Pillow Fight Movie

Picture from Vacation

Pictures from Vacations

Abby and I practicing reading. Isn't she cute?

Pillow Fight! Don't try this at home ... Only at hotels on vacation.

The end of my ride. (Posed Picture--Jaclyn didn't realize I was already down. Zoom Zoom.)

Getting off my course at the Alpine Slide in Park City.

A view across the valley in the old part of town.

This is the old part of Park City. Housing is tight.

I like vacations!

So, I haven't updated anything recently because we have been busy going on vacations. We figured after the baby, traveling will be more difficult. So we decided to get away:

Vacation #1: Since Alicia, Jaclyn's sister, has worked at Marriott Hotel in Provo as a Banquet server, she gets great discounts when staying at Marriotts. She wanted to go somewhere fun, so we suggested Park City. Good scenery: good food, shopping galore, and things to do. We went up after Church on Sunday and stayed that night (Labor Day) and came up Monday afternoon. We had a blast!

We had planned a picnic for Sunday lunch, but the weather decided to rain. We found a pavillion to hide under until the rain stopped and we were done. That night we drove through the old part of town and watched a movie back at the hotel. That night, Alicia and I also had an intense pillow fight. I'll post that later.

Monday came, and we got up early to max out our time. First, Alicia, Hannah (Alicia's friend) and I went down the Alpine Slide. It was fun! I was racing around the corners so fast!! I got down so fast, Jaclyn didn't have time to take my picture. Alicia and Hannah weren't so lucky. They got stuck behind little kids and had slow sleds. It was fun, not to mention randomly meeting Uncle Duane and Aunt Vivian, and my cousin Cassie while I was waiting outside the restroom.

That afternoon, we spent our time and money at the Outlet mall. We found a few things for our son, and even more stuff for Jaclyn and me. I got new 2 pairs of jeans, and 3 shirts. I feel like its the first day of school all over again. On the way home from Park City, I treated the girls out to Granny Milkshakes. Poor Alicia, though--her Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Cup was too much. Sorry. All and all it was a great vacation.

Vacation #2: Our next weekend (this past weekend), we went to Las Vegas to visit family one last time before the baby comes and to celebrate Jaclyn's dad's birthday. It was great. He treated us out to dinner at his favorite restaurant: VooDoo Lounge at the Rio. They had some pretty interesting foods: fried frog legs. I had to try it. It tasted like watered-down chicken, straight from the pond. Lee (Jaclyn's dad) said it was because the way they cooked the legs. Something I can cross off my list now.

Saturday, we had a mini baby shower and got some more stuff from Jaclyn's Aunts, Grandma and cousins. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Jaclyn's mom and sisters. Abby was so excited and loved every minute of it. We watched High School Musical 2 (better music and dancing than acting), played Apples-to-Apples and Boggle, and ate wonderful Taco Salad. It went way too fast. It's nice to dream and think everyday could be a vacation.

But would it really be a vacation then?

Pictures with the President

I was surprised last week when I got a call from Aaron Jenne, a good friend and who works in the Missionary Department at the Church Office Building. He was in charge of the New Mission Presidents Seminar at the MTC in July. He said the Church News delivered some pictures to him from the Conference and wanted me to have some.

President Hinckley, above, exiting the MTC. Elder Ballard is just to his right. The security people are all around us.;)

Here, he stopped and we chatted. I was so nervous, with my hands stiff. Elder Hinckley, President Hinckley's son is to the right of the man holding the handbag.

Here is another picture with President reaching out, Elder Ballard coming out. On the far right is the BYU police officer assigned to escort dignitaries. On the way back inside, he turned to me and said, jokingly: "Don't you ever hold up the President again."

President Hinckely being escorted out to his black, bullet-proof Lexus, or so I was told.

2 Months Left

August 7 is a big milestone: 2 months left until Jaclyn's due date. We really think the baby will probably come before then, knowing our family trends, but it is coming so close. I can't believe it. 9 months seems like a long time, but it has gone fast.

Along with this milestone, I have thought more about the fact that we are having a son. Last week in church, a family blessed their son and I began to picture my self doing the same thing in a few months or so. It made the whole baby thing set in a little more solid. In reality, two months is really not that long. 8 weeks means 8 dinner menus, 4 paychecks, 2 more road trips, 2 more family reunions in sort, and really one more Fast sunday. Where does all the time go?

Jaclyn would support me in saying I am very excited for our newborn son. We are still working out some transportation issues, but there are days I can't help but smile or jump up-and-down about it. Having an addition to the family is special to me. It's a new stage of life, a new blessing, a sign of maturity.

Any thoughts of when you first became a parent?

Harry Potter Premier

So, last night was the Harry Potter Premier. It was a big deal, at least for me, because this was my first actual movie premier.. You know, 12:01 showing, waiting in line, etc. And it was Harry Potter.

We were probably not the best prepared for the long wait (8:30-midnight) because we only brought a book and a pillow. Luckily, we sat inside the theater on carpet for a few hours. We both got sore sitting there as we read our book and watched all people walking up and down the hallway. True to form, there were quite a few people dressed up as Harry, Ron, Ginny, Cho, Snape, Dumbledore, Trelawney, Mcgongall, and Hermoine.

As far as the movie went, I don't want to spoil it for others, but it went much like the other films. There is just too much storyline from the book to include in a 2.5 hr movie. I liked the movie, but I like the books better. There is so much more left to the imagination in the books. I won't say what they included and what they left out, but the movies and books are two unique things.

Anyways, I better get back to work. Stay tuned for more.

My New Job

Yesterday was my first day at my new job. I now work in American Fork for a company called Gravity People, Inc. It is a recruiting service for senior and executive level positions mainly in the IT industry but have started to branch out into other sectors more recently. It was a lot to handle the first day: paperwork, orientation, training, shadowing other employees, etc. I did get to do some first-level screening by the end of the day, but I have lots more to learn.

The job environment is pretty good. Gravity isn't a huge company. They started in 1998 and have their main offices in San Francisco. The office in AF has less than 20 people, 12 of us who are researchers. We each have our own workstation and computer. Everything is computer based. I work M-F from 9 a.m. -6 p.m. (for now) and get an hour lunch break. My co-workers are pretty nice and easy to get along with. That's good. It's pretty casual too. We don't have to dress up much either unless exectutives from SF come in. Joel, the COO, came yesterday, but was casual too; he wore a polo shirt and jeans.

I get to ride the bus both ways. It isn't that bad. It takes about 45 mintutes each direction for a minimal fare. The same bus also stops at the State Developmental School in AF so we get some interesting personalities on the bus in the morning. All and all, I can't expect much more out of it.

I'm excited to learn more and become more comfortable with my job descritpion. But in the meantime, I'm making new friends and started down my new career path.