Super Angie...playing Tag

One of my best friends from the early days (think second grade!), Jenny, has tagged me...so of course I'm gonna play along. (I don't have my scanner hooked up, so I just photographed pictures from my albums, so forgive if the quality isn't that hot--picture of a picture!)

Betcha didn't know:

1. Rick and I married ourselves! We got married in Pitkin County Colorado (Aspen). They have a law there that all you have to do is sign the marriage license and then you can do whatever you want---get married on the slopes, go to a church, or even marry yourself. So, we climbed Castle Peak (14, 265 ft), but near the top we lost the trail, and decided to just stop hiking and get married. I'm so happy we got married the way we did, although I can't wait until we can be sealed in the temple. 

2.  Do you remember the song from ATC, "La la la, it goes around the world" ?? ...well, its one of my favorite songs (along with Barbie Girl--thats my ring tone!) and I was a MAJOR groupie of the band. 

I got my good friend Hayley Coon hooked on the band and together (with some YW from my home ward) went to their summer concert when they came to Seattle. We met them and they were impressed that I had a concert t-shirt (only for sale in Germany) and that we knew all their songs and dance moves. 

We became known as "Angie and Hayley from SEATTLE". We went online to all their chats, and sent them fan mail. Once, they were live on German TV, and I sent an email question to the studio. The host read the question, "The next question is from Angie in Seattle-" and the group went nuts, "ANGIE IN SEATTLE! We know Angie. Hi Angie!" and they started waving!  Well, since my parents lived in Germany at the time, and ATC was going to perform in a town near Munich, I did the un-thinkable...I flew to Munich for the concert. I spoke to the producer of the concert and told them I had come all the way from Seattle, and they let me go back stage. I received star treatment from the band. They are awesome. Here's a photo of me with Sarah from the group and then a picture from their show--they even dedicated a song to me. "Mistake #2".  OH yeah...did I mention this was back in 2001...so it wasn't like I was a silly teen when I was a groupie...nope! I was married with a kid!  --Thanks Hayley...it was a blast doing all this with you. And thanks Mom for going to the concert in Germany with me! :)

3.  I was lucky enough to get to go to all the skating events at the 2002 Olympics in SLC. (The tickets were my birthday and Christmas gifts for several years!!!) 

While I was there, I got to meet two of my heroes...Tara Lipinski (1998 Olympic ladies Gold champion) 

and Katia Gordeeva (1988 and 1994 Olympic Gold pairs champion). It was a dream come to true to meet Katia.  (Yes, I have an Olympic tattoo on my face! DORK!)

4.  In high school I was in several musicals, including The Sound of Music. I was Louisa. Here we are outside. Can you tell which one I am? (Just noticed that the girl who played Liesel isn't in this picture.)

5. I have been in several movies. I was in Mobsters & Mormons, Church Ball, Blind Date and some other ones. Here's me and the director of Church Ball--Kurt Hale of Halestorm Ent.

So, there's my 5 "Betcha didn't know"...now I'm gonna TAG Jenny Meek, Julie Anderegg, and Tiff.

--Super Fabulous Angie

Super Angie...Points: brownies and crampons

Yesterday we got up early and headed to Red Rock to do a bit of Dry tooling. Dry tooling is when you use your ice climbing gear on rock. This is very useful to know because often when you are ice climbing, you will run into dry rocks that you will have to climb as well--mixed climbing (rock and ice). 

Rick took pictures of me top roping this route. We went around to the right of the main routes at Red Rock, to an area that isn't used much. Aaron from the gym came with his church singles ward, and it was really fun to see him outside of the gym. His friends were all very cool and we had a good time. His one friend gets brownie points for not swearing or yelling or even grunting while leading The Cuspinator--a 5.8 with a nasty crux. Mmm...brownies...

A lot of people think that in ice climbing, you jam your tool points into the ice. Yes, you can hack the death out of the ice, but the real skill comes in just setting yours points into ice cracks or bumps. Same when dry tooling--we weren't pounding the rock. Instead, we were gently setting our tools and crampon points into cracks and over jugs. Again, I am so amazed at the engineering that goes into creating ice tools. (They aren't called Ice Axes or ice picks, they are called Tools.)

Speaking of crampon points...yes, they hurt if you jab yourself with them.

BOMBER! Thats the term when your foot is so stable on the hold that its not going anywhere. Rick yelled a lot to me yesterday, "your foot is so bomber, so go ahead and try....". Bomber is a word I would expect Joe Kinder to use, but my husband? LOL

Honestly, this is the most fun I have had climbing outside in a very long time. I am totally an ice girl and dry tooling didn't disappoint! When can we go again? (anyone want to join us?)

--Super Stoked Ice Angie

Super Angie...an owl in the kitchen and a car in the garage

Rick was making some eggs this morning, and called me into the kitchen to see this. Doesn't it look like an owl? We laughed so hard, I had to take a picture and blog about it!

This picture says it all...we can now park TWO cars in the garage! (Although Rick is still gonna park outside until we get rid of a few more things so we have room for the bikes and a second car.) We worked really hard and it only took us 2 1/2 hours. Its so nice to have so many shelves up to hold all our stuff. Yea for organization!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...neigh neigh cow

Friday afternoon, since we didn't have the boys, we decided to treat Tanith to an afternoon out with mama and dad. Rick decided to meet us at Farm Country. I woke Tan from her nap and asked her if she wanted to see Neigh neighs and Daddy (neigh neigh is her work for horses--because horses say Neigh). She was very excited and talked the whole way about seeing Daddy and the neigh neighs.

She took Rick's hand and almost skipped into the farm. While I was using the bathroom, Rick took her to see a cow. She was so excited. She climbed (of course!) 

the railing and stood there smiling and talking to the cow. Next we went to see a small horse--pony? baby? Anyway, it was eating some hay? straw? grass?--we called it grass

 for Tan's sake. She said, "Neigh neigh eat grass. YUCK!" So funny. 

Her language skills really amaze us. Neither Dallin nor Brennan talked like she does and she not even two yet. Anyway, she liked the horse, but it wouldn't come to the fence, so we moved on to a pacing donkey. 

This donkey looked like he was stressed out...pacing back and forth. Tan was scared each time he came to the fence. We found some other horses that were really big. (the ones who pull the wagon if you are familar with Farm country) She was kind of afraid of how big they were, so Rick held her to be at their level.

Next we saw the bunnies...she talked about them a bit and then on to the ducks and geese. Tan went NUTS. She was yapping at birds and smiling and jumping. She wouldn't stop. She would run up to the fence, look at them, say something and then run around with joy. Too cute.

Then there was the pen with the neigh neigh cow in it. Whats a neigh neigh cow? Oh come on! Its a pig of course! LOL  She wouldn't call them pigs...only neigh neigh cow.  It was so funny. She was giddy about them too. 

At the end of the row, we saw a beautiful black horse, really tall, so we took Tan down to see it. I picked her up and showed her how to touch it's nose. She loved this. She wasn't worried about how big he was. But for some reason, the horse was bugged by Tan, but not by Rick and I.  I wonder what spooked him?

Tan saw a 10 yr old throwing corn into the chickens. The chickens of course enjoyed the corn. She Tan picked up rocks (they look like corn, right?) and threw them in. "BOCK BOCK BOCK" she yelled.  She ran to the turkeys, "BOCK BOCK BOCK" more rocks. Oh goodness, that girl was enjoying every single thing.

Next to see the Llama.  She didn't even notice. Then to the goats and sheep. It took a bit, but she got to liking the goats, especially the baby ones. But she called them neigh neighs even though she says GOAT for Mountain goat (when we saw them at Glacier National Park this summer). 

It was so much fun taking Tanith to farm country and being together as a couple. She really enjoyed beind with her Daddy and Rick enjoyed spending time with just her--no distractions.  They have such a sweet bond.

My allergies didn't like it and I suffered the rest of  the night. ugh. Oh well, it was worth it to see her smile and enjoy all the animals.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Sauna time!

Rick and I took advantage of the boys being with Mark last night (they went for a hike and out to dinner) and we began work on a do-it-yourself project thats been sitting in the garage for the past several months.  When its all finished, it will be a two person sauna. I'm so excited!!!

With the cooler temps, we have also been busy doing yard work, organizing the garage and moving some stuff to the basement for the time being. I just can't stand Utah summers and have very little motivation to do anything in the hot weather. Fall is much better. By the end of this weekend, we hope to have a garage where we can park two cars inside! I think we can do it!! (Mark took the boys on a camping trip, so it will just be Tan, Rick and I until Sunday night.)

What types of fall activities or work around your house have you been doing?

--Super Angie

Super Angie... a birthday breakfast

My ex-husband is in town from Malaysia, so I'm giving him as much time with the boys as he wants, so he took Brennan all day on his birthday. But before he left for the day, we had a fun birthday Breakfast with my sweet bear. 

We started off with eggs and bacon and toast. "BACON!" Brennan and Dallin love bacon. The breakfast was a hit.

Brennan wore his birthday crown he was given at preschool the day before (he took Kuddo bars for his birthday treat...a lot less messy then cupcakes!). He is wearing the new sponge bob t-shirt I bought him in Orlando. 

I got him a sponge bob card, and my grandpa (his great grandpa) gave him a card with a dinosaur on it, "You are DINO-MITE" it said. Dallin and Tanith gave him a card Dallin had made, plus a toy dragon. 

We gave him a fireman dress up costume. Both he and Tanith enjoyed dressing up in it!  I also gave him a pony express book and one about Geysers.  He really loved those.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET BIG BEAR! I love you!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...a new Dallin

When Dallin was a young child, I felt the immense pressure from neighbors, friends and society that if I were to be a good mom, he needed to be in some community sport--so we joined some friends and did Soccer. Sure, it was fun for him to get a trophy (like everyone else did), but he didn't enjoy it.  Rick helped me realize that team sports just stressed Dallin out, so we dropped all ideas of itty bitty ball and all those thing. We tried a dance class, but he didn't enjoy that either. 

As a family, we rock climb, and while he isn't too keen on top roping, he loves to boulder and gets excited with each accomplishment. He also enjoyed swim lessons. But mostly he enjoys staying at home, riding his bike, or coloring--he loves to draw and color.  

I enrolled Brennan and Tanith in gymnastics classes. Each week, Dallin goes with to watch. A few times he mentioned it looked like fun, but he didn't want to take a class.  Finally, I decided to enroll him and make him take a class. He was very upset when I told him I enrolled him. But I had a good feeling about it.

Yesterday was the day... first Brennan's class, then Dallin's. 

Suddenly I saw a new Dallin. He was excited and hyper...he wanted his class to begin first, not Brennan's!

"How long?" he asked.

"30 minutes", "20 minutes", "Dallin, you just asked! Its only been 2 minutes....18 minutes until your class!", "I know you're excited, but you'll have to wait 10 more minutes".... 

Dallin was running around, jumping, spinning. He was practicing hand stands. Finally I forced him to sit down, have some water and enjoy a kudo bar. 

"5:00 Class!" someone called out. 

He ran to the door, and waved and never looked back. He walked proudly through the gym, with his hands behind his back. He was the only one in his class who didn't stray off course, who stayed with the teacher, and didn't goof off. He tried his very best and had a smile on his face the whole time. His hour class went by so quickly...he came running into my arms.

I'm so proud of my sweet Dallin. He is so smart, kind and funny. He is so genuine and such a helper. I'm proud of him for being positive in his class and obedient to his coach. 

I love you Dallin!

--Super Mama

Super Angie... early starter

Last night we took Tan to the climbing gym and had her try out her new purple flowered climbing shoes (yes, climbing diva!). Heres a super cute video of her climbing. (NOTE: we were not pushing her up the wall. My hand was there for balance and safety and once to help her find the next hold.)

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Super Tiff

How lucky and blessed I am to have my babysitter, Tiff. She started babysitting the kids when Tan was not even 1 yet. Then she took some time off to have a baby and now she is back, watching Tan and Brennan during the day twice a week. She brings her 11 week old baby with her--what a darling Aspen is! Tiff is so patient with my kids--they love Aspen and want to look at her and touch her all the time. Tiff is not a typical new mom who freaks out about her baby...she goes with the flow and allows even Tanith to play with Aspen. So cute.

Today Tiff folded my laundry AND emptied the dishwasher, all while Tanith napped. When I came home, Tan was in the stroller and they were preparing to go for a walk. (Of course, she got really mad when she realized Tiff was leaving and that meant no walk.)

THANKS TIFF! You are a great friend, a great mom to Aspen and a great babysitter! We are so blessed to have you!

--Super Angie

Orlando #6

We took my grandpa for a car ride. He sure does like going out and we have some good conversations with him. We went to Disney World and drove around. It was evening time, so the parking lots were free and open, so we drove right up to Epcot. So neat to see it in personal after seeing it on TV for so many years.

I would love to go see the Cirque Du Soleil

They dropped me off at Downtown Disney.  It was fun to wander around, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Universal Live.

But there was a lot of energy on the street, and the lights at night looked cool. Found some great gifts at the Virgin Mega Store...love that place!

Isn't it funny how these two self portraits are almost exactly the same? lol

It was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad I went. Thanks Mom! I had a blast. It was really good to see my Uncle and Helma again and they were so gracious to take us to Bulga. And of course, it was great to see my Grandpa. I miss him something awful. I love my family....

--Super Angie

Orlando #5

We took my Grandpa out for German Food at The Bauer Stube. YUMMMM. This place was very gast-hof like, instead of Marienplatz like...for those who know what I mean. The funniest thing...no one spoke German!

Gurken Salat...Yum!

My grandpa had Bratwurst mit kartoffle und saurkraut

Wienerschnitzle!

Schwarzwalderkirshtorte!

My mom and I were in Heaven.... great food. :)

--Super Angie... anyone want to go to Munich?

Orlando #4

After Hard Rock Cafe, we went to the Prime Outlet Mall. Okay. I thought the outlets in Colorado were awesome...this one takes the cake. Seriously, it was SOOOO COOL! 

Helma had told me there was a Juicy Couture outlet, so I JUST HAD TO GO! We did good though...we only went to Ron Jon surf shop (it was across the street and I needed to get some gifts there) and Juicy Couture. But next time I go to Orlando, Helma and I want to go spend a day there....Micheal Kors, Burburry, BCBG, White House/Black Market....ah...the list goes on and on. I was shocked by the Micheal Kors shop though!

My mom got bit outside the Ron Jon shop!

Ah...brings back such great memories!

And the heavens opened, and angels started singing!

AHHH!!! My mecca was complete...Juicy Couture! I got a hoodie that has a cupcake on the back and says, "Cupcake Couture"

FREAKING CUTE!

--Super Angie... PLEASE NOTE>..the whole bit about mecca and heaven and angels...its a joke! Seriously people...I know its a just a store! lol

Orlando #3

While my grandpa took a nap, my mom and I went on a search for the Hard Rock Cafe. Its my tradition that I MUST go to Hard Rock in every town I go...so far, its 18 hard rock cafes around the world. I don't have to eat there, but I must visit and take a look around. We finally figured out that the cafe is in Universal Live, so my mom dropped me off in the valet parking area and I ran across the whole park, snapping pictures along the way.

Thought this airplane was a cool resturant or bar.

Self Portrait across the lake from the world's largest Hard Rock.

Couldn't resist sitting on this neat bench. Surf's Up!

Ah, there's the Hard Rock...across the lake!

I took this picture for my boys...they like race cars...I think because of the movie "CARS"

Self Portrait in front of the famous Universal Studios globe.

I loved visiting Universal Live...it was SO COOL and loads of fun. Everyone walking around was so happy. It was great and I look forward to going back someday with more time to play.

--Super Angie

Orlando #2

My grandpa is an expert woodcarver. Hes been carving all his life and even at 86 yrs old, he is still carving! He made me this sunflower in a vase. I'm sure its the last thing he will make for me. 

We took an enjoyable car ride to the Orlando Temple. Isn't it pretty?  It was a perfect day....

My grandpa enjoys sitting in his lazy boy recliner, but he gets cold easily, so he is always covered in a blanket. He told me lots of new stories of his life and his parents--things I hadn't heard before.

--Super Angie

Super Angie... Orlando #1

This past weekend, I went to Orlando with my mom to see my grandpa. He is living with my Uncle Ed and Aunt Helma. They have a delightful home in Taft (right next to Orlando). I've never been to Orlando, so everything was very exciting. Its a very pretty town. They took us to Winter Park to BELUGA for dinner. It was a sweet resturant--live Jazz music and great food.  I had the Salmon. It was great to visit with them. I haven't seen my uncle since 1994!

Grandpa and mom...enjoying desert!

Heres my chocolate ice cream with two cookies on top. BOY OH BOY...it was yummy!

My friend, the Gecco...they were all over the place!

Uncle Ed and Helma. Aren't they so cute?

Uncle Ed and my mom. Brother and Sister...I LOVE this picture...too cute and funny.

Grandpa, my mom and Uncle Ed

Family!

--Super Angie