Soooooooooo Glad it's Friday

This is what I feel like at work today, not tired, but worn out from all of the work that's come down the tube this week. After working for about 13 hours yesterday and then getting in here today bright and early I think I am close to hitting "the wall" (and it's only 10:30).

At least I know that the people I'm on the phone with can't see me doing this. Conference calls, escalations, policy changes, changing things weekly... it catches up. Can you say countdown to Hawaii?

Gotta run... someone said my name and I don't know what they want.

A Celebration of Sorts... for 30!

Last night we celebrated the passage of time for Donny and Michelle as they rapidly approach 30. In attendance were Russ & Emily and there two kids; Carter and Elli, Donny & Lena and baby Cora, Emily & Eric, and then us course that Beins bunch. We played some games and enjoyed some tasty treats.

Here's the group awaiting the birthday cupcakes (those giant ones from Costco).

Here's the birthday girl and her little sidekick.

Here's where things get crazy with the cupcake challenge. Yeah - so I'm going to stuff that thing into my mouth and eat it in one bite... let's see what happens.

I think that is where my gag-reflex is fighting the cupcake entering my throat. I think I got 7/8 of the cupcake in one bite, bits and pieces fell off in the process and frosting was all over.

These are the onlookers who promptly asked, "Can we do that too?" - "No."

Conner going to attempt it until Mom steps in with the camera.

Our local videographer/jounralist - Eric did a great job capturing the evening.

Lena getting her game face on - go Team 1 and Prestige Worldwide. FYI - Prestige Worldwide won. Those are Em and Eric's heads awaiting the show.

Ahh, the birthday kids. Two cousins sharing the day of their birth together... again, one more time. And to think Michelle was almost name Marie. Phew.

It was a fun night, glad everyone could come over and hang out. Now the fun of the week lies ahead of us. Oh wait, it's not going to be that fun.

D-LAND 2009

Hey everybody - we're back and still in one piece (barely). After spending four jam-packed days at Disneyland it's good to be back home and sleeping in our own beds. If I were to rate this trip on a grading scale, it would be a B+. Why B+? Let me break it down:
~~ Hotel = C
~~ Food = B
~~ Rides = A
~~ Line Wait Time = B+
~~ Kid's Behavior = B
~~ Mom & Dad's Anger Management = B+
~~ Drive There = A
~~ Drive Home = D-

Add it all up and you've got yourself a pretty good trip.

First day we went into California Adventure and met our friends, Joe & Jenny and their kids, and hung out there for a couple of hours. We then crossed on over to good ol' Disneyland to finish out the day.

I think this is the first trip where we've been to Disneyland and have actually gotten on almost all the rides we wanted to (and some we didn't even plan on).

Easton is now tall enough to get on a lot of them too, and that caused a new sense of adventure and excitement. He rode Tower of Terror the first day. He then proclaimed it was "too fun to ride again". He ended up stating that all of the roller coasters were his favorite rides.



This year we also (finally) got some pictures of the kids with the characters from the movies. We went to breakfast on Friday to Chip and Dale's at the Grand California where the kids had fun watching, and participating, in all of the commotion. So much that they didn't eat much of the pricey breakfast that comes with the up close character encounters.

As I was enjoying my breakfast and trying to eat my $$$ worth I feel this large mammal press against my thigh. It was Dale. Crazy rascal. I have to give myself props however for being able to recognize the difference between the two. He too appreciated it and gave me a good pat on the back.


Conner and Koda hanging out at breakfast. I think this was before they started doing the conga line around the restaurant and singing songs.



Bear, meet bear. Wait, which is which? Oh yeah, Easton, meet Koda. Yes, these two have quite striking similarities. Hibernation, irritate easily, cuddle nicely, and seem to be adored by people (from afar). We love him, we really do, I promise.



Ella and Cinderella. The picture doesn't capture how excited she actually was. Personally though, I think she likes Sleeping Beauty or Belle more.


Everything was going great until Monday morning as we were headed back to SLC. We got to Cajon Pass right outside of LA and they decided to close I-15 right before we got there. Then, after spening about 5 hours in Fontana (at Target and then a movie) we were finally able to get back on the road. Then we hit Vegas rush hour in a construction zone, a snow storm between St. George and Cedar City, and then finally around midnight we rolled in.

I think this will tide us over until April when we hit the sunny, sandy beaches of Maui. Aloha.

Oh... what a cute boy

Big sweetie boy!!!

Yes, the dog is who I'm talking about. It's been a while since we've put up some pics of our cute little Cocker, Rocko. And, we probably owe him a post since emasculating him last Friday and taking any chance he ever had of raising children of his own.

He's now about 8 months old and is the best dog ever for us (out of the two we've had). Honestly, he minds pretty good, cuddles well, is great with kids, and doesn't jump fences. He doesn't even take off down the road when he's outside.

He enjoys smelly things, chewing on bones, ripping stuffing out of his toys, cleaning up food that drops on the floor, and pressing his wet nose against your face in the morning.

What a keeper!!! But we need to get him a haircut soon because he's looking a little Ewok-ish.

Aloha Baby - Wishing We're There

So, Allen and Paula just got back from Maui and brought the kids gifts. Ella got a nice hula outfit as one of them and decided she'd pose for us. Then, that gets the kids asking when we're going to go to Hawaii again. There's the standard father answer I could give (and what I got), "...people in Hell want ice water too...". But, I know we've been watching airfare for a while and there is a good chance that if the stars align we might be getting there faster than we think.


On another note - Hawaii is so awesome I can see why some people never leave, or at least try and get back there so often. It is a great place where the people are relaxed, everything moves slower, and life is just "good".

On yet another note - I'm going to end this blog and go look at airfare again. :)

Countdown Commence...

Hola everyone -

At first this was going to be a cool blog about how Michelle and I were going to be counting down the days until we were relaxing on the sunny beaches of the Caribbean in Cancun. However, that is now a thing of the past. Michelle had a whim to suddenly change the plans and decided that yesterday we should instead go the the happiest place on Earth... Disneyland... with kids. Now, I'm not complaining that I have to go to Disneyland with my kids, because it's fun. But, I am a little confused about how in a matter of days we go from thinking of quiet relaxation to thinking of how to maximize ride time while minimizing line wait time.

Just a little something for y'all to noodle on. And, if you want to join us in this mission of self-inflicted joy and pain, let us know - we'd love to have you there with us.

How can you change plans now after you know the happiness it brings???

What do you get when you have...

$100 ticket +
$150 in gas +
60 hours in a car +
31 to 17 =
PRICELESS 4 DAY ROAD TRIP

We started at 4am on New Year's Day on our way to the Sugar Bowl. We drove to Dallas the first night and got there around 1 in the morning. We crashed pretty hard and fast, but were excited for the next day. And what better way to start the day the Utes play than with a waffle shaped like the state of Texas? None, of course. You've gotta love Texan pride and it's rollover effect into every marketing niche there is. We got out of Dallas around 9am that morning as we headed for New Orleans and during that drive crossed over some pretty cool bayous and the ol' Mississippi.

When we got to New Orleans we had a few hours before the game so we decided to go get some dinner. The gumbo and jambalaya were great and the iced tea tasted like it should. We then made our way over to Bourbon street to see what that was like - it was OK and smelled like puke, piss, and alcohol. During our walk around we had to listen to the Bama fans say things like; "That's one, that's one imported ass whoopin'", "Roll Tide, Roll Tide", and other things that made us think we needed a good saying in Utah other than "go Utes". There was Crimson Tide everywhere. As the the attendance at the game suggests, we figure we were outnumbered 6 to 1 in fan support with about 10,000 Utah fans and the rest for Bama. Needless to say when the bands were warming the crowds up and the Tide fans chanted their school cheers it drowned us out pretty good. But, that wouldn't stop us once the game started. I was pretty nervous leading up to the kickoff. Once the opening kickoff happened and we forced Alabama to a 3-out I had already lost my voice and wouldn't be sitting down until the end of the game. When we jumped to 21-0 the whole Ute section was rocking and shaking the whole stadium and we were the ones drowning out Bama fans. As the game progressed and the Tide started coming back we got nervious but never stopped cheering on our Utes.

This is after we were up 28-17 in the 4th quarter. Everyone was all smiles around us and the Ute faithful were still loud and proud on every possesion.

This is the three amigos I traveled with on the trip (L to R): Stephen "Bubba" Beins, Eric "Elvis" King, and Jared "Bruda" James.

Here's Bubba raising the #1 up as we had rolled the Tide the Utah way - fast D, quick O, and all in style. Notice the borrowed baseball cap from Elvis that doesn't fit his head at all - nice touch.

This is the point in the game where I had no voice left, was on cloud nine, and wanted to get a pic of me and the scoreboard before we left. However, as you can see (or not) the scoreboard doesn't show up. Let me remind everyone what it was: 31-17, Utah!

The night was awesome and it was such a validation point to see all of the Bama fans with their stunned looks on their faces, heads down, and silent after the game. "Who was this team that came down from the mountains and whooped the crap out of the pride of the South?"

After the game we drove to Beaumont, TX and crashed the night there. In the morning we drove through the beautiful hill country of Texas to my brother's house right outside of Austin and hung out there for about 8 hours. That night we hit the road again for a straight 21 hours to make it back to good ol' Salt Lake City, home of the Utah Utes - Sugar Bowl Champs!!!

Low Tide, Low Tide!!!! GO UTES!