Zoo Lights

Tonight we went to the Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. It was a lot of fun and actually quite a bit better then I imagined it was going to be. Most of the animals were asleep and/or away for the night, but the tigers (including all three babies) were still out. The lights were really pretty spectacular all over the zoo. We all had a great time. They even sold hot chocolate there (at, of course, outrageous prices). I bought one of their "souvenir cups" complete with free refills all night. We shared and I knew the kids would down more then a couple of cups. I feel very confident that we got our money's worth out of the deal. It was a lot of fun. Seeing the lights is kind of expensive, but we would still recommend it. I will have to post pictures when I get them all downloaded from the camera.

Marshmallow Guns

While I was fixing a trunk latch on Ashley's car, the kids wanted to show her their marshmallow guns. It didn't take long to fix and we had a great time with them for a few minutes before our hands got cold.

We then went to the store. Tinkerbell's boots were too small, so we went in search of new ones. She seems to really love the new ones. McQueen got to pick out a Christmas present for Tinkerbell on the other side of the store with Ashley (something Tinkerbell already has done for McQueen).

Babies, Babies, Everywhere

Today we went to the zoo. I have to tell you that we have fun at the zoo, but our zoo is not a spectacular zoo by any means. They are trying to fix that by really updating it, but right now it is not that much different then it was twenty or more years ago. But, this trip to the zoo was probably the most eventful one I have EVER had!

Ashley and Tinkerbell on the carousel
My two favorite girls

A Mommy snow-leopard with her new baby. They were sort of hiding in the brush, so I had to reach clear out and take this picture blindly. (baby #1)

Two of three new baby tigers

All three new baby tigers. One off to the left and two wrestling. There was one cute baby tiger who loved to antagonize the others and playfully wrestle with them (including the Mommy tiger). If McQueen were ever magically turned into a tiger, it would be that one. (babies # 2, 3, &4)

Baby giraffe resting comfortably while Mom and Dad stand near the garage doors (baby #5)

Zuri, the baby elephant (the baby we actually came to see, and the only one we could see that had a name). (baby #6)

I am not normally a sap. I like to think of myself as a sort of macho, yet sensitive, male. I rarely find a use for the word cute. Having said all of that, this baby elephant is about as cute as it gets. It was so fun watching this thing. It seriously is something you would love to take home as a puppy, but never keep into adulthood (squashed house anyone?)

It was "career day" at the zoo. This girl apparently is one of the caretakers for the giraffes (among other things). After seeing what she was holding, I started to wonder how much effort she really puts in at her job. I hope this is not one of the giraffes she cared for. It is an actual skull from a giraffe. I was really quite amazed by it. I think it would be even more impressive though if she was carrying around a giraffe neck the next time we go.

So, the baby tally that we saw was 6 new babies. Here the zoo is only advertising the baby elephant and they have a ton of other new babies. I thought watching the baby tigers interact was by far the most entertaining thing. We heard rumors that there were ten species of animals that had given birth since July. While we didn't find all of them (and I am sure some of them are some special species of butterfly or something), but it had to be the best visit to the zoo I have probably ever had. I never remember ONE baby being born at this zoo when I was a kid. Now they have at least six? I recommend checking it out if you have the time before these babies grow up or move away to another zoo.

Halloween Weekend

Saturday morning, I practically cried as I realized that we really needed to get the boat winterized. Summer seems to go too fast and I never seem to get as much boating in as I would like. Tinkerbell was complaining of an upset stomach since they came back, so she mostly just laid on the boat seats. McQueen loved helping me. Here he is pumping all the old oil out of the engine, so that we can put new oil in for winter. The kids always seem amazed that I can start the boat's engine without it even being in water (with a water hose connected of course).
Getting ready to go trick-or-treating. McQueen was Luke Skywalker and Tinkerbell was Alice in Wonderland.

We even brought Ashley's dog, Buster, with us trick-or-treating. He dressed as a pirate dog this year. We mostly trick-or-treated around her neighborhood this year because we happened to be in the neighborhood.

Ashley had the great idea of having soda and dry ice, to make a witches brew for the kids. We also made homemade pizza. Later in the night, both of the kids were complaining of upset stomachs. McQueen threw up and Tinkerbell had problems on the other end. Most anyone would probably think I gave them too much candy, right? WRONG! Tinkerbell had one piece of candy and McQueen had none. They came back feeling sick. They were both sick through the weekend, which forced us to stay home from church as well. Poor kids. By the way, no, they didn't have the miss piggy flu. They must have just caught one of the bugs that is going around. Despite their bad weekend, they told me they were all better when I talked to them Tuesday.

Pumpkin Carving

McQueen chose to carve out a bat
Tinkerbell loves this little kitty face

Scraping out those pumpkins

Right after dinner on Sunday, we hurried to carve pumpkins before having to take the kids back to their Mom's house. Luckily for the kids, Ashley helped them a lot, or I am not so sure their pumpkins would look as nice as they do.

• While having dinner with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday, we mentioned that Grandma was 65. McQueen then in an astonished voice said, "OH MY GOODNESS, THAT IS SO CRAZY!!!........." then lowered his voice back to a normal tone to say, "I can't even believe that Grandpa is two years older."
• There is a new little girl in the kids Primary class. Their family sat behind us during Sacrament meeting last week. This little girl was coloring all of these pictures for McQueen all through Sacrament meeting. She colored anything he wanted, but loved to color him pictures of them holding hands. She would then draw hearts all around the two of them. I was laughing, because he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that this girl was very infatuated with him. He would even ask the girl to alter pictures that she would draw, so that he could give them to Tinkerbell. At dinner, I said, "so do you like __________in your Primary class?" He said, "yeah, she is nice." I said, "do you think she likes you?" He VERY nonchalantly said, "oh yeah, she loves me." I said, "why would you say that she loves you?" He said, "because she kept drawing me all of those pictures of us with all of those hearts." Okay, so maybe he is not as oblivious as I thought. I am suddenly much more concerned............

Sunday at the Conference Center

This Sunday, our Stake (as well as many others) was invited to the Conference Center to hear President Monson speak, for Stake Conference. It was a great session and it was so neat for all of us (especially the kids) to hear, and be in the same room, as the Prophet. Most of the various speakers talked about the Temple and Temple attendance.

Grandpa and Tinkerbell
McQueen and Grandpa

After Conference was over, we took McQueen and Tinkerbell over to the huge reflection pond in front of the Salt Lake Temple. They saw coins in a smaller fountain and wanted to know why they were there. I explained that people throw a coin in there and make a wish. They wanted to do it as well, so we made sure to take them to the biggest and neatest spot. They thought it was so neat to see the reflection of the temple in the water. I really think it is neat to throw coins in these fountains, because from what I understand, the church takes the coins and donates or uses them toward humanitarian purposes.

They also thought the waterfall built into the Conference Center was neat. This is them on the inside of the building as the water pours down just on the other side.

McQueen wanted a picture of the temple (one which we took with our very own camera!) to hang in his room. Ashley took this great shot, and it will now be printed off to hang in his room.

Parties and Pumpkins

Every year my Dad grows pumpkins for their grand kids in his garden. The grand kids then get together on a specified date and time to take turns picking out their pumpkin. It has been a tradition as long as McQueen and Tinkerbell have been alive and is so neat and special of Grandpa.

Tinkerbell and Grandpa with her pumpkin
McQueen and Grandpa with his pumpkin

Grandpa, pumpkins, and all of the grand kids that could make it out this year. Nine of the grand kids live out of state and one is just too new to come out to play right now. Therefore, 10 of their 19 grand kids couldn't make it.

Shortly after pumpkin picking, we went to a Halloween party. Ashley's boss invited us over to their house where they had all kinds of neat activities and great food. The kids especially loved the miniature hay ride. It was a small wagon (trailer) being pulled around by a four-wheeler. They had a Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie projected on the side of their house, fog machines, the works. We had a lot of fun. McQueen is Luke Skywalker this year (I have had a great time saying "Luke I am your Father" every time he has dressed up) and Tinkerbell is actually going to be Alice in Wonderland despite wearing a Snow White costume for this party.

On Friday night, we also got to go to an adults only Costume party (don't let that sound naughty because it wasn't) with the ward Elder's Quorum. It was a lot of fun to see all the great costumes, eat, and play games. We left just in time to greet the kids coming back from their Mom's house. Ashley made the best white chili with chicken. It was a lot of fun.

Conference Weekend

We really spent the whole weekend listening to General Conference. The kids obviously had a hard time sitting through a lot of it, but were good to listen to it on the radio while they played. They made sure to watch President Monson speak to us and were so cute to sit by us on the couch. On Sunday afternoon we went over to Ashley's house for the last session. McQueen was in heaven and didn't mind listening to conference one bit as he played with some original Star Wars toys that she has. Tinkerbell really enjoyed coloring and by the time conference was over, all four of us were down on the ground coloring pictures for each other. As with any conference, this one contained so many great and important messages. I felt like I had learned so much and been reminded of so much. I am constantly amazed at how "in touch" these elderly men are with what is going on in the world today. Their messages truly are for our time and circumstances. I didn't catch everything, so it is great that I can download them and listen to them again and again. I definitely come from the school of hard knocks. My condition worsens even more in this area, when I am trying to help the kids. Now I just have to follow what they say and work on being a little bit better each day.

Fire Engines and Brakes

This morning we got up and did what is slowly becoming our twice-a-month tradition. We headed over to Lowe's and built these really cool fire engines. This is really such a fun time for all of us to interact and to build something together. The kids really love it, feel a great sense of accomplishment, and then get to play with whatever they have built afterwards. Ashley even met us there this time and helped us to build them.

Here McQueen is with his finished fire engine
Tinkerbell proudly displays her fire engine as well

This week, there was a small safety fair involved with the project of building the fire engines. The kids got to do these cool water colors about "spot-the-tot," got a bunch of free junk, and even got rub on tattoos. It was really fun.

After we did all of that, we had quite the day of automotive repair. I had to change my front brakes and then I had to change Ashley's rear brakes. It is sort of funny that both of our cars would need brakes at the same time. The kids loved helping for a while, then they decided they would rather just play with Ashley instead. We spent more time chasing down a special tool for Ashley's car then I did actually changing the brakes (usually only about 45 minutes per car). It was a great day and we are glad that we can feel safe now as we hit the brakes now.

Loose Tooth and Pooh Sticks

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! McQueen has had a semi loose tooth for a couple of weeks now. This is his second one, and his first is already halfway grown in. It certainly has not been loose enough to worry about pulling out............until now! As we were eating Sunday dinner, McQueen asked for a new piece of corn on the cob that was not so hard. He said he bit down and it was really, really hard. I asked him if he was sure it wasn't his tooth. I looked and sure enough, it was just dangling there. I tried to pull it out with my fingers, but the stinking thing was way too slippery. I told him that I was going to grab the pliers (he has very good spacing between his teeth and this thing was barely hanging on). He freaked out for a second, then held still as I plucked the tooth the rest of the way out. He asked me three times if I had gotten it yet. I told him yes, but he didn't believe me. He said, "Dad I didn't feel anything, have you got it yet?" all the while keeping his mouth open wide. When I finally showed him the tooth, he thought it was so cool. He said, I didn't feel anything, I should have you take all my loose teeth out with those pliers. I was still amazed I had to use them at all for how loose the tooth was, but I am glad he liked them. He was so excited to show Ashley and our great home teachers who came over later that night.
There is a small canal and catwalk close to our house. Sunday evening, we went for a walk and we all played a bunch of games of Pooh Sticks. If you don't know what Pooh Sticks is, watch or read "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." We had a lot of fun and were able to figure out quite a few more techniques to the game.

This little Monkey loves to climb our trees

Saturday was a Special Day

Saturday morning, we started off with a fun project. Lowe's and The Home Depot will have these free little workshops about every two weeks in their stores. Parents can bring their kids and make something with them (it is a different, preset item every time). I have been wanting to do this with the kids forever! It always seemed that we would have something going on, or I would forget about it all together. This weekend I was bound and determined that we were going to go. The project was to build a drum at Lowe's. We had so much fun doing it. They passed out the kits and away we went on our way to building the drums. The kids even got aprons that they get to keep as well. We had a ton of fun doing this, and it was so fun to make something with the kids. In two weeks we are headed back and we are going to make a fire engine!

Here the kids are showing off their brand-new drums. They must feel a real sense of accomplishment. I especially love McQueen's face in this picture.

Not only can they build stuff, they have musical talent as well! Just check out this video of them playing the drums.

A few hours after our project, we went to the baptism and confirmation of a friend of ours. It was a great baptism and he was so excited. We are so happy for him and proud of him for making such a great choice.


In the evening, we went on a hike to Donut Falls. It is a place where the water comes pouring off of some rock cliffs. Over time the rock has eroded away. The water now passes through what looks like a donut on its way down the river. Here the kids are as we are coming back from our hike. I have been telling them for a while how bright the stars are up in the mountains at night. Unfortunately this was the first clear night we have been in the mountains. They stared in awe for quite some time. I especially thought it would be a great picture of their noses.
What cute kids!

This was McQueen's favorite rock.......at least on part of the trail! :)

This was Tinkerbell's favorite rock.

If it wasn't so dark, you would be able to see Donut Falls right behind them. Unfortunately, you can't make it out in this light. If I had a Facebook account, these three would be in my three top friends list. However, I don't really care for Facebook, so you will have to figure this one out the hard way.

• Over this weekend, Tinkerbell's nail polish oddly came off on only ONE finger. Anyone want to guess which finger it was? Yes, my sweet little innocent girl was going around to everyone at church and giving them the bird (WITHOUT ITS FOUR FRIENDS). She would say, "look at my finger." As everyone would gasp for breath, they would say "oh, what are you showing me?" she would then bring up the other four "feathers" and say that the polish came off of only one of her fingers. I didn't realize what she was doing until I saw people laughing as she would walk away. The funny thing is she was completely innocent. She had no idea that she was giving everyone the Hawaiian good luck sign all day long. Good thing she isn't old enough to drive!

Biking Day

Today, we just did some chores and errands here and there. We mowed the lawn, cleaned the car really well, etc. Later in the day, we went for a really long bike ride. It was fun to bike all around. McQueen always seemed to be way out in front. Tinkerbell wanted to stay a little bit farther behind, so as to not accumulate too much speed. It is amazing to see how fast they progress. Less then a year ago, I used to have to push them to get them going again every time they stopped. Now they are cruising around on two wheels with virtually no help at all, except for when crossing busy streets. I used to think it was retarded when people would comment on how fast kids grow up, until I had my own. Then, I had my own and I saw it first hand. Now I say it all the time. In fact, I now say it so much that I think it is retarded again, and that it is just stating the obvious. History really does repeat itself doesn't it......

5 Posts in 1

CAR REPAIRS

I started off this weekend Thursday night. As we were leaving the Oquirrh MountainTemple open house last Monday, my window regulator broke. It has been half broken for a year and a half because someone broke the window to break into my car. The other half finally couldn't take anymore and gave out. I got off work really late at night and went straight to work on the window. I got everything all finished and put back together at about 1:20AM on Friday morning.
Just in case anyone is wondering, this is what your car door looks like underneath it all.............as long as you have the same year, make, model, and color as my car.

BOATING....FINALLY!!!

We have not even taken the boat out until this week....for the first time this year! The weekend weather in June was much more like the weather one would expect in April. For the first part of July, I was still recovering from the surgery, so it didn't go out. I went with my brother and the young men from our ward on Wednesday night. It was a great time, but I elected not to do anything because there were so many people and not enough time for everyone.

Friday morning, I made sure I was up by 6AM to get the boat ready for a day on the lake. We had a really great time. We went boating from about 8AM until about 4PM. Afterwards, we of course went to the Dairy Keen (Train Station) in Heber City for shakes. I love water skiing, wake boarding, and getting beat up on the tube. Even with it being a holiday, the lake was not too crowded. That didn't stop people from driving like idiots and me circling back to get between someone in the water and a speeding boat a few times though.

The first run of the day, I was cutting pretty hard on the slalom ski. I WRECKED HARD! I hit a wave just right at almost 30 MPH and it sent me rolling across the water. Because my big feet don't come out of the skis as fast as another person's feet might, the ski rolled with me. That caused my ankle to twist faster and differently then the rest of my body. I was in pain, but I continued to ski and wake board multiple times afterwards. I even went on the tube for quite a while. It was a manageable pain. By the time we got to Heber, my ankle was throbbing. By the time we got from Heber back to the gas station in Salt Lake, I could barely walk and my ankle was at least three times its normal size. I was feeling the pain! The above pictures were taken four days after. I now have just mild pain and some bruising. This is the first time I have ever been hurt boating, even though my parents have had a boat since 1980. I am convinced the only reason I got hurt is because I just turned 30 this year!

THE RODEO

Each year, we go to the Days of '47 Rodeo with my Dad and Mom. My Dad is like an in-the-closet cowboy. It is really about the only thing he asks of the family the whole year long. We always have a great time and it is quite the family tradition. Above is a little monkey named Whiplash. He rides atop a dog, and together they herd sheep. It was quite the entertainment in between the buckin' broncos, barrel racing, bull ridin', etc. The one thing I have to say about the majority of people at the rodeo is, they all seem to be true patriots who love their country. They seem to have so much more respect for the flag and what it represents, then say the average crowd at a sports event. It really is great to see that from so many people.

Above, the kids are wearing their new cowboy hats. They love them.

This K-Bull 93FM, bull was standing tall as we were driving into the parking lot. Suddenly McQueen and Tinkerbell were standing there and it appears it had been tipped. I don't know how I feel about my children engaging in cow tipping. :)

BIRTHDAY

Sunday after church, we went to a little get together to celebrate our friend's birthday.McQueen seemed to get frosting from the cake in just the right position to become "The Joker" in the next series of the new Batman movies

STAR WARS

Lately the kids, (surprisingly, even Tinkerbell too) love Star Wars. McQueen in particular, loves Star Wars. We went to play at our friend's house on Monday. They happen to have all the ORIGINAL Star Wars toys. These things are like classics. You could probably make thousands of dollars on e-bay with all of the stuff they have. Needless to say, the kids were in heaven as they played with the toys for hours.