A Peculiar People

Last night, I was entertained for quite awhile after stumbling upon this awesome website: www.stuffmormonslike.com It is a site completely dedicated to discussing the strange cultural trends of the Mormons. Don't worry, it's written by fellow Mormons, and isn't offensive at all, just hilarious. After reading through it, shaking my head in agreement after each thing I could relate with, I had a new appreciation for the term "peculiar people." I've been thinking about it all day, and have come up with quite a list of my own "stuff Mormons like." I'll just share five.

1. Busy wedding announcements with cheesy poses. Six years ago, when designing my own wedding announcements, I made sure I included 4 photos, and thought I was doing pretty well. However, in the past year, I've seen several wedding announcements that put my measley 4 photos to shame. I've even seen them two-sided in order to fit every single cheesy pose. Fun, huh?

2. Napoleon Dynamite. I was told to go see this movie when it came out by a group of single LDS students. When I got to the theater, it was packed with, of course, more LDS people. Now even if you didn't know that the producers went to BYU, the lead actor is LDS, and it was filmed in Preston, ID, it wouldn't take long for an LDS person to feel a sense of familiarity with this film. It is packed with Mormon culture: Ricks t-shirt, tupperware sales, online dating, finding treasures at DI, uncomfortable dances, and of course no swearing.

3. Historical Fiction that everyone loves, but can't quite sort out the history and the fiction. When I visited Nauvoo a few years ago, the missionaries there told us that they often are asked where "Steed Row" is. And every time I drive through Sugar House, UT, I wonder where the Thomases might have lived.

4. Ultimate Frisbee. It you don't know about this one, maybe you've never been in a singles ward. This is a favorite among LDS young adults. If somebody dropped the ball and didn't get the activity planned, the elders' quorum president is bound to have a frisbee in his backpack, and before long, everybody is having a blast showing off their incredible "ultimate" skills.

5. Desserts disguised as salads. Now we pride ourselves in being the healthiest people on the planet, since we have the Word of Wisdom to help guide our health choices. However, the last time I attended a Mormon gathering, the choice of "salads" was rather interesting. Next to the regulars--potato salad and that cabbage salad with the uncooked ramen noodles in it--there were three other choices: Red jello with cool whip on the top, some sort of whipped jello that had cool whip, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or perhaps all three in it, and the new craze, "Cookie Salad." Now that sounds like an oxy-moron to me, but I've seen it now at several gatherings, and it's NOT on the dessert table. Maybe it's for all the moms who want to say, "Oh yes, my child loves to eat his salad." Who wouldn't?

We are peculiar, aren't we? If you have any other "stuff Mormons like" please comment. I'd love to hear some more on this topic.

Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!

A little over 5 weeks ago, our cat Molly had kittens. I had known for awhile they were coming, and was not excited at all. I had planned to have her spayed, but I didn't expect her to be pregnant already at 5 months old! But what do I know about cats? Anyway, I have to admit that the kittens are cute and the kids absolutely LOVE them! Since the kittens were born, I have only let Molly out of the house a handful of times, and only for a short time, so I hope she's not pregnant, but I wouldn't be surprised, based on her promiscuous past. Anyway, all the kittens are female as well, so I need to get rid of them or the cat population may take over the ranch before we know it!

Summer Vacation?

Tony and I just spent four days with my dad in Des Moines, Iowa, at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Some have questioned this choice for our summer vacation, but we absolutely loved it! We started out last Monday afternoon, and went as far as Cheyenne, where Tony's brother lives. We enjoyed visiting with them and seeing their new baby, and the kids absolutely LOVED playing with their cousins there. Tuesday we went across the next state, Nebraska, and stopped at Tony's sister's house in Omaha. We stayed with them for the night, and also were able to visit my cousin and her husband who live almost next door! The next morning, we went to the Council Bluffs Temple and Visitors' Center. We didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there, but it was really neat. We toured the center and learned more about the Mormon Pioneers and their struggles in going west. Connor and Mylie got to try packing a wagon (mini-sized) and try on pioneer clothing. They make such cute pioneer children!

After touring the visitors' center, we went up the hill to the cemetery. About 40% of the pioneers buried there were age 3 or younger. The statue we are standing in front of shows a couple burying their baby, knowing that they will move on and most likely never return there. It was heartbreaking to think about what they went through.

After seeing the sights there, Tony, my dad, and I headed east, and Haley (Tony's sister) took the kids with her back home. She was kind enough to watch them for four days, and they had a BLAST there! I'm not sure they even wanted to come home after playing at the park, going to the zoo, visiting the botanical gardens and children's museum, and watching a fireworks show. And the best part of all was eating at Chuck E. Cheese's. While they were having a ball, so were we in a different sort of way. I've always been a track fan, and my dad has been going to this meet for about 6 years now. Tony is a track coach, as is my dad, so the three of us just had a great time marveling at the incredible athletes at this meet. Not trying to bore any of you non-track fans, but here are a couple of the highlights for me:

1. Jenny Barringer from Colorado ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 9:29, which was a new collegiate record and the fastest time EVER run on U.S. soil by any female athlete from any country! It was amazing to witness. This is her during the first lap. They're already chasing here, and that's all they could do. She beat the second place finisher by nearly 30 seconds.

2. Jacquelyn Johnson from Arizona State won the women's heptathlon for the fourth straight year. She also won it 3 times indoor. Impressive.

3. The high jump winner for the men jumped 7'7". Can you imagine?

4. The woman that won triple jump jumped 47'11". I remember being absolutely amazed when I saw a high school boy get 46' once. This GIRL outjumped him by nearly 2 feet!

5. The winner in the women's 1500 ran it in 4:05. It didn't know this was physically possible.

6. I'd never watched the decathlon or heptathlon before, and we had fun following that. Also, I'd never watched the hammer throw before. It was fascinating.

I could go on and on with all the incredible performances during the four days there. If you're interested and would like to look up the results for your favorite event, you can find them at www.ncaa.com/track-and-field-outdoor/article.aspx?id=255014

Just look through each day to find what you want. If you've ever done any track and field event, you'll be blown away by what these athletes can do.

Crazy Kids!

Why is it that when you tell a kid to smile, you get what you see below? You just want that cute face that you see hundreds of times each day, but this is what you get. Oh well, they're still cute.

I apologize about the quality of these pictures, but I just don't have time for photo editing tonight!