Thanksgiving 2009 at the Petersen's

Thanks to everyone that came over for Thanksgiving! The food was great ('specially the pies) and the company was even better! Please feel free to come over tomorrow for leftovers and pie!

What a great weekend! We started with Footloose musical at Tuacon. And Thane from So You Think You Can Dance was the lead role as Ren. I forgot how good he was at dancing! The transformation from movie to musical was better than expected. And Thane can sing!

The next day we woke up at 6AM to pack our lunches and water, etc for the 10 mile Subway hike. Serena's knees had been hurting her and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to go. Once we reached the top the rest of us easily persuaded her into it. "I'll carry your bag. " or "I'll carry you!" And so we set off.

The first three miles had some awesome views and the hiking cairns made things a little easier when deciding which way to go. Julius, Oliver, and I held up the party a few times with catching lizards. I named mine Bob. we did get lost once but it afforded us a few good pictures...

When we finally entered the subway propper, water was avoided at all costs, even though Serena informed us we'd have to get in no matter what. The first pool was just plain gross! Stagnant water that was immersed with dark algee and too deep to touch the bottom! After about ten minutes of gripping I took the first dip. Yuck!

The next few miles were spent either swimming, rappelling, or catching tadpoles (kept in a Gatorade bottle). Oh mahn, was it cold! Note to self: next time take neoprine everything! It got a bit difficult to get the rappelling gear on and then get roped in but after the second time I finally got the hang of it but Serena was good from the start and double checking my rope!

When the mountain walls started to open up a bit we still had almost 4 more mile to go. Even though we were tired Oliver found energy to catch a few frogs and we got a picture of one.

Special thanks to Bill for carrying the rappelling ropes.
And Trish for supplying lunch.
Oh, and Serena for kicking my trash (with two bum knees) on the last part of the hike.

Ok... tired of typing... look at pictures now...

Rappelling

A few weeks ago a few of us went out to do some rappelling. A special thanks to Ray and Stephanie.

Park City

Wow! Park City was so much fun and to think I almost didn't go. We had to wake up at 4:30 to get ready and be at the airport in time but Serena didn't wake me up until 5 and I forgot to set my alarm. I was so stressed out I told her I didn't think I was going to go. [FYI, I've been seriously stressed with school-- stupid thermo!!] "Serena, I'm not going to go. You're just going to yell at me all day, all day..." In classic Serena response she said, "I won't be yelling at you all day because Trish, Oliver, and Julius will be around." Not funny then. Funny now. So with that heartfelt persuasion I decided to go...




The skiing conditions were great! A lot of powder and no wind. After a few runs we split up into two groups: Serena and Trish in one then Oliver, Julius, and I in the other. My confidence in thinking I was tough sh*t and could keep up with Oliver and Julius, was soon tested as we reached the very top of Jupiter, a double black diamond. Suffice to say, we all survived but I was completely worn out! lol
>>>VIDEOS HERE.<<< Everyone else still had plenty of energy and we were off to tubing! Skeptical of how much fun this 'tubing' could be, we bought the $8 single ride tickets. But after the first ride we ran back to the yute and purchased all day passes. It was a riot!

We also went to Olympic Park in hopes of riding the zipline and some wanted to try the bobsled (which can reach up to 80mph and experience 5G's of force!). We also met a 'World Champion' of the luge who was only 15 years old! We took a guided tour to the top of the world's highest altitude ski jumps and the world's fastest bobsled, luge and skeleton track. The K90m and K120m nordic were pretty impressive. The Alf Engen Ski Museum was pretty cool and we got to see the Olympic torch... thingy...

All in all, it was an awesome trip! I'd like to thank Serena for convincing me to go, Julius and Trish for the great photos and videos, and again Oliver for keeping my ego in check!

Drifting (Revised)

[I've edited Serena's blog and added a few pics...)

[Serena decked out for a day of skiing]

[Me getting ready for the trip]

[The British air force guys that stopped to help us! Accents and everything]

Driving up to Brian Head we had some difficulty. I stopped in the 'chains on' area and put my car into 4-wheel high. About 500 ft later we were drifting towards our death. Luckily, we didn't roll the car down the ravine. Probably because I was only going less than 15 miles/hr. So we waited around for 2 tow trucks to come pull the car out. Talk about a stressful night. ...skiing the next day was awesome, tons of powder.

The Explorer was at like a 30 degree angle.

New Home (Revised)

Serena's bathroom

Serena's Room

Study (not so messy)

My Bathroom

My Room

(The cats)

(The 52'' LCD)

(The kitchen)

(Harry Potter of course)

(The messy study room)

Snow in Vegas?

My thanks to global warming as it means snow in Vegas! I was so excited when I got home that I decided to make a snowman (using most of the snow in the backyard). After putting the finishing touches of pinecone eyes and a baby carrot nose I could see that he was the one for me. So, later that night we had a small ceremony where 'Effron' and I were married with Serena and my mom as witnesses. It was a wonderfull one week marriage, filled with laughter and love. Sadly, Effron melted that following Thursday, but I will always remember him and my heart will go on...