Doritos Healing Grandpa super bowl commercial 2011

Due to technical difficulties, which is a blanket excuse for:

A: I am technilogically challenged.

B: It took me forever just to figure out how to download this video.

C: Unfortunately, I don't know how to download it to an exsisting post, it created it's own.

Please watch this short, funny clip...then read the blog below. Thank you.

necessary distractions

A couple of nights ago as I was trying to prepare my young womens lesson for sunday, Trey came into the living room and started talking to me. I was busy and didn't want to be bothered by the ramblings of a 7th grader. He has a never ending supply of stories. I have enough painful memories of my own at that age and didn't want to be reminded of the hardships of junior high. Of course I never would tell him that, so I tried to put his energies into something a little more quieter, like reading.

Trey doesn't share the same passion for reading like I do. Asking him to read is akin to asking him to clean his room, or washing sunday dinner dishes. He procrastinates in the most creative ways. This particular evening, he chose the teasing route to avoid the task. He joked, he tickled, we laughed, and somehow he managed to keep me entertained till it was his bedtime, and too late to get his reading done. By now I had given up all hopes of working on my lesson, so I decided to wind down our evening together by telling him a bedtime story, the story of Trey.

I started with his birth, putting heroic emphasis on the part where I brought him out of the grips of death when he was only 6 weeks old, and ended with him graduating from BYU with a degree in civil engineering where he excelled and became a millionaire and bought his mother a beautiful new home. Somewhere in the middle of the story, he married a beautiful young woman in the temple, gave me 5 wonderful grandchildren which absolutely adore me, and not just because I took all my kids and grandchildren on a Disney cruise. I'm ashamed to admit that when Trey asked if Dad came on the cruise with us, I had to tell him that sadly, Dad died of a heart attack while playing church ball...how do you think I could afford to take everyone on a cruise? Trey thinks I'm mean, so I amended my story by telling him we promptly sprinkled Dorito chips over his dead body, and he came back to life again...we used his retirement fund for the cruise.

(Insert funny clip here)

After he finally scooted off to bed and I was left alone in our quiet peaceful home, able now to focus on my church responsibilities, I realized how grateful for the distraction, or better yet, the realization Trey gave me that night.

Trey is my greatest responsibility. He is my greatest distraction; from all that is stressful, and demanding, and necessary. He is the joy and laughter in our home. I am ever so grateful that the Lord doesn't always answer our prayers in the way that we ask or hope. If He had, Trey would have been born 17 years ago. He would have been a senior in High school this year. He would be leaving for a mission shortly after. We would be empty nesters. I would feel really old. But because His wisdom is greather than my own, I have a sweet, spunky, cool 12 year old son who loves to talk my ear off, loves to hunt and fish, play sports, and do everything with his dad. Loves and adores his little niece, and loves to hang out and pal around with his sisters when they come home and need a buddy to run chores with. Pretty sure our lives would be different if he wasn't here, at this time, and at this age.

I love my little man...and even as ironic as it is that I've had to literally shoo him and bribe him away so I could write this post (tales of his deacon game had to be re-lived), I am already dreading the day when he puts the earphones in and stops talking to me. (This is why I haven't caved in and bought him an ipod yet.)

My story that night reminded me of another one of Trey's and mine favorite bedtime story, one that makes us both cry everytime we read it; which I'm hoping we'll continue to do for a long time...."I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

Ok, now we're both crying. Sorry. Watch the doritos clip again, it will make you laugh.

Star struck

I have 'almost' met a couple of famous people in my lifetime.



Oprah was one. Not kidding. She walked in-between me and my sisters as we were blocking her way into Christie's while we were in NYC. It happened so fast, I didn't have time to react. One moment she was storming out of her big black SUV, (with 2 bodyguards mind you,) while I was quickly rummaging through my purse to find my camera, next thing I know, her bodyguard is asking us politely to step aside, I look up and there she was, right in my face. Or maybe I was in hers. Never found my camera, couldn't have gotten a shot off anyway, this was skinny Oprah and she was in good enough shape to walk the few feet in 3 seconds flat. Anyway, it all happened so fast, we didn't even have time to come to our senses. None of us said 'HI', or 'We love you', or 'You're skinnier in person', or anything. We just stood there with our mouths hanging open, all of us thinking the same thing. Did that just happen? Did we just almost meet the Big O? You'll be happy to hear I did get a picture of her big black SUV. It's proudly displayed in my scrapbook.



My other famous almost got to meet, was David Letterman. Yeah, no kidding. Same NYC, this time with my husband. We were one of the lucky couples chosen to sit on the 2nd row. I'm not sure if this had anything to do with the fact that we actually watched the show (this was before we found out his true adulterer character, of course) and knew who what's-his-name was. Not the bald piano band leader, the black guy that always wears the headphones.

Did I mention Tary was with me? You know, my husband who remembers every little thing...like people's names? Anyway, the Letterman people must have been so impressed with our Late Night knowledge, they put us on the 2nd row. That night, David was in the audience playing "Stump the Band", which by the way, I tried out for, but they weren't impressed with my rendition of 'I stuck my head in a little skunks hole'. I'm just guessing that the band already knew that one and it wouldn't have been a challenge for them, that's why they didn't pick me. Anyway, the lady they did pick was sitting directly behind Tary. So David was standing right behind and to the side of him. Tary, of course, had to play it cool, since his face was on the camera, but I, on the other hand, got to turn and look at him, up close! It was so cool. He's taller in person.



Well, a couple of months ago, I got to meet another famous person. And I actually said Hello! And she said Hello back to me! I was starstruck...and I so wanted to run back to the truck and get my camera and have Tary take a picture of us together...but I didn't want to seem like one of those crazy fans that jump up and down and scream and cry...so I played it cool and pretended to be normal, when really my insides were jumping up and down and crying and screaming for me to go get the camera! Ugh! I should have listened to my inner voice, but I didn't! I came home so disappointed in myself for trying to be so cool. Cool is so over-rated.



Then last week, I had a chance to redeem myself. I got tickets to go see a taping of "Good Things Utah" at the channel 4 studios where she was going to be a guest on. I was so excited! I packed my camera, making sure the battery was fully charged. Left an hour early for the 15 minute drive so I wouldn't be late. Found a parking spot up front...went inside...but the receptionist wouldn't buzz me in. She pointed to the sign that said, "No purses. No photography. No jumping up and down and crying and screaming for our guests." Just kidding, but not about the camera part! So I returned back to my car and locked my purse and camera inside. I would have smuggled it in if it was a small, sleek little thing like the one I got my husband for Christmas and saw on his dresser that morning, and thought about taking, but decided against it because mine had a bigger zoom lens. UGH! I couldn't believe this was happening again!



Well, I made it inside safely. The rest of her fan club made it too. When she walked out on stage, we clapped and cheered, and inside I'm sure we were all jumping up and down and screaming and crying. Can you guess what happened next? Out came the camera's. Of course, they were all little, and sleek, and able to be smuggled in. Heavy sigh. No one is going to believe my story, because I didn't even jump in the picture when she had all her home girls gather around the set for a group hug.

Failed again, I was ready to shuffle back to car for a good cry...but I couldn't, no I wouldn't, let another opportunity go by. So I marched back to my car, grabbed my big ol' zoom lens camera, smiled sweetly at the receptionist till she buzzed me back in, then floated back to the green room where my dear sweet cousin took a picture of Me and Vanessa...together...at last!



By the way, she is much littler in person.