Las Vegas

Beside the detour to the mall, Brent and I had a romantic rendezvous in Vegas. We hung out by the pool, strolled the boulevard, and ate at the grand Grand Buffet (MGM Grand). Okay, let's play a game. Think of anything, absolutely anything, you would want for breakfast: build your own omelet? no problem. Bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, waffles, cold cereal, cream-of-wheat, biscuits and gravy? of course. Fresh fruit? out the yinyang! Blueberry blintzes? sure. Smoked salmon? why not. Fresh scorpion? Ok, you got me. But the moral is that the Grand Buffet breakfast is like being on a cruise ship. It is pure unadulterated gluttony of the most pleasurable kind. We spent an hour having our fill. We couldn't eat another meal the rest of the day.














The highlight of our vacation was attending Mamma Mia! It was so fun to see how the story was created around ABBA's music. What a happy, fun-loving, toe-tapping extravaganza. The voices, set, singing and costumes were nothing short of incredible. I wanted to get up and sing and dance in the aisle and accidentally find my way onto the stage. I wanted to be a dancing queen. Oh, if I could just have some neon-colored spandex (oops...sorry for the painful visual).





Thank for the relaxing vacation, Babe. It filled my cup.

Iphone!

We stood in line for FOUR hours at the mall in Las Vegas this week. Of course, had we passed the time salsa dancing and playing Mancala with the others in line, it would not have been so bad. Instead, we all kept to ourselves muttering Apple mantras from time to time whilst wishing we could buy some of the fun clothes and shoes in the mall, yet knowing our days of buying anything, including gas and food, would be out of the question once we did what we came to do.

When we were finally granted passage into the APPLE store, I felt like I was walking on hallowed ground. After that kind of wait, we should have been given a ten course meal, a deep tissue massage, and been allowed to pet a furry monkey. But instead we were offered a black hole with which to throw down stacks and stacks of cash.

But I'm NOT complaining. We got an IPhone, for pete's sake. The pinnacle of high-tech gadgetry! One for Sean (his high-school graduation gift), one for me. Brent had saliva trickling over the vermillion borders of his lips--longing to call one his own. I hope he can get one soon.

My advice to anyone wanting one is to resist contact with the poison apple for as long as you can. Once you touch it, the poison will permeate and the spell will take effect. I mean, gosh almighty, this Ipod/GPS/mini-computer/phone is....SO SWEET!!!!!

Of course, the phone is not perfect. For a great report on the good AND the bad things about an IPhone, click here! But as for me and my house, we pledge allegiance to Apple magic. (And Mancala).

I am NOT old enough to have adult offspring

My oldest child turned 18 one week ago and is now fully emancipated. He's registered for the draft and will vote in the next election. How could this have happened so fast? It truly creeped up faster than a rodeo clown running from a mad bull.

I remember when Sean was 5. We were eating at Grandma Fisher's, which consisted of a casserole saturated with onions. Sean, despising onions, became annoyed at trying to pick them out and finally blurted, "does the federal government regulate the amount of onions in a casserole?"


Moab, Utah 1995. Kristi, Sean (5), Brent, Grandpa Hackworth

One of my favorite things about Sean is his quick, clever wit. For example, one evening at the dinner table, I announced: "we have a new rule at our house. From now on, the kitchen table and the living room are NO-FIGHTING ZONES." Sean immediately retorted, "well then, we'll have to have Family Home Evening downstairs."

Another time, Sean, age 16, was preparing for a pioneer trek to Martin's Cove. I said, "Sean....you will be without a book or computer for four days. Will you be able to STAND it?" Sean moaned, "at the end of the next 4 days, I don't think I'll be able to STAND." Indeed, that trip was a grueling adventure, but Sean returned home cheerful and happy, without a complaint about the hardships. Instead, he spoke of the great lessons learned about endurance and faith.


12:00 am: Leaving for trek 2006

My dear, dear son: you are a miracle. Thank you for giving us 18 incredible years of learning from you and sharing in your successes, heartbreaks, joys and maturation.

So how did we celebrate??
We went to dinner at Zion Noodle and Pizza Company in Springdale, Ut. We sat outside on the patio at dusk, near the massive red rock cliffs, surrounded by intriguing people from all over the world. We dined on pineapple cheese pizza as well as barbecued chicken pizza topped with fresh cilantro, red onions and large square chunks of smoked gouda!



Sean's birthday present from Brent and I is a skydive jump.
Have we gone MAD? If something goes awry, I will never forgive myself. But if all goes well, it will be a memorable passage into adulthood!
(If it were me jumping, it would be a memorable
passage of...uh....let's just say certain bodily fluids).
Of course, you are all invited to witness the jump! We'll keep you posted on the date/time....

Sean claims he is excited to skydive (good heavens....)
and is also excited because he can legally buy..............
dry ice!! To celebrate, we will be serving home-made
root beer at his big birthday bash next Saturday.