Zions and Spring...

So, after the busy weekend away at Moab we were glad to get back home only to be leaving to Zions on Thursday. We felt like we unpacked and packed up again all in the same moment, but we can't complain because we got to get away again and tour more of southern Utah, which we love, especially in the spring time. I had a conference in Springdale which is right at the mouth of Zions so we figured we'd make a weekend of it, again. We had to be there Thursday afternoon so we headed out early Thursday morning and met up with Dave (from work) and his family in Spanish Fork. The drive seemed to go by quick, but stayed cold for way too long. When we took a break in Beaver it was still 39 degrees! I was worried that we wouldn't have enough warm clothes for the boys, but alas, as we headed further south things cleared up and the temp went up to 72 in 2 short hours. Springdale is beautiful this time of year. There is a little orchard just as you arrive there and all the trees were in bloom, the grass was green and there were leaves on the trees. It was about two weeks ahead of home as far as seasons go. We checked in and had lunch before I headed to the conference and Teeny and the boys hung out with Dave's family at the park. After I was done, we had a pizza picnic at the park and the boys couldn't keep away from the water. N and T are facinated by it, which can be scary with how fast they get around now. A has always loved the water, but is wiser on being careful around it now too. We took them on the bridge over the river and they loved seeing the water go by. They just loved being outside and able to run around. You'd think, or at least we'd hope, that they'd kind of stay together, but when they're playing it's in all three different directions. I'd be watching N and T on the bridge and A would take off down the trail, so I'd go get him and N or T would be headed towards the street and one still on the bridge...I don't know how Teeny does it. After scrambling to contain the little monkeys we decided we'd hit the town and check out the local stores and such. There were a lot of outdoor clothes places and some fun little rock and gift stores too. It was a perfect evening to do a little walking outside. We had a little ice cream break and then headed back to the Bumbleberry Inn for the night. The kids all do really well in the room. They love to push any buttons they can find and run around, but when bedtime comes they settle down pretty quick and drift off to sleep. Teeny and I headed out to the deck after the kids dozed off and played some cards for another couple hours. It was so nice to just hang out and chat and be on vacation. We can't wait til we can do that at home! Afer kicking my butt in combat, we headed off to bed too.

Friday morning was another beauty in Zions. The mountains in Zions are so different than Arches. They are taller and more rugged, but still that amazing red sandstone color. We thought that Friday would be a great weather day too, but when I finished my conference duties around noon, it was starting to drizzle just a little bit. We decided we'd go hit the Zions tunnel and see if the weather got any better. The tunnel was amazing. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be and the kids really enjoyed it. By the time we'd gone through and back the rain had gotten a little worse, but we figured, "hey, we're here. We might as well enjoy it", so we headed up to the river walk hoping the rain would die down at least a little. Luckily, it did. It was drizzle on and off but the river walk was awesome. It is so pretty after a rain storm. We got a lot of looks from people with our great kids. People would see N and T in the stroller and A walking along and just smile at us. I still can't count how many times we've heard, "You've got your hands full". Yeah, no kidding, but they are so dang fun too! People were really nice though and kept telling us how cute they were, and really they are the most handsome little devils you've ever seen (you don't have to admit out loud, but deep down...you know it's true). The river was so green and the rocks were so red, it really was a spectacle. We even saw some wildlife including a deer and a couple of fat little squirrels. But A liked the fish the most. That kid loves fish. There was a little bridge that went over a stream with these little tiny fish and A spotted them and kept telling us to look at the fish! The end of the trail finally came and we took a little break before heading back down. The way down was just as pretty and it had stopped raining by then too. Just as we got back to the Monkey-wagon it started raining a little bit again, and it was a little later than we'd planned on getting back, so we decided to head to St. George for dinner and some shopping. We don't get down there a lot and it sounded like fun. The boys were able to get in a little nap during the drive and our little trip to St. George turned out really nice. That night we played cards again, despite our biker neighbors, and just loved being outside enjoying it all.

Saturday was awesome. The weather was perfect and we got to do a lot of hiking with the kids. We packed them on our backs and A just trotted along like a champ. We hit the Emerald Pools first. N and T did great in the packs. They love seeing all the different trees and water and rocks, everything facinates them. A has a good time playing like he's a car the whole time racing up the trails. The pools were perfect and clear. Spring has got to be the best time for Zions. We took a little snack break at the lodge before heading on to the Weeping Wall and then headed home. It was a great get away and even though it was packed in there with Moab, we wished we were heading somewhere again this weekend. Oh well, we'll just have to settle for yard work, which we love too.

Moab, Moab, Moab.....

Us at the park relaxing in the Spring Moab sun!

Well, what a couple of weeks we had! Teeny and I were busy packing and unpacking for a week it seemed. Our first outing was to Moab for the annual Half Marathon. I was the only one of us two who was lucky, or unlucky (keep reading to find out why), enough to be drawn out to run in the race. We were stoked because the weather was going to be awesome (mid 70's to mid 80's), and most of the fam was going to be down there (missed ya, Rachy, Ava, and Doug) . We hadn't seen temps like that for a long dang while (was it just me or was it one bitter winter??!). So the marathon people told everyone to hydrate well and so I did. I had a giant thing of Gatorade for the three days previous to the race and then a big ole jug on the day of the race. It didn't start til 10am so it was plenty hot by the start time. No worries though, right? Ha ha ha..... I get down the canyon (10.5 miles into the 13) about the time I was expecting and was on track for a 2 hour half marathon...super! Everyone was there to pump me up for the last little push to the finish line and I felt pretty good. Chug, chug, chug, I was getting a little tired, but could see the next water station half mile away, straight into the sun (it's gotta be 80 degrees by now). Then, BAM, it hits me.....groggy step 1..2......3........4........you get the idea, and before I knew it I'd passed out. I have no recollection of what happened between the time I went down and loading me in the ambulance, but they say I never lost consciousness. Luckily, a doctor was right behind me when I went down and he stuck with me throughout the ordeal not finishing his race. Granted, he was a doctor and was only doing what he should, but I can't be more thankful to him for staying with me. I remember him being a large part of the ambulance ordeal and getting me stable and the hospital. I asked him his name before he finally left, but in the state I was in I totally forgot it. Thank you, whomever you are, for stopping and caring that much. All the while Teeny and the fam where all waiting at the finish line for me to come hobbling in. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half hour, 45 minutes....where the stink is he? Teeny was sure I was dead in some ditch and so she started to back track the route. Now I don't remember a lot, but I remember telling people to call my wife, call my wife... Her cell number was one of the few things I remembered, but they never did. My dad finally went to the medical tent and found out that I was in the hospital, but doing OK. He, my ma, and Teeny hurried over. I sat in the hospital room for a good hour before I saw anyone familiar and let me tell you, the most confusing hour of my life. I couldn't see my future, if that makes any sense. Scared and shocked that all this had just happened to me. Then, in walked Nate and Jodi and family....getting better already, and then Ma and Pa, better still, then Teeny....finally good. It was a little scary for both of us, but having family around helped my little pea brain put the pieces back together. I couln't spell words backwards for the doctor like "world" which was a little concerning, but all the tests and labs came back fine. About 4 hours after I collapsed, I was released and was able to go back to the motel where I slept the rest of the day. Of all the people to thank my family has to be first. Thanks Nate and Jodi for watching A, checking in on me, and being there to support me. Thanks Ma and Pa for watching the twins and the blessing (Nate too here). Thanks Jesse and Lindy and Kris for gathering my stuff and just being there. And thanks Teeny for being my wife and for the concern, hope and comfort you gave me in those first moments we saw each other. You helped me recover more than anything.

Me and A at mile 10.75 probably, I made it about 11.5, but here I felt great

After all this the family went up to Delicate Arch, where A climbed like a champ, all while I was sleeping off the collapse. The next day, I woke up feeling normal and we were able to hit some arches on the way out of town before heading home. All in all it was a memorable event, but always a bummer to part with family after such a great weekend together.

Ma, Teeny and the boys at Delicate Arch

Teeny at Landscape.....HOT!

Duck pond -- Feb 2007

Well, it's been a while since my last post, and who knows, it may be a while til my next. J and L have started a blog now and inspired me to update ours. N and T have grown into quite the little boys. They are now 21 months old and are into everything. They crack us up! A is 4 now and has started itty-bitty ball, which he loves! It's fun seeing him having such a great time. Teeny just tells me about it since I can't go, but I can picture him out there having a blast. We've been in our new house for almost six months and we're enjoying the rambler lifestyle. We've got everything in except for plants in our landscaping and a fence....oh, and A won't let us forget a swingset. Hopefully this year we'll get all that tied up. Anyway, here are some pics of our latest trip to the duck pond. We went there on a warm day a couple weeks ago to feed the ducks, and when we got to the top it was all frozen over. A was really looking forward to seeing 'Jose' the crazy duck. Maybe next time.

Trammit!!

So, it's been a while since I was able to do this so I figured I'd hurry and get one in. This weekend we went up to Snowbird with J, L, G-pa N and Becker to ride the tram on "free tram day". It was perfect weather for us...blue sky and pretty warm. Even at the top of the tram @ 11K feet, it was probably 50 degrees or so. We started the afternoon off at the Pie Pizzaria in South Jordan. I can't believe some of the graffiti I saw there....I didn't think you could write some of those things in public. Utah County surely would never let that go. The tram is really pretty nice. We packed N and T in their snuggly's and they worked out great. We had tons of people comment on our cute kids. The tram is the next best thing to flying and the views are incredible. We looked over so much scenery, it was really great. Then to top it all off BYU lost horribly to the Irish and the Utes beat the pants off UNLV. What a nice ending to a great day.

Labor Day....it was a labor anyway....

Well, it's been longer than it should have been. Lots have happened in the last little while, but it's not that important, right? Our biggest adventure was Labor Day weekend and the chaos that is mounting with every new grand-kid born. Teeny and I are finding that holidays are more of a labor than what they used to be...figures with three kids under 3 huh? We had a great time sleeping at Granny's and golfing, eating, parading, eating, playing, eating....you get the picture. A had a hard time sleeping one night so I spent a half an hour at 1am driving around Payson trying to get him to sleep...it worked after about five minutes. Poor kid was too tired to sleep. N and T were super as they always have been. I need to take a minute and just thank Teeny for her work while I'm at "work". She amazes me. She sacrifices so much for our family and I try to tell her how much I appreciate that, but it never seems to be enough. It's great having her in my life. She is the fun in my life. During the last three months (hard to believe) you'd hardly be able to tell we have twins. Our home is clean and in order, our kids are happy and well taken care of, and she still manages to make dinner even on days she is pushed to her limits. We've been throwing around the idea of moving to something bigger before we can't afford it anymore. Our neighborhood is in the process of moving out it seems. Three houses right next to ours have gone up for sale and sold within the last three months. We'd love to build our own home if we can. We've checked out different places for us to put our roots down again. Utah County isn't as cheap as we'd thought it would be though, so we'll see. I've been fighting gas prices on my bike and fail to understand how some people just keep driving around like gas is a dime a gallon. This last weekend was great. We had nothing on the agenda and did just that. We still got out, but for the most part our house was our haven this weekend. After a couple weeks of crazy we were ready for it. Yesterday we all took a nice fat Sunday nap together (same time, different rooms). It was nice to relax and be just our family for a bit. Our hearts have been with those in the Hurricane disaster lately and we wish them all well. The atrocities that reciprocated during the aftermath in terms of human behavior are beyond animalistic. It's as if people, or at least the slime of that community, enjoyed devastation. I know there are heros out there as well, but in these times I don't know how everyone could not be heros helping each other instead of committing crimes against thier neighbors. That's my two bits...

Lagooney....

So, we just want to thank G-ma and G-pa J for the great family get away to Lagoon. A is still talking about going on the planes and cars, etc... He had a great time. It was great to see everyone there and hob nob around with the bunch. Luckily, A had his cousins to support him on the rides. McKenzie was great for him to start out with. She made sure he didn't get seperated from her (love that grip!) and then helped him on and off the rides. She was great in setting up the rest of the day for him. We went on Puff, the planes, boats, swings, helicopters, space ships, Rattlesnake Rapids and others too!

He only cried twice, both times when he got wet on Rattlesnake Rapids and the slide ride with Teeny. We even got to go on some big rides thanks to being with family. I think the Spider was probably my favorite, but I laughed pretty good on the Samurai as well. I took A to see if he could win a big prize, but the kid has the same kind of luck I do. He still had fun picking ducks though. All in all it was a great time, and we want G-ma and G-Pa J to know how much we appreciated it, especially this year. Being able to get out and do something that fun after spending all of our time with our new ones was a really nice break for us. Thanks to Beckster as well for watching them and taking such great care of them. It'll be fun when we can take all of our kids to Galoon!!

Pagan no more....

This weekend N and T left the realms of savagery and were blessed. It was really interesting blessing two babies the same day. I'd thought of a lot of things to say, and when the time came I was afraid the blessings would be very similar. They were pretty similar, but different as well, which I'd hoped for. It's always a special thing to take your kids and bless them at church. I was more emotional than I thought I'd be....dang sissy. Afterwords it was craziness at our house. We had quite the gathering in our little abode. It all went well though and it was super seeing everyone and having you all be a part of their special day. We are blessed and lucky to have such great kids. We love 'em all. After all was said and done, we realized that we hadn't taken nearly enough pictures. That is primarily my responsibility and I slacked off big time.

This week Teeny had a cousin die, Stacy, and attended her funeral. It's always an awakener going to those. I am so glad that we still have our wonderful mom and my amazing wife. We don't like to think about life without each other.

Before this gets to sappy I'll mention that Teeny also went to Stef's bachelorette party. Wild and crazy that Stef. She had a great time. Stef, if you ever read this, know that we are excited for you in your new endeavor, and wish you and "G" the best. Nothing in my life has been better than stealing Teeny for my own, nothing.....

Chubby Chubbuk and A-Poky....

Idaho.....what a place huh? We had the pleasure of visiting the potato state this last weekend and I'm just thrilled. It's actually quite Utah-ish once you get past the lotto. Wish we had that here. I could use a couple million right now. R and D are there so I guess that more than makes up for what it lacks aesthetically. Those two are lookers, and that Ava, she's a cutey too. It's almost sad that this summer our vacationing has been in Poky. Next year we have some major work to redeem the beloved vacation. On our way up we stopped off at Tracy Aviary to let A mess with the birds. That kid can run, I'll tell you what (Hank Hill). He'd run from one bird cage to the next, "Mama, Dada, come here....wook....big birdie..." He liked all the birds except the Condors. He thought they would get out and eat him I guess. Peacocks are all over that place just walking around aimlessly. He wasn't too fond of them either, but did enjoy feeding the ducks. We had a fun time at the hotel in Poky. A could have swam all day long. He was hyper at the pool. All that energy trapped up from the long drive maybe...who knows. He'll forever think that the hotel is Pocatello though. When we got home he wanted the Pocatello with the pool....so sorry.

Beckster trying to keep those peepers open...

D did fantastic in hiding the tears when he blessed Ava. I couldn't even tell. I might have R punch him once just to see what a big guy crying is like. I'd do it myself, but he's bigger and I'm afraid he might be able to out run me as well. We saw what he could do in Payson with the police speed monitor thingy. All in all it was a super trip. Glad to have been there for that, even though we miss L and J more and more at each event.

I thought I'd just throw this one in too. This is how we carry all three kids in one double stroller. N and T hang out in the back together (pretty cozy huh?) and we stick A in the front. We love our nightly neighborhood walks. Anything that gets us out....sheesh.

Giddyuppppp!!!!

I should probably clarify first that A learned how to push his pedals, not actually ride a bike...yet. You think people would be calling to put the kid on Letterman if he actually could ride a bike. I don't think I learned until I was four or so. Maybe my brother in law D was riding around two years old though, crud he was walking out of the womb!

Well, if you ever need to see a man about a TV I know just the man. Friday we got together at J and Larry's and watched 'Revenge of the Sith' on the big screen. I didn't feel like I could sit far enough away. It's like being on the front row at a movie. It's great getting together with friends though. A had a great time with the kids there, especially Chase, his couch jumping buddy of the evening. Poor kid doesn't have much leg strength. He'd launch off the couch and barely have enough to keep his face off the floor. He takes after his mom's leg strength, except for the kick in the pants I'll get when she reads this.

This weekend we visited the County Fair. A was all about seeing the "aminals". It wasn't as scorching hot as it had been either, which was nice. We asked A if he wanted to go on a ride, and he'd just shake his head 'no' and move on to the next observation. He is quite the observer, and he's got a great memory too. As soon as we got over to the animals, he got out of his stroller and just started jumping around like it was the best thing he'd ever done. Makes you feel like you're actually an OK parent.... He loves to look, but has a hard time touching animals, except for Rocky our turtle whom he can't keep his hands off. We got him to touch the baby cow and he fed the horses corn. There was a train display that he could have spent all day looking at too.

It was amazing the detail someone had put into it. There was also a show that kids on bikes would "jump into sky Dada..." He's such a great kid and so funny lately. We have been so lucky with him and he's been SO great for us. He's the best to his new brothers and just wants to be happy all the time. He's still two and does crazy things, like jump off the couch and land on his head, but he's a sweet stinkin' kid.

N and T are growing like crazy too. We put them in levi's for the first time (thanks L and J) and they were pretty stinking cute. They are all belly these days. They're two months now!! I know, ALREADY?! Insane. They were stroller dwellers this weekend....again. N is close to all out laughter, and T just keeps eating.

Good enough....take care.

A the pedaler...

So, he did it. That's right, we have a pedaler in the family! We've been waiting all summer for this to happen and we couldn't be prouder of our little man. Teeny actually got him to do it...somehow. He was pretty proud of himself. Teeny really got my hopes up when she just mentioned the Tour de France and how A could be the next Armstrong......yeah, I can see my DNA being in the Tour....(where am I and why is it so cold!). I just hope that the potty training comes soon too. Everytime we change his bum, we just can't wait til he's really ready for that.

Here are some pics of our three smiling monkeys:

T N

A

Even if they just have gas, especially A, they're still pretty fun. N and T both jabbering a little too. Sometimes I'd swear they're chewing me out for something. They have plenty of reasons, I just wonder which one it could be....