Not at Home on the Range

When it comes to shooting sports, I'm a total noob. I've never owned a gun, and the only thing I've ever done that could be considered hunting is to shoot at rodents once on my in-laws' farm. I went to the shooting range once with my friend Clint and thought it was a lot of fun. I had been wanting to go again for a while. When my brother Steve called to say he would be in town and wanted to get together and do something fun, I proposed we go to the range.

Steve thought that sounded fun, but was surprised that I would suggest it since I don't have a gun. My solution to that problem was to invite a couple of people that have guns: my friend Clint and my brother Russ. As it turned out, neither of them could go, but they both graciously offered to let us borrow their guns. Steve invited his daughter Kylie and I invited Todd and Kenna. We also invited our brother-in-law Nate. So there were six of us that went to Get Some Guns and Ammo this evening, each of us with less experience than the next. None of us has ever owned a gun. We had been to a range a combined two times. Four of us had never shot a handgun, and two of us had never shot any gun of any kind. I'm sure we had the entire range secretly laughing at us as we tried to figure out how to load the guns.

I went first, thinking I'd show the others how it was done. On my second shot I placed the thumb of my off-hand in the wrong spot and when the gun recoiled it took the skin off my knuckle. My goal had been to show the three kids that the recoil wasn't bad, but the blood running down my hand showed them the exact opposite. We never could convince Kenna that the same thing wouldn't happen to her. Luckily Nate knew the correct technique and showed Kylie and Todd how to do it. Pretty soon they were both hitting the targets.

 

After putting a bandage on my thumb I was back to shooting, too.

Here Todd shows off his best shot:

I don't know if we'll make this a tradition, but I hope we do it again.

Jumping Off the Rocks

When we look back in ten years or so, I think one of our fondest family memories will be jumping off the rocks at the pool at my parents' house in St. George. It is a fun activity in-and-of itself, but it always coincides with fun trips with family and friends.

Alec and Kenna on the rocks, along with their cousins Casey, Nate, Andy, and Cassidy.

It's fun on so many levels. There are different rocks at different heights, so you can have multiple jumpers at the same time and different age kids can jump from the height that they're comfortable with. There is also a waterfall with a small cave hidden behind it that you can swim in to.

My favorite memory of the rocks is from a couple of years ago. Todd and I went to the pool and took a tennis ball. We had fun throwing the ball to each other as one of us jumped off the rocks and tried to catch it in mid-air. There were several other people at the pool trying their own stunts, too. We cheered for each other whenever one of us was successful. One particular stunt we thought of was for me to throw the ball at the rocks at the perfect angle so that it would bounce up in the air just as Todd was falling from above. He tried to catch it just before he hit the water. To add difficulty, he also did a 360 in the air. We tried the trick for about an hour before we finally were successful.

One reason our memories will be so fond is that I don't think we'll be able to do it much longer. If you read the sign in the picture above, you'll see that jumping off the rocks is already against clubhouse policy. But, the policy isn't enforced well at all. I can't think of a time I've been there when there weren't kids jumping off the rocks. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they put them there. Did they really think that if they put a large overhang above the water with easy access that the kids wouldn't jump off of it?!? I imagine that in the not-too-distant future they will either remove the rocks or else start cracking down on kids. It'll only take one broken wrist and they'll get serious about it. In  the meantime, I'll keep a watchful eye on my kids so that it's not one of mine that gets the broken wrist.

Todd's Eagle Project

I want to thank everyone that made donations to Todd's Eagle Project or attended the activity. As you may know, he raised funds to build a well for an orphanage in Liberia. The activity was an African Cultural Evening at the church. Friends, neighbors, and ward members were all treated to African food and live music.

This is a picture of Todd explaining the project to those in attendance:

Here Todd plays a traditional West African rhythm along with Andy Jones, the director of Africa Heartwood Project that runs the orphanage.

Here is a picture that shows just some of the people that attended:

Todd was able to raise the full amount to pay for the well, including the pump and trough. Here are pictures of the well being dug, along with the finished project:

It is a great feeling to know that this entire project was funded by Todd and others that helped contribute. Thanks, everyone!

Time-Lapse with Sparklers

We had a small Canada Day celebration this year featuring fireworks. As part of the fun, the kids and I tried to make patterns with sparklers on time-lapse photographs. I mounted the camera on a tripod and set it to a 10-second exposure time. Then the kids thought of imaginative patterns that they could trace.

The whole thing was Kenna's idea. She thought to make a smiley face:

 

 

 I don't really have much of an imagination, so I just made swirling lines:

Todd wrote the letters of his name. This is the T:

My favorite was when Todd ran around and then threw the sparkler. Look how the sparkler doesn't appear to follow a perfect arc like you would expect it to while it's in mid air. Instead it appears to wobble. This is because it's spinning around. The burning part of the sparkler alternates to either side of the arc as it spins.

These pictures are pretty easy to make, as long as you have a tripod and a camera that can do a long exposure. It also helps to have fun, creative kids that come up with great ideas like this.

Co-ed Volleyball

For the last two or three years, I have played on the ward co-ed volleyball team. We have a pretty good team, too. We've advanced deep into the regional tournament each of the last two years.

As far as enjoyment at a church function goes, it would be hard to beat co-ed volleyball. It features a lot more cheering than sacrament meeting and a lot less swearing than High Priest Group meeting. OK, that last part was a joke, but it really is fun. The games have just the right level of competitiveness.

A co-ed team consists of three women and three men, and the rules are almost identical to the men's game. The one exception is that if your team hits it more than once, at least one of the hits needs to be by a woman. The nets are at the men's height.

The key to our team's success is consistency. We are all about the same skill level, which means we don't have any weak links that the other team can hit to and our setter has multiple options. We all go to almost all the games, which means we rarely forfeit and we have plenty of practice playing together.

Tonight we played the first two rounds of the region tournament. Alec went with me and served as cheerleader and team photographer.

We won both games, despite only having five players (three women and two men). Tomorrow we play in the semi-finals.

Weekend at Bear Lake

In September we were invited by our friends the Craigs to spend a weekend at their home on Bear Lake. They invited our friends the Waters. We also met up with our friends the Noyes. Between the boating, four-wheeling, eating and socializing, there was no shortage of fun.

We spent a couple of hours on the lake. Todd, Kenna and I rode the inner tube and Alec took a short turn steering the boat.

 

We also spent a lot of time on the four-wheelers. I didn't let Alec drive, but I did let him act like he was driving while I took his picture.

The scenery was gorgeous. The Fall colors were so bright they seemed fake.

We had so much fun, we didn't feel like going back home. Thanks, Craigs, Waters and Noyes, for making it such a memorable weekend!

Launch Party

Today was the release of the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Todd pre-ordered his copy several weeks ago and has been counting down the days ever since. A release day of today means he could pick it up last night at midnight. The local Game Stop had a launch party and invited him to attend.

The "party" mostly consisted of waiting in line, but they did give out free goodies and the excitement of everyone in line made it feel a bit like a party. I estimate that there were 300 people in line, about 295 of which were young males.

The event had a Black Friday feel to it, but it was much more organized. Everyone had an assigned number so there wasn't any reason to run around the store or cut in line like you might see on Black Friday. I took a video of the event, but you can't see much in the outdoor shots since it was night.

Todd stayed up nearly all night playing the game. He managed to make it to school on-time this morning, believe it or not.

It's a bad day, not a bad life.

I sooo need to internalize this concept. Should I repeat this phrase 50 times each day, tattoo it on my hand, or perhaps sharpie it backward on my forhead so I can read it in the mirror when I'm wiping away tear-streaked mascara smudges? My goodness. I am the Chicken Little of Emotionland.

More frustrating than the inability to maintain perspective amidst trials is the awareness that my challenges are small compared to others' struggles and insignificant when measured against my many blessings. At any rate, I kind of hate today. I hope tomorrow will be better.

Dry Ice Demonstrations

Kenna has been begging me to buy some dry ice so that she can replicate a few demonstrations she saw on the Internet. Today was her lucky day because I bought a block of it at the local grocery store.

The first project was to make "smoke" rings out of dry ice vapor.

If you want to replicate this, make sure that the hole in the cup is circular. On the first attempt we cut a rectangle and it didn't work very well.

The next project was a dry ice bomb. This project has a very real element of danger. Do you know my friend Gavon Barkdull? He had his wrist broken in two places when a dry ice bomb went off in his hand.

The last project was to make vapor-filled bubbles. Kenna was an expert at making the bubbles very large.

These are all easy projects, although adult supervision is mandatory. We only used about a dollar worth of dry ice. The other materials are all household items. Pretty cool, huh?

Outdoor Fun

It snowed almost non-stop Friday night. On Saturday we had a beautiful, snow-covered day. The kids and I had fun outdoors throwing snowballs and generally goofing around. Here are a couple of videos showing our antics.

Goat-o-Rama

Last year a good friend and neighbor of ours asked Todd and Kenna if they wanted to participate in the 4-H Program and raise goats. It was hard (and STINKY) work but they did it and liked it. They showed and sold their goats at the Davis County Fair and had a great experience. Even though Alec was too young to officially participate, the same wonderful woman allowed him to show one of her other goats in the Pee Wee division. So fun.

Todd and Y-guy 2011

Kenna with Coffee and Cream 2011

Alec and Jupiter 2011

This year, Todd opted out but Kenna participated and enjoyed herself again. Alec also showed a goat in the Pee Wee division again. One day Alec told me he was excited to turn eight. I asked if it was because he could be baptized at that age. He answered, "Uh, nope. It's so I can be in 4-H."

Kenna and Man 2012

Alec and Man 2012

Alec Plays Hoops

Alec started his first season of youth basketball. He's having a lot of fun.

I have been Todd's coach for the past eight years, and volunteered to be Alec's coach this year. But, the city had enough people volunteer to coach and I wasn't needed. Instead, he is coached by the same person that coached his baseball team this past summer. There are ten kids on the basketball team, eight of which were also on the baseball team. The boys get along great.

Alec likes to shoot hoops in the back yard with Todd and me, and also plays basketball at school during recess. So, he already knows how to dribble and shoot. The coach has helped him learn to play defense. Today was the second game of the season. Here is a video of him scoring the first basket of the game:

 

We were in charge of giving treats to the boys after the game. I decided to give the boys something special. I gave them Capri Sun juice and Pringles chips. I put them in special Avenger's gift bags along with some Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk temporary tattoos.

Tonight the whole team is going to the Jazz game in Salt Lake. Alec is very excited.

Kenna's Grades

Kenna just finished her first term in junior high and we're extra proud of how well she's doing.
She was not looking forward to a new school and new classes, but she has worked hard and adapted quickly to the new routine. These are her grades for her first term.

 Be sure to congratulate Kenna the next time you see her.

Pumpkin Carving

We carve pumpkins for Halloween almost every year. This year, Kenna and Alec each carved one. We had two 40-pound pumpkins, so they had plenty of real estate to carve whatever they wanted. They both chose to carve something from their favorite computer game, Minecraft. Kenna's pumpkin featured the Minecraft logo, along with several "creepers."

Alec's pumpkin featured a large "ender dragon."

We saved the seeds from the pumpkins and roasted them in the oven, which is also something we do almost every year. They are not only a good-tasting snack, but the fact that it's a tradition makes them special. It's not just the candy that makes Halloween my favorite holiday. Well, maybe it is.

Brigham City Temple Open House

 In August Kenna, Alec, and I toured the Brigham City Temple before it was dedicated. Todd and Brent weren't able to join us because Todd was drumming in a video shoot for Alex Boye but he went the next day with the Young Men and Young Women in our ward. Kenna got a double viewing. (And yes, they let her in with her tattooed arm/hand. What is up with that habit?!) We don't have a picture of them but Stephanie, Wayne and their four crazy kids drove down from Pocatello to make it whole event a million times more fun.

As expected, it is a beautiful building. The artwork was interesting to me as many of the paintings depicted a local pastoral theme with peach orchards and foothill farms. I especially loved hoisting Alec to look into the mirrors the sealing room's opposing wall mirrors with Kenna and me. I love the thought of being with these kids (and the missing one) forever.