Rockin' Hard

Last Friday, Jessica and I went with my parents and had the amazing experience of "honoring our pioneers" with the beloved Osmonds at the Conference Center. Jessica can attest that I was rockin' hard the entire evening.

I enjoyed all the Osmond tributes to Brigham Young, the early saints, the first Osmond converts, the pioneers crossing the plains, and....um....actually, I meant to say that I enjoyed all the Osmond tributes to the Osmonds. 50 years and aging!

This is Merrill Osmond, my favorite Osmond. One of my claims to fame is coming within fifty feet of him at a Hale Theatre production that he starred in. His face makes me smile for some reason. And that's what the Osmonds are all about...making our lives just a little bit happier.

This is Donny and Marie, the lovable brother/sister duo that we all grew up screaming our brains out for. (I hesitate to post this link of Donny, because if my wife sees this I am scared she might fall in love with him). My favorite moment of the concert was their medley of songs that they seemingly decided to do right there on the fly. It was amazing. They spotted a couple of stools on the stage, sat down, and obviously had nothing planned in advance. I assume the original plan was to just shoot the breeze and talk about The Pyramid Game and Dancing with the Stars. But Donny came up with a brilliant idea and suggested that, OH!, let's sing some songs that we used to sing!

Somehow the orchestra picked up on the cue, and they were off and running, jamming out with a bunch of old songs and flooding the audience's minds with wonderful memories.

To cap it all off, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang a rousing rendition of "Come, Come Ye Saints" that was wildly appropriate for the title of the concert, but really had nothing to do with the concert itself.

I can't wait for the Jackson Five reunion tour....maybe next Pioneer Day. I'm sure President Monson would be thrilled.

Updated States List

I finally wended my way down to New Mexico over the Fourth of July holiday. We were down in Blanding visiting my wife's brother's family when we decided to make the trip to the Four Corners. It was a little underwhelming, but it was kind of neat to go there. Photos can be seen on my family blog.

My ideal visit to New Mexico would have been to approach the Four Corners carefully, and put one foot squarely in the middle so that I could say I've had one-fourth of my foot in New Mexico, and that would be the extent of my stay in the so-called Land of Enchantment. But it is impossible because the road that goes into the monument area comes from New Mexico. So unless you do some creative rugged hiking, you go to that square state well before you ever reach the monument.

I don't know if I'll ever visit New Mexico again. If I do, it will probably be for a BYU-New Mexico football game, and I will knock two items off of a couple of different lists: University Stadium and the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple.

Also, I used to always have Montana on my "Visited States" list, but I guess I am not completely sure I had ever been there. I went on a Scout trip back when I was a priest, and I always thought we had gone into West Yellowstone. However, I can't say I was completely positive about that. But last week Jessica, Hayden, and I officially went to Yellowstone and entered Montana, so I can now count it for sure.

I don't know what the next 'new state' will be for me. Certainly a future business trip or job interview could take me to a number of places. My wife's sister's family, the Horstmanns, live in Cleveland and the possibility is always there for us to make a trip out to Ohio (though the chances of this potential vacation dropped severely after learning that this state reportedly has no good milkshake places. A good milkshake place is a must). If my family goes on a vacation to Spain next year, then the layover possibilities could put me in either Georgia or New York. I've always wanted to go on a cruise, which could take off from Texas or Florida (or could take me to Alaska if I chose such a cruise). I can't see any driving vacations to any new states...I guess the best possibility would be to drive to Mount Rushmore or something, where I could check off South Dakota. I don't know...this map could look the same for quite a while.

Updated Temple List

Last week, I visited two temples that I had never been to before:

Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. Of course the temple itself is beautiful, but I found the surrounding area--it sits right on a river--particularly pretty. Their visitors' center is new, and I liked it a lot. Hayden loved that you could walk up to and touch the Christus statue.

Rexburg Idaho Temple. We made a quick pit stop in Rexburg on our way up to our vacation in Island Park and Yellowstone. This temple was dedicated earlier this year, so it still has the look and smell of a brand new building. The grounds/gardens are beautiful, and I thought the temple was pretty. I don't know if I can ever be a fan of BYU-Idaho without their football team providing athletes to my BYU-Provo squad, but this temple helps me appreciate Rexburg and BYU-Idaho a lot more.

Here is my new updated list of temples I have been to:
1. Bountiful Utah
2. Denver Colorado
3. Idaho Falls Idaho
4. Jordan River Utah
5. Laie Hawaii
6. Las Vegas Nevada
7. Logan Utah
8. Los Angeles California
9. Manila Philippines
10. Manti Utah
11. Monticello Utah
12. Mount Timpanogas Utah
13. Provo Utah
14. Rexburg Idaho
15. St. George Utah
16. Salt Lake
17. San Diego California
18. Washington D.C.

I have also been to the construction sites of the Draper Utah and Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temples. But I won't add them to The List until I've been to them post-construction.

The closest temples that I still have never been to:
1. Ogden Utah (61.78 miles)
2. Vernal Utah (176.96 miles)
3. Twin Falls Idaho (247.03 miles)
4. Boise Idaho (364.57 miles)--I have seen this temple off the freeway, but never visited the grounds.
5. Reno Nevada (540.18 miles)