Clark Planetarium and "Holiday Magic"

During my growing up years, my father would take us every year to the Hansen planetarium to see the Christmas Laser Show. It had great music along with live laser drawings that were animated. Our personal favorite was "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" which had an old grandma running around nearly getting bucked by a reindeer. We just laughed and laughed over this. Well, the Hansen planetarium closed down several years ago and the Clark planetarium at the Gateway replaced it. I was excited to see that this year, they had a "Holiday Magic" show with computer graphics and lasers set to music. I thought that it would be similar to what they used to have, but in a suped-up more hi-tech and realistic way. Boy, was I wrong. They hardly had any lasers and the 3d graphics were so basic that William thought they were done as a college project. And what is worse, the graphics didn't correspond to the music- like for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, they followed a TRAIN driving all around through the snow and mountains. They at least could have attempted to correspond it with the music. I do have to admit that there was one classic song where they took part of the Nutcracker Suite and had two Gingerbread men sword fighting to the song. Very clever- that was truly the highlight of the whole thing. All in all, it was ok but it is definitely NOT a tradition that we will be continuing. The planetarium itself did have some interesting aspects- they had a scale that showed you what your weight would be on other planets but our favorite, and the most fascinating part, was the giant ball maze/rollercoaster. This thing was huge (as you can tell with my sister Cynthia and William standing in front of it) and had so many different pathways to watch. I seriously think that we watched this for over a half hour from all different angles. What a clever idea and so fun to put together.

Utah Eats over the Holidays

There are several places that we MUST go to while we are in Utah because they are just SO good.
- Rich's Bagels: it is a local bagel place right by my house and they have the BEST bagels I have EVER eaten. I discovered them in high school but haven't had them in years and it was even better than I remembered. The asiago cheese bagels are the best, but I also love the cinnamon sugar and cranberry.
- China Grill: this is another place right near my house that has the best Chinese food. I've even gotten William hooked on it so that he asks if we can have it. They have the best pot stickers and sesame chicken.
- Cafe Rio: I cannot rave enough about this place- their food is so good that it is addictive. My personal favorite is the veggie salad with pinto beans and half/half dressing. And then a key lime pie for dessert. My BFF Leslie's husband does accounting work for them and I am truly so jealous of how often they get to enjoy that deliciousness.
- Texas Roadhouse: this place isn't unique to Utah, but we love it so much that we usually make a trip while we are here- and this time we took my family. And my parents were kind enough to give us gift certificates so that we can enjoy it here in the bay area! This is a special place for us because we talked about how much we liked it on our first date and eventually went there later on. They have the best rolls with cinnamon honey butter, their ribs are fall off the bone so tender (with yummy sauce) and the loaded sweet potato are just amazing.
- Ruby River Steakhouse: William's parents introduced us to this new find this vacation. They have AMAZING bread and they give you FRY SAUCE (ketsup and mayo) with your cheese fries. I don't know why fry sauce hasn't caught on anywhere else besides Utah but it is a great combo.

There are several other gem eateries in Utah that we didn't frequent this trip, but I thought that this was a pretty good list for two weeks. Can you tell what one of our favorite things to do it :-)

PTC The Light in the Piazza

Yesterday, we went with my sisters up to Pioneer Theater Company at the University of Utah to see the musical "The Light in the Piazza." It was on Broadway several years ago, and being the big musical theater buffs in my family, we wanted to see this rendition. We had center seats about 5 miles up and they were great. The setting and staging for this production was amazing- they had sets looking like piazza's in Italy, the Uziffi Gallery, and even a chapel. The musical occurs primarily in Florence (and some in Rome) about a mother and a girl who take a vacation and the daughter ends up meeting a handsome young Italian man and of course, a romance ensues. However, it wasn't your typical musical but had a unique modern twist to the story line- I don't want to tell you because it would spoil it. Since it is a modern musical, the songs had more of allowing quality to it- kind of like an opera. There weren't any to super memorable songs (well, there was one that we mocked about "write your thoughts in my hand"- implying that the language barrier could be over come. The BEST parts of it were actually sung in Italian- they all did such a great job acting and conveying their frustrations and emotions. I actually wish that the whole play had been in Italian- I think it would have been better. I didn't really like the female leads- they had these exaggerated Southern accents that were a little over the top. Overall, the play was pretty good- enjoyable, but definitely not the best musical we've ever seen. I guess that we are just more fans of the traditional musical storm.

We Luckily, and Finally Made it to Utah

So, Friday was actually a fairly stressful day for us. We had booked awhile ago to fly back to Utah on Jet Blue since I had a frequent flyer award that was going to expire. We had a fiasco to start the day when I realized I had told our friend to pick us up at 3:30 when that was actually the time that our flight was going to be leaving. Fortunately, his schedule was very flexible so leaving earlier wasn't a problem. It is about an hour before we are supposed to head to the airport when I get an email from Jet Blue telling me that our flight had been canceled!!! I frantically call their office and they say that the earliest flight that they can get us on is Sunday morning. The problem is that my dad begins ward attending on Monday and he is then SUPER busy practically living at the hospital. I had looked at travelocity and the other flights were ridiculously expensive- like $1000 a person to leave Fri night. We called my mom to tell her that we were not going to make it when inspiration hit me to try Southwest. Amazingly, they had seats still available for their 9 pm flight to SLC- and for very reasonable prices. I waited to book these tickets until I ensured that we could receive a refund from Jet Blue. I waited for like 10 minutes to speak to an agent but I fortunately talked with one of the NICEST sales reps that I have EVER met. She was so kind and friendly and even called the home office twice to find out what to do with my award pass. It turns out that I needed to immediately rebook the flight for another date and so I'm headed to Boston May 26th-April 1st to defend my dissertation (just in time for the August deadline). I immediately expressed my thanks to this wonderful representative for doing such a fantastic job at helping me. It was a frustrating situation and emotions were close to the surface, but this woman was so gracious and full of the Christmas spirit that it made all the difference. My conversation with her totally changed my mood for the rest of the day because I knew that everything would work out alright.

We booked the flights on Southwest and told our friend the new time to pick us up. Then, later on in the evening, after some reflection about rush hour traffic, we decided to leave even earlier since our flight was still ontime. Our friend Lars was SO PATIENT and cooperative with our crazy changing schedule AND he even took us all the way up to Oakland. Yet again, people truly exhibiting the Christmas spirit. It turns out that after arriving at the airport, our flight was delayed, and then delayed again. So, we walked around the airport, ate at Chili's, looked at some books, and just waited. The airport was PACKED with so many people, most of whom were so upset and frustrated with bad weather causing major delays. I knew that we were going to make it to Utah that night, even if it was late. The Southwest flight attendants had great humor despite the situation and it really does make a difference. We arrived in SLC at 1:15 am and then had to wait on the tarmack for 30 minutes before a gate opened up that's how delayed the flights were. Once inside, the airport terminal was a ZOO. I have never seen so many people, many of whom were upset, or sleeping on the floor. I felt so grateful to have been able to have made it in- and our luggage came as well. Many thanks to my dad for coming and fishing us out from the airport.

It makes me so sad to know that some people really dislike this holiday season and get so stressed out and frustrated by it and get upset and even angry with others. How you react to situations has a HUGE effect upon others and can make all the difference in how you feel and how they feel. My whole attitude changed given that one helpful Jet Blue representative-as upset as I am for just randomly cancelling the flight at the very last minute, they completely redeemed themselves by having this amazing employee who truly cared about customer service and just being curteous to people. I am now trying to help evoke the true feeling of charity that should celebrate the birth of the man who gave his own life for that of the world.

Sarah Brightman Live

I've always wanted to hear the amazing vocalist Sarah Brightman in person, and we were able to do that last night. We were on the very back row- but it wasn't that far from the top. The curtained off the unfilled rows- William was very happy when they moved the curtain back one more row so that it wasn't continually hitting our heads. The concert was incredible- her voice is even more AMAZING in person. The opening number was very spectacular- it was her song Fleurs du Mal. She has these very talented dancers who had these beautiful flowy dresses. It was one of my favorite numbers of the night. Sarah is the one in the middle.



The dancers had several numbers- we particularly liked this one with the Asian style parasols.
The back drop was really amazing- it was translucent glass- and so when it was reflected, it looked like it was in 3D- like these trees.
The 3D effect was even better with the synchronized "swimming" around Sarah- it was cool that we were up high and able to determine how much the magic happened.
Twice confetti fell during her songs- the first time while she was on the swing with the super long train
And then for the finale of "Say Goodbye"- how appropriate
Sarah also did several duets with some very talented tenors. However, one of them did NOT have a great voice for doing belt. She sang "Phantom of the Opera" from my favorite musical of all time. It literally was a dream come true for me to hear her sing it- her voice was so angelic and amazing. The only sad part was the the "phantom" had a terrible voice- it was grating as compared to her. It really pained me to hear him sing it with her.

All in all, William and I both really loved the concert. Her voice, the staging, and the entire performance was just incredible.

Old Town Sacramento

Old Town Sacramento is so charming. The buildings are still in the style of the Old West.
The streets are cobblestone and they even have horse drawn buggy rides.
And a statue of a pony express rider
They really decorated it for Christmas time- with great lights and trees
I love the colored lights on this tree
They even placed lights on the train- this one is the Polar Express headed for the North Pole.

The old schoolhouse was filled with lots of gingerbread houses. Some made by kids and other's by adults. One even had some kids break dancing out on the lawn.

They have lots of shops, but several common themes. Board games/unique toys and candy shops- we wonder how all of the candy shops stay in business. Our personal favorite though is Candy Heaven. And this really is Candy Heaven because you could have FREE SAMPLES of many of the products in the bins, as long as you eat them in the store. This is seriously so great- it did entice me to buy some of their products.

Sutters Fort

After Crepeville, we headed to Sutters Fort, the place where the gold rush occurred and a refuge for pioneers coming to California.
Although the fort usually welcomed people here- the entrance does look fairly foreboding with these spikes.
The museum has a permanent exhibit detailing the history of the fort and its owner, John Sutter.
Here is a replica bust of John Sutter. He should have been quite wealthy, but he made several bad investments and horrible mismanagement. But, he was kind in that he let everyone stay the fort.
The great thing about this state park is that they had motion sensors that would play a pre-recorded message about each room, giving a history of the fort and its occupants. This is a replica of Sutter's office.
And here are the cannons in the bastians.

It turns out that we came on one of the living history days- this one called "A Settler's Christmas." This was such a great experience because they had many different stations where they explained how things occurred in the days of the fort.
They showed how to make popcorn over an open fire, snowflakes, and even homemade bread. I had no idea about how difficult to was to make bread in an outdoor oven. The men usually were the bakers, since they had to insert the firewood to warm up the bricks before taking it out to then bake the bread.
One of our favorite stations was where they taught us about bells. We learned that each family in a small town was given a different size bell that produced a unique sound.
That way, when they were traveling through a snowstorm, people would know who they were. They would put all the same levels on a harness so that they could be heard.
The blacksmith demonstration was also really neat. They had a bellows to stoke the fire, which they let me use. It was amazing how quickly it could get the fire so hot. He demonstrated how to make several horseshoes.

Crepeville

On Saturday, William and I headed up to Sacramento to meet up with one of my dear friends from Boston, Jacosa. We had wanted to go on Friday night to hear her sing (she is INCREDIBLE) but unfortunately, William had to work late and with rush hour traffic, there was no way we could have made it. Jacosa was kind enough to meet up with us for lunch at one of her favorite places, and now one of our favorite places, Crepeville. It is a cute, charming place that makes all kinds of different crepes- savory, dessert, and even custom made. This is the dessert crepe that I got- banana nutella. I knew that this would be good even before I tasted it because of how much whipped cream that they put on the plate. Its nearly as large as the crepe! It was so tasty- and William's hawaiian crepe was really good as well. We had even better conversation with Jacosa- she is truly so amazing. She organized this entire fundraiser for the charter school she works at- complete with a charity auction and a talent show. She even performed 4 songs AND put together an amazing video slide show. We're so sad that we missed it! But we will definitely be back to visit her again and have some more yummy crepes. You know this is a good place when the mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, is there. Yup, that's Kevin Johnson the former NBA basketball player. It was pretty neat to see him there just chilling with the locals.

Google PSO Christmas Party

Given the current economic state, Google cut back this year on the Christmas party from last year, so no huge "blow out" but instead, had smaller parties among each team. William's team is PSO, the Partner Solutions Organization, and they had their party at a Brazilian steakhouse, Pampas, in Palo Alto. They rented out the entire restaurant and it was filled with Google employees and their partners- I was so happy that I was still able to attend :-)
We actually enjoyed this type of party because it made for a more condusive enviroment to carry on conversation, and the food was incredibly good. It was the best salad bar that I have ever had at a brazilian restaurant. They had a great banana vinegrette, cocount mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, grilled red peppers- and lots more. They brought around the meat on the skewers- our favorites were the turkey wrapped in bacon, spicy pork, and chicken wings. And of course the grilled pineapple. They also had dessert- a yummy brownie with a chocolate nut ice cream.
I loved the ambiance of the restaurant- we sat upstairs in the loft type area. It was great to be able to get to know William's co-workers better, and I even made a friend from it.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward Christmas party was last night and it was really great. We had a terrific professional organist come and play our newly restored organ. There are something like 600 pipes, which sounds like a lot, but the organ at the Tabernacle has 12,000. 600 pipes still does produce some amazing sound. He did a lot of holiday favorites like Greensleeves, We Three Kings, Joy to the World, and a Fantasia ending. It was very showy, it had some intricate pedal work for which he did several sections of music with "no hands." Now, "no hands" is my favorite kind of organ numbers. We also did a Christmas song sing-a-long- which is so great because everyone gets a chance to shine and who doesn't love singing Christmas carols. We also had several great musical numbers- one oboe player, the Elders sang and then bore their testimonies- it was really powerful and touching, and then a husband and wife sang a duet. The gym was beautifully decorated with tons of food- little sandwiches, veggies, chips and dips, and desserts. They also had some hot chocolate and wassail that was so hot it burned William's tongue. Santa also made a guest appearance making for a great evening. Thanks for all of the hard work of the activities committee!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

I've been to several events the past few days that have helped me to get into the Christmas Spirit. On Tuesday evening, some friends hosted a jewelry and vinyl lettering party. I loved this tree that was used in a clever way to display earrings.
I bought these two cute, festive pieces to give as gifts. But I am enjoying them in my little studio until that time
Then today at mothers group, we did this cute project where we made gift tags. One side is fabric and the other is cardstock, we sewed them together (well, at least I finally did when I put the machine FOOT down) on it. Then, a little pinking shears to the edges and- adorable. Quick and easy (when you remember how to work the machine :-)
And then, my sweet friends were even "sweeter" and gave me so delicious Christmas treats- caramel popcorn, caramels, chocolate dipped pretzels, toffee bark, and jam cookies. And they are even packaged so cute.
Thanks to mother's group for helping to instill me with the Christmas spirit!

Da Vinci Drawings at the Legion of Honor

On Wednesday, Dyan, Nora, and I went to the Legion of Honor to see the exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings. Leonardo is definitely been the main focus of several exhibits in the past two years. It was a fairly small exhibit, but what they had was amazingly preserved. His sketches are incredibly detailed, showing major muscular definition and movements. He also did a great job at exhibiting facial expressions. We also went and viewed the collection from the State Museum of Berlin that was also on display. I was amazed at how many artifacts they had from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Far East, and even a Renoir. Little Nora was great- she loved to say "Ut Oh" when she dropped something, to delight to some of the other patrons. We also saw them setting up for a big party in the courtyard, with gold decorations and lights. It would be so fun to be able to attend a big soire there.

Rest of Thanksgiving Weekend

I know that I have been really SLOW at finishing up Thanksgiving posts- but better late than never. After the movie, we headed down to Provo and spent most of the remaining weekend with William's family. We stayed at William's parents house in Provo, along with Chris, Karen, and Charles. We went shopping on Black Friday to the Provo Towne Center Mall and were SHOCKED at just how not crowded it was. It seemed just like a typical Saturday type crowds, except in Bath and Body Works, which was PACKED. I decided it wasn't worth the wait. We were able to get most of our Christmas shopping done- which was nice, to have most of it done.

We then drove out to Payson to see the home that Chris and Karen are building. Yes, they are building the ENTIRE thing- with the help of some other folks in their neighborhood. Isn't it great-
They have an orchard behind their house where we witnessed a beautiful sunset.
We then headed to dinner at Macaroni Grill where we had a three course feast- it was super good, I was so stuffed by the time we finished.

On Saturday morning, we got to watch baby Charles for a little while. He is so cute- if you don't mind drool :-)
We then went to a movie and later to the temple. We had such a fun time being with William's family and are THRILLED that his parents are FINALLY back in the U.S. And we will be able to see them again in just a few short weeks!!! Corey and Bekky- WE MISSED YOU!!!!! And we are thinking about you

Australia: The Movie

My family has a tradition of going to a movie after Thanksgiving dinner. We have done this for years- I think we started going when I was about thirteen. We had a good crowd- about 12 of us who went- and the movie was Australia, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It seems to me like it was 2 movies in one. Both parts were ok- but didn't really fit all that well together. The cinematography was incredible- and Nicole had amazing outfits. All in ng all, the movie was ok- not the best, not the worst that I've seen. What was bad though was the theater- the sound kept cutting in and out throughout the whole movie, as well as being badly distorted. It was very distracting to the movie. My sister, Cynthia, being from LA, the land where cinema is taken VERY seriously, actually complained to the manager about it so that he could fix the problem before the next showing, and he actually gave everyone FREE passes. So I have to say that the movie was pretty good for being FREE. And we still have another movie that we can see.

Christmas Creche

Last night, for family home evening (or family evening out), we went to the annual Christmas Creche in Palo Alto. This is an annual tradition that had been going on for 21 years. We went last year and it was great, and this year was no exception. They turn the whole chapel into displays of nativity scenes. They also add special lighting, risers, and decorations to modify the situation. I had not realized that most of the exhibit is rotated every year. One of our favorites was actually made by a boy in our Sunday School class. He made this giant Lego statue of Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus with his father. It was amazing- we are excited to ask him how they constructed it. Our other favorite room contained the glass and pewter Nativities- we actually really wanted one of the crystal ones with its clean, sleek lines. They had a nativity on the head of a pin, a white chocolate nativity (William really wants that one as well), and these ones from Poland made out of tin foil (I was impressed that you could make something so intricate out of tin foil. Another one of my favorites was the one by the Eskimos with little whales around the baby Jesus. There were nativities made out of gourds, stained glass, and even paper. Many thanks to all of those volunteers who put this together.

Thanksgiving Day

William and I spent Thanksgiving Day this year with my family and extended family. My beloved grandmother used to make the entire Thanksgiving dinner every year, until she broke her wrist and was no longer able to do it all. We tried doing it pot luck style, but it just wasn't the same and not what she wanted. For the past two years, she had wanted Thanksgiving to be at the Marriott and William and I were happy to join her there. Here is one table with the family
The other table- pretty much with the little kids
We sat next to my two cousins, Amy and Laura, who are hilarious- can't you tell from his picture :-) We all love to laugh
The buffet was incredible- prime rib, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, shrimp, crab legs, chicken, pasta, salads, and TWO big dessert tables. My personal favorite were the turkey sugar cookies- I had 3 of them. We also had some yummy chocolate cake (shared with William) and some carrot cake.

My aunt Cheryl made a special plate of everything for the guest of honor- my grandmother- with every dessert she could ever want. We called it the "diabetic dessert plate"
And who needs to waste time with utensils- hands are a better method
And the best part of the meal was zero clean up! Cynthia was super happy because they had the dog show on so she kept oohing and ahhing.

What we are most thankful for is this woman- my dear grandmother- for taking such amazing care of her family. We are so grateful for you!

NKOTB

Since the Celine concert was CANCELED, we instead went to New Kids on the block. As long awaited, here finally is my post about the New Kids on the Block concert. This was the first boy band that I was crazy about. We had several of their music videos and used to watch them a lot- I think I even had some of their "trading cards". I never really had a "favorite"- I bounced around from Jordan, Jonathon, and Joey since several of my other friends had already "claimed" them. Before the performance, they had a screen where you could text messages to NKOTB and it would appear for everyone to see. It was hilarious to see about how so many women were still crazy about them.

But the whole audience was not thrilled to be there- this cracked me up to see these two guys just miserable while everyone else was up dancing and having a great time.
They did all of their same old school moves- and had some classic outfits to go along with it. It was high on the cheese factor, but I have to give them credit because it would have not been the same had they done "new", more current moves. I'm not a fan of their new stuff at all- it sounds like their old ones, and none of these new ones really stood out to me.
I had forgotten just how high Jordan's voice is- it totally made me smile. I also died laughing when they came out with all white outfits on- as pictured here.
But the one taking the cake- was Jordan coming out and doing a solo and ripping open his white shirt, which then kept blowing in the wind.
They also joined in the crowd on a moving turntable

Despite some of my cynicism, I admit that I LOVED hearing a few of my favorites- "The Right Stuff," "Step by Step", and "Hanging Tough". All of the excitement that I felt as a pre-teen came flooding back to me and I was thrilled to be there. It was particularly great during Hanging Tough when they all came out in Celtics jerseys and showed the great logos of all the great Boston sports teams :-)

All in all, I'm glad that I went to fulfill that childhood dream of mine, but I'm glad that it was only 20 bucks. I definitely still would have gone to Celine instead, but it worked as a substitute. But my previous love/obsession for NKOTB has not been rekindled but I do like a few of their songs.


The Right Stuff, Step by Step, Hanging Tough

Visit with Dear Friends

It has been about two weeks but I wanted to write about visiting with some of my old friends from BYU, Lianne and Adam. Lianne and I were roomies for several years and I was roomies with her when her romance with Adam started. They lived here in the Bay area for several years adn luckily, our time together overlapped. It was nearly a year ago that they moved to Florida- to a beautiful house- and they even had a little baby boy in that time. I was so thrilled that they were back in the San Jose area for Thanksgiving and so we met up for lunch at Pasta Pomodoro at Santana Row. They had introduced William and I to this great place and it was even better to try it with them. We had amazing food- from the bruschetta, caesar salad, butternut squash ravioli, and two other kinds of pasta. And the great bread and pesto dipping sauce. Their two kids, Clara and Ian, were with us and were SO WELL BEHAVED. It was a longer lunch, but they were both super good. I have discovered the MIRACLE for entertaining children. The I phone. After about 30 minutes, Clara was getting bored and so Adam pulled out his I phone and she started watching the Tinkerbell movie and was content and enthralled for the rest of our lunch. She even knew how to fast forward and rewind. What a great thing to have on hand not just for your own use, but also for your children. I had a lot of fun playing with Clara and her 3D Disney castle and paper dolls of the Princesses and their Prince. I went on a trip down memory lane trying to think of all of the different songs from the movie so that I could sing them while we had each couple do their dance at the end of the shows. It was so much fun seeing them and I will try to come on their turf next time :-)

Holiday Sprinkles

Sprinkles cupcakes has special flavors for the holiday season and of course I had to try them. The one on the right with the Christmas tree is Eggnog Spice. Spiced cake with eggnog frosting- it was HEAVEN. SO GOOD. Every bite was just incredible. The one on the left is Vanilla Peppermint and it was good as well- with just mint in the frosting to not be overwhelming. I will hopefully be going back for some more before the disappear until next year.

Durer to Picasso

On Saturday, I went and saw the new exhibit at the Stanford Museum of Art, Durer to Picasso. It was composed from the museum's collection. I am very impressed by the collection that they have, and it is FREE admission. They had 3 Rembrandt etchings, 3 Goya etchings, and one of my new favorite etchers, Albrecht Durer. He followed after Rembrandt's style of etching, making a sketch on a copper plate and then using acid to eat through it before placing ink on it to make an impression on paper. It is a fairly complex process but produces amazing results. He did a series called the "Engraved Passion" about the events leading up to the Savior's death and resurrection. The detail was so intricate and conveyed so much emotion that it brought tears to my eyes. Also on display in the exhibit was a Tiffany vase, a Munch, a Diego Rivera, photos by Edward Weston, works by Miro, Braque, and a Picasso painting. It was great. I then walked around through the rest of the museum- I didn't realize just how big it is and what an extensive collection they have. I knew that they had LOTS of Rodin, but they also had some Chihuly glass work, a Matisse, a Klimt, photos by Ansel Adams, a Georgia O'Keefe, a Degas, Monet, and Renoir to name just a few. I'm so lucky to live just a short drive from viewing such great art for FREE.

Bolt in 3D

William and I have seen Bolt in 3D twice. We saw it the Saturday before Thanksgiving and again the Saturday after Thanksgiving with his parents. It is SO good- very funny and touching. The 3D is incredible- it doesn't do any of the cheesy 3D tricks like jumping out at you, but just enhances the whole show. My favorite character was the Hamster- hilarious. Go and see it in the theater in 3D- its worth the extra few dollars.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad's birthday is today and I just wanted to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We are so lucky to have such a great dad like you.

We celebrated my dad's birthday the night before Thanksgiving, since the whole family was in Utah. We went to Olive Garden where there was ZERO wait (what a rarity) and he had all of his favorites- bruschetta, chicken marsala, and alfredo dipping sauce. We even had the staff sing to him- here is the group singing to him and he actually has a smile on his face in a photo (its something of a rarity)
He was so excited about his gift- the "Ti Bo"- more commonly known as TIVO. However, we have a slight problem in that our phone line is problematic and the Internet is only upstairs. Thus, we still need to buy a wireless router and a usb connector before it will work.
And my family must have William, our technology guru, set it up so it will have to wait for two weeks until we are back in Utah.

My mom said that my dad has continued to cope without the Tivo, watching his football games live, and he also has a Dairy Queen ice cream cake to tide him over. Love you Dad!