The Day the World Came to Town

I just finished reading this book. My book club read it a few months ago before I moved here but they let me borrow a copy because they all loved it so much. It really sheds light on how 9/11 effected so many people, people I never even thought of before reading this. It tells the story of a little town in Newfoundland, Canada (the town is about the same population of Riverton) and how they pulled together to help roughly 7,000 passengers of diverted flights from around the world. Some 300 planes were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland the morning of 9/11 because the air space was closed over US. This book follows a few of the passengers on their backgrounds, why they were flying that day, what happened to them while they were in Gander, and how they got home. Some notable stories are of an African Princess, a couple traveling back from Russia after adopting a child, and a couple whose son was a missing FDNY. The people of Newfoundland went above and beyond to help these passengers, and since most of the flights were International a lot of the people didn't even speak English. The logistics of accommodating that many people is incredible.This story is really uplifting and gives you a new sense of hope in humanity and I think every one of you would love this book. It is not long at all, a very easy read. I give it a solid 4 stars.

"We're all Americans tonight." 

-Lieutenant Colonel McKeage, Canadian Air Force, Newfie

Your random internet video of the day

This one's for Scout.............and dad.

Happy News!

Time for a little action on this blog. We were all so excited for Matt and B with their exciting announcement,and then so disappointed that we're going to have to wait a little longer to have a little Wright baby in the family. Wow, I just realized that Matt was the last "Wright baby". I didn't want to take anything away from Matt and Bronwyn's happiness and then the following sadness, but I think it might be time to let you know what's going on in our family. Most of you probably saw it on facebook, but I just wanted to officially announce that Sarah got engaged on Saturday, October 8th, to Cody James Griffiths. They are going to be married on Thursday, January 12, 2012 in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan. There will be a reception that evening at Highland Gardens in Highland. Then there will be another reception at the Holiday Inn in Riverton on the 14th. We would love for you all to plan on being there for this special day. Cody is a great guy and we're excited to welcome him into our family. He loves Sarah so much and she is so happy.



While we're at it, while this is not official with a ring yet, Kelly and Mike Long are also getting married! They are planning a wedding for Saturday, March 24, 2012 in the St. George Temple and then a reception in Riverton on Friday, March 30. We are so excited for these two, also. Mike is such a great guy, too, and they are unbelievably cute and happy. So, save these dates!!

Well, as for me, I'm spending hours upon hours on the internet and the phone searching for bridesmaids dresses, caterers, photographers, florists, cake makers, and worst of all, mother of the bride dresses! I'm loving it, and making progress and looking forward to having two more sons. I couldn't have hand-selected any better for these two daughters of mine.

Oh, and I'm leaving Thursday to spend 3 days with Jeanine in New York City, and a WEEK with Allison, Will, Haley and Marcus in Pennsylvania! Can I tell you how excited I am?! Love you all! Kisses!

WIN!

We all know and love failblog.org and FAIL videos. But some may not be as familiar with their counter part WIN videos.

This is a WIN video that B and I just thought had to be shared. It is very short, so give it a watch!

For the time being, if we could please keep this off of Facebook, that would be greatly appreciated :-D

WTBatman Returns

Yes, Batman Returns. And so do I... Finally. I guess I apologize, but no one really seems to care to much. Although, I'm sure we would all love to see the blog alive again. :( Maybe we need a new game? OR, how about we get going on that game where we all watch the same movies and talk about them? What are we waiting for?

So, Batman Returns: A favorite of mine, and watched frequently in the Wright house for a few years. I remember getting it on VHS at Reams in Springville and staring at it in the shopping cart in anticipation to go home and watch it again. I just loved the crazy mayhem in the streets with all the creepy circus characters! (totally my bag) Danny DeVito didn't even look like himself at all, and totally nailed the role and delivered a lot of funny, quotable lines. The Tim Burton-y soundtrack is great, and really adds to the dark feel of the movie.

Watching it again a few years ago, I remember Michelle Pfeiffer being just kindof ok... and it was probably Christopher Walkens most boring role. But hey, still Christopher Walken. Maybe he had to "explore the space!" hehe. And I always quote his: "I've got better fish to fry!" line for some reason.

Em won on the first quotes. Dad got it a little later from the first quotes as well. Good going guys. It was quiet from the rest of the gang except Sue guessed Spiderman on the last giveaway lines. Which was obviously a joke. Like this whole WTB session has been. My bad.

Love you!

Kisses!!

WTB took so long?

Alright... fine.

Sorry everyone! I can't believe how much the WTB game has been keeping this blog alive. It has been quiet and sad for a few weeks. My bad. I don't have any really good excuses, so I won't make any.

We are running out of movies! But I managed to pick one that was played a lot in our home while I was growing up. I find myself quoting it often actually... It really just has some lines that seem to creep into everyday life for me. (That doesn't mean that these lines are the ones I quote... that would be scary and not true) Good luck! Let the game begin again!

Person 1: "Okay, go ahead. Intimidate me, bully me if it makes you feel big. I mean it's not like you can just kill me."
Person 2: "Actually, it's a lot like that."

You know what? Lets do another just for the bip of it.

"I was their number one son, and they treated me like number two."

Here is another bonus couple.

Person 1: You know, mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it.
Person 2: But a kiss can be even deadlier... if you mean it.

Person 1: I mean, killing sleeping children. Isn't it that a little, uh...
Person 2: No! It's a lot!!

Random week later giveaway quotes:

"Just relax. I'll take care of the squealing, wretched, pinhead puppets of Gotham! You gotta admit, I play this stinking city like a harp from hell!!"

"Dear Penguin. The children regret they are unable to attend - Batman."

See you in another week with the results. haha

2011 movies B wants to see...

Since Matt won’t do the WTB, I thought I’d breath a little life into this place. I am bent on not being completely in the dark when Oscar season comes, so out of that came lots and lots of movie trailer watching (and a whole lot of disappointment when some things were just lame-sauce fan trailers). Anyways, here are my picks, in completely random release date order.

The Help: Just finished the book, so stoked for the movie!!

Jane Eyre: Duh

Wimpy Kid 2: Don’t judge me. The first one was cute, and that kid is endearing.

Hop: Russell Brand plays the Easter Bunny's teenage fluffy bunny son who wants to be in a rock and roll band. Sounds good to me!

Mars needs Moms: Actually, never mind. Those cartoon aliens are a little much for me, and Joan Cusack’s voice is SO ANNOYING.

The Conspirator: Most Abe Lincoln things are awesome and I read that the main character lady did really good.

Abduction. Taylor Lautner finds out that he’s a missing child and has to run from people? Looks a lot like Taken, which is fine with me.

50/50. Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 500 Days of Summer has a brain tumor.

And most of all (Dun dun dun…) Footloose 2011. It looks as awesomely terrible as the first one!! I was wondering when there was going to be a re-make. Notice how many re-makes and sequels there are lately?!

Ok, so apparently the sight I was on is SUPER LAME, and featured barely half of these movies. So here is the Extended Version of my list.

Breaking Dawn: Again, duh. I am actually really excited to see how they do this!

Muppets: Not as excited as Sue, but still stoked.

Tintin: WHAT?! Yes please!!! Sadly, it’s animated, but Steven Spielberg did it, so I’ve got my fingers crossed. I have read almost every single Tintin book, and LOVE THEM!!

The Host: It’s a cross between this and Tintin for movie I’m most excited to see.

The Green Hornet: Self made super hero with awesome sarcastic sidekick. What’s not to love.

Hanna: A 16 year old is raised by her dad in Antarctica to be an assassin. Looks kind of awesome (although after reading Endurance, I DON’T KNOW WHY PEOPLE GO DOWN THERE!!!!).

Paul. Two alien lovers go exploring alien sites and find an alien, named Paul. While I’m not an alien lover, Paul seems non-threatening enough. Looks funny, albeit a little crude.

Rio: I am a Jesse Eisenberg fan, so him doing animation sounds GREAT!

*The Beaver: Mel Gibson uses a beaver puppet as a therapeutic tool to separate his anxious self from his real self.

War Horse: “Follows a young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend.”

*Meek’s Cutoff: A story about Oregon Trail pioneers.

*Totally just on here because I find them on an early Oscar Predictions website. But the trailers were intriguing.

One last thing. We (Matt, Amy, Kelly, Annie, Kyle and I) watched the new Arthur with Russell Brand, and it was HILARIOUS!!!! We highly recommend it. 

sweeny Todd

Thought I would capitalize on the musical jag that seems to be pouring out of the Wyoming peeps. Perhaps this one isn't as safe a bet as Singin' in the Rain (which is also great), but this is a fun story in a twisted way. If nothing else, it is a great lesson on revenge. It has always been one of those musicals that I have been fascinated that it exists, then when I found out that they were going to make it into a movie by Tim Burton, featuring Depp, Carter, and Rickman, well shoot- I am IN! Especially Johnny Depp singing, I just had to see that. He did a superb job, I gotta say. Do you need me to explain the story? Cause I will.


So, the winner this week was..........drum roll..........Matt! He got it quickly from quote #1. Sue was next, then with the last giveaway, Dan finally got it. He seemed to have found the movie lackluster and is anxious to hear why we liked it. Cat guessed incorrectly with "Edward Scissorhands", on the right track Cat, but no cigar. B got it after Matt and I discussed WTB for a few minutes and then found it very hard to keep ourselves from breaking out into song and giving it away.

(For the record Matt absentmindedly broke out in song after a few minutes and she figured it out, so even though she didn't give an official guess and got it from Matt singing, she should be recognized I suppose on the boards.)

It's all yours Matt.

WTB

Sorry for the week off. What can I say? I just plain slacked off. Here we go:

" At last! My arm is complete again!"

Wednesday hint:

"You gandered at her. YES, sir, you gandered!"


Friday clue: (another to follow Saturday am)

"These are my friends. / See how they glisten. / See this one shine, / How he smiles in the light. / My friend, my faithful friend. / Speak to me, friend. / Whisper, I'll listen. / I know, I know- / You've been locked out of sight all these years- / Like me, my friend. / Well, I've come home / To find you waiting. / Home, and we're together, / And we'll do wonders, won't we?"

Give away:

Woman: [placing a small pie on the counter] Here we are. Hot out of the oven.
Man: What is THAT?
Woman: [sings] It's priest. Have a little priest...
Man: [sings] Is it really good?
Woman: [sings] Sir, it's too good, at least. Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh... so it's pretty fresh.

Sowwy sowwy-WTB

Sorry peeps, I totally spaced this this week. Heeeeeeere are your results!!!!!



The movie was *dum dum dum* The Adventures of Milo and Otis! I remember seeing this in the theater when I was little, and have rediscovered it as an adult and am totally in love with it again. It's so clever, and well narrated and... there may have been some animals hurt in the making of it, because they do make the animals do some pretty crazy things, and it's totally awesome. Matt and I own this movie, and pop it in whenever we have little people over, and sometimes just for fun. We have some often quoted lines such as the giveaway, and "We're frolicking".

So, everyone was stumped by the first quote, but it did sound familiar to Em, who got it after the second quote, whoo hoo! Matt and Haley got it after the giveaway, and that's it. Then I totally forgot about the game, and.... here we are. So, take it away Em!!!