I know you all look forward to this (and even if you don’t, just feign excitement for my ego’s sake): our movie reviews! It’s been six months since our last similar post, so here we go!
MUST SEE
Tangled: We absolutely LOVED this movie. It’s got it all: great story, excellent characters, large dosages of humor, romance, and 45,000 lanterns! The girls and I saw it in a theater and it’s already getting well used this week. One of the best Disney movies in recent history!
Secretariat: Again, inspiring story made all that more inspiring because it’s true. Just a very well done movie that was poignant and well worth the watch.
The Social Network: Whatever your thoughts on Facebook, this was a riveting depiction. It may not be fully accurate, but we found it fascinating. Excellent acting. Probably not worth being nominated for best picture, though.
Inception: Don’t ask us if we fully get it, but we sure liked it! Breathtaking visuals and special effects and a riveting storyline. Good characters.
WORTH THE TIME (or at least somewhat worth the time)
The Tourist: Not exactly what we were expected, but enjoyable enough. Johnny Depp = always entertaining; Angelina Jolie = never entertaining and totally overrated.
Salt: Despite the aforementioned, this was a decent CIA thriller.
The Switch: Mediocre at best. Really not the best storyline.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story: A troubled boy admits himself into a psychiatric ward and finds love and meaning. Pretty sweet story and the young actors do a fine job.
Morning Glory: Interesting take on producing a morning show. Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford are quite good. Diane Keaton is an amazing actress.
Life as We Know It: Two people are thrust together when they are charged to raise a baby whose parents are killed. Fairly predictable (as are a lot of movies these days!), but quirky, fun romantic comedy.
Get Low: dark drama about a man who wishes to be witness to his funeral service. Extremely slow, but nice period piece.
You Again: Another of the predictable kind, but had some genuinely funny parts.
Catfish: Didn’t know anything about this documentary, but was intriguing. It deals with the deceiving nature behind social networks.
Knight and Day: An amusing tongue-in-cheek action film that was just enough of this and that to make it enjoyable…even with Tom Cruise!
Red: Highly improbable, but a fun action/comedy.
The Special Relationship: Detailing the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair. I enjoy biopics and this was pretty interesting.
The Other Guys: Hmmm….worth renting.
Charlie St. Cloud: Plays at the emotional heart strings. Anything but a Zac Efron fan, but it was alright.
Shrek Forever After: Love, love, love Shrek, but this wasn’t up to the normal snuff. Still a lot of laughs.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
How Do You Know: Great actors (Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd) with zippo chemistry. And the plot, or lack thereof, is ridiculous. To make matters worse, we saw this in the theater. At least the popcorn was good!
The Romantics: Nothing remotely redeeming at all about this waste of movieness.
Cyrus: We watched this on the flight back from Hawaii and wanted a refund.
Dinner for Schmucks: Don’t bother. I won’t even bother commenting on how lame this was.
City Island: Haven’t heard of this? There are definitely reasons why!
Eat Pray Love: Avoid Ignore Hate.
Any thoughts on these movies, or any others you’ve seen? Feel free to leave a comment. And happy watching!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
March Happenings for the Smiths!
Here’s our quick odds and ends for March, 2011:
• Tuesdays are cursed in our home. The first Tuesday saw Elizabeth severely dislocate a finger playing basketball (looked awful!). She’s had a splint and has been going in for regular appointments and physical therapy. Painful. The second Tuesday found Tayah, while dancing, falling and gashing her face between her eyes. It was like a hole in her face! She ended up having five stitches inside and five stitches on the top…and our first ever trip to the emergency room. So, yes, Tuesdays are banned in our home. We’re just going to have two Wednesdays each week…
• Elizabeth got a year older and we celebrated with several outings as a family including Tucano’s (how we’ll eat in the Celestial Kingdom). She and I were able to go to dinner and to the Young Ambassador’s concert. Such amazing, talented students. And a wonderful wife and mother!
Cutest. Baby. Boy. Ever!
• Elizabeth and Sarah threw a baby shower for Tanya at our house. Thanks to those who came!
• Said baby, Sierra, joined our family and we’re excited to meet her (haven’t just yet).
• Jimmer became an adopted member of our family (and of every other Mormon family out there). What an amazing and exhilarating run! We went to one game and are thrilled the kids can say they saw him play. We also watched almost every game, including the fun March Madness run. Given the Brandon Davies situation, we were scrutinized like no other program, but most of the commentary has been very positive. Dad and I heard Dave Rose speak the same week at Cougar Club. Very powerful. So very proud of our Cougars!
• Thank goodness for Jimmer, for the Jazz were hard on the eyes…
• Kadence LOVED going to Peter and the Wolf at Abravanel Hall with Grandma Sarah and Danny and Mary Sue’s three oldest. She adored the music, costumes, and dancing, as well as the lunch out afterward. Tayah and I made it our daddy/daughter date, going to the Church History Museum (with a great kids exhibit) and Temple Square, followed by lunch.
• We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with green eggs and ham, green milk, and an Irish concert at the Orem Library.
• The girls and I attended a BYU gymnastics meet and a BYU women’s basketball game. They much preferred the latter, but at the former, were picked out of the crowd by the cheerleaders and helped give a rousing chicken dance performance during time out!
• I attended the BYU President’s Leadership Council meetings where we were shown some rate treasures from the Lee Library’s Special Collections, hear from the founder of RC Willey, and spent a lunch with President Uchtdorf.
• We also had BYU Alumni Board meetings and our annual student and employee giving campaigns.
• We loved attending Aubrey’s baptism and confirmation. So proud of you Aubrey!
• Church items: Elizabeth went on some ward missionary visits and attended book group; we continue to enjoy ward choir; Tayah said a prayer in primary; I attended a Little Philmont training; attended training with the Young Men general presidency; pine wood derby; conducted sacrament meetings; attended some fun youth activities; continue to enjoy playing (somewhat regularly) basketball with the ward.
• We were glad to have a family join us for FHE one Monday.
• The girls are still learning a lot at pre-school, as well as frequent library outings. Tayah has been pretty red-headed this month, but we love her! She is learning to control her tantrums and it’s getting better.
• Stockton is adding words to his vocabulary: some semblance of baby (“bee-bee”), yes (“yah”), no (he’s got this one down pat “no no no!”), did it (like I did it!), amen (“men”), papapapa (Grandpa), and “ball!” Tried to teach him Jimmer, but that’s a work in progress.
We also, like the rest of Utah County, purchased Tangled. Here are the girls with Rapunzel and Flynn from our Disneyland trip last month (stay tuned for that entry).
• Tuesdays are cursed in our home. The first Tuesday saw Elizabeth severely dislocate a finger playing basketball (looked awful!). She’s had a splint and has been going in for regular appointments and physical therapy. Painful. The second Tuesday found Tayah, while dancing, falling and gashing her face between her eyes. It was like a hole in her face! She ended up having five stitches inside and five stitches on the top…and our first ever trip to the emergency room. So, yes, Tuesdays are banned in our home. We’re just going to have two Wednesdays each week…
• Elizabeth got a year older and we celebrated with several outings as a family including Tucano’s (how we’ll eat in the Celestial Kingdom). She and I were able to go to dinner and to the Young Ambassador’s concert. Such amazing, talented students. And a wonderful wife and mother!
Cutest. Baby. Boy. Ever!• Elizabeth and Sarah threw a baby shower for Tanya at our house. Thanks to those who came!
• Said baby, Sierra, joined our family and we’re excited to meet her (haven’t just yet).
• Jimmer became an adopted member of our family (and of every other Mormon family out there). What an amazing and exhilarating run! We went to one game and are thrilled the kids can say they saw him play. We also watched almost every game, including the fun March Madness run. Given the Brandon Davies situation, we were scrutinized like no other program, but most of the commentary has been very positive. Dad and I heard Dave Rose speak the same week at Cougar Club. Very powerful. So very proud of our Cougars!
• Thank goodness for Jimmer, for the Jazz were hard on the eyes…
• Kadence LOVED going to Peter and the Wolf at Abravanel Hall with Grandma Sarah and Danny and Mary Sue’s three oldest. She adored the music, costumes, and dancing, as well as the lunch out afterward. Tayah and I made it our daddy/daughter date, going to the Church History Museum (with a great kids exhibit) and Temple Square, followed by lunch.
• We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with green eggs and ham, green milk, and an Irish concert at the Orem Library.
• The girls and I attended a BYU gymnastics meet and a BYU women’s basketball game. They much preferred the latter, but at the former, were picked out of the crowd by the cheerleaders and helped give a rousing chicken dance performance during time out!
• I attended the BYU President’s Leadership Council meetings where we were shown some rate treasures from the Lee Library’s Special Collections, hear from the founder of RC Willey, and spent a lunch with President Uchtdorf.
• We also had BYU Alumni Board meetings and our annual student and employee giving campaigns.
• We loved attending Aubrey’s baptism and confirmation. So proud of you Aubrey!
• Church items: Elizabeth went on some ward missionary visits and attended book group; we continue to enjoy ward choir; Tayah said a prayer in primary; I attended a Little Philmont training; attended training with the Young Men general presidency; pine wood derby; conducted sacrament meetings; attended some fun youth activities; continue to enjoy playing (somewhat regularly) basketball with the ward.
• We were glad to have a family join us for FHE one Monday.
• The girls are still learning a lot at pre-school, as well as frequent library outings. Tayah has been pretty red-headed this month, but we love her! She is learning to control her tantrums and it’s getting better.
• Stockton is adding words to his vocabulary: some semblance of baby (“bee-bee”), yes (“yah”), no (he’s got this one down pat “no no no!”), did it (like I did it!), amen (“men”), papapapa (Grandpa), and “ball!” Tried to teach him Jimmer, but that’s a work in progress.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesdays are CANCELLED!
So I've decided (I'll let David know when he gets home) that we need a break from Tuesdays here at our house! Most people don't like Mondays because it means going back to work, but Tuesdays have quickly moved to the most dreaded days here at our house. Last Tuesday was when David got a call from a neighbor (who I was playing basketball with) saying I dislocated my finger and we spent 3 hours at the doctor getting it fixed and a splint/brace made. I'm so grateful for great friends and family who were so willing to help! Well, today, we thought we were safe from calling David with injuries since I am sitting out for at least 6 weeks from basketball...not the case. No, I didn't play basketball, but I did have to call David with an injury report.
So the kids and I were dancing to music from our piano (it has a ton of songs programmed in). We were supposed to just dance for a minute before getting ready to run to the grocery store for a few things. We were having such a great time that we danced to quite a few songs. I had just told the kids that we'd do "one more song and then we'd need to go to the bathroom, change Stockton's diaper, and get shoes on" so we could go. I turned to turn down the keyboard a little bit, and I heard a loud thump followed by screaming (which wasn't too abnormal for our kids to bonk something and then scream in reaction). I turned around and saw Tayah on her back with blood pooling up in her eye. I scooped her up and ran into the kitchen to get some towels to slow the flow of blood and find out where she was hurt. Meanwhile, I yelled to Kadence, get me a napkin, so she could help. I quickly saw that her eye was okay, but that she had "hole" in between her eyebrows. She had such a deep cut that the skin was stretched out and it looked like a hole! I quickly yelled to Kadence to bring me the phone knowing I needed to send Kadence & Stockton somewhere because we were about to make our first trip to Instacare.
I called Jenny (neighbor) and bless her heart, she understood enough of what I was saying (above Tayah's screams, I think I said something about "Tayah has a hole in her head-can you watch Kadence & Stockton?) to run straight over and after she saw our predicament, she told me she'd drive me over to Instacare. She took us over and dropped Tayah & I off (planning that we'd call her to pick us up when we were done). They had a nurse come out and look at her gash, and then recommended that we go to Utah Valley ER. She said that at this instacare, they don't sedate, and so chances were that she'd be fidgeting and uncomfortable and with the cut right in the middle of her face, it would probably not be a pretty scar. We were better off at the ER with a plastic surgeon (she called for me to make sure one was in today).
So Jenny had to load 4 kids back up in the car to come right back to pick us up. While we waited the 5 minutes for her, I called David from the Instacare and told him that we were headed to the hospital (I hadn't called him at this point because it all happened so quick). He was really surprised and I told him to just meet us at the ER in 20-25 minutes. Poor David didn't know what to expect-I think I just told him that she cut her face open, needed stitches, and we were being sent to the ER and to meet us there. By then, her cut wasn't really bleeding, so Jenny dropped me off at home so I could get the car and Tayah and I left for the hospital. We met David at the door to the ER and they took us right in. We had to wait a while in the room for the doctor to be ready to stitch her up. She didn't like the shot in the bum to sedate her, but she did great and they stitched her right up and we just had to wait a while for her to "wake up". It was almost like she was drunk as it started wearing off. When she finally tried to talk, her speech was a little slurred and her vision was blurred. She told me, "Mom, you have 10 eyes...see, one, two, three, four" (Apparently she only really saw 4). We came home several hours later, with her still dizzy and she wanted to just go to bed. The doctor said she's fine and we just have to go back in 5 days to get the top set of stitches out (it was so deep they had to sew the tissues together with dissolvable stitches before they could sew the skin together). So when asked how she did it, Tayah said, "I bonked my head on the wall". All I can figure out is that she must have tripped/stumbled and hit smack on the windowsill...it was the right height, and was the only thing that could have made that kind of a gash. Plus, she was laying flat on her back under it after it happened.
This is a picture I took really quickly as Jenny was getting her car (I think it looked worse in person, especially before it was cleaned up).
So the kids and I were dancing to music from our piano (it has a ton of songs programmed in). We were supposed to just dance for a minute before getting ready to run to the grocery store for a few things. We were having such a great time that we danced to quite a few songs. I had just told the kids that we'd do "one more song and then we'd need to go to the bathroom, change Stockton's diaper, and get shoes on" so we could go. I turned to turn down the keyboard a little bit, and I heard a loud thump followed by screaming (which wasn't too abnormal for our kids to bonk something and then scream in reaction). I turned around and saw Tayah on her back with blood pooling up in her eye. I scooped her up and ran into the kitchen to get some towels to slow the flow of blood and find out where she was hurt. Meanwhile, I yelled to Kadence, get me a napkin, so she could help. I quickly saw that her eye was okay, but that she had "hole" in between her eyebrows. She had such a deep cut that the skin was stretched out and it looked like a hole! I quickly yelled to Kadence to bring me the phone knowing I needed to send Kadence & Stockton somewhere because we were about to make our first trip to Instacare.
I called Jenny (neighbor) and bless her heart, she understood enough of what I was saying (above Tayah's screams, I think I said something about "Tayah has a hole in her head-can you watch Kadence & Stockton?) to run straight over and after she saw our predicament, she told me she'd drive me over to Instacare. She took us over and dropped Tayah & I off (planning that we'd call her to pick us up when we were done). They had a nurse come out and look at her gash, and then recommended that we go to Utah Valley ER. She said that at this instacare, they don't sedate, and so chances were that she'd be fidgeting and uncomfortable and with the cut right in the middle of her face, it would probably not be a pretty scar. We were better off at the ER with a plastic surgeon (she called for me to make sure one was in today).
So Jenny had to load 4 kids back up in the car to come right back to pick us up. While we waited the 5 minutes for her, I called David from the Instacare and told him that we were headed to the hospital (I hadn't called him at this point because it all happened so quick). He was really surprised and I told him to just meet us at the ER in 20-25 minutes. Poor David didn't know what to expect-I think I just told him that she cut her face open, needed stitches, and we were being sent to the ER and to meet us there. By then, her cut wasn't really bleeding, so Jenny dropped me off at home so I could get the car and Tayah and I left for the hospital. We met David at the door to the ER and they took us right in. We had to wait a while in the room for the doctor to be ready to stitch her up. She didn't like the shot in the bum to sedate her, but she did great and they stitched her right up and we just had to wait a while for her to "wake up". It was almost like she was drunk as it started wearing off. When she finally tried to talk, her speech was a little slurred and her vision was blurred. She told me, "Mom, you have 10 eyes...see, one, two, three, four" (Apparently she only really saw 4). We came home several hours later, with her still dizzy and she wanted to just go to bed. The doctor said she's fine and we just have to go back in 5 days to get the top set of stitches out (it was so deep they had to sew the tissues together with dissolvable stitches before they could sew the skin together). So when asked how she did it, Tayah said, "I bonked my head on the wall". All I can figure out is that she must have tripped/stumbled and hit smack on the windowsill...it was the right height, and was the only thing that could have made that kind of a gash. Plus, she was laying flat on her back under it after it happened.
This is a picture I took really quickly as Jenny was getting her car (I think it looked worse in person, especially before it was cleaned up).
Sunday, March 6, 2011
"Mommy's Finger is Funny"
Okay, so funny wasn't the word I'd use :). As you can see from the photo above, it was bent backward. We ran the children to my parents and dashed to the doctor's (one of the women playing with them happened to have a PA husband). Turns out it wasn't a break, but a severe dislocation. He numbed it, popped it into place and we had a splint made. Four hours later, we had her home with a good story to tell.
At least she got hurt playing basketball. If you're going to get hurt, it may as well happen while doing something celestial!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
February Nuts and Bolts
Without further adieu, here are some of our adventures from February:
· Our highlight was our second trip to Disneyland within 10 months…and this was even better! We were able to time it right, planning around the busy holidays and the upcoming Spring breaks. As a result, the lines were great…especially on one of the rainy days. We stayed at a nice hotel ¾ mile away. The children were wonderful, although Stockton was much more of a handful this time around. They met their share of friends: Rapunzel, Flynn, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Woody, Jessie, Chip and Dale, Jasmine, Aladdin, Aurora, and Snow White. We loved it! There is just something magical about Disneyland, especially to see the excitement of our sweet kids.
· Kadence turned five…absolutely incredible! We had a family outing to Pirate Island, a party with seven cute friends, and spent her actual day going to church and driving to Las Vegas! She loves her Rapunzel doll, her Princess piggy bank, books, oodles of toys and art supplies, clothes, etc.
· I went to the BYU Football signing day lunch with Dad.
· We took the kids to see Jimmer and the Jimmerites, a.k.a. BYU Basketball. It was Stockton’s first game. We loved it and love the way our team is playing!
· Elizabeth went to our monthly Relief Society meeting, as well as book group. She and the kids also frequent a weekly play group.
· I had lunch with three of my best friends growing up, one who was in town, the other two who also work at BYU. It was a reminder of how blessed we’ve been with wonderful friends!
· We celebrated Chinese New Year’s in style, dinner out w/ our family and a potluck with the extended, at our house to celebrate February birthdays.
· Church activities: ward baptisms, ward conference (Elizabeth and I were able to sing in the choir), stake conference with Elder Wheeler of the Seventy (I was able to sing in a Priesthood double quartet), Blue and Gold banquet, the Worldwide Leadership training (that I was not in this time!), ward high priests social
· Date nights: ward Valentine’s Day party, complete with dinner and dance instruction; wallyball with ward friends, dinner out with ward friends before stake conference.
· Two very unexpected things occurred: Jazz coach Jerry Sloan retired after 22 years and All-Star Deron Williams was traded to New Jersey. If you haven’t been reading my blog, first repent and then make amends. I usually post Wednesdays and Sundays at http://www.utahjazz360.com/.
· Stockton is signing and saying more words each day. So very fun! One more month to Nursery!
· Tayah loves writing letters, cards, and drawing pictures to give to family and friends. Ditto for Kadence.
· We’ll see if that Groundhog is right…so far, doesn’t look so!
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