Easter 2014

Easter weekend was absolutely wonderful!  Lots of sunshine, family, food, and fun!  Saturday morning Marilyn and I colored Easter eggs with Sean and Tashena.  We tried a new technique involving shaving cream and food coloring which ended up being extremely messy but we did end up with some beautiful eggs with two colors swirled together.  Sean spent more time playing with the shaving cream than he did coloring eggs!  After our egg adventure, we took the kiddos out for lunch.  Whenever they get to pick the restaurant, it is always Chuck-A-Rama so that's where we went.  Then it was time for presents!  Marilyn found those adorable bags on Pick Your Plum.  They were a hit!  The rest of the afternoon was spent outside.  Sunday morning Sean and Tashena had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard and found their baskets.  The Easter Bunny brought Tashena a longboard and Sean an impressive Amazon gift card (He is currently obsessed with spy gear and he had half of his gift card spent that afternoon on toys from his Amazon wish list.)  I think the Easter bunny has become considerably more generous since I was a kid!  Then my brother-in-law Trent fired up his griddle and we had French toast, bacon, and sausage for Easter brunch.  It was absolutely delicious.  I think food always tastes better outside.  After another afternoon spent outside, we had an Easter feast.  Kristine made Chicken Cordon Bleu in the dutch oven and it was so good!  We spent the rest of the evening in front of the fire pit with three different pies picked out by Sean from Village Inn.  I had the Lemon Supreme!  Yum!   As we lingered by the fire we all wished that the day would never end.  I love spending time with my family and I love being outdoors so it was the perfect Easter for me!

Note:  Go here for the recipe for the Lemon Chick Cookies.

Jazz Game With Sean

Last weekend I took my nephew Sean to a Utah Jazz game and it was quite the adventure!  Sean was so excited he ran all the way home from school (and then had to wait several hours for me to pick him up).  The Jazz played the Portland Trailblazers and it was a great game, until the fourth quarter!  I've gone to quite a few games this season and I initially thought that I was a good luck charm because the Jazz won every game I attended (even one in Denver).  However, I decided that I was really a curse because the last five games I saw ended with the Jazz falling apart in the fourth quarter.  It has been a frustrating season.  Many people believe the Jazz have been losing on purpose to get a higher draft pick and, if that is true, I am really disappointed in the organization.  Even though this game ended with a 111-99 loss to the Blazers, Sean still declared that it was really fun!  There is never a dull moment with this kid!  Most of the people around us were drinking beer and Sean decided that they were all "drunk."  When we went to the bathroom at halftime, he brought the water bottle he was given at the beginning of the game (he was thrilled to get this) with him.  I told him that he could leave it by our seats because we were coming back but he was worried that all of the drunk people would steal it!  Sean wanted some cotton candy and the girl working that concession booth was a former student of mine.  We talked for a little while and she gave Sean the cotton candy for free!  So exciting!  This was my last game of the season and I'm so glad that I got to see it with Sean!  I sure do love him!

Blue Man Group

When I got home from my spring break trip I was able to see the Blue Man Group at Kingsbury Hall.  I had seen this show before so I thought I knew what to expect but, when I got to my seat (in the front row), I discovered a rain poncho.  This was somewhat disconcerting to me!  There was a lot of nervous laughter among the people sitting in the first few rows as we speculated about what might happen to us!   A few "before" pictures were taken!  There was a preshow with flashing LED screens above the stage giving funny messages to the crowd and then the performance began in earnest when three men in blue body suits came on stage and proceeded to create art by spitting paint balls onto spinning canvasses.  The man sitting next to me was the recipient of one of these masterpieces!  The theme of this show was wide-eyed wonder at the ordinary including playing with giant interactive iPads, opening twinkies with a member of the audience, and practicing various moves needed at a rock concert (raise the roof, put your hands in the air like you just don't care, etc.)  In between these multi-media presentations, the blue men performed music using various PVC pipes as percussion instruments.  This was incredibly cool!  Of course the show was interrupted by a siren and flashing lights announcing a late arrival and a camera and spotlight followed this unfortunate couple to their seats!  At the end of the show, giant multi-colored spheres were launched into the audience.  It became one giant dance party with everyone hitting the spheres into the air.  I had so much fun and I highly recommend seeing this show if you have the opportunity!

Note:  We needed the ponchos because there was a little splatter of various substances.  I was hit by bananas!

Spring Break 2014

This year I had an entire week off from school for spring break!  I decided to take a road trip down to southern Utah and it was a lot of fun.  The weather was absolutely beautiful (while it was rainy and overcast in Salt Lake).  I spent a day visiting Zion National Park.

Zion National Park is one of my very favorite places on earth.  I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around.

On the way home from St. George, I drove along Highway 89 and visited Bryce Canyon.

The formations are always beautiful but I especially loved the contrast between the red rocks and the snow.  However, it was extremely cold.

The week before spring break was very hectic at school since my Student Body Officers were sponsoring Spirit Week and it was the end of the term with a lot of grading to be done.  It was so nice to get away from my daily routine and relax!  It was definitely a much needed break!

The Three Questions

Several weeks ago Children's Dance Theatre (CDT), the performing arm of the University of Utah Tanner Dance Program, presented The Three Questions at the Capitol Theatre.  It was a retelling of a story by Leo Tolstoy in which the son of the Emperor of China must learn to rule wisely after his father is murdered.  When he is eighteen, the council asks him three questions to determine if he is fit to rule:  What is the right thing to do?  When is the best time to do it?  Who is the most important one?  Each dance was an interpretation of his quest to find the answers to these questions and the program was simply beautiful.  My very favorite dance was actually Tashena's dance (which, believe it or not, is not always the case).  Her dance was entitled "Childhood Lost" and the music and choreography evoked such a sense of longing that I actually had tears in my eyes!  I also thought the costumes were amazing because they seemed to shimmer with each movement (Tashena thought they were heavy).  I absolutely love watching Tashena on stage because she is such a beautiful dancer and my entire family was so proud of her!

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Note:  I have to brag a little more about this beautiful and talented girl!  In addition to being a dancer, she is also a three sport athlete!  She played volleyball and basketball this year and yesterday was her first track meet.  She threw the discus 89 feet 11 inches which shattered the school record.  Her coach thinks she is well on her way to breaking the district and state records.  The other coaches can't believe she is a seventh grader!  We already knew that she was amazing!