Moab

The Valentine's Day gift for Nichole and I this year was to make a trip down to Moab, UT.  It's about a 3 hour drive from here and is pretty well known for its back country adventure.  A while back I had signed up to do a running race called the Moab Red Hot 55k.  So, this adventure turned out to be just a scoche more for me than for Nichole, although it was so fun to get away and spend the weekend just her and I!  Ethan, Brad and Jake spent the weekend having fun with the Almond cousins while we left the other 2 kids, Eli and Ava, with Nichole's dad who was so nice to come and spend the Friday and Saturday at our house.  Poor Jesse, because Eli got sick while we were gone and fussed pretty much the whole time.  I felt so bad for him.  Ava was pretty cute because she called us 12 times during those two days.  Whenever I would answer, she would just say, "Umm, dad, can I just talk to mom for a few minutes."  When we got back home from Moab, I read the voice mails on my cell phone and there were another 6 messages from Ava.  So, we talked to her 12 times on the phone and then had missed her calls 6 times.  I'd say she missed her mommy and daddy a little bit and just wanted to make sure we were going to come back.  That was pretty cute to hear my little girl's voice on the other end.  When the kids grow up, they don't want much to do with mom and dad, so it's good to get it in while we can.
I'd have to say that one of the nice things from this trip were the hotel accommodations.  When I reserved the hotel months ago, I found the cheapest place online.  It was the Days Inn.  Well, I thought to myself that it was a known and respected name.  They were offering a hot tub, a complimentary breakfast and a pool.  I thought that sounded pretty good and it was all for only $40/night.  The online pictures made it look pretty good too.  Upon arrival, I soon realized why it was the cheapest place in town.  Oh my goodness, the place was a dive.  So, I told Nichole, "well, at least it looks the same as any other hotel when you're sleeping and when the room is black."  Next time we will have to splurge at least a little bit and get a nicer place to lay our heads.

At the starting line, it was about 20 degrees when the 34 mile run race started...and yes, that is snow in the background.

Nate and I were just about ready to get started...Mr. Baldy and Mr. Wannabe Baldy

The 34 mile trail was full of different mountain terrain...very beautiful

This is about mile 7 looking down from one of the inclines

I hate the cameras with the phones.  There are never enough pixels to transfer a good picture digitally.  This was somewhere around mile 16 or so

Coming across the finish line at about 6 and a half hours.  The nice thing about trail runs is the mentality of the race.  They are so different from street races because it is definitely more laid back and enjoyable.  You tend to go slower and just enjoy the scenery and camaraderie of others around you.  The competitive feeling of trying to finish as fast as you can is just not as intense.  True, Nate and I could have gone faster and come in probably at least an hour earlier, but the thought is "why?"  Let's not kill ourselves and just have a good time enjoying the beautiful nature.  By late morning, the temperature had crawled into the mid 40's and super sunny.  It felt so good compared to the frigid valley temps of the Salt Lake area.

When finishing, Nichole told me she is going to do the 33k portion of the race next year with Nate's wife, Stephanie.  That would be awesome!  

Eagle soaring high

WAY TO GO, ETHAN!!

This past Thursday, Ethan had his Eagle Board of Review and passed it.  He is officially an Eagle Scout!!  It was kind of late when we finished up, but I asked him if there was anywhere he'd like to go to celebrate and make a night of it.  But, with it being late, our options were kind of limited.  He thought of JCW's, so off we went.  Upon starting our hamburger and chocolate shakes, we noticed the BYU basketball game was on espn, so we had to sit around and watch that.  The restaurant closed at 10:30, but the game didn't get over until some time after 11.  I'm sure the employees hated us.  We just couldn't believe BYU lost again to St. Mary's.  I don't even know where St. Mary's is, and what the heck is a gael?  I know it's somewhere in California.  But, the crazy thing is that BYU is 0-4 against them since joining the WCC.  Isn't losing to a St. Mary's school kind of like losing to a division 2 school.  Oh well, we had fun just kicking back and enjoying a basketball game with a burger and shake.  Ethan did just enough to earn his Eagle.  He earned the minimum 11 required and 10 elective merit badges.  The Board passed him off for the service project he did which was the Emergency Communications plan for the neighborhood.  I was proud of him.  It was good to see him complete it.  My only wish with the scouting organization is that they could give out honorary eagle diplomas.  I only made it to Life as a kid growing up in Virginia.  I was 2 badges and the service project short of getting my eagle badge.  I pretty much quit when I turned 14.  I regret these days in my old age not having finished.  I hope I can help all my boys earn their eagle.  Scouts truly does help the youth become better celestial citizens.

Brad's random act of kindness

The other day I was listening to the radio and I heard about a random act of kindness that was shown at the workplace.  A co-worker had left $1.25 taped to a vending machine and posted, "this one's on me."  It made me recall a random act of kindness from my son, Brad.

It had been snowing and we got a couple good sized snow storms.  Well, he had decided to shovel our driveway on his own and then he decided to go around the neighborhood and shovel about 7 or 8 more driveways with his friend Mitchell.  It was Mitchell's idea, but Brad went along and they did it together.  That same day, Anna Ratanawan, a neighbor down the street, posted on facebook, "I had gotten home and I saw these two cute little boys shoveling my driveway."  Then, to top it off, for Scouts that same night, the troop had decided to cancel their previous plans and go serve the neighborhood by shoveling more driveways.  Little Brad had shoveled about 12 driveways that day.  He shoveled so much that he had gotten sick from exhaustion.  He was so pale when we went to read scriptures and have prayers that he fell asleep on the couch before we even started.  I love that cute little servant!

Typical family date...good times!

Last Thursday, I told Nichole we were going to go on a family date for the next day on Friday night.  My idea of a family date was to take everyone to the Legacy and get some dinner.  Well, a couple things happened before this.  Jake realized he had a birthday party to go to and would not be able to be with us until after it got over at 7:00.  I also had initially told everyone it was just going to be family only and no friends.  But, because Jake had his party, Ethan felt it was okay to invite one of his neighborhood friends, Matt.  I approved and so we left our house without Jake around 6:00.  Well, our great idea was to go get some dinner first over at Panda Express in American Fork.  We wanted to just eat it there but because it took so long to get over there and to order the food, we were time crunched and had to take it with us to eat in the car.  No big deal right?  Well, between everyone getting their drinks and our sense of rushing to go get Jake, we somehow forgot to get utensils.  So, we open our food and can't eat it...grrr!  Matt and Ethan start laughing, but most of us are getting frustrated because we can smell this food but have no way to eat it.  We were getting annoyed.  Our stomachs are growling and we are all getting anxious because we are hungry and can't eat the food.  I proposed we stop somewhere to get forks on our way out to to pick up Jake, but Nichole was adamant about not showing up late to pick him up.  So, I'm getting annoyed with Nichole for not letting us stop.  Nichole is getting annoyed with the kids for not getting forks and with them asking numerous times about forks and not being able to eat their food.  So, on our way out to pick up Jake, we started improvising and just start eating with our fingers.  Everyone ate all their Chinese food with their hands.  It was classic...and a little sticky!

Then, after finally getting over to the Legacy Center about an hour and a half later, we went into the gym to play basketball as a family.  Upon walking in, I didn't realize that all of Lehi would be there.  It was insane the number of people there in the gyms.  We were finally able to play using one of the side rims.  But, because of the gym being so crowded we were limited on our space.  I came out of there just thinking, "well, we tried."  The kids were troopers though.  Brad and Jake both played bball a little bit.  Ava played a little bit but then went around the track with Nichole and Eli.  Ethan tried schooling his dad.  Brad, Ava and Jake played on my team against Ethan and Matt

Eli cuteness!

Isn't this cute, Mr. Eli snuggling with his stuffed animals while sleeping.  I wish they could always stay so sweet and cute!  Oh, I guess they do

Colonoscopy

So, in mid December I had my second colonoscopy.  The first one I had was about 4 years ago.  At that time, they took out 2 polyps.  This time, they took out 1.  I guess it was good to go in again.  I know they always say to go in and get checked by age 50, but I started getting checked at 36.  I guess it's good that I did.  The crazy thing about this second one is that I lost 8 pounds!  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't think I had 8 pounds to lose.  But, I did.  I guess the meds you take for the colonoscopy procedure is a good diet pill!

The first colonoscopy I had 4 years ago was a little different.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I did, but I didn't.  Before going in, my doctor had told me that I needed to take in more fiber into my diet.  I must have had that on my mind, because after the procedure and coming to, I kept repeating to Nichole, "what is fiber anyway?"  Oh, the crazy things you say after being drugged with the anesthesia.

A couple church experiences

This past week, I was able to visit with a member regarding his calling.  I went there initially with the intention to review progress and to see how the individual was doing with the calling.  This is something I get to do regularly.  It was a typical neat experience in which this individual opened up to me and let me know of his struggles.  We probably conversed for nearly an hour.  The spirit was there and it kept telling me things relating to him and what he needed to do to progress in the gospel, stay close to the spirit and work hard to be a better father and husband.  It was a lot of good advice not only applicable for him but for me as well.  This individual has struggled doing the daily things that keep him close to the spirit.  He has struggled feeling close to God because of the struggles and hardships he and his family has had to endure.  He was not cursing God, but he didn't feel really close to Him either.  He had all the right answers in knowing what needed to be done to be closer to God, but was having a difficult time applying them into his daily schedule.  He also let me know of his financial struggles from the poor economy.  He had been a general contractor and was constructing numerous homes at once.  A string of bad luck caused him to go bankrupt.  He did not get paid on a few homes he had constructed and then the bank foreclosed on a couple other properties he was developing causing him to be nearly $300,000 in personal debt.  He had taken out a couple loans which linked personal assets to the company and was left with nothing after all the material possessions he had were repossessed.  He got out of the bankruptcy with the ability to pay off his sub contractors but because of actually paying those bills, was left with nothing for he and his family.  He struggled to put food on the table for his family.  Although he did not say it, I felt that he somewhat thought and felt that he had been abandoned by God and that God left him to be on his own.  He had felt that he was a good man trying to always do his best and to keep the commandments.  But, he just could not get ahead in life and that he was unhappy living where he is.  Renting, which is what he is doing right now, is difficult for him because he loves to tinker and do projects around the house and feels he can't do that because it is not his house.  So, while he was getting down on himself, it was then that I was able to testify that God does not abandon us but allows us to go through trials to learn who He truly is and who He would have us become.  Jesus did not have an easy life.  If He did, He would not have learned what He needed to become our Judge and Advocate with the Father.  He had to descend below all things before He could ascend above all.  In the end, this man felt that this trial would pass and that he would be able to overcome the obstacles placed before him.  He is such a good man and I felt so impressed with him.  I knew he was going through hard times, but I also knew that he would overcome his trials and would come out better than if he had not gone through them.  At the end of our conversation, he committed to doing the personal things that would keep him close to Heavenly Father.  What a great man!

On another occasion, I was giving a temple recommend interview for one of the young women in the ward.  The young women in the ward have a goal this year to go to each temple here in Utah.  What a goal!  In fact, when I was doing another temple recommend for one of the adult women in the ward, she commented to me that she was so impressed with the young women leaders and how they have helped her daughter so much in gaining her own testimony.  This particular individual I was interviewing is only 13 years old.  We got through the first 3 questions of the interview which ask about one's testimony.  I was impressed to ask her to share with me her own testimony and feelings of the gospel.  She started sharing her testimony with me when all of a sudden she couldn't speak anymore.  She was getting all emotional and was having a hard time expressing herself.  She could relate that she loved Heavenly Father and Jesus.  She said she knew the gospel of Jesus Christ was true.  It was neat to witness a young 13 year old feel close to God and have a testimony

Ava learning to type

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Ava wanted to type.  Strange...it looks a lot like the texts she sends me

Sweet little Ava

So, it is so fun having a daughter.  I perceive that girls in general are more in touch with their sensitive side than the male counterpart.  A couple days ago, after getting home from work, I was in the bathroom.  Ava came in somewhat quietly and looked at me for a couple seconds and then said, "Dad, I love Heavenly Father and Jesus.  I feel them in my heart."  It almost made me cry.  I say almost, because I'm a guy.  But, if it was Nichole, she probably would have got emotional.  It made me feel good though.

I think this all stemmed from this past Sunday.  It was Fast Sunday, so there was the testimony meeting at church.  I was sitting up front so I am relating this in the third person since I did not have the privilege of sitting with my family.  There was a little primary aged girl that got up and told the ward that she had just moved into the ward.  Her dad was not with their family yet, but was going to be with them that afternoon.  The little girl had mentioned how much she missed her dad and was in tears after relating her story of missing him.  A few minutes later, one of the young women leaders got up.  Hilary Craner, who with her family, Ethan and I home teach, also got up and bore her testimony.  She related how this little girl missing her father was the same as us missing our Father in Heaven.  When Sr. Craner bore witness of that, Ava leaned over to Nichole and said, with tears running down her face, that she feels warm inside.  Nichole told her that she was feeling the Holy Ghost.  And, Ava told me all about it after I got home from church a few hours after church got out.  It was neat to hear your own child relate how they felt the Holy Ghost.