Basement fun

What is the primary advantage of having old beat up couches that you don't care about? You can use them for crash pads! Our kids and their friends had a great time saturday doing stair sledding and then learning to do flips into a cushion pile. Check it out:

The Numbers

This morning Sam got out a piece of paper and wrote the numbers 1 - 30 on it. Then he told me that he had made it for Gracie so that she could learn her numbers. He then proceeded to teach Grace her numbers, he is the sweetest big brother ever. Here is some live footage:

Brunch with Belle

If there is one thing that our little princess likes, it is well, princesses. She likes pictures of princesses, books about princesses, movies about princesses, and wearing princesses dresses. So when our local high school decided that they were going to put on the play "Beauty and the Beast" and that they were going to have a lunch before hand were you could meet Belle and the other characters, we just knew we had to take her. She and Con went with one of Con's friends and her daughter and it may have been the happiest three hours so far in our little princess's young life.

Capitol Reef National Park

In October we went on a fun trip to Capital Reef National Park. I have been meaning to make a music video about it, but just haven't had time. So, until I do, here are some pictures from our adventure.

The first day, we picked apples on one of the many orchards there and went for a hike in Capital Wash called "The Tanks.”









The next day we took a beautiful drive down to a hike called Calf Creek Falls. This drive winds through the mountains and all the leaves were changing. It was spectacular.



Calf Creek Falls is a three mile hike ( 6 miles round trip) to a 120-foot waterfall. There is a brilliant contrast between desert and greenery all along the way. The falls themselves were beautiful and we saw some fish a giant raven. Sam and Grace were really tough and walked about half of the time. Connie and I were really tough and carried them about half of the time.

Halloween

Yup, I know Halloween was last month, but no family blog would be complete without Halloween pictures. We tried something fun for this Halloween. C found a cool idea in a magazine where you make orange tie-dye shirts and then color pumpkins into the tie-dye circles.


Making the dye.

Tying the shirts

Dying the shirts


One of the finished products


For Halloween itself Sam was a ninja and Grace was, of course, a princess.

A new era

Well, the election is over. No one knows what the next 4 years will bring, but if people of all political leanings show the same class and efforts to support unity that both candidates showed last night then I think it could be very good for our nation. Of course it is a lot easier to give eloquent speeches than it is to actually implement ideas in real life, but for anyone who missed either candidate's speech you really should read them and think about what they said. I think Obama was classy in that he emphasized the greatness of America and recognized the importance of listening to all points of view. I think McCain was also very classy as he emphasized the greatness of America and the importance of being united as a nation and that the strength of America comes from the democratic process.

Barrack Obama's acceptance speech is here

John McCain's concession speech is here

Added Note: If you have ideas of how we as a country can promote unity between people with different political views, feel free to leave a comment. If you want to discuss the pros and cons of either presidental candidate, there are plenty of forums for that. This is not one of them. Thanks!

Be an informed voter

It is that time again. The presidential election. I am not going to tell who to vote for. But I am going to strongly encourage you to not be ignorant. There is an incredible amount of lies and ignorance surrounding the current campaigns. Many people are too lazy to find out the truth and just rely on what their friends and family say or what they hear on the radio. Here is some examples of incredible ignorant people on both sides:

McCain supporter saying she doesn't trust Obama because he is arab

Interviews with some uninformed Obama supportors


Below I have listed some good links to read to help inform yourself about actual issues the next time someone make some outrageous claim about either candidate or tries to boil down the complex issues facing our nation to single words like conservative, liberal, or socialist or capitalist.

First, the candidates' actual websites and actual quotes from the candidates on various issues:

John McCain's website

Barack Obama's website

Procon.org, a website with candidates statements on various issues


Second, some websites checking up on the various claims made by the candidates

A site that checks that facts spouted by both sides

Snopes, a site debunking urban legends and spam emails from friends

CNN investigates misleading claims on both sides

Website addressing specific smears agains Barrack Obama


Third, for those of you who are LDS, the Church's stand on who you should vote for:
LDS Church statement of political neutrality

We will be garnishing one little girl's wages

Several weeks ago, our Honda Odyssey started exhibiting some strange behavior. We would be driving along and out of the blue, the speakers would start blaring static. Even if our radio wasn't turned on. If pushed different buttons or controls it would change the pitch of the static and then eventually the static would usually stop.

This would happen off and on and we hard time discovering any pattern to it. We hesitated to take it to a shop, because it was so inconsistent and we did know if we could reproduce while at the mechanics. Then last Sunday our parking lights came on by themselves and would not turn off. I had to disconnect the battery so that it would not drain overnight. Monday morning I took the van to a Honda dealer. By the time I got to the dealer, the parking lights had shut themselves off. I explained to the mechanic the weird electrical problems we had been having and he said they would try to track it down and that it was probably a short or ground somewhere in the system.

I called the mechanic several times throughout the day to see if they had found anything and they kept telling me the were still trying to track it down. Finally around 3:00 they called me. They said the problem was due to "an excess of change in the radio". That's right there was about 75 cents worth of change that had been stuck into the radio. Apparently inside the radio there are open wires and the radio itself is connected directly to one of the van's main computers. The change moving around would cause random shorts and grounds causing the strange behavior that we have seen.

So had to 75 cents get into the radio. Well, what we do know is that Connie caught Gracie trying to stick a quarter through the CD slot a few weeks ago. So best guess it that Grace had already stuck a few in by the time Connie caught her. The total bill to fix the van came to $270. So we will be garnishing Grace's wages for a little while.

Bike Thief

My faithful stead of the last 3 or 4 years, my Trek 1000 road bike got stolen last week.  For years I have it out in my car port the night before I ride it work.  Last wednesday morning I walked at 6:00 am to ride to work and it was no where to be found.  We later found that the thief had also taken Connie's purse from inside our van.  Though he was thoughtful enough to take the van and house keys that were in her purse and put them on the front seat. 

The Zoo

Saturday Kevin took Sam and Grace to the zoo while Connie did some stuff with her sister.

Look Ma! No training wheels

Sam shed his training wheels from his bike this week. He can totally start and stop by himself and go up and down hills. He is awesome!

Cutest Two Year Old In The World

Gracie just turned two! She is the cutest two year old in the world. For her birthday we got her a pink camelbak and a tricycle. For those of you who know Grace, a camelbak is the perfect gift. For a long time her 'lovey' has been a sippy cup, and she drinks so much water that we swear she must have died of dehydration in another life. One of her first words and one of her most common word still today is 'lellow', which means water. Why lellow means water we are not entirely sure. My personally theory is it is derived from the word 'bottle'. But anyway, it is clear that Grace loves water. So know with her pink Camelbak, she can get it whenever she wants.

Bear Lake

Connie's brother Rick invited us to his lake house up at Bear Lake. We had a great time and tried wake surfing for the first time. It was very fun. It is kind of like wake boarding, but you use a real surf board and you weight the back of the boat so that it make a wake big enough to surf on. You start with a tow rope and then once you get good enough to stay in the right part of the wave so you don't need the rope you throw it in. We never quite got to where we stay with the boat without using the rope a little bit, but that just means we will have to go again. Sam got to water-skiing for the first time. He didn't go behind a boat though, he was pulled behing a 4 wheeler in about a foot of water. It was amazing.

5k number 2

Connie and I decided to another 5k. We were in AF and saw the sign for Steel Days, which always has a 5k associated with it, and decided "why not". The last time we did a 5k , two months ago, I ran a 24:45 and so I decided I was going to try to run under 24 minutes. I hadn't really run at all since the last 5k but I had been biking a little and had done some work to increase my leg strength with according to some studies can increase running stamina. My race plan was simple: I would spend the first mile try to relax and get into a steady pace. I would try to maintain that pace for the second mile, and then the last mile I would run as fast as I could. Things did not quite go according to plan. The race started and I tried to get settled into a rhythm, but my legs felt heavy and I was breathing a lot harder than I would have liked. I didn't feel like I was running as fast as I needed, but I knew I couldn't speed up, because I was already struggling. I kept waiting to see the one mile marker. I waited. and I waited. And I waited. Until finally I concluded that either I was running horribly slow, or that there was no one mile marker. A little after that I reached what I knew was roughly the half way point and so I knew I had probably gone about 1.5 miles. The first half of the 5k loop is slightly uphill and the last half is slight downhill. I was not feeling particularly awesome and was starting to get a stitch in my side and kind of wanted to stop. But I decided I would not stop but would just try to relax and see if I could pick up the pace on the last half. I tried to pick up the pace, but I just couldn't. People started passing me and I really felt like just giving up. I thought there is no way I am going to run under 24 minutes. I felt like I was running 9-10 minute miles. I tried to make excuses for myself in my head. I told myself I not a runner anymore, so it is okay that I am really slow. I had just set a new PR for pullups this week (12) and I told myself at least I had more well rounded fitness than when I was a runner. A few more people passed me and I thought about trying to latch on to them and trying to keep up with them, but I just didn't have the motivation. I thought, "what is the point of pushing to run 9 minute mile pace instead of a 10 minute mile pace". Finally I got to where I knew there was just a few blocks left in the 5k. I decided it would be at least a better workout if I pushed the last 300-400 meters. I picked up my stride to try to keep up with a guy who just passed me. When we rounded the last corner to the finish line, we could see the race clock. I was expecting to see 27 or 28 minutes. Instead it had just hit 23 minutes! I was shocked. I sprinted the last little stretch to beat the guy who had passed me and finished in 23:13 for an average of 7:26 per mile. It was bittersweet. I was very happy I had shattered my goal of running under 24 minutes. I was dissappointed in myself for having given up so easily. I am sure if I had realized what my pace was I could have easily been in the 22s. I am also sure if I ran more I would have had a better sense of what my pace actually was. I probably won't do too much more running these summer, expect for some sprint workouts, but this fall when it is too dark to ride my bike to work, i will be replacing biking with running and I think I may just be able to get my 5k under 20 minutes again. That would be awesome.

Speaking of awesome. Connie finished her 5k in 35 minutes. That is awesome because she hasn't been running that much either and it is 10 minutes faster than her last 5k. I have no doubt she will be running under 30 minutes by the end of the year.

All in all, we had a great time and look forward to doing more athletic events together.

Family Reunion

Well, I hope the millions of people who read this blog are not disappointed we have not written for while. This last month we just got done planning and attended our biannual family reunion. We had a great time holding a film festival, hiking, camping, boating, knee boarding, tubing, watching fireworks, and holding our own amazing race. The week after we went to Zion's national park. Here are some picture from our family reunion. I will make a video of our trip to Zion's later. If you can't wait a moment longer to find out more about our trip to Zion's please see my brother's excellent write up of our hike through the Subway here. If anyone from the reunion has more pictures, please send them to us.

The end of an era

This week our white Ford Escort station wagon finally died. It sprung a leak in the radiator and then overheated and the engine seized.

It was a good and faithful car that even up until the end was getting 35 miles per gallon. I first bought in the spring of 2001 and its first big journey was when Connie and I went to California to visit Tad and Rebecca. We got engaged on that trip and also swam with sharks. Since that time it brought both of our lovely children home from the hospital and was our main car up until last year when we bought our Honda Odyessy because we thought the wagon was on its last legs. It held on for another year and even though the A/C and heater had stopped working, and the radio would fade in and out, it was really nice to have an extra car around. We will probably get another car soon. We bid thee farewell our little wagon!

Our Trip To Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon

We just got back from an awesome trip from Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon. Here is a compilation video of our trip, plus some pictures.

Our first 5k in years

Connie Pulls Her Friend Libby To The Finish Line

Today (Saturday, May 17) Connie and I ran the Ogden City Marathon 5k (To clarify, we did not run a marathon, we ran a 5k that was associated with a marathon). It was an exciting event. It was supposed to start at 7:00 am. We had recruited Connie's sister Christy to drive up early so she could watch the kids (who would still be sleeping). We had planned to leave our house around 6:10 to get to the 5k. At around that time, we called Christy to see where she was at, because she hadn't arrived yet. Well, as it were, Christy's alarm had failed to go off, so we woke her up with our call. So we made a quick change in plans. We decided Connie and her friend Libby (who had driven up to run the 5k with Connie) would go ahead and leave, and that I would wait for Christy and then go and start the 5k late. I did a warmup at our house and as soon as Christy arrived, about 6:45, I took off for the 5k.

I got to the start line at about 7:07 and there was no around, so I just started my watch and started running. I was a little anxious because I have only run 3 miles one other time in the last 6 years, and I didn't want to be the last runner straggling in. So I set what I felt was a nice steady pace and hoped I could catch up to someone. After just a few minutes, I caught up to some walkers and soon I was passing a lot of people and it got me excited. Just before the first mile marker, I saw Connie and Libbie walking and managed to give them a good scare as I passed by. Just as a side note, Connie could have run the whole way, but it was Libbie's first 5k and Connie was encouraging her through it. I passed the first mile in 7:10, which made me really happy (remember I haven't run hardly at all for years), but realized I should probably slow down, so I eased up a little. I did the second mile in 8:15 and with just one mile to go, tried to pick it up a little. I felt really good, though was definitely tiring, and then with about a half mile to go, I got a big ol' cramp in my right calf. I didn't stop running, but just concentrated on running as smooth as possible. I did the last mile in 8:25 and then the last additional 200 meters in about 1:00 for a total time of 24:45 (for an average of 7:55 minute miles). Nothing earth shattering, but I was pretty happy about it for not have done much specific training for it.

Connie and Libby came in about 15 minutes later. Libbie was pretty tired, but Connie was pretty fresh and peppy and was pumping Libbie up with how proud she was of her for finishing the 5k.

Libby's son Billy (who had been staying at our house while we did the 5k) was supposed to run a kid's mile at 12:30, but she was too tired to drive back up to Ogden again, so instead we took Billy and Sam to a local park that has a half mile walking track and had Billy and Sam do a race. We were a little worried that it wouldn't be very fun for Billy to race Sam because, Billy is 7 and Sam is 4, but it turns out Sam is in pretty good shape for a 4 year old and Connie had to make Sam wait for Billy a few times so that Billy wouldn't give up. But they both finished the half mile and we are very proud of Libby and Billy for their efforts to have a more fit lifestyle.

Physical Fitness Test

Tonight, I did the boy scout fitness test with my boy scout troop (I am an assistant scout master). The test consists of 5 events: 400 meter run, pushups to failure, pullups to failure, standing long jump, and situps to failure.


I challenged the boys that if they could beat me or come close (within 5), they could get a candy bar. If no one was close enough, than whoever was closest for the event would get a smaller treat. Before we started I went over how to each of the activities. This was mostly because in the past they tended to not go through the full range of motion for things like pushups and pullups and would get high numbers because they weren't really doing anything.

Here were my test Results:
400 meters: 1:18 Sad
Pushups (to failure): 25
Pullups(to failure): 11
Standing Broad Jump: 99" (8'3")
Situps(to failure): 62


We did the 400 meters first and I thought that I was going to die. It was on a grass course I had measured out with my bike, so I don't know my exact splits times but I would estimate my first half was in 35 seconds and my last half was in 43 seconds (total 1:18). I really need to work on my running. The closest boy was at 1:30. They really need to work on their running too. It took my about 5 minutes to calm my breathing and then for another 5 minutes after that my throat felt tight and I felt like I was choking. My anaerobic system definitely could use some improvement.

I did pushups next and got a respectable 25. For me that is lot and they were all well formed pushups with body straight and going all the way up and all the way down. One of the boys got 20 pushups, but did not win the big prize because his last 10 pushups he only went half way down.

After that I did pullups. I eeked out 11 well formed pullups, but I felt I should have been able to do more. I think I was tired from what I had already done and from a pullup workout I had done yesterday. Pullups are by far the boys biggest weakness. Most couldn't even do one. One did three. I am going to have whip those kids into shape.

Next I tried the standing long jump a couple times. My legs were total shot from the 400. The first time I did okay, but the second time I had nothing left and did worse than the first, so I just used my first jump as my test score and didn't try anymore. The long jump is one event where being significantly taller seemed to be a big advantage. I jumped 99" and the closest scout did 70" and he was one of the taller scouts.

The last event was situps. I hate situps and I was really tired, so I waited until all the boys went and did just enough situps to beat the best score.

We have to do the test again next month, so I think I am going to challenge the boys that if any of them improves all his scores by 5 he will get some kind of awesome treat (like a super size candy bar) and in addition, if I do not improve all my scores by 5, they will all get a candy bar.

Move it, Move it

Here is a video of Sam's parkour training that he has been doing this winter

It's mine! All mine!

After 14 months our Honda Odyssey is all ours! We made the last payment on it and now have no debt besides our house, yeah! We thought about paying it off sooner but we didn't want to wipe out our savings. The funny thing is, is that we originally bought it because we thought our white wagon was about to die. Though it has had one major repair, the white wagon is still going and is still getting up to 35 mpg. The heater doesn't work, and the A/C takes some major wrestling to get on, but it has served as a nice backup car when we need it.

High Flying Fun

The snow is starting to melt and so we have been playing in our backyard more. We converted one of our swings into a trapeze and it has been a lot of fun for Sam.