2009, January - It's Colder Than...

Praise Be and Pass the Cookies...We have electricity again!!! We made it through 3 days and 3 hours with no power. Yeah for two old people making the best of what life tosses our way. Tuesday posted a slide show of our first day of snow. That snowfall was Monday night into Tuesday. The next thing was ice Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday, followed by more snow Wednesday afternoon. We had a little more snow on Thursday. Then today, Saturday, the sun came out, the temperature didn't make it but just above freezing and we began to hear the ice break (sorry, I lapsed into Northern Exposure mode there for a second!!).

I totally enjoyed watching the little picnic table on our upper deck during this storm. After the first snowfall it was covered on the top with snow (we got about 5-6 inches the first round of snow). The hole in the middle where you would put the pole of the umbrella didn't fill over with snow. To me it looked like a huge white donut. Then the ice came (middle picture) and the snow was smashed a little lower and it looked like the big white donut was covered with glaze (1/2 inch of ice). But the table now also had icicles hanging from it. After the 2nd snowfall (about another 2-3 inches) the table took on a real interesting shape to me. The last picture shows it best. It looks like one of those lamps you see with the fringe hanging around the lampshade.

Another thing that caught my eye the 2nd time I was out taking pictures was Elmo and the Owl. These two treasures are on the patio under the deck and behind a planter so they were protected from the first snow a good bit. I noticed them then I went out on the patio to take pictures of the ice in the back yard. It was about 7:30am Wednesday morning and it was still dark. There was little Elmo peeking around the post at me. The middle picture was Wednesday afternoon after the snow fell on top of the ice. The last picture was taken this morning as the sun came out on all that ice and snow.

Our home sits on a hill. Claude has built a terrace and we have placed a bench on it to sit and watch the creek. There is another terrace below it and then the altar below that, but, again, I digress. These two are shots of the 1st terrace with the bench. The first picture was taken after the ice. The 2nd picture was taken this morning as the sun shown on the land again. Notice the fir trees bending over.

This is our home weathering the storm. I have a few more fun pictures I'll put in a slide show and attach it to the blog for you to enjoy after I finish this posting.

We were ready for the storm. Our home is ALL electric. So, when the power went out Wednesday morning, Claude set to work gathering the Coleman cook stove, flashlights, batteries, generator, etc. I gathered the candles and matches and brought up craft projects to finish and some to begin. Claude set up the cook stove on the island in the kitchen. Wednesday night we had a feast of hot dogs and pork 'n beans. Thursday and Saturday mornings we had hot oatmal for breakfast. Claude even heated water for us to wash our faces in this morning. We did have hot water in the hot water heater for Wednesday mornings dishes. We only ran the generator a few hours each evening. We did learn that we can get it to run the TV so that we watched movies one night. Last night we found we get Dish Network while hooked to the generator so we were able to watch a new Monk and Psyche and the news and weather. We had a hand crank radio but we had lots of double A batteries so we used those instead. One radio station in Lexington just donated their usual programming time to let people call in and share their experiences. This was very therapeutic for all of the area. We learned that it is very hard to read with only candle light and needlework by candle light is next to impossible. We learned that we could run a space heater and a lamp at the same time so we could then read and I could do a few Sudoku puzzles in the evening. We learned that the evening is the hardest time unless you can get the light to accomplish some reading or handwork. We had extension cords running from the generator all over the kitchen, living room and our bedroom. We managed to keep the fridge stuff cold and the little freezer frozen throughout our 3 day adventure. We finished shoveling the first snowfall from the drive just as the ice was beginning to fall. There was at least 1/2 inch of ice that fell and we didn't try to shovel it. But when the next snowfall came on top of the ice we did shovel it. Claude fell in the driveway going to the mailbox and bruised his left elbow. Then he whacked his left hand turning on the generator. This morning we found ourselves lying in bed watching the smoke as we blew our breath into the air. I did put on the nice flannel sheets last night and they were very welcome. It was in the single digits outside last night and so inside was quite cold. We spent some time talking before getting out of that warm bed this morning about times we were really cold in our lives. Two of them were when we were riding our motorcycle. One of those was coming home from the Virginia State Rally and it was raining. We drove up I-71 in Virginia from Roanoke to Winchester before turning east to get to Maryland. We stopped in Winchester to get something to eat. There were several couples riding together and we must have looked very interesting to everyong at that restaurant as we entered in dripping rain gear. The other time on the motorcycle was coming across Pennsylvania. We stopped in Reading, PA on the way home from the New Jersey State Rally to shop at the outlet malls. We got away later than expected and it grew dark as we got to Lancaster, PA area and on into York, PA. I shall never forget looking across those fields at the farm houses with lights in the windows and thinking how warm they must be in those homes and if they really appreciated it. I also thought of a family vacation when I was young. We stopped somewhere out west to camp. The next morning we needed to bathe so we went to the stream near our camp spot and after soaping up my mother poured ice cold water over us from the stream to rinse. Papa was on the other side of the rocks laughing as he heard his 3 little girls squeeling after each pouring of cold water. I also remember one of the really cold times we had in Louisiana when I was a child. It was so cold that we closed off the bedrooms and only heated the living room and kitchen. I remember going to bed in those cold bedrooms. I also remember being really little and visiting my mother's parents in Starks, Louisisana. They lived WAY out in the country and had no electricity or running water. The house had one big room that was the living room at one end and my grandparents bedroom at the other. In between was a wood stove and that was the heat for the house. We would sit around the stove all together in the evenings and listen to the radio. When it was time for bed, we took the oil lamp and crossed the hallway that ran thru the middle of the house to the other side of the house with a bedroom at the front and a bedroom at the back of the house. All 3 of us girls slept in the front bedroom and my parents slept in the back bedroom. There was a door between the 2 bedrooms. There were always flannel sheets on the beds in the winter and a huge stack of blankets. These were homemade blankets and they were filled with kapock (spelling is probably wrong there) batting. This is a heavier batting that what we use today. It seemed like there were a dozen blankets on top of us but I'm sure there weren't quite that many. With 3 little girls and all those blankets and flannel sheets, we were quite warm in the bed but getting there was really cold. I have learned again to appreciate those pioneers who crossed the plains. They didn't have candles probably. They only had a fire. I understand why the arose early and went to bed at dark. It would have been practical to do so. They were really strong people. We did manage to finally leave Sadieville on Thursday afternoon and went to Georgetown. Claude signed an emergency order with the Mayor for help getting generators to keep Sadieville going. Then we went to Papa's and had a nice shower in a warm apartment. I even got to check eMail really quick while I was there. Then we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for a really great meal. Friday we could still travel so we headed to Florence, KY to shop at Hobby Lobby and have another really great meal at Smoky Bones. It has been an adventure. We learned a little more about how to set up our home in an emergency. We bought our generator after we moved to Sadieville 4 years ago. This was its first outing. So we really learned a lot about what it will and won't do and how to best utilize it to meet our needs and some of our wants. We also learned that when the cell tower has no power, you have no cell phone usage. So be sure you have a phone that plugs into the wall and isn't cordless. They always seem to work.

January 2009 Snowstorm Slide Show

2009_January Snowstorm in Sadieville

During the night last night and through Wednesday we are having snow and ice storms. This morning Claude and I spent about a hour clearing our driveway. I took some pictures of a Kentucky snowstorm and hope you enjoy the Slide.com video.

2009, January - Mini-Marx's & Monsters....

We traveled to La Grange to visit the mini-Marx's this weekend. I must preface this by saying that while the family was here over Christmas at some point Andie drew a picture of a monster. I must further preface this by saying that in June when the Christensen side of our family tree was here Lynette made the very accurate observation that our little Bailey reminded her of Boo in the Monsters, Inc. movie. This is now Bailey's favorite movie. I've completely lost track of the number of times it was viewed over Christmas. So somewhere during Christmas Andie drew this monster picture of a very friendly monster with one eye, sort of triangular shaped. I think she had some input from some of the Thompson grandmonsters. At any rate, I left the picture on my computer table and last Thursday night I determined to make monster dolls for Hayden and Bailey out of whatever scraps I had on hand and take them when we went to La Grange on Friday for the kidlings. Bailey looked at hers and said, "Boo Monster". Hayden looked at his and said, "Sully Monster". They enjoyed their little creations and I thank Andie for thinking of what they should look like. And Claude for taking the pictures with his cell phone.

1970 Wedding of the Year Continued...

Okay...so it is not tomorrow as I ended my last blog entry with...but I will continue anyway. During the week of our wedding we had to do our blood tests again. We had them done in Louisiana, me by my family doctor and Claude by the Air Force doctors, but noooooo. Evan, my father-in-law drove us to Brigham City to get our license. We brought our test results as proof we had no communicable diseases. Well, wouldn't you know, Utah does not accept results except from doctors in Utah. And guess what, they had a doctor right next door that could do it for a nominal fee. So good Evan takes us next door and we learn we must also have a physical with that blood test. Oh my, this would be my first pap-smear and my father-in-law would take me for it. I cannot begin to tell you the embarrassment I felt. I just met this wonderful man and, oh my, it was very embarrassing. We got our physicals and blood tests and Evan took us for something to eat until they could get that over to the licensing place so we could get our marriage license. Just so you know, we passed on all counts and qualified to be married in Utah. Yeah!! My family arrived at the end of the week.

We had to get up at o'dark 30 to get to the Logan Temple for our wedding. Claude's parents and grandparents had all been married in the Logan Temple and that was where he always wanted to be married. I, on the other hand, just wanted this guy for a hubby and to have babies. This needed to be preceded by marriage in the temple but I really didn't have a favorite choice. So Logan was right for both of us. We caravaned to the Logan Temple in the dark cold morning of Friday, February 13, 1970. There was only one other brave couple getting married that day. Claude and I were by far the cuter of the 2 couples. Now, growing up in Louisiana, you didn't get much snow. I have shared that on a previous blog entry. So my heart's desire for the perfect wedding day in February was a big snowfall. Since Claude and I had neither been through the temple before, we had to perform all ordinances done previous to the sealing of the marriage. This was previous to the movie that we all now enjoy and was a live version. At that time the Logan Temple had different rooms and you walked from one room to the other as you finished in a room. This was up a little flight of steps each time. Humor interjected here...I did not have a garter belt for my hose (no pantyhose invented yet!!). So I just pulled those stocking up as far as they would go and hoped for the best. But every time we would get to another room those hose would be around my ankles. The lady at the front of the room finally came to me with some straight pins and just pinned those hose to my inside clothing. Claude was walking behind me one room move. As I started up the steps, he stepped on the back of my dress. We were an interesting couple to get through but we did it and ended up at the top of the temple where the sealing rooms were located then. As we waited for the sealing portion to begin they thought it would be nice to give Claude and I a moment alone in the sealing room. We were a mess at the point. Someone told us that there was a really big snow outside. I really wanted to see that snow. Someone forgot to tell Claude to really empty his bladder before this long day of temple work. So Claude really needed to find a bathroom. But we were blessed with a sweet man named Lyman Spillman who came in with our families and Claude's bishop from his home ward in Utah and his sisters friend and brought us mentally and spiritually to the place we needed to be for this sealing. It was beautiful and we were a very happy couple. I must say that one of the things I was most impressed with on my first visit to the temple were all these wonderful people standing at every point ready to whisper what you needed to know to do next or to help with whatever you needed. After serving in the temple in Washington DC as an ordinance worker, I came to realize these are like angels there to help you at every turn. The Lord wants you to succeed. We dressed in our Sunday clothes and left the Logan Temple in a most beautiful snowfall. The flakes where enormous and you could almost see the pattern in them as they fell.

Bonnie and Evan and reserved a place for us in a restaurant in Tremonton so we could all have lunch together.

Then we headed back to Thatcher to rest before the open house at the church in the evening. This was also provided by Bonnie and Evan. I had been asked about having a reception and I'm just not a reception kind-a-gal. I just really thought having their friends in Utah come and have punch and cookies at the family home in Thatcher would have been great. But it was Bonnie's first child to marry and she had a way she wanted some things done. So we had an 'open house' at the church which really was like a reception. It was fun to meet all of Bonnie and Evan's friends and family. Claude's dear friend Stacy Little came. His date came with a brown shoe and a black shoe on. They were about the same style and she didn't notice until they were in the light at the church that she had done this. We all had a good chuckle. My mother made my wedding dress and she did for each of my sisters when they were married. I still have it today. It has been used several times since the wedding. Once I wore it when Claude and I spoke at a youth event a church in Denver about temple marriage. The another time when we had a road show competition at church in Denver and we needed a bridal gown for one of the actors.

Finally, the end of the festivities with family came and we changed into our "let's go play" clothes. The following pictures are of me knocking on the men's room door at the church telling Claude to hurry up. The other is of the "get-away mobile". My poor little Volkswagen, from mud covered to T.P'd.

Claude and I made it all the way to Ogden. The next morning we had breakfast/lunch of Big Mac's at McDonalds. Then we headed to Salt Lake City for a couple more days. I had two night gowns for my honeymoon. One was a very pretty pink number just right for the occasion. The other was very Sandi, a flannel night gown. Okay, so I'm a very practical girl. Somehow I managed to lose the flannel one at the motel in Salt Lake City. Every time we are in Salt Lake City and drive by that particular motel, my dear hubby asks if he should stop and see if it was turned in to lost and found. Well folks...that is the story...it would be interesting to have Claude edit this with his views. Now, next month we will have another Friday the 13th of February and it will be our 39th anniversary. When that day happens, you can all chuckle and enjoy this wedding story of long ago.

Friday the 13th...

So...are you afraid on Friday the 13th. Claude and I are not. We were married on Friday the 13th. Nissa was born 13 months and 13 days after we were married (in case anyone was counting). We lived in apartment 13 in California. Our 1st grandmonster was born on the 13th of July. Andie's hubby, Michael was born on the 13th of August. So we really have had a lot of good things happen to us on the 13th.

Claude was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base after he got out of basic training. His commanding officer was Bishop Glen Frandsen and he made sure Claude was called into his office to learn the times and location of the meetinghouse. The first Sunday Claude showed up at Church, I was playing the organ. The organ had been added long after the meetinghouse was built and sat on the right side of the chapel as you face the front of the building. It was on the same level as the congregation. I would play prelude, opening hymn and the sacrament hymn. Then I would swing my legs around the side of the organ bench and sit on the little front side row during sacrament meeting. Claude's first Sunday he remembers seeing me do this from his seat at the rear of the chapel. He thought, "She has nice legs." (Yes, at one point I did have nice legs...but I digress.) I remember seeing him after the meeting was over and thinking he was a missionary. Dark shirt, white shirt, tie, short hair...all the signs were there. However, I saw him drive away in a 1965 Chevy Malibu and knew for sure he was not a missionary. I was president of the M-Men/Gleaner class (that would be Young Single Adults today). So the next Sunday after Church I found Claude and invited him to participate with us on Wednesday evenings. This class was held at the same time as MIA (Mutual Improvement Association) for the Young Men and Young Women. Claude came and we learned he was from Utah, in the Air Force, engaged to Connie (hmmmmm...) and a general all around good guy. He was the hotty all the girls wanted to date but there was the Connie-factor. I had a good friend named Joyce. Eventually Joyce and I got an apartment together. I had a Volkswagen beetle and Joyce had no car. Joyce did have a boyfriend that was stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana. Our practice was to attend Church in the morning and then drive to Ft. Polk so Joyce could visit her honey. While this was fun for Joyce, during her visits I was very much a 5th wheel. Tried not to be but honestly...how can you not be. After Claude arrived we invited him to drive down with us some times. It made life a lot more interesting for me I can assure you. Not so much a 5th wheel anymore. On one of the trips Claude and I were sitting on a picnic table talking and I got down and stood in front of him and planted a most wonderful kiss on his lips. There, I made my statement of how I felt even with the Connie-factor. That Christmas Bonnie, my mum-in-law got her boy an airline ticket to fly home to be sure all was well with regard to the Connie-factor. She had heard some rumors about this 'southern belle' and needed to be sure that the surething she knew of with Connie was in good shape. Claude flew off to spend his Christmas with his family and Connie. There was the understanding he was going to call on a certain day and let me know how things were going. This was to be the determining trip for his relationship and my desire was for him to come back dis-engaged. The time for the call came and I didn't hear from him. I went to bed thinking he would come back to Louisiana still engaged to Connie. Late in the evening the phone rang and it was Claude. They had been out later than he thought. He still wanted me to pick him up at the airport. So upon his return I was at the airport, ready and waiting. Now in the olden days you didn't have long hallways with slots for planes to come up to an enclosed passaged that attached to the side of the plane so you didn't feel the elements. Nooooo, we had parking spaces marked on the tarmack and you walked down the steps from the plane across the tarmack and found the covered walkway into the airport. There was only one double door to enter the very short entry then another set of double doors to enter the hallway into the airport from this covered walkway. I positioned myself (no security in those days either) in the set of double doors between inside the airport and the double doors to the outside so I would see Claude come in those outside doors. I watched every passenger coming off that plane and never saw Claude. After I waited a sufficient amount of time and no passengers were coming in anymore, I determined something had happened and he had stayed in Utah a little longer. Tears filled my eyes and my focused changed from looking through the glass to looking at the reflection in the glass. How Claude did it I'll never know but he was standing behind me watching my reaction. That should have been my clue to how all my married life would be with this guy. He came home dis-engaged. I had a tithing settlement interview with Bishop Melvin Fuller about the 2nd of January. Claude drove me to the Church. As I went in to the interview Claude told Bishop Fuller to also give me a temple recommend interview at the same time. I protested as I had not been proposed to and felt there was no reason. Mel told Claude he would do just that. So I had my tithing settlement interview and a temple recommend interview and left a full tithe payer and with the portion of a recommend that only needed a member of the stake presidency to approve. I went to work the next day in a bit of a daze. No proposal and the beginnings of a recommend. Claude was supposed to come over that night and didn't show. When I became uncomfortable with the lateness, I called around to see if anyone knew where he was. No one knew. Finally there was a knock at my apartment door and there stood Claude and he only said, "Will you marry me?" Did I hesitate...not one bit. We drove over to my parents to share the good news. Their reaction..."We knew it was going to happen, just a matter of time." That night we called Utah to tell them. I shall never forget dear Bonnie's reply, "Oh hell Claude." Bless her heart, she knew Connie and knew what a wonderful wife she would make the 1st of her six kids to get married. She did not know that southern belle. We would not meet until a few days prior to the wedding. So we set our date for Friday, February 13, 1970.

We drove to Utah right after work and drove straight through. Claude's job in the Air Force was cartographer. That means he made maps. So he took mylar and made us a flip map like you would get at Triple A now. We drove to Utah in my little Volkswagen. I drove part of the way and it was raining and dark. The mylar warped while on the heater vent in the car. I made a wrong turn and we were headed away from Utah, in the rain, in the dark on a windy road. My car started to spin. My soon-to-be hubby awoke from his slumber to a car going in circles down a slippery road, in the dark, in the rain. I took my hands off the wheel and my food off the brake and yelled something like, "I don't know what to do. Fix it." I shall never forget Claude's reply. He yelled, "Stop it Sandi! Damn it! Stop it!" I can honestly say he doesn't swear. This is one of the few times I have ever heard him swear in our married life. The good Lord was watching over us because we literally slid over this families little tiny bridge over the ditch and into their front yard. The car stopped, their dogs barked, and we tried to settle our nerves. Claude got into the drivers seat and got the car started again and we headed down the road. We realized we were going the wrong direction and got that part straightened out. Then we headed on to Utah, Claude driving the rest of the way. For the rest of our married life, Claude would drive when we would go somewhere. I believe this experience, plus adding children to be cared for in the car, made this our way to travel. It is to my advantage now because I can crochet or cross-stitch when we are traveling while Claude continues to do that driving. When we crossed the wide open stretches of highway in Wyoming we had a flat tire. We got out for Claude to change it and saw how our little car faired in its struggle to stop. It was covered in mud. When we arrived in Utah, I entered the Christensen home for the first time and immediately kicked off my shoes. I grew up going barefoot unless you had to wear shoes somewhere and it was second-nature to me. However, it was also the thing that let Bonnie know her soon-to-be new daughter-in-law was going to be okay in her book. She appreciated my kicking those shoes off and making myself to home. Claude and I were grateful that his younger siblings were facinated with this little Volkswagen beetle. They lived in a farming community and most people had pick-up trucks and a big family car. Not so many tiny cars covered in mud. They asked if they could wash it. We cheerfully accepted this offer. Part 2 tomorrow...

60 Years and Still Going...

Tomorrow will be Vernon and Virginia Lawrence, my parents, 60th wedding anniversary. Imagine that, 60 years together. This week when Papa and I sang at the nursing home he paused as the clock got to about 4:15pm. Then he told the residents that at that time on that day 60 years ago, he and Mimi were going to see the doctor for their physicals and going to the courthouse to get their license to be married. That would have been a Friday. They wanted to be married on Saturday because they had no time off from work and wanted the weekend to be their 'honeymoon' time. What they didn't know was that they would have a 3 day wait in Louisiana after getting their license until they could legally use that license to get married. That meant the following Tuesday. So they search around on Saturday to see if they could find someone who would marry them and then date the marriage certificate 3 days ahead. No one would play that game with them. Finally on Sunday morning they found a minister in Texas that would do that for them. The minister had his wife stand as witness and he married Vernon Nelson Lawrence and Virginia Mae Fisch. And that marriage has continued through good times and bad, through all the ups and downs that come as you raise 3 girls and miscarry 2 times, thru several job changes and training for jobs, through many years of church service in many callings and brought them to this most unlikely of places, Georgetown, Kentucky with Papa in an apartment close enough to visit his beloved wife daily in the nursing home where she resides with Alzheimers. Wednesday, after we finished singing and taking the musical equipment out to Papa's car he and I came back in to tell Mimi good-bye. He held your little face in his big rough hands and kissed her gently. She looked up at him with those brown eyes that still twinkle and said, "I love you." Now, I have to say as I sit here with tears streaming down my face, that this is what marriage is about folks. Even through a clouded brain and older age they love each other. May I be so fortunate and may each of you be so fortunate.

Our Youngest Grandmonster & Christmas...

Okay...I just have to share two more picture of Christmas. They may well be my favorite. Bailey truly loves her Pa (what they lovingly call Claude). If you can understand that love and the wonder of an almost 2 year old at Christmas, then you will delight in these pictures as much as I do.

Finishing Up the Holidays...Spamalot...

Well, all good things must end as the saying goes. We drove Katelyn home Friday, January 2. We had dinner with Nissa and Todd and looked at all the great improvements they have made to their home. Saturday we drove to Chelsea and had lunch with Jake. He knew of a new Mexican restaurant in Chelsea so we tried that and it was great. Then we walked to the chocolate shop newby and got a little dessert for the road. Then my hubby endulged my need to go to the Teddy Bear Factory. They make the Gund teddy bears here. The monkey you see named Wah Wah that Bailey holds while enjoying her thumb and the cow named Sally you see with Hayden sometimes both came from here. I purchase 2 stuffed animals for my collection: an elephant and a turtle. I know the grandmonsters will enjoy these additions to the Gramma toys when they visit. Then Claude and I hurried on home before the storm came.

Claude and I finished our holiday season with a trip to the theater. We went to Cincinnati this time to the Aronoff Center to see SPAMalot. It was a total delight. We had seats 4 rows from the stage in the center. The play is based on the Holy Grail with Monty Python humor and sketch things added throughout. They even threw in a few one-liners from current events. Several of the actors were from the Broadway run. You could tell they were all having a good time. And that close up you could see them exchange grins with each other over things that happened. It was a great play, a little baudy in places but we really had a great time.

Katelyn's Visit...

Katelyn was a joy to have around. Saturday, while everyone was here, Michael and Andie took her out for dinner at a new sushi place in Georgetown. She has always wanted to try it and they enjoy it so...a huge tray of food was ordered, a few lessons in chopstick use were given and learned, and Katelyn found a new thing she likes to do.

We also gave her a new hair color. We colored her hair and then put a few highlights in it. I will be forever grateful she didn't go for the black color that was discussed...oh my, I am truly grateful.

We also drove Katelyn to see Midway College and Transylvania University. Katelyn plans on moving to Kentucky after she graduates and taking up residence with her aged grandparents while she goes to school. To help her get to that point we did a lot of homework including a project with painted styrofoam balls. She wanted to see Monty Python's Holy Grail so she an Grampa watched that one evening. Her reaction..."That made no sense. It was as silly as Napoleon Dynamite!" We spent New Year's Eve singing at the nursing home in the afternoon with Papa and then hitting the store for the final set of treats to complete our festivities for ringing in the New Year together. Let's just say here that the aged ones held their on this time. We started our film festival at 6pm and watched, back-to-back, all three Lord of the Rings movies. We finished at 3am. We consumed shrimp, buffalo wings, jalapeno poppers, ice cream, soda, nuts, candy, and the list goes on. Katelyn was the only one who hurled during the night. I'm sure when she moves in we can toughen her up!!