Stewart Falls Hike

Went on a hike today with the kids and some of their cousins to Stewart Falls near Sundance. Ages ranged from 2 to 10, so we had quite the crew. When we got home one of our neighbors had built a zip line tower in an open field near our house. The thing was amazing -- here's Anna sliding down.

Moab Trip

Last weekend Mike took Jacob and Anna to Moab on a trip with his friends from BYU. A weekend of Jeeping, hiking and golfing -- what could be better? When we got home Jennifer asked the kids if they had fun. Jacob's reply: "It was awesome!" Anna: "It was OK." What?!?! She's our cautious child and did not like getting so close to cliffs on the trails.

Spring Break Trip

For spring break this year we headed to Orlando for some pure fun at the parks and on a cruise. Forget about trying to weave in some educational element into the vacation -- this trip was all about swimming in warm water, playing all day, eating great food and not sleeping.

Some of the memorable moments included:

• On our drive to Kennedy Space Center, Jacob asked "what is that all that white stuff?" He's a Utahan -- the white stuff was beach sand.


• Watching the space shuttle take off at night while at sea. The pilot of the mission is Jim Dutton.


• Anna ordering chocolate mousse, only to be disappointed that the desert did not look like a moose. Jacob ordering escargot, only to be ecstatic to find that meant he could eat snails.


• During a Toy Story play, Nathan yelling "YEEEHHHAAAWWW" when Woody came onto the stage for the first time.


• Watching the kids hug and dance with a dolphin in the Bahamas.


• Anna screaming for several minutes through her snorkel when she found a shark.


• Nathan saying "Mommy, I love this trip" a dozen times a day.


• Jacob's constant questioning about when could he go boogie boarding again.


• Seeing a 2 week old gorilla play with it's mom....from 5 feet way at the Animal Kingdom.


• Jacob and Anna singing on stage during a karaoke party. When Anna was asked by the host what she liked best about the cruise she answered "just spending time with my family." Yep, she's our perfect child.

We'll spare you the rest of the details....we simply had a great time. Here are some pictures.

We woke up today to....

....a lot of snow. The picture abover shows how the snow built up on our deck railing overnight. We had about a half foot at our house, and Brighton received 18 inches.

Anna wakes up, sees the snow and asks, "Dad, this is a powder day, right?" My kids are well trained. Here's a quick clip from our skiing.

Weekend in Park City

Had a great time in Park City this weekend. We stayed in a condo with Jen's sister's family and Mike's neice from California. This is the 4th straight President's Day weekend that we have spent in Park City, so I am trying to convince Jen that it's a tradition so we have to go back every year. :-)

Highlights of the trip included taking Mikayla skiing for the first time, hitting what must be the coolest bowling alley in the world (Jupiter Bowl), attending the Tabernacle Choir performance, snowshoeing in Round Valley, snowmobiling at Daniels Summit, and losing to Chris at all board games.

Black Diamond Kid

Last weekend I took Jacob skiing (Anna had a cold), and Jacob wanted to push the limits of his ability. After telling him several times that we could not hit a double black diamond run, I took him over to one so he could see it. The dude had no fear, and just started skiing down it. He made it down with no problems, and made us go back to take his picture in front of this sign.

Jacob is definitely our adventurous one. This week he told me that he thought my job was boring -- I tried to explain to him that what I do is really cool, I love it, etc. He said if I had a cool job I would be traveling to the moon or finding lost cities in the jungle. To each his own, I guess.

First snow

Last week we received our first significant snow of the year, which called for snowman building, snowball fights and sledding. Pix below.

Thanksgiving at Disneyland

We spent Thanksgiving at Disneyland this year. It was a great way to spend the holiday with what felt like millions of our closest friends. :-) We actually had a blast with Mike's family.

Halloween Pictures

Halloween was the holiday that would never end this year. Between school, church and neighborhood parties, the kids got dressed in their costumes no less than 6 times. This allowed Nathan to try his hand at all of his halloween ideas -- at various times he was a cowboy, pirate, mummy and skeleton. Jacob was a mummy and Anna a butterfly. Pictures below.

Quick Chicago Trip

Mike had to be in Chicago for a couple of days this week, so Jen came a long for the trip (HUGE thanks to Michelle for watching the kids). What a great city! It was beautiful with the river, Lake Michigan, diverse architecture and plenty of fall leaves. Highlights of the trip included visiting the Chicago Art Institute's Impressionist Collection (lots of Monet's and the famous American Gothic -- farm couple holding the pitchfork), taking an architectural boat tour, shopping on the Magnificent Mile, and dining with old friends. The food was absolutely amazing.

Will we survive the weekend?

Jennifer flew to Minnesota yesterday to visit her sister, and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves. I know both of our families are wondering if we will survive.

So far, so good. After school ended today we headed up to the mountains on what may have been the nicest day of the year. The weather was perfect, and it's peak fall season in the higher elevations. We took the ski lift up at Sundance and hiked to Stewart Falls. We've done this hike several times starting at the Mt. Timp trailhead, but this was a first coming from Sundance and I much prefer this new route. Great tree cover for much of the trip, a few small stream crossings, and spectacular mountain views.

We capped the day with dinner at The Spaghetti Factory, Anna's favorite. Except for Nathan's constant "where's mommy?" questioning, we are surviving well (except me...that's why I'm blogging at midnight :-) ).

Father/Son Trip

Hi, this is Jacob. I just went boogie boarding with my dad at Huntington Beach this weekend. There were big waves. Once I wiped out. We rode bikes along the beach and we played football on the beach. It was very fun.

We also went to the California Science Center. We did a lot of stuff there like going in a shuttle. We went to the air and space section where they had planes and spacecraft. We also saw a 3D movie about the ocean.

It was fun to go with my dad on a business trip. We also got to visit my grammie and grandpa and my California cousins.

Sun Valley Trip

Last week we made our first trip up to Sun Valley, Idaho and had a great time. The town is the most bikeable place we've ever been to -- great trails and bike lanes are everywhere. Jacob and Anna had their first taste of "real" mountain biking, and we've posted a video of some of it below. The other highlights of the trip included hiking in the Sawtooth Mountains, horseback riding, ice skating outside in the middle of summer, and an old fashioned bowling alley.

All in all it was a great place to visit, and hope to go back again.

Silver Lake Hike

Yesterday we hiked to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon. The views of Mt. Timp were spectacular. While the distance is only 4.5 miles, the elevation gain of 1450 feet makes it a challenging hike. At the halfway mark we gave Jacob and Anna the choice to turn back, but they decided to keep going and see the lake (Nathan did not get a vote because he was getting carried in a backpack). Along the way we saw a moose, made multiple stream crossings, and viewed a half dozen small waterfalls. My kids rock.

Tour de Hobble Creek

Yesterday we took the kids for a bike ride up Hobble Creek Canyon with Kim, Chris, Cameron, and Michelle. It's a great family trail -- not quite as beautiful as Provo Canyon, but less crowded and you arrive at a park and river at the end. Anna told me she was "dying of heat exhaustion" a few times -- I did not think much of this until we got back to the car and the temperature gauge read 104. :-) We capped off the day by playing the Cedar Hills Golf Course. I love this time of year in Utah.

...except the fact that now all the animals are roaming around our house. In the last week Jacob caught a frog, Mike's mountain bike ride was interrupted by a pack of coyotes and the neighborhood cat left a mouse on our deck.