Loads of Fun and Family Foreverness

Yes, I know I am in trouble with several of you who have probably been checking for the last 4 hours, at least, to see my update about my trip. I must apologize. But I seriously just woke up about 30 minutes ago. I called in sick today, because although I was hoping it would go away, the sore throat I woke up with yesterday morning (when I was still in WA) was still hanging around, and then was joined by a congested head and achy neck muscles. So, I think it's a cold, but since Grandma had told us she had gotten sick when she got up on Tuesday, I didn't want to chance that it was the flu, so I stayed home and called in. I still have a sore throat and a stuffy nose, my head still feels congested. But I'll live ;). And I probably needed this rest anyway. I slept HARD. Brad called sometime around 8:50 to see if I'd gotten home okay, and I only kind of recall that short conversation. It surprised him that he had woken me up, since he knew I had planned on going to work. So anyway, that explains the lateness of this post. But it also means I can spend my time tweaking it and making it perfect :). So, anticipate a panoply of pictures, because I certainly took my share for a 2-day trip!

So, as you have probably guessed by now, the post title for my Monday post was, in fact, related to my life and not just a random music title that I just threw up there :). But Christina and Brad and Tarylyn had NO idea I was going, and we wanted to keep it a surprise! Going was a last-minute decision I made last Thursday. I knew Brad and Tarylyn and the kids were going to the Temple to be sealed for time and all eternity on Tuesday. I had looked around at tickets that would fly out the weekend before. Everything was expensive. Over $300. And sometimes over $400, depending on the days I chose. I had pretty much given up, but it just kept coming back to my mind that I should check again. So last Thursday, I checked again... Still no dice. Gave up, went back to doing work. Got the feeling I should check again, repeated that whole thing. Then go the feeling I should check again. I kept telling myself that, if I could find a ticket for less than $200, I'd buy it, no matter when it was. So, I finally played with the dates enough and found one! The saddest part was that it had me leaving Monday afternoon and coming back Wednesday afternoon. So short. But any longer, either before or after, and it would have cost me a minimum of $100 more. So, this is how it had to be. So, I threw all caution (and Nillaness) to the wind and bought the ticket. Because, as Heath once pointed out to me, in ten years, will the annual leave I lost to take the trip or the money the ticket cost me really matter? What would I look back on and regret more? The loss of that money or the loss of the memory? And it's really a no-brainer. I have been blessed to have the money and to be in a situation where I can do this. I will still achieve my goal of being credit card debt free when I leave here, so that's what matters as far as money is concerned. And you will see how my going panned out, and how that was what was important as far as anything else matters.

I went to work on Monday until 11:30. And I have to say I have been so blessed with wonderful friends. April once again was willing to take me to the airport so I wouldn't have to pay to park my car. This meant she would have to pick me up on Wednesday at almost midnight. And she was like, "Not a big deal!" I also had a girl I work with in nursery at church named Emily offer to take me to the airport if I didn't have a ride. And that was really nice of her. I just have been so blessed, and I cannot adequately tell my friends how much they and their kindness means to me. (I did bring April back a dark chocolate Seattle Chocolates truffle bar, but that's not really decent payment for driving to the airport at midnight!). Anyway! So, I got the BHM by 1:00 (thanks again April!) and found out my flight to Chicago had been delayed due to weather, and the flight from Chicago to Seattle had been canceled (a snow storm was going to come through Chicago Monday evening...). So, United Airlines put me on a Continental flight to Houston, and from Houston to Seattle, and I only got in about 10 minutes later than I would have on United Airlines. So all was smooth. Although I was labeled a "secondary female" on my ticket out of Birmingham, so I had to get patted down, and they went through my stuff. I guess maybe it's random. So that was fun. If I had had more time in Houston, I would have taken a picture of me and George Bush Sr. in the Houston airport. They have a huge statue of him. But I had to book it to my connecting flight. My one complaint about my flight to Seattle was that the older couple I sat next to.... Man, the husband really smelled like BO. I'm talking this guy was trying to compete for the "Ooo Stank" award.... Yuck! They were nice, but man, I was sorry every time he reached up to adjust his airflow over his seat or turn on his light or something. Ick. That was a 4.5 hour flight, which felt like a very long time to me. Oh! But they fed us on this flight! Even in Coach! So, I took a picture to prove it, because it was pretty exciting to me! My stomach was starting to gnaw through itself by this point (I try to avoid buying airport food).
Okay, so it wasn't the greatest cheeseburger I've ever had. But it was food, and I was hungry. The flight landed at 8:08 p.m. Seattle time. Which meant I missed the 8:20 airporter by 15 minutes by the time I made it out of the terminal. So, I walked around and waited on the next airporter to take to my mom's. She picked me up, and we headed to Christina's. Keep in mind it's about 11:00 p.m. by this time. Well, my mom had already called Christina and told her she was going to take some stuff over for Desiree. Christina kept telling my mom that it was okay, she could wait, since it was so late. But my mom insisted, saying she'd forget if she didn't. I had also called Christina, telling her I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to chat with her for few seconds. And I got to chat with my munchkin too. Well, so we get there, and I knock on the door with my mom and camera at the ready. I think that picture from yesterday (which is now clickable) just about sums it up :). Christina is so great. She wears her thoughts on her sleeve. I love the raised eyebrows in that picture. I think this picture was taken the second before enlightenment fell on her ;). She was like, "How did you get here?" And I was like, "I flew!" And you know what??? Desiree was smiling and looking at me and I said, "Do you know who I am?" And she nodded her head. I said, "Who am I?" And she said, "Aunt Hoda." Awww. My baby knows me!! And here are a couple more pictures from that first night (oh, I slept at Christina's).

That's Desiree playing with her daddy, Nick. She was turning him into a monster with her "fair godmother wand." She turned me into a cow, and then back into an Aunt Hila. Here's a video of me turning her into different animals (hopefully... if I can figure out how to load up video).



Christina and I didn't go to sleep until about 3 in the morning, because we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I was exhausted! Oh yeah, and it was so sweet... I do my hair at night (because I really am too lazy to get up early enough to do it in the mornings), so I was doing my hair, Desiree wanted me to "blow-dry" her hair and also spray hairspray in it. So I did. She thought that was the neatest thing.

The next morning I woke up at 8:30 to start getting ready to go. My mom got there at about 9:00, so we hugged and kissed Desiree and hugged Christina, told them we'd see them that night, and headed out to meet Brad and Tarylyn and the kids. We met them in a bank parking lot, so they could get on the ferry right behind us, since they didn't know how to get to the Temple. So, we pull up by their van in the parking lot and just sit there. Both Brad and Tarylyn look over at the car and they are smiling. But there's no real huge reaction about me. Tarylyn looks right at me, smiles, looks down to her lap... And then you can literally watch as it dawns on her... She jerks her head back up and look at me with her mouth gaping open. It was great. And I didn't see Brad's facial expression, but my mom said that she watched his reaction. She said he was smiling as he looked at her, and then he looked in the backseat (Grandpa was riding up front with my mom), saw me, and she said his face lit up. And you know, seeing Christina's face and Tarylyn's face, knowing that Brad's face lit up.... That makes all the lack of sleep, the whirlwind trip, the money, all of it worthwhile. I walked over to the van to speak with them for a second. Brad rolled down his window and said, "I knew you were here, because I could smell you." Haha. Brad is such a dork. I guess I smell all the time, not just at midnight. (Brad, for whatever reason, tends to tell me, when I call him and he answers the phone, he tends to answer it by saying, "You smell.") Anyway, I laughed. Brad cracks me up :). So, we headed over to the ferry (Brad's work stuff was in the van, so there weren't any extra seats for me, so I rode the whole way with my mom). Once we drove onto the ferry and got out of the cars, Saria came running over to me, calling out, "Aunt Hila!" Oh I love these babies! Samuel still remembers me too. So, here are ferry pictures with me and the kids, and me and Brad.
Samuel calls Mt. Rainier "Fudge Mountain." Other lessons from Samuel? Apparently pirates don't eat dirt.... unless they are dead. I don't know. He's Brad's kid, what can I say? And Saria has become such a great reader! I'm so very proud of her! Samuel talks a lot! And he laughs a lot too. He really is just like Brad. The Temple was awesome. Getting to see them all sealed as a family was so neat, and I am so glad I got to be there. Afterwards, we took lots and lots of pictures. So here are several:And this picture is one my mom snapped when we weren't ready. I happen to like it, because I think it captures the essence of the relationship Brad and I have. I run my mouth... he laughs :).
So, we left the Temple and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I wanted to make sure to see Grandma at least a little bit. She wasn't feeling well, but I still got to see her for a few minutes. Then we all headed over to Brad and Tarylyn's so I could see their house. The kids were super-excited to show me their room. Then we met up with Christina at a restaurant called Shari's. It was really good. And as soon as we came in, Desiree (she and Christina got there before us) ran up and hugged Saria. Isn't this so sweet???
We all had the greatest time. I will admit, I did take a picture of my food. However, I think I will not post it :). It's not that important :). But I did get a group picture of all of us, courtesy of our waitress. I think we look like a happy bunch :).
After dinner, I went back to Christina's. I took a picture with Nick, since I don't have any.I also took this picture of Desiree and me after my shower and before she fell asleep. She's a sweetie.And here's a video of Benjamin and Samuel. Saria had already left for school at this point. But these boys are funny. And you can hear Brad and Tarylyn talking about Samuel's comments on pirates eating dirt in the background. So hilarious.



This was on Wednesday. I flew out at 3:27 on Wednesday, so I had to catch the airporter by 12:30. So Mom took me over to Ben's house (he works nights, so that's why they weren't able to be at dinner). Michelle was at school, so I missed her. But I got to see their oldest son, Sean. The other two (Tony and Royce) were at school also. I have to post this video so you can all laugh at me :). And then are the pictures of me and Ben and then me and Sean.




Mom took me to Safeway (a grocery store) and I bought some Chinese food from their deli (it was very good, actually). This way I didn't have to eat airport food. Mom cried when I left, which I knew she would. I love my mommy. Getting through security was a chore, there were so many people. The flights back were amazingly smooth and totally not crowded. I was still ready to be done with them by the time I landed. On the way back, I went through Denver, CO. Oh, and just for the record, for all of you who say you won't move to Washington because it's "too cold" (Dad), it was beautiful in Washington while I was there. And it was FREEZING, literally, in Alabama when I landed here. It was about 20 to 30 degrees colder in Alabama than in Seattle! And thanks again to April who braved the freeze and picked me up! And then I drove an hour home. So, I got home at about 1:10 this morning, got a shower, and fully intended to go to work today. But I really woke up feeling crappy. And I still feel pretty crappy, at least in my head. I feel congested and like my head is heavy. Ugh. It needs to get better by tomorrow, because I have an interview for my summer internship!

Well, so that's the story of my surprise visit to Washington. I miss my family so much. I can't wait to live close to them! And I'm so thankful I was able to do this!

*And Tarylyn guessed the movie quote!*

Ben-Jammin'

Okay, I do have other stories to tell, but I have been promising a post about my older brother Ben for a long time. So, I will just accumulate the stories (since most of them are "remember whens" anyway) and save them for a "rainy" day of no interesting stories.

Ben is the oldest of us four siblings. He was 9 years old when I came along, so that was quite the gap. Which is why I do not have the amount of memories shared with him as I do of Brad and me or Christina and me. By the time I was 10 or 11 and remembering stuff really well, Ben was moving to WA to go to college. But here are some stories I do remember :).Back in 1989 (December of 1989 to be more precise :)), Noriega, the Panamanian dictator, had risen to power full-force in Panama. With vested interest in Panama at the time (namely their control of the Panama Canal), the U.S. sent in troops to oust Noriega. Although this was technically not a war (it was called an operation), for all intents and purposes, it was like a war to a bunch of kids. Many people did die, including some teenagers who were out partying and were in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the elementary school teachers lost her husband and her son in this. And to see some of the buildings afterwards in some areas (including Ft.. Amador)... they were riddled with bullet holes. Things got so bad that toward the end of it all, right in the middle of Christmas-time, the warning level was at PML-Echo, and we were not even supposed to leave our homes. Not even in my safe little neighborhood of Cardenas, which was nestled snuggly between an Army base and an Air Force base. Now, one of the great thing about Cardenas was that it had a back road into Ft. Clayton (the Army base). Yes, there was a gate up, so no cars could go through. But there was a trail around the gate that allowed walking traffic and bicycles to go through. As kids, we took advantage of this many times. And there were no guards on the other side of this gate (Elka and Mrs. S may remember us all walking onto Ft. Clayton this way when they were down for a visit in 1996). So, pretty much any Tom, Dick, or Harry could walk right onto the Army base without having to show identification, even if they weren't allowed to be there. Now, my dad was a civilian working for the U.S. Government, so we were allowed to be there and we had the proper ID, should anyone have stopped us to ask. That's just FYI :). (Of course, Elka and Mrs. S did not have the proper ID, since they didn't actually live in Panama and were just visiting. Good thing nobody stopped us then!). It occurs to me at this point that I have not even begun to tell you how Ben fits into all of this. I know, I know... I get way off topic. But I'm trying to help you get the whole picture! Okay, so back to December 1989. Well, this little access road I've just described was not a huge secret. So one night, right in the middle of this "Operation Just Cause," it's around dinner time and my parents are watching the news (which is now on almost non-stop). Suddenly we hear tanks coming down the road into our little neighborhood. My parents freaked out. They ran us all up the stairs and went back downstairs themselves to see what was going on. It was dark outside, so the four of us sat in one of the bedrooms with the big ceiling light on. Ben was charged with entertaining us. Eventually, my dad had us move into the hallway and close all the bedroom doors and turn off all the big lights in the bedrooms so that we did not attract the attention of any helicopters flying over. Anyway, Ben entertained us quite well. He was very good at drawing. And so he drew up these little "paper dolls," if you will. They were a little family of four: a mother, a father, a son, and a daughter. However, this had to have been the dopiest family ever! The father was a huge fat guy sitting in a recliner with a bag of potato chips at his feet, the mom was on a stool that was about to fall over, screaming because there was a mouse at the foot of the stool (and I believe the mouse might have been taunting her by sticking its tongue out at her), the daughter was walking along, listening to her walkman, but she had her eyes closed and wasn't watching where she was going, so she was about to trip over a rock. And the son... The son was a moron. He was holding a lit bomb (one of those little black round bombs you always see depicted in cartoons) and he was totally cool about it. However, the Daffy-Duck looking character on his t-shirt was not so calm about it. The t-shirt duck had his eyes bugging out of his head and was grabbing his neck like, "Oh my gosh! I'm gonna die!" I must applaud Ben's attention to detail. He really did a great job that night of entertaining us (and calming me down) in a scary situation. I was a high-strung kid. Perhaps I am still slightly high-strung. When my parents freaked out, I lost it and started crying hysterically. Oh, the reason the tanks came into Cardenas that night is because snipers were trying to get onto Ft. Clayton by using that little access road about which I told you. See? I can make it all come together... :). It only seems like incessant rambling at first. But that is one of the greatest memories I have of Ben and how he was a great "big brother."This memory just displays our childish craziness... Okay, Ben, of course, was much older than the rest of us. So, while we were supposed to go to bed early, he was allowed to stay up later. Well, most nights he would still be up even after my parents went to bed. We could always see the glow of the kitchen light from upstairs, so we would know he was in the kitchen. So, being the nosy children that we were (and that I probably still am..., just not the child part :)), we had to "spy" on him. I don't know what we thought we were spying on, but I think it was just the adventure of it all. So, we would sneak downstairs (this one day led to the memory of the 'fart step', but that is a tale for another time) and crawl quietly on the floor until we could see into the kitchen. We thought we were truly sneaky, but we had to get pretty far into view of Ben in order to see him. So he always "caught" us (likely we were always giggling too) and sent us back upstairs. And all he was ever doing was sitting at the kitchen table, eating cereal, and reading a book. Like I said, I'm not entirely sure why we were "spying" on him. He wasn't even doing anything interesting. I think it was just the prospect of trying to get away with something...And although these are not a part of my memory, I recently watched them on the family videos, and so I must share. Several things were brought to my realization as I watched the videos from an adult perspective. #1: Ben was a good kid. He was responsible. And he was good with us kids. He was always very gentle with and attentive of Christina. She was 1 and a half when he was 15, and he was often left in charge of her. He never seemed to mind. He'd help her put on shorts that were made for a 15 year old boy so that she could be filmed walking around in them. He chased after her when she tried to escape and my mom was busy filming. #2: Ben had an appreciation for life. He would not let Brad smoosh the ants, just because Brad wanted to smoosh them with the big round cement block. This was much to Brad's chagrin and frustration (because Ben was much bigger and much stronger, and so Brad couldn't pull the cement block from under Ben when Ben was sitting on it). Hilarious to watch on video. #3: Ben had a twisted older-brother mean-streak in him. And I have proof that I got the brunt of it at least once. Of course, this was probably because I was being a brat. Story: So, it's summer vacation (possibly 1987, don't remember) and we kids are playing in the pools in the back yard and my mom is filming on the Betamax recorder so that we can send these videos to our grandparents who were stateside. So my mom pulled Ben away from his new Atari computer system (yeah, can you tell how long ago this story was??) and forced him to come outside so he could be in the films. He was hanging out on the patio, though, because I was in charge of the hose and I was just dying to wet him. Which he did not want to have done. And he knew that I wouldn't spray him on the patio because my mom had the Betamax up there and that would spell certain doom (delivered by Dad) if any of us were to have wet the thing. So my mom says, "Ben, go get in the picture!" And Ben says, "No! She's gonna wet me!" And so my mom says, "Hila, don't wet him." At which point I start whining saying, "But I want to!" (Okay for the full affect, it really is better to see this... I really was a brat!). So, Ben solves the problem. He kinks the hose way up and stops up the water. This, of course, does not sit well with me, so I start whining again. But eventually I get distracted by something else, so I stop whining. Ben does go out and get filmed and I at one point am staring intently into the hose, where water should be coming out, but isn't, thanks to Ben. So, Ben watches as I put the hose close to my eye and look inside. And then he lets go of the kink. And, yeah, you're all laughing. The water shoots out of the hose with amazing force and blasts me in the eye. Well, my mom also has a slight twisted streak too (this is the woman who thought it was hilarious to put peanut butter on the roofs of our cats' mouths and watch them try to lick it off; or who would put rolled-up tape on their paws and watch them try to shake it off), so after this happened, she was chuckling (which I probably didn't hear at the time, but the video camera tells all) and Ben was really cracking up. So, after my mom finally stops laughing, she says, "Are you okay Hila?" Now, up to this point, I had been in shock that it had all happened. But right when my mom asks if I'm okay, I start wailing, "My eye!" Man, I'm laughing now. Yes, yes, we can watch this at the family reunion if you guys want a great laugh at my expense.So, there are some Ben memories in a nutshell. And some pictures to boot.

Oh, and just because this happened while I was in class last night and it was funny: Okay, so my Thursday night class is online. Sometimes we have to talk (so we have to have a headphones/microphone combo). So this one girl is representing our group while she talks about whatever we discussed in our little groups. She just kept going on and on and on. So April and I do a private chat while we're in class (let's just pray they are as private as they are supposed to be :)) and she and I are saying to each other, "Okay, she can stop now! We didn't even talk about that in our group!" Well, then this chat comes out over the whole classroom from someone else in our group who says, "Blah... She just needs to stop." Oh my gosh! I started laughing so hard! Because you know she didn't intend for the girl who was talking to SEE that! Obviously she was trying to do a private chat also, but accidentally sent the comment to the whole classroom. Ooops! Then she goes puts in another chat, "Oops, sorry! That was about someone else." Then she goes, "We were talking about Hilary Clinton." Okay, yeah. Likely story. Man, April and I had a field day with that one (only we made sure we were having our field day in the private chat). Ah, the wonders of technology :).

PS. That picture of me and Ben when we're adults was taken in 2005. I was much fatter then. Also, I think I need to get some new pajamas. Either that or stop wearing them in pictures :).