Babs' Blog

I wish it would snow! (My wish came true)

2012-01-16T11:19:00.003-07:00

Leah, Lauren, and I have all been wishing it would snow. Our wish came true. Today it finally snowed. I wish it would snow so much it went up to my knees. I also wish mom would let us play in the snow.We're stuck in the house right now. Austin is sleeping, Mom is blow drying her hair, Dad, Leah, and Lauren are doing yoga on Wii Fit Plus (it's actually a very good way to exercise), and I'm posting this. I wish we could go out to eat or something like that but the problem is that we're trying to eat healthy. (I hope I can convince Dad to take me to Taco Bell or Del Taco.) I'm getting bored here at the house. Bye-Bye.

Mr.Peeps

2011-11-25T18:25:00.002-07:00

In 2008, my mom and dad sent a letter to the North Pole asking if we could have one of Santa Clause's elves to come to our house to watch us in person and he's come every year since. He came today. His name is Mr.Peeps and he's about 8 inches to a foot long. He hides somewhere different every night. Sometimes when we aren't looking, he moves. If you're coming to our house from any time between about the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas day, you should remember this: IF YOU TOUCH HIM SOME OF HIS MAGIC WILL GO AWAY. Then he wouldn't be able to fly around and report to Santa Clause. That would be bad. Once we found him on our fan. Then we were about to turn the fan on but then we noticed that he was on it. I think it is always fun when he is here. I'll be back soon!

Vacation not very far away

2011-09-18T15:12:00.006-06:00

First I'm going to start with my vacation. My vacation was great! Although I was the only one (in the Jess and Jen family) that went. You're probably going to want to know where I went, who I went with,when, and why I went on a 3/2 person vacation. Okay, but we have to go in a special order.
1.why
2.with who
3.where
4.when
5.other
So why? Because I turned eight and I got baptized. With who? Well, my Grandma Ellett and I were the only ones for the first part of it and then my Aunt Katie came after Young Womens.(witch wasn't untill 8:30 or so)
Where? Downtown, all over it. When? The day before my birthday.Other. First we went to the Beehive house and we went to the Lion house to go to the bathroom. I truly don't know what order we went in. Anyways we also went to The Church Office Building,and the Church History Museum, the Salt Lake City Temple, and the Joseph Smith Memorial building.We saw two Minerva paintings. I had so much FUN!

Talent Show? Spelling Bee?

2011-06-23T16:42:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had a two-class Talent Show. I played a song on the piano. I have no idea what the title is. Here's the big part! Today we had a 2nd Grade Spelling Bee. I WON! Me and my friend Trevor were the last two up there. My teacher said that we are very good when it comes to spelling. I got a word right so then Trevor got alphabet for his word. He didn't spell it right. He spelled it: a-l-p-h-a-e-t. Can you figure out what's wrong? I spelled it:a-l-p-h-a-b-e-t. It's the b he forgot. I got a king sized TWIX. I was SO excited. We were so good the teachers had to move to a harder book. Bye!

Dollar Tree Visit

2011-01-30T14:56:00.003-07:00

Dad said I needed to catch up on writing on here. I thought well, some people have a YEAR to catch up on their blogs. So, I thought I'd catch up. Here we go! We went to the Dollar Tree on Thursday, Jan. 27th. I got a ball with a tiger on it and I named him Tigey. (Ti-g-ee) Leah got a real, pink, hope you're ready for it! WHOOPEE CUSHION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Lauren got a toy phone.

-Abby 1

Recital!

2010-12-19T19:11:00.004-07:00

Today when my dad was making a post on his blog, (about MY recital) he said that I should post on my blog. So here I am. My song was Santa Claus is comin' to town. Jessica Gray's song was Frosty the snowman and Maddie McEwan's song was Jingle bell rock. If you know where my mom and dad's blog is, you can see me play my song.

-Abby

Adorable, Cute, And Lovable!!!!!!

2010-11-28T14:51:00.003-07:00

Austin Thomas Clark is ADORABLE!!!!! The other day, my mom was holding him and she was telling me that in seven years when he'll be seven and I'll be fourteen, I'll be calling him a pest. Every second I'll be calling him a pest. But then, she said to Austin "But she'll still love you. She said it over and over about five times before she had to change his diaper. He and my mom came home from the hospital on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. I got sick at my mom's baby shower. (The smell didn't help at all.) I threw up right before I got to eat my goodies. I had a cookie like a baseball, (These are my goodies I didn't get to eat.) strawberries and I don't remember the rest. That seems good for today.

See ya!!!!

Long day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-07T18:05:00.003-06:00

THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER JESSNJEN!!!!!!!!! Its Abby Clark! I wish they would change it already!!!! Well, let's get back to that other stuff. OK?Today I went to school and I had fun, Mrs.Backner ( my teacher) had recess duty and my cheek still hurts from the dentist and it just was a long day. see ya later!!!!!!!!!

OUCH!!!!!!

2010-10-05T18:04:00.004-06:00

Well today I had to go to the dentist. It was HORRIBLE! (Well every thing but the fillings were.) Today I got sealants and fillings. My mouth was so tiny and it hurt so much,we only got 2 sealants done.

-Abby Clark

Piano!!!!

2010-09-19T17:30:00.002-06:00

I started piano on sept.9 2010 with sis.Harker. I think it was really fun! Next time I go it will be my third lesson. I have a book signed by Jon Schmidt that sis. Harker gave to me.

I LOVE PIANO!!!!!!!!

-Abby

MINE!!!

2010-08-29T13:03:00.003-06:00

The blog is MINE!!! And i am excited! cause its mine! cool isn't it.

THE END.

-abby

Site Change

2010-01-22T21:35:00.001-07:00

We've moved! Please check out our blog at our new location: http://jessnjen.wordpress.com.

Same blog, same people, different web service. Thanks for reading. Yo.

Rough plumbing is done

2010-01-18T12:18:00.002-07:00

I could write long paragraphs about what we've done in the basement... or I could walk around in the basement and tell you. Watch if you're so inclined.

Baking Bread with Babies

2010-01-14T21:26:00.004-07:00

We played a fun white elephant type gift game at my parents' house on Christmas Eve. My mom had bought a lot of gifts (but unlike white elephant gifts, these were actually ones that we would want) and we started with one person then went around the room either opening a present or taking someone else's present. About halfway through the game it was Lauren's turn and she opened up three mini loaf pans. I'm not sure that she knew what they were, but she showed us all and was very happy about her gift. After I told her we could make pumpkin bread or banana bread in them she was even more excited. For the rest of the night she carried them around with her. If she accidentally set them down somewhere she would frantically search for them. We just kept laughing because it was so funny! On Christmas I asked her what her favorite present was and she answered "My tea set from Santa...AND my tiny little bread pans."

The reason my mom bought those as one of the gifts was because I had just told her that I needed some, so I was more than happy to stick them in my cupboard when we got home. Lauren wasn't so excited and wanted them in her bedroom. So, I showed her that they were in a special spot where she could reach them anytime she wanted them and she was okay with that. Last week we finally made her pumpkin bread and she couldn't' have been happier!

I'd pick my nose if I had time...

2010-01-10T21:52:00.003-07:00

I've made little progress on my basement this week. In fact, I think all I've done is framed in 9 feet of a wall in the new bathroom. There's just been no time.

Monday was family night and after the kids went to bed, I wanted to watch Boise St. - TCU. Disappointing end for this fan, but good game to watch.

Tuesday was Jen's night for relief society visits and a meeting.

Wednesday night was Boy Scouts -- officially the beginning of the end for me!

Thursday night we had visitors: Jen's grandma and cousin were driving through from Denver toward their home in Grants Pass, OR. They stopped at our house for a few days and we spent time catching up with them. Two of Jen's brothers and family came over and we (the boys) went to see Avatar 3D that night.

Friday night I had to prepare for a merit badge pow wow that started the next morning. We had 11 boys from our ward attend this event and I spent at least two hours preparing schedules, merit badge worksheets, and collecting money for this event. Oh, and I had to teach the Safety Merit Badge, too, so I had to prepare a lesson.

Saturday morning was the event -- started at 7:30am and lasted until 2:30pm. After all that scouting, I came home and did the framing for an hour. Finally, at 5pm, we went on a group date (because we're 16...) for dinner and a movie. We went with 4 other couples and we had movie tickets to Sherlock Holmes at 7:15pm at The District in South Jordan. Our intention was to eat dinner at Red Robin first. We walked in and their wait was about 45 minutes. We then walked about a quarter mile to Applebees. They said their wait was 25 minutes, so we waited. After at least that much time with no evidence of getting a table for 10 any time soon, we left. We finally ended up eating at the food court in the movie theater. The food was good and the movie was fun. It was also fun to hang out with other adults. I seem to interact with so few of them...

Today was okay, but a bit harried to begin. Jen had a 7:30am meeting and didn't return until about 8:45. We have church at 9am, so I had to do all I could to get three girls ready and pretty. Granted, they are naturally beautiful (thanks, honey!) so it didn't take much, but I can only take their look so far until Jen is required to come in and make the final touches. We all went to church and, oh yeah, I had to teach during Priesthood today. Oh, and there was a youth fireside tonight from 6-7:30pm.

I'd like to say next week will be better, but I'm not really sure. I'm organizing the combined activity this week for Wednesday night, attending the second half of the merit badge pow pow (and still teaching the Saftey Merit Badge), teaching and then watching our troop do the flag ceremony in front of 300 Boy Scouts, and then speaking at the Priesthood Preview next Sunday night.

I promise most weeks aren't like this. I'm not really as busy every week as this post would indicate. And I'm not really complaining. This is just a really good opportunity for me to learn how to better manage my time.

Me and my 1,360 lbs.

2010-01-02T20:37:00.004-07:00

Let me tell you about my experience with 1,360 lbs today. I went to Lowes today to purchase enough concrete mix to fill the hole I created in my basement floor. The math said we had 20 sq. feet that was 6 inches deep to fill. That meant we needed 17 bags of 80 lb. concrete mix (hence the 1,360 lbs).

So I grabbed one of those flatbed shopping carts and went to the concrete aisle. I loaded up 17 bags on the cart and then had to muster all my strength on slick floors with old tennis shoes just to push the cart up to the checker. After purchasing the mix, I pushed the cart out to the truck I've been borrowing for a week (thanks, Mark!) and loaded all 1,360 lbs. into the bed.

After arriving home, I carried 15 of the 17 bags down to the basement (that's 1,200 lbs.). I was having a hunch that I overestimated the amount I'd need so I took the other two bags out of the truck but left them in the garage.

Jen's Dad came over and we mixed 12 of the bags by hand in a wheelbarrow, poured it in the gaping hole in the floor, and were done. That meant I had 3 unused bags still in my basement and 2 in my garage. Dang it, math! Where did you go?? What good did AP Calculus do?? I erred in measuring the size needed to fill very liberally. I figured it was better to overestimate than under.

So, back up the stairs and into the back of the truck went the 3 unused bags. To that I added the other 2 bags I held in reserve in the garage. Back to Lowes. Back to the flat bed cart. Welcome back, $17 I overspent.

Overall, it was 4,880 lbs. I lugged around today. That doesn't count actually lifting the bags into the wheelbarrow to mix them with water. No wonder I feel so old.

Some of the other fun I had today: installing two new ducts for heating vents in the basement. That was new for me. We ran about 22 feet of duct work. The basement is now warm.

Basement Progress

2010-01-01T08:51:00.005-07:00

I was talking to my brother last night and he asked if I'd seen any football in the last few days. I thought back and realized that I'd kinda forgotten that there were bowl games every day. I've seen about 3 minutes of a game since the BYU-OSU shellacking and am wondering now if I'm "wasting away" my New Year's vacation!

Instead of football, I've been in my basement. The basement is a funny thing: you look at the 450 sq. feet we have down there and think, "Wow, we could finish this up pretty quickly. Add a few studs here, add a few there, throw up some sheetrock, and voila, we're done!" But there's soooo much to do. For example, the builders (who, remember, weren't required to think when building the house) ran some copper water lines on the underside of the joists that are the floor for the kitchen and the ceiling for the basement. With a little effort, they could have run those lines in a less obtrusive spot.

Lucky for me, I got to exert that little effort. I turned the water to the house off and started cutting copper. A few hours later (and a few trips to Lowes) I had new water lines run using Pex and those sweet -- but expensive -- Sharkbite PVC/Copper/Pex connectors all in place holding pressurized water. Still, a few days later, we have no leaks. All I need to do is show some real crack and I'm a plumber.

Yesterday I had Jen's dad over here most the day and we spent a few hours planning things like 1) I need to run a new electrical line to my sprinkler box outside to the new location of my timer in the basement; 2) where and how do I add heating vents to the basement rooms; 3) where do I run my water line from the source to our fridge; and etc. After we got those decided and discussed, we started framing. I don't think basement framing is ever as fast as normal framing jobs because the floors are uneven and there are so many things to frame around. After a few hours, we had a few walls done and were happy with the process. Notice the shirt I wore. How apropos for the job.

It's coming along. I am getting old, though, because I'm tired. And I just woke up...

Christmas Hangover

2009-12-26T20:50:00.009-07:00

Wow, what a fun but tiring couple of days. I've been off work since Wednesday and really enjoyed not being at work. The only slow day we've had was Dec. 24. We woke up late, lounged around, I bought and installed a new battery in my car (the only "work" I did all day), ate some treats, delivered a few treats, and headed over to Jen's folks' house for the holiday. We had a great time participating in their family's dinner and program and we even performed the song "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" during the program.

Christmas was filled with presents, food, and driving (Jen made those hooded towels for the girls for Christmas). We spent the morning with Jen's parents and then hit my folks for lunch and the afternoon. While I come from a family of 11 kids, only 6 live here in Utah and one of those was in California for the holiday. Five kids at my parents for Christmas really isn't that crazy and actually somewhat quiet compared to what we're accustomed!

Today was very productive for us. As I mentioned in my last post, we are going to finish our basement. Unfortunately, I had my order of operations a little backward recently. I already rented the jackhammer and did some demolition to the cement floor. But we hadn't finished emptying the basement when I did that. Oops. Dust on everything.

We spent the day emptying the basement. I really wasn't looking forward to it because I had no desire to drag all our junk up from the basement, around the yard in the snow, and then to our shed. Luckily, a very smart woman I know suggested we take all our junk to the garage, back a trailer up to it, load the junk on the trailer, and then drive the trailer to the shed.

Genius!

We completely filled up a 8'x12' trailer with junk and then stuffed it in our 10'x16' shed with plenty of room to spare. Our basement is empty again for the first time since we moved in 5 years ago.

**Sidenote: By "we" I mean Jen, Abby, and myself. My wife is how "awesome wife" is defined in the dictionary. She was lugging stuff up the stairs, loading things on the trailer, tending the kids between loads up and down stairs, and helped unload it all in the shed -- out in the cold and snow. They don't come any better. End sidenote.

Now I really have no excuse to ignore the basement construction.

Empty Basement (but full garage)

Full Garage (but empty basement!)

Full Trailer (but empty garage!) Shed, here we come.

The work has begun

2009-12-23T22:27:00.003-07:00

The holidays are a great time of the year to take time off of "work." By "work" I mean the kind where people pay you to do things. I took time off of that stuff starting today but didn't get out of doing work.

We officially began the process of finishing our basement today. The first thing: rough plumbing. I don't know why, but for some reason contractors are under no obligation to think when they rough in a basement on a house they are building. There are pipes and things in the oddest places and configurations. Who has to deal with that? Me.

I rented a 65 lb. jackhammer today and spent about 2.5 hours creating this pile of rubble. This is from my basement floor so the plumber I'm hiring can come in and re-arrange the pipes, drains, and vents. I am glad to finally get this project started, but I was fairly tired this evening.

The jackhammer wasn't good on my wrist, either. When I was 14, and before hand-eye-foot coordination was a part of my nature (because I'm a model of coordination now...), I tripped on some uneven cement and broke my right wrist. I was in a cast for 4 weeks, so luckily it happened during the summer and not during basketball season.

Last Saturday I was unloading our trebuchet from the back of a large trailer. I had to lift up on the tongue of the trailer so the other guys could more easily slide the trebuchet off. Well, in that process, my grip changed and I dropped the trailer. Like an idiot, I tried to catch it and my right wrist took the full brunt of the weight. It hurt pretty bad and I iced it for hours after the incident. It didn't really swell up and I still had mobility, so I felt pretty good about things. It was still very tender to the touch, though.

After spending a few hours lugging a large jackhammer around, though, my wrist started hurting pretty bad. And the bruising came out in full force. I can't get a picture to give it justice, but the bruise is bigger in diameter than a softball. I hope bruising is all that's wrong with this fella. I ain't interested in any broken bones.

I'll be happy when this basement is finished.

What do we name the next one?

2009-12-16T21:15:00.006-07:00

Jen and I have three adorable daughters. IF we decide to someday have child, I have already decided on a name. This name makes a major assumption: the next child will be a boy.

Seemingly change of topic, but it's not:
A few years ago, Jen and I were watching the Colts vs. Patriots in the AFC championship game. The Patriots had basically owned the Colts in most head-to-head matchups for the previous million years and we were sick of pretty-boy Brady and his model wife (can't wait until Tom is outed as another "Tiger"). Well, there was an awfully important play late in the game where Peyton hit Dallas Clark on a 35 or 40 yard strike that kept a crucial drive alive. Jen and I were totally stoked. After that play, we decided that if the Colts won the Super Bowl that year, we'd name our kid Dallas.

The Colts won the Super Bowl. However, we had absolutely no plans of getting pregnant. We've still held on to that idea, but are leaning toward naming the next (boy) child after another Texas town: Austin. Let me explain.

Another change of topic? No...
Our first two kids have 4-letter first names and 9-letter middle names. The first names held no significance, but the middle names did. The 4/9 combination wasn't on purpose and we didn't actually notice it until we were focusing on naming our third child. We tried and tried to find another 4/9 combination (Emma Katherine or Emma Gabrielle) but couldn't do it. We chose Lauren Emma, a 6/4 combination. Emma has some historical significance in our families, so at least we kept that tradition alive.

So what about the next child, should we be blessed (cursed??) with another? The pattern we've established is 4/9, 4/9, 6/4...so the next child has to be 6/4. Further confounding the problem is the combination of initials they must adhere to.

Huh?

Our kids have the following initial combinations:

AEC
LCC
LEC

Which means the final combination is:

ACC (not to be confused by that powder-puff football conference back east)

So, the name must have initials of ACC, 6 letters in the first name, 4 letters in the middle, have some significance for the middle name, and must pay homage to the Colts. What did I come up with?

Austin Cole Clark.

Austin is six letters long and represents Austin Collie, a rookie wide receiver on the Colts who happened to play at my Alma Mater.

Cole is four letters long and fits the ACC requirement.

If we call the kid A.C., it has significance in Jen's ancestry. Her great-grandpa had the initials of "A.C." so we fill that requirement of having the middle name meaning something. I know, it's a stretch to say "Cole" means something, but with "Austin" it becomes A.C. and therefore fits the bill.

Trust me, this isn't my sly way of making any announcements. We ain't pregnant. I may look it, but I promise it's the function of too much food, a sedentary lifestyle, and slowing metabolism. Jen, on the other hand, is hot.

Posting up a storm

2009-12-12T20:52:00.004-07:00

Where do I start?

1. I went to Savannah, GA, a week ago for work. I was attending the Association for Fire Ecology Fire Congress conference Tues-Thursday, but also helped teach a workshop on Monday of that week. Our workshop was computer intensive and we actually shipped out 25 laptops from work and had to set them up...so, we had to do that on Sunday. Luckily, I was traveling with five coworkers and I was able to hit church while they started the setup. When I got back from church I helped finish the setup. FYI, my round-trip cab ride to church was $45 (gulp!). I'm considering asking my bishop if I can count that toward my tithing.

Savannah was pretty cool and a good walking downtown. We had some great food, AWESOME weather, and saw some really old (for America...) buildings that are still in use today. My hotel was right downtown and had a roof-top pool and sitting area. Very relaxing. I'd go back to Savannah with my wife sometime. Now, if only someone would pay for it.

2. My sister danced in The Nutcracker today. She's a senior at Salem Hills High School and did a great job today. She's very talented and I was glad to be able to see her perform. I don't get to many of her performances so this was a nice change. Thanks, Mom, for watching our two younger kids while we watched the program!

3. While we were at The Nutcracker, I had a brief scare. My dad, a type 2 diabetic, was sitting next to me. During halftime (the ladies call it "intermission"...semantics), he leaned over to me, handed me a few bucks, and said, "I need you to go get me something with a lot of sugar in it." He hadn't managed his insulin levels very well before the performance. He was getting a little droopy so I knew he needed something quick. I ran out into the foyer and luckily they were selling concessions. Unfortunately, all they were selling were cookies and water. I grabbed two cookies and returned. He started eating them but didn't think that would be enough to get his blood sugar levels back where they should be. Then I remembered it: the manna from heaven. Right under the seat in front of me was a large sucker. I picked it up, noticed that it was still wrapped like it was brand new, and then handed it over to my dad. It was perfect! After eating that he perked right up and was able to manage until he got home and ate something proper.

Whew!

4. The funniest thing happened at the performance while were weren't worrying about my dad. My wife saw her last boyfriend, the one she left to date and marry me. He was in the audience at The Nutcracker. Jen studied the program to see if he had a kid in the performance but he didn't. Instead, the guy's wife was the lead choreographer. I asked my sister after the show if she knew this guy's wife (whom I'd never seen or met) and just as I asked that, the lady walked by and my sister pulled her aside. Kaitlin asked me, "How do you know Mrs. ?" I said, "Well, I don't. I just know who her husband was from many years ago in college." There was an awkward pause because I obviously knew more than she or my sister knew. And that was all I was saying.

It was all a little weird. Jen sees the boyfriend I convinced her to leave and then it turns out this guy's wife is my sister's dance instructor. I'm very glad Jen left that dude and settled for me. After I eventually told my sister and dad the situation, we all had a good laugh.

5. We've had about 5 solid snow storms at our house so far this winter. From that we've had close to 2 feet of snow. Slow November but some decent storms lately.

6. Finally: I'm really glad I was out of town for the BYU-Utah game and didn't follow any of the smack talk the week before the game. BYU won and that made me happy, but I hate how it all goes down. I hate that it's called the "Holy War." I hate that Utah fans think everyone at BYU is the Mormon version of the Bubble Boy. I hate that BYU fans assume that every Ute is a drunk liberal. I hate that Utah tries to say BYU people are all holier than thou and churchy, yet they are the first ones to parade all the Mormon prophets who attended the U. And I hate the hypocrisy that exists from both schools when the quarterback at BYU says he hates Utah and says they are classless (yes, I understand that his comments were classless). How do Ute fans respond? Classless. Max erred in painting with a broad brush. Not all Utes are classless (we love you, Beebe's!). I guess just those who use Facebook and make online comments are. And why was it okay for Ute players to make similar comments but no one cares?

I got to the point during all this that I wondered if should even care. I commented to Jen during a phone call that I thought I was done caring about BYU sports, especially when they play Utah. It just brings out the worst in people and I don't like it. I'm way too passive to get fired up about this kind of stuff. Go Jazz.

Ammon's Week

2009-12-04T21:03:00.005-07:00

I was looking through our photo album today and realized there are a lot of things going on in our lives that I would like to blog about but still haven't done it. I hope to get around to doing it; not because I want or need people to read it and provide comments, but rather because I view this blog as a sort of journal and I love being able to go back -- 4 plus years now -- and read about what was going on in our lives.

While I was in Savannah, GA, last week (another blog post to come), I missed two pretty cool things. First of all, the young women in my parents' ward decided to donate and decorate a tree for the annual Festival of Trees. They also made a BYU quilt and got my sister, Gillian, involved. That was smart because she's a neighbor to starting BYU middle linebacker Matt Bauman. She got him to have all the players sign the beautiful quilt.

But there's more. The young women decided that a fireside would be appropriate. They wanted the focus of the fireside to be on Ammon and his physical disability (spina bifida). Matt Bauman agreed to speak and my mom spoke about the challenges spina bifida presents but also about how us "normal" folks could interact and help those with physical disabilities.

Before all the speaking, however, they showed a video slideshow put together by yours truly. I compiled a few photos of Ammon -- mostly during the last few years -- showing some of the challenges he's faced. I enjoyed doing this.

Then KSL 5, the local NBC affiliate, decided to highlight Ammon as part of their "High Five" program. They feature people who are making an impact on the community or inspire others and Ammon fit their bill. They were interviewed and shown on the morning news last Wednesday. Here's the video below and here's the story they wrote.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Today Jen and I took the girls to the festival of trees to see the tree that was donated for Ammon. It was fun to see the tree and also to have this little secret that the kid who was being honored was my brother. Good times.

2009-12-01T22:02:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Leah had a friend over to play. We were talking about how Lauren was going to have a nap soon, when Leah leaned over to her friend and quietly said "That's the best part of my day!" I burst out laughing. Leah felt bad pretty soon and told me that she was just kidding. Leah and Lauren get along really well and have lots of fun playing while Abby is at school, but I'm pretty sure that Lauren's nap time really is one of Leah's favorite parts of the day!

Black Friday

2009-11-27T07:23:00.005-07:00

We gave in to Black Friday. I'm not sure why. I've done Black Friday twice before but for some reason, that didn't stop me this year. Jen is crazier than me; she went to WalMart this morning around 4am and got a number of gifts for sweet deals. But WalMart...

I decided to get up at 5:30 and head to GameStop. This store isn't really for me. It's full of a bunch of teenage nerds who don't know how to communicate with humans, let alone shower. Well, they were offering the Wii Sports Resort game for $49 plus a free extra Wii Motion Plus remote, a savings of about $20.

I got to the store at 5:40am and stood outside (in the cold) until they opened at 6am. I got my game, got in line, and then waited. And waited. And waited. I listened to very lame conversation from a super annoying teenager behind me. After half and hour and moving 5 feet (with over 40 people in front of me), I put the game down and left. My time is so worth more than $20.

I drove home and when I walked in, Jen said, "You don't have to go back to GameStop. I just bought the game online with the same doorbuster deal with free shipping." I was a little ticked that I woke up and stood in the line for all that time just to have Jen find it online -- at the same store. But then I quickly got happy that I didn't have to go back.

I think both Jen and I decided that we'll never do the doorbuster Black Friday stuff again. Ain't worth it. I'm tired.

Free Music

2009-11-25T11:24:00.004-07:00

Ain't been bloggin' much lately. I've been reading a lot, but done no writing. The funny thing is how blogging changes how I do things. I carry a camera more often and take pictures with the thought of how it will fit in a blog post. And I have a lot of things to blog about ... eventually.

To start off with a somewhat minor topic, I came across 3 free MP3 downloads at Amazon.com. I love it. What they do is actually give you a $3 credit on your account and you can use it for as many MP3's as you can get for $3. That means you can get 3. Do the math.

What did I get today?

Ingrid Michaelson: Maybe
Lady Antebellum: Need You Now
Miley Cyrus: The Climb

Disclaimer: Leah went to the dentist today and wasn't feeling well when we returned. I used one of my free downloads on her by getting the Miley Cyrus song. I promise I'm not a Miley stalker. That would be creepy.

They have other free MP3 downloads as well and I got Lissie: Little Lovin'.

If you use the Amazon.com MP3 downloader it takes the file and immediately stuffs it into your iTunes Library.

Let it snow

2009-11-15T13:35:00.003-07:00

We've got snow. I know it fell while we were vacationing at Disneyland, but this was the first I'd seen this year. It came for basically 6 hours on Saturday, starting around 11am and lasting until dark. When it was all said and done, we have over 4 inches in our yard. In the local news, they reported our city (West Jordan) as getting 7 inches. And I quote:

Benches in Davis and Weber counties saw snow between 1.5 and 4 inches, while parts of West Jordan saw 7 inches of snow. Snowbird ski resort saw 9 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

Comon. Snowbird got 9 inches and my town got 7? Something's not right here. Other proof things are screwy: I spoke with my brother who lives 45 miles south of me and he said they had nothing on the ground.

We got it and it's still here. I actually had to trudge through it last night in the dark to get my snow shovels out of the shed in the backyard so I could use them on our driveway. Ugh. I hate shoveling snow.

This video shows how it looked as it snowed. My batteries died very shortly after I started recording. The kids loved it because they get to go outside and play in it.

Funny Google Street View

2009-11-13T21:37:00.002-07:00

This is funny. Gizmodo has a plethora of funny Google Street View images tagged on their website. Take a look at some of the funny things the cameras are catching (like people peeing behind cars and in medians, people picking their nose, an old lady who looks like she just got hit by a fire truck, etc.

Street view peers into my garage if you look at my house, but that's not really funny. So I won't link to that.

Gabriel's Message

2009-11-12T00:01:00.002-07:00

Our ward is singing this for our Christmas program. We won't be nearly as good...

She's getting old ... but I still love her

2009-11-10T20:57:00.003-07:00

Jen and I are now officially both in our 30's. I've been there for a year and a half, but she just made her grand entrance today. She hasn't really been looking forward to this birthday for a while and I'll admit that when I turned 30, I felt like "Wow, I'm 30 now. There's no looking back." Being in your 20's means you are still somewhat cool and in touch with what "cool" is. When you hit 30, that means you have to be responsible, mature, and, well, adultish. So while I don't mind being in the 30's, it did feel weird thinking I was that old.

Jen shares her birthday with my brother, Jason. He turned 39 today so he's got another mental hurdle to overcome next year.

Last night Jen's dad and sister came over and put posters / banners up on our house and garage saying "Look who's 30" and "Happy Birthday." They also put a bunch of stuff in our lawn to remind Jen every time she looked outside just how old she was turning. It was great! Tonight Jen's dad and sister came back, but this time to watch the girls while Jen and I went to dinner. They also brought over cake for dessert when we came back.

I'm lucky to have Jen and glad that I get to celebrate her birthdays with her.

Trip Report

2009-11-02T20:48:00.007-07:00

It's back to life now. The vacation is over and the house is dirty. Here's a travelogue and some pictures:

Monday, Oct. 26: Do last minute packing and in the car by 7:15am. We drove all the way to Anaheim and arrived there around 5pm local time. We checked in to our Fairfield Inn and learned that our package had a deal for a free pizza at Pizza Hut, a bag of popcorn, and an in-room movie. Dinner! After eating we went swimming in the pool and hot tub that just happened to be about 10 feet from our first-floor room.
Tuesday: Since we had 3-day park hoppers, we were entitled to an early entry morning one of the three days we went. We chose Tuesday. Because our hotel was so close to the park, we just walked and were able to park the van most the week. We left the hotel around 7:40am and were in the park at 8 when they opened. We headed to Fantasyland and rode everything. Then we went over to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear twice (that's a fun ride because it's part ride / part video game). That day we also did Autopia, the Nemo Submarine, Space Mountain... well, we basically rode everything...

Disneyland closed at 5pm that day so we sauntered over to California Adventure and rode Soaring over California, the Ferris Wheel (met an LDS guy from Seal Beach who sat in our ... whatever you call the things you ride in on a ferris wheel), and wandered around. We were pretty beat by the time the day was over. We made it back to our hotel around 7pm or so.

Wednesday: More of the same!

Thursday: We decided to take a day off from the park. First we went to some off-park Disney stores to buy some paraphernalia. The girls have been saving their money for this trip and had each accumulated around $20 so they got to buy whatever they wanted at the stores. It was fun to see them shop with their own money. And very refreshing. It'd be sweet if this became a habit...

Then we headed to the beach. There are a number of beaches fairly close to Anaheim, with Long Beach being the northern-most in that stretch. Then you've got Seal Beach, Huntington, Newport, Laguna, and etc. Dana Point is the mix, too. Huntington was the closest and most direct shot so we went there. The beach is huge and we basically had it all to ourselves. However, the air temps were 71 and the water temps were in the low 60's. Fun for surfers in full-body wetsuits, but not exactly desirable for us. We played in the water for a while but spent more time just running around on the beach.

After the beach, we went back to the hotel to eat, swim, and watch our in-room movie (we chose Up, but I don't think the girls were totally interested).

Friday: Last day in the park! We spent equal time in Disneyland and California Adventure, rode many of our favorite rides again, and had a good time seeing everything. By 2pm the girls needed a break, so we went back to the hotel for a swimming break. We finally went back to the park around 7:30pm and were looking forward to the fireworks and Fantasmic shows that both started after 9pm. The only problem was that all of Southern California came to the park that night, too. Starting around 8:30pm, Main Street was packed. If you've been there, it was basically standing room only from the beginning of the Main Street shops all the way to the Castle. It was actually a little amusing. The shows were great and we really enjoyed our time in the parks.
Saturday: We left Anaheim around 8:15am and made it back to South Jordan to pick up our little Lauren by 7:30pm local time. Uneventful trip, but it was amusing to see the snow on the ground once we made it north of Cedar City. Sure glad we missed all that fun!

We had a great vacation to the happiest place on the earth. Farewell, Disneyland. We'll come back some day.

Aahhhh...

2009-10-29T17:50:00.002-06:00

We're in Southern California right now enjoying the weather, beach, and Disneyland. It's been a great trip so far. We drove down Monday night and will drive back on Saturday. Luckily, we left our youngest kid at home (put a plate of food in the middle of the kitchen and told her to ration it well...) so we wouldn't have to deal with her here.

We got 3-day park hoppers and have really enjoyed the park so far. We're two days into our three-day experience at the parks and decided to take a day off from the park to visit Huntington Beach today. It's a little chilly for ocean swimming around here but it's great for sitting on the beach and taking a nap.

The kids have had a great time here at the park and have enjoyed meeting the Disney characters (Cinderella was by far the prettiest one I've seen so far...), riding roller coasters, and experiencing everything Disney. The kids have done surprisingly well on the rides. I mean, I almost soiled my pants on a few rides but Abby and Leah were just fine.

Okay, I'm kidding. I haven't even come close to soiling my pants. At least not on account of a roller coaster ride.

Jen thinks I'm sick when I write things like this, but it's who I am and I choose not to change.

One last thing: this is probably the first, like, real vacation we've ever taken when we've paid for everything ourselves. We're so grown up now.

Did-ne-land...

2009-10-25T22:22:00.003-06:00

Well, we're pretty much ready to go. Where? About 8 months ago, Jen and I were talking about vacations. We went to Hawaii last November and I wished there was a way we could afford to take our kids to a nice beach vacation. Well, I couldn't think of anything.

Instead, we decided we'd spend the year saving up our pennies for a trip to Disneyland. That day has come. We bought our tickets a few months ago through a group called Get Away Today. It includes 4 three-day park hopper tickets (Disneyland and California Adventure) and 5 nights hotel. Abby is off track in school for three weeks, fire season has ended, and we're ready for a vacation.

Jen has really been the lynch pin of this whole operation (well, I guess that applies to more than just this trip). She sought out our tickets, found the best hotel, checked out 4 guidebooks from the library for tips on how to survive the visit to the "happiest place on earth," did most the packing, and it totally stoked to be going.

We're leaving Lauren with Grandma and Grandpa because she'd be a wreck on the trip. She's only 2 and doesn't do very well in all-day activities. (Secretly, I'm not sure I will either... I rolled my ankle playing flag football on Saturday) I am excited for a break from work and the one-day visit we'll also make to the beach. To the Utahns: enjoy the snow on Tuesday... I'll be wearing shorts and sunscreen and enjoying the 75 degrees.

Here are my girls from a picture taken last weekend.

First Trebuchet Launch

2009-10-22T22:41:00.002-06:00

We decided to build a trebuchet with the Venture Scouts this year. We work on it 2 - 3 nights a month and are finally at a position where we're ready to be serious about launching projectiles.

Our goal: throw a 10-lb bowling ball 200 feet. Our counterweight will hold over 300 lbs.; the throwing arm is 11 feet long and elevated at its pivot point about 5 feet off the ground. I found a software program online that allows you to punch in different variables and it calculates what will happen on launch.

On Wednesday night, we rolled the trebuchet out of my garage and onto the driveway, aimed it up the street, and threw a basketball. We have some work to do on the throwing mechanism: our pouch that holds the bowling ball doesn't open at the right time and we've got to figure out why.

We're looking forward to launching this in daylight and with something heavier than a flat basketball. Most the supplies were gathered by scavenging; we've spent ~$50-60 on all supplies so far. The bowling ball was free from a local bowling alley.

Compassion

2009-10-18T19:19:00.004-06:00

As the sons of Jim Clark all get older, I think we all realize we are becoming more and more like him. I, in particular, picked up on my dad's tear ducts. My dad will cry over a commercial on TV. I used to laugh and say, "Oh, Dad, comon, the Lexus isn't that great."

I am morphing into that teary-eyed man I grew up watching. I think I saw a billboard one day with "Team Hoyt: Inspiration, pass it on" and I teared up. Why? Because I know their story. It's pretty incredible. But so are my tear ducts.

It's funny how as you experience different things in life they have huge impacts on how you handle new situations you face. My family has had some pretty incredible (and I don't always mean "Awesome!" by "incredible") experiences in regards to my youngest brother. In fact, this blog post was inspired by my sister Gillian's musings on this brother and my sister Adrianne and how she's dealt with health trials in her life.

Ammon's had a very challenging physical life and my parents have had to deal with those first-hand. I was a senior in high school when he was born, so my involvement was somewhat limited. I was out of the house and on a mission and college fairly soon after he was born. But my folks have been very limited in what they can do -- even in terms of going out, going on vacations to visit their grandkids, even driving up to Idaho for a missionary farewell/homecoming because it's difficult to manage all the stuff that deals with hauling Ammon anywhere.

My folks really get exhausted when there are extended hospital stays for Ammon. They live over an hour away from Primary Children's, they have to eat and pay for hospital food for most their meals, they sleep on crappy beds in the room, their entertainment is limited to small TVs that show the Disney Channel to keep Ammon entertained, and they deal with a plethora of hospital staff who don't necessarily have great, shall we say, people skills.

I've watched this all a little detached. Sure, I've made plenty of visits up to the hospital to see them, but there's nothing I can really do. I just kinda have to sit back and watch it all transpire and hope for the best. I've learned a lot about Spina Bifida in the last 14 years but mostly learned more about my parents and some of my siblings.

Today, I was sitting in a regional church meeting and was listening to Vicki Matsumori speak. She was speaking about how parents are an example for their kids and then related an experience illustrating this. They had a premature baby who spent lots of time in the hospital. He also developed hydrocephalus, which means water on the brain. Ammon has the same problem and the shunt -- the draining mechanism -- is the reason he recently spent three weeks in the hospital.

One night, after they all returned home from a recent surgery, this young baby was crying in his room. As Vicki and her husband debated on who would check on the baby this time, they suddenly heard the pitter patter of 2-year-old feet coming down the hallway. The baby's cries stopped and things were calm. Vicki walked into the baby's room and noticed that their 2-year-old daughter, hearing the cries of her little brother, got out of bed, walked into his room, climbed into his crib to calm him down, and proceeded to lay her hands on his head to say a prayer for him. Undoubtedly, she'd seen her own father lay his hands on her brother's head to offer a Priesthood blessing many times.

Vicki Matsumori was very emotional as she related this story and I felt much the same way. I thought of the compassion this big sister had on her little brother, the example she was simply following, and the physical ailments some face that allow us all to grow a little.

My life really is pretty easy. I have a great wife and three adorable daughters. Our health problems are minimal. I have a job where I feel very stable. We have a home we can afford and enjoy. Our cars work. We have good friends. Perhaps my challenge is to observe others' trials and exhibit the compassion and support needed to lift the hands that hang down.

Florida - Arkansas commentators

2009-10-18T08:31:00.002-06:00

I happened to watch the end of the Arkansas-Florida game yesterday. I was watching when Arkansas hit on a 70-yard TD pass that almost wasn't. Just as the WR crossed the line into the endzone, a Florida player knocked the ball loose. However, the Arkansas WR recovered the ball in the endzone for an obvious touchdown. The problem was that the CBS commentators were just about the dumbest people I've ever heard call a football game. Here's what they were saying (rough transcript provided by ... ahem ... Utefans.net):

Commentator 1: I don't think that's a touchdown; he fumbled before the endzone, it might be ruled down there.

Commentator 2: Is it considered an incomplete pass? he dropped before he got in the endzone. (Consider now that the dude caught the ball 30 yards before the endzone...)

Commentator 1: I'm pretty sure its a complete pass, he did run quite a ways after he caught the ball. Did he recover it in the endzone? (From watching it here at home, it was COMPLETELY obvious that the WR did, clearly a touchdown regardless if he fumbled it at the 1 yard line)

Commentator 1: (Continues with how he thinks it might be a dead ball at the 1.)

I couldn't believe the incompetence exhibited by these "professionals" who watch and call football games on a weekly basis. It was absolutely incredible. I was yelling at the TV I was so blown away by idiots.

"We Love Jess" Fan Club

2009-10-13T12:50:00.006-06:00

I don't post very often (sorry Jess!), but I thought today might be a good time for one of my occasional posts.

Sunday night Lauren asked me to take a picture of her and Jess. She stood next to him and the other two girls quickly joined in. When we looked at the photo later Jess called the girls his groupies. It's true. They will follow him all over the house, yard, wherever he goes. They just want to be with him. I totally understand...I'm the same way. I'm glad he hasn't gotten sick of me following him around too! I'm lucky to have such a wonderful husband! Thanks for putting a ring on my finger and asking me to marry you! I love you Jesse Boy!

Happy Fall

2009-10-12T21:26:00.003-06:00

It's been a great weekend.

1. Saturday morning started wtih a Friends of Scouting fundraiser. I had a couple Boy Scouts with me and we went door to door collecting money. Our goal (as a Scout troop) was $1200 and we met that in really only a few hours' worth of time.

2. Saturday afternoon I coached / cheered on the young men at their flag football game. Our boys are 3-0 and won 82-59. It was a good old fashioned WAC shoot-out. After the game, Jen and I re-arranged our living room. It's good to do that every once in a while.

3. Saturday late afternoon Jen and I went up to PCMC to visit my brother. He's in the tail end of a three week stay where he's had a ton going on. My poor parents are sick of that hospital and having to stay up there, eat the food, sleep on their chair-beds, and generally being away from home. We took my Mom, the parent up there for the weekend, some real-world food -- Wendy's!

4. Sunday morning we went to Jen's brother's ward to participate in a baby blessing. It was fun to see everyone. The best part is that since they live so close, their church building is about half a mile away and we weren't in a rush.

5. Besides BYC, I had no other out-of-the-standard-block meetings on Sunday. We spent a very lazy Sunday afternoon just hanging out at home together. Once the kids went to bed, Jen and I watched the end of the Colts-Titans game.

6. Monday was a federal holiday so I got to spend another day at home. It was mostly filled with home projects, honey-do lists, another room rearranging (our bedroom this time), and then a family visit to Gardner Village. We go there every year when they pull the witches out. It's a great place to walk around, window shop (because the shops are pricey!), and buy a few treats from the Naborhood Bakery. The girls love to see the witches. My favorite, of course, is the witch sitting in the outhouse named Witchy-Poo.

Tomorrow is back to normal. Well, not really. Tomorrow is our anniversary. We've been married 8 years! I couldn't have asked for a better woman!

Young kids: rewarding?

2009-10-09T12:01:00.003-06:00

Read from Bill Simmons of ESPN fame today:

Important note: Being a parent of young kids sucks. Don't let anyone tell you differently. About six months ago, I wanted to start a Twitter account of quotes my wife screamed in the heat of those my-kids-are-driving-me-crazy-moments such as these: "If you don't stop crying, I am going to stick you in the microwave!!!!" and "Fine, climb up the stairs again; I hope you fall down, I really do!" She wouldn't let me because she thought child services would arrest us. The truth is, every parent snaps from time to time. We can't help it. Our kids' job is to suck all forms of life from us, frighten us, embarrass us in public and prevent us from sleeping until they turn 4. We pretend it's not so bad when, really, it's mostly horrible and even somewhat indefensible. But -- and this is a big but -- they parcel out just enough, "Wow, I'm so glad I had kids" moments to make it all worth it.

I feel slightly more normal after reading that. I guess I'm not different than most parents.

Winterizing

2009-10-08T20:51:00.002-06:00

The time has come. Winter is slowly creeping its way toward us. Last year, it came the same time. We've already had some good freezes -- just enough to kill the garden off for good and also to drive me nuts while scraping my windshield in the morning. Today I left work at 4pm so I could get some stuff done around the house. I turned off and drained the sprinklers and winterized the swamp cooler. I replaced the furnace filters last week and it's actually been on every night for a week.

I'm not excited about the increased energy costs that come with winter. Our summer bills are very cheap but our winter ones (mostly gas) skyrocket. We could help ourselves with more energy efficient windows but that's an expense we're not willing to finance. Gotta save up some more money!

However, we also want to finish the basement. And the garage. And re-align the sprinklers in the backyard. And buy a mountain bike. And travel to the Caribbean. Anyway...this list will never end. Sigh.

Conference Weekend

2009-10-03T11:14:00.002-06:00

We are watching conference this weekend. It looks like a good old fall day outside: gray, overcast, a little breezy, and the leaves changing colors. Must be conference weekend!

It was exciting to hear about a new temple in Brigham City. Yet another temple in the state. That must mean the existing ones are getting use!

Back from Tennessee

2009-09-26T13:28:00.008-06:00

I've been all over the country by living, traveling, and working in many different states. I've gotta say that I think Utah has one of the best climates I've been in. Sure, different places are certainly better during parts of the years, but when you look at the entire year, Utah is pretty great. I've been thinking about this during the last week while I spent some time in eastern Tennessee. They have a very humid climate and that takes some getting used to.

I was out there with 6 other people from my office, plus lots of other scientists from the local forest (Cherokee), national park (Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah Valley), and our counterparts in the USGS (EROS Data Center). Our intention was to visit 4 fires that burned over the last few years in eastern Tennessee and make an assessment of burn severity on the ground that would allow us to make comparisons to the satellite imagery we use to map them remotely.

Our actual field plot locations were chosen by me before hand by looking at severity maps, access to roads, and a topo map so as not to ask people to do any crazy hiking. In the field, it was basically like a glorified geocaching experience. We entered in lat/long coordinates and the group hiked to them using orientation skills we all learned on the job or in Boy Scouts!

The forests back east are a lot different than what I'm accustomed to. The burn severity was also a lot different. Instead of thousands of acres of obviously burned forest like I'm used to seeing here in the West, we'd see chunks of 20 acres where the canopy was gone. Things just green up so dang fast and these fires they have don't typically completely kill the trees.

We stayed in Pigeon Forge for 3 nights and I couldn't believe what a crazy town that was. It was like a child's Vegas -- lots of bright flashing lights with over-the-top decorations. It was good to get out of Pigeon Forge and to see some "real" Tennessee.

This is a powerline that drapes over a pond at the local KOA. Obviously, people have a hard time casting their lines into the pond because an awful lot of hooks and bobbers end up in the power lines.
There was a real concern of getting chiggers and ticks on our skin and under our pant legs. The solution was to tape our pants to our boots. Not a real attractive look, but effective.

This was the center of one of our plots. We draped 30m tapes out in the cardinal directions to give us a sense of the size of our plot (900 sq. meters). You'll notice a nice understory burn but still plenty of greenery around.

We arrived in Cherokee, North Carolina, after making the 30+ mile drive through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I'd never seen this scripting before and it was very intriguing to see.

This was a little cabin we came across in our hiking. I'm sure this is where "Jacob" lives in the show LOST. Also, notice just how dang green everything is! It's incredible!

This is just a picture. Fiddlin' with the camera and depth of field.

We also came across a bamboo forest. Glad we found bamboo instead of marijuana. They said marijuana was a very popular cash crop in this part of Tennessee.

The local thrift store in Newport, TN. One of my co-workers came out of the store and said, "There is a God. I put money in the drink machine and it spit out two drinks!" My thought was, "Well, duh, it's a thrift store!"

This was from one of the overlooks in the national park.

Two of my co-workers (Ruth Ann and Steve) discussing the maps we made for the field work.

Yes, some of the leaves were changing color, but the peak of that in East Tennessee is mid- to late October. Basically, some of the Maples were changing but nothing else.

More important things...

2009-09-20T13:15:00.010-06:00

Last night, after that awful loss to Florida State, I had to tell myself over and over "there are more important things than football." We have had lots of great and important things happen around here that are definitely more important than football!

1. Leah started preschool. She has been anxiously waiting for months and couldn't have been any more excited when the day finally came. I thought she was going to burst on the two minutes drive to school...doesn't she look so cute? After she got home I asked her how it was and she said "Oh, it was great. EVERYONE should go to Miss Lici's preschool!" She is bummed on any day that's not a school day...oh if only Abby felt that way too!

2. I bottled peachesfor my first time. Well, as an adult...I helped out a few times growing up, but haven't done them on my own. Maybe I shouldn't have said on my own...Jess helped a lot. We only did 12 quarts (we'll do more next year), but it is very exciting to see them lined up on the shelf! Oh, and I made some strawberry freezer jam for the first time too...yum!

3. Leah learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. It was awesome. Leah wanted to sit on Abby's bike, so I lowered the seat and within a few minutes Leah was riding it, so we took the training wheels off her smaller bike and she is happy girl! It's been a good month for her!

4. I started carpooling with a friend. She drives in the morning and I pick the girls up in the afternoon. I took Abby to school in the morning for two weeks and did not enjoy waking Leah up in order to take Abby to school. I couldn't be happier (this list is in a random order, but if it was being done by importance, this one just might be first)!

Last...this isn't anything that's happened, but just a cute picture of Lauren. The thing I hear about Lauren the most frequently is her hair. Everyone loves her "movie star" hair. This may not be the best hair picture of her, but for some reason I just love it...I'd love to have her beautiful hair!

By the way, I still love my beloved Cougars even though they totally ruined my Saturday! I'll be cheering them on again next week!

BYU vs. Florida State

2009-09-19T19:34:00.001-06:00

Sigh...

Talent Show

2009-09-14T20:42:00.002-06:00

Last week for Family Home Evening we had a lesson on talents. Just like I was told my entire life, we told our girls not to hide their talents and to rather share them with others. We went around the room and asked them what they thought their siblings and parents' talents were. We got a long list for each talent, although I'm not sure my talent of "Watching SportsCenter" counts...

After a week to practice and think about it, we had a talent show tonight for FHE. Each of us shared a talent or two in front of the family. Here's what we did:

Jen and Leah did the line dance from Hannah Montana
Jen touched her tongue to her nose (Leah, incidentally, can do it, too. I can't even come close)
Abby did a cartwheel
I played a piano piece from David Lanz called "Angel of Hope"
Lauren rolled over a few times on her side
Abby did a hand stand
Leah and I sang a duet
Jen made dessert...

It was great!

To the Market

2009-09-06T21:38:00.005-06:00

We decided to attend a farmers market yesterday. We've been wanting to go to one all summer long but haven't for one reason or another. We didn't want to go necessarily for the food, but for the whole experience. We're not food snobs -- in fact, we do 99% of our grocery shopping at Walmart. We don't favor organic foods and are guilty of eating too many processed menu items.

We acknowledge that we don't always buy the best food for ourselves and for our kids and are slowly working toward a more consistently healthy diet -- even to the point where we're trying to cut out foods "tainted" with artificial coloring, namely Red#40 and it's siblings Blue#1 and Yellow#'s 5 and 6. (By the way, you try purchasing food without these things in the ingredients...it's dang near impossible.) We're also hear about NDD (nutrition deficit disorder) and wonder whether the diet we give them may lead to something like that. The old adage garbage in, garbage out applies to our kids and their behavior.

Anyway, so we wanted to go to the farmer's market to get some fresh food and to enjoy the atmosphere. We attended the one in South Jordan where we saw about 25 vendors from as far away as Brigham City and Payson. We told the girls they could each pick out one food type to purchase from the market. I was smitten by the sight of raspberries, so that was my pick. Leah picked corn on the cob. Abby picked potatoes. Lauren picked a sucker which we didn't actually let her have. Jen picked peaches. I tasted a sample of some jalapeno asiago cheese bread and it was to die for, but they were out...

We ended up spending $10.50 -- not a great "deal" compared to the big grocery stores we shop at, but fun nonetheless. The best part was that our Sunday dinner today was all food fresh from the market yesterday. We had mashed potatoes and gravy (my first gravy attempt ever), corn on the cob, and peaches. It was a delicious dinner and Leah ate two full ears of corn while Abby stuffed down a million helpings of mashed potatoes.

My Oh My!!!

2009-09-05T21:07:00.003-06:00

Can you believe it? The Cougs just beat the Oklahoma Sooners! We are all on a huge football high at the Clark house! GO BYU!

California Exports

2009-09-02T23:40:00.004-06:00

Because I work for the U.S. Forest Service and my main job is to map wildfires all across the country, I keep an eye on all wildfire activity. I've been asked to map the burn severity of the Station Fire, the large conflagration outside LA that has all the national media attention. I came across two cool things today:

1. Time lapse video of the smoke. We've had smoky air here in Salt Lake and LA is partly to blame. Thanks, as always, to California for yet another great thing to come out of that state...

2. Sweet still shots from various photographers. I love to see these shots simply because of the skilled photography. The fire gives it a dramatic subject. The photo is an example.

We sold out

2009-09-01T21:43:00.003-06:00

I don't think any of us like working for, supporting, patronizing, etc., "The Man." I don't either. Well...

A few weeks ago a door-to-door salesman stopped by and inquired about our home phone and internet and TV services. Here's what we were doing: home internet (1.5 Mbps) was provided by Utah Broadband for $35/mo.; home phone was provided by Qwest (basic line with only one feature: caller ID) for about $33/mo. after all taxes and fees; TV services were provided by our favorite bunny (ears, that is) for FREE.

Well, the dude at my door offered a deal. For the next twelve months, we got our home internet (up to 6 Mbps) and home phone service upgraded for the grand total of ... $35/mo. combined! It's sweet! You may say, what about after your year deal is up? Well, we'll have to reconsider. Our most likely move will be to call Comcast and threaten to leave if they don't extend some sort of deal.

Back to "The Man." I've always viewed Comcast as "The Man" in regards to telecommunications. I've shunned them as long as possible. We officially gave in. What's even worse is we signed up for cable tonight. I know...cable! What are we thinking? Well, they're offering cable for $29/mo. plus another $7/mo. for HD channels so we can take advantage of the sweet TV we bought a few years ago. This deal is good for 6 months. We decided to get cable for one reason: COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! Comcast provides The Mtn. in their basic cable package. Life is good.

Sorry Dad, I know you wanted me to get DISH. Maybe next time!

Welcome, Weekend!

2009-08-28T21:48:00.003-06:00

While the last blog post was written by Jen, I thought for sure we'd get two in a row from her this week. I was out of town Monday through Thursday night and was completely cut off from the outside world as I know it. I didn't have cell phone reception, Internet access, newspapers, spotty radio coverage, and only turned on a TV once to see scores on ESPN. On Monday I flew to Portland with a co-worker, jumped in a rental SUV and drove an hour east to Hood River, OR, right in the Columbia River Gorge. I had a meeting there where I gave a presentation to the Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forests about geospatial tools available to them to help with wildfires (suppression, emergency rehab, and long-term monitoring).

After that meeting, we met up with two colleagues, one from the National Park Service and one from the USGS, and we bought groceries for a week in the woods. Well, we weren't camping, but we were staying in a motel in a town far away from much (hence my being cut off from the outside world) besides a TON of natural beauty. Our objective was to do some field data gathering on a wildfire that burned last year right at the base of Mt. Adams. While the town we stayed in (Glenwood, WA) wasn't much -- literally -- it was a very good work trip. The data gathering went well, the evenings sitting on our motel balcony drinking (water...don't worry) were incredibly relaxing, the weather perfect, and the trees HUGE. It's safe to say forests in Utah aren't anything like forests in the Cascades of Oregon and Washington. Our groceries fed us breakfast and lunch in the field, but we enjoyed dinners at local cafes in Glenwood or Trout Lake. I had no idea the area was known for its huckleberries...holy cow, the sundae and smoothie I had were yummy.

The field was good hard work, but the trip overall was very relaxing and worth the time away from the office. Going back to work today was very tiring. I felt like I was running in twelve directions putting out fires (no, not literally...) and trying to keep people on the same page. I was excited to leave today.

BUT -- before my exciting week away, we had fun as a family! We didn't have church last Sunday because of a local temple dedication, so we hosted Jen's grandpa and grandma for a scone lunch and visit. It was great to see them. After they left, we all hopped in the van and drove up Butterfield Canyon. That's the canyon that starts in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley and actually ends over in Tooele. I'd never been up there and Jen hadn't been there since high school (oooh, dates with boys up canyons ... checkin' out the "sites" ... I've gotta keep my eyes on this girl). They canyon is pretty steep, only half paved, and with very little safety measures built in to the road construction. Basically, if I get one tire off the road I'm rolling the vehicle 50 times to the bottom. With an often one-lane road, that became a little stressful at times.

At the canyon summit, you can then turn off and drive all the way to a false summit for a great view of the valley. In fact, we could see from Ogden to Provo, meaning we could see 8 temples from that very spot. Judy Wimmer.

We could also see into the deep throat of Kennecott Copper Mine. It's pretty incredible seeing that hole in the earth and then thinking of all the minerals they've extracted. Oh, and all the earth and water they've forever screwed because of it. Us humans can do a lot of good (minerals useful for many of our every-day necessities) all the while doing a lot of bad (DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!).

It was nice to be on top of the mountain. We packed a picnic dinner, but the wind was blowing so strong on top that we mostly ate it while sitting in the van. I'm just glad my girls didn't blow away.

First Grader

2009-08-20T19:55:00.004-06:00

My beautiful six year old girl started first grade this week and she has really enjoyed it so far. She likes her teacher and was VERY happy to see all of her friends again. Her favorite part of school is even better now that she gets two recesses each day. She loves to take a lunch and eat it at school...if only I loved packing her lunch. She told me the only thing she doesn't like is that first grade makes her tired! Hope you have a great school year, Babs!

Camp Hope of Israel

2009-08-15T20:49:00.010-06:00

Some of you Old Testament scholars may remember the story of Nehemiah. During his times, Jerusalem was under siege, the Jews were persecuted, enslaved, killed, and etc. The walls to the city were broken down and the gates were burned down. Nehemiah wasn't with the Jews when this happened and he felt much sorrow for them He decided he needed to head to Jerusalem and lead a re-building effort, but this desire was not popular with those around him and in fact, he was laughed at and scorned.

At one point during the rebuilding effort, Nehemiah was asked to leave the job site and meet with some people in opposition to the work. Nehemiah's response was great: "I am doing a great work, so I cannot come down...".

This story and that one-line response were essentially the theme to a Youth / Scout camp I just got back from. It was only a two-day affair, but it was busy! Were all up to our camp around 10:30am, set up tents, got settled, and ate lunch. The camp is some property up Tollgate Canyon owned by the LDS Church but it's usually reserved as a girl's camp (this means there are bathrooms...). We started our activities off at 1pm with a short devotional where we learned about Nehemiah. Then each ward was given tasks to perform. The tasks included collecting and hauling lumber back to our build site, preparing rope for lashings, cutting the timbers down to size, and eventually making trestles that would support towers we would eventually assemble.

These tasks went well and it was really great seeing all the young men work so hard and as a team. The adults weren't in charge; rather, youth team leaders were selected to lead the work. We got all the timbers selected, felled where necessary, and hauled back to camp. We also prepared rope for lashings, cut the timbers to size, and wrapped the tasks up for the day.

After dinner, we met for another devotional. This time, the young men were led on a "Holy Man of God" trail. They got to head down a trail and every couple hundred yards they would come upon an adult who would tell them about a prophet of old and why that person was a Holy Man of God. I got the lucky assignment to be one of the adults on the trail and told the story of Joseph of Egypt to each group that came by (6 wards). No pressure: the stake presidency was there as well as a member of the Quorum of Seventy. I actually really enjoyed this assignment.

A really good day 1 led to a pretty miserable day 2. It started raining around 7:30am and didn't let up. It was about 40 degrees with a steady rain, which made us all pretty cold. After breakfast and an attempt to wait things out, the Stake (camp hosts) decided to call it. We packed up and were on the road by 10:30am. It was a miserable packing experience and we were sure muddy and wet.

It was a really good camp for the time we had. The boys that came had a great time and we all benefited from being there and working on the tasks. It's really too bad the weather turned on us because we missed out on the actual tower building. I guess that's bound to happen and the risk you take when camp is up at 7,400 feet.

Glad I've Got Girls

2009-08-10T21:41:00.002-06:00

She is sure a stinky person sometimes (she is two, after all), but she's also a gorgeous girl. Glad I married Jen so we could at least make physically cute girls!

This is a recent family picture. I really do have cute girls (including my wife).

High Adventure - Tetons!

2009-08-03T13:59:00.004-06:00

Last week I attended a Boy Scout high adventure camp. We went to the Teton High Adventure Base camp in Hoback, WY. It's about 13 miles south of Jackson, WY. It is a great place for a trip and we really enjoyed our time out in the woods and in the water.

Day 1: We met at the church at 6am to head out in a caravan to Hoback. Our trip took us north on I-15 to McCammon, ID, where we pulled off and went east to Soda Springs. We popped out on Hwy 89 south of Alpine, WY. From there, we drove about 23 miles east up the canyon to Hoback. We got our assigned cabins and unloaded our gear. After that, we had river orientation -- basically a "see how scared I can make you before you get on the water so you're ultra conservative" session with the main river guide. After the orientation, we had a surprisingly good lunch followed by a trip north to Grand Teton NP. Our afternoon was filled with a fairly easy hike around Jenny Lake up to Hidden Falls. It's 2.5 miles one way and we saw a moose and bear on our hike. It rained and hailed on us, but that really just kept us nice and cool.

From Teton High Adventure Base

We had a bit of drama on the hike back. We were all supposed to rendezvous at the bus at 5pm for the ride back to camp for dinner (again, surprisingly good). One of our guys decided instead of hiking to the falls and back he wanted to take the trail around the entire lake. That's about 7 - 8 miles, so we were all sitting back at the bus waiting for this kid. He was about 45 minutes late and I wanted to wring his neck. Not only did he make us all late, but he didn't tell anyone he was doing that, so he just took off and we were left waiting and wondering. Luckily, he had cell coverage and we were able to call him and see what he was doing.

Day 2: We spent the morning doing a "King Canoe" trip down the Snake River. Our group was big enough that we had to break up into three groups, so we had guys going down at 8:30am, 10:30am, and 1pm. I really enjoyed this ride. The canoes are so unpredictible on the river as you go through rapids and as soon as you take on any water in a canoe, you are exponentially more unpredictible. We swamped our canoe once after we got caught in a whirlpool and took on water. We didn't tip; rather, we took on enough water that we just sunk the canoe. It was cold (!) water, but I've recovered.

From Teton High Adventure Base

During the afternoon, we did the Lower COPE course. This was basically a team building and trust exercise where the scouts fought through obstacles where thought was required. That's a stretch for some of us! This was a good experience, but the boys weren't terribly excited about it. Guess we need to foster more team spirit, eh?

Day 3: The morning activity was an extension of the Lower COPE course, but this one was tougher both physically and mentally. This was the Upper COPE course that took us up and helped us realize any fears of heights we may have. I've never really had a big fear of heights, so this was kinda exciting for me. The problem was that to get up to our elevated platforms and walking cables, we had to climb the "Giant's Ladder." I volunteered to go first like an idiot. I'd never seen anyone climb this sort of ladder and I didn't know there was a technique that makes it much easier. It's a ladder with rungs made of 4x4's that were spaced about 5 feet apart. Oh, and the ladder swings. There is a certain technique that everyone else figured out after watching me do it wrong (you're welcome!). The way I did it exhausted me and my arms and hands were basically dangling with no feeling left. Picture climbing a very small rope for 20 minutes straight. Suck. That don't work for fat people like me! Anyway, I made it up and then got to have some fun traversing the cables and walkways. The payoff was a zip line ride that felt great.

From Teton High Adventure Base

During that afternoon, we had the highlight of the trip. We all got on a raft (14 of us plus a river guide) and took a float trip down the Snake River. I'd done this same float a few times with friends in college, so I knew what to expect. We floated down 8 miles of the river and hit some Class 3 rapids -- nothing to wet your pants over but enough to keep you on your toes. We had a great run and had plenty of opportunities to get wet.

Overall, it was a great trip. I love that part of the country. It's really some pretty country. I'd love to spend more time in Grand Teton NP -- I've been there three times now but would love to spend a few nights up there tempting the bears to eat our dinners. And Jackson is a fun town to visit, too. We made a few midnight runs to town so the boys could stock up on pounds and pounds of candy to survive their three day ordeal of living away from home. It was truly entertaining. The entire photo album of 51 photos can be found here.

Let's Dance

2009-07-25T19:01:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you're probably already seen this, but I thought it apropos since my sister Gillian (she likes to go by Jill sometimes) is getting married to a guy named Kevin this coming Friday. Perhaps they should make a similar entrance at their reception next week?

How about some downtime? Eh?

2009-07-20T22:01:00.004-06:00

We've been very busy lately. Mine and Jen's church responsibilities seem to keep us both busy. I've had a pretty busy summer as the Venture Scout Leader in my church ward. We're preparing to go to the Teton High Adventure Base in Hoback, WY (July 27 - 29). While there for three days, we'll do a white water rafting trip down the Snake, a canoe trip down the Snake, a hike from Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls (in Grand Teton NP), and the upper and lower COPES courses. It should be lots of fun. Last Saturday I took a few Scouts on a canoe practice trip and endured swimming in the Jordan River -- about as desirable as licking a dog.

At home, Jen and I have been working on completing the railing on the deck we "finished" last summer. We were going to re-use our metal railing but couldn't get anyone to do it in a timely fashion or within a sensible budget. So I bought lumber and did it myself. I will say this: I can't stand making this railing. By the time I'm done, I'll just about go through an entire 5 lb. box of outdoor screws, I'll make about 250 cuts with a mitre saw, stain ~100 balusters, and think curse words many times over. I'm not thoroughly enjoying this process because I don't really know what I'm doing and there are plenty of places on both the deck and railing where a trained eye would look at and say, "Wow, what an amateur." I'm keeping my day job. Oh, and Karen and Brian -- the actual railing lumber fit in my van. It's not cool, but I was able to put 4 2x6x12 boards in my van.

My sister Gillian is getting married in a week and a half and it will be a bit momentous: all 11 kids in my family and my parents will be together in the same place at the same time. Because of LDS church missions, budgets, and overseas living arrangements, we haven't been able to do this for many years. While all immediate Clarks will be there, we will be missing 5 spouses, so it won't be a complete look at the entire Clark Family. Jen's busy helping with wedding plans and volunteered to make 400 cupcake bites. They are delicious but very labor intensive.

We had a sick house last week and it was quite tiring (more so for Jen, of course). We came home from church a week ago and within 5 minutes of walking in the door, Leah threw up. Then within 10 more minutes, Lauren threw up. This repeated for the next 12 - 16 hours or so. Tuesday found Jen doing the same thing. I took a day off work to "babysit" the kids so Jen could pretend she was pregnant and going through morning sickness.

Finally, the girls started swim lessons. I am very excited about this. In my participation with the Scouts, I've seen certain boys who can't swim at all or very well and it really presents some challenges for us and the boys. There are activities they won't participate in because they are afraid of the water or the embarrassment they feel when others realize they can't swim. So I'm very glad my girls are learning to swim. It's a very important life skill. They loved it today, or so I'm told by my sweet wife.

Ultimate Plant Watering

2009-07-18T15:53:00.005-06:00

I don't know why, but for some reason, Lauren recently felt the need to fully protect herself during a flower watering session. Take a look: knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves. All she was missing was a helmet. I had no idea this was such a dangerous activity.

Chuckle Chuckle

2009-07-10T20:39:00.002-06:00

Ha ha ha. This is funny. Perhaps completely out of context (I don't know) and perhaps completely harmless. But the picture is funny nonetheless. You'd think he was a Republican governor or senator with that look... Or Bill Clinton.

Red Rock Partyin'

2009-07-09T21:26:00.003-06:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend/family reunion! We celebrated down at my Grandpa's house outside of Bicknell, near Capitol Reef NP. We had family there from Arizona, Oregon, Utah, and even South Carolina! It was so fun to hang out with my aunts, uncles, parents, siblings and cousins for the weekend. We did a lot of four-wheeling, "hiking" (the girls use that term pretty loosely), game playing, and eating, eating, eating!

On one of our "hikes" Leah was desperately searching for a lizard. She finally found one and I was sure she'd be too afraid to hold it, but she picked it up no problem and carried it around for awhile. What a non-squeamy girl she is...so unlike her mom and sisters! Jess loved going clay pigeon shooting and was quite excited about his improved performance this time!

Saturday morning we went to a parade in Torrey and I think the whole county was there! This parade is great...they throw out TONS of salt water taffy and after they finish the parade route they turn around and go back down the street again. The girls loved chasing after the candy and waving at all the people! My favorite part of the parade was definitely seeing my grandpa on the float for the American Legion (although you can bet I've been helping to eat the taffy).

Jess left Sunday afternoon with my dad, but the girls and I stayed for another day. It was sad for me as we were leaving to see Wayne County in my rear view mirror. It has always been one of my very favorite places and I'm glad we've been able to spend so much time there lately.

Here's two pictures. One of my Gramps and the girls ready for the parade and another of Lauren and my cousin's little girl, MeiMei. There's also a cute video of Lauren enjoying the parade!

Toothy Grin

2009-07-02T22:28:00.004-06:00

The time has come to congratulate Abby on the successful completion of her first full year of public school. It was an eventful day: Abby "graduated" from kindergarten -- no, don't worry, there were no graduation ceremonies -- and she also lost her first tooth.

First, about her schooling. Abby has been an excellent reader for a long time. When she started kindergarten, they tested her and she was already reading at a 1st grade level. When she finished and was retested last week, she was well in to a second grade level. In fact, 1st graders are supposed to be reading levels D through H (those don't mean anything to me and won't to you, either). Abby was reading level M last week. We say that acknowledging that during the test, Abby exhausted the teacher's reading testing materials, so she may be reading beyond level M. We read scriptures every night with Abby so she's getting plenty of chances to read bigger words. We also understand that reading does not equal comprehension, so we don't have grand illusions that she's understanding everything she reads. Neither do I.

Now, on to her tooth. It's been loose for over a month and it was getting pretty wobbly this week. She was having problems eating because it was hurting when she bit on food. She was sad to not be able to eat corn on the cob last Sunday. Well, today, I told her to grab her tooth with her two fingers and said, "Just grab it and pull up." Well, she actually listened and did just that. The tooth came out. We clapped and cheered for her, but she immediately started crying. Sobbing, in fact. I ain't kidding. Just look at the photo.

She was crying for a couple reasons. First, it hurt. Second, it was a bit traumatic. Third, she looked in the mirror and said, between tears, "I don't think it looks good" and even said she wished she could put it back in her mouth. She also said we weren't to tell anyone about it because she didn't want people seeing the new gap in her teeth. I am in for some SERIOUS TROUBLE WHEN SHE GETS HER FIRST ZIT.

She calmed down later and even reported to Jen that, "...well, I guess I do look pretty cute." Whew. Now, if only I'll be able to convince her that zits are fine and everyone gets 'em.

Railing

2009-06-25T21:39:00.001-06:00

This picture represents $473 of handy-man bliss. We need to put a railing on our deck and the quote for a steel railing was $1500. I guess I get to spend a third as much but now I have to do the work. Bummer.

That's 5 eight-foot redwood 4x4's, 108 1x1 redwood balusters, 5 lbs of 2" outdoor screws, and 20 galvanized lag screws. Still need to purchase the top of the railing. Need a bigger vehicle for that.

Happy Kinda Anniversary, Baby!

2009-06-22T20:43:00.003-06:00

Today is a special day in my life. Today signifies the 8-year anniversary of the first time I kissed my wife. That was very significant because it was a long time coming. You see, I used to be gay and ... just kidding. Actually, I decided I liked Jen long before she had the same epiphany. We worked together so we built a working friendship over the course of a year. The problem was that she was seeing someone. He was a nice enough guy, but I could have taken him. While she was seeing him, I was seeing her at work every day. In fact, I'm sure I saw her more than he saw her. I totally fell for her. I told her. She essentially said, "Well, thanks, but I'm seeing someone."

They eventually broke up and I was elated / excited / freaked out. We went on an official date. Nothing. We did a few things together, but we found that it wasn't natural and not working. We remained friends, but with no benefits at all. In fact, I started seeing someone else and started an exclusive relationship with her. This was the beginning...

Jen got jealous. My relationship didn't work out with the other girl and we broke up. Jen quickly invited me to join her and her family on a trip to Lake Powell. I accepted and each of us got to see the other in a completely different environment besides work and contrived date situations. It was there that Jen told me, "Let's try this again."

The funny thing is that I didn't actually kiss her at Lake Powell. There were lots of people there (probably watching every move the two of us made) and it wouldn't have been right. So, a few days after returning from Lake Powell, we went to the Manti Pageant on June 22. When we got back that night, I told her how I felt about her. In fact, my exact words were, "Girl, I adore you." And we made out like wild animals... just kidding! We did kiss. And it was hot.

That was the end of June. We were married by October.

Does this count as "kiss and tell?" It's been 8 years, after all.

Noah, this is God...

2009-06-20T23:19:00.004-06:00

Today's the first day of summer, but we haven't had much summer at all around here in Salt Lake City. We've had our wettest June on record and it sure feels like it. To put it in perspective: We average around 16 inches of precipitation a year along the Wasatch Front; Brigham City has received ~5 inches this month alone. We've had rain nearly every day since Memorial Day. My grass is supposed to be dead by this time of the year, but it's doing just fine. Better than ever, actually!

When I installed my first rain barrel a year ago, it didn't rain for 41 straight days after I installed it. Well, I set up my rain barrel this spring and it's overflowed many times because I haven't had a need to use any of the water I've collected. In my attempt to get it to stop raining, I installed a second rain barrel today, but this time in the backyard. I want to use that water to tend the garden. What happened today? The rain barrel filled up during a 10-minute rain storm. So I've got about 100 gallons of collected rain water. It would be kinda nice if I didn't have to use any of it.

On Thursday night we visited the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. This will be our new temple -- we live about 5 miles from the building. It's very pretty -- yet small. It was a little weird walking through it because I could sense the size of this thing, and it's nothing like Salt Lake or Jordan River. I counted 5 paintings inside that were painted by my great grandmother, Minerva Teichert. Thursday was the best day of the week and it was a glorius night to walk outside and inside the temple so our kids could see it before they dedicate it in August and close the doors to non-recommend holders.

Tonight we went to the South Jordan City "Countryfest" and had a soggy experience. It was drizzling when we arrived, but it had been raining all afternoon. I felt bad for the vendors because no one was there, the rides were quiet, no one was buying anything deep-fat-fried, and you couldn't really linger outside in the open. We left, dropped the kids off at Grandma's house, and went to dinner. While we were eating, the heavens opened and the sun appeared. Jen and I went back to the park and it looked like the entire town decided to head over there, too. There was a free Sawyer Brown concert so we watched about half of it before heading back for our girls. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for allowing us to have an impromptu date night.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I've got a great one. Here's a shout out to my Dad of 30 years but friend for eternity.

Here's My Title

2009-06-16T23:34:00.004-06:00

Now that I have kid(s) in school, I'm starting to see crafts / trinkets / papers the kids make in class for certain holidays. I came home from work today and Abby pointed out a fact sheet they all made for their dads. Here's what the form and her answers looked like:

My Dad
His name is Jess Clark
His age is 30 years old
His weight is 31 pounds
His job to make maps
His favorite T.V. show This Old House
His favorite food 5 Guys Burgers and Fries
I love my Dad because he is nice!

She got a lot right. I guess she really does listen to me.

On another note, Jen and I have had our share of somber movies lately. In the last month or so, we've watched The Kite Runner, Hotel Rwanda, and God Grew Tired of Us. Kite Runner is fiction, although based on typical Taliban / Afghanistan events; Hotel Rwanda is a dramatization of actual events; God Grew Tired of Us is a documentary. None is what I'd consider a heart warmer and each highlights some of man's inhumanity to man. We sure live in a scary world sometimes.

We have The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in our Netflix queue. Yet again...

Roger Cook is my Idol

2009-06-08T22:17:00.004-06:00

Who's Roger Cook? He's the landscaping stud on This Old House and Ask This Old House.

Here's some of the work we've recently done. We went to the dump last Saturday and purchased 1,260 lbs. of mulch (for $12.60!!) and put most of it down on our side yard. We already had mulch there, but after a few winters and plenty of rainstorms, the color had faded and lots had washed away. So we reapplied!

Some of the plants we have that are maturing are Flamenco Torch Lillies, a Lilac bush, Russian Sage, Blue Oat Grass (that stuff is growing gang-busters), Blue Fescue, Dianthus, Salvia, something else (that pink flower), Golden Barberry, Locust tree, and some other shrubs that are marginally growing. We enjoy the look and the little maintenance required. The paver walk way is new: most the pavers were recycled. The retaining wall is new, although there used to be one over there a few years ago but I took it out (genius, I know). Oh, and my rain barrel is installed, full, and waiting to water any of these plants that need it. Incidentally, Roger Cook is where I first got the idea to install my own rain barrel.

In the backyard, we put 1,500 lbs. of gravel down for a 12-foot walkway, then had an area next to it where we put some more mulch. Jen planted a few purple native grasses and will eventually plant some shade-tolerant flowers. We probably ought to put a divider between the mulch and gravel here. Suggestions? For the "sand box" to the left of the gravel in the picture, Jen suggests constructing a lattice barrier to block your eyes from the eyesore. We will probably keep that sand box to hold either compost or tree branches between dump runs. However, it ain't pretty. Any volunteers?

We're nearly "done" with our backyard. I'm getting another load of mulch from the dump tomorrow to put under our deck. After that, all I've got left to do is build a deck railing.

Them's Fightin' Words!

2009-06-07T21:26:00.002-06:00

I witnessed an assault tonight. I know, how exciting. I actually went outside with my camera to take a few pictures of the recent landscaping we did all day on Saturday. I stepped into my car for a minute to get a CD before going back inside when I heard some yelling across the street. I walked toward it and noticed my 29-year-old neighbor actually fighting with someone. Not just yelling, but in-a-headlock-punching-each-other-and-yelling-F-bombs fighting. Two guys with their girlfriends watching in horror, all screaming at each other, plenty of profanity, some cell phone action to alert the cops, and then kids popping their heads out the door to see what was going on. Not my kids, but my neighbor's.

The perp was my neighbor's ex-wife's boyfriend. They were fighting about who watches the kids and who pays for what and all that stuff. The kinda funny thing was my neighbor was just in his garage when this guy pulled up and charged him with the intent to beat him up. However, my neighbor obviously is the better fighter and quickly had the bigger guy in a headlock.

The whole thing is pretty sad, really. I actually seem to live in a really good neighborhood, but there seems to be minor disputes every 6 months or so with a different neighbor. It's funny how alcohol seems to be involved in most those altercations, including this one. I've gotta think whatever *benefits* moderate amounts of alcohol bring to someone are quickly surpassed by what it does to people who abuse it, even just a little.

Killer Kayaking!

2009-06-04T23:02:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine sent this to me today. If you ask me, it's a little too close for comfort. The dude's lucky to be alive...

Canonized Reading

2009-06-01T20:57:00.004-06:00

We read from scriptures as a family every night. The Primary organization in our church challenged each family to read The Book of Mormon during 2009. We're doing alright and are ahead of schedule (we're in Alma 27). We have the kids read outloud or repeat verses we read to them. Abby is the only kid who can read, and boy can she read. She's still in kindergarten for a few more weeks, but tonight she read 10 straight verses. The funny thing is we didn't ask her to read 10 straight verses. We asked her to start and she didn't stop until she'd read an entire column and two additional verses on the next column. She stumbled on about 5 words in that entire section. What a smarty. Here's what she read: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=alma+27%3A+10-19&do=Search

Gardening

2009-05-31T10:32:00.003-06:00

I don't know if this means we're growing up or what, but we planted our first garden ever a few weeks ago. We have a part of our backyard lawn that gets full sun, has poor sprinkler coverage, and was invaded by plenty of weeds. So Jen sprayed the area with Round-Up, I borrowed the neighbor's tiller, and we had fresh dirt. I also added a few bags of steer manure to the mix (yummy!).

We spent a Family Home Evening buying seeds and already-started plants and then planted them all. The garden is pretty small, but big enough to get some delicious fruits and vegetables.

We planted four 5' rows of corn, a few mounds of cucumbers, a row of carrots, green bell peppers, watermelon, peas (for Jen, not me), and got strawberry starts from a neighbor. You'll notice the absence of tomatoes. No thanks.

We're staying put for a while

2009-05-29T22:14:00.003-06:00

A few months ago I applied for a "new" job. I currently work for a private contractor with the U.S. Forest Service. I do GIS (geographic information systems) and remote sensing -- I make maps using satellite imagery. It's been a great job and I've been there for six years. The only problem with my job is there isn't really anywhere to go. It's essentially a flat company, meaning there is a layer of owners (4 "principals") and then the rest of us, about 40 employees, on the same relative level. In terms of a long-term career, I'll reach the ceiling fairly quickly.

So I applied for a federal position that opened in my office. It was a job in the same program I'm in, did the same kind of work I do, and required the same basic qualifications I already possess, so I took a stab. Five people from my office applied, but many others applied from outside the office. Some of these applicants include veterans and current government employees. I mention that because the hiring laws / protocols within the U.S. Gov't require a certain order of operations: folks who claim veteran's preference, current government employees, and then finally the non-government employees.

I didn't get the job. It turns out my application wasn't even evaluated because there were veterans and gov't employees who were qualified. Therefore, before my boss can even look at my application, he has to have pretty dang good reason to disqualify the others. It's a little frustrating to think that I put a lot of effort and time into my application and it wasn't even evaluated. However, I knew this was a possibility so I understand the situation and don't blame my boss, the hiring panel, or the selected candidate. I just need to continue trying if a federal job is really the best choice for me.

In other news, we had a great Memorial Day weekend trip to the Capitol Reef NP area. We visited Jen's grandpa's place down near Bicknell, UT, and loved the break from reality. We did some hiking, 4-wheeling, roasting hot dogs over an open fire, skeet shooting, and playing pool. I posted pictures on our online web album. Check it out: http://picasaweb.google.com/jessnjen/BicknellUTMay2009. We also celebrated Leah's 4th birthday while down there.

Working Hard

2009-05-22T15:04:00.006-06:00

I really should make about three posts here, but I'm going to combine them all into one. We have a lot going on these days. I've been working on the side yard a bit as I attempt to put in a walk way. When we xeriscaped the yard, I left a dirt pathway so we could get back to the backyard. Well, dirt was never intended to be the final solution. I found a bunch of 7x14" pavers in our backyard when we moved in, got a few more from Jen's dad (leftovers from a project), and then bought the remaining 9 to complete the pathway. Here are some progress pictures.

It's been very fun watching my xeriscaped side yard grow up each year. Some of the shrubs are doing very well while others have struggled. I've replaced one plant and now have a lilac in its place. I got a few native plants from some friends in the ward and they are doing very well. I got my rain barrel plugged in today so any rain from here on out will be captured by yours truly.
This picture is was taken right after we planted the side yard. A lot has changed in a few years.

When we did some excavating to make our patio in the backyard a year ago, I had to redistrubite a lot of dirt. Some went to our "sand box," some under our deck, some hauled away, and some was used to recontour part of our backyard. Well, the time finally came to cover that recontoured part of the yard with new grass. Jen's dad offered to use his truck to swing by Home Depot, pick up the 22 rolls of sod we needed, bring them by, and help me lay it this morning. We were very grateful for his time and energy (we paid for the sod, don't worry!). The backyard is slowly shaping up to actually look decent.

You can see where all the dirt was to the side of the patio. That used to be grass, then we covered it up with dirt, then we put sod down today. Happy day.

While I was in Denver this week, I had the chance to drive up to Fort Collins to visit a friend. I have a mission companion / next door neighbor (yes, they were the same thing) who lives in Colorado Springs, but I was a few miles closer to Fort Collins, so I headed north. I met Stephen Sidwell while in college and quickly grew to love the guy. We lived in the same church ward and did a lot of things together with a group of guys. He's now a dentist in Fort Collins but still uses his free time to hop on his mountain bike, train for triathlons, and help his wife Krista raise three cute kids.

We're heading out of town this weekend down to Jen's Grandpa's house in Bicknell, UT. We're excited for a break from the valley and the chance to hike, ride 4-wheelers, play pool, sit in a hot tub, and see a National Park (Capitol Reef).

Celebrating Temples

2009-05-16T22:06:00.003-06:00

The LDS Church recently built two new temples in the Salt Lake Valley, one in Draper and one in South Jordan. We live just 5 miles from the one in South Jordan and that is the temple we'll attend due to geography. Because there are two new temples opening, Church headquarters decided it would be fun to put on a "Temple Celebration" put on by the youth. There are 19,000 youth on church records within these two temple districts and they wanted every youth to participate. Well, they didn't get that many; only about 11,000 are actually participating.

I am heavily involved because I'm the Young Men's president in my ward and therefore I get to attend all the rehearsals, drive youth all over, and deal with all their logistics. The youth are broken up in to two groups: choir or dance. The oldest young men we have in our ward signed up to be in the dance, so I followed them and am a dance captain. While I won't be performing with the group, I have learned all the steps because I've been out on the floor at rehearsals working with them. I know, you laugh. You should. I've got no dance talent -- unlike my two youngest sisters.

Today, the choir group was short a few captains so I gave up my Saturday afternoon to drive a bunch of youth to downtown SLC to the Conference Center for their practice. We had about 2,000 youth there today all singing and performing. Since I've been in dance the whole time, I've never even heard their songs, so this was new for me. Our practice was three hours long in the Conference Center and I really enjoyed it. This will be such a great experience for the youth and I wish I had had an opportunity like this when I was a youngster.

We started rehearsals in March and we perform two weeks from tonight (Saturday, May 30). This has been very tiring and logistically challenging, but I see now just how rewarding it will be for everyone. The performance will be filmed, broadcast to every stake center in Utah, and the Prophet and many of the general authorities will be present for the performance. I'll be glad when it's over but I'm enjoying the ride.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T09:55:00.001-06:00

I ... don't ... know ... what ... this ... means ... but Happy Mother's Day to y'all.

One, Two, Three, Like a Bird I Sing

2009-05-09T22:28:00.002-06:00

I've got a few things to blog about tonight. As I am wont to do (Dad, that "wont" was for you and a reference to D&C 127), here's a numbered list:

Our latest Netflix selection was "God Grew Tired of Us," a documentary about the Lost Boys of Sudan. I didn't know their story that well so I was intrigued by the subject. Jen and I both watched it and both of us really liked it. It was an eye opener for me -- not only as a bit of a history lesson, but the reaffirmation that all the "stuff" we've got here in America doesn't always amount to happiness. The subjects of the movie made the comment a few times that all Americans do is work work work -- there isn't any time left for family. There were a few funny scenes, especially right after these Sudanese people arrived in America. There first experiences with escalators, light fixtures, airplanes and airplane bathrooms, etc., were very funny. Check it out.
I did a first today: I started a project, did 3/4 of it, and then started over. Ever since I xeriscaped my side yard, I've had a dirt pathway leading to the backyard. I found 20 or so 7x14" pavers in my backyard and got some more from Jen's dad and decided to make the paver pathway. I built a retaining wall, kinda leveled the pathway, put down landscape fabric, staked in the edging, poured and leveled 5 bags of sand, and started laying pavers. After doing that much, I stepped back and wasn't happy at all. The whole thing was curved! It was disgusting! So I pulled out all the pavers. Next week I'll remove the sand and re-lay the edging. That was where my problem was. Ugh. What a waste of an afternoon.
Mother's Day is on Sunday and I've got a couple of great ones in my life: my own mother and the woman I married in Oct. 2001, who is now the mother to my adorable three daughters. I was lucky to have my mother. She's pretty amazing: she had a kid nearly every 2 years from 1970 to 1995, giving us a total of 11; she taught me seminary while I was in high school; she taught me some pretty invaluable life lessons about money and looking out for others (Mom, remember the basketball shoes?); and she never worked out of the home while I was growing up and was my constant at home, always there to talk to and provide input. I couldn't have asked for a better mom. My wife is also an excellent mother and my daughters will someday realize just how good they have it. Jen is so involved in their lives, gives them a lot of attention, and is the constant they need in their lives. I've spent over 60 nights (and 95 days) away from home on work travels in the last 5 years and she's been the one to be home alone with the kids and deal with those long days while I'm gone. I couldn't have asked for a better wife and my kids couldn't have asked for a better mother.
One last thing: my sister Gillian "officially" got engaged last night. Her beau Kevin gave her a ring and used my brother Ammon as a prop, but it didn't work out quite as he'd expected. They are set to be married later this summer.

Orange Julius

2009-05-02T23:36:00.002-06:00

Our girls have recently discovered Orange Julius' and they LOVE them! Thanks Jen for broadening their horizons with this delectable treat. Now they ask for an Orange Julius every night before bed. Just what they need: a cup o' sugar before bedtime.

Changing Clarks

2009-04-27T22:03:00.006-06:00

My brother Lance and his wife Nancy are proud parents of their first child. Then had a baby boy and named him John Gedeon Clark. We went down to Orem to visit them and meet Baby John on Saturday. I know everyone says this everytime, but "Holy cow, I can't believe how small newborn babies are! Were my kids really that small?" Lance is one proud papa and is a trooper while he wraps up finals all while dealing with the huge life-changing event they had last week. However, Lance is ... well ... special. Would you want your kids raised by this guy?? (*Disclaimer for those who read this and actually take me seriously: don't.)

Our trip to Orem was actually two fold: one was to meet Baby John, but the other was to bid farewell to my brother Dave and his wife Tana. They are moving to the DC area to pursue internships, school, and work opportunities. They make the long drive this week. The cool thing is that they will see three siblings on their cross-country drive. They're fairly lucky that three of the four siblings who have moved away from Utah live on roughly the same latitude (Iowa City, Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio). The other lives in Columbia, SC, so they're the odd ones out on this trip. Tana's parents live in Herndon and will act as hosts for a time until Dave and Tana get settled.

There are a lot of changes in the Clark family lately with people moving, people getting married, and people having kids. I guess when there are 11 kids in one family, there's never a dull moment.

Whiskey and Tango?

2009-04-21T21:02:00.003-06:00

We have some friends in our ward who are feeling a little "white trash" because of a stop-gap home repair they had to do. Some wind came up and nearly knocked their vinyl fence over so they used straps and come-alongs to secure the fence to something more solid. Sounds fine to me, but the lady of that house doesn't care for the look.

Well, I was feeling pretty white trash this morning. Our laundry is on our second floor and the dryer vent makes its way to the side of our house in the backyard. It's about 10 feet off the ground and lately our neighborhood birds have discovered it. They've begun dragging organic material inside the vent and building a nest. These birds were walking inside the vent. It was weird hearing it because at first we just thought we had large mice inside our wall / floor cavity.

They say not to let your dryer vent get clogged because it becomes a fire hazard. That's true. I don't imagine adding dry grasses and sticks to the vent does much to mitigate any potential fire hazard. So last night around 10pm I took the vent cover off and cleaned out the tube. To block future bird use, I pulled out some screen material I had, cut a square, and placed it over the hole with some duct tape.

I wasn't sure how to make this a permanent solution until my wife pointed out the obvious: put the vent cover back on over the screen and vent and cut the excess off. Duh. I've since done that and we're a little less white trash today. The duct tape has been removed and we shouldn't have any more bird invasions.

On the course

2009-04-18T23:04:00.003-06:00

I survived my round of golf at Eastbay Golf Course in Provo, today. It was a beautiful day for the course. I didn't score very well, but felt good about a number of my shots. I'm incrementally getting better at this dang game.

Sadly, I broke my driver today. A year and a half ago, I visited Sports Authority and found my driver on sale for ... $20. Okay, it's a cheap driver. But I used it all last summer and had plenty of nice long, straight drives. It's been giving me fits lately because the shape of the clubface has been changing due to my use. Well, today on the ninth hole on the course, it finally gave in. The ninth hole is a long par five so I got up and smacked my tee shot. After I hit it, I took a look at the club and saw what you see here.

Happy Saturday

2009-04-18T08:36:00.002-06:00

Today's a good day. I've got a tee-time this afternoon with three of my brothers. It's kinda warm outside. Jen's out garage-saling this morning. I've got the girls here at home. I made a SWEET breakfast. Sadly, none of my girls would enjoy it with me. They aren't really willing to take risks, so the idea of strawberries and whipped cream on the waffle was just a little to risque for them.

In other sad news, Jen and I watched Dead Poets Society last night. As soon as it ended, she said, "I didn't like it." She wouldn't watch "Who Killed the Electric Car" with me. She wouldn't watch "Lawrence of Arabia" with me. She didn't like "Dead Poets Society." Guess I'll revert back to "Pride and Prejudice," a movie I KNOW she likes. Actually loves. There's something about that Mr. Dah-cy that she just digs.

Bathtime

2009-04-07T21:59:00.001-06:00

AT&T, bringing you more bars...wait, we're T-Mobile folks.

This was one of those rare occasions where all three girls actually had a bath together. They're getting too big to fit very well together.

My Jury Experience

2009-04-02T22:44:00.000-06:00

So, here's how it went. I arrived at the Courthouse at 7:45am and sat around until about 8:45am when they had all 50 potential jurors in attendance. They made us watch a 12 minute movie, fill out some questionairre provided by the legal counsel, and then they took us upstairs. There were two trial juries needed yesterday, so they split us up into two groups.

My group was led into the courtroom around 9:30am. We walked in and saw the judge, clerk, bailiff, prosecutor, three witnesses, two defense attorneys, and the defendant himself. They were all there for the jury selection. The judge asked the entire jury a bunch of questions that were intended to expose our biases, history, etc. This was done in a group setting, so we had to admit to these things in front of everyone.

Then they shuffled us out into an adjacent empty courtroom. The attorneys deliberated about who they wanted, and they finally called us back in. They read off 6 names from the potential list of 24 and lo and behold, I made that list. The 18 people not selected left and there we were. Almost immediately, we heard the opening statements from both prosecutor and defense. It was rather odd having the attorneys look right at us and say, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury" and then realize it was us they were talking to.

The jist of the case was this: A wife woke up and asked her husband for her pain meds. She was suspected of abusing the meds so he denied her access. A struggle ensued that ended when he shoved her back and she fell. She was 7 months pregnant at the time. She sustained no bodily injury, but he was scared enough that he took off. The cops arrived, he returned, and when they went to arrest him, he resisted until they threatened to taze the dude.

The official charges:

Domestic violence to a pregnant woman
Domestic violence in the presence of a child (they had a 1-year old child in the room)
Inteferring with someone's desire to use a communication device (he took the home phone when he left)
Resisting arrest

After the lawyers made their cases and gave their closing arguments, we were sent away to deliberate at 5:30pm. I kept on thinking about the movie "Twelve Angry Men." Luckily, we weren't considering murder here. This was intended to be a one-day case, so we were just going to stay until we were done. We ended up deliberating for nearly three hours. During the middle of the deliberating, the bailiff came in and asked if we wanted to order dinner, which we did (Litza Pizza).

When we started deliberating, we were split 3 and 3 in terms of guilty-not guilty for the first charge of domestic violence. I thought he was guilty based on how the law was written. None of us thought the dude's intention was to hurt his wife, nor did he actually hurt her, but he did "create a substantial risk to bodily injury" when he shoved her. That is what did it for me. We spent about 2 hours convincing the other three people that he was guilty.

We found him guilty of all charges except the inteferring with the use of the phone.

It was kinda tough going back into the court room at 8:30pm where everyone was still waiting for us just to tell the guy he was guilty. I felt good with the decision, but it didn't make it any easier to know that we just helped determine the next few years of his life (whether he gets counseling, parole, jail time, etc., is up to someone else).

It was actually a good experience, but I came home pretty tired. I'm off the hook for the next two years.

Hi Marty and Carrie!

2009-04-01T10:05:00.000-06:00

Quickie

2009-03-31T23:04:00.002-06:00

Two quick things:

1. I totally just watched "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" tonight - our latest Netflix choice. Well, let me correct that. Jen's latest Netflix choice. I didn't actually mind it too much, especially considering the last two Jen picks.

2. I'm on jury duty this week. I didn't have to go in on Monday or Tuesday, but I've been officially summoned for Wednesday. There's a first time for everything.

It's 11pm and the storm they've been talking about all day hit just a few minutes ago. It sounded like a gale outside and the rain / snow mix started to fall. I think the house will stay on its foundation, but there's no guarantee with the howls I'm hearing outside. I can't wait until tomorrow morning's commute. Why can't it just snow between the hours of 9am and 3pm?

Milestones

2009-03-24T20:22:00.005-06:00

We had a monumental week here. It started on Saturday when Abby broke her bike in. Not "broke" like it doesn't work anymore, but "broke" like she trained it and can now ride it. Without any help. Including those silly training wheels.

I decided that this Spring was the time to get her educated in the proper art of bike riding. It was so beautiful on Saturday that I decided the time was right. I quickly took off her wheels, held her bike up, showed her how to start herself, and off she went. I held the back of her seat for about 30 feet, but then just ran beside her. That's all I had to do. She's an expert now. She had no major or even minor falls (this isn't fair; shouldn't she have a least one scab from learning to ride her bike?) and looks for every opportunity to "play in the front yard." That's her code for "grab my helmet, get my bike, and get a-ridin'". See the attached video for proof.

The other monumental thing was we signed our middle child, Princess Leah, up for preschool. Jen is getting so old. She's got one kid in kindergarten and another starting preschool this fall. I keep on looking at it like "There's $55/month that my parents never spent on my when I was that age and I turned out smart." Jen gives me this dirty look when I say that.

Regardless, we're excited for the sweet learning opportunities our kids are having/taking/making. Life is good.

What a great day

2009-03-20T22:38:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure it gets much better than this:

It was about 68 degrees today. I left work for two hours to attend the Salt Lake Golf Show and got a few free rounds of golf. After I came home from work tonight and had dinner, we went to Lowes. At 7pm, we went to the backyard, lit a fire in the fire pit, sat in patio chairs and roasted marshmallows. Finally, we finished the day off with March Madness. Can you ask for a better day?!

On a sad note, Florida State and Wake Forest killed my bracket with their losses. Put a fork in me 'cause I'm done.

This and That

2009-03-17T19:50:00.002-06:00

I'm sitting outside in the front yard watching the kids play. It's 10 'till 8 and it's still light outside and relatively warm. We've had a few beloved weeks of weather lately. Mid 60's high temps; low 40's low temps. The flowers are starting to sprout out of the ground, the buds on the trees are starting to appear, and I've got spring fever.

Jen and I are going to plant our first garden this year, but neither of us is an expert at gardening, so we'll see what we can produce. I know this: we won't be growing tomatoes. Had Satan tempted Eve with a tomato, I'm sure they'd still be in the Garden of Eden. Anyway.

I'm applying for a new job next week. I've worked with a private contracting firm for 6 years now and they've been very good to me. The owners have been great, the pay competitive, and the coworkers great. However, there is a federal position in my office that's been open for three weeks now and I've been working on my resume, CV, KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities), and jumping through all the federal application hoops to get done.

This job has a slightly higher pay ceiling, but a lot more promotion potential than my current job. At the contracting firm, you're basically an analyst like I am, or you own the company. There's no opportunity to move up, really. I'd like to get in as a federal employee so those opportunities open up more.

If I don't get it, I'll be fine because my current position is stable and I'm really happy. I feel really lucky to feel this stable in my job. The economy hasn't directly affected anyone in our office. Let's hope that continues.

Hangin' at The Pie

2009-03-12T22:30:00.003-06:00

Sweet mother. I met Kris, the bearded one, at BYU and we worked together for three years. He introduced me to his circle of friends, two of which are shown here, Tyler and Jon. Kris lives in his home state of Arizona and actually claims to like it. He was in town this week and I only see him every three years or so, so I really enjoyed this man date.

It's really good to see old friends and the older I get, the more I realize how much I value those friendships I formed in college. Now, if only they wouldn't have moved away.

Are parents replaceable?

2009-03-10T21:52:00.003-06:00

We read "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" before bed tonight (Lauren picked it out...her nickname is Bunny and you can be sure that she picks out a book about a bunny every night!). In the story the mother rabbit tells her bunnies to stay away from Mr. McGregor's garden because their father had an accident there and ended up in a pie. I usually skip the "ended up in a pie" part because it always starts a conversation about rabbits in pies and why would anyone want to eat a rabbit.

Well, tonight I read it and Abby asked "Why wouldn't she just get married again and get a new dad for the bunnies?" I asked Abby if she would want a new dad if Jess died and she eventually decided she would want me to get another dad for her. I asked her if she would want a new mom if I died and she said yes to that one too . Then (here's the good part of the story!) Lauren said, "No new mom. Neni mommy" Neni is how she says Jeni. That made my night. I think I'll keep her.

Rollie Polie -- I have no idea how to spell that

2009-03-08T19:20:00.005-06:00

We spent the bulk of Saturday at Jen's parent's house helping them get ready to put their house on the market. We were doing things like taking stuff to storage and DI, fixing a vinyl fence, doing some landscaping, etc. It was still chilly -- about 40 degrees during this time outside -- but sunny and a good day to work.

After we were all done, we were slow to leave because we were all tired. Well, the girls weren't tired at all, so they attacked grandpa and made him entertain them. See video.

Golfing!

2009-03-02T22:11:00.003-07:00

Holy sweet. On Saturday, we drove from SLC to Elk Ridge to attend a baby shower for my sister-in-law. On the way down I-15, we passed Thanksgiving Point. They had a marquee outside that flashed "Yesterday's low temperature is today's green fee." Now, if you've been in Utah for the last few weeks, you'll know that it's been warm -- in the 50's each day. I said something like "That would be sweet." Jen said, "You ought to go golfing next week." I didn't think anything else about it.

I was at a church meeting Sunday morning and while gone, Jen noticed the weather in the paper and wrote it on the white board near our phone: Today's hi: 54; Tonight's low: 27; Tomorrow's hi: 57. She started encouraging me to go golfing. I didn't think much more about it.

Then I got to work on Monday. By 10am, I'd talked myself into taking advantage of the deal. I called the course, found out their recorded low temp was 30, and then I got a tee time for 2:30pm. I've never golfed Thanksgiving Point because my monthly golf budget doesn't allow such luxuries! I typically golf twice a month and hit the range a few times a month.

The deal was 18 holes with a cart for that low price of $30. I couldn't convince a co-worker, a guy from my ward, and a brother to leave their work to come with me, so I went as a single. The course was very empty and even with my tee time at 2:30pm, no one was behind me the entire time. It took me 3 hours to hit all 18 holes. I only hit par on 2 holes, but I haven't swung a golf club since November, so I was happy with that. The picture on the left is the par-3 7th hole.

One of the main differences between muni courses and country clubs like this: the par 3 holes are long. They didn't have a single par 3 hole shorter than 180 yards. At other city courses, they are like 120 - 140. Much easier.

Thank you, beautiful Utah spring weather!

Happy Birthday, Lauren

2009-02-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

To our Lady in Red: Happy Birthday! Your mother gave birth to you two years ago today in Alta View Hospital. She was scheduled to be induced on 2/27/07 and once you started coming, you were in a hurry to arrive in the world. All the skiers in the state appreciated your birthday, too, because we got 6 inches of fresh snow.

I can't believe you're already two years old. On the other hand, I can't believe you're only two years old. Sometimes you seem so much older.

We love you and are very glad to be your parents!

Let's Protest

2009-02-26T10:18:00.003-07:00

Don't worry, this is just in jest. But I can't help but think of SLC's former mayer Rocky Anderson when I see this shirt.

Snowman is Disappearing!

2009-02-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Photo taken on Tuesday, Feb. 17. This was the day of snowfall.

Photo taken on Saturday, Feb. 21. It was about 48 degrees today. The snowman has shrunk about a foot in height and his girth has diminished rapidly. This is a weight loss program I could handle.

However, in the photo below, it looks like some flesh-eating bacteria took over and ate the poor snowman's face.

The girls have since attacked the head and all that remains tonight is the base.

Love Lovey Valentine the Snowgirl

2009-02-17T15:02:00.009-07:00

A lot of the snow we get here is powder...which is great when you have to shovel, but not so great for making a snowman. The girls have been waiting and waiting for good snowman snow and we finally got some today. We waited for Lauren to take a nap, then we bundled up and went to work.

It was great snow! There was 1-2 inches of snow and it would come up as soon as the the girls rolled their snowballs over it.

The middle snowball was too heavy for me to lift onto the bottom one, so we had to get a board to use as a ramp (where's Daddy when you need him, huh?)...it was still heavy but we got it up there!

Leah insisted it was a girl, not a boy, so here we have Love Lovey Valentine the Snowgirl.

This is what the perfect snowy day should look like. It's been snowing all day. There was an inch and a half of snow on the driveway this morning, but it has all melted. Snowman snow and no shoveling to do...awesome!

Phantom of the Opera = Bad?

2009-02-15T18:04:00.004-07:00

Okay, here's the conceptual framework. No, wait, that's a Master's Thesis phrase. Here's the background:

When I was a 5th grader in Sacramento, CA, we had a music teacher visit us once a week to teach us a bit about different kinds of music and whatever else she felt appropriate. I grew up in a musical family, so I actually appreciated this visitor. One day, she mentioned that she was going to start teaching us about a fairly new opera that was out called "The Phantom of the Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 production). As musical as I thought I was, opera wasn't something I was interested in. But she began telling us the story and at the appropriate times, she'd turn the CD on and play one of the songs.

I LOVED it! It was opera, but not in the sense of what I'd pictured my whole life where this fat lady and fat guy stand on the stage and sing how they have to go to the bathroom (in other words, singing WAY too literally).

Many years later, after I'd long since forgotten the story, my folks bought the CDs from the opera. I listened to them quite a bit -- partly out of nostalgia and partly out of my enjoyment of the music. My favorite song I think has to be "Past the point of no return."

In 2004, the opera was adapted to a film version. I never saw it until this week (as part of my "catch up on the 30 movies I've missed in the last few years" effort). I had one major problem with the movie: the guy playing the Phantom was LAME! His voice wasn't good; his acting wasn't good, and he detracted from the music (seriously, though, can you beat Michael Crawford as the Phantom in the original play?).

Jen watched the movie, too, and after it was over, she told me just how much she hated it. Her problem wasn't the music, but rather the plot and story. She's actually seen the opera in San Francisco and enjoyed attending it in person, but now that she's seen the movie and paid attention to the storyline, she keeps on (three days later) commenting on how stupid it was.

I knew the story line and thought nothing of it. I was really intrigued to see how the music and the story interacted and I enjoyed that. I am amused at Jen's reaction. Anybody else hate the Phantom of the Opera?

Jen Says:
Actually it's only been two days since we watched it, but I'll go ahead and complain about how lame it was tomorrow too...just to make him right. I really didn't like the storyline. I remember liking the performance aspect of it all when I saw it in SF. It has been 13 years, so I didn't really remember much of the story at all (except for the chandelier falling, the phantom rowing a boat and thinking he was creepy). I was trying to think what bothered me the most and I think it was Christine. Maybe there wasn't enough background to the movie to tell why she was so totally under his spell, but her character drove me crazy...she was afraid of him one moment and looked like she was in love with him the next...yet there didn't seem like there was any reason to be in love with him...I don't know. A big thumbs down from me!

She makes me so proud...

2009-02-14T09:45:00.006-07:00

Abby came up to me today and said "Mom, go look at the fridge." There's just something great about your 5 year old spelling the BYU quarterback's name out of refrigerator magnets! (By the way, she does know that there are two Ls in Hall, but we only have one...darn!)

Oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Are you juiced, too?

2009-02-09T21:36:00.003-07:00

Okay, so the news is out. A-Rod was a user. I love how they (the sports media outlets) call them PEDs -- performance enhancing drugs. Whatever happened to "steroids?"

Anyway, I have an opinion on all this. As a nearly life-long fan of the San Francisco Giants, you can imagine steroids have been a part of my recent life -- really since 1998. That was the year Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa fought to beat the home run record in a single season. It was amazing and was reported to have been the turning point in Barry Bond's decision point of whether or not to juice up. And juice up I believe he did. And I think he did it knowingly.

But I also believe that there were more than 104 players in MLB who took steroids during the 2003 baseball season (the time when A-Rod tested positive). It truly was the culture of baseball and it's completely (!) unfair for baseball to rake a few big-name players through the coals. Baseball loved it when McGwire and Sosa and Bonds juiced up to inflate home run numbers, and now they are using all those players as poster children for all that's wrong with baseball. It's unfair.

I don't think the records set by these players should be discarded. I don't think there should be any asterisks. While I certainly don't condone their use of steroids, I don't think baseball (or the Hall of Fame snobby baseball writers) should suddenly pretend they are above all this. You have your cake and eat it, too.

I just wish people like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmero, and Mark McGwire would have come out like Jason Giambi (and A-Rod) and admitted the steroid use. Giambi came back and played after his admission. None of those other guys did. The admission goes a LONG way toward a future job.

Hello, we're representatives from ...

2009-02-05T19:25:00.002-07:00

Got twenty minutes? Want to learn about my religion from the mouth of a 20-year-old member at Harvard? Check out this video. It covers a wide range of topics. This was filmed as part of Harvard's "Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose." It's a panel discussion. FYI, this girl is from Blackfoot, ID, so I guess there are some good things that come out of that state!

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Snow Time

2009-02-02T21:28:00.001-07:00

We've had snow in our yard for quite some time now, but with recent warm weather, it's been melting. That melting finally created perfect snowman snow. It was always either powder or crusty -- until this weekend. Here are some pics of the fun in the snow.

Abby and Leah posing with their own snowman. Stylin' fella, he is.

You'll notice just how good a parent I am...I bring Lauren (who was sick, mind you) outside in a jacket, boots, and essentially a miniskirt.

My (cough) angels making their snow angels.

It's colder here...

2009-01-31T13:39:00.006-07:00

We're back! Jen and I had a fun few days in Orlando. We flew out (connecting in Phoenix) on Tuesday, but didn't arrive in Orlando until 8pm. This trip was great because I had work meetings in the morning (allowing Jen to sleep in and not worry about anything) but my afternoons were pretty open.

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove the 40 miles or so East of Orlando to Cocoa Beach. By the way, these eastern states use toll roads, and they only take cash.... The weather was beautiful (around 75 degrees on the coast), but the water was cold at first touch. There was a nice breeze, but it was just enough that there were folks on the beach in jackets, even while vacationers were in the water trying to body surf. We spent a few hours lounging around on the beach, on the pier, and shopping at the Ron Jon Surf Shop.

With the bit of day light we had left, we made a quick drive up to Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center. I was a little disappointed with this because although Florida is soooo flat (flattest in the nation!), they have vegetation lining the roads and you can't really see the launch pads from the areas you drive to for free. We could have paid $38 for a tour but we didn't have time nor did we necessarily want spend that cash on it. They do have a visitor center that we walked up to and took a few pictures. When we got back to the hotel, we took a dip in the heated pool and hot tub. No one else was in the entire pool, so we had plenty of fun.

On Thursday, after my meetings concluded, we spent some time shopping the outlet malls, relaxing, and went to a movie (Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler). Our flight left Orlando around 5pm on Friday, so we did some more shopping and a session at the temple in the morning. Jen and I figure we went on enough "dates" in the last four days to take care of the next 6 months here at home.

This is the Cocoa Beach Pier

This is my beautiful wife proclaiming, "No, I'm not changing into my swimsuit."

See what I mean? Lady on beach in jacket; lady and others in water swimming.

Someone dragged something. Don't know what or when, but it was cool to see the result.

This was the huge Ron Jon Surf Shop. Jen got some flip flops and a bag.

This is the entrance to the visitors center. Come around the corner and you see the rocket boosters and shuttle (below).

This is the entrance to the visitor center. Notice the space pods, solar panels, and astronaut. All are fake. Don't worry.

Rocket boosters and the Space Shuttle (Endeavor) in the background.

Rocket city at the visitors center.

It was fun watching SportsCenter at night and hearing the announcers report (from Tampa, about an hour and a half away) that there were hardly any folks walking around in Steelers or Cardinals gear. Well, I think they all came in on Friday around 4:30pm, because as we sat in the terminal, we saw fan after fan after fan come down the hallway in either Cardinal red or Steeler black and gold. It was fun watching the march.

There were two words that kept coming to my mind when I thought about regarding the area we stayed (International Drive near Universal Studios in SW Orlando): chintzy and cheesy. Reno and Las Vegas are over the top, but this area was over the top in a very cheesy way. Instead of having a simple sporting goods store, they have to decorate the front with two 25-foot-tall statues of generic athletes or something and a helmet enshrouding the front door (I'm not kidding, see here). This store was directly across the street from our hotel. These kinds of stores were all over the place. Cheesy over-the-top store front decorations.

Another funny thing: Orlandoans must stink because we saw perfume stands on EVERY CORNER. In the malls. In the outlet malls. In shopping plazas. EVERYWHERE.

Where's Gatorland again?

2009-01-24T19:47:00.004-07:00

I have a work meeting next week in Orlando, FL. It's kinda ironic because it's a meeting relating to the wildfire emergency rehab support folks, and the Forest Service does very little such work in the southeast. The emergency rehab is mostly a need where mountain slopes exist (leading to increased runoff). However, we have regional coordinators in the SE and NE that contribute to this group. I'm an invited speaker to their meetings every year and in the few years I've been doing this, I've attended this meeting in Albuquerque, Salt Lake, San Diego, Spokane, and Denver (respectively, by year). This year, they're meeting in Orlando so I get to enjoy some warm weather in the middle of the winter!

I speak on Thursday morning at 8am, but there are two speakers on Wednesday I'd like to hear, so I'm flying out on Tuesday. I extended the trip on the back end, too, so I could bring Jen along. She and I are both going out there sans children and look forward to a little bit of relaxation out there. Actually, the entire trip will be relaxing because I enjoy presenting to these folks -- mostly because they are not remote sensing or GIS types and still think whatever I do is magic and amazing. So this should be a good trip.

Our hotel is directly across the street from Universal Studios, but it costs $79/day to visit the park! No thanks. Jen and I will visit the Orlando Temple on Wednesday night, meaning we've been to the temple every month since September (5 straight months!). Okay, one of those months (December) was just attending a sealing...

We're getting rain here in Salt Lake and it is SO GREAT to get a storm to clear out the incredible inversion we've had for two weeks. All the rain may have been acid rain, but it's still the catalyst for clear air. Yahoo! This picture shows some of the smog hanging around in the valley during the current inversion, but it got MUCH worse than this later in the week.

By the way, I went to the gym three times this week and played basketball this morning. I can only play if I'm hopped up on ibuprofen (for my back) and wear a knee brace (so I can actually use my left leg the next few days). I'm definitely getting old!