One Wedding and a Jazz Game

Mt. Timpanogas LDS Temple

Jared, one of our nephews, got engaged a few months ago.  He and his fiance chose to be married in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple.  As we learned more about how the day was to unfold, we realized that the day was goign to end relatively early, giving us a lot of time after the reception ended.  Tiffany, being the genius that she is, suggested that we all get together after the reception and go to the Jazz game that  was scheduled for that night in Salt Lake City.

Uncle Wes Tickling Jesse

Being a family full of Utah Jazz (NBA) fans, with only a few exceptions, we all jumped at the opportunity figuring that, if nothing else, it would be great fun to go do something like that with everyone.  I was thinking it might cost a fortune, but we found that the seats up in the "nose bleed" sections were only about $8 each, so we were able to get an entire row of 20 seats for well under $200.  The game was a blast.  Our family was the first to arrive.  At first, Jesse didn't quite know what to think about the place.  It was very loud, and if you know Jesse, he is not a fan of loud noises, unless, of course, it is him making the loud noises.  He just sat there like someone had drugged him for the first several minutes.  However, that all changed when his cousin, Seth, showed up.  They are quite the buddies, and they were quickly standing, dancing and shaking their little booties to the music over the sound system.  The two of them, and Rhett, had a great time on one side of me.

Soleil, Beth, and Shaylea

On the other side of me were Ang and the three girls, Soleil, and two of her cousins, Beth and Shaylea.  Soleil quickly got into the game, and every time there was a big play, she was up screaming and slapping me five.

The kids quickly decided they were starving, so I ran down to get a few tubs of popcorn (not quite as expensive as movie popcorn, but dang close!).  I was everybody's (at least those six kids) best friend when I handed each group of kids some popcorn.

Our View of the Jazz Game

At about half-time, Tiffany, Katherine, Zach and Justin were the last to arrive.  Justin had a big tub of popcorn of his own...or at least that's what he thought.  Soleil quickly approached him, the girls having just emptied theirs, and asked if she could have some of his popcorn.  He held it out for her to take some, and she took the entire tub and walked away, leaving him with nothing but a wallet which was about $6 lighter.  He was a good sport about it, and we all got a good laugh about it.

Rhett, Seth, and Jesse

There were some great plays during the game.  Despite playing from behind most of the game, the Jazz finally caught up late, and it went into overtime.  It was very exciting.  About half way through the game, I began texting family members down in Tropic and Vegas.  I sent so many, not having a text plan, that I got an email from AT&T suggesting that I increase my texting plan because I'd just broken the bank on texts.  I'm not sure I want to see my next bill.

After the game, which the Jazz won big in OT, outscoring Orlando 16-6 in the extra period, we all made our way back to the Holiday Inn Express where we were staying.  By the time we were finally climbing into bed, it was 1am.  I don't think our kids have ever been up that late.  Well, they were going to be up a little later as it turned out.  Because Katherine and Justin were going to be flying out early the next morning, Ang wanted to run down to their room and say goodbye.  One by one, the kids all jumped out of bed to go with her.  She brought them down about 20 minutes later, then said she was going back to talk for a little while.  Well, at 3am I heard her finally come in.  Turns out Ryan and Rochelle, along with Ang, had all gone back to talk with Tiffany, Katherine, Justin, and Zach, and had had a great time laughing and talking.  Ryan was surprised they hadn't gotten a call from the front desk as they had apparently been pretty loud.  Oh well, they don't get a chance to get together and enjoy each other much, so it was a great chance to catch up.

The next morning we started the long drive back to Vegas.  It took about 8 hours, but the kids were great, the van ran well, and we had a good time.  Thank goodness for ipods, Nintendo DS's, and iPhones, though. They kept the kids very entertained either with watching movies, playing games, or listening to audio books during the drive.  It was really a great trip.http://www.nba.com/jazz/