Showing posts with label Doug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doug. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
American Idol Semi Finals
I was so surprised to finally get an email telling me I could get tickets to American Idol for the show May 18th or 19th after my trip to Dancing with the Stars a few weeks ago! This time, we were able to work it out so Doug and Troy could go with me - YAY! Doug and his friend Angela flew out to Orlando and she stayed with the kids while we flew to California to see the taping.
I decided to watch the performance show and since I had just been to the studio, I knew I wanted to stay at the hotel across the street.
Doug and I flew into Long Beach and Troy worked in NYC all day and then caught a flight into Burbank to meet us. The morning of the show, I just kept an eye on the line across the street and headed out at 11 a.m. when it started to form. Troy and Doug hung out at the hotel to keep the internet access while I held our place in line. I met a woman from Fresno who grew up in Merced and when to Aunt Karen's birthday parties! Small world!!! The woman in front of me had had her hip replaced by a doctor at Grossmonte Hospital on a machine that assists during surgery. She said her scar was only about 3 inches and she recovered very quickly. I'm going to see if I can get in to see him.
When they admitted us into the lot, the had us go in groups and gave us tickets with specific seats on them. Before we went in, Doug asked me where my ideal spot would be and I said, directly behind the judges since the contestants perform to them and walk around their seats. Due to Doug's height, the people handing out tickets decided we needed to sit in an area away from the normal area so he wouldn't block the view of people behind him. After waiting on the benches until 4 p.m., we were allowed into the studio and to my surprise, we got my dream seats!!!
Doug went up on stage to dance during the preshow fun and was given dinner at Chipotle and some hot sauce made in Florida. The commercials seem so long at home, but they really need the 4+ minutes to get ready for the next song. My favorite was Haley Reinhart, with Scotty a close 2nd. His voice sounds much better live than on TV! After the show we headed to Burbank and caught a flight back to NYC and Troy headed off to work again. Doug and I flew back to Orlando exhausted but we throughly enjoyed our quick trip! Special thanks are due to Angela who made it all possible! We really enjoyed having her and Doug spend a few days visiting. I don't have my computer with the pictures, so I'll have to post them this fall when I get back to it.
I decided to watch the performance show and since I had just been to the studio, I knew I wanted to stay at the hotel across the street.
Doug and I flew into Long Beach and Troy worked in NYC all day and then caught a flight into Burbank to meet us. The morning of the show, I just kept an eye on the line across the street and headed out at 11 a.m. when it started to form. Troy and Doug hung out at the hotel to keep the internet access while I held our place in line. I met a woman from Fresno who grew up in Merced and when to Aunt Karen's birthday parties! Small world!!! The woman in front of me had had her hip replaced by a doctor at Grossmonte Hospital on a machine that assists during surgery. She said her scar was only about 3 inches and she recovered very quickly. I'm going to see if I can get in to see him.
When they admitted us into the lot, the had us go in groups and gave us tickets with specific seats on them. Before we went in, Doug asked me where my ideal spot would be and I said, directly behind the judges since the contestants perform to them and walk around their seats. Due to Doug's height, the people handing out tickets decided we needed to sit in an area away from the normal area so he wouldn't block the view of people behind him. After waiting on the benches until 4 p.m., we were allowed into the studio and to my surprise, we got my dream seats!!!
Doug went up on stage to dance during the preshow fun and was given dinner at Chipotle and some hot sauce made in Florida. The commercials seem so long at home, but they really need the 4+ minutes to get ready for the next song. My favorite was Haley Reinhart, with Scotty a close 2nd. His voice sounds much better live than on TV! After the show we headed to Burbank and caught a flight back to NYC and Troy headed off to work again. Doug and I flew back to Orlando exhausted but we throughly enjoyed our quick trip! Special thanks are due to Angela who made it all possible! We really enjoyed having her and Doug spend a few days visiting. I don't have my computer with the pictures, so I'll have to post them this fall when I get back to it.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Spring Break 2011
We decided to take a trip to Utah for the first half of our spring break and enjoyed staying with Janell and Gretchen. The kids want a dog and were thrilled with the chance to play with Gretchen and teach her to shake.
On Saturday March 26th, Jared, Tyler, Troy and I were able to see A Celebration of Cellos: My Cello Dream which Doug has been working on during the past year. We loved it! My favorite number was Bolero where 4 girls played 1 electric cello at the same time - WOW! It was a fun night and we enjoyed hearing Doug's voice over the PA system. This is an article from BYU's paper about the concert and it quotes Doug. All the hard work paid off to make a wonderful evening to a full house :)
Tuesday morning, I saw Dr. Ferney who replaced both of dad's hips hoping he could help me and take me more seriously than the last doctor I consulted. Dr. Ferney referred me to another doctor at the U of U because I'm in between the age of normal hip replacement and osteotomy. He wants me to see someone who specializes in younger adults. He did diagnose me with hip dysplasia in both hips and bursitis as well. However, he didn't want to give me an injection since I'd be traveling that evening.
Tuesday evening, we all headed back to the airport for our trip to NYC. Wednesday morning we arrived at JFK around 6 am and went to sleep while Troy went into the office for work. When we woke up, we headed into Manhattan to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The weather was chilly but dry thankfully! We brought our heavy winter coats from Utah and layered them with our lighter Florida coats to stay warm. I even wore two pairs of pants since cold bothers me so much :)
On Saturday March 26th, Jared, Tyler, Troy and I were able to see A Celebration of Cellos: My Cello Dream which Doug has been working on during the past year. We loved it! My favorite number was Bolero where 4 girls played 1 electric cello at the same time - WOW! It was a fun night and we enjoyed hearing Doug's voice over the PA system. This is an article from BYU's paper about the concert and it quotes Doug. All the hard work paid off to make a wonderful evening to a full house :)
Tuesday morning, I saw Dr. Ferney who replaced both of dad's hips hoping he could help me and take me more seriously than the last doctor I consulted. Dr. Ferney referred me to another doctor at the U of U because I'm in between the age of normal hip replacement and osteotomy. He wants me to see someone who specializes in younger adults. He did diagnose me with hip dysplasia in both hips and bursitis as well. However, he didn't want to give me an injection since I'd be traveling that evening.
Tuesday evening, we all headed back to the airport for our trip to NYC. Wednesday morning we arrived at JFK around 6 am and went to sleep while Troy went into the office for work. When we woke up, we headed into Manhattan to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The weather was chilly but dry thankfully! We brought our heavy winter coats from Utah and layered them with our lighter Florida coats to stay warm. I even wore two pairs of pants since cold bothers me so much :)
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| The kids' shot from the ferry |
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| My 1 shot of Kate sitting to the side of Jared |
While we were there, the kids found a quarter and decided to look for more lost change. This is their haul ;)
We bought a light up Statue of Liberty pen for the kids to take to school before heading over to Ellis Island. We enjoyed learning more about the history of immigration and since it was the 100 year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, they had an exhibit dedicated to those who lost their lives.
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| Katie really was with us, but I don't know where she was for most of these pictures. We were glad we travel with rolling suitcases after viewing all of these heavy trunks! |
After returning to Manhattan we took the M20 bus to 23rd Street and walked to the Doughnut Plant to try some of my favorite treats. The kids loved the Valrhona chocolate covered doughnut the best, but we tried the PB & J, a vanilla bean glazed blackberry jelly, and fresh strawberry glazed doughnut - YUMMMM! After our treat we grabbed Subway Footlongs for dinner :)
We took the E back to the AirTrain and headed to JFK to take our flight back to Florida. In the next post you'll hear the rest of the story...
Friday, March 4, 2011
Doug's Mission Call
Doug recieved his mission call on Wednesday and he is going to be serving in the Santiago North area of Chile! He'll be going into the MTC on June 29th :)
Friday, November 5, 2010
Our Scary, Wonderful Halloween Trip to Utah
The whole family ventured out to Utah for Doug's ordination and Halloween last week. The weather was chilly but nice and we loved the chance to visit some of our family out there. Our kids had the Friday before Halloween off school, so we flew out on Thursday evening and headed back on the red-eye flight Sunday night.
Our trip went smoothly until we landed in SLC around 1:30 am Eastern time. When we fly, Troy stays on the plane to clean after we land and I take the kids off by myself. After I got the kids settled, Katie wandered away from the other kids and when I came back from the bathroom we couldn't find her anywhere. I was panicking! After Troy got off the plane, I took the rest of the kids past security to the baggage claim to see if she had gone down there. Since we couldn't find her anywhere, Troy contacted security and they helped us look. No one could find a trace of her. After about 30 minutes, they went through the security camera footage and were able to track her as she walked away from her siblings and went into the middle of a crowded gate and curled up under her dad's leather jacket to sleep. She was so tired that she wasn't thinking very clearly. I'm so thankful for the technology that made finding her easier. Once we got our missing Katie, we picked up a minivan and headed to our Lindon house. It was snowing earlier in the week and I'm so glad it all melted before we got there.
We fit in a stop at the Nightmare Express, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, California Pizza Kitchen (free kids birthday meals), Tucanos (free birthday meal for Katie), and IHOP for their free scary face pancakes Friday morning. The kids had a blast decorating their pancakes with mini Oreos and candy corn.
On Friday, we got to meet Gretchen and the kids loved playing with her and taking her for a walk. Janell's Carillon bread twists and corn chowder were delicious - of course! I want to try making the bread twists myself. I couldn't eat just one... Now I'm craving them.
CARILLON BELL TOWER BREADSTICKS
24 frozen dinner rolls, thawed but still cold (Janell used her bread recipe with lecithin)
24 wooden chopsticks
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Roll out each roll about 6 inches long and then wrap around the chopsticks, leaving 2 inches at the bottom for a hand hold. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover with a light cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake twists for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. While they are baking, combine the butter and spices. Remove breadsticks from oven and brush with the butter mixture. Serve breadsticks warm. For a fun presentation, stand the breadsticks upright in a vase. Makes 24 breadsticks. — "Brigham Young University Cougars Cookbook"
The leaves were just turning colors and most hadn't fallen yet. That meant our yard work at the duplex was much less time consuming than I had anticipated. It was nice to have more free time to enjoy our favorite places in the area.
We fit in a stop at the Nightmare Express, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, California Pizza Kitchen (free kids birthday meals), Tucanos (free birthday meal for Katie), and IHOP for their free scary face pancakes Friday morning. The kids had a blast decorating their pancakes with mini Oreos and candy corn. |
| Yummy Fudge Sundaes at CPK |
I love that Utah celebrates Halloween on Saturday when the actual holiday falls on the sabbath. Unfortunately the forecast said it would rain that evening. We enjoyed a yummy dinner with Scott's family and our kids enjoyed trick or treating with their cousins (and they shared their Almond Joys with me!). The rain stopped around 7 pm so they didn't get soaked :) Thanks to Jolynne for taking them around with her kids.
Sunday included church, Doug's ordination, cards, more yummy meals, and visiting with family. I was glad that the kids were able to witness Troy ordaining Doug to become an elder. We are so proud of Doug for the choices he is making and are looking forward to hearing where he will be called to serve soon.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Doug is Here!
We used a positive space pass (that is a confirmed ticket) to fly Doug out to visit because there was no way to get in and out of SLC standby. He got here on the 13th and gets to stay until tomorrow morning. It has been fun to visit and show him around the area.
When his flight came in on Wednesday morning, I picked him up and took him to Troy's office for and early lunch. Then we came home so he could sleep for a bit. That evening we all went out to dinner at Anh Hong for Vietnamese food and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our old favorites are the spring rolls and peanut sauce as well as their pho (beef noodle soup) and bun (noodle salad). We have been visiting this restaurant for at least 10 years and love it still.
On Thursday Troy took the day off and the three of us went to Cocoa Beach while the other four were at school. The water temperature was cool but not bad at all. We enjoyed playing in the water and watching the lifeguards practice rescues. Our weather has been lovely lately and sitting under the umbrella listening to the waves was perfect! For lunch we headed back to the Simply Delicious cafe for a quick meal before heading back home to meet the kids.
That evening we celebrated all of the birthdays since we could all be together for the first time in months. Our family tradition has been to go out to dinner, but this year we decided to try a dinner show. We went to the Outta Control Magic Comedy dinner show at Wonderworks (the upside down building that you may have seen on TV) and had a fun evening with Doug and Jared chosen from the audience as participants on stage. There was another family from Utah there that night and two of them were chosen to participate as well. Small world! Jared was given a magic trick to bring home and he was so excited! The dinner included popcorn, salad, pizza, drinks, and cake. It wasn't great, but the experience was terrific. I think the salad was my favorite part of the meal. Thanks to Groupon for making the evening more affordable! We were able to buy four of the tickets for $14/each and the other three kids were able to use a coupon from Wonderworks' website.
When his flight came in on Wednesday morning, I picked him up and took him to Troy's office for and early lunch. Then we came home so he could sleep for a bit. That evening we all went out to dinner at Anh Hong for Vietnamese food and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our old favorites are the spring rolls and peanut sauce as well as their pho (beef noodle soup) and bun (noodle salad). We have been visiting this restaurant for at least 10 years and love it still.
On Thursday Troy took the day off and the three of us went to Cocoa Beach while the other four were at school. The water temperature was cool but not bad at all. We enjoyed playing in the water and watching the lifeguards practice rescues. Our weather has been lovely lately and sitting under the umbrella listening to the waves was perfect! For lunch we headed back to the Simply Delicious cafe for a quick meal before heading back home to meet the kids.
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| Inside Wonderworks looking at the ceiling |
That evening we celebrated all of the birthdays since we could all be together for the first time in months. Our family tradition has been to go out to dinner, but this year we decided to try a dinner show. We went to the Outta Control Magic Comedy dinner show at Wonderworks (the upside down building that you may have seen on TV) and had a fun evening with Doug and Jared chosen from the audience as participants on stage. There was another family from Utah there that night and two of them were chosen to participate as well. Small world! Jared was given a magic trick to bring home and he was so excited! The dinner included popcorn, salad, pizza, drinks, and cake. It wasn't great, but the experience was terrific. I think the salad was my favorite part of the meal. Thanks to Groupon for making the evening more affordable! We were able to buy four of the tickets for $14/each and the other three kids were able to use a coupon from Wonderworks' website.
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