Daxton Wilde Foundation—helping kids w/ cancer

This morning I went and helped at a 5K and Kids' Fun Run for the Daxton Wilde Foundation. Daxton was a little boy who faught cancer like a hero and wrote a book (w/ the help of his mom), which we published at Gibbs Smith, Publisher. It's called I'm a Superhero. Daxton's book is all about how cancer is the bad guy and how he was a superhero and had to fight it with chemo. It's a great book to explain to anyone what cancer is and how treatments work. Daxton passed a way a few years ago, so his foundation is to help families with kids that have cancer. Daxton's mom, Sheri, is such a sweet upbeat lady who is the one who actively heads up these fundraisers.


To honor all the superheroes among us—specifically kids fighting cancer—we all dressed up like superheroes! It was so fun. See if you can guess who I was.:) I included photos of Captain Underpants and a few others. There are two pictures of Isabelle, a little girl fighting cancer. In the one picture she's with her mom and in the other one she's giving everyone 5. She's so cute! I also included a picture of Izzy sitting on my head while I was taking a nap after a late night and long morning. Isn't she cute, too?

"What are you going to be on Halloween night???"

—a ghost or a goblin or a ghoul? For those of you who don't know, that line is from a childhood sing-along tape by Janeen Brady.:) Brad and I used to dance around the house singing to it. Last night was my ward Halloween party. It was awesome, so I thought I'd share some of the costumes with you. I was a shadow. I followed people around. Most people thought I was a lady with an abusive husband because of all the shadows (not bruises) on my face and neck.:)

The party was in a barn (though it's all remodeled inside, so it was just like a huge den), and we even had a greased pig contest! I'd never even heard of one of those until last night. The things you learn in Utah. Ha ha. And everyone who grew up here knows at least the main line dances and recognizes the songs they go with. One song came on and everyone jumped up to dance. They thought it was so weird that I didn't know the dance. I told them that the only exposure I'd had to line dancing was in 6th grade with Ms. Johnson teaching us "The Boot Scootin' Boogie" in P.E. I don't know what Boot Scootin' dance we learned in Downey, but it was not the same one they did last night.

Happy Halloween!

Four Days w/ the Taggarts

I love visiting Sam and Gehren! Here are some pictures from last Monday when we were playing outside with the kids. I took Monday off of work, so it was so nice to not have to leave on Sunday afternoon. We're trying to figure out some system where I visit them every weekend.:) There's always quitting my job or cloning!

A Typical Katie Day

Wake-up at 8:30 a.m. (slept in). Cram a piece of toast down my throat while I get ready. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Work. Go for a walk at 2:30 p.m. Eat. Work. Work.

Leave work at 5:30 p.m. Hurry home. Cut out construction paper pumpkins while I eat my yummy chicken taco and talk to my parents. Throw on a dress. Visit people and deliver Halloween treats. Go to my Stake Relief Society Meeting. Go visit Nicole on the way home. (Sorry this is getting long. I thought I was condensing it.) Go visit Jackie (who just had her gall bladder taken out). Hear the doorbell ring at Jackie's house. See the Speed Dating guy who wanted to massage my foot!!! Try not to make eye contact. Act cool. Announce I have to go. Laugh all the way home.

I was TAGGED

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Getting ready to race tomorrow, since Thursdays were district cross country meets.
2. Driving by BJ Angulo's house (Wait, I didn't have my license yet. Sam, I would've had you drive me then! Ha ha.) or at least telling Karina how gorgeous he was and how he drank out of my water bottle. Karina would've been agreeing with me.
3. Sitting on the floor by my bed doing HOMEWORK!! That was life back then.
4. Memorizing sentences I didn't understand for a skit in Ms. Mussler's Spanish class.
5. Putting fresh band-aids on my knees from my last fall.

Five things on my "to do" list today:
1. Conference call with a potenial photographer for the book The Chef Next Door.
2. Edit the manuscript for Goat Cheese.
3. Fax Gibbs the marketing ideas for Berkeley Bohemia.
4. Lunch date with Carrie at Rumbi Grill! Whoo-hoo.
5. Go to Target to buy special treats for special people. ( I can't give specifics because I haven't delivered them yet.)

Five things I'd do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay for everyone who wanted to go with me to Egypt to help my aunt and uncle (who leave to go there in like three weeks!) with humanitarian aid projects. Then I'd sponsor other humanitarian projects around the globe and travel around to oversee them, of course paying you guys to contribute your skills and expertise.
2. Buy a house big enough that all my friends could come visit anytime. And of course we'd have someone to cook our food and give massages.:) It'd be a beach house.
3. Build a pool! And I'd also have all kinds of water slides and hot tubs and floaty rafts. Maybe I'd do this all at my house by the lake, so we could also canoe on the lake!
4. Help my dad make movies from all of his screenplays and his famous The Baseball Box. I'd publish The Baseball Box first and then turn it into a movie. My dad would also direct it. Then he'd direct a home and people makeover show and my mom would get to be the first person on the show. She'd get a whole new wardrobe and home makeover to finish the basement, get appliances that work, and have a fenced-in yard & a doggy door.:) (I know I'm really stretching my five-things limit.)
5. "If I ever get out of this elevator I'm having my eyes lasered."

Five things I'll never wear again:
1. My jean jumpsuit (Think cross between cowgirl and Charlie's Angels)
2. My T-shirt buckle shaped like a cat
3. My disco-era headband
4. My Etnies
5. My prom dress

My five favorite toys:
1. Izzy (my puppy)
2. Do shoes count? My new red flats!
3. My Saab
4. My Mac laptop
5. My iPod

Five people I tag:
1. Sammy
2. Jacqui
3. Megan
4. Tiffany
5. Polly

A Promise is a Promise

Upon request, I'm posting another true dating story. Ha ha. I'm laughing already just remembering.:) And Breanne, don't worry, my story's not about Spencer. I had fun with him. I'll call you, I promise.:)

So, I had a Collins (think Pride and Prejudice) experience two Sundays ago. Church ended and I stood, and there was this new guy standing in the pew (sp?) right behind me. He's tall, lanky, dark hair, glasses, and moved in a month ago. His first day in Sunday school he told us that he'd just gotten custody of his three children. He's very vocal, so I've been able to get to know him through his comments in church but had never had a one-on-one conversation. I've kind of kept my distance, so I was surprised to see him looking like he wanted to talk to me.

He didn't talk for the first few seconds and then said, "I've been waiting for the right moment to talk to you. I first noticed you at temple baptisms, and I find you very attractive . . ." Then he stared, and I kept my mouth shut waiting. He seemed to be looking at my neck, but then I looked away because I noticed Brother Weir, the executive secretary, waiting to talk to me. He seemed to recognize what was going on and walked away, even though I was ready to yell out, "Wait. Don't leave me!" Another girl was leaning on my bench waiting to talk to me, too, but when I made eye contact with her she whispered, "I'll talk to you later." I turned back to Collins and he continued. "So to skip right to it, do you want to go out this Saturday at 8 p.m.?" I froze. I hate being taken off guard. I knew I was already doing something, but I couldn't think. "I have a date." I knew I didn't have a date. "Hmm, I can see how that would be—you having a date," Collins said. I scrambled to end the conversation. "Well, thanks. Have a good Sunday" and turned to grab my bag and leave. I felt bad, but not that bad.

My mom so wished she could've been there, but you are all invited to watch the movie in heaven.:)

Emma's Blessing Day

Emma was born four Sundays ago today! She doesn't like to sleep, but she's SO cute.:) Chels and Brad are amazing parents even though Chels could use some naps here and there.





Here are some pictures from today—Emma's blessing day. Brad's an elder in our church and holds the priesthood, which means he has the authority to give blessings, baptize, and confirm someone with the gift of the Holy Ghost. My dad, Grandpa, Chels's dad, and Chels's brother also hold the priesthood, so they stood in on the blessing. Soon after babies are born they are blessed and officially given their name for the church records. Brad blessed Emma with health and strength, with a quick and alert mind, with a knowledge that her body is a temple of God, and some other beautiful things. Wish you guys could've been here!

La familia Hurtado

Nuestros amigos, la familia Hurtado, estan aqui desde Venezuela! Los quiero mucho—son como familia. Eran muy importantes para mi, los otros misioneros y la estaca Maturin y nos ayudo bastante. Nos han contado que las cosas en Venezuela son muy dificiles y casi no tienen la libertad de vivir ni respirar como quieran. Me hace muy triste al pensar en mis amigos que todavia estan alla porque siento que no hay nada que puedo hacer para cambiar la situacion de su gobierno.

I know I should be asleep but . . .

. . . I wanted to introduce you to my new friend Spidey! Isn't he cool?! Lori and I went camping last Friday, the windiest day in history, and luckily met Spidey about two miles from our campsite. We blocked traffic to get these pictures! Remember what Mrs. Waters taught us in elementary school at Rio Hondo? "Ahhhh. Never Ewwww.":)


Isn't this the most gorgeous campsite you've ever seen? I'm not even joking. The trees were firey red and pink. And we were surrounded by boy scouts. Our favorite line that carried over to our camp fire was, "I'm going to buy a hamster and call him Fluffy Jones." We laughed so hard for some reason.

All smiles after the longest night of my life.:) Every 15 minutes (literally) we'd have to roll over to ease the hip pain and find a not-so-rocky spot as we kept sliding farther and farther down the tent. The wind finally died down around 5 a.m. When the sun came up we were SO grateful. Then we went on a hike in the rain up to a waterfall, and the trail at certain points was almost tropical with moss and green stuff growing all over the ground! I loved it! Right when we got home it started snowing!

The Weekend BYU Beat Air Force

Fall is finally here! The first pictures were from Saturday the 22nd right after the rain stopped and the sun was coming out, setting the mountains on fire. These are the mountains right outside my door.





On Sunday the 23rd Mandy, Amanda, and I headed up Big Cottonwood, or somewhere near there.:) It was beautiful! We were still in our church clothes because we went straight to hear Elder Holland speak at the U Institute building. There were over 6,000 young single adults, so we ended up sitting on the floor of one of the chapels on the opposite side of the building. We were actually on the floor of the stage!





Mandy played around with the f stops on my camera to let in more light, so that's why the picture are funky. The room was actually dark. Cool, huh? Elder Holland is my favorite apostle (if I'm allowed to have a favorite). He's just so passionate about us realizing how much Christ suffered for us and never letting that testimony we have die. He goes "ballistic" on return missionaries who think they should "go back to real life" after the mission. Living the gospel is real life. Being a witness of our Savior is real life. There's no going backward, only moving forward or standing with our feet firmly planted. I love Elder Holland!