An Evening With Friends

Michelle and I wanted to spend some time with some friends Friday night. We made a few phone calls and extended a few invitations. Not everyone was able to make it but we did have a few friends show up. The Bunker family, the Moss family and the Johnson family made it in time to enjoy the fire and watching the kids running around playing and having a grand old time. The Anderson family and the McCall family we also able to stop by later in the evening to say hi and have a marshmallow/s'more.

The Jones boys and the Bunker boys decided that sword fighting was the game of the day and Steve Bunker was the target.

But the boys were no match for the fury and ferocity of the counter-attack!

Meanwhile, Jeff Moss provided the horsepower for Corbin and Quintin to cruise around the yard.

It appears that Quintin is going to have to practice just a few more times before his driving test. He nearly ran over his mother Holly.

We had an absolutely wonderful time with our friends. The Mosses are new to our neighborhood and we were elated that they decided to join us for an evening of socializing.

Around 8:30 pm we directed the boys to clean up all the toys. Since we had 10 boys running around the yard we were able to gather everything up in just a few minutes. Then we herded our boys into the house to get ready for bed as the other boys headed for home (and their own beds).

The Johnsons and the Andersons stuck around a little longer and we started up a game of Canasta. I've never played that game before but it had a lot of similar rules to Hand and Foot which I have played previously (about 4 different versions now). Our game lasted until 11:00 pm when we decided that it was time to call it a night. We certainly had a lot of fun and are grateful that so many friends were able to join us for a few hours on a Friday evening.

Family Hike to Stewart Falls

It was a great family adventure. Today we were able to go hiking to Stewart Falls which is just past Sundance Ski Resort in Provo Canyon. Everyone was so excited to go. This was part of our birthday celebration for Kelley Johnson. Here we are at the trail head, just as we begin to embark on our adventure.



Here is Neil, Kelley and Zachary also ready to head to the falls.

We tried very hard to keep our boys close as they sped up and down the mountain trail. It was a 2 mile hike each way to the falls and back again. For the most part they did very well. But David is ready to stretch his wings and fly (or just walk very fast). On the return journey he was definitely out in front and it was all we could do to catch up to him.

Here are the guys, trudging through the forest...

I'm not totally convince that Aleky carried his own weight on this trip. But we decided to cut him some slack until next summer. And then he'll have to pack it in and pack it out.

The Jones boys hiking along the trail.

My boys were able to spot all sorts of critters along the trail. Here we have just found a hairy caterpillar.

This is the moment when the boys discover the waterfall. They are certainly excited about the proposition.

Neil and Kelley are doing their best to keep up with the boys. Here they are descending the rugged trail to the falls.

The boys arrive victoriously at Stewart Falls. The boys could hardly hold still long enough to take a picture. We had to keep a special eye on each on so that they didn't go swimming in the "river".

I tried to explain, very carefully, that the boys would be happier if they threw rocks in the water and kept themselves safe on dry land. It mostly worked. David would take a dunk before we headed home.

Aleky and Zachary had a fabulous time together. Both found the tiny rocks such an amazing part of nature.


The boys unloaded half of the mountain into the stream and didn't even realize that they were throwing rocks for nearly 90 minutes straight!

Don't think for a minute that the boys simply threw rocks from the bank. Where is the fun and adventure in that? The boys would take the big rock (the ones they couldn't throw very far) and carry them out on the log where they would launch them a few feet into the rushing waters below.

Zachary wasn't extremely interested in the water, but the bugs, rocks and plants were fascinating.

Just a nice picture of the falls from where I was eating lunch.


We have discovered that, for the current time, 4 miles is just enough to wear out the boys without completely killing them!

They didn't even make it from the parking lot to the main canyon road before they were all asleep!

Batman...A Christmas Present for Zachary?

My wife is one of the most thoughtful people I know. She is always concerned about others and she is constantly trying to figure out something special she can do for someone that they will really appreciate. Sometimes she tries so hard to do so many things that occasionally none of them get completed. But not this time...this time she was able to complete her project!

With the new Batman movie in theaters and certain friends of ours who happened to be fans...Michelle decided that Zachary needed his own Batman cape!


It was only after the present was opened that I realized that the present wasn't for Zachary so much as it was for his DAD!

Is there any doubt that Michelle has incredible insight into the human psyche? She contemplated the perfect present, not just for one person but for two.

Don't get me wrong, Zachary obviously loves this present and certainly understands the time and effort that went into such a precious gift...

And you have to admit that he is stunning with his new cape on.

Happy Birthday Aleky

Today Aleky celebrates his 1st birthday! It is hard to believe that he has already been with us a full year. He is fully mobile (when he wants to be) and is beginning to crawl around the house. It is time to secure the stairs to avoid any extraordinary mobility discovery opportunities! He pulled an empty flour bucket down this afternoon; it didn't hit him but he lost his balance and fell over which sent him to tears and he received a needed hug from mom. Then moments later he pulled the garbage can down; there was no hug this time! I had to fortunate opportunity of cleaning up the mess as it had descended part way down the stairs. Aleky was invited to spend some time in a different room.

We decided to hold a small family party this evening for Aleky. While his 1st birthday is very special he didn't really know who he wanted to invite and he was very particular about leaving anyone out on accident; so we compromised and settled on the immediate family in or around Provo. That kept the preparation to a minimum but still allowed us sufficient celebration.

Those in attendance for the celebration included his uncle Kyle, aunt Janeil, cousins Katie, Anna & Troy, Grandma Jones, aunt Trista, aunt Cheyenne, and aunt Larissa. Also in attendance was Neil, Kelley and Zach Johnson. We sang Happy Birthday to Aleky but I don't think he really understood the significance of the occasion nor did he appreciate the amount of attention that was focused on him.

Aleky really enjoyed his birthday cake. He finished every last crumb; at least his tray was clear, but I do recall seeing some crumbs on the floor...

We didn't really plan on presents but Grandma Jones had one anyway. It took Aleky a few gestures and hints before he realized that there was a present that needed unveiling. It became quite obvious that his brothers were much more interested in the new gift than Aleky was.

But not to worry, Aleky had plenty of fun with the best part of the present.

After the party was over the boys got ready for bed. Before heading home the Johnsons wanted to get Zach ready for bed so that the trip home would go more smoothly. That was a fatal mistake. Once the boys were in their pjs they attached without warning. Neil fought valiantly but the odds seemed insurmountable. But as fate would have it, he barely managed to survive.

We were surprised to learn that Janeil had come to Utah with her kids and wanted to stop by and visit. We didn't know she would be in the area. Our children had a fabulous time playing with their cousins. David, Donovan and Michael took Katie and Anna out to the backyard and played for nearly an hour. They had a grand ole time. Meanwhile, Aleky and Troy we're trading secrets on crawling and getting around the house.

Happy Birthday Khayyam!

Yesterday was my birthday. It's hard to believe another year has gone by. We spent most of the day trying to catch up from being gone camping. We're still getting stuff put away, dishes were done but then we ate again. But in spite of all the work that we had to do Michelle still put together a birthday dinner and movie date.

Michelle managed to talk Kyle into babysitting for us but his condition was that the kids had to be in bed, or nearly in bed, by the time he started; our movie started at 7:30 pm and the kids are normally in bed by 8:00 pm. That was an acceptable amount of child activity to watch. We also invited him to share our birthday dinner (marinated chicken breasts, mashed potatos and zucchini).

Kelley Johnson stopped to visit and brought Zachary with her. Since she was her she helped prepared dinner and Neil joined us when he got off of work. They also went to the movie with us (and went early to save us seats since they knew we would be pushing the deadline trying to get kids ready for bed before we left).

We left for the movie at 7:25 pm. The movie was the new "Indiana Jones" movie about the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We discovered that Movies 8 has 1/2 price Tuesdays (so that is the best priced night to go). The previews had already started when we arrived but we still managed to find the Johnsons in the dark.

After the movie was over I received a call from one of my tenants. Apparently the dryer cord/outlet spontaneously burst into flames and shorted out the entire apartment. They put out the fire but with the power out they didn't know if they should stay in a motel until the power could be restored or what. So I dropped Michelle off at the house and headed over to evaluate the situation. After reseting the breaker the power was restored. The outlet and cord were definitely burned and need to be replaced but that will have to be done when a qualified person can fix it.

After that detour I was able to join Michelle and the Johnsons for my birthday cake and ice cream. I feel so lucky to have a wife who went through all the work and trouble to make my birthday special. And I think we're pretty fortunate to have the Johnsons as our friends.

Yesterday was also the birthday for my sister Larissa, my aunt Carol and it is my cousin Alisha & Chris' anniversary! I'd say this must be one of the most important days of the year!