California Part 1

Early in the morning (like 6:30 am) on July 27th we went to pick up Emma from EFY at BYU. (Her Especially For Youth experience will eventually have it's own entry but I need to get a bunch of pictures off of Emma's phone before I can blog about it.) 

This had been her home away from home for the past week.

It wasn't ideal to leave for California just hours after picking Emma up but Paul had work in California and this was our only chance at some sort of vacation. Paul wanted to hit the road by noon. I'm not sure why but he was determined. Poor Emma was so tired. She missed her home and her bed but we rushed her through packing and we were off. (It was not that smooth. There were tears. It was hard on her but we managed.)

We made it to Beaver without incident. We made a quick stop in St. George and then headed to Las Vegas for the night. On our to do list was Serendipity 3 to see the fish tank that they Tanked guys installed. We were very disappointed to find that the fish had been dying in the heat so it had been removed.

We decided while we were there we would get a frozen hot chocolate. It was delicious but not as fun as having one in New York. The presentation lacking.

We of course had to stop by the Bellagio conservatory. On a side note, being in Vegas on a Saturday night with kids was...interesting. They were shocked at all the body parts on display. We are so sheltered here in Utah. They had never seen such short dresses or so much cleavage in their lives.

The next morning we woke and leisurely got ready before heading to California. We didn't take into consideration that there would be a lot of people heading back to LA from Vegas on a Sunday. Add in some flash floods near Primm and you have for a very slow drive. Paul was about to lose it. We waited a couple of hours in Primm for the traffic to clear and then hit the road again. Smooth sailing from then on, mostly. 

 We made it back to our home state. It was so nice being back. It looks like we were planning staying for good the way we packed doesn't it. It was SOOO embarrassing getting all of our stuff into our hotel. I felt like the Beverly Hillbilly's.

Paul didn't have meetings until Tuesday so on Monday we decided to take the kids to Hollywood. I don't think it was what they were expecting but they had fun.

We were actually stopped on the sidewalk and asked to be part of an interview segment that would air on Jimmy Kimmel that night. The kids really wanted us to participate so we did. Thankfully our footage never made it to the air. They asked us a very personal question that was in relation to the Weiner scandal. So embarrassing. 

Hollywood!

We headed to The Grove for some shopping and dinner at the Farmer's Market.

Emma is too old for American Girl but since she has been to the stores in New York and Chicago we wanted to go in here too. She was a great sport.

I fell in love with Dylan's Candy bar and their freakishly tall toilet in New York. I was excited to see one in California. We got some unique flavored gummy bears (pineapple was quite awesome) and unique flavored chocolate bars. Bacon chocolate is NOT good. Just so you know. Such a fun and happy looking place!

Can you spot Emma in the Barnes and Noble?

Grandpa Bruce calls Emma Snicklefritz, sometimes. It has been shortened by Paul to Fritzi. When we saw Fritzi Dog at the Farmer's Market he got all excited and made her take a picture next to the sign.

Later we ordered some Fritzi fries (she is now Fritzi fries for those that care) with a garlic dipping sauce that was amazing! 

From there we headed to the LA temple. Paul was amazed at all the changes they had made in the Visitors Center since he was a missionary 20 years ago. He also ran into a friend from his mission! Crazy. He had a lot of fun catching up while the kids and I played with all the interactive displays.

They have these displays with the Book of Mormon in all the different languages. The senior missionary had the kids back up to the display and blindly pick the book that felt right to them. He told the kids that is where they would serve their missions ;) Not an exact science but a fun experience.

Andrew predicted he would serve in the Philippines. This cute sister is here in the states from the Philippines so she was pretty happy when he pulled that Book of Mormon.

Emma predicted Korea. I think she was shocked. She's actually hoping to go Spanish speaking.

Of course they had to go through every book until they found the one from Mongolia where their grandparents are currently serving. Andrew found it, not Emma. 

After some time playing at the temple we headed to Santa Monica to watch the sun set. 

The next morning we knew Paul would be working most of the day. We slept in but got up in enough time to get food from the hotel breakfast. We ate breakfast then played in the pool for over an hour. We had the whole pool to ourselves. It was so nice. 

After swimming we got ready for the day, went to lunch and caught a movie. We saw Despicable Me 2. Cute movie! For a while we thought we were going to the only ones in the theater but eventually it filled up. After the movie we went and did some back to school shopping. 

Paul got home pretty late that night so we didn't get to do anything else but it was a nice relaxing day.

More to come soon...

All in the Name of Science - Lindt Chocolate Experiment

As I mentioned back in my birthday post my darling friend snuck a bar of Lindt sea salt chocolate into my mailbox for my birthday. I had never really stepped outside of my milk chocolate box. I was excited to taste it even though I knew I didn't like dark chocolate. Well she created a monster. It was so enjoyable! And different. There was a whole new chocolate world that had just opened up to me. I had to try more. Luckily our grocery store was having a sale. 

These were the first four bars that I picked up. The kids and I had a taste testing party while Paul mowed the law. Sea Salt was still my favorite. I love when you get a salty burst in your mouth. If they made milk chocolate with sea salt I might just die of pleasure. Black Currant was fun. I named it my second favorite. It had a very pleasant sweet fruity flavor that went well with the slightly bitter dark chocolate. Intense orange reminded me of the chocolate oranges we get around Christmas but I have to say I prefer the milk chocolate Christmas oranges to the dark chocolate orange bar. The Chili wasn't bad but it wasn't a favorite. It wasn't too spicy which was nice. It was fun to try but I doubt I will buy it again.

The chocolate was still on sale the next time I went to the store. Of course I got more Sea Salt and while I was at it picked up the Roasted Almond and Intense Mint. I loved the almond. It was such a yummy blend of flavors. Emma loved the mint. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious but since she liked it so much more than the almond I let her have it while I ate the others. (To be clear the entire bar is NOT eaten all at once. This is such rich chocolate it is hard to eat more than a few squares at a time.)

I was at Wal Mart looking for a specific candy for family home evening last week and saw that they carried new flavors that my regular grocery store did not carry. In the name of science I just HAD to buy them. 

Passion Fruit was good. I'd buy it again but I don't imagine I'll crave it like I do the Sea Salt. Emma didn't love it. I think there is still some left so that tells you something right there. 

Caramel was really enjoyable. There were crispy chips of caramel AND bits of sea salt all in one bar. Holy moly. I will totally buy that one again.

As great as it was NOTHING could compare to the coconut. Emma and were literally fighting over it. It was gone in no time. We both loved it. We want more. Unfortunately we don't get to Wal Mart as often as the grocery store. Now that I type that I'm thinking maybe it's good thing. I've really been packing on the pounds this year with all the stress so the harder it is to get sweets the better. 

Can you think of a better summer experiment? I can't. I've had so much fun experiencing the different flavors of chocolate and bonding with Emma while doing it. I think there are still some more flavors to try. I'll have to keep you posted ; )

A New Favorite

On Memorial Day weekend we tried Sean's and fell in love. It's our new favorite BBQ place. I wouldn't mind some smoked turkey tonight, but that's not happening. Too bad. It's good stuff! 

American Fork Canyon

Paul has been serving with the YM/Priest for a year now. Last year, right after he was called, there was a Priest/Laurel activity up in the canyon. (That is all the boys and girls ages 16-18 and their leaders) They were suppose to roast hot dogs, make s'mores and play werewolves. The boys were in charge of this activity. It just so happened that the boys brought hot dogs and buns. I think that was it. Wait, I think they had marshmallows and stuff for s'mores but I don't know for sure since I wasn't there. I do know there were no plates. I don't think there were any condiments or anything else. They've been teased about it for the last year. 

They have been planning to go WAY over the top this year to make up for the last fiasco. I was asked to help with table decor. Of course I was excited to. I love working with the youth, I love the canyon and I love planning stuff like this. When Brant's wife (he's the young men's president) went into labor five weeks early I was suddenly in charge of getting everything for the night. I tried to think of every possible need. 

We had blankets, bug spray, candles, flowers, food, condiments, cutting boards, knives, towels, paper towels, plates, utensils, napkins, chips, watermelon and dessert. We had plenty of dinner food but we could have had more chips and chocolate but it was much better than the year before!

Paul, Andrew and I went up into the canyon early and secured a good spot. (Emma had her own activity so she wasn't with us.) Paul left Andrew and I behind so he could go back to the church to pick up some of the kids. Andrew and I set up the food and the tables but it was incredibly windy so we couldn't have the table places set like we had hoped. When everyone arrived they were surprised to see us there and to see everything all set up.

The Spread

One thing we weren't in charge of was the fire. We didn't bring any wood with us. We had matches but that was it. Paul and Andrew tried getting the fire started before Paul left so Andrew could eat but it never got going enough to cook on, until I took charge. After Paul left Andrew was starving and I needed to feed my baby. I got the fire going enough to roast him a weenie. Paul was very impressed that we had fire when he came back with a car load of kids.

My Fire-It may be small but it worked.

My Happy Son

The table decor

The Leaders and some of the Youth

It was a great night. We ate well, played werewolves and had a blast. I think it's time we go back into the canyon again.