A Huge Surprise

For six weeks, Myndee, Cherri, and I planned the perfect present for our friend's 40th birthday.  Two years ago, Michelle moved to Wyoming and left everyone behind.  She loves to come back and visit, but it's not as often as any of us would like, so we decided to drive the 7 hours to surprise her!  We let her husband know right away so he could make sure she didn't plan anything else for that weekend.  Then we called her new best friend, JaNeen, and asked her to plan a lunch at a local restaurant with a few of her new friends.  We were so afraid that someone would say something and ruin the surprise, but amazingly enough we pulled it off!  We showed up at her daughter's swimming competition, and at first she didn't seem to recognize us.  She stared blankly for a minute and then started to scream!  Fun, fun, fun!

Myndee, Sally, Michelle, and Cherri

 We had a great lunch at the local Mexican restaurant and had lots of fun laughing and telling Michelle stories!  It's amazing how quickly you make friends.  I really like JaNeen, Tamara, and Dana and I'm glad Michelle has great new friends in her town.

I made Michelle a photo scrapbook with pictures and letters from about 20 of her Pocatello friends telling her what they loved best about her.  People wrote such nice things about her that I'm thinking of moving so I'll be missed! :)

 

 Michelle took us to see Dirty Sally's, a nearby souvenir shop, but we were too late ... it had already closed.  I was really sad because I could see Dirty Sally t-shirts inside and I really wanted one, but we had fun taking pictures instead.  I guess I'll have to visit again just so I can have a great souvenir!

Good friends are the best gift in life, so it was really fun to surprise Michelle for her 40th birthday.  She's like a sister to me, and no matter how far she moves away, we'll always have that connection. Welcome to the 40 Club, Michelle!

We're Whovians!

Yes, I know this makes us a little nerdy, but our family loves the PBS series, Doctor Who!  Becky's family got us started on it several years ago, and now we excitedly stay up to watch each new episode on Saturdays.  We cried (well, I did, anyway) when David Tennant left the show but were happy to find that Matt Smith is a likable doctor, too.  We have loved each of the Doctor's traveling companions, and we all love the Blink episode best.  It's a family addiction.  

For Devin's birthday, we decided to get him Doctor Who themed gifts, and boy was he excited!  If I had more time this week I would have made him a Tardis cake (that's the flying phone box they travel through time in), but I decided he was probably a little too old for that anyway. 

He got a Doctor Who t-shirt, mug, vinyl stickers for his car and laptop, and a sonic screwdriver (the Doctor's cool tool) key chain.  He also got the nice blue shirt he's wearing in the picture, but it wasn't quite as exciting since it didn't have a Tardis on it.

Recently, we've discovered that there are quite a few fellow nerds among our acquaintance.  Our bishop's family loves the show and several of the kids' friends do, too.  Del and I are planning Halloween costumes that go along with the show, so we should be able to spot any other closet nerds at our next Trunk-or-Treat because they'll be the only ones who recognize us!

Happy Birthday, Devin!

BYU-I Mindy Gledhill Concert

Emma's obsession with Mindy Gledhill led us to Rexburg for her Pocketful of Poetry concert. We took Jessica Tolman with us, and she really livened up the car ride!  She's a funny girl, and Maren and Emma love to spend time with her.

 

  The music was terrific, and we loved hearing old favorites as well as new ones.

 Afterward, the girls were able to get their cd signed.  Emma made a point of telling Mindy how much she loved her boots!