Sunday, January 25, 2009

Performances

Saturday was the ward talent show. Our family had two parts in the show. We all performed a modified version of "Suzy Snowflake" (Lyman on vocals, Jennifer on accompaniment, children dancing/singing). Furthermore, DJ performed "Dear Old Mrs. Murphy's House" on the piano.


Saturday, January 24, 2009

William Rides the Dragon

Friday was William's date with Daddy. He decided he wanted to ride the rides at the Hollywood Connection Fun Center. So Friday afternoon William and I set out to go ride the rides.

We arrived at 2:30 and found the doors locked...except one. We went in and found a very quiet lobby. All the lights were off. The rides were still. Nobody was there. We did find a flier taped to a pillar indicating that they open at 4:00 on weekdays.

We called home and ended up going to William's favorite store, COSTCO! There we did some shopping, and shared a slice of pizza and some ice cream.

We arrived at the fun center at 4:01 and bought our tickets. There were still very few people there. I asked the manager if the rides were open, and he said yes, they were just waiting for someone to ride them.

William decided to ride the dragon ride! He and I were the only ones on it. Next he rode the merry-go-round. The attendant followed us over to the merry-go-round and ran it for us. Then she ran the bus ride for us. Turns out she was the only one on duty. By that time, a group of pre-teen girls arrived and rode the twirly ride with us. That about killed Dad. We then returned to the dragon for another ride.

William began to get bored with the rides, and we went off to investigate another area. There we found miniature golf. We obtained balls and went to putting. I attempted to teach Will how to hold the putter to no avail. So he had fun just hitting the ball around. I was doing well until a clam ate my ball permanently. Will decided he wanted to go home.

We had enough points left on our card for two more rides. Will choose the twirly ride. Dad refused, and Will settled for the bus. Afterwards, we went to the Dragon for our 3rd time and the final ride of the day, but the attendant would not allow William on. He did not meet the height requirements?!?

We went and talked to the manager, and he said there was a firm requirement on the height since a child had been injured on the ride. The manager had me point out the attendant who let us on so he could talk to her. Then William took his last ride on a reindeer on the merry-go-round.

William had a fun time and thoroughly enjoyed his date with Daddy! Totals for the day: Dragon: 2, Merry-go-round: 2, Bus: 2, Twirly: 1 (thank goodness), Pizza: 1, Ice Cream: 1, Miniature Golf: 0.5.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Surprise, Grandma!

Grandma Suzanne visited us this last week. She came to watch our kids while we were away for our 10th wedding anniversary.

When she arrived, she found a nice surprise: a newly painted bedroom. It is painted yellow, grandma's favorite color! She also found some pictures of her family hung on the wall with a very nice heart wreath that *someone gifted to us.




We put some temple pictures on the wall. The kids helped with this decoration.




She also received some gifts from our children:

  • A card
  • A barbie head
  • Some tiny plastic bears (one from each kid)
  • A shell





*someone = Grandma Suzanne

Friday, January 2, 2009

A Whole New Kitchen

It's amazing what new paint can do for a room! Lyman has almost finished the kitchen walls. Here is a picture of what they looked like a year ago. (That's my nephew Caiden, eating avocados.)



Notice the two wallpaper patterns. And on the other side of the door the horrible shape the wall is in when we took the wall paper off.

Yes, it's been a long year with shabby walls. Here is a glimpse of the final product!





Tomorrow he'll finish applying the top coat to the plaster and removing all the tape and rehanging the blinds. Then all that's left is the ceiling and lights, because currently the light fixtures look like this: