Everybody Needs Some Tommy

This is my two-and-a-half-year-old niece, Haylie, in the Tommy Hilfiger dress Jer and I bought her in Virginia at the Tommy outlet. There were some awesome deals in there and I couldn't pass up getting her this cute, orange polo shirt-dress. I also got my sister-in-law, Tricia, a pretty, floral button-up dress, but she hasn't tried it on yet!

Nap Time

Clay was not a happy camper when I put him down for his afternoon nap today. He usually sleeps on his tummy, but kept flipping over every time I moved him. So, I left the room for a minute to let him cry it out and lo and behold after about 2 minutes of fussing he stopped and this is how I found him sleeping - with his nap-time bear on top of him. Too cute.

And The Winner Is...

David Cook!

I must admit I was a little surprised. I thought Arch would win, but I think the better singer/performer won this year for sure. I was glad Simon apologized to Cook for being a snot last night. Archuleta really wasn't better than Cook last night; I thought it was too close to call.

I also DVRed the Fox news here after the finale. It was hilarious, I must say. Almost the whole program was about American Idol and all they did was boo-hoo over the Archuleta loss. The faces of the teeny-bopper girls in the ESA in SLC were hilarious. They bawled and threw fits after Ryan's announcement of Cook's win.

Then the news anchors here {Bob Evans (yes, like the restaurant, "down on the farm") and Hope Woodside} came back from a commercial break and said, "We were just talking and it's better that David came in second because now he will have more freedom because he won't be under an American Idol contract." And then I said to the TV, "Um, you are wrong. The top two BOTH have to be under AI contract. The only difference between Cook and Arch at this point is the title of American Idol." And then after the next commercial break Bob and Hope came back on and said, "Oh, our producers just handed us this paper - turns out David does have an American Idol contract." Yeah. That's what I told you. Aren't reporters supposed to check facts before spurting out verbal diarrhea?

Archuleta was very gracious about the loss. He told Fox 13 that he knew Cook would win and that he had learned so much from him. Sweet. Also, Cook seemed to really be surprised and touched.

Overall, I thought it was a great night and a fun finale show. I loved Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. being The Pips.

Well, AI fans, I'll catch you next year! Don't worry, though, I will be posting about So You Think You Can Dance every week as soon as they get down to the top 24. ;)

Brooke White Starts and Stops the Classics

For those of you who don't watch Best Week Ever on VH1, (and you all should, because it's hilarious) here's a clip from last weeks show. I thought it was great that Brooke could poke fun at herself.

American Idol: Top Two Finale

Okay, first off, I hated the whole 'boxing' analogy that was going on. I was totally irritated listening to that boxing 'analyst' explain each round, yada yada yada. Dumb.

First Songs:

David Cook: Loved it. Great song, perfect fit.
David Archuleta: The Clay Aiken version from Season 2 is so much better. It was nice, though.

I gave this round to Cook, unlike Simon.

Second Songs:

D. Cook: It was all right. Cheesy song.
D. Archuleta: I really liked it. The song was even pretty good, I thought. He sang the heck out of the chorus parts, too.

Round two went to Archuleta.

Third Songs:

D.C.: I liked that he picked a song he hadn't performed yet on Idol. Plus, I loved it. I thought Collective Soul was another great fit for his voice and that he sang it like he meant it and was really feeling it. His voice sounded amazing. He rocked it out.
D.A.: I liked this song the first time he sang it, but this time was even better. I thought he totally smashed it. His voice was smooth and killer.

Round three was too close to call. I liked them both, though I did prefer hearing a new song from Cook over a repeat.


Well, on Ellen today Simon said he thought that David Cook would be victorious tomorrow night, but after the performances today he gave Archuleta the "knock-out" over Cook. So, we'll see. Personally, I think tomorrow night Archuleta will be crowned the American Idol 2008.

P.S. Paula is back to her bonkerish self. She makes zero sense and says the silliest things!

Jer's Photography

These are the pictures that Jer took of Clay with his phone for me while I was in Virginia and then texted to them me.

Temple in Curitiba!

Curitiba is the fifth city in Brazil to be home to a temple. Gorgeous!




Instruction room, Celestial room, and waiting room, respectively.

American Idol: 3 Left

David A.:
Song 1: I love "And So It Goes". He did a nice job with it.
Song 2: I hated him saying, "Boo". Too strange. Glad he didn't sing three ballads, though. He'd make a good CD with songs that kind of tempo.
Song 3: Okay.

Syesha:
Song 1: Not as good as Keys, but still good.
Song 2: Two sparkly dresses? Aight. Explaining the chair beforehand was a bad idea. She really just sat on it and walked around it once. I was expecting some sort of chair tricks after the explantion... :-) Does Rickey Minor play a lot of instruments or what?!
Song 3: It was fun.

David Cook:
Song 1: I was a little bored with the song. He sounded good, though.
Song 2: I didn't know this song either. It was just a so-so performance.
Song 3: Liked it.

Did anyone else think that Paula seemed more coherent and made more sense last night? Except when she told David A. that she, "expected nothing more." Did she mean "less"? And if Randy tells someone they could sing the phonebook again I'll scream.


Predictions:
I agree with the judges. It will be David and David next week in the finals.


Wednesday:
And so it is the two Davids in the top two. So long, Syesha.

Fantasia stinks. Simon's face said it all at the end of the song when the camera panned over to him. What a crazy, unintelligible performance of a bad song.

Mother's Day

Saturday we went to the Tabernacle grounds here in Logan to find some scenic places for Jer and I to take pictures of Clayton for his grandmas for Mother's Day.
Here are some of the best shots.






On Sunday morning Clay brought me a card and some chocolate.
Jer even had him sign the card (see the last pictures).

Clay Clips

'Cause you know you can't get enough of him!

Clay with his new stuffed giraffe. He's a Baby Boyd's.

Longaberger Trip Slideshow

Longaberger Trip Pictures

I had a ton of fun on our Longaberger trip to Virginia/Ohio this year.
Here are some highlights.

On the way to Ohio we passed this sign.
Can you take me to, Funkstown?



This is the Longaberger Headquarters. It's their office building. Really.




Here I am with my weaver, Jimmy. We did an awesome job!



It rained on us on Saturday causing Mom's pants to get a little wet and thus they dyed her legs blue! We don't know how it could have happened.. those pants were from WalMart!



This is back in Virginia. Grandpa and Grandma Chugg took everyone out for a really nice dinner at this new Meditteranean restaurant called Alto Plaza. This is the view from our table. Look at those beautiful mountains!



See Cristin and Mom's blogs for more pictures.
I will post some more pics and stories later, too.

American Idol: Final Four

I may be in Virginia this week, but do not fear, I still watched AI at my Aunt Shauna's house!

David Cook:
Song 1: Sounded good, but I wasn't thrilled about the song choice.
Song 2: I didn't know the song, but I liked it better.

Syesha:
Song 1: Carbon copy of Tina Turner's version of "Proud Mary". Meh.
Song 2: Again, I didn't know the song, but I really thought she did a good job.

Jason:
Song 1: Bad, bad, bad.
Song 2: Worse, worse, worse. Forgetting lyrics? So bad. Cristin and I think he just doesn't care anymore and totally wants to go home.

David Archuleta:
Song 1: Very good. Good ending.
Song 2: Very sweet. He's going to win. I wish he would do something more upbeat.


Prediction: Jason should go, he doesn't want to be there anymore, seems like. I liked how Ryan reminded us all that at this point in the competition is where Tamyra Gray (Season 1) and Chris Daughtry (Season 5) got booted off because people assumed they were safe. Really, right now I wouldn't care if David Cook got voted off because that would just mean he could go and record a CD right away - yay!!


Result Show:
Goodbye to Jason and rightly so.