Moving In!

Finally I am moving in! I have been sleeping (if you can even call it sleeping) on a twin air mattress for the past few days in my new townhouse. All my stuff will be coming on Saturday in which my boss told me if I miss too many hours from work on saturday because of the movers, then I would have to work on Sunday (just in case you hadn't gotten a good picture of my great work relationship)! I bought a huge 52" Samsung Full HD LCD TV today with a Blue Ray player that also playes instant netflix movies right into the TV. Pretty cool huh?! Now if I could just get off work long enough to have the time to watch something. Last week I worked 52 hours (this includes last Saturday when I worked 9 hours and was called by my boss to get back into work because I "left too early". Pray for me... I need it!

I have prepared for my first lesson as a Gospel Doctrine Teacher. It's crazy that I will be teaching all of the adults every week. But I'm sure I will somehow find the time to fit it all in. Good news... the first single guy moved into the ward, I should be meeting him on Sunday... did I mention the first and so far only single guy :) You know you are all jealous of the incredible experiences I'm having out here! Love you, miss you, save me!!! ~JaNel

ABBA in Deer Valley

Saturday night was ABBA:Symphonic Hits. Justin, Heather, and I all purchased tickets for the big event. We decided to head up earlier in the day so we could play around in Park City prior to the symphony. I drove to Salt Lake to ride up with Justin as he and I had decided to stay the night. Heather drove up through Heber and met us for lunch at Baja Catina. After enjoying a nice lunch we headed up to the Alpine Slide for a look around and to buy tickets. Justin and I decided to buy the package deal of the Alpine Slide & Coaster, for a ride on each. Here is a picture of us finishing the Alpine Slide:

We decided that the line for the coaster was too long to stand in with the heat, so we decided to go check into the hotel and make out traditional Walmart. Due to the threat of mosquitoes, I thought it would be wise to arm ourselves with some protection. While we were there we also picked up some chocolate to snack on during the symphony. After a short pit stop back at the hotel we made out way to Main Street for some dinner. We ended up at Bandit's.

We made it up to Deer Valley with about a half hour before the concert was due to start. Just as we got out of the car the rain started. We, along with all the others, made our way up the hill and and into the concert area, all hoping that the rain would stop. I needed to find a restroom so I let Justin and Heather go and find us seats. On my way back from the restroom I decided that I would try and wait the rain out, but that didn't work, so I just braved the elements to find them.

Luckily the rain stopped right around the same time the concert was starting and the sun came out, so it made for an enjoyable evening. The concert was amazing, how can you help buy not enjoy the music of ABBA?! Here are some pictures taken during the concert:

The three of us

Justin & Heather Enjoying the Music
And here is a great video of Justin and Heather

After the concert we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed an hour of swimming before the pool closed for the night.

We used the tickets for the Alpine Coaster the following morning when there was no line. Here are some pictures from the ride up:

It was a really fun weekend and a nice chance to get out of Provo and up in the mountains of Park City and Deer Valley.

Lavender Days Canceled

We started the morning off with breakfast at IHOP in Springville. At a place like IHOP you really should not expect much in terms of service. I had almost finished my eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon before my Hawaiian pancakes were brought out. On the way out of the parking lot someone, I want to say Heather, pointed out the Dairy Queen sign. I think we have the public education system in Springville to thank for this one!


We then continued on to Mona for the lavender. We learned on Friday that they were not have the festival like they had in years past, but we decided to go anyways to pick lavender and take a tour of the facilities. Here is the section of the field before we started butchering it:


Heather and Alecia were the only ones that paid to cut/pick lavender, but Justin and I helped. This is after we have finished destroying the vegetation in Mona:


We then toured the distillery and watched a short movie on Young Living Farms. After finishing we drove back to the Red Barn to look around and get some lavender ice cream, or so we thought. It turns out they were only selling the ice cream back at the farm, and I wasn't about to drive back, so we had to settle for just the flavors they had at the Red Barn. We all ended up buying something there before heading home.

After a rousing game of SkipBo we headed off to the movies to see The Proposal, which I must say was a hilarious movie. Before headed home to another game of SkipBo we had Five Guys for dinner.

Busy, but refreshing day due to the abundance of lavender.

Stadium of Fire Flag Burning Was Fake!!

The following appeared in the Deseret News today. They deceived us all!

Fifty thousand people stood in silence Saturday night as men in uniform brought a giant American flag into LaVell Edwards Stadium to be retired by incineration.

Or so the Stadium of Fire crowd thought.

In actuality, the 155-by-90-foot flag was not burned that night due to the toxins a nylon flag that size would have emitted, Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield said.

"It would have been impractical to burn it in the stadium," Schofield said. "There is just no way you can burn that kind of a flag in that big of a group of people safely."

Event organizers originally planned for the no-longer-serviceable flag to be burned. But after talking to the fire marshal a few months ago, Stadium of Fire executive producer Brad Pelo said organizers realized that would not be possible in any type of container. After discussing other ways they could retire the flag, organizers did what they thought was most appropriate, Pelo said.

"We were not about deceiving people that night," he said. "We were about memorializing the flag. At no time did we repeat anything that would have implicitly said we were burning the flag."

During the ceremony, the flag was put into a large, cauldron-like container, then flames appeared on its top. Many people teared up, including event emcee Glenn Beck, who emphasized to the audience what a special ceremony they were witnessing.

"If our American flag could speak, oh, the stories she would tell," Beck said with emotion in his voice. "Long may Old Glory wave."

Stadium of Fire attendee Michael Larsen, 18, said the fake burning of the flag "seems a little bit underhanded."

"I was pretty sure that they didn't retire it right," Larsen said. "I don't know why they put on a charade like that."

Teresa Gashler, 21, also watched the retirement ceremony and said she thought the flag was being burned. The fact that it wasn't actually burned "doesn't bother me so much," Gashler said.

"I'm trusting that there was a good reason why they didn't burn it," she said.

Pelo said Stadium of Fire organizers did not intend to deceive, though he acknowledged that most people likely thought the flag was burned.

"We felt, in the spirit and reverence of the moment, that we didn't need to say explicitly that we were not burning the flag," he said. "By dissecting the ceremony, you are going to take away the sacredness."

Schofield said he thought the ceremony was the best part of the night, despite knowing the flag wasn't going to be burned.

"When they marched that flag in from the parking lot, you could have heard a pin drop in that stadium," he said. "It was a very good, patriotic moment. It was probably one of the highlights of the whole program. It had the desired effect."

On Thursday, crews were still cleaning up after the festivities, Pelo said, and he still wasn't sure what they planned to do with the flag.

"I think at this point, we want to leave it alone," he said. "As far as we were concerned, it was retired that night."

Sad Times

In regards to the Statium of Fire picture below:

The sad thing is, I'm not even the one taking the picture... and what's worst, I didn't even get invited! And then there was one...

Stadium of Fire

I know that we were all dying to see the Jonas Brothers this year at the Stadium of Fire, and I am happy to report that Justin, Heather, and I were able to satisfy that desire. This year was a lot nicer than last year, as we only had to be there 45 minutes early as opposed more than three hours early last year.

Here is a picture of us in our seats prior to the start of the show:

This year we ended up in the bleachers rather than out on the field, which I think I preferred. It was fun to see the flyover of the jets as well as the helicopters.

Here is a short video of the first fireworks show:

After the first set of fireworks they stopped briefly to retire the giant flag that they have used for many years at the Stadium of Fire. The video only shows a small portion of the ceremony. You can hear Glenn Beck in the background just prior to the lighting of the flame.