why my parents are going to be banned from church

i hope chady-bear knows how much i love him. i went to church for him! his talk warmed my heart, not for the spiritual content but the comedic content. my baby brother is funny! who knew?

my mom is the choir director so she was on the stand (what do they actually call that?) as was chad. the rest of our family was on the back row, which says a lot about us. ben and i sat there for the escape factor. our plan was to secure seating and then leave to get drinks, making it back in time just for chad's talk. but, jesus was onto us-- the program listed the speakers but not the order. we were stuck. the gas station is 7 minutes from the church and we didn't dare risk it. again, that's how much i love chady, i stayed for the ENTIRE church meeting!

my brothers are as evil as i am. we knew chady had his cell phone in his pocket... so we they called it, over and over--each time seeing his face get redder and redder. only stopping momentarily to let hannah leave him a voicemail telling him to hurry because she needed a diet coke. (the funny thing, is i had nothing to do with that part.)

i lost interest and agreed to read a book to little hula, my brother's step-daughter. she had a children's anatomy book my mom gave her. did i mention she's 3? it was awkward reading the page containing scrotum and vagina to her at church, but i persevered.

until this point, my sister-in-law holli was listening to the speakers and taking no part in our poor behavior. but, then she whipped a card out of her purse and handed it to me, "this is a thank you for watching the kids last week." it was a starbucks gift card. yup, holli pretty much gave me coffee at a mormon church. she is now one of us... for better or for worse.