First snow

Last week we received our first significant snow of the year, which called for snowman building, snowball fights and sledding. Pix below.

Thanksgiving at Disneyland

We spent Thanksgiving at Disneyland this year. It was a great way to spend the holiday with what felt like millions of our closest friends. :-) We actually had a blast with Mike's family.

Halloween Pictures

Halloween was the holiday that would never end this year. Between school, church and neighborhood parties, the kids got dressed in their costumes no less than 6 times. This allowed Nathan to try his hand at all of his halloween ideas -- at various times he was a cowboy, pirate, mummy and skeleton. Jacob was a mummy and Anna a butterfly. Pictures below.

Quick Chicago Trip

Mike had to be in Chicago for a couple of days this week, so Jen came a long for the trip (HUGE thanks to Michelle for watching the kids). What a great city! It was beautiful with the river, Lake Michigan, diverse architecture and plenty of fall leaves. Highlights of the trip included visiting the Chicago Art Institute's Impressionist Collection (lots of Monet's and the famous American Gothic -- farm couple holding the pitchfork), taking an architectural boat tour, shopping on the Magnificent Mile, and dining with old friends. The food was absolutely amazing.

Will we survive the weekend?

Jennifer flew to Minnesota yesterday to visit her sister, and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves. I know both of our families are wondering if we will survive.

So far, so good. After school ended today we headed up to the mountains on what may have been the nicest day of the year. The weather was perfect, and it's peak fall season in the higher elevations. We took the ski lift up at Sundance and hiked to Stewart Falls. We've done this hike several times starting at the Mt. Timp trailhead, but this was a first coming from Sundance and I much prefer this new route. Great tree cover for much of the trip, a few small stream crossings, and spectacular mountain views.

We capped the day with dinner at The Spaghetti Factory, Anna's favorite. Except for Nathan's constant "where's mommy?" questioning, we are surviving well (except me...that's why I'm blogging at midnight :-) ).

Father/Son Trip

Hi, this is Jacob. I just went boogie boarding with my dad at Huntington Beach this weekend. There were big waves. Once I wiped out. We rode bikes along the beach and we played football on the beach. It was very fun.

We also went to the California Science Center. We did a lot of stuff there like going in a shuttle. We went to the air and space section where they had planes and spacecraft. We also saw a 3D movie about the ocean.

It was fun to go with my dad on a business trip. We also got to visit my grammie and grandpa and my California cousins.

Sun Valley Trip

Last week we made our first trip up to Sun Valley, Idaho and had a great time. The town is the most bikeable place we've ever been to -- great trails and bike lanes are everywhere. Jacob and Anna had their first taste of "real" mountain biking, and we've posted a video of some of it below. The other highlights of the trip included hiking in the Sawtooth Mountains, horseback riding, ice skating outside in the middle of summer, and an old fashioned bowling alley.

All in all it was a great place to visit, and hope to go back again.

Silver Lake Hike

Yesterday we hiked to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon. The views of Mt. Timp were spectacular. While the distance is only 4.5 miles, the elevation gain of 1450 feet makes it a challenging hike. At the halfway mark we gave Jacob and Anna the choice to turn back, but they decided to keep going and see the lake (Nathan did not get a vote because he was getting carried in a backpack). Along the way we saw a moose, made multiple stream crossings, and viewed a half dozen small waterfalls. My kids rock.

Tour de Hobble Creek

Yesterday we took the kids for a bike ride up Hobble Creek Canyon with Kim, Chris, Cameron, and Michelle. It's a great family trail -- not quite as beautiful as Provo Canyon, but less crowded and you arrive at a park and river at the end. Anna told me she was "dying of heat exhaustion" a few times -- I did not think much of this until we got back to the car and the temperature gauge read 104. :-) We capped off the day by playing the Cedar Hills Golf Course. I love this time of year in Utah.

...except the fact that now all the animals are roaming around our house. In the last week Jacob caught a frog, Mike's mountain bike ride was interrupted by a pack of coyotes and the neighborhood cat left a mouse on our deck.

Adventures and dangers

One of our summer traditions is to "raft" down the Provo River. I use "raft" loosely because the rapids are calm, and for most of the float you simply kick back and admire the beautiful canyon scenery. It's a great trip and we usually do it a couple of times each summer.

We embarked on our latest trip on 4th of July morning, and we were having our usual great time. About halfway down, there are a pair of bridges that most people pull out for (i.e. paddle to shore, take their boats out and relaunch after the bridges). Feeling like "expert" rafters, we decided to try raft under the bridges. As we approached the 2nd bridge, our raft smacked sideways into one of the support beams. As we did, the raft popped, water rushed in and we were forcefully flipped over by the current (Nathan, Jacob, Jen and Mike were on this raft....Anna was wisely rafting with Aunt Kim and Uncle Chris).

The water was FREEZING. The river is produced by snow melt -- I have never been in water so cold. As we popped up out of the water, Jen and Nathan were close together, Mike was by himself....and Jacob was nowhere to be found. Those ~3 seconds where we could not see Jacob were possibly the worst 3 seconds of my life. He finally emerged from under the flipped raft, screaming his head off, and all of us made our way to shore (with the help of Chris and Lauren). Once there we were able to calm Jacob down, laugh about the experience a bit, and endure the ridicule from Grandma Terri (whose raft also flipped). When I saw Jen laughing at the situation while pulling a frightened Nathan to shore, I knew again that I married the perfect wife.

I asked the kids today what they learned from this experience. I loved their replies:

1) Family is there to help us. If something goes wrong, they can help "pull us out of the water."
2) Adventures can be both fun and dangerous, so you need to be careful
3) If you are prepared you will be safe. The kids had life jackets on, and we are very grateful for that.

Great lessons that I am sure we will remind them of continuously for the next several years. :-) The only harm that came from the accident was a lost camera, lost wedding ring (Mike), 2 pairs of lost sunglasses and 2 hats. We still have 3 children though. :-)

After calming down from the float trip we celebrated with a great fireworks display.

Lessons learned driving back from Vegas

We spent a few days in Vegas last week. If it seems like we go to Vegas a lot, it's because we do. Mike's work takes him to Vegas every few months and if it's convenient the fam comes along for the trip. It was nice to get out of Utah's rain for a few days and enjoy the pool. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay which has a sweet pool complex complete with a wave pool, lazy river and sandy beach. Other highlights of the trip included the Shark Reef aquarium and The Lion King show.

On the drive back to Utah, the kids were supposed to be doing their Kumon homework (i.e. math problems). The homework is supposed to take 30 minutes, but our kids tend to "dilly dally" which extends their time considerably. So, upon arriving in Nephi, UT, which is 5 hours from Vegas and about an hour from home, we asked the kids how their homework was coming. For the hour they had been "working" on it they had only completed half the assignment. Frustrated, we decided to show our kids how "dilly dallying" can go both ways. We pulled off the highway and took the scenic route home, which added 2 additional hours to the trip. The kids were thrilled, to say the least, and Mike and Jen were so proud of themselves. We continued to drive off course until their homework was done -- I've never seen math problems completed so quickly. We eventually ended up on the Nebo Loop, which is a spectacular drive past this highest peak in the Wasatch Range.

I cannot wait to threaten the kids with more dilly dallying in the future. :-)

Bryce rocks

Two weeks ago we spent Memorial Day weekend at Bryce Canyon with Jen's family in Utah (the ones that live here...not the slackers who don't). We stayed in a cabin ~10 minutes outside the park that was awesome -- all the creature comforts, yet you still felt you were on a vacation. The property had several chicken that Jacob and Anna raided every morning for fresh eggs, a friendly dog that Nathan could not get enough of, a few horses and we brought our own donkeys. :-) We spent the days hiking in Bryce and Red Canyons, riding bikes around the cabin, and beating Chris and Michelle in games.

In my opinion, Bryce Canyon is the coolest National Park in Utah because it is so different from anyplace else on the planet (and it was first surveyed by Westerners in the late 1800s by Captain Clarence Dutton). We'd love to meet anyone who reads this blog in Bryce at any time.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This weekend we took Jacob and Nathan up to Hill Air Force Base for Air Force Week. During the week they open the base for all to tour, to see a variety of plane and helicopters, and to view an air show (everything from acrobatic planes to the latest military jets). For added adventure, we took the Frontrunner train to get to Ogden.It turned out to be a very fun day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Anna was there (she's visiting Grammie in So Cal....we all miss her except Jacob). :-)

Hawaii Trip 2009

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Hawaii (all of us except Nathan, who stayed with Grammie). I've been late in posting pictures because of post-trip depression as I still can't figure out why we don't live in Hawaii. :-)

We had an absolute blast. We spent the first 2 days on Oahu and took the kids to the Polynesian Culture Center and Pearl Harbor. Jacob was called on stage at the PCC to drink coconut juice -- he drank the whole coconut and spent much of the rest of the day in the bathroom dealing with the consequences. At Pearl Harbor, I was surprised by how much the kids understood. They took a real interest in learning more about WWII and hopefully this builds their interest in US history.

After Oahu we spent 5 days on the Big Island. We enjoyed the diversity of landscapes here -- one side the island is covered in lava rock and receives very little rain, and the other side is the very lush and is the wettest part of Hawaii. We stayed on the dry side at a fantastic hotel in Waikoloa. The hotel was massive -- you had to take a boat or a monorail to get around the place -- and the features were impressive. It had its own lagoon full of tropical fish and turtles that we snorkeled in every day, a dolphin park that was right outside our hotel window that houses a dozen dolphins, three pools, etc (Jacob and Anna provide a brief tour below).

Some of our highlights on the Big Island included:

• Visiting the Volcano: We took a helicopter tour over Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world. We saw active lava running into the ocean, fresh lava fields and beautiful waterfalls. We also hiked in Volcanoes National Park through a lava tube and visited the crater.
• Kayaking to Captain Cook: It was quite the adventure to pack us all on a kayak and head out by ourselves to an awesome snorkeling spot. Along the way we were visited by a school of spinner dolphins.
• Running into a turtle: While snorkeling in the hotel's lagoon, we (Jacob, Anna and Mike) went under the bubbles of a waterfall. Because of the bubbles we could not see anything...and we ran into a 100 lb turtle. The kids freaked out...and so did I...when the turtle looked at us. You've never seen three people swim away from a turtle so fast.
• Jeeping to a secluded beach: Our rental car was a Jeep so we had to find some off-road trails. We followed a trail though an old lava field to a secluded black sand beach.
• Boogie boading at Hapuna Beach: The picture postcard beach with waves the right size for the kids.

...to name a few. All in all it was one of the best vacations ever. Jacob and Anna are at such a great age where they are so curious and love to have fun. I realized the other day that we finished at Stanford 5 years ago, and at that time the twins were still just babies. In 5 more years they will be 13, and in 5 more they'll be headed to college. Wow. Not enough summers left for great vacations.

Camping with Jacob

Took Jacob on the Fathers and Sons campout this weekend. We are getting better at this -- we have an air mattress that holds air, and a tent that we now understand how to set up. We are not great campers by any stretch, but we've done it enough now that it's bordering on an enjoyable experience.

Weekend in Vegas

This week was Spring Break for the kids, so we did a little trip to Vegas (where Mike had to be for work). We stayed at a hotel that was off the strip and you really would have never of known you were in Vegas -- just lots of sunshine, a great pool and few crowds. The highlights of the trip included visiting the Hoover Dam (the picture above is in front of the generators at the dam), hiking in Red Rock Canyon National Park, the Lance Burton magic show (the kids got to get on stage), the 51s baseball game, and swimming in the massive pool with a dozen other families from the Highland/Alpine area (seriously).

Spring?

This morning we woke up to more than a foot of new snow in our yard. Yesterday the twins and I went skiing at Snowbird where they have had 32" of new snow in the last 48 hours -- see video below.

I'm also including some Easter weekend pix.