The Close-up picture says it all...

Ap-Parent-ly, that's why she's been feeling sick to her tummy for over a week now! 

The Decade Osprey has died... time for an upgrade!

So those who know us know that we have had a ford escort hatchback for quite some time.
It has since throttled its last chortle, we believe, and have since replaced it with a "cargo hauler".

She may not look like much, but she's fast enough for you old man - she's got it where it counts.  She'll make point five past lightspeed, and I'm making a lot of special modifications myself. I've outrun Imperial entanglements. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now.

I really wanted an SUV, especially a Dodge Durango.  But the good news, is that the minivan has since grown on me.  It has plenty of space for 7, including my co-pilot, and if I take out the captains chairs and the rear bench, there is lots of room to haul stuff, and even throw down an inflatable mattress for in-vehicle camping expeditions.  When this ships a-rocking, don't come a-knocking!

In other news, we're already making plans for another 3-day holiday weekend, one that doesn't have one of us ralphing.  And our next geek-out trip to SLC,

Russ puns... they're universal.

Only wish I'd written a few of these...

Just got our tickets... We're going to SLC CC 2016!

Want to buy tickets too?
Head over here >> Save some money, and send us a referral!

Christmas memories

(this post was written post-Christmas)

Due to someone's work schedule over the holidays, we had to celebrate on Christmas Eve.

We went to her in-laws house after work Wednesday and treated it as if it were Christmas Eve.  The roads were slick and icy.  Mom and dad already had the stockings out and we filled everyone else's with candy.  We woke up Thursday morning and found Dad snuck nuts into everyone's stockings, including ours.  Due to a packer forgetting to double check his list, we convinced daddy to let us use their ice cream for breakfast waffles for our traditional morning meal.  (Luckily, the strawberry revel refroze okay after returning home.)

The Lady and her Turbie

Yup, he's a real Eskimo!

After everyone finished breakfast, we finally opened presents.  It was interesting, I think this year we had more fun giving and preparing gifts than actually getting presents.  Jennifer was overjoyed to get several new coin banks, more than she had room for in her collectibles, and we were grateful for new Christmas socks and slippers.  As well as a battle ready shield to go with the Master sword!  The owner of this blog and uncle Dennis, naturally being fans of Star Wars, got matching T-shirts!

Michael started listening to his audioDVD of Harry Potter and everyone else pretty much took a backseat along with him.  When he turned it off, everyone was disappointed.  Later for lunch, everyone wanted to continue listening and practically begged him to press play!

One final gift arrived a little late, a new hat for a uniform a certain collector is attempting to get officialized.  Now, he has two costumes to finish putting together before SLC Comicon 2016!

The one thing that we still enjoy is time together for the holidays, no matter how little it is!  Even if its snuggling and playing Hyrule Warriors!

We're on the Book of faces...

https://www.facebook.com/The-Miner-Family-892564967485967

Salt Lake Comic Con 2015

Wednesday night, we couldn't sleep, we spent most of the night packing up our costumes and watching anime until almost 3 in the morning.  We were super excited and anxious!

Our friends Matt and Liz - who we had played Splendor with a few weeks earlier - picked us up about 6 am.  We were running on adrenaline and a 3-hour nap.  We high-tailed it down to Salt Lake City and Magna to drop off our stuff at the houses we would be staying at with family.  We made it back to the Salt Lake Palace and parked underground about noon.  Sarah realized she needed new shoes and we were a bit hungry for lunch so we went to the food court at the mall across the street from the Salt Palace and had lunch there.  There were lots of statues outside the convention palace and even a Tardis box.  VIPs and those with gold badges were let in beginning at 1pm.  Sarah let me sneak past general admission so I could get to my first Star Wars panel at 2pm.  There was so much to see and do, and lots of people dressed in interesting costumes it was impossible to see it all and do it all the first day.  Though we did our best to take it all in... Supper was a truck kitchen slider and grandma's chicken & wheat noodle soup later that night at almost midnight.  Lesson learned: get the gold badges next year for early entry and only plan 2-3 main events or panels per day with time to browse tables and the show room floor. 

You can pick your friends, you can even pick your nose,
but NEVER pick Han's nose even if he's frozen in carbonite!

When 30 years old you were, look this good, you did not!

Friday morning, we took our costumes and props with us for our photo shoots that day and rode the buses and the Trax train back to the palace and got in a little late, but just in time to attend my 2nd Star Wars panel for the Utah fan film awards.  We also went to the Miyazaki panel together, had a shared burrito lunch at the con just before our photo ops.  I got a few of my Star Wars books I was lugging around signed by Tim Zahn & Bob Salvatore.  I desperately wanted to get my giant Pez dispenser signed by Anthony Daniels in the morning but couldn't get the $80 cash he was asking for.  So after waiting in line and watching him being interviewed by the local TV station, and then realizing he was asking for cash, I decided it wasn't worth waiting anymore.  Sarah almost missed her picture being taken with James Phelps, and then I got mine within the same hour with Anthony Daniels.  There's a story there: As he was taking pictures with other attendees, he would use a shiny C3PO doll about 10 inches tall and hold it like an Emmy award.  When he saw my prop, his eyes went about as wide as 3PO's bright photoreceptors (as wide as dinner plates), guffawed and said "My life is one giant PEZ dispenser!", took my PEZ holder in hand and took his photo with me!

Best. Reaction. Ever.

 
We ran into Sarah's uncle & cousins, her cousins and her all bought decorative wire tiaras (crowns) at a floor shop.  After attending a few more panels and attempting to get into the Guinness "world record attempt for most people dressed as comic book characters at a convention" (Star Wars and Harry Potter were out), we toured the vendor block for a bit and decided we'd try to go to bed early that night.  Legs and feet were getting tired after running and walking on concrete all day.  We picked up a few groceries at a store and went home on the Trax and buses.

Saturday was a more relaxed day - sightseeing and shopping.  Got more books signed by the Hickmans.  Watched the kids at Kidcon practice their youngling lightsaber training, Sarah got her face painted and we had a more slower paced leisurely stroll through the convention.  We should have played some games - both board games, RPG, and some of the video games that were available.  Oh well.  Some of the best deals happened towards the later afternoon when vendors didn't want to lug back any of their merchandise.  Lesson learned there.

Matt & Liz picked us up again Sunday morning after sacrament meeting and we rode back to Idaho Falls with breakfast and snacks in tow.

We were both happy to get away and geek out as well as getting back home after such an exciting weekend!

Can't wait for next year - we're already scheming... er, uh, making plans!