Viva La Coldplay

For Brian's bday one of the things I gave him were tickets to the COLDPLAY Viva La Vida concert. (Yes, I know we sound like total concert junkies, but everything just hit within a week of each other this month.) I told him he can take anyone he wants, but luckily he picked me and we went to this FANTASTIC concert on Saturday night. We hit one of my favorite places (Zupas - love their Nuts over Berries salad) on our way.

We had such a GREAT time at the concert!! Our tickets were in the lower bowl so we had good seats & view of the stage (although my brother Johnny had tickets way at the top and managed to get moved to floor seats somehow, the little turd! :) It took the group forever to come out so that part was a bit of a bummer. There was some startup band from El Paso Texas that opened for them and then we watched a long (OVER 20 MINUTES) and weird animation show. (I totally think you had to be smoking weed and high to understand what those animations were all about - I was a little worried when I found out Brian enjoyed some of that. ha ha :) There were some rope ladders hanging down from the lights and after these things a few people started to climb up those ladders and got up onto the lights. We thought we were in for some kind of trapeze type stunts when we noticed these seats hanging from the lights. These people were the light men (one was a woman) who had the job to strap themselves into these funky seats and each work one of the big spot lights. (Brian totally wanted to give up computer programming and have the cool job of being a "hovering light man." It did seem like a cool job if you aren't scared of heights and don't have weight issues (which I'm thinking the light "gal" was not so light and maybe needed to get out of this line of work as she had a hard time getting up there, and in and out of her chair. We were all waiting on her for the show to start! :) ha ha).

So the show started at 7:30, finally around 9:15 Coldplay came out!!!! The crowd went wild. The stage looked cool and Coldplay sounded AWESOME!! They started with Violet Hill (Was a long and dark December.....) I love that song, their newest album is so great!!! (That reminds me, let me get sidetracked for a minute and just say how wonderful Brian is!! There are MANY reasons why, but the one coming to mind right at this moment is this - he knew I didn't have their latest album so on Friday night when we met up to go out with some of his mission buddies he handed me a little present. It was their latest album. The guy is always doing thoughtful and sweet things like that, aren't I so lucky? So we listened to it on Fri and again on Saturday to get ready for the concert!! Thanks for the great CD Bri!)

Any ways back to the concert, they did such awesome things with the lights and screens. There were some cool paper butterflies they released during one of their songs and under the lights they looked all neon like and cool. They had these world globe looking lights suspended from the ceiling that changed different colors and did different things. I also enjoyed how the band was all dressed (in revolutionary, old fashioned type jackets, loved the ascot the drummer was wearing, ha ha.) Chris Martin is such a great performer. He really seems like a cool, down to earth guy. I also love how he dances around. It's dorky, yet strangely cute and so "Chris Martin." I remember first seeing him like that when their Speed of Sound song came out & he performed on MTV and was strangely attracted to him and his spastic moves. :)

They had 2 catwalk stages set up on each side of the main stage that they used a bunch and for one of the numbers (The Scientist) they even went up into the audience and played right there, how cool is that? Coldplay performed all the songs I love and did an encore with Yellow. My only complaint is I could have listened to them for another hour and felt the show ended too soon! Loved the concert but LOVED the company I was in even more (Brian!!!) Fun times with him as usual!

Pink Floyd - The Wall

So last night I gave up my Twilight premiere movie tickets (yep, this must be love :) & went & saw the Australian Pink Floyd concert at the E Center with Bri & his old college buddy & friend. We went to the Texas Roadhouse to eat before the show & then headed to the concert. The crowd was a bit different from last week's (at the TSO concert.) I had a really great time at the concert. Granted I only recognized 3 of the songs they played but the sound of almost all their songs was really cool and the crowd's excitement contagious. We were on the floor, row 11 so very close up to all the action (my ears were still ringing when I woke up this morning. :) This aussie group sounds exactly like the real Pink Floyd. Listening to this classic rock took me back to my high school days a bit so that was fun, do any of you remember "We don't need no education....." Well that is Pink Floyd, the song is actually called "Another Brick in the Wall." (Hey, I believe we have a double negative going on there so yeah, you need some education guys, at least English 101...) If anyone wants to enjoy some Pink Floyd music you need to go check out the awesome laser show that the Clark Planetarium puts on. We saw the "Dark Side of the Moon" show a couple of months ago there. It was so cool so it was fun to see them do "The Wall" performance at the concert (although they did end with some cool songs from "Dark Side of the Moon".) I think my favorite song was "Comfortably Numb." You guys would also recognize that one if you heard it (since I didn't know what it was called before now, just recognized it as one of those songs we listened to back in high school.) I think the show was a religious experience for a lot of people. To give you an idea of the crowd we were surrounded with I'll mention Brian's favorite part of the night. We were leaving the show & there was this guy standing on top of something outside the E Center shouting his review at 1000 decibels “…that’s what we f'ing came here for…” Then he'd take a drag on his cigarette & yell the F bomb again & "preach" some more. Brian and I just looked at each other and laughed. Thanks Bri - I had such a wonderful time as usual with you!

Paxton Then and Now

Since Paxton just turned 5 this week I got looking through at the pictures I had of him on the computer and thought it would be fun to post some pics of him from when he was younger. He's always been such a cutie! As a baby he was such a chunky monkey, just like Parker had been (there ain't nothing small about the babies that come out of me let me tell ya! :) And of course he went through that "old man stage" where he lost the hair on the top of his head so it was just around the sides/back with a bald, shiny top. Hard to believe 5 yrs have passed since he joined our family! We sure do love and enjoy the cute little person he has become!

Newborn - 2 wks old

6 wks old with daddy & big brother

2 months old

3 months old

11 months old - 1st Halloween

18 months old & already helping dad

2 yrs old

3 1/2 yrs old

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY PAXTON!

Yesterday (November 19th) Paxton turned 5 yrs old! What a bunch of fun bday celebrations he's had, as he's been celebrating his bday basically since Saturday. On Saturday we had a family party for him and Bridjer (his cousin, whose bday is Nov 15th.)

So there the boys had fun opening presents (Paxton got an Indiana Jones sword & knife set, a new Ben 10 figure, a superheros handheld game, and Ben 10's new Omnitrix watch,) and eating cake & ice cream. Afterward we headed up to Brian's because Morgan (Brian's daughter) was having her 15th birthday party (she and Paxton both have birthdays on Nov 19th so they are exactly 10 yrs apart) and we celebrated with them too. Bri, Morg & Madi were so nice to get Paxton his own cake & sing to him & gave him the cool Indiana Jones game he wanted for his play station, plus a TMBG kid's CD that he loves.

Paxton & big brother Parker

Paxton & mom

On his birthday we went out to breakfast, then he opened a present (he got the Indiana Jones skull mountain set he wanted,) and then went to preschool where he was spotlighted all day long. He took his favorite toy (Indiana Jones whip,) his favorite book (The Napping House) and his favorite music (TMBG "Hot Dog" and "I Never Go to Work") so the kids enjoyed the music & book with him. Here he is sharing the treats he brought to school with everyone and then they went fishing in teacher's pond.

Paxton caught the 1st fish (a gross carp) but the kids were excited & had to touch it, etc.

Later on in the day he had a fun Indiana Jones birthday party (since he's been on a big Indy kick since the movie came out this year.)

Him and his friends played games (their favorite being a treasure hunt where they found the treasure in the bathtub, full of goody bags of fun things & treats for each kid), opened presents & had some cupcakes.

That night Paxton & Parker went over to Grandma's house to celebrate with their cousins, uncle & grandma there, and got plenty more presents. Happy Birthday buddy - we sure do LOVE you!!

Here are 5 things I love about my little boy:

1. His sense of humor - the kid is hilarious and always coming up with something funny or clever to say, that makes anyone around him crack up. (His latest was telling me out of the clear blue "Mom, I don't want you to kiss Brian anymore." I asked him why & he said "cuz it grosses me out. It grosses Parker out and Morgan and Madi too.")

2. The way he talks and pronounces a lot of things. (He says tomorrow like "tomalo", high school musical like "high school moogigal" - that is uncle Jonny's favorite for him to say.) He has had speech issues from the beginning and because of that it has always made him so endearing to us because he uses facial expressions to express a lot of what he is trying to say and it's so dang cute and sweet.

3. His endless questions. The latest thing he questions me about is if certain toys will break if they are thrown off a tall building or run over. That question is always followed up with the comment "if this breaks, I get a new one right?"

4. His sweet smile & cute eyes.

5. AND how he's not too big to hug & kiss me every day, multiple times a day! He's my baby boy and sure does melt my heart with his sweetness! (Even when he's a rascal and continues to sleep in my bed more often than not! He claims it is Parker's fault because Parker brought home the new King Kong movie to watch and the island people scared the crap out of him. He refers to them as the "old people.")

TSO ROCKS!

For Morgan's birthday (Brian's daughter who is turning 15 & shares a bday with Paxton on the 19th - how cool is that?) she got 4 tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert that was at the E Center this past Thursday (the 13th.) She was sweet enough (I think Brian made her :) to invite me to tag along with her, Brian & Madi for this AMAZING concert. To let you know how much people love TSO it took us around 45 min from the E Center exit to just get to the E Center to park because everyone and their dog were attending this concert. The place was packed and now that I've seen the show I can see why they are so popular.

It was a Christmas concert & TSO has merged classical music (string instruments like violins,) with rock (electric, screaming guitars, keyboards, and drums.) All the vocalists & band members are dressed up (dresses for the girls, tuxes for the guys) and all have long rocker hair. Boy do they know how to play. Then on top of the awesome music is an amazing show of lights, pyrotechnics, and lasers. I have never experienced anything like it.

After the Christmas program they did a bunch of classically based rock jams, along with having the guitarists "duel" with each other, so did the keyboardists (boy are they all talented!) Thanks for inviting me Morg - I had a GREAT time with you guys! (Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the 4 of us at the show as we arrived a little late due to traffic and I didn't want my flash to go off in the middle of the show, etc.)

Eric's 35th Birthday

Today would have been Eric's 35th birthday, and yesterday marked 6 months since he has been gone. It really doesn't seem like half a year has passed since his car accident but life has a way of moving on doesn't it?

The boys and I took some balloons up to the cemetery - Parker and Paxton wanted to write bday messages to Eric like they did for Father's Day so they did.

Here they are releasing their balloon messages to go up to Eric.

We sang Happy Birthday before they let their balloons go. It looked like granny & poppy had been up to the cemetery already and left some mums & Cathy had also left some flowers & balloons. Here are a few pics of Eric with his boys. Everyone is thinking of you on your birthday Eric.

Skatepark Fun in St. George

Here are some more pics of the fun we had while at the skatepark in St. George.

Hanging out on the playground:

Here Brian is "grinding" or "stalling" - something "sick" - I'm trying to learn skater terms here can you tell? It was cool whatever it was and I had to give him "props."

It's cute the comments kids can come up with. While we were at the park Paxton asked me "mom, is Tony Hawk or Brian better at skateboarding?" I told him it's hard to tell but probably Tony Hawk....by a little bit.

Brian is, however, the hotter of the two!!