"A Stormy Night in Hollywood"

Amanda and Chris attended a Spring Formal Dance and looked rather stunning. Amanda said that she had an amazing time. I loved the pictures and wanted to share them with all...

Ready, Set, Action

New outfit, new hair do, now McKenzie is ready for her big audition. There are two casting agencies in town that are going to audition McKenzie tonight. She saw the advertisement on the Nickelodeon TV show, so we called and her big "break" is tonight. We've informed McKenzie that it could be a "Scam" or it could be like American Idol where a million people show up and only one person gets the spot. Either way, she can enjoy the experience. She sure looks cute though...

Easter at the Hampton!

We decided it would be so much fun to surprise McKenzie with a fun Easter this year. First, I took her on an Easter Egg hunt at Kearns High School. Then, we went to IHOP for breakfast. After taking her to see Hannah Montana at the theater, I told her that I needed to drop some stuff off at the Hampton just for a minute.

We went in and I told McKenzie that since we were there, we ought to see the swimming pool and just take a look a one of the rooms in case someone came into town that we needed to have stay in a hotel (maybe for my work). Well, since Scot and I had made reservations already, and the paperwork that I was really dropping off was the hotel reservation confirmation, I was given my specific room key.
Kenzie and I went to check out the pool and hot tub, saw that very nice queen suite and thought it was nice. We noticed a bag of popcorn on the bar, so I told her we cold pop and stay just long enough to eat the popcorn and watch t.v. for a minute, but then we had better go, or they'd come looking for us - since we were "just checking out the space." Well, McKenzie didn't want to leave. She came up with the idea of using the key to hop from one room to another so they couldn't catch us. I informed her that the key only worked for that room. I finally told her that if she promised to stay put, I'd go down and talk to the front desk and see if we could hang out for a while. Then I went to the car and got all of our stuff... when I returned with it all, she was blown away. She then proceeded to ask if we could go swimming - which we did.


We had quite a bit of fun, but we never thought about how hard it would be for an eight year old to fall asleep in a hotel when expecting the Easter Bunny to come at any moment. McKenzie stayed awake until about 10:45 p.m., and then chose to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to ask Mom about if the Easter Bunny came. After talking for a half hour, and finding that there was no more sleep for the weary, Mom let McKenzie wake up Dad and look around for the hidden eggs and whatever else he might have brought.
Afterwards, Mom took McKenzie back to the swimming pool (4:30 a.m. - thank goodness for a 24 hr pool) so Dad could keep sleeping. We swam until 6:00 a.m., had breakfast and Mom swapped places with Dad at 8:00 a.m. so she could take a nap. McKenzie was still going strong. By 9:30 a.m., everyone was back down at the pool, Dad soaking in the hot tub, McKenzie swimming in the pool, and Mom catching up on a good book. Happy Easter!!!

Amanda & Her Boyfriend, Chris

I know that everybody has been anxious to meet Chris, and with good reason, he is quite nice. Here is a picture of Amanda and Chris together taken at a Museum. Chris told me that he got in some trouble because the glasses he has placed upon his face are approximately 300 years old and the museum didn't think it was humorous that he wore them. It did make for a cute picture though....

Shopping for McKenzie's 1st Communion Dress

I promised McKenzie that after all of her hard work and diligence (going to classes for several years, having to watch Mommy & Daddy receive Communion while she received a Blessing, etc.) that we would get her a dress that would make her look like a princess. Little did I know that around Easter, this was not going to be the easiest task. Who knew that little LDS girls would want a full white princess dress too? I called many stores ahead of time to ensure that McKenzie wouldn't be disappointed when walking in. Many high end stores were completely out of the "white" dresses, but had many colorful ones left (ugh). When I finally decided that whatever the cost, I would simply go to the one and only Catholic store in the Valley (which means they can charge whatever they want) - we were successful!!! We found the dress, tiara, lacey socks with little crosses on them (no less), and white shoes all in one place. I think we did great. Well, you decide.....