SLC Trip: The Summary (only because the blog series could go on forever)

We acted goofy:





We bonded with family:




We loved every minute.

(and Mom fed me Cafe Rio three times, as promised.)

Interlude: Fat Squirrel!

SLC Trip- Part 3: Brennon Joins the Fam!

Brennon Max was born to Shalese and Jeff on February 3rd.

SLC Trip: Part 2- They DO Come with Instructions!

Trae was born October 27th, but I didn't meet him until this trip. (Although I felt like I knew him already due to Dani's awesome blogging) Absolutely adorable at three months, he blew spit bubbles and sucked his thumb. His Mom kept standing him on his legs, causing her Mom to pull worried faces and say that he is going to end up bowlegged.


There was one day where almost everyone had to work, and I was tickled when Dani let me babysit. Little Trae was dropped off that morning with a nice list of printed instructions on his feeding/napping schedule. Totally understandable since I couldn't quite figure out how to burp him the day before. And just so no one thinks his parents are crazy, it might have been my Mom's idea. Dani best summarized his schedule: "Sleep, feed, play, repeat."

Salt Lake Trip: Part 1- PEPSI CHALLENGE

The Van Gorder Pepsi Challenge was created by Chris who believed, that in spite of our unwavering allegiance to Pepsi, we could not identify our favorite brand when it was missing its label.

Chris created a list of soda beverages (Coke, Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Shasta, etc.) The VGs then had to sample each beverage, mark which beverage they thought it was, and then rank how much they liked it.


It seemed like an easy task considering our long history with Pepsi. When I was little Gram would jokingly warn that too much Pepsi would "make your knees turn black." Even the littlest grand kids, whose parents wouldn't let them have their own Pepsi, were allowed to "sip the poison" (the bubbly froth) off her Pepsi. She also hosted Pepsi parties after school and we'd eat popcorn and watch Saved By the Bell. All of this ultimately led to the Pepsi Challenge.

Mark was very scientific, gathering one of each drink and hunkering down in a corner to methodically sample each.



This was important because the Pepsi Challenge was, in fact, a challenge! After a while, the drinks all started to taste the same, and the VG's taste buds failed them. Out of all of us Mark had the highest score: 8/10. The VG with blackest knees.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for a few things Thanksgiving brought around this year:

1) Thankful for a Mom and little sister who came to visit.


2) Thankful Mom and Kayla patiently sat at the airport for over an hour because I drove to the wrong one in Raleigh. No picture here. Just imagine me with this look on my face :(

3) Thankful Kayla will happily humor me by chasing oversized, quail-looking birds. That is, until one chased her back.

4) Thankful we are not too old to sit with Santa.


5) Thankful for this guy who was happy to entertain and suggest only the best places to visit.

6) Thankful for the nice fall weather.


I'm lucky to have so much more to be thankful for. The visit was great. Thanks for coming!

Dani Doesn't Do Scary

Dani has never like scary stuff. There was a time in high school when I made her go see "What Lies Beneath" in the theater. Even though we ran into a kid I knew and got to see it for free, she hated it. A few years later I made her watch "Road to Perdition", which isn't even scary, but Tom Hanks got his head blown off at the end. She hated that one too. Then, I tried to describe to her how cool "Vacancy" was while we were staying in a old motel near Universal Studios in CA. She freaked out at just the description and Chris told me I had to quit pretending to pound on the door adjoining our room to a second (supposedly empty) one.

Its just sad. Because ever since I started watching scary movies with Anna, I was hooked. I used to be terrified of "The Exorcist" and "Silence of the Lambs".Then was scared of "The Grudge." I talked Mark into seeing that one with me and suffered for it practically a whole year later. In the middle of the night I would hear the "uuuuuuuuuhhh" sound. He thought he was so funny.

Now, its the governmental conspiracy/zombie movies that get me. Like, the "Crazies" and "Quarantine" Because, even though it is unlikely that there would be manufactured virus that would make us zombie-like killers, it is more plausible than the existence of vampires. Right? Unless you want to defer to the book The Passage which tries to come up with a scientific version of vampires.

This brings me to the whole purpose of this blog. 1)It October and a blog about scary stuff is timely; and 2) I can't go to the bathroom because I am completely creeped out by the bathtub lady in Stephen King's The Shining. (The book, not the movie, because his description of this scene is so much scarier) The second I go in there I'm imagining the bathtub lady standing up, hearing the water sloshing and her soggy footsteps as she chases me down the hall...

Scary stuff. No wonder Dani hates it.