The Grand Oregonian Visit

My aunt, uncle and cousin came to visit us here in Utah for the last week in August. We had lots of fun. Along with all of the Skip-bo, Ripple, Speed Scrabble, Pirate's dice and other games we had some great excursions to some of Utah Valley's finest entertainment locations. The first was to the 'Provo Beach Resort.' It's only the most au courant hang out in the Provo-Orem area. As you can see to the right we spent some time on their double level, indoor ropes course. In this photo we were practicing blinking in unison.

 Chelsea was able to overcome her fear of heights while Ethan was quickly bored by the primitiveness of the course. Ethan decided to try his luck in the game room where he landed 1000 tokens with his first quarter. Keep him away from Nevada...far, far away.
Later in the week we made our way out of Utah county to the world renowned Boondocks in Draper, UT. Okay, so it's probably not WORLD renowned but it's super fun! They have mini-golf, go

carts, bumper boats, laser tag, a virtual reality theater and a feeling of child-like bliss wafting through the air. After go carts and bumper boats we hit the mini-golf course. How easily they all were convinced to clump together for this photo. As far as I'm concerned, I had the lowest score with Kevin in close second... but whose counting. After about nine of the eighteen holes we all began to feel a little anxious to reach the end. Some of those feelings resulted in silly actions as is seen below.


Later in the week we had a great time at Seven Peaks water park in Provo. The first day we were kicked out due to lightning storms. When we returned the next day we were determined to close out the park. We stayed until 8pm and were some of the last people on the rides. Security eventually escorted us to the exit when we refused to leave. All in all the week was filled with laughs and adventure leaving us all with a new bright perspective on the meaning of life!

No more nintendo (continued)

Things are easier after a while. I've been x box free for I think two or three weeks now. My time feels better spent. I've been reading more (Ensign, scriptures, etc.) and have found a lot more time to help Heidi around the house. I also am finding myself to be more patient calm and collected. My memory is better than usual and I feel much more efficient. Hurrah, for no Nintendo.

Heidi and I are going on a trip to Oregon for the week of the fourth of July. We are planning on having tons of fun with my aunt Debbie, uncle Kevin and their son Ethan. We are going to spend time camping, watching a civil war reenactment, lighting fireworks and thanking God for the great freedoms we have been blessed with. It will also be a good time for me to relax and recuperate from work.

Work is going well. I've been working hard in my new "Parts Management" position which includes just about anything needed of me at the shop. I recently had a little bit of a breakdown because I was feeling under demiciated (under appreciated) by my superiors and others at work. After a lengthy conversation with my Dad I found that the problems I thought I was having, I really wasn't. I've been focused too much on what others are doing and how they need to fix their bad habits. I need to readjust my thoughts to be directed towards myself. "How can I do better," "How can I help others," essentially "How can I be more like Christ." There have been times in my life where I find myself doing things the way I feel my Heavenly Father would have me do them. Those have been my happiest moments. I say "moments" because they never seem to be around for too long. The past few years those moments have become less frequent and I want to change that and am working hard to do so.

Video Games

I was sitting on the toilet yesterday (where most of my great ideas are revealed) and the idea came to me that I should throw away two of my video games. I did it today. I've already been going through withdrawals but I know that it will be for the best. They have been using up a lot of my time and I figure there are many other productive things I could and should be doing instead of shooting it up online. Some of you might think it was a pretty rash decision but I always come up with some excuse to jump on for a couple hours. It's not the answer for everyone but I think it's the only way to get the problem out of my life. I'll keep you all updated with how things go and maybe share with you what I learn and do during my newfound free time.

My painting.

Phone post!

This is officially the first post on my blog from my new phone... Sweet!

Date and time of incident: February 12th, 2011 at around 10:30 pm.
Incident: I hit a deer
While traveling east bound on 800 North in Orem Utah I was singing "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. The final verse was coming to an end and my wife and I had just passed the Cascade Golf Center. Things were looking peachy. We entered the area of the road where there are no street lights, the road slopes downward just before you reach the mouth of Provo Canyon. Leaping out of the black night appeared a young deer with sleek, shiny brown fur. Only inches in front of our vehicle there was no time to brake. The front driver's side of the vehicle contacted the very center of the deer's torso. He was flung up and over our vehicle landing in the middle of the road. I pulled onto a side street about a hundred feet down the road. My whole body was shaking and I couldn't stop replaying the last few seconds over and over in my head trying to make sense of what had happened. My wife was in a similar state. I quickly jumped out of the car to assess the damage. Fortunately, the damage was minimal compared to many other deer hits I've seen. Other than the shock of what had just happened we were both okay as well. Unfortunately the deer was completely pulverized. We called my parents to figure out what to do in the situation. My dad told me to call the police and then the insurance. After a quick conversation with the police department a couple police cars showed up to clear the road and make sure we were okay. After we got home we contacted our insurance and filed a claim. Unfortunately, our insurance policy did not include comprehensive insurance. We were stuck with the bill (which was minimal thanks to my friends at Cascade Collision Repair). The car is back to normal and running great. I had a friend say that once you've hit a deer, the likelihood of hitting another one increases. I told him that wasn't funny.