Pinewood Girl-by

This week has been one crazy week!!! Wow, we have hardly have time to sleep. The last of our adventures this week was supporting the YM/YW in the ward with a pinewood derby and bake sale. Our brownies went for 25 bucks...and no they were not Mom's microwave ones. The fun part was that Hallie got to race her very own car. Tobin stayed up way to late carving and sanding it, and Hallie and I had a blast painting and decorating it to her very pink standards. She won no races....but claims her car is super fast. She also has the cutest most blinged out car, so she is the WINNER.

Blessing

Hello,

We finally took some pictures of Adelaide in her dress. I will email out to those who are interested what was said in her blessing.

On a side note, just because I am thinking about it right now. Tobin's graduation is May 9th, for anyone who is interested in coming out.

The Upcoming Golf Season

The video speaks for itself.

Grandpa Rich

I've been thinking a lot about Papa lately--maybe because we recently got to spend time with George and Tom, and I am just always blown away at the awesomeness of the Rich family. When I think about Papa, the first things that come to mind for me are:

1. Pancakes of all different shapes and sizes. Dogs, airplanes, snowmen, and of course "basketballs" (I can't believe he fooled me with that trick).

2. His barbecued pot roast in the dining room on Berkeley Street.

3. Going for walks around the block in Salt Lake with Papa and Burt the dog after dinner.

4. His joke about the statue of Brigham Young in downtown Salt Lake: Facing the (Zion's) bank with his hand out, while his back was to the temple. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.

What do you think of first when you think about Papa? (You can chime in too, Tom!)

New posts

I just wanted to let you know that B has posted about 10 things in the past week on our family blog. We often post similar posts here--and we still may--but for the moment, there are too many to pick from.

One of Scott's companions opens a restaurant

I do not share Scott's fear of pee, but I still wouldn't eat at these places.

It's not me, I swear!

I don't even live in Oregon anymore!

My first car was a 1992 green ford escort.

Mildly Interesting Facts

Lead article in today's Herald Journal:

"Money" Magazine has rated Logan, UT the third best city in the country to live. Criteria included proximity to a major metro area (SLC), positive population growth, median housing below $350,000 (Logan is $205,000), cost of living no more than 20% above the national average, a healthy economy (Logan's unemployment rate is below 3%), a major college or university and plentiful arts, recreation and culture.

#1 - Coeur d' Alene, ID

#2 - Charlottesvile, VA

snow day

And we thought we had moved to South to be WARM...nope. We enjoy icy snow and doors frozen shut. Maybe we are really still back in Colorado...oh, wait, it is 72 degrees there today.

Easter Traditions?

Beatta informed me last night that our family (meaning you all) is the most boring holiday family in the whole wide world when it comes to Easter. I concur.

Mom, Dad--shame on you for instilling in us a complete lack of celebratory traditions for Easter.

But has this persisted? Do any of you (meaning Alison & Tobin, Ryan & April) do much for Easter now that you've escaped the un-fun iron claw of Fairway Drive? Do you have any suggestions for new traditions?

For my part, I'm thinking of making our kids dress up in bunny costumes like Ralphie in the Christmas Story for church. But I'm open to other suggestions, too.

Atlas Shrugged

From Marginal Revolution today:

Counter-cyclical asset of the day: Atlas Shrugged

Sales of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” have almost tripled over the first seven weeks of this year compared with sales for the same period in 2008. This continues a strong trend after bookstore sales reached an all-time annual high in 2008 of about 200,000 copies sold.

Hat tip to Newmark's Door.

Ahh...feel the goodness just filling the room.

The Truth about the Jazz

Ouch

Automotive exploits update

You'd be surprised how difficult it is to buy a quality car for $500. Or not.

Anyway, I bought a 1990 Acura Integra with a 1994 Honda Civic motor. It does not run, but I have high hopes that it might again. I am trying to learn to work on cars, and there are a couple of really great mechanics in the ward. I think that we can get the car running and I can use it for a rallycross car. Or sell it to someone I hate. Bhwuh-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Man crush update

Almost by definition, crushes are transitory and the list needs to be updated frequently.

The past list is full of long-term crushes. Here are some more recent, embarrassing, and probably short-term man-crushes:

Vladimir Kramnik

Matt Kenseth

Josh Turner
Man, I've been in the South too long.

Michael Kitchen OK, maybe it's actually Milner. or Sam.

Chuck

Can you have a man crush on a female? I say yes--if the thought of being in their presence makes your throat tighten up and heart pound for non-amorous reasons.

Alison Krauss

Christina Romer

Take a close look...

...at the picture you see below. Zoom in, if you have to. Do you know what it means?

It means that BYU has blocked my website. Some friends of mine at BYU tried to look at my site this morning, and discovered that I have been banned.

Mom, Dad, Ryan, Alison--I have honestly never been so proud of anything in my entire life. I think I'd be okay with dying now. There's nowhere to go from here but down.

family stuff

I have been thinking about things I remember growing up. Here are a few...
The Kitchen Kitchen Kitchen Kitchen wall paper.
Dad latch hooking
The Nome Mobile -I had to look it up to prove to people this movie exists. You can netflix it.
(Vintage Disneyana about two children and their uncle who discover a couple of wayward gnomes in the forest. Intent on protecting the "little people" from an opportunistic freak-show entrepreneur and a group of shady land developers, the threesome have their hands full -- especially when the uncle is thrown into a mental institution for … seeing gnomes! Stars Walter Brennan, Ed Wynn, Richard Deacon, Jerome Cowan and Karen Dotrice.)
The Red and White checkered high chair.
Brian Phillips shooting milk out his nose.
Chucking wood into the wood room and talking the neighbors into helping...it is SO fun after all.
What are things you remember?

Here are a couple more pictures of cute grandchildren! Somehow we missed getting a picture of Salla - she was happy riding in the stroller that day.

Grandma visits

It's been a great month for Grandma Boz! First, we went to see Scott, Beatta, Henkka, and Salla. This picture was taken at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.
I was able to be at Ian's house for his fourth birthday. It was a fun party!
I had a wonderful time with Alison, Tobin, Hallie, and Adelaide. The last day we were there the weather was finally warm and we took the paddle boat to Portsmouth, ate at Lobscousers, and took some pictures at the waterfront.

IN & OUT IN UTAH!

There was a lengthy segment on KSL news last night about the excitement generated over the announcement of a new In & Out Burger to be built this spring in Draper. City Councilmen and folks on the street were over-the-top ecstatic, claiming everything from financial security for the City of Draper to FINALLY being able to get a decent burger.

Just one more reason to live in Utah, or close to it, or come to visit.

Family Time!

In the last two months we were blessed to see more family than we have seen in the last two years. Obviously on our trip to the East, we saw all of Scott's siblings and their families, but that was just the start. In early January we got to meet up with Scott's uncle George and his family for lunch in San Pedro while they were visiting here from Virginia. (Unfortunately I have no pictures from that event).

A little after that Grandma and Papa were kind enough to drive down from Idaho for a weekend and spend some quality time with us. Our main activity was the Aquarium of the Pacific, which we enjoyed tremendously, even if Papu got bit by one of the Lorikeets. Papu had a major melt down over it, despite our best efforts to convince him that it was a kiss. Our favorite was, again, the Shark touch pool.Then we had a holiday on a Monday. We had a great time going to the beach to see tide pools with our might-as-well-call-them-family, the Burbanks, who we'll miss dearly after Jarom graduates from dental school at USC and they move away this summer.
Last week we had our latest mini-reunion with relatives, as we got to reconnect with Scott's uncle Tom, who was here from Boston on business. We went to dinner at Ruby's, and we wished we'd had more time to talk! I felt bad that kids were taking most of my attention, but I was glad to let Scott chat Tom's ear off. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera again, so the one on the phone had to suffice.)