Wrinkled Thoughts

This year we went a little crazy and took a gianormous road trip… with 5 kids… halfway across the country and back. We survived it.

Our first stop was Flagstaff Arizona where we met my bud Myke and his family for a grand tour of the famous Riordan Mansion in the shadow of NAU. Actually, the REAL reason we met Myke in Flagstaff was to drop off our "prince" dog, Toby. We didn't need a 6th child in the car for the next 5000 miles. Here's a shot of most of the kids at the mansion.

Our next destination (not stop) was Branson, Missouri. What the heck is in Branson, Missouri you ask? Well, the ONLY thing worth seeing there is SIX (otherwise known as the Knudsen Brothers). I have blogged about them before, but if you don't know who they are, then go find out here . Oh yeah… and my wife wanted to see her good friend Nichole Knudsen too.

On the way there, we had to travel on I-40 across New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. It took us two days, with stops in Gallup, NM and Tulsa OK. We learned the joys of a "decent" hotel the first night. Gallup isn't much for hotels, so we picked one that "looked" good. Well, there wasn't much floor space to throw down the blow-up mattress … and the twins suffered through it well … as you can see from the picture.

We finally made to Branson and spent 4 glorious days taking in the sites and watching as many free shows as we could. Since SIX is the hottest act in town, every other show trades tickets with them. We got to see everything from the Chinese Acrobats to a country/comedy show to the Hughes Brothers to one of Missouri's MANY caves. It was great. Oh yeah, and we got to see SIX twice! We planned the trip so we got to see the last "regular season" show one night and then their first "Christmas show" another night. We squeezed Halloween and Ethan's 9th birthday in between. Here's all the photos we took in Branson.

After our stay in Branson, we got brave and decided to trek on up to Nauvoo to see the temple - by way of St. Louis. And of course, if you go through St. Louis, you have to stop and ride to the top of the St. Louis Arch. Here are a few shot we took while there:

The drive up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo is beautiful in the fall. The kids weren't too keen on the visit to the historic city though, so we didn't get to see as much as we wanted. Sage and I decided we'd take another trip sans children one of these years. We did get to see the temple and the visitors center. We also got to go visit the "old town" and see the Browning gun shop, eat a gingerbread cookie… and the highlight of Nauvoo… making a rope. Here's the pictures of the Nauvoo segment of the trip.

So the next destination from Nauvoo is Carthage Jail. It's only about 25 miles away from the Nauvoo temple, and WELL WORTH the trip. Being in the "Martyr Room" was a very special experience. It is considered a holy place, so you can't take photos inside the room, but here are a few I took outside. For those of you who don't know what Carthage Jail is… it's where the beloved prophet Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob.

The next stop on our cross country trek took us PAST Far West Missouri into Kansas City. We accidentally past Far West by about 35 miles to spend the night in Kansas City. Little did we know the Green Bay Packers were playing in KC the following day, so rooms were scarce! We lucked out with "smoking room" that wasn't too stinky. Anyway, we went to church on Sunday morning in nearby Liberty. Then we back tracked the 35 miles to Far West and then BACK to Liberty to visit the Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum (and others) spent six grueling months for NOTHING. Anyway, here are the photos of Far West and the Liberty Jail.

Okay, so after the hotel crisis in Kansas City, Sage decided she didn't want to stay in a Hotel again. We thought about it for awhile and decided that Hannagan Meadow Arizona was only 18 hours away if we didn't stop. Sage was game, so we left KC Sunday night and traded off driving through the night to get to Hannagan by 9am the following day. It was a beautiful thing… since we got to stay with my parents an extra day and didn't have to PAY FOR IT! :) 

While at Hannagan, we made my dad take us on a famed buggy ride to see the fall colors. It was a bit nippy in the open air buggy, but we all enjoyed the views. Here's the photos of Hannagan.

After Hannagan, we spent the rest of the week in the Phoenix valley at Sage's mother's house. We had a good time seeing my brothers and little sis before heading back to Utah. What a trip! I can't say I want to do it all over again anytime soon… but at least we can say we did it. 

Just 3 weeks after Sage went to visit her cousins in Phoenix, her cousin Vicky brought her kids up here for a visit. They got a good taste of the weather, but it didn't stop them all from having a good time.

They went on a hike up Bell Canyon to see the waterfall… Then, we all went to FRIGHTMARES at the the Lagoon… and then it snowed. Here's a few shots of the good times.

I was playing with my camera trying to take "artistic" shots, when I took these shots of the Colossus "Fire Dragon" ride at night. Not too shabby for not having a tripod. And yes, the train is SUPPOSED to be blurred… to show that it is in motion.

And then there is this shot. I'm not sure how I captured it exactly, but I think it has something to do with there being A) low light B) motion C) a lower ISO setting and D) The "Ghosts in the machine"… literally. Don't Avery and Isaac look "ghostly"? I love it.

When we left the Lagoon that night at 11:00pm it was 70 degrees… the next morning it was rainy and cold (of course, it was soccer Saturday). Saturday night it snowed… and today is Monday and heading toward 70 again. Go figure! 

Salt Lake has the craziest weather… We've been hovering around 70 degrees for most of October and it has been SWEET watching the leaves turn colors. However, as I mentioned in an earlier post, our weekends have been MISERABLE. Well, finally… we had some "after proof" of the bad weekend. Yup, this time the snow stuck around for a half a day… just long enough for Avery and Isaac to build a snowman and have a snowball fight. Notice, how warm they are dressed for the occasion. It's supposed to hit 70 again this week.

Because we are taking a long trip to Branson Missouri to see SIX over Halloween, we decided to carve our pumpkins early this year (while the weather was holding). Sage roasted the seeds and made an awesome snack that I chowed on all the next day. Did I mention I LOVE my new camera? 

So I did a little reading about how to take good pictures with my new spiffy camera… I then grabbed my tripod, shoved some Christmas lights in the pumpkins butts and took these stellar photos!

So I finally broke down and bought a REAL camera. I didn't know what I was missing until my friend Myke kept bugging me about it… and I relented. I'm glad I did! It has opened up a WHOLE new world of possibilities… and I don't even know how to use it entirely yet! The first day I got it, we went as a family to see Real Salt Lake play against the LA Galaxy. Beckham was supposed to be there, but alas, he was injured. So I threw on the 300mm lens and went nutz shooting pictures of Landon Donovan instead. Without a freakin' clue, I was able to grab a few gems from the cheap seats…

What a CRAZY soccer season that was!

We had BEAUTIFUL weather the whole fall season (September - October) EXCEPT on Saturdays. 5 Saturdays in a row, we had to deal with wind, rain, freezing cold and even SNOW. Every other day of the week had GREAT weather. We started to wonder if we were being punished. Anyway, the crap weather made it hard to take photos, but I did get a few gems as you can see below.

This year is going to be special because I have been chosen to coach our league's under12 boys "summer select" team in HAWAII next July! I've never been to Hawaii… but now that I can live vicariously through my children, I'll get to go EVERYWHERE!

I was able to take these with my new spiffy Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera. Taking pictures will never be the same… Love the Michael Jordan tongues.

So every once in awhile I have to send my wife away to regain her sanity. She usually goes to Phoenix to see her mother… sometimes she even runs into my brothers and sister while down there.

This trip was special because her cousin Carla was down visiting from Washington - so they all got together and did whatever female cousins do when they have new babies and nothing better to do. Here's a few shots she took while visiting.

While Sage was in Phoenix, my sister's daughter McKenzie had her 1-yr-old birthday bash, Hawaiian style. Looks like mass chaos to me, but I guess everyone had a good time. My dad enjoyed holding Maya during the party.

Sage even spent a night at the Ruff's house, where she went on a "date" with my friend Myke while his wife ran a booth at her church's carnival. Looks like good times! 

… All of my sister-in-law's friends and sisters have all posted a glamorous shot of her…

here's another.

My twins are SIX years old. Can you believe that? It seems like only yesterday I had my knee surgery… and a week late the twins were born (a month early). Yes, I was SUPPOSED to have a month to recover from my ACL replacement. Instead, I had to take my brace off a day early and had to drive myself to get my stitches removed. Good times! I dug up these crazy pictures of the inside of my knee… just because they are cool.

Oh yeah… the twins. They turned six and are now in kindergarten. Yes, they are going to be the "old ones" throughout their school careers… yup, they will be the big men on campus. Don't they look like they already have the attitude?

We took them to the ol' "Classic Skating" fun center for their birthday. They had a great time skating and bouncing around in the giant blow-up "castles". We had a "bunch" of kids there, including the Millican clan and second cousins. It was the twins first "big" party… because it is the year they start kindergarten. Their next "big" party will be when they turn 8 and get baptized.

Part of the party fun put them inside a tornado machine with fake money… does it look like they had a good time?

Beth Ann brought Parker and Nate to the party, and Allison brought Sawyer. As you can see, Allison has been assimilated into the Serviceclan quite nicely. The other photo is of the twins and their best buds, Nathan and Grayson. My friend William George Shalz brought his kids Jaxxin and Shazaya… I think that's how you spell their names.

And then there is the birthday song…

We had a great trip in the middle of August with our good friends, the Millicans. Both families pulled our camp trailers to the Bear Lake KOA camp and spent a few days at the lake. We played at the beach most of the time, but we also rented a boat and some toys. I was even able to water ski for the first time in about 15 years… and I got up on a slalom ski on my first try! Woo Hoo! Here are some shots of the festivities.

The only rotten part of the trip was the fact that I had to work at night in the camp trailer using the KOA wireless internet connection. Thank goodness for laptops and wireless access points! 

Did I mention we took Toby… and he loved to chase the seagulls?

He almost got a few of them!