USA Trip: Bloopers, Funny Quotes, Unplanned Happenings

Living Art at the Getty Center  

"What's that white thing? ...it's an EGG!?!"  

-Mercy sees an egg on her first morning in the USA (eggs in NZ are brown)

Unexpected:
First roller coaster ride for Mercy and Sage-
Pure EXCITEMENT!

The Fancy Soda Machine

See the machine in the background?  It seemed so modern to the boys that they used the cup a stranger had left behind, just so they could try it....Ew! 

A good laugh:  Practicing for a haka performance, the boys start substituting names of towns in NZ for the Maori words they can't remember.   

3 flat tires in one weekend!

The wrong lug nuts meant that we needed all new wheels just a few days later....

10-mile hike over High Top on a whim and without warm gear.  The snowball in Mercy's hand was just the beginning - freezing rain, hail piled like snow, thunder and lightning, and electricity from the storm that made our hair stand on end.  

 "This is what the Millers do for fun."  -Uncle Larry gives a warning to Johnny, his daughter's fiancé. 

"It was cold...but we've done colder."  -Oak's description of jumping into Lake Louise on this same hike

Unexpectedly large amounts of dental work that needed to be done and unexpected generosity from our uncle dentists.  

Thanks, Ammon and Aaron!  

Holly to Danny, on our first day driving around Utah, "What do you think?"

Danny:  "Dry.  There are lots of dead bits.  Like there.  And there.  And there. And there...."

Danny and Noah:  amazed at the big roads "right in the middle of the town!  Look at this thing!"
(They were speaking of the "big"road that goes by the Timpanogos Temple.)

Audrey, "Is this LEGAL or ILLEGAL?"

Bridge jumping for FHE - when police showed up and started taking my details, I thought I might get my first police record...

Oak in the loser stance.  Noah is about to hit a ping pong ball at Oak's back to see how big of a welt he can create...

Sting Pong - who would make up a game like this?

Uncle James to Sage:  "Do you want a hot dog or a hamburger?"

Sage:  "What are those?"  (she is used to meat pies and sausage rolls...)

many epic crashes

Heather and Scott's young boys were very excited to go boating with my big boys - until they began to realize that they (younger boys) could ski circles around my big boys. 

Unexpected: Running into Mr. Swenson at BYU

"Can I drive home?  How hard can it be?"  -After picking up his learner's permit, Danny wants to drive from Draper to Pleasant Grove the first time he's behind a wheel...

Ani:  "What?  Did I just hear you call it a waistcoat?"
Noah:  "What else would you call it?"

Noah and Oak leave to hike Timpanogos with no gas in the truck - running on fumes and coasting down the mountain....

Unexpected:  Sage learned to drive a 4-wheeler all by herself,
and Mercy goes on a long horse ride with Ellie Hale.

Noah:  "Even if it's just overnight, I don't want to go camping with dumb equipment like jeans and a hoodie."  (it's polypros and water-resistant gear or bust...)

Noah was thrown from his horse when it stepped into a deep bog.  He twisted his ankle, broke the horse's harness, and was lucky that he didn't end up with a hoof print on his chest.

Noah:  "What is this?  I had to come back to the car just to get my shoes."

Danny:  "Wait.  Does it ACTUALLY say that?"

  

Mercy:  "The best part of my trip to Nauvoo?  Pulling 3 chairs off the bottom of the lake with Joseph.  They were covered in BLACK SLIME!"  

  

Unexpected remodeling delays...Amelia and Tyler welcomed us for
Sunday dinner in the basement.  

Sage on airports:  "Why do they make airports so expensive?  There's no use for it!"  (Sage is amazed at the ritziness decorations, architecture, and shopping in American airports.)

Unexpected:  Balancing Joyce on top of 2 suitcases and a luggage cart for a sprint across LAX.  Mercy pushed another cart ("I think this feels like an adventure race") while Sage ran with her big backpack yelling, "I CAN'T DO THIS!!!" at the top of her lungs.  

I started yelling, too: "EXCUSE ME!" facing forward; "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS, SAGE" facing backwards.   What a spectacle!  

The Air-New-Zealand man at check-in said we were too late, but was convinced by the atomic time on my iPhone ("there's still 3 minutes") and my red, sweaty face.

Before the airport adventure race.
In the background, note the extent of decorations in our local airport - a local rugby jersey.  

  "Rookie traveler..."  -Noah and Oak harass Danny about losing two pocketknives at security.