We decided to spend Thanksgiving up at the cabin with Momo this year. We got a rather late start on Wednesday evening and after watching the car in front of us hit a deer round about Randolph, we arrived safe and sound at the nice warm cabin. We spent the next couple days eating, sledding and playing outside in the snow. The food was yummy as always and it was fun to spend time at the cabin after not having visited for a while.

Bright and early on Labor Day I drove out to my Dad’s house to get his new Jeep hauling trailer to haul my Jeep home from the base of Little Cottonwood canyon. Two days earlier Ben and I had driven to Snowbird to go mountain biking and in the process had blown a rather large hole in my radiator (it had been having some cooling issues for a few weeks prior). After coasting down the canyon in neutral, I had to leave the Jeep to be rescued later so Monday morning, we went to rescue it.

After spending the entire morning retrieving the Jeep, we all piled in the Yukon and headed down to Spanish Fork canyon with my folks and siblings to do some shooting and have a BBQ. It was good times. We took the shotguns and .22′s and everyone had fun shooting. Even Jack and Annie got into the rotation and took a few shots with my sisters 20 gauge. After turning half a box of clay pigeons into powder we pulled out the hibachi’s and had fun BBQing in the drizzle and wind. It only threatened to storm for about 30 minutes and then blew over and was actually quite pleasant weather. We all had fun.

Wow… I’ve been quite the blogging slacker lately. Unfortunately, with everything else that goes on, this seems to take a back seat most of the time, but I’ve got several backposts to crank out so hopefully it’ll get me back into the habit.

to start off, I’ve got some pictures from this last Saturday. Emily decided we celebrate Pioneer day by visiting the International Peace Gardens while the weather was still good so we all hopped in the car and went to see what there was to see. To be honest, I didn’t even know the gardens existed, but it was a nice Saturday afternoon stroll and the kids had fun (other than the fact that it was around 100 degrees).

We finished off the day with a BBQ at grandmas with all the cousins and we even had a nice little fireworks display in the street with lots of glowing jewelry to top it off. Overall it was a nice relaxing holiday.

To all the mothers who have influenced our lives for the good. To my Mom, Emily’s Mom, our grandmothers, our friends moms, and every other mother who has helped us to be who we are today. I shudder to think where we would have ended up without you. And most definitely to Emily. From the first time I met her I knew she would make a great mom which was a good portion of the reason I knew I wanted to marry her. And to this day, even though Hailey is almost 9, Emily still has trouble being away from them for too long. Her kids are her whole world and even though they may not appreciate everything she does now, they will someday. She’s the one they want when they’re hurt or sad. She’s the one they cry for when they wake up with bad dreams. She’s the glue that sticks us all together and keeps us all happy and on the right track. So once again I say…

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

Who would have thought that 11 years could go by so quickly? Just 11 short years ago I was a young kid of 21. I’d only been home from my mission for about 6 months and I had myself a brand new Valentine. I’d met her through a blind date and even though she lived half way to Reno (it seemed like it at the time) I was willing to make the long drive cause she was hot and she had a beautiful smile. I wasn’t too sure what her family thought of me, but they hadn’t tried to run me off yet so I figured I’d just keep hanging around until they did. Fortunately for me that never happened and now here we are 11 years, 7 or 8 moves (depending on how you count them), 3 jobs and 4 kids later. During that time we’ve had our ups and downs, but one thing has never changed… my Valentine is still hot and she still has a beautiful smile. Not to mention the fact that she’s a great mom, a great wife and my best friend. One thing that has changed over the years is that we’ve sort of gotten into the habit of being pretty low-key when it comes to celebrating holidays (and birthdays), but I hope she knows that even though I don’t always make a big deal about it, I would be utterly lost without her. She’s the yin to my yang and she provides balance to my universe. Many things have changed in the last 11 years but no matter what other changes might come our way in the future, I will always need her and love her with all my heart.

Thanks for being my eternal Valentine Em.