Hollywood Bowl

Got to check another thing off of my Life's To Do List: Go to the Hollywood Bowl

My mom got tickets at half price so we picnicked at some tables near the parking lot and enjoyed a night at the Bowl.

Cheryl & Kyle at the Hollywood Bowl

Vince Gill performed with the LA Philharmonic and was really good.  He has a very smooth voice, and the fireworks at the end were fun and perfectly timed.

LA Wedding

Last  Friday we went down to the LA Temple for the wedding of Kyle's cousin, Sarah.

Here  are a  few tips/pointers I learned from the day:

• Don't wear a leopard bra when the sealing is a white wedding that requires you to wear your white temple clothes....my bad
• DO NOT let a family member be your 'photographer'.  Even if your family member is free or cheap, the money spent on a real photographer is ALWAYS worth the money.  

The happy couple and her parents

Amazing LA Race & Imogen Heap

As big fans of the TV show Amazing Race, and since our audition tapes were rejected 3 years ago, our family did the next best thing.  We signed up for the Amazing LA Race!!  Two guys in LA put this race/sight-seeing tour on where teams from 2-8 people use clues to get around the city of Los Angeles.  If you are ever in LA on a weekend and have 3-5 hours to spend, sign up for this fun and exhausting adventure.

As you can see from our matching attire, we were very into the 'team' concept and we were out to kill it.  Believe me, my family can be very competitive.

Sarah (brother's girlfriend), Brian (brother), Richie (brother-in-law), Erin (sister), Joan (mom), Mark (dad), Cheryl, Kyle (husband)

This is our team trying to figure out our first clue

I won't give away too many details in case any of you end up doing this event and it would ruin it, but a few tips:

1. 
   
   wear running shoes
2. 
   
   wear comfortable clothing
3. 
   
   have coins ready for the Metro and buy return tickets if possible
4. 
   
   have everyone carry a cellphone to prevent people from taking off and not being able to contact them
5. 
   
   don't take off too far from the group
6. 
   
   remember that you have more puzzles to do
7. 
   
   bring snacks and water and eat on the Metro (even though you are not supposed to, this is the only down time you have to do so)
8. 
   
   have FUN!!!

Well, our outcome was......2nd place out of 9 teams.  Now, some of you might think that is pretty respectable, but not for TEAM NINJA.  We analyzed and analyzed some more the mistakes we made, where we could have done something faster, smarter, better.  Especially since our time was 3:01 and the first place team was only 2:57, a mere 4 minutes ahead of us.  They are planning on starting a race down in Santa Monica next month, so we have firm goals to redeem ourselves and get 1st.

After the race we all headed over stinky and sweaty to CPK for dinner.  After that Kyle and I  went to the 24 Hour Fitness on Sunset and Vine where we showered and cleaned up before heading to the Greek Theatre for our Imogen Heap concert.  It was a great show and she really is very talented. 

House Projects

We have been doing a few projects around the house and making it our own.  We bought 3 pots a month ago and finally found the bamboo we have been looking for.

This is really called Horsetail Reed and not bamboo but we like to call it bamboo

I like the color of this James Walker Bougainvillea

Kyle bought this cool and compact pub table for the big empty space that was in our kitchen, it is perfect for breakfast

We painted the wall in our bedroom from this......

To this.......

We painted two walls in the family room from this.....

to this......

Happy Birthday Mom!

So, yesterday was my mom's birthday.  I won't say how old she turned but I think she looks quite young, although Kyle did accidently try to make her a decade older with the number of candles he put on the cake.

We had her and the rest of my family up to our house for dinner and cake.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cody the Graduate

Kyle's younger brother, Cody, graduated from Kaiser High School this past week and we were able to take off half day from work to attend the ceremonies, which were held at the Citizens Business Band Arena.  I understand the District paid $180,000 to the Arena, but this large sum reserved the whole place for three days and they were able to have graduations ceremonies for 6 high schools, 2 each day.  It was quite nice being inside a big arena and not having to push and shove and fight for seating at an outdoor football field.

Kyle, Cody the Graduate and Cheryl

Cody got lei'ed

Cheryl & Kyle waiting for the ceremony to begin

Fun with the settings on my camera

New Callings

Barely in our new ward for a month and they gave us callings...CUB SCOUTS!!  Now, one of my brothers is an Eagle Scout and my husband is an Eagle Scout, but I know NOTHING about scouting.  Guess I have some learning to do.

District Picnic

Today was a picnic for the school district in which I work.  We took our nephew and had fun.

Kyle & Kaleb painting a rock

Kyle showing Kaleb how to bowl

Kaleb  & Cheryl eating lunch

Balboa Peninsula

Yesterday we made it down to Newport/Balboa Peninsula just for the fun of it and had a great time eating pizza, watching the 3 car ferry shuttle back and forth, and looking at the amazing homes.  If we had some money we would buy house there.

Circus Vargas

A few weeks ago we went to Circus Vargas.  Think of Cirque du Soleil on a smaller and cheaper scale.  Actually not too bad of a program, but a little stuffy in the big top.

FlightDeck

For Christmas Kyle and I bought his brother, Cody, a Gift Certificate to FlightDeck.  This is a place where you get to fly F-16 fighter plane simulators.  Yeah, pretty much I sucked the first 30 minutes until I finally got the hang of it and then it was lots of fun.  We definitely plan on doing this one again.

Our House

So I hope I figured Blogger out by changing my Editor choice in Settings.

Here are some pictures of our house.  Upcoming projects include painting a wall in family room, two walls in the master bedroom and painting the garage, and eventually doing epoxy on garage floor.  Also, we need to someday figure out what landscaping to do in the front.  We have a few ideas and I keep my eyes open as I go for walks around the neighborhood.

Help!

I have been trying to post pictures of the house for the past 3 days now, and for some reason Blogger won't let me. It goes through the action like it is uploading them and says DONE, but nothing shows up in the compose section.

Anyone else having problems posting pictures?

9 months of marriage today and what do we get?......

A NEW HOUSE!!!

We bought a house and move in today. Pictures to follow:)

No Computer = No Post

So, our computer got a virus about a month ago and we got it "fixed", but it is still acting up. Thus the reason I have not posted in awhile.

Last month we went snowboarding with Spencer and Alyse at Mt High

Alyse and Cheryl on the chairlift

Kyle and Cheryl looking fresh

Our school had this circus guy come and teach our PE students how to use the Diabolo, which was quite interesting and fun

We went to Wabi Sabi for my dad's birthday

Mark, Joan, Cheryl and Kyle

We went to Dumont Dunes again this past weekend

Kyle getting some BIG air

Kyle and Cheryl at the North Pole

Kyle, Larry and Nick putting a Santa decoration on the North Pole

Troy jumping