Fourth and Fifth

Seeing as how the 4th was on the Sabbath, we did the Freedom Run on the 5th. Yesterday we did go to Carl's for some dessert and fireworks. Ivette made a beautiful frozen coconut dessert, I guess it's a Nicaraguan delight. We did all kinds of fireworks (Carl bought the big pack from Costco), but they all seem to do the same thing! Fun, but a cool night!
So this morning we ran the Freedom Run. It was weird not having Jayton there, but I did visit the bushes in his honor. I met up with Austin at the start, but never saw Carl. A couple dudes were dressed like Vikings (and later we saw some Viking girl), but they lasted about 1/2 a block and we lost them. That first mile uphill is brutal, but the heading down University Parkway is sweet. Austin stayed with me for most of the run on University Ave.but he fell behind after 3 miles. We waved at the Billings' as they screamed and yelled for us. I saw Thomas Grover on the corner of Center Street and 900 East.
Same thing, though, at the end... trying to dodge the strollers and walkers and people kinda roaming aimlessly. I thought, by the clock at the finish line, that I had really blown away last years time, but the clock was off by a whole minute! So, I was actually 8 seconds slower than last year. Oh well.
Austin came in about 1 minute after me, Carl about 14 minutes after that. Teresa and the girls got there just in time to get some photos! Classic. Anyway, it was a fun run. And of course, the post-run barfing pictures. That's Carl's running friend, Brad, but he never did vomit!

Shopping Bonanza!

As many of you may know, my wife is a Coupon Queen. Check this deal out---

15 Boxes of Fiber One for just a few dollars!
I'm in heaven.

I love my wife!

Chantel & Austin Get Married!

Last Friday Chantel and Austin got married in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Pretty interesting. Steve Ogden of Ogden Carpets performed the ceremony. Crazy. On Thursday, Austin and I started getting the church ready for the reception. Teresa and Laurie came by and started ironing table clothes.Brenda came over, too. Lots of people filtered in and helped. It was great. Andrea was cracking up as she was tying ribbons on the chairs. So, the candy bar was all set up and looking good, and Brenda had blue teeth from eating a blue raspberry ball! The place looked great.
Beth Wakefield came up with her boys (it was fun to see them again and hear Porter speaking!!!). She was the make-up queen for all the girls. Classic. We really miss having them here and missed Jayton, who was unable to get away from work. Anyway, the Snyder women all looked glamorous. After the ceremony we went out back and took a ton of photos. Jenny, Chantel's bestest girlfriend was there. We love Jenny; she is a crack up. It was pretty fun. We had to wait around for the happy couple to finish, then we met up with everyone down at Mimi's Cafe for lunch. We were all starving, so the dry burger actually tasted well.
The reception was actually really fun. The food consisted of cupcakes and candy! Teresa had lots of people make the cupcakes and they were all delicious!!! Especially the p-nut butter topped ones. Mamma Jamma! It was great to see cousins and relatives. My nephew Taylor sucked down about 100 cupcakes! But, he's a growing boy, so it's all good. We had these old doors as backdrops and Chantel even brought her bike over. It all looked real cool.
When it was time for them to skeedaddle, everyone had bubbles to blow at them as they left. Too bad their car was Seran Wrapped! They finally were able to get inside the car and were off!
We had a lot of folks stay and help clean up. It's amazing how much stuff was left! They didn't really eat any wedding cake, which was delicious, so it has been on our counter for a week. It's like eating a big Suzie Q. Ooh baby. I ate way too much. And Brad's Red Velvet cupcakes. And all the other cupcakes.It's no secret how much I love cake.I can't believe I am going to admit this, but I think I don't want cake for a while.
Anyway, I am putting some of my favorite pictures up. I love the bike pictures.
Can you believe I forgot to put an invitation up at work!? Man, what a moron. My wife asks "How come no one from work came?" Uh, hey, idiot!
So, it's a week later and we still have stuff all around the house. We need a vacation.
Chelsea, you better not be getting married anytime soon!

Cinco and Stuff

So last Monday evening I saw the Frandsen's out for a walk and gave them a shout to come on over. We sat out front in the fading sunshine and had a good chuckle. Rob Clegg came over and we started discussing what we could do for a Cinco de Mayo party. Well, we ended up having it on Cinco de Ocho. But holy cow, what delicious food! Bradley picked up some marinated meat which he threw on the grill, Rob made a boatload of beef enchilada's, and my wife made the yummiest cupcakes I have ever eaten!
The Jazz game was on, so Wes and Trent were freaking out (we could hear them downstairs). We all ate and ate and then had multiple cupcakes. I hurt bad afterward. But it was so worth it.
We played Whoonu and had a great time learning some interesting tidbits about each other, like Brad HATES crossword puzzles and Andrea hates coconut. Rob likes nail polish (odd, I know, especially when he busts out pictures of his wife's toenails all painted up).
The best part was how we all said, See, we don't need the Wakefields to have fun! But we all knew we were lying. Blimey! When are they coming back?!
Fun evening. Fat evening.
So here we are for Mother's Day. I have been cooking a hunk of meat all day and plan on getting some mashed potatoes and veggies going soon, too. My wife rocks.
My brother is 45! Wow, that's old!
Chantel is getting married this week. Good grief!
Chelsea turned 18, Abby can get her driver's permit, and Madalyn is on a softball team.
Man, I'm Old!

A Wonderful Time To Be Alive!

We live in the most wonderful time ever in the creation of the Universe. Why, you ask?! Just take a look at this picture- not only is Madalyn on the Earth, but Froot Loops now have FIBER!!! Yes! What a beautiful combination; the yummy, delicious sugarness of Froot Loops combined with the wholesome, digestive friendliness of fiber. Oh, man, God Bless America!
More reasons to rejoice in this time of creation? The Giants blanked the Dodgers 9-0.
We have had some beautiful weather the last couple days. This after a couple snow storms earlier in the week. It is so nice to be able to run outside and not be freezing. I love seeing the trees budding and popcorn on the trees (though I'm not sure if they are apricot trees). I mowed the lawn last week. Why do my cats poop out in the middle of the backyard grass? Stupid cats. Sitting outside during lunch and actually getting some real sunshine on my face. My legs are whiter than the snow on Timp, though. Don't see that changing too soon.
So my brother is stuck over in Heidelberg, Germany due to the erupting volcano. He is tiring of the German food. C'mon, schnitzel and bratwurst with potatoes!? German Chocolate Cake (how do the German's get the coconut for the frosting?)If only HE had the Fiber enriched Froot Loops he would be fine!

April Struggles

You know, April may be the toughest month of the year for me and here's why:
Growing up in Northern California, by the time April comes around we have already been hanging out at the beach, playing baseball and enjoying the green grass & flowers (well, Lance and I would go surfing year round, but still...). Here in Utah, April still means snow, cold, an occasional teasingly nice days. You just know that the real nice weather is still a ways away. And what usually happens is that one day you wake up and it's 95 degrees!
Take the storm last night, geeze, it was like a blizzard! Howling winds and blowing snow. Blimey! I could go for a nice 80 degree sunny day. I would even be happy to mow the lawn.
But, the redeeming beauty of April is baseball season has begun and the Giants are 2-0! Holy Dooley! I am so happy because it seems that basketball season never ends.
Still loving my job.
Anyone for a Tiger's Blood Snowcone?

New York

For work I was able to go to a conference in New York with Doug and Reed! We stayed at the Marriott Marquis at Time Square. We left on Sunday around 1 and arrived in Newark, NJ around 9:30. Wow, it's a different type of cold out there. We caught a cab and got to our hotel around 10:30. We hopped over to McDonald's to grab a quick bite. Man, Time Square is pretty amazing. Total sensory overload! Monday morning we went to start our conference, but whoever booked us didn't book us for Monday! So, we went for a big walkabout. Pretty fun. We took the subway to Battery Park then headed out to the Statue of Liberty. That was pretty cool. We didn't go up to the top (I think you have to book it a couple months in advance). But we did walk up inside the base. It is very cool to look all the way up the statue from the inside. We walked around outside, then got on the boat and stopped by Ellis Island.
After getting back on land we walked to Ground Zero, then around the Financial District. I took some pictures of Trinity Church- you know, National Treasure. I was already to start bashing through some walls, but decided that would be bad.
Our conference was very informative. After Tuesday's session, we changed clothes and headed out in the super cold rain to Katz's Deli. We took the subway to that, too. It's where the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed. I had the pastrami sandwich. Oh baby it was good!! It's just fun walking around the city.
Wednesday afternoon we walked up Broadway, stopped and got a picture of Rupert from the Hello Deli (You know, from David Letterman). That place is a dive! Saw Letterman's studio. We went to the Manhattan Temple and walked around inside. Amazing. And right across the street from the Juliard Music School. We walked through Central Park and then swung by Rockefeller Center. Pretty cool.
Doug and I ate at Bubba Gump's. Delicious! We also ate at Junior's. Holy cow, best French Toast I have ever eaten in my life! Even better than the French Toast in Switzerland. I stopped by the Junior's Bakery every night for a cookie. I had a black & white, just because of the Seinfeld episode. But, it was delicious!
The hotel is HUGE and the elevators are super fast. Fun stuff.
Anyway, it was a great trip and I learned a lot, too.
The Olympics have been fun. I think my favorite event is the Short Track. All of us at my house are always leaning and bobbing and making noise. And those blasted Korean's!!! Man they are good. I shouldn't be so happy when they lose, but I am.

But They're Good for my Heart!

OK, have you tried the new Chocolate Cheerios? Man, they are delicious!!! As my daughter, Chelsea, says "it's the perfect amount of chocolate... not too sweet, and made with real cocoa!"And you know me, I love to eat, and if anyone gives me crap all I have to say is "But they are good for my heart!" Delicious. You doubt? Pick some up and let me know.
Loving the Olympics, too. Short track is awesome. Not too sure how I felt about the opening ceremony. Kind of boring, and you gotta hate the cauldron malfunction. Oh well.
To my favorite nieces, hope your faces start feeling better and the swelling goes down soon. (double wisdom teeth extraction). Drugs. Use them.
Had a lovely Valentine dinner with my beautiful wife (and cute daughter, Madalyn) at NicolItalia. Yummy calzones. My wife does the 'all meat' whereas I go for the chicken, onion & peppers. Burp it all night long, oh yeah!
Loving my new job... still!

Aebleskivers

Some of the Young Women were supposed to have come over for breakfast this morning, but for whatever reason it ended up being just Chelsea. Teresa was already planning on making Aebleskivers. Even though Chelsea was the only one from her class there, it worked out great for the rest of us! Man, those things rock! A little strawberry jam with a touch of powdered sugar. Ooooh, mama! We were wondering what the word aebleskiver meant in English. My translation was "delicious, yummy round little puffs". My family disagreed. We wanted to ask T. Grove to be sure, looking forward to a gruff, loud German translation, but he didn't pick up his phone. So, I am sticking with my translation! Anyway, after inhaling about 50 of them, I am very satisfied. Geeze, Young Women, you missed out!!!

WORK- A Sweet Four-Letter Word

I have a job!!! I can't tell you how absolutely wonderful it is to go to WORK! And it is at BYU of all places; they have a hiring freeze going on. Back on December 9th I decided to apply for a rare job opening at BYU. Two days later I was contacted for an interview for the following Monday. The job is for a marketing consultant at the Print and Mail Production Center in the University Press Building. I interviewed with 5 people and left feeling OK about how it went. I was called on Wednesday for a 2nd interview for Friday. That interview was much more formal and was with one of the VP's. I left that one feeling a bit down, thinking that I should have done better. Not a good way to go into the weekend. Monday morning Ken, my former boss, called me to say that BYU had called him for a reference check. John Gerhauser called to say the same thing. Monday afternoon I was called by Doug, my new boss, to come in Tuesday morning. I got there and he offered the job to me. I got emotional right on the spot! What a HUGE blessing and relief! And I love my new job, the environment, the people are all awesome and I truly couldn't be happier! And my wife likes me again!!!
November was getting real depressing- thinking about not having a job going into the Holidays. The Wakefield's were getting ready to move and I was really struggling. The weird thing is I couldn't get into the Christmas spirit, even though, as my daughter said, "You've been listening to Christmas music since October!" I just couldn't feel it, though. I told Jayton that I would probably get a job as soon as he moved and sure enough, after packing their truck in the 9 degree weather, this all happened. (We still are having Wakefield with drawls) This was one of the weirdest Christmases ever. We did go to Carl's house for Christmas Eve and had a fun time as usual. We came home and Madalyn did a Family Home Evening lesson for us that saved my Christmas! It was a great spiritual experience.
I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning where Nephi first mentions the "tender mercies of the Lord" and also about keeping the commandments and being led to a land of promise. It was a small reminder to me that the Lord has blessed me with this job.
So, there you have it. It has been a HUGE learning experience for me and my family, and hopefully one we won't have to endure ever again. The stress of unemployment is not fun, but I learned you have to just keep plugging away day after day. It gets way depressing at times and you almost don't want to be excited about interviews because when they fall through or don't work out and your back to square one, well, the emotional roller coaster is not fun. Our hearts go out to our friends who are still looking for work. Maybe our stupid fool President and the bumbling congress should come live with a few unemployed families and see what priority healthcare or cap n' trade really are on the list when you don't have work.
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers and to those who have been so generous with their means. It has been an eye-opening experience of the goodness of my neighbors and the Christlike attitudes and love they share.
And as Peter, one of my classmates in the MBA program said, "Make sure you Pass it on".