Sundance Film Festival

http://www.sundance.org/festival/

If you don't know what Sundance Film Festival is I'm going to give you a very brief explanation.

A bunch of people who have artistic talent of some kind, throw together, or get huge fund to make, a movie.  They try it out at a local film contest.  Those that win go to Sundance.  Two movies that I know of that didn't make the cut were Cathedral Pines and Turkey Bowl.  But no one cares about those movies.

The movies at Sundance are supposed to be the cream of the crop.  Already having gone through the judging process, they should have substance, cohesiveness, and a theme that many find interesting.

All this I already knew.  What I didn't know is that the movies are shown in theaters all over the place.  Mostly in Park City, UT and Salt lake City, UT.  But I know of at least one in Ogden, UT.  So it is actually very difficult to see every movie showing.  It also lasts for 10 days, so there is plenty of time to see plenty of movies.

So far we have gone two days and  seen one famous person at the table next to us at the restaurant and spoke to a few after the movie.  We also got to go to an art gallery with amazingly talented artists showing their work.  At least one artist was present, who we got pictures with and got to spend quite a bit of time talking to.  Very nice gentleman, and extremely talented.  I will have to write down his name and google him so that when I post pictures you will know who he is.

Pictures will be coming soon!  As well as my movie reviews for Robot and Frank, Where Do We Go Now?, and Excision.  And possibly more over the next 10 days.

What's being going on out here...

So I want to give a quick synopsis of what we have done since the move. 

August- we drove out. This is covered in another blog post.

September- The kids started school.  They quickly made friends, and when I say quickly I mean very slowly.  Bailey and Madison wasn't too bad, it was with in the first week they had a group of playmates.  Taylor and Jordan it took 2-3 weeks to figure out where they fit in.  Which makes total sense. 

October- We were the only family on the block that decorated for Halloween.  Very few kids came to the door, even though the neighborhood is filled with families.  One house had a guy who was exposing himself to the kids.  I was going to call the police, but no one remembered which house it was. }:-(  The kids started to have friends come over to the house and spend the night.

November- Madison mooned another kid.  Jason thought it was funny.  The other kid's parent did not.  Madison can no longer play with that boy.  And we found out that there are two bullies that pick on Madison.  One is in middle school, the other is in the same grade but another classroom.  We have spoken to the school.  They are watching the boy in the same grade, but there is nothing they can do about the other kid, because it is on the way home that he see's Madison. 

December- we had to put a lock on our fence.  Someone kept opening the fence and letting the dogs out.  If the dogs got picked up by Animal Control we would be in trouble and get fined. 

We had a great Christmas!  So many people were so sweet to us!  We had a lot of help from family, friends, church and the school!  The kids didn't get anything like i-pods, computers or video games.  But they got clothes, boardgames, books and other stuff they just loved everything!  And really appreciated that they got anything at all. Because J and I are mean, we kept telling them that they weren't getting anything because we didn't have the money!  Hahaha! 

We went to temple square, which i blogged about already.  We also went to Ogden and saw the Christmas villages.  We got Bailey and Madison light up toys for $1 and $2, which would have been a minimum of $5 in MA.  And we got candy for Jordan, $1.50 UT ($6 MA), and Taylor wanted nothing.  We did get cookies and Hot Cocoa, which was $1 each. Depending on where you are in MA it would be the same or less expensive. Seeing the lights was free, and they had live music for free as well.  So total we spent, $14.50.  About the same as if we went to Bright Nights in Springfield, without getting hot cocoa, cookies or souvenirs.  (I have loving how the dollar stretches out here!  It feels like I can do more as a family, without feeling like we have to cut back on other things)

January- The month has just started, but it feels like we have yet to stop!  During the kids vacation, December thru January, I was working 8-10hr a day 6 days a week.  So J got to be home and spend time with the kids.  And it was no fun for me. I am back to volunteering, but now it is only 3 days a week!  Whew! 

We are getting another dog.  He is a Cocker Spaniel, all black, just a tiny bit of brown on his paws.  I'm sure one of his parents had black & tan in him.  He was kept in a garage for the 1st year of his life.  And he is another great dog, who's owner is moving so can't keep him.  It's like his story mirror's Lady's.  His name is Hem.  I think we'll call him Hemi for short.  We are going to DNA test him, if all goes well and his DNA is good we'll get his papers and breed him with Lady in the spring.

Jordan's birthday is this month.  We are going to have pizza and cake at the house, then head over to the Nickelcade.  It's an arcade that takes nickels! (Guess you could have guessed that on your own!)  You pay $2 (or less) to get in, then trade your dollars for nickels and then go crazy!  We spend hours there when we go.  We took the kids once and J and I went once for a date night!  It's so much fun because the have all the games from when I was a kid, some from when J was a kid, and some even older!


I am going to have to get some pictures posted.  Some from the nickelcade and some from the Christmas Village.  I don't have any of the Nickelcade so i guess we are going to have to make a trip! ;)

Stuff

Taylor walked Mickey at the Pirate festival.  She helped earn money for the rescue animals.

J's parents came to visit.  That is Willard Bay behind them, which is a bay in the Great Salt Lake

Bailey facing down Captain Jack Sparrow of Utah

Our new dog Sadie

She is AKA Poppet

A rescue Kitten horse racing.

Iz in ur regiztrah steelins ur monies

Quiet in the library you brats!

Wise old Sadie

Jordan being walked on Blondie by Crystal

Bailey on Mickey

Madison on Star 

Temple Square At Christmas

We went to Salt lake to see the lights.  And here are a few more pictures of that trip.

These book stores are everywhere.  But this one has a cool display!

There are Seagulls are at the top of this spire.  Do you know why? If not, research it!  It's a cool story!

Millions of lights on every tree

From left to right- Brandon, Becky, Taylor, Bailey, Madison, Jason, Karley, Kevin and Brenda
Jordan was taking the picture.

Madison saving bailey's life - Hancock Style.

The hills above Ogden

Taylor loving her picture taken.  Brandon in the back ground and my neck.

Brandon- appears to be making a Zoolander pose.

Really cool the way this picture of the temple came out!

The organ.  It was made in Boston and sent to Salt lake.

Why I am so busy?!? I'll tell ya!

"What happened to your blog?!?" says Ericka.  I respond, "It's there, I just haven't updated it.  I'm very busy."
So this is why I am so very busy, that I can't email, write, blog or go on fb for 5 seconds.

I volunteer at the Pack N Pounce Animal Rescue  These are some of the pets we are adopting out or have adopted out.

Paisley- renamed Gizmo

 Paisley is a "pure-bred" AKC Registared Beagle.  NOT!  When she came into the rescue we threw her papers away because they are worthless.   She is not a beagle, well maybe 1/16th Beagle.  She was from a good home, but the owners were having trouble potty training her.  She got adopted and the new family had the same problem.  So she is back in the rescue for potty training, but will go home to her new family soon.  She has been renamed Gizmo.

Popper- still needs a home

 Popper is a very sad story.  He is a Chihhuahua-Italian Grey Hound mix.  That explains the large chest.  You can see some blad spots on him, especially his tail.  Popper was owner by a Meth addict, who lived in a Meth lab, his home, and regularly tortured him.  He was burnt all over his body, especially his ears and tail.  He ate poop and didn't know how to use the doggy toilet(dirt outside).  His ears were crumpled up from the burns, but have unfolded.  It was expected that his ears would need to be cut off, but they, and he, has recovered better than expected.  He is now ready for adoption after 1 year of recovery!  But he will never grow all his hair back.

Curly- back with original owner

 Curley's owner felt that he couldn't spent enough time with him.  He was concerned that Curly wasn't getting the attention he needed.  So he was brought into the rescue. After about a week, Curley's owner called us back in tears, he said that he kept having dreams of Curley coming to him and telling him, "I want to come Home!"  The owner could not stand one more day without his little buddy and pick hm up right away!  Curley had never been happier!

No name- stray with Kittens. Kittens are in homes, she is too feral(wild) so is learning to be a barn cat.

 This kitty was found under a bush with a litter of kittens.  The woman who found them tried to feed and care for them, but the mother just kept loosing weight.  So she caught them and brought them into the rescue.  She paid for all their spays/nueterings too!   We were able to separate mom from the kittens and feed her some his high calorie kitten food.  She had been starving herself to ensure that her kittens would have enough to eat!  What a wonderful mother!  She is now spayed and will not need to burden herself and body anymore.

No Name- Adopted and given as a Christmas Present to a 8yr old

 I wanted this bunny so bad!  She is so cute!  But She went to a wonderful home!  A little girl who wants to be a vet someday adopted her.  We don't have much information on her, other than her owner could not care for her anymore.  Some towns, in Utah, consider rabbits to be farm animals, or pests.  So if you live in a city, you can not own rabbits as pets.  We get most of our rabbits because of this law.  But occasionally, we get some that are ill and the owners can't afford the vet bill.

Snickers- (closes his eyes- everytime- for pictures)- indoor-outdoor cat- not adopted

Snickers is a great cat!  He got dropped off at the rescue as a kitten, no note.  So we know nothing about him other than he's a great cat!  He's already nuetered- we try to get that done early! And so he just hangs around until adoptions. He usually jumps into the car because he likes going to adoptions.  We just haven't found his Forever Home yet. 

So I work with the animals, sometimes socializing, sometimes feeding, sometimes giving love, and lots of times working the Thrift Store!  To pay for all the food and vet bills, we run a thrift store.  We take donations just like Salvation Army, and sell the goods at a really good price.  Cheaper than the other thrift stores.  The idea is to help the people and the animals.  Everyday we take in new animals.  We have taken in about 205 this year, and counting.  And have adopted out over 180.  Our goal is to reach 200 adoptions by December 31st.

But I have written a lot here, and it's now 9am, time to shower and get to work!

Visiting Temple Square at Christmas

Jordan took the camera from me while we were still in the parking lot.  So all these beautiful pictures are her's.  We went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  It was our 6, plus Brenda and her son Kevin, and at the time, his girlfriend Karley,  I really like the name Karley!  I hope they name their kids all K names, that would be fun!  And Brandon was there too.  Brandon was visiting from Louisiana, where he is currently stationed. Brandon will be shipped off to Korea soon. So it was nice to see him before we won't be able to see him for a long time.

Salt Lake Temple

Kevin and Karley, they just got engaged Christmas Eve. I wonder if they will name all their kids K names?

The Lights at Temple Square

It's an amazing light display!  Very beautiful

It look slike every tiny branch is covered in lights

The Big Move II

We stopped at a few places while traveling across the country.  And today I'm posting pictures, because I don't have time to write out our adventure!

Madison on the moon

Nauvoo from the rear

Nauvoo from the front

Abe's head in Wyoming

A memorial to Abraham Lincoln for doing something with the highway out in Wyoming.

A water fountain that makes a bubble

Salt Lake Temple

The Cristus

Huge organ made in Boston, of all places!

Pretty Window

A really cool wall behind us!  This wall represents the many generations and nations of people who do genealogy.  Or something like that.

Salt Lake City from above

And the other side of Salt Lake City

Taylor on Mars

Bailey on the Moon

Taylor on the Moon

Bailey on Mars

Jordan on Mars

Madison on Mars

Jordan on the moon