Timpanogos Hike

Saturday marked our 2nd adventure before school starts again. It is a long standing tradition in Erin's family to hike Timpanogos once a year. We haven't been able to because of the kids. It had been 5 years since we hiked it last with Erin's family.
We started the hike at 4:45 in the morning. Erin's brothers and my friend Shawn came in addition to Erin and I. We took the Aspen Grove trail, the one by Sundance. The hike is supposed to be 8 miles to the top of Timpanogos. so we wanted to get an early start before the sun came up. We met a lot of hikers on the way up that were coming down. I guess a common thing is to start the hike at midnight and watch the sun rise. Those coming down couldn't make it up for one reason or another.
The start of the hike was...well....dark. we couldn't see much since we only had one flash light to split between the five of us. When the sun came up we were exposed to a brilliant view of the mountain side! It is a pretty hike for those willing to do it.
About 7 o'clock found us pretty far up the trail when we noticed that clouds started forming up all around us. Our view was taken and replaced with gray. It was so intense that we couldn't see much more then ten feet in front of us. Yes we knew about the storm that was supposed to come yesterday, but we pressed on.
We took some breaks and filled up our water bottles at the spring. We had a lot of good snacks and a ton of water. It was actually relaxing. Yes I huffed and puffed my up, but it wasn't all bad. The wild flowers were everywhere adding a blanket of color to almost everything we saw.
We made it to the lake at 9:15 ish when we decided to have "lunch". There is a glacier of snow that the wind comes right off of at the lake. We FROZE! We made a quick decision that the top wouldn't be a possibility due to the cold and the fact that we couldn't see anything anyway. So we started down.
No more then 10 min passed when it started to hail and snow. Yes, August 15 and it was snowing. We kept up a good pace and about 10:45 the snow started to melt and turn into rain. The trail turned into mud. We turned into wet messes, but we weren't cold.
We made it down the mountain and to the car by 12:00. We hiked about 14 miles yesterday. I couldn't walk for the rest of the day yesterday. I jarred my legs pretty bad on the way down. Erin was fine. She was saying how energetic she felt and how she was so excited that we still had the whole day left! We all did better then we thought we would. I didn't stop at all coming down and didn't stop a lot going up. Well, I stopped more my first time 5 years ago.
So, I recommend this hike, but watch the weather!

Thanksgiving Point

We started our two weeks of freedom with a trip to Thanksgiving Point. Erin and I decided that our kids needed a little culture regarding farm animals. So instead of taking them to any of the 100 farms in Midway, we took them somewhere that has never really been a farm and were we had to pay. Sounds logical enough.

For those who have never visited Thanksgiving point for this purpose, I really recommend it. The farm was like a zoo for farm animals. It didn't really feel like a zoo because all the animals were very well taken care of. You can tell because they all ran up to the fence looking for hand outs and were very friendly. They would even run up to to the kids. It gave Matthew a laugh every time he got to touch a goat nose.

There were a bunch of little baby animals also. This made Erin happy. The thing that made me happy was that it only cost 3.50 a person and it included a pony ride!

The pony ride was awesome. Emma was scared and had to have Erin hold onto her the entire time. Matthew took to the saddle like a duck to water. It was interesting to watch him. He slid right in, grabbed the saddle horn with one hand and petted the pony's mane with the other. Then sat back and waited. He was almost in tune with the pony with he started move. Bobbing up and down at the right moments. He looked really natural!

We went during the farmers market on Friday. Erin wanted to make sure that she was able to get some cucumbers for pickling. Not only did she find them at a great deal, we got peaches and blackberries. It feels good to help the local growers. The produce tasted great!

Finals week FINALLY!!

Finals couldn't have come any sooner. Good GRIEF I thought this semester would never end. I have my test tomorrow, then I'm not expected to show my face around campus for 2 weeks. No, I will not just go there for fun so don't even ask.

It appears that I need to be playing a little bit of catch up. A lot has happened since July 4th. Most of the happening were with Emma and Erin.

Emma now uses the potty for number 1 AND 2. The 2 took some persuasion. She was really scared of it for a long time. She usually finds her pull-ups and puts them on when she needs to go number 2. So one day she asked me for one. I was about to give in when I said, "I don't think I will give you a pull-up. Lets go to the potty!" So we did. I sat here down, and she cried and cried. Then I remembered that we had some chocolate near by. So I gave her a piece. She calmed down a little and asked for another. I said that she would have to try to use the potty before I would give her more. So, she did! After about 4 pieces of chocolate, she overcame her resistance and used the potty! This solidifies the fact that if you want a woman to do something for you, it's best to give her loads of chocolate first.

Emma is now holding conversations also. We were really worried about her speech lately. She isn't too clear. It seems like the very next day, she opened up and started talking and asking for things and being clear enough for others to understand her. We are very excited for her.

Erin has been taking classes at UVU this summer. She has had 3 classes so far. The stupid part is that she has scored A's for all of them. JERK. She still has one final to take on Thursday. It's not looking like a problem for her though. She has started running again at night and is loving it. I'm not, because it is a huge safety issue. She can't seem to find anyone to go with though. So if you are in Midway, please run with her so I don't worry.

Matthew is growing again. His word list entails: Binkie, Down, Mommy, Daddy, Emma, Balloon, and versions of Grandma and Grandpa. He is very confident in what he can do. The cool thing is that when he gets hurt, he doesn't shy away from the thing that hurt him. He jumps right back into it.

We had a family get together on Sunday. My brother David and his Wife have a little one name Hyrum that is a couple months younger then Matthew. Hyrum has just decided to be one of the cousins and is now running around with them. Emma runs around with Jessica's daughter, and Matthew runs around with Hyrum. It reminds me of when I was little.

That is as far as I will type today. I have a final to study for and those derivatives will not integrate on their own! Good night!

Independence Day!!

Yeah for America!! I do consider myself a patriot. I would be waving a flag right now, but I can't actually afford one. Sorry, my kids need to eat. I love our country and I would fight for it if I was called upon to do so. Because of my major, I would probably be called to make bombs or something. We have a great country. I really thought about it when we were watching fireworks in Midway. Isn't it great that we have the freedoms that we do. It is also nice to celebrate America with a Chinese tradition. So, enough rambling.

Our fourth was a little different this year. Not much actually happened that we planned. We were going to visit my parents in Salt Lake, but a blown starter on our Passat soon took care of that idea. We have another on it's way from Connecticut. For those keeping track on our Passat issues let me catch you up to date: one rebuilt engine, two cataletic converters, O2 sensors, two brake jobs, one ABS control module (still needs to be replaced), one starter, two tie rods, 4 control arms, one clutch plate, three front axles, and the usual tires/oil changes. We just need to replace the exhaust, transmission, and the alternator in order for us to have an almost new car!

Midway decided to do something a little different this year. They were holding what they called "The small town fourth". They had music, food, stuff...I'm actually not sure of what they had. Once we found that we were surrounded by music we didn't like and couldn't get away from, we got in my clunker car and limped to Park City to visit Wal-Mart to wait it out.

We ate really good yesterday. We had homemade donuts, root beer, and a BBQ. The root beer was awesome. We usually buy the McCormick brand extract and it does a decent job, but the store started selling Hires Big H brand. We thought we would give that a try. It was worth it! We are still drinking it. Yum. I'm kind of a root beer sob.

Midway always does a great job with their fireworks. There is an oddly placed hill in Midway call Memorial Hill. It is where the tributes to our war heroes are. They launch the fireworks right off of this hill so the entire town can see it. Erin's Parent's house is about a block away from the hill so we had great seating. The kids loved it. I think that they just loved staying up that late. Matthew didn't really like the fireworks at first. We had to warm him up to them. All in all, a good day was had by all.

A great poem

I heard this in a talk from John Bytheway and though a lot about it. I hope that you enjoy it.

If you can smile when things go wrong and say it doesn't matter,

If you can laugh off cares and woe and trouble makes you fatter,

If you can keep a cheerful face when all around are blue,

Then have your head examined, bud, there's something wrong with you.

For one thing I've arrived at: there are no ands and buts,

A guy that's grinning all the time must be completely nuts.

From a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland

BYU has been getting increasing difficult for me. I can't keep up with the young whipersnappers around me. It has been hard to say the least. It is nice to know that I am not alone and others have trials too.

Heber Valley Handspringers Day 1

Today Emma had her first lesson with the Heber Valley Handspringers. We were very impressed with the class structure and the teacher. She really knew how to keep the kids' attention. Emma did really well for her first time. I was impressed with how she could follow instructions. She wasn't perfect, but she had never done anything like this before. The important part was that she was having fun. She will be doing this all summer, so we will see how she progresses.

This is Emma's first time on the bars.

This is Emma learning the back Somersault.

The obstacle course

This is Emma on the Tramp. She is supposed to be jumping and clapping.

The audacity of it all!

I can't believe it! Really! It was just to much to think about. If you are as outraged by this next story please join with me in writing to......I don't know......our local congressmen? I don't think that would do anything, but here is the story anyway.

I built a computer for a family member and was rewarded with just enough to take my family to a movie! Yeah, PLAY MONEY! So we go to the store and grab some snacks making sure to keep just enough to see the movie. We wanted to see "UP", because we had heard good things about it. After the store we took the 40 min drive to civilization (Provo) to see the movie. We got to the theater and they charged us the regular fee of $5.75 for a matinee. This was no surprise. The surprise was that they were showing up in 3-D and they would charge an extra $2.50 a ticket! This was actually over budget. The problem is that we couldn't just drive home, we really went out of our way to come to this. So we scrounged up more money and payed for the tickets. For those that don't know, (because I didn't) you pay $2.50 for some cheap pair of glass that you just give back in the end. I'm sure the 3-D movies cost more to show, but $2.50 more? CRAZINESS! I am just appalled.

As far as updates go, Matthew is a full time walker. He has been walking for 3 weeks now. It is fun to see him toddle around. His face is always bruised because he falls, or walks into something. It's sad to see. I am happy to say that I am the preferred parent! Anytime he is upset he goes straight to daddy! Ha! But anytime we put Emma to bed she always wants mommy. Maybe if I bribe her with some candy. 

Emma is doing great. She starts tumbling on Tuesday. We we really excited to put her in this class. She already does so much jumping and rolling around that focusing it on tumbling should be easy! Just like sleeping through the night and potty training should have been easy.....yeah.......... . .  . . anyway, she finished preschool a couple weeks ago. It has been sad for her. She loved school and the teachers. They were really good to her. She gets to go back to the same school with the same teachers in fall.

Erin is doing great in school She had a hard start because she didn't like learning some of the material in psychology. Now she is learning about behaviors and development and she is loving it. She scores really high on her tests and she always comes to me with a "HEY mike, did you know...." statement. I always answer "yes" with a shrug. I can't let on that I don't know everything. That would ruin my status as the "THE DAD". 

There is a BYU club call the "Jane Austin Regency Club". They are putting on a dance in the fall. You are supposed to dress in period clothes and learn how to period dance. Needless to say, were going! I can't pass up the chance to get really decked out and where 20lbs of extra clothing! I just need some smashing sideburns. Erin is currently looking at dress patterns and period dress making tips. She is going to design her own dress. It will be a fun time all around, I hope.

As for me, school is going ok. Linear Algebra is something that really should be studied....well...by someone else. But I'm ok at it. In about a month I start into Multi variable Calculus and then it is the fall semester where I magically get trapped in the library for months on end studying. I'm not excited. I'm excited to end, but getting there is hard. Yes, I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's hard to see it sometimes where you can only see a foot in front of your face. My tunnel is foggy. I'll inch my way through though. WE WILL SURVIVE! 

We are looking for ways to move out of Erin's parent's house. It has been nice, but living 45 min away from school is getting increasingly difficult. The problem is since I only work part time, we can't afford much of anything. So if anyway knows of a nice cardboard box that we could rent in the BYU area, let us know! 

Well, until next update. Be nice, be good, and watch out for swine flu! It's the scarest thing that we will ever face, well, until they find something else for us to panic about. I think the next big panic will be that our supply of hair gel will get depleated due to the war on forign shores. So stock up now! You've been warned!

P.S. "Up" was awesome! We loved it!