PRODUCTION BEGINS!!!

This was a totally exciting and exhilarating day!  It was our first day of production of The Vegas Splash!

We taped the show openings on the upper deck of the Desert Princess, as well as one of our interviews, then headed inside to the 2nd deck where all the lights, cameras, etc were set up.  

Below:  Sonia setting up inside; "A Minute with Mike" (LMC's Chef showing off some of his creations); Neill at the camera on the upper deck.

 

PM Digital Group is the best production team I could ever hope to work with.  They're a great group of professionals who are as much fun as they are good.  They're all incredibly hard workers.  Our producer, Trip, did some great pre-production work along with Neill and Sonia and we ended up with 4 incredible shows!  Below are pictures of some of the show tapings ... The first is a picture we took as soon as I got home and found the flowers the family (thank you Brookie!) got for me!  What a sweet surprise!  Next is Neill with all the equipment; The me tasting one of Chef Mike's INCREDIBLE creations; Then, perhaps the most entertaining and crazy interviews I've ever done - The Sinister Minister and his side-kick; The next picture is from our "Heart Healthy" show - we have Doug Shepard, Fitness Expert and Dr. Jone Flanders, cardiologist.  Then the picture is of a Beatles impersonator, Andrew Hill from Australia - he's part of the group:  Sixties Mania who performs on the Strip regularly.  The next is a picture with the head guys from the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation - incredible people doing incredible work.  Trip Mitchell (producer) is on the right in that picture.   

The whole day was fabulous. Looking forward to next Friday!!!!  Oh - our TV debut is Saturday, March 27th at 9:30 am on Las Vegas One (cable channel 19) ... don't forget to watch!

 

Another Commercial

This one is for "The Boat House" - a restaurant located at Lake Mead Marina in Boulder City ... the food is FABULOUS!

Two of the COMMERCIALS for our new TV Show, THE VEGAS SPLASH!

Here's the commercial for Back Bay Botanicals

And below is the commercial for Wrangell:

BRAD BLOGS!!!!

Brad has just completed a really great DEMO CD with music and original poetry.  For those who don't know, he is an amazing musician.  Anyway, Trevor talked him into starting a blog dealing with his art.  So everyone check it out at:  HisWondersInTheDeep.blogspot.com ... there's a link on this blog.

WONDERFUL WEEKENDS

We are so grateful we were able to move here a year and a half ago. Between planned visits and surprise last-minute visits, we've been able to be together as a family so often! We are really, really GRATEFUL!  

A week ago Jace helped me make a "green smoothie" full of life-sustaining goodness for our bodies ... he then DRANK ALL OF HIS and LOVED it!  GOOD JOB JACE!!!  

So anyway, we knew that Trevor and Caci & Jace would be spending a night or two with us over Valentine's Weekend, but what we didn't know - for a while anyway - was that Brookie and Steven had a surprise visit planned.  Well, Steve contacted us and arranged for a reverse surprise for Brooke.  We snuck into their hotel room at the Stratosphere before they arrived and decorated it as per Steven's directions (he's such a romantic!).  Included in the decorations were Brooke's favorite chocolates ... So, really, Brooke was the one surprised.  The hard part for us was waiting for Saturday to come so they'd be at our house.

Thinking they'd get here sometime Saturday afternoon, and not expecting Trev & Caci till evening, Bryan and I took a morning trip into Vegas for his belated birthday present.  He got some money specifically for a swap meet and/or antique store.  Bryan was a trooper to let me snap this shot outside of this GIGANTIC swap meet.  Once we stepped inside, it was like we had left America and were in an unknown 3rd-world-country!  We had a blast together, working our way through the maze they called a swap meet.  When we were reasonably sure we'd seen everything, we left ... didn't actually purchase anything, but we THOUGHT about it!  It was a fun time together.

Steven and Brooke surprised us with a Valentine's gift certificate to OUTBACK ... Hooray!  We completely enjoyed the BLOOMIN' ONION and our meals (Brad had shrimp & I had soup) Still we barely found room for this incredible dessert!  Yum, Yum, YUM!  Such a sweet night!

Brookie and Steve brought Wii ... so believe it or not, even with Trevor and Steven competing against each other, we all DID eventually get a chance to play!  Those two have FIERCE competitions!  The entire weekend was fun, crazy, and fulfilling!  Even with everyone's colds, and Brooke's MORNING SICKNESS (yay!) we all had a great time!

Fortress of the Bear Commercial

I made this commerical for The Fortress of the Bear in Sitka, Alaska! What do you think?!

THE REST OF THE TRIP

Caci and I had a great couple of days to relax and play.  A highlight was seeing these bears:

We enjoyed finding sanddollars and seaglass, looking for whales, taking pictures, and eating our last breakfast at the incredible Alaska Ocean View B&B in Sitka.  Bill and Carole are amazing - and I've never had better breakfasts!  But it wouldn't be a complete Alaska-Trip story without getting stuck on the way home.  The plane broke down in Ketchikan, so we ended up on United in San Francisco, then finally home after midnight - our luggage following us the next day.  I had the BEST time getting to know Caci and being together as girls!

SITKA STUFF

I don't want to take too much of my Sitka time to Blog ... but want everyone to know about the fun stuff we're doing.  So first, if you want details:  For now, go to my daughter-in-law's blog:  jtrevorchapman.com ... she's a great blogger.  I'll just post some pictures for now, then when I have down time I'll write.  Oh!  And Caci uploaded the Splash! TV episode where I interviewed her - it's on her blog, so check it out.Joshua and Camielle watching TV after a long day

Caci & Josh

This is my birthday present for the next decade from Camielle ... I LOVE it and hope I can actually get it home on this trip!

Sunday afternoon

Technical Director:  Caci

Caci conked out on the plane on our way here.

This last one is a picture of the boys on the day Bryan was ordained a Priest.  It was wonderful that Trevor was able to make the trip for this special day.  (Caci & Jace were there too!)