And Then Came Another...

Well, today is Mother's Day and what better way to celebrate the day than by the announcement of another addition to our family. Mandee is pregnant!!! We just found out so we are not sure how far along she is at this time, but it looks as though the baby will be due around late December or early January. Mandee, I think, is hoping for a girl (because she has a ton of girl clothes) but will be happy with either one. She enjoys being a Mother and loves staying at home with Kenton full-time.

Kent's entire family was treated to an Eastern Carribbean cruise in early February by his parents. It was an absolute blast! We went to Turks and Caicos, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and Tortola. We were able to snorkel, rent scooters, swim, and kayak. Grandma helped out by watching Kenton during some of these activities. We all ate very well and very often. We both gained over 10 pounds! The ten days went by too fast! That is okay because we spent almost three days hanging out in New York crashing at my sister's apartment. We had all beeen there before, so this time around we pretty much ate at all our favorite spots.

I am now working at the Utah State Developmental Center where Mandee use to work. Three years of working graveyards was plently long for Mandee and she needed a well deserved break. I attempted the graveyards for a couple of weeks, but later changed my mind and now work the early morning a.m. shift. I enjoy the job, but I do not plan on staying there long term. It works for our situation at the moment and so we are happy. I still do part-time eBay selling and enjoy it very much. It is always exciting to see what recycled clothing items can go for...a recent unbelievable sale was a $4.00 vintage Gucci handbag that sold for $510.00 to someone back east. Unbelievable!

Kenton finished off the ski year by outskiing his mama. He went probably a dozen times to Sundance. He started out on the rope tow, then midway on the lift, then to the top of the lift where he spent most of the season, and then the last day of the season we took him to the back mountain where he did a great job. He really loves to ski and vocalizes it on a regular basis. His new favorite sport is longboarding with Dad by our house. He really has no fear which is exciting, but nerve racking too!

I totalled my Toyota Tacoma just over a month ago. I t-boned a Jeep Cherokee half a block from my house at night trying to make it over to a ward member's house who are friends of ours. It was surreal...I think that I broke my nose, but I never went to the hospital to find out. I had two black eyes and some cuts on my face for over a week. So to replace the truck, we bought Mandee's Mom's Jeep Cherokee (ironic, huh..). I miss the reliability of my truck and hope to some day soon replace it. We also bought a Chevy Cavalier that is a bi-fuel vehicle. It runs on both natural gas and regular gasoline. We bought it at an Arizona State Government fleet vehicle auction for a great deal. It only costs 2 cents per mile to drive it on natural gas!!!!! We also will be getting a $3,000.oo tax credit this year for registering it!!!!! Mandee is always willing to talk to anyone about the benefits of driving a natural gas vehicle, so if you have any questions, feel free to call or email her.

Here are some recent photos of what has happened in the last few months:

First Day On The Slopes

We took Kenton up skiing for the first time last Friday. It was opening day at Sundance and we wanted to be there. Kenton wasn't too happy with us layering him with all of the gear, but as soon as he was dressed he was okay. We rented the smallest ski boots available and the shortest skis from Park's Sports in Orem and headed out. There was quite a bit of snow at Sundance, considering how much they usually have.

We hiked up to the rope tow and I picked him up, grabbed onto the tow bar and headed up. I put Kenton down between my skis and sat back to have him get a feel for the skis. He instantly enjoyed them and would talk, sing, and laugh. I took him down the first run nice and slow. He loved that too! Mandee took him down a couple of times with her snowboard. It was a lot of fun! We all had a good time and we now know that Kenton likes skiing! We hope to take him a few times this year. We even got a snowboard for him. That might be a little later though...

Summer

Well, Summer is almost over. I can't believe it! It was a fun summer for the three of us. I was able to help my father for another year of cherry harvesting. It usually takes us 2-3 weeks to complete the harvest working 6-10 hours a night; 6 nights a week in the middle of the night. We do it in the middle of the night because it is cooler which is great for us and great for the cherries. Kenton and Mandee were able to come and visit one morning this year and see first hand what the cherry harvest consisted of. Mandee and I were also able to go to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon with my family a couple of weeks ago. We were gone 6 days and hiked probably 25-30 miles all together. It wasn't too bad considering we had hired pack mules this year to haul all of our food and equipment to the campsite. We hiked, swam, swam, and swam some more most of the time. We all swam behind one of the waterfalls and dove right through it. We found a rope swing down river that was a big hit too. Mandee even repelled down one of the waterfalls and jumped about 30 feet off the edge of it! She sure isn't afraid of getting hurt (eventhough she does get hurt quite often...). Kenton stayed with my mom and had a little vacation from us while we were gone. It was great to see him after almost a week away! We sure missed him and love him so much! I am still working from home doing Ebay sales and being a stay-at-home dad while Mandee continues to work graveyards at the Utah State Developmental Center. I am hoping that I will be able to obtain a steady job in the near future so Mandee can stay home with Kenton. I do enjoy doing Ebay, it is flexable and fun. I recently have started doing a large portion of the shopping which is a big change for me since I hate shopping. Now that I know what to look for, I don't mind it as much.One of my best friends recently died in a helicopter crash flying for the Utah National Guard last week. Clayton Barnes was a great friend and I have many great memories of him that I will never forget. He was so influentual in my life and got me interested in ska music, Vespa scooters, snowboarding, mountain biking, and more. I will really miss the guy! Kiss it better baby!

All Grown Up

A couple of weeks ago, my wife Mandee was at work and I was watching Kenton. I had made a couple of burritos for a late dinner and had a rather tall glass of milk to accompany them. So I relaxed on the bean bag and watched TV while I ate my dinner. Kenton was playing with his toys and crawling around in front of the TV and next to the bean bag. I finished my dinner and set the plate and cup on the ground next to the bean bag. A few minutes passed by and I noticed that Kenton was being very quite. So I looked over and saw him holding my tall glass (which is heavy and is probably larger than a quart) to his mouth drinking out of it! There was a little bit of milk still in the glass that he got all over his mouth and face. I died laughing as I took the glass away and wiped off his face. Kenton does a lot of things that mimic what Mandee and I do. He feels left out when he is not doing what we are doing. He just wants to grow up so fast!

We started out as two, and now we are three. We welcomed little baby Kenton into our lives on August 10, 2006. We love him with all our hearts. He has made life very different for the both of us forcing us to restructure how we spend our time and other things. But I personally feel like it is 100 % worth it.

Welcome!

Hi everyone! By popular demand from our many fans, we've decided to give in and start a blog to fill the need to keep some sort of a journal. We go through many things everyday in our lives that are many times in need of being shared. So here we go...attempting to create something unlike anything we have done in the past. Wish us luck!