East Coast

Bad weather couldn't dampen our spirits or attempts to get into as many Broadway shows as possible this past weekend. Over a three day period I was able to see Les Miserables, Hairspray, and Spelling Bee. Each show I had the privelege of seeing the show with different friends and family (Les Miserables with the Natalie Quinn and her family, Hairspray with Jeannie and Jon and Leah Reeves, and Spelling Bee with Jeannie and Taryn). After our brief stint in New York, Jeannie, Erin and I headed to Connecticut to check out the Coast Guard Academy, Paul's Pasta, and Jeannie's sponsor family. Our last day was spent in New Canaan attending Natalie's farewell before she heads off to Japan for her mission. Although the weather wasn't ideal, it definitely didn't dampen our spirits. We now feel that we are professionals at working Broadway deals, so get in touch with us if you are ever in town. Special thanks and shout outs to Michael and Delores, Jon and Leah, Ben and Taryn, and the Quinn Family.

Ms. Crump Goes To Washington

Erin Crump arrived in Washington DC on Jan. 3 for a 3 months internship with the University of California Center (known as UC/DC). There are 230 students from the 8 UC campuses who are working at various internships throughout the area. In addition, they are taking classes associated with the Washington DC area and the Federal Government. Erin chose an internship at the Naval Historical Museum located at the Washington Navy Yard. The UC students reside in apartments at the UC/DC Center on Rhode Island Ave. Erin and her roommates were out sightseeing in the city last week and bumped into two well-known members of the Democratic Party. Erin is enjoying the challenges of finding her way around the city on the Metro and living in an east coast city. Stay tune for more adventures of Erin in Washington DC. She says, "It is great to be in DC!"

Family Christmas Picture

Here is the family Christmas picture right after Christmas dinner at our house. . .it was great to have everyone here, except for Ster (and we will look forward to seeing her in March in D.C.)

Ice Storm in Switzerland

I am not sure if I posted this before or not, but this is just amazing. The link is to a series of pictures of an ice storm that happened in Switzerland last winter I think. I just can't image what I would do if I woke up one morning and saw this. Check it out here.

Anybody for a swim?

Today, as Alana and I were looking out in the backyard, we saw something swimming in our pool. . .yes, it was one of the baby bears. He must have climbed the 6-foot wrought iron fence and decided he was hot. After going for a swim, he walked to the side yard and picked some oranges and had lunch and a nap. The cats cleared out pretty fast when they saw the big brown "kitty".

It's a Girl!!!

We woke up early this morning to get ready to go to the clinic for Megster's ultrasound. She had to drink 32 oz. of fluids so would have a full bladder. The ultrasound showed that everything was on track and going fine. There was no hesitation in calling the baby a girl by our ultrasonographer so we think we can cross all the boy names off the list now. Based on her development they said her due date might be closer to the 21st of May, but since this due date was not more then a 10 day difference from the original due date (May 27th) then it will remain unchanged on the paperwork. Below are descriptions of the pictures. If you want to get a better view of the pics you can click on them to enlarge.

1. This picture shows that she is a girl. There are 3 white lines where the arrow is pointing and those are the labia. This shot is taken as if you are standing under her while she is sitting in a chair. The structures next to the labia are the femur bones of each leg. There is a question mark after the word "girl" since the ultrasonographer never likes to say for sure one way or the other because people might get upset.

2. This shot shows the bottoms of her feet. This was my favorite shot. During the ultrasound you could see the toes wiggling. Just amazing!

3. This is a shot of the face and part of the body. The head is on the left side of the picture sort of pointing to the word "face." The the right and the left of the face are the hands and the thorax and abdomen are below.

Rose Parade Pictures

Here are three photos from the Rose Parade. In the first one, Evan, Alana, Erin, Naomi (our friend staying with us from Switzerland) and Grammie are pictured with the current Miss America from Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry. She was very pleasant and we enjoyed talking with her. In the next picture, Naomi (a wedding dress designer) is shown with the swans that she decorated with coconut for the Santa Fe Springs Float (yes, they did win a prize). Finally, Margaret is pictured with the governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry. It was a great parade. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Christmas Activities in Sunny California

We went to the historic Mission Inn in Riverside and had a wonderful dinner. We dined among the beautiful Christmas lighting displays.

Jetpack Man

I was not able to see the live broadcast of the 2007 Rose Parade so I missed to the real life Rocketeer that was flying around. Fortunately for me there is Youtube and somebody already posted a clip of it. Who needs NBC?

Rise and Shout...

Alana and I had the opportunity to attend the Las Vegas Bowl while returning from Utah for the holidays. The Cougars didn't disappoint demolishing the Oregon Ducks 38 - 8. Along for the ride was Naomi Nardotto, a friend from Switzerland. She enjoyed her first collegiate football game and loved seeing all of the fans dressed up in their Cougar blue and Duck yellow and green. It was a great time with some great friends and capped off my undergraduate football experience in perfect fashion.

Falls in a Well and Eyes Go Crossed...

If you have never seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then this article may not be all that funny. However, if you have seen it and remember Cousin Eddie's little girl you will find this funny. Have a read.

This is a Christmas Party!!

Every year neighbors of ours have an Open House for their friends. Mary is a professional food stylist for major corporations so everything is done expertly. These two pictures are just the dessert table (and she decorates everything herself). Her husband is a woodworker and their gift to the guests is a handmade wooden ornament. . .this year it was penguins (yes, James and Ster, we saved you one because you have been to this incredible party before). Hats off to Mary, Dan and their family for all of the work that they put into this holiday masterpiece. We really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Our Stake Presidency Rocks

Tonight the Magnusson, Cornwall and Steimle families came caroling at our house for Family Home Evening. . .their singing was only surpassed in excellence by the outstanding treats that they left for us. . .thanks for a great treat!! (Sue, I posted this as quickly as possible so fewer people would see the "dancing Santa" routine as the latest blog. . .if my constituents ever saw it, I'd be recalled). Merry Christmas!! 

Dancing with Santa

Here is a funny video of Mom and Nantie getting their groove on with the Santa on the street. Nice moves!

NLC 2006

Auntie, Mom, and I all had the chance to ravel to Reno, NV this past week to participate in the 2006 NLC Conference. Due to the fine hotel accomodations that we had, most of our time was spent outside of the hotel traveling to places such as Virginia City and participating in the Habitat for Humanity project. We also had the opportuity to bowl in the National Bowling Statidum (this place had more than 100 lanes). The pictures shown here are of Mom and I at the National Automotive Museum where we had dinner one night. Next we have Darrell (City Manager of Duarte), Auntie, me, and Mom at the National Bowling Stadium. Finally there is a picture of Auntie, me, and Mom working hard at the Habitat for Humanity site. Good times in RENO!

 

Weekend in Yosemite

Last weekend, Dan and Helen journeyed to Yosemite so that Dan could attend an Academic Senate conference at the Ahwahnee Hotel. This hotel is quite beautiful and rustic, built at the park in 1927. We enjoyed the Native American charm of the hotel and loved that fact that Yosemite National Park wasn't very crowded. On Saturday afternoon, Dan and Helen hiked part of the way to Upper Yosemite Falls and were able to view the entire valley floor, with Half Dome in the background. The weather was clear and cold, but very invigorating. It was an outstanding time of the year to explore Yosemite National Park.

Snow Leopard

Today was pretty exciting for me. Since my mentor at the CVM is the veterinarian at the Zoo here in Lansing I was able to go and help with a physical exam on a male Snow Leopard. It was a really neat experience. Basically this leopard is going to be shipped off to another zoo since they don't want him to mate with the female here since his genes are "over represented." All animals shipped across state lines must have a bill of good health so that is what were were checking. We did an ultrasound, dental cleaning (done by yours truly), blood collection and a direct/indirect arterial pressure measurements among some other things. This cat was an amazing creature. Despite having a not so great odor, I still wanted to use it for a pillow.

Dan's Stocking - It's Finally Done!

After 18 months of working on this cross-stitched stocking, I finally have finished it. . .good thing too because Dan's stocking last year was a plastic bag. . .Santa didn't quite know what to make of it!  

When You Lose to Pine Tree

Notice the before and after pictures of me after having gone for a joy ride on an ATV. I lost control and in a panic hit the gas instead of the brake. After taking out an aspen tree I decided to get overly ambitious and go for a much larger pine tree. To say the least, I am happy that the damage to both the ATV and my body were minimal.

 

Merry Christmas!

When we got home from Canada today we decided to get all decorated for the Christmas Season. We both knew that with finals coming up this might be our last chance to trim the tree together. It was tons of fun to see it all come out of the boxes. We had much more Christmas stuff then we had originally thought. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight (it is past 11pm here so I am pooped!).

Oh Canada!

On Thanksgiving day Megan and I decided that we wanted to do something fun for the weekend because Megan had to work on Friday. We chose to travel international and go to London. Well, we did go international and we did go to London, but it was not the London that might first come to mind. It was London a city of about half a million people in the Province of Ontario in Canada. So We crossed over the border Saturday morning and before long we were saying "surry" and "aboot." There was a Winterfest of sorts going on in London which we went and saw. They had a large parade, fire eating man as well as many other spectacles. That night went went to see the Disney Musical Beauty and the Beast at the Grand Theatre. It was a marvelous show. It was nice to be in Canada because everyone was already celebrating Christmas since they did not have Thanksgiving to worry about, ahem I mean "aboot."

Thanks Larry and Susan

We had a great Thanksgiving today at the Marino cabin up in Strawberry Valley near Duck Creek Village in Utah. We were hiking to Cascade Falls and to Strawberry Point.. . .incredible views. . .then we had dinner with smoked turkey and all of the fixins'. The final picture is sunrise from Larry and Susan's front deck. What a great place to spend time with family! Just wish all of the rest of the family were here with us.