Black Friday 2008

As many of you know, I live for Black Friday, both for the deals and the insane-ness that is the holiday shopper looking for that incredible deal. For previous year's experiences, check out Black Friday 2007.

Black Friday seems to start earlier and earlier each year. With me inbetween jobs right now, BF was not nearly as fun, so I asked my mother-in-law if I could do some of her shopping as well.

BF always starts about a month before the actually day when my favorite BF site, www.bfads.net begins to post early leaks of the BF ads that someone must have acquired through the mafia or something similar. By the time the paper comes Thanksgiving day, I have already seen all of the ads. The game plan doesn't usually begin until about 10:00 the night before. I was thrown off this year by the "black friday online movement". Why stand in line for 45 minutes in the cold rain (which it did this year) when you can get the same deal sitting in your PJs sipping hot chocolate. But what fun is that? So, not to bore you with details, here's the play by play:

4:15 am - alarm goes off
4:30 - get in line at ShopKo (Spanish Fork) and it is raining, but warm (30 degrees is much better than 16)
5:15 - leave ShopKo with success
5:20 - I see an ambulance parked outside of Wal-Mart as I drive down the freeway. I can only imagine.
5:30 - get in line at Target (Orem)
5:50 - line "compression" begins (aka the anticipation of doors opening gets people very excited)
6:00 - doors open. Yelling begins as people rush out of their warm parked cars trying to cheat the system. Interestingly enough, Target has real cops keeping order. Never seen that before.
6:12 - leave Target with success
6:20 - arrive at Home Depot (Lindon) - very uncrowded - nice experience
6:35 - leave Home Depot
6:45 - arrive at Recreational Outlet in American Fork for some "outdoors" items
7:15 - leave Rec. Outlet
7:27 - arrive at Wal-mart in Pleasant Grove
7:55 - leave Wal-mart with success and no injuries!
8:05 - arrive at a different ShopKo (Orem)
8:16 - leave ShopKo
8:23 - arrive at Best Buy, another BF favorite. Picked up a good deal on LCD tv for in-laws.
9:07 - leave Best Buy
9:20 - arrive at Staples in Provo to get the item I hid in the store on Wednesday. It was still there.
9:30 - leave Staples
9:35 - arrive at Home Depot again (Provo)
9:52 - leave Home Depot and head home.

And that about covers it. Doesn't that just make you want to go out and try it yourself? I really am not much of a shopper, but Black Friday is such a great kickoff to the Christmas season, I find it hard to resist. Until next year!

Rivalry Week

I figured it was appropriate to post this picture. This Saturday is the big BYU vs. University of Utah game. I can taste the tension in the air. Thanks to one of Jack's great uncles, we have this ugly red hat that fits Jack just right. Too bad he's outnumbered!

Fall and Football

There's nothing better than the leaves as they change colors in the fall and BYU football. I took Isaac to the game this last Saturday against San Diego State. It was the last home game of the season. Last year BYU played SDSU in December due to the game being canceled with all the major fires burning in Southern California last fall. We even stayed after the game to watch the seniors receive their senior blankets. As we were walking back to the car, Isaac couldn't resist playing in the huge piles of leaves that littered the grass along the sidewalk. Luckily I had my camera with me and got some fun action shots of him throwing leaves up in the air. He's a good kid and it was fun to spend one-on-one time with him.

Father's & Son's

I was looking through my blogs and realized I had created this one awhile back but never posted it. Isaac and I a few months back were able to go on our first overnight Father's and Son's just up Hobble Creek Canyon (Springville). It was a perfect weekend and we had a great time. I was in charge of organizing a lot of the event, including the food. You'll notice the very cool trailer/stove that we were able to borrow from another ward that made the eggs, pancakes and sausage very easy to cook for the 50 people that were there. I have very fond memories of Father's & Son's growing up with my dad and I'm excited to carry on that tradition with my sons.

Disney Cruise 2008

We just got back from a very fun-filled 7-day cruise aboard the Disney Magic in the Western Caribbean. The weather was not all that cooperative, but we still had a blast. Only Disney knows how to throw a party that lasts seven full days that the whole family can enjoy. Here's some highlights of our trip...

Friday, Oct 24th

• Left SLC at 11:30am. Arrived in Atlanta and endured 5 hour layover due to weather delays.
  
  

Saturday, Oct 25th

• Got to hotel at 2 am. Kids were exhausted.
• Arrived at Disney Cruise terminal in Port Canaveral and boarded around 1:30 pm.
• Went swimming in the Mickey Pool.
• Partied at the sail away party.
  
• I won a raffle for a free body wrap with spa onboard. Gave it to Tami since I'm a good husband.
• Kids checked into Oceaneer Club (youth program) on board and found their second home.
• Met our wonderful servers when we inadvertently went to the wrong dinner seating, Gerry from the Phillipeans and Igor from Serbia.
• Met our room steward, Robert also from the Phillipeans who made sure there were mints on our pillows each night and towel animals on our beds.

Sunday, Oct 26th

• Spent day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas.
• Relaxed on the beach and rented bikes to ride around the island.
• Raced Hermit Crabs.
  
• Caught in a torrential rainstorm.
• Watched WALL-E in the Buena Vista theater.
• Enjoyed a very funny comedian at the evening show.

Monday, Oct 27th

• Day at sea.
• Kevin, Tami and Brian ran 3 miles around the ship in the morning.
  
• Ate breakfast with all the Disney characters on board.
  
• Watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua. (1 1/2 hours we'll never get back)
• Went to classes where we learned about Disney history and art.
• Watched ventriloquist in a cabaret show before dinner.
  
• Formal night at Dinner.

Tuesday, Oct 28th

• Spent the day on Cozumel island.
• Tulum LDS tour canceled because seas too rough to take ferry to the mainland.
• Hired taxi driver to give us island tour.
• Visited Mayan ruins of San Gervasio.
• Released baby sea turtles into the ocean.
• Watched Tinkerbell in the Buena Vista theater.
• Brooklyn got sick at dinner due to some pretty rough seas.

Wednesday, Oct 29th

• Supposed to be in Grand Cayman. Weather too rough to tender. Turned into a day at sea.
• Took a tour of the Galley.
  
• Watched High School Musical 3
• Dressed up as Pirates for Pirates IN the Caribbean party.
• Tami won a piece of art at the art auction.
  
• Watched fireworks shoot off the bow of the ship into Caribbean night sky.

Thursday, Oct 30th

• Day in Key West, FL, the alternate for missing Grand Cayman the day before.
• Took a 90 min. Conch Train tour around the city.
• Visited an aquarium and held star fish, crabs and watched a shark feeding.
• Celebrated Halloween on board.
• Kids went trick-or-treating around the ship.
• Family dressed up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for dinner.
• Visited midnight desert buffet.

Friday, Oct 31st

• Second trip to Castaway Cay. Much nicer weather.
• Rented kayaks and paddled around the bay.
• Patrick tipped his kayak (fully dressed) destroying his digital camera and $400 iPod Touch and reading book.
• Spent evening with the characters saying farewell.

Saturday, Nov 1st

• Time to leave. Off the boat around 9:00 am.
• Spent a few hours at Jungle Adventures Nature Park.
• Held baby Alligators and snakes.
• Watched an alligator feeding.
• Traveled back to Salt Lake in 1st Class.

To see a full set of pictures with captions, please click the image below:

Disney Cruise 2008