2011, The year of change.

Top 5 changes in my life.

1. My little girl came into my life.

2. I broke my first bone ever and had surgery to fix it.

3. We paid off all of our Debt (except the mortgage). Been working on it for two years!

4. My front tooth decided that after ten years of a "temporary fix", it would fall out. I got to spend almost two weeks looking homeless before going to Arizona to have crowns put on both front teeth. Fun?

5. I got skinny and fat after being a cripple and a few large pizzas. I am sick of it and have started P90X. Check back in november to see how I did.

It's a Girl!!

I don't really know what she will look like and I'm not quite sure what her personality will be, but I know where she is coming from and that makes my little angel loaned from heaven.  I hope I can be a good daddy for her.

I don't know if little livy knows it yet, but she is up against some stiff competition.  This little hound is no joke.  She is N...capital...eedy and she lets you know it.

My Bro is moving back!!!

I'm still not sure who's who. Maybe someone out there can help me.

He still has this look of concern. I don't exactly remember, but I think I was probably pushing his buttons right up until the camera flashed.

This one is a rare find. It's one of those love it or hate it photos. (depending who you are)

I remember this. Peeling potatoes for thanksgiving. Now that I look at it, zach had his cast on from breaking his wrist and that thing was stinky. Who decided to let him play with the food?

A Tribute to the wife

I have decided to take a moment in time and dedicate it to the person in my life that knows me the best and still chooses to keep coming back! She is "everything I never knew I always wanted". I am going to attempt to give you a glimpse into what it would be like if you could see her the way I do. So here it goes.......



A total beach babe! She came pre-tanned and ready for a life of leisure with me.



She's never been afraid to face her addictions head on in public. I admire her for that. If your reading this sweetheart, we're having chocolate milk with dinner tonight.



She is special in her own little way. No other girl, or anyone for that matter, has ever helped me set up a tent in the living room and then come bouncing in with pillow and a "let's do this" sweatband ready for an all night sleep over. Yes, others "Might" do it, but only she "DiD It" and with style!



She's a camper. Not because it's in her blood or because she did it as a kid. Ha ha! Far from either of those. She is a camper because I am a camper. She goes because she loves me. At least that's what I am thinking, cause this pic was taken in cold march when it was below freezing and she asked me if she could come. It's love or just crazy. Either way, she seems to be crazy about me and it shows.


Last of all, even though sometimes I may forget, she never fails to show me who is in charge and what the consequences can be.

We're Infested.....Little Rats Everywhere!!

Against the rules, Rachel named them Oscar and Lola.

Just Born

So small and so cute.

Still no eyes open yet. Just sleep and eat.

Here is the whole family sleeping. You would think that would hurt your neck, but they sleep like that all the time. Oscar is a little pig. He is the fat and happy one sleeping on his back. I guess Lola is the only normal one.

This is their first time out of the box in the bathroom. They are just starting to walk. All the whining you hear is Oscar. He is always hungry, Always.

Here they are all sleeping together.

Here is Oscar twitching as he sleeps. He is a funny little guy and has a lot of personality.

Horse Shoes (this one goes out to brent)

My favorite neighbor Brent invited me to a friendly game of horse shoes. Its been years since I have played, but I guess he hasn't played in a while either. Needless to say, he went home wondering what went wrong.

He got a ringer half way through the game and thought he would take off with the lead, but I followed up and cancelled it out. I am pretty sure it's skill, but he wasn't convinced.

Here is another attempt by brent to score, but my shoe slid in just close enough to steal the point away.

He tried so hard, you have to give him that. But in the end, if you're going to come, then come to play. Ha Ha.

*note to reader, this blog might be slightly skewed considering the author and photographer was a participant in the exchange

before mentioned, never the less, all events are factual as they have been recorded. Score 21-15!! Bring it on!

Look What I Can Do!!

We decided to finally take some quick videos showing off maddies tricks. The funny thing is that she is doing it for plain regular dog food. She wouldn't eat it 30 minutes ago, but now it's gold!

Long & Cold, but what a season!!

For me there is more than the rush of bombing down the hill, or the sinking feeling in your stomach when I leave the take off of a jump and I'm not sure where or if I am going to land. It's the quiet that I hear in the trees as the clouds roll in over the still frozen Earth that seems to be peacefully dreaming. In any other circumstance my thoughts would turn to hypothermia or trying to signal search and rescue, but with a board on my feet and a snickers in my pocket, I can't help but stop for a moment and just stare in wonder. It's like I'm on the top of the world at a time of the year when I shouldn't even be there. I've known people that have paid thousands of dollars for this experience and here it is in my back yard. It's in my blood, and I love it!!

The winters here can be long, cold, and even depressing. Thank heaven for snowboarding! I worked at The Canyons again this year. I told myself that I wasn't going to do it, but it was just too tempting. I love the mountains! So, until I can cough up the money to buy a pass, I will just keep working the system.

This picture was taken on April 2nd. It was a weird year and just wouldn't quit snowing. This was on of the best powder days, as you can tell. You can't even see my board, although when you get the chance you should, because it's pretty sick! Its the riders choice with the....... well, like I said when you get a chance.

This was up at Snowbird on April 30th. It was my first time being up there and it was breathtaking. If you look behind me to the right you can see the clouds settled into the low valley. About five feet behind me it just drops off down the side of the mountain. It was a little intimidating, but so beautiful!

This is at the canyons on a sunny spring day. This is at the top of ninety-nine-ninety. Somehow my friend Andrew Let me convince him that it was a good idea to go to the top at the beginning of the day. I think it helped that we went up with a kid we met that was skiing with only one leg. He had lost it in an accident, so I guess we felt bad for him. That is until he raced down and waited twenty minutes for both of to work our way down. Later he informed us that he was part of the park city racing team.

He was insane!

Easy ladies! I know I look pretty cool here, but really I

am just saying give me at least two minutes to catch my

breath, cause my legs are burning and I am dying!

Overall, I had a great season. The snow was fluffy and white just the way I like it, the company

was entertaining and patient (sorry again for that snowball to the face Andrew), my wife still

loves me (even though I left her almost every weekend), I got a new snowboard and bindings (thanks KSL), and I am still in one piece! What more could I ask for?

Well..... if you really want to know I do have a list, but I'll save that for next year....

-Fun Without The Sun-

This is a compilation of a couple trips. This is by far one of my favorite hobbies. This top picture is out past saratoga springs with my "cousin in law" mike. On this trip his 4-wheel drive lever snapped off and he was stuck in 4 high. This was bad because we had a 20 mile freeway drive home, so we never got over 45mph. It was pretty funny. I had to brag about my Toyota that has a simple push button and functioned flawlessly.

These next few are up in the hills of Provo. I have been chased off of here by the sheriff a few times, but it's just too fun so I had to go back. I loved this trail because I watched a jeep Cherokee struggle and race to get up it 4 different times before backing down and watching me slowly approach and crawl right up. I was impressed with the flex of my stock suspension. Rach thinks I am weird, but I love this stuff!!

I could feel the truck teetering so I got out and this is what I saw. It was cool to me because in most cars the open differential would divert the power to the tire with the least resistance (ie. the useless one in the air), but in my case, my AMAZING Tacoma came stock with a rear locker that gives me a solid axle at the push of a button giving the same power to both wheels so it doesn't matter if one is in the air. I guess I am a little crazy, but it made me smile.

This is my favorite, because the back tire and the front are flexing in completely different directions. I was amazed that I didn't have any rubbing on the back one, because it's all the way up in the wheel well.

Of course when I see a puddle, it's a MUST!!

I was here by myself, so I jumped off the back tailgate to get out and take a picture. Getting back in was a little trickier.

I almost fell in, but I made it back in.

Well, life goes on, but you better believe, if I see any hills or puddles on the way, I will be checking them out!

Just a little Thanksgiving weekend thought

I was reading a company blog from a new website shown to me to help you manage your financial life, and I was happily surprized to find that they question other parts of life as well.

While we all know that Thanksgiving was a feast celebrated by pilgrims and Native Americans, have you ever stopped and wondered why we’ve come to celebrate it by gorging ourselves with a 3000 calorie meal, which is often followed by a marathon $3,000 shopping spree the next day?
Somewhere in the not-to-distant annals of history, Thanksgiving has veered horribly off course. The Pilgrims and Indians started the tradition as a way to give thanks for the the fact that they weren’t going to starve to death that winter. Yay! We’re not doing to die! Yet it’s gone from being about giving thanks for what you have to being about wanting more.
From the moment you turn on your TV to watch the Thanksgiving day parade you’re bombarded with messages of consumption, It runs the gamut from a pretty lady on TV telling you that you need a 498 piece Craftsman tool set (because your 348 piece one just doesn’t cut it anymore), or your Aunt Margie trying to get you to finish the last of the cornbread stuffing, even though you feel like you’re about to pop.
So how do we get back to giving more thanks and wanting less things?
On this auspicious day in the middle of one of the worst recessions in recent memory, think about all the people and things you’re thankful for and let them know. Instead of worrying about where to seat crazy uncle Lou, be thankful that you have a family at the table.
Instead of stressing about the parking situation at the mall on Friday, be thankful that you have the money to spend and a car to get you there in the first place. And if you’re not able to go to the mall or give gifts this year, give a gift of thanks. A simple card with all the reasons you’re thankful for them is probably the best gift anyone can get (if you can’t think of any reasons, maybe they shouldn’t be getting a gift in the first place).
Oh… and if you must join the fray on Black Friday, be thankful that you’re not working the registers and give those unfortunate souls manning the registers a heartfelt “thanks” for throwing themselves into a war zone so that you could get your holiday shopping done.

My Favorite Hobby Put to Use

So I decided to "man up" and change my own oil and air filter in my truck. I figured that for the money I spend to pay someone else to put cheap oil in, I could put more expensive synthetic in myself. That went great, but when I went to replace the air filter I found a surprise. Apparently the filter box had broken away from the intake hose and the previous owner had tried unsuccessfully to glue it back on. I can't believe that I missed it, especially after I have been off-road in the mountains and sand dunes of Utah. Finally my want became a need!!!

Cold Air Intake!!

It took me a while, and it was dark by the time I finished, but here it is!! My K&N cold air intake. I was hoping it would fix the reason for a check engine light, but it's still on. Regardless, this intake sounds good and there is definitely a little more pep at about 3000 rpms. Even better, there is hopefully less dirt and dust being sucked into my engine now.

Food, Food, Food.

We were out shopping and I found this HUGE piece of meat that I had to have. I think it cost five bucks and weighed just under five pounds. I brought it home and put it on the grill for about an hour and look how amazing. Initaally Rachel thought I was crazy, but as you can tell, the results easily changed her mind.

We started eating to our stomach's content. We started at different ends thinking we would meet in the middle, but that never happened.

Rachel says that I am mean, but I just want Maddie to have a good idea of what she is missing out on. Besides, if its not good for me, it's probably worse for her. So really I am selflessly sacrificing myself for her. Where's the grattitude?

I got a new t-shirt and motorcycle jacket, and decided to try and look the part of a biker for the day. I must admit, I felt pretty tough! I think it's the facial hair. Just a little and you really feel like a MAN!!

I randomly decided to dye my hair again. Rachel was against it, so we compromised on dark brown. I guess it was a little darker than we thought. I have always liked having darker hair, it just seems to match a little better with clothes and it sometimes gets a rise out of people. Right after we finished, I put on my black leater jacket and headed outside to jump on my motorcycle and go for a ride. I passed a couple of our BYU attending neighbors and laughed inside at the stares. It's fun.

I'm not sure what to say about this one. I'm told that dogs love unconditionally. I'll get back to you on that.

My wife thinks she has me trained and Zach says it's the "Metro" in us. Whatever it is, I have been baking up a storm! This is a variation on regular banana bread, I just added some chocolate chips. I still can't believe I made a loaf of bread.