For a while now, I'd been scouting out some different play set kits to make one for the backyard. There were a lot to choose from, but each one had something about it I just didn't love. And not only that, but they were all really expensive. I started pricing out the materials compared to buying a kit and realized what I needed to do: take matters into my own hands! So what started out as a simple drawing, became my latest project! Logically, I brought Dad in to help me throw the thing together. And yes, of course we went to Home Depot!
Yeah, I'd say it turned out pretty awesome! Jeremy was super stoked for sure. Now he's got a steezy play set to play on as much as his little heart desires. What an awesome project!
Jeremy Jones is a professional snowboarder who grew up here in Utah. Jeff and I have always looked up to him as a rider and followed his career pretty closely. He's older than most of the other pros out there and yet is still creating new tricks and new styles of riding which is just amazing. Jeremy is the one whose snowboard I ride, the Samuel the Lamanite board, with a picture of the prophet on the wall above people shooting arrows and slinging stones at him. Nobody could hit him because he was protected by the power of God.
My admiration goes so far towards this guy that I even got the name for my firstborn son from him! And for all of you wondering, Jeremy Jones is the one who started the phrase "steezy" which I use all the time. So there ya go.
Jeff sent me the following video on YouTube and my respect and admiration for Jeremy Jones grew even more. This video is so inspiring and steezy (see what I did there?) and it really touched me. Hopefully it will touch and inspire you too. Though he'll probably never read this, thanks, Jeremy.
We were out shopping one night and Jeremy really wanted to get a toy from the toy store. He chose a Transformer and he really loves it! He plays with it all the time and loves transforming it from jet to robot and back again. Well, one day he lost it. We were pretty sure that it was in the house somewhere, but after looking everywhere for it, it wasn't to be found. Needless to say, he was pretty sad about it.
Fast forward a couple of days and it's now Monday night and I'm looking for a good Family Home Evening lesson. You always want FHE to be good and uplifting, especially for your kids. I was really thinking hard and then I had this great idea...
I talked to Jeremy about prayer and how we can ask Heavenly Father for help, especially when we need help or something is lost that needs to be found. I brought up the missing transformer and I told Jeremy as sincerely as I could that if he prayed to find his missing transformer, Heavenly Father would help us find it.
Jeremy folded his arms and said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help him find his transformer. After he was done, he looked at me as if to say: "Okay, where is it?" That's when the panic set in and I thought: "This better work... Please let this work..." I shouldn't have doubted. I got up, walked directly over to the couch, and lifted the cushion... I'd already looked there. Several of us had looked there. Yet, there was the missing transformer.
I'm so grateful for answered prayers. I feel so frustrated with myself when I begin to doubt or lose faith. I have NO reason to... This is just one more example in my life of the countless answered prayers I've received. I just need to be stronger and stop letting my mortal reasoning limit the power of faith. Of course Heavenly Father wouldn't let this opportunity to teach my son the power of prayer go without manifesting a miracle. I had felt inspired by the desire to teach my little boy about our loving Heavenly Father and He truly was there for us. He's always there. Mark 9:23-24
Life gets really crazy sometimes and if that wasn't enough, it also tends to get really busy at the same time. This is probably one of those chicken vs. the egg debates of which comes first. Regardless of which triggers the other, life is busy. And when life gets busy, life gets crazy. And viceversa. Word.
Anyway, I was having one of those days. Woke up late. Got to work late. Had to work late. Got home in just barely enough time to change into my Boy Scout uniform and run out the door to the church for an Arrow of Light ceremony. The ceremony went well and even ended earlier than I thought it would, but when I got home, I was spent.
I walked into the door, not wanting anything else than to change my clothes, lay down, and forget about the day... and that's when Jeremy and Ammon ran up to meet me. Jeremy wanted to play baseball, Ammon wanted to be held. And I couldn't say no. We went outside, Ammon in one arm, my baseball glove in the other, Jeremy running with excitement, and there I was in my Scout uniform playing catch with my boys in the front yard not wanting the day to end. Seriously, it doesn't get any better. Lesson learned.
I love Easter. It's seriously my favorite holiday of the year. Obviously, the meaning behind it is so special and powerful with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. Our physical and spiritual bodies would be lost without Him and I'm so thankful that He was willing to take upon Himself the burden of our salvation. I can honestly say I feel like I've learned more about His sacrifice and infinite Atonement this year and that made this Easter all the more special and impactful.
Not only that, but it's just a fun holiday. Jeremy had a great time collecting eggs and surprises around the yard in the beautiful Spring sun. Ammon doesn't quite understand it yet, but he seemed to enjoy himself as well.
After we were done with our egg hunt, Mom, Jeremy, Ammon, and I went up to Ogden to see Dad at his mountain man rendezvous. It's always funny to see Jeremy's reaction when he first walks up to Dad is all his buckskins! After he finally recognizes him he's fine, though. We had a fun time visiting Grandpa for sure.
Oh, and of course the other reason I love Easter... It's got the best holiday candy of the YEAR! Hands down, no contest, case closed! Peanut butter eggs, jelly beans, Cadbury eggs... The BEST! And Monday night, with the help of Rob and Aerielle, I hit up the grocery store for the candy on sale! $0.24 a piece for Cadbury eggs?! Why, thank you! I think I'll take FORTY! Best... Holiday... EVER!
So I was listening to the sports talk station on the radio one day and the station was giving out tickets to the Utah Jazz game that night against the Miami Heat. I thought that it would be a really cool game to go to, if I could just get tickets... Well, as luck would have it, the station was giving away the tickets at a car dealership in Salt Lake... right by where I was working! So I cruised over on my way to my next job and winner winner chicken dinner!
I called Amber to tell her the great news and Tim and Tay were kind enough to watch Jeremy for us that night. It turned out to be a great little date for us and Ammon even tagged along! Oh, and the game... INCREDIBLE! Need a reminder? Just watch the videos.
Yep, it was an amazing game with a great finish! That place was ROCKING! And I can now say I've seen LeBron James play in person. (That guy is a beast!) Great night! Go Jazz!
Over Presidents Day weekend, we took our first family teardrop vacation! We have been working on these trailers for a couple of years and it was finally time to get them out on the road together. We made quite the spectacle as we drove down the freeway! We were getting looks and stares all the way down to southern Utah. It was awesome. It was quite the drive down, but it sure was worth it. Soon, the mountains turned to hills, the hills to plains, and the plains to red cliff desert!
After we many miles and many hours, we finally made it down to Leeds, Utah. Leeds is tiny little town right at the base of the Red Cliffs area. We drove down a little frontage road and then crossed under the freeway...
The campground was awesome!!! Nothing but red sandstone cliffs all the way around us with a river running through the middle. The weather was gorgeous and it felt like summer! We found a perfect spot for all of our teardrops and we pulled in and made ourselves at home...
It wasn't long until we were the talk of the entire campground. Haha. When you roll with our crew, that's to be expected! We explored around for a while and then Tim pulled out his wrist rocket and that led to killing about 2 straight hours shooting at plastic bottles while everyone else took naps. Enjoy!
After we were done shooting rocks at things, we started to cook dinner in the dutch ovens. We had a great meal, hung out around the campfire, and watched movies in the trailers. Yeah, we were living the high life!
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day again. Had some hot cider around the fire, Tim threw together some dutch oven brekky, and we sat around basking in the morning sunshine!
We explored some more the rest of the morning and Jeremy couldn't have been happier. He was outside with Grandpa and he couldn't stop smiling! Next, we decided that we would take a little hike up the canyon, so we loaded up the crew and hit the trail.
The canyon was gorgeous! There was so much to see and photograph! The best part was all the water that was running down through the red rocks. Such a beautiful place!!!
If you haven't already noticed, I've developed quite the affinity for jumping into less-than-desirable water temperatures... and I couldn't just let this opportunity go to waste! When we reached the above spot, it was perfect for the plunge! We tried to wait for the other people hiking to pass by, but after I took off my shirt, a crowd started to gather. So I went for it.
Was it cold? OH YEAH! But it felt INCREDIBLE! Tim was about to jump in himself when some random kid ripped off his shirt and jumped in too! Haha. It was great. So there we were, middle of the Red Cliffs, jumping into the spring runoff. Epic! After we were nice and chilled, we headed back to camp and threw some hot dogs and burgers on for lunch.
After lunch, we all went down for another nap and it was perfect! Nothing like curling up for a nap with your wife and boys in the teardrop... Heaven! After we woke up, we decided to do some bike riding and exploring. It turned out to be quite successful! We found some Anasazi ruins and even dinosaur tracks! This place is legit!
We got back to camp and had another excellent meal and watched the night close in on us. We awoke the next day to dark clouds rolling in. Our luck with beautiful sunny days had finally run out. We hurried and ate breakfast and began packing up ASAP. A storm was blowing in and it was time to head for home.
The roads home got pretty sketchy at some points. While we had only received a little rain, snow had fallen north of us! It looked like a completely different trip on the way home. We did make one pit stop on the way, though. We stopped at Cove Fort. That place is awesome!
We drove the rest of the way home without difficulty and put the teardrops away until the next adventure. This was such a rad trip! And it was even better to be doing it as a family. We've got a new family tradition and I can't wait until next Presidents Day to do it again!
For a while now, I'd been scouting out some different play set kits to make one for the backyard. There were a lot to choose from, but each one had something about it I just didn't love. And not only that, but they were all really expensive. I started pricing out the materials compared to buying a kit and realized what I needed to do: take matters into my own hands! So what started out as a simple drawing, became my latest project! Logically, I brought Dad in to help me throw the thing together. And yes, of course we went to Home Depot!
