Lots of Laughin' with the Asplunds

Last night, we rushed through the Westmore Elementary's Back to School night in record time (10 minutes!) so we could go see Brian Regan at Thanksgiving Point. For those of you not familiar with him, he's a clean comedian that is quoted non-stop by our family. In fact, our trip to Italy was almost an homage to him as we laughed through the lost luggage routine, the airline routine, etc. I highly recommend that you check him out.

We got there at about 7 in the evening, enjoyed the scenery (the Waterfall Ampitheater [the above picture is taken from behind the waterfall after they turned the water off] through the Children's Discovery Gardens [the second picture with Griffin and Ellie]) for a while as they held off the opening for all the traffic that was still stuck on the highway, then were entertained by his opening act, Kermet Apio. After maybe 20 minutes or so, he finished his very funny set and brought on the headline act, Brian. I don't know that I've ever heard Ian laugh so much. Our favorite part was when he got off track and had to do a huge end run to get back to where he was so he could finish with the punch line. He kept laughing at himself which, with the sold out crowd (he sold out 5 shows in record time!), only made it funnier. Griffin struggled because about halfway through he all of a sudden worried that the dogs would be dog-napped and that we had to go home immediately to make sure they were safe. That kind of ruined the night for him as he couldn't let go of the thought, and wouldn't let any of us not worry either. So when Brian came out for his encore, he was less than thrilled as it would delay our arrival at home even longer! (We let him be the first one through the door at home so he could see for himself that all was well.)

It was a great evening and we were home by 10:30, in time to see the last two rotations of the gymnastics all-around. Way to go, ladies coming in gold and silver. It was a great competition! We missed Michael Phelps, but didn't doubt that he would win another medal (and break another world record).

Wake Up!

As the coverage went late on NBC last night so they could finish the coverage of the men's team gymnastics, I fould myself barely holding on for the Germans on the last apparatus. But alas, I was able to hold my eyes open long enough to see them win bronze, something that was completely unexpected with the absence of the Hamm brothers. Way to go, guys!

I must admit, the girls and I were selfishly concerned that we might miss some of the coverage tonight due to a Relief Society "bring your daughters" activity where we ate, visited, and put together several hundred humanitarian kits. Fortunately, it timed out to all of our advantages in that it was in between television coverage and felt good to do some service.

It's almost ho-hum to say that Michael Phelps won another couple gold medals, setting new world records, and only has less than an hour to rest before he swims for another in tonight's coverage. He even looked a bit disappointed in his performance in the 200m butterfly as he was declared the winner and owner of a new world record, just taking his swim cap and goggles off and placing them on the side of the pool, not even cracking a smile.

The next big coverage for the evening is the women's team gymnastics competition. I probably shouldn't have taken my melatonin already since there's still two hours to go! You go girls!

Other winners from the US include: G. Miles winning the silver in Equestrian and Glenn Eller winning gold in Men's Double Trap Shooting. And then there are all the swimmers, too many names to list.

As I feel my eyelids growing heavy, I think of one of the famous posters of the 70's:

Hang in there baby!
Only 12 days to go!

Olympi-Mania!

Every two years, thanks to NBC, I get no sleep for nearly two weeks. With the amazing 24-hour coverage that's provided on six channels as well as online, I become a slave to the athletes and games going on in Beijing. And this year we upgraded one of our DVRs to receive HD service, so not only are the competitions fantastic, but so is our TV picture!

Last night, we gathered around the TV to watch the women's gymnastics and Michael Phelps go for his second gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay. As John and I knelt together upstairs in our evening prayer, we could hear the kids (with the addition of some neighborhood teenagers who learned of our technology upgrade) screaming and cheering throughout the race. (We had paused our TiVo so we wouldn't miss anything.) As we re-started the coverage and watched unbelievably as Jason Lezak caught up to the French team, winning the race and blowing the world record out of the water, I mentioned to John that I thought Maggie had a crush on Michael Phelps. He responded, "Heck, who doesn't? I think I have one as well!" (Really, looking at the picture, he has muscles I didn't even know existed in a human body.)

Way to go to the US Women's Fencing team, sweeping the podium in sabre. Congratulations to Corey Cogdale who won bronze for the USA in the women's trap shooting. And for all those swimmers who have medaled, to quote Dory from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

What a Way to Celebrate Your Birthday!

A few weeks ago we received in the mail a clever invitation from my nephew, Chris Griesemer, for a combination birthday and olympic celebration. Being a lucky boy born on 8/8/80, he got to celebrate his 28th birthday with the rest of the world through the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. So he invited some family and friends over to celebrate with him. This was no ordinary party, but was complete with activities for all ages and sizes!

Ellie with Dallin, Chris and Andrea's 2 year old son.

Getting ready for a little healthy competition

Talking to his mom (my sister, Kim) who's in Quito, Ecuador

Some of us gathered inside once the ceremonies started and were amazed by the "creative portion" as Bob Costas said of the Opening Ceremonies. Once it was time for the parade of nations, Andrea thought it was the best time to do the cake and presents!

Blowing out the candles in one blow

I think we should get one of these so the girls can duke out their battles
Either Ellie was too small for the suit, or the suit was too big for her

In case you didn't notice, there was blue icing on the cake

Ellie said it was the best party she's ever been to. Thanks to Andrea and her family for the delicious food and wonderful company!

One of My Many Hats

We all wear different hats throughout our days. Each day, I wear that of a maid, cook, chaufeur, marketing assistant, and sometimes, even president of a publishing company. This week, I got a chance to wear that hat for two days at the LDSBA or Latter-Day Saint Bookseller's Association Convention in South Jordan. This year was different from the others with less vendors setting up and less buyers coming to review the wares. Both the high and low point of our location on the floor this year was that we were next to Utah Truffles, which had non-stop free samples of their products. I did really well on the first day, but by 5:00 pm on the second day, I was shaking and looking for a booth that maybe had protein like cheese and eggs to balance out the sugar in my system. (Unfortunately, Hickory Farms wasn't there!)

Here is our booth this year with the new banner that Elizabeth designed.

Each day, Kink and Kevan Clawson and I would welcome the buyers with a bag that included the new book of the year, Hostess to the World about Irene Staples, and Becoming a Great Missionary. Each person who stopped by would get the missionary book and, thanks to John's insight who stopped by at the end of the first day, some chocolate from V Chocolates. (It was pretty hard to compete with our neighbor, although when people would slow down for the free samples, we could grab their attention.) Liz stopped by with her new postcard line with the photos from Tinian and we were able to show off her talents to Granite Distributing for some possible book covers. (Her work really is unbelievable--www.elizabethclawson.com.) So next year brings maybe a couple of new books and hopefully the coffee table book of the World War I envelopes. I'll have to put that fancy hat away for another year . . . .

Why Is Fast Sunday So Slow?

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Mormon/LDS culture, the first Sunday of every month is called "Fast Sunday," giving all the members of the church the opportunity to fast (skip two meals), donate those funds, and share their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For those of you who have kids, it's more like "Slow Sunday" since they complain the whole time about how hungry they are.

We had the opportunity to participate in a family fast this month (which always makes fasting easier) and broke our fast with one of our favorite meals from Italy: caprese, pasta with bolognese sauce, and, yes, I made panna cotta! On a day where my caloric intake should be remarkably reduced, I think I ate more than double the recommended amount of calories for the day.

In our ward, we fast frequently for the health and well-being of specific ward members. The Fast Sunday following my surgery was dedicated to several struggling with health issues, including myself. I have seen these work miracles, from a single mom surviving stage 4 breast cancer to a man who received three donor organs at one time. I know that the combined faith and prayers are heard by the Lord. We love our family so much, and know that the Lord will bless these family members as needed.

Who Goes to Wal-Mart at Midnight?

Apparently, several hundred fans of the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. Unfortunately, I was one of them with my friend, Carma. With the release of her fourth book and conclusion to the series, Maggie and I were both anxious to get our hands on it. So Carma and I left home at 11:45 Friday night only to be at the end of an extraordinarily long line that wound through our local Wal-Mart. With 10 or so minutes to wait until they started selling the book, the line ended up going out the door! By 12:30, we had our copies in hand and where she was going to bed because she had to be up extra early to pick her sons up from scout camp, I gave Maggie her copy and started reading my own. I figured by 4:00 a.m., I should probably try to get some sleep. I slept in until 9:30, then picked up the book again. At 8:15 that night, I was finished. John thinks I'm nuts.

My goal was to finish before Sunday since my notorious "I feel so sick" on a Saturday night when Harry Potter 5 was released is well remembered by my family members especially when they came home and I had finished the book but seemed to be feeling miraculously better. Yes, I know it was wrong and I haven't done it since.

There aren't many series that I do read-all-day-a-thons for, and I must admit that it's been a very guilty pleasure. I'm sad that the series has ended, but looking forward to her next book which revists her first from a different point of view. (That gives me another read-a-thon day!)