Benefit Concert

Last night's benefit concert and dinner was fabulous. Hilary put on a beautiful performance - if you haven't purchased her new Christmas CD you should get it to enjoy during the holiday season. A couple of friends from High School came to the event as well as business associates and long-time friends. Thanks to everyone for their support of the shelter which really is a worthy cause. It is easy to take for granted how blessed we are to having loving relationships and supportive families. As usual, the atmosphere and meal at LaCaille were top notch. During the holidays LaCaille decorates their grounds with lights that help bring extra holiday spirit.

Taylor came to the event with us this year and enjoyed the grown up food and her Aunt Hilary.

Jill Wankier and Michelle Warner, fellow Alaskans joined us for the evening.

Beautiful St. George

For the third consecutive year, I was required to work a Friday and Saturday in St. George. The first day of work was at Sunbrook and the second day at the Ledges. Our "work" sponsor was unable to go so I scrambled at the last minute to put together a team which included my cousin Glen and a couple of friends. For the two days our score was 21 under par. The "work" teams were broken into two flights with the winning score in the first flight 43 under par and the winning score in the second flight 30 under par. The weather was wonderful and has convinced me that we need to plan to purchase a second home here some day.



Uncle Jack joined us on the second day. He and Glen carried the team.

Greatest Birdie of My Life

First of all, this story will confirm how pathetic my golf accomplishments are. I'm in St. George this weekend to play in a golf tournament along with our good friend Bart, my cousin Glen and an associate from work. Bart and I drove down together and being early, we decided to get in nine holes of golf this afternoon at Green Springs. After an uneventful (double and triple bogeys aren't eventful) round I found myself with a 190 yard approach on the par four ninth hole. I pulled out my trusty four iron and hit a beautiful, hooking shot into a house about 50 yards from the green. The ball bounced off the house and to within two feet of the hole. I calmly tapped in for what was certainly the greatest birdie of my life.

USU vs. La. Tech

I think the real purpose of parent's week is to fill the football stadium - it worked. We bought tickets. We bought Aggie gear. We bought stadium food. The Aggies won and we had fun. Darren's attending USU has created fans out of all his brothers and sisters and now they are talking about going to school here.

Parent's Weekend at USU

Kristi, Taylor, Tyson, Camryn and I piled into the car this weekend and made the short trip north to Logan for the annual parent's weekend at USU. We were all excited to see Darren. I think the longest length of time that has passed without seeing him has only been three weeks, but it feels like a reunion each time he comes home or we go to Logan.

Our kids love every hotel pool. Even when we go to Lake Powell and spend the entire day in the water, they always want to play in the hotel pool that evening.

Darren recommended a great Italian restaurant called Calloway's in Smithfield, just outside of Logan. The food was fantastic!

The Big Apple

I'm in New York City this week to get some required training for work. Everything here is fast paced, hectic, bright, busy, tall.... I'm not sure why anyone would want to work and live here, but I guess about 30 million people do. Looking out the 42nd floor window of my hotel on Times Square, you'd think that several million of them are still milling about on the streets below (and it's currently 11:00 pm).

Where other than New York would you find a ferris wheel inside your local Toys R Us.

For dinner tonight we hopped on the subway and headed over to Little Italy. If the section of the town has Italy in it, the food must be good. I wasn't impressed. Our meal was okay at best - we must have made a poor restaurant selection. The forced (and in my opinion fake) accent of the waiter didn't help sell the authenticity of the restaurant. We'd have been better off dining at the Olive Garden on Times Square.

Holiday Benefit Concert

Hilary has once again agreed to perform at the South Valley Sanctuary's holiday concert. Thank you Hilary - its great to have a famous sister. The dinner and concert will be held again at LaCaille restaurant. We are looking forward to the evening and hearing some of Hilary's new Christmas music.