Art City

Yesterday I went down to Springville to help set up a GPS class we're teaching next week. Springville has many different associations for the average Utahn: City of Satan (the home of the Red Devils), Drug Party Haven (up Hobble Creek Canyon), and the Art City of Utah. We didn't run into Satan or any druggies (excluding Prozac), but we did see a lot of art. A Utah County Geocacher set up an art tour of Springville, so Ross and I put on our best attire and went out in search of the arts. I was amazed at how many different sculptures there are in Springville. I think most are aware of the Art Museum, but I hadn't ever noticed how many pieces of art line the streets. It was actually pretty cool to see all of the statues and sculptures. Surprising enough, there wasn't one sculpture of the Red Devil - too bad, although I did find Mark Twain near City Hall!

While we were in Springville, Ross and I went out on a couple caches to see what we could see. I had to laugh, cause one of the locations led us near my sister-in-law (Bonnie)'s house. It was around 3 o'clock when we passed the house and whose officially sponsored Mapleton police car was there - could it be Phillip's? It's nice to see our tax dollars are hard at work. Although I guess I can't say much since I was down in Springville in a state vehicle out looking for caches. Hey it's a tough life. Needless to say we found the cache at the top a nearby hill and I took a photo of the Mapleton Police Explorer to use for future blackmail. What a day!

Clean Up Crew

We participated in a community clean up on Saturday, which had us picking up garbage around a park in West Jordan. It was fun to watch Kennedy pick up the little wrappers and put them in the plastic bag. What a good helper! It's amazing how little kids are always so willing to get involved on projects like this - it's not until they realize they're working that they start to complain.

Since the service project was sponsored by a local geocacher, all the garbage collectors received a button marking the event. Kennedy wasn't quite sure if she liked having something attached to her shirt, but it was a nice present anyway. CITO (Cache In Trash Out) Day 2006 was a lot of fun and it's good to get out of the house and help out around town.

Easter Weekend

We spent last weekend celebrating Easter. We actually started on Thursday by dying eggs with the Bringhurst clan. After Kennedy successfully destroyed several eggs, including one of Kazzy's, I think we will be banned from the egg dying party next year. Several eggs made it home and we were able to use them for our hunt on the weekend.

We spent Saturday at my parents house in Mapleton. We arrived a little late, so after eating cold hot dogs, we got ready for the big Easter egg hunt. My parents have a small forest in their backyard, so the hunt is always interesting. My dad claims that he finds eggs every year months after the hunt is over. Kennedy ended up finding a couple of eggs and once she discovered there was candy inside, she was done. That kid loves candy. So she just wanted to eat. After the hunt, we spent some
time playing games. Jared managed to lose a one on one basketball game against Phillip, I managed to lose my title as family horseshoe champion and Kennedy took a few laps around the orchard with Austin on the 4 wheeler. All in all, it was a fun day.

We spent Sunday morning at church. Sometimes we forget the real reason we celebrate Easter, so it was nice to forget about candy and bunnies and Easter baskets and focus on Christ for a few hours. After church, Kennedy discovered her Easter basket. The basket had lots of toys and prizes and about two pieces of candy in it. She
grabbed the candy, ignored the toys and was as happy as could be. I guess we will save the toys for another day! We then spent the afternoon at Charlene and Corey's house. Corey fed us all an excellent dinner and Charlene made us all participate in another Easter egg hunt. After Saturday's practice round, Kennedy was a pro and actually found about 10 eggs. I think she realized that the more eggs she found the more candy she could eat. We all had a fun Easter weekend.

And now for the Weather...

You've got to love Springtime in Utah. At least we were able to get through the Easter egg hunts before the storm rolled in. The forecast for tomorrow: 60 and Sunny. I can take solace in that warm prediction while I am digging my car out of the snow in a couple of hours.

Medical Opinion

Last week I went in for a physical. It's not that I am having any problems or feel the need to disrobe in front of a total stranger, I simply have a prescription that I needed renewed. Of course when I got on the scale my weight was up about 10 lbs. from my previous visit in 2004. I know that I am up in an up phase in my yo-yo diet life, but it's always nice to have it reinforced by a medical opinion. Here was our discussion:

So, your weight is up from our last visit. What's going on?

I'm not doing very well maintaining a good diet.

No, what's going on?

I have been eating too much and not exercising enough.

Since you've last seen me your weight has increased, you've gotten two years older, and your blood pressure is too high. I'd say that, at the current rate, you'll come back to me in a couple of years with another 20 lbs. and severe problems with your blood pressure.

I thought this was going to be a fun visit.

Sweet Suite

Last night I ws invited to the Jazz/ Nuggets games with Jared Fawson. Normally a Jazz game has a certain amount of appeal to me, but last night's game was a can't miss. No, it's not because the Jazz are involved in a hotly contested playoff race. No, there wasn't a promotion involving thousands of dollars. It isn't even becuase it got me out of Church meetings. The tickets for last night's game happened to be in Jon M. Huntsman Sr.'s suite!

Who even cares about what happened in the game (still - the Jazz won. I don't want you to think I wasn't paying attention to the hoops.)! The real event was sitting in a comfy chair above center court, while having a gourmet spread of whatever you could eat. Unbelievable!! I was even tempted to use the private restroom, just so I could say I'd used Jon M. Huntsman Sr.'s john. I can truly say that I've been spoiled to the point that sitting in the upper bowl just won't cut it anymore.

Oh I Wish I was in Dixie

Over the weekend we were able to go and visit my parents in Utah's Dixie. I was scheduled for a training at Dixie State College on Friday, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful weather over the weekend.

While I was at the training, Tara and Kennedy took advantage of the afternoon and went to Discovery Park in Cedar City. Somehow Kennedy convinced her Papa to give her a ride on the swings, which met with giggles and smiles all around. It's a great place to take little kids, and some big kids too.

Saturday we spent the morning hiking around the Kolob Fingers. We went on a particular hike called Taylor's Flat, which gave some spectacular views of the red rock. The weather was perfect since it stayed in the mid 70's and was clear and sunny. I guess I don't need to mention that we went off in search of some geocaches that day. Kennedy even did some exploring on her own over the weekend.


It's been fun watching Kennedy become more independent and mobile with her walking. There is a downside however, as she isn't very stable while walking along uneven ground. Most of the places we went was dirt mixed with rock and, as you may have guessed, she face planted her fair share of times over the weekend. Still, it didn't affect the trip and we were able to smile about it later.

What a great weekend to be down in Utah's Dixie amongst all the red rocks and beautiful vistas!!

Diary of a Red Sox Fan

I can't tell you how excited I am that the MLB Season finally started. After months of waiting, Red Sox baseball is back! So you can imagine my anguish when I learned the first game of the season started at 12:05 MST - right in the middle of my work day. No problem, I would be able to watch Tuesday night's game when I got home. Of course Murphy's Law was in full force - when I got home from work the power was out. So now I was 2 for 2 in missing games. Finally, I was able to sit down and watch last night's game. The Red Sox game through with flying colors as Trot Nixon hit a two-run homer in the 7th and Josh Beckett only gave up one run. What a game!! I'm in midseason obsession already and it's only the first week of the season!

KFC Site Update

Here's the latest version of Kennedy's photo website. I've gotten a bit behind on posting photos since we've been writing in the blog, but I'm making up for it now. These pictures span from Christmas Eve thru last night. Enjoy!

Visit Kennedy Faith at: www.uensd.org/staff/jared/kennedy There's also a link to the site under Links on the right side of this page.

Conference Confessions

Last night I participated in a semi-annual tradtion with Brant, Grant, and Evan. For as long as I can remember, I've gone out to dinner with these guys after we watch the Priesthood Session over on Spring Lane. While we were eating, Grant and I had the following cofession:

Grant: I am so glad that tomorrow is Conference Sunday.

Me: Me too.

I sat waiting to hear the Bishop talk about his love of Conference: listening to all the talks, feeling the Spirit, finding out the will of the Lord from the Prophet.

Grant: It will be so nice too be able to sleep in and not have to go to any early morning meetings.

Me: Me too.

He is just like me! Beyond all the spiritual stuff, the greatest part of Conference Sunday is the fact that I don't have to spend all day in meetings! I always knew I supported the Bishop wholeheartedly!

Bree loves Jared

Last night a few couples in our Ward got together for some good treats, games and lots of laughs. We played a few games of the always intersting game, Catchphrase and told some high school stories of bodily functions gone awry. I think Jared told the most stories.

As you can see, our friend, Bree, is still a little mad at Jared for an incident that occurred last month. This was the look she gave Jared most of the night. The incident occurred at a little bit bigger party for couples in our neighborhood that happened to include some salsa dancing. Jared had no interest in participating in the dancing and so we snuck out a little early. Bree, who happened to be part of the planning of this party, was a little ticked at Jared for ducking out early. As far as I'm concerned, no one at that party wanted to see Jared, or me for that matter, salsa dance. It would not have been a good sight, so I think it was a good thing we headed out early that night. Maybe Bree can forgive us eventually. Even with the hard feelings, I think we all had fun last night.