Flip! - it is almost Christmas

So last week I got a new toy. I am the proud owner of a flip ultra video camera. It has been fun to play around with and the quality is better than using our digital camera that is really made for just stills.

Tillie and Isaak wanted to share the Christmas songs they learned for school and sang at the School performance. Technically, Tillie was sick that day and wasn't there, so this is her only performance.


Isaak had to be reminded of which letter came next in spelling
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. Oh, the joys of learning how to read and spell.
You would think that they would leave that song for kids that actually know how to spell such a long word.

Our gang it is the jolliest that you have ever seen...

Sorry it has been so long. Enjoy Jonah's holiday message...

I love to see the Temple...

I don't know how well you can hear this, but it is Jonah signing.

...and the reason why I like blogs

Introducing our newest addition, weighin in at 7 lbs 1 oz, 19 1/2 inches long, born at 3:15 P.M. on September 9...

We haven't decided on a name yet, but are getting close...

so that's why February is King Crab month...

I have a new favorite TV show. I know it is not a new show and has been around for a couple of years, but it is new to me.

If you haven't seen The Deadliest Catch, you really should take a few minutes and turn to the Discovery Channel. Lately it has been on about 30% of the time during their scheduled programing.

The great thing about the show is that you can jump in the middle of the series and not miss out on anything even if you missed the previous show - it is all the same thing: bait the pots, throw the pots in the sea, pull out the pots, sort the crab, get hit with big waves, break ice, captains smoking and downing Red Bulls. Great stuff.

It really is quite amazing (and mesmorizing) what these guys go through in the Bering Sea so crab shacks and Sizzlers all over the world can serve up Alaskan King crab and the like. I found a video that shows some of the waves that they experience...

So, for all of you Deadliest Catch fans out there, who is your favorite captain and ship? If you don't like the show, why not?

Happy Birthday, USA

Happy 232nd Birthday United States!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Holiday Weekend.

Anyone doing anything fun for the weekend?

So. Cal Trip - Days 5 & 6

(Ok, so we are now approaching 2 months since we made the trip - I better hurry up)

I am going to combine days 5 and 6 (which were the 3rd and 4th days at Disneyland Resort) since they are are blending together at this time. And this is going to be mostly a photo report.

In a nutshell, we spent the morning just with our small family at Fantasyland, going on Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, etc. We ran into my parents and I took the kids on the Omnibus. We then went over to the Enchanted Tiki Room for a Dole Whip float (the best!) and watched the show. Jonah absolutely loved it and spent most of the time standing on my lap and shaking around.

We left to meet Jim and Candace around lunch time. Wendy and I left the parks with the kids and ate at Naples Ristorante and Pizzeria. It was a nice lunch and a good break away from the parks.

After lunch we met up with the rest of the group in DCA and rode California Screaming, Mulholland madness and everything we could in that area. Tillie and her cousin Whitney went to the Orange Stinger (swings) and rode 3 times in a row as it wasn't crowded. The joy in their faces as they went around and around was wonderful.

We finished up our day in DCA watching the Pixar Play parade and then went over to Disneyland for the evening.

We spent our last day in Disneyland going on the rides we had missed and returning to some favorites. Isaak really loved going on Star Tours this trip as well as going on Buzz lightyear. Tillie was the ultimate 8 yr old daredevil and wanted the thrill rides. Jonah was just happy to be there soaking it all up.

We finished up Thursday night at Disneyland watching the parade and then headed back to the coast. It really was a great trip.

So Cal trip - Day 4

(Is this trip report getting old yet?)

Ok, so back to the fun.




The plan was for us to sleep in a little on Monday morning since we spent a long day at Disneyland the day before. Tillie slept over with my sister Laurie at the Fairfield and they planned to go to Disneyland early and meet us around 11:00. Only one problem with that plan - we forgot to leave Tillie's park hopper pass with them.

So, on Monday morning we got up early with Isaak and Jonah and headed off to Disneyland. It was a bit rainy outside, but I assured Wendy that it was just the marine layer and it would be warmer inland. Oops. I was wrong.


We met Tillie and Laurie in the Fairfield parking lot and headed over to the parks. The other families were taking the day off from the parks and my parents would meet us later.


I have to admit that I like rainy days at Disneyland, especially if it is just a light rain as it keeps the crowds small. Lucky for us, it only rained for a couple of hours (off and on) while we went to the rides in Fantasyland (Peter Pan, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Dumbo, Snow White) before going over to the Matterhorn. Isaak got freaked out a couple of years ago by the Matterhorn, more specifically the Abominable Snowman and his red eyes, so he was a little worried. He loved it and the worries were gone. In fact, he kept asking to go back to the Matterhorn during the trip.


We met up with my parents right before lunch and ended up eating at the New Orleans Cafe. Of course the kids didn't want that so I walked way over to the Stage door Cafe to get Chicken strips for Isaak and Tillie.


After lunch, the kids rode the train around to the Fantasyland station with Grandma and Grandpa while Wendy and I walked over to meet them with the stroller since Jonah was ready to sleep for a while. We went to Toontown for a bit while my parents took a break and sat with Jonah while he slept in the stroller. While in Toontown, we went on Gadget's go-coaster and saw Minnie Mouse, but not Mickey (before the trip we let the kids know that we wouldn't be going after autographs on this trip since they already had full books of autographs and photos).





The kids love the gags and noises in Toontown so we spent a few minutes playing there and taking pictures of the kids.


We met back up with my parents and Jonah and started over towards the Matterhorn. Right by the Matterhorn, The Madhatter and Alice were entertaining a crowd with a game of charades. We also noticed that Captain Hook and Wendy were nearby as well. Tillie jumped in a photo, but Isaak was afraid of the Captain.

We went over to watch the Jedi Training. We were a few minutes early, so the kids got great seats and hoped they would be picked. As luck would have it, Tillie and Isaak were both picked. It was a the highlight of their day. And of course, we had to go over and buy them a new lightsaber (that they each got to make).



I think we stayed until about 6:00 or 6:30, went by In-N-Out for dinner and headed back to the Coast for the night.

So Cal trip - day 3

Our first day at Disneyland for the trip.


Since we had three families with kids and my parents we ended up taking 4 vehicles to Disneyland, with the plan to meet at some point around lunch (we left around 10:30 in the morning from the condo). My sister Laurie was also going to meet us, coming from her hotel across the street. Since Laurie wasn't using her parking pass at the Fairfield, she graciously offered it to us, saving us $11 in parking. We had also planned to use her hotel room for a nap room if any of the young kids got too tired.


We walked across the street and through the security check and my kids were filled with excitement. I have to admit, I was quite excited as well. I think I may be as excited to go to Disneyland as the kids, mostly because I love to see it through their eyes.


We met up with Jim, Candace and kids (Parker, Conner and Abby) and went through the gates. Since it was a weekend (shhhh... we went on Sunday) it was pretty busy already, but we knew that it would be the only day to see some of the events (fireworks, Electric Light Parade, Fanstasmic, etc).
I have big group phobia and have trouble moving with 5-6 people around the parks, let alone 20 people. But then again, it is fun to go on some rides with the entire group. We found my parents and Brent, Emily and kids (Whitney, Zack, Bella and Grace) getting fast passes for Indiana Jones and then the entire group went on Pirates of the Carribean together.


The first few hours were mostly a blur, but if I recall, we also went on Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters before heading over to Disney's California Adventure to see the High School Musical performance.



Even though it was hot sitting in the main plaza at DCA (Disney's california Adventure), we were able to get a great spot right in the front of where the show was performed. During the show, they sang and danced to a few High School Musical 2 numbers and pulled kids from the audience. All of the Neff kids went out and danced with them. It was fun watching and kids really enjoyed it.








After HSM2, we decided that we needed to go somewhere a bit cooler and decided to see the show, It's tough to be a Bug. We had missed this show on every other trip to DCA in it was going down for a refurbishment the next day, so we went over to the show. We all picked up the 3D glasses and went in, right before it started. This show is a big 3D movie inside of a cave, hosted by Flick from "A Bug's Life". He introduces all sorts of bugs and the bugs each react to the crowd (stink bugs shoots a cloud of sulfur, a bug sprays the crowd with acid, etc). The 3D film with the real effects like water dripping and bees stinging (the bench pokes you in the back and bottom) made for a great show. We thought Jonah would get scarred, but he was laughing the entire time. Wendy, Tillie and Isaak all screamed when spiders dropped from the ceiling and got the pokes in the back, but Jonah was really enjoying it.



We picked up some fast passes to Soarin' over California and then went to eat dinner and try to go on a few other rides at DCA. Jonah and I watched the Pixar Play Parade while the group went on some other rides and then all went on Soarin' except for me and Jonah. After they finished, Isaak and I jumped back on Soarin' as we still had a couple of fast passes.


Brent and Emily got spots for the Electric Parade and I went with Tillie, Whitney, Isaak, Zack and Laurie to ride on the Tower of Terror. Zack got a little frightened by the show in the Library and so he opted to sit the ride out with Laurie. I rode with the girls and Isaak. He was a bit nervous, but enjoyed the ride.

Mom and dad were done for the night and couldn't find Jim's family. We decided to skip the parade, leaving Brent's family and went back over to Disneyland where we went on Autopia. Laurie came with us took Tillie and Isaak on Space Mountain again. While they were there, the fireworks started so Wendy and I sat and watched with Jonah. He had been a great kid all day (he even napped in his stroller for 2 hours) and really like the fireworks.


It had been a long day so we decided to leave around 10:00. We walked back to the Fairfield and said goodbye to Laurie and Tillie since Tillie was going to sleep over with Laurie at the Hotel.


I think Isaak and Jonah were both asleep within about 2 minutes in the car.

So. Cal trip - day 2

Saturday, May 10

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had crickets in our room at Primm. Wendy wanted to check out as she thought I wouldn't tell the front desk about the crickets. So we pulled around to the front of Buffalo Bills and let Wendy go in to check out.

Wendy said that she politely told them that they may want to get maintenance over to the room as we had a few crickets overnight. The hotel staff was very apologetic and offered to comp half of the room. Wendy explained that she wasn't trying to get a discount, but just wanted to let them know, but the $30 off on the $59 room was a nice gesture.

Total cost of the flat tire episode: about $45 (room and tire fix)

We filled the car with gas, ate at McDonald's and headed down the road around 9:00 A.M.

After having a flat tire, I started to think that every sound was something wrong with the car and I found myself driving a bit slower (ok, so I stayed mostly under 90 MPH through the desert).

A few hours and ZERO stops later, we were pulling into the Marriott Newport Coast Villas.

The kids were excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and all of the cousins. So excited that after about an hour in the Condo, the guy in the condo below us asked if we could stop jumping around and making so much noise.

The condo there is great. Each unit has a bedroom with a King sized bed and master bath and a second bedroom with a Queen and pull-out couch. We slept in the King bed, Jonah in a porta-crib and Tillie and Isaak slept in sleeping bags on the floor in our room. Jim, Candace and kids slept in the other room with the bed and pull-out.

The kids played at the pool and at the playground, Jim and I went to the grocery store to fill up the rest of the refrigerator (Mom and dad filled each room with bottled water, diet cokes, fruit, milk, etc before we got there!)

While the kids were having fun at the pool and playing with the cousins, I went with my mom, dad and sister Laurie to get her checked in at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn and pick up our Disneyland Park Hoppers so we wouldn't have to wait at the ticket booth the next day.

We stopped by the Costco in Costa Mesa and sneaked in a burger from In-N-Out burger on the way back to Newport Coast.

Luckily the kids were tired and went to bed pretty fast rather than stay up all night with the excitement of going to Disneyland the next day.

One month after we left on vacation

Ok. Ok. I know, I still haven't posted anything about our trip to So Cal.

And to think that we started the vacation on May 9 - one month ago.

So, maybe I will do this in a couple of parts.

Day 1 - May 9

We got on the road in SLC around noon and after a short stop in Pleasant Grove to drop off my car with my bro-in-law, TJ, we were on the road. The first big surprise is that Wendy told me that she would start the trip in the drivers seat.

I better explain that I almost exclusively do the driving on the long trips (so I won't back seat drive) so this was a welcome surprise. Although I kept giving suggestions, Wendy drove the 300 miles to St. George like a pro and it was relaxing for me. (looking back, I should have kept my comments to myself!)

We stopped at a crowded Costco in St. George where we met up with my brother Jim and family. Quickly ate a taco at Del Taco since the In-N-Out burger was packed at 4:00, traded kids for the next part of the drive and we were off.

Everything went well until well until we were just south of Las Vegas when our car started making a sound you don't want to hear.

Flat tire

The right front tire to be exact. Jim and his family was right behind us and pulled over to help. Working together, we had the tire changed in about 5 minutes, but it wasn't a full sized tire and I wasn't about to drive into the desert on a Friday night on a spare tire.

So, here we are, 6:30 on a Friday night outside of Vegas looking for somewhere to get the tire fixed. We sent Jim and Candace on their way (they were trying to make it to Newport Beach that night) and limped back to Las Vegas.

Wendy made a few phone calls to look for a Wal-Mart, Costco or somewhere with a tire center while I searched for a Service Station. I got directions to one area, only to find that the tire stores had closed at 6:00, but found an Auto Zone that directed me to a Pep Boys.

Around 7:15 we pull into a Pep Boys, talked to the manager of the tire center and had them look at the tire. While talking to the guy, he mentioned his brother coaches Football with Ron McBride at Weber State and played for Mac at the U of U. The guys there were really good to work with, checked out the tire and said it could be fixed and had us back on the road by 8:00 and about $15 in repairs.

We decided to drive 30 miles south to Primm, NV and stay overnight at Buffalo Bills. We had called ahead from Las Vegas and had a room for $59.

They were nice enough to get a room for us on the first floor, but it was in the back tower and the very last room on that floor. You should have seen our kids eyes as we walked through the Casino, past the bar and all the way down to the room.

Of course, we had to take everything from the car as we hadn't prepared to stay overnight.

We got situated in the room, flushed the first cricket down the toilet and went to sleep.

I said first cricket, as we found 3 more in the room throughout the night. Fun night. Didn't sleep so well.

So, the next morning, I figured out we could park in a hidden back lot that was about 50 feet from our room. Packed the kids up, checked out (Wendy mentioned the crickets and the hotel gave us 50% off on the room), had a quick McDonald's breakfast and hit the road to Newport Beach. We made it around noon on Saturday for the fun to start for the week.

coming soon... more trip report and photos.

been a while...

I hope to have a recap of our last trip to Disneyland up soon, but until then, enjoy this classic SNL video:





You thought it was funny back then (1988 or so?) but now you can buy one here

The upgraded version even has a 7 inch LCD screen and an iPod docking station.
















(editor note: I wonder if my brother is going to put this in his new house instead of the manly urinal that he is installing?)

Running into people...

lately it seems like I run into someone I know everywhere I go.

Picking up Tillie from school - check

Grocery Store - check

Fast food for lunch - check

Pei Wei - check (sister Susie)

Hospitals (for work) - check

Liquor Store - just checking to see if you are paying attention...

anyway, you get the picture.

When I was younger, I used to think that my dad knew everyone. Everywhere we went, he would say hello to people or the classic (that my siblings will understand) "Hi. How are ya?"

I would hope that he wouldn't stop and talk or we would be there for what seemed like hours.

Now my kids tell me that I know everyone.

I think a lot of it has to to with the SLC culture. I mean, I grew up in Salt Lake and still live in the area, so it is a good chance I will run into someone I know. Throw in work and church and my chances are even better.

I do have to admit, that I am not as friendly and talkative as I remember my dad being.

I will even try to avoid people at times. Come on, you all have done it. Skip an aisle at the grocery store. Hurry past someone so they don't see you. Everyone does it.

The worst one for me was about 3 months ago. I was at Primary Childrens Medical Center getting on the elevator on the 4th floor. The doors open on the 3rd floor and a lady with her child get on. Instantly, I know who it is.

Old girlfriend. (ok, so I was also technically "engaged")

Luckily for me, I was looking at some papers and could hide in my notebook for the LONG 20 seconds we were on the elevator together. She noticed me. I noticed her. Neither of us said anything.

The highlight of this story was later that night when I told my wife that I ran into her. "Well, how did she look?" was the question I was asked.

Quick, what is the right answer... "Not very good." (I really didn't notice)

"Well, she was at Primary Childrens with a child. Maybe she was a little stressed. Don't be so hard on her" was the response.

So I nothing I would have said would have been the right answer...

Soccer Update

As some of you may remember, I have been coaching my daughter's soccer team.



Last fall, we lost 5 games and won one game. But they were improving and beat the best team on the last week.


We started out a few weeks ago with a 1 to nil win (have to use the word "nil"). The following week was a BYE and then a rain out. Last week we won, 4 to 1 on Tuesday.


The girls were really playing hard and 4 different girls scored girls - 3 of them for the first time.




Then we had a game on Saturday morning.

Cue death march music.

The girls started warming up when one of them asked who we were playing.

The green team. Green Grasshoppers

"oh, they are easy" one chimed in. Ok, the one that said it was my daughter.

The others agreed.

5 minutes into the game, the score was 3 - 0, for the green grasshoppers.

The girls of Yellow Lightning were daydreaming and their minds were not on the game.

"What is the half-time snack?"

"Coach - I have gum in my mouth" "That's ok, I do too! - now go after the ball!"

"Can I pick up a stick?"

"My aunt came to the game" (I knew that as the aunt was on the sidelines and would scream this girls name every time she was withing 10 feet of the ball)

"Who brought the snack for after the game?"

"I don't like Hannah Montana"

"I wore my shin guards on the outside of my socks today" (ok, I made that one up, but 3 girls did that for some reason on Saturday.


We ended up losing, 4 -1. The silver lining is that Tillie scored as she has in every game and the girls ended up playing a lot harder by the end of the game.

Just in time for donuts.

Thank goodness soccer was canceled for tonight.

Chad Vader - Night Shift Manager

I thought this was pretty funny. There are several episodes so you can follow the grocery store saga...

OUCH!

Well Mr. Osborne, it may not be kidney stones after all.

Sunday morning I felt like I had been shot, stabbed and speared in the back. All at the same time.

I told my wife that I needed medical attention. STAT!

Ok, I wasn't so eloquent in the way I told her.

It was probably more like. "OWEEEEE. I hurt. @#*% it. Get the kids dressed. OUCH! oooooooh. @^$* *%$@ , I don't care where we go..... ER. OK..."

You get the picture. It hurt worse than anything I have ever felt. Worse than attempting to chop my shin in half with an ax.

20 minutes of pain later, we arrive at the LDS Hospital ER. 10 minutes later I am in a hospital gown, bare butt and all, with a morphine drip and then 2 units of fluid.

Morphine makes the pain go bye-bye. It also made me a bit goofy.

After a CT scan , they let me know that I had passed a 3.5 mm stone to my bladder already. If I could urinate, I could go home.

So I went in the plastic bottle, heard the little guy hit the plastic bottle and went home. 3 hours from start to finish.

looking for a sweet used car?

Sorry for the blatent advertising, but this is a deal to good to pass up!

With 3 cars and only 2 drivers, we are finally getting around to selling our 1995 Mazda. I put the add on KSL.com this morning. 1995 Mazda

It has been a good car for us. Wendy bought the car new before we were married and we have used it ever since.

So, if you know of anyone that is looking for a used car that is in great condition, let us know. Or if you want specifics that are not on the KSL.com add linked above, give me a call.

Fa shizzle...

This is too funny. I just heard about this from a friend.

Check out the entire story of Snoop's conversion.

Snoop converts

Before you get excited to welcome Brother Broadus, take a look at the date the article was published.

Now, that is a good one

We all live in a Yellow Submarine...

I pulled out a CD that is all of the Beatles #1 hits last week and have been playing it at home.


Isaak loves it.
Jonah dances around to it.
Tillie likes some of it.
I am not sure what Wendy thinks of it.

I have been trying to get the kids listening to more quality music (and not just the stuff that will be at the Stadium of Fire - see below).

Sometimes they go for it, sometimes they just think it is "old people music"

Sigh.

Anyway, I started thinking about a particular song that I heard years ago while in Spain.

Through the magic of Youtube.com, I present to you all, LOS MANOLOS covering "All My Loving" for listening pleasure (or for a good laugh)

Here we go again...

I just noticed on KSL.com that they have announced the lineup for this year's Stadium of Fire in Provo.

Disclaimer: I have never been to the Stadium of Fire, nor do I care to go

Headlining is Miley Cyrus, mega teenage star of Hannah Montana. (Cue: all girls from 6 to 18 can start screaming now) The Blue Man Group (or one of several Blue Man Group acts) is performing and Glenn Beck hosts the show.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 5:00 and will be sold out by Friday at 5:23. Tickets range from $35 - $120.

OUCH!

But that isn't as big of an ouch as some will be paying from scalpers on this one.

I can hardly wait for all of the moms to start complaining that they had to pay $293 per ticket so their 6 year old daughter could go see Hannah again. Shame on all the people that want to make money. Shame, shame shame. (Should that include BYU and the Stadium of Fire organizers too?)

That said, do you think my 8 yr old would like me to buy her a couple of tickets for the July 4th show? I could always take it out of her college fund...

purchased today...

Everyone loves a good board game. We have been playing Settlers of Catan every once in a while with Wendy's family, but I didn't have my own copy of the game. (ok, that isn't entirely true - I received an LDS version of the game - Settlers of Zarahemla - about 5 yrs ago, but didn't even open the game for about a year)

Anyway, the makers of the game came out with a new edition so I thought I would jump in and buy myself a game and the expansion so 5-6 players can play. I found a website a while back that sold them for a good price, so I thought I would order the games. I then realized they were in Clearfield so why not take a small road trip 20 miles north to buy the games and save on shipping.

So today I loaded the three kids in my in-laws Yukon along with my brother-in-law, Jeff, and his two kids. Four happy meals, two large cokes, two double cheese-burgers and 20 miles later, we were at the Freeport center trying to find the warehouse/office where these guys sell their stuff.

It was kind of a strange experience, especially when the owner asked us when we walked in the door what the place smelled like. What kind of question is that? Um, like a warehouse? "oh, good" he answered, "it doesn't smell like puke? Because a kid puked here yesterday!"

No "welcome" "good afternoon" "can I help you" or even, "take a look around and let me know if you have any questions". Just the puke talk.

At least the deals on his games were pretty dang good, so I will give him some props to the 10 people that read my blog on occasion.

Shop SP Hiatt

They had about every game you could imagine - Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Blokus, etc - as well as every type of expansion. And for Star Wars geeks, they had all kinds of stuff like Storm trooper helmets, Darth Vadar costumes and even an 3 foot tall Yoda for $700. Or if none of that floats your boat, they had Anime (japanese cartoons) and Japanese snacks.

It was a good way to spend the afternoon and the kids got a kick out of all the Star Wars stuff. It was Good Friday afterall

Guess these houses

This is mainly for my family and those that grew up around my neighborhood...

Who do these homes belong to? (or former owners too)


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.