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Monday, November 23, 2009

Up, Up and away . . .

Over the weekend I ate lots and lots and LOTS of Japanese rice crackers.  And I made LOTS of SPAM musubi, which made me extremely pop-U-lar on the home front.  And then I made a ginormous pot of orange soup with the leftover Costco Rotisserie chicken.  And then it snowed and my kids went wild with excitement all over the front lawn. 

For 10 minutes. 

But the honeymoon ended as soon as my daughter burst back into the house and declared: 

"Snow is not that fun." 

Shoots.  Why do honeymoon's have to end so quickly?

So we lit the fireplace and snuggled up on the couch and watched UP because I had not yet seen it. 

But now I have seen it.  

And it made me bawl like a newborn baby that gets what it's like to try and fly her townhouse over the Pacific ocean with a bouquet of helium balloons but has to let it go somewhere near Catalina Island because it's not as easy as Pixar makes it look to drag your past behind you with a rubber hose. 

But what a cute movie. I love action/adventure movies about grumpy old men seizing the day with a bunch of helium. (But then I love anything that advocates seizing the day with a bunch of helium. Especially if it involves the Bee Gees.) 

One thing I thought about while watching the grumpy old man get overcome by the spirit of adventure was: Ain't life just so unexpected!  And yet so predictable. 

If you had told me in June if I was going to gain five pounds before Christmas, I would have said, "AND HOW!"  

But if you had told me I would learn to make apple pie and that my twins would go to scouts in FULL uniform and that my daughter would be playing basketball for a high school in Utah where she would be voted team captain, I would have said, "Whatchyou talkin' bout Willis!?" 

My daughter quit playing organized basketball four years ago because no one would pass her the ball. 

Yet somehow, here we are. In Utah. Baking pies and wearing scout uniforms and playing basketball. 

btw, my daughter finished up her soccer season and was voted by her team mates as the Best Defensive Player.




I'm sorry I didn't say as much about her season as I did last year, but, remember how Jack Johnson used to show up at the soccer games when she played for Kahuku? 


Yea, well that never happened this year.  

Insert frowny face here. 


But back to the post . . .


I predicted that my thirteen year old son would play basketball, but I didn't expect him to play in his socks and in the snow and in his socks in the snow, or to watch YouTube (in his socks) so he could master the Allen Iverson killer crossoveror the Steve Nash counter streetball move or the Manu Ginobili jab counter.

And I never would have expected him to be invited to practice with a high school varsity team or to play a whole game without letting his feet touch the floor. 






You just never know what's around the corner, or when a a ginormous bouquet of helium balloons will lift you out of your comfort zone. 

It was a wonderful life in Hawaii, but if they ever make a movie about my life in Utah, Jimmy Stewart could totally play me. 


But he'll have to gain 5 lbs. 


P.S.  For those of you who don't believe me about my twins wearing full scout uniform, here's some photographic evidence:




18 comments:

Anjeny said...

Wowow..I'm actually first?!! How cool is that?

Anjeny said...

LOL...I was so excited about being first, I lost all my drain of thoughts.

Ok...hmmmm...your kids are absolutely talented. Love the photographic evidence of your son leaving in the air like that. That looked just like your hub did years ago. Sports do run in your family.

Way to go daughter T...smart, beautiful athletic girl...Crash, it's time u buy that shotgun, need to shoot off all the suiters...LOL.

The Songer said...

So are you trying to tell us that Scouting uniforms actually include a pair of pants that match their Scout Shirts? :) when did that happen? (heehee) Ive never heard Sis Ernestburg advise against wearing colorful surf shorts in the Uniform code!

Havent Seen Up yet, but from the sounds of your own adventure it sounds delirious.....

Sounds like you guys are adjusting better then most....Congrats to T! and Im jealous that your son knows how to fly!

Homer and Queen said...

No Jack Johnson? How about Donny Osmond? Oh yeah,...

April said...

Does your son walk on water too? You could make money off that!

I bet your daughter was soooo excited for the REAL. Did she watch the game?

Let's see any BYU coaches try and mess with your kids with all of the talents they have.....you will have a team of blog moms stampeding the campus! hehehe!

TisforTonya said...

hmmm... I'm starting to be okay with the fact that you had to move to the upper part of Utah... if you ended up in my scout troop you'd think we were one of those lame-o families that can barely get their boys to tuck their short sleeved scout shirt into their jeans after buttoning it over their t-shirt...

(great photos of your athletic geniuses!)

tattytiara said...

Woah, your kids are hard core! In the good way, I of course mean.

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Very cute family! Congrats on having some very pop U lar peeps in your fam. That's sorta awesome.

Jillybean said...

Those are some really great pictures of your son flying while playing basketball!
We're pretty serious about our scout uniforms in these parts.
I was just made a Bear leader and our boys always come in their full uniforms.
Because we bribe them with candy.

I'll see your five pounds and raise you to ten!

Martha said...

So that's what a real gym looks like. Do they put springs in the wood floors or something? Nah, maybe just Z's shoes, he's the only one jumping. I guess he has too since he's playing kids 3 years olders than him.

And will W quit growing already. I can tell he's up another two inches since you left. That probably put you back a pretty penny to buy those uniforms. All I can say is are you related to Jarom Au? (Ask Zach about that joke).

T looks like her elbows are doing some of her dirty work. I hope the New Mexico soccer coach doesn't come look at her and think her name is Elizabeth.

And about the 5 lbs. I warned you, too many pies and not enough treading water.

Martha said...

Ok, so you want to hear the latest? Huhn do you? Well Turkey Trot was almost cancelled because the new principal thinks it would take away from valuable class time. So the parents are helping to run it after school on Wed. Nan and Jim are both in it. Jim should move up two places this year because these two boys (who shall remain nameless), moved away to a place where turkey trot does not exist.

Dolly and kids are coming to our house for Thanksgiving!!! Except Perry says he's ready to start the floors. I'm so excited that he's ready to begin that we may end up eating outside.

We had regional conf. yesterday. Thomas S. was planning on coming, but his wife fell and so he sent a nice video and another Tom, L Tom Perry. It was in the CAC and all the stake centers and they said it wouldn't be on campus cable, but......it was!! Perry did a channel search right as we were getting dressed to go and found it on channel 55. So we changed back into our shorts and ran around the neighborhood telling everyone that we could watch it at home. Perry's kind of a hero now.

Then we had our traditional conference potluck in between our houses and we invited the new neighbors. They are more humorous that I thought. I think they'll be ok. Also the Duerden's and Smiths came.

Adam got a nice scholarship for winter and spring and he thinks he can spend money now since he will pay NO tuition, but get money back. Lucky duck. It's worth it to get good grades and also it helps to have a mom who knows all the deadlines so you can apply on time and get the best classes and teachers.

Josh tries out for bball next week. He's doing great and is actually hoping to start!!!! Akina is great. Send Zach back here next year to play with Josh.

Ok, that's the update for now. Sorry so long.

I am LoW said...

I loved UP.

I love kids who never touch the floor. Less sweeping and vaccuuming, right??

And I love basketball. I think, though, that since my feet never left the floor, my bum never left the bench. (high school...)

Cub scouts.... I am glad my sons are out. :)

I am LoW said...

( I didn't dislike cubs as I just made it sound. But I am still glad they are out)

:)

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

Ok Martha I enjoyed reading your post so much. Thanks for sharing.

Oh and Crash yours was nice also. Funny even. LY

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Oh Martha, I enjoyed your post too. What a good writer you've become. And funny too. I'm so proud of you. Thank you for keeping me posted on the latest scoop. I've been wondering what was going down in Laie.

Can't believe that about the Turkey Trot. Since when did LES care about valuable classroom time. hee hee What about Christmas program practice. Don't tell me that is cancelled too?

You're gonna get it for that New Mexico reference. Be on the look out for annual Turkey Trot tripping photos. hee hee

LoW, hee hee. Our scouts get their Eagle when they're 13 so I only have two more years to go and I'm done too! I can't wait.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Jillybean, my twins get bribed with candy too.

And YES Martha, I spent $115 on those uniforms. Do you know they have a whole scout store. It's just like a gift shop at Disneyland. Disneyland prices too. Only it's not as magical.

Iwa, Sis Ernestburg would be so proud. hee hee

I personally like the flowered shorts better.

Ha ha April about the stampeding moms. We have BLOG power now, baby!

Dolly said...

I'm catching up on all the Crash posts I've missed. I have not had my computer much in the last few days between Tristan and Josh using it all the time. Tristan because his is in for repair in Kailua since he dropped it down the marble staircase in Riyadh before we left. Josh because it is the long Thanksgiving weekend and he has taken Bryson's place at keeping Sean company for day after day. Sean is quite social and loves to have company.

Now your playlist is singing Rudolph! I'm so glad I can hear the music again.

I am so inspired to watch UP now. I bought the DVD from the DVD pirates at our Riyadh Coffee mornings but I haven't watched it yet. I caught the Twilight bug just before I left so that took precedence over any other leisure. Except for my visits to the Day Spa that is owned by 10 princesses. That was not something to be missed. If I would ever settle into one life and actually do the blogging that I wish I were doing, you would know all about what expat women do in Saudi.

In many ways, your life in Hawaii was a version of an expat family and now you are just back in the classic American suburban household with full dress scouting uniforms and athletic opportunities and facilities. Let me know when you get to the point that you want to smack people around for not appreciating their environment more and not realizing that they have so much abundance no matter how much they have. It will verify your X expat status.

LBBlum said...

I love the pictures of the boys in their uniforms!!! with the neck tie and pants... socks?? or do they wear slippahs?

I can't even imagine - how they are morphing into mainland kids... glad to hear they still appreciate spam.

We miss you guys tons! and tons! although- our house has the stomach flu--so you might not be missing us that much right now.

lub ya