Emily in Wonderland

More Sundancing

2012-02-01T07:22:00.001-07:00

Will Forte! One of the funniest men alive and also on my most recent Celebrity Crushes list. SO sweet. Hugged me when I told him that he was my favorite SNL guy.

Anthony Anderson (loved him in the film and in person)

Graham Phillips - isn't he adorable? Also an incredible actor.

David Duchovny

I'm a huge fan. I watched all nine seasons of X-Files. He proved himself to be funny without a script in the Q&A session after the film but certainly not especially friendly in person (but at least he took some time with fans).

Parker Posey took this photo of Cherolyn and I with her after the premier of her latest independent film, Price Check, which we enjoyed but didn't love.

Rena and I enjoyed Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's live and pre-recorded performances at the Hit RECord show (of which I have unimpressive video) but we waited 20 minutes after the show for him and then when we asked him for a photo with him he refused:(

Still cute after midnight

Goats was by far the best of the three shows I saw and was the best Sundance movie I've seen in three years. Brandon, Linda, Alan, and I went to its premier last Tuesday night after having a delectable dinner at Silver. Watch for it in theaters in a few months, I'm sure it found a big-name studio to buy it. Touching and SO funny.

Sundance Server

2012-01-31T14:22:00.001-07:00

Since you're going to ask which celebs I met at work, here's the rundown:

The stars of Black Rock

Kate Bosworth, Katie Aselton, and Lake Bell

Dave Karger (this year's official red carpet greeter for the Oscars)

So friendly.

The very talented Sarah Ramos

The charming David Moscow

I think that's pretty much it. I worked four nights of the 10 day festival. I watched shows three of the other nights. And staying up late so many nights in a row leaves me with a hacking cough.

Sundance Begins

2012-01-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night at work there were 43 people with reservations at the restaurant (on Park City's Main St.) and we only had three servers working. My manager asked if I could work Wednesday night too. I said yes and asked what we had in the way of reservations. He said we had over 150. That's what the Sundance Film Festival does to Park City. It begins today.
So I worked last night and there was this guy at a table that I recognized and kept looking at and was sure I knew from somewhere. He was really cute and looked about my age. When he was leaving I was walking past and I said, "Are you a local?"
Guy: No.
Me: Do I know you from somewhere?
Guy: You might.
Me: (nothing)
Guy: I'm an actor.
Me: Oh, I'm sorry to have bothered you.
Guy: It's okay, people are always asking me if I went to high school with them.
Me: And do you say, "Um, no, I'm famous."
Guy: No! I'm not really famous.

Coworker: What did you say to that guy?
Me: Just asked him if I knew him from somewhere.
Coworker: And do you?
Me: Maybe, he's an actor.
Coworker: Yeah, I thought I knew him from somewhere and then finally realized I used to watch him on Felicity. I love him.

Scott Speedman

(looked him up on imdb and figured out that I'd seen him in Underworld)

Thanksgiving

2012-01-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

Six of my co-workers, plus one wife, and one brother of co-workers joined us for Thanksgiving this year. Also one of Alan's assistant's and her boyfriend. It's nice to have a big group for the biggest meal of the year, especially when so many people don't have any relatives around.

Linda, Jamie, Colleen, Shawn, Me

Michi, Hartley, Josh?

Mitch, Durf, Me, Jamie, Michelle, Elora, Chad

Elora loved Michelle, Shawn, & Jamie

It was nice having Serge around for the preparations. He is a chef at the restaurant I work at and Linda, Alan, and I had tons of questions for him. He also introduced a new tradition: making onion rings as an appetizer before frying the turkey:)

We had four turkeys this year: inflatable, baked, smoked, and fried. The last three were delicious.

Kiddie table

Elora trying out Chad's pumpkin chiffon pie and loving it!

After all the friends went home we enjoyed two days and nights of family time:

Battlegrounds

Elora, Trey, and Andy

The kids and B sledding behind the 4-wheeler

Sledding

Elora heading out to the pond to help Grammy & Papa shovel snow off the ice

Extended J. Family Christmas Party

2012-01-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Catching up.

Dec. 3rd

Margene, Bonnie, Garff

Dennis, Sharlene, R'Lene, Bill

The pile of White Elephant gifts

Trey, Coach, Margo, JD

Carmel corn!

Vanessa, M'Lindsay, Matt

Yesterday

2012-01-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Our original plan for the Christmas holidays was to go up to the cabin on Christmas Day and stay for a couple nights. We ended up going up Friday the 23rd and staying until yesterday (Mon. the 2nd) with a two day break at home in the middle.
Yesterday it was in the upper 40s at the cabin and though the valleys have no snow there was enough snow for sledding all week (though not really enough for snowmobiling or snowshoeing). Lots of time spent cooking, talking, and playing video games.

basement bounce house

Checking out the ice rink

Arms out!

The sledding champ

Around Christmas Elora's throat was too sore from her tonsillectomy to make her want to breathe in the cold outside air, but now that it has healed she did a lot of sledding yesterday, even one run with her brother on his orange tube (his favorite Christmas gift).

New Year's Eve

2012-01-03T10:59:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted any Christmas stuff yet but I didn't have my camera so I am waiting on others to share with me. I do have cute Christmas-y stuff from early Dec. to post but I'm doing this first, so there.

Spent NYE working. I have fun co-workers and I made good money.

Jay, Doug, Sara, Me, and Santi

Shawn, Michelle, Me, Chad, Brian E.

Nick, Me, Kelsi

Silly girls

Cute girls

A bunch of the gang at 1:30am

Films of 2011

2011-12-21T15:55:00.001-07:00

What movies did I see that released in 2011?

Green Hornet (main character needed to be either geekier or more charismatic) **
Gnomeo & Juliet *****
Rango ****

Jane Eyre ****
Limitless ****
Source Code ****
Hanna ***
X-Men First Class ****

Green Lantern ***
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 ****
Crazy Stupid Love ****

The Help ***1/2
Our Idiot Brother **
Anonymous ****

So I saw 14 current movies this year and only 6 of them in the theater. I don't think I went to the movies from Feb. to about July. Yeah for Netflix:)

Some people are calling it The Year of the Sequel. It also appears to have been The Year of Natalie Portman (and Anton Yelchin) judging by how many movies she was in this year.

Movies released this year currently in my Netflix queue:

Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
The Conspirator
Water for Elephants
The Beaver
Super 8
Winnie the Pooh
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Cowboys & Aliens
Moneyball
50-50

Movies I still have a chance at seeing in the theater:

Tower Heist
J. Edgar ("Kids in Mind" website rates it more appropriate for children than Crazy Stupid Love despite it's R rating)
Mission Impossible 4
Sherlock Holmes 2

The Change-Up and Horrible Bosses both star Jason Bateman, who I adore, but neither looked that good and both got R ratings (which I avoid watching).

Favorite Christmas Movies & Music

2011-12-21T14:22:00.001-07:00

I need to repost a link to my favorite holiday movies and music again.

Brandon and I are really into Christmas stuff. We've watched most of our Christmas movies already, the kid ones more than once. Every year we buy a new Christmas album. This year it was Tony Bennett. As an added bonus I got the Elf soundtrack from Robin for my birthday. Both are great albums!

Elora and I in our matching outfits on Sunday.

We've cut our our tree for the past four years, but this one is from a lot.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday everything was covered in frost crystals in our town.

We're supposed to finally get snow tomorrow.
Finally made some money at work last night. Hopefully waiting tables in P.C. will be profitable from here on out:)
Sundance movies have been announced. Gotta pick mine. Get some of the first dibs on tickets and can pick mine out on Jan. 4th. Pick up my tickets on the 17th and the festival starts the 19th. Will probably go to three movies and work like six shifts in 10 days. Madness. Movies. Money.

Celebrity Crushes - 5th Edition

2011-11-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

Pej Vahdat (fell in love with him on Bones)

Christian Coulson (aka: Tom Riddle)

Bruno Mars

Brendan Hines

(Fell in love with him on Lie to Me)

Vincent D'Onofrio

(Law & Order: Criminal Intent)

Jeff Goldbloom

(I take a lot of flack for this one but look at those lips)

Wayne Brady

(and here's where the comedy run begins)

Jason Sudeikis

Will Forte

The Rest of October

2011-11-23T22:36:00.001-07:00

Halloween River Float

Pumpkin Carving

Mine/Jonah's

Elora/Daddy's Jack Skellington

Caught another snake:)

Spent the weekend at the cabin with the M. family, our good friends from BYU-Hawaii days

Ari (another good BYU-H friend) gets married

Jonah is my date to the wedding reception

Gardner Village on a day too cold to appreciate the witch displays fully

Continued our playdate at the mall

Provo Canyon ziplines

Cole's Halloween Party

Disneyland - Day 3

2011-11-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

Alan, Linda, my parents, and Claire all left on Thursday morning so that left just my little family of four with one more day to enjoy the park. We had a ball!

Jungle Cruise

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Storybook Land Canal boats

Small World

Jonah refused to go on the Matterhorn (aka: The Abominable Snowman) so Elora got to ride it twice and don't think she didn't gloat about how brave she was:)

snacking in line

All four of us loved the Finding Nemo Submarine

Autotopia

Dia de Los Muertos "tatoos"

Toontown fun

Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin

Had the kids silhouettes done

Watched Fantasmic that night and it was a perfect ending to our Disney adventures.

Halloween Day

2011-11-04T22:40:00.000-06:00

Jonah got to wear his dragon costume to preschool. His class did a little parade for the parents (& younger sibs) and then sang us three songs. It was adorable!

Nora, Jonah, & Vivian

The whole class

Brandon didn't have any appointments after 1:00pm so we all ate lunch together and took naps. After that we headed down to Hee Haw Farms:)

Shooting corn cobs out of air cannon/rifles

Hay Ride

Corn Maze

After Hee Haw we went to Papa and Grammy's house for dinner and saw Andy & Trey.

Then we went trick-or-treating with "cousin" Ian around the huge houses in the neighborhood.

Trick-or-Treating with Bobby and Ian (and Emily & Alan)

Sheik Papa, Cleopatra Grammy, and Emperor Cody

Watched an old horror movie with Alan & Linda and then stayed the night at their house so we could hit the half price Halloween sale the next day and run a couple errands while we were "in town."

Lovely trick-or-treat weather and then woke up to snow the next morning.

Great Halloween!

Disney - Day 2

2011-10-28T14:44:00.000-06:00

And this is without any pictures that Alan & Brandon took.

Tuesday we ate a tasty and leisurely breakfast at Tangerine Grill (try the huevos rancheros!). We reached Disney California Adventure around 9:40, the park didn't officially open for another 20 mins. but we got fastpasses for Soarin' Over California and went on the new Little Mermaid. Then I waited in a line for World of Color fastpasses while Alan, Linda, Brandon, Claire, and the kids rode a few rides with no lines:) Elora was too short for 3 rides in a row and started having a meltdown. I didn't want her to have to stand in line so we passed by the Toy Story Mania ride :( and passed the construction of the new Cars area.

We then went into Flick's Fun Fair in A Bug's Land and rode a ride before the rest of the gang caught up with us after their ride on the swings. I was ready for some fun by this point, so after doing the bumper cars Claire, Brandon, and I went on The Tower of Terror. Claire was obviously in a terror sort of anticipation but we all had a blast. Then we took the kids on the Monsters Inc. ride (which we loved!) and picked up JUMBO Turkey Legs while Alan and Linda rode Tower.

Jonah had so much fun in the splash areas that he was soaked for most the rest of the day.

Then we all went together to the Animation Studios into the Beast's Library, etc. Claire took a short art course while the rest of us did Turtle Talk with Crush, which was awesome, dude.

Next was Soarin', which everybody loved. Jonah got to ride twice but Elora wasn't tall enough yet.

We headed back over to Disneyland and rode Winnie the Pooh and went on The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion again. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time cause I wasn't busy being disappointed that it wasn't the original song and ride.

Look at these poor, cute, hot, flushed girls! It got up to like 95 degrees that day and broke records for Octobers in southern Cali.

Too hot to take anymore the gang headed back to the hotel to swim for a couple hours.

Claire and I braved the heat to ride Space Mountain. Then the afternoon shade hit and we ended up staying there just the two of us the rest of the evening.

We ate dinner, got tatoos, rode Toy Story Mania and It's A Small World, watched Captain EO (neither of us had ever seen it before) and were bummed that Thunder Mountain was closed.

Rode Splash Mtn. and Indiana Jones...

Watched the World of Colors show at DCA.

Went shopping

and finally headed to bed, totally exhausted.

Jonah tried sharing a bed with Papa Stan that night but couldn't sleep (kept waking with nightmares) because of the scary snoring;) He ended up in our bed, tossing & turning, which made for a rough night.

Disneyland Day 1

2011-10-25T08:29:00.024-06:00

My sister, Claire (almost 13), rode with the kids and I to Anaheim on Monday the 10th. We checked in at the beautiful Anabella hotel, and then I left them there while I picked up Brandon from the airport. My mom and dad arrived and fed the kids. Meanwhile I ran out of gas after picking up Brandon:( When we got back we picked up Claire and went to dinner with my friend Vanessa at Naples in Downtown Disney. Best pizza ever, very authentic.

The next morning the kids received a call from Mickey (Papa Alan does a great impersonation) inviting them to come find he and Minnie at the park. The nine of us walked over to the park together but the my family split shortly to go enjoy the adult rides while we went on the kiddie stuff.

"Tickets" in hand, ready to go in!

with Nana Colleen

The boys realizing this is their first trip to Disneyland together

1st ride - Dumbo the Flying Elephant

2nd - King Arthur's Carousel

3rd - The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Elora was ecstatic!

Awww!

Elora's scared face

Exhaustion kicked in after an hour wait in the line to meet princesses

After a 20 min. nap she got to meet Aurora, Snow White & Cinderella

Exploring the Pirate's Lair on the island

In the tikki, tikki, tikki, tikki, tikki room

Watching the parade

Elora waving at the princesses in the parade

AZ in Oct.

2011-10-24T20:23:00.000-06:00

I think I am going to set a record for most photos taken in one month this month. I took tons over the weekend and I'm nowhere near caught up here on the blog.
Spent Oct. 5-10th in AZ. Babysat my sister Robin's kids for four days while she was in Hawaii. Jonah and Elora were in cousin heaven.

Hey Mark, funny boots.

The backyard playhouse saw a lot of use

The young kids braved the cooled pool water

Henry and Paisley's Arizona blood didn't let them enjoy it for very long;)

Elora & Henry swinging while Miss P. patiently waits her turn

Charlotte & Elora in front, Hank & Joe in back

Bestest Buddies

The whole gang after church

Elora and Henry were good buddies too

Everybody eating smoothies and watching a show

Jonah and Tucker watching a movie together

PJ Princesses

Peak Color

2011-10-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

The aspens up at the cabin were at peak color two weeks ago before we left on our trip. A week before they were pretty much all green; it was crazy. I'd wished we'd brought coordinating outfits and taken a Christmas card picture cause it was truly gorgeous. Instead I just took tons of pictures of the kids in front of the golden leaves. Enjoy!

Viva Las Vegas

2011-10-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

The kids and I spent Tuesday evening and Wed. morning in Las Vegas. We had a blast.

Testing out the pool at the Stratosphere.

Checking out the tigers at MGM

Aquarium at Rainforest Cafe

Jonah adding his own jungle sounds when the rainstorm began in Rainforest Cafe

Bellagio fountain show, best 5 minutes of the trip!

The next morning at the Bellagio atrium - beautiful fall displays.

Cool talking tree

"Mom that tree is looking at me." - Elora

September

2011-09-26T20:39:00.000-06:00

Babysat Trey

The kids went backpacking with Dad, Papa, and Grammy while I worked & had class over Labor Day.

Brandon & Alan set up Al's 26 ft. teepee behind the cabin and we spent a night in it.

Farewell BBQ for my screenwriting class

Walking Jonah to his first day of preschool

They posed themselves for this one!

Trying costumes at The Disney Store. She tried on every pair of princess shoes in the store!

Having fun in a Halloween shop in the mall

Elora begins preschool

The Halloween decorations go up

Jonah tries a climbing wall in our friend's garage

Brandon builds a wigwam

Date night

Brandon makes the kids a swing

Brandon bakes me a birthday cake (he's a keeper isn't he?)

The kids take advantage of everything there is to do at The Homestead's 125th Anniversary festival this past Saturday. We had a blast!

Elora got a unicorn and Jonah a spider

Elora kisses a frog

The leaves start to change on the mountains

And that's not counting playdates, catching a frog, catching a snake, going on walks...

Don't You Just Love Fall?

2011-09-19T17:39:00.000-06:00

September and October are my favorite months of the year. September has warm days but the evenings are starting to cool off. Change is in the air. People start wanting to cook indoors and bake again.

October is cool and crisp and smells of dried leaves and pumpkins. Winter squash, apples, and soups are in season:) Not to mention quick breads and pumpkin desserts. Halloween decorations are up (mine actually come out around Labor Day). The leaves are changing. Sweater season (I wish I could wear a pair of jeans, a sweater, and boots everyday of the year. At least I can for all of Oct. and Nov. and again in spring.) Ah, I love it all!

Fall is also my favorite time to travel, especially to places with gorgeous foliage.

Reminiscing:

Oct. 2003 - my first trip to NYC. Gorgeous.

Oct. 2006 - Massachusetts. Beyond gorgeous.

Sept. 2007 - 2nd trip to San Francisco.

Sept. 2008 - Oklahoma, southern UT, & AZ (two gorgeous fall weddings)

Oct. 2009 - Colorado. Majestic.

Oct. 2010- Connecticut (& 3rd trip to NYC). Brilliant. And Oregon, which was also lovely.

Oct. 2011 - Anaheim, CA. Unimpressive foliage but it's gonna be SO much fun!

Evening Project

2011-09-13T20:57:00.000-06:00

I was reading a recent blog of my cousin-in-law and felt inspired to organize. Brandon took the door off our pantry several months ago as it can't open if either the fridge or the dishwasher are open (poor kitchen design). Having a large pantry is my favorite feature of this house, but it's still hard to keep tidy.

Before

After

The photos hardly do it justice. I stood and admired the finished project for several minutes. :)

More Classic Fun

2011-08-22T09:28:00.000-06:00

Friday we went to Classic again. This time we brought Bryson with us and we did The Jungle and the bounce houses. My kids wanted to do just the slide bounce houses and Bryson just wanted to go in the big open one where he could run and jump.

Classic FUN Center

2011-08-15T10:59:00.000-06:00

County Fair

2011-08-08T10:30:00.000-06:00

Thursday Brandon and I took the kids to the county fair. We had a ball.

Riding The Tornado

Jonah loved this slide, he rode it three times.

Crazy, sudden hail storm

Double rainbow all the way

Hiding out from the hail

Shopping

Ferris wheel

Cotton Candy

Checking out the livestock

Wednesday

2011-08-08T09:53:00.000-06:00

We've been busy.
Wednesday the kids and I met up with my good friend Kami and her four boys who were in town from southern California. We went to AeroSports (a trampoline place that was awesome) and then out to lunch.

Elora watching Kami bounce Noah

Jonah in the pit

Elora had just slid down the wall

Video won't upload, I'll try again later.

Elora's Guide to Cool Hiking

2011-07-24T22:20:00.000-06:00

Wear large sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.

Though unsafe, it's okay to hike with your hands in your pockets

Be sure to reapply your lipgloss

Drink plenty of water

If it's your turn to wear the Camelback and it's too long on you, just tuck the tube into the chest strap

Do not pose for pictures with your un-cool mom

Happy Trails!

Harry Potter Movies

2011-07-22T16:48:00.000-06:00

As I just watched the first seven Harry Potter movies in a fairly short span of time (less than 3 weeks). I thought I'd refresh your memory before you go see installment number eight (if you haven't already). I give a quick recap as well as a couple personal remarks on the film and acting.
I finished movie 7 last night and now I'm dying to see the movie but I'm home with a recovering little boy this weekend so it will have to wait a bit longer.

***SPOILER ALLERT***

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Year 1 at Hogwarts (age 11)
We are introduced to all the main characters and the wizarding world. Hagrid gives Dudley a pig's tail. Harry buys his wand in Diagon Alley and receives his owl as a gift. First year students arrive by boat to Hogwarts and the sorting hat places them in houses. Harry is anonymously gifted his father's invisibility cloak. Fluffy, the three-headed dog guards the sorcerer's stone. A troll is set loose in the castle. Professor Quirrel teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron, Hermione, and Harry defeat a wizard obstacle course to keep the sorcerer's stone from falling into the hands of Lord Voldemort.

The actors are SO young and such amateurs. Emma Watson gives a sincere performance as Hermione, though I always wish her teeth and hair were bigger like they are in the books. I'd forgotten how much I love Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) and how tender the relationship between Harry and Hagrid is in this film.

H.P. and the Chamber of Secrets
Year 2, age 12
Dobby the house elf visits Harry and attempts to keep him from returning to Hogwarts in various ways. The Weasley boys rescue Harry from the Dursley's in their flying car. Ron and Harry arrive at Hogwarts by way of the flying car, narrowly escaping death from the Whomping Willow. Hagrid receives a dragon egg but the baby dragon is sent off to Romania when Draco Malfoy reports it. The delightfully humorous Professor Lockhart teaches DADA. Ron and Harry miraculously escape death by spiders. Moaning Myrtle leads Ron, Harry and Lockhart to the entrance to the chamber of secrets after Hermione is petrified. Harry kills the basilisk. The handsome Tom Riddle is defeated before killing Ginny Weasley to rise as Voldemort.

The actors seem at least two years older than the previous film, which they probably were. Harry suddenly isn't a little boy anymore with his Adam's apple and deeper voice. Ron's voice is changing. Emma Watson's acting is stiff and forced.

H.P. and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Year 3, age 13
Harry accidentally uses magic on Uncle Vernon's sister and takes the night bus to get away. Students arrive to Hogwarts by carriage. The professors and ministry of magic believe that Sirius Black, Harry's godfather has escaped Azkaban Prison to kill Harry. Remus Lupin, a werewolf, teaches DADA. Hagrid becomes a teacher and introduces us to Buckbeak. The Marauders' Map comes into play. Hermoine storms out of Divination class. The dementors torment Harry. Peter Pettigrew is discovered. No appearance of Voldemort.

Best movie so far by a long shot. First H.P. movie directed by Alfonso Cuaron instead of Chris Columbus. The first to feature Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore after the death of Richard Harris. I love Gambon but didn't like his version of Dumbledore as well as I'd liked Harris', or perhaps it was just difficult to adjust to the change. Emma Thompson, Gary Oldman, and David Thewlis inject a much needed shot of professionalism and excitement to the cast. They give incredible performances, especially when compared to Emma Watson's pained and annoying portrayal of Hermione Granger. Danielle Radcliffe and Rupert Grint have a little too much confidence for 13 year-olds but have definitely improved as actors. The sexual tension between Ron and Hermione is sometimes cheesy and overdone and other times cute and realistic. The friendship between Harry and Hermione is beautiful and a bit too mature for their age but I believe it was in the books too, perhaps it was to reflect that their experiences in life have been more mature than others their age.

HP and the Goblet of Fire
Year 4, age 14
Harry and the Weasley Boys all sport much longer hair in this movie. The film begins with the Quiddich World Cup, which is awesome but ends with Death Eaters spoiling the fun. Hogwarts hosts the Triwizard Tournament. Harry Potter is put in as a competitor. Mad Eye/Alister Moody teaches DADA. Ron and Harry have a falling out. Rita Skeeter "reports" on the tournament events. Each contestant has to battle a dragon, breathe underwater, and face the maze. There is a ball. Harry is plagued by visions of Voldemort's doings. The pensieve comes into play as does verita serum. Sirius remains in hiding but keeps in touch with Harry. Voldemort regains a strong body, partly by means of Harry's blood. Harry sees someone die.

Gambon plays a far too angry a Dumbledore. New director = Mike Newell. First HP movie to get a PG-13 rating rather than just a PG.
Brandon claims the highlight of this film is the crowd-surfing midget.

HP and the Order of the Phoenix
Year 5, age 15
Harry and Dudley are attacked by dementors. Harry faces trial at the Ministry of Magic for use of underage magic. Luna Lovegood is introduced:) Thestrals pull the carriages from the train station to Hogwarts. Prof. Deloris Umbridge teaches DADA by order of the Ministry, then takes over as Grand Inquisitor of Hogwarts and finally as Headmistress. Hagrid finds his half-brother. Harry takes private lessons on occumency from Snape and discovers that James Potter was a bit of a bully. The Room of Requirement comes into play. Dumbledore's Army learns from Harry how to defend themselves. The D.A. fights death eaters in the department of mysteries. Harry looses someone else close to him. Friends take heart in the fact that they have something worth fighting for.

Emma Watson manages to not look like every word coming out of her mouth is going to make her cry, which is a huge improvement, actually her acting is VASTLY improved. Have I mentioned how Prof. McGonagall is possibly the best character in the film series? The HP series gets its fourth and final director, David Yates. And I have to admit, I really think Daniel Radcliffe is great as Potter. Tom Felton is still way overacting as Draco Malfoy after five films.

HP and the Half-Blood Prince
Year 6, age 16
The Weasley twins have opened a novelty shop. Harry suspects Draco has been initiated in as a Death Eater. Prof. Slughorn rejoins the Hogwart's staff as Potions professor. Snape takes up the post to teach DADA. The character's start using the word "snogging" a lot. Ron plays keeper in Quiddich. We learn that both of Hermoine's parents are dentists. The Sug Club. Ron has his first girlfriend. Hermione experiences heartbreak. Harry experiences heartache and romance. Harry discovers the existence of horcruxes, no easy task. One member of Hogwart's staff is killed by another.

PG rating again. Composer Nicholas Hooper leaves behind the musical themes of John Williams for a very different, very good original score (albeit not quite as magical). The three leads give great performances and Felton finally hits his stride. And another shout out to Prof. McGonagall, her character is incredibly well written and performed. Oh, and I love Alan Rickman (the actor who plays Snape), always have.

HP and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
Year 7, age 17
Our main characters do not return to school this year, in fact Hogwarts is barely shown in the film. The biggest excitement occurs at the very beginning when practically every member of The Order of the Phoenix risks their life to get Harry from his home to the enchantment protected Weasley home. Two important characters die in this transaction (I think it was three in the book). When The Order is attacked during a Weasley wedding, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are forced to go into hiding.
The Death Eaters take over the Ministry of Magic where Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to use some Polyjuice Potion to get in and retreive something very important. The rest of the movie is spent with our three leads alone together living in a tent, hunting for horcruxes and a way to destroy them.
My favorite part of the movie is the telling of the tale of the Deathly Hallows which occurs in animation. Love the scenes at the Malfoy home and those in Godric's Hollow and the scene where Harry tries to lighten things up by dancing. Love Ron. Love Luna. Pretty dark and depressing overall with an ending that leaves you wanting.

Disneyland Hotels

2011-07-18T11:32:00.005-06:00

As many of you know, I am planning a trip to Disneyland in October. I love planning vacations and I love Disneyland! I like to be very thorough in my research of a destination and for this reason I have had two or three people ask me to share the information I've found on Anaheim hotels.
First off, thanks in part to a recommendation from my SIL Lauren, I have chosen the Anabella Hotel for our stay. I have booked a three bedroom family suite for Brandon, the kids, my mom, my sister Claire and I to stay in as well as a nearby room for my FIL and step MIL.
I have been to Disneyland nine times, I believe. I have only stayed in hotels there three of those times. The first time I was seven or eight and have memories of red hallway carpets and the ice machine at the Mariott. I thought it was very fancy since I'd only ever stayed in motels before that:) When Brandon and I stayed in a motel in the area, it was completely unmemorable and I don't even remember the name of the place.

Dec. 2001

When we went six years ago we stayed in a very basic motel called The Alpine Inn. It had a grungy pool, which we actually used, and I don't remember being in the rooms at all except to sleep. The location was great and the price was right, but I wouldn't stay there again.
All the research I did for this trip came from two books and the internet. The books are The Unofficial Guide Disneyland 2011. It has all the information you need and more. The authors are overplanners and total geeks (they encourage matching t-shirts and fanny packs). I loved it! The other book is Disneyland & Southern California with Kids 10th Edition, which wasn't nearly as useful but still had some new information and good stuff.

Here's the breakdown on what seem to be the best hotels in the area (I wish I knew how to set up a chart) for families:
Townplace Suites by Marriott Anaheim- room rating 88/100, pool, $$, best deals (value for what you get),
Sheraton Anaheim Hotel - room rating 87, $$$-, best deals, pool
Hilton Suites Anaheim-Orange - 86 room rating, $$$-, best deals, pool

Homewood Suites by Hilton - room rating 85, $$$-, best deals, pool

Hyatt Regency Orange County - rooms 85, $$+, best deals, pool

Sheraton Park Hotel - 17 min. walk, room rating 85, $$$-, pool rating = 7/10 (best pool rating on my list), best deals
DoubleTree Hotel Anaheim-Orange County - rooms 84, $$$-, best deals, pool
The Anabella - room rating 83, 14 min. walk (also an ART stop), pool 6, $$$-, and listed under "top 30 best deals" in Unofficial guide. Two heated pools (one for adults only) and spa. Rooms have refrigerators and coffee makers and some have microwaves. Can take the monorail into Disneyland from the DT Disney station. You also have access to walk thru the Disneyland Grande Hotel on your way to the park.

Desert Palm Hotel & Suites - rooms rated 83, 13 min. walk (one block from Disneyland), heated pool and spa, pool rated a 2/10, $$$-, micros and fridges in rooms, free continental breakfast.

Staybridge Suites Anaheim Resort Area - rooms 82, pool, cost $$$-, best deals, recommended by CA resident friend of mine

Portofino Inn & Suites - room rating 82, 16 min. walk, pool 7, $$$+, kids eat free at adjacent restaurant, shuttle service available for a fee, free parking, heated pool and spa, video arcade, fridges & micros in every room. Great kids' suites.

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Anaheim - room rating 82, $$+, best deals, pool

Greenwood Suites - room rating 82, $$+, best deals, no pool

Peacock Suites - room rating = 81, $$+, best deals, pool

Ramada Plaza Hotel - Anaheim resort - room rating = 81, 14 min. walk, pool 2, best deals
Best Western Stovall's Inn - room rating 80, $$+, best deals, pool
Holiday Inn - Anaheim Resort - room rating 80, $$+, best deals, pool
(Anaheim) Desert Inn (&) Suites - room rating 79, 7 min. walk, pool rating of 1, $$, listed under best deals. Across the street from the maingate, heated pool and spa; microwaves, fridges, free continental breakfast
Hilton Garden Inn - 79 room rating, $$, best deals, pool
Candy Cane Inn - room rating 78, 10 min. walk, pool 4, $$+, listed under best deals, highly recommended by a friend of mine with season passes to Disneyland. Garden view rooms available, one block from maingate, shuttle available, heated pool, spa, childrens' wading pool, micros and fridges in some rooms, free continental breakfast

Howard Johnson Hotel - room rating 75, 11 min. walk, pool 6, $$$. Heated pool, kids' pool area, fridges in all rooms

Ramada Maingate - room rating 67, 8 mins. walk, pool 8, $$, some kitchenettes available, heated pool and spa, fridges available for a fee, free continental breakfast
Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites - room rating 65, 11 min. walk, pool 6, $$-

What I was looking for in a hotel for this trip was something with more than one room (a suite), walking distance to the resort (most area hotels offer shuttle service or are on the ART route, but you may not be able to come and go at the exact time you'd like), at least three and a half stars from Unofficial, a room rating of at least 75, a decent pool, and affordability.
The downsides of the hotel I chose are no free continental breakfast, no free wifi, and parking isn't free either.

The three Disneyland hotels are supposed to be fantastic, but they are way out of my price range.

The only hotels with pool ratings available were those within walking distance of the resort.

ART = Anaheim Resort Transit system (aka: buses)

All of this information is true to the best of my knowledge but be sure to check with the hotel directly for current information.

I am looking forward to reading lots of comments about your experiences with Disneyland area hotels:)

If this information has helped you and saved you time (it has) and saved you money ($35 in guidebooks at least). I guarantee it will make for a more enjoyable stay in Anaheim. Please contribute a dollar or so towards my future research. Thanks!

Travel Buddies

2011-07-16T08:48:00.002-06:00

Catching Up

2011-06-30T20:52:00.000-06:00

I've been really busy the past two weeks. At least it feels that way to me. Here's the recap:
-Last Monday I made 22 phone calls to organize a last minute baby shower for my BFF Jen while her sister is in town this weekend.
-Last Tuesday I took the kids to the Natural History Museum on BYU's campus. I heard someone call it the "dead zoo" as it is pretty much just tons of stuffed animals.

We went to the creamery for fruit and ice-cream and had lunch at University Mall's foodcourt.

We did a little shopping and a return and did the same at Target before heading home awfully tired.
I worked in the evening. It was a big party, hopefully I made big money.

-Last Wednesday evening was my first screenwriting class. Taught by Richard Dutcher. He is a great storyteller and teacher. I will have my first screenplay finished and up for sale in nine weeks.
-Last Thursday was bookclub at my place (which means my house had to be fairly clean and refreshments provided.
-Last Friday shopped for decorations, party favors, drinks, and a gift before Jen's baby shower. I got to the restaurant early and decorated the banquet room I had reserved. I ordered appetizers for everyone once most of the guests had arrived. It was very low-key, much like the mother-to-be. No games, no measuring her belly, just good food and company and gifts.

After the shower Sara Jane and I rented a movie and had a sleepover since she was in town from Cedar City.
-Saturday night I worked a big event. It was incredibly hectic. After work I went dancing with two of my co-workers who are both about 10 years younger than me. Those girls were really fun to dance with. I don't remember when I last went dancing!
-Sunday was stake conference at church. Then a lovely lazy day.
-Monday I took the kids and Jonah's friend Vivian to the rec center and then home where I made mini-meatloaf muffins. That night I worked and made good money for a Monday.
Tuesday we went to a new park. Wasatch State Park in Midway. It was really great. We fed ducks and saw nests of baby swallows and visited the visitors' center and went for a gorgeous drive.

-Wednesday we went to the Park City farmers' market and ate lunch and had treats and rode the gondola at The Canyons.

Last night was my second scriptwriting class and I turned in the first 17 pages of my script; a very rough draft but really exciting.
-Today we woke up late, lulled by the dark and thunderous rainstorm that continued on from last night. We had a play-date with the Ferg. family and spent most of the rest of the day playing with neighbors. I did manage to tidy up the kitchen and sweep and mop the filthy floors.
Tomorrow I leave for a four-day weekend to AZ. Sarah's tumors have shrunk from the chemo but her short-term memory is pretty much non-existent. Thank you for your prayers on her behalf.

Sibling Dopplegangers?

2011-06-24T09:20:00.002-06:00

Does the kid playing this scientist totally remind you of Ted?

Or does this guy remind you of a young Ted?

When Justin Timberlake was younger he totally reminded me of Ted.

Here's Ted:

He's NOT Gonna Do That Thing

2011-06-23T21:18:00.000-06:00

Yet another reason I love Justin Timberlake:

Happy Birthday, Sister!

2011-06-22T07:51:00.000-06:00

Just another reason I love Robin:

Last Saturday at Powell

2011-06-06T12:15:00.000-06:00

Elora being possessive of her boys. She threw a fit if Papa Alan didn't sit by her at every meal.

Kathy and her kids at breakfast

Note the head-grab Elora is doing on her daddy as he swims her to shore

Me boat-surfing

Haley, Jason, & Jonah building sand castles

Chickens

2011-06-06T08:29:00.000-06:00

I have to say, I feel like quite a trendsetter. Since we got our chickens last Easter, three of our friends here in town have gotten their own backyard flocks. I'm not really sure if we had any influence in their decisions, but I like to think so:)
Well, our Biancas (the white leghorns) have been behaving badly. They attack whoever feeds them if they won't let them out of their cage. Yesterday Brandon had had enough.

Here he is after killing and plucking her watching an online tutorial on how to butcher your own chicken

Apparently the kids watched him gut her and were only squeamish about the removing of the heart.

I don't think our tan little Jonah has ever eaten a meal with such relish.

I have committed myself to eating more eggs so we don't loose another chicken. I love giving eggs away to friends and neighbors but Brandon thinks that is a waste. Elora is already talking about killing and eating another of our chickens but I'm hoping that won't happen.

Mark's Wedding - finally

2011-05-31T09:28:00.000-06:00

The reason I was in Arizona a couple weeks ago was to go to my little brother, Mark's, wedding. I haven't even posted any pictures from the event yet. Here they are:

Coming out of the Mesa, AZ LDS temple

B. family boys

little boys and Elora

Claire & Brandon

Probably my favorite picture of the day

Sarah with her two oldest boys

and her youngest

Moqui and Charlotte, age 5 1/2

My brother Spencer and his BFF/nephew Gabe

Sampling desserts with Kaleb

My Favorite Photos from Lake Powell (Thurs & Fri)

2011-05-30T14:03:00.002-06:00

Wednesday afternoon we drove down to Lake Powell. It was a very different trip from our usual Powell adventures; new marina, no houseboat, and almost no water sports. We camped on the Bullfrog side of the lake (further north from Wahweap, where we usually put in). Our group was five adults and four children on Alan's boat and two adults and two children on our friends' boat (each group also had a yellow lab along). We spend our days mostly on the boats cruising around, exploring new canyons, with the occasional stop at a beach. I did go boat surfing once on Saturday and we headed home on Sunday morning (a huge wind storm was raging all Saturday night and still going strong on Sun.). We had a really nice, sunny time.

Sunbathing Beauty

Jonah wearing Bryson's sunglasses over his goggles

Me, Kathy, and Bailee

Natural stone arch

Brandon and Jason up on the cliff at the ruins with Alan's boat down below

I'm at the top right area of this photo (click to enlarge). We hiked up to these Anasazi ruins.

Elora's Birthday Weekend

2011-05-23T13:56:00.000-06:00

Friday afternoon the kids and I returned from Arizona. Later that afternoon Elora had her dance recital dress rehearsal. It was in Park City, so while we were there I took the kids to check out my work, meet a bunch of my co-workers and try the mac n' cheese there.
Saturday morning I got to sleep in. It felt like the first time in a LONG time. I am really wiped out with all the traveling and the emotional stress. When I get up I run to the grocery store for soccer team treats and cake mix. Jonah's last soccer game is cute and he is tired out afterwards having had to play the entire game since two of his teammates were missing and there was nobody to trade off with.

While Elora takes a very short nap, I bake her a strawberry birthday cake.
Aunt Andy and Uncle Coach meet us in Park City for Elora's dance recital. It is adorable!

After the dance, we all head to a park to play, open presents, and eat cake & ice cream.

Sunday I go to church but can't pry the kids away from their dad to join me. They missed their daddy while we were in AZ! The kids and I take long naps in the afternoon and then play and talk with neighbors in the sunshine while Brandon goes with his dad and Linda to give the wakeboarding boat a trial run before the boating season begins. Then we have dinner and celebrate Elora's birthday some more.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-29T17:34:00.000-06:00

After Jonah got home from joyschool on Friday, we had our traditional Good Friday tea with delicious, homemade hot cross buns:) The kids LOVED doing fancy tea service. Who knew that pouring their own milk into their tea would be such a hit?!

That afternoon we went to the Discovery museum with auntie Jen, "uncle" Steve, and Railey.

After that we had dinner at Happy Sumo. Elora liked the sushi rolls and Jonah did not. Jonah immediately called out an order for "hotstickers" from the server (my friend Jenny) when she came up and asked what we wanted.

SATURDAY

We began our morning watching Jonah play a soccer game in the cold.

Grammy and Papa came up to watch too and then came to our house for brunch and yard work and hanging out.

Elora collecting earthworms while I tilled our garden plot.

Elora threw up in the night and so missed out on church on SUNDAY but she managed to keep down a Peep from her basket and a little breakfast.

Jonah and I went to church and loved the all-music Sacrament meeting.

After church was over we all went down to Papa and Grammy's house.

Elora still wasn't feeling well.

She perked up a little for the Easter egg hunt with cousins though.

Bryson & Jonah

Coach & Trey

Papa, Bailee, Linda, and Kathy

Elora was fine on Monday and Tuesday but has been sick since Wednesday. Poor little thing! I hate to see her loose ANY weight. Fortunately her stomach bug hasn't affected her personality. She and Jonah have been pretty much non-stop laughs this week. Yesterday Brandon overheard her saying, "...but I would fight back cause I'm a bad, bad, bad pwincess."

More From Last Weekend

2011-04-23T17:22:00.000-06:00

We also did a bit of hiking at Capitol Reef National Park last weekend. The first hike we came upon after entering the park was called Chimney Rock, for obvious reasons. We got out of the car just planning to ramble around for awhile. We ended up doing a quarter mile hike (there and back) that was quite steep but had great views. When we got back to the car I looked it up in my guide book and it was listed as "strenuous". The kids were champs and we only had to hold Elora for a little while. I, on the other hand, has slightly sore legs for three days afterwards.

We called these the "alien plants"

Our Weekend

2011-04-20T12:06:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning we took a little three and a half hour drive down to visit my Grandpa Bob and his wife Sharlene. We hadn't been there in two and a half years! It was nice to visit.

We timed the visit to coincide with Grandpa's annual lamb-mothering. Grandpa lives in a really small town and every spring he takes care of all the baby lambs who don't have mother's or whose mothers can't nurse them for some reason. When we got down there he was down to six lambs staying at his place. They got bottle-feedings three times a day. We were all smitten.

Heading out to the lamb's pen

At the pen

In the pen

Feeding the babies

And yes, those are pepsi bottles we are feeding them out of

Just hangin' with their great-Grandpa:)

Real Life Crush

2011-04-13T11:16:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to the sexiest man alive!

I love your gorgeous smile, I love your wavy hair, I love your beautiful eyes.

I love you more than is reasonable.

Thank you for your sense of humor, your hard work, and for being an incredible daddy.

Celebrity Crushes - 4th Edition

2011-04-13T09:05:00.001-06:00

It's time for another edition of Celebrity Crushes. As you know, these are highly influenced by the shows I'm currently following and often the character the actor plays in the show. My biggest weakness is for a great smile and my second is for great hair (usually curly or wavy).

Here's something you won't usually see on my crush list, a blond:

Simon Baker

(the full glory of his smile is not captured here, nor is his knowing smirk)

I know he has a weird nose and saggy eyes but the charm and the smile...

I love his character on The Mentalist

Eric Bana, Australian #2

Weird small mouth but still oh so sexy

Cory Monteith

Never had a crush on him while watching Glee until after I had a dream about making out with him

Will Estes

He plays JJ Pryor on American Dreams and he makes me drool

Mark Salling

Hottest on this whole list

Darren Criss

Matthew Morrison

So pretty much I have a crush on the whole cast of Glee

David Boreanaz

He is handsome, but I have a HUGE crush on his character Seely Booth from Bones

And finally, my girl-crush

Cat Deeley

I love her personality, I love that she is gorgeous and can pull off all sorts of outrageous dresses, hairstyles, and makeup, I love that she has small boobs

I look forward each week of So You Think You Can Dance to see what her stylists will do with her

Date Night Reviews

2011-04-12T10:27:00.001-06:00

Saturday Brandon and I went and saw Hanna in the theater. I had never seen a preview for it but it had decent reviews from the critics so I was in. It was very artistic, creative, weird, and well-made. Cate Blanchett was, as usual, amazing. Saoirse (Irish, I believe) Ronan, the main character, was in.cred.i.ble. Eric Bana was awesome. It was gripping and violent. First impression was mostly positive but about two hours later when the euphoria had worn off some we realized that the plot was weak and ridiculous. Still enjoyed it though. Can't wait to see something else by this director (Joe Wright) and starring Ronan.

After our early movie we went to dinner at Hapa Grill in Park City (after a little shopping at Whole Foods). I had never been there before but my friend Bonnie said they had good sushi. I was a little skeptical of a place with sushi and burgers on the same menu but it was delicious. I don't think I'm all that discriminating in my tastes for sushi cause I've never really been disappointed in a sushi place. I even like California Rolls from Target! Anyway, we got miso soup (which was good but sadly lacked seaweed), three sushi rolls (I prefer rolls over sashimi), and the tacos (?!) that were on the appetizer menu. Rolls were all delish, especially the dragon roll and the tacos were very good but way overpriced for two tacos that lacked a second corn tortilla to hold them together or give you the option of making them into four. They had a weird/delicious kimchi salsa that made them seem to go with Asian food (even though it sounds disgusting). Saw a couple from church at both the movie and the restaurant, which was weird and fun.

Almost talked Brandon into seeing a second movie after dinner but instead we decided to go home. It was 8:45 when we got there and the kids were still awake in their rooms, which was a huge disappointment. Also, there was sticky popsicle all over the floors which I had to mop up. I wish I'd noticed it before I took the babysitter home so I could say something to her about it!

Brandon always says what a lame date going to a movie is, but we always have a blast. I know you can't talk much during a movie, but it certainly gives you something new to talk about afterwards. Part of the fun is that we only go to the theater like three times a year so it's a big treat for us and we always get popcorn and a cherry Pepsi and candy- we go all out:) Anyway, very satisfying date, even though it involved me leaving my purse at the restaurant and having to go back for it. And we always run some sort of errand while on a date too (this time it was filling the car up with gas).

Happy dating!

Just Some Random Stuff I'm Up To

2011-04-11T10:44:00.000-06:00

I finally saw Disney's animated movie Tangled on Friday. It was fantastic (as are most of Disney's animated films). The writing was really excellent, I'm not saying it wasn't cliche or predictable, but they managed to make a frying pan almost an actual character and that is talent.

Have you ever read Uncle Orson Reviews Everything? I haven't in a long while, but I decided to drop by the Hatrack River website to read the most recent one. Good stuff.
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2011-03-24.shtml
I certainly don't agree with everything he says, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless, especially his tirade about the unnecessary use of the F-word in films.

I read The Hunger Games on our vacation to Florida. Can't wait to read the next in the trilogy and I'm excited for the movie-version too! Brandon read Hunger Games too. I was surprised, we never read the same books close together:) It's fun having something frivolous to discuss.
I finished reading Cold Mountain this morning at like 1am. Need to start Prodigal Summer for book club ASAP. I hope this reading trend continues. Maybe I'll finish all the books I've started over the past year and haven't completed while I'm on a roll. I started The Picture of Dorian Gray last week and I've got so many books I want to read.

We haven't had tv for months so I'm a little bit sad about missing out on American Idol, Glee, etc. right now, but not really. I know I kind find them online when and if I ever really want to. I am almost finished with Season 3 of Bones on Netflix. I started watching Season 1 of American Dreams on dvd and am loving that too. I am currently midway thru The Truman Show (I've seen it before but I'm watching it again since we visited the town it was filmed in in FL) and It's Kind of a Funny Story (which already made me cry a little). I watched Star Trek for a 2nd time while in FL (bought it for myself for Christmas), I still give it a five-star rating. Started watching Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief in FL but despite an interesting storyline and great special effects, the writing was painfully bad and I couldn't sit thru the whole thing.

American Dreams cast

After a nearly two-month hiatus from serving (I was essentially demoted to busser cause I didn't have enough serving experience for such a high-end restaurant), I am back on the floor at the restaurant. I'm only working two days a week though.

Well, that's about everything going on with me right now. Boring post but you'll get over it.

Florida Pictures

2011-04-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

I already posted all of these and more on Facebook, but here are the highlights for the rest of you:

The M Family. Brandon's stepdad Michael, sis Tori, Mom Lisa, and sis Viv.

Chilin' by the pool on a cool day.

Hot tub time!

Brandon and the kids swimming in our awesome pool.

Tori & Brandon doing what Jonah called a "blast" into the pool.

Elora enjoying a "lolly" while lounging on top of "Papa Mike". Note the cool pirate tattoo on her thigh.

Tori and the beer sampler at McGuire's Irish Pub, where we enjoyed lunch one day.

Jonah (and Brandon) enjoying their $.18 bean soup in front of one of the many money-covered walls (the ceiling was also hung with hundreds of real dollar bills).

Elora tipping back a shot of homemade root beer.

Elora running to her daddy:)

Destin, FL - best sand in the world!

Feeding 'Gators

Walking the pier at the Village of Baytown Wharf

Treehouse in Baytown (loved the Spanish Moss hanging all over in the trees!)

Oysters!

Exploring Seaside, FL

Preview

2011-04-03T22:43:00.000-06:00

Florida

2011-03-31T11:08:00.000-06:00

Monday night we met up with Brandon's mom and her family in Destin, FL. I love the humidity and warm weather here! Tuesday was overcast but warmed up enough to go to the pool. Jonah and Brandon were in heaven. The pool is pretty awesome with waterfalls on an island in the middle and all around, a zero-entry side, and a hot tub, we all managed to have a great time, get some sun, and play in the water a bit.

It poured rain that night and was still going strong on Wednesday morning. We decided to leave the house (a fabulous 4-bdrm rental in an adorable gated community a nice walk from the beach) and go to lunch and a museum. My cousin Nicole recommended we eat at McGuinnes' Irish Pub since the food is great. Not only was the food fantastic, the building is enormous, the decor, ambiance, gift shop, and service were fun. While we ate the skies cleared up so we finally got to go to the beach:)

This morning was cloudy and cool. I grabbed a few groceries (third trip for food already!) and went to a bookstore (came up empty-handed) when the others finally got up to keep an eye on the kids who didn't want to come with me even though they'd been up for over two hours.

It might be sunny enough now to head to the pool. Lots of pictures to come when I get home.

Bones

2011-03-28T00:06:00.000-06:00

I've made it up to mid-season 3 of Bones on my Netflix: Watch Instantly feature. I love it SO much (both the show and Netflix)! The dynamic between the two main characters, FBI Agent Booth and his partner, forensic anthropologist Dr. Brennan (whom Booth affectionately calls "Bones"), reminds me so much of the partnership chemistry in X-Files. Yes, it's another solving murders tv show (I also love Perry Mason, CSI Miami, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Mentalist, Numb3rs, and Crossing Jordan) but it certainly puts a unique spin on things though in a similar vein to CSI.

If "Dr. Brennan" reminds you of someone but you can't figure out who, like she did with me, maybe this will help:

Zoey and Emily Deschanel, sexiest sisters in Hollywood:)

Dancing to "The Good Night Song"

2011-03-20T20:39:00.000-06:00

More Funny Stuff My Kids Say & Do

2011-03-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

The last two weeks we've been having our annual Utah "Spring Tease" right now. The weather gets warm and sunny and nearly all of the snow in the yard melts. I started rooting around in our front garden spot and dreaming of summer and home-grown produce. I found some earthworms and Elora needed one to hold. After a couple minutes I said to her, "Do you want to give that worm to the chickens?"

She said, "No, I love he." And a moment later she gave him a little kiss.

Elora was singing I am a Child of God to herself and I joined in, "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me".

"Not you, ME," she corrected me.

Jonah likes running "super hero fast" lately. He also has decided he loves the color orange for some reason. Today he started doing fighting poses complete with aggressive facial expressions and claimed he was doing Karate. He also told me for Elora's birthday we should get one of those things that you hit with a long stick and candy comes out, so it looks like we'll be doing a piñata for her birthday:)

Do These Make Me Look Smarter?

2011-03-17T09:51:00.000-06:00

wearing Grammy Linda's glasses

I just found a bunch of 'draft' posts that I never published. This one was from 11/15/08.

Nonstop Laughs

2011-03-17T09:42:00.000-06:00

Elora: Mom, watch this, I run faster than Buzz Lightyear.

Jonah: Mom, I'm a cheetah, I run really fast.

*Jonah resting a moment later*

Me: Joe, are you already tired out?

Jonah: Yeah, cheetas run for 40 seconds and then rest.

Elora: I'm a tiger. Rawwrrrr!

Jonah: I'm a cheetah. My name is Brandon cause I'm a dad cheetah. *pets invisible baby cheetahs and speaks to them* Babies, I'm gonna go take care of that tiger. I'll be right back.

Jonah: Mom, there's a sun on this box (Raisin Bran).

Me: That's because the sun turns grapes into raisins.

Jonah: Raisins come from the sun?.... And ham comes from pigs!

Me: You're a smart guy. Raisins actually come from grapes, but the sun can turn them into raisins.

Jonah: Raisins come from grapes? I didn't know that!

I picked out her shirt and pants but she picked out and put on the lipstick, headband, shoes, and socks herself.

Random Recents

2011-03-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

The kids driving their "rockets"

Awhile back Elora decided that whenever she is pretending to be a dog, she has to wear a pair of socks on her hands and her feet (and often nothing else) and walks mostly on all-fours. In this particular instance, Jonah joined in on her game.

Rachel and Elora at Joyschool learning about the presidents for Presidents' Day. Notice how these little girl's dress themselves in the middle of winter in Utah.

Why is Elora's hair so cute in a simple ponytail?

"Mom I saw you in that store getting salsa. I waited in the car and I was being very patient." - Jonah

Jonah calls the Cheshire Cat the "Treasure Cat."

Karen: Did you get that cat postcard I sent you?
Jonah: Yes, it was lovely.

"Ballerina Girl"

2011-03-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Elora started "Creative Movement" dance class for three and four-year-olds in February. As you can see, she is the tiniest one in the class. She is also the cutest and the best, in my totally biased opinion. She LOVES being a ballerina. She also loves watching older girls in their dance classes. Come over sometime, she will probably already be wearing her ballet shoes and she isn't shy about showing off her dance moves. Also, her leotards are now her second favorite thing to wear (after her fancy, purple dress that she got from Santa Claus and spends most of each day wearing).

Jonah is Four

2011-03-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Jonah had a party with a few friends up at the cabin. We all had a really good time.

Orange cake with a star on it, as requested.

The orange chiffon cake with whipped cream frosting was a hit, but it wasn't nearly orange-y enough for me to make it again.

Jonah's Grandpa "Owl-an" rented skiis and took him skiing on the hill behind the cabin for his birthday. Nana Lisa and family got him Hex Bugs and a "habitat" as well as a Leapfrog learning to write thing that is really cool. Lots of awesome presents and a great weekend overall (even if it was over a month ago).

Dessert Addiction

2011-03-03T13:23:00.002-07:00

As most of you know, I love desserts. I'm not even that particular about what type of sweets I eat, but after every meal, I like to have a little something sweet. Ice cream was my dessert of choice for a long, long time, but I've been favoring homemade cookies for the past year or so.
Anyway, my FIL, Alan, shares my love of desserts and because it was his birthday a couple weeks ago, I went scouring the ice-cream aisle to find something delicious for us and I picked up a few pints. These discoveries were so incredibly delectable, that I decided I need to share them with you.

If you want to know if we have similar tastes, my old B&J favorites are Mint Chocolate Cookie, Cherry Garcia, and Phish Food. I also love anything Breyers, especially their Brownie Mud Pie, Oreo Cookies and Cream, and Natural Vanilla. I don't live near a Baskin Robbins, but my favorite flavor since childhood is their Daiquiri Ice.

Future Stylist?

2011-03-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

Perspective

2011-02-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder why stay-at-home moms seem to have a short temper?

In my case sometimes it is because I got home from work at 1:00am and then woke up to a child crying from growing pains at 3am and then woke up at 5am because the other kid had wet his bed and I had to change the sheets. At 5:45 am the other child wakes up with a nightmare and needs warm milk or snuggling for 15 mins. to fall back asleep. At 7:00 the kids are up for the day and I'm feeling haggard and testy. (I feel even more snappy if I try to go to bed at 10:30 pm that night and my husband says, "Are you really going to bed this early?!" or I have to work till after midnight again that evening).

Sometimes it is because you've told the kids to be nice to the cat more times than you can count and yet I hear the cat cry or hiss when a child pulls his tail or lays down on him.

Sometimes it is because I have a conversation with my husband that goes like this:
Me: Honey, will you please load this plate in the dishwasher instead of placing it over the disposal so I can't run my food down the sink?!
Him: Why don't you just do it? It would only take you a few seconds.
Me: Why don't you just clean up all the stupid messes I make?! It would also only take you a couple seconds to do!
Him: I'm really sick of you complaining about this same thing for the last 13 years! Why don't you just quit complaining all the time?!
Me: Believe me, no one is more sick of this conversation than me.

Sometimes I get grumpy because Jonah lays on the floor and cries and tells me, "I can't walk!!" when he doesn't feel like doing something. Or because some days he says "no" to absolutely everything I say to him.

Sometimes it's because I have a sinus infection and I try to take a nap, only to be awoken by Jonah every 10 minutes until I finally get 15 solid minutes when I am awoken by Elora who has taken her hour and a half nap when all I've managed are three five minute naps and one 15 minute nap and I'm still tired and sick.

Sometimes I feel like I've accomplished next to nothing in a day but the fact is that dressing myself and two other small people and feeding us three meals a day, keeping the kitchen relatively tidy, sweeping the floor, and doing one load of laundry is a lot more taxing than it sounds like. The amount of crying and whining and "I don't love you"s I listen to in the course of one day is sometimes takes quit a toll on me.

Fortunately I have two healthy, beautiful, mostly sweet children. The joys far outweigh the frustrations, but there are days...

Good stories from today:

Me: I love this song (the Temptations My Girl).
Jonah: Me too, it's a happy song.

We went to the Rec Center today to play and ride bikes for 45 minutes. We all really enjoyed it. Elora can almost dribble and can certainly kick. I know everyone thinks their kids are advanced, but seriously, that girl can talk as well as some 8 year olds AND has great fine motor skills (can draw cute little people) and large motor skills (bike riding, kicking a ball).

Jonah was having SO much fun with the cd player today. He put in Black-Eyed Peas, Christmas songs, and then White Zombie (which he called an "angry song" but he seemed to really enjoy for a few minutes).

After nearly anything I say to Elora today, she begins her response with "But..."

Conversations Today

2011-02-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Jonah: I wanna throw away this bag.

Brandon: Why? You're going to want to put your rocks back in there when you're done playing with them.

Jonah: I'm never gonna be done playing with them. I'm going to play with them forever!
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Jonah to me: Hey Sweetheart! I like to call you my sweetheart.
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Jonah to his dad, Brandon, while Jonah had friends over at the house: Hey Brandie!
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Jonah to Elora: Thanks, Sister!

The Rest of Sundance

2011-02-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

I know it's been two weeks since Sundance ended so this is kind of anti-climatic. I saw a lot of celebs, mostly while I was working so I couldn't take any pictures. I showed Zoey Deschanel and Demi Moore to the ladies' room on the same evening, I served Katie Holmes and Ray Liotta and a child star whose name I never did figure out. I saw Patrick Wilson (told him I loved him in Watchmen), Greg Kinnear, Tobey McGuire, Dennis Haysberg, and many others who I recognized but didn't know their names.

The only film I went and saw was My Idiot Brother with my SIL Andy. It had an all-star cast. The movie was fun but pretty mainstream and average, especially for a Sundance film.

Paul Rudd, ___, ___, ___, Hugh Dancy, Rashida Jones, Emily Mortimer, Zoey Deschanel, and Elizabeth Banks.

I'm a fan of all those listed but only ONE came over to the handful of fans waiting out back to meet them.

Thank you to Paul Rudd, who at least made a half-ass attempt to please his fans. I saw him another time when he also would not stop for a photo with me.

Here's an ugly picture of me with Anton Yelchin (aka: Chekov from the new Star Trek) who I ran into three times over the course of the week.

Took this random picture of Ray Liotta for some unknown reason.

The handsome and gracious Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl.

The awesome Kevin Spacey (who spent the most time with fans)!

My amazing date Arianna and I frozen to the bone!

(I had three hours of sleep the night before this and am in my work clothes after working a nine-hour shift at my day job.)

I'd seen the incredibly handsome Simon Baker the night before when serving him cookies at a cocktail party. I was totally starstruck and gasped aloud. He didn't hear me over the loud music so I just mouthed, "I'm a huge fan", which I doubt he understood. I'm a big fan of the tv show he stars in, The Mentalist (and also liked him in The Devil Wears Prada). When I saw him again, I was determined to get a photo with him (even if it isn't a very good one). When he headed for his car saying he was very thirsty and needed a drink, Ari and I both shouted out to him and I got his attention asking if he was heading back to where I'd seen him the night before. He said, "I can't tell you that!" so I told him he could appease me by taking a photo with me:)

Obsessed

2011-02-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

This little girl is obsessed with lipstick. Obsessed. I think it occupies her mind most of the day. Lipstick, lipgloss, gum, and my phone.

My Best Friend's Wedding

2011-02-07T21:30:00.002-07:00

My best friend, Jen, got married yesterday in San Diego.

Happy Birthday, Momzie!

2011-02-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my mom with each of my kids, she is a great Nana. Her birthday was yesterday. Isn't she beautiful?

Zachary Quinto!

2011-02-01T21:13:00.003-07:00

I had one goal for Sundance this year, to get a photo with Zachary Quinto. Success!

It wasn't easy or warm, but I did it. I also met Jonathan Groff (pictured below with Lea Michele) in the process:)

P.S. - I felt, for several reasons, I needed to delete my previous post about Zach and our meeting. I have never had strangers comment on my blog before. I often forget that whatever I write on here is really out there for anyone to read because I essentially write this blog solely for my sisters who live out-of-state from me. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I'd love to tell every detail of my meeting with Zach as it was interesting on a number of levels, but I feel I can only do that if my blog were private. Perhaps I can tell you more of my meetings with celebs during Sundance on my next Sundance blog (later this week) without things getting all political or anything as I am entitled to my own opinions and allowed to share them. But part of what I shared earlier may have been inconsiderate to publish.

North and South Soundtrack - 11 Denial

2011-01-31T23:54:00.000-07:00

This music haunts me in a beautiful way.

Current Favorite Products

2011-01-22T07:10:00.002-07:00

This seems to be working well on my combination/normal (often dehydrated with shiny T-zone and sometimes dry cheeks) and acne-prone skin. Also the smell (tea tree/melaluca oil) reminds me of my grandparents basement. Brims, why is that?

I wear Infinite Petal and love it.

Smells like my childhood Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

Accidental Sundancing

2011-01-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

You might know him as The UPS Guy from the Legally Blonde movies or you may have seen in in any number of tv shows including his reoccurring role as the dad on Kyle XY. I know him as Bruce Thomas.

Because of lack of parking during Sundance, lots of people ride the free buses and shuttles around town in Park City. I was riding one to work when this incredibly attractive man got on, I recognized him immediately as an actor though I didn't know where I'd seen him right away. We chatted on the bus for about 10 minutes, he was very nice and pretty funny.

Favorite Christmas Gifts

2011-01-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

Elora's pretty dress from Santa Claus (aka: Brandon) was the first thing she noticed in a room full of gifts. She put it on immediately over her pjs and then put on the set of butterfly/fairy wings next to it right afterwards.

I can't be quite sure what Jonah's favorite gift was but this gift from Nana Lisa was a BIG hit:

These were a big hit with everyone:

Extended J. Family Christmas Party

2011-01-06T07:47:00.001-07:00

The Girls

Trey & Jonah

Elora & Trey

Our scores in the white elephant gift exchange:)

June 8, 2010

2011-01-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Donna came to visit this summer and stayed at our house for a couple nights. She was trying to crochet and the kids wanted to get involved so we made them some Fruit Loop necklaces with her yarn. I just recovered this photo from my old laptop and it made me smile. We sure will miss "Grammie Donnie" visiting.

Cousins in AZ

2010-12-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Paisley & Elora

First cousins at the funeral

Background: my cousin Cathy (student at ASU) and her niece Stella

Foreground: Jonah and my cousin Trevor (student at USU)

Lindsay (Danny's wife), my cousin Danny, and my cousin Skye

Jonah & Henry

Duck, Duck, Goose

Jonah & Tucker were pretty much inseparable

Henry & Elora

Green painted fingernails

Mi Vida Loca

2010-12-29T12:02:00.001-07:00

I slept in my own bed last night for just the second time in the past two weeks.
Yesterday I worked at my medical front office job from 8-5 (including a 15 minute power nap in my car on my lunch break). From 5:30 to 7:30 I did training and paperwork for my new job at Silver. It is a restaurant opening on Park City's historic Main Street on January 9th. The menu is fabulous!
So, a recap of my recent life:
Saturday, Dec. 11th - my dad's mom, Grandma Donna, passed away. See recent photos of her here and Dad's words here.
Mon & Tues - worked
Wednesday- the kids and I drove all dreary day to Mesa, Arizona.
Thurs. - woke up at sister Robin's house and played with the kids, talked to Adam for awhile & left the kids to bond with him, helped prepare Grandma's body for the funeral (I did her makeup and my sister Karen did her hair, at Grandma's request). It was a really neat experience and really confirmed my belief that her spirit is elsewhere because that body really was no longer my grandmother.
Had a late lunch with Ted, Karen, and Adam at Nunthaporn. Got ready for the viewing/visitation. Left the kids with a babysitter at my parent's house.
Friday- Beautiful funeral at Grandma's church at 11am. Uncle Steve, Aunt Susan, Dad, and her bishop spoke. Tears, laughter. Gravesite dedication.

Family luncheon back at the church.

Sat. - shopping and lunch with Sarah while the kids spent time with their Papa Stan. Dinner at Robin's house.
Sunday - vegged at Robin's house all day with sick kids. Enjoyed our lazy day. Walked around the Mesa temple grounds with Robin's family and my brother Mark. Loved the Christmas lights and decorations.
Mon. - Took Tucker, Charlotte, and Jonah to the mall. Watched Robin's kids for awhile so she could Christmas shop too.
Tues. - played. Finally mailed off our Christmas cards. Finally had some Ned's Krazy subs:) Said goodbye to all my family. Drove thru pouring rain to Henderson, NV to stay with my friend Summer and her family for the night.
Wednesday - hung out with the H fam for awhile then drove to Linda & Alan's house in Sandy, UT. Showered and got ready for the big J family Christmas party. Crashed at the in-laws house after the party.
Thurs- worked in Park City. Boss got annoyed that I was wearing jeans. Finished Christmas shopping (stocking stuffers, etc.)! FINALLY WENT HOME. Kissed kids good night and went to bed at a decent hour.
Friday - got up to the cabin about 11am. Got fires started and lunch going while Brandon cleared the driveways with the Kabota and the decks with the snowblower. Alan and Bobby, his brother, and Ian arrive. Linda and the dog and cat arrive. Kids open one gift.
Sat. - kids oblivious to the fact that it is Christmas day. They each open one gift. Katie, Jason, Andy, Coach, and Trey arrive. Bobby and fam leave. Christmas dinner is smoked beef tenderloin:) Santa (Brandon M.) makes an appearance in the yard and tells the kids to get in bed. Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping.
Sunday - our Christmas morning. Kids in heaven. Everyone happy. Kathy, Bryson, and Bailee arrive. Kids play. Adults play. Everyone having a good time. Smoked turkey for dinner. Adult gift exchange. Adults play games. Everyone laughs hysterically thru Reverse Charades.
Mon. - Brandon and I work while everyone else stays up at the cabin. We spend a final night at the cabin.
Tuesday - Leave the kids with Grammy and Katie at the cabin for the day while B, Alan, and I work. Andy and fam go home. See more above.
Wed./Today - laze around in pajamas while blizzard rages outside.

My crazy life.

More pictures to come.

Santa

2010-12-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

We saw Santa at the mall on Thursday. Jonah told him he wanted a foot monster (bigfoot robot at Target) and Elora told him she wanted a present. This morning they got to sit on Santa's lap again. Here is Jonah explaining what he wants:

Elora snuck to the front of the line and jumped right into Santa's lap when one kid got down.

Cute Kids

2010-12-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

This morning I knew Elora was awake because I could hear her in bed singing Jingle Bells.
She calls Santa "ho ho" and stockings are "sockthings".
Jonah likes to say, "actually" a lot lately, which is always cute and funny.
Oh my gosh, they so many cute things lately, I've got to start writing more down. They are hysterical.

Music Night

2010-12-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

I just watched two episodes of Glee (online since we no longer have tv). Then I doinked around on itunes for a bit. Now I've decided to post this clip from Easy A.
Intro: Olive has no plans for the weekend. She gets a musical birthday card from her grandma on Friday and it accompanies her all around the house during her various activities the whole weekend.

Friends

2010-12-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me so happy.

These are our "best couple friends", Elaine and Ryan and their daughter Malia. We have known them for about 11 years now. We were neighbors in the married-student apartment complex at BYU-Hawaii. They are two of the most unselfish people I know. I adore them both and am so grateful to have them in my life. I could seriously write an essay on each of them and why I love them, but I won't right now, but just know that my life is better because of Ryan and Elaine.

Have I mentioned how great my Thanksgiving was?

2010-12-03T08:44:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday I got off work two hours early cause a HUGE storm was supposed to hit and close road, etc., etc. It turned out to be a pretty minor storm. Lame. But I still got off work early;) Went grocery shopping, then met the fam at home, finished packing, and headed up to the cabin. We'd already spent two nights there a couple days earlier and we spent the next five nights there:)

Tuesday night:

Elora wearing Grammy's accessories

Wednesday was lots of family-time, good food, and fun.

Grandkids snuggling with Grammy in the morning.

Elora, Jonah, Linda, Bailee, and Bryson.

Grandkids hanging on Poppa.

Kathy, her kids, and her friend Heather were the only ones at the cabin with Alan, Linda, and my little family until the big day. That morning Alex (Kathy's S.O., Bobby (Kathy's brother), his wife Emily, and their son Ian, Brandon's cousin's son Derek, his wife Tianna, Tianna's sister Kristin and her hubby Joseph and their twin 5 y.o. girls all came up. It was good times.

More photos to come. No time now.

More Gratitude

2010-12-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

18- I'm grateful for the beautiful Christmas tree in my front room.

19- I'm grateful that Brandon has job in a profession where he will always have work to do.

20- I'm grateful that I got to see this sister and her family over the Thanksgiving holiday:

21- I'm thankful that I also got to see this friend that day:

Hadn't seen Elaine and her little family in a whole year!

22- I'm grateful for Christmas time. I love it.

23- I'm grateful for modern-day prophets.

24- I'm grateful for all my cousins and cousin-in-law and cousins-once-removed and second cousins, etc.

25- Good food

26- Good kisses

27- Pilgrims (& Native Americans)

28- Ancestors, forefathers, pioneers

29- Photoshop

30- My dishwasher

Where Has This Month Gone?

2010-11-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Back to my gratitude list. One thing for each day.

5- I am grateful for Tropicana Orange Tangerine juice which transports me from a cold day in Utah to a sunny day in Arizona in my grandparent's backyard with each sip.

6- Kleenex Lotion Tissue. I know using tissues instead of handkerchiefs is wasteful, but my nose is grateful and so is my already tall stack of dirty laundry.

7- Kids that are in bed by 8:00pm when we are all sick.

8- My Grandma Donna, who my kids refer to as "Grammy Donnie". She is very sick right now and I pray multiple times a day for her comfort.

(Grandma and I this summer)

9- My friend Autumn. Our moms met when her mom was pregnant with her, so I've literally known her since birth. It is her birthday today. She is one of those friends who I can go a whole year without seeing and still tell her everything when I do.

(Autumn with her hubby Bryan and son Brayden)

10- Girls' Night Out is tomorrow. Jen and I are going to see a movie. I think it's just going to be the two of us and that's alright with me. Maybe we'll do dinner before or dessert after.

11- I'm grateful that Janette & RoyAl and their four beautiful kids were able to come over and spend the day with us on Saturday. We met them in Hawaii when we were all without kids and though they only live an hour away we don't see them often.

(Subway sandwiches for lunch on Sat. with Laura and the twins)

12- To be able to be the teacher of Jonah's joyschool preschool this week.

13- For a warm, comfortable home.

14- Unlimited long distance phone calls.

15- The internet (which I am trying to limit to approx 30 mins a day now).

16- The Bible.

17- The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ (aka: The LDS Church).

Smile That Frown Away

2010-11-15T20:34:00.000-07:00