Geocaching

This week, Jeff and I started getting into geocaching. For those of you who don't know, geocaching is basically like a global treasure hunt. You can go to http://www.geocaching.com/, set up a free account, and start searching for GPS caches anywhere in the world. Some are really small, others are larger. In certain caches you can leave items or swap them for something else. All of them should have a log book where you can leave your name and date of when it was found. The idea is to do it discreetly and find as many as you can/want. There's even an awesome app for your iPhone/iPod/iPad that's excellent! Pretty sweet. Like I said, Jeff and I went out and found 4 in Farmington, and then I took Jeremy out with me on Saturday and we found two more by my house. It was really fun! I highly recommend getting into it. Look for us under "theBRIGADE" user name! Here's some pics of our findings:

**WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!**



Flag Rock

Today in Utah is the observed holiday of the 24th of July (since the 24th fell on a Sunday), my boss is out of town for the week, and Jeff is back from China which means... Perfect conditions to hike to Flag Rock in F-town! We left his house and started down the street and stopped at Woodland Park to look for a Geocache on the way and admire how the raspberry patch is coming on.

Hawk Rock

We made it up to the trail head and hiked up to the fire break road and took a breather and enjoyed the view. Further up the trail, we passed "Hawk Rock" which is freaking awesome! From there it was a pretty good climb with a lot of switchbacks, but we made it in good time. It was really muggy out today with the cloudy skies threatening rain, but once we got to the top and felt the wind blowing it felt amazing! And the view was breathtaking to be sure.

It was pretty cool to spend this Pioneer Day up here and catch a glimpse of what the valley looks like, similar to what the pioneers did when the came into the area over 100 years ago. That's one thing I really love about Utah is the rich pioneer heritage and that they still honor those people today. Pretty cool. (And who doesn't love another day of fireworks?!)

We hiked back down and found some ripe black berries near a stream that made for a nice treat on the way home. It was really great to be back on the trail with Jeff again. Feels good to get theBRIGADE back together. Awesome day!

Home Run!

Jeremy: "You throw it to me and watch me hit it, Daddy!"

Me: "Just put it on the tee, buddy."

Jeremy: "Pick up the pill and throw me one high and tight! Throw me the sticky cheese because I'm going to take you yard! "

Okay, so maybe it didn't go down quite like that, but that was ridiculously sick. The kid is a baller. Steez.

Happy Birthday, Amber!

My dear wifey is now 26! She insists she's getting old, but like fine cheese, she just gets better with age! ;) This year was more of a low-key birthday, but it was exactly what we both needed. I took the day off from work and it was so great to spend the day together! We had a long night the night before because she was really uncomfortable with the baby and had a hard time sleeping, but she had breakfast in bed on her birthday! She also had a homemade pirate card from her pirates which she loved as well.

We dropped Jeremy off and went to the hospital for her scheduled doctor's appointment. (Jeremy asked if we were going to bring his baby brother home...) Well, that was a surprise! I guess I didn't expect to hear the doctor say that he has in fact DROPPED. Well, all of a sudden it's feeling really really close to Ammon's arrival! Poor Amber still has a week and a half of crazy women who "need" their hair done before she goes on maternity leave... :S We'll get that figured out, though.

We picked up Jeremy and Mom and went out to lunch and then went to "Puppy-Kitty," a.k.a. Petsmart. We then went back to Mom's house and both Amber and I fell asleep on the couch while Mom, bless her heart, was playing squirt guns with Jeremy. We had a really nice, lazy afternoon and it felt great to just do nothing but sit around next to each other.

We met Rob and Aerielle for dinner at the OG (Olive Garden) and had a nice meal. Jeremy has now mastered the art of shooting the paper straw wrapper at people as he went sniper on the waitress! It was really funny. We grabbed some ice cream on the way home and had Mom's famous homemade chocolate cake for dessert, which was divine. Tim and Tay even came up to join us.

Tim and Tay took Jeremy and we went to the movies to see "Harry Potter 7, Part 2." It was really good and once again, just great to be with Amber. Maybe it's knowing that our alone time together will soon be even less than it is now, but tonight just felt so special and good to be with her.

We came home and talked to Tim and Tay about baby delivery, which left them pretty wide-eyed and probably scared (birth control!), and Tim assisted me in giving Amber a blessing. It was such an amazing blessing and experience as we used the Priesthood power to ease her mind and bless her body for what lies ahead. I was nearly overcome at one point as I felt her dad so close and there was no doubt in my mind or heart that he was present at that moment. I miss him a lot and I know he's so proud of his baby girl. What a wonderful blessing it is to know that our loved ones aren't quite so far away on the other side of the veil...

Today was such a wonderful day and I love Amber so much. I'm so lucky to have her in my life and to share our soon-to-be two amazing boys together. Uncle Tim wins the Bookface post of the day with, "2 birthdays today???" Turns out he might have been closer than we thought... Happy birthday, baby!

theBREAKDOWN

As part of theBRIGADE crew's efforts for constant progression and innovation, we've created a new blog site for those interested in camping, backpacking, and improving their outdoor experience. We call it: theBREAKDOWN. The purpose of theBREAKDOWN is to share our insights and experiences on anything from gear to locations and everything in between. Jeff, Paul, and myself will be updating the site soon with product reviews and photos, as well as contact info for any questions or thoughts you might have. We're excited to take this next step and hope you'll enjoy it as well! To get to theBREAKDOWN, click here or go to the following address:

http://www.tb-thebreakdown.blogspot.com/

Pirate Adventure

Today was one of the best days EVER! Jeremy and I were enjoying a typical Saturday afternoon when he found an empty paper towel roll as I was cleaning the kitchen and made it into a spyglass. Well, that let to him grunting out random "Arrrrrg" and "Yo ho" sounds, which led to him calling me "Captain" (I swear that wasn't my idea... but I kinda like it...), which led to drawing treasure maps... Yeah, before we knew it we were on a full-fledged pirate adventure for buried treasure!!!

I'm pretty sure we spent over an hour on the kitchen table perfecting our treasure maps and pirate flag while Jeremy kept singing "Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!" over and over and over. I put a movie on for him (a pirate cartoon of course!) while I went outside and around the house hiding clues and treasures that corresponded with our map. By the time I was finished and ready to go, he was literally bouncing up and down with excitement! We made some pirate hats out of newspaper (haven't done that in almost 20 years!), grabbed our map, and off we went in search of treasure!


We started at "Hangman's Hoop"...

And then went to "Mailman's Box" where we found...

A sword!

Next, we ran towards "Half-Dead Tree"...

Behind which we found...

A shovel for digging up buried treasure!

Next came "Jack Sparrow's Feeder" which was hiding a key!

At "Goat Flag Locker"...

We found a pirate flag!

At "Davy Jones' Food Locker" we found a sippy cup of water-flavored 'rum'.

We came across a spyglass at "Sandbox Table" and...

Found a clue left by a captured monkey!

Yes! Our pet monkey was trapped in the "Monkey Prison Baby's Cradle"!

After using a Nerf gun cannon to free the monkey, we found some goldfish at "Shadow Tree".

With all of the pirate tools we found along the way, we were prepared for the final step of our adventure: finding the buried treasure! The map led us past the small tree to the dreaded... "Gazebo Gallows" where...

X marks the spot!

The treasure chest!

Monkey keeps watch over the shovel while Jeremy pulls out the key...

And unlocks the chest to reaveal...

 

Fruit snacks!!!



And an assortment of Chinese coins and bills from Jeff and Boondocks Fun Center tokens!

Best treasure EVER! Yo ho!

My Scoutmaster Journal

Well, it's now official. I'm the new Scoutmaster in the ward! I was a little surprised, but after literally growing up in the Scouting program watching Dad for over 20 years, it was only a matter of time... Haha. So it is with great pleasure that I invite everyone to check out my new blog: "My Scoutmaster Journal." You can reach it by the link on the side of my gloB, clicking here, or going directly to:

http://www.myscoutmasterjournal.blogspot.com/

I've been blogging from the day I received the calling, so there's a little to catch up on. Since most of my initial reaction and feelings have already been written in the "Journal," I won't worry about repeating them again. But I will tell my dad thank you again for his incredible example and love for the Scouting program. I owe a lot of who I am today to what I learned in Scouts and I have so many special times and experiences that I shared with my dad while doing Scouts. I love my dad so much and I'm so honored to share this connection with him again through Boy Scouts. Thanks, Dad.

Day Off Together

A few months ago, Amber took off this past Saturday from work so we could attend her family reunion. With all the rain we've had this spring, the reunion kept being moved and we decided to do something that doesn't happen a lot around our house... have a DAY OFF TOGETHER! It was everything we dreamed it would be...

We got to sleep in together, had breakfast, and played with Jeremy. Then we cleaned the house and started decorating the boys' room. It turned out SOOOO rad, thanks to Amber, obviously! She made this awesome curtain for the window, painted the entire room, put up all the decorations, even reorganized the place. We also graduated Jeremy to a twin sized bed, which means it's the end of the road for the car bed, at least until Ammon is big enough to take it for a ride. Here's some pictures:

Jeremy using the vacuum hose as a spyglass in his "pirate ship."

The other thing that we did was go up to Mom's house to help her put up a new stairway railing. It wasn't quite as easy as I expected it to be, but in the end, it turned out quite nicely and she was really pleased with it. I'm just glad I thought to check the pocket door before I screwed a lag bolt into it!

Most of all, it was just great to be at home on a Saturday as a family. With Amber's business, that's her busiest day and we just don't get to spend entire Saturdays together. Oh and sharing a snow cone together topped the day off nicely!

Golf Sesh With Jason

Jason Condie and I have been trying to get out on the links for months now, especially since we have some 2-for-1 passes for 18 holes. We finally went out and we had a great time. It started out a little rocky, mostly because Jason got a speeding ticket right in front of the golf course, but in the end we had a lot of fun. 18 holes is a lot of golf, though! I don't even remember the last time I threw down 18 in one day. By the time we reached 16 we were both pretty beat, so we just took Pars for the last two. Haha. Not a bad way to spend the morning...

The Softball Massacre

It's been kind of a rough softball season for us this year. We've only won 1 game and most of them haven't been very close. It's not that we're a bad team, it's that we're playing teams that are a lot better than we are. We wanted to sign up for the rec league, but all of them were full so we were put into the comp league. Needless to say, all of the teams are really good and have players who play or have played in competitive leagues all the time. Add into this the fact that John Casper has been extremely ill most of the season and it's been kind of a tough.

Things reached an all-time low last game. We were short a guy to start the game, so the Bishop came in to fill in. No big deal... except he should still be in a walking boot for breaking a bone in his foot! His wife threatened him with his life if he got hurt again. Thankfully, he didn't. We actually played REALLY well. Our hitting was great for the first time ever, our defense was solid, and we were playing a great game. That was until about half way through the game when our luck ran out...

I was pitching and got the batter to pop up into center field where our player Kirsten came running in to make the catch. The ball came in a little faster and lower than she expected and it hit her right in the wrist of her throwing hand and she went down immediately. I was hoping it just hit her funny and she'd get back up, but she didn't. She was screaming in pain and crying and rolling around and it was obvious she was in a lot of pain. Everyone was just kind of standing around her and not really helping so I ran over and knelt down next to her and tried to calm her down as she was going into shock. She kept trying to move her hand and I could feel that it was broken. We finally got her to stand and I pinned her arm to her chest as we walked off the field so she'd stop trying to move it. Soon she was on her way to the ER and we were back to the game. It didn't end there, though...

Kirsten's broken hand. Ouch.

Next batter, I get him to pop up to right field where Kimball came running in to make the catch. Everything seemed fine, until he started grabbing his throwing hand and wincing in pain... Somehow his free hand had gotten hit by the ball as he tried to catch it in his glove, breaking his finger, and exposing the bone! It seriously came right out of the skin!!! Yeah, it was complete carnage. Next thing we knew, we were down a man again and were trying to pull someone out of the stands while Kimball left to the ER as well. Even the other team was in shock at that point.

The next time we were in the field, I almost got my leg taken off by a hot grounder up the middle! I think all of us were afraid of who would go down next... Well, we fought valiantly, but in the end, we lost by one run. It was a heart breaker for sure because we had chances to win. Oh well. I was happy because I finally played really well for what felt like the first game all season. The playoffs are double elimination, so we still have at least one more game left. I'm kind of scared to play the next game, though...

Jimmer Got Uted

I can't believe I almost forgot to post this!!! So on the day of the NBA Draft, Jimmer Fredette was in New York being interviewed on ESPN. The studio where he was being interviewed had a large picture window behind him that looked out into the street where you could see people passing by. During the middle of the interview, someone came to the window, saw it was Jimmer, and threw up the University of Utah sign!!! Hahahaha so rad! Coolest thing I've seen in a long time. What are the chances that a Utah fan just happened to walk by during the middle of Jimmer Fredette's interview?! Epic.

July 4, 2011

We had an awesome Independence Day weekend this year, and a great 4th of July. We were able to sleep in until 9:00 a.m., went over to Main Street and enjoyed the parade, caught lots of candy and even a new tie, and watched the annual water fight. Here in K-ville, at the end of the parade, huge water trucks drive down the street blasting people with walls of water and everyone makes it a tradition by bringing water guns, balloons, and buckets and buckets and buckets of water to try and fight back. This year, someone tapped the fire hydrant, hooked up a hose, and soon the entire street was a river as the guys in the water trucks tried to defend themselves against the people manning the hose and hydrant. It was gnarly!

Next, we went down to the airport and picked up David who flew down to pick up Sharee and their family to take them up to their new home in North Dakota. We spent the rest of the day BBQ-ing, chasing kids around, and just enjoying the day. We went to the high school fields just before nightfall and checked out the carnival, snagged some snow cones, and saw Jeremy's favorite, the inflatable slides...

After nightfall, the skies came alive with fireworks all around us! This is the first year that they have allowed aerial fireworks and artillery shells in Utah and I'm pretty sure this 4th of July might single-handedly save Utah's economy in firework sales alone!  They were going off EVERYWHERE. The main fireworks show finally started, set to classic rock tunes with America themes. It was especially inspiring to hear Neal Diamond's "Coming to America!" (Yeah, Neal!!!) We finished the night watching "The Count of Monte Cristo," which is one of my all-time favorites. Great holiday for sure!

I'm not sure why, but this Independence Day hit me harder than it usually does. With all the turmoil and chaos in the world today, I'm so thankful for the freedom I have to enjoy a water fight parade and listen to Neil Diamond as I watch fireworks on the green grass with Amber and Jeremy. Having David here with us made it even more meaningful as I think about his service as a pilot in the Air Force. Most of all, I'm so thankful that this country which was founded upon the freedom of religion and worship, allowing for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored on the Earth. Having lived outside of the United States, I understand more fully what a blessing it is to live here and I'm so proud to be an American.

Best Cinnamon Rolls EVER!

Amber just made the best cinnamon rolls EVER! Completely homemade from scratch and completely amazing! Here's the 5-step recipe to make your very own "Best Cinnamon Rolls EVER!"...

Step 1. Find yourself an incredible wife.

Step 2. Make sure she's nice and pregnant, 8 months or more is preferable, with a craving for cinnamon rolls.

Step 3. Let her make said cinnamon rolls.

Step 4. Eat the cinnamon rolls.

Step 5. Compliment your wife relentlessly so she'll make them again next week.

Teardrop Camping Trip #2

After the wild 2:00 a.m. adventure that was our last camping trip with the teardrop, we made sure we found a spot this time that nobody would come kick us out of! We went up above Pineview reservoir, through Monte Cristo, to a campground called Drybread. Being the start of the 4th of July weekend, it was pretty packed, but we found a nice open meadow all to ourselves and had a great time! Jeremy really loves it out in the mountains and he would just run around and around from this tree to that hole and back again. We ate really well out there as well and the teardrop did not disappoint for cooking! We had a nice campfire, which I started with my new striker, and enjoyed s'mores and watched "Brother Bear" and "Iron Man 2." I'd say this trip was a real success! Although, the trailer is getting a little tight now that we have an 8 month pregnant mommy inside with me and Jeremy. 3 of us fit great, but 3 and 7/8 is getting a little snug... :)