Shannon had all of her siblings and most of their kids in town this weekend, so it was a non-stop party. Thursday all the boys and Grace went to SpeedZone while Shannon and her sister went shopping. SpeedZone is awesome: mini Grand Prix track, real dragsters (on rails), kid go-carts and the crowd favorite: slick track go-carts. They throw baby powder on the track and all of a sudden it feels like you are driving on ice: four wheel drifts on the turns, bashing into sons and nephews at every opportunity. Friday we met Boatmans and the local Rennies at Universal Studios after school/ work then headed to our house to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. All the Vancouver natives were bursting with pride (and deeply embarassed at times…prairie dance girl/boy?…malfunctioning flame holder). Saturday we went swimming at the Claremont Club during the day and had a big party for Ty that evening. More Olympics. Sunday we went to Griffith Park observatory. It was an amazingly clear day: could see the ocean and snow-capped peaks by San Bernardino. The Hollywood sign was covered with a protest sign that said “Save our Peak”. Some developers were trying to build houses by the Hollywood sign. A bunch of groups got together this week and bought the land for $12M. After that we drove thru Hollywood, Beverly Hills and stopped at the LA temple. Next stop was Santa Monica beach. On Monday the Boatmans headed home. I went dirt bike riding with Dave and Paul on a really cool trail that starts just off I-15 at the Palmdale exit and goes thru tunnels under the freeway, up and over the hill to Victorville. Shannon and the girls played, shopped and went to lunch. Good times!