I have no doubt that Elise will wait exactly one year before responding to this post.

Isn't it weird that Elise does not like most breads, but loves toast?
So much so that she could probably eat an entire loaf of rye toast in one week. Then she would say something like "record".
FYI:She bought three loaves of bread her entire college career, 2 loaves being pumpkin chocolate chip (& zero packs of ramen).

O-blog-atory Post

As can be inferred from the title, this is simply an obligatory post. I really don't have a lot to write about, but it's been a while since I've written.

First things first. It is my lamentable duty to report that no one correctly guessed the past "Winner of the Week" challenge. In fact, nobody even incorrectly guessed the answer. Therefore, the prize money from last week will carry over into this week's challenge. (By the way, the correct answer was John Lathrop.)

Since my last post, I have moved up to Washington and am working on a house for David. Since I'm raking in the big bucks, I decided to buy a new camera. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post because I had the camera shipped to the Yerington place with the expectation that I would get it at Thanksgiving. I decided not to attend the festivities but anticipated that Elise would bring my camera up when she came to visit--just like we had been planning for a few months. Then she called up one day and said, "Sorry Bro. I don't think I'll come up after all." Now I won't see my camera for a few more weeks.

Most people would say, "Don't blame it on Elise. She doesn't have to go up to Washington if she doesn't want to. Besides, it's not like she's maliciously plotting to keep your new camera from you."

To those people I would ask, have you even looked at her blog? She's got more pictures than she's got words. She's grabbed a major share of the photo-posting market and is trying to stymie my attemps to get in the game. All I can say is "enjoy it while you can, Elise. Once I get my camera your blog will have fewer hits than AAD."

To be the winner of the week, simply identify to whom these quotes belong:

1.) (Walking out of the house in nothing but underwear) "I'm running away!"

2.) "I would have to say my favorite season is....Lemon Pepper!"

3.) "Maw-awm, Ben's buying Starbursts and he's not gonna share."

4.) "Maraaae. if you're going to put this in the public, you need to talk to my agent. don't be ridiculous if you're talking about me. i have a reputation to keep...and morals to...obtain? UPHOLD. UPHOLD. stop. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep."

5.) "Oh sock locks, how I love you. The way you lock the socks so they stay together and don't become unlocked. What a precious and ingenious invention you are. Oh dear, sweet, glorious sock locks. This is my ode to thee and your useful simplicity. If I had but a penny for every fond memory I have of you, oh treasured sock locks, I would take those inevitable riches and purchase more sock locks, thus perpetuating a never ending cycle of sock locks, fond memories, pennies, and more sock locks...."

*Some of these quotes have been paraphrased. Two of them come from family members' blogs. Bonus points for identifying those blogs and the date the quotes were posted

The East Coast

I just came home from a week on the East coast. It was pretty cool and I'll tell you all about it, but first things first. The last "Winner of the Week" challenge was pretty tough but not impossible. The correct identification for all 5 quotes was provided by Victor. Since he admitted to receiving the answers from his Mom, I will grant the award to both of them. Congratulations to the first co-"Winners of the Week"!!!

Here are the quotes attached to the person to whom they can be attributed.

So let me tell you about the East coast. We flew out of Salt Lake City last Thursday night and landed in New York City at about 5:30 a.m. We were met at the airport by my friend's Mom and drove a couple of hours to their house in Connecticut. After a a short nap we took a tour of the town and went down to the beach. The next day we all went to Boston. It was a nice city but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I guess Elise and Marae got my expectations too high. The highlight of the day was seeing this Gigantic pumpkin on the drive up.

The next day we went to church in Connecticut and stayed around my friend's house. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was spent in New York City. We saw a lot of the city in the three days we were there. The first day was spent at the Museum of Modern Art, St. Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue, and Times Square. The next day we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and then ended the day by going to a performance of Hamlet on Broadway.

On the last day in the city we stopped by the Manhattan temple, walked through Central Park, played the giant keyboard at F.A.O. Schwartz,

visited Rockefeller Center, went to the Chrysler Building, and to the top of the Empire State building. I was impressed by how big the city was. By the time we got back to Salt Lake, the city looked tiny.

Thursday was spent in Connecticut again. My friend's family prepared a big lobster dinner for us which was excellent. The next day we packed up, drove to the airport and flew home. It was a really neat trip and I had a lot of fun.

So here is the "Question of the Week": Which ancestor is buried in the same Boston cemetary as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and Mother Goose?

I've been tagged!

Congratulations to Elise, the very first Winner of the Week. She correctly identified the "Lobster Man" reference from my last post. For those of you who didn't get the reference, Marae sings a song about being a lobsterman's wife. I have attached a youtube video with the song below. (It is not Marae singing, nor is the animation done by myself or anyone I know)

As I was reading Mom's blog, I noticed that she tagged me back in the day when people were doing that sort of thing. I figured it's better late than never, so here it goes.

5 things I've done in the past 10 years:

Graduated from High School

Got a Hernia

Stayed all alone in a hotel for Christmas

Replaced the alternator on a '96 Saturn

Ate a good hamburger

5 things I wish I could do today:

A back flip

Chop down a tree

Sneeze with my eyes open

find a good hamburger

Eat a good hamburger

5 foods I wouldn't live without:

Ribs

Bacon

BBQ'd Meats

Buffalo Wings

Good Hamburgers

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire:

Get new tires for my rig

Get a roof rack for my rig

Reupholster my rig

Get a new air freshner for my rig

Buy a new rig and a good hamburger

5 places I have lived:

Alaska

Idaho

South Africa

Utah

Cooper's room

----------------------------------------------

The next "Winner of the Week" will be the person who most quickly and accurately identifies the author of each of the following quotes:

1) "Gimme some uh dem chips."

2) "I lite ta play bak-skit-baaaw."

3) "Oh garbage!"

4) "I had lunch at Big Mac's"

5) "I've got vision. I've got vision. I've got vision. Who could ask for anything more?"

Who will be the very first "Winner of the Week"?

So it seems Mom has finally updated her blog after nearly a year. Check it out and be sure to leave a few comments so she knows people are actually interested (at least more interested than in the AAD blog...that shouldn't be hard to do)

In reading Mom's newer posts you will notice that she incorrectly states that we attended "Marae and Ryan's wedding". Of course we all know she married Ben Campbell, but I was under the impression she would end up with this guy:

NOTE: The first person to correctly explain the previous reference in my comments section will be the "Winner of the Week" and will receive recognition and accolades in my next blog post.

Also, in going through some other blogs, I discovered Bella, Rachael B., Victor, and Nick all have blogs I didn't know about. Check those out too.

Marae's Wedding

Marae had her wedding last week and she looked positively radiant. Unfortunately, Elise couldn't make it. She is very anxious to see some pictures so I will post some here.

The Bride and Groom exiting the temple

Such a cute couple!

Everyone loved this dress Marae wore.

Awww...too precious for words!

The fam.

It was such a wonderful day, too bad you couldn't be there Weebs. Enjoy the pics.

(Here are the real photos http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2147168014/a=105498603_105498603/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/)

A quick update

Have you ever turned a keyboard upside-down and shook it only to have what looks like 1/2 cup of Mrs. Dash fall into your lap? Neither had I, until now. I'm sitting at the computer in the New Plymouth house trying to think of something to blog about, but there isn't much. I went up to Washington and helped deliver phone books, but that's already been thoroughly documented here, here, and here . A couple days later, David and Jeanne's family came down to New Plymouth and David, Jon, Cooper, Hyrum, Lydia, and I went camping. However, those events have been chronicled here and here. So there's not much left for me to say. I've been in NP for a few weeks irrigating and such while Dad, Mom, & Craig are wandering in the desert. As you can imagine, there's not much to do here, so I have decided to hone some skills in the meantime. As some of you know, I constructed an "insulated carcass wrapper" out of denim.

(I prefer 'constructed' to 'sewed' and 'insulated carcass wrapper' to 'quilt'... those terms seem less gay)

I've also been watching a lot of TV. There is a show on PBS called "Barbecue University" that has inspired me a lot. I bought a bag of charcoal and have smoked/cooked two chickens and about eight pounds of beef in the last few days. It's been pretty enjoyable.

After the success of my Lego videos, I have made a couple of short clips with nieces and nephews. Here, Eliza rides Cooper like a skateboard and moves through walls.

And here, Hyrum upsets the four-wheeler after he kicks it and then miraculously escapes.