Whadda Blog

Mo Tab Christmas

2011-12-18T19:05:00.001-07:00

First off I have to say how cool the retro camera app I have on my phone. This pinhole look is pretty cool.

Anyway, this morning Chels, I, and the three oldest went to the Conference Center for Music and the Spoken Word. It was a very cool castle set and all the dancers were dressed in castle period clothing. Jayne Seymour did the story of the Good King Wenceslas, which I have never heard before. It was cool. They even made it snow in the Conference Center. It was a great experience.

Another Temple Picture

2011-12-17T22:42:00.001-07:00

I have an app on my phone called Retro Camera and it does some cool things with pictures. Here is one if the SL Temple.

More From Our Fun Monday

2011-12-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

So before we got down to see the lights on Monday we decided to get some dinner. The kids wanted McDonald's so we went to get them food but Chels and I decided that we'd have Taco Bell instead. We get to the Taco Bell drive thru and notice that there is a line and that it is moving really slowly. We order our food and then sit and wait. There are 3 cars ahead of us and it feels like it's going to take a while to get our food. As we are sitting there the 2nd car in line decides to bump the car in front of him, then backs into the car in front of us. Then he decides to hit the car in front of him again. The guy in the front, driving a 4 runner type vehicle is out of his car yelling and cussing at the guy to stop hitting his car. Luckily I was the last car in the line and decided that it was time to back out of the drive thru and go inside and pick up my food. It was an interesting evening in the drive thru.

Christmas Season Fun

2011-12-14T09:35:00.001-07:00

On Monday night we took the opportunity to head downtown to look at the lights. It was a lot if fun. Not as crowded as I thought it would be and we were able to spend some time just enjoying things. The kids had a good time and we even got gingerbread men and hot chocolate at Deseret Book before heading back to the car.
-- Tracy

That was a pain...

2011-12-07T16:07:00.001-07:00

So I just spent a lot more time trying to get mobile posting to work from my phone than I probably should have. The reason that I figured it out is because I want to start doing a picture a day from my phone. I know, I've tried stuff like this before, but we will see how it goes.

Testing Mobile Posting

2011-12-07T16:06:00.001-07:00

I have been working in getting mobile posting to work on my phone. Maybe it will finally work.

This is a picture of or little Christmas tree.

Taking Pictures of Taking Pictures

2011-09-05T21:06:00.001-07:00

I don't know why, but I've always like taking pictures of people taking pictures. There are a few of us in the family with digital SLR cameras and when we go on trips, we all take our cameras with us. Here are a few of the picts I took today of others using a camera.

Jared using Papa's camera

Ems with her camera


I don't think Papa was being intent on his next shot, but it sure looks that way.

I don't know why I made two of them black and white and left the other one color, but they I like the way they turned out.

Fishing for Lightning

2011-08-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

I love living in Utah and having these awesome thunderstorms roll through every summer. I can say that I think I am the only one in my house that likes these thunderstorms. On Saturday when the storm rolled through, I was really tired and wanted to go to sleep but my wife sat up and watched the lightning through our dining room window. She suggested that I should get my camera out and get some pictures of the lightning. I was weighing the options of getting some cool pictures and sleeping when Jarik took mom's advice and started getting my camera out for me. Reluctantly I got out of bed and got the camera all setup and got nothing as the storm decided to die out. What a waste of a good 30 minutes of sleep.

Then last night, the 28th, we heard the storm rolling in. Since the camera and tripod were still out, I decided that it was time to get some good pictures. As I set up the camera and started taking pictures I felt like I was fishing, you know, cast your line in, wait until the big one hits and reel it in. So I'd open the shutter on the camera, toss in the line, and I'd get bites like this:

This where the lightning was way far away or just behind the clouds and it would cause the sky to light up. It is cool, but it is just a bite on the end of the camera 'fishing pole'.

Then you'd get more then get a hit but it wasn't a 'keeper fish' type of picture. Loads of fun reeling it in, but it ends up being a fighter more than a keeper.

All great in their own right, but like most fishers just not the big daddy. Then you get closer and it's pretty awesome.

Then as luck would have it, you toss your line in again and something bigger strikes and you get to go home satisfied with what you have finally reeled in during your day of fishing.

I went to bed satisfied that I had a couple cool pictures to finally blog about. All in all a good night of fishing for lightning.

Psych

2011-08-02T19:12:00.001-07:00

As a family we watch a lot of TV shows. Some of our favorites include NCIS, Wipeout, Good Luck Charlie, and Angel. One of our favorites right now is Psych. We just got season 5 from Netflix and finished watching it. Season 6 starts in October and we are excited in the McGee house.

Today I came home to my own little Juliet O'Hara...

Bree is such and cutie wearing Jarik's suit and has his badge and everything. It is just awesome. I love that my kids like to use their imagination and play like they are the characters in these shows.

Splashpad = Tons of Fun

2011-07-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last Monday was the holiday for Pioneer Day. We sat around the house most of the morning, which was a nice break. Then in the afternoon we headed out to Herriman to take advantage of the splash pad there. After that we bar-b-qued us up some food, had some dinner and ended the night watching the movie Adjustment Bureau. If you haven't seen that movie, I would recommend it. Here's a picture from the splash pad...

T, J, and B at the Herriman splash pad waiting for the water to start.

Coming Back

2011-07-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hello blogger world. I've decided that I want to have a reason to start taking pictures and what not again so...I'm going to pretend that I'm going to be blogging a little more. Things have been pretty hectic and I'm hoping that this will provide a little break from the world. We'll see how it goes. I'm famous for saying one thing and then doing another, haha. I was going through some pictures today and found this one that I thought was pretty cool. It was taken from the balcony of the cabin we stayed in last year in Island Park.

Laters

Blog Name Change

2010-10-25T14:52:00.001-07:00

Everyone the address for this blog is going to change from heynerd.us to tcmfam.blogspot.com. Please make any necessary changes to favorites/bookmarks. So the four of you that read this, please make the change. The change will be effective tomorrow. I know short notice.

Tracy

Photos of the SL Temple

2010-07-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had some time to kill before Harold go off work before our BBQ and games. I decided to leave work early and head downtown and get some pictures. I want to get working with my camera again so I decided to blow the dust off and see what I could do. I didn't play with too many of the settings, just changed the camera from aperture mode to shutter speed mode and played with that a little. It was a bad time of day to get pictures but I did what I could with the light I was given. Here are a few of my favorites. These are unaltered, straight from the camera to the blog.


This was just a single flower standing tall in the Beehive House Garden

The SL Temple is so beautiful

The recirculated water fountain/stream going through the grounds of the Church Office Building

Nice reflection. I'm horrible at taking portrait format pictures.

Tried this to see if it would be cool. I like it.

More beauty...

I like this one too...

This bench is on the west side of the temple, sort of out of the way. I thought it was cool.

Last one.

I was thinking of heading up to the Capitol building but ran out of time. I also want to go get some pictures of the Cathedral of the Madeline. Stay tuned...

Quick Post for a New Picture

2010-07-27T21:16:00.001-07:00

We had a nice lightning storm roll through tonight and so I got my camera out and took some pictures. I probably took about 20-30 pictures, only about 9 of them had any capture of lightning at all. This is my favorite.

Lighting to the south.

I took it through the kitchen window and you can see the vertical lines of the screen if you look close enough. This was cool. I waited to long to get some good ones, but next time I won't. I'll post the rest tomorrow.

A Couple More Pictures

2010-07-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

I was looking through a few more of the pictures from our trip and thought about posting them. The first day we were in Yellowstone there were some high winds that knocked the power out at the Yellowstone Lake lodge and there was a fire somewhere that was blowing smoke in from the south. Here are a couple I took.

The Sun over Old Faithful through a slit between the smoke and the horizon.

The sun over Yellowstone Lake.

The sun over some trees on the road in Yellowstone.

I thought they were some cool pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

It's Been A While

2010-07-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone. It has been a while since I've blogged, I know, I'm a loser. Well there has been a lot of things going on in life since I wrote last. Chels has been having some stomach issues that have kept her down a lot. She has good days and bad days, but for the most part, she's doing OK. We will hopefully get to the bottom of things with her shortly.

I was released as the YM President of the ward and put on the Stake High Council. It has been a lot of fun. We I have spoken twice since my call and I will be speaking a lot more. I don't mind speaking in public so it will be fun.

We've been home for a week or so now from our family trip to Yellowstone. We had a great time. We stayed in a huge cabin in Island Park with Chels parents, Sam and Cait, and Erik and Ali. Twelve of us total. We spent some time in Yellowstone where we got to see some wildlife, but not as much as we'd hoped. We saw a lot of bison, some elk, a beaver, and an eagle. We got to see some huge waterfalls and Old Faithful. We took a hike along Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Island Park and hung around the cabin. After 4 days in Island Park, we headed down to Jackson Hole, WY for a Bar J Chuckwagon dinner. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. Other than a disappointing visit to Quake Lake, it was a lot of fun and we are going to plan another trip in a couple of years.

Here are some pictures of our trip...

Erik and I stayed up almost every night to get some night shots. This was the last one I took.

We stopped at the Idaho Falls and Rexburg temples on our way to Island Park. This is us in front of the Rexburg temple.

Once we got to Island Park we hung out at a place called Mack's Inn. KK was having a good time throwing rocks.

Jarik got a first aid kit for his birthday and carries it everywhere. Bree hurt her toe so it was Dr. Jarik to the rescue. He's a great Cub Scout.

Yes this is creepy. This is Sarah, Tiaree's doll. She ended up with being stuck in all sorts of creepy spaces.

Three men with digital SLR's. This is going to be a long trip with loads of pictures. I took over 500 myself.

This little guy, OK, he's kind of big, slowed traffic down. We passed him twice.

The family at the Upper Falls.

This is a picture taken at the Lower Falls.

This was just the moon setting in the west. Taken from the cabin.

This is Chels and KK doing the 'Firepower' thing from Night at the Museum 2. It was cute.

It was a great trip and there are sooooo many more pictures. I'll have to spend some time getting some up on FB.

3-day Weekend Blur

2010-06-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

I got into work this morning and was talking to someone about the weekend. After they got done describing the weekend they had they asked how my weekend was. I couldn't at the time think of what I did on Saturday. I sat there with that thinking look on my face and seriously couldn't remember. It was annoying. I remember now what I did, but at that moment in time, nothing.

Overall the weekend was a good one. Minus the welts I sustained while mowing the jungle, I call a backyard, down yesterday it was a great weekend. On Saturday the YM/YW did a combined service project at Oakcrest girls camp. We cleared some trails. It was actually a lot of fun and something we may look at doing in the future. We met Nester there.

Nester is a dog that was wondering the camp that was very friendly. He became a couple of the YM's best friend while we were there. It was funny.

After the service project we headed home and took naps, 3 of the 4 kids fell asleep. Then we had Rick and Nic's kids for the night as they went to Wendover. It was fun for the kids.

Sunday was our usual Sunday, church meetings etc. Chels' mom, dad, sister and sister's husband came over for a bbq on Sunday and we hung out for a while and played some SingStar. It was a cook night.

Monday was the tradition of the early morning breakfast. We headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon, the Storm Mountain picnic area, for the yearly tradition of bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausage, and fun. We get up there cook breakfast, eat breakfast and then just chill for a bit. Pretty much everyone, minus the kids, tried to get some shut eye enjoying the beautiful atmosphere we were in. We talked about heading down the canyon and getting stuff for the rest of the day. We decided to forgo that idea in the interest of saving some gas and headed home. I decided that we were going to have a marshmallow roasting fire in our fire pit so I opted not to shower and headed into the previously mentioned jungle to get some things done. It was a lot of fun to find out that some of our backyard still has some pretty nice grass and that we may not have as big of a project coming in the backyard as we thought. Then the family that was over Sunday for another bbq and we had the fire in the fire pit on our back patio for those that wanted to roast marshmallows.

It was a great weekend. Here are some pictures that I got this weekend...

KK with a pretty flower in her hair.

A bridge over the river in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Storm Mountain picnic area.

Marshmallow roasting in the backyard with the kids.

Rick, Nic and Fam

2010-05-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the opportunity to take some more pictures of my sis, this time with her family. And believe it or not, my camera still works. Hahaha, just kidding Nic, I love ya! I'm getting a little more comfortable with my camera in the small area that I'm using as a 'studio'. The 50mm f/1.8 lens is helping but there is a little more blur. But without an actual studio, these pictures turned out pretty nice. I think the winning family picture was the last shot taken of the night. Here are a few of them...

Nic and Karsen

The best family shot of the night. They are so cute.

And this is how we all know them best. Silly family.

It was fun taking pictures of these guys, even though Karsen would smile really good and look away from the camera or look at the camera with a weird smile on his face. We are going to go do some outside shots soon. Fun stuff.

Sleeping Angel

2010-05-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Back in February I took some family pictures for some friends and just finished processing them. Yeah, I'm a slacker. Well I was playing a little bit and processed this picture after watching a quick tutorial on Lightroom. Let me know what you think of the picture...

Great Weekend!

2010-05-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the weekend. However, like most people, I think it goes way, way, way too fast. Did I say way in there?

This weekend started out on Friday with our Aaronic Priesthood camp out in the west desert. It was about an hour and 20 minute drive out there, which isn't too bad. We got up there and had some dutch oven dinner of potatoes, steak, and chicken. Very tasty. The cooks at camp did an awesome job! After dinner we had 5 different stations/fires where the boys went around and we talked to them about attributes of some Book of Mormon heroes. I wasn't slated to do one of these break-out sessions, but filled in for one of the other leaders that was running a little late. I got to talk about Captain Moroni. It was pretty cool. I had to wing it, but it's not hard when you are talking about him and the Title of Liberty. We got done and finally went to bed between 1 and 2, after a joke and talking session around the campfire. I don't know for sure what time it was because my phone was going to die so I turned it off and I didn't have a watch...stupid watch batteries. Well I got up the next morning to see if I could help with breakfast but they had everything under control so I started walking around camp and taking in the peace and quiet of being so far away from the city for a little bit. Here is a picture I took...

This is a picture of the sun coming up over the Oquirrh Mountains. For me the sun usually sets over the Oquirrhs, but this time I got to watch it rise over them. Pretty cool.

Saturday after I got home Chels and I were able to do some yard work. Chels got the lawn mowed and I got the front parking strip tilled and the dirt thrown in the dumpster that the county brought. I have the side park strip to do still, but I will get to it, eventually. I worked for about 2 and a half hours on that and finally stopped when I had to get in the shower to go to Rick's birthday party. Which I was thankful for because I probably would have just kept working, starting on the other strip, and then I wouldn't have been able to move at all today. The bar-b-que was fun. I got a brat and a spicy sausage from Harmon's to cook up. They weren't kidding when they called it spicy. While we were at the party we got to step outside and watch the space station streak across the sky. That was pretty cool.

Sunday was Sunday, which for me is a great day. Church was great. KK was sick so Chels kept her and Bree home and Tiaree, Jarik, and I went to church. I think Jarik took a little nap and Tiaree just sat next to me and read scriptures that I pointed out to her. It was nice. Then Jarik and I got to go and have dinner with my grandpa. The whole family was going to go, but with KK throwing up most of the day we thought it wise to let some of them stay home. Tonight grandpa told me that he is used to his house being our house that it's tough sometimes to be alone, which I don't doubt.

Tomorrow we go back to work and school and whatever. Who knows what this week will bring, but let me just say, that I'm ready for next weekend.

Join Club Scouting...Huh?

2010-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

So I was driving to work this morning and saw this truck that had a bumper sticker on it that said 'Join Cub Scouting'. Well when I first read it, kind of at a glance as I was paying close attention to the road so I didn't crash, I read 'Join Club Scouting'. I don't know where that 'L' came from in my mind but it was there when I first read it and then it was gone. For those of you that don't know, I work pretty closely with the scouts in my area. As a matter of fact, my son is a Cub Scout so I'm involved from many different angles. But when I read, or thought I read, 'Join Club Scouting' I had to chuckle a little bit because I can think of a few scouts that I'd like to club. Haha, not really, but if you work with scouts you can see where I'm coming from. I do love working with the young men in the area they are all great young men.

See You Later

2010-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, May 4th, 2010, this world lost an angel living on it's soil. My dear Grandmother died after a battle with cancer. I got the news yesterday around lunch time from my sister who was there when Grandma slipped this mortal realm and returned to be with her family and friends on the other side of the veil.

Words can't express the feelings that I have for this woman who was more than a grandmother to me. The love she had for her family and friends was beyond that of any that I know of. She insisted on holding family functions at her house every Thanksgiving and Christmas eves, regardless of the requests to move it somewhere we could spread out a little. I think she loved the noise of the great prosperity that she leaves behind. I loved taking off from work early on those days and riding the bus down to her house to help her and Grandpa arrange the tables and getting the places set. We always had time to sit and talk on those occasions and I would selfishly call it my special time.

I will, as will most of my friends, remember the toast we would go get whenever we felt the need. It seemed she always had a loaf of bread ready just in case we came in from our running around to grab some. Her hugs were awesome and the little whispers in my ear that she loved me were always a great comfort and helped me move on during some hard times in my life.

I will ever be grateful for her and the blessing of the testimony that she held. The testimony that she ever so willingly shared with me of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I think back often of times when I sat by her in sacrament meeting and would find little candies in her purse that I could eat during that meeting. The simple lessons of tithing and the importance of the scriptures and the temple that she would share with me just here and there. Her love of the temple was an inspiration to me and gave me a desire to enter that building. I feel that the man that I have become is due in part to this wonderful daughter of God.

Here is the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that seem to take on a new meaning with the passing of a loved one:

In the quiet misty morning

When the moon has gone to bed,

When the sparrows stop their singing

And the sky is clear and red,

When the summer's ceased its gleaming

When the corn is past its prime

When adventure's lost its meaning -

I'll be homeward bound in time

Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow

If you find it's me you're missing

If you're hoping I'll return,

To your thoughts I'll soon be listening,

In the road I'll stop and turn

Then the wind will set me racing

As my journey nears its end

And the path I'll be tracing

When I'm homeward bound again

Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow

My daughter, Bree, said with a little hmph, on her way to school after we found out yesterday, "It's not fair.", and when my wife replied, "What's not fair?" Bree said "Grandma gets to be with Heavenly Father now.". To that my little Bree, it is fair and well earned. Because of the things that Grandma helped me to learn I know I don't have to say "Goodbye" I get to say "See you later!".

Back on Track

2010-04-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

Wahooo... Wait, you are all, both of you, confused as to what I'm back on track for. Well let me tell you. I had previously mentioned that I wanted to read more and set a goal to finish a book a month. With how slow I read, that is a major thing for me. Well last month I was reading Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet by George Q. Cannon. It was very good and a book that gave me a greater respect for Joseph Smith and what he did in his life. It taught me some things about not only the Prophet but for those people that were around him. He had many loyal and great friends. He struggled through many trials and persecutions all because he had seen a vision and reorganized a church. I would give it an A and tell everyone that they should take the time to read it. It took me a while to read because I'm still a pretty slow reader and I wanted to make sure that I took this book in.

When I finished with that a couple weeks ago I was walking around our house looking for something to read and picked up The Lost World by Michael Crichton and started reading that. I got a few pages into that and figured I should read Jurassic Park first so I put it down and got on the library website to see if they had Jurassic Park checked in. It wasn't but his newest book, Pirate Latitudes, was available so I picked it up and started reading it. This book started out a little slow for me as he started to build his characters but a few chapters in and the adventure starts. Charles Hunter and his crew set out from Port Royal, Jamaica to get a ship that is supposedly full of treasure and is anchored in a very well protected Spanish port. Captain Hunter plans the attack and gets those in Port Royal that have specialties that will help in this quest. Capt. Hunter is very good at what he does and has to think quickly as they encounter a few bumps along the way. It was an easy read, which are my favorite kind but it kept me turning the pages. Good enough for me to finish it in a week since I checked it out on the 22nd. (Image used from Goodreads.com)

My next book is Storm Front, which is book one in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I don't know what to think about it but Goodreads.com gives it a 3.9 rating and I've had to wait a week or so to get it. I'm hoping to pick that up tonight. If you've read it let me know how you like it. As far as this blog goes I do recommend both of the other books in this blog.

Way to Go Papa!!

2010-04-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Chels' parents sing with the Tabernacle Choir. Well there is a limit to the amount of time that one gets to spend in the choir, either 20 years or the age of 60. Well recently her dad reached one of the limits and it was time for him to retire from the choir. This last Sunday was his retirement meeting. He got to sit on a nice soft chair.

(This is our papa as a General Authority picture)

Then he had to stand up while Mack Wilberg said some nice things about him...

Then he got to shake hands with Mr. Mac and the Prophet and get a picture taken with them...

To get a really cool plaque...

and then be surrounded by a...can I say...crazy family...

All in all it was a great morning and a lot of fun.

Papa gets to sing a few more weeks with the choir in the broadcast and then he gets to record a men chorus CD with the choir. That has always been one of the things that he has wanted to do and was bummed to hear that he wouldn't get to sing on the CD since they were recording it after the retirement. But he was asked to stick around and sing on the CD, so he is happy.

We have a few more years with Grammy in the choir. Chels has some interest in singing with the choir as well, but we'll see how that goes. There is a lot of stuff that she'll need to do to get the opportunity to do it.

The End of a Blog

2010-04-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

So I've been maintaining a couple blogs. Not really writing in either of them, but maintaining them. Which doesn't take much. Well there is the one you are reading, Whadda Blog, and the other one is Whadda Photos... Whadda Photos has been a place where I've been putting up pictures that I have taken. I have felt it is time to retire that blog. I've been thinking about starting a new photo blog as I decide if I'm going to actually do anything with photography. I'm pretty sure that I don't have time for family type photography but I might do some landscape photography. We shall see. If I start a new blog I will let you know.

Another Game Created

2010-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

So in the last almost 13 years, since I've been married to my beautiful wife, my brother-in-laws and I have been creating new games. These games aren't anything special to anyone outside our family circle, but they have given us hours of enjoyment over the years. We've destroyed plastic lawn chairs, been professional basketball players, and just enjoyed the outdoors playing some awesome games. Well the creative juices were flowing yesterday as Erik, Sam, and I went over to the elementary school behind Papa and Grammy's house with the kids. We had a soccer ball and, apparently, a lot of imagination going on as we went over there. The school has, what I've found to be called, funnel ball stands. Here is a picture.

Image found at http://www.dixieplayground.com/climbers.htm

The funnel we played on is a little different, the bottom of the funnel had tubes that made it a little more interesting the way we were playing the game. We have a load of fun playing/inventing games with everyday normal items, like a soccer ball and a funnel ball stand. We've played horseshoes with rocks before. Jared and I have a game we play that is basically kicking a football to one another and not dropping it across a short field, like the in-laws front yard. That is a favorite of mine.

We will play this game for a long time to come. Jarik was there and got a taste of playing the newly invented game and I think that he'll have some fun with it too. 2nd generation on the fun of the games we invent. Thanks for the fun guys.

New Post on Whadda Photos...

2010-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Took some pictures with the point and shoot. Read more and see the pictures here.

Fun Afternoon

2010-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

So yesterday my awesome boss let me take the afternoon off to spend some time with my family. We went to lunch at Training Table and had a great time.

One of these days we'll get everyone to smile in a group picture.

The kids find ways to play silly games anywhere.

After filling our bellies at Training Table it was time to head downtown to walk around. Chels wanted to see the new Deseret Book store and we needed to get Jarik some new scriptures. So we parked and walked to the JSMB and hit the distribution center and then down to Deseret Book. We always like getting pictures taken around the SL Temple...

Such a cute family, after waiting for a train to pass we got this cool shot.

Once our time downtown was done, we headed to the dentist. Which is why the family was up around my work area anyway. Tiaree had some teeth that were bothering her pretty bad so we decided to get them taken care of. When we got to the dentist, he said that they were infected and that they needed to come out. So he gave Tiaree the gas and pulled those teeth out of her head. And me being camera happy recently grabbed my point and shoot and took this.

I had to ask the dentist to move his fingers so that I could get a good shot of this.This is the second tooth he's working on. And here are the teeth.

Tiaree did great. The dentist gave her the gas and she was a little nervous about that. After she had been on the gas for a bit, he numbed her with that huge needle thing that dentists use for Novocaine. On the way home I was telling Chels what he had done during the tooth pulling and mentioned that needle and Tiaree was shocked that he did. She didn't remember that at all. She did such an awesome job at the dentist and was so brave. I know I would have been freaking out myself. And that was our afternoon.

I Love Being Dad...

2010-04-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I was watching a new show called Parenthood earlier today. More like glancing at it here and there and listening to it as I was working on an issue here at work. One of the characters on it is a dad to a five year old kid but didn't know it until recently. It has been fun to watch the interactions that have taken place as he has come to grips with being the dad of this 5 year old kid. The episode that I watched today he got the results of the paternity test and **spoiler alert** he is the father. He decides to tell his parents and then introduce him to their new grandchild. The writers and such on the show have done a great job in growing this character into a dad for this kid. They have shown the interactions well and at the end of this episode he pushes his son on a bike and watches him ride away on the bike with a huge smile on his face.

As I was watching this I thought of my own life and how my dad was in and out of my life. Some by his choice and sadly some by mine. My dad was a great example to me both for good and bad. He was a rock and I had the impression that nothing could hurt my dad. When he broke his ankle while climbing out of a jeep that he rolled and had a cast on, he would still take us to the pool and watch us splash around at his condo. I have fond memories, some of the few that I have for some reason, of me and my dad throwing the football around when I was in high school and was thinking for a split moment that I'd try and play football. My fondest and earliest memory of my dad after my parents divorced was one of hurt as he walked away from our house after being sent away by the a-hole of a step-dad I had at the time. My dad was always a lot of fun to be around and would only get better at pool the drunker he got which I hated. He was a great dad and I miss him.

Well now I get to be dad to four kids that are both a pain and a joy to live with. The dress-up shoes on the hard floors drive me absolutely insane. My kids are growing up so fast. My oldest is 10 and thankfully not one of those that are going on to 18 types. She takes things as they come and wants to be older but doesn't at the same time. I just think she wants to be older so she can have a cell phone. My son just turned 8 and gets to do all the 8 year old stuff now, scouts, baptism, etc. He can be the most selfless person I know but can also be very selfish. He's my favorite son! My third is 6 and she can be a sweet princess. She have very selective listening but seems to hear dad more than mom. She is learning to read and is doing an awesome job. And my youngest, soon to be 4, is a pest, but a cute pest. She is the best hugger this world has to offer and her little dimple when she smiles is awesome!! The best part of these four is when I get home they all have to come say hi and give me a big hug. That is usually when the 4 year old sticks to me and is hardly 3 feet from me. That will end soon so I should enjoy it while it lasts. I wouldn't trade my 4 kids for anything.

My kids all have their little quirks but they all love me as dad. Last night was an awesome moment for me as we got done reading I had two of them on my lap, #3 and #4. They were both in between sleep and awake state and just were little lumps, rather than the fidgety kids they can be. Today I get to go spend the afternoon with them as they are off track and I am pretty excited. I can't think of anything better than an afternoon with the family hanging out downtown and having a great time. Like I said as the title of this post 'I Love Being Dad'

Tagged...ugh

2010-04-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

So Sunday morning as I was driving home from attending the AM session of LDS General Conference, I noticed some tagging, graffiti, in the area. As I drove up my street I started to think how I have a nice long strip of white vinyl fence that is an open canvas to hoodlums in the area. The nice part about this is that I knew it wasn't a matter of if I would get tagged, but when. Well the answer came. Here's a shot at the artwork...

Not very creative and by saying that I'm asking for more creative graffiti, where's some wood I can knock on.

Here's the sad part of the story. We are part of West Jordan, but we pay everything to the county. So when this new Unified Police Department fee came out we had to pay it. Well when I called the UPD to report the vandalism, I got to talk to a guy who took my address. After giving it to him, he asked are you in West Jordan, I answered yes and before I could continue to let him know that I was in the county part of West Jordan, he transferred me to the West Jordan Police Department. I talked to the guy there who was very kind and pointed out that we were part of the UPD and I told him that I knew that because I had just paid my stupid fee to them. I got transferred back to UPD and was able to get the information to them. The officer woman that called me back later that day was very polite and told me that about a dozen places had been tagged that night.

I will wait a couple days to see if the UPD graffiti clean up crew will come and take care of it, if not, I will go get the spray that they have at the UPD sub-station near my house. That's my laziness, but I paid the fee and I feel I should take advantage of using the UPD.

Signs of Life

2010-04-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

We have a couple of rose bushes in our front yard. I'm not very knowledgeable about what to do to winterize a rose bush, so I left it how it was. Of course the leaves all turned brown over the winter and I expected them to fall off, but they never did. This poor rose bush looks pretty pathetic and I was thinking of pulling it out and replanting it somewhere else, since it is getting really big not because it is "dead". Then the other night I noticed something I found to be pretty remarkable, the plant has decided to come to life again.

ISO 400 50mm f/4.5 1/8 sec.

You can see in the picture on the left side towards the bottom some of the leaves are starting to look green. There are some of the main stems that are turning green as well.

ISO 400 50mm f/1.8 1/20 sec.

I thought it was pretty cool to see these rose bushes showing signs of life again. It caused me to reflect a little on this coming Sunday, Easter, and what this holiday represents.

It represents the resurrection of our Savior, who atoned for the sins of this world. He lived His life teaching and loving those that He served. He lived a perfect life and was the perfect example to all of us. In Matthew he teaches us to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind" (Matt 22:37) and He continues that teaching and adds "Thou shalt love they neighbor as theyself" (Matt 22:39) as the two great commandments. There are many other things that He taught and I generally don't go all religious in this blog, but seeing this rose bush and knowing that Easter is this Sunday, I would like to add that I know He lives. He rose from that tomb and triumphed over death and that He did this for all mankind. He loves us and I love Him.

Brandon and Kara

2010-04-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

My brother got married at the beginning of this month. Here is a shot of the cute couple...

More pictures to come...

Book and Movie Review

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

I set a goal, not a resolution, to finish a book a month during 2010. So far I have met that goal, though I don't remember what I finished in January. I am such a picky reader that I have to be in a certain mood to read either it has to be completely quiet or I have to be listening to music. If there is a bit of talking I can't focus on what I'm reading, unlike my wife who can read a book while watching TV and be able to tell you what is happening in both. I also will start multiple books during a month, hence the reason the goal is to finish a book a month. The idea is to just keep reading really.

So for the month of February the book I finished was Heat Wave by Richard Castle. If you watch the show Castle on channel 4, this book is ghost written for a character, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) on that show. This book is written just like the show and follows Nikki Heat, a character based on Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Jameson Rook, a detective and a reporter, respectively. The book follows Heat and Rook as they solve the murder of a wealthy man. The book reads almost exactly as an episode of Castle would go and ends with the bad guy getting caught as you'd expect. For me it started out kind of slow but picked up and ended good. Rating: Buy it on sale.

As for the movie review, Chels and I watched (500) Days of Summer the other night starting Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was a great movie about a boy, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who falls in love with a girl, Summer (Zooey Deschanel), and goes through their time together and apart. This movie had a lot of humor in it and I found one part really funny. Loads of laughs and a fun little story, including a dance scene by Tom. Rating: Buy it

I'm trying to come up with a unique rating system:
Buy it - means it's good and you should have it in your collection
Buy it on sale - means it's good but only buy it if you can find a good deal, don't pay full price
Gifted - means that it's good but not good enough to buy, but if someone gave it to you as a gift you'd keep it
Re-gift - means if you get it for a gift, don't take the plastic off and re-gift it
Trash it - means don't buy it ever, if you get it for a gift, take that person off the invite list for future parties and throw it away.

Well that's it for today, hope you have a great day.

Freudian Flip

2010-02-22T14:35:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I took some pictures of family friends, they could be considered family really. Anyway, I was going through the pictures today and found this one that made me laugh a little. Use the title of the blog as a hint...

It just gave me the giggles as I was looking through all the pictures. On a separate note here is one of De'Ja, the reason we took the pictures.

I tried something different with this picture. Hopefully it looks good.

New Picture...

2010-02-08T13:34:00.001-07:00

ISO 100 50 mm f/1.8 1/4000 sec.

I am loving my new lens. Pretty cool shots. More pictures to come.

Couple More of Tiaree

2010-01-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

So I set up both lights and took some more pictures. This one of Tiaree is one I really like. The first one is the original, 2nd is touched up in Lightroom and the 3rd is played with in Photoshop.

ISO 400 33mm f/5.6 1/13 sec.

Lightroom Edit

Photoshop Edit

Fun stuff. I'm hoping to get some more practice in before this weekend.

Tiaree - Working with the lights

2010-01-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I wanted to work with my lights tonight and take some pictures. I put one up and took some shots of Tiaree and Jarik. Here is a couple pictures of Tiaree. The first one is the original and the second one is brightened up a little.

Original Picture - ISO 800 49mm f/5.6 1/13sec

I have some work to do on editing images but this isn't bad for a first attempt on a person.

Temple Pictures

2010-01-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last night for YM's we went downtown to take some pictures. We are doing a photo contest with the priests in the ward and our activity that we had planned fell through. So down to the SL Temple we went. Here are some of my pictures that I took. I haven't found any that I'm going to enter into the contest yet, but I'll have them soon.

It was a blast taking pictures downtown and I'm excited that we will do it again next week before we go to the Joseph Smith movie at the JSMB.

Mouse Trap Fun!!

2010-01-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight Jarik, Tiaree, Keighlee, and I played Mouse Trap. It was a lot of fun. Bree was playing Wii and Chels was chillin' watching some Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman on her computer. When we got done with Mouse Trap and Tiaree had celebrated another win, so far she is 2-0 at the game, I thought it would be cool to get some pictures of the game while the marbles were rolling and the little diver guy doing his back flip into the the little bucket. The pictures turned out pretty cool. Here are a few of them:

The first 7 are the marble rolling down the back and forth thing at the beginning of the trap.

The stop sign is moving to hit the green boot to start the marble.

There it goes...

...and goes...

...zigging and zagging it's way...

...down the hill...

...to the bottom to hit the next part of the trap.

Then the part that took a few shots to get was the diver man in the air...

He looks nervous for his dive into a pool with no water.

He's off, he's the green blur thing over the blue zigzag hill.

And he lands and down comes the basket, trapping the little mouse.

It was fun playing this game with the kids. Then having them help reset the trap and run the thing over and over again was a job that they had fun doing. Cool stuff!

Another Great Christmas

2009-12-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was a lot of fun to watch the kids open their gifts and to open some stuff for me as well. Chels bought me some lights for a photo studio. Now I have to figure out how to use them correctly. I set them up and took a few pictures. Here is one of Tiaree.

I am excited to get this going. I have to get a brown background so I can take some head shots of my sister. Other than that I will just figure things out.

Christmas was good all around for the family and our trip to St. George was a blast. Kind of a whirlwind trip, but it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures.

Did Santa eat everything.

Barbie Rapunzel, exactly what she wanted.

Anyone see a pattern?

Optimus Prime...the Transformer that can't be transformed.

She is opening Barbie in the Three Musketeers, the ring she is wearing was out of her stocking.

This is only a few of the pictures that were taken. Christmas was a lot of fun at our house and everywhere we went. I'm glad we got to spend time and have fun everywhere with our family.

Cool Picture from the Other Night

2009-12-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love taking my camera and doing quick shots, sort of like shots from the hip. Anyway, I opened the door at Sam and Cait's for Erik and Ali on our progressive dinner and this is what I got. I think it turned out pretty cool.

I just thought this turned out pretty cool.

New Idea...Possible Tradition

2009-12-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

A little while ago Chels' mom had an idea to do what she dubbed as the progressive dinner. Basically we start at someone's house eat part of a meal and then head to the next person's house until you get to the last house and have the 'main course'. So we scheduled it and did it on Saturday, December 19th. This was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. We started at Erik and Ali's apartment for soup. Jared and Emily brought a veggie tray since we didn't go to there house because the downstairs neighbor smokes and it is seeping into their apartment something fierce. I thought it would be fun to take a family picture at all the different houses.

Erik and Ali's

After a great soup and some veggies we headed to Sam and Cait's. This was probably the longest drive of the whole trip...sarcasm doesn't come across right in text. This stop on our trek was a cheese ball. As we got there Cait had put it out on the table and we were all chatting when we noticed that about half of it was gone because the kids started chowing. After meeting Officer Watts we all got our portion of cheese ball and took this...

Sam and Cait's

Following this we headed back to my house for the main course. With dinner at Grammy's on Sundays, she was ok with us skipping her house and doing the dinner at our house. We had a yummy taco bar that was a unanimous decision between the family for the main course.

Taco Bar Dinner

And for the final family picture of the night.

My House

It was a lot of fun and I hope that we can get this going again next year.

Merry Christmas.

RIP...for the time being

2009-12-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

So I've had a loss in my IT family. My HP laptop has decided to give up the laptop ghost, for the time being. I think that there are some hardware issues and I was dumb and didn't get the extended warranty. So for now I am without a laptop. I'm hoping that one of these days I can get it fixed or get me a new one, but it is Chels' turn for a new laptop, so I'll have to work on this old desktop machine that I have for the time being and go back to using my work laptop more often. Well I just wanted to share that sad bit of news with you. Thanks.

Pictures While Driving

2009-12-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

So I carpool to work, which is awesome because it saves on gas. Well the other night my friend and I were driving home from work and I grabbed my camera because the sunset looked really cool and I was going to try and snap a few shots while we were driving of it. Well I didn't get any of the sunset but decided to try taking pictures while we were driving on the freeway. Here is one of the shots that I really like. I'll post others on the Whadda Photos...

Another Fun Sunday Dinner

2009-12-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Sunday dinner at the in-laws. It was a lot of fun. We had an awesome time and I got the camera out and took some pictures. Usually the Sunday dinner at the in-laws is eat and hang outside and chat, but when it's snowy outside then it makes it a little cold to hang out outside. So we tend to find things inside todo. Tonight the kids worked on a gingerbread train, that I never got pictures of, and then we just hung out.

I was washing dishes...

...and saw a cool reflection in a spoon and had a great idea for some pictures. Lucky for me I have a great sis-in-law that was willing and patient with me as I tried to be creative...

Once I was done playing with that, I finished the dishes and we all sat around the TV and watched some old home videos. As we were watching them I was laying on the floor taking pictures and go this one...

All in all it was a great evening, thanks Grammy for a great dinner. I also want to give a big shout out thanks to Ems, the fluffy white sheep, for making a nightgown for Tiaree. She is awesome with a sewing machine and I'm glad becuase my wife and I would have taken all week to do what she did in a single night. And the nightgown looks awesome, pictures to come later. But here is one of her cutting out the fabric.

Thanks Ems and Ali for all you help tonight. Thanks Jared and Erik for marrying such awesome women.

Picture and a laugh

2009-12-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today's picture comes from one of the longest drives in to work ever. Total 2.5 hours to go what usually takes between 30 and 45 minutes. I wasn't driving so I thought it would be cool to pull the camera out and take some shots. I thought that the water drops on the windows looked cool. Then I thought, I should take a picture out the windshield when the wipers are moving and here's how it turned out.

ISO 200 45mm f/8.0 1/125 sec

I thought it looked pretty cool.

Now for the laugh. I have a Volkswagen Jetta and really like my car. I've had it now for two plus years. I've read in the manual that I'm supposed to have a 6-disc CD changer in the trunk. They have pictures in the book of where in the trunk it could be located, so I'd look. Where the manual says there is a box that may be like and amplifier or something, but no cd changer. I just figured I didn't have the cool version of the car. Last night I was looking for a way to change the break lights and such on the car and found a little compartment, that I've never noticed before. I thought, 'hmmm, what's in here?'. So I opened it, alas, the CD changer. I was laughing at myself and went and got Chels so she could laugh at me, I mean with me. So now I have a cool radio system in my car, sweet. Well it was there all along, I just wasn't cool, or smart, enough to find it. Well now that I've embarrassed myself I will go.

Enjoy the picture and the laugh.

Pictures With Snow

2009-12-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday it started snowing at our house. It was coming down prety nicely so I told Bree to put her shoes and coat on so I could get some pictures of her with the snow coming down. I took two with my small lense and took two with the long lens. The first two didn't turn out as I wanted them too. The first one with the long lens, the auto focus wasn't on so it turned out blurry. The final picture turned out pretty good. I liked it. Judge for yourselves...

Maybe Now...

2009-12-03T12:41:00.001-07:00

Things are getting less hectic for me and so I'm hoping that I can get back to doing the Photo of the Day. It was kind of crazy there for a bit, but now life has settled a little.

So for today, I'm going to post a new Photo of the Day. And hopefully it won't be like the last few. Today's picture was taken yesterday and then I messed around with it in Lightroom.

ISO 800 28mm f/6.3 1/80 sec.

You can see the original picture on my photos blog. It is the first picture on that entry.

Photo of the Day - Cutie Pie

2009-11-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

So I have four kids, 3 girls and 1 boy. It makes for some fun times around my house, especially when my son wears his shirt that says "Are sisters really necessary?" It is pretty funny. Yesteraday I grabbed my camera and was taking some pictures of my cute kids and got this shot when KK and I were just chillin' in the front room. She's eating a cookie in this picture and then we wonder why she doesn't eat her dinner. Silly child...

She is such a cutie pie. She has such a personality and can hold a great conversation for only being 3.

Picture of the Day - November 05, 2009

2009-11-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

I got to a point today at work where my mind was tied up in a bunch of differnt things. It's what happens when I am working on multiple projects at once. So I decided to get out of the office and take some pictures. I went up to the Fort Douglas cemetary near Red Butte Gardens in Research Park. I'm playing with some of the things that I learned in my class the other day at pictureline.

Here is the original picture, then I turned it sepia for fun...

ISO 100 75mm f/5.6 1/160 sec

It was nice to get out for 30 minutes to take some pictures today. I will be posting more of what I took today on Whadda Photos... later today.

What a Slacker I've Been...

2009-11-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being such a slacker. I don't know how many people read this blog, but I know how I am with some of the blogs that I am a regular reader of and how it's just a little disappointing when there isn't something new to read. Not that you are all disappointed that I've been gone for 2 weeks. Well, I'm back, for this one entry and we'll just have to see what happens. I did take a class on my camera today and they gave me some ideas of things that I need to start doing. So maybe I'll get out and get some pictures taken.

Well today I have a Picture of the Day. Tonight we, meaning the scouts and leaders, went on a tour through the Cathedral of the Madeline for our activity. It is a beautiful building inside and out. I have lived in Utah all my life and have never gone into this awesome building. (Awesome in the true sense of the word) This building has some awesome artwork in it and it looks really cool on the outside as well. I will have to get back in the daylight hours for pictures of the outside, but here is one I took of the inside:

It was really neat to go on a tour of this building. If you want to take a group, you can go to the website for the Cathedral and there is a visitor link where you can find information regarding tours of the building. We were guided on our tour by Deacon Lynn Johnson who was very good and the boys had a great time hearing from him.

Been a Few Days

2009-10-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well here it is...Wednesday andI have been a slacker at this blog stuff. I haven't gotten out a whole lot to get pictures taken, I need to soon though. I find taking pictures a good release and something else to do. Over the next couple of weeks I will be working on a side project and probably won't get out much, so I'll either ignore the blog stuff or give you pictures from the archive.

Today's picture was taken on our trip to Logan a couple weeks ago. It was one of those times that was a right place, right time to catch this picture. I have tried to get pictures kind of like this where you have just a second to react and my timer is usually on or something that doesn't get me a good picture. This one turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

ISO 200 300mm f/5.6 1/320 sec.

Good Morning

2009-10-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

Good Monday morning to everyone reading this, hopefully on Monday. If not on Monday, good enter day of week here morning to you. I got up this morning and rode the train into work. It wasn't too bad, except as I was on the train I kept seeing light flashing and thought it was the train lights. Nope. It was lightning. I discovered that as I was walking to my office from the train station near the University of Utah Institute this morning, in the rain. Oh well, what do you do. I'm not afraid of a little rain, I did live in Ireland for two years.

Well here it is Monday again. It was a great weekend. Friday night was a Halloween party at some friends, Saturday was Priesthood Leadership meeting at the Conference Center, cleaning the garage, and a session at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Sunday, we took our 4 kids and ventured to the Conference Center for the general session of our Stake/Regional Conference. I was amazed at how well the kids, bored as they were, behaved for the almost 3 hours we were there (2 for the session, almost 1 for getting there early). I have some good kids, when they want to be. I also finished Paths of Glory, a new book by Jeffery Archer. It was great and I'll review it later on.

I took a few pictures over the weekend. I saw something this morning that I thought would be an awesome picture, but because I took the train, I didn't have my camera. My point and shoot hasn't made it back to the work bag since I let Jarik use it on our recent Logan trip. Maybe I'll get lucky one of these days and get a picture of what I thought was so cool. If not, you'll live forever in suspense.

So here is a picture from the weekend that I will say is going to be the PotD for the weekend. And hopefully I can post something again later, with more pictures.

Picture of the Day - October 14, 2009

2009-10-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

So tonight I got bored and started playing around with my camera. I don't have any lights specifically for photography, so I used a desk lamp with a sheet. Didn't work. I wanted to play with the depth of field stuff again. Didn't work how I wanted it to, I'm guessing because the shutter speed was so high that it just gathered in all sorts of light. If you have some pointers on depth of field, please comment and let me know. I'm using a Canon Rebel XT camera in the Av mode. Thanks...

Here is a picture that I took and it probably worked the best out of the few that I took. I'll post the others on Whadda Photos....

ISO 200 25mm f/4.5 0.6 seconds

Picture of the Day - October 13, 2009

2009-10-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today's picture of the day comes from the trip to Logan on Saturday. We were having a potty break in the Nutrition Sciences building on the USU campus. The kids sat on the stairs and I took this picture from below them.

I've got some work to do on these types of pictures. I didn't change my settings from taking pictures outside like I should have.

Picture of the Day - October 12, 2009

2009-10-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

On our trip to Logan I took 354 pictures. I added a bunch of pictures to the archive so that when I miss my normal PotD, I have a bunch of new pictures to pull from.

Today's PotD is of the statue called Synergy on the Utah State University campus. I have always thought that this was a cool statue and I've taken many pictures of it, but this is probably one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Fun Saturday, Sick Sunday...

2009-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was a fun weekend, minus the sickness that seemed to jump in and take over the house.

Saturday started with Jarik's soccer game. They didn't do very well, but Jarik had a good time. He loves playing goalie and does a pretty good job at it. He even stuck in there while they were kicking him when he was trying to get the ball. He likes soccer, so that is good. And I think it eases Chels' fear of him playing football, although he's told me he wants to play football. we'll see what happens.

After the soccer game we headed to Logan for the day. We spent some time on campus and then headed to First Dam and then to the Temple, then to Adam's Park, and on to dinner at Bluebird (thanks again Sam and Camilla). Then we headed home. It was a fun and exciting day, which is good because of what has gone on since then.

We were all sleeping well when I hear Chels jump up and say, KK just threw up. I was gone so I didn't hear it, but there is nothing better than being woken up in the middle of a great night sleep just to clean up puke. Not the only time I'll get this awesome fatherly responsiblity this weekend. After cleaning up the mess and getting KK's bed ready for her to sleep in again, I came in my room and laid down ready to go back to sleep, feeling very nauseous myself. Willing myself to get to sleep, the nauseousness went away as I drifted off to sleep. Sunday morning came and Chels and Tiaree both woke up with sour, nasty stomachs, I decided to take Jarik and Bree to church with me. I was feeling pretty good and went thorough the day with a headache. Then last night after dinner I started feeling sick again. I just figured it was the headache and that it would go away once I got some sleep. So in bed by 10:30 so I could get up for work. And then it happened again, this time it was Tiaree that had just thrown up. This was disgusting, causing me to loose it a little. Eventually got it all cleaned up and then back to bed. The alarm went off and the sick stomach feeling hit me pretty hard. Anyway, to end a long blog with probably way TMI, I stayed home from work.

With one final soccer game and Koins for Karsen at Chili's, it will be interesting to see if the stomachache goes away before then. I think dinner from Chili's will be more of a take out thing for lunch tomorrow. Time to get something to kill the migraine that is now going on two days worth. Stupid headache.

Picture of the Day - October 09, 2009

2009-10-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today's picture of the day comes to you once again from the picture archive. I was going to go out and take some pictures today but that never did.

I was goofing off down in St. George when we were down there last. Sitting around bored with nothing to do you...find things to do. This was a fun picture to play with. I do have others of this globe that I took as well.

Legacy Bridge - PotD

2009-10-08T20:02:00.003-07:00

Today I finally found the key for the padlock and got out of the office for about 45 minutes and took some pictures. I choose as my subject today the Legacy Bridge on the University campus. It is the bridge that spans Mario Capecchi drive. It is a pretty cool bridge and was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics here in Salt Lake City. I had in mind that it had some different aspects to it and so when I got there to take pictures, and those aspects weren't there, I was a little disappointed. What do you do? Well I just decided to do my best to take some pictures that would be cool. I'll let you be the judge. I'll post one of my favorites here but will post the rest on Whadda Photo and Video blog.

Great News - PotD

2009-10-07T19:42:00.003-07:00

Spreading the good news. My nephew, Karsen, had a procedure tonight to see how the skin graft is doing. Things are going great and he gets to go home tomorrow. So for the Photo of the Day I've taken the picture from Karsen's blog. I also want to take time to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers and money that you have all given and hopefully will continue to give those things as Karsen goes through the remainder of his life. Thanks!!

Don't forget Chili's in Riverton on Monday, October 12th and the 5K run on the 24th of October. Thanks!!

Stumbled Again...Doh!

2009-10-07T08:24:00.003-07:00

So I missed my PotD yesterday. Tuesdays are hard, especially lately with how lazy I've been. Tuesdays are mutual night and when I get home from that I'm ready for bed. Last night I had to do some work as well, which took a lot longer that I had anticipated. So...to make a long story short, I just didn't do a blog. Nor did I get a picture taken to put up. So this morning, I've decided to put up one of my older shots as the Photo of the Day for yesterday.

The picture I chose today, for yesterday, was taken on June 16, 2008 from the Storm Mountain picnic area up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I was playing with some settings on the camera and got this picture. I love having the mountains here in Utah! They are awesome.

Let's Try This Again

2009-10-05T20:51:00.004-07:00

So, last night I wrote this extensive blog that would have changed the life of anyone who read it. Well, blog saved the first paragraph then my wonderful wireless network decided that my computer only need to have limited access and I didn't notice until it was too late. So for the life changing blog, oh well. I guess you'll have to tune in again to see if I get the blogspiration, a cool new word, to write something cool and exciting that will change your life. But for now, you are stuck with my mere ramblings.

I've got a couple photos for you tonight, one to make up from yesterday and one that I took today that I thought was pretty cool.

Yesterday after General Conference, while Chels and I were making dinner, Chels had walked to the entryway from the front room to the kitchen and saw Jarik just listening to his iPod and staring out the window. She called me over to take a look and thought it would be a cool picture. So I snapped one of him. When this picture was taken, he knew what I was doing, but was cool enough to pose for me. He's a great kid.

This was taken this morning, October 5th, 2009, when I went out to my car to go to work. I thought the designs were cool and since I'm taking my camera with me more often, I pulled it out and snapped a few shots. I figured I had some time while I let the car warm up and hopefully do most of the work on the windows for me.

Here's a question that I was thinking about as I write this blog. The captions or description of the pictures, should they go above or below the picture? I've seen it both ways and while it is above, it doesn't leave a gap, but below it does. If that sentence even made sense. Let me know in the comments what you think would be better. I've given you and example of both in this blog.

Great Weekend - No PotD

2009-10-04T21:36:00.003-07:00

What a great weekend it was. General Conference was great! All of the talks were awesome and were what I needed to hear. I really like President Monson's (listen) Sunday morning talk when he talked about the different service opportunities that members of the church did for his birthday. It was cool. And then Elder Holland (listen) gave a great talk on the Book of Mormon. I don't usually talk much about religious things on this blog, but that was a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon. My first thought after it was over was 'Wow, that was powerful'. You can listen to any of the talks online.

I had a bunch more stuff written on this weekend but it is now all gone. Stupid computer and my wireless connection deciding to take a poop all at the same time I want to publish. Well I'll publish again tomorrow, I took a couple pictures of Jarik today, but haven't pulled them off the camera, so I'll post one of them tomorrow for the make-up PotD. Goodnight!

Back to the PotD

2009-10-02T08:04:00.003-07:00

It has been a long week and I have been very lazy when it comes to most things. So unfortunately for my 3 readers, I've been slacking off. For this I apologize.

Today I decided that it was time to get off my lazy butt and blog and give you a Picture of the Day. I know you are shocked...try not to faint. (Yes, I have a big head that you all care enough to even fake fainting to make me feel good)

Today's pictures were taken on Saturday this last weekend. I was out doing some work trying to keep my mind off things and was cleaning up when my wife spotted this little guy running across the drive way. Is drive way one word or two? Anyway, I had her get my camera and I snapped these shots:

Yes, this spider was bigger than my friend's chihuahua. OK, I'm exaggerating, but it was close.

He, I don't know how to tell a spiders gender so I'm calling him a he, didn't live much longer after these pictures were taken, because as I was taking pictures he tried to attack me, probably for calling him a he and she was a she. Ok, he...she...now I'm confused, let's just stick with he, was headed for the garage and I couldn't let him in there, so I flicked him and it pretty much killed him. RIP poor spider.

Here are the things I think about. Do spiders have families that expect them home? Is there like spider news? Do they buy there spider televisions from a spider Best Buy store? Really, these are the questions that the government should be spending my tax dollars on. OK, time to get back to work. Sorry for wasting your time.

Sad, sad day

2009-09-24T20:07:00.003-07:00

Today was one of those days that you wish you could go to sleep and wake up to the same music like Bill Murray did in Groundhog day. Take the hours of this day and just rewind them to early this morning when a few of us woke up thinking today was going to be a good day. I am usually not too serious on this blog, but today I just need to say how great family is, especially in times of tragedy.

Today my nephew Karsen unfortunately lost part of his left leg, from mid-calf down, in a horrible accident. Being the kid that he is, he asked for a band-aid when the accident happened and though his mom and dad were in shambles, he was a calm, cool little man.

The part of the day that gives me hope that this world is still an awesome place is the support that Rick, Nic, and their family received on this horrible day. Karsen's great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors, were all there willing to do what it took to take the pain of today away as best they could. To step up and go outside of their normal routine to show great love to them. And while the events of today will long live in the memories of those involved, Karsen will continue to grow up with what we now see, more clearly than ever, one of the greatest support groups this world has to offer...his entire family. He will have that same family to encourage him as he does things that all growing boys want to do. Knowing Karsen, we will see him excel in sports and other activities just as much as the next kid with great will and determination.

The other day one of the thoughts that I posted, 'What will tomorrow bring?', is ringing loudly in my head right now. The hard part is that we can never answer that question without living tomorrow and take the things that we are "handed" each day. The nice part is that our Heavenly Father knows us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and, though we can't understand sometimes, He gives us roadblocks that we need to get over. He has promised us though, that He will never give us more than we can handle. Our families are an important support group in this world to help each of us through those trials. I hope we can all stand back and see that, without having to go through horrible experiences, that we can and need to be close and depend on one another.

Karsen will bounce back. He will learn to adjust accordingly to the prosthetic and will be running and jumping with his cousins in no time. I can just imagine, the short story about a great football player who lost his foot when he was 3 years old.

Please don't forget them in your prayers.

On a lighter note, Jaxon, Karsen's older brother, just informed me that "Karsen is going to have a transformer leg". We sure love the little ones.

Photo of the Day - Mental Image

2009-09-23T20:18:00.003-07:00

So for the PotD today I would like to do a mental image. Just because I didn't actually get a picture of what it was. Today Jarik had soccer practice and he rode his bike. Tiaree came and she rode her razor scooter. I just walked because look at me, I could use the exercise.

Well after practice Tiaree jumped on her scooter and Jarik jumped on his bike and they started heading home. Tiaree was nice enough to go slow and talk my ear off as we headed home. I decided maybe I could get there faster if I was on the scooter but didn't want to be a mean dad and take the scooter from Tiaree. So I had her get on my back and then I rode the scooter home. There were a couple people laughing at us on the way up the street. Just as we were getting to our house, Tiaree said that she wished mom could see us. Well the garage was open and Chels just happened to see us as we came up the street and started laughing. So needless to say, though we didn't get a picture of it, I figured that we could give you the mental image of me giving Tiaree a piggy back while riding a razor scooter. When you say it that way you could say we belong in a circus, which I would probably have to agree with you on.

Photo of the Day - Sticky Mouse

2009-09-22T21:03:00.003-07:00

Today's picture wasn't taken today. Tuesdays are a bad day to try and get out and take pictures. It is a pretty busy day. This picture was taken in Zion National Park on the Emerald Pools hike between the pools and the Grotto picnic area. I think that Bree or Tiaree saw it and said that it was Toodles from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and that he had crashed. If you don't know who Toodles is, get the Disney Channel and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If you are older than about 5 it might be a good idea to find a son/daughter or niece /nephew that is about that age. That or you can take my word for it that is what Toodles looks like.

Random Thoughts...

2009-09-22T15:48:00.003-07:00

I'm sitting here at work waiting for things to open or copy and was just letting my mind wander and here are some of the things I thought about:

What is witty that I can put as my FB status?
What's for dinner? -Spaghetti, homemade bread, and something else yummy. Chels told me earlier.
What will tomorrow bring? -This is my favorite random thought because tomorrow is always a mystery.

Well there are just a few as I sit here waiting. Watch for the PotD later tonight.

Photo of the Day - Soccer Boy

2009-09-21T19:52:00.002-07:00

Soccer is one of Jarik's favorite sports. He is pretty good at it as well. He's got a pretty good kick and he's pretty fast. On the team he is on this year, he is one of the tallest kids. He has a lot of friends on the team and loves to just go out there and run. This was a good shot of him and hopefully I can get more. The kids on his team are pretty good and they will come together as a team, after all they are only 7-8 years old.

Photo of the Day - Last Days of Summer

2009-09-20T20:25:00.003-07:00

So today was one of those blah Sundays. It was hard to get out of bed. It was hard to do the church thing. It was hard to get in the mood to do much of anything. We had a family dinner planned at Erik and Ali's new apartment downtown. It was pretty cool apartment and our bar-b-que was on the roof of the apartment building. It was tough to want to go but it was a lot of fun. I love hanging out with the Bingham's but sometimes it is just tough to do the hang out thing. But I'm glad we went. After dinner, we, Chels and I, Erik and Ali, and Grammy and Papa, went to the park on South Temple and 1300 East and had a great time. I took my camera and was taking picture. Today's picture of the day is KK on the swing at the park while the sun was going down. I figured that this was one of the better shots that I got.

Photo of the Day - Creepy

2009-09-17T20:26:00.003-07:00

So this summer I had a couple of firsts out in the wilderness. During my Wood Badge course I a skunk walked through my camp. That just happened to be the first time I've ever seen a skunk in the wilderness. Well over the Labor Day weekend we went to Zion National Park and went on the Emerald Pools hike. As we were crossing the bridge, I noticed this family sitting on a fallen tree. Just as I started to look away, I noticed that this family jumped out and ran from the tree. I then noticed this snake slithering across the ground. Yep first time I have seen a rattlesnake in the wilderness. I grabbed my 'long' lens and put it on. I know that you aren't supposed to get too close but I wanted some cool pictures of this snake. I did get yelled at to get away from the snake by my mom. It made me feel like a kid again which was awesome. Of course I ignored her, what is a kid supposed to do when their parents are warning them of danger. Well enjoy. (P.S. This picture is on my facebook page.)

Yesterday's POTD

2009-09-17T09:10:00.002-07:00

Well I knew this was a bad week. After 4.5 hours of sleep I went to work then came home and worked on the yard, which btw is coming along great, and decided when I was done that sleep was more important that finding a picture and all that stuff. I will have a POTD posted this evening for today so stay tuned.

Picture of the Day - Sept. 15, 2009

2009-09-15T21:47:00.003-07:00

So I was thinking about it and this was a bad week to start the POTD. I'm putting in a new front yard and have been skipping lunch at work so that I can get out of there a little earlier and haven't had time to go take some pictures that I want to take. Next week I will hopefully have time to go out and get some picture taken.

Today I was reading in a book that I have that talks about my camera and some of the features. I read the part that they talk about depth of field and the setting on the camera that you can use to set your f-stop or aperture on the camera and the camera will choose the best shutter speed for the shot. So I tried shooting our racquetball activity in Av mode on the camera.

Enjoy...

Photo of the Day - Friends Are Awesome

2009-09-14T20:49:00.002-07:00

Sam Gowans and I after putting in the sprinklers. Kerry Hyland was there helping as well just wasn't in the picture.

I just want you to know that I will rarely be in the 'Photo of the Day' but I needed to have this as the photo of the day and comment on how awesome of friends I have. I am a very lucky person when it comes to friends. I have many friends that I have had since I was young. I have friends that I have just become more acquainted in the last few years since we moved into our house. A couple of friends, Sam Gowans (pictured) and Kerry Hyland (not pictured), helped me dig some trenches and redo my sprinklers so that I can put some sod down this weekend. Which I wouldn't have without another friend. Then there are a bunch of friends coming over on Wednesday to help move some dirt around. I can't list everyone by name but I want to just send a shout out to all those people that I can consider my friend and that consider me a friend. Thanks.

New Feature...Photo of the Day

2009-09-13T21:00:00.006-07:00

So I've decided to start doing a photo of the day on this blog. There is sort of two-fold reason and I'm pretty sure it won't last too long, but I'm going to try. The two-fold reasons are, I want to blog more and I want to get better at taking and 'developing' pictures. It may not be a lot of text, but I'm hoping to always have a picture.

For today's picture I want to start off with my beautiful daughter Bree.

She was the 'Star' in her class at school so I had her stand against the wall and shot a few pictures. She is just so dang cute.

Another day has come...

2009-09-03T08:01:00.002-07:00

Well it is Thursday today and tomorrow we are headed to St. George. The kids are all excited and giddy for the trip down to Utah's Dixie. I'm excited too, I love going down there and seeing my mom. It's always fun filled and way too busy when we go down, but I'm not complaining.

Last night/this morning, sometime when I was dreaming, I had this dream that made me feel like the only safe place today was in my bed. Maybe that is why I slept in today. I had one of those dreams that you dread what is going to happen all day and nothing usually happens. When I finally got up realizing that I couldn't hide from the day everything went well. Everyone was in a good mood. Jarik and I had a fun little boxing/fighting/slapping/kicking fight. He was trying to get some $$ Chels had on her dresser and we basically boxed it out. It was fun. Then the drive to work was smooth, even with the crash on 6200 S. Now I'm at work and should focus on the things that need to be done, but I wanted to take a moment to blog again and see if I can't get this to be regular again. Not that I have any readers. Well have a great Thursday.

Pictures...

2009-09-02T09:34:00.003-07:00

So I've been thinking about it since the other night that I want to get out and take more pictures. Pictures are so fun to take. I wish I had the time to take classes and what not. It would be fun to learn all the ins and outs and such. I know with digital there are so many things that you can do with pictures these days. I will get some more taken soon and post them. :) Laters!!

Haven't Posted in a While

2009-08-31T20:54:00.003-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while. I don't have an excuse either, well except for laziness. One of these days I'll take more time to post thoughts and what not. Tonight however, I wanted to take a second to post and show a couple pictures that I took this evening. Last night there was a really cool sunset with the smoke from fires in the area. I didn't have my camera with me so I missed out. Tonight I was thinking that we'd have some of the same cool effects so I took the family and we headed to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple and took some pictures.

I am not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination and I just like to play but I thought this turned out pretty nice. I will put a few more up on my photo blog.

Father's Day Weekend Fun

2009-06-21T21:36:00.004-07:00

Today is Father's Day and it has been a good day and a good weekend. I'm just glad that I have the next week off to keep having fun.

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Twilight Mom's. It was fun until it started pouring rain and everyone got cold. We headed out of there and then headed downtown to find some other stuff to do. We decided to take a tour of the Conference Center and it was pretty cool. I think Chels will get the pictures of it up on her blog. It was a good time. Then on the way home, I thought of something fun we could do as a family. We stopped at Lowe's and bought 100' of rope and the to Walmart to get some clothespins and we made a fort in the basement.

The view from behind

The view from the 'front door'

The view of the TV

After we got the fort built, we had dinner in the fort and watched Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring. It was awesome.

Then today, after church, we headed up to Logan for some geocaching and some BBQ'd hot dogs. We walked around campus and had a lot of fun. The kids are probably sick of hearing 'this is where we lived', 'this is where I had class', etc. They enjoyed running to look at all the sculptures on campus, especially the french fries. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll have to drive up to Logan to see for yourselves. Our pictures that I took on the 'A', the True Aggie 'A', were all overexposed. Stupid me and my stupid camera. I fixed it up the best I could and I think it looks different but good.

After church today I got some gifts from the kids that they made at church. Part of the gifts were that they needed to write something to us and this is what Tiaree wrote.

Dear Dad,

I think you are the best dad ever! I love the surprises you do.

Tiaree

I'm glad I can keep the kids happy. I hope that all the father's that read this had a happy father's day.

Correction from Yesteday

2009-06-18T06:53:00.002-07:00

In my attempt at being funny, I made my wife a little upset. In yesterday's blog I said that if I had gone home Tuesday night, I would "probably be bored telling the kids no they couldn't have candy and watching Chels read her books or blogs or TM stuff". Apparently she didn't like my joke and thinking about it it wasn't very funny. She said that we would have figured out something fun to do because it was my birthday. Everyone needs to know that I love my wife dearly and don't like doing things to upset her and Chels needs to know that I am sorry for making it sound like it would have been a boring night if I would have come home.

Fun Birthday Evening

2009-06-17T08:41:00.004-07:00

So last night we were planning on going to the Tabernacle Choir concert but were told that kids couldn't get in. So I was going to head home and just sit there and probably be bored telling the kids no they couldn't have candy and watching Chels read her books or blogs or TM stuff. So I decided that we could meet as a family downtown and go through a tour of the Conference Center because we've been wanting to do that for a while now. So we met downtown and had dinner at the Gateway and then took the train up to Temple Square to walk by and listen to the music through the doors of the Tabernacle, they took the speakers down that piped the music to the outside. Well we found out that 5 and above could go in and that KK could go in the cry room. So we decided to catch the last half of the concert and it was enjoyable. I had my camera and used it as an opportunity to snap a few of the choir and such...

When we got there we didn't think they were going to let us in so take pictures the best I can right...

Right up against the glass, you can see Grammy and Papa if you look closely...

Mack Wilberg (sp?) telling them to get on key, according to Grammy...

Speaking of Grammy...

Papa clapping to Cindy. This was the last clap of the song...

My kids and Grammy and Papa. This is one of my favorite because they are the only people looking at the camera and smiling...

Picture 1

Picture 2

Please comment and tell me which one you like more, picture 1 or picture 2

2009-06-16T16:57:00.001-07:00

Riding backwards on the train never bothered me before. Ugh! I don't think this driver is very good.

2009-06-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

This is my first mobile blog.

It was a beautiful wedding...

2009-05-17T20:54:00.004-07:00

Well after being horribly sick Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, I hate being sick, we got to attend the wedding of Chels' sister Caitlin on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, one of those days that you melt in the sun and practically freeze if you are in the shade too long. The day started early trying to get the kids up and to Nic's house for the day, then headed to the Salt Lake Temple to attend the sealing. It was a great ceremony and the sealer was great and gave some great advice. 1. To say "I love you" at least once a day and 2. to take the opportunity to kiss her at least once a day. It was short and sweet. Then the wedding breakfast and then home to do the scramble to get the kids ready for the reception. They looked marvelous...
Tiaree

Jarik

Bree

Keighlee

The wedding was a lot of fun, minus standing in the line with the tail end of this stupid illness. Jarik stood next to me most of the night and shook a lot of hands. Tiaree, Bree, and KK did a lot of dancing. KK was super intrigued by Chels' Uncle Meade, who played the Alto Sax for part of the night. He is a member of Kettlefish and he is pretty good. So here is what KK would do while he was playing...

I may be biased a little but aren't they the cutest kids. The illness is pretty much gone and the wedding is over. Tomorrow starts a new week time for some fun.

Classic Sunday Fun...

2009-05-10T20:45:00.003-07:00

Mother's Day 2009 will go down as one of the classic Sundays in my mind. The only thing missing was the basketball hoop. We went to Grammy and Papa's for dinner. It was a great Sunday and loads of fun.

Caitlin mentioned yesterday that she wanted to take a group picture so we decided to take some pictures today. I grabbed the camera and the tripod and we set up in Grammy's front yard. Big family pictures are always an issue to get everyone to look at the camera and not be dumb. Of course we get some good ones, but Jarik is being a dork in most of them. Silly kid. We took some of the kids but there is one kid not with us quite yet and we took a picture of that one. This is actually my favorite picture that I took tonight. I've changed the coloring just a little from the original picture, hope you like it.

Funny Moments with KK...

2009-04-28T07:30:00.002-07:00

So this morning I was listening to my iTunes on shuffle and heard the song Honey, Honey from Mamma Mia! and it got me thinking about KK. This song is a favorite in my house but it always makes me think about KK, especially. Just thought I'd take a moment and share a couple funny stories about KK and her cute personality.

Her favorite thing to say when we ask her to look for something is 'I can't find it'. For example, a couple weeks ago, I went home so that Chels and KK could go see a Dr. about an illness that they both had. Chels had to use the restroom before they left the house and told KK to find her jacket. She walked out into the front room where I was sitting and sat down on the couch. I asked her, "Aren't you supposed to be getting your jacket?". Her response was "I can't find it". In which my reply to her was that she wasn't going to find it by sitting on the couch. In her words she said "I know" and then just sat there next to daddy for a minute. It was just a funny little conversation.

The reason that the song Honey, Honey reminds me of her is because she loves that song and is so excited when it plays on the iPod. One day we were cleaning and I was in the kitchen with her when it came on. There is a part in the song where the singer says the word beast, but she says it with some energy. Well KK decided that she was going to copy it and she was singing along and that part came up and she kind of screamed 'beast' in a funny little voice. Let's just say I had to stop cleaning and laugh for a few minutes.

She is so dang cute.

Memories of Bobbie

2009-04-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while and thought it was about time. I wasn't sure what to blog about until my brother sent me a news item on KSL.COM that was about my step-sister Bobbie Campbell. She is the daughter of my mother's husband Bob.

She has been missing for 14 years. Stephanie, her daughter, was on the news talking about her. She has used a company to create an age-progressed photo. It was hard to see the photo because I remember a lot of good times with Bobbie. She was troubled in her youth, but she was a great person to hang out with. She was a lot of fun to joke around with as well.

It got me thinking of memories of her and there is one that always makes me laugh when I think about it. I was 16 at the time and had my first car, a 1977 brown Subaru. I loved that car. It looked like a big turd but it was my first car.

Bobbie had asked me to take her over to Orange Street. One of her friends had just gotten out of prison and was in a half-way house on Orange Street. She told me it was on 6th South and it was at 6 South. (or something similar to that.)

We fought like typical brother-sister. It was a lot of fun and this day was no different. We were arguing about addresses and knowing how to read an address. I used to get mad at her because she would never wear her seatbelt in my car.

We were driving down 10th West as we argued over addresses and seat belts. At one point on 10th West, there are some railroad tracks that cross 10th West and you have to take them slow, which, since I was focused on my argument with Bobbie, I didn't realize that we were coming up on the tracks and I hit them at full speed. Well, as you would expect, my car jumped the tracks, Bobbie, not wearing a seat belt, hit her head on the ceiling. Both of us looked at each other in surprise and the conversation stopped instantaneously. When Bobbie recovered from the shock, she reached over, put on her seat belt and we rode the rest of the way in silence, both of us on the verge of laughter.

Anyway, I thought I would share this wonderful memory of my sister. I know she is missed and I hope we find out what did happen to her, even if only to put her daughter's mind at rest.

We love you Bobbie!!!!

The Soundtrack of Your Life

2009-01-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

So, I had this thought the other day. Not that it amounts to much because most of my thoughts are of useless junk and, after reading this, I think you will agree.

When you watch movies or TV shows, there is always some type of background music playing. In fact, for a lot of movies, there are soundtracks that you can buy that features the music from the movie. Sometimes you can purchase soundtracks for TV shows too. Its becoming more common, but movies are the majority.

I was thinking, if I had background music playing at different parts of my life, what would the soundtrack be? I'm not talking a collection of your favorite songs that meant something to you, I'm talking about the songs that would represent what is/was going on in your life.

See, movies aren't about life. They skip out on a lot. They show moments in someone's life. When someone leaves to drive somewhere, you see them leave, and then arrive at their destination. You don't ride along with them unless it is vital to the story (a police chase, a certain discussion, etc.) Some movies represent a time frame of days, weeks, or months (years too but that is rare).

If you were to pick out the highlights of your life that would be part of the "You Movie", what highlights would they be and what kind of music would be playing in the background? Not just songs that you like, maybe the song that would be playing you really don't care for but the type of music sets a mood.

Anyway, I really haven't given it much thought about my own life. I might and provide something late although I think my music selection may be a bit lacking. Not that I would need that many songs, but a wider variety.

Help w/ Brinner

2009-01-13T22:14:00.004-07:00

If you don't know what brinner is, it is breakfast for dinner. It is a favorite around our house because it is usually quick and easy. Tonight it was pancakes. Earlier this afternoon Jarik asked when I was going to start the meatloaf cups, a smaller version of meatloaf that Chels makes, and I told him since mom was sick that we weren't having them. He asked what we were having and I told him, pancakes. He got really excited and walked over to the cupboard where we have the griddle at and wanted to get it out and start cooking then and there. I told him that it would be a little while because I was straightening the counter space and cleaning up a little and that I would call him up when it was time. The time came and I called him up and he got the griddle out for me. Then he had to dump the pancake mix in the bowl and then the water. I decided to stir it up myself because it would have been a big mess if he would have done it. I started making the pancakes and he and Tiaree wanted to help flip them. Needless to say, I was a little nervous because I have issues flipping pancakes sometimes, you know flipping them and overlapping them. I don't have much coordination. Anyway, I decided to get pictures of the occasion because I thought that there would be problems. Little did I know that my kids were naturals at flipping pancakes. Here's the pictures.

Look at the concentration and determination.

If the keep this up I won't have to make pancakes anymore because they will do it.

My 2 Cents on the #2 Utes

2009-01-09T10:49:00.002-07:00

The Utah Utes were voted #2 in the AP poll that came out today. They were #2 behind Florida that won the National championship game last night. Anyway, I just thought for fun I would go back a few years and although the past years don't count I wanted to point out a few fun facts. Since Utah's last perfect BCS busting season, 2004, they have gone 49-14. In that same time frame Florida has gone 51-14, playing one more game in 2008 and 2006. Both teams played to a 9-4 record in 2007, with Utah beating Navy in their bowl game and Florida losing to Michigan in their bowl game. Small reminder, while Michigan had a horrible 2008 campaign, Utah went into the big house and took care of business there. Another point for the momentum for each team, since Sept. 29, 2007 Utah has gone 21-1 while Florida has gone 18-5. I would like to just point out again that past years don't count for anything. So this year, I'm happy that the Utes finished #2 in the AP poll, I think they had a strong reason to fight for the #1 spot. Go UTES!

妹妹

2008-12-31T11:53:00.002-07:00

Today I am watching, well listening more, to Firefly first episode entitled Serenity. It's the part where Kaylee gets shot and Inara says to her, 妹妹, which is mei4mei, which means little sister. See I told you that taking Chinese would pay off eventually. Hehe ;)

中文是好玩

2008-11-13T09:14:00.003-07:00

The title to today's blog is Chinese is fun in simplified characters, that is if you have the language installed. I started taking Chinese at the beginning of this semester and am having a great time. I haven't put a lot of time into it, but I am still learning a lot. It's a lot of fun and I hope that I can stick with it. Just wanted to play with some of the new tools that Danny found and gave to me to help me put characters on the screen.

再见（that is goodbye, zai4jian4)

Today is a Special Day

2008-11-07T10:41:00.003-07:00

So I added the comment on my Facebook account that Chels and I have been married now for 11 years. And today is one of those special anniversaries because we were married on a Friday and as you know today is Friday.

It has been a great 11 years and I am so grateful that I married a woman that puts up with my crap. My wife is my best friend who is willing to sacrifice a lot for me to make sure that I can do the things that I need to do. Whether it is being patient while I am away with the young men fulfilling my calling. Or getting up to head to work early and stay a little later. She is always cleaning and I haven't been pulling as much weight around the house as I have in the past and she truly has picked up my slack. My wife is wonderful and though I can't say it's been all roses during the past 11 years, we are still happy and totally in love. We stress together, we laugh together, we spend money together, we stress about not having money together, we play with the kids together, we get mad at the kids together, there are a lot of things we do together that aren't listed.

I'm glad that on that 24th of July in 1997, she said yes. I'm glad that when we knelt together in the temple, she said yes again. I'm glad that I get to have her for time and all eternity!

To my dear wife, I want to say I love you 4 ∞!!

Blog When you Have the Idea...

2008-10-31T20:47:00.003-07:00

...or at least write it down. Last night after I had turned off my computer I thought of a great thing to blog about. Now I can't remember what it was that I was going to blog about. It was pretty clever and I was laughing as I walked to bed. Well I guess when I feel asleep it reset the funny thoughts in my brain.

So right now Chels and I are watching Ghost Hunters 'Live' and I have to say I'm a skeptic. We just watched one of the guys get pulled by the back of the coat, and you can see the coat move, but I'm thinking that it is something that is setup in his coat and he pushes a button in his pocket. I'm just not a believer in this stuff, to many ways to make these things happen on TV. I don't know I'm just a skeptic.

Well if I remember my clever blog topic I will write it.

Goodbye Old Friend...At Least for A While

2008-10-24T09:21:00.002-07:00

I need to say goodbye to an old friend for a little while. I have come to the sad conclusion that this friend is dragging me down and making me sick. I've put on a lot of weight hanging out with this friend of mine. I know it's not his fault he's so fun to be around and that I like spending a lot more time with him than I should. If could keep the time spent with this friend to a 12 oz. can then I would probably be ok. But if he's around, I tend to have more and generally pick up a 20 oz more often than not. So for now, I want to say goodbye to my friend Dr. Pepper. I'm just not going to let him hang around anymore. He's trouble. I'm sure I'll have a weak moment here and there and hang with him again, but for the most part I'm going to hang with my new friend water. This is going to be a hard cut so when you see me show me some support so that I can make this transition easier. Thanks!

Giving up a Man Card

2008-10-22T08:26:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I've been debating on if I was going to write this blog or not. It's been decided and I may have to give up one or two, maybe more, man cards for this blog. Let's get it over with and we can go from there...

I am a fan of musicals, one man card. I have been for a very long time. Which some men would have a hard time admitting. There are some good ones out there including the High School Musicals that are so popular right now. This Friday HSM 3 comes out on the big screen and I think Chels bought tickets for her and the 3 older kids for this Saturday, I'm staying home with Keighlee. Well yesterday the soundtrack for HSM 3 came out. Yes I did purchase it, just like the 2 before it. So today I'm going to give you my 10 favorite songs from these 3 albums. Now, I haven't been forced to listen the HSM 3 soundtrack over and over again like I was with the first two, however, I did listen to it yesterday and can say that I'm a little disappointed. Out of the 10 new songs that are on it, there are only two, in my mind, that hold up to the other two soundtracks.

So here are my top 10 songs from HSM:
1. Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - HSM 2
2. Fabulous - HSM 2
3. I Don't Dance - HSM 2
4. Get'cha Head in the Game - HSM 1
5a. Work This Out - HSM 2
5b. Stick to the Status Quo - HSM 1
6. What I've Been Looking For (Reprise) - HSM 1
7. Now or Never - HSM 3
8. What Time is it - HSM 2
9. We're All In This Together - HSM 1
10. Start of Something New - HSM 1

Here are the bottom 5:
1. Gotta Go My Own Way - HSM 2
2. We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix) - HSM 3
3. When There Was Me and You - HSM 1
4. Bop to the Top - HSM 1
5. I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You - HSM

Well there you go. Take the man cards, but I know that there are some of you that secretly are making your own HSM songs top 10 list.

Where Does the Time Go

2008-10-07T20:53:00.004-07:00

Well life has really gotten in the way of my blogging activities. I'm sure you've all missed me. Looks like B has kept it going just a little. There really isn't a whole heck of a lot going on in my world these days. Right now I'm sitting on the couch with Jarik while the girls are watching the Haunted Mansion on Disney channel in my room. I wanted to play on my computer a little and they are all hogging my bed. ;) It's cute that they are watching a show together. They should go downstairs and watch it on the big screen. I just heard Chels call Tiaree a wuss butt. Maybe it is Bree, nope it's Tiaree.

Funny thing that happened yesterday. Chels and the kids came up to work and we went out to lunch at Red Robin. All the kids got helium balloons there and they brought them home. Of course, Red Robin isn't going to put that stuff in them so they stay "floaty" for very long. So by the time I got home a couple of them had already started to be less "floaty". So I was once again sitting on the couch playing on my computer and watching KK play with her balloon, one of the ones that had lost it's "floating ability". She sat here and kept hitting it up in the air and saying stay as it went in the air and came back down. It was just funny because she just couldn't grasp the concept of why it wasn't floating anymore. It was cute. Silly little girl.

Well that is all for me for now. I'm going to go figure out something to do. Have a good evening.

New Project

2008-10-02T14:00:00.002-07:00

You should be careful who you hang out with. I have decided to work on a new project building a mini potato gun. They are not difficult and actually use many things that you have around the house. To do this, I will need:

Pen
Medicine Bottle (long, skinny type)
Electrical tape
Used electric match

I have found a do-it-yourself video on YouTube. If you go to YouTube and type in mini potato gun, you will probably find the video. I will let you know how it goes.

Addictions

2008-09-30T06:45:00.002-07:00

The first step to getting rid of any addiction is to admit that you have a problem. So, I am here to admit to 2 addictions that I have that I need to get rid of.

The first is my addiction to Pepsi. While I really like Pepsi, I have officially decided that all soda is harmful to the waistline and energy level. While caffeine helps the energy level, it does so artificially and then you crash. So, I am limiting my Pepsi intake to 12oz a day or less.

The other is TV. I really like stories, as you all may be aware of but I spend way too much time in front of the television. I need to get out more and do more. My yard is lacking and my project list is growing and I spend that valuable time in front of the television. So, I am also limiting my television time to 1 hour a day.

We will see how long these last. I have no problem with conviction, its will power that I lack. So, I will do my best and work hard to be a better person by following through with my convictions.

The Office - Season Premiere

2008-09-26T14:42:00.002-07:00

So The Office premiered the other day. I didn't watch it until just now on Hulu. It was great to see the whole gang again. Michael is as much a moron as he usually is. Just doesn't get it sometimes. I think its funny how some of the things have changed but are still so much the same when you really look at it.

Anyway, not to give anything away but I would give a two big thumbs up and cannot wait to see the repercussions of this episode as is plays out through the rest of the season. Great beginning and I hope it keeps up through the season.