Kelly Times Two

Have you ever met someone and the moment you did, you knew you'd be good friends? Well, Carol Ann and I met in a crowded aisle at Costco while I was fumbling over a super-sized shopping cart trying to remember the name of a guest from a recent cooking show, a well-known person whose name should not have escaped me, when RuthAnn and her friend, Carol Ann, joined the rest of us in the intersection. I was there shopping with my friend, Holly, loading up with 15 heads of romaine lettuce, a dozen cans of mandarin oranges, a bag of frozen chicken, and other ingredients to pull off a Mandarin Chicken Salad meal to feed more than 50 women at our recent Visiting Teaching Conference. Carol Ann and RuthAnn looked like super models, and I was in my unattractive ponytailed frumpy mode in workout clothes, sans my Victoria's Secret "secret embrace"Ü, and in a hurry to get home. Carol Ann remembered me from a brief drive-by viewing that she recently had in my driveway while our mutua...

Christopher likes to dress up on his birthday. When he was in first grade, he asked me if he could wear his church clothes to school. At first, I was going to tell him no. But then I thought, "What could it hurt to have him wear a tie, a buttoned-down shirt, and dress pants to school?" So I let him and he looked adorable. He has continued to do this every year on his birthday. I hope he keeps it up. The teachers always love it. It's something he started on his own and I think it's brilliant. But then again, I'm his mom. Kelly's parents were here from Colorado to celebrate Christopher's ninth birthday with us on October 4. We went to Main Event. Christopher loves rock climbing at Main Event. We had dinner at Mesa Rosa and Christopher loved when the waiters sang "Happy Birthday to You" and brought him a special dessert. Christopher liked the dinner, but was eager to leave to go to Main Event. Lindsey and Christopher had the climbing wall to t...

Tonight's photo was taken with some girlfriends when we went out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in the Arboretum last week. This is the exact restaurant we went a year ago to celebrate Conni's birthday. The person I asked to take our picture had just been told that her table was ready and she didn't seem too pleased to be bothered with my brief request. It's a little blurry, but I'm still glad we could capture the moment. As our smiling faces appear from left to right, we have me, RuthAnn, Summer, Shana, Sue, Shauna, Wanda, Conni, Buddy, Aren, and Michele. It was a delightful night out and the food I ordered was really good. I ordered a small salad that had field greens, Gorgonzola and pecans and a vinaigrette, and I ordered an appetizer of sweet corn tamale cakes,which my sisters are in love with. It was awesome.

"Holy smoke, Batman! Could this be Kelly & Kelly in cognito?" The bat mobile is waiting. Coming soon: Toy Story THREE! The man in black, aka Johnny Cash and June Carter. Gustavo and RuthAnn look wickedly attractive together in their costumes. We had so much fun at Aren and Scott's house on Saturday night for a game night special, a murder mystery party. There were some creative costumes, my favorite being Nacho Libre and the nun, by Jared and Jenny. So much fun! I only took few pictures, regrettably. Please forgive the images of me in spandex. I personally got past the embarrassment of my attire wearing this unflattering outfit in front of my friends after seeing Jared. It was hilarious! I really wish I had taken a picture of him!

Nine years ago today, we got our darling little redheaded baby boy! Woohoo! I just love that kiddo. He's so adorable and we love him so much. He was two and a half weeks old the day we got him. This time around, we were familiar with the routine. It was similar to the day we got Lindsey. The staff at LDS Family Services walked us back to this cozy little room, and seated us once again in their soothing, comforting rocking chairs. There was a slight difference this time around. They escorted our daughter out of the room briefly, then when she returned, our six-year-old Lindsey was carefully holding in her little arms, her new baby brother and she placed him into my arms. Of course she was supported with two "body guards" that were on each side of her, ready to catch a falling baby, if needed. It was one of the most exciting, wonderful days of my life and I remember looking at Christopher and was so thrilled to have my little boy. This time, I had been given a sma...

These pictures are from a game that we took the family to a couple of weeks ago, but since the University of Texas Longhorns beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers today, I'm pumped and wanted to show some UT spirit! Hook 'em Horns!!!! Go Texas! It was a close game today, but that does the trick! I am so excited that Colt McCoy's first football game to ever play outside of the state of Texas was a victory. What an exciting game and I'm sure those Texans were freezing while playing in the snow in Nebraska. The kicker brought Texas back to a lead to win in the final 20 seconds or so. Phew! Go Longhorns!

Following the wedding in downtown Nashville at Christ Church Cathedral, guests either drove or were transported by shuttle to Cheekwood Museum of Art & Botanical Gardens for a picture perfect night that could not have been any more spectacular. The wedding dinner menu was spiced butternut squash soup with tamarind cream and toasted sunflower seeds which was absolutely incredible. The salad consisted of arugula with grilled fennel, roasted red pepper, red onion, capers, and Parmesan curls with lemon vinaigrette. My entrée choice was roasted breast of chicken while Kelly picked the sea bass, with root vegetables and Yukon potato puree, and last but not least, wedding cake. Kelly & Kelly Here comes the cutting of the cake moment!

I took many pictures while in Nashville and have been squeezing in and adding posts and photos here and there during this busy, crazy week, and hope to wrap up the final ones today. Ambiance prior to the dinner at a table outside with a spectacular view of the botanical gardens. Place cards for the dinner following the reception.

The last two days, I substituted as the seminary teacher for my daughter's class. It was early, but I really enjoyed it. The main point of the lesson yesterday was how we should fear God more than man and not let the things of the world take focus in our lives. It was taken from D&C 30. Today's lesson in a nutshell had two main principles. First, we will be blessed and our families will be blessed when we serve the Lord. Second, our Heavenly Father knows each of us individually. He knows our needs and He loves us, and we should rely on Him in all we do. The reference was D&C 31. What a wonderful way to start the day! Chris, their regular teacher, told me that the kids don't like to sing. The lesson plan recommended that we sing "Called to Serve," and I recounted to the kids that one of my favorite memories of the MTC was when the huge group of elders and sisters sang their hearts out to that song. I challenged the class to sing it like they mean ...

Kelly & Kelly in front of the visitor's center at the Hermitage mansion, the home of former United States president, Andrew Jackson. We took our Toyota Camry rental car with GPS around to a few memorable places while we had some free time before the afternoon wedding. First, we made quick drive-by of the Grand Ole Opry House, then we drove down south of Nashville to the LDS Temple in Franklin, and finally to the home of Andrew Jackson. The "klein maar fijn" Nashville temple was situated right next to a chapel that shared the property. It reminds me of the Oklahoma City temple. The grounds for the chapel were spacious, full of big trees and shrubs, and very well groomed. We enjoyed the pleasant, mildly cool autumn weather.

In addition to the save the date card we got announcing Rebekah's wedding, we got three other mailings, which were so fantastic that I want to share them here. Also, in the gift bag that was left for us in our hotel room, there was a wonderful program that was functional and very pretty. Upon arrival time at our hotel, we were treated to a gift bag by the bride and groom filled with this program of events, some Goo Goo Clusters, which are made in Nashville, two crispy cheese crackers from the local bakery, two bow-tie sugar cookies in honor of the bride's father, who is famous for his reputation, but known for wearing a bow tie, one frosted in pink with a green monogram, and one frosted in green with a pink monogram with the letters R and A), two little bottles of Jack Daniels Tennesse Whiskey, two bottles of water, a box of Tic Tacs, and a pack of aspirin. I suppose if you were to drink the whiskey, you might need the aspirin. The program was very helpful and had driving di...

Following the rehearsal dinner, Rebekah and Allan hosted a night out on the town in Nashville, and provided guests with cowboy hats and libations. Downtown Nashville reminded me of Austin with all the live music available. From Elvis to Johnny Cash, this band was cranking out cover tunes that really got the crowd going. I didn't want to leave! Kelly, my urban cowboy, and I had a wonderful time dancing to the live band. They were fantastic and the place--Robert's Western World on Broadway--was packed like sardines but we managed to find a piece of the dance floor right in front of the band to honkeytonk to the mesmerizing sound of Johnny Cash's hit song, Ring of Fire. We had a ball! Lucy and Frank Taylor, Rebekah's grandparents joined her from Utah for the celebration. Lucy, Elizabeth's mom, is 84 years old and Frank is 93. Rebekah and her dad had a great time dancing together. Gordon and Rebekah dancing again. Her dad seemed much more willing to dance with her...

What an incredible weekend we had in Nashville celebrating the marriage of Rebekah and Allan! The Friday night rehearsal dinner was an absolutely incredible event in and of itself, with every detail carried out with the utmost consideration. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed seeing Rebekah for the first time in about fifteen years, half her life ago since she is now 30! Allan had one foot in the door with his passion for bowties--a trademark that Rebekah's dad, Gordon is well known for. The groom's bow-tie cake was served at the rehearsal dinner and was the most delicious chocolate cake I have ever tasted with a rich chocolate truffle, sour cream pound cake and ganache icing served with vanilla bean ice cream. It was a mouth-watering, one-of-a-kind clever design. The rehearsal dinner menu included Spanish blood oranges over sweet bibb lettuce with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, grape tomatoes, and honey vanilla vinaigrette, Black Angus petit filet mignon over a portabello mu...

Lindsey and six other kids had dinner at our house before going to the high school homecoming dance tonight. She had a great night overall and it was also a big moment for us to host the event for the group. Before I continue, I want to point out that I'm several pictures and events behind on my blog, but hope to add a lot this week and will backtrack to cover most of the exciting things we've been up to. Now let's get back to the homecoming soirée. While I was in the kitchen plating food, whipping up dessert, etc., Kelly helped out by being the doorman, butler, pianist, and father of Lindsey tonight. I captured one shot of the two of them together before she left for the night. I thought they looked so adorable. Personally, I avoided being on that side of the camera and focused on the food and other important tasks. For example, I sewed the bolero jacket to go with her dress today. How foolish it was for me to wait until the last minute, to wait until the day of the...

My sweetheart and I will be flying to Nashville for the first time in a few hours to head to a wedding. We'll be gone for two days while Grandma and Grandpa, my in-laws, hold down the fort. I was printing out our boarding passes and some driving directions from the airport to our hotel and discovered there is a temple in Nashville. I had no idea. I hope we can have a moment to drive by, to see it at least. We'll be in Tennessee for about 48 hours. The wedding should be a memorable event. The bride-to-be is the daughter of my former employer, Gordon Gee, the chancellor of Vanderbilt University. I worked for Gordon while he was the president of the University of Colorado as the manager of the President's Residence. It was a unique and special job and I loved working for them. Google him and read all about Gordon--he's been a university president at more universities than anyone in the US. Gordon is a very nice guy and his daughter, Rebekah, is all grown up now. I...