High & Mighty Uintas

This was a trip our family has been looking forward to for a long time. I used to go to Scout Lake with my friends in high school. The fishing is amazing, the scenery is unmatched and the good times will be remembered forever. Matt brought his two boys, Logan and Jack, Justin came and Adrianne and kids came. Only Tanner stayed the night since Jakob had an important soccer game in the morning. As usual, the fishing was great. Just about every cast caught a fish or had bites. I think I was feeding the fish with power bait because they nibbled off by bait about every other cast. Tanner caught 6 fish, Jakob 2 and Logan 2 or 3. We cooked up the fish and that trout is amazing. The video is of the 3 sided shelters you stay in (called Adirondacks). We thought it would be super cold and perhaps rain. It did rain and even snow for about 1/2 hour that afternoon, but it all cleared out and the evening was perfect and quiet (eerily quiet). The morning was around 40 degrees but typical. Overall, a great trip that we will go on each year.

The State Fair

We had some free tickets to the Utah State Fair so we used them on the second to last day of the blessed event. I think we chose the perfect time of day that Saturday to hit it because parking was a snap and in and out was so easy. The best part was watching the boys go around and around on the ferris wheel - I think they go for about 7 minutes just around and around. We had to get McKinley her pony fix for the year - yeah - another year where I don't have to buy her a pony. Anders was a bit under the weather so he just chilled in the stroller. My favorite are the big animals like Big Red, the 2300 lb. cow (I think) that stands 6 feet high at the shoulders - I also loved the huge geese. My brother Scott would have been scared to death and would need a change of underpants if he saw these (that story goes way back to Snake Creek Canyon in Midway).

My classes are going well - I showed the Paul Potts youtube video for some inspiration to the students. I'll need to show it again later in the semester to pick up their spirits. How about those Cougars. It is funny to hear the conversations among the old men at work. Words like "wow" and "very good" and "Max Hall" were used quite extensively. Too bad we have to miss the game this weekend - got some fish to catch up at Scout Lake, mmm, nothing like planter trout cooked in tons of butter and almonds and salt and pepper.

My First Lecture

Today marked my first lecture in my graduate class. Ironically, I had just finished a book entitled "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. It is about a computer science professor who has terminal pancreatic cancer. He is very gifted and has many good things to share with people as he knows he is going to die. But most of all, he shares his feelings with his children. It is about accomplishing your childhood dreams, whatever they may be. It reminds us of what the priorities should be in life. Great read for anyone who needs a little boost in life.

I did teach yesterday in my occupational safety and health class but that was more housekeeping stuff. Today was my lecture and great discussion to graduate students in public health - not necessary my area of expertise. But I am charged with providing the foundations of public health. It has been a real eye opener as how we put value on public health. The class is held once a week for 2.5 hours. I thought for sure we would get out early but the discussion just keep going and going. We were discussing if parents have the right to opt out of mandatory immunizations for their children. I think the students wanted to share because it was the first day and they needed to get the semester started right by impressing their nobel professor. They did very well. I could almost see it getting heated when I talked about people I know who don't send their kids to school because they are against mandatory immunizations - they have many othe reasons also. It was an exciting day and now I set my sights on - my second lecture. What is the cliche? One day at a time?

I hope you enjoy the video. Adrianne cooked up some awesome steaks for me and then it was off to the trampoline to have "bum wars". I'm glad I captured Anders saying he wanted a bum war. After the war it was full attack of the 4 legged spider - me. I lay on my back on the trampoline and the kids try to run around me without getting caught. If it goes to long without me catching them, they give themselves up and get caught and then the real fun begins. They yell "piggy" and all the other attack me to try and save the little one. It is my way of teaching them loyalty and bravery to fight for your flesh and blood - at least I think that is what I'm trying to teach.

WAY TO GO MOM!

Tanner recently lost two teeth. He lost the first at a park movie night. He didn't even realize he had lost it until we were walking home. He lost the second tooth the next day. He put the tooth under his pillow, and the next morning asked me if I had forgotten to call the Tooth Fairy. You see I have this problem of remembering about the good old TF. I have explained this on past occasions by letting them know that I indeed need to make a call so the TF can know that they lost their tooth. It wasn't that unusual that I had forgotten to call, and so the tooth remained under the pillow.

Well, this would have been fine if it had just been one night. I called the TF and she didn't show up a second night. I guess that I forgot to tell her which child had lost the tooth. We have more children than we used to, and there are three children of the age to loose teeth. I had to make a second call. I was a little disgruntled. I had an eight year old boy that was disappointed that the Tooth Fairy had not shown up. Thank goodness the TF got it right the third night. I guess it is the problem with cheap labor. Is anyone else having this problem with the TF?

I do have to say that the TF was very generous and gave Tanner enough to cover two teeth, even though only one made it under the pillow. Thank goodness for tooth fairies and the parents that call them.

A Convenient Truth

If you have never played hide-n-seek with a 2 year old - I can truly say you are missing out. For those of you who know a 2-year-old, please play this game with them before it is too late. It is fun with older kids (or even adults who find really interesting hiding spots like on top of landings above Murphy beds, Eric Aidukatis style) but not the same as with a little boy who acts like a dog most of the time and needs the quiet time to understand that one can really act quietly at times. Anders can hide anywhere as long as he is "hiding". We could hide in the middle of the room by just squatting down and saying "shhhhh". He is really good at the "Shhhh" part. After I had hid a couple of times with him - it was my turn to hide by myself. I decided to hide really good in a convenient place - like my bathroom. I'd been there for about 5 minutes while Tanner was the seeker. Tanner is one to start seeking and gets impatient so he asks the hiders to "make a noise". By this time, I was making a noise. I was on the potty using the "convenient" location to its full potential. Next thing I know, Tanner turns the light on and was immediately embarrassed. So for those adults who want a really good hiding place with benefits, try the porcelain god. By the way, Al Gore is just as annoying as ever.

The Olympic Watch

Just hanging out this evening with the family watching the Olympics. Saw Usain Bolt smash the 200 meter world record - that man is fast. Gymnastics is okay for a couple of nights but we are glad it is over and now on to the real olympics - track and field. We have been staying up way too late watching each night - but the kids see the history in it.

The boys stripped some hydrogen molecules off the oxygen from water - anyone else ever done that. It is usually done with a violent explosion but we found a way to do it safer and quieter.

We did some geocaching to a secret waterfall on the mountain above our neighborhood. I haven't been having much luck lately - 0 for the last 3. But I felt better when I got home and read the other logs - no one else had much luck with those geocaches either. By the way, the secret waterfall is awesome. I should take a photo and it would look like I was in some ancient rainforest. Very cool!!!

Woof woof from Dog Lake

I took the boys on another backpack trip to Dog Lake between Big Cottonwood and Millcreek canyons. The Stewarts (Casey, Caden and Reed) came with us. At first, the pace was slow because the boys really enjoy each other's company and stop and look at dirt and rocks and plants and trees and bugs a lot. But 2 1/2 hours later we arrived at Dog Lake. I think it is called Dog Lake because of the sheer number of dogs that take their owners to it. But by 7:30pm, most of them were gone and we thought we had the lake to ourselves. What I forgot was that it was full moon Friday - that means weirdos come out and build bonfires and do funny rituals during the full moon. But we were camped far enough away to not be bothered by them - except for some guy yelling at nothing at about 2 am. The video is of Tanner and Reed trying out the raft they built with Casey's help. As you can see, things didn't go so well - luckily for Tanner he packed extra clothes and of course, his comfy PJs.

It was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone - very beautiful area that connects to many other trails and peaks.