Our first vacation in a few years happened to coincide with spring break. So, even though none of us were actually out on spring break, we're going to label our trip such because it fits.

You might be wondering why we chose Las Vegas as our destination. Several months - may have been over a year - ago Amber and I sat in on a time-share presentation that offered a free trip to hear their pitch. We originally chose St. George, with the intention of taking the kids. However, as time went on we learned that the award company offered very meager packages to St. George and many more perks for America's playground. With prospect of receiving more freebies we moved our destination a few hours south of Utah's dixie land to Nevada. Still, the plan was to experience the trip as a family.

In the months leading up to our expedition I took on a second programming job, performing some contract work with a company called Logicalis in Seattle. The work was challenging and fun, but the schedule was brutal. In addition to my full-time day job at the university I was adding an additional 30 hours a week programming late into the night and on weekends. It was during one of these coding spells that I felt enormous gratitude for Amber's support in my added employment. Thinking of ways I could make it up to her, the thought of secretly arranging childcare for the trip and then traveling as a couple felt like the way to go.

To help with childcare I contacted Ambers sister Stacy, whose daughter Sienna is close to Ashley in age, and my sister Julia, who doesn't have any kids as small as Andrew and thus I thought would be a good fit. Both agreed to help, although my sister Jenna eventually convinced Julia to take Andrew. I never knew my kids were so popular.

Our hotel reservations put us in Vegas during the non-peak time of the week - Tuesday through Thursday. We were already in Orem the weekend prior for the Easter holiday, so we spent time with family on Monday before we headed south. Monday night I met up with some friends in Salt Lake to attend an amazing rock show of a british band called Muse. It was the most amazing concert I've ever seen. I was already a fan of the music, but the attention to detail in the production was astounding.

Jenna's family graciously let us crash in their basement on Monday night. This worked out doubly well as they live about a mile from the venue where I attended the show and they were going to be taking Andrew in the morning. Already sleeping there simplified our departure immensely. After packing up and leaving Andrew with Jenna we traveled down to Utah county to leave Ashley with Stacy. Both drop offs were executed flawlessly and we were on the road to Nevada in no time.

The first stop on our trip was the In-N-Out Burger in St. George, which is conveniently located next to the outlet malls. Following the consumption of the tasty burgers we made our way around the various outlets, making sure that we weren't missing out on any killer sales. It turns out that we weren't, so our stay in Dixie was short.

Upon our arrival in America's Playground we checked into the Riviera, located on the older end of the Strip across from Circus Circus. The rooms were pleasant, however the rest of the hotel was a little dated. This didn't matter too much as most of our time was spent exploring all the different places along Las Vegas Blvd. Our vacation package included some gift certificates to Planet Hollywood at Caesar's Palace. Finding the restaurant was a little tricky, as you might imagine. There are two commercial structures that are designed to keep you captive: shopping malls and casinos. So, when a casino, Caesar's Palace, designs a shopping mall finding your way around such a building can be maddening. After correcting ourselves from taking a few wrong turns we eventually found the place and were able to sit down to dinner.

Our only full day in the city started with sleeping in late - thanks to no kids - and going for a six mile run. This brings up the topic as to why we chose to go on vacation while in the middle of training for a race. We're not exactly sure, but whenever we head out on a trip together in the future - probably in another seven or eight years - we don't plan on going while preparing for any kind of race.

With the mid-day run we didn't get out to see anything until well into the afternoon. To save some time we drove down to the south end of the Strip and parked at the MGM Grand so we could see everything on that end of town without taking the 2.5 mile walk. After hitting up ESPN Zone - one of my personal favorite stops of the trip - for lunch, we headed over to M&M World before deciding that we wanted to see a show. Following several recommendations we chose to see the Cirque du Soleil perform "O" at the Bellagio. Cirque du Soleil is a company known for mind blowing acrobatics. This particular show was set mostly around water scenes. The stage for the theater was particularly impressive as the floor moved in several places. At one moment the water on stage was deep enough for a performer to take a 50-foot dive off a trapeze. Then, a minute later the same pool would be shallow enough for other performers to be running across the surface.

The one drawback to the show was the fact that we decided rather late to attend and the performance was sold out a few days in advance. We took the gamble of waiting for over an hour in the standby line - observing how people played poker in the next room while we waited. When show time approached the usher tried to get rid of the single seats first. Faced with the prospect of not getting in at all we took the chance and accepted to sit on opposite sides of the theater. Once we got inside it was a little disappointing to find each of our rows half-full at best, meaning if we would have waited for seats that were together we would have most certainly gotten into the show.

Thursday began with another lazy morning, followed by a run. This one was only three miles, and I think we may have fudged even that. While packing the car, after checking out of the Riviera, Amber decided she wanted to take our chances on the slot machines with the change in our car. After pulling the lever a few times on a penny slot I struck pay dirt - winning 400 credits. This meant I could pull the lever 400 more times, or walk away with $4.00 cash. I chose the later, and do believe I spent it all in one place.

Returning to our kids was an entertaining event. While away we had been told that Ashley and Sienna declared one of the days that they spent together as, "the best day ever!" Ashley was so tuckered from three fun filled days with her cousins that she barely opened her eyes when we took her out to the car. The next morning we arrived at Jenna's house only to have Andrew collapse and cry at the first sight of us. He was clutching a cereal bowl, and thought that since we arrived he would loose the chance at some more cereal. We made sure the boy had his fill before hitting the road for a final time to return to Logan.

Before jumping into the details of the second day of our trip I should mention that Florence, aka Masma, was cremated, much like her husband Jim, aka Paspa, when he passed on nearly ten years ago. Seeing her remains as a mass of ashes really brought meaning to the scripture, "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

All of the events of this day include Masma being with us.

The second day of our road-trip of rememberance began with a trip out to picturesque Donner Lake, where our Truckee based group of McAllister men gathered to remember Florence. Nate led us to a quiet spot close to the eastern shore of the lake. Memories and laughs were shared. The feeling was very light and enjoyable.

Nate remembered Masma's lemonade, and I talked about Masma's dedication to keeping her mind sharp - always completing the daily crossword in the newspaper. Brent offered a prayer while uncle Peter led us all in a buddhist chant.

The chant that Peter taught us said, "Nam myoho renge kyo." I don't remember what each word meant, but I remember that he mentioned that it had something to do with devotion.

After snapping some pictures and exchanging farewells, we let Nate get back to his workday while the rest of us descended the western slopes of the Sierras, on our way to the coast. We didn't take the most direct route to our destination. While passing through Sacramento we stopped off to see the temple that was built since the days I served there as a missionary.

Once we crossed the Bay Bridge into San Francisco we exited the Interstate and drove along the Embarcadero to see the city and the piers along the bay. We made our way through the north side of the city, up by the Golden Gate Bridge, and latched onto scenic Highway 1. This is a stretch of road that hugs the Pacific coast, and is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the world.

We started in Pacifica, just outside of San Francisco, and made our way south toward Pigeon Point. The fog overtook the Golden Gate bridge and covered our drive down the coast. It wasn't until we came to Pigeon Point, where we could see our destination at Franklin Point, that the sun brooke through. The timing was perfect as the sun lit the beach where we were heading and little else.

Bill and Peter were waiting for us at the head of the trail that led out to the point. Bill's older son Joe pulled up moments after our arrival. We trekked through the sand and dune grass out to the point where we had laid Paspa's ashes nearly a decade earlier. We shared a similar moment as that morning in Truckee with prayer and chanting before Peter - the youngest, and probably most nimble of the three brothers - scampered out onto the farthest rock point and laid his mother's ashes to rest in the sea.

Everything happened so quickly. Just over a week ago, while spending the morning at home with a fever-laden baby, I received a call from my mother. She informed me that my paternal grandmother, known to us as Masma, was not doing well and was only expected to live another 24 hours at the most. That was a week ago Tuesday.

Looking at the big picture, this shouldn't have come with much surprise. Masma was 92, and she had lived a life that was full and memorable. She was moved from a facility near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area to a very comfortable place in Provo, Utah six months ago. Reasons for the move were two-fold: she had a large concentration of grandchildren in the area, and the cost of living was considerably lower.

We enjoyed having her more accessible in Utah, and I would like to think that she enjoyed the attention she received from the extended generations of posterity that came to visit her.

By Tuesday night I was driving south to Utah county to meet with my mom and sister Julia, who were sitting with a mostly unconscious Masma. We sat and reminisced late into the evening before my dad arrived from the airport at about 11pm.

I ended up sitting next to my dad, at Masma's bedside for the rest of the night. Dad and I talked quietly at times, but mostly sat in silent thought. We noticed her breaths grow increasingly farther apart, and at 2am I watched the life drain from her face as she passed peacefully into the next life.

Now, a week later, I find myself sitting in a motel in Truckee, California. My dad and I departed from my sister Jenna's place in Taylorsville this morning and picked up my brother Brent at the Reno Airport this afternoon. Our journey across Nevada was highlighted by an audio book by T. Boone Pickens and the occasional Cat equipment sighting. We met up with my dad's brothers Bill and Pete and connected with Bill's son Nate, who lives in Truckee, just before he left for work at the Drunken Monkey.

Dad, Brent, Bill, Pete, and I drove down to Lake Tahoe from Truckee and explored the area surrounding the lake before skipping rocks off of its banks. We finished the night by enjoying some decadent sushi rolls at the Drunken Monkey with Nate as our server.

Among the major highlights of the last quarter is Ashley's third birthday. We celebrated by taking her to a local establishment called the Cache Valley Fun Park. This facility has an enormous play-land area. Large enough for myself to climb around the tubes and shoot down the slides. I didn't even get stuck once. Although, my knees were grateful when it was time to grab some chicken stars and head home for cake.

In the days leading up to Ashley's birthday Andrew embarked on the whole new world of solid foods. As you would expect from our posterity, Andrew likes food. He embraced the solid stuff from the first slurp, and is still eating like a horse.

I feel fortunate to still be employed as the economy is taking it's toll at Utah State University. Work started getting weird when the university issued a mandatory week-long furlough for all employees during spring break. After getting over the idea that I was getting a cut in my salary for the year, I was grateful that USU gave us the time off for the missing compensation. We decided to take full advantage of the week together as a family.

Our main activity was a day trip to the exotic land of Ogden, Utah. We descending from Cache Valley to visit the Treehouse Children's Museum on tip from a friend at work. Ashley loved the place. We arrived early in the day and stayed to well into the afternoon. Ashley was on the young end of many of the activities and exhibits, but she still enjoyed herself. And, I see us going back for many years to come.

A price we pay for living in the paradise that is Logan is the occasional spring snow storm, of which we've had a few this year. Spring break, the first week of March, actually opened with a hefty snowfall. There was enough fresh powder to build a snow princess in the backyard. Today was actually the first time that our entire yard was vacant of snow this year. It was a nice day.

Another nice day was a few Saturdays back when we met the rest of the McAllister cousins in Salt Lake for a free Real Salt Lake soccer game. The team opened up the stadium and invited the public to watch the final preseason match between RSL and a second division side. The weather cooperated perfectly, so that our three families - mine, Jenna's and Julia's - combined to nearly take over a section of the soccer stadium.

On a somber note, we enjoyed gathering relatives on Amber's side of the family as we honored the life of her aunt Mary who passed away this last month. Mary always liked to have fun, and thoroughly enjoyed life. She will be missed, but we know she is much more comfortable without having to deal with the pains of mortality any longer.

That's about it from us. Pictures of the described events will follow soon in shutterfly. As always, if you don't receive our shutterfly emails and you would like to please let us know and we'll get you on the list.

Utah is gorgeous. Especially at this time of year, when the mountains are covered with snow. The beauty is priceless and inspiring, yet it has it's downsides. In order to get from one city, say Orem, to another, say Logan, on the other side of these majestic peaks you eventually will have to travel through a deep gorge cut through the mountains known as a canyon.

The canyons of Utah strike fear into hearts of motorists, especially in the winter. Take, for instance, our drive today as we travelled home from Orem after spending a fantastic weekend with family and friends. Our drive from Orem to Brigham City was accomplished in fantastic time and with relatively no hazards. Of course, when you gradually descend 338 feet over 97 you wouldn't expect much of a change in climate or road conditions.

However, ascending out of Brigham into Sardine we knew our fortunes would change as the highway message board glared down a warning about Snow Tires or Chains being required by all who dared to pass. We dared.

The wet roads quickly turned to slush, then wisps of snow increasing to thinly packed snow, and finally to unplowed standing snow on the highway by the time we reached Sardine Summit. At this point I started to think that the sign at the mouth of the canyon may be speaking a bit of truth, so I decided to pull over and grab the snow chains out of the trunk.

I fumbled through the snow for several minutes attempting to untangle the twisted pieces of inter-connected metal with no luck, realizing that standing in a blizzard wasn't the most ideal time to be come acquainted with my chains. Watching the dozens of drivers pass safely over the summit, with not a set of chains in sight, I decided that we would be fine.

Just as I turned to take the chains back to the trunk the snow plows decided to start working on our section of the highway. I ducked behind car to avoid the wave of ice blocks and powder being thrown over the car by the enormous blade. Two more plows passed before I could get back into the drivers seat, and I was excited to get out onto the freshly plowed road.

The problem was that all the snow that was in the middle of the highway was now piled nicely into my car. I hit the gas hoping to claw out of the mess, but it was no use. We were stuck.

Amber and I proceeded to pull the snow away from our wheels by hand, in hopes of creating some room to budge when a nice girl in a pickup pulled up and offered to pull us out. With seemingly no effort her little Toyota pulled our helpless Hyundai out of the deep snow and onto the road.

For the rest of the trip I never broke 30 mph as we crept out of the canyon and across Cache Valley to our home. Now, we're safe and warm with a descent story to tell. Enjoy the photos that Amber snapped during our journey.

Also, here is a link about Sardine when it's not covered in snow. Look at #2 on the list. Apparently, we're not the only ones you appreciate it's beauty.

What started as a weekly email has now degraded to a bimonthly blog. We last wrote just before Halloween, where Ashley masqueraded around the neighborhood as a bumble bee. It didn't take long for her to understand exactly how Trick-or-Treating worked. Before we realized what was happening our quick visit to immediate neighbors turned into a trip around the block with Ashley running from house to house in search of more candy.

That same night was the start of the USU basketball season. As mentioned in our previous post, we sprang for season tickets thinking this was going to be a special season. So far, it has appeared that the basketball team has been hanging out with the football team. But, the games are fun to attend.

After her initial first game jitters Ashley has settled in to the whole basketball game routine. She'll now clap when the crowd does and knows the name of our star player, Jaycee, our coach, Stew, she can make the sound for "woosh" when ever the Aggies make a free throw, and most importantly, her favorite phrase is, "Goo Aggies!"

Thanksgiving brought family together from all over the northern part of the state. The first annual Family Soccer Game was organized at the Bicentennial Park, just behind Jen's (Amber's sister) house in Provo. Representatives from both Amber and Scott's families were in attendance, and fun was had by all who were there.

The day concluded with an extremely pleasant meal at the Bagby homestead, surrounded by family and friends alike.

One major difference from our celebrations of previous Thankful weekends was the omission of Black Friday observance. In years past, we would get up before dawn with the rest of the bargain crazies and stand out in the cold to get get some nifty gadget for next to nothing - after completing the mail-in rebate, of course.

No, this year we decided to sleep to a normal hour. Amber went out to the stores after they opened and was still able to get all the deals we were remotely interested in. Feeling rested for the remainder of the weekend was welcome change, and helped to keep all activities pleasant.

As the Christian-American population is aware Thanksgiving signifies the formal start to the Christmas season. Each year the Holidays get more and more exciting as Ashley learns more about them. This year will be remembered as the time when Ashley learned about the Christmas Tree.

A couple of weeks ago, while Amber was visiting with a neighbor in their kitchen, Ashley was playing with a couple of the neighbors kids in the front room. The oldest of the neighbor kids came into the kitchen, where the ladies were talking, to get some food. At that moment there came a loud crash from the front room, followed by Ashley erupting into tears.

Running into the room, the reflex of the mother of the two children was to yell the name of the child still in the room where the crash was heard, and the crying was still pouring from. However, the adults found that said child was fast sleeping on the couch while the balling Ashley stood next to the festively decorated tree - now lying on the carpet.

Embarrassed by the destruction that our child accomplished, Amber excused herself and Ashley after helping to pick up pieces of some broken ornaments. After such an experience, we really don't mind that according to Ashley all brightly decorated trees are called, "kiss-mass tree. no touch!".

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The sprinklers are so done. In fact, they are so completely done that I don't even want to talk about them. Just know that they are connected, working properly, buried, and there is even grass seed germinating in the soil above them.

All credit on those has to go to Amber, who single handedly polished off the yard while I was in Chicago a few weeks ago. While I was geeking out at a software conference, she was taking every possible chance to get our dirt level, holes dug for trees, and even had time to build a little retaining wall in the backyard. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I should just stay out of the way while she works her magic. Although, I think I'll be in charge of mowing next year.

Wintery weather has been creeping into Cache Valley, and for a college town like Logan that could only mean one thing - basketball season. With our football team that gets national recognition for how bad they are (seriously, this image is not a spoof: ), most of the locals around here can't wait for the basketball season to tip-off on Halloween night.

The numbers don't lie. 8,543 brave souls showed up for the pillow fight against Louisiana Tech last Saturday. While the basketball team repeatedly packs it's 10,000 seat arena throughout the season. Let's be honest, who really wants to pay to see a football team who is 0-14?

Amber and I were pretty bummed last season when we only made it out to one basketball game, so this year we've changed that. We'll be parked on row 22 in Section Q for the entirety of the season. We even lined up a babysitter for most of the games so that Ashley doesn't have to succumb to the eardrum piercing contests that will take place later in the season.

Speaking of Ashley, she learned her first game tonight. We were playing Pass the Pig at a friends house and Ashley took over Amber's turn about halfway through the game. Before each roll she would look down at the two pigs in her hands and say, "piggie". A big grin would then grow across her face as she would drop the pig game pieces on the table. The team of Ashley and Amber ended up winning the game.

Two and a half months into my employment change I already have by boots securely in the stirrups of my new surroundings. I would be lying if I said the transition was silky smooth, but the important thing is that everything at work feels pretty good now.

Our summer, to this point, has revolved around shaping the masses of rocks and dirt around our house into something that resembles a yard. With the aide of a borrowed Landscaping Rake, yesterday's task was to even out the recently tilled dirt and sift out the last of the large rocks. Success was measured by the fact that we completed the task before noon and were able to escape some of the hottest hours of the 100-degree day.

Some highlights of fun-ness have been the Robertson (Amber's Mom's) Family Reunion at the Heber Valley Camp. To call it camping is a stretch, as each site is equipped with a sink, natural gas hookups, full-sized refrigerator, and bathrooms complete with hot water and warm showers. Our site centered around three cabins that each had bunks for 16. From what I understand, the prices are very low because the guests are expected to help out with keeping their sites clean. With that said, it was super fun and we hope that it becomes a yearly tradition.

It may even be a great place for a McAllister gathering, should we want to meet up in the mountains of Utah.

Another very high note was the wedding of Amber's sister Lara to Eric Izant - which took place the same week as the excursion to Heber Valley. It was a wonderful occasion on a beautiful day. Plus, it will be nice to have a third male to rotate with in pulling names for Christmas.

Ashley is getting more sure on her feet as the days tick by. Her vocabulary is also expanding. Her latest additions have been, "book", and "nigh-night".

Amber continues to amaze with her juggling of motherhood, work, and coordinating help and advice on the yard. Work has been especially busy with a software upgrade that she spearheaded. Although the end result was a complete success, she is grateful for back-ups, and only had to restore the database once. And, if she can get a few minutes to clink some notes on the piano Ambers day is nearly perfection.

I had the opportunity to geek out at a ColdFusion (the programming language is code in) conference in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the month. The week provided a chance for me and my co-workers to be filled with information on best practices and new technologies. While we were there, my brother Bryan drove three hours from Pennsylvania to hang out with us for an afternoon.

He chauffeured us out to the new Air and Space Museum where we were overloaded with cool and historic aviation artifacts. Among the highlights were the SR-71 (fastest plane in the world - travels more than 3 times the speed of sound), Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Enola Gay. We rounded out our stay at the museum with an IMAX film about fighter pilot training and a trip up observation tower, before completing the day with an introduction to Five Guys Famous Burgers. It could best be described as a east coast In-n-Out.

Until next time, don't be strange...

I guess, since I didn't burn the place down when she left back in October, Amber trusted me enough to head down to Las Vegas for four days this week. She claims that the trip was "for work", but it's well known that what happens in Vegas stays there.

While she was away, I had the opportunity to take a few days off work to stay at home with Ashley. What a great excuse not to go to the office! By the end I was quite sad that live would have to return to normal. Ashley's major accomplishment for the week was her new trick of being able to climb the stairs.

It first happened while I was talking on the phone in the kitchen and Ashley was down at the base of the steps. During my phone call I looked down and saw her at the bottom, which was a common site. Ashley has made it a habit recently to perch at the base of the stairs just to be close to what ever action is occurring up in the kitchen.

By the time I made a lap around the kitchen and gotten off the phone I returned to the staircase only to find my daughter on the second to last stair, just about to reach the summit of her first ascension. Just as she lifted her knees up onto the kitchen floor Daddy got a little excited with loud clapping and cheering. Such a startling reaction brought poor Ashley to tears. Stupid, Dad.

With just over four days experience, Ashley now cruises up and down the stairs on all fours quite effectively. Mom returned from Vegas safely, and happily. Dad finished the week at work, which even included going in on Saturday (although that had nothing to do with him taking the previous three days off).

Well, it's not exactly forgotten, but I think NBC would come after me if I would have used Lost in the title.

In an attempt to be cute I spliced together our short clips that we gathered from the McAllister Family reunion, that took place back in August. Previously, I had thought this tape was gone forever. To our relief it was found and now you can share in our memory of the McAllister Cousins Bakers Dozen Reunion 2006.

I should mention that video file is rather large and may not play immediately. You may even have to click on the triangular play button to get 'er goin'.

Reunion Video