Merry Christmas

Heading down to the ranch for Christmas! SO excited!

Cannot Wait!!

I have been wishing for this for so long and now my geek has been rewarded. LEGO just announced plans to turn Lord of the Rings into their world. Christmas has come early for me, folks!

Underrated Gem

Lindsay and I get a subscription to Entertainment Weekly and this past week's edition had a great interview with Steven Spielberg. There are a few people that I wish I had the pleasure of knowing in my life. I have mentioned my love of Walt Disney, but another great legend is Spielberg. I could have read his interview all day--I wish it were longer. He seems to be a true gentleman and someone who has a great and deep love for film. I would thoroughly enjoy sitting down and having a long conversation with him.

Anyway, the only disappointment I had in the article was the complete omission of anything related to his film Always. I love this show! I haven't seen it in a few years, but it used to be one of my favorites. The film as a whole was a bit disjointed--it had some truly random things. But it is a classic love story and one that you should not miss. If you have not seen it, please rent or buy it soon. Once again, it featured a beautiful score by John Williams.

Christmas Albums-Final 2

I love these Christmas albums! Again, they are what I grew up with. I can't imagine a Christmas without listening to both of them multiple times. They always bring back such great memories. I hope that my children grow to love them as much as I do.

Christmas Albums Pt. 3

Love this album! It really needs no explanation, since most everyone has a love for it too.

This was an album my mom listened to all the time when I was a kid. I remember the cover of this record and I would look at it all the time while it was playing on the turntable. It's a great album with some very cheesy songs, but some good "classic" ones too.

Christmas Albums Pt. 2

John Williams' talent is amazing! He has written the most memorable music scores of all time: Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, E.T. and many more! Add to this a great Christmas album. My holiday is not complete unless I listen to and watch the first two Home Alone films.

Strange name, but what a crooner! I'm a bit tired of "Christmas in Killarney" and "Mele Kalikimaka" but the rest of the album brings back a lot of good memories of my first Christmases with Lindsay.

Christmas Albums

Merry Christmas, one and all! I will commence a new list of my favorite Christmas albums over the next few days. I will tell you right now, there is no room here for any "modern" albums. I can't stand when a current artist creates a Christmas album. Most of them are crap. I am all about the classics! It's what my mom and dad played in the house and car growing up. My first two albums:

I love both Carpenter's Christmas albums. They have some stuff that really sounds like the 60s, but overall they are pure joy.

Just listen to the album--you'll be converted.

Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for! Here's a list:

The Hale ranch house in Grover, Utah.
Disneyland and that it connects me to my youth.
Good books.
My job at school and my work at the theater. I love both--I have hard years every now and then with school (having a REALLY hard year right now), but then I get to go to the theater where I feel like I am making a difference.
My home.
Music. I am falling asleep to music lately. I could not live without music.
Good food. I love good food.
Movies--there's little wonder why I have a movie reel tattooed on my butt.
Health. I may not be Thor, but I am so grateful I have use of my faculties.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement of the Savior. No greater blessing.
Ambien. I need to get off it.
My mom and dad, brother and sisters and in-laws. I am where I am today because of the opportunities they blessed me with in my life.
My four wonderful children and that they are all healthy and strong.
And finally, this wonderful woman... How could you not be grateful to have someone like her in your life?

Great Movie

So I watched In Bruges the other night while Lindsay was at yoga. Definitely not a film she would have enjoyed, but I loved it. Nothing like good black humor. Colin Farrell was hilarious (so much funnier than I thought he could ever be) and Brendan Gleeson is great in everything. Bruge is now at the top of my must-visit locations.

More on Kam

On Friday we took Kam and his friends to this extreme air sports park in Provo. He had been there before with his uncle, but Lindsay and I only knew that it was in Provo. So we look up the address on Mapquest and the street number was 1111 W!!!! So weird. All these great 11-11-11 things on Kam's 11th birthday! Loved it.

We also went to the BYU vs. Idaho game Saturday night. Froze our butts off, got a photo with Brian Smith (back-up kicker/boyfriend of Lindsay's sister) and had a great time.

Happy Birthday to Kam!

Today is a pretty special day: my boy Kam turns 11 on 11/11/11. Now how many times does something like that happen in life? Everyone kept telling us to call KSL or Daily Herald to let them know, but we didn't want to be one of those parents. And lo and behold, today there is a cover story in Daily Herald of a boy who turns 11! Seriously?! Oh well.

I love my boy! He is a great kid--very smart, good to other people, doesn't like girls yet, is obsessed with Social Empires, has dreams for his future, loves his aunts and uncles, mostly loves his brothers and parents, athletic, funny and wants to do what's right. I'm so glad he is my oldest and the one who is setting the example to his younger brothers and sister.

I love this photo of Kam! His face and laughter is absolutely genuine.

Halloween Costumes

Lindsay had some great ideas for costumes this year: Kam was a fruit ninja (best app ever!), Adam and I were minions from Despicable Me, Max was a werewolf, and Brynn was the cutest little bee ever. We had a great night trick-or-treating! This is Max's favorite holiday and he was so sad to see it end.

I was a bit bummed because I didn't get the chance to watch any new horror movies this year. I just never got the time to.