So sad...

This last labor day weekend we traveled down to Cedar City to attend the Kahuku/Bingham football game. We left Friday, and stayed at the Motel 6 in Cedar City. Suprisingly, it was impecably clean, no used nylons under the bed or used cigarette butts in the hall. (These references are in regard to a certian Calabio road trip taken through northern California, where a certian motel was utilized by much other than the Calabio clan)
Since the game was in the evening, we spent our free time venturing around Zion National Park, which I also have not been to since a certian Calabio road trip. The park was beautiful, and since the park is well equiped with easy access trams, we didn't even drive or van through the park. We took the tram through out the majority of the park and then we took a few hikes.
We finished the day by roaring it up with our fellow Kahuku and Laie friends at the Kahuku/Bingham game. In my opinion, the Red Raiders (Kahuku) played well...well at least the defense was impressive. In fact, the game was even 0-0 until the fourth quarter, which was devastating. Kahuku lost in the final quarter 27 to 0! Don't ask me how Bingham could stomp on Kahuku in such a defeating way...seriously don't ask, it puts me in a bad mood.
I hope your Labor day weekend was as eventful as ours.

Photography by Erin

Sweet Emma

The Queen Looking out Over Honolulu
Three Generations
Honolulu Dusk

Photography by Erin

Busy as a Bee
Wing Spread
Flight of the Bumblebee
Good Eats
Good Eating

Here are some pictures I have taken over the last few weeks. The bee pictures were taken at BYU Provo, and the yummy food pictures were taken at our farewell party in Hawaii. The delicious scones were made by my fabulous baker friend Laurie, and the last picture is of a great girl named Adrian (sorry adrian, I couldn't resist putting the picture on my blog).

Photography Service:
If you are in the Utah County area, I am offering to take family portraits for a minimal fee of FREE! I would love to practice my photography on you and your family. I make no guarantees about quality, but I will take a minimum of 150 shots and you are sure to get a handful of excellent photos! I will provide you with a free cd of the shots, but if you want enlargments or framing, I will just charge you cost...typically about 20.00 for a framed lustre finish 11X14. Or 15.00 for a framed 8X10.

Call me, Email me or reply to this post and I will set up a time to shoot you!

Day 1

Earlier this year I participated in a Biathlon; I am hooked! Eventhough there were parts of the race that I absolutely hated, I am hooked on the euphoric feeling that washes over you at the finish line. Since we have been so busy with our move, I have put the racing bug on the back burner, but now that we are now settled, I have been searching for a few races. The two that stand out the most to me are: the Viking Tri (a slightly less than sprint distance triathlon) on September 29th, and the Provo National Running Day 1/2 Marathon on November 1st. Mark agreed to train and race with me, so today we started a training program. Today was a running day. We had to run 25 minutes. Tomorrow we will bike for 20 minutes and run for 20 minutes. I am nervous, but I think if we stick to the training program we will do well, and when I say "well" I mean we will finish the race. If you live nearby and would like to be apart of our training, give me a call.

I will keep you updated on how our progress continues.
GO SUMMERILL TRIATHLON TEAM!!!

CRAP!!!

Disclaimer: Ok, serious do not read this if you have a high opinion of my little family...we are now sinking to an all time GRODY low. This blog also contains refrences to nudity.



Mark and I had spent the good portion of the afternoon reshaping, planting, pruning and landscaping my parent's front yard. We were covered in muck! But, being hungry and tired, we sat down and ate dinner with my family before we decided to shower. Dinner carried on as usual:

Erin: Thanks for making the Pork Chops mom, they're good.

Mom: Thank you for working in the yard.

Erin: (grunt) um, yah.

Mom: Have you gone to the bathroom yet or are you still feeling a little constipated?

Erin: Oh, I'm good, I worked it out earlier today. (EDITED)

Mom: Well you should make sure you are getting enough fiber or you could have a blockage.

Erin: (1/2 roll of eyes) I am fine mom, but Theodore hasn't pooped since we got here. (reference to the Summerill arrival from Hawaii on Monday morning)

Mom: You better watch him, that can be bad for babies if they go too long without pooping.

Dinner conversation carries on as usual and an array of other functional topics are haphazardly discussed over pork chops, rice and corn.

Mark: I am going to take Theodore down and give him a bath, then I will wash up to.

Erin: (finishing up rice, garbles a reply) ok.

Dinner is promptly wrapped up and Erin encourages the boys to help grandma. After the table is emptied, Erin, having forgotten what Mark had said, asks her dad of Mark's whereabouts. Her father mentions that Mark has taken the baby down to get bathed. A sneaky gleam lights up Erin's eye and Erin sidles away to the downstairs bathroom to find Mark and Theodore in the tub. Erin stands in the doorway and giggles at the Summerills in the tub. Mark furrows his brow and then tells Erin that she can get in with the baby because he is going to get out and she obviously needs to still clean up from the gardening work. Erin agrees to this exchange and unrobes. Within minutes the three Summerills are changing places around the restroom, primarily in the bath tub. As the baby exchange is being made, Erin notices a peculiar smell.

Erin: Gross, what is that smell?
Mark: (confused look) I don't know, what is that thing floating near your foot?
Erin: What thing?!? Oh MY GOODNESS (edited) that is POOP!!!

(screech sounds from the thriller Psycho are heard in the background, as shots of multiple pieces of poop are seen floating around the gray bathwater)

Erin glances around nervously to find the tub a filled river of logs moving to make their way downstream.

Erin: (who is holding the baby) Mark can you see if he is still pooping? (urgency in voice) Mark, Mark, is there poop still coming out?

Mark: (clearly annoyed) I can't look at his butt right now because I am trying to get the poop.

Erin: (distressed) How are you going to do that? Can you just please tell me if he is pooping still?

Erin's eyes widen as both her questions are answered in near simultaneous timing. Erin watches horrified as Mark grasps for the floating mini-logs, missing some and snatching others, then tossing them into the nearby toilet; and then Erin feels the warm sludge of fresh baby poop (and when I say poop, I mean it could be mistaken for a grown man log) slithering down her hip and kerplunking into the brown lake below.

The scene continues as Mark grasps at turd floats and Erin screeches each time Theodore scrunches up his face, and flexes his mini torso to release yet another poop shoot! It is apparent that the 4 days of poop that have been stored in Theodore's baby body are now thrown into the toilet or floating around the bath in which naked Mark, Erin and baby Theodore now stand.

Needless to say sometimes life is just a Crap Shoot!

Aloha Oe'

Today in church we said our final goodbyes and gave our final talks. My talk was entitled Spritual Fitness: A Testimony Bootcamp, I quite enjoyed that topic...hehehe, and Mark spoke about having a firm and unwavering testimony of the Savior. After we spoke, the entire congregation stood and sang the Hawaiian goodbye song, Aloha Oe' and then came and gave us leis. As you can see in the picture below, George still has all of his on, but by the time the picture was taken, Henry and I shed most of ours.
We have absolutely loved living here in Hawaii and feel so fortunate that one of our dreams came true and is now another chapter in our lives. We have been able to see and do so much here with each of our wonderful visitors. We have grown closer as a family and especially closer to our Savior and our Heavenly Father.
I am sad that we are leaving the beauty of Hawaii, our close friends and especially my island family; but, I am equally excited to return to Utah family, close friends (pgwc) and the awe inspiring mountians of Utah. Please know that you are just as welcome to stay with us as you were when we lived in Hawaii.
If you are a friend that we are leaving behind in Hawaii, I want you to know how much we will miss you and the good times we had. The 10 things we will miss most are:
10. Papa Ole's (some of the best plate lunch on the north shore of oahu)
9. Turtles, turtles and more turtles...check out previous posts.
8. Malasadas (Hawaiian's Doughnut)
7. Swimming (ocean floating and swimming at friends...miss Maelita you better remember me)
6. Matsumotos (da best kine shave ice eva)
5. Filipinos...really, do you not remember the bathroom incident? (see older blog posts)
4. Kim Chee...so stinky it is soooooo good!
3. Makapu Light house...where all your Hawaiian visions come true.
2. Spam Musubi (seaweed, rice and spam goodness)
1. Da best car is da beach cruiser (rust, dents and mold infested)

Picture Perfect

I recently acquired a wonderful tool for taking seemingly better pictures. Since we will be leaving Hawaii very soon, I decided to put this acquisition to the test at my friend Dolly's home. Her home is a sancutary of Hawaiian foilage. Here are some of my most favorite flowers, plumerias and other scenery shots of Hawaii.

The Hunter, the Hunted and the Hunt!

Two years ago, after an unfortunate layoff, Mark and I unanimously decided to give away our dog, sell our home, purge all our belongings and move 3000 miles away to a far away island in the middle of the pacific ocean. There we took shelter and created a new life for ourselves as Mark hunted an education in Manoa (UH). Daily Mark would travel across the rugged island landscape to the far off land of Manoa to perform educational feats of analytical studies and written synopses. Traveling sometimes up to three hours a day, being exhausted by his travels and studies, Mark was fervent in his pursuit to conquer the beast known best as MBA. MBA was reclusive and often taunted him with unimaginable leaps. But matching the beast step for step and never falling short to rise to meet the beast in the eye, Mark grew stronger. Daily he stalked the beast and as the beast grew weary, Mark narrowed in on the beast's lair. Then early on a clear sunny Sunday in the days of mid August, Mark walked with an air of accomplishment and capture as he approached MBA, and seized him as one would claim a deserved treasure. Victory was his and open for all who had internet connection or a ticket to Hawaii to behold. After 2 years in the land of Laie on an island in the middle of the ocean, Mark seized the victorious beast known as MBA!!!
After the graduation we walked out to the baseball stadium and loaded Mark up with Leis!
The boys were so excited to see their daddy graduate! Mark was the last in line for the Masters students to recieve his MBA so it gave extra time for our family and friends to yell for an extra long time. If you were watching via internet, you would have heard us yell "FREEDOM" and a slew of other cheerful taunts!
Here are the Summerill Men! One has recieved his MBA, three more to go...hehehe (or some other degree).
Henry, Klai, and Rykell were excellent cheerleaders for Daddy, and Uncle Mark! We are soooooo proud of Mark. The first of 13 kids in his family to graduate from University, and to return to school having 2 and then 3 children, Mark is really a great example to our little family. Now that this feat has been accomplished, we will be moving back to the motherland for Mark to continue his career as an investment/insurance broker at Regal Securities in Utah County. If you live out that way and you want to hang out, we will be there as of August 20!

Have you read Eclipse?

Yesterday I drove to town and purchased a copy of Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. On an earlier post, I mentioned the earlier books in the series, Twilight and New Moon. Being a fan of the series, I couldn't wait to sink into the latest novel. Late last night after the kids went to bed, I pulled out my copy and read until 4 in the morning. I have to say the book was fairly fast paced, filled with suspenseful action and incredible fight scenes, so it was easy to be dragged into long periods of reading, not wanting to put the book down to even go pee. I don't want to send out any spoilers, so if you have read the novel, and you want to dish about it, e-mail me or post on this blog. If you haven't read the series, go out and read it now...thank me later for cueing you in on a great story!

School is Back in Session!

Yesterday, George started his first day of school in the 1st grade! My baby boy is growing up so fast. He picked out his outfit the night before and thanks to my Mom, he had a backpack ready to go with a matching water bottle (his favorite part!) Since we aren't moving until the 19th of August, and George expressed that he really wanted to start school with his friends, I thought it would be fine to enroll him for 2 1/2 weeks.
Henry and I walked George to school to speak with his teacher about our situation, and when I walked in the classroom I could't help but be surprised. I had heard that all the 1st grade teachers were older, but George's teacher is a young man (probaby around 23) that has facial piercings! I was a little surprised. Later when I thought about the situation it seemed comical because when I tried speaking to him I kept looking around the room, trying to avoiding eye contact because I couldn't help but gawk at his eyebrow piercing, lip piercing and ear piercings. But after our non-eye contact conversation, I concluded that he really is an "on-the-ball" teacher and George will have a great 2 1/2 weeks.

The Lights on but Nobody's there...

After the children went to bed, I curled up on the couch with remote in hand to watch a show while Mark left the house to run a few errands. The house was eerily dark because we had begun the organized packing process, and seeing that we didn't really need the extra lamps, I packed them. During the commercial breaks of "Flip that House" I channel surfed and I ended up watching a spooky scene from A.I. (a semi-recent sci-fi flick about robots). At the peak of spookiness in the movie, Haley Joel Osment, the main A.I. character, travels deep into the ocean that has taken over New York City, and proceeds to have an eerie conversation with a hundred year old blue fairy statue in what was once Cooney Island. Of course, sitting all alone in a dark apartment that picks up every creaky sound from the nearby highway, I was pretty much asking to get creeped out by continuing to watch A.I., but I was drawn to it like a fly on poop. As the spookiness reached an all time high in the sci-fi flick, I heard a loud creak originating from the kitchen which caught me by complete surprise. Freaked out, I jumped off the couch. I turned to see what the noise was in the kitchen and I saw Henry.
Henry was climbing up onto the bar stool at the kitchen counter. I said, "Henry." He did not respond. Again I said, "Henry, what are you doing?" and again, he did not respond. Speaking very loudly I asked him what he was doing in the kitchen and why he was out of bed. Again, he did not respond. Confused, I watched him as he raised his hands in front of his face and began to have a noiseless conversation. It was like he was talking to someone, using his hands to demonstrate what he was talking about, but no sound was coming from him. He nodded his head a few times in response to whomever he thought he was talking to and then nodded his head off to one side and sat still. His eyes looked glazed over and I couldn't help but to compare him to the eerie robotic, children creations in the movie. After watching him for about 5 minutes in complete awe and bizarre terror, I went over, lifted him out of the seat and took him back to his bed, where he went immediately back to "regular" looking sleep. When I asked him today what he was doing last night, he had no recollection of the incident...CREEPY!

CRASH and BURN

The Setting:
Two nights ago I opened an e-mail from e-bay. I often recieve e-mails from e-bay and had just recieved one the day before. The e-mail indicated that someone had posted negative feedback about my account and I could follow the link to resolve the issue. I clicked on the link and my internet filter immediately popped up "WARNING: SITE CONTAINS CRIMINAL INTENT". By the way, I love my internet filter it is bsafe online and it protects from all kinds of cyber space crap! Anyways, not quite understanding what happened because e-bay is not usally blocked, I then tried one more time to access the link (yes I know STUPID!!!). When my attempts were unsuccessful, I went to the e-bay page, accessed my account and then was confused to see that there was no mention of negative feedback or an inquiry against my account like the e-mail stated.

THE CRASH:
Within a few minutes, my webbrowser started clicking itself (almost like I was clicking on links but I wasn't touching it), then more windows for my web browser popped up, and then my computer froze. I turned off the computer thinking it was a simple computer glich and restarted the computer. The computer continued to do the same thing, so I shut it off and went to bed.

THE BURN:
The next morning, Mark got on the computer to do some business and when the computer was loading, a black screen popped up and indicated that files had been removed. Mark tried to restart the computer and it completely locked up. He then completed a system restore because when we purchased the computer 2 years ago, he set up a restore in case anything like this ever occured. After 4 hours, the restore completed and then the computer stalled. It would not turn on, it would not turn off. It was fried!

THE PROGNOSIS:
We took the computer to Computer Doctors and left it there overnight. In the meantime, we had to immediately run out and purchase another computer because Mark's business is dependent on having a running computer. Thanks to Uncle Mastercard, we were able to purchase a laptop that day. Today, the Computer Doctors called to inform us that the virus that had attacked our computer was so severe that when they hooked up their equipment to diagnos the problem, it stalled their equipment too. At best, they might be able to retrieve all the files saved to our computer...might I add, these are files that we have been planning to back up before we move, but had not done so yet. Thus, any pictures taken in the last 2 years, songs downloaded, stories written, and important personal information saved is most likely lost! Because the virus attacked our computer, there is a chance that our personal financial files could have been accessed...so we also have now spent HOURS contacting our credit cards and the three credit bureaus to notify them that our "identity" needs to be placed under a careful watch! Evidently the e-mail that I opened was VERY destructive...

THE WRATH:
You evil, pernitious, vile computer hackers...I have notified all my credit cards, lines of credit and the credit bureaus, if you even so much as charge a greasy hot dog on my line of credit, I will be notified and you will be stopped DEAD in your tracks. I will come after you with a vengeance and if I ever see you in person, I will beat you down, utilizing my years of aerobic kickboxing training and I will DAMAGE your personal property, (if you get my vengeful meaning). Computer Hacker/possible identity theft stealer...Your Days are numbered because now EVERYONE will know! I am watching, looking and eventually I will find you and obliterate you!

Come and Kiss me Harry!!!

Harry Potter, I am here waiting under the mistletoe! Come and give me a Kiss...



I dressed as Cho to attend the Harry Potter Book 7 Release party that was held at the local university. I cut my bangs, wore stripes because I thought they looked british and I wore my robe! Although I did not win the costume contests, I did win the hearts of many little Harry Potters...of course I had to first place them under the imperius curse! hehehe...ok, I got the book at 12:01 am, read until 3 am and then woke up the next morning at 9 am and continued reading until the evening. I finshed the book and am dying to dish about it....so when you finish the book, e-mail or call me and we will talk Harry!

Crazy Pumpkin on the Loose!

Today I was away from the house for just over an hour. When I returned Mark came to me and told me that he had a crazy story for me. He said that he had placed Theodore on the downstairs carpeted area to play and had gone up to the computer to work on business. A short while later he heard the distinct shuffling/padding of little baby hands and knees on hard wood and then a few loud banging sounds. Apparently our little Theo had climbed the half flight of stairs to the main level of the home, crawled over to the kitchen and began pulling items out of my cupboards....AGGGHHH! Can you believe that? Now my cupboards were totally unorganized and I had to spend all that time re-organizing my cupboards. If that baby is going to climb the stairs and crawl around the house unattended, he should at least learn that he should NEVER mess up my cupboards. hehehehehe...ok really, he shouldn't be climbing stairs unattended...I know.

Also I know it isn't Halloween yet, but being the bargain yard saler that I am, I found this little costume for 2 bucks and I had to buy it, and put it on my little Teddy right away, and then make him crawl around in it, and then laugh endlessly at his little pudgy pumpkin butt moving around the house.
Get this off of me right now you bunch of Nutters! --Theodore's Thoughts

AND THE WINNER IS...

NIGERIA....

Sike (ok, seriously, when is the last time you heard that word?)

For real, thank you for your input, it was a very difficult decision, so...

We are heading to UTAH!!! Since we have been paying rent of 1650 a month for the last 2 years, it will be nice to have a huge break on that...we plan on moving in with my mom and bummin' it...and by bummin it I mean: doing the yard work, re-fixing (because we already fixed it) the ceiling, patching up this and thats, and may the father permit (not the holy father, but my father) I will attempt to de-junk, de-clutter and re-organize the garage. Yes, we will be giving up a life in paradise to move in with my parents. Some may see this as we are moving backwards in the game of life, but I like to see it as a strategic move in a complicated game of...yadda, yadda, yadda....we are moving home, that is all there is to say about that.

Reasons for this choice:
We will be relocating to Utah around the last week of August. We feel that this is the best decision for us because a large portion of Mark's financial management clients are in Utah, Regal a financial brokerage has offered Mark to be a broker through them in Utah and they offered him a substantial pay increase, Mark's family and my family are in Utah, and...Utah is now the home of an IKEA!!! (which also happens to be within 30 minutes driving distance of my mom's house)

Buying, Bargaining, and Bypassing

This blog is a continuation of the previous yard sale tip blog.

The trickiest part of garage sale-ing is the Bartering. When do you buy? When do you Bargain and when do you simply bypass? This is my favorite part of garage sale-ing. Whether stated or not, there is a certain degree of garage sale etiquette.

For the Sellers:
On the seller's side, a seller needs to ask a fair market value for the used belonging. For example, since clothing is the most common good sold at a garage sale it is the easiest to define. The seller needs to take into account the quality of the item and the wear and tear. For children's clothing that has been gently used and show very minimal signs of wear the going price at a yard sale is roughly around a dollar a piece. If the item is in brand new condition then a seller could possibly fetch 2-3 dollars a piece. However, in most cases for worn articles of children's clothing the average rate is 50 cents a piece down to 25 cents a piece. You are probably wondering how you find out what the going rate for an item would be. Simple, if you plan on having your own garage sale, spend a few Saturdays stopping at local garage sales and then you will have a rough idea of what you should price your goods. After viewing 5-10 garage sales it will be apparent to you who is asking too much and who is asking too little. Old Summerill Proverb says: A seller who desires to gain too much will be a seller who ends up earning too little.

For the Buyer:
Just as sure as there is a clear Seller's etiquette, there is equally a buyers etiquette. Everyone out there wants to get a good deal. Whether the buyer or the seller, both want to walk away feeling that they "did good." As a buyer, it is your choice to decide whether the seller is selling the item for too much or just right. If you feel the item is a good deal, pay the money; however, if you feel that the seller is asking a little too high, ask the seller to lower the price. If you are non-confrontational, an easy way of having the seller lower the price is to ask, "Is there any way you would lower the price a little?" Most of the time this question will allow the seller the freedom of feeling they could lower the price and still get what they want out of the item. If you don't mind a hard barter, ask a more aggressive question by pinning down a price. "Will you take 2 dollars for these items?" Most often the seller will either agree or meet the buyer somewhere in the middle of the two prices. I have found that the second method almost always fetches me a lower price, but it definitely takes a little bit more moxie out of the buyer.

For those Shut Down:
In your quest to bargain for a lower price, if you have been shut down, either walk away from the item reckoning that you could find it at another yard sale for cheaper or just pay the cash. Feeling that you got what you wanted and you would probably not find it anywhere else for cheaper.

Garage Sale-ing is like exercising, the more you go, the easier it gets. For more tips and info on garage sale-ing, see my previous post or e-mail me directly.

Create Your own Garage Sale Success

Do you have unwanted, gently used belongings laying around your house that you can't bear to simply throw away? Is your house unsightly, marred with piles of odds and ends that seem to have no place to go? What you need is to have a Garage Sale. I know what you are thinking; A garage sale is a waste of time and energy for the small amount of pocket change you claim at the end of the day. I am here to tell you that you are wrong! Now is the time to De-junk, De-clutter, and re-create the sanctity of your home.

Top Tips for Garage Sale
Success:

1. Plan 2-4 weeks ahead
Allow ample time to organize your un-wanted items. During this time, zone off your house. (i.e. bathroom zone, bedroom zone, kitchen zone, family room zone...etc.) Decidicate 1-2 days per zone. Enter the zone and scan your items. For every item in the zone, ask yourself, "Do I use this item at least once a month?" If your answer is no, my suggestion is to sell it because you probably won't miss it once it is gone. The exception to this rule is keepsakes. But, be wise what you deem as a keepsake...because in all honesty, some stuff is just clutter!
2. Designate a Center of Operations
Like any large plan of action, there should always be a center of operations. This is where you will bring all your yard sale items from each zone to be priced and kept neatly until the great day! Having a space for yard sale items helps to cut down on the day before preperations because all your items will already be organized by zones, and priced and neatly kept in one area. So make sure when you bring items into the operation center, you keep the items organized by zone...resist the urge to just toss the items into the pile because then you will have the headache of having to sort through your yard sale items....more work means less fun!
3. Post Alluring Advertisement
This is the key to luring garage salers to your home in droves. This is truly the key to making the big bucks! Post your signs 4 days to 1 week ahead of time. This is important because it will allow people to plan on attending your sale and it will hype up the buyer; thus, priming your buyer to spend, spend, spend. Make sure your signs are simple to read. Use large letters to indicate Where, When, and What....Keep it to those three pieces of info. The worst yard sale signs have too much info. You do not need to list everything you are selling on your card board sign. Make sure that your letters can be read from at least 20 feet away. So make a tester sign and then walk 20 feet away and see if you can read it as you run by. If you cant, try again.
4. Set the Stage
Since you have already priced all your items and organized them by zones, all you will need to do is procure the tables and tarps you will be using to neatly display your belongings. NEVER throw your belongings on the ground or stuff them in a box. If the buyer cannot see how clean and neat the item looks, the buyer will not feel the yard sale temptation. So, get up at 6 am, set up your tables, organize the items on each table or tarp by zone.
5. Set a Bank Station
Make sure you start the day with two 5 dollar bills, 8 one dollar bills and 8 quarters. 95% of the time, this will be adequate. Make one station where people come and pay...DO NOT ROAM! Sit and allow the shoppers to shop, while you focus on totaling each buyer's purchases. It is also helpful to have plastic grocerie sacks with you so you can pack up buyer's purchases and have near your pay station tempting treats (these act as impulse buys). I have found that just having two options is best...perhaps something salty, and something sweet!

Testimonial:
If you follow the above tips, you are sure to double your yardsale money! I have used these techniqes over and over again and found them to be fool proof, success finding tips of the trade! -Erin, an avid garage saler

George and I attacked the yard sale world to day by following my tips of success. We lured in shoppers with our big signs which we posted days ahead of time. George sold caramel popcorn and of course, Spam Musubi. As Mark likes to say, we made out like bandits!!!

A 3 dollar ticket, a Diet Pepsi, and a movie theater that smells like Butt!

At first when you add up the equation of a 3 dollar ticket, a Diet Pepsi, and a movie theater that smells like butt you would most likely presume that the movie I viewed would be less than spectacular....well think again, Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix was Stupendous! I went this morning with my sister, her husband, my cousin's wife and my hubby. In fact, I was so excited to see Order of the Pheonix and I was positive that the entire community would feel the same way, I took extra precaution to procure an adequate seat for the show by showing up 1 hour and 45 minutes before the show. I was a little surprised to find that noone else was waiting in line, but I held my ground. At 45 minutes before show time the line was bustling with a whooping 3 people, so the theater attendents opened the doors and allowed us to reserve our seats. I was pretty surprised that the theater was only half full when the movie started, but I have to say busy or not, this movie was the best!

My Critique:
Of all the Potter movies, I think that they are starting to capture the true intensity of character emotion that the books encapsulate. Clearly this movie was the darkest (in cinematography and content) of the 5 Potter movies released thus far, but I don't think the dark tone of the film is a negative point. I think it intensifies the dark presence of Lord Voldormort's return. I would also give a two thumbs up to the women who played Delores Umbridge, Bellatrix Lestrange, and suprisingly Luna Lovegood...they all nailed their roles! And I might add that Potter is becoming quite the little hunky...hehehe.. Of all the Potter movies thus far, I finally felt like I was watching the true Harry Potter story and not just watching a bunch of actors trying to capture a great book. If you haven't seen the show yet, run...not walk...right now and see it! Tell me what you think...

To Move or Not to Move...

To move or not to move that is the question....No I am not talking about us moving to wherever we are going to move, but which piece of furniture should go or not go. Mark and I refinished a pine hutch a few months ago and I have been considering selling the piece. But we are once again at an impasse...Yes, whether I sell a piece of furniture or not is quite the quandry. Here is the Hutch, what do you think?

Options

During Mark's business trip to Utah he unfortunately found out that the company that he sent his investment planning business through was going to close its doors. (ie. Brookstreet went under because of a couple of bonehead brokers in Florida who had a $170,000,000.00 oops.) Feel free to look up this business transition in the wall street journal or any other business editorial. Anyway, a little over a week ago Mark was forced to then find another firm to send his business through. Immediately all the brokers that worked through/for Brookstreet were then on their own to find new representation. Because Mark essentially works for himself this isn't quite the same as being layed off, but it does change our perspective on where he works and which other brokers he works with. Many of the brokers Mark worked closely with have all chosen different firms as their new representation, so he just has to choose who he now wants to work with and exactly where he want to be located. Since the breakdown of Brookstreet, Mark has had a few reasonable offers and we have narrowed down the choices to three:

1. My sister's husband has a wonderful, successful firm in Washington state. They have offered Mark the opportunity to work with them and their group of brokers. Thus, we would move to Washington and live there for quite some time...I like this idea because I really like the apple and cherry orchards, the cost of living (buying a home) and I like my sister...sometimes...hahaha just kidding...hahaha.

2. Mark has been offered to partner with a few brokers in Utah County that were also Brookstreet brokers and have now had to find new representation. Together they would keep all their brookstreet clients, but they would just be under a new brokerage. I like this idea because I am starting to like to quilt and my Mom, who lives in Utah County has quite the quilting set up...and almost Mark's entire clan lives here so I know he really wants to be closer to them, and I absolutely love to play with my friends in PG!!!

3. The most bizarre of all offers came from a man Mark has worked closely with over the last two years. He recently returned from a sabbatical in Dubai and is leaving to work at a university in Nigeria. He has offered Mark a full time teaching position in the business program at this university. I like this idea too because we would have summers off from mid-April to mid-August where we could stay with family, we would be able to see an area of the world that we would otherwise never visit and the living costs are almost completely free (the university pays for it all) so we would be able to save nearly 90 % of what he earned...plus he would be able to complete a PHD while working at the university...it is a 3-4 year contract.

So the purpose of this blog is to get your opinion. Over the last few days we have discussed each of the choices till we were hoarse and we are still at an impasse. Let me know what you think, and hopefully it will get us closer to a decision.

Over the last three weeks we have been traveling all over. First we went to Utah for Mark's business conference and then on our way home we stopped in San Francisco for the day. The day after we returned from Utah, we left for Hawaii (the big Island) to visit my Grandma and my auntie and uncle. We had such a great time visiting family and sight seeing. This post is full of pictures from our trip to the big island and extended family photos.
This home once sold for under 50,000.oo dollars after my grandfather died. The bugga' wen buy da house an den paint um up and go fo' sale da house fo' two seventy fi!!! Translation: The man who bought the house only painted over the termite infested walls and is now trying to sell the house for 275,000.00! I have so many fond memories of running around this house with my cousins. It was nice to bring my grandma back to look at it. Grandma enjoyed seeing the house and she noted that she loved that house and had many good memories from that home. On our way from Kona to Hilo (one side of the island to the other) George and I hopped out of the car to look at Akaka Falls. These waterfalls are some of my favorite falls on the island.
Here Baby Aley (my cousin's baby) is climbing over our Slug Butt Theodore (not much of a crawler yet). Right before this picture, Aley was kissing Theodore and Theodore's face was a little bit more pleasant.
Here is Rachel's baby, Shae, and Theodore posing for the camera. I think their mouths and noses look a little bit alike.

What a Ride!

It seems that the rollercoaster life ride that we have been enjoying for the last few years has finally come to an end. Due to dramatic and sudden business changes in Mark's career field, our family will be relocating to Utah the end of August. Yes, I know that this announcement is contradictory to my previous post which noted we had a 92 percent chance of staying in the tropics; it seems the 8 percent chance of moving won the struggle. We are 100 percent sure that we will be moving to the mainland at the end of August. If you were planning on coming to visit the islands anytime after the end of August, we apologize for the sudden inconvenience this change might have on your travel plans, however, due to unforseen extenuating circumstances, Mark will be relocating to Utah Valley.

In other words: Mark sends his financial planning business through a company called Brookstreet. Last week a group of not-to-bright, risky brokers concocted a deal that essentially brought down the entire company because they overextended their business by about 170 million dollars (read up on this in business news)...anyways, Mark has to transfer his business to another financial firm...thus he will be now transferring to Utah. Not to worry, this doesn't affect any of his clients investments or portfolios, it just means that he will have to send his business through another firm. IT ONLY AFFECTS OUR SEMI-PERMANENT RESIDENCE!!!

In other words: Bye bye Hawaii, hello Utah.

In other words: If you wanted to visit Hawaii and stay for almost free (chip in on groceries and gas if you use my car) you need to rearrange your travel plans to travel in July because that is when I have no previously engaged house guests.

In other words: Plan your tropical vacation to visit sometimes Sunny Utah...our house will always be open to you there too!

Future Photographer!

Since I was on yearbook staff in high school, I have had a fascination with photography. I have had the chance to play around with my dad's ever changing-upgrading cameras and my brother-in-law, David's camera. Then last year my friend Natalie, who is also aspiring to become a great photographer, took our family pictures, I absolutely decided that I too would one day become a photographer...or at least take decent pictures. My dad recently purchased the Nikkon D80, which I have to say is a fabulous camera. Since we arrived in Utah last week, I have been playing around with his lenses and different tester subjects. So, I thought I would post a few of my practice shots! If you have any advice for me...please let me know!!!

Princess in Training

I just returned from my ward's girls camp. Our theme this year was princesses in training. We were princess Mia from the Princess Diaries. So we started out the week dressed as nerds and then we slowly progressed to beautiful, manicured princesses. Here we are on the princess hike. Lucky little Theodore got to go to girls camp with me. Then the girls decided that Theodore would be our mascot and they dressed him up as Fat Louie (Princess Mia's Cat). He was such a good mascot.
Here is Theodore during the girls' free time. He is just chillin' on one of the girl's air mattresses.
Eventhough George and Henry weren't able to come to girls camp, the benefited in the "nerd" experience. Our theme was "geek to sheek", I think my boys are stuck in the "geek" stage...hahahaha....

Cuddling Teddy the Bear

Ok, seriously, I know in this picture I look really tan, but in all honesty I think that it is the flash because I am really not that much darker than my little Theodore. Now to the business of this blog, I absolutely love when Theodore falls asleep on me. Most of the time, he wants to fall asleep alone in his crib with a blanket to hold while he sucks his thumb, but, if I am lucky and I have kept him up long enough, he will nod off as I hold him. I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a shot of my little porky bear! I love his little chubby legs and arms. Here we sit on my couch just cuddling on a lazy Sunday afternoon.