Overconsuming in every way

We also took family pictures with about 12 other families camped out at the same barn door in Scottsdale. My kids were by far the worst behaved. (Next worst, constant complainer Jon.) I was really hoping to dye my hair blonde this weekend and have someone who doesn't use kitchen scissors to trim my bangs, but it didn't happen. Such is life. And I'm going to proudly add that Theo got a haircut and was a perfect saint while doing so, probably because he was sitting in a fire engine. (last three pictures by Jon's sister Geri)

I have never been one for car trips--our longest growing up was Boise to San Francisco and my most vivid memories are 1. eating Boudin soughdough 2. seeing my first cross dresser 3. crying and covering my ears with pillows as my parents refused to stop playing Richard Marx (it.was.torture.). I loved flying from Salt Lake to Boise during college, and don't even ask me about the few times we attempted to drive from Portland to Boise. Ok, I'll tell you. Crazy ice and snow and almost getting hit by deer. We hit a deer on a trip from Utah to Arizona once and it was terrifying. I hate deer.

But things have changed. Suddenly a six hour trip (luckily in the desert with no snowy mountain passes) feels like nothing. A deer even ran into Jon's car right outside our house last week, no biggie. I was so excited for this trip. I needed it. So we rolled into the big city and I made some pumpkin pies for Jon's pumpkin pie hating family. Thanksgiving was filled with homemade rolls and feeling sick, and light sabers gifted by Jon's Aunt Joan. We went to Costco on Friday and it was one of the most exhilarating, joyful moments of the weekend. That sentence sounded so horrible, but I've got to be honest. It's true. I really needed a new Belgian waffler. I really needed some new glass food storage containers. I really (really!) needed a complete set of Roald Dahl books. Then we went to Trader Joe's and spent over $100 on a cart 90% filled with treats. We saw movies, Bond of course and Theo still won't stop talking about Wreck it Ralph. More than anything what made me happy was seeing him play with his cousins. He loved it so much keeps asking us to go on another car trip to visit them. This kid does not play with other kids enough, and it makes me feel a bit sad. For some reason at Stake Conference a month ago I had the idea that we would make magical long distance friends, (which didn't happen of course) but we sat next to a boy Theo's age and all this kid did was get freaked out by Theo's sticker gift and his mom made sure she was a barrier to his trains. So depressing. Our precious train loving baby boy sat for two long hours inches away from a full train set and never touched one. C'mon! Anyway. We didn't even have a chance to see the 7 movies we wanted to and I didn't make it to visit friends, but it was a good weekend. A six hour drive is nothing when Theo gets to see grandparents and ride a trike.