Jason and Adrienne

Pregnancy over time ;-)

2010-12-21T15:00:00.003-07:00

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...and other things

2010-12-21T12:23:00.004-07:00

Ok folks, I am a slacker. Not a part time slacker, but at consistent slacker. I've come to this conclusion because of how little I have been putting on our blog. We have been so blessed over the last several months that I don't really know where to start. Adrienne is doing great with the pregnancy. She never had morning sickness and all our visits with her doctor show the baby developing perfectly. Ade is definitely more tired than normal, but I try to help out where I can.

Our good friend Henry gave us tickets to a BYU Football game back in November. The weather was great and we sat near the front at mid-field. I took a couple of pictures to commemorate the event. I think the final score was 55-7. It was tons of fun and we even got to bring along a couple of our friends, Jeff and Julie (who took the photo of us).

Both sets of parents were came out to Utah over Thanksgiving and I cooked up most of my usual fare. The turkey was yummy! So were the potatoes, stuffing, cornbread pudding, and everything else. It was really fun to get to see family over the holidays.

Henry has also sent us to a few basketball games. I went to one with my Dad around Thanksgiving and two with my wife...who has become a huge fan of BYU Basketball. The team is 10-1 and really plays well together. Great intensity on defense without fouling and nice offensive rhythm.

The third picture is from this morning. We got about 8 inches Sunday night...which I cleared. Then last night we got another foot or 18 inches. Anyways, this is a shot of our driveway with a friend and I clearing it. I'm sure the snow plow made my driveway impassable while I was at work and I'll have to clear it out again when I get home. TONS of snow...to say the least.

Due Date March 10th!

2010-11-01T11:38:00.005-06:00

I have been holding off posting on this blog for a while because I wanted to wait a little longer to post about Adrienne's pregnancy. She's nearly 22 weeks now and last week we found out she is having a boy! The important news is that everything is progressing well and the baby is healthy and due on March 10th.

I have included a scan of a few ultrasound photos below. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

Jason and Adrienne

Photo Problems

2010-09-30T15:38:00.003-06:00

Why can't I get photos to post right the first time?

Anyways, 2nd try.

Tuacahn and Zion's National Park

2010-09-30T14:36:00.005-06:00

We took a weekend trip down to St George and stayed with some old friends. When I say old, I've known them since I was 9 years old. I was even at their house when my little sister was born. We stayed with Allen and Tammy (the parents) but most of the kids live down there now as well.

Friday night we went to the Tuacahn Theater and saw Tarzan the Musical. It was amazing, fantastic, exciting, phenomenal....you get the idea. Just imagine an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by beautiful red rock cliffs with a natural river that can be diverted to flood the stage. Apes swinging all over the place, people singing, dancing, fun for everyone. I think I was most impressed with Turk. Imagine swinging upside down, while spinning, and STILL SINGING ON KEY. It truly was impressive.

Saturday was a free pass day at all National Parks. We drove up to Zion's with my friend Brad and we (Adrienne, Brad, and I) all hiked Angel's Landing together. The guy who named the peak said that to get to the top someone would need "angel's wings". Here's a couple shots from the hike.

This first shot makes it look much worse than it is. This shows approximately the last fourth of the hike (time wise). You have posts and chains to hold onto and the footing is very solid.

This is one of the views from the top. Absolutely gorgeous. If you look closely you can see the buildings at the start of the hike waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below.

Here's one with Ade immitating the warning sign. I've even got Brad looking on behind her to the left.

Last, but not least, here is Brad on a part of the trail that is called "Walt's Wiggle". It's a series of small, but extremely steep switchbacks at about the halfway point. I've seen pictures of it from above and it looks kind of like a zipper. I had to include it in honor of my dear Grandpa (who's first name was Walt).

Lake Powell Photos - Click for bigger images

2010-09-08T14:36:00.007-06:00

I realized a little late that I didn't upload the images at the size I normally do. You can click on them now to see them full screen.

Lake Powell 2010

2010-09-07T13:44:00.006-06:00

We had another great vacation with our cousins at Lake Powell this year. A couple more storms than usual, but they didn't stick around. Beautiful skies, smooth water, and an overall good time was had by all. We were there from the 11th through the 20th of August. Joining us on our "cruise" this year with Eric and Machelle and their three kids were some other cousins, Marci and Evan with three of their kids. We hadn't seen them since the last time they came out to Lake Powell 8-10 years ago.

I've got a bunch of pictures I would like to share. I'll see how many I can get in this post.

It will be tough to narrow down the choices. The first shows off the latest thing in boating...it's called wake surfing. You can actually surf the wake behind a boat if it is going the right speed (8-10 MPH) and you have it weighted right (all on the side you are trying to surf. It's a blast and falls don't hurt at all because the speed is so much slower than other activities.

Picture #2 shows off just how beautiful the sky can be at Lake Powell.

Ade and I went on a hike with Machelle, Matt, and Robbi (Kayla). Here's a shot from the top of the ridge we climbed.

And here's another shot from almost the same vantage point. You can see our ski boat (Wipeout) way down below on the lake.

It has been a few years since I tried slalom skiing. They have a beginner ski and Eric's ski. The beginner ski hurts my back foot and Eric's ski is pro level (very very difficult). I had never tried Eric's since everyone basically said it would be virtually impossible for me to control it coming out of the water...well after 3 tries I proved I could. By the way, I was being pulled at 34 MPH at this point. I didn't wreck, I just got too tired and let go. This really works your core muscles.

And here is Eric showing how slalom skiing is really done on his own ski. He is usually being pulled between 38 and 40 MPH depending on how smooth the water is.

Summer of Slack

2010-07-30T12:15:00.003-06:00

I decided that I have become a complete slacker on my blog...to make up for it I've redesigned the background. Come to the blog site and check it out!

We've been busy with last minute family visits, callings, recovering from surgery, and all sorts of other things. I signed up for a city league soccer team and can't wait to start the season tomorrow. It's been about 12 years since I played on a team of any kind (BYU intramural) and 18 years since the one before that.

Knee Recovery and Priest Man-to-Man

2010-06-20T21:28:00.002-06:00

It's been another few weeks since the last post so I should catch everyone up on a few things. My knee is doing much better. I've been riding an exercise bike for 1/2 hour a few times a week. I'm fine going up and down stairs and feel good doing most activities. I'm still not allowed to run (1 more week) or jump (4 more weeks). I can't wait to finally get back to my normal sports.

This last weekend we had our bi-annual Man-to-Man activity. Basically it is a huge father and son outing for all the priests (16-18 year old boys) in our stake. We went up the canyon to a camp area and stayed overnight. Friday night we had dutch oven prime rib (3 varieties) as well as potatoes, veggies, cobbler, ice cream...all kinds of yum. To finish off the evening we had a great fireside program. In the morning (after a great breakfast), we gave the youth and dads a chance to compete against each other in some shooting sports (rifles, pistols, and shotguns). The shotgun competition was the most organized. We had an elimination game with 5-6 at a time. Then we took the winners of each group and had a championship round. I snuck through my first round against some less than accurate shooters but got in some valuable practice. When it was time for the championship I surprised everyone by winning the whole thing! Pretty good for someone who hasn't shot a shotgun in about 7 years. They were even throwing types of skeet I'd never seen before. They had regulars, minis, mosquitos (very small and black), battues (very flat and black), and even a lollipop thrower. All in all it was a great time for everyone and we had a blast putting it together.

My mom had surgery this week. Nothing too serious and she is recovering well. She has a young man from the neighborhood coming by to help walk the dogs and help her out as needed.

Well, I hope all my friends and family had a great Fathers' Day. Take care and hopefully we'll keep up on this blog better in the weeks to come.

Wow! Almost Two Months!

2010-05-30T20:15:00.005-06:00

I've been quite remiss in keeping up with our online blog/journal. I'll have to summarize several events to catch up. I'll explain them in approximately the same order they happened. Adrienne has been swamped with a couple of audits at work, so she wasn't able to go to a few of these things.

First, our dear friends Kim and Dan celebrated Kim graduating from UVU. She earned her degree in Elementary Education. I was able to go and take some photos for them and we went out to dinner later that night.

The very next week, my brother-in-law, Austin, graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in business finance. I hadn't seen my sister and her husband in way too long. It was quite a bit of fun to catch up with them and see all of his family.

Then I headed out to Missouri and Illinois to help out my parents. My mom picked me up from the airport in St. Louis and we drove out to Peoria, Illinois so that she could sign the papers to sell their old house. Both parents were a little sad to sell the house, but it didn't seem like they would find a way to move back there in the near future and it was a bit of a hassle to keep it rented. We drove back through St. Louis the next day and continued on through to Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri (where they live now). They had been renting one home, but it sold, so I helped them move their stuff over to a new rental. My time flew by while out visiting them and soone we headed back to St. Louis to put me on a plane. Before I left, though, we stopped by the giant arch and took some pictures.

Our team finished up the Payson Coed Volleyball season by winning the middle level tournament. We had been undefeated during the regular season so they bumped us up to the Flight 2 tournament. It took all we had, but we were able to finish the championship game 2-1. We won athletic bags for each team member and a $50 gift certificate for the whole team to have a victory party at a local pizza joint.

In the Spanish Fork Coed Volleyball league we played in a much harder league (the top level). We ended up 4th during the regular season, but fought our way to third in the tournament. No prizes, but we had a ton of fun.

Adrienne had her annual MRI to check on her Multiple Sclerosis. Once again the doctor was astounded at how good she is doing. None of the lesions are progressing and some are even shrinking. It's great news for both of us. Her doctor thinks that the way my wife exercises and her diet must be how she is able to continue such positive results.

As soon as volleyball ended I had scheduled to have knee surgery. My knee has been bothering me for a couple of years and the orthopedist discovered that I have an "Osgood Schlatter's" variant...which basically means that they needed to cut open my knee and remove an extra piece of bone from my patella tendon. Fun, right? On May 18th, we went into the hospital and they performed it as an outpatient procedure.

My mom came out to visit and take care of me as I recovered (since Adrienne could only take off 1 day from work). She was a huge help for both of us and really made the whole situation better. I was pretty loopy for the first few days due to the anesthesia and lortab, but soon switched to ibuprofen. It's now been about 12 days since the surgery and I'm not even using crutches anymore. I've got a doctor's appointment one week from this Friday. I think he'll be removing the stitches. In the meantime, I need to start riding our exercise bike to begin rehabbing the knee.

Another part of mom coming out to visit was to bring out my dad's old Camry. It's one year newer than my Accord and it has about 70,000 less miles on it so we think we can keep it for a while. My parents bought my old Accord to pass onto one of my cousins. We were very grateful for this exchange because they paid just enough to cover the cost of both my surgery and my wife's MRI.

Now we are down to the two most important events of the last couple of months. Our brother-in-law Will is a Marine. He came home from Afghanistan yesterday. I am grateful and humbled by his service for our country. He got off the bus at Camp Williams and hugged his wife and 1rst daughter, then got to meet his second daughter for the very first time. It was a touching moment and we felt privilege to be there. Of course he also got to see many of his brothers and sisters and his mom too.

Last, but not least, today is Adrienne's birthday. We did most of the celebrating during the week, so today we decided to take it easy and rest.

I will do my best get back to consistency in posting on her for the future. Also, maybe I can post a bunch of pictures for the things that have been transpiring recently.

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! May we all never forget the sacrifices of those that protect our freedom!

Conference Weekend and Easter

2010-04-04T13:32:00.002-06:00

We didn't have any big plans for the weekend. Just sitting around the house in our pajamas watching General Conference. It is always great to hear the messages of hope and faith.

Today is Sunday, Easter Sunday even. We are having Heidi, Trevor, and Stephanie with her two little ones over for dinner. I've never done much with a crock pot, but decided to try out a recipe online for a roast. I hope it turns out all right. Hopefully we can have Sarah and Austin come down sometime soon.

New Furniture

2010-03-18T15:28:00.004-06:00

It took quite a bit of effort to finally get all the furniture in the house and assembled. We didn't realize how much work it was actually going to take. But the furniture is in and pretty much all of our stuff is moved over. It is so nice to finally have bedroom furniture that we picked out ourselves. We had been using furniture that my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 5 or 6.

We stayed with Andrea and Brent again in St. George on our way to and from the tournament. While in Vegas we stayed at the Rio and even made time to hang out by the pool for a little while. It wasn't quite warm enough to swim in the pool, but we did take a dip in the hot tub.

On the basketball side, BYU lost to UNLV in the semi-finals. It was a tight, hard-fought game. I hate it when I feel this way, but I truly feel the refs decided the game in the final minute. They weren't great during the game, but were even worse in the deciding moments. On the other side, BYU played their first round NCAA tournament game today and won...99-92 in double overtime. They fought hard and we able to come out victorious over some adversity.

Busy Times

2010-03-08T21:10:00.003-07:00

I really will get better at posting. We're headed down to St. George and Vegas this weekend for two purposes. We are going to St. George to pick up the furniture we ordered last month. We're then going the rest of the way to Vegas to watch some of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament. BYU has a tough road this year. Assuming we make it to the semifinals, we'll face UNLV on their home floor. If we make it through that game, then we'll most likely have UNM in the finals (just the #8 team in the country).

While we're down south I hope we get to see Lauren and Jimmy's new baby boy (Julian). It always seems as though we are running too and fro. I'll be sure to make more time to write moving forward.

St. George Weekend/Valentine's Day

2010-02-22T15:26:00.004-07:00

We had a great trip down to visit our friends in St. George. We stayed with Brent, Andrea, and little Gabriel. He has become such a cute kid. When Ade and I would eat cereal for breakfast, he would alternate between us asking "please" in sign language to give him a bite of our cereal. It was adorable so how could we resist?

Part of the reason for the trip was to finally use the $250 gift certificate for Ashley Furniture we won last year. We finally (after 10 years of marriage) decided on a bedroom set that we both liked the style and the price. We also got a couple of end tables and a coffee table for the front room. We'll have to post some pictures later when they make it to our house.

Sunday was Valentine's day. After going to church with Andrea and Brent we headed over to the Todds' house. It was great catching up with everyone there. Tiffany and Colby's kids are getting so big, as are Tyler and Brooks. Lauren is due with her third on the 2nd of March and Jimmy was gracious enough to take some photos for us. I think I'll end with some photos that he took. Keep in mind, these are the unadjusted versions. He was going to send us some touched up later.

Catching Up

2010-02-08T20:26:00.002-07:00

We've been running all over like usual. A friend gave me a couple tickets to the BYU basketball game against TCU. Ade couldn't make it but Dan came and it was a blast. The seats were way up high, but we had the whole row to ourselves so we could spread out and be comfortable. The best part? BYU won by 20.

Too bad they ran into a buzz saw last Saturday. UNLV whooped us pretty badly. They hit their first 9 three-point shots. Even their center was draining shots from down-town. BYU is a good team, but there are just some nights when the other team just can't miss.

Thursday night we are heading down to St. George this weekend to have a little getaway. We won a $250 gift certificate to a furniture store last year...and just haven't had time to use it (since it is in St. George).

BYU Volleyball and Physical Therapy

2010-01-29T09:56:00.003-07:00

On my birthday, Adrienne gave me a "Voucher" that promised she would take me to a BYU Volleyball game. Last Friday she made good on the promise and we went to see the BYU vs Stanford game. It was a blast. We got there early and were able to sit right on the baseline. Normally we are in the first or second row by the net, but this offered a whole new perspective. You could see just how much the ball moves on those rocket jump serves. The best part was that BYU won!!!

I've been doing physical therapy for right knee tendinitis over the past 3 weeks or so. My therapist believes in "soft tissue remodeling" to help build your body back the way it needs to be. It's truly not a pleasant experience, but it does seem to help. Also there are exercises and stretches that I do to help the overall process. The good side of enduring the physical therapy is that I am now able to play volleyball again, but I have to stop if it hurts again. If you want to get an idea of what I'm talking about...do a google search on ASTYM or Graston physical therapy (two different ways to do the "soft tissue remodeling"). I don't think you can understand just by seeing it online just how unpleasant, and painful, it is.

Fun Date Weekend

2010-01-17T20:33:00.002-07:00

After a long week of work and busy-ness, we got a nice night at home playing cards and eating dinner in the family room.

And on Saturday we were able to go to BYU with some friends to see the Living Legends, an ethnic dance group. We went with the right friends too because our friend Dan who is half Navajo and half Apache recognized most of the Native American dances and could tell us about them. We also took Jason to Olive Garden and finally converted him to the diverse tastes of the pasta palace. Who can resist alfredo and bread sticks? Not me!

Jason is slowly taking care of his painful knee. Too many days without volleyball and basketball have finally pushed him over the edge and he can now be found with a thick rubber band doing thigh-master type exercises. We are both hoping the process will be worth it so he can join the family traditions of sports again (and not just watching them on the sidelines with Adrienne and friends).

We wish congrats to BYU football for ending 12th in national rankings and to BYU volleyball for starting their season out strong. We can't wait to see you next weekend against Stanford. GO COUGARS - HIT IT HARD!

-- Thinking of you all, Adrienne

CPR Certification

2010-01-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Adrienne and I got certified in CPR a couple days ago with Heidi and Trevor. It's pretty nice to have a friend that is an official instructor. We should get our cards in the next couple of months.

My new work is changing offices at the end of this month. I'll finally have my own space and it will be much better for all the employees.

I'll try to write more in the weeks to come, but we've just been so busy lately.

BYU Bowl Game

2010-01-03T20:48:00.003-07:00

Well, this is a little late, but I wanted to make sure I did a post about the BYU bowl game this year against Oregon State. We came in as 3 point underdogs, but won 44 to 20. It was a crazy windy day and our team adjusted to the conditions much better than our opponents. Oh yeah, and it was FREEZING.

Here is a photo of the flag they used during the Star Spangled Banner. The band and cheer leaders had to come out and help the servicemen hold it down because the wind was blowing in gusts up to 50 miles per hour.

The second shot is just to prove I was there. You can see the far sideline is emptying out because the game had gotten out of hand by this point.

Temple Square and a Bird

2009-12-28T20:35:00.003-07:00

A couple weeks ago Ade and I went up to temple square for dinner and to see the Christmas lights. Here are a couple of pictures from that night.

This first picture shows statues of Mary, Joseph and Jesus (in the manger).

Here is a photo of some of the lights and a fountain on temple square.
This is a copy of the Christus statue by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

And finally, we had a bird fly in the house. It must have come inside while I was shoveling the front sidewalk. About an hour after we came inside it flew out from the front room. The next 15-20 minutes were spent laughing as we tried to get it to fly back out the front door. We made sure to get a photo for memory's sake.

Florida Friends Visit

2009-12-21T09:50:00.003-07:00

Mark and Ginger came out to Utah for a few days and watch their daughter, Bailey, perform in the Nutcracker in Ogden. She didn't have a large role (it was her first time dancing with this company), but her performance was fantastic. She and her friend really stood out among all the dancers.

We ate dinner up in Ogden at a nice Italian Restaurant named Zucca Trattoria. We were really impressed with the food...but slightly disappointed by the service (think molasses).

Our friends didn't know anyone else out here so we had them over for Sunday dinner. The Salmon, Chicken, and Spaghetti Squash all turned out great! It was quite a bit of fun to reminisce about our Lake Powell vacation from the summer.

BYU Bet

2009-12-17T13:49:00.002-07:00

I'd like to thank my Brother-In-Law, Austin, for sticking to the bet. BYU beat Utah in Football this year and he manned up to the consequences. Here he is...wearing his BYU tie proudly. My sister says there are some better photos available but hasn't sent them over yet.

BYU Basketball

2009-12-07T13:08:00.003-07:00

Our good friend Henry invited us to go to the BYU basketball game on Saturday up at the Energy Solutions Arena. They do games there once or twice a year (not sure why). Anyways the tickets were in the third row so we were just above eye-level with the players.

BYU won and we had a blast. Elder Oaks was directly opposite us in the same row. It was fun watching him clap along to the fight song.

It snowed a bit Saturday and it is supposed to snow pretty much straight through Wednesday. It's beautiful, but it always takes a few days for drivers to remember how to handle snow on the roads. We're headed up to dinner at "The Roof" in Salt Lake City for a Christmas Party. I hope that traffic is reasonable.

Australia Trip Review

2009-12-01T10:37:00.014-07:00

Ok, here is the mother of all posts. I'm going to try to cover the majority of the events of the Australia trip in one shot.

We landed in Australia on Saturday the 29th of November around mid-day. We were tired, bedraggled and our feet were even swollen from sitting so long. Chi Nam took us out to lunch at Hien Vuong in Footscray. We had Pho which was amazing. It was so good that Adrienne decided that she now understands why I like Vietnamese food (previously she only put up with it, not hating it but not liking it either). My and Ammon (her fiance) got home later that night and we caught up on the plans for the week.

Sunday we went to church in Footscray Ward and saw some of the people I knew years before when I was a missionary. The Vietnamese branch has been dissolved and they meet with the Aussie ward now. Bishop Toi was visiting (he's in the Stake Presidency now) and Chu Gio was there as well. There is a huge shopping center right next to the church now...it's pretty bizarre. I found my old Yarraville flat and took a picture outside for old time's sake.

Sunday afternoon and evening was spent first preparing, then eating, Thanksgiving dinner. It was a few days early, but we wanted to share the experience with a bunch of people. I cooked turkey, stuffing, corn bread pudding (another form of dressing), and Pumpkin Pie Cake. David Tran brought some chicken, someone else brought a quiche and Khanh brought potato salad (which was truly yummy). Most of them didn't really know the story behind Thanksgiving so I took a few minutes to explain it to them.

The best part of the dinner, for me, was the dessert. We didn't have canned pumpkin, so we used real pumpkin. We didn't have pumpkin pie spice, or even normal cinnamon. We did have cinnamon bark. So we shredded the bark and put it into a pepper grinder. Then Nam went on to grind it 4 or 5 times (she just kept reloading it). I threw it in the mix and it turned out AMAZING! Here's a photo of the event. From left to right: Adrienne, Khanh, Lana, Jane, My, Ammon, Eden, Jenny, Rodney, Nam, and David. I took the photo...so I'm invisible.

Monday we headed downtown to see the city a bit. We took the train from Footscray down to Flinder's Street and walked around a bit. I can't believe how much the city has changed. I think all the bad areas have been turned into shopping and restaurants.

Tuesday we headed up through Sunshine and St. Albans. On the way back down we found the bowling alley the missionaries went to a couple times while we were there. It's right by the train station. Since I was feeling nostalgic, Adrienne humored me with a couple of games. Later, we went down to the city again. This time we shopped for souvenirs at Queen Victoria Market and went down to check out Rod Laver Arena (where they play the Australian Open). We got a bunch of smaller items for friends and family members...we even got a couple things for ourselves. Here's a shot of the city circle tram we rode.

Wednesday was a whole different kind of adventure. We went down to the Werribee Zoo. When we got there, we found out about a "ute" (ute = Australian for off-road vehicle) tour that you could do. Basically we did a safari style tour around the zoo. We went out to see the Giraffes, Rhinos, Camels, African Deer, Antelope, etc. It was a total blast. Then we went around the zoo to see some of the animals at feeding time. We just missed the lions eating, so they were pretty lazy when we got there. He's a nice shot of one (don't worry, I was behind some glass when I took this photo). Notice the drool...

That night we tried to hunt down where Chi Lieu is living now. I had heard she bought a house in Coburg and even had an address that was a few years old. We used the navigation in the rental car to get there. But when we knocked on the door the very old vietnamese lady who answered said that Lieu didn't live there anymore. Then she brought us in and pointed to a phone number on her white board and handed me her phone. So I called the number and a young man answered. He said she lived there, but wasn't home at the moment (most of this is translated from a Vietnamese conversation). I got his address and we drove there. When we got to that house we saw another Vietnamese guy and I asked him if Chi Lieu was back yet and he said that she was on holiday (vacation). I asked if he was sure and then he realized he misunderstood the name I asked and led me around back. Chi Lieu lives in the bungalow out back. So now I knocked on that door and a young man answered. She wasn't home still, but I persuaded him to let Adrienne and I wait inside for her (he seemed weirded out by the request). We waited probably an hour and there comes Chi Lieu walking her bicycle. She saw me threw the windows and had a look of surprise. She's married now to an old high school friend and the young man was her step son. She goes to church at Glenroy Ward and she is just as wonderful as ever. By the way, the Footscray missionaries didn't even know who she was. And the old lady at the other house was her mother-in-law.

Thursday we headed out towards the great ocean road (right after a quick stop at High Point shopping center). We went the quick way out. Headed straight out to Colac and went south to Cape Otway. We first visited the "Otway Fly Tree Top Walk". The hike takes about an hour and for about half of it you are hiking on a suspended trail that is almost 80 feet above the ground (maybe 150-175 feet to the top of the tower). Then we went over to Triplet Falls. This hike also takes about an hour normally. Of course, being a rain forest, it rained on us about halfway through so we we a bit quicker to finish. We drove the rest of the way to our hotel in Port Campbell, had a nice dinner and went to bed. Here's a shot of the Otway Fly trail from the top of the tower.

After we got up in the morning on Friday (OUR TEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!), we had breakfast in our amazing hotel room, showered and headed out on the Great Ocean Road. We stopped by the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge first taking plenty of photos. Then we stopped by this little wilderness park. When we drove up, no one was around and we almost left. Then we heard someone mowing grass somewhere and hunted them down. It was just $10 to get in with a back of feed for the animals so we decided to give it a shot. At first it was pretty mundane feeding some exotic birds in cages and such. Then we rounded the corner and there were several wallabies hanging around. We got to feed them right out of our hands and even pet them. They were very gentle and pretty amazing in their own way. Then we saw some deer, Jerusalem Donkeys, Emus, and Kangaroos. The owner came out and let us into the paddock with the Kangaroos and we got to feed them from our hands too. There were even a couple mammas with baby Joeys sticking their heads out. The last stop was the Koala area. He let us in with them too, but said that they weren't very friendly so it would be best to not try to feed them. Then he recommended we stop by Red Johanna Beach. When we go there, we saw a couple cars in the parking lot. We walked over to the beach area and found it completely deserted. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Then we stopped headed to Apollo Bay and Lorne. We stopped for a bit in Lorne to lay on the beach and watch the waves. I just love that drive along the coast. We finished up with a quick dinner in Geelong and headed back home to Nam's. They were in the final stages of wedding preparation.

Saturday Morning we headed to the Temple on the other side of town. The weather had forecasted rain, but all we had throughout the wedding and reception was sunshine. It only rained after it was all done.

Yes, that is a Hummer Limo that she chose to have drive the wedding party from the Temple to the reception hall. The reception was fantastic. We sat with a bunch of My's friends. The food was really nice. They had a first dance, then called the wedding party and parents to come out and dance. Ade and I saw that My's mom wasn't going out, so I went and danced with her myself. It did take some considerable convincing to get her to come out on the dance floor though.

After the party we drove Nam's sister (Binh) and neice (Y) home to Dandenong in the rain and headed home again. Sunday we packed up and headed to the airport. We had one bad flight in all our travels. Coming back from Sydney to LA the entertainment system was broken. No movies or TV to pass the time (there were 4 movies scheduled). Oh, and the plane was LATE. In LA we had to get our baggage and go through customs before we could board the flight to San Francisco. We had to RUN once we got through security and barely made it. We left at 1 PM Melbourne time on Sunday and got to our home at 10 PM Utah time on the same day...even though we had traveled for more than 24 hours. We are still readjusting to the time zone changes on the way back.

Australia Fun

2009-11-27T03:57:00.004-07:00

So this trip has been a whirlwind so far. I don't have much time (I'm on a borrowed computer) but have a look at some of these pictures.

Here's Flinder's Street station in downtown Melbourne.

And here's a shot of Adrienne and I at the 12 Apostles rock formation along the great ocean road.

Getting ready for Australia

2009-11-16T21:56:00.002-07:00

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks. My mom came out to visit Utah. My parents had been thinking of buying a home out this way to eventually retire too...and they picked one out. Looks like they will close on the house next Tuesday. In the meantime, my mom has been going back and forth between my sister's apartment, my house, and our friends' home (Kay and Henry).

Ade and I bought some items for our trip over the weekend. We even got a couple of suitcases to make sure we had some of the right size (thanks to mom and dad buying one of the two). We leave on our trip Thursday and we can hardly wait. We'll try to post activities and photos as often as possible while we are gone.

Seattle Trip

2009-11-06T22:37:00.005-07:00

This last week I had a business trip in Seattle. I hadn't been back there since 1996 when I had my mission farewell. It's such a beautiful city. You've got mountains and lakes all around. I had some wonderful seafood and had lunch on top of the Space Needle. In between meetings I even took a side trip to visit the Seattle Temple.

Of course there was a business purpose to the trip. I had meetings with our graphics design firm and a possible PR group. All in all the trip was a success.

Here's a photo from the restaurant on top of the Space Needle and one at the Seattle Temple.

Sunday Dinner

2009-10-25T21:56:00.002-06:00

We just had some friends and family over for Sunday dinner. My sister and her husband came down with our friends Dane and Bailey from Salt Lake City. I can't believe it took us two and a half months to finally get Bailey down here. We promised to have her over when we were down in Lake Powell, but it's hard when she doesn't have her own car. The food was great and the company too.

I'll be headed up to Seattle for a business trip in less than two weeks. That will be my first time back up that way since my mission farewell. I can't believe it's been more than 13 years. I'll have to take some pictures while up up there.

BYU was thumped in football this week by TCU. There's no other way to put it. We were outplayed in every facet of the game. Oh well, there's always next week.

Helping out friends

2009-10-18T14:36:00.002-06:00

We have some good friends that bought a house up the canyon from us. It's at a beautiful scenic spot, but they had to completely gut the house. Adrienne and I have been up there a couple of times to help tear things down and redo some of the wiring. Yesterday was particularly interesting because we found some dead animals under one of the floors that we tore out. It actually looked like a cat had killed a bird and then had died somehow while eating it.

BYU has kept up their winning ways in football. First we blew out UNLV, then we had a bit of a close game with San Diego State. They don't seem quite as consistent as I could wish, but hopefully they get it together for next week's game. We play TCU at home on Saturday night.

BYU wins again

2009-10-05T21:23:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! I need to get more consistent with my posts. Another busy week and another BYU football victory. It's a shame that the team didn't play well against FSU, but they seem to be coming together pretty well the last couple of weeks.

Ade and I bought our plane tickets for Australia. We'll be gone from November 19th through November 29th. It's partly for our 10 year wedding anniversary and partly so that we can go to a friends wedding. We can't wait to go.

Most of the weekend was spent watching General Conference for our church. It's always inspiring to listen to the words of our church leaders. My favorites were Elder Bednar on Saturday and Elder Holland on Sunday. Maybe I can put some links in from those talks later.

Keeping our word

2009-09-27T15:31:00.003-06:00

So BYU lost that football game against FSU a week ago and Adrienne and I had to make good on our bets. As such, here is a photo of Adrienne wearing FSU gear to work and one of me wearing an FSU tie to church.

New Job and BYU Football

2009-09-20T22:00:00.003-06:00

So I'm all set with the new job. We are so blessed in our lives. I can't believe how well this all worked out. I'll be a PR Specialist with this new company and work directly with our good friend Henry (who is the CEO). The benefits are great and this company really seems to care for the employees. I am grateful for the many good friends I have in my life that really try to look after my family.

Saturday, BYU was beaten rather badly by FSU in football. It's unfortunate for many reasons, but the one that comes to mind currently is the bet I made this summer. Now I am required (as a matter of personal integrity) to wear an FSU tie to church. I will even document the event with photographic evidence and post it on this blog. Everyone knows I am a big BYU fan so it will take some explaining for everyone to understand why I have traded colors for a day.

Adoption Update and New Job

2009-09-15T20:42:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we met with our new adoption case worker. She stopped by our house to renew our Home Study for another year. It was great to put a face to the name and get to know her a little bit. We are all approved again for another year and just hope that things work out for us to adopt sooner rather than later.

I am starting work at a new job this Friday at Millenniatta, Inc. My new boss is in Japan most of this week, so I am just studying up at home about the new company. On Friday we'll meet at the office so that I can fill out all the employment paperwork. I'll be working on their PR with two others.

UVU Volleyball on Labor Day

2009-09-12T13:11:00.002-06:00

I teamed up with one of our friend's sons for the tournament. He's 17 and really just picked up volleyball about a year ago. Of course his dad played for BYU Hawaii years ago so he has a bit of an advantage. I like this shot because not only am I hitting, but Caleb has his hands on his hips. It's like he's thinking to himself, "well I've done all I can do, now it's up to him". Next time we play, I'm sure his dad will work on him with covering the block. We didn't have any breaks at all so I didn't have the opportunity to go take pictures of Adrienne this time. I really only got to see her play for about 60 seconds the whole day.

BYU vs Oklahoma

2009-09-12T12:23:00.004-06:00

Labor day weekend we had an amazing opportunity. Through the generosity of dear friends we were able to go to the BYU vs. Oklahoma Football game at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. It was 15,000 BYU fans vs. 60,000 Sooner faithful (it's only about a 3 hour drive from their campus). The odds in Vegas were that we would lose by 22 or more, but we pulled it out in the end. 14-13 winning on a 4th quarter touchdown drive. Probably the funnest football game Adrienne and I have ever been to.

This first picture is the outside of the stadium. It is unbelievably large. That said, 1/3 of it is below ground. You can't even see the field from the outside windows because it is so far below ground level.

There is a 60 yard wide HD monitor inside to watch game action and replays (actually there are two...one facing each sideline). This was a great shot of the BYU logo.

We flew out on Southwest Airlines. In a strange twist of chance, we were on the flight with the entire BYU cheer squad. They were practicing lifts during the layover in Albuquerque. They even sang the BYU fight song over the loudspeaker on the plane.

Here's a shot of most of those in our group right after the game ended. The Sooner fans took off immediately but most of the BYU fans stuck around to cheer the team and enjoy the moment. From left to right we have Diana, Trent, Dave, Carol, Adrienne and Jason (me).

On Labor Day itself, we played in a 2-2 volleyball tournament at UVU. I'll have to share a picture or two from that later. I took 2nd on the men's side and Adrienne took 3rd on the women's side. It was a lot of fun, but I was cramping up in my right calf the last 3 games of the tournament. I think Caleb and I would have had a good chance of winning it all if I had been in better condition (we lost by two in the championship).

Football Cometh

2009-09-02T21:06:00.003-06:00

For those who don't know, my Uncle Larry passed away last Friday night. His funeral was last night and my parents were able to stay in Wisconsin long enough to attend. I wish that I would have had the chance to see him more in recent years. We should all take the time to be with those we care about whenever we can.

I can't believe we find ourselves in the month of September. Adrienne are flying down to Dallas to watch the BYU/Oklahoma game. Football season is here and we will probably be in the box for each of the home games. I hope that it's a good season and the team plays well.

I'll try to keep up with this better in the weeks to come. It's just been crazy busy since we got back from Lake Powell.

Catching up part 3 - Depeche Mode

2009-08-26T15:08:00.004-06:00

Last night we went with some friends to the Depeche Mode concert at the E-Center. They really are a great band to see live because their sound quality in person is just like their CD's (but much louder). Anyways, it was a big treat for Adrienne because she is a huge fan.

Here they are rocking away.

And here we are enjoying the show.

Catching up part 2 - Uncle Larry

2009-08-26T15:01:00.002-06:00

I don't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post or not, but my Uncle Larry has been having serious health problems. All of his siblings (my dad's side of the family) and family have gathered as he will be passing soon. He has declined further treatment and feels that it is time to go. They are counting the hours now rather than weeks or even days. Uncle Larry's family was the one that I knew the best growing up. We'd see them every year or so for Thanksgiving or Christmas. He was always ready and willing to spend time with the kids and had a ready laugh. He and Aunt Margaret opened their home to foster children when they couldn't have any more themselves and I think they ended up adopting most of the ones that they had in their care. He is a good man and he will be missed. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Catching up part 1 - Lake Powell

2009-08-26T10:42:00.010-06:00

Sorry that we messed up our usual posting schedule last week. We were away at Lake Powell with our cousins (Eric, Machelle, Matt, Rachael, and Sable) and some of their friends from Florida (Mark, Ginger, Brian, and Bailey). It was a wonderful trip and it was great to meet our cousins' friends. Their daughter is starting school at the University of Utah and has a ballet scholarship. We were at the lake for 8 days and did all kinds of fun things.

This first shot has Sable and Bailey getting bounced around on the tube the first day at the lake. Sable was tossed first, but Bailey followed right after.

We took a trip to "Hole in the Rock" and hiked to the top. This is the place that some Mormon Pioneers blasted and dug a path from the plateau down to the river (which is now a lake/reservoir) so that they could cross.
Here is the whole crew. We made sure and got a picture with everyone together and used my camera timer to get it done. From left to right and starting in the back row. Jason (me), Mark, Brian, Matt, Eric, Machelle, Bailey, Adrienne (my wife), Ginger, Sable and Rachael.
We actually did a few hikes this year. This one was up the San Juan at one of Machelle's favorite canyons. Makes Matt look rather small. I can't believe he is a freshman at FSU now.

The new toy this year was the Wake-Surfboard. Wake-surfing is done right behind the boat. You start with a rope. Once you find the groove you toss the rope and surf the wake just like a wave at the beach. Rachael was the best at it in our group so I thought I'd share a picture of her.

Here I am up the Escalante arm of the lake wake boarding. This shot looks nice, but a few seconds later I took a nose dive.

Youth Conference 2009

2009-08-12T22:58:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone. It seems I'm always claiming that we are busy...but we really are. Last weekend was our stake's youth conference. It was a great experience. We were there 3 days and each one represented past, present, or future with various activities and learning opportunities. I've included some of the pictures below.

The first day we had the youth take a pioneer trek and do some old fashioned games. This first photo shows a bunch of the youth in their pioneer clothes playing partner tag. That night we had a dance so they would have an opportunity to socialize.

Day 2 we went down to Payson Lakes where the youth swam and went around the lake in canoes. Later in the afternoon we had 4 guest speakers come and take turns talking about different aspects of their future.

Our stake president came up the last day to talk about their lives in the present. Then we dd various service projects around the camp and cleaned up. Right before leaving, one of the ward groups decided to hike up to the overlook into a canyon and I decided to join them. This last photo is a view from there.

My company had our summer party this week. It's always fun, and, as usual, we had it up at a park up Provo Canyon. Great food, good fun, and we even had a little volleyball action.

This weekend we are headed to Lake Powell with our cousins. We won't be able to post or be online until we get back. We can't wait to take this break and enjoy a little vacation with our extended family. I'll have plenty of pictures to share when we get back.

Will's Deployment

2009-08-05T21:30:00.003-06:00

It seems we are always busy this summer. Our garden is starting to produce some vegetables. We have one type of pest attacking our garden. I never new about Squash Bugs before now, but I've put some serious time in researching how to kill them. First, some squash are naturally resistant to the bugs (Butternut squash for instance). The only squash I am growing with problems is the Spaghetti squash. I've probably killed 100 of the little guys by now.

Will and Stephanie had a tough goodbye this week. Will is a reservist in the Marines and he's being deployed to Afghanistan. He's already been to Iraq and back, but he's being sent again. We met up with them at Camp Williams and with Will's mom and siblings to say goodbye. He'll be in San Diego for training approximately 3 months, then home for 10 days...then he's gone for about 9 months overseas. I've included some pictures for everyone.

Here's Will's oldest sister holding little Liberty before it's time to go.

Steph and Will just sitting together as we visited.

Will is a Sergeant in the Marines. He's assigned to an anti-tank light armored unit in the C (Charlie) company. Here's what it looks like. The one they will train in is an older model. The ones in Afghanistan actually have air conditioning.

This was their final goodbye before Will had to get on the bus to head out. It's tough to see loved ones separated like this, but I'm so proud of my brother-in-law. He's a good man.

This weekend Ade and I are headed up to Youth Conference for our Stake. We're taking all of the youth between 14-18 years old up to the camp. The theme for the year is from 1 Timothy 4:12. "Let no man dispise thy youth; but be thou and example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." We're going to try to have them look to the past for examples and reflect on how they can use those examples to guide their lives moving forward.

Stewart Falls

2009-07-25T20:32:00.002-06:00

Well, we were going to hike Stewart Falls AND go swimming, but we sorta ran out of time. But here's a couple photos from the hike. Since it is Pioneer Day weekend, there were tons of people around. This first photo had the fewest people people of all the ones I took.

And here's one with Adrienne. It was a little awkward to stand in the melted glacier water while we took the photo.

Lamb Days and "Singin' in the Rain"

2009-07-23T08:50:00.006-06:00

Last Friday we went to the Community/High School production of "Singin' in the Rain". We knew 3 adults and 3 kids in the play and sat in the 3rd row with several friends from our neighborhood. It was a blast and we were both really impressed with how well it was done. It's always amazing to me to see the amount of talent that can be found in one community. I loved watching the tap-dancing and they were really good singers.

Last Saturday we headed down with the Dan and his kids to enjoy a bit of Lamb Days in Fountain Green. Part of the various celebrations was a Co-ed 4's volleyball tournament. Our team consisted of Adrienne, Dan, Bryce (as a sub), and Kasilia (Dan's neice). We had a great time and took second place overall. The only team we lost to the entire day was the eventual champs. We lost 25-22 and 25-23 so they were really close games. Here are some photos from the event.

This first one is Dan's youngest, Tyson. He's a cute kid and surprisingly strong.

Here we have Adrienne getting ready to play some volleyball.

I am setting Adrienne so she can hit the ball.

And Adrienne delivers the big smash with Dan watching.

Finally, Kasilia is serving another ace (at least that's how I want to remember it). Bryce wasn't playing in this game so he graciously took photos of the rest of us.

I saw the SWAT truck!

2009-07-16T09:40:00.002-06:00

Last night I rode down to Fountain Green with my friend Dan. He was participating in their annual Lamb Days coed softball tournament. This tournament is interesting because you don't sign up teams, you just sign up in pairs (one guy and one girl). Then you are randomly assigned a team. It's just a fun event for the whole event to come out and enjoy everybody's company. An interesting thing happened on the way back.

When we got on the freeway, we started seeing cops going the opposite direction with their lights flashing. Between Nephi and Payson we saw 18 emergency vehicles. Most were Utah Highway Patrol or unmarked SUV's, but we saw a Fire Marshall, an ambulance and even the SWAT truck. It's basically a mini-sized semi. Needless to say, we were curious what was going on, but I didn't find out for hours. I guess there was a domestic dispute followed by a police standoff in Nephi, but there still aren't very many details available. Sounds like a sad story, but nobody got hurt. I had never seen anything like that before. 18 random emergency vehicles spaced a mile or two apart, all going the same direction, but no two together.

Catching up

2009-07-08T17:55:00.004-06:00

I'm finally up and about again. I got sick Friday night, July 3rd, and haven't really been very coherent since then. My neighbor is a doctor and he decided that I had Bronchitis. It's pretty sad that I missed all the 4th of July celebrations, but I was lucky to have friends and family to look after me. I'll just have to find some other fireworks celebrations to see since I missed the 4th. I was excited to try the "fireworks setting" on my camera.

Facebook is an amazing website. It is fascinating to make contact with old friends that you haven't seen in years. One such friend is going to stop by in about 10 minutes. Mike is moving from North Carolina back to Washington and decided to make a stop in Utah to catch up. He's a great guy and I can't wait to meet his three stepkids (his wife is in training in Missouri). He'll be stationed in Ft. Lewis.

We found out that our case worker at LDS Family Services is quitting. Her husband was accepted to graduate school in Philadelphia. We wish her all the best and can't wait to meet our newly assigned case worker. I guess our profile is shown regularly and we seem to match well with lots of birth moms...it's just a matter of time.

More photos

2009-07-01T23:23:00.003-06:00

Here's some additional shots of our tournament. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my sweet tan-line from wearing the bandanna all day long. I've got a pretty solid line in the middle of my forehead. In this first one, Dan is showing his passing form. Notice he has his right foot forward and he is completely focused on the ball.
I'm getting ready to serve another winner.
Emily set up Adrienne for this perfect spike. They won the game soon after this play.
Emily's form is even better than Dan's. Of course she's been playing volleyball a lot longer.
We always have a blast playing in these tournaments. I hope we find time to do another one soon. We might even play "B" next time (next level up from Novice).

UOVA Tournament 6-27-09

2009-06-30T21:20:00.003-06:00

Adrienne and I both participated in the Men's/Women's outdoor volleyball tournament last Saturday (UOVA stands for Utah Outdoor Volleyball Association). Ade played with our good friend Emily in the Women's novice division, while I teamed up with Dan for the Men's novice. We all had a great time. The girls placed about 5th and the guys actually won their division. I've posted a couple of photos for memory's sake.

Dan set me up pretty good for this one. Notice my stylish shades and bandana. I started wearing the bandana a couple years ago after my head got burned one too many times.

Ade is about to bring the heat with her serve as Emily watches. They were only one game out of making the next stage of the tournament. This was the first time they played together. I hope they get another chance soon. On a side note, Emily's shoulders look pretty buff in this camera angle.

Lots of fun

2009-06-24T23:53:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone, my wife's company had their annual summer party today. We all went up to Sundance and had a great meal and some fun games. There were face painters, an air castle, and even volleyball. It's always fun at their company parties. Our cousin, Eric, was even there. He flew in from Florida to make an appearance.

Our case worker had an interesting question for us. I guess there is one birth mom that is looking for many of the qualities that we have, but with one addition. She wants the baby to be taught sign language and our case worker was wondering what our feelings were on that matter. We talked it over and decided that we did plan on using sign language to assist in early language development, but that we probably couldn't commit to reaching a fluent level. We don't know if that was what she was looking for, but I hope it helps her. We know everything is going to work out when the time and the situation is right. We hope it is sooner rather than later but we know we need to leave it in the Lord's hands.

Rain and making time for things that matter

2009-06-17T23:34:00.002-06:00

I think it's at least rained a little bit each day for the last two weeks. I thought summer was supposed to be here. There is a bit of sunshine at the end of the tunnel though. It is supposed to stop by the weekend. This is wonderful because we have decided to play in a Co-ed 4's volleyball tournament as part of the Utah Summer Games. We're playing with our old neighbors (Dan and Kim). Ade and I haven't done any outdoor tournaments in a year so we are really looking forward to it.

The good news with the rain is that I haven't had to water my garden at all. It seems to be doing well for the most part.

Most people who follow our blog know this already, but I wanted to let the others know too. My Uncle Larry isn't doing well with his treatment (for cancer). According to the doctors, he might only have a couple of months left. Of all my aunts and uncles, he was the one that I knew the best growing up. We would take trips up to their home in Tennessee about once a year during most of my "formative years". The sad part is, of all my aunts and uncles, it has been the longest since I have seen him and Aunt Margaret. They live out in Wisconsin now, but I wish I would have found the time and resources to make a trip out there before all this happened. At the least, I wish I would have called a few times over the years. I just relied on updates from my mom and dad over the years. Sometimes it takes a tough situation to wake us up to the little to the things we should be doing. We should let those we care about know how we feel. Larry has always been an example of what it means to be a good and honorable man and father all the years I have known him...of course I've heard a story or two from before my time that certainly makes me laugh.

Weeks are flying by

2009-06-08T10:53:00.002-06:00

Remember when back in the days of youth and you were 10 and one week was an eternity? I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by these days. It seems like just a month or two back that we were getting ready for Christmas.

Anyways, we don't really have any more progress on the yard. I put in some pavers as stepping stones around the garden boxes. Now I just need to figure out the best way to build the fountain for the front of the house. Hopefully I can get it all together before Adrienne's family comes out to visit.

My neighbor (Seth) is going to build a fort in his backyard for his girls to play on. I think I'm going to try to help. It sounds like a fun project and I could probably learn a thing or two from putting it together.

Adrienne's Birthday!!!

2009-05-30T21:23:00.003-06:00

Adrienne's birthday was today. She spent most of the afternoon with Danielle (our old neighbor who has a birthday about the same time) hiking, swimming, and basically having a blast. Before she took off with Danielle, we headed up to Camp Koholowo with Kevin and David to check out the site of our Youth Conference in August. Basically we just wanted to get an idea of the facilities and space that was available.
We borrowed some 4-Wheelers from a friend so that it would be easier to get around. Here is a shot of Ade and I riding on one of the 4-Wheelers. It is beautiful up there.
If you look very closely you can see the deer we found on the way back. We named him Stewart. ;-)
This is from the Utah Lake overlook on the Nebo Loop. We stopped on the way back to take some photos. The Nebo Loop is one of our favorite places to explore. It seems like there is beauty at every turn.

While Ade was going around hiking, playing, swimming, etc. I searched out a source for flagstone to use as pavers around our garden and also bought a "Burning Bush". Just another shrub to add to our landscaping. This one has leaves that turn bright red in the fall, hence the name.

Yard Pictures

2009-05-28T21:57:00.001-06:00

And then there was more yardwork...

2009-05-28T10:27:00.002-06:00

It's actually been fun getting the yard done. We finished up filling the garden boxes and even planted some herbs and vegetables. Memorial Day was mostly spent moving rock. We put decorative rock inside all of the curbing to cover the ground and weed fabric. I really need to take some pictures, but I've been busy trying to get it all done.

Yesterday a bunch of us got together to lay sod for my backyard neighbor. It's amazing the difference an hour of work can make on a yard (especially when that hour is spent covering bare earth with grass). Seth has been working just about everyday for a month to get the ground ready. He couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Well, I'll try to take some photos tonight and post them soon. We just have a few more projects to get done this year and we'll be set.

Garden boxes and our friends adopt

2009-05-19T09:07:00.005-06:00

We haven't heard much on the adoption front the last couple of weeks, but there are still some birth moms interested as far as we know. Some friends of ours down the street adopted a little boy last Wednesday. We are very excited for them. Ben and Britney are great parents and this child will have a wonderful home and family to grow up in. This is their third adoption (all boys). The birth parents decided it was important to them to have the boy raised in a family with other kids.

We've been working outside in our yard quite a bit. Between weeding, moving dirt, roto-tilling, hiring someone to put in curbing, planting, building garden boxes and everything else...we've been a little busy. We are getting close.

I thought everyone might like to take a peek at our 2 garden boxes. We built them out of 2" x 6" x 10' lengths of common redwood. Then we treated them with boiled linseed oil to add a little additional weather protection. This picture shows 1 box finished and 1 box before the boiled linseed oil. They are sitting on weed fabric so that the dirt and soil above the ground won't get anything creeping up from below.

We are in the process of filling them with some dirt and garden soil. Dirt we have in abundance. Our neighbor is helping us obtain some garden soil. He has a friend that mixes all the good stuff together and sells it by the yard (cubic yard that is). We should get it all put in by this weekend and plant all the little vegetable and herb plants on Saturday.

SF Volleyball and Yard

2009-05-11T09:35:00.004-06:00

This week we had another volleyball tournament. Our Spanish Fork team competed in the middle bracket and took 3rd place. This might be the last year that we do both Spanish Fork and Payson at the same time. It takes quite a bit of time and hopefully we'll have adopted by then. ;-)

Friday was Liberty's 1st birthday party (our niece). She didn't quite know what to do with the presents, but with a little help she started to get the hang of it. She also had a ball with the cake and ice cream. Check out this great shot I took with my phone.

Saturday was spent in the yard. We weeded the area that we are going to put a planter. Weeded all the garden beds around the house. Moved all the excess dirt from the planter area (about 10 wheel barrow loads worth). Planted our peach tree. Transplanted the maple from the front yard to the side yard. Planted 3 bushes and 2 Hosta plants. We even put down weed barrier fabric everywhere that we cleared.

I still haven't painted the shelves in our closet, but I'll try to get that done tonight. Then, tomorrow, we are having our curbing put in our yard. I'll try to get some before and after photos to share with everyone. I wish I would have taken the time Saturday so that everyone could see just how much was done.

Volleyball and weekend

2009-05-04T13:43:00.003-06:00

Our Payson volleyball league had the end of season tournament. We ended up losing in the final so we took 2nd place. It was disappointing but it was a ton of fun playing with friends from our old neighborhood. This week we'll have our Spanish Fork tournament with friends from our current neighborhood. We can hardly wait.

Saturday we had several activities. First, Heidi and Trevor came over to watch a movie. We then caulked the new shelves in the master closet to prep them for paint. Finally, we bought a peach tree from Costco. We've been wanting to get our garden going, but it seems to rain each Saturday, but we figured we could at least buy a tree. We didn't get home in time to plant it Saturday, but we'll get it done tonight as part of Family Home Evening.

Edited Photo

2009-04-29T11:00:00.003-06:00

Sarah's photographer for the Bridal Pictures and Engagements did me a huge favor today. He took one of my photos and adjusted it to make it have the same feel as the others. His photographs are still much, MUCH better than mine, but this way Sarah could have one photo from her wedding day that was in the style she liked so much. His name is Jimmy and this is his website:

http://www.gideonphoto.com/

I highly recommend him for any occasion.

Sarah's Wedding and Reception

2009-04-27T21:45:00.004-06:00

Hello family and friends. Last week was crazy with all the wedding stuff going on, but I thought you might enjoy a few pictures. This first one is from when they came out of the temple. There were some issues with the back panel of the dress (as in it was forgotten at the apartment), but it all worked out in the end.
I thought this shot turned out pretty well. I tried to do a little of the crooked view that Jimmy does so well (their photographer for the engagement and bridal pictures).
This group is all of the bride's maids and groom's men from the wedding party. Alisha, Ashley Alyssa, Natalie and Hailey were the bride's maids. Dane, James, Mitch, Chandler, and I were the groom's men. The two kids are Hannah and Parker (belonging to Chandler and Hailey).
This one is my family. My parents (Jim and Daisy) with Austin, Sarah, Adrienne and I.

Here's everyone from Sarah's side together. I don't want to name everyone because there's just too many. But we have people there from places spanning from Washington to Pittsburg.I had to include at least one from the reception. It was a great party. Beautiful decorations, good food, and great people. Here's the cake cutting.

Sarah Wedding Updates

2009-04-22T12:30:00.004-06:00

Sarah went through the temple yesterday so I thought I would share a couple pictures. The first one was outside beforehand and the second is Sarah and Austin when we came out.

Updates

2009-04-20T09:29:00.002-06:00

Jason's parents arrived yesterday afternoon. After Jason and his dad watched the Jazz/Lakers game we headed up to Salt Lake county to have dinner with Sarah, Austin, and the future in-laws. The food was great and it was nice to get to meet the rest of Austin's family. Jason's parents are staying at a hotel in Salt Lake to make sure they are available for anything Sarah needs help for with the wedding.

After dinner, Sarah had all the bride's maids and groomsmen meet to go over instructions and responsibilities. We had to laugh a little because Sarah had a full page of instructions (front AND back) outlining everything that we each had to do. It included responsibilities, assignments, times, dress codes, etc. In the end it will probably be very useful to have that all written down, but every once in a while I still see her as my 11 year-old sister and it weirds me out that she is getting married.

This week will be swamped. Sarah is going through the temple for the first time on Tuesday, we have a family wedding dinner on Wednesday, and Thursday is the wedding itself and reception. I don't know when we'll get to sleep again (probably after it's all done).

We don't have any news to report on the adoption front. Still trying to speak on the phone with the girl out of state and nothing new from the one in state. We'll try to keep everyone updated as we get more information.

Jason's Favorite Story from General Conference

2009-04-14T11:19:00.005-06:00

The Story of the Light Bulb, or Losing Sight of What Matters Most - As told by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"On a dark December night 36 years ago, a Lockheed 1011 jumbo jet crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing over 100 people. This terrible accident was one of the deadliest crashes in the history of the United States.

"A curious thing about this accident is that all vital parts and systems of the airplane were functioning perfectly—the plane could have easily landed safely at its destination in Miami, only 20 miles away.

"During the final approach, however, the crew noticed that one green light had failed to illuminate—a light that indicates whether or not the nose landing gear has extended successfully. The pilots discontinued the approach, set the aircraft into a circling holding pattern over the pitch-black Everglades, and turned their attention toward investigating the problem.

"They became so preoccupied with their search that they failed to realize the plane was gradually descending closer and closer toward the dark swamp below. By the time someone noticed what was happening, it was too late to avoid the disaster.

"After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out light bulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic deaths of over 100 people.

"Of course, the malfunctioning light bulb didn't cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most."

This was just a small part of the talk he gave during General Conference. There is a really good lesson to be learned from this. How many times in life do we get focused on things that might seem important in the moment and lose sight of those things that matter most?

We haven't posted much about adoption recently, so I think that it is a good time for an update. We are currently being considered by two different birth moms. We don't know much about either one, but have hope that something will work out. We'll post more information when it is available and appropriate to share. All we know at this point is that one is in state and one is out of state.

2009-04-06T17:43:00.004-06:00

Friday night we went to the BYU/UC Irvine Volleyball. It is always amazing to see the ability level that college athletes achieve. We got there over an hour early so that we could get good seats. We were just a couple rows from the front (as you can see in the picture I took with my phone). We lost the game, but it was close. UC Irvine is #1 in the country but BYU is #6.

Much of the weekend was spent in meetings for the LDS semi-annual General Conference.

Saturday, before the first meeting, some neighbors and I rented an aerator and did our lawns Saturday morning. We were hoping for clear weather, but it snowed overnight and snowed the whole time we did the lawns. The irony is that the weather cleared up later in the day.

Sunday, aslo befoer the first meeting, we had our neighbors (Seth, Jill, and their 3 little girls) over for breakfast before General Conference. We also had Heidi and Trevor come by. We had pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit, juice, and even hash browns. Just a great breakfast with good friends and family. I'll pick a favorite talk from General Conference to review later this week.

Volleyball and Babysitting

2009-03-30T10:30:00.002-06:00

Last week was very busy. As you know, we got back to town late on Monday. The rest of the week was spent scrambling to catch up on unpacking, cleaning, and other activities.

Our volleyball teams went 1-3 this week. It was disappointing because we should have won 2 more of those. We just ended up giving the games away through mistakes in the end. We still had a lot of fun though. It is always fun to play with all our friends.

Danielle (Dan and Kim's daughter) invited us to come to her basketball game on Saturday. We ran into some of our other friends from the old neighborhood while we were there. Then, in the evening we took care of Tyson (with Danielle's help). Dan took Bryce to the Jazz game, and Kim went to a Young Women's meeting in Salt Lake. He's 6 months old now and surprisingly strong. The key is to make sure your fingers are protected by his...or he'll crunch yours with his two tiny teeth.

What else can I fill everyone in on? Oh, my parents sold their house in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago. It will be nice for them to not have an extra house payment.

Sarah's wedding is just 3 1/2 weeks away. I can't believe how fast time flies.

Arizona Trip

2009-03-24T22:52:00.005-06:00

Well, we went down to Arizona for Heather and Nic's wedding. All the sisters from Adrienne's family are married now. Alex is the only one of the siblings that is still single. Here's a picture of Nic and Heather Harenberg as they first came out of the Temple.
And here's Nic with his jump for joy. We flew down Thursday night and came back Monday night. Before the wedding events started we headed over to Chandler to have lunch with my cousin (Kim) and her family. My Aunt Pam came down from Glendale as well. I realized I hadn't seen Kim and her husband since Ade and I got married. Here is a picture of Eduardo, Annalise (Spelling?), Kim, and Aunt Pam. Their son, Ian, had just been put down for a nap.
Friday night was the reception with the wedding and wedding luncheon on Saturday. I'll include a few more pictures below for everyone to see. The first is all of the bride's maids with Helen and Liberty. From left to right: Heidi (sister), little Liberty (niece), Stephanie (sister), Helen (mom), Adrienne, and Mandy (Heather's best friend).
Heidi's husband, Trevor, likes to take pictures too.Stephanie's husband, Will, leaning against the Mesa Temple with Liberty.

MWC Tournament and Hike

2009-03-16T20:33:00.005-06:00

Last week our friend Henry invited us down to the Mountain West Basketball tournament with him. We decided to head down and watch the BYU game on Friday and stayed the night at one of his other friend's homes. BYU lost that game, so we didn't really want to go to the Final on Saturday. Instead, we decided to go for a hike. This first photo is at the far end of the trail.

Adrienne was so excited to go that she climbed all over the place. You can see her better if you click on the photo and blow it up. I climbed around some too. This is on the way back.
Windows Live has a really neat feature with their photo gallery. You can take a large group of photos and it will make it into a panorama for you. It does a really good job as you can see below. The area to the left of the rock outcropping is Las Vegas. In the full size photo you can really zoom in. After the hike we headed back to Utah. Saturday night we watched a movie with Brent and Andrea and stayed up late talking. I wish we could hang out with them more often.

Sunday, we made it back for Church and had dinner with Sarah and Austin. They are just about finished with all the plans for their wedding next month. In fact, Tuesday they head down to get their bridal photos taken.

This week is going to be crazy. We are leaving Thursday to go to Arizona for Heather and Nic's wedding. I hope we get some good photos and get the chance to catch up with friends and relatives down there. We just don't seem to make it down more than once every couple of years. Flights have gone up in price, and it's a pretty long drive.

Snowmobile Fun!!!

2009-03-09T21:41:00.003-06:00

There I go! Only my second time trying a snowmobile and it was a blast!!! We probably went 15 miles up into the woods from the parking lot through these amazing hills, mountains and trees.
This is James going up a very steep incline. The photo can't really do it justice. It was probably more than a 45 degree angle. You had to be cruising to have enough momentum to get to the top. I only made it up all the way once.

Draper Temple Open House and so much more

2009-03-09T10:08:00.002-06:00

Talk about a packed week. We printed Heather's invitations and announcements, went to the Draper Temple Open House, played volleyball, cleaned, cooked, met with the bishop to renew his annual recommendation to LDS Family Services, shopped for shoes, played basketball, went snowmobiling, stuffed all the invitations, addressed all the invitations, exercised, and and and... Ok, so Adrienne didn't play basketball or go snowmobiling and I didn't clean as much as she did, but the rest of it was all packed into three or four days.

The Draper Temple is beautiful. It's on the side of the "Point of the Mountain" (people in Utah will know the location) and it overlooks the Salt Lake Valley. I'll try to take pictures sometime when the sun is out to share with everyone, although with the storm coming this week and weddings on the horizon...it might be a while.

My co-worker, James, took me up snowmobiling Saturday morning. I took a few pictures, but I'm afraid it won't do justice to the experience. I'll post them later tonight. It was gorgeous up in the Timberlake area just past Heber. White snow and the sky cleared up by the middle of the day. My legs were pretty tired by the time we headed back. It's amazing what some people can do on those machines.

Sunday I visited 3 wards to see how their young mens' programs were going, then went with our ward choir to sing at a care facility in our neighborhood. They had us sing in the Alzheimer's wing. The patients had bright smiling faces and even sang along to songs that they remembered.

Later Sunday afternoon, Adrienne and I met with the Bishop of our ward to renew his letter of recommendation for us to adopt. There are only 3 forms that have to be renewed annually and this was one of them.

Finally, Sunday night we had dinner with Heidi, Trevor, and Stephanie (and even little Liberty). Will was still up at Camp Williams with his Marine company. After we ate we spent the rest of the night stuffing invitations, printing labels and addressing them for Heather and Nic. They had less than two weeks until their wedding, so we needed to do it all here instead of shipping it to Arizona for them to do. I don't think any of us realized the size of the project we had undertaken. 4 hours later we deliriously said good night. All that's left is for Adrienne to buy stamps in order to mail them and I will ship the extras to Heather in Arizona.

Another week gone by

2009-03-03T11:18:00.002-07:00

Our good friends Henry and Kay had us over for a picnic/party that they put together out at their new home. They are renting a house in Lake Shore that has 10 acres so they can keep their 2 horses with them instead of boarding the horses on another farm. There were probably 100 people with great food and even a live band. We couldn't stay for the whole party but we did get to stay long enough to see BYU beat Utah in the basketball game.

Sunday was spent at church, resting, and practicing with the choir.

My little sister's wedding invitations are printed now, but we have to wait on the envelopes to be delivered. I'm glad that my company was able to help them out.

We haven't heard anything new on the adoption front, but we have some additional paperwork to fill out now. There are just a few forms that have to be renewed once a year and our year is coming up soon.

The Good and the Bad...

2009-02-26T11:42:00.002-07:00

I think I'll start with the bad. It's not really bad, but here you go. We found out the birth mom in Logan decided to place her baby with another couple. She gave birth a week ago and placed it on that day. Ade and I are disappointed it wasn't us, but we both believe that she was guided by Heavenly Father in her choice. We know everything will come together when the time is right.

Now for the good. Ade got a call from her neurologist's office. She recently had an MRI to check out her brain (see if the MS was causing any problems). The MRI was so good that she doesn't even need to go in and visit with the doctor. We're thinking of celebrating Friday with a good date night.

Life is full of ups and downs, but it is always humorous when they come on back-to-back days.

Forgiveness and Unity

2009-02-24T21:29:00.002-07:00

I have compiled the Scriptures, Quotes, and Stories from my talk below. I didn't write out every word so I can't give you the whole talk, but you can probably get the idea from the information below.

"To forgive is a divine attribute. It is to pardon or excuse someone from blame for an offense or misdeed. The scriptures refer to forgiveness in two ways. The Lord commands us to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness. He also commands us to forgive those who offend or hurt us." Church Website

Matthew 5: 44

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Doctrine and Covenants 64: 9-10

Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

Samuel T. Whitman wrote: “The ice storm [that winter] wasn’t generally destructive. True, a few wires came down, and there was a sudden jump in accidents along the highway. … Normally, the big walnut tree could easily have borne the weight that formed on its spreading limbs. It was the iron wedge in its heart that caused the damage.

“The story of the iron wedge began years ago when the white-haired farmer [who now inhabited the property on which it stood] was a lad on his father’s homestead. The sawmill had then only recently been moved from the valley, and the settlers were still finding tools and odd pieces of equipment scattered about. …

“On this particular day, it was a faller’s wedge—wide, flat, and heavy, a foot or more long, and splayed from mighty poundings [—which the lad found] … in the south pasture. [A faller’s wedge, used to help fell a tree, is inserted in a cut made by a saw and then struck with a sledge hammer to widen the cut.] … Because he was already late for dinner, the lad laid the wedge … between the limbs of the young walnut tree his father had planted near the front gate. He would take the wedge to the shed right after dinner, or sometime when he was going that way.

“He truly meant to, but he never did. [The wedge] was there between the limbs, a little tight, when he attained his manhood. It was there, now firmly gripped, when he married and took over his father’s farm. It was half grown over on the day the threshing crew ate dinner under the tree. … Grown in and healed over, the wedge was still in the tree the winter the ice storm came.

“In the chill silence of that wintry night … one of the three major limbs split away from the trunk and crashed to the ground. This so unbalanced the remainder of the top that it, too, split apart and went down. When the storm was over, not a twig of the once-proud tree remained.

“Early the next morning, the farmer went out to mourn his loss. …

“Then, his eyes caught sight of something in the splintered ruin. ‘The wedge,’ he muttered reproachfully. ‘The wedge I found in the south pasture.’ A glance told him why the tree had fallen. Growing, edge-up in the trunk, the wedge had prevented the limb fibers from knitting together as they should.”

Dallin H. Oaks

“Don’t treasure up past wrongs, reprocessing them again and again...festering is destructive; forgiving is divine (see D&C 64:9–10). Plead for the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord to forgive wrongs . . . , to overcome faults, and to strengthen relationships.”

James E. Faust

"What can we all learn from such experiences as these? We need to recognize and acknowledge angry feelings. It will take humility to do this, but if we will get on our knees and ask Heavenly Father for a feeling of forgiveness, He will help us. The Lord requires us 'to forgive all men' for our own good because 'hatred retards spiritual growth'. (Orson F. Whitney, Gospel Themes)"

"Most of us need time to work through pain and loss. We can find all manner of reasons for postponing forgiveness. One of these reasons is waiting for the wrongdoers to repent before we forgive them. Yet such a delay causes us to forfeit the peace and happiness that could be ours. The folly of rehashing long-past hurts does not bring happiness.

"Some hold grudges for a lifetime, unaware that courageously forgiving those who have wronged us is wholesome and therapeutic."

Dr. Sidney Simon, a recognized authority on values realization, has provided an excellent definition of forgiveness as it applies to human relationships:

"Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves."

Counsel from a wise Church Leader

"Keep a place in your heart for forgiveness, and when it comes, welcome it in."

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Alexander Pope

Moroni 7: 46-48

…Charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Doctrine and Covenants 38: 24, 25, 27

And let every man esteem his brother as himself, and practise virtue and holiness before me.

And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.

Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.

Moses 7: 18

And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Catching Up

2009-02-23T09:34:00.003-07:00

Last weekend was a lot of fun. Friday we had a ward party that included a service auction and chili cook off. There were probably 20-25 different chili entries. All the ones I tried were great. My favorite was a white chili with chicken. It was really different, but had tons of great flavor.

Most of the day Saturday I spent working on a talk for sacrament meeting. Kevin (the Bishopric member who asked me) gave some ideas and scriptures to help get me started. The focus was "Forgiveness" and as I prepared and prayed I ended up talking about unity as well. I'll include some notes, scriptures and stories from my talk in a later post.

We went to dinner at Red Robin with our friends Dan and Kim (and 2 of their 3 kids). Then we went to play volleyball with some friends.

Sunday mostly consisted of church, choir and dinner with my sister Sarah and her fiance Austin. We had fajitas and played Rummikub (reminded me of family vacations at Uncle Larry's).

Jazz Pictures - Halftime

2009-02-18T11:19:00.003-07:00

Jazz Game and Adoption Update

2009-02-18T10:29:00.002-07:00

I think Adrienne and I have some of the best friends that you could ever find. One friend has season tickets to the Jazz. He couldn't make it to last nights game so he just gave them to me. Ade had some things at home she wanted to get done, so I took Dan with me and we had a blast. It was a close game until the 4th quarter, then the Jazz just took over. So we got both the thrill of a tight game and the satisfaction of a dominant finish.

I know many of our friends and family want updates on adoption. Right now everything comes down to waiting. The young lady we met with is due any day, but she hasn't decided what she will do once that day comes. I know she is praying for guidance and I know that she will have her prayers answered. I just don't know what that answer will be. She is part of a wonderful family, and has the love and support of her whole congregation. Ade and I are at peace just waiting to see what she decides.

Back in Town

2009-02-16T10:13:00.002-07:00

Last weekend was great. It was so great to see all our friends in St. George. It is always nice to get away and catch up with everyone. We had a birthday party for Eden, a blessing for Gabriel, and a "fancy shmancy" dinner for Valentine's Day.

The Valentine's Day dinner was wonderful. There was live entertainment with singing and piano, dancing, games, even a drawing at the end for prizes. It was put together to benefit the Dixie Care and Share. Adrienne gave me a hard time during the drawing. She asked what was wrong because I usually win something any time I'm involved in a drawing. I told her to be patient because we'd win the very last and, of course, the biggest prize. Sure enough our number came up and we won a $250 gift certificate to Ashley Furniture.

Nothing new to report on Adoption. We hope the young women we met with gets the answer she is seeking. We know that Heavenly Father will answer her prayers and let know know what is best for the child. There was an article in the Ensign (the monthly magazine for our church) for February that told the story of adoption from 4 different view points. We read it as we drove back last night. If anyone is interested, here is the link: The Gift of Adoption

Guys Night Out

2009-02-11T09:48:00.004-07:00

This week Trevor, Will and I decided to have a guys night out to watch a movie. Unfortunately, Will realized he had too much homework and had to ditch out. Trevor and I still went and had fun. I think that we should try to get together like this on a fairly regular basis. Our wives are all sisters, but we (the brothers-in-law) don't know each other very well. Maybe we could figure out something on a monthly basis.

We are getting excited for this weekend. Some of our friends (Brent and Andrea) in St. George put on a black tie dinner each year on Valentine's Day. The proceeds go to charity (a different one every year). This year it goes to Dixie Care and Share. We've never been because this is the first year that the dinner falls on a weekend. We are really excited to see them and have a nice night out. The event website is: www.unforgettablestgeorge.com.

Brent and Andrea are also blessing their baby on Sunday, so this is going to be a pretty packed trip.

Blog Book and Adoption Meeting

2009-02-07T13:33:00.003-07:00

We got our blog book last Wednesday. It's about the size and thickness of a Dr. Suess book. It really is pretty cool. I'm amazed that people can have a single book published so cheaply. I definitely think this is something that we'll do each year. It makes a fantastic journal and family history.

Yesterday we went up to Logan to meet a young woman who is pregnant and considering adoption. We met with her and both of her parents. It was a very special experience. We don't have any idea if the situation will work out for us or another couple...or even if she'll decide to keep the child. What we do know is that she is praying to seek guidance. We both had an overwhelming feeling of peace that it was in God's hands and that it would work out in the best interest of the child.

I think it's time to go. Adrienne and I decided to have a date night and go out for a movie.

Digital Profile Online and Other Events

2009-02-03T10:50:00.002-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been nearly 2 weeks since our last post. We have been pretty busy. My (as in Jason's) mom, Daisy, decided to come out and help Sarah with her wedding plans. We went up to the Bridal Show with them last Friday. My mom also came down on Sunday to go to church with us and we all had a nice dinner together.

The big news over the last couple weeks is that our online profile is now officially...drum roll please...ONLINE. It has been published to LDS Family Services "Beta" site that should go live any day now. For the time being you can see us at: https://www.beta.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/16569023/ourMessage.jsf. Please forward this link on to all family and friends that you think might be interested. For that matter, please forward this blog on to anyone you know that might like to catch up with us.

Thanks to all!!!

Digital Profile is DONE!!!

2009-01-21T10:23:00.003-07:00

I just wanted to drop a quick note and let everyone know that last night we buckled down and finished the online profile in the new system. It will be going "live" next week sometime. Once it is up we'll send out the link and instructions on how to find us.

The Parable of the Wii

2009-01-19T21:26:00.003-07:00

As promised, here is the paraphrased version of my friend's lesson. It is a true story. The only qualification is that I can't quote him exactly.

Back in June of 2008, Kevin's son made a deal with his parents and his piano instructor. He would practice piano one hour per day for a total of 30 days. Each day he practiced he would have someone sign off that he had done so. After he had 30 days signed off, his parents would give him a new game for the Nintendo Game Cube. Now he could receive his reward after just 30 days, or it could take as long as needed to finish 30 total.

Now what his son didn't know, is that the parents had something else in mind. After he practiced 30 days, they would give him the game he requested, but not for the Game Cube. Instead, they would give him the version for the Nintendo Wii system, which is much newer. They would also buy the Wii and keep it hidden in Kevin's office. After he opened the game and realized it didn't work for the Game Cube, they would give him the Wii too. It's a much more interactive system that the whole family could play together.

July passed, so did August, September, October and November. Early in December Kevin's wife asked if maybe they should just give the family the the new system for Christmas, but Kevin thought he would hold out for his son to fulfill his committment. The day finally came (just before Christmas actually). As predicted, the son noticed the game was the Wii version right away. For a moment he was actually very dissappointed. Then Kevin brought out the Wii and the whole family cheered. He said they actually started chanting "Dad is Great!".

Now this experience is fun, and it made me smile...but there's a deeper lesson to be learned. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. When we make committments to follow Him and keep His commandments, He promises to bless our lives. Some of the blessings are obvious, but some are greater than we know. If Kevin's son had known that there was a Wii waiting for him, I'm sure he would have finished the required practices months ago. In the same way, if we knew the blessings God had in store for us, I think we would all be more dilligent in following His will.

Bye Bye Christmas

2009-01-19T16:20:00.003-07:00

Ok, so we're a little behind the season but over the weekend Adrienne took down most of the Christmas decorations in our house. All that remained was the Christmas tree and we will finish that tonight.

Last Friday, I went with Kevin up to the District Klondike campout. We brought up cookies for the boys and leaders from the wards (congregations) in our stake (group of wards). While we were up there, we gathered them all around and Kevin gave a quick talk to everyone gathered that he called "The Parable of the Wii". I don't have time right now, but later tonight I'll log back on and share it with everyone.

Progress!

2009-01-15T10:37:00.004-07:00

I can't believe how things seem to keep getting in the way of completing the online profile. We were all set to work on it, but I got sick. It was the strangest thing. My stomach hurt and I got a 101 degree fever...but I felt better by the time I went to bed. The fever lasted about 3-4 hours total.

We finally got some time to work on it Wednesday. We finished all the "preferences". Those are bizarre. The responses are Yes, No, and Maybe. You answer questions about different characteristics you look for in a child, a birth mother, and a birth father. It is a rather surreal experience. We are getting significantly closer to finishing the whole thing. I'll be uploading photos tonight while Adrienne cleans. Then we will work on the "Teaser" that potential birth mothers will read before clicking on our individual profile when searching.

Adoption Profile/"A Brand New Year" Program

2009-01-12T11:06:00.003-07:00

So we didn't really make any progress on our adoption profile this last week. Our new goal is to finish it all tomorrow night. Talking with some other couples, we found that we are a lot farther along in the new system than they are. We just need to get it done.

We had two great youth activities over the weekend. My "job" in church is the 1st Counselor in the Stake Young Men's Presidency. To help all my family members of other religions understand better...Each congregation in my church is called a ward (about 150-250 households = one ward), and a bunch of wards together equal a Stake (maybe a total of 3-5000 people make up a stake give or take). The first activity was for all the youth in my stake between the ages of 12 and about 18. We had around 300 youth participate (out of 500). Imagine 300+ youth and 200 adults all together on one basketball court inside (because it's winter here in Utah). We had dinner, talks, skits, and games all at one location. It was a blast! There's nothing quite like being in a huge gathering of youth that all want follow Christ.

The second youth activity was for a specific young man in my ward (the congregation my wife and I attend). He is sixteen and just earned the rank of Eagle Scout. I don't think I'd been to an Eagle Court of Honor since I had mine back in 1995. I've been to a couple on a District level but not an individual one in all that time. He's a great kid that is becoming a man of character. It made me think back to my time as a Boy Scout. I'm glad my dad made time to go on campouts and come to activities. I'm glad both my mom and dad made the effort to follow up and make sure I finished my requirements. I use the skills and lessons from my time in the program every day of my life. Be prepared. Do a good turn daily. I think there's a lot that we can learn from Scouting.

Birthday Fun and Other Things

2009-01-06T10:23:00.002-07:00

Last night we went to Jazz basketball game for my birthday. We got a fantastic deal on lower bowl tickets and we just couldn't pass it up. The only problem was that the sky decided it was time to dump snow. By the time Heidi and Trevor made it to the meeting spot to drive up it was only 15 minutes until tip-off (with a 45 minute drive when the roads are clear). We didn't actually get to the game until the second half. We met Austin and Sarah there so there were 6 of us total.

The seats were fantastic. It was technically the handicapped section so there was extra leg room AND the seats were PADDED. Good times!!! It was a good close game until the end so I'm glad we managed to see at least half of it. Next time I'll take off work early and get up with plenty of time to spare (and I'll have everyone else riding in my car do the same). It really was fun though. It's just such a different experience being in the lower bowl versus the upper. You get a much better idea of just how big and athletic the players are.

Adrienne bought me the sound track to the Phantom of the Opera for my birthday. There was also a movie, a new basketball and some khaki pants. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was perfect.

Our Adoption case worker called yesterday to find out if we were "registered" Native Americans or if we could become registered. We told her no, but that we'd look into it. It will basically come down to genealogy and proving our heritage. We are both only 1/16th, but there are some laws in place for adoption that require moms with babies that have Native heritage to at least consider adoptive parents that also have Native heritage.

The new adoption profiles go "live" next week so that they'll be available for viewing. Ours is almost done. It will actually be really good for us to finish this weekend. When the website goes live there will probably be only a couple hundred on there (instead of the 1500 which is the total number looking to adopt). Those others will slowly trickle online as they finish, but for a few months our odds would be much higher.

Vote - Help us choose!!!

2008-12-30T14:43:00.003-07:00

We've decided that we need your valuable input. We like two backgrounds and can't quite decide between them. I'll give everyone a month to decide which is better. You can vote on the right hand side of the blog.

First up...Blue with Plaid. Since I am the one that does the posting, the colors have to be masculine enough for me to be at ease. Here is option #1.

Our #2 choice is Purple with Frogs. It says something about frogs belonging in little boys pocket's. Very cute, but again we're afraid of being a little boy-centric. Let us know what you think and help us make our decision.

New Blog Appearance

2008-12-29T14:47:00.002-07:00

I know most of you just check out the emails instead of going to the blog itself, so I wanted to inform you that the Blog has had an upgrade. It now looks a lot different. Check it out at www.jasonandadrienne.blogspot.com and tell us what you think.

Christmas Vegas Trip

2008-12-28T21:20:00.002-07:00

We went down to Vegas with our friends for Christmas. Adrienne and I don't usually care for Vegas (we call it sensory overload) but this was a very nice trip. We drove down right after work on the 23rd and went straight to the Venetian. We had 3rd row seats to see the Phantom of the Opera. What an amazing show!!! The effects were fantastic and the singers were absolutely amazing. Our two favorite people in the play were Christine and Raul. Their voices and acting together really made the show work.

On Christmas Eve we went to the roller coaster at New York, New York. Adrienne, Dan, and Bryce rode it. I ran to the top of the parking garage to see if I could get a good shot, and this is what I got. You can see Bryce is 4th row from the back, while Dan is right behind him and Adrienne's face is just visible in the same row as Dan (but just to the right of Bryce's face). Christmas Day we opened gifts and even made a trip to the hot tub and heated pool. Kim made cooked up a Ham with some potatoes and vegetables. It was just a great day. We even took time to watch the church video "Joy to the World". On Friday the Clydes headed home. Little Tyson wasn't feeling too well so they decided to head back just in case. We spent that evening in St. George with our good friends Brent and Andrea (and of course little Gabriel). I even got a good shot of St. George with the snowy mountains int he background.
I started getting sick the last couple days, but we still managed to stop by and see the Todds. They even had more of their family around than normal, and it was great to catch up with them. We decided to head back fairly early since I was not well. The sun set an hour or so before we actually got home so we stopped to take a couple quick photos.

I think this post rambles a little but I didn't know what to cut out. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the photos.

MY SISTER IS ENGAGED!

2008-12-21T23:27:00.004-07:00

Lost in all the shuffle of my last post is the fact that my sister got engaged last Wednesday!!! Here she is with Austin at Heidi's reception. They make a great couple. I'm so excited for her...even though he is a U of U fan.You can tell Sarah is engaged in the next photo. This was the bouquet toss. She doesn't even lift her arm to catch the flowers even though they were practically thrown right to her. Arms at her sides, she just watches.

Weddings Galore

2008-12-21T22:55:00.006-07:00

So we had two weddings this past weekend. I figured people might like to see photos from both. Before we get to the photos though...the weather was crazy. Han was married in Bountiful and Heidi in Provo.I can't believe Han is all grown up. I taught Han and her cousin, My, the gospel in Australia when I was a missionary there. This first photo was taken right as Han and Kyle came out of the Bountiful Temple. I can't believe how well it came out. I love the snow falling and the expressions of those watching.Heidi is my wife's littlest sister. I got to stay behind with Heidi and Trevor while the photographer took all the pictures of just the two of them while everyone else headed over for the luncheon. It was cold, but it gave me the chance to take some really neat pictures. There are two fountains at the Provo temple. One was turned off which allowed us to take this beautiful reflection shot with the temple and the 2nd fountain behind them.

The In-Laws left with Heather and Nick this morning. It was nice having them with us for the Wedding festivities, but it was definitely nice to have this afternoon to ourselves.

Tuesday is the day we head down to the time share in Vegas for Christmas. I can't wait to see Phantom of the Opera with Adrienne at the Venetian. Also, it will be good to spend some quality time with our friends (Dan and Kim plus their kids, Danielle and Bryce).

New Lens

2008-12-16T21:33:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone! So I got a digital SLR camera for our anniversary a few weeks ago...now for Christmas I get a second lens. I want to use it at the two weddings coming up, so Adrienne let me open it early. It doesn't zoom, but it is exceedingly clear and fast in comparison. I took a picture of an ornament on our Christmas tree to show just how cool it is. Feel free to click on the image to see a bigger version.

Weddings are getting closer

2008-12-14T21:20:00.004-07:00

Less than a week until 2 weddings. First there is Han. I taught her the gospel in Australia almost 12 years ago. She is all grown up now and has moved to the US. She is getting married on Friday the 19th. That afternoon is the luncheon and her reception is later in the evening. I can't wait! The only problem is that Adrienne's littlest sister (Heidi) has her reception on Friday too. So I will miss some of both. Her wedding isn't until the next day, but Friday was the only day it would work for them. Although much of that day will be spent driving around, I think it is going to be a lot of fun.

We went with Heidi and Trevor to the temple in Provo yesterday and took some pictures outside so I'll include them below.

More Photos of the Lights at Temple Square

2008-12-11T20:51:00.007-07:00

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

2008-12-11T15:50:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone! I know I keep promising pictures, so here is one to tide you over. Adrienne and I went to dinner in Salt Lake City with her department at work. My parents should know the restaurant since we ate there after my last graduation ceremony (the name is The Garden). It is on the top floor of a building at Temple Square. I took this photo as we were walking around Temple Square right after dinner. There will be more pictures added later.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-07T22:36:00.002-07:00

So the "construction project" for Heidi's reception was canceled. It turns out that I didn't have to build it. She was able to get what she needed from a friend. It sure saved time, but it would have been fun to build something.

We finished our Christmas decorations this past weekend. Saturday was everything but the Christmas ornaments on the tree. Those we saved for Sunday when Ade's sisters came over. It is always a neat experience to go through the ornaments and put them all the tree. My mom bought a new one for each member of our family every year. I have specific memories with a lot of them from growing up. She gave me all my personal ornaments when I got married. Adrienne and I have continued the tradition in our home. It really is a neat experience to decorate the tree when each ornament has special meaning. I'll try to get a good picture in the next couple of days so that you can see what I mean.

Adoption Profile

2008-12-03T10:14:00.005-07:00

We're still making steady progress on the new adoption profile site. It has a ton of new questions in addition to the ones we filled out before. For instance, both Adrienne and I have to answer a bunch of questions each about things like our favorite books, movies, games, etc. I actually think that part is pretty fun. I think it also gives prospective birth parents a greater ability to see different aspects of our personalities.

Will and I still need to find some time to put together "the project" for Heidi's wedding. Maybe we can get together this Saturday...I should probably check.

We put up our Christmas Village last night. It's up on a ledge in the living room. It has its own light switch. We want to add some mirror behind the village to make it seem to have more depth. Still need to put up the tree. Hopefully we'll get that done by the end of the week.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T15:16:00.008-07:00

Thanksgiving was our 9 year anniversary and Adrienne gave me an Olympus DSLR. While we had everyone in Adrienne's family together, we thought it might be a good idea to take a picture or two.

In the group photo we have all my in-laws including a boyfriend AND a fiance. Front row: Will, Me (Jason), Trevor (Heidi's fiance), Nick (Heather's boyfriend). On the couch: Liberty (my niece), Stephanie, Adrienne, Heidi, and Heather. In the back: Alex, Helen, and Dennis. It's the first time they've had a family photo since the kids were actually kids.

I thought a picture of the Turkey would be appropriate as well. It turned out really well. Since the bird was 24 lbs, it wasn't quite as juicy as last year. I do better with a 16-18 lb bird. It was still really good, but the legs were a little dry. The rest was great. The gravy was awesome, stuffing fantastic, cornbread pudding delicious, and so on. All in all it was a great day.

I also included a picture of Adrienne by herself. I don't seem to get many good pictures of her alone.
The last picture is my niece, Liberty. Will (my brother-in-law) is holding her for the photo. Isn't she cute!!!

Updates, Thanksgiving, and Fun

2008-11-25T09:59:00.004-07:00

Adrienne and I spent another few hours working on our adoption profile this last week. There's still a ton to do. It's a just a matter of taking the time to fill it all out again. It's really a shame that the data was not exported very well from the old system. It's ok though, we'll get it done and it will be fine.

We had dinner with my sister and her boyfriend (Austin) last night at PF Chang's. The food was great and it was really fun. They are headed to Missouri so they can meet up with my parents for Thanksgiving. Sounds like a fun trip.

Ade's littlest sister (Heidi) is having her invitations printed today at my work. It's weird that the little girl I met over 9 years ago is engaged to be married on the 20th of December. What's even weirder is that a girl that I baptized in 1997 has just moved to Utah and will be married the 19th of December. What happened to all the little kids I used to know? How did they get so big? I'm starting to feel old.

Speaking of 9 years, Thanksgiving Day marks our 9 year anniversary (and my parents 38th anniversary if I remember correctly). Ade's family is driving up from Arizona to stay with us for the Holiday and help out Heidi get ready for the wedding. We bought a 24 pound turkey to cook up for everyone. I'll be cooking that with 2 kinds of stuffing and a Pumpkin Pie Cake...but that's about all I can handle cooking. I've delegated the rest of the "fixings" to everyone else.

I guess I should mention that BYU Football lost on Saturday to our biggest rival, Utah. It was 24-27 in the third quarter before Utah's defense stepped up and BYU fell apart. Congratulations to the Utes and bring on the bowl game so that we can end the season on a high note. If we win the bowl game, that will make 3 seasons in a row with 11-2 records. Not bad!

While I'm making a post, I just want to wish all our friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday. It seems to me to be the least commercialized, and is one that helps us focus on gratitude. I am very grateful for all of you. I am grateful for your love and your prayers. May God bless each of you in your lives.

LDS Adoption Profile Going Digital

2008-11-17T09:14:00.005-07:00

So last week we started the "new" online adoption profile. It was supposed to have a lot of our old information scanned or transferred over to it. What we found was that very little of our information made it in the system and even the parts that did make it were out of place much of the time. We spent an hour or two cleaning it up last week and we'll continue the process this week.

Chris and Karissa came down Friday with their son Landon. They just needed to get away from the parents house for a night (their staying at Karissa's parents' house while their new home is finished). It was tons of fun having them over. Landon is growing up so fast (just turned 2). We had a great dinner and watched a movie on Friday. Saturday, we had French Toast for breakfast and took Landon to the park for a bit.

We met the Clydes at the temple Saturday afternoon. Then Adrienne ran a few errands in Orem while I sat in the car listening to the BYU game. We beat Air Force by 14 which sets up a very interesting rivalry game this week against Utah (we have just one loss and Utah is undefeated). I hope we can pull it off this year. Our defense has been ravaged by injury all season long and now our big tight end Dennis Pitta (one of the top 2 or 3 tight ends in the country maybe even the best) sprained his MCL at the end of the Air Force game. I hope it's not too bad and that he can play this weekend, but I don't know.

It's late

2008-11-12T23:39:00.003-07:00

I came home from basketball tonight and realized that I hadn't posted this week as yet...so I thought I'd put down a few thoughts for everyone.

Last weekend was the last home game of the year for BYU. It was fun, but not much of a game. It was as close to bored that I've ever been at a football game. The outcome was never in doubt, but our offense is always fun to watch.

We were going to head down to our friends' homes for Christmas again this year, but it turns out that they have family coming in from the 4 corners of the United States and don't have enough room. Now we need to decide on a different plan. We might go down to the time share in Las Vegas and hang out with some other friends, or maybe we'll just stay at home and sleep.

Work has been slow, but seems to be picking up a little. It always does towards the end of the year.

Chris (old mission friend), Karissa, and their son Landon are coming down Friday to hang out and stay over. They've been living with Karissa's parents while their new home is being built and just wanted a night away. It's going to be a lot of fun. We haven't really hung out much over the last year it seems, so this will be some good catch up, good food, good games, basically good times.

Well, I think that's enough for now. I've got to take a shower and go to sleep.

Back from St. George

2008-11-03T15:58:00.002-07:00

Last week was tough at work for me. Not much going on with any of my clients. It was great to get away for the weekend to St George and recharge. We stayed with the Todds and hung out with all the kids and grandkids all weekend. It's great when all the little ones just pile up on us and play.

Also, our good friends Brent and Andrea just had their baby (Gabriel) a week ago so we spent time with them too.

I thought I was keeping in pretty good shape with basketball and volleyball each week, but a little game of two-hand touch football has shown me new levels of soreness in some areas that I haven't used in a while. It was still fun no matter how much I'm paying for it now. I do wish I had brought cleats though. It would have been that much better.

Sunday it was tough to leave. There was great food and some great times just relaxing on the couch. We didn't get home until close to midnight.

Well, I'm back to work today and I feel much more energized than last week...so mission accomplished.

Fun Weekend

2008-10-27T14:45:00.003-06:00

Another week has gone by. I can't believe how time flies. I helped put on our Stake BSA Court of Honor to recognize the Boy Scouts who earned awards in the last 6 months or so.

Our friend who usually let's us sit in the box with him for the BYU Football games had us sit in the Legacy seating instead this week. It was awesome being so close to the action. Our team beat UNLV in an exciting shootout. Then, later that night, we were able to get together with some friends to play volleyball.

Sunday Steph and Will brought their daughter Liberty over for dinner. Adrienne made Szechuan Steak and it was delicious. Steph made an Apple Crumble Pie that was so good I had two pieces.

We've made plans to visit our friends in St. George for Halloween weekend. It will be nice to take a mini-vacation and see some old friends. Not to mention, the weather is supposed to be GREAT!!! I'm bringing shorts and a swimsuit.