Christmas Parties, Christmastache and More!

A lot has gone on in the last couple of weeks and there hasn't been anytime to update this. So in an attempt to keep everyone informed, here is a run down of the past 2 weeks. November 28 was the Dick Nourse farewell at KSL. A huge deal with channel 5. Dick has been around for 43 years in news as a journalist and anchor and it was a fitting farewell to a great newscaster. Shara will have to add to this for complete details, but needless to say, it was classy, well-done, and well deserved.
The next two nights consisted of both of our Christmas parties, mind you both "CHRISTMAS" parties were in November, which was a little odd, but still a good time. Meridian's was at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I helped provide a little bit of the entertainment with a guitar and a little piano. It was a good time. Friday night was Bonneville International's (parent company and owner of KSL) at the Little America. This was a pretty cool event, many KSL reporter's and anchors were there, the next thing we know President Hickley shows up, along with 5 of the Quorum of The Twelve, as well as the Presiding Bishopric. Sadly we had to go because Shara had to cover the Jazz v. Lakers that night (which turned out to be an awesome game too!). The next day Shara also covered a story about an 11 year-old ice skater from Utah that took 4th in the nation. Her story eventually ran on Sportsbeat Sunday making her debut on KSL! (See previous post)
Saturday the 1st of December we saw the Sally Bytheway Chorale at the Assembly Hall. It is a choir my Dad sings in, they are really good, and there are A LOT of people in it now.
This last week was busy as well. I moved back to Meridian's main office to help in marketing efforts to generate more business. It's great to be back, although after being gone for a year and a half from it, is still a little weird to tell the truth. :) Also I am closer to the Cheesecake Factory. the wait is still forever long, but I work so close to it I could probably put my name on the list and carry the buzzer back to work while I wait!
December 5th was the Kurt Bestor concert, a gift from my parents. Thanks again guys, it was such a great night. Dinner @ The Roof and Kurt Bestor @ Abravanel Hall. Doesn't get much better than that. He had really good soloists this year, a really good fiddle player and an incredible singer (which Shara started the standing ovation for after she was done with her song) It was a really good time.

This last weekend was fun. We had our "Chritmastache" Party
During this party the only requirements are:
1.) An Ugly Christmas/Winter/Holiday Sweater
2.) A white elephant gift
3.) A Mustache. The rest is up to you.
Saturday was a little birthday breakfast for my sister Natalie who is 20 now. Which is.....weird. Lots of Christmas shopping. Then we went to see Peter Breinholt, Ryan Shupe, and Sam Payne. Good little concert that ended up lasting 3 hours and the Alta High Choir. But overall we got our money's worth, that's for sure.
So there you have it, you're all caught up now, and I can't believe we are already pretty much halfway through the month of December. Hope you are all having a great season so far!

SHE DID IT!!

ELF YOURSELF!!

Click HERE to see our Park family E-CARD!!

4th and 18?!?! Seriously...

Saturday was the big game...
As you can tell from the unexcited way I typed that last sentence the outcome was not good. Here's a break down of the last half of the 4th quarter:

Utah finally scores a touchdown (therefore the "happy" picture) making it 10-9 with 1:34 to go in the 4th quarter. We all know from experience that it's still too much time to leave on the clock in this rivalry. After stopping the Coogurrs (mispelled on purpose) for three downs, on 4th and 18 on the Team Down South's 12 YARD LINE, Utah's defense falls apart and can't cover a wide open Austin Collie for a 49 yard completed pass. They march right in and Harvey Unga plows through the Utah defensive line for a touchdown. What's worse is they are able to seemingly effortlessly score the two-point conversion as well.

Here are some reasons why I am angry.

A.) I have been saying all year that Andy Ludwig needs to go, and Saturday's game was another affirmation of that. The offense is so predictable, I don't know how he or anyone else on the coaching staff doesn't realize this. 9 out of 10 times on the first down of any drive they go up the middle. This game however had more trick plays and weird plays going on than in the Wyoming game. It's so dumb! And another thing, who runs a TRIPLE REVERSE on 3 and 15? REALLY?! Are you serious about that?! Come on now.

2.) We couldn't capitalize off of the interception in the first quarter, if they would have hit that, they outcome would have been completely different. There were countless other opportunities to move the ball, and it didn't happen.

D.) Comments after the game: "I wouldn't say it was lucky. We executed the play well. We should have had another one (TD). Obviously, if you do what's right on and off the field, I think the Lord steps in and plays a part in it. Magic Happens." No offense, but I really don't think God gives a crap about a football game.

(What Austin Collie's catch apparently looks like to the Lord)

**Steps off of Soap Box** (Pictures of the game here)

Final score TDS 17, Utah 10. 4th and 18 will be a nightmare for another year.
After the game we went to Enchanted with my parents, Shara's parents, Lisa, Curtis, Ben, Aaron and Jacque and saw it at the Junction. Those theatres are cool if you haven't been out there for the leg room, the fact that it looks like an airport terminal, and the theatres are huge! The movie was hilarious, I highly recommend it. Disney is making fun of themselves in it, and they have a good sense of humor about themselves. Sunday was our Sunday School class (kids actually showed up and somewhat listened this week) and dinner at my parents while Shara worked. (Thanks mom for the meatloaf, it was delicious as always...) And homework the rest of the night. And now we are back to another work week, and this week looks to be super busy. (Mainly with stuff AFTER work, it's been pretty slow at work the past couple of weeks.)

Thanksgiving 2007

Well, I still think I am full from this year's Thanksgiving...Seriously. This year was great. It started as usually with the annual Turkey Bowl, which over the years has evolved from one playing field to two, with close to 40 people on each field. It was pretty chilly this year, but no snow. This year wasn't split with Utah fans vs. Team Down South fans like usual, it was a mix. We play flag football, and ironically the flag colors were red and blue. My team ended up wearing blue flags; however, I refused to wear blue flags. So I was the only one on my team wearing red flags. :) My dad caught a game winning touchdown, pretty good for an old man! No real injuries to report, just soreness and aching for the next couple of days.
Thanksgiving was with the Parker's this year, and dinner was served promptly at 3:00. Previous to the dinner was a week full of trying to figure out how to set things up so that everyone could be in the same room. Linda was determined to have everyone in the same room, and it ended up working out. Shara eventually won the prize by figuring out the best possible way to do it, and it worked really well. All 28 of us, minus a couple out-of-staters that we will see at Christmas. It was good to have everyone together, and enjoy the food. A list of food served:

• 3 Turkeys (One cooked the night before as the "snack" turkey for those arriving early from out of state)
• TONS of mashed potatoes.
• Costco Corn (which very well may be the best corn EVER)
• Candied Yams (This was our assignment this year, and Shara wins another 10 "NickBucks" for how good they were)
• Cheese Cubes
• Fruit Salad
• Shrimp Cocktail
• Skinny Pickles
• Rainbow Jell-o
• Vegetables
• Crackers and Cheese
• Cranberries
• Parker House Rolls
• Deviled Eggs
• Gravy
• 8 Pies (Including the famous Weinert "Butter Cream Pie")
• And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Obviously cleaning up after this took a few days, who has motivation to clean up all of this after eating that much?! After dinner we rushed to see August Rush which was really good. It was a really good Turkey Day. More pictures here...

UTAH v. TDS (53-32-4) All time

Let the rivalry begin!

Le Weekend

This weekend was great. I am very glad that Shara has Friday and Saturday off now. This means I get to spend more time with her than I used to. Some of you may not know our work schedules conflict such that we rarely get to see each other. I work 8-5, with night school until about 8:30 every night. Shara works 2-11 most days, and her days off have changed, but they never were really on a Friday or a Saturday night. That is, until now. So I'm quite happy about that.

This weekend we decided to get cracking on some Christmas shopping (or at least to get some ideas for people). We went to the mall in pursuit of that goal. It was fun, I don't go to the mall much anymore, unless it is to get food on my lunch break; it's right by my office. Then we went to dinner with my parents at Mimi's Cafe. It was REALLY good, but we got full. So to add to our full tummies, we went to Maggie Moo's and had some REALLY good ice cream. Then played some Guitar Hero, and watched a movie. Good times...

Saturday we slept in; I made Shara a breakfast sandwich, although it wasn't as good as Shara makes them. We watched a couple episodes of Season 3 of The Office, and then decided to get some stuff done for the day. We cleaned, and then we went to the Utah v. New Mexico game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. It was kind of a last minute thing, so our seats weren't the best, but it was fun regardless. They won 28-10. It wasn't their most dominating game compared to others, but they were still able to win, and make this Saturday's game much more interesting for the Team Down South. After the game we went to Leatherby's and had their Traci's Peanut Butter Cup, which may very well be the best ice cream ever made.

Sunday was church, and we prepared our lesson and only one kid showed up. We teach the 16-18 year-olds for Sunday School in our ward. It's tough because first of all trying to round them up and get them into class is a chore, and then having them pay attention for more than two seconds is a weekly feat. Plus a couple of them are really "touchy" with each other in class, they aren't even dating, just shoulder massages and etc. And the cell phone usage during class needs to stop too! Anyway, this week we didn't deal with that because no one showed up. The rest of church was great as always.
The rest of Sunday I had lunch with Wayne and Linda after Shara went to work and dinner with my family, and then did homework for the rest of the night.

Monday, back to work, again...

Stanley

This is our cat named Stanley. We didn't name him that, it was his name when we adopted him, but it sure has stuck, and he really has grown into his name. We got him just a few months after Shara and I got married. Shara found him online at this place called Pet Samaritan, and fell in love with him. It took a little convincing on my part, but we ended up getting him fairly quick. He was only about 9 weeks old when we got him. What I liked about him right off the bat was his striped tail, and that he was a boy. A portion of the criteria for getting a cat for me was that he had to be "tough" looking and have a "tough" name. Stanley isn't the toughest name you'll ever hear - definitely not as tough as Rambo, or Killer. However, that striped tail made up for it. He has really become a huge part of our lives. When we lived in our condo in Salt Lake we made him sleep in the laundry room because he had a lot of energy at night and would keep us awake while he ran around all night knocking things over. We would have to listen to him meow and whine for a good two hours every night in that laundry room before he would realize he wasn't coming out until morning. He's really grown up since then.

His first move to St. George was a little traumatic for him. That 4 hour car ride to St. George was a little much for him; having to deal with new surroundings and such, but I was glad to have a road trip buddy since Shara had made the move to St. George before me. He meowed the whole way. We now have moved back up to Salt Lake and he has really showed his true character here by experiencing the great outdoors.

We've had this little guy for over 2 years now, and he's already turned 2 (I think) which according to some pet websites he is about 20-24 years old in human years. (We are glad he's past the "rebellious teenage" stage, it was rough.)

Some other interesting points in Stanley's life with us:

• Stanley loves LAZER PENS. I've worn out the battery with him. The first night I got it he chased that thing for a solid hour without stopping. I'd never seen a cat pant the way dogs do, with the tongue hanging out and everything, until that night.
• During Stanley's first Christmas dealing with a Christmas tree, we would come home to find him sitting IN the tree with all of the ornaments spread out over the floor. Heaven only knows how long that took after we left, and what it looked like while it actually happened. (That tree was thrown away, completely destroyed by him.)
• Stanley was de-clawed and "de-balled" (as I liked to call it) within about 2-3 weeks of each other. He was pretty mad with us after that. When we brought him out of his box after one of his surgeries he was still a little tipsy from the feline anesthesia, and walked straight in the wall and fell over. When he got de-clawed he had to wear these red bandages, and it looked like he was wearing red boxing gloves the entire week.
• Stanley loves to attack both Shara's and mine's feet, whether dangling off the bed, or walking around a corner. He will quickly bite them and them bounce away like, "Ha! If I'm fast enough they'll never know it was ME!!"
• Being introduced to the outdoors has made him the most muscular cat I have ever seen. Part of this comes from all the running he does from cars and other cats, but it also comes from my Father-in-law Wayne feeding him a small plate full of turkey strips daily. (Sometimes twice in a day) Since then Stanley has completely forgot about us and now attends to them much more, and is much more well behaved, all because of the Turkey strips.
• Before the turkey feedings, Stanley would crawl under our sheets and blankets in our bed and sleep in between me and Shara nightly. He would stay under there the entire night without regard to us changing positions throughout the night and rolling on top of him. He would just bite us, and then WE would have to move.

If you own a cat you know there are countless stories, which I could go on and on about. Which trust me as they happen I will.

4 Kids, La Caille, & Shingles

This weekend was quite eventful. We took care of our nieces and nephews one night this weekend. I took Friday off of work to help out with the kids, and so Thursday night was our sleepover. We watched Star Wars Episode III, and had dinner. Pretty easy...but the next day...

We woke up pretty early (you know how kids are, tying up chairs with jump ropes, pulling out virtually every toy possible, covering the entire floor with boxes, games, and other toy paraphernalia) @ 6:30 am got them ready. We had a few melt downs because on of the girls wanted her cereal on the counter. Not in a bowl...milk, cereal and all spread out on the counter. When we wouldn't comply, she curled up in a ball on the bar stool and pouted. Life is so tough! We took the kids to the park and let them run around, did a little hike, and then went to Artic Circle for some nutritional lunch. Afterwards we traveled to Jungle Jim's play land and had a blast with them there. They all seemed to have a good time. It was great birth control.

So later that day, I had a rash that had developed on my back. It was getting worse by the hour and blistering, and I couldn't get in to see my regular Doctor or any other doctor on a Friday no matter what I did. So Shara insisted I go to Instacare. The doctor took one look at my back and in 2 seconds knew exactly what it was. He said, "Yep, you have shingles" Which, I thought it might be after pulling a Dwight Schrute and checking Web MD and HealingWell for my symptoms. So he sent me on my way to pick up a prescription at Walgreen's that ended up costing me $90 AFTER what insurance covered ($160) for 21 blue pills. Luckily we caught it soon enough that it shouldn't spread anymore, but what else is left will just have to run it's course. Such is life... Shara took care of me all day. :) Apparently Shingles happens to those who have had chicken pox, that virus lies dormant in your spinal cord until you age, get stressed, and work too hard, and it has the potential of happening. The thing is I guess it mostly happens with people in their 50's, so there ya go. It's just more of an annoyance than anything.

Friday night we got to go to La Caille! It was REALLY good. We went with Shara's parents. Shara tried the rack of lamb, I enjoyed a shrimp cocktail for an Hor'dourves, and Filet Minion. It was really good!

Saturday I had to drag my bum out of bed early and do a closing in Clinton, Shara was super cool and came with me. After that we picked up Shara's car and went to this new store called Steve & Barry's. It's this store on 56th South and Van Winkle, it's clothes for guys and girls and NOTHING is over $20.00. It was a great find! Go check it out.

Saturday was also the Utes whooping of Wyoming 50-0. The Utes did an onside kick at one point during the game when they were up 43-0. Joe Glenn of Wyoming wasn't too happy about that as you can tell...Things are getting pretty interesting for the game with the Team Down South next Saturday. It should be very interesting.

We saw Lions For Lambs on Saturday, which I thought was good, and then hung out with my mom and sister on Saturday night, and had Chin Wah!!! Good times, great oldies...Other than that I just relaxed and was able to spend some time with Shara. I also finally broke out my Game Cube and played Lego Star Wars (something I hadn't done since we moved up here!)

24 Bites The Dust!! (NO!!!!)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As the writers strike entered its third day Wednesday with no end in sight, Fox said it would not air "24" this season.

The seventh season of the hit real-time series was scheduled to begin in January, but producers had completed only about one-third of its 24-episode order as of last week.
"It's not a decision we wanted to make, but it's one based on how we feel the viewers expect us to schedule the show," said Preston Beckman, Fox's scheduling chief.
The decision to act quickly so early in the strike also was prompted by the large amounts of marketing money associated with the premieres of new series and the annual launch of "24." The network began airing promos for the upcoming season of "24" during the World Series and on a big screen in Times Square.
"Had we delayed executing and implementing of a strike schedule, it could've cost us a lot of money," Beckman said.
"24" started production late, and was affected by the recent wildfires. The show's star, Kiefer Sutherland, is also scheduled to do a stint in jail later this year in connection with a drunk-driving conviction.
The high-profile new drama "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," originally slated to run in tandem with "24," will now premiere on Sunday, January 13, and will air in "24's" Monday 9 p.m. slot, following "Prison Break" and the reality series "When Women Ruled the World."
"Women," about educated and independent women ruling over a group of unsuspecting men, is one of two reality series Fox is planning to launch midseason, along with "The Moment of Truth," a show featuring people being administered a lie detector test to be hosted by Mark L. Walberg.
With "House" running out of original episodes, "Hell's Kitchen" will land the plum post-"American Idol" Tuesday 9 p.m. slot beginning April 1.
Fox's midseason schedule also includes new scripted series "The Return of Jezebel James," "Unhitched," "New Amsterdam" and "Canterbury's Law."

X96 B.A.SH

The annual X96 BASH was held this year indoors at the Salt Palace as opposed to the Utah State Fairgrounds. The weather was cold, rainy, and wet. Inside it was nice and toasty, we saw a lot of great bands this year, sadly they don't play full sets, although some bands seemed to play longer than others. This year we were able to see The Starting Line, Cold War Kids (pictured), Sum 41, Jimmy Eat World, Social Distortion, and The Used. My favorite was mos def the Cold War Kids, they didn't necessarily rock hard like some of the other bands, but they have an incredible sound and revivalist feel to their music. The bassist was cracked out. It was also Conference Weekend, so you had the "Satanists" going to the show at the Salt Palace, and the "Angels" going to conference. Which was interesting looking at downtown at the mix of people going back and forth. Overall it was a great day, check out all the pictures here.

Rolling Stone

Shara and I finally made the cover of Rolling Stone!!

Story Time

So I have A co-worker named Jared. He has a son named Jordan who is 3. One night Jared was putting Jordan to bed and he read him a Dr Suess book. As we all know Dr. Suess does a lot of rhyming.
About 5 minutes later Jordan came into Jared's bedroom he said "Dad I cant get into bed!"
Jared said "Why?"
He said "I have too many animals in by bed. "
Jared knowing he has an imaginary elephant friend named Sox, walked into Jordan's room and said looking at the bed "Sox you have to get out of bed Jordan needs to sleep.
Then Jordan said "There are more animals in there!"
Jared said "who else?"
Jordan said "There are three monkeys!"
He said "okay what are your monkeys names?"
"... Saggy, Faggy and Maggy."
Chuckling a little Jared said okay "All monkeys out of the bed!"
Then Jordan said "Well Dad there are two more ducks in there, but not like the duck that we have outside." (they own a duck and a couple chickens)
Jared said "What are the ducks names?"
Jordan promptly responded with " Ducky and F- - ky"
Jared had had a hard day and at that point he was just laughing...So he said "All right Ducky and F- -ky get out of the bed."
Jordan then hopped into bed and Jared walked out of the room into his room.He turned to his wife Misty and said "Misty have you met Jordan's New imaginary friends?"
She said "yes"
He said "do you know their names?"
She said "uh huh...and I have NO idea what to do about it..."
They both are still stumped on what to do with their sons imaginary friend. Hilarious! What do you do with that! Your 3 year old names his imaginary duck that? I guess its good that he is rhyming right?

The 2007 Annual Backyard BBQ Party

Our annual backyard BBQ was held again this summer. The 2006 End Of Summer party was not held due to us living in St. George. This year we had a pretty good turn out. It was good to get people together again, and play live music, and eat FOOD. The neighbors as usually loved it and showed up throughout the night. A bunch of kids took turns singing songs on the microphone and loud speakers, and danced on the basketball court with the band the whole night. Thanks again to my parents for hosting, and Shara for making the best desserts we have ever had.
(To see pictures from the event, go here.)

Incubus

We saw Incubus at the USANA Amphitheatre in July. I have generally not liked going to USANA, in all the years of going the concert itself it always pretty good, but the process of getting out there, and back out is horrible. It usually dampens my spirits. I affectionately dubbed the acronym "USANA" to mean "United Sucking Around Nothing At-All". We left a little early for this concert to hopefully miss the traffic on one of the two two-lane roads to get out there. It was worth it, not to bad. And the concert was really good. I had heard that Incubus was one of those rare bands that are actually better live than on their albums, which in my opinion is the hallmark of an incredible band. They really lived up to their reputation, and I was super impressed, I just can't believe it's taken me this long to finally see them, with all the concerts I have gone to in the past. I'm glad I did see them, they do not disappoint.

There was a huge storm that came in that night, as you can tell from the clouds in this picture. It down-poured for a good 20 minutes during the opening band. The lightning was super close, it drizzled off and on during Incubus, but it made for cool looking clouds while the sun was setting behind us. It was fun to just sit back and listen to live music, nothing beats live music regardless of what it is.

24th of July

We had a fun 24th of July, right at the moment I can't really remember what we did. That is why I have started blogging, so that I will remember. As soon as I remember what we did, I will edit this. I do know that there was a BBQ that night at my parents house, that's where this picture was taken. Shara thinks I look hott (yes that was with two "T's") I think Shara is more hott.

Moving....

...sucks.
We moved back up to Salt Lake in July, just in time for the 4th. We are living with Shara's parents in Sandy. Moving has become my least favorite thing to do over the past 2 years of marriage. We've done it twice now. The sad thing is I know there is more to come. Oh well, we've had some great help along the way; which, trust me, I am completely indebted to those people who have helped.

Cruise 2007

At the beginning of this year, Shara and I traveled to the Bahama's. Neither of us had never been on a cruise before, so this was quite the adventure. I had technically never even been outside of the country, other than that little country south of San Diego, and a dinner in Niagara Falls. SO, preparing for that was fun getting passports and such. We had an incredible time. Here are some of the highlights:

• We visited Nassau, St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.


• Went sailing.
• Went snorkeling.
• Ate A TON of food. (Sadly I got sea sick the 2nd day and didn't come out of the cabin for almost a whole day, luckily we picked up Fox and I could see 24, I was better by the next day)
• Shara won $50 in the slots at the Atalantis Hotel.
• We saw a Dolphin, and a Turtle.
• The drink cards were a life saver (no pun intended) I had seriously 12 Cherry Cokes a day.
• I won a bottle of champagne for yodeling on stage during one of the shows.
• Our whole group was amazed by this little Indian Magician who was pretty freaky at what he did, but would do magic for us @ 2:00 am by the Casino while David gambled.
• Me and Shara gambled.

It was awesome! You can see the rest of our pictures here.

Starting Off

So Shara has her own little blogger website, and the thought came to me that I needed to start my own as well. I hop eI can keep up with it, that's all I need. One more website that I log into daily, and another set of log-in and e-mail addresses to remember. So I will try it for a month and see how addicted I become. I'm-a start with some of the older pictures I've posted on Facebook, (which is my social networking site of choice these days) and go from there.