Archie vs. Cookie

AND THE WINNER IS . . .
It's never happened before but for some reason this season was different. It might have been the fact that mom and dad didn't have to work as much. It could have been dad getting in touch with his inner self. Or possibly, the sweet tune of a 17 year-old Murray boy serenading mom to sleep each night. No matter what it was, July 15th was the final culmination of a beautiful season of the biggest reality series to hit the 21st century. YES! I'm talking about AMERICAN IDOL!!!! As mentioned earlier, this is the first time in the history of AI that mom and dad really were devoted fans. They watched, they listened, they muted during multiple songs of Jason Castro, and I dare say they even voted a few times when it got down to the final two. These two kids LOVED David. Although Cookie was a Missouri native and it would be normal for mom to side with him, it didn't take long for mom to make it VERY clear that ARCHIE deserved to win and he got robbed! Maybe it was his sweet innocence. Or perhaps the quirky awkwardness that he always had, especially towards his screaming fans (pretty much all female!). Either way, both mom and dad loved this boy like he was their own. For mom's birthday dad surprised her with two tickets to the American Idol Concert Tour that was coming to Salt Lake City. This past Tuesday night was the blessed event where she and Maryn enjoyed the concert immensely. Maryn was shocked to find out that "mom is a rocker chick!" and knew how to party! Mom had a little more to say about this life-changing event and as we all know, when mom says something we ALL listen! Here she is:

Just wanted you all to know that I had great fun at the American Idol concert tonight! Of course David Archuleta was my fave. He is so cute, still kind of shy and awkward. But the boy can sing - and the home town crowd loved him. On my ballot, David Cook came in 2nd but I loved him, too! He is such a nice guy and seemed surprised at the standing ovations. At one point he just bowed his head and cried, and of course I cried right along with him. 3rd place goes to Michael Johns - why was he voted out so early? The boy is a born entertainer. 4th place goes to Carly and 5th to (surprise) Jason Castro!

My bottom 5 from the AI concert:

#10 was definitely Ramiele who was so flat that even Maryn was irritated. #9 was Chikezie who was just forgettable. #8 would have to be Syesha - she sure wasn't flat. I swear the girl has had a boob job since she was kicked off. She has a great voice but I got tired of the song choices and all the sexy prancing around. # 7 would be Kristi Lee - she also tried to be sexy and the long, blond hair that she tossed around was out of control - looked like a shampoo commercial. #6 would be Brooke White. I really like her personality but she only has a range of about 6 notes. I think the girl has some serious nodules going on - vocal chord damage.

Cute things that happened: Michael Johns got so "hot" that he had to take his black jacket off to reveal a t-shirt that read "I voted for David Archuleta" with a picture of cutie boy on it. Then Carly told us about her trip to downtown Salt Lake City to see "your temple - it was incredible". She also said that Brooke has convinced her that "this IS the place!"

SO - great birthday present. You did good Ed. Maryn and mom had a good time together except for the 45 minutes it took us to even move in the parking lot. Then some lady tried to run us down in an effort to cut in line. Why do people in big gas guzzling cars think they own the road?

Is it worth it?

Maryn spent the last week in San Francisco clogging at the Solano County Fair with a few friends. She drove out there with Jenni and her husband Mike and met up with a few boys from California. They did four shows a day and each one lasted about twenty minutes. Maryn has done shows throughout the country for a couple years now so she was prepared for her feet to have issues. She got the Mole Skin stuff to help make the whole process a little less painful but after the first day of dancing she knew that this trip was going to hurt. As you can see, the blisters took over her heels which made it impossible to clog without pain. Although both feet had the blisters she was able to suck it up and get through the week with a smile on her face! Next time you talk to her, make sure to ask her about FeFe from Puckerbush! I'm sure she'd LOVE to tell you all about it!

Parade Mania - Porter Style

WHO: Everyone and their dog! Pretty much all of Utah County plus a few thousand more. From our family there was Craig and his family, Holly & Martin, Katie and kids (minus Adam), Brooke and her friend McKenna (who had never experienced a REAL 4th of July with parade and fireworks before!), Maryn, mom & Dad, Aunt Judy, Melissa, Mandy and her family with kids, Sarah (Laura's friend from high school) and kids, etc. etc. etc. There were TONS of us!
WHAT: 4th of July Parade for the Freedom Festival in Provo. Balloons, floats, bands, Provo Mission missionaries, oh my!
WHEN: Depends on who we're talking about. Brooke and McKenna - the 3rd AND the 4th of July (see previous blog); Everyone else - the morning of the 4th. Some arrived as early as 6am while others around 8:59am.
WHERE:Zions Bank grass right on University Avenue. Being that close to the campus of BYU I almost felt on holy ground! (Sorry, I had to say that mom!)
WHY:Because we're crazy? We have too much time on our hands? For fun? I think mostly for the kids. It's all about the kids, right?



Laura and Nathan

Maryn and Madi

Ethan, Nathan, Tori and Chloe

Ethan, Holly and Tori

Are we having fun yet?

Brooke and Chloe

Ally and Tori

Justin and Maryn

2 Bums on University Avenue

So before I do a blog about the wonderful, family-bonding event we all partook in (aka the 4th of July parade), I thought it be appropriate to give you a little background knowledge of the events that took place leading up to that wonderful morning. See that picture? Yep, that's what Brooke and her friend, McKenna got to know REALLY well for about 13 hours. Due to the somewhat illogical fact that we are the only single ones (thanks Holly!) left in the family we got nominated to sleep out on the parade route the night before. Thanks to our cousin Melissa who went outside of her work and roped off a giant portion of Zions Bank we only had to start around 3pm on the 3rd. Dad took the first shift since we were with all the grandkids at 7 peaks. By the way, the lazy river was F-A-B-U-LOUS!!! Anyway mom's friend, Katie King took a shift and then McKenna and I relieved her and her daughter around 9pm. It was quite the piece of territory to defend but I knew we were up to the challenge. We brought the pillows, blankets (for padding not warmth since it was like a bazillion degrees until early morning hours!) the portable DVD player to watch movies, books on reading our palms (my fate line is "freaking awesome" as McKenna says!!!), and enough caffeine to help us keep a positive attitude about this little adventure everyone back in their soft beds called FUN!


Unfortunately with a lot of caffeine comes many trips to the bathroom. But where would one go at 2am when camping on the side of University Avenue? Oh, don't you fret. We found the answer to our bladders problem on the far side of a close-by parking lot. We quickly nicknamed her "Honey" and traumatic memories of girls camp quickly came flooding back to us! Much to our surprise Honey and all her friends were brand spanking new and even came equipped with a hand sanitizer dispenser. Now we're talking! They must have hired a woman to help design these beauties! We only had to visit Honey a few times before the sun came up and Burger King opened its doors. Sadly, Honey was much more clean than the King.


The night was full of noise, bugs, and too many rocks in the ground to count. I think we both got a total of three hours of sleep. That is, when we add our time together! We were visited by all sorts of unique individuals including a drunk who wanted to pick any flower he saw growing. Luckily for us there was a HUGE rose bush right where we were so that was fun! McKenna was so mad she told him to leave us alone and Brooke thought for sure they were going to be killed right there and then. Who knew that every person who owned a motorcycle or moped in Utah Valley would come and visit us while honking their horns and revving their engines?! Yep, indeed they did grace us with their presence. Mostly between the hours of midnight and 3am. By 6am we were wide awake and we couldn't help but laugh at all the people coming with hopes of finding a spot to see the parade. I just smiled as they walked by and wished them good luck, as all the good spots had been taken over 15 hours earlier. They were a little late I'd say! Mom and Dad were the first ones to show up and relieve us so we could go to the bathroom and brush our teeth. Mom decided to "man" the station and watch for Craig since he was running in the 5k. When we got back she had her camera out and a look of confusion on her face saying she didn't see him. That was about the same time we got the phone call saying they over slept and were now on their way! Oops, I guess that would make sense now why we couldn't find him. NO mom! You're not losing it!!! With the balloons overhead and kids showing up even McKenna and I will admit we were excited for the parade to start. Thanks Holly and Martin for providing the donuts for the pre-parade!! Stay tuned for a play-by-play of the 4th of July parade. Thanks to 2 bums on the side of University Avenue you'll be able to enjoy it! (Tips are always welcomed!!!)

Magnificent Madison!!!

Madison is becoming quite the fun girl to be with! We all loved having her here for the fourth of July! Madi is going into the 5th grade this year and it has been fun for Brooke to talk to her about what she liked/disliked about last year since Brooke teaches 4th grade. Madison is growing up fast and it seems like everytime we see her she has grown another few inches! Pretty soon she'll be taller than grandma! Speaking of grandmas. . . here Madison is with her great-grandma Porter, or "GG" as we like to call her!!!


So, do you think these two are related? Maryn and Madison decided to pose for the camera-happy grandma on the 4th of July. This was moments after Madi got back from the mall with Brooke and her girl cousins. Nice earrings Madi!!



S'mores anyone? The night before Craig and his family headed back to California grandpa got out the fire pit and we all enjoyed some s'mores! DELICIOUS!! It was a great way to end a fun vacation!

Happy Independence Day

On my drive home for the 4th of July we stopped in Fillmore for some petroleum (notice the gas prices - $4.15) and there was this huge sign that I liked and wanted to share with you. A lot of people are sacrificing so much for our freedom and I'm glad we were able to spend the day together as a family. I wish Jeff could have been there with us but I know what he is doing is important and I am grateful for everything he does. We all know someone who is serving our country for the freedom we enjoy today. Hopefully their service doesn't go unnoticed. Happy Independence Day!

We heart AR!!!!!

On Sunday night Brooke accidentally came upon a big box of Aunt Ruby's jewelry that mom had secretly stashed away so that when no one was looking she could take it to the pawn shop, become rich, and flee the country! Okay, so I'm not sure she really had it stashed away since it was in plain sight in her crap room (yes I said crap!) but we can pretend all the same. Anyhoo, so there we were, just picture it with me if you will: a boring Sunday night. Most of the grandkids are over, the adults were doing random things and Aunt Brooke decides to have some real fun with Aunt Ruby's jewelry. At first it was just Dad, Craig, Brooke and her friend McKenna going through all her priceless treasures. We have a good laugh at AR's expense all while mom sits in her chair saying, "go ahead and laugh but I'm sure some of those things are valuable." And like always, she's right. The hard thing is that it's hard to tell which things are good. We found some cool stuff like an old lighter and jewelry from the war. Some stuff was so intriguing that it had letters engraved into the back that was hard to read. Dad got out the magnifying glass and became Indiana Jones as he slowly uncovered the clues as to what treasures we might hold. He starts reading letters and says he's on to something. . .A - V - O - N. Yep, he's got something alright. Hey dad, 1987 called and they want their AVON brooch back!!!

Later the kids realized what fun we were having and decided they wanted a turn. As you can see, it was quite the adventure and each kid got to take home one special treasure from Aunt Ruby's box of jewelry. Thanks AR - WE HEART YOU!!!

Random - that's us!

Check out little miss priss Chloe! She might only be two years old by boy is she all glamour. Right now she is obsessed with wearing only dresses and as you can see, she is all about sitting like a lady.









One night we were all sitting in the family room watching tv when we heard Grandpa and Nate bonding in the backyard. They probably spent a good thirty minutes outside alone, talking about random things like how the rain will "penetrate" into the wood. Honestly dad - what five year old knows the word "penetrate"? The best part is that Nate didn't miss a beat and totally went along with it. We had a great laugh at your expense! Our neighbor has a dog named Shadow and Nate quickly became friends with him. Grandpa and Nate had a great time saying hi over the fence. It definitely was fun for those in the room to watch!!!




We love puzzles and obviously so does Martin and Chloe! In fact Chloe didn't care who sat down with her as long as someone would help her get all the animals in the right spot. Martin was a good sport, taking one for the team because as Grandpa can attest, after the hundredth time you start going a little crazy.

Pyromania!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I've finally found the time to sit down, sort through pictures and get it onto the blog. Those of you who have been waiting, please accept my deepest apologies. For the rest of you who rarely look at this thing anyway and will probably not even read this until 2009 well never mind, I don't feel bad at all! Our 4th of July was full of fun, chaos, drama, not to mention WAY too much food and sleepless nights. Not that you should expect anything different when you get almost the entire Porter family together for one of the biggest holidays of the year. We all had a great time together, with Craig and Laura driving from California with the kids and Holly bringing Martin from New Mexico to meet the family. The only bad part was not having Jeff, Tiffany, and the kids here with us. We all thought of them often though and even got to speak to Jeff for the first time since he left for Afghanistan! We hope you all had a great holiday as well and enjoy some of the pictures we post. As you can tell from these pictures here, we had plenty of fireworks to keep us busy. We knew we could count on Sam's Club for providing us with enough explosives to last us the holiday. The boys fun-filled event to make the big purchase almost came to an abrupt halt when they got it outside and realized that dad's little car maybe wasn't the best choice of vehicle to come in. However, being the self-sufficient boys that they are it was no wonder that Dad, Craig, Martin and Justin were able to maneuver the HUGE box of fireworks into the car AND still fit inside to drive home. As you can see though it was a tight squeeze!