I Finished HARRY POTTER 7

So I have been in Port Hueneme California since the 24th of July for my job and i have been reading Harry Potter to pass the time when i get out of class. First off, to me, this was probably the best book I've read. It picked right up and started tying up all the loose ends. J.K. Rowling did a very good job with the series and especially this last book. I am not a reader but i have read all of these books. To prepare myself for this book i got online and read a cliff notes version of book 6 so i could remember what had gone on. I am really glad that i did. Also while online i decided to read a couple of spoilers (this was before the book was released) but none of the three that i read were true so it must of been a bunch of hype. So everyday after school i would come back to my hotel room and read the book in my chair. It would get so good that i wouldn't want to put it down. The book got a little slow for me in the middle because it felt like they kept doing the same thing over and over and over and over (i guess you get the point) And probably the one part i didn't really care for was the epilogue. Of course it was written 8 years ago or whatever but i just seemed like it wasn't part of the story line. I am really glad that it didn't get spoiled for me from the news or anything and that i could read it for myself. I am not going to give it away but those are just my thoughts. Highly recommended from me to anyone. I cant wait for Kayla to start reading it so we can talk about it!

HOLLYWOOD

So for the other half of our vacation in So Cal we went to Hollywood. YES! The traffic was horrible. We were hoping to be able to catch a movie down there before we had to get Kayla to LAX so she could go home but we spent over 2 hours waiting to go about 8 miles. It was horrible. But when we got down there we walked down the Walk of Fame. That was cool to see all those stars on the side walk that you only hear about on TV. We took a picture of a couple but mostly there were too many people to do anything like that. It reminded me of a mini version of the Las Vegas Strip. It only lasted for about 4 blocks but it was crazy.
They had entrepreneurs on the road dressed like characters (i.e. sponge Bob, and the Little Mermaid) that would take pictures for tips. The mermaid kept saying “I only take pictures for tips” So I didn’t want have her say anything to me because she looked scary. The Aladdin was caring a chi Wawa instead of a monkey. It was just weird. And most of them were dressed just enough that you could tell who they were and that was it. It wasn’t a very good costume. Anything to make a buck!
Then we walked inside the Kodak Theater where they do the finale of American Idol. That was cool, but again it is just like Vegas because it was a mall inside then the theater is at the top of the stairs. Also within the mall was a bridge to where you could take a picture of the Hollywood sign. That was really cool to see.
We also waked by the Chinese Theater. They usually hold lots of premiers here but they were doing anything like that when we were there. In front of the theater were cement pieces that had stars that had put their hand prints and wrote in the cement. It was cool too. We finished everything off by looking through the souvenir shops but that was just to see what they had.
We got Kayla to the airport on time but she called me when I was driving back to my hotel to tell me that her flight had been delayed an hour thanks to inclement weather in New York.

Traffic, MLB, and the Beach

Since I was going to be in California we decided to take advantage of the weekend and fly Kayla out. So when she flew in on Thursday night I went to get her and it took about 2.5 hours to get to LAX when it should have taken about just over an hour. LA traffic is HORRIBLE. It was fun because we got to go to a MLB game on Saturday (we ate a hot dog and everything). Of course the traffic was atrocious to get to the stadium but it was worth it. The Anaheim Angels played the Detroit Tigers. It was an afternoon game so pretty much the entire stadium was blasted by the sun. After about the 4th inning though, our seats finally got to be shaded and it was so much more bearable. It was fun to see it in real life. I don’t watch baseball at all but it was just fun to go in person. There were 43,122 people there so that made it better, especially when they hit a home run.





After the game we didn’t want to rush into traffic to get back to the hotel and sit so we went to Newport Beach and drove around that city and then parked and walked on Huntington Beach. Of course traffic was a “beach” getting out of there so we just took a short detour, ate some Asian food then worked our way back with fairly little traffic. That was a first. I am amazed at all the houses and glamour there is around this beach area. But I guess that is California for you.

Fun at Sandridge Park

We went and hung out with Kayla's childhood friends at Sandridge Park. We ate pizza, squirted each other with water guns, played catch and just sat in the shade. It was nice. We really don't spend time with these guys and it was good to get together with the. Wyatt hated being squirted and didn't care to be in the sand too much. He did like the swing though. As I watched the two and three-year-olds play I thought it would be fun for Wyatt to be that age but all in due time.

Block Party

So we have lived in our house for just a little over 2 years and we know about 4 of our neighbors. So our bishop and neighbor across the street

planned a BBQ with ribs and chicken for the entire block. The food was EXCELLENT. We took a fruit pizza that was a smash. (look at it...you'd of loved it too!!) It was pretty much the only dessert that was completely eaten. It was a really good opportunity to met all of the people we didn't know. They are all so nice I can't believe that we haven't gotten out to associate with them before. I hope that we get to do this every year.

Harry Potter 5, The movie!

So Kayla and I, along with Katherine and Marc, went to see HP5 at the new movie theaters in Ogden. First off the movie, I think, was the best out of all of the movies. I didn't really care for the book because it was such a downer the entire time -- and UMBRIDGE?? But the movie's special effects with the magic was excellent! I realized they couldn't fit everything into just two hours but that the directors did a great job. Kayla also liked it! Now we can't wait for HP7 to come out! We keep debating on who is going to read it first. I know it will be me because i will be traveling that week and I'll need something to do on the plane. She can read it when she comes to visit.

The new junction theater in downtown Ogden is exactly what they needed! That place was pretty busy so i don't think it will be going any where soon. The theater was clean and i really loved how they had assigned seating because it allowed us to get there right when it started and not have to wait in line for an hour! We did sit in the wrong seats to begin with but that was because i couldn't see what row we were on! I think i will go to this theater for my last couple summer must see (Hairspray, Transformers, and the Simpsons)!

Happy 11 months to Wyatt

Another month has passed and many more to come. Wyatt is so mobile now. He isn't walking but he is very close. The coffee tables are his best friend now. He loves to stand up with them, take everything off of them, smack them with his hands, then do it all again once we put everything back. Occasionally he will loose his balance and whack his head into it so if you see us out and about and he has a bruise on his head its most likely from the coffee table. He definitely has his own personality, and I would dare say it is a fun one but if your a stranger then he is instantly shy! He has successfully climbed all the way up the stairs by himself. I did stand on the side of him while he did it but that was just in case he decided to stand up then go tumbling down it backwards. So far he has only fell down them once and that was a couple of months ago before he could crawl. Like most parents can probably attest to your kids grow so fast and you wonder where and how has time gone by so quickly.

Yes I am still alive

I bet you might be thinking no posts…what happened to him. Well nothing has happened to me but I just have been extremely busy and I can no longer access my blog from work to update it. But I’ve made it up by going back for last weekend and writing a little about camping. After getting home from camping it was clean, laundry, school and fixing the water pump in the Jeep that has kept me so occupied. I love to go camping but you almost need to plan an extra day of vacation time to come home and get everything put back together. Besides that I needed to finish my mid-term for my class and in the back of my mind was that I needed to fix that stupid water pump. But everything now is going the way it should, at least for now.

Family Reunion

Most of my aunts and uncles went to the family reunion at Dean’s cabin. We are always so excited to see one another. At first everybody loved to look at Wyatt and play with him but I think by the end they were tired of him being so whiney. He is still fun though. My family is card players, always have been and always will be. They played Texas Hold’em and another really long game…I think called Rummy or something like that. I usually like to get in on them but this trip I felt like just relaxing so all I did was watch movies and go on 4-wheeler rides. My mom took Kayla and I to see Lilly Lake and then on another pretty good trail. It was really fun and we even went through the river. I was smart enough to lift up my feet but Kayla’s got soaked. She did say though that it was the best part of the ride. Wyatt didn’t care too much for the ride I gave him. But I think all in due time he’ll love it. We stayed in my parents trailer and Lance and his family stayed in his because the cabin was pretty full but I didn’t mind and it felt great because it was about 25 degrees cooler than home. I sleep so much better when it is cool! It was good to see all the family, crazy as we are, we just hung out on the back porch and let Lance and Deana cook for us. It was pretty good food. There is nothing like relaxing around the ones you love. There was talk of making it a yearly event so I guess we’ll see.

Them there are sheep in the road

My Grandpa Sherrod decided that it was time to have a Sherrod family reunion. I always remember doing stuff with my mom’s brothers and sisters but as everybody got older they kind of went their separate ways. Needless to say I rarely see them but I guess that is our own fault because we all live fairly close to one another. The majority of us went to Dean’s cabin at Manor Lands. We left on Thursday afternoon and on our way up we saw SERIOUSLY about 500 sheep just being herded down the Mirror Lake Highway. It was a sight to behold. Sheep had cars pinned in to where they cold not move and we were following them so we couldn’t just go around them either. Finally they got them to move to the side of the road but it seemed like about a half of an hour had passed I whish I had a better picture but this one will do I guess. Things like this give me more reason not to live on a farm or in Wyoming. And besides who wants to drive on a highway that is covered in sheep poop. Oh yeah, and on the way home we probably passed about 100 of those sheep again but this time they were just lying in the road like they had been hit. Since when do sheep have the right of way??

Wyatt's First Haircut

Wyatt's first first hair cut. At first our intentions were to just trim the fly-aways... then Josh decided to get the CLIPPERS so Wyatt got a buzz. His hair was surprisingly long about an inch and a half. He looks so much older now. :( my little punkin pie is growing up!!!

Independence Day

It was our first Independence day with Wyatt. After his fresh new haircut he was set for the night time festivities. He played with Kayla's cousins for a while before they actually started. The first initial bang was a shocker to him but after that he was mesmerized. But that only lasted about 8 minutes. He then got bored and tried standing up on his own. I was pretty impressed at his efforts. Overall I think he really liked the fireworks.