Archive for August, 2007
Today I attended a luncheon held at the Governor’s Mansion in celebration of the Road Home’s purchase of the Holiday Inn. I haven’t blogged much about this, but I am on the design advisory committee for the project, where I represent the People’s Freeway Community Council. I was pretty flattered to be invited to the luncheon. And I was excited to be even with Bryan, who met the Governor recently at an event involving their company, Kairos Autonomi. 
I arrived at the mansion just before the luncheon began at 11:00. Immediately I noticed that the Governor’s name had been removed from the program, and Palmer DePaulis was in his place. It was explained later that Governor Huntsman was attending the funeral of one of the miners who was killed in the rescue attempt at Crandall Canyon Mine (good for him). I still got to meet some local politicians like Rocky Anderson and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. Many important community leaders were there as well (Gallivan, Eccles, Presiding Bishop of the LDS church, Pamela Atkinson, etc). The Road Home staff is so cool - they always recognize me and address me by name, and I was thanked by the MC during the program. Even though a lot of people were thanked, it was still pretty cool, since I was the only one at my table that was mentioned. I’m famous!
In other news, Rees received an unauthorized haircut today. I was pretty upset at first, but I’m over it now. It was a catalyst for him to receive a much-needed haircut anyway (pictures below show him with his two haircuts today). Bryan did the second haircut, and the first cutter will remain anonymous!
August 22nd, 2007
I spent a large portion of my day today at the dentist and getting our newly purchased Subaru licensed. My mom offered to watch the little ones, so we met her in the morning in Cedar Hills for the switcheroo. Rees (like his parents) enjoys singing aloud along with his favorite songs. It’s pretty cute to hear him sing all the words to a song by Green Day. However, on the drive to Thanksgiving Point today, we were listening to the radio when I heard this singing along from the back seat:
This is Budweiser!
This is beer!
Budweiser, the king is here!
This is Budweiser!
This is beer!
Hmmmm. I think he hears too much radio.
Bryan’s and my appointments were fairly uneventful. It’s a new dentist office (Lexington Heights Dental), and I think we like them better than the dentist I grew up with. We’ll probably be back.
Later, after an hour waiting at the DMV, and finally talking to an employee, I found out that there was a discrepancy in the lienholder info for the car. Actually, there is no lien on it at all, but the previous owner never had the title switched over when they paid it off, so we still had to have a “release of interest” by the lienholder on file. Bryan helped straighten it out, so with a little bit of driving around, I had it resolved. The nightmare I had envisioned at the DMV ended up not being so bad. We still have to have an emissions test before we can get our plates.
August 20th, 2007
Bryan has been super-busy with work this summer, so I offered to be in charge of planning our (fifth) wedding anniversary celebration. We have decided that in lieu of giving anniversary gifts to each other, we will just do something fun together every year. I tried to make it a surprise, but it was hard with extended family involved in my plan. And Bryan knows me pretty well, so I think he had a good idea of what was in the works.
We got packed up in the morning and headed for my grandma’s house in St. George. We arrived and chatted with my grandma a bit before my mom, dad, Kathi, and the kids (Thomas and Kayleigh) arrived. We then put our boys down for naps and took off. Thank you to the aforementioned family members for their help taking care of Rees and James for the night!
Our destination was Vegas. When we arrived, we checked into our room at the Venetian, but didn’t move anything up there. Instead we went to pick up our tickets to “O” (Cirque du Soleil) at Bellagio, and then went to dinner at Diego at MGM. Yes, it was a lot of walking. Too much walking and not enough time. Next time I will plan better.
I picked Diego because Bryan and I ate there on a whim a few years ago when we sent to see “Ka” (Cirque du Soleil) at MGM. It was right near the theatre and looked good. I have a terrible memory, but I remembered the excellent guacamole (made tableside to order) and duck empanadas. Unfortunately, the duck empanadas were not on the menu anymore. And the guacamole was not as good this time. And they seated us in a really weird spot, immediately next to another couple. The place was practically empty (it was only 5:30) but we were pretty much sharing a table with another couple who were on a date. We should have asked for a different table before we even sat down, but we wimped out, and then we just put up with it. After sitting down, it seemed pretty rude to demand a new table right in front of this couple, like we couldn’t stand to sit by them. Anyway, we got chicken empanadas for an appetizer (good), and then Bryan had fajitas with goat (meat). They were also good. I got an appetizer for my main course because I had eaten a lot already, between the empanadas, guacamole, and salsa. I got a gordita, which was a small stack of fried tortilla rounds layered with goat cheese, black beans, salsa, and guacamole. It sounds really flavorful but was surprisingly bland. It wasn’t a bad overall dining experience, but I think we are ready to move on from Diego. ‘Nuff said.
It was time for the show, but we were feeling lazy and it was really hot outside. So we ponied up some cash for the monorail to get back to the Bellagio. The monorail stops in Paris, which I had never been to before. I had a water massage while Bryan got little gifts for the boys. Then to the Bellagio, where we were seated right away. It was a good thing we picked up our tickets early because the will-call line was long. We enjoyed the pre-show entertainment - cute clowns that mess with audience members. I really liked the show, especially the “diving party” scene. The stage is convertible from a normal stage to a pool for swimmers and divers. The acrobatics were fascinating, and the cute clowns reappeared a few times for comic relief. The music was nice, and I think it was worth the money. Knowing what I know now, I’m glad we went, but I probably wouldn’t choose to see it a second time. Bryan and I agreed that “Ka” is still our favorite.
After the show, we walked outside and watched the musical fountain, pretending we were in Ocean’s Eleven (along with a half-million other people), and then tracked down our hotel room. It took us a long time, because the hotel was enormous. Our room was in the Venezia tower at the Venetian. I cannot even fathom how gigantic the Venetian is. After finally finding our room, Bryan went down for the bags and figured out how to get to and from our room more quickly. The suite was excellent - very clean, very nice quality, quiet neighbors, two huge TVs, two beds, a sitting area, huge marble shower, high quality robes. Just really great, I highly recommend it. We spent the rest of the evening… Wouldn’t you like to know!?!
August 16th, 2007
After spending last night at the Lodge, we planned to spend the day at Snowbird. Bryan took the boys down to breakfast while I got ready, and brought me back an omelette. We packed up and headed down to the fun. On our way, we were able to get up close to the two moose we had spotted from our balcony earlier in the morning. Rees played in a bouncy castle/slide (his favorite) for a bit and then Bryan took him down the alpine slide. We then left Rees to play with the family while we headed down to Salt Lake (with Jamie) to take care of a quick errand… buying a car.
We had already settled on a black 2000 Subaru Outback sedan, which we purchased from a fellow in Murray. We delivered the check today and took the car home. It’s not registered yet so it will be in our driveway until we can get the paperwork straightened out. It should be a good car - our mechanic looked it over, it’s within our budget, and we’re only the second owners, so we feel good about it.
Then it was back up to Snowbird for more fun. We did the slide a few more times, the zipline, the bull, and the bungee-trampoline thingies. My dad did the bungee with Thomas and Kayleigh, and all three of them did flips! Kayleigh struggled to get the right leverage, but when she figured it out, she nailed it. And luckily Bryan captured my dad’s flips on camera. Then the three sisters-in-law (Kathi, Sarah, and I) did the bungees together. Kathi and I did double-flips! We rock! Bryan got some cool pictures of us too. After jumping, we took the tram up top to see the view. My dad, Kathi, Kayleigh, and Thomas chose to hike down, while the rest of us took the tram back. Then it was back home to rest before we take off to St. George tomorrow.
August 15th, 2007
Today is Bryan’s and my fifth wedding anniversary. Bryan would say it feels like much longer. And then I would punch him. Lovingly. Really, the last five years have been fun, exciting, encouraging, sometimes scary, and only occasionally irritating. We are super blessed to have two healthy kids, a nice house that fits us, reliable cars, great family, and great friends. I wouldn’t change a thing. Bryan is supportive, helpful, loyal, usually happy, and always inspires me to be a better person. He’s an awesome, hands-on daddy. We have never had a real fight (I would like to keep it that way, but let’s be honest, it will probably happen). Love you buddy (talking to Bry there).
With Kathi & kids (Thomas & Kayleigh) in town, my dad reserved a condo tonight at Snowbird for some Hansen family bonding. We are celebrating our anniversary late (August 16) with a little trip to Vegas, so we were available for this party. We arrived after Bryan was done with work, had some hamburgers for dinner with everyone, and then headed down to the pool (pictures below). It was late, but the pool was heated and it felt great. After swimming, Michael, Sarah, and Ally arrived, and we had some dessert (I made cheesecake brownies) and hung out for a while. Games were played. I stayed up until midnight finishing my work and then off to bed.
August 14th, 2007
