Typical View of Sophie

This is her "let's-see-how-far-i-can-get-before-mom-grabs-me" run.

I mostly see her back side these days, especially when I have my camera out.

Look Who's 4!

Wipeout!

Not much on TV last night, so Jacob got online and downloaded last week's episode of Wipeout. Apparently watching Wipeout is a weekly ritual for Ella and Jacob on Tuesday nights while I'm at "Un-womens." It was hilarious to watch...Jacob laughing (silently...he's a silent laugher) so hard he could hardly breath , and Ella giggling while imitating the contestants' spectacular falls. (Sigh), what a cute daddy/daughter moment: to see a little girl, and a grown man bonding over the unfortunate wipeouts of others.


The show IS pretty funny.

Road Trip Part 3: Party at 9,600 feet

Okay, so our little trip to Breckenridge wasn't exactly a party. The real party was back at 5,280 feet where we left the kiddos to play with Grandma and Grandpa while Jacob and I headed to the mountains for a relaxing mini vacation before we headed back to Tucson. Breckenridge is a old mining town turned ski resort in the winter, and a cool (as in not hot), fun place to hang out and enjoy the outdoors in the summer. We had a great time watching movies, eating out, shopping, enjoying the scenery, watching the Olympics, swimming, and taking pictures. We're thinking we might pick up and move to Breckenridge, and open a Belgian Waffle stand. I think we could make pretty good money selling authentic, piping hot, yummy, sugary waffles to the skiers. Or maybe we'll just work at the grocery store and become ski bums.

We got some snow!!!

Nice senior picture pose, huh. I think I like this one better than my actual senior picture.

There are some very cool old buildings in Breck (I have to start using the local jargon if we're going to move there). :)

Road Trip Part 2: I Heart Denver

State Capitol (Photo by Dave)

The next few days of our trip were spent hanging out in and around Denver, aka The Mile High City. I grew up here. I love it. I love the weather, the bike trails, the access to the mountains, the shopping, the restaurants, the tourist attractions. I love visiting, and I would love to move back some day. This visit was a touristy visit for us. We hit a bunch of the main attractions, and I noticed something about Colorado people. Coloradans (Colorado-ans, Colorado-ites?) are a little preoccupied with elevation. They are so proud to be living in the high desert. Elevation pops up everywhere. The capitol building has a step which is marked at exactly 1 mile above sea level. Any "true" Coloradan will gladly tell you about which of the mountain peaks over 14,000 feet (lovingly referred to as 14ers) he/she has climbed. There are warning signs about the effects of physical exertion at high elevations. And it's not just Denver. Breckenridge* had even more signs advertising the elevation. My personal favorite was a sign in a bakery, "Lovingly baked at 9600 feet." I too am proud to say that I grew up in the Mile High State, even if it is a little silly.

*Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Breckenridge in "Road Trip Part 3: Party at 9600 feet.

Clearly ecstatic to be hanging out at 5,280 feet.


Jacob also vaguely impressed by the elevation.

These steps were tough, but cake compared to the stairs by the Smith Field House on the BYU campus.

Taking a little break after climbing the steps.

Gordon, Sophie, Ella, Me, Jacob, Lesley, Dave, and Megan in the dome of the capitol building.

You don't see many of these anymore.
(BTW that's my sister Megan, not me)


The Downtown Aquarium

Photos by Dave

This Restaurant is a family favorite.

A place that is visited more for the cliff divers, magicians, and mariachi band than the food.

All in all, a pretty great visit.

Road Trip Part 1: Family Campout

Chapman Dam

August 7-10, 2008

We just got back from a great trip to Colorado. We spent the first few days of our trip in the mountains near Basalt. In honor of the Olympics we had our own games. The major events included marshmallow roasting, canoe races, javelin, and an obstacle course. We had a great time. Thanks Mom and Megan for putting it all together.

Favorite Photo of the Week

Another Favorite

"Things I Wouldn't Get to do if I Wasn't Serving in the Young Women's Organization" or " Some of the Random, Fun Things I've Done This Summer"

Make a music video with these adorable girls.

Design a Girl's Camp T-shirt Logo.

Play water gun paint ball.

(No picture 'cause I didn't want to get my camera wet).

Make 50 cupcakes in the value colors.

Car Talk

We spent the weekend getting ready for an upcoming road trip, which included doing some minor repairs to our car. As Jacob was replacing the hazard light switch, I started counting up all the repairs we've had to make on our car. (When I say we, I mean Jacob...he's a pretty handy guy). Most of them are pretty minor (luckily), but they have been annoying.

1. Replace the hazard light switch. (The car randomly clicks like the blinker is on when it's not. Other times the blinker doesn't work when you try to signal a turn. Apparently it's all linked to the hazard light switch).
   
2. "Fix" the cruise control switch (we used hot glue).
3. Fix the driver side window. Twice. The third time it broke we decided to prop it up with a block of wood, which means that we can't roll the window down. We now opt out of drive thru service as much as possible.
   
4. We didn't even attempt to fix the passenger side window when it broke. We just went ahead and propped it up with block of wood.
   
5. We had to replace the lower intake manifold (I think that's what it was) when our car started leaking a gallon of coolant every 40 miles. That was an interesting trip.
   
6. We had to have something in our gas tank replaced. Twice. Luckily the dealership did that since it was still under warranty.

Other than that it's been a pretty good car (a little sarcasm intended). Just a little sarcasm though, because when it comes right down to it, the car has pretty much gotten us every where we've needed to be for the last seven years. But now the transmissions starting to slip, and it's got a ton of miles, so we've started looking for our next car. There are so many things to take into consideration, it is going to take us a while to decide, I'm sure. But one thing we do know...It's not going to be an Alero.

Favorite Photo of the Week

Swimming Lessons

I'm really not a swimmer. I took swim lessons when I was younger, but never swam more than the length of the pool. I like to "go swimming." I do a mean doggie paddle, and I'm actually pretty good at treading water; I just have issues with whole breathing while swimming thing. So this summer we decided to work on our swimming skills. We've been going to the pool 3-4 nights a week. Ella's been working on putting her face in the water, and Jacob and I have been working on swimming laps (and Sophie...well quite frankly, I think she's going to learn to swim before any of the rest of us learn). Tonight was a pretty good night for me. After 3 weeks of practice I am excited to report that I swam a full lap today!!! I have a whole new respect for the Olympic swimmers...and my goal of being able to swim a mile is starting to sound a little crazy to me.