Weekend report

This weekend I saw the movie "Man of the Year." It was a really interesting look at a our political system. Robin Williams plays a John Stewart type comedian who ends up as a presidential candidate. The preview makes this movie look like just a comedy but it has a serious side. It has an interesting, if slightly implausible, conspiracy theory. Anyway, it was worth going to see in the movie theater. I stayed out a little too late considering I had to work on Saturday morning.
I attended Stake Conference on Sunday. It was wonderful. It was sort of a regional stake conference. All Davis County residents were invited. I went to a stake center in Fruit Heights to watch it on the Satellite. Elder Bateman, Pres. Packer, and Pres. Monson spoke. It was two hours of spiritual food. I ended up taking three pages of notes. On Sunday night, Jen, John, and darling Lauren came for dinner. Lauren hadn't had a decent nap and was a little grumpy. We had a wonderful dinner, thanks to Mom and Dad. Dad and I took some cute pictures of Lauren before she became too grumpy. (I put some of mine on the family flickr sight.) It was a fun night. Lauren especially responded to her Grandma tickling her and playing with her feet.

The Luau

In my annoyance over the my last blog, I forgot to write about the Luau on Saturday night. After work I went home and relaxed a little. Then I went to a Luau sponsered by the Bair Canyon Branch. It was a lot of fun. The food was good, the professional dancers were amazing, the canoe races were exciting, and the limbo was a sight to behold.
I was out of the limbo contest by the second round. The finalists were one girl and two boys (pictures of all three are included.) It was amazing to see them move their bodies to get under that (eventual) three foot pole. The professional dance troop had a couple of the Branch members dance with them. Yes, it was an excellent time.

Over a week

Well, it has been over a week since I have posted. I guess that is what happens when your life gets busy. During the week, I went to school and work. On Thursday I raced from work up to Ogden to see Tricia's reception. She and Kim looked so happy and I wish them all the best. I got there in time to hug her, eat a piece of cake, and see them off although I still have their gift in my bedroom. On Friday, I went to dinner with Ryan and then to Barnes and Noble. There was an author and illustrator signing books. I bought a copy of their book and had it signed and the illustrator drew a caricature of me in the front. It was really cool. If any of you want to know, the book is May I have the first dance? by Sonja and Paul Linsley. They are a mother/son team. Ryan and I decided to make it an early night so I stopped by Albertsons to pick up some cough drops. While checking out, a guy from my high school days stopped me. It is strange how eight years can changed people. We looked familiar to each other but it took us a minute to figure out where we knew each other from. Jon and I ended up talking to each other for a half an hour in the parking lot.
On Saturday Mom, Dad, and I went to lunch with Josh and Brooke. Brooke and the baby are feeling well. It was nice to see them (and Josh.) Afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble where Brooke and Mom bought a copy of May I have the first dance? and had it signed by the author/illustrator.

Sunday was a busy day. Church was interesting. Because of a directive by the Stake Presidency, young single adults of the Stake are now having their records automatically transfered to the singles ward. Because of this, there were three times the normal amount of people at church on Sunday. Sunday school was combined and taught by the Branch President. It was strange to see so many new faces. Hmm, new dating material. Oh wait, I mean new people to befriend. After church I went to a get together of the Laser/Reid clans to celebrate the blessing of Keaton. It was nice to see everyone and I got some good pictures of Haley, Stefanie, and Maureen Laser holding babies. After leaving there, I went to Lisa and Andy's house to celebrate the blessing of their twins. Braden and Ellie are darling and it was nice to see friends that I haven't seen for a while. Jacqueline is as funny as ever and I had a really interesting conversation with Suzy about mutual friends and how complicated our lives are. I hope to get together with some of them this weekend. Afterwards, I finally went home and got to talk to my parents for a little while.
On Monday, I went to school as usual. In Literary Criticism, we are reading The Merchant of Venice. In Victorian Lit, the class discussed the grumpiest critic ever: Ruskin, and Saint Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas were the topic of discussion in the History of Christianity. After class, I went up to the student union to see a Jeopardy challenge between the Social Science teacher and students. The teachers won even after a huge deduction on one daily double challenge. From school, I went straight to work where it was a usual Monday. Sometimes we were running around, then a few moments of calm would desend. Tonight I am babysitting Lauren while Mom, Dad, Jen, and John go to a play. I haven't spent quality time with Lauren for at least a week so I am looking forward to it.

A family weekend

This weekend seems to have been all about family. While I still have a cough and some sniffles, I am finally over my cold. On Friday I missed my first two classes because I accidentally set my alarm for 7 pm instead of 7 am. It was especially annoying because I had done all my reading as was prepared for all my classes. In my History of Christianity class we started talking about Charlemagne and converting by the sword. In the afternoon I went to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy of The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. After being given another raincheck by a friend, I decided to go to dinner with my parents, John, Jen, and Lauren. We ended up at Ruth's diner up in the canyon. My pasta was excellent although I started eating a little later than everyone else because I was holding Lauren. She was getting fussy because she was so tired. We walked around and I sang to her. Sometimes it is hard being a baby. We got dessert to go and went home. I ended up watching some episodes of Scrubs and crocheting.
On Saturday, I was awakened by my mother asking if I had turned off my alarm. I was very confused because I hadn't set my alarm. It turns out that Alison, Mom, and Dad had heard an alarm and assumed that it was mine. Not so; it was the alarm on Alison's phone. Oh well, such is life. I watched both morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference (for any people who are not of my faith, see the link to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more info.) Alison, Mom, and I watched part of Emma while the boys were at the Priesthood session from 6 to 8pm. We then ordered pizza and ended up talking for a while. Josh and Brooke showed up and let us see their ultrasound pictures. If the pictures and technician are correct, they are having a boy. I admit to hoping for a girl, but I am so excited for them and our whole family. There may be some issues with the baby, but I won't discuss them right now. Jeremy called to say that Sid had been to the emergency room. Apparently she had an allergic reaction to a cashew. He tried calling us but, because of a mix up of phone lines on Main Street, we never got the phone call. She is fine but is allergic to tree nuts, including but not limited to cashews, walnuts, almonds, pecans, pine nuts, etc. She doesn't appear to be allergic to peanuts though.
This morning, Sunday, I was awakened to Sidney climbing on my bed. She told me about throwing up the day before and that she might get to go to the zoo today. I got up and had breakfast with Mom, Dad, Jen, John, Lauren, Jeremy, Brit, Sid, Wyatt, and Brooke. It was nice although I wish I could have looked a little better. Hopefully no one got a picture of me. I didn't hear as much of the morning session as I would have liked, but heard a lot more of the afternoon session. I found Pres. Hinkley's brief talk very moving. It seemed like a goodbye speak, as though he is trying to prepare the Saints for his eventual death. It gave me pause. Lunch was a pork roast with a new sauce made with pumpkin seeds. I love it when mom tries new recipes. I always enjoy trying something new, even if it doesn't become one of my favorites. Sid helped Mom make dessert, which included her licking the spoon. (Very cute!) I got some cute pictures of the nieces and nephew. One picture includes John and Jen reading to Lauren. Now I have to think about doing some homework so I will end this post. If any of you family members want to see other pictures that I took, I put them on flickr.

Library opening and "Captain Cookie"

Saturday was the opening celebration of the Kaysville library. After months of work, the re-opening finally happened. Even though I don't work there anymore, the powers that be asked me to work and help out. Bright and early, at 6am, I was at the library. First, blowing up helium balloons, then doing a little cleaning. I think some of us librarians killed a few brain cells blowing up hundreds of balloons (I even included a picture of one). At 8:30 the opening ceremony was presided over by Pete and the mayor of Kaysville, Neka Roundy. Commissioner Page made a speech about libraries and the importance of them. The general theme was welcoming the Kaysville people into the fold of the Davis County System. Sadly, not many patrons were there. I think it was because it was so early. Kim gave in and got a Davis County card. Nikki helped her (it was like old times). It is always nice to see people I used to work with. I helped greet old Kaysville patrons until I was summoned to the snack table outside. Sitting there, serving cookies, I became bored and started to think about how tired I was after only getting a few hours of sleep. Luckily, Erika and another county employee came over and visited with me until I left at 1:30pm. Since mom and dad had gone up to see Grandma R in Idaho, I decided to take a nap when I got home.
Two hours later, I awoke and called Ryan. We met in Salt Lake and ate at a new restaurant, Fostinos. After going to Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite places on earth, we went to Mikeys. We all hung around and talked. A group broke off to watch "V for Vendetta" in the family room. Big Kyle, Kyle F, Ryan, and I made cookies. It was a lot of fun watching these manly men carefully stir and measure. They, the cookies, turned out pretty well. I think that Big Kyle should be known as "Captain Cookie" from now on. I even managed a salute and a hug at the end of the night.
Church was nice today. After a lesson on family in Relief Society, Char gave a good lesson on keeping the Sabbath day holy in Sunday School. I have the say that the highlight of church was sacrament meeting. Jen gave a great talk on bearing each others burdens. She related a story about when her mother helped an older couple in an airport. By the end of the story, I found myself getting a little misty. I would just hope that someone would help my grandparents if they ever needed help.

Continue

After work on Thursday I went to see my sister and her darling daughter. Lauren is adorable although slightly grumpy at times. Jen and John let me play with Lauren alone while they went to a wedding reception (from which they brought me chocolate.) Lauren liked some of the singing that I did. She did not like me reading to her from my book though. It seems that books without pictures do not interest her. Oh well, maybe in the future. I slept the night on the couch and had more fun the next morning. This includes making a cute video of Lauren with my new camera. The future movie star smiled, cooed, and blew bubbles at the camera. If I had the slightest idea how to load a video (and had her parents permission), I would put it on the blog. At 6:30 on Friday I left Salt Lake to have dinner with my best friend, Ryan. Afterwards, he wanted to go clubbing but I declined since I hate crowded, loud, smoke-filled places. We parted ways am I ended up renting a video and going home. On Saturday I was awakened by my oldest niece and her friend jumping on me and screaming at the top of their lungs. Grrr! Jess was a grumpy girl for a whole ten minutes. After breakfast my mood improved. Later that day, everyone met at Jeremy's house to celebrate Sid's birthday. Fun followed. After leaving the party, Jordan, Alison, Josh, Brooke, Marnie, and I ventured to Salt Lake where they attended the ReAL game (that's our local soccer team.) I took care of J and A's little boy, Isaac. After hanging out on a shady patch of grass, we ended up at Barnes and Noble. I took a picture of Isaac's hand and foot. I was elated to find that my new camera takes some great up-close shots. Later we went to see Jen, John, and Lauren. from the Fellowship Committee (which means I provided after-church meals so that bunch of singles can mingle) and was asked to be Branch Historian. I'm not sure what that entales, but am excited for the chance to do something new. I finished the books I was reading, "Princess Academy," by Shannon Hale.When the soccer game ended, I was there to pick up the group. On Sunday I was released from my calling It was a charming book for older kids.