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?