THIS IS IT!

I have never done a review on here yet, so here goes. My friend, Lynette Czirr Jones, came to visit me yesterday. Her husband, Gary, had to pass through Riverton yesterday on business and dropped her off for the day. We had a great time catching up. We still finish each others sentences and laugh a lot and really enjoyed being together. Anyway, she called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I was going to be around on the 29th and told me about the possibility of her coming up. She said, " ...and guess WHAT?!...The new Michael Jackson movie is coming out on the 28th, so wouldn't it just be right if we saw it together?" We talked about how fitting and perfect it would be because of our long history with Michael. I'll fill you in a bit. Michael's career was at the pinnacle during our Senior year of High School. Thriller came out and he was on top. We LOVED him and spent a lot of time trying our best, but really quite unsuccessfully, to copy some of his moves. Our favorite song was "Wanna Be Startin' Something". Maybe five years ago she came up to visit one summer with her kids and we got on the Michael Jackson subject with our children. Possible because Kyle had been recently in his "phase" which you guys probably remember. My kids preceded telling her kids how much they liked MJ and the Jackson 5 (probably our favorite trip CD for the car ever!) We watched the collection of Michael's music videos with her kids and they were fascinated and quickly were converted to the MJ fan club. By the way, this was probably during the worst time for Michael as his personal life was being dragged through the mud with his trial and everything. Needless to say, it wasn't very popular being a fan as a middle schooler/high schooler, but our children were proud to claim their love for him and they have defended him against ridicule of close-minded classmates for a long time. We have mailed videos back and forth so our kids could see them.

Anyway, those are some of the reasons we felt that it would be so great to see it together. We knew all the stars would have to align for this to work out. The movie had to be in our little Riverton theater (yay, it was!), the weather had to cooperate (weather was super lame on their way up, but they made it), and other things which could come up. But, we were lucky and found ourselves in the theater excited for the movie, but not knowing that much about it, nor what to expect. (Didn't do too much research and hadn't seen too much promotion).

We were not disappointed! It was really good. It is basically a documentary type movie of footage from the This Is It Tour rehearsals. The footage was intended to be for Michael's personal library and archives. It shows a very much alive Michael in good health and in good shape physically. It was rehearsal footage, so it showed him holding back a little, but sometimes he just couldn't resist being him. Some amazing moves! It showed his sweet, cute, funny side, but most of all it showed how much of a perfectionist he was and a true genius. He knows what he wanted, how he wanted it, and he wanted it the best it could be. It showed the respect that all who worked on the show had for him. He was in charge! He hired professionals to direct, etc., but they all knew that ultimately it was Michael who was the boss and they respected that. But, he was gentle and kind and loves everyone. The backup dancers were AMAZING. But we noticed that even though they were awesome and performing all out, you still couldn't help watching Michael do his thing, at about 1/2 capacity. My very favorite segment was the military type dancing sequence with "Bad". It's so cool. The musicians were great, too. Especially his lead guitarist. She is from Australia and only 24. She's adorable and incredible! So sad that he had to die, especially just 8 days before leaving for London to put on this incredible concert tour! So many heartbroken and disappointed people. The amount of people, time and work involved in this tour, not to mention the money, is too much to comprehend. The sets and special effects were incredible. Matt, I think you would really like to see some of the behind the scenes production stuff. I'm glad we went and I think you guys would all enjoy it. It's definitely worth seeing. I think it might even change some people's opinions about him. I hope so!

Happy Birthday Bronwyn!

I really hope B wasn't sitting there at work today thinking, "is nobody going to do a Birthday post for me?" I really can't bare that thought. Or the image of her doing her little sad face lip thing. I wanted to do this last night but I had homework, and school all day till now. But here it goes B!

Here are some of the things that Bronwyn loves, and things that we love about Bronwyn!



Anyone who is close to Bronwyn knows how much she values her sleep! When 9:00 rolls around, (seems to come all to quick sometimes) we can’t expect to have much interaction with the B. But I am slowly learning over the years that when she does get her 8 hours, she is a lot happier and full of energy the next day. And I love seeing her like that. I for one could learn a lot from her very normal and mature sleeping habits.

I really hope this picture doesn't embarrass her TOO BAD, because it really just says it all.



Next...



B loves and collects Rubber Duckies! This seems to me like the perfect and obvious thing that B would like. They are bright yellow and cute, they remind us all of child like innocence, and they are a symbol of cleanliness. B, B, and more B.


Bronwyn loves The Office! I must say, when she watches it, she can’t get enough. It is no surprise when I find that she has watched a whole season in 1 or 2 days. She particularly loves the character Kevin. She always gets the biggest smile on her face and says, “he is just so cute”

This is Kevin.



Next...



Bronwyn loves being smart when in comes to finances and saving money. She graduated last year with an Associates in Business Administration and works as a loan officer. She really enjoys her job and always has crazy stories (never mentioning any names) about people who don’t handle their money well. Aren’t you all glad I married someone like that!? I would be a total disaster without her in my life.



Bronwyn loves swimming! She was on the swim team in High School and enjoyed it very much. It’s fun to hear her talk about how much she loves the smell and taste of chlorine! She also loves the feeling of having water in her ears, and the release hours later when it drains out. She even likes having chlorinated water up her nose. Weird eh?






Bronwyn loves all things French! She spent a year in France during high school as a foreign exchange student. She loves the people she lived with and met while in France, and still corresponds with them on face book and through letters. She learned the language very well and still speaks it fluently. Which brings us to something else she loves...



Learning languages! She picked up French exceptionally fast while living there, and realized she had a talent for languages. The main reason she went to school for business is because her ultimate goal is to be a translator for world businesses. Her next attack will be to learn the language that has more native speakers than any other... Mandarin Chinese. (which some claim is the hardest to learn after english) Good luck in your pursuit B! Better you than me!



B loves the Rolling Stones! She has lots of childhood memories involving her and her Dad and their shared love of the Rolling Stones music. She gets pretty excited when we listen to them and loves to sing along to such favorites as: Under My Thumb, Get Off My Cloud, and Angie. Just to name a few. Speaking of Few...



She loves Matt Wright! Since I am doing this post, it is a little awkward for me to say what she loves about me, but I can say that she proves her love for me every day as she listens to me (endless talking sometimes), treats me so well, laughs at my weirdness, supports my crazy idea’s, very patient and kind when I really don’t deserve it, and works so hard while I am going to school and trying to get this business paid for.



Bronwyn loves Pudding! 'Nuf said.



Bronwyn loves the LDS church! Some of you might not know that Bronwyn is a convert to the LDS church as of about 4 years ago. She found the church while she was dealing with some struggles in her life and it really was a big help for her. She had been looking for a church for quite a while before finding what she was looking for. She is so happy that she has found direction and purpose to her life, and loves learning more and more about The Gospel of Jesus Christ.



Bronwyn loves holding, staring at, rocking, smelling, talking to, and taking care of babies! Bronwyn and I are both really looking forward to having our own one day.... Yup.

Bronwyn, you are a wonderful addition to our family and we all love having you around. Your smile is infectious and your Disney like charm makes us all a little happier. You really look up to everyone around you and will do anything to not let someone down. Thanks for everything!

Happy Birthday!
Love you!! Kisses!!!!

Happy Birthday Jeanine!

Happy Birthday Jeanine (AKA Neaners, and what I've called her for decades, JayBabe)! We are excited to celebrate our beautiful, thougtful, outspoken, caring and loving sister, cousin, niece, and aunt on her 44th birthday. J, we hope the following list of things about you brings some smiles and not too many embarassments...


When I asked for help from people about doing this post, everyone immediately said that Jeanine is someone who makes and keeps friends FOREVER! Here is a picture of Jeanine with her best friend from high school, D'Anna, who she still sees and talks to often. And D'Anna's just one of many lifelong friends who know they will always have a loving ear and generous soul to share things with in Jeanine.


One of the ways Jeanine stays close to people is through cards and letters. Many of us mentioned her beautiful handwriting, but in the end it was George who noted the most important fact: even if everyone else were to forget a birthday, there would for sure still be a card in the mailbox from Jeanine. I know every one of us can attest to that. What a wonderful thing she does. Thank you, J!


Another way she stays in touch (and also just plain goes on adventures) it is through travel! The girl has been so many fun places--Greece, Italy, the British Isles, Hawaii, all over the U.S., and more. (We're all pretty jealous of this.)


Jeanine's best friend. Currently "her man". Frodo!


Another cool thing about Jeanine is that she always wanted to be a nurse, and so she became one. And she's great at it. She is now in her eighth year as a pediatric nurse at the children's hospital attached to Stanford. One of the ways she brightens the lives of sick kids is through the colorful scrubs she likes to wear.


When she's home, it's often reality t.v., especially American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. She also loves a lot of television dramas...


...but her most steady "must see t.v." is General Hospital, which she's watched since she was a teenager.


She lists The Sound of Music and Ladyhawke (grrrr Michelle Pfeiffer!) as a couple of her favorite movies. And in general, she's a "chick flick" girl.


As the winner of TKWAW blog's Most Embarrassing iPod Playlist contest for having the oh-so-syrupy Muskrat Love and a few other, um . . . classics there, I'm happy to report that she does like a lot of 70s (the one and only true musical decade) music, including things by the Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Cat Stevens.


She belongs on this blog and part of this family (am I the only one who hasn't read them?) as a fan of the Twilight series...


Jeanine loves playing board games, and she's especially good at "wordy" ones like Boggle and Scrabble (she and I have a very close match going online right now)


A kind of unusual thing is that Jeanine doesn't like the taste of regular water, so her drinks of choice for her healthy lifestyle are Vitamin Water and Propel


Jeanine is really very spiritual with her temperament running toward the "New Agey"


We're all excited about the amazing physical transformation Jeanine has undergone these past three years. It's fitting that she loves butterflies (even having a tattoo of one on her shoulder).


She not only loves butterflies, she's tried flying herself! NOT a surprise to any of us who know what a lover of life this girl is.

We love you, J! Have a great, great day! You deserve every happiness as we know there is nothing but love and beauty in your heart. We've all been very blessed to have you in our lives.

Love you!!! Kisses!!!

Thanksgiving Festivities

We all need to talk about Thanksgiving, so I figured this was as good a place as any to discuss plans. We have all kind of discussed having a big get together this year in Wyoming, being especially important if Dave comes out. What a rare treat to have all 7 Wright brothers and sisters together for Thanksgiving! Anyone know when the last time that happened? Or even the last time we were all in the same room together?
Anyway, we have also discussed recreating the fun we had last year of all going up to Wyoming to watch Twilight together- bet we can get dad to go this year (now that he's read the books).
I would like to add one more festivity into the mix-- Amy and I discussed this when I went up there last weekend, and I have now gotten the go ahead. Anyway, we were discussing good sundays to get Elinor blessed, and one of the only possibilities was Thanksgiving weekend. Our plans for Thanksgiving were complicated, since a few of Rob's siblings usually only come out for Thanksgiving, and go somewhere else for Christmas, our one chance to see them over the holidays is gone if we leave, and especially this year- everyone wants to meet Elinor. We decided we would need to divide our time between Utah and Wyoming, spending Wed, thurs, and fri morning in one place, and the weekend with the other. Rob was leaning towards spending the first part in Wyoming, and then driving home early Fri and the rest with his fam. I was ok with that as long as we could fit New Moon in on Wed. Anyways, after Amy and I talked, doing the blessing that weekend made more and more sense- most of Rob's family would be around too. Amy is willing to drive anyone of her family that would like to go, out that Saturday (it would be a quick trip of course, but- eh). Mom and dad can make it too. Anyway, we got the ok from our bishop to do the blessing that week, so looks like it is (tentatively) on.

Here's what we need to discuss:

1. Is everyone planning on making it out to Wyoming for Thanksgiving? (Sue, I don't think I have heard you say one way or another, so I wasn't sure).

2. For everyone that is planning on going, it looks like everyone may be hauling out early, so if you were planning on staying out there until Sun, you may be lonely.

3. Can everyone that is interested in the "New Moon experience" make it out there in time for a movie on Wed night? If not, I suppose we can discuss possibly doing it on Sat night now in Salt Lake... Haley, that could throw a major wrench in your plans since I am thinking you weren't able to make it to Utah for the blessing.

4. Anyone interested in attending Elinor's blessing, our church starts at 9:00 am.


Discuss.

Where the Wild Things Are

Four Stars!!!! So Travis and Booker and I have been on a movie streak since we moved to P.G. You would too if on Sunday evenings you are the only ones in the entire theatre! Anyway, this movie is so, so good. I absolutely loved it. Don't go expecting a nice little children's movie though. It is quite dark and deals with some pretty serious issues. But it is amazing what the writers did to turn a 30 page children's book into a feature-length film. A little advise: don't go to imdb.com and read the entire synopsis. Whoever wrote that is...let's say challenged. But I fully recommend seeing this movie. I will now give a bonus HUD SAUCE review of 'Year One'. Stay away. Don't be tempted by Jack Black and Michael Cera into thinking this is worth watching. It's not. It is the most worthless movie I've ever attempted to see (twice). I ended up just turning it off (twice), it was that bad.

Sunday's With Sue 10/18/09

Star Wars, A New Hope. The first Star Wars, or the fourth one, I don't know, I'm confused. It's the one that came out in like 1977. A movie, and franchise, I never paid that much attention too, until I lived with Cam. He loves these movies and watches them often. I finally sat down and watched them, and they are good movies! I'm sorry I didn't do a Friday quote. My friend, Doug, was here for the weekend, and I didn't sit at my computer once.

Anyway, Dan was the first one to get it right! Dad got it next, and that was it! I really thought more of you would have gotten it, or at least Matt. I thought the word "kid" in the second quote would have given it away. Oh well. Way to go Dan! We are in for some Dan tunes this week!

Here is this week's movie quote:

(in a trance) "nearly too late......hardly ever happens."

Funny video for your enjoyment

Animal is great in this! Gotta love the Muppets!

The latest School Pic

It doesn't QUITE have the magic of last year, but is still super cute.
I love the messy hair- if it was perfect, it just wouldn't be Scout.
That girl can sure smile for a picture.

Four Stars! Booker, Travis and I saw this movie last night and just loved it. It is so funny especially for Bill Hader fans. The animation is amazing and it's just a great film. It's about about a hapless inventor who comes up with a machine that turns water into food. So of course it's wonderful at first, then backfires and so he has to eventually destroy it. I would recommend it to all (the monkey is the best).

Sunday's With Sue

The Breakfast Club! Another great John Hughes movie from the 80's. This movie is still very watchable today, it doesn't seem as outdated as most movies from that era. And I just love Anthony Michael Hall in this! He is such a great nerd. Revisit this movie if you haven't seen it in a few years.

Emily is the only one that got it right! Way to go Em, you are really racking up the points. And she is right, all the quotes come from Judd Nelson's character, Bender. He has the best lines! I really thought more of you would have gotten this one! Emily got it right from the first quote, Bronwyn just sent me a guess of A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Here is this week's movie quote:

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

I CAN HEAR! I CAN HEAR!

You all know that for years I could not hear squat. I would miss at least half of the conversations we had when we were all together. Very frustrating for me and mom and all of you trying to talk to me. I hated it when I would just tune out and let it all happen around me. Mom was about to throw me out the door if I didn't do something and get some devise to aid my hearing. So today I got fitted with two pretty remarkable hearing aids. Not very visual, but they work well. The big part holds the battey, the reciever, amp. and the clear tube goes to the speaker thing in the ear canal. It is all very compfortable. I can't wait to teach my class in Sunday School and be able to hear the questions. I used to come out of Bishopric meetings crying to myself because I could not hear half of what was said and who they were talking about. I now can even understand Bronwyn when she talks. That alone is worth it all....


You can see by this picture that the devise is not very noticeable. Looks never bothered me for I am too old to care what people think. I just like it because they work and they are programable to meet my hearing needs and I can get the sound pickup levels changed anytime I want or need to. Be happy for me, peeps. I can hear the rain falling, the birds singing and B talking.

Random vid of the day from Matt

Ok, I have to admit something- I am a total closet fan of this guy! He is like one of my favorite people ever! His name is Neil (another favorite Neil :) and he owns the Hippy Seed Company which sells mostly hot chili peppers. Most of his video's are him testing the hottest chili's in the world, and totally taking it like a man. Never drinks anything while eating them, and is able to keep talking and explain the intensity of the burn. He is insane, hilarious, makes up the best words, and is way hyper active and weird.
So, I haven't ever even shown B one of his video's, but this one had to be seen! It really makes me laugh so hard. And I thought even if you guys don't think it's funny, the stuff he test's in this one is pretty interesting I think.
ENJOY!

It's Halloween time!!!!!!

Whoo hoo! It's Halloween time, and you all know how much I love this holiday! I love everything about it, the weather, the costumes, the decorations, the movies, just everything! I had Booker here last weekend to help me decorate the house, we had a great time. I'll post pictures when I get all the finishing touches down, but I'll probably just post them on my personal blog, it needs an update. But, I wanted to do this post to remind you all of something...










keep scrolling down........




















HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Love you Cat! Best cookie ever!

Your random Internet video of the day.....

Why can I see this happening to Matt or dad?

Sunday's With Sue 10/4/9

The Wizard of Oz! One of the greatest classic movies of all time! One of the movie channels played it about a week ago, and I watched it. I hadn't seen the movie in years, it is a great movie. But you would think that I'm the only one who has seen this movie, because no one got it! I didn't even get any wrong guesses! About an hour ago, Emily sent me a message that Rob knew what movie it was. She doesn't feel she can claim it, because they didn't work it out together, it was all Rob. So, I guess Rob got it! But, I think we should listen to my playlist for the week, because Rob's guess doesn't count. I had already started the post when Em's email came. I had already down loaded the picture and picked out the next movie. Besides, I never get a chance for my playlist to play, because you guys are all too good at this. So get ready for some Sue tunes! I don't even remember what I sent Em, so it will be a surprise to me. I would imagine there is probably a Beatles song, or if not, a John Lennon one.

Here is this week's movie quote:

Person #1- If I lose my temper you're totalled man.

Person #2- Totally?

Person #1- Totally.

DUNCAN R.I.P.

Duncan died this morning at the Vets. He has been sick since last Sunday night when he threw-up (sorry Cath & Ems). He would not eat or drink anything on Monday and the rest of the week. I took him to the Vets on Thursday for an X-ray and nothing showed up. The poor thing just was getting sicker and sicker and laying down out side in the rain and cold and getting weaker and weaker. It was so sad watching him die and not being able to do anything about it. I took him back to the Vets on Thursday and they put him on an IV and gave him shots of antibiotics. When I left him at the Docs I pretty much new it would be the last time I would see him and pat his head and say "good dog". She called at 7 this morning and said he passed away early this AM. We don't know what he got but suspect it was a liver tumor. Shirley something intestinal and/or organ related.


Duncan as a pup with me on the construction job for the olympic village in SLC and the U of U. sitting in the big forklift I drove.


Cute pup in the snow.


A little older puppy in the ditch by the Rieker house. Even as a pup, he didn't like to get out of the water. During hot days he would lay down in the ditch and cool his belly.


Handsome head on this dog. Mom and I liked his color and markings a lot. His big brown eyes always got to me and I couldn't resist slipping him food from the table and taking him for rides in my Pickup.


He loved people so much and would always go over to greet people on the street or in the neighborhood. He would follow the school children to the bus stop at the bottom of the hill by Woodfields. He got hit by a car when he was about a year old and I took him to Dr. Davis in Springville. He was out for a day and then I picked him up four days later and he looked like this. In a way we have had him with us on "borrowed time" now for 8 years or so.


The "Bowfinger" shot. He so loved his tummy tickled and scratched. Thats one of the things about him I'll miss the most.


Matt and I dug his grave this afternoon and he is right next to Tiny Elvis. The pile of black rocks are over Tiny E and we are standing by Duncan. We said a prayer on the grave and he is now resting at the Airport. R.I.P. Dunk.

I would like to invite any of you peeps that care to...to take a moment at 10 PM on Wednesday the 7th of Oct to drink from your favorite beverage (I'll have a Martinillies, hope Skippy can get a Chocolate Malt) in a toast to the memory of our good loyal, happy dog, Duncan. Kisses, Dad