Dan's Recommend

Hello Family!!

Happy Birthday to Matt and Sarah. We need pictures and updates on how the big days went.

As for us, the highlight of the week was the golf tournament Dan played in on Tuesday. It started out as a low key day of golf with some guys from the ward, and then evolved into trophies, personalized shirts, a pre-round to determine teams and trash talking emails. (Don't worry Dan didn't respond to the emails. I did, however, the day of the tournament slash their tires. What?)

Anyway, after 45 holes of golf in one day, (which started at 5:30 in the morning) Dan finally returned home at 9 at night. We met at our favorite local taco place called Holy Guacamole (which includes a rough rendition of God touching Adam from the Sistine Chapel - however, this time God is handing Adam a taco) to go over the marathon day. When Dan got dropped off he called out to his friend, "Better luck next time." I instantly kicked into consoling mode and walked up to Dan to give him a hug. He then said, "I just didn't play that well." Again, I started in to how good of an attorney he is. He then dumped his stuff into my trunk and what falls out...but, a trophy for first place.

Good news: Dan took a day off of work and came home a winner. Bad news: Dan beat the 1st counselor in the Stake presidency and needs to get his temple recommend. I don't think we'll be going to the temple anytime soon.

Have a good week.

We're back from our leisurely drive through the unsurpassed southern Utah scenery, and interesting little towns in between. Of course, we found unexpected restaurant delights.....you can be sure that your dad still has a nose for such things! We encountered interesting people who choose to live in these remote areas, and with that have what seems to be a much different life style that us "city slickers." A highlight for me was in Blanding when I felt like I was back at Davis High School, as we observed the "big" little town event of a football game.....complete with all the super pride/spirit the close knit community expressed. The poor opposing team was from Kanab, and I almost felt like we should cheer for them as they had driven four hours just to get to the game!
The enjoyable time away seemed to be good for your dad, and as you can see from the photo, he's feeling his oats again. We're grateful for the medical procedure which went so well for him, and count on good heart health ahead.
We're spending a few more days back in St. George. It's hot, but still relaxing here.
Wishing all those school kids a good start AND 2nd week of their new year. We love you all!

Some pictures from the first day of school...

The gals were properly celebrated after school with some yummy treats!

Hick Round-Up

Hello everyone! Happy belated birthday Ollie and congratulations to Mom and Dad for 43 years of marriage!!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for Dan and I so here's some highlights. First of all, the restaurant is still rockin'. I swear everyday we get busier and busier. The other day we had a line out the door and who walks in, but Elton Brand. (For those of you who don't know who Elton Brand is - he played at Duke my freshmen year, then got drafted to the Bulls, then to the Clippers and now he plays for the Sixers.) As he was standing in line I could tell that people were recognizing him. We made eye contact and I started to debate if I should introduce myself beccause it's been at least 12 years since we were freshmen together at Duke. Finally, he made his way to my register and I took his order. After I finished the transaction, I said, "You probably don't remember me, but we were freshmen together at Duke." Immediately he responded, "I knew you looked familiar," and then reached over to give me a hug. Yeah, a hug. It was priceless to watch the line behind him and my co-workers. He then gave me his card and told me that if I ever wanted tickets or whatever to give him a call.

Now, as cool as it was to be remembered by a NBA star and to receive all the "Man, you are cool Kate" nods from other people I have to admit all I could think was this: Brand went to Duke for one year. I graduated. He could buy the restaurant that I work at 100 times over. Sort of made me laugh.

Other star sightings this week include Patrick Fishchler from Mad Men, Lost and Copland (not that I watch all those shows...) and Brian Benben (Private Practice) who is married to Madeleine Stowe (Last Mohicans).

As for Dan, he's now officially the top hours guy in his department. Great for him, sort of hard for us actually seeing each other. I would go in depth about what he's been working on, but let's be honest, I don't really understand it, and I've been sworn to secrecy.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and please stay on this blog!!

Hi Family....most importantly...Happy Birthday Ollie!

My bizarre event for the week was taking a Bikram yoga class for the first time last night. It entails intense yoga postures for 90 minutes in a 95 degree room....definitely one of the hardest physical things I have done to date. The room stinks and you drip with sweat, but I loved it! I went with three guys from the ward. That was weird because you try to wear as little clothing as possible. So, let's see half naked and sweating- we will talk to the bishop. My opinion has now changed on Hollywood starlets saying all they do to stay in shape is yoga...I believe!

One of the guys from last night is taking me on a date tonight. We are going to get sushi (major bonus points). However, he just turned 25...Can you say Mrs. Robinson?

Love to all

Elisa

I love the telephoto lens!

I don't have much to say, I just wanted to see if I could figure out how to post on this blog. I hope it's working. All is well here. Annie has her bone by her knee (osge-something) that is growing faster than her tendons? so it's really hurting her. The doctor says just load her up on ibuprofen and she'll be fine. Any comments on that, my knowledgeable sisters-in-law? I am sick that school starts so soon and just feel robbed. I thought time was supposed to freeze when you go out of town. The kids are all excited. We went to Weber Monday and Lily could hardly contain herself. She was out by the horses leading them around before I'd even unloaded the car. Annie kicked a soccer ball on the beautiful grass, Sarah quickly turned on some music and started dancing, and Jake managed not only to find a snake, but actually find a snake eating a bat, which he tried to hold in my face. Yuck!

We picked 55 ears of corn yesterday from the garden. They are so yummy! Barbara and Elisa, I've got to get some to you. I can't decide if I should clean the house, yard, or just let the kids swim because it won't be long before we close the pool. You can probably guess what I'll end up choosing. Sarah is very excited about her upcoming birthday, and the party keeps getting longer and longer. We might have to start the day before and extend it at this rate. So far the kids are going to come over and swim, then open presents, then have cake, then a pinata, then pizza, then... Anyway, I won't go on.

As you can see by their faces, these kids are much happier in Weber than on a tennis court.

Your dad's in St. George so the Diet Coke is out in the open. A crew is installing the ground floor carpeting....finally! I've just let the old Shadow Lane sofa go for yet another reupholstering. We're returning to blue. Your dad is hopefully going to relax and try to absorb all that's occurred with his health. I'm hoping it'll lift his spirits, and hence how he'll be feeling. When the carpet installers leave, I'm meeting an expert in Kaysville to evaluate antiques which mother collected, in anticipation of getting their house on the market. This estate stuff has got to come to an end!

I know Ollie turns 3 on Friday, and it makes me remember how we celebrated his first birthday in Seabrook. Let's get back there next summer. I'm going to look in to a house.....end of June, first of July. How does that sound? I'm keeping this simple and "unparagraphed" so hopefully, some of you will "weigh in" as well. L/Mom

Hello From Santa Monica

Welcome to The Soulier Chronicles!! To kick things off here's a little round up on the Hicks.

As many of you know, I have started working at a local restaurant here in Santa Monica. It's called La Grande Orange (http://www.lagrandeorangesm.com/) and I love it. It's about a mile and a half from my house and my commute takes about seven minutes on my bike. It's a great restaurant for food and pastries, star sightings and hanging out on the patio watching all the Venice beach characters and Santa Monica hipsters. I typically alternate from going in at 8:30 in the morning and opening the restaurant at five in the morning. (Who knew the girl who wouldn't schedule a class before nine at Duke could wake up, shower and ride a bike at 4:30 in the morning.)

When I'm not at the restaurant, I'm usually asleep on the couch OR trying to take up golf. This has been the most humbling experience of my life. Sure Mongolia was tough, but slicing every ball I hit has definitely made me a much quieter and meeker person. However, as bad as I am, I am sort of addicted to the stupid game and love learning new things. For example, the other day I learned it's not proper to slam your putter on the green after missing a two foot putt, and it's not a good idea to call the guy ahead of you a jerk while he is practicing his swing for the 100th time.

As for Dan, he's still working like a crazy man. He's been extremely fortnuate at work and somehow has managed to dodge a couple of lay offs. We never thought babysitting, washing cars and massages would go so far, but apparently we made an impression on Dan's partners. No seriously, he's been awesome, and he wouldn't ever say it, but he's doing great at work. As for the St. George marathon - Dan is rocking it. On Saturday he ran 18 miles. We've been practing his finish and are open to suggestions. I am opting for both arms up in the typical "victory" stance and Dan wants to carry an American flag. Family, please chime in with any thoughts.

Well, everyone have a great week and please jump on this blog!