"Eclipse" review

I've been asked to blog more which is bizarre because I think there are only about 6 people including myself who read it - not even Jeff reads our blog. Anywho and this was too big for facebook - this has been on my mind.

Went to watch "Eclipse" last night - which by the way, when I was invited to Melissa's 30th birthday party, I had no idea what "Eclipse" was. I thought it was an action adventure type movie.......sadly mistaken when we went to Burger King on our way out of town and the movie was advertised all over the store......Jeff laughed at me and was happy to see I wasn't crazy for the series......still am I the only who didn't know this?! Even my brother-in-law could quote from movie #2....in light of the series, here are some questions I'd like answers to - any help would be great. So happy birthday Melissa - thanks for the party invite and we must be BFF's because I actually paid to go to a movie and a movie I wasn't ever going to watch. :)

What do the vampires (Edward's family) eat when they "go hunt"?

Why is Edward so creepy? He's like the stalker boyfriend - always reading her thoughts, keeping her from other boys and constantly asking her to marry him......

Why does Bella keep going back to Edward, when clearly Jacob is the better option?

Why aren't there any other boys in the movie that could be better than the wolf and the vampire?

Why doesn't the dad just move them out of state?

Does he (the dad) know Edward is a vampire?

Why does Bella want to be a vampire so badly - does she really want to "live" on blood? Please ruin it for me and tell me she doesn't actually become a vampire - she'll regret it.

And REALLY, does Jacob own a shirt or does it just get in the way every time he transforms - you would think the same thing would happen to his shorts, yet he wears shorts all the time?

And doesn't it seem totally random that the only big name in the movie is Dakota Fanning? Well aside from Jacob, aka Shark Boy.

And did you notice that 2 of the actors: Bella's mom and dad play bad guys in Season 2 and 3 of "24"?

And riddle me this: why if I can't stand this series is it taking up so much of my brain power? It haunted my dreams last night which was extremely irritating and I couldn't sleep. I can say this was far better than the last one - happy to see lots of action and I don't mean all the sappy teenage love drama/crap.

Hey baby, let's go to Vegas!

Can you name the singer!?

Back in June, Jeff and I decided to take at least one vacation, but it had to be close and we hadn't seen Jeff's parents for a long time. Last time we saw Jeff's dad was, well I can't remember......So Vegas here we come. Eric and Sharolyn (Jeff's younger brother) were going for a couple weeks so we decided to crash their party and meet their little girl - Kaibrey. 

We went the week of June 22nd (Jeff's dad was gone to Idaho to take care of his mom, next time we'll see him) - Jeff's mom's birthday and the day she lost her job......I hope we were a good distraction for her or maybe more of a motivator to find a job quickly to get away from her LOUD, LOUD boys and grandson. :)

We had a great time - walked the strip for 4 hours during the heat of the afternoon, enjoyed the first show of the Bellagio fountains for the day, walked to the M&M factory, cursed the construction, enjoyed some free snacks at a new art exhibit and an overly expensive fro-yo store (I had the last Coke....it was perfect!), a lame trip on the monorail that was supposed to save us time.....and cursed those handing out trashy fliers in swarms....Luckily they ignore you if you have children (there may be some moral code......) Those people would pass me up and head straight for my brother-in-law who was walking behind us....As soon as Lea started walking with him, they stopped attacking him. Which is good because I would have had a good smack-down with those individuals for handy my kid such trash!!! That was an exhausting day, but the kids were all great, we survived and are still talking to each other. :)

Bellagio Garden - my favorite place to visit: Jeff, Abbey, Luke, Lea, Uncle Steven

Waiting for the fountain show to start - the first one of the day. We've never been to the Strip during the day....not sure what to expect.

My kids, Jeff, Steven, Eric (& Kaibrey), Sharolyn

One should always be aware of two things: 1: Mormons trying to imitate Capt'n Morgan and 2: billboards in the background.....lucky for me this was all we got and I didn't have to photoshop anything out....whew.....

Steven trying to be funny with upside down bunny ears.....

Part of the show - my 2nd favorite place to be on the Strip. (I only have 2 places which I like.)

One of the fountains was broken - the show went on anyway, then these guys came out to fix it. I was fascinated - looked like something out of a James Bond movie. :)

On to the M&M Factory.....which by the way is not close to the Bellagio......AND IT WAS HOT!!!

Yikes!

Looking for the monorail to make our walk shorter, we had to go to City Center - a new upcoming, over the top, ritzy, uber-expensive Shopping/Living place. This gorgeous water feature lined the entrance.

Inside there was this really cool display with swirling water tunnels - it was the entertainment we needed and bench for me to sit on - I was just about done. Although the free snacks at the art exhibit were just the pick me up I needed to keep going......plus this place was giving away free samples at the fro-yo place. And the stairs were gorgeous! But I didn't notice until we walked all the way down and looked back at them.

Did I mention is was extremely hot and there was construction.......I can't tell you how irritating that was.....mostly the construction, then we backtracked on the monorail to find this really YUMMY/CHEAP strawberry shortcake place, only to find out that City Center now stood where it once was......so sad. So back again towards the Bellagio and to the car. We did have an enjoyable time together, but were glad to make it back to the car and take our shoes off.

Next adventure was to the splash pad at 6 pm. I love that we can still go at this time and enjoy the water w/o freezing....well some of us can. :) This was a different day... :)

Love Jeff and Steven looking so "tough" under the water.....swings and Grandma trying to avoid the camera....got her though. :)

We (the big kids) went to a movie and left Grandma to enjoy her grandkids. Aren't we the best!?! Saw "Knight and Day" - pretty funny. And it's always an adventure when Jeff is driving......we missed a few stop signs, pulled through valet parking and back around, all the while Eric was trying to keep up without getting nauseous. :) Had to be there I guess - good times!

Camping, waking up, and bacon

It's HOT!

Saturday was a busy day. 

*We went to a funeral for a friends' baby - bittersweet. 

*Came home, Jeff helped our friends (BECKERS.......) move to their new home in Gilbert and was there to help install lights and just be good free labor. Not totally free - he charges pizza and soda. :) 

*My brother and sister-in-law came to go to the Temple and I enjoyed watching 8 kids by myself.....which is 6 less than when we host our babysitting co-op. Easy as pie!

*I went out for a night on the town....to Walmart - Jeff met me there on his way back from Gilbert. Why is that together we can convince one another to buy all sorts of junk, but individually, we are as cheap as the come!?!?

*Came home from our "date" to find the a/c not working properly. Sitting at cozy 82 and the a/c just running, no air coming out.

Sunday: Turns out if you wake up at 8:00 am for 9:00 am church and have a 4 people to get ready, and a 20 minute drive......you'll end up late for church. Oh well, what else is new!? We're trying.

*Found out another friend's mom was in a serious motorcycle accident and in Trauma ICU at a local hospital. Jeff went along to help give a blessing to her. 

*return home to still no cool air, but it could be worse. 

Monday: Jeff stays home from work, we go to the pool, several phone calls later and the a/c guy finally shows up at 4:30 pm only to inform us, they need to order a new motor.......great it's almost 90 degrees.....

*drive to Gilbert where the Beckers take pity on us and let us stay with them in their new home - it's HUGE!

Tuesday:*back for swim lessons, hurry home because the a/c guy is coming......supposed to be there at 10:30, comes at 12:30 - Jeff is waiting at home again

*we return from the pool to a lovely cooled home - sweet A/C!!!

It's been an emotionally and physically draining weekend, but one that's memorable.

There's 104 days of summer vacation.....June party!

This party was brought to you by Phineas and Ferb of the Disney Channel. A family favorite - even Jeff will watch it and sincerely laugh. :) It's Phineas and Ferb and the Backyard Beach party - LUCAS TURNS 4!!!

He actually had several little parties, but this was the boy party he'd been wanting and lucky for us, Walmart party section had all sorts of cheap party supplies for this theme. Birthday is actually June 10th.

Pizza, chips, fruit and BIG cupcakes

Chase, Mason, Ethan, Soren, Lucas, Jaxon, Josh (in the chair)

Lea and Abbey

Water balloons, slip n' slide and backyard fun!

3 of my favorite photos:

This big blow up water thing was about 4 houses away......we used a hose and a tarp for our slip n'slide :)

The big Boys waiting for their turn........watch out kids!

Awesome! Jeff, Scott & Steve - thanks for coming!! :)

I wish I could find one from a couple years ago at Lea's party - it was Jeff, Scott and Pete Sorensen - we entertain all ages!!

FAMILY PARTY:

Nuff said

Sweet looking Lightening McQueen

Daddy gives the coolest gifts! Army guys, a whoopie cushion and nasty teeth........

Time for dessert!

Chocolate tort - yummy!!

Happy 4th birthday LUCAS!

April re-cap

I missed a bunch of stuff from April - Conference, Easter Pageant, Beatles Rockband, another "jam session", my birthday.....to name a few.

Easter Pageant: that was eventful....I have never been and so we decided to brave the crowds and protesters to attend. Erin drove down early, I waited for all the kids to finish school and come with 6 kids. She had to sit there from 3pm on and wait for all of us to show up - started at 7:30ish. I thought I may have gone crazy before we got there, but we survived the 45 minute drive and I'm only slightly deaf from the noise level in the van. It was a beautiful time, we sat 3rd row center in the chairs - thanks to Erin! Live animals, great music - the kids enjoyed it and asked lots of questions.

Erin and Ally

Abbs, me, Lukie, Lea

Jeff and I

Conference weekend was another adventure. Jeff was sick, Abbey was cranky and sentenced to solitary in her crib and the other two colored while we pretended to get something out of conference. It's a good thing we can read it in the Ensign.

coloring

coloring conference packets

 sad little Abbey - not coloring anymore

 sickly Jeff - slept the day away

Beatles Rockband with the Sorensens - we broke 1,000,000 points on a song!!!! It was a beautiful thing and I scored 100% on my guitar part!!! A proud moment for us. :) We've been working on this since we purchased the Beatles Rockband game last year.

 WAHOO!!! Me, Jeff, Angie, Pete (those are how we scored!)

photo by Lea: me, Jeff, Ang, Pete

"Jam" session - 25 lbs later, made 14 jars of cooked jam and 14 freezer jam jars. Plus ate a bunch of them in between. :) Finally homemade jam!!

Happy birthday to me! I'm...........31. Wow - where did the time go? Went to Red Robin and a movie with friends, then to Red Robin the next night with family to get my free dessert. :)

My girls

Jeff's girls

my boys

fun-loving friends - at the movie "the Last song" starring Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.....