EaSt CanYoN BaBy!!!

My sister Julie & her family recently invited me to go camping with them at East Canyon. Of course I was excited to go! I never go anywhere, let alone anywhere fun. I had a great time hanging with the coolest cats around. Me, Julie, and Cass drove up Friday night where we met up with Tucker & Rick. We immediately hit the pool....it was freezing!! We spent the rest of the night stuffing our faces, talking around a campfire, and having a good time. I love spending time with my awesome niece & nephew, Cassidy & Tucker. For some reason they haven't reached the stage where they are too cool to hang with their dear old auntie! I don't give them much more time before they realize I'm an old tag-a-long and ditch me. So I will enjoy the time I have with them before they grow older and forget me. jk

We woke up Saturday morning and started our day off with an intense game of Truth or Dare (we were wasting time waiting for Rick to get back and fix us breakfast). It was funny to see Tucker talk in an Italian accent, Cassidy dancing on the picnic table, and was topped off with the can of biscuits exploding and scaring the crap out of us. I guess you had to be there. After a heart attack on a plate for breakfast (it was yummy) we headed for the pool for a lounging day of sun.

After the pool me and the kids headed to play some shuffle board, took a walk, and headed back to play some volleyball. Tuck & I had a blast!!

The night ended with a community picnic an Rick once again cooking us a yummy dinner.

After dinner it started getting windy so we rented a movie and settled in for the night....sunburns and all. Fun times!!

Thanks Long Family for letting me be a part of your awesome family for the weekend!

Love you guys!

EaRThFeSt!

Oh, to be young again! I recently got to experience this sensation when I went to an outdoor concert with my youthful niece & nephew. We went to Salt Lake City to EARTHFEST! It was an outdoor concert with about 8 bands playing in a 6 hour period. Some were local bands and some were more famous/popular bands, like A-Yaz, Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, etc. We were there mainly to see Cass & Tuck's favorite band ALL TIME LOW. My cute niece Chelsea and her friend met us there.

One of the local bands lead singer was from my gym so I felt semi-cool that I knew the singer of a band.....we sweat together in Body Pump (sounds cooler than it really is). So as Tucker and I STOOD through 5 hours of bands and rowdy teenagers (Cass ditched us to hang with the cool kids...jk), we spent our time sweating, eating shaved ice, laughing at people dancing, crazy moms who thought they were still 14, and taking pics of the two of us.....

As we were waiting for All Time Low to come out Chelsea got a text saying that she had just won tickets to meet the band backstage. She got to go and meet the guys and get a picture signed. Cass & Tucker were jealous! Then they finally came out and the crowd went wild!!!!

This was Tucker's first concert ever and he got to see his favorite band!

He was Rockin' Out!!! And I think he loved it!!!

I was so glad I got to spend this day with my favorite people and the best part.....stopping at Arctic Circle for a Moosetracks Shake on the way home.

If you haven't had one, I highly recommend it!

LuCkY dAy!

Is there anything better than being Irish??? It's the one holiday that singles out ONE heritage and lets you party! That's right...I'm Irish! And proud of it! I mainly like it because my mom cooks a yummy Irish cuisine (we get it once a year) of corned beef and potatoes & cabbage with dark Rye or Pumpernickel bread. The rest of the meal consists of "American" food, such as broccoli, jell-o, and salad...all of which just happen to be green. Therefore, they MUST be Irish! It has become a tradition for the Long's to come over to share in our festivities. They are also the only other people I know who like to eat as much as we do. So everyone dressed in green and this is what happened.....

Awww......precious family moments......

Then this happened.......What the...????

Only at the Haacke house!

Julie didn't come alone either...

silly family = funny moments!

Until next year.....

Birthday Time Again!

Much to my dismay I have aged another year. I am not happy about it for I am starting to feel my age more & more every year. But I have to write a little something about how the people around me made me feel special for one day and not so depressed about getting older.

My birthday celebrations began on Friday the 28th when I showed up at work to a yummy lunch with cake & ice cream, a nice card with a gift card in it from all my co-workers. They were so thoughtful to do all that for me. On Saturday I got up early and Julie & Cass came to pick me up for a "Girls Day Out". We started with breakfast out (yum) and spent half the day shopping 'til we dropped. Julie bought me the cutest tops so I can feel sassy & stylish....and young.

When I got home I was immediately off to Dustin's & Heather's to celebrate with Halle & Torie (since we all share the same B-Day). I knew that Halle loved Justin Bieber so I had made her a t-shirt at work with hers & his picture on it that read Halle hearts Justin. Then I got her a heart shaped necklace with his picture in it. She put it on and loved it.

I can't believe that my little birthday present,

Torie, is now 18 years old. Time just flew on that one...

Me & Torie Me & Jana Me & Mom

I had to leave before cake & ice cream to meet my parents, the Longs, and Candace (+ cute kids) for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. After we waited for freakin' forever (over an hour) we finally got seated and I threw the diet out the window and ordered my food deep fried. Calories don't count if its your birthday. We all totally stuffed ourselves and had a great time shucking peanuts and tossing the shells on the floor.....you can do that there, its allowed. Ryker had a great time in the long wait with Cass & Tucker. They spent the time dancing in the waiting room.

After dinner the group broke apart and Candace & I met Torie, Steven, Jamie, Jana, and Mike at the bowling alley. We played a competitive 2 games where I lost out to everyone, including Ryker. We had so much fun but before too long I knew my busy day had started catching up to me and I was ready to end my day of celebration. I got home around midnight and found a surprise waiting on the counter. There was a balloon (from Mike), a party hat (from Jamie), and a chocolate cake (from mom). So what could I do except put on the hat and eat some cake.

I have the best friends and family in the world!!! They let me be the center of attention

(with Halle & Torie) for one whole day. I hope they know how much I appreciate everything they did for me. They all Rock!!!

P.S. Thanks Candace for the kick ass boots! I love them!

Bringing in Twenty-Eleven!

Its sad but true but the last few years my New Years Eve has been pretty lame and boring. I usually spend them at home alone (tear). So this year I wanted to do something fun that was safe and didn't cost any money (hey, I have my priorities). So when my sister Julie invited me over to her house I was like "Heck Yes!"

I made some yummy bean dip and she made Cafe Rio ( I can die, its so good) and we spent way too much time oinking it out and stuffing our faces. To work all that food off we headed for the basement and a silly night of Wii. We played Dance Party 2 and.......let me add in here how much I HATE to dance, have no coordination, and basically suck at it......but I decided to be opened-minded and try it. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! I loved it! I never ever thought I would say that but it was a hoot and nobody cared that I looked like a dork. The best part was getting Rick, who hates dancing more than me, to get up there and shake his bootie! We danced till we could dance no more, played some Wii bowling and archery to pass the time.

Then we got ready to enter in the new year. So we bundled up to head outside. Rick may or may not have made some "homemade" fireworks and I think we were all a little nervous to see what would happen if he were to light the "alleged" fireworks. Some fireworks were lit, there were some loud booms, and a large divet was left in the lawn....but it was fun! The neighbors had a firework show and we stayed outside to watch till we decided we liked it better inside where we wouldn't freeze our butts off. We all wished each other a Happy New Year, and me, Tucker, and Cassidy headed for the basement to watch Despicable Me. By 2:30 in the morning we could no longer keep our eyes open and off to bed we went.

It may not have been the most exciting New Year's on record but I had a blast! I got to spend it with people that ROCK and we had tons of fun. What more could you ask for?

Celebrating the Holiday!

Let's start this new post with a past due wish for a Merry Christmas to all who may read this. I hope you had a wonderful holiday celebrated with those you love. I start every blog off with my usual saying, "I can't believe how fast time goes by and its that time again for (enter appropriate holiday in here)." But if you can believe it Christmas has come and gone and we are ready for a new year to begin.

Since the Haacke Family Clan has grown & grown over the years (around 60 people) we decided to try something new. It has been harder and harder to cram all the people into Grandma/Mom's little house and we feel like we can't move. Plus we can have a party and never even see some people because they have escaped to spacier areas where they can breathe. To solve this dilemma it was decided to have Christmas at the church. Everyone seemed on board and I thought it would be so much easier and less work for me.......little did I know. The thing with having a "destination" party is that all the supplies, food, gifts, games, decor, and set-up.....have to be TAKEN to supposed destination. We went the night before and set up all the chairs and tables and were there bright and early the next morning to decorate (as much as you can decorate a room made out of a basketball court). My mom & I had made all the 12 kids a "movie themed" basket of treats and I though that they would also be great to fill in space on the tables as decoration. We had a yummy meal of pulled pork, ham, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, salads, veggies, and treats, treats, and more treats.

We didn't want to just sit around staring at each other ( since we actually had the space to do so) so my sister, Joni planned some fun games. We played "Minute to Win It!" and it was a blast. Everyone had a chance to sign up for the game of their choice and they had 1 minute to complete the task. The kids started and had to shake all the ornaments out of a tissue box tied to their back. Tucker's was the best because someone taped over the whole in the box and he shook & shook and nothing ever came out. I guess you had to be there but it was hilarious!

The next game each person had to take a box and, without touching it, they had to fan an ornament across the room to the center and keep it there. It was pretty funny to see all the different methods that were used by each person.

Then we played the cup challenge where you had 1 minute to make a cup pyramid and take it down without once knocking it over. Each person kept trying & trying but nobody could complete the task. Then along came Margie & Ryan (they tag teamed it) and they did it!

The final game was where each person had 1 minute to get 10 ping pongs in 10 glasses by bouncing them. No one could do this but it was fun to see people try. The best part of the games was sitting around laughing and having fun watching everyone try the games. There was teasing and hollering going on, but we all got to see each other and have a fun time together.

I love Christmas! Its a lot of work and it comes & goes so fast. But it really is the best time to spend with those you love to eat and be merry. I wish it could last all year round (minus the disgustingly cold yucky weather that it brings) and we could keep the lights up and the trees and eat yummy treats.