Amazing Race

So Court and I decided to host an Amazing Race Book Club Edition! I am in the funnest book club with 14 other girls from high school. We have been trying to come up with a way to have an evening where we could gather our husbands together and this was PERFECT! In the whole group only two were not able to attend!

From the start there was a bit of cheating, but it was so fun to see the competitive spirit in everyone. I was really lucky that some of my local stores were not only willing, but excited to help me pass out clues and allow our group to come racing thru their stores.

Friday night everyone showed up at our house at 7:00. We had 12 couples racing--which worked out PERFECT to have 6 teams total. Some of the teams even tried to coordinate colors--although it mostly looked like we had alot of black. Here is the rundown:
Team Spilsbury/Millett (Black Bandanas)
Team Jensen/Thomas (Black Clothes)
Team Krummenacher/White
Team Black/Glover (ASU garb)
Team Goodman/Lomu (Black Clothes)
Team Clarkson/Cunningham

Clue #1Using the map of the nearby neighborhood, locate which of the 6 different builders has a model listed as the ‘La Salle’ (the signage is clearly visible from the street.) Your team must then take a picture in front of it ---incorporating at least three of your team members and the name of the model in the background.

Directly to the west of this model home is a walking path with two uneven bars and a park bench. Search under the park bench to retrieve your next clue.

Clue #2 You have exactly $0.99 for this leg of the race. This clue requires TWO steps. First, head to the closest CVS Pharmacy and purchase a roll of bubble tape using the money provided at the beginning of the race (please retain the change for check in on the mat.) Between all teammates, the entire roll must be chewed---how you divide the gum is up to your team.

Second, ALL teammates must blow a bubble at the same time (you must take a picture (or video) of 3 teammates blowing the bubble)The bubbles must be real and clearly visible to the CVS employee before she will hand you your next clue.

Please be aware of other CVS patrons. If the cashier is busy, you must wait until she isn’t before blowing your bubbles for her!
Clue#3 Using the greeting card provided, head to Super Wal-Mart and find 4 complete strangers to sign a greeting in the card (photos should be taken of each signer.) When the card is completed, show it to the ‘Phil’ wandering the aisles in the northeastern portion of the store (they will be wearing the amazing race route marker somewhere on their person.) They will deliver you your next clue.

***WARNING***
NO RUNNING INSIDE WAL-MART---a time penalty will incur!


Clue#4 ROADBLOCK is a task that only two team members participate in and both must complete.
(of course the other two team mates need to be documenting the occasion! )

Which Two Male Members are ready to be Olympians? Head to the local high school that is home of the Jaguars and head out to where the Williams sisters reign supreme. Using the equipment provided, the MALE members of your team must complete one full lap before receiving their next clue from Court. (extra points might be awarded to the team that walks up and down like Eda making her ‘quick get away’ out of Circle K.)

Clue #5 ROADBLOCK is a task that only two team members participate in and both must complete.
(no single team member may compete in both roadblocks--of course the other two team mates need to be documenting the occasion! )

Which Remaining Female Members are ready to race the clock? Each female member of the team must stand on the free throw line and make 3 baskets within one minute. Failure to complete the task within the time allotted will cause the team member to head to the back of the line to try again. Return to Courtney for your next clue.

CLue #6 DETOUR is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. Teams must successfully complete one of the tasks in order to receive their next clue. There is no penalty if a team decides to change tasks part way through.

SPICY or SLIMY Team members must choose between eating something spicy (A SHOT OF TOBASCO)or something slimy (A SARDINE) (each individual may choose for themselves, but all team members must participate in eating something spicy or slimy before receiving the your next clue from a Steve’s Krazy Sub employee.

Clue #7 All team members must now make their way to the final pit stop in the Fischbeck Backyard where they will need to complete one final task before checking in all members on the mat.

***WARNING***
The last team to check in MAY be eliminated!


A Fast Forward is a task that, once completed, allows the team that completes it to bypass all remaining tasks in the leg and proceed directly to the Pit Stop.

It’s YAHTZEE time! Each team member will take a chance at rolling the dice. As soon as a yahtzee is reached—race to the finish mat!


Here are some fun candids!

So much fun, but it took A LOT of work to put together. But you my clues were 'official' with the correct signage from the show and EVERYTHING! Next time we would make the tasks harder and not so close in proximity---so much for me worrying this might take too long! Ü Everyone was flying through the tasks so fast that we weren't able to get a Phil back to our house in time to welcome the winners on the mat---stinkerpots! At the end of the night team Krumenacher/White won followed by a close 2nd from team Jensen/ Thomas. The winners received Harkins movie passes, and the 2nd place team got yogurtland gift certificates. Once we made it back to our house we uploaded everyone's photos to Courts laptop and we watched all the pictures projected onto our movie screen. Court made us a batch of Pioneer Woman Apple Dumplings and it was the perfect end to a fun night!


And here is the whole group!

back row: Kylie and David Glover, Darin and Christi Jensen, Heidi and Glen Millett, Clint and Amy Goodman, Bill and Shelly Lomu, Julie and Courtney Fischbeck

middle row: Joni and Andy Krummenacher, Julie and Jeremy Spilsbury, Brett and Rachel Cunningham, Brad and Alicia Black

front row: Nat and Eda Clarkson, Andrea and Geoff White, April and Brent Thomas

Nerd Alert!

Does anybody have a grandma with glasses like this? I would swear that my Grandma Fuller used to war sunglasses EXACTLY like this! Ü

You might have noticed that dear little Wavee's left eye likes to cross. Alas I have putting off a trip to the eye doctor, cuz I just don't want to put my baby girl in glasses. But the eye crossing was getting worse, and quite frankly a little disorienting, so off to Dr. Eason's we went (Dr. Eason is Laetner's eye doctor as well---interesting note that Laetner's OPPOSITE eye does the same thing) But while Laetner ONLY suffers from the eye crossing that supposedly the glasses will fix, little Miss Waverly is far sighted as well, and will need some glasses forever more---tear! The above picture was taken the day of the eye exam when they had to dialate her eyes, and gave us these snazzy glasses for protection from the sun!

We finally got her glasses in last Friday and headed over to grandma-papa's (that's what the kids call my parents collectively) to show off her new glasses and to also get Laetner a MUCH needed haircut.

A shot of Laetner getting a haircut proved easy enough.

But getting a shot of Waverly---not so much.

She looked left and right and up and down---but she was too busy bringing oranges to pose for a picture.



Wait for it....


Wait for it...


NERD ALERT!

Laetner's (and Crew's) Big Top Birthday Bash!

About a month ago, Shelby and I starting bouncing ideas off each other of party ideas for our little 6 year olds. Didn't take us too long before we decided we needed to join forces! So we rented a huge inflatable slide, borrowed a art spinner, set up a bowling alley, and hired out some yahoo teenagers to do some face painting for us.

What better way to start out a big top birthday then by entering in through the circus tent...

(you can kinda see the slide in the background)

Here is Laetner taking his turn at the spin art...


Here he is hiding at the top of the slide---trying to talk himself into coming down, no doubt.


16-6 year olds, and 2 and a half hours later and we had finally made it to the CAKE! I have to say I was pretty pleased with how it all turned out!




Of course things REALLY got exciting when the paper flag on top of the cake caught on fire!

(If you haven't already, check out the video in the previous post!)

Good times were most definitely had by all!

Sneak Peak

The par-tay of the century still needs to be blogged about. But this video is so priceless it just couldn't wait! Along with sharing a birthday party, Laetner and his best bud--cousin Crew, also shared the moment of blowing out the candles together. Only they didn't plan on the top of the cake actually catching on fire! Keep your eyes on Crew!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Delainee once again is a super-star! We had her 2nd grade musical on Thursday May 12th, and she performed stellarly----as expected. Court, Wavee and myself made it to the day performance, and Laetner, grandma, papa, and me as cameraman, made it to the evening performance.



Here she is with her whole class of jungle creatures!


This is Delainee's little friend that lives across the street.


She had a special giraffe hat, where all the other kiddies had paper hats that they had obviously created themselves in class. I asked Delainee how she managed to get her cooler hat, and she told me that she just sang better than everyone else!

I don't know about EVERYBODY else, but she was definitely movin' and groovin' more than most! She puts her whole heart into it!

Here she is with her cute 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Skinner.


Great Job Delainee---you stole the show!

Birthday Boy

It's the same old story. Boy wakes up on his birthday and heads off to school. Boy plays on the playground before the morning bell and manages to slip and fall on the jungle gym---splitting his chin open. Boy's mother gets a call from the school nurse saying 'we might need stitches'!

Are you kidding me?

We go to get Laetner from school so we can take him to the doctor, and he DOESN'T want to leave. Mind you, he had blood caked to his neck and down the front of his shirt. But, he was so concerned that he was missing out on his special 'birthday school day' and worse than that---he had NOT gotten his special birthday crown from Miss Hann yet!

But we dropped Wavee off at Shelby's house and Laetner and I headed to Mesa Peds. The verdict---stitches not needed. But the wound was still bleeding, so they cleaned him up and steri-stripped him together. Whew---that could have been worse.

We then made a quick trip to Wal-Mart where Laetner INSISTED that he needed some 'chop sticks'. I was utterly confused until I looked down to see this in his hands....

Ummm, what do you need chapstick for? He then rattled off names of kids (boys)at school that had chapstick---is this some new trend I am not aware of? Are they eating this stuff???

"You don't need chapstick" I insisted. "Chapstick is for kissing girls, is there a girl you are wanting to kiss?"

I honestly thought this line of questioning would make him giggle and/or "ewww" but he immediately responsed with "Yes, Hannah is my one true love!"

Hello! He turns 6 and suddenly he is Mr. Cassanova! He has a little Hannah (and when I say little I am not exaggerating---she is a nunch) that sits at his table in kindergarten. He INSISTED she be invited to his birthday party---which I was surprised at, at the time. But, now that I know she is his 'one true love' it is all making sense to me! I wonder what Hannah thinks about all this.... I wonder what Hannah's MOTHER thinks about all this. But with as innocently sweet he was being, my cold tight-wad mother heart melted---and I bought him his 'chop-sticks.' It was his birthday after all! Ü

We then headed to Krispy Kreme to get donuts and hats for his class, and we managed to get him back to school just in time for lunch (they were having pizza) and more importantly just in time to get his BIRTHDAY CROWN! When we walked into the classroom the whole class gathered around him like he was some sort of celebrity---who doesn't want to be the center of attention on his birthday?

All in all it turned out pretty good. We aren't actually celebrating his birthday until his party, but he still got to pick out what he wanted to eat for dinner---he wanted Mac and Cheese ALL BY HIMSELF. Thanks to E-Z Mac, his WISH came true! Ü We finished off the night with a trip to Golden Spoon---he got cinnamon ice cream with gummy bears and cookie dough---ummmm GROSS---but he LOVED it! Ü

Just look at my handsome boy all grown up!



Can't Wait for his PARTY!

Hopefully we get a shot of this elusive Miss Hannah

Let's Play Music was on T.V.!

Delainee Show and Tell

Delainee was very proud of these creations. As soon as she walked in the door from school, she pulled them out of her backpack and verified, "You said we could scan in our best work and put it in our blog book, right mom?"

Finally!

We finally got some official communication from Court's parents after the 8.8 earthquake that hit Concepcion, Chile on Saturday. This came through my email 2 minutes ago. The rumors have been true. They are alive and doing well---well they are at least alive....

Dear family and friends,
Since Saturday, 4 1/2 days ago, after the 8.8 earthquake,feelingthat our building would break apart and we would fall 11 floors to our deaths, we´ve taken refuge in our local ward building with other missionaries. 1 hour ago our situation improved. We walked down to the office and found there is electricity and water there and the internet.The situation is different in the church and our apartment; services are gradually improving. We sleep on the floor, have had no running water (think of the ramificaitons of that) and no electricity. Food is scarce but it´s truly amazing how the Lord has blessed us through. With the military here-- unfortunately they waited a day and 1/2 before coming , the burning and looting of buildings has stopped. It{s safe to walk in the streets which are filled with rubble. Our curfew is 6pm to noon the next day. MORE details later. Thank you for your prayers!!!

We shouted for joy with the running water here.--it´s been the hardest to live without.

We love you.
Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Fischbeck


this one came about a half hour after the first one...


Concepcion is nearsest city( 70 miles) from the center of the quake. The epicenter was in the ocean. It was larger than Haiti´s though they had a terrible death toll. Concepcion has worst damage except for the little towns of Constitution and Dicahati which were destroyed by the tsunami after the quake. This quake is the 5th largest quake in recorded history. It shook for 5 minutes unbelievably hard.

Half of them were killed by a tsumani which happened along our coast. 100 were killed in a new 14 story building that collapsed 10 blocks away from our house. The after shocks continue too, the first 3 days practically every 10 minutes. We are having a big one right now. It´s a bit unnerving. They have lessened but that was bigger.

We have not had shower since Friday. No water for only necessities- We are lucky to have water. a baptismal font full of water that was supposed to be emptied 2 weeks ago but it didn´t. We´ve had (3 )5 gallon bottles of drinking water. they are about gone. We boil the font water and are grateful for it. OUr meals are interesting and a challenge to come up with to feed 12-20 people without a refrigerator and any stores to buy from. We are scrappy. Our bishop´s wife whips up sopapillas out of floor and oil-- We´ve some how managed to have fresh tomatoes every day.

A huge catastrophe for this fair city.

Your father is wonderful and has been a great blessing to our group of missionaries and bishop and stake president who lost their homes and live at the church with us. Yesterday Dad led everyone in a service project at the church of a collapsed wall. He makes everyone, elders, bishop, president, etc.

Pictures later.
Glad to be alive,


the emails just keep on coming....


Dear Family,
Here I am with another message.
We just returned after running out of the office towards the hill in town because there was tsunami alert broadcast by radio. Our president called and told us to run. Maybe because of the large after shock 20 minutes ago.

Another heart stopper. But we are back in the office building and in the streets the message is being broadcast by loud speaker. FALSE ALARM for Tsunami.

I just want you to share in the fun.
Love, Mom
(I´m not making this stuff up)

Dear *My 1st Piano Teacher*---Deal With This!

Truth be told, I am pretty excellent at playing the piano! There I have said it. I have definitely put in the time---so has my mother for that matter. But I am not as perfect as it seems--shocking, I know.

When I was younger, I had a teacher that would slap my wrists becuz I wasn't playing with beautifully curved fingers. He even made me tie red yarn to my wrists to try and remind me to 'bubble up'.

Didn't work out so well.

I play flat fingered. I like to think of it as being cultured (since I have HEARD that the Europeans play flat fingered---WHATEVER!) Add that to the fact that I am a HUGE nail-biter---we are talking chewing and tearing the cuticle down til they BLEED sort of thing---and I must admit that my hands might not be the most beautiful things you have seen moving on those ivories! I once was accompanying a vocal major who looked down in horror at my hands one day as we were practicing together and said, "Is that what practicing piano does to your hands?" "No," I replied in shame, "that is what watching 24 will do to your fingers!"

But, I seriously have some mad skizzles! All those comments from my mother of 'you'll thank me when you're older' really came true. And for any of you mothers looking for a great skill to give to your children just know this: accompanists at the local community colleges get paid $40 an hour---and they are always a HOT commodity in high demand!

Don't get me wrong, however. In a piano 'play off' with Jenn Crandall I would LOSE---but I like to think that it would be by just BARELY! Ü

But I digress. Back to the reason for my post. For all those teachers that got frustrated by my inability to round those fingers---or to keep that right pinky finger from sticking straight out as I would play my scales: I give you this.....

I could have been worse!

Caught You In the Act

I could hear the chairs getting pushed around in the kitchen, and wasn't thinking too much about it until I turned around to see this.....





That's right sister! I see you with your evil laser beam eyes! Ü

And what exactly was sooo important on the cupboard?

They went in by the handful, and were immediately spit out onto the cupboard---in order to reload a new handful, of course!

Can you still see the saliva where she licked them all?????



In related events:

This was a Abraham Lincoln log cabin that Laetner made at kindergarten. He is REALLY proud of it, and he was REALLY upset to find Waverly trying to EAT it!
(can you see where the paper is still wet?)

In her defense she LOVES pretzels. I am sure it was driving her crazy that they were not coming off of the paper---no matter how much she licked at them! Ü