Matt and Celeste's Blog

BYU Management Society Meeting with Greg Clark

2011-09-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

Cross posted from my Google Plus account. Email me if you'd like an invitation.

Thanks to Greg Clark (former tight end for 49ers) for coming to our BYU Management Society breakfast this morning. He emphasized two points:

1). Work hard and take chances so that you can make great things happen. He shared a story of being a rookie next to Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and other 49er greats. There was a lot of criticism from the veterans, so he decided that he was going to take all of the advice/criticism he got and work to improve himself. After months of hard work and showing up for his first practice with the veterans, he was matched against a 287 pound lineman defender on the first play. When Steve Young called the hike, he came off the line with perfect technique and floored the lineman. Everyone was stunned, especially the lineman! That play marked success from the hours of preparation.

2). Live a principles-based life and never compromise your principles. After retiring from the NFL, Greg decided to work in real estate buying/selling distressed properties. A practice in that industry was to pay money under the table to keep bids on properties low. This was against the law and against his principles. On January 11 of this year, the FBI did a sting on hundreds of real estate professionals who were engaged in this practice. When Greg's lawyer called him to warn him, Greg said that he was not worried. He had not compromised his principles. On July 1 of this year, eight of those real estate professionals plead guilty, one of them having only accepted one payment under the table! Because of his principles-based decision, Greg continues to have a successful and happy career.

The mission of the Management Society is to promote ethical business practices. These are two great examples that Greg showed.

August 2011 Trip to Washington

2011-09-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

We have now successfully made two road trips from San Jose to Seattle. There were plenty of bribes to keep the little one in the car seat, but seeing a little newborn not even a day old made the entire trip worth it. Congratulations Justin and Juliana!

August 2011 Washington Trip

P.S. The best way to keep up with us is on Google+, but we'll try to keep the blog updated, too.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Swing Routine

2011-04-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard the story: Celeste and I met while dancing on the BYU Swing Team. I had just returned from my mission in Russia (two years without dancing) and Celeste was the person who evaluated me during the team tryout. The tryout didn't go well, but with the recommendation of the team captain (who had seen me dance before my mission), I made the team. The first semester, we danced two measures together in just one routine. The second semester, we became full-time dance partners.

Eventually, I asked Celeste out on a date (which is a great story that I'll save for another time). It went well (we even shared a bowl of ice cream from Cold Stone... of course, that was more because I was a poor college student than anything else). Anyway, between dancing and dating, we decided that we were a good match. So we got married!

At our wedding reception, we performed a dance routine to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We sure had fun performing! It took almost seven years, but we finally got the video posted to YouTube (that is, my brother posted it to YouTube). It is sure fun to see ourselves dance at that special time!

Just a few weeks ago, we found out that there was going to be a talent show at our church. Of course, we signed up to do a dance routine (just three months after having a baby and nine months after last dancing). Since we just saw our wedding dance video, we thought it would be fun if we choreographed a new and improved routine to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We found a faster version of the song, changed a few steps, dusted off our old costumes, and voila! We like the end product. Let us know what you think!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2011-04-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

Aunt Michelle visited for a week, so we visited all sorts of fun places including the redwoods, San Francisco, and Monterey. If you haven't yet checked out the pictures we took at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, you should check them out right now. Dantzel *loved* looking at all of the fish. All of the movement and color were absolutely captivating. Some of the fish were very interesting--the sea horse exhibit especially. Some of the fish looked like floating plants. Took a few seconds to spot their eyes. If you are ever in the area, I'm sure Dantzel would love going to the aquarium again!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Dantzel's Cute New Outfit

2011-04-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Grandma made Dantzel a lot of fun outfits. Today, she wore her animal-themed dress with matching sun hat. She is so cute!

Baby Pictures - Fourth Month

Pictures of Our New Place

2011-04-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

I found some pictures of our new place. The selling agent took these pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Our New Home

Exciting News!

2011-04-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

After touring quite a few homes (some having way more problems than I wanted to fix), we finally found our new home! It's a townhouse less than one mile from my work (I prefer short commutes). And it is move-in ready, a big selling point for somebody who is not used to being Mr. Fix-It! We'll see whether that changes with home ownership. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Baby Blessing

2011-04-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

Dantzel's baby blessing was last weekend. She was so cute dressed up in her white dress. With Matt's entire family in town and Celeste's parents, she had a lot of attention. She was full of smiles!!! Celeste and I are so glad that she decided to join our family!!! Click the below picture to see more.

Baby Blessing

Dantzel's Second Month

2011-02-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

Although we take lots of pictures of Dantzel, we seem to be pretty slow to upload them. She has been absolutely wonderful during her second month. It is hard to believe how much she has changed. We are cherishing every minute of it, including:

- The time we were late and then her diaper leaked all over Daddy.
- All of the splashing and smiling she does every time she takes a bath.
- The time her diaper leaked in Mommy and Daddy's bed at 5am. And then, after Daddy cleaned it up, how she spit up an entire tummy full all over Mommy and the bed at 6am.
- How she likes to cuddle.
- The time she refused to go to bed until we put a movie on for background sound and then she fell asleep on Daddy while he very tiredly watched until 4am.
- The time she patiently sat in her car seat as Mommy and Daddy toured five homes and then went shopping.
- The time she dressed up all cute for church and then snuggled on Daddy's shoulder during the whole meeting and didn't make a peep.

I hope all of these things (and more) keep happening. We love being parents.

Baby Pictures - Second Month

We are Parents!!!

2011-02-13T23:37:00.000-08:00

It's a Girl!!! With all of the excitement of having a baby, I posted pictures to Picasaweb and Facebook, but failed to update our blog. Yes, we had a healthy baby girl. We named her Dantzel after Elder Russell M. Nelson's wife. Our Dantzel was born on January 4 at 6 pounds 10 ounces. She is a perfect angel sent straight from Heaven and we are so happy!!! Enjoy these pictures (click to see the entire album)! More to come!

Our Little Dantzel

Family Visit - 3 weeks old

Merry Christmas to All!!!

2010-12-27T21:04:00.001-08:00

As we near the end of another year, we reflect on our blessings from 2010. To all of you who made this year great, thank you!!!

- Expecting our first child--she could arrive any day now!
- London, Paris, Venice, and Rome: Our first trip together to Europe.
- Sixth anniversary.
- Celeste's sister's wedding in June: Especially that it didn't rain on the outdoor wedding.
- Disneyland: We only rode on the pregnancy friendly rides.
- Dragon Boat Festival at Treasure Island.
- Locks of Love: Celeste donated 10 inches and her hair still came to her shoulders.
- Running: Now with Vibram FiveFingers.
- Swimming: The best exercise for a woman great with child.
- Yoga: Matt is getting more flexible, Celeste's belly is starting to get in her way.
- Matt's new job at Google.

As we turn the page to a new year, may we all remember the source of all of our blessings. God bless us, everyone!

From Merry Christmas

From Farm to Pumpkin Pie

2010-12-01T22:56:00.000-08:00

We thought it would be fun to show the evolution of our pumpkins that we found at the Farm Fresh to You farm. We picked out three pumpkins from the farm, displayed them in front of our apartment during Halloween, then cooked them up to make a pie. We only needed two cups of pumpkin, but from our three pumpkins we got almost 15 cups. Looks like we'll making some more pies with the leftovers (leftovers are in the freezer). The final pumpkin pie ended up being pretty good! The seeds are great, too, especially the green ones!

From Farm to Pumpkin Pie

Updated Maternity Pictures

2010-12-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

Celeste is at 35 weeks! It's amazing how quickly time is going by. We could even have our baby by the end of this month!!! We're very excited.

Maternity Pictures

Aaron & Aimee Visit

2010-10-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great visit with Aaron and Aimee over the weekend. We played tourist with them for a few days and had a lot of fun. We got a pretty good variety of places that we visited--3 different wharfs (San Francisco, Monterey, and Santa Cruz), 2 different hikes (Henry Cowell Redwoods and Point Lobos), 2 times at In-N-Out, dessert at several different places, the cable cars, Lombard Street, and more. If you haven't come visited us lately, see what you could be enjoying. :) You'll also have very good reason to visit us in about two months.

Aaron & Aimee Visit

Maternity Pictures at 30 weeks

2010-10-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

We added two additional maternity pictures to Celeste's progressive album. We're 30 weeks down and 10 to go!

Maternity Pictures

2010-09-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

We've been taking maternity pictures of Celeste at regular intervals. So far, you can watch the progression from 9 weeks to 15 weeks to 20 weeks to 25 weeks. Our baby has been growing very well and has been very active. Already, it seems that she is doing gymnastics routines inside of Celeste. We sometimes watch Celeste's stomach and see all sorts of movement. It's amazing to think that a little baby is developing in there and we can't wait to see what she looks like. In the meantime, enjoy these cute pictures of Celeste and her bump.

Maternity Pictures

A Special Announcement

2010-08-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's probably about time we made a more general announcement of some special news that we have. For Fathers' Day, we were visiting our family in Washington after Celeste's sister's wedding. Since we were in Europe for Mothers' Day, we got all of our parents special gifts for the occasion. Here is a video of them opening the gifts.

Our parents were expecting something we bought from Europe. But we surprised them with "Happy Grandfathers' Day" cards for our dads, and pictures of the new grandchild for our moms. We think we got a pretty good reaction.

Since we made the announcement, we found out that we'll be having a girl. We're very excited and can't wait for the new addition to our family!

Celeste's New Do

2010-08-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Celeste decided long ago that she would grow out her hair until she got pregnant. So, a couple weeks ago, she got it cut and donated 10 inches to Locks of Love. It was a really fun event that my company does every year. It's amazing how comparatively short 10 inches of hair is. Celeste still has plenty of hair on top. Click below for photos!

Locks of Love

Europe Trip 2010 (Part 4/4): Rome

2010-08-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Our final stop in Europe was Rome, where our itinerary included the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain, among other sites. It was bittersweet to end our two week vacation, but we were happy to get home. We hope you enjoy all of our pictures (click below)!

Rome 2010

Europe Trip 2010 (Part 3/4): Venice

2010-08-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

Our third stop in Europe was Venice--the City of Masks. This was probably our favorite stop--a relaxing getaway with a flexible itinerary. During the day, the crowds were larger when the cruise boats made their stops. But at night, it was a romantic getaway, especially when enjoying the moonlight from a quiet gondola ride--a must if you are ever in Venice.

Below is an album of some of our favorite sites, with explanations for the photos. Enjoy!

Venice 2010

Europe Trip 2010 (Part 2/4): Paris

2010-07-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

Of all of the cities we visited, we probably took the most pictures when we were in Paris. There are so many cool places, not to mention the many different perspectives of the Eiffel Tower that we captured (don't worry, we didn't share all of them). Our favorite places in Paris: Matt enjoyed the Monet Water Lily paintings at the Orangerie; Celeste enjoyed Notre Dame and the views of Paris from Montparnasse.

Here are some of the pictures from our trip (click below for more pictures).

Paris 2010

Europe Trip 2010 (Part 1/4): London

2010-06-13T23:53:00.000-07:00

So instead of compiling all of our Europe pictures into a single album, we decided to upload them by city. Here are some of our favorite places in London, along with some interesting things that we learned. Hope you enjoy them! More on the way.

London 2010

The Colosseum

2010-05-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

After doing a few other sites in Rome (including the Sistine Chapel
and St. Peter's Basilica), we had our first glimpse of the Colosseum.
It is kind of fun taking a bus down the street to see what fun things
are on the way. We came around the corner and the Colosseum was
sitting there like we'd seen it in pictures and movies. Tomorrow we'll
do a tour of the full thing. Can't wait.

On to Rome

2010-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

We finished our wonderful stay in Venice with a memorable moonlit ride
on a gondola. We departed from one of the small canals and snaked our
way along until we went under the Rialto bridge on the Grand Canal.
The water was perfectly smooth and most of the time we felt like the
only boat on the water. The gondolier guided the gondola very well.
Some of the corners we cut pretty closely, and yet we didn't once hit
a wall. Going along the canals was a lot like going along a street--
one narrow canal leading to another, doorways lining the canals with
boats parked in front, city walls going straight up from the water's
surface. It added even more to the surreal feeling of being in Venice.

One thing that was kind of funny is that lots of people took pictures
of us as we passed under bridges, almost as if we were celebrities.
Other than that, we were unknown in the dark canals of the City of
Masks.

Leaving on the train this morning was bittersweet. Hopefully we'll go
back to Venice. But we have more fun adventures in store in Rome.

Venice

2010-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

We flew in to Venice yesterday and absolutely love it. The city is
absolutely surreal--tiny streets for walking interlaced with canals
filled with boat traffic. It's the perfect town to explore. We took
the water bus down the Grand Canal with an audio tour podcast. We saw
restaurants, churches, hotels, government buildings, and even a fire
station all with porches right to the water.

Our hotel is right near one of the last stops in the Grand Canal and
just a couple blocks from St. Mark's Square (in the picture above). On
the square in the evening, there are three live bands at different
cafes that compete for business. We just enjoyed the music in the
middle of the square and danced under the starlight. This has been a
great place to kick our feet up and relax (we definitely got our
walking in visiting all of the museums in Paris). We've also already
eaten out share of gelato.

The back side of Notre Dame

2010-05-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

Enjoying crepes at Notre Dame

2010-05-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

Here is Celeste enjoying a real French crepe at the foot of Notre
Dame. Very tasty!

Made it to Paris

2010-05-12T15:12:00.001-07:00

We made it to Paris. We've decided that we really liked riding the
high speed train. Right on time, very fast, and dropped us off near a
major metro stop near Notre Dame. Plus it took us under the English
Channel--I think it took about 20 minutes to go through! I've always
heard about going through the tunnel but wasn't sure when (or if) I'd
go through it. A little culture shock in Paris with everything in
French (already one difficult conversation trying to get metro
tickets), but we're excited to be here!

Enjoyed London, Off to Paris

2010-05-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed London. It is amazing how much there is to do versus
what we did. We really enjoyed the British Museum, British Library,
V&A Museum, Westminster Abbey, and other amazing sites. Now our train
is about to leave for Paris. Lots of pictures to post when we get
back. Au revoir!

Our adventure in Europe begins

2010-05-09T23:43:00.001-07:00

We started our adventure in Europe yesterday. Wait, it was two days
ago (it feels like we lost a day during our travels). We decided to
pack light using only one carry-on each. Amazingly, I still feel like
I overpacked. When you have the right equipment, it is amazing what
you can fit in your luggage. We got some Rick Steves packing cubes and
then I got the Rick Steves convertible carry-on backpack (Rick Steves
has been a great source for travel tips--he inspired us to do carry-on
only, and I'm glad he did. Travelling so far really has been much
easier). The combination gave me ample room for all of my needs, and a
few extras (like our new camera). Celeste used our roller-bag, and
actually asked to borrow some of my clothes to fill in the gaps (she
has an advantage being able to pack smaller clothes).

We made it to London in safety and have already enjoyed some of the
sights of the city, including Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster
Abbey, and Hyde park (including Speakers Corner where people stand on
boxes to preach, Pres. Hinckley being one years ago during his
mission). We've also enjoyed the double-decker red buses, hopping on
to random routes to see where it takes us. From the top deck, it
provides a fun tour and experience.

Here is a picture of us with our carry-ons only leaving from San
Francisco. We'll update the blog with higher quality pictures when we
get back. Cheers!

Point Reyes

2010-03-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Celeste and I decided somewhat last minute to do a trip up to Point Reyes. Point Reyes is located North of San Francisco on a part of land that extends into the Pacific Ocean and has gradually been transported North along the San Andres Fault up the California coastline. In fact, during the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, parts of the Point Reyes moved as much as 18 feet, which is evidenced at one point by a fence running perpendicular to the fault and is displaced 16 feet! The Earth is truly an amazing place!

Right now, gray whiles are returning from Baja, Mexico to the North during their annual 10,000 mile migration. Point Reyes is a great spot to watch these whales migrate, but we didn't see any whales during this trip. We did see some baby elephant seals, though. We also hiked along the coast and enjoyed the spectacular views of this amazing place. There are many more places to explore and we plan to come back.

Enjoy some of the pictures that we took!

Point Reyes

Monterey Bay Bike Ride

2009-11-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

I'm going through the pictures we took over the summer and realized that we haven't been doing a very good job of posting everything to our blog. With the 150-mile challenge, we explored a different place each weekend. Probably the most fun bike ride we did was a 52-mile ride around Monterey Bay. We parked our car in Monterey, geared up, and then headed North along a trail that follows the bay's coastline. During most of the ride, we could see and hear the waves of the bay. Sand drifted across the bike path at many points. We also passed lots of farms growing artichokes, strawberries, and other delicious looking produce. We hit Castroville (16 mile mark) and then turned around.

Once we made it back to Monterey, we stopped at our car for lunch. Then it was time to head South through Monterey and onto 17-Mile Drive. This part of the journey was very picturesque, especially with all of the perfectly manicured golf courses. At this point, I was beginning to wish I brought my clubs along. But of course I realized that toting golf clubs on my bike would probably be a little difficult. We did get a couple of fun pictures, including a shot of Celeste and me in front the 8th green at the Links at Spanish Bay.

We continued a little further down 17-Mile Drive as the fog started to roll in. We saw several antlered deer meandering along the golf courses. We stopped at bird rock to look at hundreds of sea lions resting on the rocks. Then turned around to head back to the car and home. Total mileage count = 52 miles (13 miles toward the 150-mile challenge).

Dragon Boat Festival

2009-11-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

So we've been meaning to upload some pictures from the Dragon Boat Festival back in September. The Festival took place on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay and my Firm, KPMG, was one of the sponsors. Leading up to the Festival, we participated in three physically intense practices. Paddling is quite the workout. On race day, our team raced in three 300-meter heats. Below is a picture from one of the heats. You can tell from the photo that our starts got us pretty far ahead (you can see the dragon head of the boat right behind us). Can you find Celeste and me in the photo? We'll give you a hint -- we're both on the near side of the boat (click on the picture for a larger view).

Dragon Boat racing is a very team-driven event. Everybody must paddle in unison in order to get the most power and speed. We had a lot of fun team-building with other people from KPMG.

Zion's National Park

2009-09-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

Celeste and I have gotten plenty of hiking in this summer. My work has a three month challenge to walk/run 150 miles or more. Bike riding also counts at a 4-to-1 conversion, so we've logged quite a few miles on bike as well. One of our favorite spots so far was Zion National Park. We did a few hikes there including Emerald Pools, part of Zion Narrows, and Hidden Canyon. The park really is amazing to behold. The steep walls protruding out of the valley floor are absolutely amazing. The red rocks are picturesque. A person needs to visit the park to really see and understand the amazing beauty that it holds.

Overall, we had a lot of fun, but there were plenty more hikes we wish we would have had time to see, especially Angels Landing. Looks like another trip is in order. :)

Zion's National Park

Snorkeling Pictures from Hawaii

2009-07-25T16:25:00.001-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since we got home from Hawaii. We have lots of fond memories from our trip. We finally developed the pictures from our underwater disposable camera. It's been so long since we actually had to develop film that we forgot how to do it. But Costco developed the film and burned all of the pictures to CD at a reasonable price. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Hawaii

Hawaii Anniversary

2009-07-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Celeste and I just got back from Hawaii where we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time with activities such as snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, sightseeing, enjoying the beaches, and eating at a luau. Here are some pictures from our travels. We also got an underwater disposable camera which we are going to develop and post soon. Enjoy!

Hawaii

Stake Play Video

2009-06-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

I was just going through the pictures from Stake Play and found that they have a video posted of the swing routine that we choreographed. The camera people did a really good job at capturing the dance. You can either watch the video below, or click here to see it in high definition. We had so much fun choreographing the routine and are VERY happy with the results. The youth did GREAT! Hope you enjoy!

Point Lobos

2009-05-31T22:50:00.000-07:00

My sister, Deanna, and cousin, Scott, came to visit last week. We sure had a lot of fun doing tourist activities around the area. The first full day they were here, we went down to the Monterey area to Point Lobos. Point Lobos is described as one of the greatest meetings of land and water. It is such a wonderful place. There are tide pools, cypress trees, sea lions, birds, forests, and the list goes on. Hiking around (we clocked 5.25 miles for the day), it is almost like you visit many different national parks all in one place -- the park is just so diverse.

My favorite part of Point Lobos is the tide pools. There are star fish, crabs, anemones, and a host of other sea life that I don't know the names for. It reminds me of the days when I used to watch Sea Quest DSV on TV and dream about becoming a marine biologist. Next time we go to Point Lobos, I need to take a better camera because all I had was my phone. Deanna and Scott each had a camera. I need to bug them in order to get copies of some of the fun pictures of the tide pools. I did get some fun pictures of when we were resting and looking at the sea lions. They were swimming about twenty yards from where we sat on the rocks. So much fun to watch.

If you are ever in the area, Point Lobos is a must see. We'd be glad to show you around some of our favorite spots. Just remember to bring your hiking shoes. :)

Tropical Sorbet from Costco

2009-05-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

Celeste found a really fun Tropical Sorbet at Costco. The sorbet comes in several different flavors (coconut, pineapple, pina-colada, lemon, and mango-orange). And on top of that, each flavor is individual served in an orange peel, a lemon peel, a pineapple skin, or a coconut shell. They are very tasty. Except, of the 12 that came in the last package, I only got to eat three of them. We shared two with our friends. Guess who ate the other seven? You guessed it -- Celeste. :) And she helped me eat my last one tonight. As clarification, she didn't eat them all in one day, but over six days. Guess that is one of the upsides of working at home.

Oh yes, and there is a coupon for the sorbet this month. We'll probably be getting the max number of boxes that it allows. If you're a Costco member, I'd suggest trying a box.

New Golf Clubs

2009-05-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

I keep talking about my new golf clubs and so I figured it would be fun to post a picture of my new driver (the Nike SQ Sumo Squared 5900). As you can see in the picture, it is pretty big compared to the golf ball (the largest that is allowed by golf rules). This sure makes it a lot easier to hit the ball, although it did take me a bit to get used to the size of the club. Also, the shape of it is square, so it is a little different than conventional shapes. But it sure does hit the ball straight. Makes it a lot easier to have fun when I'm out playing golf.

Swing Dance Performance

2009-05-04T18:16:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the annual ward talent show. Celeste and I choreographed a swing dance routine with our friends Devon and April. We thought it turned out pretty well. Enjoy the video:

Dancing at Jeff and Jessica's Wedding

2009-05-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back we went to our friends' wedding in Walnut Grove, California. It was basically the middle of nowhere, but it was perfect weather and a perfect setting. Walnut Grove is located in rural California, which, surprisingly, really isn't that far away. We left early in the morning and trusted our GPS device to get us there.

The wedding itself was at a small Catholic church, after which Jeff and Jessica road in an old Cadillac convertible to the Grand Island Mansion (an old mansion on a large plantation) for the reception. One reason our friends were really excited to invite Celeste and me is that they had a live jazz band. Of course, we brought our dance shoes to enjoy the dance floor. It's funny because one of my friends said that while we were dancing, the women in the room were whispering to their husbands that they wished they would have done the dance classes afterall. :) We sure love dancing! We're performing in the Church talent show tomorrow and will hopefully get a movie to YouTube.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2009-03-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Celeste and I decided to take a break for the weekend with a trip to Disneyland/California Adventure. Our friends were going with their kids and invited us to come along (the 4-year-old actually invited us). After work on Friday, we drove down and made it to LA around 11pm. We woke up early the next day to drive down to Anaheim.

My favorite rides were the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, California Screamin', Tower of Terror, and the new Toy Story ride. The Toy Story ride is definitely a good addition to California Adventure. It is the same concept as Astro Blasters where you are shooting at items. Except in the Toy Story ride, you wear 3D glasses and are shooting at a huge screen. You can watch the items that you shoot (rings, darts, etc.) as they virtually fly across the screen in 3D. It's really fun. The 3D glasses also made for some pretty good pictures. :)

Stake Play

2009-03-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this weekend as the youth performed in our Stake Play entitled Wired -- basically a music/dance festival. The theme was based on different things that you might find on an iPod, such as music, movies, and pictures. Celeste and I choreographed a swing number to Sing Sing Sing and our four couples did a fantastic job. Just check out the above picture of the beginning "V" formation. We really challenged them with multiple lifts and some fancy footwork. I think there were ten different formations that the youth had to memorize. We also helped choreograph a part in Footloose and They Dance. Everything turned out even better than we expected. We'll post videos soon. The youth we worked with were so fantastic!

Overall, Stake Play was a wonderful experience. The Spirit was very strong as the kids expressed their talents, especially in the last part of the show that emphasized the importance of eternal families. We are grateful that our families can be together forever.

On a side note, as I look at the pictures that we took, it’s probably time that we got a new camera. I talked with one of the photographers from Stake Play (who took some amazing shots that I’ll give a link to when they are posted) about some of the photos that he took, and I remembered how much I enjoyed doing my photography class back in my senior year of high school. Maybe it’s about time I took up that hobby again...

Indian Curry Cuisine

2009-03-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of an Indian curry dish that Celeste made this week. It gets ten points for taste plus extra credit for presentation (this is on a ten point scale of course). Celeste has really been getting good at finding new recipes. We are constantly trying new dishes that she finds online.

Of course, I try to contribute whenever I can. I made an 8-layer Chinese chicken salad this week. But I can't take credit for sprouting our own bean sprouts that became the eighth layer. Celeste sprouted those herself and I just washed them off before putting them in the salad. Below is a picture of the sprouts right before I pulled them out for washing. This used to be just a handful of dried mung beans but grew to fill the entire container. They were very tasty!

Hiking in Stevens Creek County Park

2009-03-08T15:07:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, Celeste and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather to go hiking (this, of course, was in between our yoga class and swing dance practice). The park we chose was Stevens Creek County Park, and it seemed promising when we got there. However, we weren't able to find a good hiking path. We found several paths, but each was marked with a closed sign -- maybe the trails are too muddy during the winter. If anything, it was nice to get outside and enjoy the nice weather. Plus, I got to use my new hiking pole! Next time, though, we'll look at a map and choose a trail in advance.

Freshly Squeezed Juice

2009-03-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

I used to not be a very picky eater. I would eat pretty much anything that was given to me without any complaint (with the exception of stuffing, which I am learning to like). But that has changed lately, at least in a few food groups. One thing I have become very picky of is freshly squeezed juice. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I usually order water to drink, mainly because I don't like all of the artificial sweeteners that are in juices. But in certain restaurants, I can't help but order their fresh juices. For example, I got fresh strawberry lemonade the other day at the Cheesecake Factory and it was terrific.

I think part of the reason that my taste buds prefer freshly squeezed juices is illustrated very well in this picture. We sliced ten oranges in half and then used our Bosch to juice all of them. The result was two completely full glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice (plus some that we saved for the next day). We've done this a couple times in the last few weeks (can you tell that we shop at Costco?). One of my favorite variations has been to juice a grapefruit into the orange juice. Very tasty, and very good at preventing sicknesses that has been going around.

Stanford Theatre

2009-02-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

On Friday we decided to have our date night at the Stanford Theatre. This was the third or fourth time that we went, and we haven't been disappointed yet. The theatre plays old movies, typically ones in black and white. This week, though, they had the 1940s films enhanced using Technicolor. High tech. :)

There were two films that played this week. The first was An Apartment For Peggy. The second was Margie. Originally, we were just going to stay for the first movie, but ended up staying for both. In between movies, they also have live organ music played on an organ that rises up out of the stage (see picture above). If anything else, it is worth going for the organ concert.

One of the reasons that I really like movies here is that they make you think. For example, in Margie, it is all about high school kids and how they worry so much about what other people think. But most of the time, what they worry about is really only imagined, like being embarrassed about something your parents did when in actuality it was something pretty important. Anyway, it was a funny movie and I would recommend anyone in the area to stop by the theatre. You're almost always bound to get a good (and clean) show.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun Valentine's Day filled with lots of exercise and relaxation. First of all, the day before Valentine's Day, we went to a church dance. There was a professional dance performance, after which there was a short dance lesson and general dancing. We had a lot of fun. There was one fast swing song that we really got into. We danced... and danced... and danced. The song just kept going! By the end of the song, we were the only couple left on the dance floor. Celeste took her sweater off after that song and we both needed a drink. We had a lot of fun that night!

On Saturday, we started the morning with yoga, then did a two-hour dance practice with the youth for the Stake Musical (one of the boys didn't show up, so I got a big workout while Celeste observed), then home to work a bit before the evening.

I picked up some flowers for Celeste (Costco has great roses at reasonable prices) and then we decided to chance the weather at the beach. It really wasn't that bad, although it was a little cold (you can probably tell based on the picture). We walked along the beach and were hoping to see the sunset, but it was covered by the clouds. It was nice to just walk and talk. Afterwards, we decided to warm up with some caramel apple cider, and then headed home for a great homemade dinner. Overall, a very great day. Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Fresh Fruit

2009-02-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

The other day, one of my friends brought a whole bunch of fresh mandarins to work. I grabbed one that still had a leaf on the top, because the leaf made it seem fresher than the rest. It looked so good that I decided to take a picture. It tasted really good, too.

P.S. I think that the lines in the picture were caused by the sun coming through the blinds.

Matt's birthday

2009-02-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

So today was my birthday, and it was definitely a great day. Celeste spoils me every birthday, ever since she organized my first birthday with her five years ago. Today was no exception. Celeste got out of bed before me, and by the time I was all ready for work, waffles with blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream, and syrup were waiting for me on the table. And to top it off, there was also fresh squeezed orange juice. Very tasty!

Work was good, especially because my phone kept buzzing, telling me I had new (birthday) emails. I was thinking how amazing it is the many methods of communication that people wished me a happy birthday. I got text messages, emails, cards through the mail, phone calls, and messages on my Facebook wall. But of course, the best is always in person, and especially from my wife.

After work, I came home to Celeste making one of my favorite dishes, pasties. As she was cutting the meat, I asked whether I could peek in the freezer (hoping for the annual ice cream cake). It was there, and boy was it tasty. She even made it without chocolate (my friend challenged/dared me to give up chocolate, and I haven't had it for about a week now). Once the pasties were in the oven, I opened gifts. I got a new work outfit (from Celeste) and a really neat book with five of Joseph Smith's journals transcribed verbatim into a compilation entitled The Joseph Smith Papers Vol. 1 (from my mom).

Once the pasties were ready, we ate, and then let the food settle until we were ready for cake. Then it was time for that amazing cake that I spied earlier in the evening -- ice cream cake with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream (can you tell a trend of what I like to eat?). There were also shortbread cookies mixed into the cake and caramel drizzling the top. Celeste did a great job.

It's been a great birthday. I had a lot of fun and ate some amazing food. Thank you everyone who wished me a happy birthday and made this a great day.

The Flying Monkeys

2009-02-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

So at work, one of my colleagues picked up the most random recruiting toy that I have ever seen. It is a stuffed monkey with a cape and mask. On the cape is the name of Moss Adams, another accounting firm. What makes this monkey awesome is that you put one finger in each hand, pull back on the legs, and shoot the monkey like a slingshot. As the monkey flies through the air, it screams like a real monkey. It's really rather clever.

So we figured this monkey was pretty much one of a kind, until another colleague came to work with the exact same monkey, except in pink. Turns out she found it in her rental property after the residents moved out. The monkey is the exact same -- pull it back and let if fly (and scream). This might be the beginning of a fun collection.

Dinner with Thomas and Natalie

2009-02-01T21:10:00.001-08:00

We had some friends over tonight for dinner. We've been trying to have them over for a house warming dinner since we moved to our new apartment from Los Gatos. Now eight months later, it finally happened. Celeste and I made some fantastic Eggplant Parmigiano over whole wheat spaghetti. Very tasty. On the side we had salad and the rest of the whole wheat molasses bread Celeste made a few days ago (made using wheat that we ground in our new wheat grinder).

After dinner we talked for a while about learning new languages (Natalie is using Rosetta Stone to learn Swedish), the economy (what conversation these days doesn't include the economy), Costco (we may have convinced them to get a membership), and food storage (a great topic to go along with the economy and Costco). We sure had fun!

On a side note, you'll notice in this picture how our dining area is set up. Behind Celeste is the kitchen area. Behind the cameraman's left is the front door and right is the living room, where our bookshelf and chair from the previous post are located. It's crazy to think that we have already been living here for eight months already. We really like it.

Our Living Room

2009-01-25T22:01:00.001-08:00

I just realized that we haven't posted pictures of our "new" apartment. We've been here for nine months now and have only had a few visitors from outside California. I was playing around with my camera phone the other day and took this picture of our living room. Celeste and I thought that it was a fun picture. So here is the first picture of our new apartment. We'll take some more and post them later. :)

BYU Gymnastics Meet in California

2009-01-18T21:31:00.002-08:00

Celeste and I decided to go to the BYU gymnastics meet on Friday at San Jose State. We used to go fairly regularly when we lived across the street from the Smith Field House. But this was our first time seeing the gymnastics team since our move two years ago.

It was really fun watching all of the events. My personal favorite is probably the floor routine because of its similarity to dance. I can never count how many flips in a row they do. I kept leaning over to Celeste and asking, "Was that a triple?" She kept telling me "No, it was a double." Maybe I was just really hoping to see a triple. The only time I remember seeing one was at BYU when a guy did a triple into the pit. You have to get some pretty good air to flip around three times. Apparently, I can only get enough air to get around about three-fourths of a turn... Celeste, on the other hand, is a flip master.

Happy Russian New Year

2009-01-11T22:14:00.001-08:00

It's a few days early, but we celebrated the Russian New Year today. We got together at our friends' house with 20 of our Russian speaking friends. This picture is of Celeste with the "waiter". He is carrying a tray with what looks like really good cake. The first couple times I saw it, I thought the cakes were real. But alas, they are fake.

For the party we had all sorts of Russian foods such as pelmeni, piroghis, Russian potato salad, Martinelli's, black bread, and a host of other dishes. Did I mention desserts? Yeah, lots of those too.

Happy Russian New Year! С Новым Годом!

Bike Riding at Stanford

2009-01-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

I was reading my friend's blog and she mentioned something about a 365 project where you take 1 picture a day about something random from your life that you wouldn't have otherwise taken a picture. I'm not sure I'm ambitious enough to do a picture everyday, but it gave me an idea. Since I often find myself too busy to write on our blog, I figured that I would start taking more pictures and posting a picture to our blog at least every week (or so...). So to start, here is a picture of Celeste and me in front of the Stanford Cathedral last week. We found a good route from our home to the campus and have already done the route twice. It's really fun to explore the Stanford campus and we really like our bikes.

Our Trip to Old England

2008-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

Celeste and I took a little trip yesterday to Old England. We packed a few snacks and our dancing shoes, then drove up to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. After picking up our tickets at will call, we walked through the gate -- out of California and into Old England. Thus began our adventure at the Charles Dickens Fair.

As we walked along the streets of London, we came to a cozy inn where a dining table was being prepared to welcome Charles Dickens. We were invited to sit down, just as Mr. Dickens walked through the door. He placed his top hat and coat on the rack, and then took his place at the head of the table. We engaged in some small talk, after which Mr. Dickens read from his story, A Christmas Carol. Now, I've read A Christmas Carol several times, watched many movie renditions of the story, and seen the play at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, but listening to Mr. Dickens read the story was just as good, if not better, than any version I had yet experienced. In addition to the words, Mr. Dickens' expressions added further meaning to the story. At the appropriate times, he would whisper or yell, make facial expressions of anger or horror or glee, and gesture to and fro with his arms.

During our first sitting, we learned of Ebeneezer Scrooge's disdain for Christmas and followed him until the end of his conversation with the ghost of Jacob Marley. So wonderful was our time with Mr. Dickens that we returned twice more to listen to the story as Scrooge met with the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Future. Unfortunately, we were unable to return for the third sitting with the Ghost of Christmas Present. But we deeply enjoyed listening to and were touched by the story. I can see why President Monson makes it a point to read A Christmas Carol each Christmas season, for Scrooge helps us better understand the true meaning of Christmas. "It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

After listening to the first part of A Christmas Carol, we continued our tour of London with a stop at the docks for a sing-along with some shipmates. Then it was to the Adventurer's Club to learn about some of the techniques of British naval warfare. Then we walked through the shops filled with jewelry, fine clothing, puzzle rings, and toys. Of course, our main attraction was the food. Before the second sitting with Charles Dickens, we grabbed a gingerbread boy.

Next, we hurried off down the street, and guess who we ran into -- Ebeneezer Scrooge himself conversing with the Ghost of Christmas Present. We had enough time to snap a picture, before continuing on to the Punch and Judy Show.

The Punch and Judy Puppet Show was fun to watch. It had a good moral to the ending -- "It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice."

And, in fact, while we were watching the show, who else were to pass but the Queen of England herself with the royal guard. Next, we went to watch a live production of the Pirates of Penzance. This was our third opportunity to watch a live production of this comic opera, and the storyline and dialogue gets funnier every time. Wikipedia gives a good rundown of the synopsis, which I encourage you to read. The opera also has a good moral, which is that we should act out of a sense of duty, even when there is nothing else binding us to a promise but our word alone.

Somewhere in our hustle and bustle, we enjoyed a nice meal of shepherd's pie and steak and mushroom pie. We also stopped by Fezziwig's dance party several times for waltzes, polkas, and the Sir Roger de Coverley (although we probably didn't dance it as well as Old Fezziwig himself). Overall, it was a lovely trip to Old London, and we were sad to return to California.

Some New Toys

2008-10-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

Each of us received a new toy this week. Celeste got hers rather unexpectedly and mine I ordered the week before. On Monday, Celeste called me at work and said that the bike shop had her bike all assembled and ready to pick up. This confused us a little because they originally told us that the 2009 models wouldn't be out until December. Here's the story.

We started seriously looking for bikes back in July. I got my bike in August. Celeste decided that she wanted the female version of a bike we tried, but nobody seemed to have the female version in stock -- the Specialized Vita Elite. After calling about 10 different bicycle shops, we found one about 15 miles away with the bike in stock. We went there so that Celeste could test ride the bike, and she really liked it. The only thing that she wasn't sure about was the size. They had two different models of the same bike (one with carbon fork and seat stay, and the other with basic aluminum), one in each of the sizes that she would potentially want. After trying out each bike, she determined she liked the carbon fork and seat stay. But, as luck would have it, she also decided that the full aluminum frame was the better size. We asked them what our options were, and they said that they could order the correct size bike with carbon fork and seat stay. However, after looking at the computer, it turned out that there were none left of the 2008 model. So they ordered the 2009 model. We put a $50 deposit and left with the hope that Celeste would have a bike within a week.

Well, a few days transpire, and they called us to say that the 2009 model wouldn't come in until December. That put a little damper into our plans. We talked through it and determined that the best option would be to cancel the order and just wait until next season. Celeste called up the bike shop, but the manager wasn't there in order to cancel the order. A week passes, and we rearrange our budget to project the purchase of the bike in April or May. Then, what do you know, the next day is when they called up to say that Celeste's bike was ready. Surprised by this great news, we went to pick it up. That was Monday, and we were finally able to go on our first ride on Friday. It's a nice bike! Now we just need to rearrange the budget again...

Now for my new toy. While still a student, I decided to take up golf in anticipation of business meetings on the golf course. Well, after a year with KPMG, I finally got the chance to go with our client for a couple rounds of golf. It went okay. But I decided that if I wanted to make a better impression, I would need some new equipment. In looking at my options, I just couldn't bring myself to spending hundreds of dollars, especially for a sport that would cost hundreds of dollars just to play. Luckily, though, I have a friend who taught me how to golf on a budget -- play the less expensive courses, find the cheaper times, etc. One other thing he pointed out is that not all golf clubs cost a ton of money. Actually, while looking around on the Internet, he found a great deal on some irons that basically ranked number two in Golf Digest's 2007 hot list -- the Adams A2. Adams is a brand that doesn't spend millions of dollars on endorsements (think Nike and Callaway), so they don't have to charge as much to make a profit. In reading reviews on the clubs, I couldn't find anything that people didn't like about the irons. Then, I watched the clubs over two weeks as the price dropped by about 25 percent. I finally decided to take the plunge. They arrived this week, and boy do they look great. Haven't had a chance to use them though. That will be this week. :)

New York City: Our Second Honeymoon

2008-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess you can't really describe it as our second honeymoon, since we shared a hotel room with Celeste's parents. But it was certainly fun. After getting dropped off in New York City (see Our Great Adventure Driving to NYC), we had a bit of time to kill before going to see Wicked on Broadway. We got to the city with sufficient time to completely plan our subway/train ride out to Long Island. The public transit in New York is amazing, but we wanted to make sure we got the 11:16 PM train and not the 1:02 AM train. We planned everything out, bought our tickets, and then looked for a restaurant. We ended up eating at Applebee's. Now I know what you're thinking -- "You're in New York City! You can do better than Applebee's!" This is very true. But it was raining and one thing us Californians aren't used to is rain. So we chose what was convenient, and Applebee's was close to the theater. One thing I'd like to point out at this time is that NYC has a law that restaurants must publish nutritional facts in their menus. Long story short: Knowing that a dish has 2,000 calories in it just takes all the fun out of eating -- so I sprung for the 750 calorie dish, and didn't feel bad about dessert.

Wicked was amazing. I really didn't expect much in going to the show, except that it had received great reviews. It definitely puts a different perspective on the Wizard of Oz, which I'd like to watch next time that I have a chance. We're very glad that we went to the show! We also made our train with plenty of time -- enough time, in fact, for a second dessert.

We stayed with Celeste's parents at the Glen Cove Mansion. It was a fun hotel with plenty of activity (there was a wedding and/or party each of the nights we were there). Actually, I think it is one of the only hotels in Glen Cove, NY. (As a side note, Celeste's parents were out there for Doug's 51 year class reunion.) On Saturday, we met with some of Doug's cousins. First, we met with the Bell cousins. We had a nice conversation and Celeste loved looking through the family pictures. It's funny because you could definitely see the family resemblance in some of the pictures. After that, we met with Jane Hollister at her home for a fantastic meal of poached salmon and fresh vegetables for her garden. One of the things I realized from spending time there is how quickly life seems to go. We were able to sit down and really talk for a couple hours. We ate, but we weren't rushed at all. Time just passed by. We talked about everything from family history to gardens to boating to current events. It was great!

That night, we took the train back into Manhattan so that we could go to Swing 46, our favorite restaurant from our honeymoon. It is a little spendy there, but you sure have a fun time. We had a great meal of coconut shrimp, steak, and salad. Then the live music started and we were able to dance the night away. It was our first time dancing since Celeste's injury back in June, so we took it easy a little bit. But overall, it was very fun. We forgot our camera, so I figured it would be fun to post a picture from when we went there for our honeymoon.

The next day, we took it easy. We went with Doug and Sandra to a brunch as part of Doug's class reunion. I think it is safe to assume that we were the youngest people there. We also did a tour of some of the places Doug remembers from growing up. It was a relaxing day.

The next day, we packed up and then home we went. Already looking forward to our next vacation...

Our Great Adventure Driving to NYC

2008-10-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

The car ride getting from Baltimore to New York City was interesting. We thought we were pretty clever to use my computer as a navigation system (my Sprint aircard is a wonderful invention). However, we still managed to miss a few turns. This was very convenient, though, and some might say intentional. :) As posted earlier in My Geocaching Quest, I'm trying to find geocaches in all fifty states. Our route from Baltimore would go through Delaware (where I hadn't found a geocache yet) but just miss Pennsylvania (where I hadn't gotten a geocache, because I was just getting over a cold during my first and only trip to Pennsylvania). After finding a geocache in Delaware, I jokingly suggested that we should make a detour and go through Philadelphia. As we got back onto the highway, there was a bit of confusion with the signs and next thing I know, we missed our exit. In looking at the map, we could still get to NYC going this way, which also happened to take us through Philadelphia. Very convenient! :) We ended up getting a geocache right near the Philadelphia Phillies stadium. That's state number 17!

Our next stop would be Manhattan. Celeste's parents were going to drop us off and then continue on to Long Island. It seemed pretty straight forward in looking at the map -- take the Lincoln tunnel, across on 34th Street (drop us off at Penn Station), and then continue out on Queens Midtown Tunnel. But actually driving through Manhattan is a different story. For some reason, a cop wouldn't let us turn onto 34th, so we got a street level view of Manhattan during rush hour (I say rush hour, which I think is ALL the time for Manhattan). So what we thought would take only ten minutes ended up taking about an hour. But it worked out in the end. Thank you so much Doug and Sandra for your patience in driving us to Manhattan. For future reference, I will never suggest driving in Manhattan again, unless it is by taxi.

Going to Miss the Summer

2008-10-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a great summer filled with lots of fun. We're definitely going to miss it, but we made the most of it. A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the East Coast with Celeste's parents to visit Celeste's sister's family (Heather and Julio). We had a wonderful time, although we only spent about a day with Heather and Julio. I actually arrived a day earlier, since I was out there on business as well. I was very excited to see my nephews, and it seems like Paul was excited to see me, too. He decided that we should sleep in the same room. Since I didn't really feel like blowing up the air mattress, I decided to sleep on the ground in his room. Of course, since I was going to sleep on the ground, he thought that must be the cool thing to do. So, he decided to sleep on the ground, too, which left his bed free. There's no use in leaving a bed empty, so I decided to sleep there instead. :) A pretty good trick if you ask me.

Wednesday, I worked until Celeste and her parents flew in. We had dinner at Chevy's (where, coincidentally, I had eaten a few months before during another business trip).

Thursday, I helped Julio install a new light fixture in their kitchen. Oh the joys of home-ownership... But it felt rewarding once we got everything in its place and working. Next, we went to the park to play. Julio, Celeste, and I played tennis and later joined everyone else to play on the toys. I forgot how much I enjoy tennis. It's great exercise and very fun. For dinner, we split assignments for a barbecue. The assignments for our fantastic meal were as follows: Julio - barbecued steak, Celeste - salad, me - twice-baked potatoes, and Doug - store-bought rolls. ;) It was a great meal. That night, we said our goodbyes since on Friday morning we left for NYC. A very short trip to visit our favorite nephews...

Matt with his nephews

Matt with his nephews again (I guess only one is allowed to look at the camera at a time)

Friend's Singing Contest

2008-09-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our friend entered a singing contest and she is really good. Here is the video of her singing:

To vote for her, email LikenContest@gmail.com with the subject line as "Brenda L (Los Gatos, CA)". One vote per email address. All voting should be sent in by September 24.

Enjoy the video!

Android Developer Challenge Gallery

2008-08-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Google is in the process of developing a cell phone operating system called Android. Google hosted a competition to see who could build the best/most useful application for the phone, and the results are very impressive. CompareEverywhere is an application in which you use the built in camera on the phone to scan a barcode, which it automatically looks up to compare prices, find reviews, and connect with local stores. Another is called Locale, which automatically detects where you are and sets your phone settings accordingly (e.g., if you are at work, you can have it set to turn to vibrate). One more application is called PicSay, which is a basic photo editing program for your cell phone. You can take a look at the other finalists at the Android Developer Challenge Gallery.

I'm still waiting for my cell phone contract to expire, which is why I haven't bought an iPhone, yet. However, if Android phones go on sale before my contract expires, I might be very tempted to purchase an Android phone instead. The user interface looks like it will be very slick and the platform will be more open than the iPhone. Plus, it may have a lower price tag for its service. I guess we'll see all the details when we get a working model. I, for one, am looking forward to it.

Four Day Work Week For Utah State Workers

2008-08-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just came across an interesting article that in Utah, they are moving to a four day work week for State employees. The rationale for this (among others) is that the State can turn off the power in buildings, which will in turn save on energy expenses. Personally, I think that it is a fantastic idea. I'd be willing to work 10 hours a day to get an extra day for the weekend. I sometimes feel like I'm working ten hours a day anyway.

And if not ten hours a day, then why not have a day or two a week where we can telecommute? My firm just gave out Sprint wireless cards to employees that travel a lot (you might be able to guess why I got one...). Now, I can virtually work from anywhere that I can get cell phone reception. And, not only does technology make it easier to work remotely, it also follows the new "green initiatives" that corporate America is starting to foster. Imagine how much less gas you would use if you only drove to work four times a week instead of five. Think how much less traffic there would be on the roads, especially if companies staggered the four days that their employees worked. Seems like a pretty good way of saving gas and lowering emissions. Or, I guess we could always just force every American to check the pressure in his/her tires...

Company Soccer Team

2008-08-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things about living in Silicon Valley is that I work with companies that most people only see as websites or technology products. For example, I've visited Google's campus, which is very impressive (and has pretty good free food for employees). Recently, this connection has extended to my company soccer team. We've had soccer games against MySpace (tied) and Facebook (won). I wonder how the game went between MySpace and Facebook -- that's probably the best way to choose which website to support. :) I personally prefer Facebook (I ended up cancelling my MySpace account because of all inappropriate advertisements), although I tend to stay with email, blogging, and Google Talk as my usual methods of communication. But if you're ever looking for me in the social networking arena, I'm on Facebook.

San Diego Anniversary - Part 2

2008-08-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

For the last few days of our anniversary/vacation, we relaxed with Mitch and Mandy in the San Diego area. On Sunday, we went for a nice walk to the local park and enjoyed the nice weather. We also got some really fun pictures. Since Fay only holds a smile for a few seconds at a time when taking pictures (she otherwise loves to smile all of the time), it took a few snapshots before getting just the right face.

Fay, Celeste, and Mandy

Fay, Celeste, and Matt

Fay's personal gymnastics coach
After getting back from the park, Celeste and Fay decided to sit down and read for a little bit. Fay started to read the usual picture book, but decided that Celeste's book looked far more interesting. Celeste obliged to trading books. Maybe Celeste's book was a little too grown up for Fay... or maybe Fay's growing up a little too fast.

Bride's Maid Dress

2008-08-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

My sister is getting married in a couple weeks. Celeste just got the bride's maid dress in the mail a few days ago. In my unbiased opinion as her husband, I think that she looks fantastic. I took a couple snap shots of her in front of our apartment. Enjoy!

San Diego Anniversary

2008-07-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

We've been having some fun in San Diego for our fourth anniversary. We stayed on Coronado Island just across the bay from San Diego. The Marriott resort we stayed at was very nice -- it had pools, fountains, and (Celeste's favorite) an aviary. We mostly just bummed around on the beach, walked along the water, and generally just enjoyed being together. We also had a chance to go to the San Diego temple. From the outside it is gorgeous, but the inside is even more gorgeous (if that is possible). Whenever you have a chance to go to the San Diego temple, we highly recommend it.

After spending a few days at Coronado, we met up with some friends who used to live by us in California (they recently moved to the San Diego area). We enjoyed the evening in Old Town. Then today we packed up everyone for a trip to the San Diego Zoo. To save a few bucks, we split the cost of an annual pass for Mitch and Mandy. It was only $79 and Mitch and Mandy will be able to go as many times as they want for the rest of the year. Plus, they got two free guest passes (can you guess who the guests were?) and a whole bunch of other discounts. It ended up being cheaper than paying separately. At the zoo, we enjoyed the koalas, kangaroos, gorillas, elephants, and giraffes.

But our favorite by far were the giant pandas.

You may have noticed from our pictures that Celeste got the cast off of her leg. She got it off Tuesday right before we left for San Diego. She's been gradually building up strength, but decided that it would probably be best to use a wheelchair to get around the zoo. I had a lot of fun (and exercise) pushing her up and down the hills. For more pictures, check out our web album.

Looks like gas prices...

2008-07-15T09:38:00.001-07:00

Looks like gas prices are going down. On my way to work today, I saw that the local gas station was $4.69 as opposed to $4.73, so, thats good. listen

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Celeste's Cool New Shoe

2008-07-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

Ever since we played on a BYU intramural soccer team, Celeste and I have loved playing soccer. It's a fun sport and you get a TON of exercise. I still attribute soccer to taking away the extra pounds I acquired during my KPMG internship (I felt that all I did was sit and eat). Since we've moved to California, we've started to play on the KPMG co-ed soccer team. It's pretty fun, and there are some other company teams you might recognize (such as MySpace and Facebook). Anyway, while playing in a game a few weeks ago, Celeste was in the middle of the action when suddenly she collapsed. It turns out she got her legs tangled with one of the other guys and rolled her ankle. We rushed her home to get some ice on the injury, then took her to the minor injuries clinic at Kaiser Permanente the next day. After taking some X-rays, the doctor's assessment seemed promising -- she would be walking normal in a few days. They wrapped up her ankle, gave her some crutches, and we were on our way.

After a few days went by, things didn't get better. In fact, they got worse. With hope on our side, though, we decided to wait a few more days (the doctor said she should be walking just fine after a few days -- maybe it was a few days longer than his assessment). But alas, it didn't get better.

More than a week after the injury, we went to Celeste's regular doctor for a second opinion. Her opinion: "I don't know why the first doctor said she would be walking after a few days. You should see a specialist."

So we set up an appointment with a specialist for the next week (for two weeks exactly from the date of Celeste's injury). We meet with the specialist, he looked at the X-ray, and his immediate assessment was: "Looks like the injury is 80% sprain, 20% broken bone." So they put a cast on her -- she chose the florescent green with sparkles (it looks pretty cool if I do say so myself). It was also the first time I'd ever seen someone get a cast before -- very interesting.

Now Celeste is able to get around a lot better than before. Plus, I don't have to worry about accidentally hitting her sprained foot while we sleep. I'm actually the one dodging her leg! Casts are really hard. They say that the cast comes off right before our anniversary. Perfect timing so that we can enjoy the beach.

Bike to Work: Good for the Heart, Good for the Wallet

2008-07-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

I posted a link last week of ways of saving gas. Celeste and I are certainly conscious of the rising price of gas, especially since we live in one of the states with the highest price of gasoline (the closet gas station to us is selling regular unleaded at $4.73!). One thing that we're trying to do is ride our bikes as often as time will permit. Now that we've moved to Mountain View, my commute to work is less than three miles. So, I've been trying to ride my bike to work about four times per week. It's a great way to start the day -- gets the heart pumping and the mind thinking. At first, I was lugging all of my stuff on my back (not too comfortable when you've got a laptop in the bag). However, we recently went to the REI used gear sale and I got a rack for the back of the bike. It's funny because growing up, I used to think that kind of stuff was for geeks. Now I think it's kind of cool. :) Of course, I may have just turned into a geek. ;)

The bike I've been riding to work is actually Celeste's bike (I've claimed as my own in the paragraph above) . I got a bike a few months back for $25 which is too small for me (we mostly just got the bike to see whether I'd enjoy riding, which I've learned that I like tremendously). I've since learned a little about bikes including sizing, etc. So now I realize that I need a new bike, but I'm not sure whether I should opt for a mountain bike or a road bike. I think it is fun to go off-road, but my main purpose for the bike is commuting to and from work. In a perfect world, I'd get two bikes (a road and a mountain bike). Any suggestions?

Ways of Saving Gas

2008-07-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting link with tips on saving money on gas. There are some pretty good ideas. Hope it helps in saving gas during these high gas times. By the way, at the gas station right near us, the cheapest gas is currently selling for $4.73. When I was in Dallas, I thought it was a steal selling for $3.99.

Update on our Garden

2008-07-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

It’s been fun to watch our garden grow over the last couple of weeks. I can definitely tell that they have grown, although Celeste could give you a day-by-day of how many new flowers and how many new vegetables have sprouted. She really enjoys spending time in the garden, especially now that her office has moved to our apartment and the garden is right outside. We made a bet on what vegetable would be ready first -- we both guessed cucumber. But the first vegetable was actually a green pepper. It was very tasty. That was about two weeks ago, and a week ago, the first cucumber was picked. I wasn’t there for the honors since I had a short trip to Dallas (by short, I flew in at 12:30 am and left the same day at 8:00 pm). So I enjoyed the cucumber through Celeste’s description. She said that it was very good. We've since picked a few more cucumbers and green peppers, and they have all been wonderful.

There are some fun things we’ve learned from our garden. First of all, squirrels apparently like strawberries, since strawberries keep disappearing before fully ripe. Celeste keeps thinking that it is me. It isn’t, though. We have a family of squirrels living in the tree on our patio. We haven’t caught them in the act, yet, but we think it’s them.

Herbs straight from the garden are wonderful! Fresh parsley is wonderful! Fresh basil is wonderful! Fresh cilantro is wonderful! You might be interested to see what cilantro looks like when you let it grow past its edible stage (you know, the fresh cilantro bunches you buy in the store). Once cilantro gets to a certain point, it grows flowers and seeds and loses the “cilantro” flavor. It actually looks like a giant weed. That isn’t a weed, though. We’ve been keeping our garden weed-free. We’ll probably plant it in a separate container next time, but for now, it towers over the green onions. One other interesting thing is that the seeds that grow on the cilantro plant are called coriander. Who knew? I guess the bigger question, though – who knows what coriander is? I didn’t even know it existed until Celeste told me.

The last fun thing about our garden is our new drip irrigation system. When we went to Monterey for the three-day Memorial Day weekend, we weren’t sure who to get to water our garden. So, we installed a drip irrigation system and a timer. Now, we don’t have to worry at all about watering, because it self waters everyday at the same specified timed. It’s great. Low maintenance gardening.

An example of the hose that connects all our plants.

The water timer for auto-watering convenience.
For more pictures, go to our Picture Album.

My Geocaching Quest

2008-06-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Since my travels have been taking me all over the U.S., I decided to try to find a geocache in every state. (If you don’t know what geocaching is, read about it at geocaching.com). When I get to a new state, I try to have the coordinates for a geocache close to my hotel. Sometimes, it’s really close to the hotel (such as a geocache I found on Time’s Square in New York City -- see picture below). Other times, I have to take quite the hike (such as in Dallas walking 3.5 miles in muggy heat).

The thing I like most about geocaching is that it usually leads to fun parks and interesting landmarks that only locals usually know about. For example, I found this running trail in New Jersey. As I was jogging back to the car, I literally almost ran into a deer on the trail. I’m not sure who was spooked more, me or the deer.

It’s been fun adding a geocache or two to each of my trips. It gives me a bit of exercise, too. I’ve been making decent progress on hitting the list of states. I’m tracking it on a map in my geocaching.com profile (I copied the most recent map below). It’s a pretty long process to get all 50 states, but it’s been taking me to fun little places. This month, I added Massachusetts and Texas to my list of states. That brings me up to 15 states.

Our First Garden in California

2008-05-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Since we moved a few weeks ago, we now have our own private patio. It's a pretty big area, too, and we realized that it gets enough direct sunlight that it would be perfect for a garden. So what did we do? We planted a garden last week. We've got peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, cilantro, basil, green onions, and parsley. Over the last week, we had quite the heat wave. Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. It wasn't exactly the best weather to be outside, or inside if you didn't have A/C. But the plants sure loved it. When we planted the tomatoes last week, only one of the plants was (barely) above the first horizontal wire in the tomato cage. Now, all of them are almost up to the second wire. I guess the heat was good for them. We love our garden! And what is especially nice is that we have our own hose. That sure makes watering a lot easier (we used to use a watering can -- took a lot longer).

Our Garden - One Week Ago
Click on the pictures to see the difference a week will make

Our Garden - Today

Snowboarding At Tahoe

2008-03-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

Celeste and I tried out snowboarding for the first time last weekend. My company paid for us to go to North Star at Lake Tahoe. We met at 4am at my office so that we could get to the resort by 8am. We took lessons in the morning and went up the mountain after lunch. It was a ton of fun! We decided that snowboarding is more fun than skiing, mostly because you can do more in snowboarding. Of course, we did fall a lot and ended up with sore knees and bums. But it was worth it. And at the end of the day, we were still smiling (And I had a nice sunburn across my forehead since I had my hat on while applying sunscreen -- it made for a funny tan line). :) Can't wait 'til the company trip next year!

Salsa Routine

2008-02-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

Celeste and I had fun choreographing a salsa routine for a church activity. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanksgiving Week

2007-11-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

Celeste and I have been having a lot of fun as usual. We went hiking last weekend at Castle Rock State Park. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. Our friend, Mandy, and her daughter went with us. Since Mandy's husband was out of town, I volunteered to carry Mandy's daughter, which was a good workout and a great contrast to my sedentary office job. We hiked a total of 5.2 miles. What most amazes me about hiking at Castle Rock State Park is that it is only about ten miles away. The great outdoors are literally in our backyard. I uploaded the track log for our hike at ActiveTrails.com and some pictures at Picasa Web.

From Castle Rock S...

On Monday, I took a flight right after work into Seattle. The cab dropped me off at my hotel at around 9:30pm. I was hungry, so decided to walk to (where I thought was) a nearby Wendy's. After about a half hour of wandering, I decided that Google Maps had led me astray (look at the map below -- according to Google, it should have been there), so I started back towards the hotel. On the way back, it started to rain. I left my umbrella in California (I don't remember the last time I had to use it), so I was relieved when I finally ran into a Subway. I ate there, then went back to my hotel.

View Larger MapI worked all day on Tuesday... later than I expected (of which my Dad is especially aware :). Then I had fun spending time with my family (one of the benefits of business traveling is that it sometimes leads to family and friends). We just sat around and talked and enjoyed one another's company. Those are some of my fondest memories with my family -- just being together. :)

On Thursday, we had a fun Thanksgiving. We cooked in the morning -- a turkey in the crock pot, raspberry green salad with sugar-coated almonds and green onions, raspberry salad dressing, and rolls (added a bit of pumpkin for moisture and flavor). We also bought pumpkin ice cream and graham crackers for a Cold Stone-style dessert. We went to our friends house for dinner. They prepared some additional food -- mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing (as always, I tried it, but didn't really like it), squash, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie for dessert. We played the Celestial Marriage game afterwards, and basically just relaxed (Celeste relaxed so much that she fell asleep). It was a really fun day.

On Friday, Celeste had to work in the morning, so I tidied up around the apartment. In the afternoon, we went to a tree farm in the Santa Cruz mountains to cut down a tree. Our friends came along with their four kids, so we had a blast walking through the acres of trees to find just the right one. The kids kept pointing at tree after tree saying "This one! This one!" We ended up cutting down a tree that was ten feet tall (it was a fixed price for any tree that we picked) and had to trim the bottom off when we got home. We'll use the extra branches to make wreathes. But we got the perfect tree. :) Thanks to my Mom for getting all of the ornaments ready for me to bring back from Seattle. We filled up our tree with all of the ornaments.

On Saturday, we spent the entire day at the Dickens Fair in San Francisco. Basically, they took an old warehouse and turned the inside into the streets of London. They incorporated scenes from Dickens' books, such as scenes from The Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. They even had the Queen of England visiting the various parts of town -- she made an appearance at the Fezziwig's party while we were there dancing. It was really fun. My favorite part was to watch a condensed version of the Pirates of Penzance. The general gist of the story is that a boy is apprenticed to a boat of misfit pirates until his 21st birthday. As his 21st birthday approaches, he warns the pirates that once he is turned back to normal civilization, he will have no choice but to destroy the pirates. However, it turns out that he was born on February 29 (leap year) and must continue to work with the pirates, since he is technically only 5 and a quarter.

From Dickens Fair

It's crazy to think that November is almost over. The time has flown by too quickly. Christmas will be here before we know it. I can't wait...

Multi-Tasking

2006-12-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

I was reading a copy of Costco Connection today -- an interesting magazine that Costco puts out monthly. There was an article talking about multi-tasking that I thought was pretty interesting. It reminded me of an experience that I have with a friend who multi-tasks on a regular basis. We were talking, then somebody came into the room and he started to talk to that person. Then his phone rang and he started to talk on the phone. Then he finished the phone call, did something on the computer, finished his conversation with the other person, then came back to the conversation with me. I was quite annoyed because I had to wait through all of this while my friend cycled through all of his multi-tasks.

This experience made me start thinking about my own multi-tasking habits. My biggest problem is (or was) working on homework only to get distracted by a new email or news story. One thing that I feel that I have successfully mastered is to not answer my cell phone if I'm doing something that is more important (such as eating dinner with my wife or talking to a friend face to face). Michelle M. Weil, PhD, gave three recommendations for effectively managing time in relation to multi-tasking:

Estimate how long tasks take: We sometimes spend more time doing things than we realize. I think we would be amazed if we timed how long we spend just checking our emails on the computer. The author suggested that we set a time limit for tasks and try our hardest to stick to those time limits.
Develop an "external memory": We sometimes do things because we're afraid that we'll forget to do them later. If we set a method of remembering to do things (such as a "to do" list in a notebook), then we can avoid having to multi-task now.
Give yourself a chance to persevere on a task until completion: If you are engrossed in a task, stick to it until you are done. If you stop, then you'll have to spend time figuring out where you were in addition to the time you'll have to spend doing the task. Get it done and move onto the next step.

BYU vs. Utah

2006-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

BYU played an awesome football game over the weekend -- winning it in the final play of the game. It reminds me of some of the famous historical games, like the Miracle Bowl. It feels great to be a part of a school where "Tradition, Spirit, Honor" is the motto.

Suggestions Please!

2006-09-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

So today I had the chance to go to a meeting, and it was about the oppurtunity to teach English in Ukraine, China, or Russia. I would definetly love to go! But for one, which one would I attend? And would I attempt to go for next fall semester? I won't be receiving any credits for school. However, I do think it will be an amazing experience.
Want to know more? E-MAIL ME!!
Cuz I love you all.
Or if you have any suggestions.

Et si omnes, ego non

2006-09-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

President and Sister Samuelson spoke today at the BYU Devotional. Sister Samuelson quoted a latin phrase: "Et si omnes ego non." That means, even if all, not I. It is the mottoe of the sole survivor of an attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. Philipp von Boeselager, the survivor, believes that we need to be actively engaged in our society, even if it means going against everybody elses' beliefs. But who says that everybody else is right.

Check out this article to read more.

New Addition to our Family

2006-08-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. We thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the new addition to our family. Here is the picture:

In case you were wondering, I'm talking about the piano in the background. We just happened to be babysitting the Curren's daughter on the first night that we had the piano, so she had a lot of fun playing on the piano. After much research and deliberation, we decided to get a new Roland KR-103 digital piano. It looks nice in the entryway, but that makes it so that I don't have a place for the desk. Guess that means no more homework. But it's definitely great to have the piano to take a break. That's one of the things that I missed about not being home. :) Here's a better picture of the piano. We think that it looks especially good with the pictures. They just happen to match very well.

Stadium of Fire, Printing Museum, and Camping

2006-07-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Stadium of Fire this year was on Saturday, July 1. We didn't feel like paying the money to go to the stadium itself, so instead, we decided to take a trip up to the "Y" and watch the fireworks from there. It was quite the experience. Instead of looking up at the fireworks, we looked down on them with the Provo city lights as a backdrop. It was very cool. Too dark to take pictures, though...

On the Fourth of July, we went rollerblading in Provo Canyon in the morning (covering about 11 miles), got Jamba Juice for our "second" breakfast, and then went to the Crandall Printing Museum in downtown Provo. There, they have the only working replica of the first printing press that was designed by Johann Gutenberg. Johann Gutenberg was ranked #1 on A&E's "People of the Millennium" countdown in 1999. This is because his invention, the printing press with movable type figures, was the single most important invention in bringing the world out of the Dark Ages. Before Gutenberg's printing press, all books had to be hand-copied. This, obviously, was a long and expensive process, taking about five years just to copy the Bible. However, with the invention of the printing press, books could be printed more quickly and efficiently. This allowed more people to own books and to use these books to learn. Thus, people became more enlightened as they had access to more information and the Dark Ages ended. Here is a picture of us in front of the printing press.

One other thing to note is the importance of the printing press in publishing the Book of Mormon. Without printing, the Book of Mormon would not be so accessible to us and we would probably only have one copy per family (if we took the time to hand-copy it). That is one of the things that the museum points out. They also point out the the Internet and computers are really an extension of the first printing press. I would highly recommend visiting the Crandall Historical Printing Museum at 275 E. Center Street in Provo, Utah if ever you have the chance.

Lastly, we went camping this weekend. We made foil dinners to take with us, which had carrots, red potatoes, broccoli, steak, and onions. We also discovered an important secret about cooking the foil dinners in the fire. After wrapping everything in foil, you put two layers of damp newspaper around the foil and then another layer of foil. This helps to evenly cook everything inside. Then, it just took about 45 minutes to cook. Very delicious.

Camping in the Sawtooth Mountains

2006-06-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun up in Idaho. The weather was perfect for a little camping in the middle of nowhere. I was impressed at how green it was. I guess that I'm just used to the deserts and farms while coming across Idaho to Utah. This was a part of Idaho that I'd never seen before. So we did a little hiking by Redfish Lake . . .

and had a blast rafting down a river. It was the first time that I'd ever been white water rafting. I definitely wouldn't mind doing it again.

That's us in the middle. It gives you an idea of what we were up against. We definitely had some fun times.

Michelle graduation

2006-06-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Michelle did it! She graduated from Emerald Ridge High School on Saturday, June 17, 2006. The weather held and the sun even peeked out a few times. After graduation the family drove to King Wha's for dinner then back home for a dance party. There wasn't a whole lot of dancing but they had fun playing games. They partied until everyone left to make their midnight curfew! (The party started at 7pm).

first post

2006-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

It worked!!! I am happy. Mom still claims it easy but i didnt figure it out till now. lol. But i hope all the family gets into this. It will be fun seeing what everyone puts up.

Cam

Family has fun at Seahurst.

2006-06-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to enjoy our tradtional breakfast at Seahurst Park on Memorial Day. It was a low tide and we had the chance to see lots of sealife. We learned that those empty shells we see from crabs aren't dead crabs, just the crabs have left their shells to develop a larger one.

Capitol Reef

2006-06-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Capitol Reef a few weeks ago.

Our Garden

2006-06-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Celeste has been busily working in our garden. We've been enjoying some of the lettuce already. The green onions are getting close to being ready.

We just had our first strawberry today. It tasted better than any of the strawberries that we have bought in the store.

And our five tomato plants are getting huge--we planted them as seeds and now they are almost as big as Celeste! There are a few small, green tomatoes growing on the vines. If you look closely, you can see some of the blossoms, but the green tomatoes are protected inside. Also, on the ends we have two green pepper plants and a cucumber plant.

Senior Pictures Finally on the Wall

2006-05-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

This picture is from mom. The senior pictures are finally on the wall. But I noticed that Aimee's picture is slightly higher than mine. What's up with that?

Check out the Aspen Trees

2006-05-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

hikingtostewartfalls

Here's a picture of us hiking through the woods to Stewart Falls. Aren't the trees beautiful? We passed some that had been plowed over with avalanches during the winter. Didn't take any pictures of that, though . . .

Hiked to Stewart Falls

2006-05-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

stewartfalls

We hiked up to Stewart Falls on Friday morning. We also went geocaching near the base of the falls but had to do a big roundabout to get to the geocache since there was no way to cross the water except by a snow bridge (didn't want to cross on that, in case the bridge collapsed and we fell into the creek). We ended up hiking about 5.5 miles. It was a lot of fun!

Trip to Disneyland

2005-12-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

Celeste and I had a lot of fun at Disneyland. It's certainly in contrast to all of the work that we have in Provo. My favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. I think that the interactive nature of the ride makes it really fun. Instead of just sitting in a car looking at things around you, you have a gun and shoot all of the bad guys. They even keep your score for you and take a picture of you. Below is a picture of Celeste and me shooting the Evil Emperor Zurg. There's a shadow over my face, but Celeste still looks wonderful.

Celeste had four favorite rides at Disneyland (some of which were actually at California Adventure). She really liked Splash Mountain and It's a Small World at Disneyland. At California Adventure, her favorites were the Grizzly Rapids (a raft ride that left us a little wet afterwards--luckily it was a nice day) and the Tower of Terror. If we wanted our pictures from any of those, it would have cost a pretty penny. On Astro Blasters, the pictures were emailed to us for free.