While the Cats are away....

...the mouse cooks dinner.


So everybody is gone and I am home alone for the evening. My wife thought that I was just going to go out to eat or cook a pizza or something. But what is better than making your own dinner? Sure, it is a total guy thing, but I can't resist a 15oz. rib eye steak cooked medium well, with BBQ corn, picked fresh from the garden, and steak fries. Mmm, mmm, mmm. It sure was good.

Beijing in Review

Unfortunately I cannot embed the NBC video directly here on the blog, but click here to see a sweet video review of the games.

Olympics

Like most of you, I lost plenty of sleep these past two weeks staying up and watching the Olympics. The Olympics are just awesome. I know that some of the athletes think that they are the greatest thing in the world, but there are plenty the show the true spirit of the Olympics. It is fun to watch all the competitions and the high-level of play that there is in the Olympics. Plus it gives my a chance to watch sports that are not normally shown on TV, like team handball, water polo, volleyball, etc. I can't wait until the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 and the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012. Maybe there will be more live events that are not as late since the time difference will not be as great.

Cub Scouts

If you didn't know, I am the Cubmaster for our cub scout program. Yesterday, we had a Pack Meeting. It was pretty fun. We did a little service project of clearing branches from a yard in the neighborhood and then we went to the park and roasted hot dogs and played water games. It was quite fun!

1st Day of School

So do you remember when it was the first day of school and your mom wanted to take your picture?It was usually by a tree or something that would also grow through the years. Well, my wife still likes to do that and since I am a school teacher, it only fits. However the tree that we take my pictures by, won't really change that much between the years.

Yep, today was the first day of school at SRJH. As a teacher it is always interesting to see the dynamics of the grade levels. The ninth graders come in thinking that they are the best in the world and nothing is going to stop them. The seventh graders come in and they are scared and not sure what to think about this whole junior high thing. Then the eighth graders are just weird and not sure where they fit in just quite yet. Through my few years of teaching I have noticed that the eighth graders are usually the ones that are just in that weird stage. They get past it, most of the time, by ninth grade. It is always interesting how the class dynamics turn out. It's always a good time

Thanks For...

Kids can be very funny. Our 3-year old is getting potty trained. He does ok, but there are always accidents. Also, whenever he listens, my wife says "Thanks for listening." So I had to go to the bathroom and asked my son if he needed to go.

He said "No thanks"

"Well, I need to go potty."

"Go right now."

"Ok, I'll go."

So as I am headed off to the bathroom, he says "Thanks for listening."

Happy Birthday!

Today my wife celebrated her birthday. What a week for her. First she has surgery on our anniversary, and then a few days later is her birthday and she has some swelling and bruising from her surgery. My son loved wishing and singing her Happy Birthday all day long today. I think that he was just as excited as my wife. I hope that she had a good day!

Anniversary

Well, today was my wife's and mine 7th wedding anniversary. I still can't believe that it has been seven years. We look back and see all the things that have happened since we have been married. It's crazy. We now have two kids, living in Castle Dale, both going to school to get our masters, and many other things. I have loved being married and it gets better everyday. I love my wife very much and that grows deeper and stronger each day. Today is not a typical anniversary day. We did drive up to Salt Lake, but not for anything too special. My wife had to have surgery on her mouth to get ready for some implants. So today was a skin graph to add some more bulk to her gums to get ready for a bone graft. So that was a great way to spend our anniversary.

Let the games begin!

There is not too much to say except that the Olympics have started. You have got to love them. It is amazing at what people can do and the stories that are shared at the Olympics. It's just awesome. I know what my time is going to consist of for the next 2 1/2 weeks. Too bad school starts and will get in the way, but that is the way it goes. You can check out the medal count in the column to the right. Go USA!!



Some other news:

Our 5 month old now has two front teeth.
We are now the nursery leaders in our ward.

Registration and Memorials

You know when summer is almost over when Junior High registration is occurring. Although I did not need to go, I was there for most of the day watching the kids come in and they were also realizing that their summer is almost over. It is also funny to see the seventh graders come in and they are a little overwhelmed. It is quite a transition from Elementary School. There is less than two weeks until school starts. August 19 is the day. Should be lots of fun.

Today is also the one year anniversary of the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse. I can't really believe that was a year ago. My heart and prayers still go out to the 6 that died in the collapse and the 3 that were killed in the rescue. I also hope that those that were injured while trying to rescue their co-workers are also doing well. It always reminds me of my brother-in-law who also died in a mining accident 4 1/2 years ago. It was not an accident like the Crandall Canyon mine, but it still took the life of a loved one. We still love and miss him.


Here is a video about the memorial and sorry about the ad that precedes it.

Parades and Fairs

This past week here in Castle Dale was the Emery County Fair. Not as big and glamorous as some other fairs, but still fun. You can find all sorts of things to buy and there are a lot of activities to do. However, my favorite, as well as my sons, is the Parade on Saturday morning. They throw tons of candy and it is lots of fun.
My son got more candy at the parade then he does trick-or-treating on Halloween with less work. It's great. Along with the fair, there is the Castle Valley Pageant. This is the last year that the pageant will be every year. From now on it will be every even year. If you have the time you should come down and see it. It continues next week, from Tuesday 'till Saturday. You can also have some lamb at the lamb fry that is held on the fairgrounds. Very Yummy!!