Slight Delay

Yeah, yeah ... it's been a few weeks since our last post. Ok, nearly a year! We're total sucks. Things have been pretty crazy. I guess we'll tell you about it. We'll start with a top 10 list...in mostly-chronological order!



1. Hurlin' in Moab 

We took a trip down to Moab earlier this year with some family and ended up having to stay at a KOA. The campground was pretty much full, but they offered us the option of staying on the far end of the playground area–which seemed great since it was further away from the other campers. Turns out they never stop offering that option once the campground is full ... they just pack more and more people into that playground area until the tents are touching!

We cooked up some canned chili and other fixins for dinner and, as usual, tried to get our kids to finish their meal. Then we went into town and treated them to ice cream. Ruby declined. That should've been the first sign of a serious problem. We didn't think much of it.

Once we returned, we noticed a few new neighbors setting up camp near us ... slightly annoying, but it was  nightfall, so we assumed they would be the last to arrive for the night. I guess we know what happens when we assume...? Yep, you have one of the worst nights of your life.

Once we FINALLY got the 3 girls in their sleeping bags ... and some of us know how hard it is to get a 1 year-old to fall sleep in a tent(!) ... we heard more people arriving and setting up tents within the 20 foot radius. Another group of "dudes" were sitting around the fire drinking and talking way too loud. It was awesome.

(Warning: not for the weak-of-stomach!)
After an insane period of trying to drown out the noise, we all fell asleep. At around 1am I half-awoke to a strange gurgling sound ... then a chewing sound. It took a few minutes to wake up and realize it was inside the tent. I grabbed my phone and turned it on to get a little light. It was a scene from a horror movie. Under a strange bluish Blair Witch style light, I saw a little girl's face covered in vomit ... still soundly asleep, but likely dreaming of eating a wonderful meal of curdled chili and cheese. The smell started to fill the tent and my mind started to explore our options. If I get up and make a big deal of this, Sonoma would wake up and it would take another 2 hours to get her back to sleep. If Ruby wakes up and comes to full consciousness, the stench and mess all over her hair, face, clothes and sleeping bag will likely make her scream and cry ... not only waking up everyone in our tent, but also everyone in the campground. I had but one choice. I had to silently clear out the vomit as best I could and let her (and us) finish the night with our new friend, Bile.

I grabbed a pack of wet wipes and scooped up handfuls of extra-chunky-and-funky chili and tossed it out of the tent door. It seemed she had eaten 19 lbs of chili without our knowledge. When I finally got it as cleaned up as best I could (and she slept through it all!), I tried to get back to sleep. The smell made it quite difficult...but after an hour or so, I finally nodded off. Within 20 mins, the hurling recommenced, and the same clean-up process followed. Then, a third. The 19 lbs of chili consumed, must've been more like 45 lbs. Her weight in chili was now scattered outside our tent door. What fun.

Holly awoke to the noise, but could do little but try and make sure the other 2 munchkins stayed asleep. By now it was 3am and just as we were about to fall asleep, another car arrived to set up camp–less than 20 feet away. They were quite possibly the world's most inconsiderate young couple in the western hemisphere. He yelled at her to bring him a drink, they threw their poles onto the ground and spoke at full volume to each other as they set up the tent, hammering stakes into the ground and all ... the tent,  I was sure would be the size of the Taj Majal based on the time required to loudly set everything up.

Wide eyed, enormously irritated and sleep-deprived, Holly and I waited until the wonderful sound of silence as they slipped into their sleeping bags and turned off their flashlight. Ahhh, MAYBE if we're lucky we can get a few hours of sleep before Sonoma wakes up. Yet, once again, we were violently yanked from our newly found slumber by a sound even more unexpected than billowing bile. The new neighbors had forgotten something. What better time and place to share the magic of sexual intimacy than at 4am at a campsite next to dozens of other tents? And if you're gonna do it, you should do it right and not refrain from releasing many loud pleasure noises. And to add a cherry on top, they had some pretty impressive endurance! UGH!!!

When all was said and done, the sun was going to rise within a few hours and we had gotten a wink ... maybe two. I grabbed Sonoma oh-so carefully and slipped into the car to sleep in the back for the final few hours. Apart from wishing I were 6 inches shorter, it was one of the most appreciated few hours of sleep in my life.

Needless to say Holly and I were zombies the next day. Ruby was too weak and ill to do much hiking or traveling, so the entire trip was pretty much a bust. We did get a few shots during a couple of very mild hikes. See the photo gallery for those. And that was our 2011 southern Utah nightmare. Let's hope it stays a 2011 thing.


2. Yellowstone

My mom's family had a Zollinger family reunion up in Yellowstone. There was no vomit or breeding neighbors, so things were a smashing success! Sonoma still didn't sleep all that well, so one morning Holly went for a very early drive to try and get her back to sleep (4am-ish). After a while, she drove up to an overlook and realized the sun was about to rise. She pulled out her camera to get a few shots from the car (it was cold outside), and suddenly realized that a black bear cub had appeared right next to the car. Sonoma was asleep and the car was off, so it didn't notice her whatsoever. No mama bear was spotted, thankfully. She snapped some great shots of it as it foraged just a few feet away from the car. It was the only sighting of bears for any of us, so it was quite the treat. It was great to see the family and good times were had, but you had to be very mosquito tolerant, because those blood-suckers couldn't have cared less if you were wearing repellant or not. They were immune to all brands, and there were millions of them!

3. Disneyland

Olivia was going to turn six in August and our 10-year anniversary falls just a few days after that. I had joked with Holly that if nothing else maybe we can at least get back to our Honeymoon location at least once every 10 years. The joke had been going on for a few years now and I realized that there is always a bit of truth and hope in every joke of that nature. I started saving for Italy and it's a good thing ... it really did take a few years to get enough dough for that, mostly because I had to figure out what to do with 3 little girls for a week! I talked to my sister, Laura, in L.A. and she agreed to take them (thank you!!!).  What a saint. It then hit me that we'd be leaving on Olivia's birthday and that we'd have to take the girls to L.A. in order to drop them off. So ... why not make it a HUGE (and expensive) month of fun? I started saving for a birthday bash at Disneyland as well. 

A few months before the trip, I took Holly and the girls to a restaurant for lunch and ice cream, then pulled out the tickets to Disneyland. They ALL freaked out and jumped and screamed. Then I pulled out the tickets to Italy and Holly's jaw slowly dropped and she sat in total silence for over a minute. She was bewildered and beyond excited. (As was I).

The day at Disneyland really was quite magical for the girls. Apart from being quite crowded (when isn't it?), it was a pretty perfect experience for them–and a 9am-10pm day at Disneyland REALLY wipes you out. Sheesh!

The next day we had a great time hanging out with Laura, Sugata and their girls, and packed up for Italy. 

4. 10-Year Anniversary in Italy!

I invited my sister, Stacy, and her husband, Ben, to come along with us on the trip. They had never been and really had been wanting to for many years. I've obviously been to Italy many times. First for the 2 years on the mission, then a few times following, including our amazing honeymoon. I was thinking that after all the times I had been there, it was mostly going to be just a fun tour-guide experience of showing them all the great sites. Fun for me, but nothing amazing like going for the first time. But I was blown away. It was just as  or more magical for me than ever before. The architecture, food, and culture is absolutely stunning and enchanting. We would love to find a way to live there later in life. It's such a different pace from the US.

Stacy and Ben clearly fell in love with it as well. We started at a villa just south of Tuscany, and from there we hit Florence, Lucca (amazing!!), Pisa, and Cinque Terre–where we swam in the Mediterranean Sea and hiked between a few of the towns. For the last few days we went to Rome. On the way down we stopped in Arezzo where we met up with some of my good friends, Chiara and Silvia, and wandered around the hilly town for a bit. It was great to see them after all this time.

Rome and the Vatican are some of Italy's most amazing places. The history, art, and architecture are mind-blowing and epic. One of the highlights was on the night before we left. We went to a classical piano concert among stunning ruins, we were on the front row. It was sublime! Next time we'll make sure we hit the Amalfi Coast and Bolzano, near the Austrian border. And there will be a next time -- hopefully much sooner than 10 years from now!

We have some amazing photos from the trip, check them out.

5. Trips Back East

Starting in July, I began taking trips out to southern Connecticut, near NYC. One of our primary clients needed me on-site for some work. While out there, I really started to love the lush green region and the idea of living in a spot that is to close to so many amazing places, like NYC, Boston, D.C. etc. We were still planning on moving to Thailand in early 2012 to open a new office for Advent. Major and severe flooding hit Bangkok about this time and our opportunities for new clients weren't working out as well as we had hoped. Our future plans were beginning to get hazy.

6. Painting

During 2011 my brother Sam got back into painting and since we visit them often, I began to learn to paint as well. I've only done a few and really need to commit or not, but at the moment it's a fun new occasional hobby. And Sam is REALLY creating some amazing stuff ... to the point of selling them through various venues. Mostly it's our sister-in-law Jen, who is selling his stuff through her interior design clients. Pretty fun ... and worth mentioning. Check out Sam's work here: http://www.samuelsmithart.com

7. Terror on the Crimson Trail

It was 6am in early October and I was feelin' ambitious. I was doing a lot of trail running, but hadn't done any of Logan Canyon's famous hikes. I decided Crimson Trail would be a fun one. Note to self: don't go on early-morning Monday runs in the canyon where you have no cell signal unless you bring along a companion. (Ever see the movie, 128 hours?)

I hadn't done the hike in years and didn't realize until I was about half way up that the loop was a VERY steep hike/run up to the trail. It was over 2 miles to get up to the top where the trial then traverses along the top of the "china wall" cliffs of the mountain side. Once I was up there I was feeling pretty awesome and was really running hard and pushing myself. Right at the halfway point of the run, I was coming down a little dip and my foot hit a rock and my ankle rolled inward while my leg snapped outward. My ankle was severely sprained and I sat in the dirty trail in agonizing pain as I stared at my no-bars-in-these-places phone. It was clear I was going to have to get down the mountain on my own. I couldn't walk on it at all without enormous pain shooting through my leg and foot. I wondered if it was broken. I tried to hop on one leg up and down the dips along the trail that runs oh-so-close to the cliff edge. I lasted only a few minutes before the reality set in that there was no way I had the endurance to do this for 2.5 miles.

At that point I did what any little sunday school kid was taught. I said a little prayer. (this is SO cliche, it's funny!) When I opened my eyes, I noticed a very interestingly shaped tree branch on the ground. I hopped over and picked it up. It came up perfectly straight to my left hip and then angled at a 45 up to my right shoulder. The point at the angle had a large knot and dip, perfect for a hand grip. This tree grew and molded this branch, then discarded it just for me at this moment! It sure seemed to be destined for me. It was the perfect crutch for getting down the mountain. It served as a replacement for my injured left leg with a structure that allowed me to use both arms to bear all my weight. It was also long enough that it helped ease my decent on the steep terrain. Pretty serendipitous! 

After a few hours of hobbling, I made it down the mountain and back home. The next day I had it X-rayed and looked over by a specialist and he said it wasn't broken, but a Grade 3 sprain, the worst you can do. There were major tears to the ligaments. He also said that my ankles look like that of a 50-60 year-old. I've beaten them up pretty well over the years. I best take it easier on them, I suppose!

8. Sold Our Casa!

Yep, after just 3 short years of having our house on the market, we FINALLY sold the thing! We lost a small chunk of dough, but it was a great learning experience. The learning curve was steep for me ... doing all the renovations without any real background, but by the end I was swingin' a hammer at least 3 times without hitting my thumb! We loved the neighborhood and ward. We loved being so close to Holly's parents. But we knew it was time to take the next step in our adventures and venture on ... see #10.

9. Holly Stay-at-Home

Apart from a very short sabbatical when Sonoma was born, Holly has been teaching at USU every semester for the past 5 years. January 2012 was the beginning of her full-time stay-at-home-ed-ness. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. She LOVED her job teaching English to international students. She loved interacting with people of so many different backgrounds. It was a very fulfilling job–and required very few hours each week. It has been very hard to leave behind.

She loves parenting and does it amazingly well. The one problem is that she cares SO much about it, and helping our kids become kind, selfless, obedient, polite, intelligent little creatures, that it becomes quite frustrating when it doesn't go quite that well ... without a fight! So the fight continues. She does an amazing job and the girls love her tremendously. But that doesn't mean they don't try her patience to the very end! :)

10. Connecticut/Bangkok ... same thing!

For quite a while we were sure we were destined to get back to Bangkok. We loved our time there, we still had a lot of connections, and there were quite a few business opportunities. However, over the past year fate had a different plan for us. My trip out last Feb to win a major contract fell through, and while I was there I had a dream that seemed quite clearly an answer to some of my questions/prayers. And as the year progressed, things along the east coast continued to improve (business-wise) and digressed in Asia. The floods hit Bangkok and really did a number on the region for a while during this same period of contemplation as well. Lastly, I began getting strong feelings that we shouldn't distance ourselves so far from family. By the end of this year, it was very clear that Thailand was no longer an option and that CT/NY was the next step for our family. A few weeks ago we finalized the plans and will be moving in mid-March. I will be going out solo in Feb to line up a home and all the other logistics. We're very excited to be out there. We have several friends in the area and the schools are some of the best in the country. We'll be some of the poorest ward members, as the area is very affluent region, but it's a great opportunity to grow Advent and help our kids experience a slightly different culture and see some amazing sights. NYC, Boston, D.C. etc are all on our list, and flights to Europe and such are also much cheaper from JFK – just 45 mins away. It'll be a very exciting new adventure ... which is just the thing Holly and I are constantly craving. Wish us luck!

We expect we'll be much more regular with our blogging once we're out there since more family than ever will be far away from us. Thanks for reading this James Mitchner length novel!!

Ruby is FOUR!

For her birthday, Ruby asked for a princess cake with cousins and presents. She also asked to go to the Fun Park (indoor playground). She is easy to please!

1. She is a very docile and easy child. She is eager to please and gets along well with others. Babysitters often comment how amazingly good she is. She is very obedient, and doesn’t often complain.

2. She is NOT like Olivia in that she is not driven by sugar. She often chooses not to eat the rest of her dinner, knowing that she is giving up her dessert, but she just doesn’t care.

3. She is a peacemaker. She will give up her toys or her turn or whatever in order to make others happy. Olivia has caught on to this and often tries to take advantage of it.

4. She loves to sing to herself (and to others). We often find her alone in a room happily playing with toys and singing to herself, or riding her tricycle, singing as she goes. She also loves to dance.

5. She is honest. She is learning to be a little bit sneaky sometimes, but for the most part, she can be trusted.

6. Ruby seems to be a very mature and well-spoken. She started preschool at a very young age, so she seems to be advanced in many social and some academic areas.

7. She still has a very small bladder. She still has to pee more than anyone we know, which makes for looong road-trips with maaany stops.

8. She is brave in that she doesn’t get scared of bugs or squeamish at blood. She loves to find ants in our kitchen (in the springtime when they are all coming inside), pick them up one by one, and take them outside.

9. She is a sensitive soul. She has a very dramatic cry, which she uses (some might say she OVER-uses) when her feelings get hurt… sometimes there is actual physical pain involved, but usually, the screaming wails that most others interpret as sure-emergency-type-of-cry, are just the result of hurt feelings.

10. She is very helpful. She loves getting diapers and wipes for her sister Sonoma. She loves to help unload the dishes, fold laundry, and do pretty much whatever she’s asked (unless Olivia complains about it first, at which point, Ruby catches on, and decides that chores are not cool).

11. She loves gymnastics right now. She also loves “Nutty Nuggets (like Grape Nuts that she calls “nuggy nuggets”)with blueberries and milk” in the morning.

Olivia is… jealous that her birthday isn’t until the end of the summer!!

1. She is so eager to please. She is so anxious to show or tell me when she’s done something good. She longs for the approval and recognition that she followed directions or remembered to follow a rule. It is very sweet.

2. Almost every day, her school work comes home with “I love you mom” doodled somewhere on it. I know that won’t last forever, but for now, aren’t I lucky!?

Sonoma turns one!

I know it is cliché to say this, but I really can’t believe that a whole year has passed by since Sonoma was born. That was such a fast year. She is a big adorable toddler now with rolls and chunky thighs to prove it. Some things about her right now…

11. She likes to make a sort of siren noise, and if you copy her, she’ll repeat it over and over with some variation. It’s really cute.

2. She can say 6 words: “dada” which means baby, “dada” (Dad), “Mama”, “Hi”, “Down”, and “Uh-oh”

3. She can sign a few words: milk, please, all gone, sleep, … but she is not terribly consistent with signing, and is not particularly fond of signing. She mostly doesn’t want you to be in charge of her hands if you try to teach or guide her signing. She likes to be in control of her hands and fingers at all times (clipping her nails is a challenge!).

4. She can take a few steps (I think her record at this point is 9 steps in a row). She still prefers to crawl or cruise along furniture.

5. She is stone-faced for strangers and often for us. This is just following in the footsteps of her older sisters. They grow out of it :)

6. She is generally a very easy baby (mild-mannered, mellow).

7. She likes to climb dangerously on chairs and anything she possibly can.

8. She loves animals. She always wants to pet and touch and poke and grab at cats and dogs.

9. She likes to sing. When we are singing or when music is playing, she often tries to chime in. She’ll also shake her head from side to side in a form of dance.

110. She is constantly rolling her ankles around. It’s not a conscious action, she just does it all the time. She used to do it with her wrists as well, but not as much anymore.

In other news, we took a trip to MOAB this last week, and had a great time, not the best time ever, but a great time. Let's just say that camping with three kids after 6 hours in the car is hard enough, but then having one of them throw up all night in a tent (the smell alone could have killed us) while not-so-considerate camping neighbors noisily set up camp a 4am and then proceed to become noisily intimate with each other, is even harder (we felt like we were in a bad movie!). Ah, the joys of "roughing it"!

Munchkins

We had the opportunity to do some fun Springy things this week such as see (and pet) baby animals at the American West Heritage Center, go on walks, and go to the park and play. If feels good to finally get some natural vitamin D in our systems. I'm glad we took advantage of that because it is forecast to rain all week. *sigh*.

So here's the update on the kiddos who are all growing up too fast.

OLIVIA: is LOVING gymnastics. She is in a class with only one other girl in it, so she gets a lot of attention. She is learning to climb a rope, do handstands, cartwheels, walk on the beam, to pull-overs on the bar, and much more. It's exciting to watch her do something that she is passionate about (as opposed to soccer... which WE love, but she didn't really take to it... yet). She is anxious to learn how to ride a two-wheeler bike all by herself, and she practices a lot. She is also anxious to learn how to swim and is quite daring in the pool. She is a really good reader when she wants to be (life can be rather distracting). She is a good friend at school, which she enjoys most of the time (but it's hard to love anything in the mornings, and morning kindergarten is sometimes a challenge for both of us). She is enjoying participating in the upcoming "green science fair" at school. Her experiment is on the effects of food coloring. Olivia is a good eater and eats a pretty good balance of vegetables and candy. She likes them both. She is, and always has been, a very independent little girl who is desperate to grow up. She loves being a big sister, and she loves to play with Ruby. She often prays that Sonoma will grow up fast - I can only assume it is so that she can play with her as well.

RUBY: surprised us all yesterday by throwing up 4 times and napping early in the day, but has been fine ever since (thank you for not being the flu!). Ruby is such a pleasant little girl. She is always singing and giving hugs to people. She is thoughtful and sweet. Perhaps her disposition also makes her a bit of a tender soul (sometimes people also refer to it as cry-baby-ish), and she is working on being brave about things. For example, she used to get scared at night until Adam told her that the elephants that are hanging on the mobile in their bedroom are strong and nice and would protect her. Now she talks about them all the time and mentions that she isn't scared because of them (genius, Adam, genius!). Ruby also loves gymnastics. She also enjoys coloring pictures for people. She has an adorable attachment to a "fluffy green pillow" and a "fluffy green blanket". She doesn't need them all the time, thank goodness, but sometimes when she is feeling tender, they are the perfect snuggle companions. She says the cutest things. Here are two quotes from this morning: 1. Ruby: "Look mom, FIRE!" Me: "No, that's the sunset. It's beautiful." Ruby: "No, it's the moonset." 2. "If we hold hands super tight with all the people in the world, we won't fall." (rather profound for a 3-yr-old).

SONOMA: is fast approaching her 1st birthday!!! Yikes, that went by fast. She is really coming into herself (what does that even mean?), and her personality is showing more and more. She is babbling all the time. It's so fun to listen to her communicate - most of the time. Lately she has been teething, and so much of her communicating has turned to loud, insistent, and rather dramatic yelling. I hope those teeth come fast. She has said her first word: dada. No, it does not mean "daddy", it means "baby". She has adorable mannerisms. She flexes her whole body in an almost-frightening way when she is really excited. She likes to click her tongue. She is always growling - about everything - something she has done for almost her whole life. She also started picking up phones and putting them up to her head. Amazing how quickly they catch on. She loves taking baths. She still has impressively large thighs, but she is moving around so much that they are thinning. She wants to walk so badly. She is such a cutie and we love her to death!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the photos!

So We're 3 Months Behind - So What!

Not posting for 3 months has its benefits – I assure you. On the top of the list is fact that there's plenty to talk about, and buckets o' photos and videos to show off.

With Holly traveling back from Provo right now, I'm gonna have to wing this part. How about I try and do a top 5 list? Sweet.

(Note: this first slideshow is a set of videos, the 2nd are photos)






5 things that have happened since January. 

1.  California
Sam and Kristen are, for lack of a better term, "da bomb". Yes, and old school phrase, but true nevertheless. They rented a huge estate (much bigger and expensiver (my word) than a house) on the coast of Santa Barbara and invited us and other family to go chill for a week. It was quite amazing. Check out the photos for some cold hard proof if that. Two downers from the trip, however: 1. Sam got a tick and ended up contracting Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever -- it knocked him down to a slug for a week!  2. Holly lost her iPhone at the beach – not cool. Fortunately her bro, Jackson, was gracious enough to send her his old iPhone. It was a rough few weeks for her ... not having her Words with Friends games and all :)

2. Thailand ... again. Then San Diego.
I had to take another trip back to Bangkok at the beginning of February. In fact, it cut my time at the luxurious Santa Barbara in half. Holly dropped me off at LAX and as I walked in I saw the sign flashing "Canceled" next to my flight. Turns out someone had died on the plane that was coming to pick us up. My schedule was already so tight that I'd be arriving 5 hours before a very important pitch for some work with a client. I scrambled to find a different flight–and after a few hours finally got on one, but it was scheduled to arrived just 3 hrs before the pitch...and I'd have just traveled for 28 hours. Not cool.
I made it on time and the pitch went as well as we (me and a Thai partner) could manage with so little time to prepare. The rest of my time in Bangkok reminded me of how much more fun traveling is when you're with someone else! I managed to eke by with some stellar Lebanese food and the crazy Chatuchak weekend market.
Less than 48 hrs after my return to Logan, I had to jump back on a plane with a few co-workers to pitch to another prospective client in San Diego. The pitch went well, but jet lag had set in and I realized that I'd be a crappy traveling businessman ... at least if I had to hit opposite sides of the world on a regular basis!

3. Cabin
For my birthday, Holly arranged a surprise trip up to our friend's lush cabin in Bear Lake. She told me Friday afternoon and said we had to leave by 6pm. All the kiddies were coming along of course. One problem: there was a severe winter storm warning starting around 4pm.
Around 6pm when we decided to leave, the snow had nearly stopped and the roads seemed fine. The first half of the canyon was also perfectly fine, but suddenly the storm arrived with fury! The snow was coming down so heavily that within 10 or 15 minutes, we could barely see the road. The snow was piling up so quickly that the car tracks were disappearing at it felt like we were driving through a field of white snow ... but we knew there were steep canyon drop-offs somewhere in the whiteness. It was quite possibly the most terrifying 12 mph experience ever! At times it was a complete white-out and we had to hit the breaks because it was so disorienting. We were sure we were going to have to sleep in the car in the middle of the highway...but somehow we suddenly found ourselves at the canyon summit and made our way down very carefully. Then we turned off onto the sideroad for the cabin and just over the half way point our AWD wagon became NWD - no wheel drive! We were totally stuck! We tried for nearly 30 mins to get out, but it was useless. There was nearly a foot of new snow and slippery snowpack underneath. Suddenly a guy showed up from a cabin nearby -- he noticed us out there in the dark (fortunately!) and grabbed his snowmobile and took 5 trips the rest of the way to the cabin. That man deserves a free ticket to heaven! What a relief and blessing. We left the car right there in the road ... we had no choice.
The next day I had planned to go skiing with friends from Advent at Beaver. I was still determined to go. I packed up my stuff and started hiking the mile or two out to the highway. Holly was happy to hang at the warm, cozy cabin and wait for our friends to come later in the afternoon.
I hitchhiked to Beaver, had a killer day of deep powder and hitched back home with an old railroad worker who skis every day in the winter.
The city plow that does the backroads gave us a ticket for illegal parking -- lame! Holly contested it and we got off -- cool!
Check out the pics and videos from the cabin. We took great advantage of the snow by doing leaps and flips off the upper deck of the cabin into the mountains of snow below. Awesome and momentous birthday thanks to the oh-so-lovely Holly.

4. Provo/Orem
As you've probably noticed by many of our posts over the past year, we take quite a few jaunts down to the Provo/Orem/Alpine area. And it takes a LOT of love to get us down to such an area of Utah!
But with Sam and Kristen AND Marshall and Kristen and Rick all living down there, it's worth it. We love getting down there to chillax.

5. Drew's Birthday
Just wanted to mention that it's been 5 years since Drew died. Time passes so extraordinarily fast. Drew continues to inspire me in my life. His relaxed and animated personality, coupled with his passion for learning, music and simple honesty made him a magnet to all around him. I miss him and hope he's keeping up with the drums in a celestial band. :)

We'll try and stay a tad bit more up to date from here on!

The Resolution Evolution

The other day I wheeled into the Sports Academy parking lot and have never in my life seen the lot overflowing with cars … specifically at 6am! I entered, geared up and made my way over to the machines … not one treadmill, elliptical, or bike was available. Every hamster wheel was occupied with sweaty, determined folk with an ambitious new year resolution to be fitter, thinner, sexier. I mentioned it to a woman next to me and she flatly replied, “Yeah, happens every year – by March the place is back to normal”.

Two questions seem to hang in the air at the first of each year.

1.      1.  What drives us to set goals that statistically we’re so unlikely to stick to?

2.      2.  What force(s) inhibit us from reaching these far-fetched goals? 

Although my memory is about as useful as a spork, I’m quite sure I’ve set several personal goals for myself come January 1^st every stinkin’ year throughout my adulthood. And since my math is about as good as my memory, let’s say that I’ve been setting goals for the past ten years. Only one year did I ever successfully hit my goals. One. Year. I’m sure you’re aware of the goal I speak of – my weight loss goal of 100 lbs. It was a smashing success, but that’s not my point today. What confounds and frustrates me (and likely you as well) is that only 10% of my goals in the past decade were attained! WTF! (it means Why The Face – watch Modern Family ;))

So – back to question 1 – how do we keep thinking that this time it’ll be different? Are we setting the wrong goals? Are we expecting too much from ourselves? Do we already know that we’ll mostly likely fail but choose the “reach for the stars” mentality because that’s what we’ve been taught?  Did I just discuss a question with a slew of additional questions? Clearly you won’t find many answers here … just some food for thought … mmm food. 

And question 2 – why do we stop? Why do we fail? What helped me succeed on that tenth time after losing miserably nine times prior? What’s the difference? 

I suppose the most important question I want to pose to myself (and you diligent folk still reading this brain dump) is this: How can I make that 10% more like 50% … or is it ludicrous to even think 100%?

This is what I think it boils down to … at least this is my conclusion for the moment:

1.       Set a minimum of 4 milestones for every goal. You know the saying – how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And believe me, I was an elephant!

2.       Tell as many people as you possibly can about your goal. ESPECIALLY if it’s slightly embarrassing --- like “I’m super fat and I want to lose it all this year”… that was embarrassing to me.

3.       When you fall off the horse, (and by damn man, you absolutely will!) ask yourself if you are on the right horse – because occasionally you’ll realize that there’s a better horse right behind you that’ll take you the next 4 miles and help you get over a mountain you now realize your other crap horse could never get you over. And don’t forget to over-use lame horse analogies as often as needed.

4.       Don’t follow the rules of some lame-o “self-help guru” --- or even some dude blogging about his amazing ability to lose some weight, then gain some back, then diet some more. We’re all playing this by ear and everyone is so fundamentally unique, every individual needs their own rules and guidelines. I know my weaknesses and strengths and my goal-reaching bible is penned primarily by me, with a dash of a various hand-picked authors/idealists. 

So – there you have it. A quick idea of what seems to work for me. Now throw this in a blender, pull out the useless chunks that won’t break down and add the main ingredient: your unique secret sauce. That totally got cheesy at the end…

So – Holly mentioned that we needed to write a blog post this week and this is what you got. You were probably looking for adorable pics of Sonoma on the verge of crawling (she pulled herself up for the first time this week!), Ruby as a priceless snow bunny or Olivia assisting as sous-chef in the kitchen. Well, maybe next week.

2010 - A Fantastic Year

Here are photos and videos from some of the fun we had in December ... mouse over and click play for the videos.



At the close of 2010, we feel good. It has been a wonderful year full of change and busy-ness. Right now, we are just ending the holiday break. We had a lot of fun with family in town. There were many a family gatherings, games, snow-storms, and over-eating opportunities. We managed to go sledding and - for the first time ever with the kids - ice skating (the girls really loved both, and were champs at skating). We also celebrated the pregnancies of Amber and Mandy with a girl's night. Jen told us about the Navajo tradition of a "Blessing Way", which I will incorporate into all future baby showers. Amid all of this, we were remodeling our home. We ripped out a bedroom on the main floor to open up the main room. It's a construction zone, but luckily we spent the majority of the holiday at my mom's house.

We are now waiting to hear about whether or not we will be moving to Asia in the late summer or early fall. Until then, Olivia will go back to BRCS in kindergarten, singing in Cache Children's Choir, dancing at the Bullen's Center, and who knows what else. Ruby will go back to Union Preschool and dancing with her sister. Sonoma will inevitably learn to crawl, walk, and talk amid other things, forcing me to re-baby-proof the house. I will go back to teaching at USU. Adam will continue to keep his nose glued to the computer at Advent Creative. The new year promises uncertainty, adventure, and fun. I am genuinely excited. Despite challenges that come with a recession/struggling economy, poor housing market, three small children, intermittent poor health, bills, sub-zero winter weather, and whatever comes, life is amazing. I am so happy. I feel like the luckiest person alive. I am learning and experiencing so much all the time. I feel it a privilege to participate in this round of existence. So, 2011, welcome.