CES - Las Vegas

I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today. The show is the largest tradeshows in Vegas and the largest technology tradeshow in the World with over 140,000 attendees. Our company has a booth at the show which runs through Sunday. A co-worker and I flew out for the day, walking the show to see what new products were being introduced. Some of the interesting things we saw:

• Flat screen TVs - lots of them. They just get bigger and bigger. Panasonic and others now have wall mounted flat screens over 150".
• Video distribution. More and more companies are developing technology to allow consumers to download movies direct to their TVs. The days of having to go to Blockbuster to rent a movie are soon to be a thing of the past.
• Energy conservation. Consumers will have the ability to better manage their energy consumption through smart meters and feedback into the home (something Control4 is doing).

Below are some pictures I took at the show. It was nice to spend the day in warmer weather (low 60's).

Who says there isn't a career in playing video games. Thes guys are the world champion "Rock Band" gamers. They are on a reality TV series and spent the day showing their "talent" in Samsung's booth.

Christmas Day

We awoke Christmas morning (7 a.m. - Tyson was under strict orders to not wake up any sooner) to a beautiful snowfall. After waking everyone up the kids lined up at the top of the stairs so we could take the traditional Christmas photo. Lights were turned on, Santa's arrival was verified and the ripping and tearing of wrapping paper began. We only have one "believer" in the family and she is in transition. Camryn so wants Santa to be real and looked for tell tale signs to reinforce her hope. Orange in the bottom of the stocking - check. Carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa eaten - check. Presents left - check. Of course Tyson finds great joy in logically explaining why Santa can't be real.

After presents were opened and assembled, we enjoyed our traditional omelet breakfast and a few games of Deal or No Deal. A nap was later enjoyed by the parents. Darren and I cleared the driveway the old fashioned way after discovering that the snow-blower was not working. We plan to reward our hard efforts later this evening by indulging in a surf and turf dinner. You've probably noticed that most of our Christmas traditions revolve around food:-)

Christmas Eve

We spent a wonderful Christmas Eve with Kristi's family enjoying what is a family tradition of prime rib and shrimp dinner. Brian put together a video presentation with family pictures from every Christmas going back to 1961. It was fun to see pictures of the past and reflect on the cumulative memories those pictures represent. We then watched a video of the Nativity (because were to old to act it out at this point).

Homecoming Date

The picture below is of Darren and his homecoming date in the fall. The news is a little old, but something any good blog would have reported. In Utah, its traditional to be creative in how you ask out your date and how she responds. Darren wrote a simple poem to ask her out and cut the sheet of paper into puzzle pieces. He then put the puzzle into bouquet of balloons. She had to pop the balloons and put the pieces together. Her answer was hidden in jar of Hershey Kisses colored gold and silver. If there were more gold pieces, the answer was yes.

Now That's What I Call a Rental Car

I traveled with my boss and our CEO to San Francisco for a budget approval meeting. In these tough times, companies are tightening their belts and looking for ways to save money. No cost cutting initiative, no matter how insignificant can be overlooked. We are no different and we came to show our investors just how serious we are about spending their money wisely. As you can see from the pictures of our rental cars we understand that a penny saved is a penny earned.

When we arrived at the rental car agency, a black, softop convertible corvette and the yellow corvette pictured were waiting for us. We actually reserved two intermediate size cars, but because of our rewards status (theirs, not mine), we're upgraded for the same cost.

Mr. Basketball

One of Tyson's greatest pleasures is playing basketball. He looks forward to playing Jr. Jazz ball each winter. Saturday was his first game. While the team struggled in it's first game, Tyson enjoyed every minute on the court.

Winter??

We have had unseasonably warm weather here in Utah. These pictures taken last week are evidence that while christmas decorations adorn the neighborhood, snow is in short supply.