Christmas at the Polar Express

The Ward Christmas Party has been months in planning.  I know, I was part of the committee.  Being involved in Young Men's I have had my hand in a lot of different ward events this year, none was bigger than the yuletide celebration we just experienced.

It was a magical evening for all who attended.  We spend three days decorating the cultural hall and it was transformed into a wonder of lights and sights.  The Youth were all excited for the party as they came dressed like conductors, engineers, and chefs. And then there was me.

I was asked last month to play the part of the conductor from the Polar Express.  No big deal I thought. I've seen the show several times and Tom Hanks character is certainly a big part of Christmas for a lot of people.  There was one little catch.  In order to pull off the part I had to look the part.  That meant shaving off my beard and leaving an old man mustache.  Never let it be said I wouldn't do anything for the kids.

One of my family's favorite parts of the party is the annual visit by the big man himself, Santa Claus.  It was fun to see our favorite Santa and the kids all shared their Christmas wishes.  Seeing these pictures never gets old.

After the party was over it was time to officially welcome Christmas.  We have a great ward and this was a great night.  Let the season begin.

Starry is Back

One of our new traditions is the Elf on the Shelf.  Even though it isn't December 1st yet, the kids couldn't wait for Starry the Elf to make a special appearance.  We told them that Starry had to wait until all the Christmas tree was up and decorated, so they made sure that was our first holiday chore.

After spending the day decorating, we sat down and watched another holiday favorite, Elf.  We absolutely love that movie and I'm sure you can guess which scene is the kids' favorite.  Let's just say when you mix a two liter bottle of Coke and Wil Ferrell there's going to be something funny.  "Did you hear that?"

I guess the kids must have gotten Santa's attention with all the decorating.  Check out who was hanging in the tree when everyone woke up this morning...

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

In October I felt a bit like a traveling salesman.  It seemed as though I was on the road the entire month attending conferences as a way to promote Going Google.  This month I traveled over 6400 miles as I went to Hailey, ID, St. Louis, MO, and Memphis, TN.

It was a fun experience to present to teachers from around the county, but I don't think that life on the road is for me.  I missed a lot of Halloween events with the kids and spent a lot of lonely nights in hotel rooms.

Here's a look at each stop on my trip:

Hailey, ID - Techotberfest. My first stop was up in Hailey for a district technology conference. They found out about me from my ISTE presentation and were looking to share some ideas for using Google with their teachers. Since the conference was close I packed up the XTerra and headed up to Idaho. Hailey is a small town located just south of Sun Valley. It was a little bit like Park City, only a lot smaller. I had trouble finding places to eat that weren't up scale dining. The conference had about 1000 teachers and I was able to teach a few hundred of them over the course of the two days.

Two big takeaways - It was cold! The temperature both days never got out of the low 50's and you felt it. I made the ultimate sacrifice for this trip. I gave up my tickets to the Utes/USC game. Rather than being in the friendly confines of Rice Eccles Stadium, I was curled up watching the game from the AmericInn in Hailey. I guess it didn't matter since the Utes lost, but I really wanted to attend that game. Such is life for the traveling salesman.

Memphis,TN - Corwin Common Core Institute. A couple weeks later I headed off to the South to attend a conference sponsored by my publisher. Corwin brought in authors from around the country to present at the two day event and somehow I was asked to be part of the conference. I have to say I felt like a small fish in a big pond in Memphis. Many of the authors were very acclaimed and I've heard several of them speak at conferences before. Even so, I was so impressed with how open everyone was to me. The other authors were very nice and involved me in the conversations. I think they were interested in a guy from Utah, since they assumed I was a Mormon and a Romney supporter (they were half right). I tried my best to be myself and I hope things went well.

Two big takeaways - Presenting in the South is way different than in the West. I've had people respond excitedly when I've shown a new teaching trick before, but this was the first time I've ever head people cheer. I could get used to that.

My highlight from the trip was visiting the Civil Rights museum. This was the old Lorraine motel in Memphis, otherwise known as the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination. They've taken the motel and turned it into an impressive memorial to the slain leader. I got there too late to get inside the museum, but I was overwhelmed to be at the site and feel the history. MLK is a hero of mine and I'll always remember this part of my trip.

St. Louis, MO - NETA Conference. After a month of being on the road my last stop was in St. Louis. I've been to the NETA Conference several times as part of my work before and it's always enjoyable. The people are great and it's fun to be share some different sessions than the norm. With the audience being made up of public TV folks, my presentation was "Using Google Tools for Station Awesomeness". It was fun to present with a my friend Jamie from Orange County and I think our session went well.

Two big takeaways - Never agree to travel again over Halloween. I wasn't even part of the holiday with my kids this year. Sure, I got to see the photos and we talked on the phone, but I completely missed Halloween this year and there aren't that many chances to celebrate my kids being KIDS. I won't do it again.

St. Louis is a pretty cool town. I've been there before when I was a kid and I couldn't remember a thing. Going back as an adult was a fun experience. When we visited the Arch I couldn't believe what an amazing feat of engineering that is. I am always impressed when you see how large structures are created, especially with the equipment of the past. If you haven't seen the St. Louis Arch it's totally worth it.

So, my month as a traveling salesman ended. I don't know that it increased my net worth as books don't make you rich unless your name is Stephanie Meyer or J.K. Rowling. Still, I think this month was about building relationships and trying new things. I know I met some terrific people and saw some places that were new to me.

Disneyland: The Trip in Photos

There were way too many photos that didn't make it into our Disneyland post.  Take a look at a few more of our favorite moments.

The Happiest Place on Earth

A few years ago Tara and I decided that it was time to start preparing for a major family vacation.  Usually, our trips last a couple of days and we travel within a couple hundred miles from home.  Not this time.  We were getting ready for the big one - we were prepping for a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth.

We set aside some money and started looking into the deals to see what we could find.  I shouldn't say we - Tara was the driving force behind the trip.  She went to several travel sites, made tons of phone calls, and weighed all the different options.  In the end we found a company to help make our dreams of Anaheim come true.

We scheduled our trip for the last week of September, as we hoped that it would be a time where school was just starting and less people would be willing to take a family vacation.  (Ok, so that wasn't the case - I don't think there is a time of the year where Disneyland isn't crowded, but the lines were bearable).  Our road trip to California took us a couple of days - we stopped in New Harmony the first night to spend some time with my parents.

Kennedy, Alex, and Dylan were so excited for the trip they could hardly stand it.  California is the furthest that we've ever gone from home with our little crew, so they didn't have any way to judge the amount of time it would take to get there.  Tara devised a fun way to help pass the time.  She created little travel trip bags with presents that could be opened at strategic locations on the drive.  Even though the presents were small, the kids loved the fact that they could look at the road signs to figure out when the next gift was coming.

We arrived in Anaheim on Sunday night, late enough that we only had time to settle in and get our bearings for the week ahead.  One of the nice things about the package trip was that we could ride the shuttle to and from the park each day (one less thing to worry about).   So early Monday we headed out to the park and we did it all (or tried to anyway).   All in all we spent four days in the two parks.  Wednesday was our marathon day as we stayed late to watch the World of Color and Thursday was our shortest (and last) day in the Magic Kingdom - we were done and just wanted to catch a few favorites one more time.

After four days of lines and rides we wanted to get out and see some wide open spaces, so we packed up and went down to the beach.  This was our first trip to see the Pacific Ocean with our little family and the kids were excited to play in the waves.  The waves were massive, as Dylan quickly learned when the first tide almost took him right out to sea.  Once the initial excitement was over we played around in the water and enjoyed our time in the sand.  The kids totally enjoyed beach time and I think Bear Lake may never hold the same mystique again.

We packed up the van as our time in California came to an end.  The drive home wasn't quite as exciting and the one out of town, but everyone was happy that we had been able to experience all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Highlights of the Trip -

Kennedy -  I think Dede's biggest thrill was collecting the autographs of the various characters in her book.  At first we didn't think she was going to get into meeting the different Disney friends, but once she had purchased her official Disney Autograph book - it was a done deal.  I think her favorite signatures came while we were at the character breakfast as she met several of the princesses.  I think Dede's favorite ride was the California Screamer, since it was the only ride she went on without her brothers.  If you ask her, she would say her favorite ride was the Matterhorn.


Alex - This kid was a ride junkie.  Alex has figured out that being tall enough to go on all the rides is awesome and he certainly didn't want to waste anytime standing around in lines.  I think Alex's favorite rides all came from Tomorrowland.  He loved going on the Buzz Lightyear ride and blasting Emperor Zurg and all the other bad guys.  Another favorite for Alex was Star Tours.  He has really taken to the Star Wars figures and story this year, so seeing many of his new found favorites was a highlight for him.  Another Alex favorite was the chocolate chip cookie sandwich with vanilla ice cream.  That kid must have put one of those away every day in the park.

Dylan -  Big D's only real experience with amusement park rides is the kiddie land at Lagoon, so Disneyland rocked his world.  The height requirement for most of the rides was 40 inches so Dylan went on pretty much everything.  He couldn't get enough.  As one of our true adventure seekers he had a total blast.  I think Dylan's favorite rides included Splash Mountain, Toy Story, and Tower of Terror - in fact Dylan was really our only child that wanted to go on Tower of Terror.  Kennedy went once and vowed 'Never Again' and Alex wouldn't even try it.  D went on it over and over again.  What a kid!  The other D favorite had to be the Redwood Creek Adventure Trail where the kids could run around on all the cool outdoor rope bridges, climbing toys, and more.  He loved it (so did we since it was a confined space to play - the only time we didn't chase D the entire week)!

Jared - Since it's been over 30 years since I last went to Disneyland I really didn't have any expectations.  The only memory I have from my trip before was seeing the Yeti as we went up in the Matterhorn (I was scared to death).  I think my favorite rides included:  Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean (only place to cool off in the park),  California Soaring, and Space Mountain.

I think one of my highlights was watching the World of Color along the pier.  That was an amazing display of lights, water, and magic.  Even though we had to wait hours for that show, it was worth it.  My other favorite memory was looking at the kids faces each time we saw our pics after riding a 'scary one'.  Kennedy always closed her eyes, Alex buried his head, and Dylan grinned from ear to ear.  Classic!

Tara -  Like me Tara hadn't been to Disneyland in over 20 years, so the park was pretty new to her as well.  Some of her favorite rides included:  California Screamer, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror.  I know that running around the park wasn't her favorite thing, but I bet her lasting memory will be experiencing the park with our kids for the first time.  I think taking D on the Tower of Terror and watching his eyes grow large when the ride dropped was something she'll never forget.