Boo!

A certain someone was indescribably happy when a bowl of Halloween candy appeared earlier this week. He was also very willing to welcome the ward Trick or Treaters on Saturday night and help them pick out their treats (from a much larger bowl of goodies).

Friday Night Live

Most Friday nights Kris, Keven and I will go out to eat. Kris loves the Olive Garden, but has been happy when we get Chinese or Mexican (if he can get tacos).  This past Friday evening Keven was making his way home from a business trip so I put Kris in charge of the evening’s events.

First stop: Barnes & Noble, where we browsed the magazine racks and looked at books. Kris was happy to find a movie magazine featuring the new Harry Potter movie. I think it made up for not being able to find any wrestling magazines. He also found a new Star Trek book.

Second stop: Game Factory, a new business in the former bed & bath store across from Barnes & Noble. It took us about 10 minutes to figure our way around this massive store, but Kris eventually found the area with all the X-Box games. There was quite a selection and he already knew that we were just looking, but he was excited to see so many different titles. As we were leaving he discovered the ‘Used’ section where he found a $4.50 Superman game. Of course we didn’t leave it behind!

Third stop: Food court at the mall (surprise - he thought that sounded better than the Olive Garden). After checking out the options he chose Subway, and while we were eating our soup & sandwiches we had a lot of fun watching all the cute costumed kids running around the mall for the Boo Bash.  A walk down to the pet store brought a surprise – no more pet store (I silently cheered). As we meandered our way back we were talking about how cold it was inside, and as we passed an Italian gelato shop I jokingly asked Kris if he would like some ice cream. He didn’t even hesitate when he answered, “That would be fine!” And so we stopped and ate the best gelato ever – strawberry shortcake for him and black chocolate for me. Yum!

It was a great evening for both of us. Kris was full of charm and chivalry, opening doors for me and keeping me good company.  And I gave him a break and left the camera home.

K.R.I.S. Cleveland

September 25, the weekend of the Akron Marathon, wherein Kris accompanies me to Cleveland and provides his own brand of moral support and historical insights.

Even though Kris "had things to do" and said I could go on to Cleveland without him he seemed pretty excited once he was actually on the plane.  He had not been happy about the process of going through security - did not like one bit that he had to take his ID card out of his wallet to give to the TSA officer, and then take off his shoes and his belt to place in the bin. He was downright unhappy when I told him he also had to put his wallet in there. Once that was over with, however, he was in good spirits.

Ben and Troy were kind enough to meet us at the airport as Ayrel and Sonja were occupied with a hot yoga class (there's a whole story in that, don't you just know it!).  We were treated to a delicious dinner of some amazing chile Ayrel had simmering in the crockpot - double yum! 

The next day we visited Ben while he was hard at work at the Cleveland Clinic on his pediatric rotation, and then headed south to Akron to pick up our packets for the race the following day.



Kris was kind enough to stand in for Ben

That evening we took a lovely stroll down to Little Italy where we carbed up. Kris was thrilled to have a seat right in front of the band. They warmed up, played part of a song and then disappeared; sure wish we could have heard more of their music because they were good!

Early the next morning and ready to run!

Actually, I think Kris was ready to go back to sleep.

Kris and Sonja provided invaluable support, cheering us on to the finish line!

(Oh wait, maybe I don't want to be in this picture afterall - I'm not wearing the right shirt!)

That afternoon we wandered a mall - isn't that a normal thing to do after running a 1/2 marathon? Kris was a good sport and read magazines while Ayrel, Sonja and I indulged in pedicures. Ben and Ayrel treated us to fabulous Indian food in an out-of-the-way spot for dinner later that night. They are regulars there, so we were treated like family! 

Sunday morning we were able to attend church in Kirtland, Ohio, along with a whole busload of folks on a church history tour!  After, we toured the village of Kirtland and wandered around the temple grounds. I love the way I feel when I go to special places like this.

Methinks someone is sleepy.

Sadly, we had to bid farewell to Sonja later that afternoon.

We spent the evening relaxing and playing Monopoly.

 Kris and Tofi were sure happy to see each other again! 

It was pretty hard to get Kris to give up this chair -

he really liked the non-stop massage!

The next morning we were off to an early start so that we could squeeze in:

 Breakfast in Amish country ....

a visit to the Johnson Farm ....

and a trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

before heading to the airport!

Kris was no happier going through security on the trip home; in Houston we had to run for 20 minutes*, and were SO very lucky we didn't miss our plane, but after that it was smooth sailing!

Thank you, Ben & Ayrel for making the Running of the Bird

such a wonderful experience! You are the hosts with the mosts!

*When we arrived at the gate, just as they were about to close the doors, Kris announced loudly, "This is the first time my sister has ever run!"

One-Track Mind

Conversations with Kris this morning:

Me: That was quite a thunderstorm we had last night!
Kris: Gresham don't have no thunderstorms. It's illegal.

Me: I heard that we lost power because 9 power lines were knocked out just north of us.
Kris: Gresham don't have north, just the North Pole. Maybe you wanna go there and be a "HoHoHo!"  (knee-slapping funny!)

Me (as we are leaving for a doctor's appointment): Maybe we'll get some more rain this morning!

Kris: It never rains in Gresham. It's always 100 degrees. In Gresham it's always summer!

Me: See the mountain with a cross on the top? That's where I hiked on Saturday.
Kris: Gresham don't have no mountains, it's all flat!



And then at the doctor's office he called the nurse "Honey".  I'm not too sure how that went over!

To Market, To Market

Catching Kris off-guard as he returned this morning from his 1 1/2 mile walk to Circle K. He's asleep when I leave for Seminary at 5:30am and is walking home from the store by 7:30.

Humble Pie

Today I was feeling pretty good about myself. I managed to be properly dressed and ready for Seminary students by 6am. I ran the Resler Hills in my best time ever. I made it to my forgotten hair appointment on time, showered even, and ended up with a haircut I really like. I put on my new Vera Wang $4 clearance sale t-shirt, $6 clearance sale capri jeans and cute hand-me-down flip flops (thanks, Tanja!) to take Kris to Walmart.

All the way to the store Kris told me that it was "ridicoolus" for me to be dressed this way. The kind of pants I was wearing would be illegal in Gresham, and so would the flip flops! Summer is over and I should not dress like this. People would be "madder than hops".  He was not being mean or ugly, he was just concerned because the sky was grey and big fat rain drops were starting to fall. And the temperature had dropped to a chilly 90º (but it's 155º in Gresham today!).

~  ~  ~

Kris showed up at the check-out counter with a large bag of Cheet-O's, pulling out a gift card to pay for them. The last time we were at Walmart he had used up what was left on his gift card, but this was a different one. When it was swiped it showed that the card had not been activated. Hmmmm.

                    "Kris, where did you get the card?!"
                    "Over there", pointing to another check-out lane.
                    "On the rack?"
                    "Yep".

Missionary-Minded

August 20, 2010

This is how Kris showed up for dinner when he knew 2 sets of Elders were joining us. Too bad I didn't think to take a picture of all of them together before the missionaries had to leave.