Jeremy Jones

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.

Diamond Fork Hot Springs

I've heard several times about a natural hot springs that was somewhere in Spanish Fork Canyon, but never had the opportunity to go up and check it out. Well, that opportunity finally came! I took the Scouts and theBRIGADE with me and it turned out to be pretty freaking sweet!

We left after work and school in the afternoon from the church with the Scouts and met Jeff and Paul on the way. This campout was extra cool because I had two new Scouts come with us for the first time too! The trip down took almost 2 hours with all the traffic in Suck Valley, but thankfully we made it without anyone throwing up in the truck. Miracles... Ha!

We found a really beautiful campground and a great campsite that allowed for plenty of hammocks and tents to be set up. After setting up the tents, we got a fire going and started cooking hotdogs for dinner.

After dinner, we decided that we would try to make it up to the hot springs. It was a beautiful night and perfect for a night hike! We drove down the road to the trailhead and it was pretty much packed full of vehicles. We turned on our headlamps and started up the trail...

It was quite the hike for doing it in the dark without ever being up there before. We passed a lot of hikers on their way down and they updated us on our progress. The boys were troopers and did great! After about an hour or so, we finally found, or actually SMELLED, what we were looking for! And believe me, it was 100% worth the hike!

The water was PERFECT! We couldn't have been more happy. Soon our shirts and shoes were on the ground and we were soaking in the amazing hot springs. Then we looked up to see literally BILLIONS of stars in the sky on what was a clear cloudless night. It was perfect.

After a good soak, we decided to head back down since it was getting pretty near to midnight. The hike down was much faster and we made good time getting back to the truck. We drove back to camp and everyone fell asleep pretty quick. The night was clear and cold, which made for a long night sleeping in a hammock! Overall though, everyone slept well.

We awoke to frost in the morning, so it wasn't long until we had a good fire going and started cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast. It tasted extra good on this cold morning. We were living like kings!

After breakfast, we cleaned up camp and loaded all our gear into the truck. We decided to hike back up to the hot springs one more time before heading home. The hike was really enjoyable in the daylight and we were finally able to see everything we missed the night before! It was beautiful. Look! Jeff even found an arrowhead! (Inside joke)

We had such a great time at the hot springs that day! The waterfall was really cold, but made for a refreshing rush when you went under it. There was even a hole through it that could be accessed from the backside! It was so sick!

After we were done, we hiked back down to the truck and headed for home. Once again, this was an awesome trip and adventure! Well done, boys!

Three-Hundo!

What is up?! This would officially be my 300th post! What? Yeah, three-hundo! Pretty sick. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for following and supporting the golB. I've got some major catching up to do, but I'll get some new posts up right quick. Thanks again. You guys are the best. Happy three-hundo!

The Missing Transformer

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

The Knife Sheath

One weekend, I made a knife. It's a great knife. Only one problem with said great knife... It split it's sheath. I needed a new knife sheath. I have a friend named Tyson. Tyson helped me make a new knife sheath. It is amazing! The end.
Haha so yeah, I needed a new sheath for the knife that Dad and I made and Tyson totally hooked me up. It turned out so sick! I'm really proud of it. Now the knife is back on my hip ready to do what it does best: knife things! Thanks, homie. Here's how it went down...

Ostriching

I was shopping at City Creek and everybody knows that after a long day of shopping, one tends to get a little spent. Well, in all my years I've never seen a more perfect example of this than I saw that day with this kid... Yeah, THAT is spent.

This young lad has inspired me in my life. Ladies and gentlemen, I formally invite you all to join me in the next social experiment, movement, craze, sensation... OSTRICHING. That's right, ostriching. When life gives you lemons, stick your head in the ground, friends! Snap a pic, email it to me (jakeolsen84@gmail.com) or tweet at me (@JakeInUtah), and I'll add it to the post!

Jeff

Jake

Paul



Matt



Melissa

It Doesn't Get Any Better

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.