There Goes the Sun

On Sunday our house was a buzz with the prospect of watching the solar eclipse.  Since we were in SL there wasn't a real chance to see the Ring of Fire that many in the southwest would experience, but it was still going to be amazing to watch.  Several people in my neighborhood were getting together with telescopes to watch to solar event together so we packed up the kids and headed over to the parking lot to witness the big moment.

Unfortunately, the clouds started rolling in around 6:30 and they were still blanketing the sky as the eclipse approached.  The peak viewing time for the eclipse was 7:29 and it wasn't looking good.  Since we were in the church parking lot, I told Alex and Dede they should find a place to pray and ask for the clouds to move.  Love the faith of the little ones.  They immediately headed off and said a silent prayer for some help.  I don't know about divine intervention for celestial viewing, but I can tell you that the clouds moved by 7:29 and we had a clear path to watch the eclipse.

It was spectacular!  I've seen eclipses before, but there was something magical about showing your kids the heavens for the first time.  They absolutely loved it.  Tara and I had a great time as well.    Seeing the skies change and watching celestial bodies in orbit is incredible.  Thanks to everyone for bringing their gear and making our night one to remember.

PS - In addition to the prayers, I had the kids perform a Sun Dance, in hopes of getting the clouds to move away.  Classic!

One More Step

One of the lessons we try to teach our kids is to "Try Hard Things".  I know the world is full of people who don't live up to this mantra, and truthfully, there are plenty of times in my own life that I have avoided something because it sounded too hard.  When the opportunity arose yesterday to hike Mt. Olympus with the scouts I knew I had to go back and do it again.

I hiked Mt. Olympus 5 or 6 years ago for a similar purpose.  I was working with the Young Men and several of the Priests wanted to scale the peak.  It was a hard hike, I actually cramped several times on the way due to a lack of water and training.  But I made it.  Yesterday I wanted to prove to myself that I could make it again.

I know there are several of you out there for whom hiking Mt. Olympus is a breeze.  A fun little climb to see the valley.  I wish I was part of your world, but for me, Olympus is a beast.  The 4000 foot ascent to the top brought fire to my lungs and made me realize how out of shape I am.  The last 1000 feet to the saddle I was truly gutting it out.  I just kept saying - "One more step.  Just go to that tree." The climb isn't straight up, but it is pretty vertical.

Just when you get to the saddle and you think you've had enough - then it's time for the rock climb up to the summit.  I have to imagine they have been plenty of people who've stopped at the saddle, a feat in and of itself just to get that far.  The challenge is, once you've climbed to 8300 feet, don't you have to go the extra 1000 feet to meet the goal?  I know that's how I was yesterday.  To get that far and not summit,  wasn't an option.  So I cowboyed up and made it to the top.  It was awesome!  There is something special about challenging yourself and rising to meet the bar.

For most the journey to the top is probably the hardest part of any climb.  I don't think that is the case with Olympus.  Going down is just as hard!  Imagine dropping the same 4000 feet in 3 miles.  Your feet are crammed into the toes of your shoes and the decline puts tremendous pressure on your feet.  It didn't help our cause that our journey down was slowed by injury.  It took us a little longer than expected to get back to the parking lot, but it was a welcome sight!

My highlight of the day was having two of my scouts go on the hike.  Daniel and Anthony didn't really want to go yesterday.  They were tired from getting up at 4:30 am to do baptisms for the dead and the thought of spending the day hiking a mountain was pretty rough.  Still, they went.  Daniel actually summited the mountain and I think he learned a lot about himself.  If I thought the hike was hard, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for him.  But he perserved, and he proved to himself that he can do hard things.  What a great lesson for a 12 year old!  BTW - Anthony was a big time stud as well, but I didn't hike with him as he went down with the first group so he could get down for a party.

I'm glad I went back to Olympus.  It tested my endurance and will.  It showed my that I can do hard things.  It was fun to go with several of my neighbors and awesome to challenge my scouts.  I know I'll certainly feel the hike tomorrow, but for now, I can only bask in the glow of accomplishment.  I'll take it!

Worth a Thousand Words

We often hear that a picture is worth a thousand words.  A couple of days ago I took a photo of each of our kids and I think these images really illustrate how kids change as they get older.

Dylan, at age 3, is still smiling.  I know he doesn't really want to smile, but he knows that I would like to see him happy in the picture.

Alex, at age 5, doesn't like to get his picture taken anymore.  He will rarely smile and usually gives me his dragon face.

Kennedy, at age 7,  wears a mask and is hoping I don't recognize her.

Dede at Red Butte

It isn't every day that I get invited to be a chaperone at an elementary school field trip.  In fact, I think this may be the first field trip I've been on since I was a teacher.  Kennedy's first grade class has been studying plants this year and they loaded onto a bus and headed to the coolest garden in Salt Lake - Red Butte.

We had a great time walking around the gardens and enjoying the amazing plants.  Kennedy and the other kids were so inquisitive and the staff did a great job showing the kids the beauties of nature.  After a short picnic lunch our morning was over and I had to head back to work.  It's unreal how fast time flies when you're having fun....

 

Mother's Day

What can you say about Mother's Day?  I love the fact that we get to share our appreciation with the special women in our lives.  The kids and I try to pitch in more and help with the morning routine.  Today we tried to provide Tara with special breakfast, french toast.  Unfortunately, early church meant that the morning couldn't be shared in bed - still, Alex and I were able to whip up a tasty treat for breakfast.

After breakfast we gave Tara her presents. The kids gave Tara some items for the yard - lawn chairs, and a new peach tree. For some out there these presents would probably give a response like, "WHAT?! A tree for Mother's Day?!  Where's the pedicure, the facial, the massage?!" I hear you, but Tara was really interested in planting a peach tree and the chairs have been on her list for months.

Church provided the mothers with a Primary mainstay, "Mother I Love You." After the meetings each of the women in the congregation received a rose as a token of appreciation. I thought it was a nice sentiment and I made sure to take a few roses to some of the ladies I home teach.

We wrapped our evening with a trip to visit June in Mapleton.  It's always good to get together with family and I know the visits are very important to June in this year of transition.  The kids had a fun time at Grandma's house and it was a great way to cap our day.

I made sure to call my mom and let her know how much I appreciate her. Being away from her family can be hard, but I think she needed the break after being in Salt Lake for much of the past month.  A phone call may not be much, but it's good to talk to my mom and I hope she had a good day.

I know I'm not the most appreciative husband, but I wanted to give Tara a nice Sunday.  The kids love her more than anything and Tara is a terrific mother.  Happy Mother's Day Tara, I love you....


 

Stake Olympics

As part of my calling with the Young Men I go to a lot of stuff - meetings, scouting, firesides, service projects.  The list never seems to end.  Today we held the quad-stake olympics at East High.  This event has been part of our stake forever.  With the numbers of youth dwindling, we've expanded to include three of our neighboring stakes and the tradition lives on.

For me the day was spent as  part of the support team.  We went all out for the kids this year.  Many wards bring out donuts and juice for the youth, but not us.  Ryan busted out the six burner stove and we made pancrapes - they were supposed to be crapes, but I think they turned into pancakes.  It was awesome and I spent a few good minutes flipping the jacks.

Our kids that attended had a blast.  I don't think anyone thought we were the greatest athletes in the meet, but we sure had a lot of fun.  The boys and girls ran, threw, pulled, and jumped their hearts out.  It was fun working with the other leaders and a great time to play with the kids.

I think my favorite part of the day was taking Alex.  I always try to include one of the kids in the events I'm asked to attend.  I was a little worried that Alex would get bored, as I knew it would be a long day.  I was totally wrong.  Alex was a trooper and he had a great day.  It didn't hurt that he loves Ryan, the YM's president.  Alex is a fun kid and he was in seventh heaven with all the boys and girls.

Looking for some Cache

We decided to pack up the car full of the crew and head out in search of adventure.  It's been an eternity since the kids came along on the hunt.  Truthfully, since I've had a million different projects over the past couple years I haven't done much caching either.  Tonight was a quick run.  We found 5 caches and all the kids got a new toy.  Finished off the evening with an ice cream and everyone had a great time!