Camping?

Over the weekend we headed North to "camp" with some of our friends from the ward.  Now, I've got to say I'm using the term "camp" pretty loosely since we went to the campground at Cherry Hill Water Park.  This was my first time up to the park, so I didn't know what to expect.  Let's just say it's wall to wall people.  I think they have a hundred or so camp sites and they're all right on top of each other.  We knew if anyone near us sneezed we were so close.


That being said, the kids had a lot of fun.  Camping with their friends from nearby was basically an excuse to stay up late, eat bad food, and play lots of games.  I guess that goes for Tara and me as well.  It was great to sit around and hang out with some of our friends also.  We've known our neighbors for years, but this was the first time we were able to attend the annual camp trip.  It certainly won't be the last.

After our camp site was packed up the fun continued as we took the kids into the water park.  It was great. Dylan hung out in Pirate's Cove.  Kennedy enjoyed the lazy river.  We got Alex to go on the inner tube water slide with us.  We had a fun day playing in the water.  I'm sure we'll head back to Cherry Hill for another afternoon at the park - the campground may just be a one hit wonder.....

Diary of a Utah Fan

I began my quest to get season tickets months ago. Tara told me on my birthday this was going to be my present and I couldn't have been happier. We called the ticket office and learned that seats would go on sale in March. Then it was May. Finally it came down to July 12th.

We were prepared. You could get tickets by Internet, by phone, or in person. We had all our bases covered yesterday. Sam had several people in his office online trying to get in. A few more were calling the ticket sales number. I was teaching when the tickets went live at 10am, but hurried to get in line at the stadium around 11am. Unfortunately - the Internet crashed. The phone lines were jammed and when I got in line - well, let's just say a few others had the same idea.


When the morning started we planned to get bleacher seats at $175, I quickly realized those were going to be gone. The next level up was $210, with a $100 donation to the Crimson Club. After over an hour I learned those too were gone and it was going to run into the big bucks. My dream was over. About twenty people from the ticket window, I got out of line. No season tickets this year.

Who would have guessed when I was going to games back in the 90's it would be almost impossible to get season tickets to Utah Football?

On the lighter side, Hitler's back as BYU's biggest fan.  Let's see how he reacts to the Utes joining the Pac 10...

Utah moves to the Pac-10! from Semper Ute on Vimeo.

Photos of the Day: Ice Cream

Fire up the 4th

Our holiday was packed with festivities.  With the 4th falling on a Sunday this year it gave everyone an extra day to celebrate.  We started out by having a weekend full of BBQ's.  From Friday night when the Chapmans made a visit to Utah, to a Saturday night shindig with my family, and concluding with a Sunday night at the cabin.

A few of the weekend highlights included:

The annual 10th ward 4th of July breakfast.  Since Alicia moved into that ward it's been a tradition for us to mooch in on the good food and fun times.

The Street of Fire on Saturday night.  We had a blast sending off the fireworks that our friend Hal gave the kids.  I should say most of us had a good time - Kennedy ran off screaming the minute the first fuse was lit.

I loved watching Alex and his cousins ride down the hill in front of Tara's cabin.  They had a few wiggle cars and the fun never ended.  Although we were sure a trip to the ER was sure to result when Braxton got cooking.  I was surprised how daring Alex was - he's usually far too cautious to enjoy a stunt like that!

We had a great weekend.  Food.  Friends.  Family. Fireworks.  Who could ask for more?

Denver Trip

When Jared told me last year that his annual conference was in Denver, I wasn't too excited to tag along as I have been in past years. Then he said, "and guess who's playing the Rockies for three games the week before my conference?" Well, who can pass up a good excuse to see the Red Sox play? So we started planning. And then decided to bring the kids. Then decided to see if Jared's parents wanted to come with us, since we would be driving. And then we had a full minivan.

So off we went to Denver. The drive to get to Denver was absolutely beautiful. We loved the mountains and all the fun ski and mining towns that we drove through. The kids liked the tunnels.

Now, I don't want to offend anyone, but once we got to Denver, it wasn't as beautiful. I've been to Denver before, but I don't remember it being so bland. It was pretty much like a really big Salt Lake City but you don't have the mountains as close by. It didn't help that our hotels were right in the middle of industrial parks. It also didn't help that the temperatures were pushing 100 degrees almost every day. But we managed to have fun! Here are a few things we did in Denver.

We drove...a lot!

We went to the Red Sox games-very hot, but fun...and sad that Papelbon lost the game with a walk-off homerun to Giambi---he's so icky!

We went to a really fun waterpark.

We had a picnic a the park-in 100 degree weather and tried to play on the playground-those slides and swings sure do get hot!

Alex got sick and we spent the rest of the day in the hotel.

We went to the Aquarium. Way cool aquarium, way overpriced!

We hit a fun mexican restuarant that was on Man v. Food.  Food was good, but I can say that I wasn't blown away by it.  It was fun seeing the seven pound burrito that was the food challenge on Man v Food, though.

Kaaren and I spent a couple of hours shopping at the 16th street mall while the kids went to the Red Sox game with Jared and papa. The best part was the red velvet cheesecake I bought from the Cheesecake Factory!

We drove home all in one day and the kids were absolutely amazing! No sleep, no movies, just games and singing from the back seat. A miracle!

Denver was a fun trip, but mostly a trip for the kids.  We had some plans to go to the mountains and do a few touristy things, but we ran out of time and decided it was too much driving.  So, we got to do things that we pretty much could do in Salt Lake (except see the Red Sox, of course).  I'm glad we went, but  we won't be making any big plans to hang out in Denver anytime soon!