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Halliday Family Blog

Halliday Family Blog/

Feed My Starving Children

Today, our Ward had a service event at Feed My Starving Children.  The youth decided they wanted to head this up, so most of the participants were youth.  We had a great time and packed enough food to feed 53 kids for a year (I think).  It’s always a good feeling to go there and help out.  We also made sure that they had hung our Mormon Helping Hands shirt we gave them during our last visit on the wall of the warehouse along side all the other shirts (including the Grant Thornton shirt we gave them when we did an activity there).  🙂

By |2011-11-26T07:41:59-07:00November 5th, 2011|Church|0 Comments
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St. Raphael’s Coach Party

Tonight, I went and hung out with all the St. Raphael’s coaches for an evening of pizza, beer, and chat.  Every year, the football league has a coaches party to thank everyone who helped out during the season.  The pizza and wings were great, but unfortunately, they just assumed that everyone drank beer, so they didn’t even have any bottled water or pop.  I was pretty thirsty when I left, but I had a good time, and met some of the other coaches and chatted with them.  🙂

By |2011-11-26T07:36:29-07:00November 4th, 2011|Home Life|0 Comments
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Return Home from Napa & Kirstyn Concert

Today I flew home from Napa and was really excited to see the family!  The boys were probably the most excited!  I really love to spend time with them!  I almost didn’t make it home on my intended flight, however.  I changed the car pickup from the hotel to a half-hour earlier (6am) which I’m glad I did.  The hotel was about a 90 minute drive from the airport, and this morning, we hit bad traffic at the Bay Bridge.  When I got to the airport, I had about 30 minutes until my flight left.  Fortunately, I got through security pretty fast and got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare!

I wanted to get home on time because Kirstyn had a chorus concert tonight that I didn’t want to miss.  She did a GREAT job and she loves to sing.  It may be a hard decision for her to make whether to sing or to play her clarinet in high school.  The concert was great and Kirstyn even had a speaking part in it as well.

I think Kirstyn has always been one of those who always likes to perform, no matter what the audience is.  At home, she’s really quite the performer!  🙂  Great job Kirstyn!

 

By |2011-11-27T04:50:10-07:00November 3rd, 2011|Work-Related|0 Comments
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Meetings, Wine Tasting, and YWIE

Today, I woke up and had a wonderful, elegant spread for breakfast.  The meetings went very well and I learned a bunch about what we were doing right and a TON about what we were not doing as well as we should and should fix.  The people there were a great help!  We had participants from McAfee, Bank of America, Citadel Investments, Chevron, and a couple more.

After the meetings, we went out into the countryside and visited 3 vineyards for wine tasting.  The folks at Autonomy felt bad for me when they found out that I didn’t drink.  I was fine with that and told them so.  I had a great time learning about the process (enough to know the reasons why I wouldn’t want to drink in the first place) 🙂 and hanging out and having a great time with everyone.  Silver Oak was the first winery we visited.  It was very elegant and also very commercial.

Everyone had a great time drinking the wine and re-filling their glass over and over.  🙂  Not sure how much everyone drank there, but it was a few bottles.

The next place on the list was Tres Sabores, a small family-owned and totally organic winery that was WAY different than Silver Oak.  They didn’t have nearly the technology that Silver Oak had and they actually pressed their grapes by hand.  It was a really fun tour because it is such a small vineyard.  We got to eat some grapes off the vine, and go into the cave in the side of the hill where they put the barrels to age until ready.  The lady (and owner) was really excited to see us.

The last place we went to was called Nickel and Nickel.  It was by far the largest, the most impressive, and the most beautiful.  We also ate dinner here.  When we arrived, they gave us hors d’oeuvres and we stood around a couple of fire-pits enjoying the night sky (I realized how much I missed being out where you could see stars at night)!  🙂  We then took our tour.  Their barrel storage area seemed about the size of a football field, and it was all underground and totally temperature-controlled.  The whole winery looks like an old working farm.

After the tour, we went into the red barn (above) and ate dinner.  It was one of the most elegant and fancy dinners I had ever eaten.  Because we were at a winery, the first thing everyone noticed, was that there were 7 wine glasses around each plate!  🙂  They were very accommodating to me when they found out I didn’t drink (I was the only one, by the way).  They brought me sparking water and juice.  The dinner was absolutely AWESOME!  We had amazing Filet Mignon, surrounded by a ton of appetizers, soups, and incredible dessert.  After dinner, everyone was able to take the wine list and order their favorites to have shipped home.

Meanwhile, back at home, the girls had Young Women in Excellence.  I was really sad that I had to miss it.  It was the first one that I have ever missed.  They did a great job pulling together what they worked on throughout the year.  This year, they asked the moms what flower each young woman represented, and so Angela was up there a bunch in front of everyone talking about how wonderful each of her three daughters are.  🙂  I dont’ have any pictures, but if I do find any, I’ll post them!

Well, I’m beat but not drunk from all the wine!  I’ll sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow I fly back home and am excited to see my family!

By |2011-11-26T07:28:38-07:00November 2nd, 2011|Church, Work-Related|0 Comments
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Trip to Napa and Driver’s Ed!

Today, Brittany started driver’s ed!  Yikes!  She’s really excited, but we are pretty nervous!  😐

We know she’ll do great, but the issue is that she tends to be a little more distracted in driving than Sarah is.  Her big issue is that she’s addicted to music and thinks that she has to have it on all the time.  I have a feeling that we’ll have to disconnect the radio in the their car so that Brittany will concentrate on the roads.  🙂  I’m sure she’ll be fine.  I think we were the same way when Sarah got her permit and started driving!  🙂

Also, today, I took off to Napa California for an executive briefing and technology discussion with Autonomy, one of our vendors we work with.  I’ve never been to the Napa Valley before and it is beautiful!  The weather is great too (upper 60s, low 70s)!  The hotel (the Auberge du Soleil) is absolutely incredible!  It is more of a resort than anything else!  When I got there, they checked me in, took took me on a golf cart tour of the property, and then dropped me off at my villa which is stunning!  🙂

There are a ton of perks and amenities here.  Everything in the room (snacks, food, etc.) is included free of charge, the pool area is absolutely gorgeous, there is a walking trail around a sculpture garden, a spa, jacuzzis, a relaxation pagoda with a Japanese garden, and much more.  I even have access to “borrow” 1 of 3 convertable Mercedes Benz vehicles to take a spin around the countryside with!  I wish I had more time than just this afternoon and tomorrow, or I would take them up on it!

How’s that for cool!  I guess everything is not “really” free, as the price of the room is around $900 per night!  😐  The service is impeccable and everyone really goes out of their way to make you feel important.  Far cry from a Motel 6, eh?  🙂  I heard that just 2 days ago, Julia Roberts was staying there for a getaway.  Just missed her!  🙂

I wandered around the property, enjoying the weather for the afternoon, and taking a ton of pictures.  The main house in itself with the pool area below is breathtaking!

Obviously you can tell I don’t stay in places like this too often, right?  🙂  After my stroll and relaxing afternoon, I went to a reception and dinner and met everyone that had come to the briefing.  It turns out that there were only 6 other companies represented, so it was quite the small gathering.  Dinner was absolutely outstanding!  We had poached main lobster with brown butter, orange, apple, and hibiscus for starters, then we had our choice of Fairytale Pumpkin Soup or Hopper Shrimp Risotto.  For the main course, we had Lock Duart Salmon and Spiced Local Lamb Loin, and for the dessert, we had Toasted Vanilla Angel Food Cake with strawberries and vanilla ice cream and Crisp Filo Wrapped Chocolate Dumplings with tarragon ice cream and arbequina olive oil!  Yum!

I met some great people and am looking forward to the meetings tomorrow.  It will be interesting to find out how these companies use the technology that we use and how we can better use it ourselves.  Well, I guess I’ll close for now and go to bed while eating the dark chocolate-dipped and dusted almonds they gave me for my “turn-down” snack.  🙂

By |2011-11-24T06:16:08-07:00November 1st, 2011|Home Life, Work-Related|0 Comments
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Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween evening tonight!  The boys were so excited to go out, they were ready as soon as they got home from school!  They looked so cute in their pirate costumes!

We went out around 4:30 to start the candy scavenging, and were out for about 3 hours!  The boys were not cold, they weren’t tired (until the very end), and they got a ton of candy.  For awhile, we went out with our neighbor and his two boys.

Kirstyn also went out with Ashley and they had a fun time as well.  They weren’t out for as long as we were, but they got a ton of candy as well. Brittany went out late with one of her friends but we didn’t get any pictures of her.  🙁

Unfortunately, Sarah had to work, but we did get a picture of her in her witch hat there at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!  🙂

When we finished up and the boys had their fill of candy, we sorted and bagged everything to be “rationed” out in the future.  If we didn’t do that, the candy would be gone the next day!  🙂

Happy Halloween everybody!

By |2011-11-22T06:43:31-07:00October 31st, 2011|Home Life|0 Comments
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Last Game and Trunk or Treat!

Today was Zach’s last football game.  He was sad that the season was over.  We as the coaches are kind of relieved but we will really miss the kids.  It’s been a fun season!

Tonight we had our Ward’s Trunk-or-Treat activity.  Everyone got dressed up in their costumes and we went to eat some food, enjoy our friends, and let the kids get some candy.  Angela, the boys, and I were pirates.  Kirstyn was a flapper girl from the 20’s, and Sarah and Brittany were princesses.

The dinner went very well and there was a ton of food to be eaten.  We filled right up and then the kids went upstairs to go through the Young Men’s Haunted Hallway.  The Young Men did a GREAT job with it and the kids loved it.  The only issue was that one of the young men left the smoke machine on for too long, and it set off the fire alarm in the building.  We finally were able to figure out how to turn it off, but the system is monitored, so it triggered a 3-alarm fire alert!  😐  The police arrived first and I told them it was a smoke machine, so he hurried and called off the “other” two fire trucks that were on their way.  One truck came and they inspected the building just in case.  We told the firemen they looked great in their Halloween costumes and offered them candy.  They got a laugh out of that.  🙂  Whew!  The kids all loved the sirens and the truck coming into the parking lot!  That’s a first!

After getting a bunch of candy, we helped clean up a bit and then came home.  Angela and I are tired, but the boys are wired due to all the sugar!  😐

 

 

By |2011-11-22T06:29:41-07:00October 29th, 2011|Church|0 Comments
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Metea Marching Band Banquet

Tonight was the Marching Band Banquet for Metea.  As usual, the food and entertainment were great!  The skits the kids put on to make fun of themselves were pretty funny, although 90% of the stuff they did was “you had to be there” things.  The directors were honored and the seniors were as well.  It was bitter sweet for Sarah.

The final performance was sad for them, but this was the “final” event for them as a marching band, and it was kind-of sad.  Brittany is looking forward to Marching Band next year, and Sarah will be auditioning for BYU Marching Band in the spring.

By |2011-11-26T06:45:17-07:00October 25th, 2011|School|0 Comments
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Kirstyn Fall Band Concert

Tonight, Kirstyn had her Fall Band Concert!  She did a GREAT job!  She has been practicing hard and really wants to do well.  She loves playing the clarinet.

Great job, Kirstyn!  Keep up the wonderful work!  We love to hear you play your music…

By |2011-11-21T06:00:47-07:00October 24th, 2011|School|0 Comments
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Storehouse Open House

Today was session #2 of the Bishop’s Storehouse Open House.  Sarah and Kirstyn went up and helped Angela with the event and they had a great time!  We had our neighbors come and they enjoyed it as well.

I brought up Brittany and the boys later on and we did a session.  Nothing got broken or messed up which made us very happy!  🙂

Overall, the 2-day event was very successful!  There were a ton of people that came up for the public open house and really enjoyed it.  It seemed as though the tours never stopped.  The boys particularly loved the refreshments!  🙂  When Angela came home, she gave a huge sigh of relief.  She had put tons of hours into working on this and it’s nice that it was a  huge success and that it’s finally over!  🙂

 

By |2011-11-21T05:53:10-07:00October 23rd, 2011|Church|0 Comments
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Dirty Football Game, VIP Tours, and B-Day Party!

Today was an insanely busy day!  We had our next to last football game and it was REALLY wet and muddy!  The kids were totally filthy by the time they got done.

It just happened to be the day that one of the team moms decided to take family pictures of everyone!  🙂  Because it was cold, I had my sweatshirt underneath my coach’s shirt.  When the family picture was taken, it looked like I have a huge spare tire around the middle (even more than I do right now) because my sweatshirt was bunched up.  🙂  Yikes!

After the game and haircuts for Zach and I, we spent the rest of the day preparing for the evening’s activities!  The Bishop’s Storehouse open house was tonight for VIPs.  Angela and the Public Affairs committee has been working on this forever and the time is finally here.   They had a bunch of VIPs come.  Among them was the Mayor of Aurora.  It turned out great!

In the meantime, the rest of us were preparing for Sarah’s huge 18th Birthday Bash!  She invited 50 people and we were very worried that we wouldn’t be able to fit them all in our basement, so we called the Anderson’s who live in NY now but still have their monster house here.  They said we could use their basement, complete with full kitchen, bar, popcorn machine, movie theater, full-size PacMan, ping pong, pool table, etc.  We decorated it up and then waited for the friends to come.  Angela joined us when she was done at the Bishop’s Storehouse.

Sarah and all her friends had a GREAT time!  There were about 35 or so that came, and there is definitely NO way we could have done this in our basement.  😐  They were all very respectful of the home and we were very glad for that.  The theme of the party was Black and White so everyone was supposed to wear those colors.  All the decorations as well as most of the food was black and white.  We got a bunch of pizzas, pop, and such and the kids hung out, watched a movie, played ping pong, pool, arcade games, and other games.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to take the group picture, some of the kids had already left.  The party was supposed to get over at about 10, but we were still down there with friends until past 11!  🙂  We then had to pack up everything and clean up the basement, so by the time we got home, it was almost midnight!  Whew!  We are really tired!  Happy Birthday, Sarah!

By |2011-11-14T06:47:16-07:00October 22nd, 2011|Home Life|0 Comments
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Senior Night at the Game!

Tonight was Senior Night at the football game.  They recognized all the seniors from the football team, cheerleading, marching band, and color guard.  It was fun!  Angela and I got to go down on the field and be recognized with Sarah and they gave a flower to Angela.

The marching band did a GREAT job!  It was the senior’s last performance and for some, it was very emotional.

We also won the game and ended up with a 4-5 record.  Not bad for having our starting quarterback out for the last half of the season with a busted-up knee.

By |2011-11-26T06:46:23-07:00October 21st, 2011|School|0 Comments
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