happy birthday my sweet Jane!!

This is Jane!
Sporty Jane




Nice legs Jane




Thanksgiving Jane




Temple Jane




Great Mom Jane



Crafty Jane




I love you Jane!

Jumpsuits and Bongo Boards

When I was 8-12, I liked two things more than anything. Riding my bike and skiing. We used to go with my Dad to Solitude on a weekday when it was $5. I had a red jumpsuit for skiing, that I loved, before nylon jumpsuits were cool. (these were the pre-gortex days when the tight, flared, stretchy pants were the rage, but I was a trendsetter.) I could slide down the slopes in that suit almost as fast as I could ski.

We moved back east when I was 15 where the best runs were equivalent to the "seasame street" run at Solitude. That is my excuse for not having mad skills in the backcountry or on the mogul field today. But, I still like to train for the season like a pro. I train on the bongo board like all serious skiing athletes. I also still enjoy jumpsuits.

I learned to ride a bike when I was 2....or so the story goes. When I was 8, my Dad bought me one of the first full-suspension bikes made. It is ("is" 'cause I still gots it and I still ride it with the kids) a Kawasaki brand bike. My dad took me down to Duff's to trade my Honda MR 50 in on that bad boy. I jumped big wheels, plastic swimming pools, friends, dogs...everything on that bike. Until, one day, my feet came off the pedals and I landed full force on the tear-drop shaped bar (point of the tear drop at the top), ouch-chy-mama. I still love to ride my bike.

May I have a fig newton, please?....Bonk

I joined a group of cyclists heading out to Canyon Lake this am. I had not ridden this ride, but prepared for a 40-50 mile ride. The ride turned out to be 80 miles and the temp was quickly climbing to 100+. The ride was also filled with brutal climbs. Because I didn't take food, gu, gels, gatorade, or the like, I "bonked" big time about 1/2 way back. I managed to stay with the group up until we had 5 or 6 miles left, but at that point, I was done and peeled off the back and ducked into a CVS pharmacy.

I didn't have any $$, so I asked the clerk at the counter if he could spot me a drink. He couldn't accommodate, but called back to the supervisor, Steve. Steve came through and let me pick out a drink and snack. Coke and a Fig Newton were the selections. They tasted so good. (I'll have to drive by later and give Steve some $$ and a thank you card.)

I limped by home, jumped in the pool, (when I did my hammy cramped big time and I let out a yell that the neighbors heard I'm sure). Now I'm ready for a nap.

The scenery on the ride was beautiful. Too bad I was too dead to enjoy it.

I'm supposed to do a 100 miler from Park City, around Kamas, down through Heber Valley, over the Alpine loop, over Traverse mountain and up to Snowbird in August. We'll see if I can improve b/w now and then.

Summer Job List--get 'er done

Job List—Summer 08

Before Lunch :
Make Bed
Shower
Scripture study (family and personal)
Breakfast
Brush teeth
Pick up dirty clothes, take downstairs
Clean clothes up and put away
Room cleaned
Zone (see below)

Zones:
Ally:
Upstairs Bathroom
Chase:
Family Room
Brooke:
Little girls room and bathroom
Brigham:
Entry, loft/exercise room, back patio
Brynn:
toy room and kitchen set
little girls closet

After Dinner
Dishes (boys odd; girls even)
Clean clothes up, dirty down
Brush teeth

Consequences for poor performance (not completing your jobs each day):

Ally—no phone (no more than 1,000 txt/month)

Chase—computer/TV/Video games

Brig— computer/TV/Video games

Brooke— computer/TV/Video games

Opportunities to earn $$$

Ally—Sell on Etsies / eBay (clothing lots, Christmas décor, stuff)

Chase—Sell on eBay (selling service) power wash, clean garage bathroom

Brooke—sell designs

Brigs—blowing leaves

Clocks, sheets and underwear

Jane really enjoys April Fools Day. She makes a "silly" dinner for the kids every year and they love it. It takes some work on menus and food description as well as prep and clean up. See her blog for more details on this years I'm sure.

But from our first year married, she's been having her way with me (on April Fools Day). For the first few years, she set the clocks an hour earlier. I'd arrive at school or work an hour early and wonder where everyone was. This worked for a few years, then she went to short-sheeting the bed......very aggravating. After the sheets, she became a little more evasive and targeted my underwear; sewing the legs shut so when I stepped in, I was met with frustrating resistance. Not sure what is still in store for me this year, if anything.........hey, maybe that is the trick; I'm expecting something that really is not going to happen........arrrggghh! Now she really has me jumpy.

Later.

Spring Break

The trip to Rocky Point, excuse me, Puerto Peñasco, (alt 164 to put the ~ above the n if you are interested) was a mixed bag for me. I was in charge of prep since Jane was in NYC with Liz. We decided to go ghetto and not rent a trailer, but take our Cargo trailor and our big tent and canopy to rough-it with all the RV'ers. With a fair amount of frustration, we head down the road early Saturday after Jane arrived 11:30pm on Friday.

We pull into PP in the afternoon. The route we took, carried us through the ugly part of town (think of a frat party mixed with Mardi Gras all on 4 wheelers and ATV's) making the kids bury their heads on a few occasions.

Once you get out by the resort and to the unusually nice RV park where we stayed, the muck subsides. There are dunes behind you for miles, the RV park and then a great beach and the Sea of Cortez. The conditions in the RV park are cramped but clean. The RV culture is very friendly and mingly. We had 15 families from our ward and neighborhood there at the same time. So the kids play on the beach or wii in one of the RV's while the adults sit on the beach and watch or by the fire and talk.

I did sneak in a mtn bike ride with a friend from our ward and a run down the very nice beach. We also ate amazing shrimp that a guy brought to us fresh driving around the RV park. Another lady brought tamales and breakfast burritos.

I was incharge of meal prep and did a pretty poor job of meal planning, so we were lucky to have the people bringing the food around.

Good time. But still prefer a W or JW resort to the RV. But, it appears we will return next year, RV in tow, for the kids kids sake. (I'm thinking 42ft toy hauler full of quads. It makes a lot of sense from an emergency preparedness standpoint, right. I'll need a new truck to pull it, 3/4 ton, diesel, crew cab as well.)

Oli

Not the hopping skateboard move, but the 2nd of Chuck Dicken's novels, Oliver Twist. Kelly lent me a copy and I just finished it on the plane yesterday. Typical classic. Tough to read through at times, but well-worth the effort.

Poor Oliver Twist can't buy a break in life, due largely to the society and governments turning their backs on the poor and needy. (England even had a law, during Dicken's time, that made begging illegal.) He eventually comes across someone who has true charity, takes him in and cares for him.

Admirable how Dicken's rips the government and it's ridiculous programs with his writing. Must have been quite controversial.

Makes you wonder how much we neglect the poor and needed and pass judgment on those in need.

Todd