... that I just can't help myself?

Matt felt so bad about the whole worst-camping-trip-ever fiasco that he wanted to make it up to me. That night as we were getting into bed, he found me the best consolation prize he could think of: free hamsters on KSL.

He knows me so well.

PROBLEM #1: I can't say no to hamsters.

My last Tina had just recently died (she was old; hamsters don't live that long), and I was okay being hamster free for a while. After taking care of three at once, I was ready for a break! But who can resist free hamsters??? Not this girl! I called the lady the next day, and she still had some so we decided to go look at them.

PROBLEM #2: Crazy lady.

I asked the lady why the hamsters were free and she said that she had gotten a hamster for her kids and a week later it had babies. Hahaha! What a surprise. But then she kept them all in the same cage and SURPRISE! She got pregnant again from one of her babies. So now she has tons of hamsters and is desperate to get rid of them. I asked her what gender they were, and she said she didn't know how to tell. Obviously. The brightest crayon.

When we got there, it was late and her four shirtless little boys swarmed us as we were looking at the hamsters. The hamsters seemed nice enough and there were only two left, so I quickly grabbed them up and put them in a little box to take home.

PROBLEM #3: The birds and the bees.

Approximately five minutes after we got in the car, I realized that I had made a mistake: the hamsters were a boy and a girl. HUGE mistake. I was so flustered in that house with all those boys and was too busy secretly making fun of that mom for not figuring out the gender of the hamsters that I didn't really check closely enough myself when I grabbed them. We talked about it on the way home and decided... Oh well. We'll just see what happens. And let's be honest, I think it would be adorable to see some little baby hamsters! Even if they are incredibly inbred... Matt mentioned that these two brother/sister/cousin/niece/uncle hamsters might already be inbred enough to the point that they can't have babies. I guess we'll find out.

They're pretty cute though.

I love my furry little addiction.

... that Matt said:

Almost anytime we are driving anywhere: "Wait a minute... My Petco sense is tingling!"

While eating cheap fast food gyros and fries for dinner: "It's like we're sitting across from Plato and Socrates... Eating their native food and talking about philosophy and democracy."

When I got mad at Matt for his bathroom humor:

Matt: "I heard her say, "Bathroom jokes arrrrrre funny."

Me:

Matt: "There was an "n't" in there too, but that's irrelevant."

On manners: "That guy was totally picking his nose. Just like me. I don't say that to make fun of him, but to validate my own decisions."

Discussing whether or not he could get a discounted National Parks pass because of his amputated toes: "Some people use 'freak show' as a derogatory label, but it can also mean money maker!"

After watching Godzilla:

Matt: "There were so many plot holes, it should have been called Godzilla Swiss Cheese. It was totally unbelievable."

Me: "Did you really think a movie about Godzilla would be believable??"

Matt: "I thought they would at least try!"

When I got mad at him for being gross:

Matt: "Was that gross?"

Me:

Matt: "It doesn't count for my one gross joke of the day."

Me:

Matt: "I didn't even know I was saying something gross."

Me:

Matt: "It wasn't even about poop."

On his artistic nature: "I have a poet's soul. And a rapper's delivery. Holla."

"It's not white trash. Lots of people don't wear shirts."

I love my Matty!!!

... that I had the worst time ever ever ever ever ever ever?

Camping.

THE WORST.

Matt: "Honey, let's go camping with Lance and Renee this weekend!"

Me: "Honey, I am just BARELY starting to get over this cold that I've had for three weeks. I really don't want to go camping and risk getting sick again."

Matt: "But you never let us go camping."

Long discussion about how I ALWAYS let us go camping.

Matt: "Okay, I'm sorry. You do let us go camping. So, can we go camping if you feel better?"

Me: "Okay. If I feel better, we can talk about going camping. But how are we going to find them if we go down there?"

Matt: "They told me where they're going to be."

Me: "So we're just going to drive down there and try to find their campsite?"

Matt: "Yeah. I told them to call me if they go to another campsite."

Long discussion about what will happen if we can't find them.

Matt: "Honey, I told them to call me if they go to another campsite."

Me: "Okay. If that's your plan, we'll just see what happens."

And then this happened.

That is Matt sleeping in the front seat. And me trying to sleep in the back seat and taking pictures of him to keep myself from crying. Now let's back up to what lead us here.

As we are pulling out of the drive-thru with dinner:

Me: "So, how long is it to Moab?"

Matt: "Ummm... like three and a half hours."

Me: "WHAT??? It's 7:30!"

Matt: "Yep."

Me: "So we're going to get there at 11:00???"

Matt: "Um, yep."

Me: "So, we're just going to get to the campsite in the middle of the night, find their campsite, and set up our campsite IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?"

Matt: "Um, yep."

Me: "That is not okay!"

Matt: "It'll be fine!"

Long conversation about how this is not okay.

Me: "Okay fine. We'll set up camp in the middle of the night. But what happens if they're not even there??"

Matt: "They'll be there!"

Long conversation about what we will do if they are not there.

Me: "Okay. If we can't find them, you promise we'll go get a hotel or something?"

Matt: "Yes, we can do that. Is that okay?"

Me: "Well we're already on our way, so... whatever."

And then we got to Moab at 11:30. And then realized our campsite was still an hour away. And then Matt still really wanted to go camping. So we drove an hour to the campsite and SURPRISE!! Lance and Renee weren't there. And there weren't any open campsites, so we couldn't stay there anyway. And Matt felt so bad, we decided to drive an hour back to the city and get a hotel room. So we got back to Moab and SURPRISE AGAIN!! There were no rooms in Moab. AT ALL. There was some sort of convention or something and there were absolutely no hotel rooms left. So at 2:00 in the morning after 30 minutes of calling hotels, we finally decided to call it quits and sleep in the back seat of my car.

Matt felt so bad that it was hard to be mad at him. And it probably wouldn't have been that bad except I could NOT fall asleep. So I sat there in the back seat trying to fall asleep until 4:00 in the morning, when I finally decided to try laying out under the steering wheel. Then I fell asleep for approximately 3 hours before I woke up wide awake again. So we got up, ate some breakfast, and Matt very gingerly asked me if I wanted to see some sites before we drove home. We decided to drive through Arches so that the trip was not a total loss.

(Matt is grumpy in this pic cause I took some joke pictures first where the rock was not lined up at all. I thought it was funny. He did not.)

I have to admit, San Juan County is pretty beautiful. We drove all through Arches and even went on a few short walks, then decided it was time to head back into town for some lunch before we went home. And who should call the second we got into town but old Lancey himself. Turns out they went to the campsite but it was full, so they went to another one. But they never got into cell range so they couldn't call us. Figures. Matt was "pretty mad," (which, in his book, means he made a rude joke to Lance about it. So mad.) but we met them for lunch anyway and even went on one last short hike with them.

It was a 60 foot tall crack in the rock that had a few wooden branches wedged inside of it like a ladder. But this girl's limited athletic abilities were already tapped by lack of sleep, so I waited patiently at the bottom while the boys and Renee climbed up. After that, it was just a relaxing drive home and trying to forget it ever happened.

I told Matt there was one good thing that came out of this whole experience: he showed me that there are worse things than camping.

It's a good thing I love my husband.

... that I'm the best aunt/sister ever?

I love being an aunt! But sometimes it comes with its......... costs.

I got a call from dear Kaari that she was going into labor. At 12:30 in the morning. And she needed someone to come stay with G. But she wasn't sure when exactly she was going to need to go to the hospital. So she was going to call me back and wake me up again when she wanted me to come down for sure. Great. Who can go back to sleep after a call like that? I basically knew my night was shot. But like I said, I'm the best. So when she called me back an hour later, I jumped out of bed and drove down to Draper. Kar and Zach packed up and left for the hospital, and I fell back asleep on the couch at about 3:00am. And then this little stinker woke up at 6:00.

Don't be fooled by her cranky face. I was the one who was miserable that day. Long gone are the days when I could pull an all nighter and not feel like I got hit by a train the next day. Thank goodness he wanted to be born on a weekend. But I couldn't really complain that much because I was not the one trying to push a human being out of my nether regions. At about 9:30 Saturday morning, Kar texted me and said he was born! Yay! Little Boston Zachary Winger. And I said I would put me and G down for a short nap and be right over. Zach actually ended up coming home, his parents arrived from CA, and Matt showed up too, so after G woke up we all converged on the hospital to overwhelm Kar with our love. 

I could not stop laughing at this picture! He looks so squinty and EXACTLY like a baby version of my Tia Tia (my grandpa on my mom's side)! HAHAHAHA!

Looking a little less squished...

Favorite Auntie!

How is it that Kaari is the one that evacuated a person out of her body and I'M the one who looks terrible in this pic??? Seriously. Whatever Kar, I'll let you have this one. Until the next time, and then I'll do it all over for you again.

Congrats to to Kar and Zach and Georgia for their new little bundle of joy! I love being an aunt!