Eclipse!

A few weeks ago, we went to eat at Kneaders (yum!) and they had a drawing for free tickets to the premiere of Eclipse. Well, I'm on Team Jacob for the Twilight series and couldn't resist the chance to win a few tickets. Lucky me, I won! So, I took off a few hours at work today and went with Critty to the movie. It was awesome! A lot of people like it as the best of the Twilight series, but as much as I liked it, it still wasn't my favorite. My favorite is Twilight. Probably because it was all new and the characters really surprised me...didn't look a think like I had them pictured from reading the books. Anyway, Kneaders really did it up. In addition to the free tickets, they gave each of us a thing of popcorn, a drink, and at the end, a huge sucker that says "Love 4 Ever". Too fun! Thanks, Kneaders!

Only 1 More Day!

So, after four weeks of doing the pilot program of Game On!, we are down to the last hours of the game. I am so excited that I can't stand it! It has been so hard for me to blog or journal every night, to not text while driving, to get 7 hours of sleep, to drink 101 ounces of water a day and to eat great. I will continue to not text while driving (the iPhone4 is too hard to do that with one hand)because I shouldn't have been doing that in the first place, but the other things I will do as I please. I'll probably commit to some other crazy scheme, but for this next week, complete freedom! Can't wait!!! It's been a good experience...and a bad experience. I've felt like I've had absolutely no time to do what I want to do. It's work, exercise, blog, to bed. Only one more day...

Sundays with Family

One of my favorite days of the week is Sunday, because every other Sunday we have our kids and their families (at least the ones that are close) over for dinner. We all get together and hang out, eat a good meal, play games and just chill. I love being all together and I really want the cousins to be close to each other, so it's fun to watch them all interact. I hate it when it's time for them all to go because it feels like a mass exodus, but at least it's heaven for a few hours! Love those kids...and grandkids!

Party with the Colovos Clan

Well, hell has officially frozen over. 32 years of marriage and we finally won the toss to have Kathy, Gus, Kristen, Ryan and Reagan stay with us while they are visiting from New Mexico. For those of you who don't know, Kathy was my roommate at BYU that introduced me to her brother (in reality, cousin) that I fell in love with and married. She lives in Albuquerque now and when she does come to Utah, she usually stays with her sister, Linda. But, ha, ha, Linda is out of town, so she is staying with us! Party! James is flying in tonight and we'll have their whole family except Kristen's hubby, Chris. I love it! Here's to good times!

Techy Savvy...Not this girl!!

At about 4 o'clock today, I got an email from our IT department at work telling me that they had a new iPhone 4 for me and that I needed to bring my Blackberry 8900 down and switch it over. I stared at the email for about 5 minutes as panic set in. I am so NOT techy that this email struck fear in me like no other. I had imagined that when it came in, I could learn it a little at a time while still using the Blackberry that I'd almost figured out (after a year!), but no, the words "switch it over" meant it was all or nothing, baby! An hour and a half later, I finally got the courage up to go down and pick up my new phone. They switched it over and kept telling me, "You're going to LOVE it!" Oh sure, easy for IT people to say. I can't even get my fat little fingers to type the right letters. BUT, I can make the type bigger so my old eyes can read what is being "said" on the internet, or emails, or whatever. That part I DO love. The rest will come, I'm sure, but I made the IT department promise me that we would always be friends--especially after I bug them 400 times a day asking questions about this little guy. Oh, how I wish I knew all the fancy little things that this phone does. Well, here's to a new adventure! Wish me luck!

Father's Day 2010

Today was Father's Day, and since the First and Third Sundays of the month our kids go to their inlaws for dinner, Chris was feeling pretty down. Of course, the kids all called their dad, but he was still hoping to see them and spend some time with them, but didn't think it was going to happen...or if it did, that it would only be for a few minutes. He was pleasantly surprised when Bree, Andy and Gubby came up just after church and about a half hour later, Tierney, Laila and Sloan showed up! Jackson is in Florida with his other grandparents, but he called and wished his Grandpa a happy day and Skyleur and his boys called earlier and wished Chris a happy Father's day. Vinny showed up a little later and rounded the party right out! Needless to say, Chris' day was complete and he is a happy camper. Thanks for being such a great hubby, father and grandfather, honey! I love you!

No Lov'n from the Oven

About a month ago, Chris and I and Tierney and her kids were down in St. George. We had noticed that they built a new Brick Oven Pizza Parlor right at the top of St. George boulevard, but we had never been to it. Tierney and I both have fond memories of the Brick Oven in Provo, so we decided to go. Long story short, we were there for over three hours. We had to wait over an hour to be seated and then the service was horriffic! When we finally did get our meals, they were no good. It was ridiculous. The manager came by and asked how our meals were, and we told her the truth. She gave us gift cards (4) of $5 each and said they were good in either location and to please give Brick Oven another chance. Well, tonight we decided to try the Provo location to get the bad taste out of our mouth from the St. George location. Didn't happen. We were seated quickly enough, but the table we were at was in the banquet room and it was really noisy. In addition, they had this rack thing hanging on the wall that Tierney hit her head on several times and about knocked herself out. As for the service, well, my meatballs didn't come on my spaghetti and Tierney and Vinny's pizza NEVER came out. The manager came by and asked how our meals were, and we told him. As it turns out, our server forgot to put the pizza order into the kitchen. Great. They put the order in and asked if they wanted it in a "to go" box. I guess they wanted to clear the table to seat another customer. Vinny told them that they reason they go to a restaurant is to enjoy eating out. The manager said he would compensate them with free dessert. When the waitress came back to take the dessert order, she got all flustered when they ordered two desserts. When Vinny reminded her that they both had to wait for their meals, she disappeared and didn't come back for awhile, but when she did, there were two desserts. She dropped off the bill and ran off. We put our gift cards and Visa in the folder and she came back and snatched them fast. Not a great night. To make it even worse, there was road construction going down and back on I-15. The drive home took us almost an hour. No more Lov'n from the Oven for us!

Sports Night!

Tonight was Game #7 of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics. Those of you who know us well, know that Chris is an avid Lakers fan--having grown up in L.A., his heart is there instead of with the Jazz. He says he's a Jazz fan as long as they are NOT playing the Lakers. Anyway, watching intense games like these can cause great tension in our home. Luckily, we had an alternative tonight. Bree's friend from high school, Juba, was singing the national anthem at the Salt Lake Bees game and our good friend, Craig Terry, gave us free tickets to the game, so Bree, Andy, Branson, Critty and I went to the Bees game to support Juba. Gubby got a little bored after the first inning, so I went an bought him a soft bat and ball (it was a Yankees bat and ball!) to help keep him engaged while we watched the game. Truth be told, I'd rather watch Gubby than the Bees any day. So, we had a good time--watched Juba sing and then stayed until the seventh inning. The Bees were killing the Las Vegas 51, and Gubby hit his wall, so we headed home. We had checked the score in the Fanzz shop at the game and the Lakers were down 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Critty was NOT a happy camper. When we got home, there were four minutes left in the game. The Lakers were up by 6, but the Celtics would hit a three pointer and then the Lakers were only up by two. By the time the game was over, I'd aged 20 years. It is the most exhausting thing to watch a game with Chris. He is way too intense. He rants, he raves, he paces, he commentates, he whines, he cheers, you name it, he does it! Lucky for me, the Lakers pulled it out! It would have been a longgggggg night if not. In fact, I think I would have had to sign him up for therapy....Yay, Lakers!

Critty's Birthday

Well, I'm not saying how old he turned today, but 54 years ago, Del Chris made his appearance into this world, and 54 years later, he's still looking like a million bucks! I may be a little prejudice, but hey, what are spouses for if not to build your self esteem? I know, Critty doesn't need any help in the self esteem department, but I am his #1 fan! I had to work today, but we did get to go to lunch together at Gecko's and then Shtovey took him golfing and they had the games of their lives (it was windy to their advantage) where Critty got at 77 on 18 holes. Get this--he missed a hole in one on a four par by four inches! Shtovey is his witness! After that, the whole family and the Andys went to dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ and then came back to the house for cake and ice cream and the opening of presents. It was good times! Happy Birthday, Delbert! Here's to 54 more!

The Cash Cube

Well, I told you about Andy's 30th birthday on Thursday...what I didn't tell you was that Bree had a surprise birthday party planned for him on Saturday. She invited tons of his friends and family and had the meal catered by Joe Morley's (YUM!) and even with a inclement weather location change, pulled it off. Andy's neighbor stole him away to a movie so Bree could get it all set up, and he was surprised! He came in the door and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" He looked stunned for a minute and then said, "Uh, I've got to go to the restroom...be right back!" I don't know who was more surprised...him when he walked in, or all of us wondering what to do while we waited for him to come back. Too funny. Anyway, he has always wanted to stand in a "Cash Cube" and see how much money he could grab while it was blowing around. It was on his "bucket list". So, Bree rented a cash cube and then arranged to have 6 Minute to Win It games that everyone played. If you conquered the game in 60 seconds or less, you earned a ticket worth 5 seconds in the booth. It was great...and Andy loved it! There was money flying everywhere! Everyone got a chance in the booth and people left the party with more money than when they came! When was the last time you ever heard of that? I was too busy working the cube to get any pictures at the party, but we couldn't take the booth back until tomorrow, so today we put some fake money in the booth and let the grandkids play. There were a few dollar bills, but it was fun just to watch them scramble! It was good times!

Andy turns the Big 3-0 !!

Happy Birthday, Andy man! Today was Bree's hubby, Andy McFarland's 30th birthday! He wasn't too thrilled about turning 30, but by the time we had his little family birthday party, he seemed to be okay. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I wish we would have had a picture of him "saddled up" while they sang a round of Happy Birthday to him. He's always a good sport to make a fun time even more fun...always clowning around! We came home after dinner and had delicious Costco Chocolate Decadence (I could only have a thumbful ) and gave him his gifts. He's a good man--we're glad Breezy chose him! We love you, Andy!

TV Addictions

When the fall and winter set in, we always find ourselves reconnecting with the good old television and then when spring hits, we start weening ourselves away so that we can play all summer long. Well, this year's been a little different. Our favorite TV series, 24 and Lost both ended and we felt a little panic attack of withdrawal going on--so we opted to replace our Monday night "date night" with Parkos with The Bachelorette. It's not a bad show, but we have so much fun getting together with the pals that we end up chatting all night and I can't get my seven hours of sleep in. Oh well, which is more important? Friends or points in a competitive Game On! game? Friends will win every time in my book! Until next Monday (and Ali better get rid of the stinkin' weatherman) when we tune in again...

Sloan Tia Rowe's Blessing Day

Today was our 6th grandchild's blessing day. Sloan Tia Rowe was born on Feb. 8, 2010 and was blessed by her daddy, grandpa, uncles and friends in the Rowe's Draper ward. She was such a good baby. The guys said that she just looked up at them all when they put her in the circle. She never made a peep and Vinny gave her a good blessing. Tierney fixed a great luncheon after the blessing and we all had a great time! Sloan looked beautiful in her little ivory white satin dress that was ruffle after ruffle with a big bow in the back and a cute little headband. She could have been a bridesmaid in someone's wedding she looked so cute! She's a keeper!

Sunny Saturdays are Back!

Ah, summer has finally hit (at least it better be summer!) and the pool parties have started! We had all these plans to work in the yard today, and ride our motorcycles, and go shopping and with one little phone call, all that went right out the door! Bree called about 11:00 AM and asked what we were doing and if we were going swimming today. Well, given the opportunity to hang out with our kids and grandkids put everything else on hold and we all went swimming. First, Bree and Branson came over, then Andy and Jared, then Jackson, Laila and Sloan. We swam until we were fully pruned and sunburnt, and then came in the house for awhile. I'm worried aobut Jack and Laila...they came after the sunscreen rub down and we forgot to slather them up. I hope they are sleeping well and don't look like lobsters at their little sister's blessing tomorrow! Here's to more fun pool days!

Belated Birthday Party

Well, my favorite day of the year rolls around, my birthday, and I wake up at 4:00AM with food poisoning. Needless to say, my birthday on June 2nd was not a great day! We had to postpone my party until tonight. We went to Lonestar restaurant and then home for cake and ice cream.

Guess this will be my "free" meal on this new diet! It was great to all be together. Thanks everyone for the great gifts! If I wasn't so tired, I'd elaborate more. I'm telling you, this "forced blogging" could be a lot less than interesting...but at least I'm doing it!

Game On!

Well, it's been way too long since I've done any blogging and we are doing a pilot program for a new diet at work called Game On! and in this program, you compete against other teams, getting points for everything from losing weight to changing bad habits and starting new good habits. So, you have to declare your habits to your team and then DO IT every day for four weeks. So, for my good habit, I decided that I will either journal or blog every night. This is going to be harder for me than I think...especially since it is 11:30 at night and I'm blogging. Another aspect of the Game On! is that you HAVE to get 7 hours or more of sleep--or you lose points. So, I may be going in to work later than usual lately...at least until I get this whole thing balanced. I think it will be a great program once I get used to everything, but for right now, I'm struggling! But hey, I got my first day of blogging in...here's to another 30 days! Wish me luck!