We went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) concert two weekends ago. I am not much of a rocker and my rock concerts have pretty much just consisted of a Hootie and the Blowfish concert when I was 15 and Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band concerts at college. Love Ryan Shupe. I wasn't familiar with Hootie and kept wondering why it smelled so funny there.
We won tickets from a friend's raffle. Our seats were in a suite! I have never been in a suite, it was so sweet. The best part was that we had our own personal toilet. Here is the order of awesome things about being in a suite.
Personal toilet
Having water to drink the whole time.
Having a place to set your food and water on in front of you.
Feeling like a queen and referring to all the other people as "the peasants" for the whole night.
Comfy seats.
Being with 16 people you know because everyone from your ward won tickets.
Parking right across the street for FREE!
Me in the suite.
Our personal toilet.
There is horrible lighting in the suites, but there we are.
As you can tell, being in the suite was pretty cool.
The concert was fun, too. I wasn't sure what to expect as I was only family with TSO's Christmas songs. They played some Christmas songs, then had a Christmas story/music thing, played more Christmas songs, and then played other songs.
This man who was a rock singer and had Thor hair.
Electric violin power!
Andrew and I are so dumb at rock and roll. The lead guitarist said that his best friend Paul was there and he got the group together. Everyone was screaming. We were like, "YAY!" but didn't know why everyone was freaking out. And then later on the drive home when we talked with Shannon did we realize that it was Paul McCartney! ooooff! So that was pretty cool in retrospect.
The lights were amazing, it was really loud and I did put in earplugs, the music was great and fun. I really am not much of a rocker, but we had a great time. I am glad we won the tickets and I think we should go to more rock concerts in the future. As long as we balance those with symphonies because that is what I love.
In front of the Space Needle.
Here is a funny thing. Yesterday, a TSO song came on our Pandora, and it was one where they all flipped their hair like crazy. I started flipping my hair/head banging and I gave myself whiplash. My neck hurts so bad. Rock stars must have very strong necks so they don't get brain damage or whiplash after every concert. Also, they have amazing conditioner to keep their hair so smooth and shiny despite their rocking.
After I fed Rachel today, she was so alert, so I talked to her about fun things we could do.
"In a few years, we will go to Disneyland," I said.
She looked at me with bright eyes. Very attentive. She looked excited for the happiest place on earth.
"We will go with Grandma and Grandpa, and probably with Oma and Opa."
More attentive eyes.
"We will go on the Carousel and you will get sick and throw up on Dad. And then we will go on Peter Pan."
This place just sounded better and better to her.
"And we will get a hotel with a pool," I concluded.
She blinked a few times and opened her mouth wide (in a yawn). But it totally looked like she was so excited about the hotel with the pool that she was shouting, "OH MY GOSH!!! YES!!!"
Kind of like that meme where Michael Phelps and the other guy are like, "MOM BROUGHT NUTELLA!"
So this girl knows that Disneyland and a hotel with a pool are in her future. What a lucky girl.
Sorry if you cannot see my pictures. I am in the process of fixing it. This is what I get for changing my settings on flickr. It was an emotional afternoon of pregnancy hormones. Andrew helped me figure out the problem. Let's just say Andrew enjoyed one of his favorite activities--taking advantage of my hormonal craziness by doing nice things to make me cry.
I am a hearty believer in partying and making any excuse to have a celebration.
After graduation, we all went to Aggie Ice Cream. And my parents, Andrew's parents, Elise, Andrew, and I all piled into the BMW and drove there. Elise got to lay on us and stick her feet out the window.
Cause for celebration? Yes. Definitely.
After that, Andrew and I said, "So long, sucker!" to our Aggie Village apartment. Granted, we have many beautiful memories there and it was our first love nest. But I was seriously WAY totally done with that place. I was really happy to leave. Three years in cinderblock is a long time. I don't think I'd do well in prison.
That night, we slept at a hotel with my parents and Leslie and Daniel. We went swimming in the pool. Ross brought Nigel over to play with us. So we, of course, partied.
Nigel fist pumping. What a party animal all ready.
Nigel getting hung over from eating way too many Reese's.
I think it was probably the wildest party of Nigel's life.
On Sunday, we all got together for Nigel's blessing. I didn't get any pictures, but here is one I stole from Melanie's blog. He is a little stud. And his outfit has historic significance. Nigel, Ross, and Grandpa Todd all wore it to get blessed in.
Historic dress is also cause for celebration.
And that is how we partied. Or rather, we partayed.
My birthday was last Sunday on April 1. It was a great day. My family and Andrew's family had a party. I love parties. We ate yummy raclette, opened presents, played Just Dance 3, and then ate birthday pie. :) It was a great great party, probably the most fun party I've had in recent years.
Even though we filmed the Just Dance party, no one really wants to watch it. If you do, let me know and I'll show you. So you can just look at some pictures.
Leslie, Daniel, Glenn, Bryanna dancing to "California Girls"
Maren, Hannah, Wesley, Elise dancing to "Hit Me Baby One More Time"
Dad, Accountant Dan, Me, and Clara dancing to something.
Leslie, Daniel, Wesley, and Elise dancing.
Andrew, Hannah, Bryanna, and Glenn dancing.
Wesley, Accountant Dan, Maren, and Clara dancing.
Mom, Dad, Glenn, Heidi dancing.
Elise, Clara, Hannah, Bryanna dancing
Leslie, Elise, Maren, Me dancing
Daniel, Hannah, Elise, and Me dancing
Time for some birthday pie!
Yay! What a good day. Now I am 24, and it is good to be olderish.
I love Disneyland. We went there on our honeymoon. We went with Andrew's family and it was fun but there were so many people. I got grumpy a lot. There are a lot of pictures so here are just a few highlights of our California trip.
The Norco Audio Family History Tour
Heidi grew up in Norco, CA, and we stopped by. This is a crazy place.
First off, they don't have sidewalks. They have horse trails. WHAT THE WHAT? Maybe in Wyoming, but not what I was expecting for southern California.
Some girl on a horse in a city in southern California.
Then we stopped at the Norco cemetery to find Heidi's grandparents' grave. We found it! It was a miracle because she had never been there.
Hannah, Heidi, and Wesley at the grave.
That was cool to be there. Heidi thanked me for suggesting it, since she had never been and being there brought her a lot of peace.
The First Disney Day
Christmas at Disneyland, where the wreaths are all Mickey-shaped and the castle has snow on it (I know, snow in Anaheim? But by now, we know that Southern California is not what you expect--snow, horses, what's next?).
Love it.
We wore a lot of 3-D glasses. They kind of give me a headache.
The Family sans me (taking the picture) and Maren (on an airplane)
And no family vacation would be complete without a picture of me coming out of the bathroom!
We rode Splash Mountain. It was great. Maren is there in the front. She and Wes are engaged now and they are so disgusting.
Our Wild Ride.
This is how Andrew feels whenever I drive. ;)
Andrew and I in front of the castle at night. How romantic.
The Day We Only Went to California Adventure
Wes and Maren about to go off a huge waterfall on Grizzly Rapids.
Andrew and some light bike from Tron.
Not a lot of pictures from that day. Oh well. I traumatized Hannah by making her go on Screamin' with me. I forgot to tell her that it blasts you off. Oops.
The Day We Went to Disneyland in the Morning and the Evening But Mostly Went to Los Angeles
Wesley and Andrew cleaning their ears. What a good brother activity.
I had never been to L.A., so it was pretty exciting.
A clear day for L.A., right?
Gas costs $5 here where it costs $3 in Utah.
And we drove past the Los Angeles Temple, but we didn't get out and walk around.
I like the palm trees. That is a pretty good picture taken from the back of a Honda Pilot, if I do say so myself.
And then we went to Santa Monica beach and we had many marvelous adventures.
Like this dog in a tree. The owner was completely chill. His dog is awesome.
And we went down to the beach and it was just lovely. I kept thinking of the Sheryl Crow song "All I Wanna Do", where she says she wants to have fun until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard.
We also had another unusual sighting:
Glenn took off his shoes. Apparently this is an anomaly.
Jumping picture--me, Hannah, Elise, Maren. I didn't get the memo that we were making L shapes out of our arms.
The Day We Were the Dorky Family Wearing Matching Disney Shirts
An epic moment occurred when I became famous for screaming so loudly on Thunder Mountain Railroad. I am awesome. This guy said I was amazing and he recognized me later on, too.
And I pulled the sword out with my pinky finger.
Family picture time! You get a sneak peek at the Christmas card. Lucky you.
Aren't we cute? I like how Wes and Maren are freakishly tall in the back.
We went on Star Tours and...
I was the rebel spy and Yoda said I was vital to the rebel cause! It made my life.
Also, Andrew was a good big brother and got Hannah to ride Space Mountain--and she liked it! She even has her arms up and has a big smile on her face. Yay!
From back to front: me, Hannah, Andrew, Elise, Bryanna.
We didn't take a picture, but WE RODE SPLASH MOUNTAIN EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW WITHOUT GETTING OFF THE LOG!!! Oh yeah, we broke the family record. I'm pretty done with Splash Mountain for a little while.
The Last Disney Day and The Most Crowded One Wherein I Had A Headache.
New Years Eve was the worst day to go to Disneyland. it was way too crowded and I was grumpy. I had a headache and that was not a good thing. It was Elise's birthday, too.
I had one of the weirdest experiences of my life. We had to watch "Captain E.O." to please Glenn. Weird. So weird.
And we went on Space Mountain again!
Funny Space Mountain picture. Elise is a super hero, Hannah is pumped, Andrew is screaming and I am plugging my ears (I had a headache, remember) which is opposite of how it usually is, and Wesley is proposing to Maren (I love how she looks like she's saying, "Oh my gosh, why is it you?"
Also, we went to the Blue Bayou for dinner. Awesome. It was fun. And then I went to sleep and woke up when the huge fireworks show shook the hotel.
Then We Drove Home on New Years Day and There Was No One On The Freeway
