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

Blackberry Season

YYYYUMMMMMM!!!

Blackberry season is one of the highlights of the year here on MI. It has become a

family tradition to make blackberry cobbler and freeze these yummy treats for the

coming winter. I guess there must have been a bear in our family tree. This year was

especially good, and we had John, Rachel, and David helping us out.

Wish you were here.

Love, Gramps

COUSIN CAMP 2011

The three of the best little boys in the world spent time with Nana and Gramps in Seattle a couple weeks ago. If you haven't heard what we were up to, these photos give you a sample. We kept crazy busy at the zoo, the aquarium, camping on the Snoqualmie River, making cookies and hanging out - literally - on our neighbor's zip line. Some of the best times were watching the boys just be with each other. There's a very exuberant dynamic that plays out between them.

Each is so different and yet so connected to the people and the world around them. We sure loved them and we loved the time they spent with us.

Cousin camp was one of the highlights of my summer.

Disneyland fun!!

Chrishy on the Carousel at Disneyland!