Birthday with the Family

While it didn't quite stack up to the bowling bonanza, the family birthday party was still fun. Seriously. Who is going to complain about a ton of "Y" balloons? Not me.



We're all Snows in these pictures. Me, Sara, my little sister Jet (with the evil eye), my scruffy brother Boy (or Brant if you don't know any better), and, of course, my parents.

Big Birthday Weekend Bowling

Have you ever wondered the best way to celebrate your 31st birthday? Let me answer that question for you. Bowling. That's right. Bowling. Call up a couple of friends, a bunch of little kids, and head down to the bowling alley for some good old-fashioned white trash entertainment. The participants, as seen below, include:

The Snows: Tyson, Sara, and Jet (my little sister)
The Hoopes: Chad, Tori, Brooke (Boo), Aubrey (A.J.), and Addison (Peanut)
The Smiths: Layne, Bekah, Bekah's sister, Sabrina, and Trevor
The League Bowlers: Sammi and her sister, Amber

Enjoy the slideshow. Notice all the BYU gear? That's right. We always represent. As always, just click on it to see all of the pictures (at a much better resolution).



Now, go polish up that bowling ball and hit the lanes. Sara's birthday is coming up after all and you never know when you may get that call to head down to the alleys.

Go Utes!

nuff said!

Obama Supporters Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Regardless of your political affiliation, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and The Onion are always good for a laugh. Here is the latest from The Onion in the aftermath of Obama's presidential victory:


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Hilarious. Maybe all of those "lost" souls can start working on the Obama 2012 campaign (hint: the slogan should be "Yes We Still Can").

The "Educated" American Voters...

Happy Election Day everyone! I know that today is an important day, but hey, even on important days, you should have a couple of laughs... Check out this link to a bit on Howard Stern's radio show. One of Stern's "reporters" went to Harlem and interviewed voters; all of them supported Obama even though the reporter was attributing McCain's views and policies to Obama. It is pretty funny (especially when the reporter asks the voters if they are comfortable with Sarah Palin being Obama's vice president and they all say yes). Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBJotJcKN8U

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Halloween Pictures - Corn Maze and Pumpkin Carving

Here are the most recent pictures I pulled off of Sara's camera. Last night (for FHE), we carved pumpkins with our friends/neighbors, the Hoskissons. Yes, that is a princess pumpkin that I carved; impressive, I know -- I've got serious pumpkin carving skills. Click the slideshow to check out all the pictures:


Last week (also for FHE), we went to Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point with my parents and Brad, Christine, and Zack. It was fun. I don't expect to have too many more experiences where I'm lost in a corn maze but continuously being serenaded by David Archuleta. That was a little strange:


Happy Halloween Everyone!

Midnight Sun - Stephanie Meyer's Rewrite of Twilight - Manuscript Leaked

Sara stumbled across the linked manuscript of Midnight Sun (the rewrite of Twilight told from Edward's (the vampire) point of view). Evidently Meyer distributed copies of the unfinished and unedited manuscripts to some family members and friends who then posted it on the net. Meyer has since decided that she is not going to complete the book and she has posted a link to the unfinished manuscript on her site. Here is a link to the press release on her website and a quick summary of the posting:

http://stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html

As some of you may have heard, my partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without my knowledge or permission or the knowledge or permission of my publisher.

I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.

...

I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.

--Stephenie

Links to the manuscript can be found on Meyer's website (the link above). Looks like Sara will have something to read for the next couple of days.

Boo to Last Night's Sports...

Seriously? First, I had to watch TCU beat every single ounce of life out of BYU? And then, as if the BYU at TCU game wasn't enough, I had to watch the Red Sox come back and win to extend the series (currently 3-2 in favor of Tampa Bay) after trailing 7-0 in the 7th inning? That was ridiculous. Thank you NBC and The Office for insuring that Thursday night wasn't a complete loss. Phew. It was still a rough night...

With Winter Comes Autumn...

Well, it is about 37 degrees outside my house (trust me, my car told me so) and it snowed a little this morning. It's that time of year in Utah. We, being myself, my wife Sara, and my sister Jet, were able to make it up Little Cottonwood Canyon last Sunday (in between conference sessions) to check out some of the leaves. Here is a quick slideshow of some of the better pictures (click on the pictures for bigger versions):




Good job BYU on beating New Mexico. I hope everyone stays warm and both BYU and Utah can continue their winning streaks; I'm looking forward to a November battle-for-the-ages...

Tyson = Official Science Fiction Fan

If the article published in Friday's edition of the Salt Lake Tribune has any truth to it, I should be reading the Eldest (right now) instead of antitrust regulations and rules of construction as they relate to assignment of claims. But reporters will be reporters (as I too was once):

Tyson Snow has waited for three years to find out the fate of his favorite dragon rider, Eragon.

The 30-year-old lawyer reads the fantasy series as a lighthearted escape from days spent reading contracts and regulations.

"Books such as this have brought reading science fiction and fantasy from the fringe into the mainstream," said Snow, who lives in Sandy. "That's a good thing because it provides creativity and the opportunity to sit back and enjoy a good story as a way of escaping the mundane and difficult things each of us faces every day."

Sci-fi fans eager for release of Paolini's latest, Brisingr [Credit: The Salt Lake Tribune]

Bring on Brisingr!