Jon and Kate!!! (no eight)

Alex, Heather, and I ventured off to Birmingham today to the Southern Woman's Show to see Jon and Kate Gosselin (of the TLC variety) speak. We left after class so we got there only a few minutes before they spoke and were in the back, back. I didn't get to hear them speak because Alex and I got in the autograph line when it was still short while Heather went to snap photos and listen. This is a shot zoomed all the way in from our place in line. Heather got much better pictures from her spot so I'll add them when she loads them. All we were able to hear was Kate saying they liked sweet tea and that they were moving to Birmingham (just kidding!!). Heather gave us a recap of the rest of the Q&A session when she found us again.

I don't know why I became so enthralled with the Gosselins and their show Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Maybe it's the absolutely adorable kids (okay, it IS the adorable kids!) and the hilarious things they say ("Hannah pooped....in Hannah's unnawears" -Leah) or the fact that I'm in awe that a woman could carry surviving sextuplets after twins or that Jon and Kate just make their lives work everyday! No matter what critiques I hear about the family or the show, I still love them! I think it'd be pretty tough for anyone to chase after eight kids, much less let the world have a glimpse of their lives every week.

I was so excited when we started to get close to the front of the line - especially after the security guard kicked the line-cutters out. Honestly, who teaches their preteen daughter that it's okay to cheat and lie by saying "WE WERE HERE! I don't care what you say, lady!" in front several people who clearly knew you weren't. None of the three parties claimed this woman as family although she tried to say she was in line with each group.

Anyway, back to getting to talk with Jon and Kate. We were allowed to take pictures of them but not with them, so we managed to get one of Heather near them! The plan was to have Heather snap a photo of me and Alex too, but we were so enthralled in our conversation that she forgot! That's okay, though, because I got a chance to tell them I'm called "Little Leah" just like their Leah. They chatted back and seem to be genuinely nice people! There's hope their Leah will indeed stay little forever, too, since Kate said, "Oh, and you *are* little!"

(Heather did get a picture of Kate talking to me. I'm just not in it.) Also, in my stuttering nervousness (I felt silly later. They're a normal family, not scary people!) I grabbed an autographed page off the edge of the table that read "& Kate plus our 8"....didn't give Jon a chance to sign. Whoops!

This totally made my day! I'm even more convinced that Jon and Kate really are fantastic people who care deeply about their family. And we kept remarking about how pretty Kate is, even more in person than on TV! Obviously, the only thing that could have made the day better was if the kids had been there, but I'd be worried people would get arrested for trying to "Grab A Gosselin" because they're all so stinkin' cute!!

A few other pictures from the day:

Jonkristjen left us a note on the car!

Alex's awesome pink glasses....what a disaster!

Me and Alex waiting in line