Getting old....er.

So things are starting to hit that I'm getting older. When we got home from vacation, we received paperwork to enroll Aurora into high school. It is a definite milestone in my life as well as my wife and daughter's. It does make you realize that time is going to move forward whether we like it or not.

It would be easier to keep the kids all young at the fun age. Its not as much fun when they are teenagers although it is more challenging. Hopefully we can get out of the teenage years without killing each other.

Well, school starts again soon. For some of my nieces and nephews they have already started because they are on year round school. Guess summer is coming to a close soon. One more month, and we begin the descent into fall.

Great Camping Trip

I would have to sum up this last weekends camping trip to East Canyon with the words 'A Blast'. Minus the light, annoying sunburn I got on Thursday, the weekend was a lot of fun. I love hanging out with my family and the time spent with grandma and grandpa is awesome. We did some fishing and some caching and some swimming. Before we went, Chels and I got ourselves some bikes and we were able to take them up there, well Rick and Nic took them up for us. We also got a trailer thing for the two youngest to ride in. It was a great purchase and hopefully it won't go to waste now that we are home.

The one downfall to going up to East Canyon this weekend is it broke us away from Chels' family and our annual campout with them. It sounds like that was a lot of fun too. We missed the whole Bingham crew this weekend. It was fun teasing them with pictures of the swimming pool though, hehe.

I took some pictures that I'll post on the photos blog. It was fun taking pictures up there.

Tough times ahead?

I'm getting sick of the "doom-and-gloom" of most people through the media. The media likes to sensationalize anything bad and there are several things that have caused some concern in the economy. Instead of "Oh, no... We can't survive...." we need to start looking at different ways to adapt. This, like every trouble this country has suffered is a phase. We can get out of it but the biggest thing is to NOT PANIC!!!!

Panic makes something mildly bad into a catastrophe. Why? People like to have a knee-jerk reaction to any bad news and then it compounds it. BTW, if you heard of the IndyMac bank failure, this is why it failed... Knee-jerk reaction to an idiot politician.

So, what can we do to not panic? Well, while our lifestyles may change a bit, it only takes a clear head to find direction in uncertain times.

First, pay off bills. Get out of debt as much as possible. The less you owe, the less they take away if you can't make payments. Pay off the credit cards (tear 'em up, destroy them... They are evil.)

Next, make a few changes to your lifestyle. There are certain things you can live without. Decide what those are and make those changes. For example, if you eat out a lot, DON'T. Make dinner at home. Learning to cook can also help fill time while you learn a new skill.

Other things that most people can cut back on is cable television or satellite TV. Prices continue to go up because people pay it. To some, they act as though its a necessity. I usually get movies from Redbox (which is $1 per movie per night) or from the local library. You already pay for library services in your taxes, you may as well use them. It doesn't cost you any more as long as you get the stuff in on time.

Clipping coupons, watching the ads for sales, shopping at discount or "previously owned item" stores, yard sales, etc. Also check into Yahoo Groups for a group called "Freecycle" which is people who have things they don't want/use that are willing to give away for free.

Anyway, I've watched as people panic thinking that the end of the world is here but it isn't. Just some tough times and if we keep our wits, we can survive and come out better on the other side.

Why do they go so fast?

So I am sitting here at 10:50pm, tired as can be waiting to go to bed. I'm making a desert that takes approx. 3 hours to make and I started at 10 to 10 so about one hour down, two to go. I decided that I was going to take the pictures off my camera from our trip up to Storm Mountain picnic area on Friday (the 4th of July). These pictures are just funny.




The story... Tiaree was walking around with her hands on her hips and we noticed that Keighlee was copying her. It was cute. So we told Tiaree to walk back to the little playground they were playing on with her hands on her hips to see if KK would follow. Sure enough, she did. Keighlee is such a copycat it is just funny and so cute.

The title of this blog is two-fold. One is why do these fun weekends go by sooo fast and two, why do our kids grow up so fast. It's crazy. Two years ago we were bringing this little child into our home and now she is walking, talking, and being the best copycat the world has ever seen. Sometimes it would be nice to have a little slowdown.

I went golfing today with my brother and we did nine holes at the Jordan Parkway 3-par course. It took us just about an hour and a half and it felt like less than half of that. It was nice to hang out with my brother talking about our families, life, and old times around Rose Park and on the golf course. Thanks again for the invite B. Well that is all for me tonight.

Its almost the 4th

I really like the 4th of July. While I think that the fireworks are cool, I think I'm more excited about the display of patriotism. I love my country. It is truly the greatest nation on the earth today.

There are those that don't like us and that's OK because, I figure, they are just jealous. While our country isn't perfect, it is awesome to be here.

I hope all of you have a safe and joyous 4th of July. Enjoy the festivities but remember what its about.