St George Trip

A few weekends back I was able to spend some time with Seth & Natalie and their family. Hailee was down there too and we had a lot of fun, so I thought I would let everyone know what we did. Thursday night we all went to the Tuacahn and watched Les Miserables. Seth and Natalie just about had their girls asleep until they shot fireworks off prior to intermission, but they did really good, neither of them cried hardly all weekend. Jodie did get ticked the next day though at Zions. She wanted to play in the water more when we hiked to the narrows.

Hailee and I during the beginning stages of our hike to Angel's Landing. It was an amazing hike! As we were coming back down we would pass people that would ask..."Is it worth it?" and our response was a definite Yes! There's a few spots that got a little sketchy (probably why they have chains and rods driven in the rocks for handholds) so we both decided it was best to just not look down and not think about anything other than where your next hand and foot holds were.

This is climbing back up from the very end of Angel's Landing. I went about as far as my comfort zone allowed me to without any ropes. This is hiking back up to the top of the ridge of Angel's Landing.


This was our last hike of the day, to the Narrows. Jodie wasn't too happy to put her shoes back on and hike down to the bus, but Seth would ask her about all the things going on that weekend and she would get excited about the basketball games for the next day.

Saturday we all loaded up and went to Vegas to watch the BLAZERS play in the summer league. They only had a few of the guys from their actual roster but it was fun to watch the new draft picks. Towards the end of the game, which was really close, Seth busted out some Nacho Libre quotes and made sure the team knew that they didn't want to get paid to lose....We want to wiiiiiin! It was so funny. It was fun to spend time down there with them. Thanks Seth & Natalie and Hailee I had a blast!


This wasn't on the St George trip, but i thought it was worthy of the blog! A few of us from work went and golfed the back 9 at Spanish Oaks. This was the hole that is by Uncle Scott's house (thanks Dad). It was a par 4 and after 2 shots (thanks to a horrible second shot) I was still 150 or 160 yards from the green. So i got the trusty 7 iron out and gave it a swing. It looked like it was headed straight for the trees but then right as the pall was at its peak it started heading left a bit towards the green. It hit the far right side of the green and then proceeded to roll down until it finally rested within a foots length of the hole. It wasn't a hole in one, but its probably as close as I'll get to one so thankfully for cell phone cameras I was able to take a picture of my one moment of glory in golf.

Oh was it my turn?

I have almost singlehandedly stopped our blog, sorry bout that, but as you can learn from the following poem, we all have a choice, and I have chosen to finally post something! This is a poem I came across recently by Allen Steble (good first name) that I liked.

We all have a choice
To live a lie
Or be ourselves
To laugh and cry
Or to follow someone else

To look up and smile
Or bow down and frown
To walk the whole mile
Or take off our crown

We have a choice
To shout out loud
Or chant a whisper
To fly through the clouds
Or to be blown like paper

To conquer our fear
Or hide in the shadow
To the wise words hear
Or be thrown out the window

We all have a choice
To climb our highest mountain
Or fall into our deepest hole
To drink from life's fountain
Or live life like a troubled soul

To learn love in the heart
Or grasp to hate with regret
To wake up and start
Or sleep until sunset

We all have a choice
To speak truly with ourselves
Or go against what seems

We all have a choice
To fulfill our greatest dreams

What I would like to take from this is to simply enjoy life and keep everything in perspective.

The choice is ours to do so!

And I decided to throw in a completely random picture from Zion's National Park.
That razor thin ridge (complete with sheer cliffs on either side) in the middle of the picture is part of the hike to Angel's Landing, which I think a few of our family has conquered!

Long Time Waiting?

Abby after a long day of potty training. It has been a lot of bribing and laundry!

Papa and Abby rocked each other to sleep after Christmas dinner. Classic dad stance.

Sorry it has taken Nick and I so long to get with the program. By the way, why did everyone stop with the spiritual thoughts? We have a good one: Does Evil Exist? One day, a professor of a university decided to defy his pupils. He asked, "Did God create everything that exists?" A student answered bravely, "Yes, He did." "Everything?" asked the teacher. "Yes, everything." was the answer of the student. "In this case, God also created evil, correct? Because evil exists." said the teacher. To that the student had no answer and remained in silence. The tacher was delighted at the opportunity to prove one more time that faith was only a myth. Suddenly, another student raised his hand and asked, "May I aska question, professor?" "Of course," was the answer. "Does cold exist?" "Of course" answered the professor. "Did you never feel cold?" "Actually, sir, cold does not exist. According to studies of Physics, cold is the total and complete absence of heat. An object can be studied if it has and transmits energy and it is the heat of an object that transmits its energy. Without heat, the objects are inert, incapable to react. But cold does not exist. We created the term Cold to explain the lack of heat." "And darkness," continues the student. "It exists," replied the professor. "Again, you're wrong sir, darkness is the total absence of light. You can study light and brightness, but not darkness. The prism of Nichols shows the variety of different colors in which the light can be decomposed according to the longitude of the waves. Darkness is the term we created to explain the total absence of light." And finally the studetn asked, "And evil, sir, does evil exist? God did not create evil. Evil is the absence of light. They exist. Their absence lead to evil." Now it was the professors turn to remain silent . . . the name of the student was : Albert Einstein Sorry it was so long, late, and full of mistakes.

Baby Kole

Here's some pics of baby Kole. As you can see he is pretty long and skinny! He was 7lbs 4oz and 21 inches long. At his appointment he was already back up to 7lbs 2oz, so he is doing pretty well with the eating thing. He is really good at eating, pooping and sleeping. We gave him his first bath today and he did really well! Grandma says he is really cute. She is here helping us until Sunday and has been great. Tyson and I are pretty proud parents, but I think that is normal (I hope). I am sure many more pics will follow! Love you guys.

Amanda

Our best tree (so far)

Thought I would post a pic of our tree cuz we think it might be the best one yet:) hehe:) Seth and Nat, congrats! We are so happy for you and your new little bundle of joy. Send pics when you get a chance! Our little guy is just nice and cozy in there and doesn't think he is quite ready yet. We will definitely let everyone know if anything happens. Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,
Amanda

Just a few older pictures....and a trip to the south.

So for work this week I have been down in the south. We left Sunday afternoon from Salt Lake and flew to Memphis. From there we drove to Blytheville, Arkansas. We worked there most of Monday and then after work drove to Jackson, Mississippi. Thursday the client we were auditing claims for was having a Christmas lunch and they invited us to join them. That lunch was quite a cultural eye opener for me. Before the lunch one of the managers in the office gave what amounted to a southern baptist type sermon complete with amen's and hallelujahs from some of the other workers there. I wasn't quite sure if i was supposed to clap or say amen or what, so i ended up just standing there (probably with a goofy look on my face). It was fun though, they were very friendly and they cooked up some really good southern "soul" food (as they liked to call it). After lunch we flew to Orlando which is where I am now. We went to dinner tonight down by all the Disney stuff and walked around downtown disney. It brought back some fun memories of our trip down here a few years back. The guys I was with got a kick out of Grandma riding the incredible hulk ride. Tonight i'm just hanging out in my hotel room waiting until I'm tired enough to fall asleep. So I started looking through some of the pictures on my computer, and they brought back some fun memories (for some they may not be so fun) so I thought I'd share them. We fly back to Salt Lake tomorrow night. It might be hard to go back to 20 degree weather after being in 80 degree weather for a few days. But there is some snow now at the resorts so if I can go skiing then the cold is totally worth it. Anyways enjoy the pictures, and I love you all.

Cute Girls

I was just looking through the camera and saw this pic of Jodi and Abby............Thought it was right up there with Willie and deserved a spot on the page! Seth, that cracks me up that all little girls are now Abby. We've got some pretty cute kids around and can't wait for more! Natalie, hows the pregnancy going? Make sure to give updates! Tyson and I have been busy today re-finishing a dresser and making a shelf for Kole. It was a pretty fun day but I think by the end of sanding all the old paint off both Tyson and Kole were pretty annoyed at the noise. Hope all is well with everyone. Love ya!

Amanda