Waite Girls Take Phoenix

My oldest sister, Rachelle, is about to turn 40. What better reason to plan a sister's getaway to Phoenix, Arizona?  

So we all hopped in planes from our various locations (Great Falls, MT; Medford, OR; Idaho Falls, ID; and Salt Lake City,UT) and met in Phoenix.

We ate, shopped, talked and went to Time Out for Women.  

We celebrated Rachelle's 40th birthday by eating at PF Chang's and honoring her with 40 memories.

We loved Time Out for Women.  Michael McClean was our favorite.  He is a big part of our childhood.

They had a photo contest for the most creative Time Out photo.  Lola made it on the big screen as a semi-finalist, but she wasn't the winner.  But she should have been. 

 Lola is the best baby I have ever met.  She smiles all the time.  She sat through almost the whole Time Out quietly.  She turns people's heads and gets tons of comments from strangers.

After attending Sacrament meeting at a random ward near our house, we went to visit the Mesa Temple.

We tried 3 times to eat at Paradise Bakery.  Twice it was closed, and then at the airport, it was coming soon....

Julie's version of this story:

The doorbell rang and Kaylynn answered it. It was a 12-year-old kid selling some items so he could go to the state fair today. He started showing Kaylynn what he had and then asked if she was on a diet or anything. Kaylynn said, "Someone bring me eight dollars!" and had a soft heart and purchased this.




Phoenix Quote Wall:

Should we getsumthintoeat?

At the Hard Rock Cafe

Mom - Do you any of you want pop?

Waitress - Pop? Where are you from, the midwest?

Jeanette - I am having memory problems.

Julie - Like what?  Can't remember?

To Diana, That dress really goes with your outfit.

Jeanette - How did all of our type A personalities miss that detail?

Julie - Men just want steak and potatoes.  Women want a chocolate brownie.

Diet Coke, please.

We don't have any.  Is Diet Pepsi okay?

Is monopoly money okay?

Time Out advice:

Switch from a To Do List to a Ta Da List 

(Remember to appreciate all that you do get done in a day)

A random lady: Can I buy a diaper from you?

Jeanette: Sure you can have a diaper, but don't pay me.  Just pay it forward.

Emily Watts' Time Out Talk:

I went to a swimsuit store.  I think it was called Hell.  Do you have one of those here?

Flesh-colored spandex is no less alarming than flesh-colored flesh.

Julie- Can someone hand me a broccoli stick?

Diana - we are going to lose weight because we left one bite on our plate (at PF Chang's)

Julie - I am only as smart as my GPS.

Matt's text to Jeanette:  We are working on conserving hot water while you are gone, so we are foregoing showers, laundry and the dishwasher.

Rob's facebook post:  I really appreciate all that my wife does as a mother.

What our husband's did on Saturday while we were gone:

Dad - drive to West  Yellowstone and eat at Gusher

Nathan - help someone move and shoot guns (he didn't really shoot guns but that is what he wanted to do)

Matt - watch a football game and work on his sculpture

Austin - build a barn

Tristan - coach 3 basketball games and taxi kids around

Doug - buy a classic car

Rob - take two little girls to gymnastics and try to entertain them all day

We left 18 kids and 7 husbands home and had a fun time with the GIRLS!

Hikes, Temples, Snow, Kids

We had a fabulous hike in Waterton to Forum Lake on Labor Day with the quality Lee cousins. We hiked so far we made it to British Columbia.   Although we didn't catch any fish, and it was a bit crisp and cool at the lake, it was a fun day. It was a 4 km hike each way.  We thought the younger kids would get tired. We were wrong. They were awesome hikers.

Hanna and her bodyguards (Tyson Sommerfeldt and Brock Fletcher) for her student council election speech. She did awesome. She won the vote, so she is the 6th Grade Girls Rep.  Jill also ran for student council and was elected student body president.

A girls trip to Kalispell to buy roofing supplies, coats, shoes and groceries of course.  It was a beautiful fall drive. We had a fun day!  We made memories like sitting in the back of the truck cutting the last piece of roofing material with scissors so it would fit in the truck.  Hanna on the way home, "Lucy's armpits smell like Subway."

Our first big snow storm. Not loving it.

Our visit to the Calgary Temple Open House.  It was beautiful.  It is decorated with the theme of wheat and the Alberta rose.  Someday Carly will say, "Why did you let me wear that purple shirt with my black and white dress?"

Our awesome friend, Hailey Lowe, got married in Logan, Utah.  She told her dad that Austin was one of the 3 people that had the biggest influences in her life.  We have known Hailey for lots of years through roping and rodeos.  Austin was a part of her support system when her parents went through their divorce. She found a great man to take her to the temple.  So Austin, Lucy, Carly and I made a crazy fast drive to Utah to go to her wedding.  It is 10 hours from our house to Logan.

The most memorable story of the trip: we get to the temple about 20 minutes before the sealing.  Austin hands the nice man at the desk his temple recommend, and he says it is expired.  It expired 12 days before.  They wouldn't let him in until he had a interview with the bishop and stake president.  So he missed the sealing.  We tried to plead our case.  We even knew the man at the desk from the first ward we were in when we got married.  No luck.  At least he was there for the pictures, luncheon and reception.  We were glad we went.

We did have a few other benefits of the trip.  We got to see my Mom and Dad (and Doug and Emily for a few short minutes).  Austin bought 2 new suits (needed for his new high council calling.)  We were in Mr. Mac for 20 minutes and successfully chose two suits on the promotion buy one, get one for $1.  The nice man even had them tailored and we picked them up after the luncheon.   I also got to stop at the case lot sale at Lee's Market Place.  Who can pass up cans of cream of chicken soup for 55 cents and tomato soup for 25 cents a can.

Jill and Hanna stayed in Cardston with our quality friends, the Sommerfeldts.  Jill had a student council retreat.  Jill and Hanna also went to a rodeo on Saturday.

Sunday

Austin joined the ranks of the High Council today. He got released from young men's last Sunday and sustained to the High Council today. He is getting set apart tonight. The funniest story of the day is that Sister McMurray (a sweet lady probably in her upper 70s) came up and said, "You have to watch out. They always call bishops from the high council. But your husband would make a great bishop, especially since he is so nice to look at."

Another funny story is that we had our Primary Presentation today. Carly's part was to say Henry B. Eyring. She has been practicing for weeks. This morning all the girls were practicing their parts and Carly said, "I am just going to say Hen." Austin said, "No you won't, you will say Henry B. Eyring." She said, "You just watch me." She did great on her part and really said Henry B. Eyring.

A Day of Surgery

Departure – 5:30 am
Surgery (Umbilical hernia repair - I hope that's not TMI)– 9:25 am

Anestheisologist – Can you see me okay, you keep furrowing your eyebrows? (of course I couldn’t see him, they don’t let you wear glasses or contacts for surgery)

First thing I hear when I am waking up from surgery: “Johnny, you have to get back in bed.  Johnny, get back in bed.  There are a lot of women here that don’t want to see you in your hospital gown. We will take you to your room in a minute.”  (Johnny, a young man in his twenties who just had surgery, too)

The nurse taking off my IV – “Who did this IV?  She really taped it on.  You look like a package.”

What Austin said to his Mom who calls that night to see how I was doing. “They are keeping her over night. I just got home from work.  I need to call and see if she is okay.  They said something about something rupturing.”  Of course she believed him.

What Austin buys when he is the one to stop at the store on the way home: chocolate milk. “It is for our celebration of surviving the first day of school.”

I do wish I knew who my unseen guardian angels were who were with me today.

I know who my visual angels are:

Marilee Cahoon, for driving me to and from the hospital, leaving very early in the morning, pushing me to the car in a wheelchair and having Michael McClean music playing for our ride home

Barb Salmon, who kept Carly for the day and even had to drive her to town for her preschool screening and is bringing us dinner tonight

Tammy Sommerfeldt, who brought us dinner last night and drove Carly to preschool today

Also, thanks to Marilou Egan for the cute jar of jam (something good to come out of the day); Dixie Bevans for the meal; Kris Olsen for the meal, and Shauna Smith for the cupcakes.  We are surrounded by great people.

I saw a little note Lucy wrote "Asx mom if she needs eneetheg"

My great husband and kids for making breakfast and lunches, etc.  and Jill for doing everyone's hair.

My experience with the Canadian Health System was very pleasant and professional. I did wait a year for this surgery, but I wasn’t on the urgent list.   And I didn’t have to pay a dime.

Having surgery on the first day of school was a little bit crazy, but we all survived.
I will be okay if I never have to be the patient in a hospital again.

Early Birthday Party for Jill

 We decided to have Jill's birthday party before school started even though it is not for a few weeks.
We are lucky enough to live in a place where we can go for a short drive to a national park for an afternoon birthday party.  So we gathered a fun group of almost 14-year-olds and went to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton National Park.

Happy early Birthday Jill!

And the Barn Came Tumbling Down

Austin decided it was time for the old barn to go. We hope Grandpa and Grandma are okay with that.  We told them, and they said, okay, just save the poles.  It was an old barn that was already here when Austin's parents moved in.  Grandpa did some patching up, but the hay was still getting wet and moldy.  We wouldn't even let the horses go in so they didn't get hurt.

So we emptied the barn, took off the pieces that were still good, and along came Mel.

From the time we saw Mel drive in until he drove away...50 minutes.

Lucy brought drinks and candy for the occasion.

Mel saving the poles

It is a good thing that Austin has some good builder friends who are going to help us build a new lean-to for the horses.

Summer Rocks!

Summer Events: 

Jill & Hanna in Cougar Basketball Camp

4th of July in Polson, Montana

We celebrated with Austin's Aunt Becky and Uncle Robert.

Puppies
Grandpa's dog, Pepper, had 6 puppies (thanks to a wandering neighbor dog)
It was Hanna's job to sell them.  She sold 5 of them and she convinced Austin to let her keep one.  They are actually so cute and have provided HOURS of summer entertainment.

Our cute friend, Dayna Sommerfeldt, came to pick out which puppy they wanted.

Waterton Horse Back Ride

We enjoyed a beautiful day going up to Rowe Lake on our horses.  There were a few parts where I didn't look down and hoped my horse didn't slip.  And we did see a bear.  But it was a fun day with fun friends!

Thanks to Dixie and Marilee for the pictures!!!

Me on my horse, Lena

Lower Rowe Lake

Marilee Cahoon, Dixie Bevans, Shauna Smith Colynda Duce
Barb Salmon, Hali Leishman, me