Merry Christmas

Baby Cool

One of Baby Connor's homies from school gave out little tiny sweat bands as Christmas gifts. They are totally boss.

Oops

I forgot that I haven't been posting. I'm too sick to post :( Good night.

Neon Trees Live From Soho

If you like Neon Trees, even just a tiny bit, you gotta get this album asap. They are soooooooo fantastic live, and acoustic to boot. You're gonna LOVE it.

NEON COCO

Neon Trees on Conan tomorrow night. YES YES Y'ALL!!!

Friends Of Giant Steps

Hey everyone, I just wanted to tell you all about a charity auction happening this Friday night in Provo. It's a benefit for Giant Steps Preschool. THIS IS THE SPECIAL SCHOOL THAT BABY CONNOR GOES TO!! There are some really fantastic items to be auctioned off (hotel packages, dinners, signed Justin Bieber CDs, Neon Trees merch, Lia Sophia jewelry, spa packages...etc). Everyone is invited, and all the money goes to helping Baby Connor. So soften up your heart and get over there:

Friends of Giant Steps Auction
Date: Friday, November 20
Time: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: Wasatch House
605 East 600 South

Provo, UT

Fuse Top 40 Voting

The thought of 30STM beating out Neon Trees makes me a little bit sick, so please vote on this. You can vote as much as you want. 2 days left.


http://fuse.tv/ontv/shows/top-40-2010/round-3-vote-4.html

Me Likey

Thank you "Secret Friend". You're right, they're totally me. I'm wearing them on the plane to go see my boyfriend in L.A. I can really rock out tonight 'cause they give me power. Thank you!!

Baby Man

When I'm sitting at the desk in the office editing boring pictures, and I look down and see this guy, it makes me soooooo happy.

Wish List

Neon Trees has a Christmas song and it's available on iTunes now. Go get it and love it. And I took the picture for the single. Fun times all around.

Mr. Postman

Sometimes cool stuff comes in the mail here.

Neon Live

Neon Trees are performing on Regis & Kelly this morning. You should watch it.

Rock The Vote

Don't forget. Neon Trees are playing tomorrow night (Nov. 2) at Salt Lake Community College. 8:00. $7 for students, $15 for non-students. You're missing out if you don't come. And yes, you can bring your kids.

Haunted Heber Creeper

We took a ride on the haunted Heber Creeper on Thursday night. The first 10 minutes Miss Katie kept saying, "Mom, this is boring. This is boring." Once we pulled into the 'graveyard' and she saw that the zombies outside were real people, she wasn't bored anymore. Then when they actually got on the train and started walking around, she was scared. It was awesome.

The monsters kept coming up to us and screaming, and Connor would scream right back and then laugh his head off.

Baby Man

No one is safe from the "Bath Intruder" at our house. If anyone is running a bath, anywhere in the house, Connor's radar will sense it and he will come sprinting to you and dive in, head first, fully clothed. He does it almost every day and it looks like this:

PattersonTown

Here is an excerpt from an email my dad sent last week. He was riding in the back of a pickup with my mom driving on a totally washed out trail. I love that they get to have "real" mission experiences. Africa sounds almost as rad as Bulgaria.


As I was holding on for dear life, catching big air along the way, as your mom said we had a drunken Muslim jump in with me. (Muslims aren't supposed to drink alcohol are they?) First he wanted to know why we were in Sierra Leone and I told him we were on a mission. "What church" he says so I tell him and he says "oh! you're a Christian." I say yes and he says "I'm a Muslim." I said that's great. Then he wants to tell me his life story but his brain isn't functioning too well. All of the sudden he says "do you love me" I said I try to love all men, another bump, and he lands on my leg, laughing the whole time. He gave me his phone number and insisted I call him on Tuesday. What's up with that? He asked me two more times if I loved him before we got to the place where he got out. That was the adventure in the back of the pickup. Never a dull moment here.

You can read their blog here ----> PattersonTown.blogspot.com

Neon Trees are Animals

I just watched the George Lopez performance and I really, really, really like it. Enjoy.

Neon Trees - 1983 Video

You can watch the 1983 video now. Yay!! And Miss Katie is on the ferris wheel behind the band. Fun times.

Watch it big screen and quality here ------> 1983

Kassi and Tanner

I shot my last Andersen wedding over the weekend. Kass is the 6th one to get married and the 5th to have me do pictures. I LOVE shooting Kassi. I've been shooting her for 15 years. She was my first portrait subject in my first color photo class at BYU in 1995...she was still in elementary school! You can see why I love shooting her. She makes all my pictures look amazing.

I don't usually get weepy at weddings, even when it's someone I love as much as Kass. But I was a booby baby all day Saturday. There's just something about her and Tanner together that makes me so happy!! Kass has dated some pretty cool guys, but no one has ever been worthy of her. But Tanner IS!! And he is the luckiest man in the world.

Neon Trees - SLC

Rock The Vote With Neon Trees

Nov. 2, 2010 - 8 PM

SLCC Lifetime Activities Center

You should come to this show. You can get your tickets here: http://smithstix.com/events/item/root/neon-trees-rock-the-vote

The Tingler

Who has ever had one of these on their head over at my house? Aaahhhh...

29 Again

I liked my birthday very much. Bdog's roses got to me before he did and that was rad. Katie made me a bracelet with no help and I love it. Neon Trees played at my birthday party. Bdog took me out for a buffalo steak dinner and gave me the Burberry perfume I wanted. It was dreamy. I ate zucchini bread, got to fulfill my 6 year wish of camping for my birthday, washed my hands in sweet smelling soap, received about 25 cards in the mail from friends & family {including one from Elder Dad and Sister Mom}, and am going to enjoy sushi and a massage this week. Thanks for spoiling me everyone. I have the best homeys in the world.

Neon Trees

Neon Trees are opening for 30 Seconds To Mars this Saturday the 25th {my birthday} at UVU. You can get the deets and ticket/discount info here: MTV CAMPUS INVASION {click on the 25th!}

Neon Trees will play around 6 or 7. See you there!

Packaging

I get really happy whenever I see this packaging:

Baby Man

I am not a big cry baby in normal life...except when it comes to this guy.
Yesterday Baby Connor started his special school and it just plain sucks. I know it's a total miracle that he gets to go here, and that it's the best thing in the world for him, but having him there all day makes me feel like someone chopped my leg off.

He rode the bus this morning and it was more than I can bear. Excuse me while I go throw up and cry.

He really likes Bob, the driver, and MaryKay, the aide. He RAN to the bus this morning he was so excited. They brought the bus over to our house a few days ago just so Connor could meet them and run around the bus and play on it. He knew exactly what to do when he saw it today.

He did great his first day, but seized a lot. His teachers did a good job keeping count, which I really appreciate. He's seizing there because he's in class doing therapy when he would normally be sleeping at home. The less sleep he gets, the more episodes he has. Poor little bubs finally fell asleep at the end of an episode for about 30 minutes. Good thing he'll sleep anywhere.

Hopefully he can adjust to this schedule and get used to not having 500 naps a day. He likes it there, which is great. But I'd so much rather have my little boyfriend with me all day, everywhere. Don't know if I can do this.

Meyer's Basil Soap

I'm not kidding when I say this is the best smelling hand soap of all time. I want to wash my clothes in it and use it as body wash and shampoo. I'm not going to, but I want to. 'Cause I want everything in my life to smell like this. And it's from Target. So it's cheap. And it's basil. And I love it.

I Live In The "All Interpol, All The Time" World

24 more hours til the new release. I have to come clean and admit that for the past couple months I've been listening to a horrible quality, bootleg download that leaked somewhere. It is unmixed and sounds like crap. So much so, that I wasn't sure I was liking what I heard. I felt even more disappointed when I saw the video for Lights. I didn't like it. I was scared that my love affair with Interpol was going to be interrupted by this album. I didn't want to have to forgive them for it. My pessimism was furthered when I watched the performance of Barricade on Letterman last month. I love the song, but had to admit that there is a serious loss of mojo without Carlos. Paul was unshaven. He's been wearing trucker hats at shows. His voice wasn't sounding strong. I can only attribute this to what must have been a bad breakup with Helena Christensen. I was having serious Interpol anxiety. Then I saw this:

...and I knew everything was o.k. Yes, Paul looks like he's mourning and in pain, but you know, Helena. So, they're back. They're 100%. It's all good. And October shows are almost here. Rock on.

Summer, Don't Go

What we made with dinner the other night might be the most delicious thing in the whole wide world. Brown sugar does amazing things on the grill...

Things We Get From Superfans

A tiny bit creepy, but a lot bit cool...Christmas ornaments with Bdog's face on them:

This Girl

Yep, this is one of the few posts where I get a little personal. Indulge me. This is Mandy. My very first BFF. I've been thinking about her all week. And here's why:

Years ago...1996 I think, I was in Santa Monica visiting Liz. Of course I was there visiting Mandy too. Mandy and I have a long history of beach trips together and this day was no different. We went to Venice this day. I don't remember much about the day other than lunch. We decided to grab something cheap and quick at a hot dog dive along the boardwalk. It wasn't very busy, about half full of people. There was a man in a wheel chair trying kind-of unsuccessfully to eat his hot dog. It seemed like he was o.k. mentally, but he had a really hard time talking and his hands and mouth weren't working too well. He had mustard all over his face, even down his arm. He was really struggling. People were noticing his distress.

During this, he wheeled over to the counter and was trying to communicate to the worker that he wanted to buy another hot dog. The dude at the counter could not understand him. He kept trying to explain himself but it wasn't working. Mandy knew what he wanted and walked over to him, got his money out of his pocket for him, and bought his hot dog.

Then, she wiped the mustard off his face and arm and FED HIM his 2nd dog. Everyone watched her like they were watching a movie. I can't believe we didn't all stand on our tables and give her a 10 minute applause. It was one of the most self-less, truly Christian acts I've seen. She was my idol that day and I always remember that. I actually think of that sometimes when I take the sacrament on Sundays and promise to be "willing to take upon them [me] the name of thy Son, and always remember Him".

I've been thinking about this a lot because we have had a very special assignment this week in our young women's class at church. We have been helping at the Utah State Developmental Center. This is a group home for severely mentally and physically disabled people. Most of them do not walk or communicate. They are drooly and stinky and absolutely fantastic. We had a wheel chair dance with one group last night and we actually got some smiles. Which isn't easy. I've loved going there and we've got 2 more dates with them. It's a great experience to be there. They really are angels.

Everyone should at one time volunteer in a place like this. Or, volunteer in a hot dog joint some time to help someone in need, or on the street, or in the mall, or at Target. Wherever you are. Like Dieter F. said, "lift where you stand."

Neon Trees

Everyone keeps asking me about the Neon Trees accoustic show this Sat. HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

They are playing at Thanksgiving Point (Electric Park) as part of The Candlelight Serenade which is a benefit for Child Rescue. The benefit goes all day (10 a.m. to 11 p.m.) Here is the band schedule:

11:00 Fictionist
11:45 Making April
12:45 Third Eye Blind
2:00 Sherwood
3:00 Steel Train
4:00 Priscilla Ahn
4:45 Allred
5:45 Vedera
6:45 NEON TREES
7:45 Relient K
9:00 Nick Hexum of 311
10:00 Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional

This is an outdoor, accoustic show. So bring a blanket. Tickets are not cheap, as this is a fundraiser featuring 12 bands. The festival also includes:

• vendors with food from around the world
• sponsor giveaways
• Sports Zone with skate park
• Kid Play Zone
• massive sand box pit
• carnival entertainment
• petting zoo
• rock climbing wall
• art displays...
• Neon Trees :)

Tickets are $40 ($35 at Costa Vida) and children under 5 yrs. are free. You can see even more info here: CandlelightSerenade.com

Car For Sale

We are finally ready to sell our favorite car. Here are the specs:

1998 Ford Contour LX/Sport/4 door
Greyish color
4 Cylinder
Automatic transmission
Power locks/windows/steering
Air Conditioning
Cruise Control
Alpine CD player with iPod hookup - GREAT SOUND SYSTEM
Dual air bags
194,326 miles
Everthing works.

And the best feature is the one-of-a-kind Neil Young University sticker on the back window :)

We've been the only owners of this car. It's had no accidents. It's been around the block a few times and doesn't ride as smooth as it used to, but it's definitely got some life left in it. It's been a great car. The only really ugly part is a minor munch over the front driver's wheel well. Someone back into in once while it was parked. The Kelley Blue Book value is 1,025. We're asking $999 OBO.

Let me know if you're interested!!

Lollapalooza 2010

I'm going to try to post my favorite shots of the weekend. Though I may fail...'cause I have that thing. You know...that rule where I can't spend more than 10 minutes on a post. And I'd like to post almost all of the 800ish shots I took. So, I may fail at posting my favorites. And these are in no kind of order. I'm not even going to deal with that. And it was the best weekend ever. EVER.

My hot, hot husband:

Lolla at night:

The Strokes:

Ga Ga:

Elaine:

Bdog on the bridge:

BMI after party:

Interviews galore:

BMI Stage:

At night:

Bdog:

Phoenix:

In the day:

Kaskade (Ryan):

Me & Perry:

Green Day:

I have cancelled my trip tomorrow. I. AM. TOO. TIRED.