Happy Halloween!

I spent a little time today reflecting on Halloween's past and how much fun I always had. I may not dress up or go trick or treating anymore but I still enjoy Halloween. My siblings still dress up and insist that we continue with the food traditions (chili dogs, hot cider, and doughnuts) that my mom started years ago. This year my parents are in Las Vegs but that still didn't stop us from doing the things that we have done for years. We sure had fun. I hope you all had an enjoyable day.

The Halloween fun continues at This Is The Place Heritage Park's 'Haunted Village'

The observation was made Saturday night that we do more activities related to Halloween then we do Christmas. I wonder why that is? Who knows? I do know that a bunch of the Sloanies went to This Is The Place Heritage Park's 'Haunted Village' on Saturday night. It was not at all what we were expecting but it turned out to be fun all the same. We even saw the Headless Horseman riding through the park!

Now, I hate being scared so I generally avoid all things scary at Halloween and scary movies the rest of the year. So, when we got to the park and I realized that the Haunted Village was a haunted house of sorts I wanted to turn around and go home. I stuck it out though and it turned out to be kind of fun. My brothers were full of shenanigans and encouraged the actors throughout the park to scare their sisters. Steven got me good a couple of times and I screamed quite a bit more than I had intended (I was going to be oh so tough). At the end though, I think we decided that it was not as bad as we thought that it would be and that we might like to do it again next year.

Sam Hawk and Haunted Canyon Shenanigans

My sister, Kathryn loves Halloween and the fun things that come with that silly holiday. So, Saturday night my siblings, my mom, and I went down to Provo for some Korean food at Sam Hawk and to ride the Heber Valley Railroad's Haunted Canyon. This was the third time we have taken this ride and as always were were not disappointed. The characters from the Provo Canyon Urban Legends (the stories) that were piped in to the train car were in good form and it was fun to interact with them. Plus, there were a couple of additions to the ride which included the train stopping twice and sitting in the dark one of the two times it stopped. Now, the ride is a bit cheesey but it is still fun and, let's be honest, the Sloan siblings know how to make their own fun, and we sure had fun. And of course, Addie was the subject of a lot of attention; she's just so stinkin' cute.

If you ever have the opportunity to take this ride, do it!

The After Session Session

Saturday night after the Priesthood session of General Conference Becky and I hosted a party- a rather large party by our standards. The attraction? Jeff Tueller and Danny Wood! Jeff and Danny started paying guitar together about three years ago and are both very talented musicians. It’s hard to explain their chemistry or “the Jeff and Danny experience” as I have come to call chilling with them while they jam. Anyway, for the last two years Danny has been serving a mission in Macon, Georgia and has recently returned home to his adoring fans. So, Saturday night was to be a welcome home party for Danny and the boys did not disappoint! The party was awesome and the music was great. Danny's still got it after two years of hardly picking up a guitar and Jeff was awesome as usual. I love these two guys so much and I am so happy to have them playing together again. It just makes my heart happy. So, enjoy the pictures (Danny is in the red t-shirt).

Experimenting

I spent some time today experimenting with different templates for my blog (thanks for the inspiration Mel) which is why it looks a bit different. I'm trying this layout for now but I may change it next week. I also hope to have some more pictures to post next Monday or Tuesday (most of you have not seen my new hair cut) so stay tuned. In the mean time I am open to your feedback. Does this look like me or what?

Lava Hot Springs 2008

I have been meaning to post this for several weeks now but I needed to "borrow" some pictures from Trish. Yeah, I took my camera but I spent so much time around the water that I hardly took any. Plus, Trish takes much better pictures than I do. So, as the title says it all. I spent August 22-23 in Lava Hot Springs with my ward and had an awesome time! We spent our time camping, swimming, cooking in the hot pools, and making new friends. One of the things that I love about out of town ward activities is the opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and the chance to get to know people that you may otherwise not cross paths with. After the car ride up and back I feel a little more tightly bonded to Trish, Chris, and Travis (the ride up and back was an adventure). I am so thankful to be a part of my ward and for the amazing friends that I have there.

An Evening with Brian Regan

Karen, Me, Travis, and Becky

I have become a recent fan of Brian Regan thanks to my good friend Travis. He started quoting it to me in the spring and when I told him that I was only a little familiar with the comedian he promptly lent me one of his CD’s. Needless to say that it has been a long time since I have laughed so hard. So, when Travis found out that Brian Regan would be coming in “concert” in August he asked me if I was interested in going. Of course I was very interested. I decided that since the “concert” was a couple of weeks before Becky’s birthday that it might be a good birthday present for her. So, on August 15 I joined Travis, Becky, and Becky for a night of laughter at the Amphitheater at Thanksgiving Point. It was a beautiful night for the show and we had a great time together. If you are not familiar with Brian Regan you may want to check out some of his stuff- you know where to go for video clips.