From my Archives

This looks like the parking lot by the Country Club tennis courts in Leesville. That is Lauren on dad's shoulders. I don't remember when I took this, but what a great photo.

Lauren & Seth. I believe this was taken in Craig & Jordan's old apartment in Metarie.

This is a shot from our dating days at Ricks College, in Rexburg, Idaho. I'm betting this photo was taken in the fall(?) of 1996. The quality of the photo is questionable, but the content brings back a lot of memories. I invited Janna over for dinner and a soccer match one night. I don't think the dinner was very good, but our soccer match in front of my apartments was memorable.

Here's a winner. We found dad out in the backyard riding the mower cutting the grass. We decided to take some shots at him with a water balloon launcher. As I remember, we hit the mower but didn't quite get dad as he was hiding behind skinny trees. Dallin & Taylor are in the background behind Brent.

This picture of Lauren was taken at the zoo in Baton Rouge(?) She was almost three at the time.

Tunnels

Bikes, Stories, & Tunnels

Our snow has finally melted and we are beginning to enjoy random stretches of sunshine throughout the week. Lauren informed me recently that Spring-time is her favorite.
Notice Lauren's bike doesn't have any training wheels. She is very proud of that fact.

Rylee loves her tricycle. She has figured out how to work the pedals now, although she still prefers riding "FlintStone" style at times.

We decided to throw all the couch cushions on the living room floor and read stories there one night. I think these cushions spend more time on the floor than on the couch.
These girls love their tunnel system. I wish I could fit too, every time I try I get into trouble because I'm "too big."

How Long Will It Last???

Bathroom cleaning crew for hire. My ship has come in.

Courage

The caption says: "It is the bravest of men who stand tall in the face of danger." I have been in this wall several times, and then gone home sporting hexagon shaped bruises imprinted by the shell of the soccer ball. A bit crazy perhaps, but it's a supernatural adrenalin rush to stand in the wall and exchange laughing glances with your team-mates wondering who might take the impact. Ahh, the beautiful game.

Easter & Stuff

She wanted to wear my hat. . . Then she wanted a drink of milk. The result was worth taking a picture.

I have this dilemma see. . . The girls have these awesome tents that connect with these cool tunnels. But I don't fit in them very well even though when it's all set up it takes up 98% of our living room. But its fun to play hide and seek in anyway. Maybe they won't notice my feet.

Rylee likes her tights. Red. I'm not sure what else I can say about it, except that this habit must end before she starts dating.

It's not actually child slave labor if they are enjoying it and doing it of their own will is it?

This is our Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard of Grandma Sharon's house. Lauren & Rylee both had a great time.
Rylee worked on peeling the shell off this egg for no less than 20 minutes. I will remember this.

Check out that cool Easter Egg Basket, I think it's a dog. There was another kid at the local neighborhood hunt that tried to take it. No worries, Rylee made it unmistakeably clear that he was not going to get it.

Crazy Amounts of Snow

This is a video I made of the snow that fell here at the end of January and beginning of February. It has our backyard snowtroll, sliding down the stairs, our snowfort, and Lauren picking her nose with gloves on. . . (it can be done). Sorry it's such a big file, too much snow I guess.

January Activities

This January, we got about 4-6 feet of snow in North Ogden. The snowboarding has never been better, and made a snow-troll instead of a snowman. We spent many days sledding down hills, making snowforts, throwing snow at each other, and drinking hot chocolate.

I think the girls learned this from Janna. Sometimes I catch Janna just playing in the sink, wet up to her elbows and styling her hair with handsoap when she's bored.

Rubber swimming caps??? Who would have imagined there is fun to be had in these?

Grandma Pat comes to babysit for us now and then and it gives us a chance to get away to the temple, or go on a fun date. The girls have a great time with her, its a win/win situation for all.

Winter Fun

We had some great friends invite us to Island Park over Christmas break. We had a ball! Rylee finally decided snow can be fun.

Ice fishing was a fun, unsuccessful adventure Mark loved. I think he enjoyed working up a sweat drilling his hole and making a video.

Two princesses and their handsome Quince (as Lauren pronounces it)

Sealing Day, November 24th 2007

Cheese, Pumpkins, Hot Mitts

Is this picture not hilarious? Look at the expressions. . . I would pay money to see this again!

It's true. Cheese is an all powerful, dominating force in our home. The more it strings off, the more deeply it captivates. I'm referring to me, of course. The girls like it too.

This is Janna's job. Gut the pumpkin. She is a good sport about it, she does it every year. I hate it because it's squash. We don't exactly see eye to eye on squash, but I can carve a great face on the Jack-O-lantern.

Janna took Lauren & Rylee to a pumpkin farm and apparently they had a great time. They dug for candy in the corn pile, hunted for pumpkins in the patch, rode the train, etc. I missed out.
These pumpkins were hunted and handpicked, then declared to be the best pumpkins in the patch. I don't know what happened to them though, I don't ever recall seeing them. Better check the car. Didn't Janna do a knock out job on these costumes. I wanted one too, but Janna wouldn't make me one. Probably because she knew that I would wear it all the time. . . to work, the store, etc.
If the tongue is out, it indicates epic amounts of fun. If you are as creative as Rylee & Lauren, you would know that Hot Mitts are not just for "taking stuff out of the oven." They also can stand up on end. You can zing them off your hand, give huge fives, stack them on the legs of an upside down chair, sit and slide on them, make a path across the living room and you can catch stuff and pick stuff up.

I had nothing to do with this. I heard laughing and when I came to see what destruction was upon me I found this scene. They sat down and strapped in all on their own. They thought it was funny, at least for a little while. Then when they couldn't get out, it wasn't funny anymore.



These goggles come out every now & then. Lauren bought them with her own birthday money this summer. She sleeps with them, wears them in the tub, at dinner, to the store, to bed, etc. Don't you touch 'em, they were "fifty bucks."

My Girls

I can't really explain it. . . Some of the best wrestling matches occur right before bedtime as we are winding down and getting ready for sleep.

This is Rylee's new tricycle, Lauren was determined to help her learn how to work the pedals. What a great picture.

Rylee telling the story of "Chubby." Lauren & Rylee are pretty good at relating this story.

End of August 2007

We went to Cinnamon Creek to camp on Friday night. Janna took this great picture of us as we were roasting marshmallows. We had a "Megabed" in the tent, locked the keys (both sets) in the car at 11:30pm, and went fishing on the river, got spooked by racoons, saw amazing spider webs near the road, had hot chocolate to drink, and rode in a pioneer handcart. Adam was the brains behind rescuing the keys from the locked car. We ended up using a hot dog roasting rod to break in, it was actually some good challenging fun.
Me & Rylee were standing in the middle of the river fishing. The water was very cold, but clean and refreshing. It was a beautiful area. I actually look like I know what I'm doing. Adam teaching Sam to fish for trout in shallow water. We used Salmon eggs. Lauren was patient, but her bladder finally overpowered her desire to fish and she

was done. But she refused to go in the "Wilderness" so she held it a bit longer and just danced around a bit. Janna & Rylee had a great time just throwing pebbles into the water. Rylee was in a great, laughing mood and wore those nutty red glasses all morning long. Lauren & Annie sat on this rock and fished - somewhat. Adam caught the only fish, a trout about 7 inches long. We all touched it then let it go. This river empties into a reservior called Porcupine Dam, owned entirely by the church. This area is absolutely beautiful.
I set the record for carrying the most camping stuff at once. Two bags of supplies, two sleeping bags, two egg foam pads, one blanket, four pillows, Rylee's red jacket, and a flashlight. Let's see you beat it. It was a late night after I locked the keys in the car. We finally got to bed at about 11:30pm and the girls didn't make a sound but went straight to sleep. We slept good and woke up the next morning around 8am and had a great breakfast before we cleaned up, then went fishing. The ride home was nice and quiet.

Jordanelle Triathlon, August 25th, 2007. The Jordanelle Reservoir was perfect - about 70°. I got there late and got into the water about 15 seconds before the starting signal. Just long enough to wet my hair, seal my cap and temper my goggles. I completed the 800m (1/2 mile) swim in 19 minutes which is my best time so far, but my goal is 17 minutes.

What a lame picture, I saw the photographer and I couldn't help but lose my concentration and laugh a bit. Honestly, I really did have a great time doing this race and I think my lack of "Game face" here shows that. My average speed was 19.7 mph, my top speed was a stunning 46mph coming down the hill out of the nearby town - Francis. What a rush!!
My traditional "Jump" across the Finish. The clock actually reads 2:36. My wave started an hour after the first wave, so my actual finish time was 1:36. I finished 19th of 70 guys in my age group, there were over 1000 athletes there that day. What a great feeling to finish so strong in the race, I should have left more of my sweat on the trail - but I sure did enjoy it. On my left ankle there is a timing chip that tells the announcer who I am and he announces it over the loudspeaker and everyone cheers. There are few things that compare to that feeling at the finish line.

This little girl is so curious, observant, and creative. She found this swim cap in my bag and put it on. When you see the toungue sticking out, you know she is enjoying herself. The other side of the cap reads "Poco Loco." Fitting.