Tubing at Soldier Hollow

Deanna came to visit this past week from Washington.  My kids love it when they come because it turns into a springboard of activities every time.  When my sister comes, she likes to pack in all the activities.  Last Wednesday night, we all went over to the BYU basketball game against Gonzaga.  BYU actually won that one.  At the game, Brad had to get a pretzel, Jake had to get nachos and Ava had to get a pizza.  Ethan sat with Cody and didn't want anything.  David and Carolyn came with Savannah.  Darin came by himself.  Deanna came with her 3 boys.  Nichole stayed behind with Eli.  Then, on Saturday they wanted to go up to the mountains and do some tubing.  They were excited to go, but the only bummer was that Ethan had to work, and Nichole had to stay with Eli, because he is too young for tubing.  She thought it would be good for me to go with the 3 of them while she stayed with Eli.  Speaking of that, wow, I've been able to go on 3 dates with Brad, Jake and Ava in less than a week...one of those times even Ethan was with me.  We went together to the BYU basketball game, then tubing up to Soldier Hollow and then to the movies last night for FHE.  All I can say, is welcome to Party Central.  And, Saturday morning I was allowed by my cutie to get in a 5-hour workout, of which 3 of those hours I spent with Deanna and David doing some swimming, biking and cross fit...good times!

When we first got there, Brad and Jake were so excited to get going that they did not even wait at all for me nor for Aunt Deanna.  They just took off with their cousins, Cody, Zeke and Jason.  Ava stayed with me because she was a little scared and nervous at first.  The cool thing is that this was a good lesson for Ava.  She was scared at first, but after a few runs down the slopes with the tube, she wanted to go down by herself.  So, I gave her a big push and let her loose down the slope with the tube.  It was so dang cute to see her little body cruising down the mountain.  She used this lesson learned as part of her talk she gave in Sharing Time on Sunday.  She let the other kids know that when they keep the commandments, though they may be hard at first to keep, gets easier to keep them as they keep trying.  You get better and more confident in doing what is right.  And, just like she was happy to be with her brothers, you are happy when doing the right thing.

 My training has been averaging between 8-10 hours a week. I like to go at least on Tuesday and Saturday morning to get some swimming in and maybe throw in the occasional Thursday morning swim as well.  I've been working on the swim endurance lately as opposed to the interval training for speed because I want to get ready for a full triathlon of the 2.4 miles swim, 112 miles bike and 26 mile run.  I've enjoyed the swimming so much more because it just doesn't seem to tear me up as much.  My knees have been giving me issues so in order to combat that issue I have been throwing in a lot of kick with the swim.  I use the fins for the resistance and it totally feels like a shot of cortisone to the knees.  My typical Tuesday and Thursday routine is a 1.25 mile swim, kick 1000 with the fins, then swim another 500 meters.  Saturday's are my long days where I will do the 2.5 mile swim mixed in with about 1.5 hour bike and 1 hour run then some weights to top it off.  That usually get my 3-4 hours routine in.  It's been fun, because I get to go with my sweetie on weeknights.  This last week we were able to go on Tuesday and Thursday night together.  Our goal is to go 4 times together through the week.  I love going with her.  It just feels like such a bonding time.  She thinks it's funny that I want to go to the gym with her, but I absolutely love it.  It feels like a date every time

 It's been snowing a little bit lately, so I went running up the Alpine Loop with Nate a few Saturday's ago.  While running up there, we saw two moose together.  We took a picture because it is so rare to see moose in pairs.  They are usually always by themselves.  We thought it was maybe a mama moose and her calf.  But, either way we thought it was pretty neat.  The run kicked my trash.  I've been doing just mainly 5k's and 10k's mixed in with the occasional 13-milers.  But, we decided to go on a 22-mile excursion.  The distance wasn't so bad, but it was the incline.  We had most of the decline in the first half of the run which meant it was mainly uphill the majority of the last half.  It sucked, but it was good for me.  I was so hungry when it was over that we ended up hitting the Wendy's on the way home.  Nate's a trooper.  He stayed with me the last half.  He's improved so much that it's hard for me to keep up with him now.

Utah sure is pretty, especially up in the mountains!  I need to bring the family up here more often, seriously

Jacob and Esau

So, when Nichole saw this picture of Ethan and Brad, she said, "hey, it's Jacob and Esau."  Nichole and I had a good laugh.  This was a fun picture because it shows these two being on the same team in basketball for the first time.  It's fun watching these two play together.  Ethan scores and averages like 20 to 30 points a game while he plays center on defense and point guard on offense.  Brad, not only made a couple 3-pointers in the last two games, but he swished these two shots that looked like rainbows.  When making the shots, he just nonchalantly shrugged it off and smiled.  He was cute.  

Jacob = Brad.  Esau = Ethan

41...crazy!!

My family is amazing and pretty cool.  They were so patient in waiting for me to get home from work. I tried to get home early enough for dinner because that's what they asked me to do.  It turned out that that was one of the gifts these awesome people got for me...dinner certificates to Texas Roadhouse.  It's too bad the budget always seems to get in the way so we can't eat out for every meal

Jake got me the runner's jacket and Ava got me the ninja hat.  They thought it was cool to get daddy some running gear.  I loved it!!

Brad got me the Texas Roadhouse dinner certificates.  What better way to a man's heart than through his stomach.

Not many dads get a hug and a kiss from his 17-year old son

yep...a new car

I decided it was time to get myself a car that I can scoot around in.  Nichole and I gave the Focus to Ethan (and the kids), so I was kind of left without a car.  I have my work truck, but that is exactly what it is...a work truck.  It's kind of annoying driving a dirty truck around to different events.  So, the past few months I had been looking.  The first car I was going to get was the Ford Mustang.  That evolved to either the Chevy Camaro, which was my dream car, or the Dodge Challenger.  I really wanted a muscle car...and so did definitely the kids.  Brad was in love with the Challenger.  Ethan knew more about the muscle cars than I did.  We would even get on line and "build our car" from the different maker's websites.  We had a blast doing this together and would spend countless time doing that together.  After coveting these beautiful vehicles, which I would have loved to have either one of them, practicality and functionality ultimately won out.  I needed something that would work for whatever occasion, whether that was to take the family if needed, throw triathlon gear all together, go on dates with my cute wife, or whatever life threw at me.  So, after looking up cars on the computer for nearly every night for the last couple months, this is what I came up with.  And, the great thing is that I bought it with very low miles and thousands below low blue book value.  It was a Dodge Journey.  Hopefully, it all works out and is a good car.  The ironic thing is that when I made it over to the dealership, the salesman asked me where I lived and where I was from.  I came to find out that the original owner of the car was my neighbor from just a few houses away.  So, my neighbor and I had a good chuckle.  He told me it was a good car, but that he just wanted to change it out for a van to fit his family a little easier

Be still, my soul

I have always loved the harmony and music to the hymn, "Be Still, My Soul", but I had never learned the lyrics.  Well, I got tired of just humming the tune.  So, I learned them.  I also wanted to learn the lyrics because it made me feel exactly what I needed to overcome the stresses I had been feeling.  So, a couple weeks ago, I started trying to learn the words.  I thought I was doing better in dealing with stress until yesterday morning when, before 8:30 am, I was asked on 2 separate occasions if I was mad, upset or in a bad mood.  I was none of the above and it made me ponder if I am always grumpy.  I try not to be.  Usually when I am in my stupor, it is just because I am contemplating things in my head or pondering about scenarios whether they be related to work or whatever the case.  So, being able to sing the words to this 400-year old song brings calmness and tranquility to my heart.  I feel the spirit every time I think of these words, which I love...

Be still, my soul.  The Lord is on thy side.
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide.
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul. Thy God, thy heavenly friend.
Through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.

I was reading a talk this morning by Elder Soares while going through my morning ritual. He was referencing us being able to develop our Christlike attributes.  I like what he said, "brothers and sisters, I believe the Savior Jesus Christ is the supreme example of meekness.  Even during the last moments of His mortal life, being unfairly accused and condemned, painfully carrying His cross up to Golgotha, being mocked and cursed by His enemies, being abandoned by many who knew Him and witnessed His miracles, He was nailed on the cross.  Even after the most intense physical suffering, the Lord turned to His Father and spoke from the bottom of His meek and humble heart: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."  Christ faced extreme physical and spiritual suffering, giving us the opportunity to change our spiritual character and become meek like him...it is possible to change.  It is possible to leave our weaknesses behind.  It is possible to reject the evil influences in our lives, control our anger, become meek, and develop the attributes of our Savior...follow Him, follow His example, and become like Him.

I also like the quote from Richard G. Scott..."we become who we want to be by consistently being who we want to become."

Nichole, the other day during Family Home Evening, reminded me of a great quote, and it was one that she had memorized and read after reading the book, "The Miracle of Forgiveness."  I don't recall who said it, but...

"You sow a thought, you reap an action.  You sow an action, you reap a habit.  You sow a habit, you reap a character.  You sow a character, you reap an eternal destiny."

Those are some good words and thoughts to live by.  I love my family so much and hope to always make them proud to be a part of our family.  Some day, I might even be able to develop some of those Christlike attributes that make Our Elder Brother the supreme example

Ma...Ma...Ma!!

Eli is so funny.  Every morning when he wants to get up and out of bed he yells and screeches "ma".  It's never in a full complete name of "mom" or "mama".Whenever he yells for or at Nichole at other times throughout the day, it's always in an angry or demanding voice to get her attention.  Contrast that to the way he asks for me or tries to get my attention.  It is always in such a sweet, happy and innocent voice with a tone of softness and respect..."dada".  There's always a happy face when asking for the dad.  However, there is always a stern face when trying to get mom.