An interesting day (and a Jazz game)...

Today was just one of those interesting days, I could never tell what kind of day it was going to be, good or bad, because it kept changing so often!

We were excited to enjoy the first official day of vacation for the kids (the younger ones were out since last week, but this was Andrew & Janessa's first day off). We slept in and then casually got up to have some breakfast. I decided to make pancakes, so I got the electric griddle out and plugged it in. It was facing the wrong direction, and bugging me, so I reached underneath to grab it and turn it around. Not a grand idea at all, apparently there is an element underneath that heats the griddle. Even though the griddle itself wasn't hot yet, that element was VERY hot! It was one of the worst burns I have ever experienced. It stung for about an hour. Andrew was good to take care of me, with his first aid scouting knowledge (and a phone call to Rick). He even made everyone pancakes, getting creative near the end with Mickey Mouse ones!

While I was recovering, I turned on my computer to check my email. I also read some blogs. I love the new sidebar option, where you only see the updated blogs. That way you don't waste much time looking for updates. I noticed that Pioneer Woman had announced the winners of her contest. The day before I read her blog and decided to enter a contest to win a $250 gift certificate to Target. I never enter those because I figure that it's terrible odds. All you have to do is comment. So, I did. And, guess what? I won! Out of 12,000 people! Crazy lucky. I'm going to start entering those from now on! (By the way, if you have never been to her website, GO! It's such a great, fun site. I just love her recipes and photography hints. She is really a crack up! I'm not great at links, so just look at the list of blogs I follow and she's on it.)

In the early afternoon, we headed out for the Jazz game. We grabbed Andrew's friend Cameron, Janessa's friend Emily, and Harrison's friend Brandon.

We had an auction for the Happy Factory last month and Rick purchased a huge suite for the Jazz game. He invited all of his employees and their families. We were worried, as it was the night before Thanksgiving, that everyone would be out of town. But, we lucked out and all could make it. It was a really fun night. We had a ton of food and the kids loved fixing their own plates and eating as much of whatever they wanted!

It was a little hectic at the beginning, as they originally had us in the wrong suite. Our food was delivered there too, and the other people started eating it. So, they made us more food and got all of our stuff moved to the correct suite. Luckily, nobody knew any different. It was all solved by the time the employees were there. Natalie, with the Utah Jazz, was amazing to make sure everything was perfect for us. I was still a bit flustered though, and just a little stressed by the time everyone arrived.

I am friends with the Jazz Bear, he is on the Happy Factory committee with me. He is really a great guy. He said that I could bring everyone down to the floor before the game started and he would come and say "hi" to the kids. Because of the earlier confusion, we weren't able to get together with him. Finally, when everything was calm, we saw the Bear down on the court while the team was practicing. So, we thought we would take the chance and go see him right before the game started. I grabbed a couple of the kids and their moms.

We went down to the court and the ushers were really hesitant to let us enter the court. I explained that we were just there to see the Bear, he was expecting us. They looked at me like, "Ya, right lady, we've had that one before." I kept telling them that it wasn't a huge deal, but he really was expecting us. Finally, I think to just get rid of me, one usher said, "Fine. Tell me your name and I will go and see if he wants to come over here." Well, needless to say, he came back with a much better attitude and told us, in a very sweet voice, to wait over here and the Bear will be right with us.

The Bear came over and gave me a big bear hug. He said hi to all of the kids and then took them right onto the court, where the players were all warming up. Then, he turned around and got Derron Williams to come over (that Bear really has a lot of pull). Now, here comes some imagination on your part. Picture this... The Jazz Bear in the back, Derron Williams towering above him, Harrison & his friend Brandon, Nathan, Carolyn holding Elizabeth, Jodi Black and her kids, all standing there with the team shooting hoops behind. What a great shot, there aren't many moments in life like this. I took 3 pictures, just to make sure they were perfect. When we went out to the hallway and started for the elevator, I pushed "play" on my camera to see the pictures. In bright red letters, instead of a picture, the camera read, "NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA!" So, you see, that's why you have to use your imagination. I was pretty sad, especially for the other moms who were counting on the chick with the huge expensive camera to come through. No pictures, not a one. But, the kids didn't care; they were just excited to have been there. They never thought another thing about it, because they were focused on getting back up to the suite to eat the rest of the food!

Rick is business partners with his brother Bruce. They have been working together for years. Bruce, Carolyn & Elizabeth loved watching the game together.

Rick and I had a fun time (after I got over the bad parts of the day and focused on the good parts).

Nathan & Elizabeth actually surprised all of us by actually watching the game until the 4th quarter. They were cheering in all the right parts and everything!

I think the endless food and sodas in front of them really helped.

We even set up the Wii in the suite, thinking it would help entertain some of the kids so that the parents could watch the game. The kids were all so good and took turns playing. We had about 50 people in the suite, but it was big enough that nobody was bothered with kids running around and playing (at least I wasn't bugged, maybe someone without kids could have been).

Janessa & Emily bought Jazz pajama pants and actually changed into them. Weird teenagers.

Cameron & Andrew seemed to have a great time (even though they were texting girls the entire game).

Harrison loves hanging out with Brandon. He went with him to a BYU game last month (dads were in charge... no photos).

The Jazz won the game and we all had a great time. It ended up being a great day (even though there were times I was unsure).