Courtesy Notices

Well, we officially have half a landscaped yard! About 13 days ago, we got a lovely "courtesy notice" from the city that stated that we were in violation of four city ordinances - something about trash in the yard, about weeds being too high, about not having (in the front and back yards) watered, mowed and fertilized grass, and then to ice the cake, a nuisance ordinance that they kick in if you have at least one other issue!

What a crock! We placated them by putting in half a yard. They were supposed to come by and check up on us Monday. I suppose they were satisfied since we haven't received a letter yet! That's good news.

The grass was supposed to come on Saturday morning. It finally showed up at 3:30 after we had spent the day outside doing other things in the 100+ heat (hottest day of the year of course) getting all sweaty and tired. Once the grass was finally all in place Scott turned on the sprinklers and laid right down in the middle of the lawn to get cool. I stood in the spray for a bit but I really didn't want to get soaked - though it looked very relaxing!

XanGo Salt Lake - Oh, I mean "Real" Salt Lake

We like soccer! We went to a Real Salt Lake game last weekend (I wrote in an email to my family that we went to a Real soccer game and my mom wondered if that was a Real game as opposed to a not real one . . .). Linda and Dan had some tickets from family and - can you see - we are on the second row! XanGo affiliation aside, Linda wins in the good Real tickets war!

We had some interesting discussion about whether or not fans should really ever be on a first name basis with the players "that's okay Chris, you'll kick him in the shins hard enough next time that he won't have to fake it . . .". It's just weird. I understand the last name thing - "way to go Jordan" "Stockton passes to Malone". However, I guess this first name basis thing is getting more popular "Tiger was in fine form today" "Kobe goes up for a lay-up" . . . of course they have distinct names that define who they are, not just "Chris". Ah, don't we have cute friends!

It's What Fun Is

Am I too old to call up my friends and invite them to Lagoon?

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Last Sunday when I noticed in the ward program that Stake Lagoon Day was Tuesday, I was taken back to those few times as a kid that we went as a family to Stake Lagoon Day. I don't really remember a lot other than riding the Magic Carpet over and over, Mom throwing up in the garbage can from sun stroke, meeting the ward at the assigned pavilion after picking up our cooler from the car, and drinking the always present McDonalds Orange drink from the orange McD cooler.

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I decided that this was a tradition that I should revisit. We dragged Linda and Dan along and went, dark rain clouds overhead aside, and ended up having a really great time. Well, I should speak for myself - I hope they all had a great time.

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My all time favorite ride is still Jet Star II but the next contender, coming a close second, was the new ride Wicked. Looking at that initial up and down really freaked me while I was in line, and the twisting track made me sure that I'd loose my churro, but it was surprisingly smooth and really, really exhilarating! My only negative comment is that it just is too short!

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Tuesday evening while we were driving north, the rain started in earnest. We even turned back at Centerville. However, once we hit Bountiful, the rain had mostly stopped and we could see blue skys to the North. So, we turned around again and gave it a shot. I'm glad we did. We wore jackets and it was a bit chilly but it was so nice to have shorter lines and no sun to make you crazy hot!

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I am of the mind that even adults can still have fun at Lagoon but I am an advocate for their marketing department creating a special "adults only day" because wow! it was difficult to keep my patience when surrounded by all those kids!

The evil eye

I had to post this picture of Lilian and Scott. I think it pictorially represents Scott's internal view of children!
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Mary and her family were in town last week. Unfortunately, mom and dad were on a cruise the whole time they were here. I, luckily, was able to see them on Thursday night when we all gathered at Sarah's house. We were also sad to not have Jeremy who was traveling and Rachel and Spencer not there. We got Mary's five to the party but missed five too. So hard to all get together now that we are all married and starting to spread out!

Things you see in So. Cal.

My co-worker and I went to a continuing education tax conference in Southern California this past week and decided that if we were going to be there anyway, then we probably ought to also go see Wicked in Los Angeles! Wow! It was fantastic!!! I was so pleased to see the show and to top it all off, our seats were moved up and we ended up on the 6th row! Talk about great seats! The only "Broadway" shows I've seen were the traveling shows here in the Capitol Theatre. It was cool to see the show in it's home theatre because they could do more permanent, and thus cool, staging. We wandered a bit looking at the stars on the sidewalk and saw more that we didn't recognize than those that we did. I took a picture with Doris Day's for Scott - he loves her old movies.
We also drove around the Newport Beach temple and took a few pictures.
And it wouldn't be Southern California if you didn't see some wacky he/she on the corner with a pink umbrella right?

Strutt Your Mutt

We joined friends at Sugarhouse Park for the annual Strutt Your Mutt fundraiser for the organization No More Homeless Pets. We had a great time - well, I had a great time. Scott still balks a bit at the "pet people". He loves our dogs but draws the line at dressing them up and carrying them in backpacks. I think it was a great way to help to remind our pets that they are indeed pets and not people! Jake had a hard time getting used to so much craziness all around him but after a bit of time, eventually he was walking with his tail up and I think he had a good time.