Not Without My Prank Baby or- More of my Utah Trip

I was recently in Utah to take my daughter to college. We had a ton of shopping, but stopped on Friday for some Japanese food with family.

Above, me and some of my sisters, ‘Ramsam’, Shannon, and Krisi.  I look like a muppet stuck behind the wall! ( You can barely see me behind somebody's tall hair…….)

Out from behind the wall!

  

This shot has Ramsam’s nice hubby and a couple of my nephews. My daughter is on the right by me.

Saturday My mom, daughter and I went to Anastasia’s Attic, which I told you all about in this post. Gardner Village in West Jordan was so cute. Everyone says their Halloween decor is excellent, so if you live in Utah check it out.

Cottage exteriors at Gardner Village

Sweet Afton’s candy shop. You had me at SWEET!

Look at this cute sign on their door.

The fudge counter at Sweet Afton’s. I bought three types of fudge. Walnut, Marshmallow, and Jalapeño (Yeeeha!) which was excellent! After Gardner Village it was time for Tai Pan Trading co. Where we met up with my sisters for lunch in the cafe.

My sisters and their ‘twinner’ rhinestone shades. I hardly think at all that they planned this to make me feel left out with my little boring shades.

Me in front of the Christmas tree display. Not pictured- us breaking out into ‘Tonight’ from West Side Story. There are no more pictures from this store due to the frantic and crazed treasure hunt that ensued.

We then worked our way south to Highland where we visited ‘Dear Lizzie’

This store had many beautiful things to look at. They discourage photos however. I had one shot of the entrance in its Halloween glory before I sheepishly had to put my camera away.

Later that evening we went to see a production of Wizard of Oz that my sister was in.

After the play with my sis. Every night Ramsam, Shannon and I would stay up way too late. I don’t know if we got to bed before three. We were so silly. Which brings us to………

The Tale of Prank Baby

One of the first things I did in Utah was to go to mom’s and get an old baby doll of mine. I got it when I was 7 or 8 as a hand-me-down from my cousins, and she was pretty beat up then. I liked playing with the life sized baby doll, but I also used to try and do pranks with her. With a disposable diaper on she looked remarkably like a real baby. When Shannon was a baby I used to set in her crib with her to see what she would do. Cry? Play with it? She pretty much ignored it. I got a better response once when I stuck it’s head in the toilet. My mom was upset when she saw it, thinking at first it was a real baby. I would have lost it. I don’t think I did many pranks after that.

I left the doll behind when I got married, but occasionally wished I still had it. My hubby doesn’t like old stuff like that, so I didn’t really try to retrieve it. Baby got her arm ripped off, and despite that setback was still instrumental in my nephew’s potty training (she just gives and gives!).

After seeing similar babies in ladies art studios everywhere, I decided I needed to get mine from Mom’s house, arm or no arm. So I found her and took her back to where I was staying with my sisters. One night I came home from my daughter’s apartment to see this on my bed…….

Baby, all tangled up in the charger wires.

I thought once I brought baby home I would name it something cute like Cherish or Gracie Lou……… But no matter how I try, my brain still sees her as Prank Baby.

 

So….. I stuffed her in my suitcase and brought her home, where you saw her in my studio in the last post. If mom finds her arm she said she’d save it for me.