Fa la la la la...

A few weeks ago, Melissa was kind enough to let Marianne, Jesse and I use some of her tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It was unbelieveable! The choir was fantastic, as always, and Renee Fleming - the Soprano Sololist who appeared as well - was wonderful to listen to. There's nothing better than the MoTab Choir at Christmastime. (Except for maybe Disneyland at Christmastime, but I haven't experienced that yet, and Melissa and Mike are on their way with Mar and Jesse to experience it now... lucky!) Claire Bloom, a well-known British actress, did some great narrations, although the story of the little girl with the bell was a little unnerving. Okay, it was downright creepy. But it was still awesome to be there! Even if we did almost freeze to death waiting to get in the conference center...

Stinkers

You know, it's a good thing these guys are so cute.

Indy is adorable when he curls up on the recliner in the family room. Bo is adorable when he fats around on the couch - he's so huggable when he puts his paws on your arms and legs for attention. It's sad when they desperately need to get out and play - but no one has time to take them to the park. It's funny when Bo's way of pouting is to stick his nose in the trash can next to mom's chair and find something to shred that will make everyone mad. It's funny that Indy's favorite thing is empty toilet paper rolls - he likes to shred them in the front living room.

But there's nothing adorable or funny about them both barking like mad at 4:30 in the morning. It's even less than funny when they bark off and on like mad until 7:00 in the morning. The drawback to how my bedroom is placed in the house is that the noise - any noise - echoes. So when the dogs bark at... well, whatever they bark at, at 4:30 in the morning, I want to strangle them both just to shut them up. I'm sure Mike feels that way too when Indy goes in the backyard and barks into the window-well where his bedroom is.

Oh, it's a good thing these guys are cute....

That's messed up

Dan: Yeah, they've got a new bond, he's some blonde guy.
Kate: That's not right, he's supposed to be tall, dark, and handsome.
Shawn: Like me?!
Dan: No, not tall, dark, and crunchy.

(Inside joke. You have to have seen Thumb Wars.)

Diets suck

Man, it seems like me and Mel are the only ones who post to this thing. Repent, hoingers!

So yeah, diets suck. A year ago I was on the South Beach diet. I lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks and then some after the first 2 weeks. It works well. It's pure hell. Melissa and Mar are doing phase 1 right now (almost no carbs, just vegies, low fat cheese, lean meat, some nuts, etc.) You'd think I'd be understanding and supportive or something, or maybe even do it with them. Nah. Today I'm on one and just feel like tormenting them. Maybe I'll get some candy and go up to Mar's desk and just eat it there. At lunch I ate a nice big Cafe Rio salad and enjoyed every last bit of that flour tortilla.

So the funny part of this post is another part of lunch today. Seeing as you can't have bread when you're on south beach phase 1, Mar is just eating lunch meat. I'm sitting there with my salad and I look over and SHE'S SPREADING BUTTER RIGHT ON HER LUNCH MEAT! I was thinking to myself "well I guess you gotta spread it on something if you don't have bread..." all the same it seemed completely odd to me.

Turns out it wasn't butter butter, after all. It was Laughing Cow Swiss cheese. The idea of spreading anything on meat like that can be a little strange, but it was even better when I thought it was butter. Oh the fun of dieting! Where's my chocolate...

The family that Siths together....

So it was Halloween, yesterday. Duh. Marianne, Shawn, and I all dressed up as Sith for Halloween. Mar donned her black robe as did I, and Shawn wore a black Jedi cloak. (Too bad Shawn doesn't work at the same place as Mar and I). One of Mar's team members saw us at lunch (Marianne, Melissa, who was just wearing a black top, and myself), and thought--

"Well, a family that Siths together, stays together." (Great pun because Melissa, Mar and I always sit together at lunch).

So we kept on Sithing together-- at midnight, Marianne, Shawn, Dan, and I all went to Media Play to pick up Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on DVD-- in full costume and with light sabers, of course, as you can see above. The question is... would we have all gone in costume to buy the dvd if it weren't Halloween? I'd say probably. Marianne was in Australia when Episode III came out in theaters so she missed our Star Wars geek fest here on opening night. This was just a little way for her to participate in some Star Wars madness.

It can't be long before a Star Wars marathon occurs now that all 6 are out on DVD... been waiting for this chance for years!

Arches

Thanks for the pics, Mike! Since my pics won't post for some odd reason, I'll just tell you all to check out Mike's fun photos, and maybe I'll add some of my own later...
So last weekend, Mike, me, Shawn, Mar, and Jesse went down to Moab to meet Jeff and his sister Megan in Arches National Park - we camped there. It was a riot! I don't know what it is about being in the outdoors... maybe the fact that we're in nature, and it brings out our 'natural' side... but we just get downright silly. Is that what nature intends?

For us, it is!

We got to the campsite late Friday - around 10:00 pm. Jeff and Megan already had a tent set up and a fire going, so we chatted for an hour or so and then hit the hay... or, some of us did. Mar and I got in our sleeping bags and listened to Mike, Jesse, Jeff and Megan's antics... something about it being embarrassing to get caught with your shutter open? And then being over-exposed? When they did get in the tent, they giggled forever. It was entertaining to listen to them. I was too tired, otherwise I might have joined!
Saturday morning, we lounged around and ate, before we decided to get going. We ended up at Devil's Garden and hiked around in that park for several hours; it was so pretty, and the experience was topped off with Mike and Shawn humming funny songs. Then we walked back to camp and rested before heading into town. We were stopped about a mile outside of town, though by... a herd of cattle. We waited for half an hour before all the cattle were out of the way! Someone said it might have been a Dude thing... people probably paid to do a cattle drive. Oooookaaayy... whatever floats your boat. Anyhow, when we finally made it into town, we got something to eat, went to the grocery store, and then the others humored me by letting me go to the cemetery to find an ancestor's grave. We made it up the canyon to see Delicate Arch (from a distance) at sunset - VERY cool. When we got back to camp, we had the ultimate campfire experience! Jeff and Megan played on a guitar and we sang songs, Mike told scary stories out of a book (the best was when he freaked Mar out), and we roasted marshmallows - among other things (Mike roasted a Twinkie. I think I prefer them raw) - and Jesse grilled burgers for dinner. YUM. After another round of giggling (it got Shawn that night) we went to bed.
Sunday we got up, packed up camp, went into town for breakfast, and headed home. It was a successfully AWESOME trip - we all had a blast! Next time, Kate, Steve, Melissa, and Dan have got to come... I promise you won't be disappointed!

Photos from Arches by Mikie

Well it looks like Mel wrote up a post on the Arches excursion last weekend (I did one on my blog as well), but has yet to add pictures to it and publish it. In the interim, here are a bunch more of mine (the ones with people in them). Look out-- this is an insane post with TONS of pictures.

Whose Idea WAS This??

Okay, I want to know whose bright idea it was to bring the dogs to family picture time! Barking, drooling, barking, more drooling, more barking, Dan with Indy over his shoulders, more barking, drooling, and then...

The stream.

Oh well - at least they had fun!

Haunted Train Ride

Want to touch my Kitty?

hahaha, so this little incident happend on the well known "Haunted Train Ride" in Heber Canyon. This lady got on after the stop at the end of the ride before we headed back. She was walking by asking if we wanted to pet her kitty. Dan was really the only one hesitant, but she forced the kitty on him! After she passed, Dan felt he was verbally molsted by the "Crazy Ol' Cat Lady". For some odd reason, Dan happened to be the one the received the most attention from, what i have been calling, the "actors".

Oktoberfest

Ahhh... Oktoberfest! I love Oktoberfest. I love the ambiance, I love the fun kiosks, I love to watch the beer drinkers...

Mike loves Oktoberfest, too.

I love the food (especially the apple streudel), I love to watch Dan strangle Kate over the food...

The best was when Dan picked up the remainer of Mar's and my steudel with his bare hands to keep Kate from eating it, and the rest of the table laughed at us! Good times, good times...

Oktoberfest pt. 2

Here's my contribution to the madness:

I love this pic: Dan is known for being incredibly anal about his hair. Because of how curly it is he always used to cut it super short and it would be perfectly parted-- not a single hair out of place. Not long ago, as his hair was reaching it's normal "need a haircut" length, one of the brothers (can't remember if it was Shawn or Steve) told him he should fro it out. So he did. And now he likes having a curly, out of control fro, he's even worn it to the office a couple times now. Anyone who knows Dan knows how radical of a change this is, heh. In any case, I'm all about frowzy hair.






Good times were had by all. And cotton candy was had by a couple of us. Mmm.... fluffy sugar.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

So, this morning I was heading downstairs to the kitchen to grab a yogurt on my way out the door when I hear this sleepy voice say to me, 'Good morning, sunshine!' I stopped in my tracks when I realized it was Shawn! He doesn't usually get out of bed before noon! He was sitting in the living room with Steve, who was tossing leather shoes at his Nintendogs.

Me: What are you doing up so early?
Shawn: Um, I don't know, I was thinking of going to see a dollar movie.
Me: At 8:30 in the morning?
Shawn: Well, I think it starts closer to 9:00.
Me: IN THE MORNING?
Shawn (after giving me a sleepy, confused look): What AM I doing up this early?

I laughed all the way to work. Thanks for the awesome send-off, Shawn!

Pooch with a Poncho

From Kato:

I know its small, but can u guys see the cute little pooch w/the poncho?! It sure put a huge grin on my face! =)

Ah, good times when Kato sends out picture mail. Gotta love camera phones-- thanks Kato!

Moto-Kato

I don't know what the deal is, but no one can seem to get Kate to learn to drive a stick-shift. I've taken her in my car before - it's been a few years, though. I don't know if no one will just take the time, if Kate's just too busy, or if she just refuses to drive one because it's a pain to learn. All I know is that I was flabbergasted when she got on Vati's old beat-up motorcycle a week ago, asked Shawn how to ride it, and... took off! She won't learn a stick-shift, but she'll hop on the motorcycle and learn right then and there how to ride it? It was hysterical, though - to watch her ride down the street with this "aaaahhhhh... aaaahhhhh....aaaahhhh" coming from her mouth, fading in an out as she rode past us.
C'mon, Kate... let me teach you how to drive a stick-shift...

Hey thanks, Buttercup.

Mar mentioned "girls night out". I therefore must mention guys night out after priesthood session.

As it was Shawn's last time for a couple years, he requested that we go to Tony Roma's for endless slab (translation: all you can eat ribs). This included dad, Uncle John, Spencer, then me, Steve, Dan, and Shawn. So that we wouldn’t have to wait forever to get seated we split into 2 groups of 4 at adjacent booths. I was at a table with Steve, Shawn, and Jesse. The fun table (because we weren’t the ones who ended up finance and investments).

I always wonder what Jesse is thinking because we’re so off the wall (especially Shawn). At one point Steve (probably quoting or referencing a movie) called Shawn “buttercup”, right as the waiter stopped at our table.

Waiter: Wait... Did you just call me buttercup? I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but not that one... I’m sorry guys I don’t swing that way.

We laughed, and as he gave the boys their drink refills and began to walk away, Steve turned and said “thanks, Buttercup!” to which he just paused... And then kept walking, hehe. He was probably trying to come up with a comeback and couldn’t, because it wasn’t until his next visit that he ventured to call Steven “pudding”.

He was a weird one. He’d say stuff and then laugh this really forced laugh. Like “wow looks like you guys might need some more wet napkins... Hahahaha!” Of course as soon as he left we’d all mock the laugh and then start laughing ourselves.

Then there’s Shawn, doing his impression of Kevin James’ impression of a bear that’s been shot with a tranquilizer dart. Every time he did it it got funnier... Maybe because the more we ate the punchier and more tired we got.

Or Shawn’s bouncing up and down in his seat (those booth benches are bouncy) singing in falsetto “we are all on drugs” (Weezer song). Or Shawn bouncing his way out off the bench so he could go use the bathroom. Shawn, we will miss you while you’re out speaking Estonian.

The service really was mediocre. The waiter only redeemed himself by being so mockable. One time I asked for a refill. A good waiter would see who’s glasses were empty and just bring refills, or at least ask if we wanted them. Not this guy. I asked for a refill and it was plainly apparent that Shawn needed one too. He brought one refill and gave it to Shawn. GAH! Yeah they laughed at me when he left, hehe.

At one point near the end someone said “could we get refills?” to which he asked “two, three?” and we replied with “four” and he says “so four all around? Hahahaha.” and walks off, like it was some hilarious idea that everyone at the table needed/wanted a refill. Man, he was either really tired or just really weird. But hey, he was fun to mock and mess with.

Healthy Diet

Mar says: mmmm
Mar says: broccoli
Mar says: that's what I'm eating for my afternoon snack
Mar says: how healthy is that?
Mikie says: not healthy at all.
Mikie says: you need to balance your diet with some twix.
Mar says: :P
Mar says: well I don't have any twix ;) 
Mar says: just broccoli
Mikie says: I've got more twix here than you should ever eat ;)
Mar says: I almost bought one of those 120-piece bags of candy at Costco
Mar says: and succeeded in stopping myself
Mar says: thanks a lot
Mar says: now my broccoli isn't so appetizing
Mar says: you've got me thinking about chocolate instead of how healthy my broccoli is for me
Mikie says: yes I'm evil ;)

You threw off my groove, man!

Or at least that’s what I’m saying until the next time I go.

I went in today to get my usual, when I hear these words I just don’t understand:

“We’re out of steak.”

What? Did he just say they’re out of steak? What good is Café Rio without steak? Oh my groove was so thrown off. I stumbled, stammered, and said “ok” when he offered grilled chicken instead. What? I don’t even like the grilled chicken at Café Rio that much. It’s not like grilled chicken at teriyaki grill or hibachi san. But at a loss I agreed and had a grilled chicken salad.

I thought to myself as I walked out the door “oh well, what I REALLY love is the tortilla with cheese melted on it. At least they weren’t out of those.” (Yeah, how would they stay in business without tortillas?)

So I got back to the office and sat down to eat with Melissa and Mar when I realized, I hadn’t stopped on my way out of Café Rio to get a fork and stuff. Gah! That’s when I realized just how off my groove the lack of steak had thrown me. I was relegated to those wimpy forks in the company kitchen area— those things are too bendy and weak to even break apart that yummy tortilla, so I ended up tearing pieces off with my fingers.

Oh man. I’m not looking forward to the rest of the day without my groove.

NintenDogs!!!

So monday Mike received the nintendo DS game called Nintendogs in the mail. I was intrigued, and to make a long story short, he later purchased a copy at Shopko for me for my birthday. There are three different versions with different breeds of dogs, i got the chihuahua version with my dog (Shep), a yorkshire terrier. The point of the game is to practically raise and train your puppy. You enter dog shows to earn money, and use that money to buy food, toys, or even another puppy. Anyway, this game is just amazing, you should have seen me and mike in the basement last night training our dogs and letting our dogs play together. I have become obsessed with this game, I take my DS to work to play with my dog and feed it. You really can't forget about it or your dog will starve, just ask Mike after having left it alone for one day.

Happy Be-lated birthday Shawn!

So, yesterday was Shawn's birthday. He's 19 (and yeah he has a mission call to serve in the Baltic mission).

Good times were had by (almost) all at Panda Express. I don't remember what fortunes everyone got in their fortune cookies but there were some good laughs. Here's one that shows just how mean we are to each other: Steve opens his fortune cookie and reads something along the lines of: "A photograph simply cannot convey your charm". Most of us burst out in merciless laughter, hehe.

Another quote you probably had to be there to appreciate fully:

"Man, I saw like 3 midgets last week. It was FREAKY!" --Shawn

Any other quotes? Fortunes?

Hope your birthday was good, Shawn!

Last wishes

"When I die, I want to be buried with my light saber." -- Shawn

Yes, apparently a light saber battle can randomly break out at 12:30 in the morning on a weekend. It's good that Shawn has his priorities straight!

Pie

So, Shawn has requested banana cream pie with his birthday dinner, it appears. Marianne and Melissa were talking about pie recipies and stuff today and I recalled the last time I ate banana cream pie, which was probably on the 4th of July at little famlily barbeque. Mom had made a couple of strawberry pies, and at Steve's request had also made a banana cream pie.

It turns out that back in the day I used to go to Frontier Pies with Jeff and Ty all the time, and our favorite I think was banana cream with strawberries. So I thought, hey-- banana cream pie, strawberry pie... if I just mix them together it's like ultimate strawberry banana cream pie, right?

So we're sitting there eating and mom let us know that we (the boys) had better eat it so it didn't go to waste. Oh, no problem, I assure you. I went for another piece of banana cream pie and hey-- at this point I couldn't eat JUST strawberry pie or JUST banana cream pie. So I went for another piece of strawberry pie and just plopped it, upside-down, on top of my banana cream pie. Melissa and Melanie's eyes just went WIDE with amazement. "You're eating 4 freakin pieces of pie?!" I think even the boys were impressed. I was legendary for a day or 2 as word spread of my amazing feat.

Looking back, 4 pieces of pie is a lot of pie, but at the time I thought it was a very minor feat. Dan said I inspired him to go for another piece and thus polish off the banana cream pie. What can I say? You never know what kind of example you're setting. Man, I'm looking forward to that pie on Sunday night for Shawn's birthday. Though who knows how well it will mix with whatever pie ends up there with it, hehe....

Zoned

Man, I hate it when mom and dad are gone. I have to keep track of everybody! Okay, not really, but - I hadn't seen Dan in three days, until last night when he came home and made a malt. What if he was dead on the street somewhere? Anyhow, I don't know what everyone's schedules are yet, and since Steve has such a crazy work schedule, I thought he worked at 10 last night, but he hadn't come upstairs; so I went downstairs and into his room, turned the light on, and woke him up:
Mel: "Steve?"
Steve: "MMPPFF?"
M: "Aren't you working tonight?"
S: " 'Time is it?"
M: "After 9:30. Don't you work at 10?"
S: "No, I'm back at the Sandy store - I don't work until 11."
M: "Oh."

Silence.

I totally zoned out - I stared at him for a minute before he says, "Uh, how about turning my light back out?"

Sorry, Steve. Still trying to get used to things!

It was when I ate them last night!

So Marianne, Melissa and I are at lunch today. Melissa brought me a few York cookies to try, since she loves them and I had asked her about them. She mentioned at some point that yesterday had been "bad food day" for her. (You know, the kind where you eat stuff you shouldn't, or at least more than you should).

As I get through with my lunch and start eating the cookies, I'm talking about how good they are when Marianne tells me that one cookie has 75 calories. (It used to always be Marianne telling us how many calories were in a given food item-- "do you KNOW how many CALORIES are in that?!" Hehe... now we've all become calorie counting pooches, and food and nutrition is a regular topic of discussion at lunch).

So on the topic of "bad" food, Melissa describes these bite-sized ice cream snacks called Dibs-- little balls of ice cream dipped in chocolate or whatever.

Melissa: Yeah, there are 380 calories in 26 pieces.

Mikie: 26 pieces is one serving?! That sounds like a lot to me.

Melissa: It WAS a lot when I ate them last night!

Haha, oh man we just started rolling, Mar had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard.

Oh man. I should really add google ads to this site with all the shameless advertising I'm already doing.

Sloan Family Mayhem

Ever say something that turned out to be really funny, or hear someone else say something classic that you want to remember?

Well, as a family we love quoting... when we watch a movie for the first time we're listening for the quotable lines and then start working on memorizing so that we can quote them back whenever an opportunity arises.

Sometimes the quotes originate from funny conversations instead of movies. We had one today and I thought "man, we just need a blog to keep track of great quotes like this." So here it is (the blog, I mean).

What better to keep for posterity than a quote journal? Hehe...