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I can't believe it's almost Christmas! I'm so super excited. I've been looking forward to this Christmas more than usual. I think because Ellery is in a totally cute stage right now, and will be more excited about everything. I got her some fun presents. I'm so excited to give them to her and see her reactions.

I've been feeling more of the Christmas spirit this season. It's been fun to drive around and see everyone's lighted houses. I like to sit with Ellery while looking at the Christmas tree and playing with the choo choo train. She loves it! I've been trying to play Christmas songs on the piano more. I've lost a lot my talent there. I need to keep up on playing. Jacob and I have tried to give Ellery some new winter experiences. We helped her make her first snowman, and the next day took her sledding. I've also been enjoying the traditions my family has each year. We have advent the 4 Sundays before Christmas and read the Christmas story in Luke and Matthew, have treats, and play a game. One of the weeks we made gingerbread houses. My mom, Jacob and I were on a team. We did a pretty good job I thought, althought sometimes I'd like to take over and do it all myself! Last night we spent the night in SLC. Instead of looking at the temple lights, this year we went to the Pioneer Village. It was pretty fun, got some free candy, cheap crafts, and attented a kinda lame puppet show which Ellery totally loved so I guess it was worth it. The best part was that it wasn't FREEZING COLD like it was last year. That night we opened our traditional new Christmas PJ'S presents and took lots of fun pictures. This morning we took Ellery swimming at the hotel. She spent almost the entire time standing at the edge, jumping in the water and we catch her. She is so brave!!

The end of the season is almost over. So sad. I'm glad I've been able to enjoy it so far. More is to come I'm sure! :)

Ok, ok, ok...

So Millie finally dragged me to go see Twilight with her (we used some movie passes we got for Christmas LAST year that are about to expire) as we are not ones to spend money on the movies, and I'm even less apt to fork it out on a movie I have no desire to see.

(yes, that sentence was much too long.)

However, I wanted to report that despite the hype of how good the books are by female reviewers ages 14 to 25 - meaning, they're probably cheesy and mushy and really not that good - the movie was not bad. Okay, it was pretty good. I've seen much worse films. A few things that I think saved the story line for me was the casting of the characters. Other than laughing whenever Dr. Cullen came on the screen, and having to remind myself that Edward (oh Edward) looks much less homo-riffic as Cedric in Harry Potter, I liked all the actors/actresses. I have to give special acknowledgments to Alice (very pretty and just a very likable character) and Charlie, Bella's father, (who just played an excellent lost, lonely daddy who wants nothing more than to have his little girl's love and approval. As a father myself, I can finally relate to that.

I can put my approval on the movie as a good date flick. I could probably be coerced to see it again and I MAY even read the books... someday.

Now for those of you who have seen the movie already check out the following link... If you haven't seen it, don't bother watching the link, you won't get it.

http://www.take180.com/s/ep5l7

Although Tevia did a video on her blog too, I had mine done before her, I was just waiting for a few people to get the DVD of it in the mail before I posted for all to see. It's kind of a year end review, and, like Lord of The Rings, you have to keep watching till the very end (till the music stops) because there are some false endings where it goes black. If you want a free copy on DVD please reply and send $50 for shipping and handling. Thanks! :)

We had our first "real" snow on Tuesday so Millie, Ellery and I went out to make Ellery's first snowman ever! Ellery had a lot of fun and she decided she really likes to eat snow... especially the lemon flavor that the cat and dog make! (not really).



Millie had fun dressing the snowman and putting on his face... not your ordinary Frosty with a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal... as you can see the mouth is bacon, the eyes are two Lindor chocolates, and the nose is a stick. Despite the improvises and deviations from the traditional, we had a good time as a family!

It's snowing again today, and we're going sledding! No, I'm not a fan of the cold and/or snow, but that doesn't mean I'm going to deprive Millie and Ellery of my company and family time because of it... they both like the snow!



Oh, one more thing, how do I have time for all this right now?... well, I'm officially done with school!!! YAY!!! Yep, as of Wednesday (yesterday) morning I am an official college grad... and just a shade under a decade. Yes, long road, but well worth it! Now I can start working on my Master's so I can get a job doing something I actually want to do! I'll blog more about that later.

Well, I just got done reading "Breaking Dawn." The 4th and last book in the oh-so popular "Twilight" series. I must admit that I did enjoy them, although, I was hoping for more of a fight at the end...oh well. It reminded me of when I finished the last Harry Potter book in that I was sad the story was over. I was more sad about Harry Potter ending. It felt like such a real story and real characters that I had to keep reminding myself it's a story, all fictional characters. :( J.K. Rowlings really does a great job getting her readers connected to the characters. I guess I still have the movies to look forward to!

In the meantime, I have a few more books on my list:

"Sarah" by Orson Scott Card
"Ink Heart" by Cornelia Funke
"Finding Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I guess Ellery is more like me everyday!

Loves tomato soup.......

....and wants to wear my bras, put on makeup and be "pretty!"

Last night Millie and I (and Ellery) all left home around 4:30 as we usually do on Wednesday nights... Millie to work, Ellery to the in-laws and me to class. Ellery and I didn't feel well and almost decided to return home early, around 5pm; but I ended up going to class. Class got out at 7pm and I picked up Ellery and headed home. I opened the garage, pulled my car in, closed the garage, got the diaper bag, my back pack and Ellery. Arms full, I turned the knob to enter the house from the garage but was stopped in my tracks as I heard rustling noises inside.

I was terrified.

My first thought was that maybe some animals (wild dogs, deer or a mountain lion) had gotten into the house... then I heard whispers, the front door open, running feet and the door slam shut. At hearing the whispers, my first thought was, I'm going to be shot and Ellery will be killed or taken, or left for dead... every worse case scenario ran through my mind in a matter of seconds.

Still frozen in place, I pulled out my cell and called 911. After what felt like half an hour, but in reality it was maybe 5-10 min, of waiting in my car in the closed garage, police arrived.

They went in and cleared the house.

Inside police found that locked doors were kicked in, drawers, cupboards, cabinets and closets were opened and ransacked, the one ton Liberty safe (which belongs to the homeowners) was laying on the living room floor with various pry bars wedged into it. The door had been significantly compromised but they failed to get it fully open. The police had to open the safe all the way to verify that none of the hand guns that were supposed to be just inside were still there. It took the cops a matter of seconds, less than a minute, to pry the safe the rest of the way open -- in other words, if I were just a little later coming home, they (the intruders) would have had full access to all that the safe contained. Although we're pretty sure the intruders got away with little, if anything, (and the homeowner is flying in from Hawaii right now to inventory everything), the one thing they did make off with was my safe haven, peace of mind and sense of security in my own home.

I don't know how to describe the feeling... it's something I think you just have to experience first hand (although I don't recommend it), and it makes a difference if it is your own (place you call) home as opposed to knowing someone that it happened to, or if your shed or storage unit was compromised. The feeling is amplified by the fact that I walked in on them (although I did not see them) while they were here in the act of violating my family's once safe place. On top of that, it really creeps me out to know that they must have been watching our place (and us) for some time, learning our schedules and scoping out the safe. There is a definite, different and uncomfortable feeling in the house now, even during the day, that I can only hope passes with time.

Despite all that has gone on in the past 18 hours or so, I am VERY grateful that things did not go as bad as they easily could have. Millie, Ellery and I are all okay. Also, as mentioned earlier, we think very little, if anything, was successfully taken. Shortly after police arrived I had received a call from our neighbors and the first counselor in the bishopric (although he didn't know anything was going on, and was only calling to ask Millie to speak in church on Sunday), and the bishop came by to make sure we were okay. Later that night as police were wrapping things up, another ward member, Rick Meizner, came by to see if we were okay too. Plus, Millie's dad, sister and brother-in-law came by to help me re-secure the home since locks were broken.

In all, Millie and I have been offered a place to live (if we wanted) for a while at three different homes, and have been called and checked up on by several others. Although my sense of security in this home is all but destroyed, my sense of security in family and friends throughout this community has been reassured, and again, I'm so thankful things were not as bad as they could have been.

I love Halloween! I love the costumes, the candy, the cool weather, colorful leaves, scary movies (although I didn't watch one this year), and so forth... We went to my parents house as we do every year to celebrate Halloween and my dads birthday. It's starting to be a fun tradition that everyone dresses up, we eat chili and candy and apple juice and donuts, and open presents, and go trick-or-treating, and watch a movie. This year was especially fun because we got to take Ellery trick-or-treating. She was a little scared to go up to the doors, but when she realized they had candy she was more willing to go grab some, put it in her bucket and cling back to me. She's a little scaredy cat sometimes. We got back to the house and she ate more candy than I think she has in one sitting! We headed home after a fun night to get Ellery in bed while the rest of my family stayed and watched, "The Skeleton Key."

Although some of you may think by the title of this post that it's a little late. In reality, it has nothing to do with October 21... it's not a date at all.

10/21 is what Millie and I ran this week for our marathon training.

Our long run was 10 miles and we ran a total of 21 miles this week (3, 5, 3, 10 miles).

For me, this was by far my longest run yet as my Iliotibial band was giving me some real problems and prevented me from keeping on schedule with the training. According to the marathon training book and the symptoms I've had, it looks like I've got Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS).

After reading the information in the link above, I've spent much more time on stretching before and after my runs (moving my legs in a rapid fashion, not what happens on the toilet in unfortunate times) and the pain has been much more tolerable.

Millie has stuck to the training schedule much more closely and has been progressively building up to the 10 mile run (5 miles one week, 6 the next, then 7 and so on) and she's been kicking butt! She's really been my inspiration to keep going despite how my knees have been bothering me, and I'm glad I've been pushing through.

This 10 mile run was good. I did it this morning (yes, I ran on Sunday, many of you will think, "so what?" and other may think, "sinner!!") I think, it was a good run and I'm glad I did it today. It was a great morning, cool (almost cold), rainy, and a light breeze for the most part (until the last mile and a half).

Here was my route if any of you want to look at it HERE. If you click on the elevation option it shows the elevation of the route... as you can see there were two steep hills... both of which I was pretty sure I would die on, but was determined to not stop or walk... and I succeeded!!! It was a good feeling to keep going and finish the run non-stop. Not only was it a great 1 hour and 24 minutes to myself on a cool rainy autumn morning, but it made me excited to continue with the training and finish the marathon in January.

It feels good to hurdle this 10/21 mile marker! Hope to see all of you at the finish line in January!

After a solid week in Mexico, I have to say it's pretty good to be back... despite the cold Utah weather.

The trip started out ok with Ellery doing not as good on the plane as she has in the past. Unfortunate for her, and everyone on Continental flight 664 from Houston to Cancun, she had a crash course session in "how to fall asleep while traveling and not in a bed - 101". Benedryl may have helped.

My first impression of the resort was, "wow". Iberostar Playa Paraiso http://www.iberostarparaiso.com/

The rooms are in separate buildings of three stories with 8 rooms per floor. There are quite a few building on either side of the pool which stretches about a half a mile from the lobby to the beach. The main reception/lobby/dining/entertainment area is a huge open air structure connected by marble tile floors and water areas with fish, flamingos, and even some turtles.


Day one:
We arrived Saturday afternoon around 4pm. Dropped off our stuff, checked in (after some confusion - but no major problems) and went down to the beach side snack bar just in time to get some buffet food.

Day two:
Sunday. We went to church in Playa Del Carmen (about a 30 min taxi ride south of our resort). Church was at noon and we got there just before they started (which was surprisingly on time). It was fast and testimony meeting and one of the better (yet less eventful) ones I've attended in Spanish. It was very spiritual and the person conducting invited all priesthood bearers to get up first to bear testimony. I think it was good to see the priesthood power of the exceptionally large ward get up and share testimony. I was very impressed with the male youth and their conviction and faith. The rest of the day we spent at the Iberostar in Playa, playing on the beach, which was much better than the beach at our resort.

Day three:
Spent the day at our resort: pool, beach, eating. Monday night was one of our specialty restaurants - Japanese grill. I went back to the room before dinner even came out... thought I was going to freeze to death - killer fever.
That night I asked for a blessing - thought I was going to die... or at least I wanted to.

Day four:
Everyone went to Chitzen-Itza and the cenotes... everyone except Millie, Ellery and I. I told Millie to just go and that I would be fine, left for dead in the room. I even promised to seek medical help if my condition worsened. It did, and I did.

Here's where it gets "good".

$121 USD to have a "doctor" tell me I have to go to the hospital.
$45 USD to take a taxi into Cancun.
Arrived at Hospiten (as directed by the resort "doctor") and made one more emergency run the the bano before collapsing on the floor at Millie's feet where as she was registering me at the ER. They wheeled me into a room and started an I.V.... just in time too. I had started convulsing and lost control over my muscular function. Millie says I didn't look too good. Ellery was surprisingly behaving well during most of this, as I remember it.
$48 USD to take Millie and Ellery back to the resort to wait for the family to return form their day excursion and give them the news of where I was.
$45 USD to bring Millie back to stay the night with me since I was admitted to the hospital.
No food for Jacob.


Day five:
Woke up in the hospital. Still felt VERY weak but wanted to get out of there. I stunk really bad too. They finally let me eat "food" and even got Millie some "food" for breakfast too. I was given (and I kid you not) two giant croutons the size of a slice of bread each and some apple "juice" and some apple chunks. Millie had some small pancakes which I'm sure were sub par and few other non-eatable items. Doctors ran blood work, took X-rays stool and urine samples: "inconclusive". Personally, for those of you who have seen the Simpsons episode where Lisa finds the fossilized "angel"... I think the same testing method applied here. The "doctor" recommended I stay another 24 hrs for observation. I basically told him where he can stick his recommendation and I wanted out of there dead or alive ASAP.
$2,168.67 USD for my "treatment" and hospital stay.
$135.65 USD for Millie to stay the night and "eat" breakfast there.
$45 USD to get back to the resort.
$98 USD for prescription meds.
Spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping and drinking liquids. Then got up and played beach volleyball with the fam.
We had our second specialty dinner. This one was at the Brazilian restaurant. I was not at all impressed. Maybe a little because I was just sick of the resort food by then, or maybe I was still just sick... either way, Tucano's is MUCH better.

Day six:
Snorkeling in Cozumel. We got up early to catch the 8am ferry from Playa to Cozumel. We were the last to board as were were RUNNING late, but we made it.

The sea was angry that day my friend; like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli.

Three people in our group threw up on the way over, but I'm sure EVERYONE felt sick from the ride... even Jeremy (Abbie's Houndorian bf) who normally makes me look like a pale face whitey, was looking pretty white himself. The sea was calm around the "reef" or what was left of it after the last hurricane a couple years ago. This was my first time to really snorkel in the ocean and I really enjoyed it, even though I know the ocean floor wasn't much to look at, and the water was WAY too cold for my taste, I had fun. Millie was freaking out about the fish swimming around her, and even though I thought that was funny, I still tried to comfort her a bit. I'm so nice.

We rented scooters for each couple and a convertible VW Bug for the grandparents and little kids to cruise down the coast line to the Iberostar on Cozumel. We ate lunch there and relaxed/took a nap on the beach. Then we made our way around the island to return the scooters by 6pm. My only regret of our time on Cozumel was that I wish we could have spent some time on the other side of the island (opposite the "reef") to explore tide pools. The ferry ride back that night was MUCH smoother than the morning and even Ellery made it back with out getting sick.

Day seven:
Spent the day relaxing at the resort. I think I slept most the time. It was a rainy day (as most were while were were there) but we made the most of it. We passed much of the afternoon playing 2v2 beach volleyball in the rain.

Day eight:

Tulum. We secured a personal van and driver for the day. He was very nice, spoke really good English and was very interesting to listen to as he talked about the area (those sitting in the back of the van missed out on that). We arrived at Tulum and it was raining. And it kept raining. Pretty hard rain. But we continued the tour anyway. We paid for a guide to give us the "LDS tour." Carlos, our tour guide, was very interesting. I think he seemed a bit nervous to be giving the tour in English, and although he was a little unsure of some of what he said, I thought he did a great job and I learned a LOT about Tulum I didn't know before from just going on my own. I highly recommend it! The rain finally let up and the resulting lighting was perfect for picture taking!

We got back later than expected that night to find our room keys no longer worked. I ran back (the 1/4 mile) to the lobby to get them reset so we could change and get ready for our last specialty dinner at the Steak House. The dinner was great; the best of the entire week. Most everyone got the Tenderloin (I think) but I got the pork chops. They were good, but mine are better.

After dinner, we headed down to the beach and took a bunch of pictures. That was a lot of fun to just spend time with the family. The night was cool without a hint of a breeze... darn near the perfect night.



Day nine:
Sunday. Time to go home. The bus was scheduled to leave at 2:30 pm but check-out was at noon... apparently RIGHT at noon. I spent the morning packing and cleaning up, Millie took Ellery to wear her out in hopes of getting a nap in for her before the trip back. I asked the front desk if we could use the room till 1-ish so Ellery could take a nap. They said they charge $10 USD per hour after check-out. Ridiculous!!! But... what's another $10 after dropping over $2K... right? They told me to come by to have the key card reset so we could get in since it will automatically not work after noon; so I did. I went back to the room just before 1pm (since the front desk said the key would not work after 1pm and I wanted to make sure we could get our daughter out). Just after walking in the door the front desk called (this was minutes after getting the key reset for me to enter) and they asked what I was doing in my room still. I told them I had to get my daughter and that I had just had my key reset for that purpose, they were SO rude and told me to give them names and that I had to get out now, and they were sending a bell boy up to escort me out and get my bags. I was disgusted with their attitude, the whole thing put a bitter taste in my mouth towards the resort, even more so than having a medical center that couldn't even administer a simple I.V.!!! (I'm still too pissed to even go into all the details and feelings of that whole adventure).
Needless to say, by this time, I was happy to leave that place and just get home.

The flight back was good. Ellery was drugged up on Dimetapp and slept most of the way home (except when the pilot would speak over the intercom). We got in around 1am and I put all our clothes in the wash. I got to bed around 2am.

All in all, a great vacation.

The only things I'd change:
1) Don't get sick and spend $$ on hospital/ER bills and miss out on Chitzen-Itza and the Cenotes.
2) The resort "hot tubs" were colder than the pool. Some of those rainy days would have been nice to spend in a hot tub.
3) Spend some time in Playa shopping. It was on the itinerary but never really happened. Millie missed out on buying souvenirs and we paid a premium for them in the airport on our way out.
4) Don't bring Ellery. This will be the last "vacation" we take any children under 8 on.
5) Shouldda taken more pictures.

The rest of the family took a lot more pictures and once I get them I'll make a slide show and post it as a new blog!

Back in August (this is a late post, I know) Millie and I were given some fresh home grown zucchini from our neighbors. I was SUPER excited because I had been craving fried zucchini after having some at a BBQ diner we went to in Phoenix after our Mexico trip with my parents and Bret n Tevs.

It had been YEARS and YEARS since I attempted making fried zucchini so I gathered several recipes to find one I thought would be good.

The attempt proved worthwhile... but I don't think Millie was as impressed as I was with my efforts... something about them being "too greasy" I think. Maybe I'll give it another shot next summer.

Ellery is in the stage right now where she LOVES animals and knows how to make all their sounds, soooo, we took her to the State Fair a couple weeks ago. We first went and saw the goats. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but goats have really freaky looking pupils. Anyways, Ellery really liked them and didn't want to leave each one's little pen that we came to. She would have been happy with just looking and touching the same goat all day! But, we finally moved on and saw cows, sheeps, pigs, chickens, ducks, and bunnies.

We didn't really look at any of other exhibits because well, they're kinda boring. We did end up stopping in to buy Jacob a new remote control helicopter that Rob told us about. They also had tigers there this year that we just got to look at walking around in circles in their cage. We didn't stay for the show since it was at 7:30 and if Ellery doesn't get to bed in time she turns into a monster!

We ate dinner there. Jacob ended up getting the same thing he got last year- a navajo taco. He's yet to find one as good as his mom's!

Then we ended up walking around throught the carnival part of the fair. Ellery really liked watching the rides I think because of the bright flasing lights. One game caught Jacob's eye. You had to try and stand up a glass bottle using a string tied to a ring. The carny guy made it look really easy. He got the ring aroung the bottle neck and pulled it on up! Well, Jacob really wanted to try and failed miserably!! :) ha ha, sorry Jacob, but you did!

Before we headed home, we stopped by a homemade icecream stand. I got a scoop of Oreo, and Reeses Peanut Butter cup icecream, which was really yummy! Jacob got a scoop of pumpkin pie and raspberry icecream, and oh my gosh, it was soooooo good! Ellery also really enjoyed her vanilla cone!

Just when you thought Utah was safe from hurricanes, tornadoes and other destructive disasters. Almost countless bodies were left for dead. The place looked like the big battle scene from Gone With The Wind. Even F.E.M.A. was at a loss for where to begin the clean up!

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So, it's well known now that the Havasupai hike is not happening. Not all rainfall is good rainfall, even in the desert. Looks like it'll be at least another year before that trip happens.

In the mean time, Millie, Ellery and I are gearing up for the Roper family Mexico trip! We'll be flying out on October 11, 2008 from SLC to Cancun. From there we'll bus down to stay at the Iberostar Parasio Beach resort, which is about midway between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. I took a trip to that same area back in 2004, I think (the last 10 years just seem to blur together now). It was a great trip!!! I went by myself then, over the Thanksgiving holiday, so it'll be fun to go back! I'm most excited about the snorkeling and getting to visit Tulum again!

We'll fly home on the 19th. A good solid week of paradise before the harsh, cold, dark, gray, life-sucking winter of Utah sets in. :)

"I CAN'T WAIT TO HIKE HAVASUPI FALLS!!!!!!!"

A picture is worth a thousand words... How about 106 pictures!?!?!!!

We went down with My parents, Bret, Tevs, and their boys and Risa.

We had a BLAST!!! Enjoy the slide show!!!

Yesterday we decided to hike up to Timpanogos Caves since Summer is almost over and Jacob will be starting up school again. I've hiked them before when I was in Jr. High and Jacob went about 4 years ago. It's a mile and a half hike up to the caves, and although it is paved, I had forgotten how steep the trail is. I though I was getting in pretty good shape from running, but I had to stop and take a breather a couple times!

One of the times we stopped there was a cute little chipmunk. When Ellery saw it she got a little scared and ran to me. I know we're really not supposed to do this but, we had some Frosted Cheerios that we fed it. It was really cute to watch it munch away!

The weather was really nice. It was a big cool with a few sprinkles and thunder. Once we got to the top, we got right into one of the tours. Ellery was already really tired so I was worried she's be fussy and restless once we were in the caves, but she ended up being really good. She had fun looking at everything, although got a little mad when we wouldn't let her touch anything.
I thought the caves were really pretty and interesting. I think I remember them being a lot cooler and more colorful when I was here last, although I was a lot younger.

The hike down was a lot quicker. Ellery by then was really sleepy and just rested her head on Jacob's shoulder almost the entire way down. I'm glad we were able to go and spend some time together as a family.

Jacob and I went with Abbie and Jeremy to a pond in Mona with a big rope swing. The weather was a bit gloomy and windy, but we still went because we were told the water was really warm. Well, the water wasn't really that warm. We shivered and froze every time we came out of the water. It was still really fun. Jacob and Jeremy were the bravest and would go off the highest parts. You can see how high Jacob got in this picture. Abbie and I weren't so brave and just stuck to the lower parts. Well I think I would have been braver if I could have holden on to the rope! I don't know if it was because I had worked the night before and hadn't gotten much sleep, or if I'm just too heavy for my own little muscles, but I could not hold on to the rope long enough! I could just feel the rope slipping out of my hands. It was actually really frustrating.

When I tried from a lower stump, I did fine. So I decided to try again from the higher branch. Well, I was able to hold on to the rope this time, but still managed to land right on my face again! Everyone got a kick out of that. I ended up being the entertainment for the day. I'm glad we went. It was really fun. I'm going to have to work my arms out a lot more before we go again. Or just learn to be more coordinated. :)

Over the last couple of weeks Millie and I have watched a few movies… well, quite a few (especially if you count DVD episodes of Spongebob)… but there are three movies in particular that got me thinking. They are three VERY different movies on the surface: genre, actors, and even to whom they target for marketing. However, I found in them a VERY common theme.

The movies are: Hancock, The Bucket List, and Tuck Everlasting.

The theme: Choosing to live life.

For those of you reading that have not seen any (or all) of these movies I won’t go into any detail in case you do want to see them some time for yourself.

Millie and I Netflix-ed The Bucket List and Tuck Everlasting just for entertainment, without intending to find any sort of theme between them – and really, after watching them that was more or less all I got from them – entertained. It wasn’t until after Millie and I went to Hancock a few days later that the movies seemed to relate to one another… and even that came unexpectedly. While leaving the theater, Millie asked me a question about the movie (Hancock) she said she didn’t quite understand. The connection came to me as I started to answer her question.

The idea of immortality is one that mankind has seemed to be infatuated with since the dawn of time. Whether it is the mythical fountain of youth, modern medical science, or being a type of demi-god/angel, people want to live forever - one day more.

But the three movies seems to hint at the idea that maybe immortality is not all it's cracked up to be. You don't need to live forever, you just need to live.

I think this is a choice we are all given, and must all make: the choice to live life. I know there are far too many days of my life that just pass by un-lived, so I try, resolved once again, to do better.

Ok. I want to blog about this while it is fresh in my mind.

Millie and I are in AZ visiting my family. We went to see Batman: The Dark Knight with Bret, Tevs, and my parents at the IMAX in Deer Valley.

I know some will hate me for this, but, I have really never liked Heath Ledger. In fact, I think he has single handedly ruined every movie he has ever been in... until now.

He really made this movie! So many people have said things like, "you can't even tell it's him when you're watching it," and frankly, that may be why he was so good in it. But isn't that what acting is all about anyway? The media has talked about how he poured himself into the character of The Joker, and some speculate as to whether or not "becoming his character" had anything to do with his death (accidental or not). Regardless... there could not have been a better performance to end a career on for him than this one.

Now: I'm not a comic book guru or a Batman junkie, but I have really enjoyed the last two Batman movies that have come out... and not just because they star Christian Bale, although it does give the ratings a shot in the arm in my book - Christian Bale being one of my favorite actors, (ever since he stared in Newsies, Yes, even before he was in Little Women).

More than just the great suspense, fight scenes, special effects and explosions that filled the last two Batman movies are the substance within the movies. I love the struggle the characters face as they are forced to make moral choices. I don't want to give anything away for those that may have not yet seen the movies so I'll just say this:

What stands out most in my mind is that each of us, every day, seem to be faced with moral dilemmas. Some are big. Some are small. Some people seem like they will always do the "right thing." Others, you just never know what to expect and just may be surprised, either for the good or the bad. The best can fall and the worst can stand up and "do what should have been done ten minutes ago." All of us are human and I think we'll all be tested to our own limits at one point in our lives or another. I may be called pessimistic for this, but I consider myself realistic - most (if not all) of us will fail. I think we all know this, and so, we all sometimes hope that the really big decisions that matter will have to be made by someone else. However, the time will come for each of us to make our own big decision(s) - the one (or ones) that will change our lives forever. I hope I can do better at making the right ones.

I hope we all can.

No this is not about my own two little women... so you can all keep reading without being absolutely bored by a husband/dad bragging about his girls.

This post of Little Women is about the actual play/musical Little Women, based off the novel Louisa May Alcott.

The other night Millie's parents took Millie and I to Hale Center Theater to watch the musical. I thought it was VERY well done. Millie's dad, who saw it on Broadway, was a little more critical.

I'm not here to critique the play at all... rather, to just say, I really enjoyed it and recommend to anyone who is ever in the area to make it a point to catch a performance (of whatever it is that is being performed) at Hale Center Theater (HCT) in Orem. It is a small stage with basic props, but the actors really seem to give it their all.

I think it was last conference, Elder Uchtdorf spoke about how far off course a plane (or person) can get by the change of just a few degrees. Friday night after the fireworks (at the Stadium of Fire in Provo, UT) it was not degrees, but rather seconds, that made a huge difference.

We took two cars to the fireworks, I drove one and my father-in-law drove the other. We were parked next to each other, and got up to leave (at the end of the fireworks) at the same time. I wasted NO time in getting Ellery into her car seat and heading out. My father-in-law was not so fortunate as he had a few more kids to load. My care left just a matter of seconds before his and from that little difference, I arrived home before he was even able to leave the parking lot (the grass fields) across from the stadium.

So despite Millie's insisting that the way I drive is unnecessary and won't get me home any faster if I get in front of just one car, or leave just a few seconds (or even minutes) sooner, that difference got us home about an hour earlier than the car that left just after us that night.

Since people are actually looking at this blog now I feel somewhat obligated to write something for visitors to read... although, I can't help but think that most are here only for pictures and videos of Ellery. Understandable.

However, There are no pictures for this post.

I just wanted to give an outline of what's to come for this little Webb family for the summer (and part of fall) of 2008.

I'm done with summer term and have yet to really bother finding another job yet.

We bought 7 Peaks (water park) season passes and have gone a few times so far. Ellery LOVES the water, especially the wave pool. She's not at all afraid of water, which I think is both good and bad; it's good because maybe she'll be a faster learner to swim, and bad because she can't swim and fearlessly walks out into the water beyond her ability to stand and breathe... and if she falls in and can't breathe, she thinks it's funny.

It's the 4th of July today and we went to Canyon View Park up Provo Canyon with Millie's family. Millie works tonight so Ellery and I will go to the fireworks without her. Tomorrow night we'll be doing our own fireworks. Yes, fireworks... not "fireworks."

July 22nd is our trip to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico. My mom and sister, Tevia, bought Millie and I plane tickets to AZ so we could drive to Mexico with them. This will be both Millie and Ellery's first trip to Mexico.

August 9th we'll be hiking Mnt. Timponogos. Millie hiked it years ago, but it'll be my first time... weather permitting.

Some time in September we should be hiking Havasupi Falls with Bret and Tevia. Neither Millie or I have been before but we've been wanting to go together pretty much since we started dating.

October 11-18 is the Roper family vacation to Yucatan, Mexico. We'll be staying at the Iberostar Resort just outside of Playa Del Carmen. I went to Playa alone a few years before meeting Millie and I LOVED it! I'm excited to go back and spend some more time on the white beaches and the Tulum ruins. We'll also be doing some snorkeling, which I never got around to doing when I went by myself before.

All these events should be followed up with pictures and summaries, so feel free to check back in! It'll be a busy, and hopefully fun, summer!!!

Ellery is always coming up with something new to entertain us around the Webb homestead. I learned (the hard way) that if I don't get it on video when she's in the craze of it, she'll move on to the next and we may not get to see it again. One we missed that makes me particularly sad is a face she used to make at people which involved smiling, raising her eyebrows several times and then laughing at herself.

So, when she started her dancing phase, I've taken measures to make sure to get it on video. Here is her latest. There may be more to come!

For those of you who still haven't heard, Millie and I have decided to start training to run a marathon!! Which marathon? Only the BEST marathon on the face of the planet!!!... no, not the infamous Boston Marathon; it's better, MUCH better, the Phoenix Rock N Roll Marathon!!! It's in January 2009. I think Millie got the idea from some of her co-workers. So far we have purchased a book (Millie claims it is right up there with the Tora... only, in a non-sac religious way - it's called The Non-Runners Guide to Marathon Running), we've gone shoe shopping (but are still in the research phase of that really - Millie is thinking about getting the Asics Kayano 14 and I'm looking at upgrading from my Nike Air Triax 10s to the Nike Air Triax +11) and finally, we've even started to notify others of our plans and are inviting others to join us. Speaking of which, those of you reading this are welcome to join us in AZ in January!
We're both very excited about it! Today we went on our first "run" together on our road to get in shape. Maybe it's just the exercise... or maybe not... but doing this, even just this little bit we've done, has made me feel closer to Millie. I have to admit, sadly enough, that she and I haven't done a whole lot "together" since getting married. It's sad I never noticed it before, perhaps because we've both been too "busy" between work, school, and Ellery. Wish us luck, I'm sure it will be difficult but well worth the effort! I'll try and keep everyone updated!

Sure we all had fun... but just think of the education we all got! Dinosaurs... WOW!! :)

So, Ellery thinks she's becoming a big girl now... running around the playground, playing on the jungle gym with the boys, and bouncing on the bridge until shakin baby sets in. Fortunately she has so much fun with her cousins, maybe we'll never have to take her to Disneyland! :)

We all went to the Dinosaur Museum this last weekend with the Walls. Ellery LOVED it! She even learned a new word!

Here's some cute pictures of Ellery when she is 10 months. What a cutie!