You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

It has been a great Christmas holiday. I think my favorite part of this Christmas was just being home with my family. Last year, I just had to talk to them all on the phone from DC. Anyway, Zeb and Hil came up from Mesa on Tuesday night. I hadn't seen them since we took a trip down for Zebs white coat ceremony. On Wednesday night we had our traditional family dinner. This year it was over at Kedrics house. On Christmas morning we were awakened by a call from UDOT. It was a call for my dad to go out and plow snow. We were hoping he wouldn't get called out until later in the day, but we just watched a movie while he was gone to pass the time. When he got back we had a blast openeing our gifts. My big present this year was a Glock 9mm! I was way excited about it. Of course, just after I opened it, someone had to say the classic line from A Christmas Story, "You'll shoot your eye out." Unfortunately, it has been way cold outside, and I haven't even had the chance to try it out yet. On Friday afternoon Farley and Tina made it into town. They spent Christmas in Tabiona with Tinas family. It was great being together again. We were just wishing that Jason would have been here with us. It's weird to think that Christmas has already come and gone. It is such a great time of year for families and service. I guess the challenge now is just to try and maintain the good spirit of Christmas throughout the rest of the year!

How the X-terra Saved Christmas

Earlier today I had decided that since my car was snowed in, that I was going to have a snow day, aka not leave the house all day. So I was out shoveling some snow off of our driveway when Kyle pulled up in the x-terra. So after I finished shoveling all the snow off the driveway Kyle and I went for some breakfast at OldTymer. Ir was actually my first time eating breakfast there and it was pretty good. Anyway, when we finished with breakfast, Kyle and I decided to go on a little drive into the wilderness. Considering that it has been snowing for the last day, it might not have been the best idea, but we went anyway. We saw some great scenery thanks to the snow, and it was a fun little drive for the most part. We went down into Browns Canyon, and took of on a side road that leads back to a little place that we have cooked out at before. Anyway, we got all the way in there and were on the exit part of the loop and we got stuck. At first I didn't think it was that bad, but considering how long it took us to get out, my initial thoughts were way off. At one point, I didn't think we were going to get out, but luckily we did. So it has been a very eventful snow day.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

So for most of yesterday and itno the night, Blanding was hit with an awesome snow storm. It just kept on coming and coming. When I measured how deep it was this morning, we had a foot of snow on the ground. This was exciting to me for a couple of reasons. One because it meant that I didn't have to drive into work today. Second, and more importantly, it reminded me of the good old days when we used to get snow like this all the time. I haven't experienced snow in Blanding like this for a long time. Plus I never saw this much snow for the two years that I was in DC. So I am very greatful for all the great snow.

The Weekends After Thanksgiving

Just after turkey day, we took a long ride to Muley Point to check out the scenery. I was a little unsure if it would be worth the drive, but I wound up really enjoying it. After we took some pictures we drove down Moki Dugway, because Tina had never been there before, and it had been a long time for the rest of us. Everytime I go there I can't help but think to myself, what were they thinking. Fast-forwarding to this last weekend I went over to Grand Junction with my mom and Kali. Now those of you who know how much Kali and Shirley can shop when they are together would think I was crazy for going with them, but I was going along for the ride so I could hang out with one of my room mates from the mission. I had to endure way to much time in the mall, before my friend got off work and could come and bail me out, but it was worth it. We got to watch Kung Fu Panda, which is awesome for anyone who hasn't seen it. We also got to watch the Florida and Alabama game which was a great game. I am hoping that Florida will win the BCS championship against Oklahoma now. Well here are some pics from Muley Point.

I'm Dreaming of a White.....THANKSGIVING!

Yesterday turned out to be a fun and exciting holiday. We went up to the cabin to for our turkey dinner, and it was snowing, making for some awesome scenery on the mountain. As we got going down the hill going into the guest ranch, we saw a car off in the ditch. As it turns out, it was Meikos Jetta. We follwed her footprints all the way into the cabin after that. So we ate a quick turkey dinner, and then headed out to pull Meikos car out of the ditch. It took some manuvering, and some expert driving from my dad, but we got it out. So after we took care of the car we headed back to the cabin to enjoy some of Shirleys home-made pies, and they were amazing! We got to enjoy the great snowstorm, and the beauty of a mountain covered in fresh snow.

A Literate Chicken Herder

Well, as you can tell, it has been a long time since I have done anything with my blog, so I figured it was time for a couple of updates. I have been really busy with school, finals are coming up fast, so it has been scramble time. I have been spending a ton of time just trying to keep my head above water in my math class. I was so happy because I finished my last math homework assignment on Monday! Since all of our homework is done online, there is a little tacking device that shows how much time you have spent working. According to the tracker, I spent 66 hours and 35 minutes doing homework this semester. Needless to say I am glad thats over with. Now I just have to get through the final and its over. This last week I took a test to see if I could skip the computer literacy class that is required for an asociates degree, and I got the results on Tuesday. They require a score of 80% to test out of the class, and I wound up getting a 97%. It wasn't a hard test, but I think its sad that we have to take a class or pass a test to be dubbed computer literate. So that explains the first part of my odd title, and the second half comes from what happened tonight. I was in my basement playing some hoops on my PS2, and my mom yells down, "Harold come help us catch the chickens." So I run upstairs, and looked in the backyard, and the door to the coop was wide open. So me, mom, and Tina went to round up all the chickens. I was suprised because it only took us like 20 minutes to get them all back in.

Funny Little Things

So I found an old magazine when I was cleaning my room the other day. I started reading it, and found some funny little articles that I thought some of you might enjoy. The first was an article that gave a list of things that parents would discover from having boys. Since our family is all boys I'm sure we caused our fair share of trouble, but some of these were pretty funny.

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to will a 2000 sq. ft. house 4" deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run them over with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaraunt.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 lb. Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words, "uh oh", it's already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.
11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15. VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
18. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24. 80% of women who read this will pass this on to their friends with or without kids.
25. 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

The other article that I thought was pretty funny was one on getting old. Hope you enjoy.

AGING IS.......
-Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
-The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting for.
-Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
-When you are dissatisified and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
-You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
-I don't know how I got iver the hill without getting to the top.
-One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
-Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
-Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald, they don't recognize you.
-If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.
-First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down.
-Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.

The Finished Product

Well, after months of construction the project is finally finished. We now have a working bathroom, and a sleepable bedroom again. It was a long process, but I think you will all agree that it was worth it. Hope you enjoy the pics, they don't really do it justice, so everyone will have to come and check it out!

Blast From the Past

This last weekend I got to travel to Draper for a mission reunion. On Friday right after class I was all ready to take off by myself, and I got a call from Meiko saying she wanted a ride, so she rode up with me. I was glad she came along because it was nice to have some company. Anyway, we drove up to Sandy so I could drop Meiko off at Kathy's house, then I made my way down to a chapel in Draper to the reunion. It was really fun to see some familiar faces and good friends. It was a little weird seeing everybody away from a mission setting. I think almost more than anything I was glad to see President and Sister Price again. We just all visited and reminised about our time in the mission field. When the reunion was over I drove down to Orem to Farley and Tina's apartment where I spent the rest of my weekend. It was fun to just be with them for a relaxing weekend. We got to watch conference together, and just hang out. We were going to go to the driving range on Saturday, but it literally rained all day on Saturday. After the Priesthood session of conference we ordered pizza and watched the movie Leatherheads. It was kind of a boring movie, so I slept through most of the second half of that. This afternoon, after the first session of conference we went to Bruce & Patty Arthurs house for lunch. Bruce made us an excellent meal of french toast, ham, bacon, and eggs. It was great just to see the Arthurs again. After lunch I met back up with Meiko and we headed for home. It was a lot of driving for the weekend, but it was well worth it. Well here are a few pictures of friends from the reunion.

Elder Castillo and Elder Hamblen

Elder Kasparian aka The Phoenix

Elder Larson and Elder Seaver

Elder Belnap aka Chino

Elder Ellsworth just two days off the mission!

Elder Cullimore trying to look disgusted

Elder Olson aka Nater Bug

Elder Coppel all the way from France!

Fall Colors, Rugby, and the Opera

This last weekend my parents and I took a trip over to St. George. The journey over was one of the longer drives I have ever been on. We decided to take the "scenic route" and so it took us twice as long to get there. We left Blanding and went up through Hanksville, then to Capitol Reef, then we made our way over Boulder Mountain. I was starting to get burned out with this long drive, but that is when we hit some great fall colors. The higher we climbed on Boulder Mountain, the brighter and more vibrant the colors became. We stopped at a rest stop near the top and took a few pictures of the scenery. After coming down off the mountain we wound up at Cannonville and went to see Janice. We had never been to her new house, so we stopped in to see her. It was nice to talk to her for a bit. I was really suprised at how big her house was though, that thing was huge. After visiting with Jan for almost an hour we hit the road again. A little farther down the road we made it to Panguitch. This was a particularly exciting for my dad, because it is where he grew up. We drove around town for a few minutes while my dad checked out a few familiar spots. When we got going again we made it to Parowan, which was our stopping place for the night. We met up with Farley and Tina in Parowan and spent the evening together. We went to dinner then went and played pool in the lobby of our hotel. After that Farley, Tina, and I went swimming. It was supposed to be a heated pool, but the water was pretty chilly. It was a lot harded getting in that water than it was hopping in the pool in Mesquite two weeks ago.

The next morning we got up and finished our journey to St. George. We spent most of the day just hanging out and taking it easy. We did a little shopping, and got to see a movie. We went and saw Forever Strong. It is a movie about the Highland Rugby team. I didn't think I was going to like it, but it was a really good movie. After the movie we went and ate at Texas Roadhouse. We had a great meal, and I had one of the most tender steaks I have ever eaten. It was amazing! After dinner we went to the hotel and relaxed for about an hour before heading to Les Miserable at the Tuacahn Theatre. It was really neat seeing it out in the open with the canyons as a backdrop. It was a little different than the last time I saw it, but it was still well done. We got back to the hotel around midnight, then Farley and I headed for Mesquite to try our luck on the slots. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with Farley, plus I won $3o! By the time we got home it was like 3:00, so we were both really tired. The next day we had breakfast together and then headed for home. It was another long drive, but it was worth it. Well, here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Construction Updates

Well for the past couple of months, our house has been a construction zone. We have had our upstairs hallway, Farleys old bedroom, and the bathroom torn apart and getting remodeled at a slow pace. I had actually intended to do more pictures to show a progression, but you all know how the saying goes, I think it is something to the effect of "the pathway to hell is lined with good intentions." Anyway, we are getting pretty close to the finished product now, so I thought you might enjoy these pictures.

The re-designed closet in Fars room

Another view from Fars room

There is a ton of tile in our bathroom now

The new cabinet and sink.

The carpet on the left is in Farleys room, and the carpet on the right is in the hallway