Boxing Day!!!

Happy Boxing Day! Even though it's a Canadian holiday and we are in Seattle, I always like to remember and observe this day if possible. This year, Mom and I got in on some Boxing Day sales! Although they don't call it Boxing Day here, they essentially celebrate it by having after- Christmas sales at the mall. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy Boxing Day!

Temple Time

We have had such a fun time here in Utah for Christmas. Yesterday it was delightful to take in the gorgeous Christmas lights that completely covered the trees on temple square! We were there with Spencer's parents and our neice and nephew who are 11 and 9. Our 9 year old nephew is a very active lad and he was climbing around a little and keeping things interesting by walking in a squatting position as 'mini man.' Haha... We had a nice time there sipping the hot chocolate and admiring the various nativity scenes.

My favorite moment was as we looked at the statues of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus who were on little stands atop the reflective pool in front of the temple. It was touching to see this image there in front of the temple that is such a symbol and reminder of the blessings our church brings, and of what Christ has done for us. There was a nice spirit there.

I was expecting to hear some carollers or singing. Although there was nice recorded music, we didnt hear singing so I started singing myself, but then we heard something that definitely at least ties with carollers: a carolling bag piper! Merry Christmas!

Traditions

One of my favorite holiday traditions involves the watching of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with my friends. This tradition goes all the way back to 1994, which for some readers may not sound that impressive. However, this was started when we were in the 7th grade. At least 2 of us have gotten together every year to watch this movie, including when most of us were serving missions.

Holiday traditions are great to bring together family and friends and to establish a common link that may have been blurred by time and distance. Watching it last night with my friends brought back great memories.

Fancy New Places for Kinders

The other day I brought in a deck of flash cards for my students. Now they're the new hit! These aren't 'Addition' or 'Subtraction' cards. I decided to spice things up between the phonics and math lessons, and grabbed my 'Explore Landmarks' set- I just snagged them from the Target Dollar Bin without much forethought... but my students ate them up!

These pictures and the information about the landmarks has added a spark of curiosity about the world that I love to see from these fresh minds. I adore how everything I offer them is so new and exciting because they're lil Kinders! This was a reminder of that. I wont be with this group in the new year, but it was fun teaching them while I did!

The Moai Monoliths off the coast of Chile were their faves.

.... Spence and I saw replicas of these at the Easter Island exhibit in another polynesian land last year- Hawaii!

Happy Birthday Char!!!!!

Happy happy happy birthday! Char, we are so glad to have you in the family. Here are some nice things we would like to say to you :)

Grampa: Charla, Time to celebrate another birthday. I love that you like to look at the big picture and then look for deeper meanings in the big picture.

I admire your creative energy and wish you the happiest birthday ever.

Nana: I love how you can make a party from any event and from any thing you have on hand. I love your enthusiasm and your infectious energy -Even when you're running on empty it's there! And I so love your infinite supplies of quotes and sayings and philosophies for any occasion.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Ian: I love Charla's ability to be both incredibly fun and totally earnest at the same time. A very difficult balance to strike, but she manages it admirably!

Melissa: Charla, I love your sense of adventure, your deep and sincere desire to do whatever you can to love and help others and your beautiful sense of humour. I also love your blog!

Jord: You are an amazing wife and mother! Thank you so much for all the hard work that you've done since this last pregnancy and here's hoping that the next few months until the end of the pregnancy will run as smooth as ever.

Linds: What I love about Char is that she has so much joy for life. She pulls so much out of every moment and appreciates the beauty of what's around her, like music and scents for example. She shows her exuberance and love of being in the moment.

Spencer: I love Charla's enthusiasm for her family and children and how she shows this love on her blog!

Beej:

-I love how Charla is always willing to look at things in innovative ways and challenge conventional thinking.

-I love how Charla is always willing to try new things and has a very adventurous spirit, like boot camp, or living in Taiwan.

-I looove Charla's sense of humour, it's top notch (and I'm not just saying that because you laugh at my jokes or because we have similar senses of humour) well maybe I am who knows but either way great sense of humour.

Rico: What I like about Charla is that she is a great listener who genuinely cares about what you are saying. And she will also provide a cool insight of her own. Plus she is fun to be around.

Wooz: Charla, you are always really fun to talk to (I wish we could more often) and I think it's awesome how many cool things you've managed to do with your life so far. And I definitely love all your life insights! You're amazing!

I hope you manage to take some time for yourself on your special day, because you are awesome and you deserve it! Here's to a fabulous day!

We need your votes!!!

Hey everyone,

Oliver's school has entered a competition to get grant money for an outdoor courtyard classroom from the Aviva Community Fund.

His school has made it into the semi-finals and they need as many votes as they can get in order to move to the next round, so if everyone could spare 2 mins to initially register and then about 30 secs for each subsequent vote then that would greatly help their cause as they are currently trailing some of the other semi-finalists in its category by only a few votes!

Anyone can vote online - you just need to register first by providing an email and a password and then after that you are allowed to vote 1X per day until the voting ends on Dec 16.

You just need to go to

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/

First register and then after you registered you can vote by typing in his school's name (Holyrood) in the search line of the upper RH corner of the page. A picture of a dog and a school will come up but don't vote for the dog!

The name of the project is "Holyrood School Courtyard Classroom". They don't have a great photo but you can read more about their project and also vote for it once you click on the picture of it.

Thanks for your help!

Bonbons at 21!!

We thought it would be fun to pool together our top 'what we like about Rach' thoughts. Here they are, with our love and wishes for a happy 21st birthday to one of the best sisters/ daughters ever!!!

One of Rach's high school friends nicknamed her "bonbons" and I've always thought that was a perfect nickname for her.
You are very fun and you make us all feel good when you are around. You've always been very determined and have a good sense of what you want to do with your life. Happy Birthday to a very fun and talented girl!
-Dad

One of the thousand things I like about you is the way you mix 'mellow' and 'determined'. Not a whole lot of people know that under your kind, calm and easy-going exterior is this amazingly focused, ambitious, uber-smart person.
Another thing I like about you is that you're not afraid to try anything! Like a hum bow at Pike Place or a black diamond ski slope or a trip to somewhere you haven't been.
And I like your smile so much.
-Mom

Rachel you are kind to the core. We love your sweet smile and gentleness. Thanks for being you!
xo
Melissa

Rachel has, as long as I've known her, a really strong sense of confidence and self-assuredness that I find admirable. I don't have a memory from this year, but her busking is a good example of that.
-Ian

What I really like about Rachel is her ability to connect with so many people. She can navigate her way through the social jungle quite easily. I also admire her for her ability to listen and to stay low-key and relaxed, but yet still showing a caring attitude.
-Rico

Woozie has always been considerate and willing to help us in many different ways, she is generous and always willing to share her talents and it is always a treat to listen to her on the violin.
-Jordan

I'm glad Rachel is my little sister because she is lots of fun. As a younger sibling she is not needy of her older sibling’s attention like I was. She is very motivated to succeed but also knows how to relax and is mindful of others in a refreshingly supportive but non-aggressive kind of way. She is a great example for all of us. Best younger sister ever!!
-Beej

I like that Rachel added Metascience to her list of interests on facebook.
-Char

Rach has such an enthusiastic spirit and great running abilities!
-Spence

I love that you’re so sociable and fun, Rach! Even as a newby here in LA last summer it was cool to see you put a party together for Canada Day. I was proud of you for being so bold, even though you could have easily made the excuse that you didn’t know many people yet. (When Rach gets an idea in her head there’s no stopping her!) It was also fabulous to hear about your adventures as a volunteer at Cedar Sinai and see you work towards your goal while balancing that with making friends. You are also so supportive of others reaching their goals. I love your spunk and fun loving spirit!
-Linds

Rach you are a treat to have in our family. Your rare ability to find fun in the run of work and achievement will continue to bring great joy and a sense of pride from yourself and all of us! Have the best birthday imaginable!

Love, us.

We're having a baby.....

"Inconclusive" was the final judgment of the ultra sound tech who did my 20 week scan today. Although she reported not having seen anything that looked like I was having a boy, the legsdidn't seperate long enough for her to get a good enough look. So, we still don't know what we're having. We're going to name it Pat.

Christmas is here again (almost.)

Christmas is my favorite time of year. A season where I truly do feel a stonger desire to give, a time when we remember Christ our Saviour's birth. It's such a magical time and special time and family time and fun time. People seem more friendly, the season is fresh and (a little rainy here I guess.)

Yesterday I pulled out all our decorations and Spence and I watched the good ol' classic, 'A Christmas Story.' I especially love the way this movie feels so Christmasy with the snow and the fun family dynamics and the traditions. The school scenes with Ralphie writing his 'Theme' about what he wants for Christmas especially cracked me up this year since I am working with similar aged kids.

Anyway, it's so delightful that Christmas is just a few weeks away. So I wanted to share a few Christmas-y corners (and stock pic of lights on a tree) here- these hopefully bring a smile to your face like they do to mine.





This nativity scene helps me remember the true meaning of Christmas.

THE LINK

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Movember Cont.

Ok I'm jacking the family blog and spamming it with more Movember pictures. This will be the last time. Honestly I can't wait to shave this lip worm off and be done with it. I have a special character from Napoleon Dynamite per request and a Tom Selleck look alike that I think is pure gold.

I'm hoping to raise $500 right now I am at $260 so I need some help. The deadline is Nov. 30. In case I didn't already tell you I am doing it because a friend of mine who lost his grandpa to prostate cancer asked me to join his fund raising team and I agreed. The money donated goes to cancer research for men particularly prostate cancer. Movember leads to some nasty facial hair but it is for a good cause. Here is the link I hope you enjoy the photos and like I said this is the last time unless someone really wants to see another look alike picture ...... Once again thank you to all who have already donated. Follow this link and it will allow you to make a donation by credit card. Thanks guys!

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Breaking Dawn

I have been a Twilight fan from the getgo. I first heard about these books as i was walking out of a party a few years ago. A friend mentioned how a vampire's in love with a human and he wants to suck her blood... curious. But then my coworker was reading them, and couldnt put them down! Finally I thought,'ive got to check these out!' I went to the store and got a copy of the first book. Then I became the person who couldnt put them down!

So I was excited to watch the next installment with a classmate this weekend. It's getting more interesting as the stakes are raised and Bella enters deeper into the vampire world. I think the story is so fascinating! Yea, it's a simple read and there's not TOO much in terms of writing form and style, but I think there are interesting themes and emotions in these books and movies. For example, Bella and her transition to a new place and group of people, Jacob and his unrequited love for her, Edward and how he's made the most of beign a vampire and tries to be good... The situations are impossible, but the feelings taht stand with such life transitions and choices remain. I think the Jacob character is especialy interesting in this respect. He has to honor Bella's choice of husband even though it breaks his heart. Although we dont choose whether to marry a vampire, we do face loss, struggle, balance between what we want and what others want, connecting with family... and using our talents - the vampires have interesting gifts. Anyway, I thought the Twilight books were an enjoyable read and I equally enjoyed the movie.

One Year Ago

So this is a few days late, but that's ok....



One year ago, I joined this great family by marrying the love of my life. It's been a great year and I've loved becoming a member of this family. I'll go ahead and play favorites (Lindsay wins, of course!) but everyone's been great and extremely welcoming. Looking forward to continue to get to know everyone (Lindsay included) and wish everyone a Happy (United States) Thanksgiving!

"Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day."

Beej, those dictator pics made me smile today - thanks. I know I'm being kind of a brat here, but if you could do a pic where you look like Kip, I promise to donate. (I think slumping your shoulders will be key to your success.)

Movember

Alright I'm having some more fun with this. This is a picture I took yesterday. The stache is kinda starting to become irritating but ......... I persevere. This is the latest. I will probably post a couple others as well.

I've noticed that most of the more memorable dictators have had some sort of stache which is the inspiration for this photo. Coming up I hope to do an excellent Tom Selleck impersonation.

I've been lucky to raise $220 and I have a personal goal of $500. Thank you Mom and Dad, Bonnie and Bob, Grandma Schneider and Woozie for your donations. If you haven't donated yet and would like to here is the link

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

I hope you can even if it's only a few dollars. I'm having too much fun with this so sadly there will be more pictures to follow. I've also submitted these photos to Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro to see if they would take me on as their apprentice and then seize power once they're gone ....... I'll keep you posted on what they say.

Movember

Staches have a treasured history in our family. Dad sported one for many years. The day he shaved it off around 1994 or so it was like a part of the family died. 5 year old Woozie Schnitzel was inconsolable she cried and cried and demanded to know what this strange clean shaven man had done with her father. The crying went on for hours and since that day the Schneider men have generally refrained from rocking the stache on the upper lip ............... until now!

So each year for the month of November some men grow moustaches. It began in Australia about 10 years ago as an effort to raise money for men's health issues. Some do it for fun and others do it to raise funds. This year me and a group of friends are doing it to raise funds. Some of you have asked me about the lip worm creeping along my upper lip so now you know, I'm not doing it to be stylish (although that is certainly a beneficial byproduct, see picture above) I'm part of a movember fundraising team.

The funds are used for research mainly for prostate and testicular cancer but also for other men's health issues, such as depression which is on the rise among young men. The stats are pretty disconcerting 1 in 7 men get prostate cancer and 1 in 28 die from it. 60+ year old men have the greatest risk.

It's not very big in the States but in Canada it's pretty popular with lots of radio DJ's, hockey players and other celebrities participating. Now if you see a non-police officer or non-airline pilot with a stache you now why ...... they may be doing a Tom Sellick impersonation (see picture above) or making their best attempts at stlying but more likely they are participating in Movember. Especially if they appear normal in every other regard ie) they aren't a single dude who drives a mini van with tinted windows, they don't have long greasy hair, they don't play video games for days at a time and forget to shave their face etc.

Last year a little over $22 million was raised worldwide. Right now our team is at $1,550 and we're hoping to get to at least $3,000 by the end of the month. Please donate here's the link http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/ for my mospace page. I will provide pictures of the luscious stache, push broom, savour flavour, mo whatever you want to call it once I have something that I'm comfortable going cyber with (probably a couple of days). But I won't post any pictures unless there is at least $20 donated to my mospace page so hopefully somebody puts in at least $10 (Haha I'm donating $10 right now so that means somebody else needs to donate at least another $10, even if you only want to donate $1 that's cool). I'm pretty sure the more money that goes to my mospace page the faster my moustache will grow too so maybe I can get one that rivals Dad's stache from the early 90s! Don't worry wooz my stache is pretty pathetic compared to Dad's so I'm pretty sure you will be able to recognize me!

Quarters and States

So back when I was in high school in 1999, the US Mint decided to start releasing quarters with a design for each state on the back. This intrigued me at the time, so for Christmas I got a map of the US with a spot to put each quarter as it came out. They were only coming out 5 per year, so it was going to take some time to collect them all. But collect them I did:



This wasn't enough for me though. When I first started, I wanted to collect an entire roll (40 quarters, or $10) per state. I quickly realized that this would take forever, so I downsized my goal to collect one roll per year, or 8 per state. I also wanted to collect an entire roll of the bicentennial design that came out in 1976. Over the past few days, I finished my goal:



So what's next? Well, they're continuing the program using US Territories, then National Parks, so my collecting days will continue. By luck of the draw, when we went to get quarters for laundry a few days ago, I got an entire roll of the Gettysburg National Park, allowing me to complete that particular one very quickly. But it's nice to be finished with the initial goal.

Halloweekend!

Here at BYU people like make a big deal out of Halloween, and generally people have celebrations the whole weekend before Halloween. Both Rico and I were fortunate enough to go to one such celebration, a dance party hosted in part by Rico's roommate Kevin. Here's a picture of us afterwards! I was an 80's Barbie and Rico was the sheriff from the show "Walking Dead," he could probably tell you more about it. Sydney was a medieval princess if you can't guess! Anyway, it was a lot of fun dressing up. Happy Halloween, hope you all have a fabulously scary day tomorrow!

Trunk or Treat

Dad and I are on Mercer Island right now and last night was one of our favorite nights of the year - the famous MI Ward Trunk or Treat Party. It's where the whole ward shows up in costume and eats Halloween food and plays games and then goes outside to pass out candies from their decorated car trunks to all the little trick or treaters.

For Halloween junkies like myself it's a night to look forward to. One year John went as Darth Maul and Rico as the young Obi-Wan. They tried to talk Rach into going as Princess Amidala but she refused and went as a hippie instead. She regrets that decision to this day :) BTW - all the little kids were deathly afraid of Darth Maul so they had a hard time taking candy from him. So John and Rico had to eat it all. And the year Rico went as 'Rico' was another very memorable Trunk or Treat.

For the last - I swear - TEN YEARS!! - I've either been in charge of this fabulous evening of entertainment or at least a major part of it. It's always an unbelievable amount of work organizing food, games, decorations publicity, etc for a party for 100. So it felt sooo good last night showing up with only one little assignment - and that was to bring our big black plastic cauldron to use as a punch bowl. It was a really relaxing evening!

I'm Blind! I'm Deaf! I Wanna be a Ref!

Back in high school I was a referee for the Murray Parks and Recreation soccer leagues. I also refereed flag football. I continued to do so in college, becoming a referee supervisor later on. Refereeing is always something I've enjoyed, even if that seems a bit masochistic. Making sure the game is played completely fair is something I like doing, and if that means taking a couple of boos from the crowd from what they perceive is a bad call, so be it.

Julian and Caleb have started playing soccer for AYSO. One of the requirements for each team is that they help provide volunteer referees for the games. At Ian's suggestion, I decided to get back into the refereeing game; not only for Julian and Caleb, but at the higher levels as well.



Here's me in my referee uniform. Lindsay says I look handsome. You be the judge, but remember that her opinion holds much more weight in my mind ;)



Here's me in action. Julian's admiring my amazing skills here too!

FYI, the post title is a soccer chant when a call goes against the home team.

Pumkin Craft!

With Pumpkin time upon us I couldnt resist sharing this way cool craft that's fun for any age. My lead teacher taught this with our 2nd graders and I thought it looked so fun that I made one too! And when that wasn't enough, I also tried it with my Kinders in the afternoon. It is so fun!

Here's a link to copy into your browser for clear instructions. It talks about symetrical faces in general though-
http://www.mathwire.com/geometry/symmetricfaces.pdf

So I posted this pic (above) of what it can look like as a pumpkin! You can do any shape for the whole pumpkin and the eyes, mouth and nose!

Autumn Golf

Golf in October is bonus in Edmonton, unlike some other areas of the world. We have had an exceptionally nice September and October this year.

I guess this is payback for a brutal spring and summer. The days have been sunny, the leaves have been spectacular, and even the golf swing has been above average.

Looks like we'll just keep playing until the snow flies!

Love to all,

Gramps

Anne with an e

I have been re-reading my beloved Anne of Green Gables Books which I have held onto since I was a kid. One reason (I rarely re-read books,) is because I was also rewatching the Anne of Green Gables TV series which has conveniently been recorded on our direct TV. I wanted to see how true the series hold to the books. I fount that although the series is great overall, they do mix up a few things compared to the actual story- for example, in the fourth book they combine three characters into one and rearrange the chronology, not to mention they change key elements of the plot entirely, like the way Gilbert and Anne get engaged (third book)- But overall I dont have many complaints. I cant blame them for avoiding introducing too many characters. The crux of the story is told well (that Anne is an orphan but finally gets a loving home,) that Matthew and Marilla are the kindest people, and that Anne is not too bad herself. The acting is also quite good.

As for the books, they still beat out the series- which is my usual vote: the book over the movie. They can just fit in so much more description and the thoughts the characters have. I love these books. I love Anne's character. She's so colorful -I love her obsession with puffed sleeves, and she has such a huge heart. The stories are littered with times when she helps others regardless of the huge sacrifices required. I love it when she gives a friend a day off from watching her invalid Mother, loans her a dress and everything, allowing her to attend a friend's anniversary celebration...

There's one quote that I like and that reminded me of the discussion we had at our recent book club. We were talking about Aron Ralston- the guy who amputated his arm to get out of a rock and a hard place- the book '127 Hours'- he sorta let his passion for hiking run wild- without taking precautions, and found himself stuck in a tough predicament. Anne says to her daughter in the last book, 'my dear foolish dear, an imagination is a wonderful thing to have. But like every gift we must possess it and not let it possess us.' Anyway, there's Anne. A nice, fun, and calming read, even better than the TV series.

Death by Chocolate

Just wanted to share the ridiculous chocolate cake I made last night. I promised some people in my ward and someone that I work with that I would make this cake I found for them. It was really fun to make! One piece pretty much had you knocked out by too much richness though! The fun thing about it is that you can kind of do whatever you want to make it as chocolatey as possible. Linds, I bet you especially would like this cake!
http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2011/10/chocolate-wasted-cake.html Here's the link to the recipe if any of you are so inclined to try it.

CHINA

China is going down as one of our best trips ever - still trying to process all that was there - thousands of years of culture and history and people all in two weeks. Here's just a sample. I'd be more than happy to show you more where these came from!

Near Beijing - the Great Wall - you can hike on it or right beside it for 1500 miles.

Tianamen Square - just outside the Forbidden City. There weren't any signs forbidding photos, (unless they were in Chinese?) but maybe this guard was contemplating why there weren't.

The skyline in Shanghai - OJ's favorite place.
Thousands of warriors in Xi'an. When he was only thirteen years old the emperor ordered them made for his tomb. That's planning ahead. It took about 70,000 craftsmen several decades to create them. Each is life size and unique.
6:30 AM In Hangzhou on the banks of West Lake. I thought this was a fabulous way to start off your morning - a little tai chi by the water with all your friends.

The Lijiang River cruise with its beautiful and unique mountain range was a highlight for us.

Our group stopped in Hong Kong for a couple days on the way home and in lieu of little grandsons, there just happened to be two other mouseketeers in the group and this is where we ended up :)

It goes without saying that our first choice would have been to have each of you as travel companions but this group of friends was wonderful too. We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see and learn so much of such an amazing country.

I Speak No English - Kids In The Hall

Sometimes, when life is tough, and smiles aren't easy - sometimes, comedy shows help.

Kids in the Hall - Potato Salad

I've always been puzzled by this skit. Puzzled, yet strangely amused at the same time.

Books Books Books

One thing I've started dabbling in this year is handmade books. No reason to get excited yet, I've only made 2 or 3 and very low key small scale types at that, but it has been fun to try something new! I wanted to post about it so that I have incentive to follow up somewhere with future attempts. My love for scrapbooking, cool prints, and journaling is why 'How to Make Books,' caught my eye at the library.

I have always loved the notebook section of any place, particularly Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

Here are the fruits of my first few dabblings: Picture one is a paper book with fabric slip cover... I wanted to compile my nice notes from my bridal brunch!




The second and third 'books' are paper cover books, the smaller one is done by folding the paper a certain way into 8 sections, one cut, and adjusting the folds to make pages with one sheet of paper and no staples.

I think I will go put some kind of book together now!

Planetarium!

Little known fact: I love astronomy. I am fascinated the universe! Last week I finally got the chance to go to a planetarium show at the Eyring building on campus. The first thing we saw was a video about some facts of the universe. Here's a cool fact I remember: a pinpoint size amount of matter in a neutron star (which is incredibly dense) weighs as much as the Empire State building! So crazy. After that video we just got to watch cool light show videos that were synched to music and made us really dizzy. So it was a cool experience. Hopefully I can squeeze in an astronomy class somewhere to expand my knowledge even more!

Pain heals...

So yesterday I was playing in our multi-stake flag football league and having a lot of fun. Then, just before halftime, that changed. I was playing center and my job was to block the incoming rushers, then go out for a pass and be open in case the quarterback couldn't find anyone else open. He threw it to me and off I ran.

I dodged the 1st defender with a spin move (spinning makes it really hard for the defender to pull your flag), made the second guy miss by cutting back, then came the next defender. I went for the spin move again, but we bumped heads or something and down I went. I put my hand to my eyebrow and it came back with blood on it. That, combined with the pain, led me to think that something went wrong with that spin move.

As it turns out, when we collided, my glasses got pushed up and the top of the frame cut into my face between the eye and the eyebrow. Needless to say, I was done playing. Off I went to the Urgent Care facility (kinda between the doctors office and the ER since it was a Saturday) and they patched me right up. They used medical superglue to close the cut (it wasn't bleeding anymore) and sent me on my way. Though the joke is that we should've had the Elder's Quorum do it since it was just superglue.

I have a picture of what it looked like, but seeing this is a family blog I won't post it. If you're interested, I'll email it to you. Lindsay says it looks like Halloween makeup, except it's real. Be careful when you're out and about, that's for sure.

Mt. Timpanogos

This summer Rico and I had the opportunity to try to summit Timpanogos. Sadly the unusually high amount of snow still on top of the mountain in July did not permit us to reach the top. Timpa is still definitely on the hit list because it was beautiful and I was amazed at how close and accessible it was to get there. We had to take a detour of the trail and go up a rock chute to try to get to the top, finally we realized that there was going to be no chance to get to the top. Rico's adventurism and desire to get to the top was a great asset. I know at first he was worried he'd be too out of shape but he did great even when we got into a few dicey spots with rocks sliding down on us and exposed, slippery patches where we almost fell down hard.

Rather than try to push to the top and risk getting caught in the dark or freezing our feet off in the snow drifts we would have had to push through Rico and I decided to go down and hit Chipotles. I really hate it when I have to leave a hike unfinished but it is always the right decision to play it safe.

The trip to Utah was great it was fun seeing Woozie, Sydney and Rico and meet some of their friends. I can see why Utah would be a great place to live if only for the outdoor activities that you can do there. And I'll be back for Timpo ....... and if Rico and Woozie are still there I'll for sure see them too.

Last First Day of School?

I think I just had my last first day of school. I think that no matter where you are or what level of education you are enrolled in it is always a little bit of a magic moment. I notice that girls usually look their best on the 1st day of school (it only goes downhill as the pressures of assignments and finals slowly seem to sap their beauty or maybe they just get lazy and start putting on less make up ..... uhmm probably the later rather than the former) and there is an energy and buzz in the air. There's lots of free stuff on campus and people are more willing to engage in conversation.

It was very sad that I couldn't enjoy the moment because I had a 9am class and I was running late. But well I was trying to cover the 35min walk in about 20min I was thinking about one of my favorite family memories when there were a few years when all the kids were together for their blessings before school and Melissa would go first then Jordan and so forth all the way down to Woozie. I didn't really realize the significance of that moment now that we are all spread out and rarely able to get all together but I remember thinking how I had so many people that were looking out for me and knowing there really wasn't any need to be worried about anything. I also remember the suckiness of thinking about school again, as the not so enthusiastic first day photos that Mom always insisted taking will attest too, but now that my last first day, for Grade 19, has come and gone it was a very nostalgic moment. I hope the boys have enjoyed their 1st first day of school.

Football!

So as you may or may not know, I am a bit of a college football fan. Last weekend, my team (the University of Utah) was playing down here in LA against the USC Trojans. My boss was nice enough to get Lindsay and I tickets to the game, and I was excited to take her to her first Ute game!



Cameron (my friend that I've known since kindergarten) came down from Salt Lake to join in the festivities. Scott (another of "The Brethren") lives down here in LA and went to USC, so he joined us as well:



We had decent seats and were treated to a very exciting game!



Even though the final score wasn't what we'd hoped (Utah lost, though it took several hours and a officials conference to determine the final score; I can fill you in on the specifics if you want) we still had a lot of fun at the game.

And since it's Rivalry Week, let me leave you with the advice of President Monson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EYK6J-XuOs&feature=related