A New Year!

(High flying jets made this in the sky above the Rose Bowl - how cool is that?)

Well, the holiday break is coming to a close and oh how I hate to see it go.

How we celebrated the closing of a year and the beginning of another:

Dec. 31st-

Bute (Ryan) picked us up at the airport and then Nick and I were off to Magic Mountain to ride as many roller coasters I could get Nick on! It was awesome! This time I was tall enough to ride the BIG ONES! We rode in the very front car on each coaster, and then laughed at our pictures afterwards, especially Nick's facial expression! The "X2" is now officially my favorite roller coaster- I give it a 10! Later that night, Nick, Bute and I went to dinner at "K-ZO" for some of the best sushi I have ever had in my life. We chilled at Ryan's afterward to welcome in the New Year. It was a great way to spend the last day of 2008!

January 1st-

We woke up and prepped ourselves for the Rose Bowl. We found some Penn State fans at the train station to Pasadena and were able to say our first, "WE ARE...PENN STATE"! It was a cool feeling being surrounded by other Penn State fans for the first time, we were like lost dogs who found their pack. Not too many Penn State fans in Utah! From the Pasadena train station (Bute- it's Memorial Park!) we walked to the stadium along with a crew of other people and I remember thinking how weird it was, this parade of people, almost marching, through this quiet residential neighborhood... before it suddenly opens up to a beautiful stadium tucked away in between hills. What a sight! Although our team lost, it was still an amazing experience. We were a part of the 95th Rose Bowl! I think all of us felt the appreciation in being able to attend such a huge event, one of our country's traditions. The stadium is beautiful and the perfect size I thought, where even the highest row still has great view. We found our way back to Bute's later that night and ended the day watching "our" movie, "The Big Lebowski". Another great day!

January 2nd-

Bute brought us out on his boat (from Marina Del Ray) and it was amazing to be out riding on the Pacific. We had dolphins swimming and jumping close to the boat and they even swam up to and right under the boat! I was so excited. That was my first encounter with dolphins and I fell even more in love with them. We also saw a lot of seals and Nick commented that they were like the dogs of the ocean. There was this one seal that seemed to be adopted by a pack of dolphins - he was swimming along and jumping up them, which looked pretty funny! It was refreshing and invigorating to feel the ocean waves again... to taste the sea salt... and feel the mist of ocean water on my face. What a way to end our vacation. I know we will be back! Thanks Bute!