Brand New Deck!!

On the 10th of July we started the process of getting a new deck in my mom's backyard. Nate McArthur (that used to be in our ward) and his brother Dan, came and starting taking the deck apart. The next day they put Trex on the upper deck and poured cement for the lower patio. It stayed like this for 2 weeks, while the railing was ordered. This past Tuesday they came, built the stairs, and finished up the deck. Then yesterday they put the railing on!! It looks amazing!! The old deck was at least 15-20 years old. The slats were too far apart, and the railing was horrible (sorry dad), and there was no railing on the stairs! Xander was all too often coming in with slivers in his hands from the deck, so that is what sparked the decision to replace the deck! It is so nice, much bigger, and there is room for a table and chairs on the main deck! It will be nice to want to use it now! Enjoy the slideshow of before, during, and afters!!!

They are also putting railing on the front porch, but ran out of bolts, so it's not done. I will post when it's finished. (I will have to search and see if I can find a before picture of the porch too!)

SDCC Day 4

I promise this is the last post of our trip. As you can tell we had alot of fun, got to see a ton of cool actors, and we even got a ton of really cool free stuff. I loved going and wish that I could do this every year. Karri already bought her pass for next year, so we'll see if we can go back with her!

Day 4: waiting for the Trolley

When we got there, Karri immediately got in line for Hall H, (the big one where we saw Twilight) because they were starting the day with a panel for "Heroes"!! She waited for an hour or more, and we jumped in line with her after we got on the floor to buy some things.

The panel was awesome, the whole cast was there!! And they even showed us the upcoming season premier! Not just bits and pieces, THE WHOLE THING!! It is so mind blowing, I loved it! I realized that I didn't get a close up of Milo Ventimiglia "Peter Petrelli" but I did of the rest of them.

Cast shot / "HRG" Jack Coleman

"Claire" Hayden Panettiere / "Hiro" Masi Oka

"Parkman" Greg Grunberg / "Nathan Petrelli" Adrian Pasdar

"Maya" Dania Ramirez / Zachary Quinto "Sylar"

"Niki" Ali Larter / Sendhil Ramamurthy "Mohinder"

James Kyson Lee "Ando" / Cristine Rose "Angela Petrelli"

Afterwards there was a panel for "LOST" that had the writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. It was really fun because they were giving prizes out to the people that asked questions, ie: a mini panda bear, Dharma Beer, Dharma Ranch Dressing, and a "Jack" action figure, to name a few. When they were talking about the action figure, Matthew Fox came on stage and surprised everyone. He signed the figure and took a picture with the guy that was getting it. This was probably the funniest panel the whole time! (The 2nd pic is of Matthew Fox, it's the best one we got)

Afterwards we ran upstairs to get in line for the "Battlestar Galactica" panel and on the way up the escalators we saw 3 guys dressed up like people from the original BSG.
And Comic Con wouldn't be complete without a few Stormtroopers!!

While waiting in line for BSG there were people dressed up like characters from the show. The first picture is 2 couples, the first are "Helo" and "Athena" and the second are "Cally" and "Chief Tyrol" They looked awesome!! The second picture is "Six" and "Baltar" (these are the outfits from the miniseries) There was a guy dressed like "Admiral Adama" but I didn't get a pic :(

And here are pics from the panel:

James Callis "Dr. Gaius Baltar" / Tricia Helfer "Number Six"

Katee Sackhoff "Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace / Michael Trucco "Samuel Anders"

And surprise guests:

Jamie Bamber "Lee 'Apollo' Adama / Tahmoh Penikett "Karl 'Helo' Agathon"

It was so cool to be there! We were pretty far back, but still able to see the screens and hear what they were saying. I'm sad because they have finished filming the rest of the season, and that's it, the series is over :( And we don't even get to see the last 11 episodes until next year :(

Karri, Me and Pat after the BSG panel, while waiting for the "Chuck" panel to start.

A pic of the "Chuck" panel: the whole cast was there. But Pat and I don't watch, but I think we will now. They are very funny people and the show looks fun. I know my mom has a crush on Chuck, lol.

Then a cool picture of the banners in the hall as we were coming down the escalator for the last time.

A guy in an awesome "Bumblebee" costume from "Transformers".

And Pat with a cool "Iron Man" statue.

Our last picture: Karri was in the "Fringe" panel when Pat and I left, so I didn't get the best picture of us with the banner. We got a better one last year. (Told you Karri that we should have done the pictures on the first day!! lol)

Bye bye Comic Con! Thanks for the fun. Hopefully we will see you again soon!

Comic Con Day 3

Are you still with me??

Day 3: Karri wearing her awesome Dr. Horrible shirt, waiting for the Trolley.

Karri & I waiting to get on the exhibit floor.
There was a guy in a Pikachu costume and if you look closely you can see Pat's head above it!

This is Bodie Olmos he plays Brendan 'Hot Dog' Costanza on "Battlestar Galactica". He was giving autographs, but he is kind of a minor character. So I just grabbed a picture as we walked by. I am just wishing that I would have bought an autograph of Aaron Douglas last year :(

We got in line for the Joss Whedon, and got in to see a "Stargate: Atlantis" panel.
These pics are for you Gwen!!!
Joe Flanigan (I don't know what he's been on, but he sure is cute) / Robert Picardo (he used to be on "Star Trek Voyager")

Jewel Staite (she was on "Firefly"and the movie "Serenity")

Then it was time for Joss Whedon (the creator of "Buffy", "Angel" and "Firefly", just to name a few) and the gang from "Dr. Horrible's Sing A-Long Blog"!!
I realize that I haven't explained what "Horrible" is. Joss Whedon made a TV show of sorts for the internet about Dr. Horrible(Neil) and Captain Hammer (Nathan). It was only up for a very short time, but we were able to buy it on iTunes. They are going to put it on DVD soon too. It's so funny, the songs are amazing, and it leaves you wanting more.

My description doesn't do it justice, but when it comes out, I recommend everyone buy it! You'll love it!! (Actually you can still watch it online so go watch it now)

A few group shots: Simon Helberg (from "Big Bang Theory"), Felicia Day (she was on some "Buffy" episodes, this is who Karri & I got our picture with on Day 2 and I posted the picture already), Neil Patrick Harris (from "How I Met Your Mother"), and Nathan Fillion (from "Firefly")

A close up of Neil. We were sitting kind of close to a screen, so the pictures aren't that straight.
Afterwards they were signing pictures for those that won the drawing. So I got in the crowd and took some more pictures.

Joss Whedon / Neil Patrick Harris

Nathan Fillion

Pat & I went to a He-Man panel and there were girls dressed up like Teela and Evillyn

This is Robert Picardo (from Star Trek Voyager) and Jonathan Frakes (from Star Trek: The Next Generation) They were also doing autographs. I would have totally bought an autograph 8 years ago, but I have matured enough to just take a picture and move on. LOL (I would have loved to get in a picture with them, but that would have cost $15, and that is using my own camera for the picture. That's just ridiculous!!)

Pat, Me and Karri at the Sci Fi booth!
Huge LEGO Batman and Robin!!
Pat with a few Mandolorians from Star Wars!!

Pat loves Boba Fett!!
Ok, day 3 is over. I will post day 4 tomorrow, then I will give you a blogging break :)

Thanks for sticking with me!