Black Friday Memories. . . . .

                           This photo is supposed to be a real pre-lit Dakota Fir from Costco.
                                This picture is lots better looking than my tree ever looked.

Adam wants a personal history.  Here are my black Friday memories.
In either 2006 or 2007, Susan went to JoAnn's black Friday sale.
She got there when the store opened at 5:00 a.m.  She called me
about 6:00 a.m.  We lived on Anne Circle.  She told me she had
a pile of bolts of fabric and there weren't any carts left and she
wanted me to come over a "steal" a shopping cart from another
store, because there weren't any left in JoAnn's.

Susan couldn't leave her fabric pile or people would take the bolts
and she wouldn't get it.  I got up and went over and found a cart
outside (not JoAnn's) and took it in and found her.  We met a
lady who was the first one in the store when it opened and she
knew that the Orem Joann's only had two of the door
buster, 7.5 ft Dakota Fir Tree with 800 clear lights on it.

Susan wasn't the first one in the store so she didn't see the trees.

It took us several hours to get out of the store, but then I called
JoAnn's complained there were only two trees so they shipped
one to the Orem store and I went over and got it and paid the door
buster Black Friday price.  The box says $99.00.  I think it was lots
less but can't remember.

You don't want to go to JoAnn's.  First you have to get the fabric,
then wait in line to get the fabric cut and then get in a different line
to check out.  I waited in the check out line while Susan waited
in the fabric line and we were still there until about noon, which is
quite a bit of time when you started before 5:00 a.m. in line outside the
store.

I plan to throw away this tree this year.  We have used it every year
and it is starting to look like a new tree loosing its needles.  I am sad to
part with my first black Friday purchase.

In 2014, Janice and Jill Ivie bought Daddy the Walmart 50 " Black
Friday TV at the Walmart in Saratoga Springs.  It was $218. on Thanksgiving
starting at 5:00 p.m.  They were in line at 4:00 p.m.

Mary bought Daddy the Nikon L330 20.2 MP with a 26X zoom lens
 Camera Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving
at Target.  It was a $230.00 camera for $100.00.  Mary got the camera
after she bought the things she wanted so the cameras didn't go fast.
Her sister got one too, also after she got the stuff she wanted first.
(The camera is in the lower left hand corner of the photo above.

The camera turned out to be a good deal.  The television is probably better
than the one he had with the bad pixel, but not such a good deal as the camera.

Gas is only $1.99 a gallon in Glendale

Phoenix Gas Prices.com

I can't find an image but Gas at Costco in Orem was $2.12 one hour ago.
Gas at Phillips 1520 South State in Orem was $2.35, 17 hours ago.
Maverik near University Parkway and 8th east $2.39.

They only go up from here.

Trevor, Phil's youngest son leaves the MTC Tuesday.

Trevor spoke in Sacrament Meeting on November 30 at 9:00 a.m.

Steve Patten's whole family was there, including Josh and his "wife,"
Russ, Crystal, her husband and two kids and all the other boys.

I didn't know Josh was married until after church.  Josh got married in
Las Vegas sometime after their baby was born in 2013.

Trevor needs a VISA to go to India and he doesn't have one, so he
is scheduled to go to Tempe Arizona when he leaves the MTC on
Tuesday.

He will have to stay there until he gets the VISA, which may be
the first of the year.

Craig thinks Tempe is on the border of one of the new temples,
the one by Jacob the Gilbert temple.  They probably have lots
of names of people that went to the temple open house this year.

There is a guy in our ward that looks like Nathan!

I found him while playing the organ last week.  He and his wife and 9 month
old baby have been in the ward since September.
His hair is the same color and hair cut style as Nathan's and he also wears
glasses like Nathan.

He was wearing both weeks a light gray suit and tie that I don't think
Nathan would be caught dead in.

Anyway today he and his wife spoke.  She is from Eastern Washington
state, and he is from Irvine California.  He has applied to go to medical
school and has NOT been accepted anywhere yet.  However if he is trying
to go in fall of 2015 it may not be too late.

I think this is the first year he applied.

His name is Ephraim Taylor and his wife's first name was Lisa.

Adam got a Raspberry Pi Beginner Kit from his part time job at BYU

I don't have any idea what this is, but Adam is thrilled.  He found the box on
his desk when he got to work and went to ask his boss if it was supposed to
be on "his" desk.  His boss told him yes to have fun with it and Adam is.

There are three people working on this team, and Adam is the ONLY one
who got one.  One girl asked Adam if it was for all of them. . . . .
Adam is the team lead.

The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.

What’s more, the Raspberry Pi  has the ability to interact with the outside world, and has been  used in a wide array of digital maker projects, from music machines and parent detectors to weather stations and tweeting birdhouses with infra-red cameras. We want to see the Raspberry Pi being used by kids all over the world to learn to program and understand how computers work.

Hotel/Motel Facts in the LasVegas area

We got back from a short trip to Arizona on November 11.
We stayed at the Virgin River Hotel and Casino in
Mesquite on November 7.   The place was
packed and the rooms are terrible.
They are small, really small "old" televisions,
with no amenities.  Mark said the room was crappy
 because we got a "no smoking"
room and "they" know people who don't smoke don't gamble.
 We paid $60.00. It was cheaper the day before I made the reservation.
 I think I made the reservation on November 6.  Prime rib was $6.99.
 I liked it, Daddy wanted his cooked different.(seasoning, not doneness.
they got that right)

On the way back I used Expedia to make a reservation
at El Cortez Hotel on Fremont street in downtown Las Vegas.
 The room was $25.00 on Expedia.  The Internet said $18.00
on Expedia but I couldn't make the reservation online and
had to call Expedia.
With Expedia there are extra undetermined charges and
I don't plan to use Expedia in the future.  I will first look on
Expedia for the best rates and then try to call the Hotel
 and make my own reservation.
The extra charges were only $10.00 so the room was $35.00.
 It was a nice LARGE "no smoking" room with a large walk in closet.
It had gold fixtures in the bathroom.  The television was old,
but larger than the one in Mesquite. The problem was the location,
downtown is not the place to be in Vegas. Also the smell of smoke was
 so bad, everything we took in the room smells terrible, including bags
 and my bi-pap stuff and all night we could hear music from the casino.
But it was ONLY $35.00.  Restaurant had prime rib for $10.00.  We both
had that and liked it.

This was exactly what our bathroom looked like.  Maybe a little larger.  Notice glass shower doors.

                                         lobby looks this now.

                                         You could see this slipper from the elevator to the parking
                                         tower.  It was always lit up.

Halloween 2014, in Three different states! Count the Ninja's. . . . . .

ninja and mavis in Eugene Oregon.
Costumes in Utah.

 Susan professional photo from work