Glow Stick Party

 My Mom came up with the most ingenious idea for our Christmas Eve Party: Glow sticks.  She ventured into the dollar store, which has an amazing variety, and bought up a whole lot of wands, sticks, necklaces, rings, balls, etc.

 Even the Grandma's got into the fun.

 We turned on the soundtrack to Tron and danced around, which is the best music for any glow-in-the-dark party.

 It was such a huge hit that we threw another glow stick party for New Years.  The second time I went with my Mom to the dollar store, and it was amazing how much product we were able to buy for only $20.

 My Dad took all these photos.  The love of photography runs in the family.

These pictures are a compilation from both parties, each party had a different side of the family in attendance.  Everyone had a blast.  My brothers, sister-in-law, and I have decided we need to do this again soon, spontaneously going to the dollar store and buying more glow sticks, which our local store said they keep in stock.  I hope a nice assortment will always be available.  It was a lot of fun. 

My Favorite Activity: Laser Tag

Last night was a night out with the family, and we dominated in laser tag!  

The first time I ever played laser tag was at the Adventure Dome in Circus Circus hotel and casino, Las Vegas.  Back then it was called Grand Slam Canyon, and we went right after it opened in 1993, almost 20 years ago!!!  I feel old . . .  I don't know how many rounds we played; the line was long, but we waited anyway. It was so much fun.  My family was addicted.     

 There weren't any laser tag opportunities in Porterville CA, maybe Bakersfield or Fresno had them, but the Internet was a growing beast back then.  It still is a crazy, growing beast.  When my family moved to Utah in 2001, we were excited to see there were quite a few places here that had laser tag arenas.  It's really exploded these last couple years; practically every type of fun center has a laser tag, and there's a lot of fun centers here.  We're a family/college town, after all. 

 The two games that I played my team won, and I didn't do half bad myself.  This last year my groove was rocked a little, because my shot was off, so I always managed to rank low on the list.  But last night I tried a new strategy.  Usually I stake out an area and stay put, but last night I roamed and sought out enemy territory.  And since it was super busy, the full arena was opened up, so it was fun exploring.  The first game I ranked #9 overall out of 41 players and #5 on the team.  And the second game I got #11 out of 43 players and #2 on the team.  Never got that high before!  My brothers are really good players, so they usually beat me.  And my Dad always seems to place in the top couple places.

Having a whole lot of fun, Sarah :0)

(My shameless plug: There's an amazing activities program here in Utah called the Utah Pass of all Passes.  It's incredible, and if you live in northern Utah and don't have a pass, then you're missing out.  For those interested, it's still $32.00 with tax on citydeals, and at kiosks located at the University Mall in Orem, and South Towne Mall in Sandy.  For a full year I get unlimited games in the largest laser tag arena in Utah, unlimited mini golf, Ice Skating during certain times of the year, shoe rental not free, bowling, once again shoe rental not free, and a whole lot of sports.  Plus they just added a location in Draper called Planet Play that has unlimited mini golf, mini bowling, laser tag, and go-karts for only a $1 each time you visit.  Oh, and unlimited access to the water parks in the summer.  There's this bird place that's free on Mondays that I want to check out.  Rocky Mountain Raceways.  Real Salt Lake Soccer. Etc.  All for $30.  It sounds too good to be true, but it's not.  Get the pass if you live here!  You wont regret it.  It pays for itself and then some.

I only write this because we had two family friends with us last night who didn't have a pass of all passes.  3 games total cost $18.  It adds up, and we felt really bad for them.  My Mom helped them get the Utah passes, so unlimited laser tag for a year!  We're not waiting long to go again)

Witches Night Out at Gardner Village

 Happy Halloween!

I heard years ago how much fun Witches night is at Gardner Village in West Jordan Utah.  I thought it was going to be some small thing, but I was curious, so my sister-in-law Kirsta and I thought a girls night out would be a lot of fun.

 It was so much fun!  And big!  I couldn't believe how many people were there.  Everyone was dressed up, or at least had witches hats; some hats were decorated in the most elaborate, wonderful ways.  My favorite were these three older women dressed up as the three Sleeping Beauty fairies.  That was cool. 

The evening was like spending a night at Hogsmeade!

 Then we wandered into the Christmas Celebrate store and I saw this.

Now I'm ready for Christmas . . . minus the snow.  Okay, one day I'm going to buy this set.  I love the peanuts!

My Brother is Home at Last!

It's crazy to think that my brother Robbie came home from his Argentinian mission just last week.  It's still sinking in.  Here are some photos from his homecoming.

Lizzie with the Orange Guy.

Sharing a good laugh.

Home at last!!

Attack of the Flavor Grenade!!

(The Flavor Grenades my brother and sister brought over)

"Do you want a Flavor Grenade?" my brother asked me, 
setting a box on a the kitchen table.

"A what?"

"A Flavor Grenade," he simply repeated.

"Those things are actually called that?"

Even after my brother and sister left, nieces in tow, I thought they were making up the whole "flavor grenade" bit.  No fruit can actually be called that!  A short google search later proved that that was the literal name of the fruit. 

A Flavor Grenade is in the Pluot family of fruit, a cross hybrid of a plum and apricot.  I was surprised by the crisp, soft, yet firm, texture of the fruit, and the explosive flavor.  It's 10 thousand times better then a Grapple.   

You can buy the fruit trees off a couple of websites including Amazon and Nature Hills. 

Below is a farmer talking about the Fruit Grenade.  

I don't know where you can buy the fruit, but my brother and sister-in-law bought a box from the Shops at the Riverwoods farmers market last weekend.  Enjoy!

Sarah

Brigham City Depot, Train Station

(A union pacific train quietly parked on the tracks.)

When my siblings and I were in Brigham City we drove by an old fashioned train station, and I immediately got super excited, and then expressed a big wish to investigate.  What we stumbled upon was the Brigham City Depot, built in 1906 by the Oregon Short Line, and is currently being taken care of by the Golden Spike Association.  The Victorian architecture is still present in that old fashioned charm.     

There's a museum, but it was closed the day we were there, because it's not open on Wednesdays.  Regardless, it was still fun walking around, up and over the still functioning train tracks.  I always love finding bits of living history to explore. 

Brigham City Peach City Restaurant

Peach City, in Brigham City Utah, is an old fashioned, 50's dinner.  The parking lot is as such that you can imagine the restaurant served as a drive in at one point, a la Sonic Burger.

We all took turns picking songs for $0.25 each.  I picked "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys, the second most quintessential 80's song from my childhood.  The #1 quintessential 80's song?  "We Built this City" by Starship (who also sang "Sara," a song that haunted me my whole childhood.)  "We Build this City" had already played in the restaurant, so I got to hear my two most favorite 80's tunes. 

Waiting for my food.

A Haddock fish sandwich with waffle cut fries and fry sauce.

The place had a really fun atmosphere.  My only big complaint is the service.  It took them a good ten minutes to get our order, and when a booth opened up nobody cleaned the tables.  Some locals came in and started cleaning another booth, so we followed suit and cleaned our table.  That was weird.  Hopefully it's because the restaurant was packed.  But still, cool times.

Brigham City Temple Open House

Last Wednesday, August 29, 2012, I had the pleasure of attending the Brigham City Utah Temple Open House with my siblings.  With the Latter-Day Saint (aka Mormon) faith being so heavily in the news, it's interesting how often I've heard in recent months how mysterious and secret our temples are.  Our Temples our sacred, and once a temple is dedicated, you need to have what is called a temple recommend to enter (essentially I'm required to pay a full 10% tithe (Genesis 28:22), keep the Word of Wisdom, and live a virtuous, chaste life).

What a lot of people don't realize is that right before the temple is dedicated, the temple has an Open House; during this time the temple is open to the public, regardless of faith.  Anyone can come and see what is inside one of our temples.       

On the bus with my brother Steven, after parking in one of the many parking lots, heading to the temple.  I don't know why being on a charter bus made me feel so happy.  It felt like I was on a field trip. 

What's fun about each temple is figuring out the local theme that has been incorporated in the art.  Brigham city is known as the city of peaches, so throughout the temple, inside and out, there were peach blossoms.  Very beautiful.

This sign made me laugh!  One thing we Mormons are expert at is refreshments!  Seriously, have you been to a meet-n-mingle, ward potluck, or any other event?  There are always refreshments.  And after the tour there were water bottles and plates of yummy cookies.

Michael and Krista enjoying some shade.

There are many temples currently in various announcement/construction phases.  The Brigham City temple is Utah's 14th temple, but there are three more currently being built.  A 2nd temple in Ogden, a 2nd temple in Provo, and Payson's first.  And there are several throughout the United States, but many worldwide including Rome Italy, Sapporo Japan, Paris France, and Peru.  All these temples, before dedication, will have an open house.