Let's get this 30 day party-that-feels-more-like-a-headache started!

My lovely sister-in-law, Andrea Paxman challenged the Zimmerman family to a 30 blog posts in 30 days challenge and because I looooove her, I accepted. Brent accepted too so you're in for a LOT of Zimmerman news this month.

My first post is a little bit of a cheat since it is a recent update I wrote for my own family's website on MyFamily.com but, knowing that it's going to be difficult to come up with enough material for 30 days, I'm using it. Here's what's going on with us:

Brent is fabulous. He is being super nice to me lately and I'm not just writing that because I know he's checking the site more often. (Well, maybe I am doing it for that reason but it's still true.) He is working on a cool new healthy behaviors/weight management program that is different and great. If you are interested in being a test subject, let us know. Since I gained back 6lbs in 10 days of the 10lbs it took 6 weeks to lose, I think I am a prime candidate ;<

I am going to GREECE in May. Yep, Greece. My super fun, sweet neighbor who works for an airline asked if I wanted to go with her and I jumped at the chance. I'm saving up jokes and conversation bits and stockpiling headache meds for her so she doesn't regret inviting me on the week-long excursion.

I just finished sewing some more African dance skirts and jackets for an instructor who knows Todd and Todd's drum teacher well. She is darling. Sewing for other people is a little nerve-wracking. That said, any sewing project lately has given me a joyful feeling of productivity. I'll save one of my posts for more on this.

Todd bore a very nice testimony at our church a few weeks ago. Many mothers of young women were swooning. Hahaha. I guess won't flash them his report card. It is easier to be patient with his lack of organization and seeming ambivalence toward school when I think of what a good, good boy he is.

Todd got his driver's license today!! To clarify, he has his license but is still restricted from using it until completes the paperwork for his Eagle Scout award. Could be a long time. Will one of you give him a ride to my funeral? Oh thanks.

Kenna does not hate Jr. High. She does not hate bass lessons and she does not hate me. Halle-freaking-lujah! Her grades are up and despite some typical Jr. High girl insecurities, she is generally a happy girl. I love her.

She just got her hair cut. BANGS. So. Dang. Cute. She and Brent are going to a "Lights" concert next weekend. She is some Canadian (all the best ones are!!) singer that Kenna loves. Brent will do anything for baby Kenna. I don't blame him.

Today Alec is wearing the Calgary Flames hoodie that I got for Todd a million years ago. Crazy. My kids are getting so old. He is a happy, toothless boy. When kids start losing their teeth, they look like little trolls and he's no different. The fact that he never wants to shower is not helping. Gross. He just told me that he wants to sing in the Christmas Primary choir. Cute. When I try to pay him a compliment, he fills in anything I missed.
For example:
ME:"Alec. You are good at so many things. I am glad you want to start singing too."
ALEC: "I know, right? I am can dribble with both hands. I am like, THE BEST, at Math in my class. Plus, I am super nice to everyone. AND, I am killer on Minecraft."
ME: "Yes you are." Uh...healthy ego too.

I'm OUT. See you for the next 30 days.

Update on New Year's Resolutions

I set some pretty aggressive New Year's resolutions for myself in 2012. I had intended to revisit them around the middle of the year. Is November close enough to the middle?

• Qualify for the Boston Marathon. This goal won't happen this year, and it won't be for lack of trying. Over the winter I ran every day but one. I did a long run of at least 18 miles every week. I then followed that up with a nearly flawless training cycle in the spring. The result was a personal best at the Ogden Marathon in May, but my best wasn't good enough. I'll try again for a BQ in 2014 when I reach the older age group.
• Create and follow a set of value statements. Done. I have nine sentences that define who I aspire to be. I read them every other day.
• Keep a daily tracker. Done. I certainly haven't kept it every day, but the majority of days I faithfully check off my list of to-do items.
• Read 12 books. I've read 10 books so far, so I'm right on target to complete this goal. The books I read are: Mockingjay, They Never Came Home, Alien Hand Syndrome, Locked in Time, Design Patterns, The Clockwork Three, The 5,000 Year Leap, How to Sell Every Magazine Article You Write, Training for Endurance, and No They Can't.
• Post to my blog 26 times in the year. I've posted 14 times so far, including this post. I'm hoping to do a lot of posts during National Blog Posting Month, starting today. I should easily make my goal.
• Be more patient with my kids. I've been more patient, but I definitely could do better. The kids have been great this year, so being patient has come easily.
• Pay off our home equity loan. Done. We met this goal three months early. It is a great feeling to have that weight off our shoulders.
• Earn a promotion at work. This isn't looking very promising. We had a company-wide reorganization and I was assigned to a new team with a new manager. This would have been bad enough, but I was then asked to keep working on my old team until the project I was working on was finished. This meant that I spent almost half the year working on one team, but answering to the manager of another team. I was also in Africa for three weeks. When I got back it felt like no one knew who I was.

It looks like I'll get six of the eight goals. Not bad. The two that I probably won't get have been put on hold, but I intend to reach them eventually.

Hiking in Zion

When my cousin Jami Quesenberry invited me to go hiking in Zion with her and her family I didn't think it'd work out. But when she said they were hiking The Narrows, I knew I had to make it work out. The Narrows isn't simply a hike I had wanted to do, it was the most glaring uncompleted item on my bucket list.

I have been to Zion regularly and hiked the Riverside Walk Trail numerous times. Unfortunately, I had never had the time or equipment to continue on into the Narrows. Each time I would reach the end of the paved section and gaze up the canyon into the Narrows and say to myself "Some day." Well, yesterday was "the day" and the hike was well worth the wait.

The plan was to drive to Zion on Friday and hike Angels Landing, then hike The Narrows on Saturday morning. So, around lunchtime on Friday I ended my workday early and headed to my uncle Glen's house in Pleasant Grove. He and I then drove to Jami's house in Salem where we were going to meet the rest of the group. Unfortunately, Jami was unable to go. However, there were still ten of us that went, including Jami's husband Steve, four of their children (Leigh, Grace, Daniel, and Timmy), their niece Jill, plus Jill's friend Chris and Daniel's friend Tyler.

With only a short stop in Nephi for lunch, we drove directly to Zion Nation Park and arrived before 5:00. We checked into our campground and then immediately got on the shuttle bus up Zion Canyon. Twenty minutes later, the bus dropped us off at the Angels Landing trailhead and our hiking was underway.

Angels Landing is a 1,200-foot high rocky peak that overlooks my second-favorite place on Earth: The Big Bend area of Zion Canyon. (My favorite place is Dead Horse Point.) This one spot features great views of the Great White Throne, Observation Point, the Organ, Cable Mountain, and the Virgin River.

As far as hikes go, Angels Landing is nowhere near the most strenuous or dangerous. However, when it comes to hikes that are sponsored by the National Park Service this one is easily the roughest I have ever seen. Most hikes that a park shuttle will take you to are flat, paved, and about a half a mile long...and they still tell you to "consult a physician" before going on the hike. For the Angels Landing hike, the tour guide doesn't mention anything about your physician. He just says "Fatalities have occurred."

The hike is five miles, round trip, and quite steep with a lot of switchbacks. The last half mile has chains for you to hold on to and notches carved in the rocks for you to get a toe-hold. I had hoped to get a bit of a workout on the hike...but I got a lot more than just a bit. I was breathing hard most of the way up.

Glen, Chris, and Jill ascend Angels Landing

This was the second or third time I'd done this hike, but the view from the top was every bit as breathtaking as the first hike. My photographs certainly don't do it justice, but I got a few good ones.

The view of Big Bend from Angels Landing

While on the top of Angels Landing I witnessed one of the grossest things I can remember. There are dozens of chipmunks scurrying around on the peak feasting on crumbs that have been left behind by hikers, and there was a lady there that accidentally stepped on one. She screamed as she realized she'd crushed its poor little skull. It started twitching and flopping around and making a big scene. Blood was gushing out of its head and soon everyone was grossed out. Things really got gross when it flopped all the way over to me and landed on my backpack. It was flipping blood all over my stuff. I tried to kick it out of the way, but it flopped so high that my foot went clean underneath it. I finally landed a glancing blow and knocked it down into the crack of some rocks and out of sight.

We spent a few minutes on top enjoying the view and taking pictures before heading back down. After a quick descent we took one of the last shuttles down the canyon. We got back to our campground as the sun was going down. We quickly pitched our tents and fixed dinner before it got totally dark. After dinner we relaxed for a minute before going to sleep early, anticipating a long day.

On Saturday morning we were awakened at 7:00 by Glen who had fixed us all a hot breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. After breakfast we packed up and checked out of the campground. We then got on the shuttle bus and headed up the canyon again. This time we went all the way to the last stop at Temple of Sinawava. That is where the Riverside Walk Trail begins, which is an easy paved walk up the canyon for a mile. At that point the pavement ends and the section of the canyon known as the Narrows begins.

There isn't a trail in the Narrows. You mostly walk in the river itself, and any trails that might develop on the short areas of dry land get washed out by flash floods. The river is low this year, so most of the water was only ankle deep with the deep sections reaching up to my chest. The low water didn't make the hiking significantly easier for us because we still had to step and climb over rocks and boulders most of the way. When I learned that Steve and his kids only had time to hike up for an hour I was a bit disappointed. It didn't feel right to rush when I was checking an item off my bucket list. However, it was pointed out to me that they were all in a different vehicle from us and we could take as long as we wanted. We decided to hike up at least as high as the section called "Wall Street." This is the most narrow section of the canyon and the part that I'd most wanted to see.

So, for the first hour we had a large group and there was a lot of talking and stopping for pictures. Then after that there four of us--Glen, Jill, Chris, and I--and the hiking got more focused as we pushed toward our goal of reaching Wall Street. The canyon gets narrow very gradually and we found ourselves walking less and less on land and more and more in the water. We also were getting less sun and finding more of a breeze through the canyon. The result was that by the time we reached Wall Street it actually started getting cold despite the 104 degree temperatures elsewhere in the park.


Brent at "Wall Street"

The Wall Street section of the hike wasn't as narrow as I had envisioned it, but the canyon walls were every bit as high. The canyon winds back and forth and each new bend seemed to offer a new, more narrow view. I found myself repeatedly thinking to myself "this is the best part of the hike."

After a while we reached a point where there is a fork in the canyon. One of the forks led to a small canyon that was significantly more narrow. I think this is the canyon I was thinking of when I thought of Wall Street. It was narrow enough that I could nearly reach across and touch both sides at the same time.


Narrow side canyon

We ventured up the small canyon just far enough to get some good pictures, then returned to the main canyon. We pushed ahead for maybe another half mile and the canyon seemed to be widening. We concluded that we had probably passed the best parts of the canyon and decided to turn back.

I found the hiking was nearly as difficult going down as it was coming up. There wasn't really an elevation change or a strong current that had slowed us on the way up. However, we didn't stop on our way down to admire the scenery or take pictures, so we made good time going back out. We got back to the shuttle bus just over four hours after we had started hiking. I think it was my longest hike in about seven years.

The shuttle took us back to our car and we left right away. We had to take Chris to St. George, and then we drove the 250 miles to Salem without stopping. We dropped Jill off there and then we had to go to Glen's house to get my car. I didn't get home until 10:00pm, completely worn out.

It was a great weekend and I can't thank Glen, Steve, and family enough for their hospitality.

Adams Canyon Hike

Despite living in Layton, I had never hiked Adams Canyon until yesterday. I had heard a lot about it--Rita and Todd had each hiked it separately--but I hadn't ever gotten around to doing it. The trailhead is within Layton city limits, so there really was no excuse for why I hadn't done it.

I started hiking at 7:40, which seemed pretty early to me. I thought it'd be cool at that time of day and that there wouldn't be many other hikers. I was wrong on both counts. The trail is considerably steeper than I thought it would be, climbing 1,400 feet in two miles. The first leg of the hike has little shade. I was in a full sweat within just a few minutes. The hike is evidently very popular among several different groups. I passed trail runners, dog walkers, couples, single hikers like myself, families and scouts. It felt like half of Davis County was there.

I can see why the hike is so popular. The trail offers a variety of breathtaking scenery. The first scene is just 15 minutes into the hike when the trail meets up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. From there, the view of the valley is spectacular.

Brent, with Layton, the Great Salt Lake, and Antelope Island in the background.

After following the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for just a couple of minutes, the hike enters the heart of Adams Canyon. The scenery at that point turns to thick forest as you follow the north fork of Holmes Creek. The hike is just difficult enough to make it interesting, with a lot of boulders and a few steep parts. The highlight of the hike is at the end of the trail when you reach the waterfall.

Brent poses beside the waterfall.

The hike took me two hours, which seemed like the perfect duration for a hike. It was long enough that it felt like an accomplishment, but short enough that I didn't have to make a day of it. I think if I went early enough I could do it on a weekday and still make it to work on time.

School Events

I took the day off of work today to visit Todd's and Alec's schools. First was Todd's school. I went there to attend the school Awards Ceremony. Todd was presented with the President's Award. There was a bit of confusion as to how you qualify for this award, but I believe you need to earn a 3.5 GPA and also score at least 80% on the End of Level tests. They gave him a certificate and a really nice key chain.

Next I went to Alec's school to watch the First Grade Program. Alec had been sick during the night and missed the first part of school, including their final practice for the program. You could tell he had a rough night because his eyes were drooping and he yawned a few times. Despite running a fever and nearly throwing up at the end of the program, he did a really good job. I hadn't realized before now how much he takes after his older brother in that he can be a real performer. During his solo he wasn't nervous at all. He smiled big, moved to the rhythm, and at one point even looked over at Rita and flashed her a little wink.

I was glad I was able to get the day off and go to these events because they both gave me a chance to be a proud father.

Musical Performances

Each of our three kids gave musical performances within a couple of weeks of each other. First was Todd, who played the djembe drum at St. Marguerite School in Tooele on April 26. It was part of an African cultural event that the school used as a fundraiser. Both my parents drove from Orem to watch him. Todd earned a small amount of money for his services, so now he's a real professional.

Next was Kenna who played double bass at the Northern Davis County Monster Concert on May 1. It was called a "Monster Concert" because all the orchestra students from surrounding schools all played at the same time. Unfortunately, they put her and the other bass players way in the back where you can't see her, but we promise she played well. ;)

Last, but not least, was Alec who played the recorder for his 1st grade class for show-and-tell on May 11. His teacher heard that he was learning and requested he give a performance. I wasn't able to attend, but I got his skills on film at our house later that day.

We're proud of our kids and their decision to play musical instruments. We look forward to many more performances in the future.

Eclipse Trip

We had a fun, event-filled weekend this past week. The events started early Saturday morning with the Ogden Marathon. I got a best-ever time of 3:29. You can read my race report here.

After the marathon, Rita and I went to lunch at my favorite restaurant, Winger's. Then we packed the kids into the car and headed to St. George for a relaxing evening in the warmth of Southern Utah. On Sunday afternoon we drove to Parowan Gap to watch the solar eclipse with the Ogden Astronomical Society. The event was a private gathering for the members of the society, so we expected about 10-20 people. To our amazement there were about 100 people there.

Eclipse observers just outside the Parowan Gap

The gap is about 12 miles from I-15, half way between Parowan and Cedar City. Its claim to fame is a set of sophisticated petroglyphs that include detailed astronomical observations made by the Sevier-Fremont people starting about 1,500 years ago. We parked about 200 yards from the gap in a grassy area that would provide good viewing of the eclipse. We then walked up the rode to the petroglyphs.

BLM Lecture

We when arrived, there was a lecture in progress being hosted by the BLM. As we learned, the largest, most sophisticated petroglyph is called the Zipper Glyph that is a detailed map of the surrounding foothills. The glyph details the location of several gatherings of rocks called cairns, which are located at various spots in the nearby hills. Each cairn is positioned such that the sun, moon, or planets are just visible in the gap during significant astronomical events (e.g. during the summer or winter solstice).

The Zipper Glyph

After the lecture, we walked back to the car and got settled in to watch the eclipse. It wasn't a total eclipse, but rather an annular eclipse, which means the moon was directly in front of the sun but too small to block it out entirely. Instead, it formed a "ring of fire" by blocking out all but a thin ring of sunlight. Our observational equipment consisted of eclipse glasses and my telescope. It would be much too bright to look through the telescopes eyepiece, so we instead projected the image of the eclipse onto a piece of paper. This provided a surprisingly detailed view of the sun, along with a couple of prominent sun spots that just happened to be visible. A side benefit of this technique was that I was able to get good pictures of the event. Here you can see me looking at the eclipse when the sun was only about a fourth the way obscured.

Brent checking out the partially-obscured sun

Here are the eclipse glasses in action:

Kenna, Alec, Rita, and Todd kick back and watch the eclipse

This is what the eclipse looked like at its peak:

The Ring of Fire

After the eclipse, we drove home to Layton, arriving after 1:00am. It made for a difficult Monday morning, but it was a very unique event and everyone in the family enjoyed it.

Hunger Games Premiere

As you may know, Kenna and I read the three Hunger Games books together. (Read my review of the first book here.) While I liked them, Kenna loved them. When she learned that they had made the first book into a movie, she started counting down the days until its release. She also made it clear that she wanted to go to the midnight premiere. That sounded like fun to me, and I purchased tickets for her and me almost a month before the event.

Knowing the popularity of the books, we anticipated the premiere would a popular event. Wanting to join in on the excitement of the moment, Kenna thought it would be fun to dress up like characters for the movie. I initially agreed to join her in costume, but then got cold feet as the day got nearer. I had always thought that dressing up like a character is the height of nerdiness. However, a coworker of mine convinced me that I should do it for Kenna because it would make it a memorable moment. I'm glad I listened to him, because he was exactly correct.

Kenna dressed up like Effie Trinket and I dressed up like Seneca Crane. Kenna's costume consisted of a wig, fake eyelashes and tons of makeup. My costume involved growing my hair and beard long and applying a lot of hair dye to both.

As far as I could tell, we were the only ones at the premiere in costume. While at first this made me feel a bit self conscious, that feeling quickly faded as we were basically treated like celebrities by the many Hunger Games fans that were there. In the theater lobby, people were telling us that we looked great and even asked to take their picture with us. When we entered the theater, we drew the attention of the fans in their seats and they actually started applauding us! A large group of fans invited us to sit with them and took several pictures.

We enjoyed the movie a lot, and the events surrounding it even more. Kenna always knows how to make things fun. Now, if she just knew how to get the dye out of my hair!

Growing Up Fast

Todd participated in "Zion's Camp" last week. The typical Zion's Camp calls for camping, but this year was different. All the young men in the stake spent three days on a pretend mission. They slept at their own homes, but the rest of the time they were at the stake center participating in activities that approximated life as a missionary. Todd was "called" to Denmark. He needed to wear a suit, but didn't have one that fit. So Rita took him to Mr. Mac and got a nice black one. He looked about three years older with it on.

On Friday Todd finally got his braces off. The final results of all those years of discomfort were pretty good. He's got a great smile now. Again, he looks a lot older now that he has them off.

We sure think Todd is a great kid...or should I say "man"? He looks a lot older now.

In the Newspaper and on TV

The Standard-Examiner ran a story the other day that had two pictures of Todd and me (Brent). The story was about the monthly drum circles that we go to. We knew that a reporter and a photographer from the newspaper had been at the drum circle. But we didn't find out until a month later that not only had the article appeared in the paper, but there were multiple pictures of us. The story ran in the January 30 issue. You can read it on-line here.

The first picture shows most of the participants, including the two of us sitting together drumming:

 The second picture is a close-up of our drums and shows just our hands:

You can click on either picture to get a larger version.

At the next drum circle, a reporter and cameraman from Fox 13 News were there filming the whole thing. Our entire family attended. Tonight (2/19/2012) it aired during a segment called Uniquely Utah. There are a couple of shots of our whole family, and one close shot of Alec. Here is the story:

 

This is a still shot of our whole family:

We're not exactly on the road to fame and fortune, but it's fun that we've been in the media lately.

Rita's Career Milestone

I wouldn't say it is her "dream," but Rita has had a career goal for a while now to be a professional counselor. With that goal in mind, back in 2000 she took some extra classes as part of her degree that would allow her to get her counselor's license. As you know, she got a job as a school psychologist and the goal to be a counselor was put on hold...until now.

The requirements to be a professional counselor are quite strict. First you need a graduate degree in mental health counseling, then you need to apply for an associate license. After you've been granted an associate license, you still need to complete 4,000 hours of supervised professional counseling before you can get the full license. It's hard enough to complete 4,000 hours, but you've got to find someone who will supervise you the entire time.

This past summer, Rita started working a few hours a week at the Neuropsychology Center of Utah, along with my sister Andrea. NPCU is a new clinic that opened this past year, specializing in diagnosing and treating psychological disorders. It's in Clinton, about 15 minutes from our house. Rita and Andrea have both worked there as psychologists, administering various tests to help diagnose ADHD, Autism, and other developmental disorders. The clinic also does counseling for patients.

Rita has enjoyed working at NPCU as a psychologist, but the real reason she took the job is that the main counselor there, Dr. Schwebach, agreed that if Rita could get her associate license that he would supervise her. She would be able to not only work as a counselor but also log hours toward getting her full license.

With that in mind, Rita applied for her associate licensure and expected to get approval within a couple of weeks. Her degree was in school psychology and counseling, not mental health counseling as required for the license. But with the extra classes she took, she met the requirements. Or at least, that was what she thought. The license application needed to be approved by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, and one of the members of the approval board had some "concerns" with her courses. The approval got held up for weeks. After multiple phone calls over several days, Rita was finally able to speak to the correct person in charge and plead her case that her coursework met the requirements. She was evidently convincing because a few days later she noticed her license was posted on-line. (You can see it here.) We expect the actual license in the mail any day.

Rita told Dr. Schwebach that she got her license and he is going to start having her work as a counselor. I'm so excited for her. She's already been a counselor to about half the ward, but now that she's official she can actually get paid to do it.

Kenna's (and my) Science Fair Project

Yesterday was the Science Fair for Kenna's school. For a couple of reasons, I had high hopes that her project would do well. The first reason was that Todd did very well when he was that age, going on to win first place at the district fair. The second reason was that I was the one that thought of her experiment and am very proud of myself for thinking of it...probably a bit too proud.

As you know, I have a degree in Physics. It's something that I enjoy, but it won't surprise you to learn that I don't get to use it much. On the rare occasion I get to apply my skills, I really get into it. So when I first learned about the science fair, I started thinking pretty hard of the perfect experiment.

Originally, I had wanted to measure the speed of light. I thought that would be about the coolest experiment that I could pull off. I even thought of a way to measure it using a laser pointer, a mirror, and a spinning bicycle tire. But after a few calculations, I realized that either the mirror would have to be a couple of miles away from the laser pointer or else the bicycle tire would have to be spinning a few hundred miles per hour. I decided to settle on something a bit less ambitious: measuring the speed of sound.

Before formally proposing to Kenna that she use my idea for her project, I decided to do a proof-of-concept experiment to make sure it was even possible to measure the speed of sound using household items. So one night after the kids went to bed, I got my Physics on.

My initial tests went very well. I won't bore you with the details, but I was able to measure the speed of sound using only my laptop computer. Okay, it was so cool that I have to bore you with the details. First I installed a free software application called Audacity that allows recording and editing audio. Then I created a sound file that would play a loud click on just the right audio channel. My laptop has stereo speakers and also stereo microphones. These features allowed me to start recording, play the audio file out of just one speaker, then visually examine the recordings of both the left and right audio channels. Because the microphones are about two inches apart, the right microphone picks up the sound slightly before the left microphone. The time difference is only 1/6700 of a second, but the standard recording takes a sample every 1/44100 of a second. So, the difference is about six or seven samples in length. Using a bit of algebra and arithmetic I was able to measure a speed of about 700mph, which is within 7% of the expected value. Not too shabby.

Measuring the speed of sound using Audacity

The next day I excitedly proposed to Kenna that she use my idea for her project. She certainly didn't get as excited as I was, but she did agree. We knew the final experiment would need to be more scientific that just a single measurement of the speed of sound. After some thought, we came up with the idea to measure the speed through different materials.

Kenna got the idea approved by her teacher and then started doing all the necessary research. You already know that Kenna is great at doing any kind of project. The science fair project was right up her alley. She was in charge of creating the report and the display board. She also came up with a list of materials she wanted to measure the speed of sound through. I was in charge of performing the actual experiment.

My initial measurement had gone so well that I assumed other measurements would be simple. Boy, was I wrong. I was ultimately able to devise a simple way to measure sound through other materials, but it sure took me a lot of time to get there. I spent hours and hours over the Christmas break trying to measure the speed of sound through water. I tried what felt like a million different methods, but finally had to scrap that idea. My final solution required two microphones that I bought for $5 each at Walmart. I connected them with a y-adapter and plugged them into the microphone jack of my computer. I then placed them both on the floor and hit the floor with a hammer. The microphones picked up the sound as it traveled through the flooring. We repeated the experiment for wood, tile, and cement flooring.

I learned from Todd's science fair successes that the key to doing well is the ability to clearly explain the scientific concepts involved. So I made sure Kenna understood the nature of sound waves and why they travel at different speeds through different materials. Of course, my efforts were unnecessary because she did such a good job with her research. She also made a great looking display. I went to the awards night fully expecting her to be a winner.

There were about 80 entries in the school fair. They chose 25 First Place winners and then they narrowed it down to seven Best in Show projects that would go on to the district fair. When they announced the First Place winners, they had them all come up on stage. We were not surprised at all when Kenna was selected. Then they started announcing the Best in Show winners. There was excitement and anticipation, but not any suspense as they announced the winners. They made it to the last two names and I still had full confidence the entire time.They finally announced her name second-to-last. She had a big smile on her face when they gave her her ribbon.

The district fair is February 22. I'm sure she'll do very well.

Eric and Lisa's Reception

Friday we went to the wedding reception for Eric and Lisa. I think that everyone that follows this blog already knows that Eric is the widower of my late sister Sheri. I also think almost everyone knew that he was getting married. But, what you might not all know is that the wedding was this past week and that his new wife is named Lisa. She lives in Farmington and teaches at Davis High School.

She and Eric seem like a good fit to me. I still don't know her very well, but her personality seems similar to his: quiet, conservative, goodhearted, and genuinely nice. Like Eric, she lost her spouse not many years ago and has been a single parent ever since.

We all got together before the reception for family pictures. Most of Eric and Lisa's families were there. I hadn't met any of Lisa's family and hadn't seen some of Eric's family in years, so the event was a great way to establish or renew many relationships. Having my siblings there made it entertaining. I really wish my parents could have been there, but they were delayed on their way back from Fiji and couldn't make it.

I can't explain how friendly to us the families of Lisa and her late husband were. These are people that we aren't going to see very often, so a close relationship isn't exactly mandatory. But, we seemed to make an instant connection to them. They gave me every reason to think that all families involved will get along very well.

One special part of the reception was a display of photographs of Eric and also some of Lisa with their respective late spouses, along with their children. One set of pictures had the caption "Because someone we love is heaven, there's a little bit of heaven in our home." The saying was originally written in reference to Eric's loss, but I thought how the sentiment applies to Lisa also, and doubly so to the new home that they will have.

The reception was a special occasion and I hope that we are all able to get together again in the future. I couldn't be happier for Eric and Lisa and look forward to seeing them often since they will be living just up the road in Farmington.

19th Anniversary Celebration

On Sunday, Rita and I completed 19 years of marriage. That's right: 19 years! It's hard to believe it was that long ago that we tied the knot. I must have been like 8 years old.

I was in charge of planning some sort of celebration. It was particularly challenging this year for a couple of reasons. First of all, we didn't want to spend much money. Yes, we are trying to be disciplined with our money, but more importantly this year is an off year. We will spend the big bucks for our 20th anniversary. The second difficulty is that we have both temporarily sworn off of junk food. (I will probably explain more about our new diet in a future post, but basically our whole family is trying to not eat junk food except on specific occasions during the first 100 days of 2012.) Going out to dinner or a treat has been a common date activity since we first met, but without eating junk food our options would be limited to basically a sandwich from Subway--not exactly the most romantic restaurant. I knew I'd have to use my imagination just a bit.

The fun started on Saturday. The first activity I planned was for the two of us to go to a discount movie. We went and saw Tower Heist at the Kaysville theater. Neither of us knew much about the movie, other than it got a decent score on Rotten Tomatoes. We were pleasantly surprised. It has some funny parts, and the plot is pretty good for a comedy. I wouldn't recommend it for young children, but it's definitely worth seeing.

On Sunday we exchanged gifts with each other. Rita got me a trunk-mounted bike rack for my car, which I will use a lot this summer. I got her a set of Conair Xtreme Instant Heat Hot Rollers. These are not exactly the most romantic gifts we've ever gotten each other, but I think we got all the romantic gifts we could think of back during anniversaries 1 through 10. I guess you could say that the romance has dwindled a bit, but did I really want some cologne?

On Monday, we decided to include the kids in our celebration. We all went to the Ogden Ice Sheet and participated in the Layton City Family Skate Night. The skating was only a dollar! We have varying skill levels at the sport. Rita is a good skater, coming from Canada and all. I am just good enough to make it fun. Todd is decent, and Kenna and Alec had never been. Everyone sure had fun.

After some early hesitations everyone was cruising around the rink pretty well.

It was a fun celebration for me. But, it wasn't as fun as what I was celebrating...19 wonderful years of being married to Rita!

New Year's Resolutions

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, I (Brent) normally set one or two, if any. Also, I normally forget about them some time around January 2nd or 3rd. This year I have several goals and resolution and I'm committed to working on them throughout the year. Some of them are pretty aggressive, so I've got my work cut out for me. Here is the list:

• Qualify for the Boston Marathon. This isn't a new goal. I've had it since August of 2010. The qualifying times are more strict this year, so I realize it's a bit of a long shot. It is going to take a ton of work and a lot of luck to even come close. I'm excited that my brother Steve has the same goal. He and I are both signed up to run the Utah Valley Marathon. Wouldn't it be fun if we both qualified together?
• Create and follow a set of value statements. This might be one of the cheesiest goals I've ever set. It seems too much like one of those hokey company mission statements. But, this won't be imposed from above like it is in a company. These will be personal to me and I can customize them to my beliefs and needs. I actually got the idea during Elders' Quorom instruction on New Year's Day. The lesson explained how George Albert Smith had written what he called his "personal creed." The statements were so specific, profound and well-written that I thought it'd be a good idea to try to come up with something similar for myself. Unlike a company mission statement, I won't show my value statements on a PowerPoint slide at a company meeting or anything like that. I'll read them from time-to-time as a reminder of my own personal creed.
• Keep a daily tracker. If you're forgetful and unorganized like I am, you need this. My tracker is just a sheet of paper that lists all the items I should do each day. It's got things like weighing myself, feeding my fish, flossing, and getting to bed on time. You'd think I would have mastered that level of simple organization back when I was a teenager, but I still struggle with it.
• Read 12 books. I like to read. Or, at least I wish I liked to read. I don't do it nearly as much as I think I should. I only read two books in all of 2011, so I'll need to put in a lot more time than I have been.
• Post to my blog 26 times in the year. I blogged a lot more last year than I ever have and enjoyed it. I did it every day for a month, so every other week shouldn't be too hard. The difficulty will be remembering. The posts will be spaced far enough apart that I could easily forget.
• Be more patient with my kids. Of the times I've lost my temper in the last five years, about 99% of them have been directed at my children. It's so obvious that yelling and screaming is counter-productive, but in the heat of the moment it seems so logical. I'm committed to not letting myself get to that point this year.
• Pay off our home equity loan. Last year was a difficult year financially for Rita and me. This year promises to be much better. If things continue to go well and we are disciplined, we can pay back the money we've borrowed recently. I have a lofty goal to never borrow money again. I'm not sure that is a possibility, but paying this off would go a long way to making it a reality.
• Earn a promotion at work. I'm not ambitious at work and have no desire to be a manager, but seeing multiple coworker friends receive multiple advancements has spurred me to try a bit of self-promotion. I'm trying to toot my own horn more often and be more assertive. At my last performance review I announced my intention to complete the steps necessary for advancement on the technical track, so now I'm officially bucking for a promotion.

What are some of your resolutions and goals for the new year? Please post a comment if you have one or two that you are willing to share.