Camping with cousins

Last weekend my brother and his wife came in town with their kids. My parents took their kids up camping by where we go elk hunting. Kristin and I decided that we would lend a hand helping our parents and get all the cousins together for a fun weekend of red neck fun. My cousin Jaron caught wind of this trip and brought his family along as well. It was a great weekend in the mountains spent with family.

I brought some pistols and rifles for the kids to shoot. They all really enjoyed shooting.

 Charlie was her normal adorable self.

Here's a picture of all my parents grandkids, plus Jaron's two kids, in one photo. It was quite the crew.

That evening my dad, Jaron, Chris and I went out to do some scouting for my dad's elk hunt. It is such beautiful country up there.

That night I slept out under the stars with Blake. He was so excited to sleep by me and look at all of those stars. I showed him some constellations, some of the planets, the milky way, and we even saw a brilliant, long lasting shooting star.

I brought my RZR up there and took everyone for some fun rides. I taught my nephew Trevor how to drive it, and let my mom, Jaron, my dad, Kristin and Chris drive it. They are all fans. It's been super fun to use with the family.

We had to leave home Saturday afternoon before everyone else because we had tickets to the Heber Valley demolition derby. Not long after hitting the highway all of the kids were out cold. That's always a good sign of a successful trip when they are exhausted like that.

That night I took all of the kids to the demolition derby. They loved it!

As soon as we were leaving and walking back to the truck they were all begging me to take them again next year. I think I'm doing this dad job right by the looks of the smiles on my kids faces.

Boston Trip!

This past weekend was the annual AGD convention in Boston. I was receiving my Fellowship award and traveled out there for the awards ceremonies. For those that don't know what the Fellowship award is, basically it's an award that is designed for dentists to be able to distinguish themselves from their peers. Only about 15% of general dentists earn it. To qualify for it you need to complete over 500 hours of continuing education. To put that in perspective, in Utah the minimum amount of CE required is 16 hours a year. It would take you 30 years of doing the minimum to accomplish that. In addition to the CE you need to pass a very rigorous written exam. It was a tough test, but thankfully I passed my first try. I gave myself a personal goal several years ago to get this award as a way to keep pushing myself in dentistry to learn more and improve.

I flew out on Wednesday, but before leaving I did my weekly morning boating session with the guys. It was another fantastic sunrise. They caught this sweet photo of me spraying it up with the sun behind me.

After the session at the lake, I headed off to work for the day. I caught a late flight to Boston and didn't get to my hotel until about 1:30 in the morning. The classes on Thursday were fairly boring unfortunately. It was weird being at this convention all alone. Lisa would almost always go to these with me. Also, when I passed my exam last fall, Lisa and I were planning on going to this together so that she could celebrate in the award with me since she was supporting me by my side every step of the way through my dental career. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but I'm certain she was smiling down on me from heaven.
Thursday night I went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had the most divine meal. Lobster tails and steak. Wow. That hit the spot.

After dinner I had a small opening before I had to attend a reception, so I took a walk over to the Charles River and enjoyed the views of the sail boats on the water.

Friday's classes were better thankfully. That evening I met up with my good friends from dental school, the Kuzmaks, for dinner. Lyndsay was receiving her Fellowship award as well. It was so fun catching up with them.

Saturday was the big day for the awards ceremony. The AGD treats this as a big deal and you wear the caps and gowns and go through all the pomp and procession of a normal graduation.

Of the 250 recipients of the award I was randomly assigned to sit right next to another friend from dental school, Kyle Marshall. We had a good time laughing and chatting during the two hour ceremony. It made it much more enjoyable sitting next to him.

My friends the Kuzmak's snapped this photo of me as I was being presented with my award.

I flew back home on Sunday, and after a long day of travel it was so good to be back home with the kids. Thankfully they missed me and were excited to have me back home. Now that I have earned my Fellowship, it's time to set some more dental goals.

Happy 6th birthday Blake!

Blake is our 7-11 birthday. Born on July 11th. I can't believe my youngest is already six years old. He's such a sweet and gentle boy. I asked what he wanted for dinner that Sunday and he said 'spaghetti and corn on the cob'. Simple enough to make. I also baked an orange cake (his favorite color) for him, and then after he blew out the candles we enjoyed some cake and ice cream. It wasn't quite as elaborate or fancy of a cake as Lisa could make, but I don't really have the time to do something that grand, so it was just a regular rectangular cake for this dude this year. He didn't seem to mind though. He mostly got a bunch of legos for his birthday. 

The next day on his actual birthday we headed up Snake Creek Canyon after I got home from work for some more four wheeling. I had asked him what he wanted to do on his birthday and he said he wanted to go four wheeling and eat some sushi. What a cool kid.

More summer fun!

It's crazy that summer is half way over. We have been trying to maximize our time this summer and have been trying to get out multiple times a week. I went out boating with the Remunds one night and I got the kids out on the surf board. Tucker really enjoys it. He can even surf without holding the rope now.

Aubrey was a little less sure of herself out there and was afraid that I was going to run into the boat.

Cole loved it. He was hooting and hollering and having the time of his life.

Every year Lisa's family gets tickets to the Oakley Rodeo. We went up on July second to the cabin and spent the day up there, then went and had a fun evening at the rodeo. Good old fashioned red neck fun.

The next day we drove up to where my parents and my sister's family were camping. It was a beautiful weekend to be in the mountains. We did some four wheeling and the kids had fun shooting their BB guns at the camp.

I love the scenery up there.

We did some dutch oven chicken and potatoes for dinner that night. Here's my dad working his magic for a delicious dinner.

The kids and I have been exploring all the roads and trails back up Snake Creek Canyon. It's been fun to find new corners and surprises.

We found this old engine outside an abandoned mine. It is huge.

The evenings up there are so beautiful.

We went one evening up there and explored an old mine. It was only a 70 yard shaft that went straight in and straight out, but the kids still thought it was quite cool.

The wildflowers up there are so pretty right now. Go check them out if you haven't yet.

We even took one really rough and gnarly road all the way to the back. We ended up on a ridge that overlooks Brighton ski resort and Lake Mary. What a view!

A week ago my dad and I headed up on Saturday to our elk hunting area to set up the trail cams for his elk hunt. He drew out this year on the limited entry rifle hunt and we are so excited to get him in on a big bull. It was a fun morning hiking around with my old man.

On our way up and out of a really steep canyon we spotted a momma golden eagle sitting on her eggs in a nest. I only had my cell phone to take a photo unfortunately. If I would have had my telephoto lens you would have been able to see it better. It was so fun to sit and watch her through our binoculars for awhile.

Summer time!

Summer time is finally here, and boy is it another beautiful one here in our valley. The kids are loving their free time now that school is out. They have amazed me at how responsible and good they have been. They are home alone each day while I'm at work. My brother, sister, and I were latch key kids growing up and did just fine, so I was confident that the kids would do well also. But even with that confidence in them, they have been amazing. They are so good about doing their chores and keeping the house clean. I love my kids!

I get together a couple of mornings a week with a group of guys here in Midway to go skiing on Deer Creek before work. We usually get up at 5:30 and are on the water by 6:00. At about 7:30 we are off the water and back home to head out for work. It's a fun morning session with the guys that gives me some much needed "me" time that seems to be so elusive and rare these days.

Watching the sun rise on Timpanogos never gets old.

We usually rotate whose boat we take out each trip.

Surfing is the main activity that the guys prefer. I've been getting better at it, but my passion for water sports still lies with slalom skiing.

Friday night I took the kids down to a Bees baseball game. I got them dinner at the park and they were in heaven eating their hot dogs, nachos, and ice cream cones. You'll notice in this photo that Tucker and Cole have been stealing my hats and taking ownership of them. Oh well. It's a good thing I love them so much.

The weather was amazing and the Bees actually won. They have lost the four previous times we have gone, so the kids were excited about that.

Recent Thoughts About Lisa

It's crazy to think that Lisa passed away 6 weeks ago last night. Time seems to be flying. That doesn't mean that I don't miss her, because I still do. I miss her terribly. But I think that the pain, suffering, and complete exhaustion over the final three months of her life made it seem like each day dragged along so slowly. Once she passed away I had a tremendous feeling of relief. My sweet heart was done fighting and suffering. What a long fight it was too.

Thankfully I have had a couple of wonderful experiences since her death that have eased my concerns and allowed me to be at peace with everything knowing that she is in a better place. A few days after her funeral, for an entire day I had the distinct feeling that she is very happy right now. It wasn't just a feeling that I was yearning for or imagining either. It was very real, and very different than your typical feel good story type of feeling. The Spirit was very strong and very apparent. That helped ease my pain quite a bit. Then, the week after the funeral when Aubrey had her dance performance at Lagoon I had another wonderful experience. As Aubrey got up to perform her team dance I could strongly feel that Lisa was there smiling over Aubrey. It brought tears to my eyes to feel that. I wasn't alone either. Some of the other clogging moms noticed it too and came up to me with tears in their eyes to express what they were feeling.

The final three months of Lisa's life were far and away the most difficult of my life. They were harder than I even imagined they would be. They were incredibly exhausting, both physically and mentally. It was so hard to watch her deteriorate so much and to see the tumor completely take her away from us. Having to physically do everything for her also took a huge toll on me. From baths, to feeding her, to changing her diapers, to brushing her teeth. It was very hard to be her care taker and at the same time try to run my business and try to care for the kids. All of that pretty much overwhelmed me and took me beyond my ability. You could say it broke me.

Thankfully though the past six weeks have been much easier than I thought they would be. Again, I miss Lisa terribly and wish she were still here. I wish I could just sit and talk with her and make her laugh. I wish things were different. But this is now my reality and I will tackle it with faith and optimism. There are two reasons why I think life has been easier since Lisa's passing than I thought it would be. One is because in comparison to her final few months, this is so, so much easier. The other, and bigger, reason is because the kids and I have been blessed and buoyed up by the Lord. We have had the Spirit very strongly in our home that has been comforting us and strengthening us. What a blessing it has been.

Through this all I have been reminded of Ether 12:27. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Boy oh boy does that accurately describe how things have been for me. I was completely brought to my knees as Lisa deteriorated, and I was made painfully aware of my weaknesses and mortal shortcomings. I realized that I wasn't as amazing as I thought I was and that I couldn't carry this burden alone. I wish I were the type of person that chose to be humble without the need to be compelled to be humble. Thankfully though the humility came and I recognized the need for the Lord's help in all things. When I completely turned my heart over to Him and placed my faith in him, that is when I noticed how much the Spirit has been comforting me and helping me. I have seen and felt the sustaining hand of the Lord in all of this. That is why, in my opinion, things have gone so much easier than I had thought they would.

Memorial Day Weekend

I took the kids camping down in the San Rafael Swell along with my parents over Memorial Day Weekend. It was a fun camping trip surrounded by tremendous beauty. The kids and I arrived a couple of hours before my parents and set up camp. It rained pretty hard on us as we were driving in, so we got fairly muddy. The rain storm did provide some beautiful rainbows though.

Our campsite had some amazing views. We could see Temple mountain to the north east.

To the straight east was a beautiful view of where the Swell rises up above the desert floor.

And to the south of us was a deep canyon where the kids loved to play, throw rocks and chase lizards.

It was nice seeing them all play together and collaborate so much on what they were going to do next. Most of the time they played very well. There were only a few fights and tears. I even had to put a stop to a rock fight that had just erupted at one point where Tucker and Aubrey were standing at the top of the cliff throwing rocks down at Blake and Cole in the canyon. Not such a good idea.

I camped in a tent while the kids stayed in my parents trailer with them.

 Here's a cool view of Temple Mountain at sunset.

The kids ended up catching a couple of lizards, though I only let them keep one to take home as a pet. We now have two pet lizards. I make weekly visits to the local pet store to buy crickets.

Most of the weekend was very sunny and quite warm. It felt good to get out of the cold rainy weather we had been having most of May at home. My dad rigged up this umbrella while he relaxed on the edge of the cliff enjoying his view.

The kids made up all sorts of games while sitting on the edge of the cliff throwing rocks.

We are so blessed to live so close to the beautiful red rock country. The kids and I love to go there frequently in the Spring and Fall.