When You Really Need to Catch Up On Your Blog

It's possible that it's too late on a Friday afternoon for me to care about being clever. I keep meaning to catch up on my blog, so here's a couple of pictures.

Jason and I went to the opening game of the Jazz season at the new and improved VivantSmart Arena. I think that's what we're calling it now. It's not the Delta Center anymore (which is what I like to call it) or Energy Solutions Arena. Apparently, the Salt Palace is a completely different building - but that doesn't stop me from calling it that. The Jazz pulled off a come-from-behind victory against the Denver Nuggets, and we had comfy seats in the recently redone arena. We really enjoyed the game. Jason loves that I sometimes get free tickets to Jazz games through work. Church employment has its perks I guess. If you have something to offer a large group of people who are willing to show up for free events at the last minute - the LDS Church Human Resources Department employee network is for you.

Kami is cute. I don't know what else to say about that.

Dahlia and I went to Witch Fest at Gardner Village so we could really annoy Mickey when he had to go with Jason to watch the Priesthood Session of conference.(Well, maybe that wasn't our actual intent, but it certainly served its purpose. Don't worry. Jason made sure Mickey got to go to Witch Fest the next weekend and we offered Dahlia the opportunity to watch the Priesthood Session. We are an equal opportunity family.) We loved finding all the witches and Dali loved that she got to pick the restaurant for our dinner. We ended up at Golden Corral. We recently introduced the kids to the buffet restaurant concept by accident in St. George and we may never eat at a normal restaurant ever again. They have cotton candy and BBQ chicken wings and pickles there. Why would we ever go anywhere else? 

Tay's kids in a classic "heads together" photo. I love their Christmas jammies.

Carly and Grandpa at Heather's birthday lunch at Red Robin. Luckily, Heather got to pick her own birthday lunch so we didn't end up at McDonald's at Station Park (sorry Lauren) or Golden Corral (sorry, Mick and Dahlia).

The three brothers and their pink princess at Kami's 2nd birthday party. These boys love their sister. It's the cutest thing.

And now - we are more or less caught up.

St. George Wedding Weekend

We made a quick weekend trip to St. George for Kaylene and Scotty's wedding. The weather was nice and around 70-75, which is just right for me. It was a small, simple wedding in a very pretty setting.

Mickey and the Bride

With Megan and Holly

Ty (who needs a haircut in the worst possible way and insisted on baptizing his daughter when he had, and I quote, "Jesus hair") and Jason. Missing Brady, who was home with cute Theo

The group

My group

We introduced the kids to the wonders of Golden Corral on this trip. Apparently they hadn't been to a true buffet before. They loved that you could just load your plate up with whatever you wanted and then go to town. Eat what you liked - grab a new plate - and start the process over again. With desserts. And more desserts. And then maybe some chicken and a roll. And more desserts. 

And a bonus pic of Theo, because he was the reason Brady and Stephanie couldn't make it to the wedding. And because Theo.

When The Play is Better Than The Book

I really liked this book. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" has a very interesting narrative voice. It's like a modernized "Catcher in the Rye." But the play really captures what a person with autism must experience when they are over-stimulated. I was on the edge of my seat. Well done, Pioneer Theatre Company. Well done.

Witch Fest

I had so much fun kicking off the Halloween season early at Gardner Village "Witch Fest" with these three. (We went early in the season to beat the crowds of middle aged ladies dressed up as witches that I've heard like to haunt the place in October.) We found all the witches on the scavenger hunt and earned our 50 cent sugar cookie prizes from the bakery. It was a crisp September night very well spent.

This Dog

I knew Rooney liked the park. I did not know how much he enjoyed slides. But he was loving life. It's tough to be Rooney, I'll tell you what.

Back to School in Style

I really do have the cutest nieces and nephews ever. I'm not just saying that. As evidence, I offer the following:

Exhibit A: Ethan killing it with his back-to-school jammies and backpack.

  Exhibit B: Kami and her too-cool-for-school band of brothers.

 Exhibits C and D: Ethan/Kami Combo (with Ethan still killing it in his jammies)

 Exhibit E: Aunt Biz reluctantly going through her collection of stuffed animals with her happy helpers.

Exhibit F: Tyler and his Catch-of-the-Labor-Day, including triumphant smile.
And speaking of smiles...

Exhibit G: Kami

I rest my case.

Labor Day Fun at Snowbird

The end of summer got crazy for us. In the midst of selling our house and buying/moving to a new one, we decided to take a break and enjoy Labor Day at Snowbird. 

So we didn't know Oktoberfest was going on until we got there (October, anyone?) but why not introduce the kids to a German drinking festival when you get the chance... Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of heavy drinking going on, as it was a Monday afternoon and all.

We really did enjoy the reason for our visit, which was the rides. The alpine coaster is my favorite. The smell of the pine trees is really fresh when you're on this roller coaster type ride through the side of the mountain. And the kids really like the alpine slide, which goes a little faster. Kind of fun to see what smart marketing people are able to make available at a ski resort in the summer.

After our pizza lunch, we rode the tram up to the Peruvian Tunnel, which cuts underground through one side of the mountain to another. We were told it was 10 degrees cooler in the tunnel than it was on the mountain, but it felt more like 20 or 30. It was funny to go from being in the blazing hot sun where we were sure we were getting fried to being freezing cold and wishing we had our jackets. Utah's extreme weather at its finest.