we sluffed Sunday School & stole Mom & Dad's car to go to McDonalds. Sure enough, the car overheated & I drove home panicked that it was going to blow since a lot of smoke was coming out of it! We made it back just as it stalled in the driveway, shaking like crazy, just in time to get back to Sacrament Meeting. And as I looked across the pews & saw her, all I could do was giggle that we made it back without the parents even knowing (again, sorry Mom & Dad :}).

Sandra moved away years ago & pretty much swore off ever moving back to Utah. I know she had her reasons...it's not an easy place to live when you don't completely agree with the culture & all! :} But, we know it's a beautiful state & once we can get past the differences that shouldn't matter, I think she realized it's not such a bad place after all! (OK, so she may still need a little persuasion; but, she is back now regardless! :}) She moved back this past winter & I believe was one of the few who was loving all the snow we got this year! She's been living in Georgia, so she's missed it! Personally, I would have been happy to ship it down to her if she missed it that bad; but, hey, to each their own! :}

So she finally got to make it to the Coleman Bash this year. Unfortunately I didn't get a whole lot of time to catch up as I was busy being the Hostess; but, it meant a lot that her & her family could make it still! We got to finally have some one on one time last weekend which was very nice! It's interesting to sit & talk to a long time friend & see where life has taken them. Who knew the paths we'd take, the hardships we'd experience, the blessings we would have, the roller coaster ride along the way. But, to be able to sit back & reflect, and know we've survived so far (which, let's be honest, was not something we were sure of at some points in life), is a pretty darn good feeling too! :} Sandra has become the technology gu-ru over the years & is the one who got me blogging, and Facebooking, and even a little Twitter now & then (though I just don't have time for that too often ). Regardless, she's taught me how easy it can be to stay in touch, no matter where you are, and how you never have to lose those friendships you are fortunate to create in life. Thanks for thanks Sandra, luv ya girlfriend! :}

Dad & Sherrie's Visit

As we mentioned, we had the wonderful surprise of Granddad & Gramma Sherrie here for a quick visit this past weekend to celebrate the holiday with us. Doug is much like his Dad, which is a good thing! I love his kick back style & love for good music! (despite my fears of being the opposite before I actually met him. Being a Colonel in the Air Force, I wasn't sure what to expect! :} I was definately proven wrong & have never had to respond "Yes Sir or No Sir"! :}) The kids love any chance with Gramma & Granddad they can get too!

Now this is a great sight to see...Dad & his two sons! :} You couldn't tell heh?! :}

It's fun to see how Greg has progressed as a Daddy.

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday evening. After all the work the party involved, we were really looking forward to kicking back like that!

Thanks again for making the trip Dad & Sherrie...what an awesome surprise! We love you lots!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!

I'd have to say, The 4th of July has to be one of our favorite holidays! It's so good to take time out to appreciate this incredible country we live in & to celebrate the freedom that we have! :} At the same time, I hope everyone stops & takes a moment to thank/pray for our soldiers who keep it this way!! God Bless the USA!! It's also the time of year that we really look forward to. The time that brings so many of our family & friends together at our annual party. This was our 13th year holding the big bash, and once again we pulled it off! I don't how we do it, it's always a little crazy to put together & make it work; but, with the help of many, it always works out! My only regret each year is that I don't get more time to spend with those people that I really enjoy seeing; but, someone has to run the show! Why not crazy me?! :} Fortunately Doug is willing to play along & I think really enjoys it himself too! :} This year was full of surprises!! The first one, which was so awesome by the way, was hearing Dad & Sherrie's voices as they walked in our home saying "We heard there was a party going on here!" Dad & Sherrie live in San Antonio, TX; so it's not like we would expect them to just drop by! That really meant a lot to us that they would even consider making the visit just to enjoy the festivities! And the fact they made it a surprise to all of us is even better!

Dad went right to work helping out with the BBQ

Sherrie enjoyed the downtime!
It was so fun to have them there & for our friends to finally meet them! Of course I always love to spend time with my family too! :}
My siblings can always make me smile! :} One of the few times I saw Kaley this night. And let me also point out, I believe this was outfit #1 out of 6! Such a girly girl!!
I love how this brings Doug & his brother, Greg, together each year too! The two pyrotechnics who were in charge of the firework show! My sweet lil' niece, Jazzy
So glad my other sweet niece, Anjila, made it this year too! And how nice of her to bring along a couple of our other favorite Utes...her best friend, and fellow Utes Cheerleader, Reagen Probst, and Utes Quarterback, Corbin Louks
Another cute niece of mine, Brianna, with her favorite cheerleaders! And the boys just thought that was so awesome! They have total bragging rights now! :} (of course Doug & I were just as giddy being the big fans we are, let's not lie! :})
So cute! :} Also glad to have "our other family" there too! (The Thropps/Katris/Jones Families)
Doug & Greg doing their master work at the BBQ while Tony waits patiently! :} Always fun to share this with the neighbors each year too!
Jello anyone? Let's eat!!
..or just sit there & pout because we want to be a drama girl at the moment! :} I was so glad that school friend, Holly Lunt, and friends, joined us this year too! I'm so glad to be in touch with her again....one of my reasons why I love Facebook! :}
Another surprise...Daniella was here! She flew in from Florida without me finding out! Wow, that was neat too, and sure nice of her to do! She's been a traveling fool lately, good for her!
The bouncy houses were once again a hit with the kids (and some adults...though somehow we didn't get many of us laughing in there this year, like last year, which was a big moment of laughter!) I luv my family! :} Jeff (aka: The Glowstick Man), was so kind to once again bring his supply & keep everyone entertained & full of bling!!
The kids had fun putting them together! Good to be w/ Daniella & Carla
Surprise #3: Sirma & Wendy were also in town & came to the party! These are some old friends of ours from Fidelity, who have been living in CA for a while now. We ran into Sirma at Costco the day before & was shocked to see her then. Had no idea her, Wendy & Daniella were all up to something! And you know I always love time with my Bonko Babes!
And of course the Jazzerbabes too! :}Long time, and dear, neighbors, Paul & Darlene, are sadly moving away to CO soon. We will miss them! He's taught Doug a lot of traits over the years, we will be forever grateful!
Fun times with the friends for sure!We'll call this "Fun with Natalie & Carol", as they were put on a stick to join us for the party too!
Then it was time for fireworks to be let off! Ummmm....why is Dylan holding one? This can't be safe!
Who me?! This is me running away, I have nothing to do with it! :}
The Three Girls together again! We try to get this picture every year, I don't think they've missed more than 1 in the 13 years! Abrea, one of our many soldiers we are so grateful for, and friend, Michelle
I love us! :} Oh, fun times for sure!! Nothing like creating the memories & having pictures to prove it! (which I'm sure will be good when I have altheimers & can't remember! :}) Until next year....remember, just celebrate what you are fortunate to have, and don't let life slip you by without appreciating each chance you get to enjoy it!