December 28, 2007

Christmas has come and gone yet again. This year all the Melchins were in town for Christmas. We had the "12 days of Christmas" feast as usual, and also had the most complete Nativity pageant to date. My mother and father came for the festivities (as they have done for the past 10 years), and my dad took all the photos (see Flickr photoset here). Somehow I forgot my camera for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Annie and Grace continue to spend every possible minute together. Grace cried herself to sleep last night after Annie left to go back to Utah.

Grace gave a talk in Sunday School last week (the Sunday before Christmas). She spoke about the birth of Christ, and his resurrection. She stood at the podium and read her talk by herself -- all the adults came in to see her. She was great.

I've taken Matt and Grace out skating three or four times this week. They absolutely love it. By the third outing both Grace and Matt are able to balance themselves and walk/glide around the ice on their own. I took Matt out on the big ice with a hockey stick and puck. He and I passed the puck back and forth. Each time Matt passed the puck he fell over -- but he was having the time of his life. I'm hoping to get them out three or four times a week for most of the winter season.

Sean, Cade and I went skiing at Sunshine Village yesterday. The weather left something to be desired (it was cloudy most of the day, and quite cold), but we had a fun time together.

This year dad made a hardcover book of Wolff family photos and gave one to Kevin and me. The book is quite incredible, It was easily the hit of Christmas.

5 Minutes I'll Never Have Back

Here's 5 minutes of my life I'll never have back... why, oh... why couldn't I stop watching this until the end?

Nike Plus

Please forgive my bragging...

October 28, 2007

October 23, 2007

I arrived in Denver today, and promptly went for a run. I ran west from the Marriott hotel towards Highlands Ranch, and decided to press on and run to Keri's house. The run was just under 10 kilometers, but I looped around for a bit to bring it pretty close to 10K.

It feels good to run.



The chart above is taken from my Nike+ iPod attachment. I ran 9.91 KM in about 56 minutes. The dip in the graph is when I had to stop at a stop light. The stop really hurt my overall time. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

2007 Pumpkin Giveaway

This Saturday was the 2007 annual pumpkin giveaway. Erin and I took the kids... we've been to this event each year since it started. It's always cold, unfortunately.



Here are the photos I took this year and last year:

Here's a photo from Matt at last year's event:

Kananaskis Lodge

Having a great time at the Kananaskis Lodge with Lara & Sean. We spent the night in the hot tub and steam room, then this morning the girls went for a spa treatment while Sean and I hiked the Centennial Ridge Trail. We're off to Banff for dinner and shopping.

Check out my Flickr photos here.









Check out my Flickr photos.

Fastest 6K

Dinner With The Reids

Health First Dental Launched

My brother-in-law, Sean Freiberg, recently launched a website for Health First Dental, his dental practice in Calgary (map). His website can be found at www.healthfirstdental.com . Dr. Freiberg practices biological dentistry, which is a total health approach to dentistry that among other things doesn't use mercury or fluoride in any part of the treatment.

Dr. Freiberg also does cosmetic dentistry and dental implants and sedation dentistry. See some of his before and after photos here. If you're looking for a dentist, I highly recommend Dr. Freiberg. You can even request an appointment online.

Overheard

This morning I managed to sqeeze in a 6k run before taking Gracie to school. I was dripping with sweat in the car and the following conversation took place:

Grace: "Dad, you're going to make people embarassed by being so
sweaty"

Scott: "Yes, I suppose you're right"

Matt: "When mom walks or runs she doesn't get sweaty"

Grace: "That's because ladies don't sweat"

Funny.

Opal Ridge

Sean and I hiked Opal Ridge on Labor Day (see my Flikr photoset here). It was very steep, easily the steepest hike we've ever done (which is more difficult to manage on the decent than on the ascent), but it was also one of the best we've ever done.



The steepness of the trail made it very difficult to stay on any sort of a path. At various sections of the hike, I'm guessing most hikers just find whatever way they are most comfortable with. I nicknamed one of the crevices "the crucible", because it took me about 5 minutes to navigate a 20 foot section. Here's a picture of Sean coming through the crucible.



Looking off to the right (South), there is a treed gorge, looking to your left (North), an open valley. This is a photo of Sean looking South toward the gorge.



The photo below shows the view looking North.



Nearing the top, there is a section of about 700 meters where there is a bit of a clearing that flattens out just a bit.




As we got closer to the Ridge we saw some sheep, they didn't seem to bothered by us, but they kept their distance and eventually crossed over the ridge, and went down the other side.



We walked along the top of the ridge for about 1 kilometer to reach the peak of Opal Mountain. To the West of the ridge you can see what used to be Fortress ski resort, to the East, a very large open valley with another mountain range several kilometers away.

The mountains on the East side of the ridge are rocky and grey with no tree cover. The valley seems totally wild and secluded. As we walked along the ridge looking East toward this secluded valley, Sean wondered if we would see any other wildlife..., and sure enough within 10 minutes of reaching the top and hiking the ridge he spotted something about 2 kilometers away, black and moving away from us.



Belive it or not, that little black speck in the center of the photo is a bear. We werent' really sure whether it was a black bear or grizzly, but niether of us took comfort that the name of the alternate route back down the mountain is named "Grizzly Trail."

We reached the top and signed our names in the book. The view from the top is incredible. I'm pretty nervous of heights, but I summoned all my intestinal fortitude to rest my camera on the Inukshuk that was formed on the peak, and set the timer to take this photo of sean and I together at the top.



Here's another one of me taken facing South toward Kananaskis Lake.



After some lunch we made our way back down the mountain. I put the camera away for this part of the hike, because it was very difficult to maneuver down the steepness of the mountain. With this kind of steepnes, it's far easier going up than down.

My GPS showed that the hike was 3 kilometers to the ridge and 3.8 to the peak. The round trip took just under 6 hours.

Stephen Colbert for Prime Minister

This is why Stephen Colbert is one of my favorite comedians. He's got the master blend of humor and political satire.



Enjoy.

Corbett Reunion Photos

I've posted my photos from the Corbett reunion to my Flickr account.

July 1st 2007

I'm sitting at the kitchen table at grandma and grandpa Gibb's home in Cardston. It's late -- almost 12:30 AM on Sunday morning, but I wanted to post my photos and write about the day.

I admit it's a bit strange being at Grandma Gibb's house.. in Cardston rather than on the farm... but oddly enough it feels comfortable. I guess Grandma's house is more about grandma than it is about the house.



We did, however, spend quite a bit of time down at Spring Glen Park and out at the farm, that was great. The kids really enjoyed themselves. The kids were looking forward the running in the races. Matt and Grace both won their respective races. Matt won by 3 or 4 horse lenghts, Graice was leading the pack until the last 5 steps when she looked to both sides and coulnd't see anyone and thought she was doing something wrong so she stopped running. I think she still placed first or maybe second. They were both very pleased.



This year has been quite nice. Matt is now old enough to roam freely about the farm without worrying Erin and me very much. In fact, Matt got on a horse (without Erin or I present) and had a ride with cousin Michelle and uncle Rob. Grace got to ride a horse also.



They also played on the swings, had a hay ride, and did all the other things we would normally do on a July 1^st weekend. I quite enjoyed riding the horse also. I got on a couple of times and as I got more comfortable I rode faster.



Dennis Gibb was there and kindly taught me how to drive a team of horses pulling a wagon. That was cool too.



After a full afternoon at the dam, then at the farm, we all mosy'ed over to the Glenwood dairy factory for some ice cream. All 45 of us. We overwhelmed the gal scooping ice cream, so finally mom asked if she wanted some help. The girl politely accepted, and mom and I got behind the counter and started filling orders.

After the ice cream we drove over to the Hill Spring chapel for our annual slide show contest. Brett Gibb won. Dad and I threw in last minute entries. Dad made his earlier in the week using old photos of the gibbs, I put mine together there at the chapel using photos from the day.

By 9:00 PM the kids were so tired we decided to take them home to bed. Matt fell asleep in the car within minutes, Hannah too, but she woke up with a fever. Grace was overtired as she frequently gets on night with so much action. It took her much longer to fall asleep.

On the way home I had to stop the car and take one last photo.

Riley Park Summer

Several weeks ago I promised the kids I'd take them to Riely Park (a municipal park near my office). The park is quite large and features a playground, ampitheater and a decent sized waterpark.

When I woke up this morning, I told Matt that today was the day. He was so excited.



The weather has been very nice these last few days, (longest days of the year), and so at 7:30 PM Matt, Grace and I headed off to the waterpark. Check out my Flickr photoset.

We've been to Riely Park several times in the last couple of weeks, and I foresee going there frequently, so I've started entitled, Riely Park Summer. You can also see all Riley Park photos at a glance by browsing Flickr by the tag "Riely Park"

Father's Day 2007

Rainy day today, Matt and Grace were both sick. I stayed home from church with Matt. Had a nice father's day, Grace made me a very nice card at school, then another one at work. Erin helped Matt sign his name on a card for me.

Matt starts writing his name by making the two "t"'s at the end of his name, then he makes a wierd "m" thing in front of the two "t"'s. Then, the geometric part of his brain takes over and he has to make another "m" looking thing behind the two "t"'s -- just for balance I guess.

He can't write the "a" yet.



Had Father's day dinner at mom and dad's place, Kevin and Elise were there (as usual) -- but the surprise was seeing Bretton Ried. Haven't seen Bretton in years. He looks great, and seem to be as genuinely happy as I've ever seen him. Check out my Flickr photoset.



Here's one of the girls for good measure.



Went to the Melchin's house after dinner, but the kids health got worse, and we ended up leaving after about 25 minutes. Got the kids to bed pretty quick, it's so nice when they're asleep... so nice... I slept most of the night in Matt's bed, his fever was quite bad and he was having a hard time to sleep. I fear that Gracie is in for it tonight.

Erin's gotten back into the Harry Potter books -- again. I've lost her to Harry and Hogwarts. Oh well. As I type this, she's upstairs devouring book 5.

Rules To Live By

These have been hanging from the inside of Tom's cabinet at work for as long as I've known him. These will always make me think of Tom... this is so him.

1. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day
2. There are two theories to arguing with a woman, neither works.
3. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
4. Always drink upstream from the heard.
5. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
6. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it up and put it in your pocket.
7. There are three kinds of men: the ones who learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence to find out.
8. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
9. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.
10. Lettin' the cat outta tha bag is a whole lot easier'n putti'n it back.
11. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kep it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

The Ravine After the Flood

On June 6/7 we had over 70mm rain. The city was flooded, lots of damage done (fortunately none at our house). The kids and I had a fun time exploring the ravine. We walked North along the path, rather than south like we normally do, and explored a new bend in the ravine. Check out my Flickr photoset.



The highlight of the ravine walk was when Matt slipped and fell into the ravine backwards up to his neck. I had to fight the paternal instinct to go pull him out in order get these photos.









The evening ended with a stop at the Gedlaman's house to get some towels, and me carrying both of the kids home -- Matt on my shoulders and Gracie on my back.

Fun night.

Riley Park

Erin and the kids picked me up at work today (beautiful day... 28 degrees). We went over to Riley Park, a block from my office. We had a nice time -- Hannah especially, because she was able to roam.

Check out the Flickr photoset here.

First Ravine Walk of 2007

We had a nice walk down to the ravine tonight. The kids really enjoyed themselves -- Erin even came which made us all happy. We had a great time despite one muddy patch that gave us some trouble. I put Hannah in the kiddie-pack on my back. The kids love exploring down in the ravine.



See the Ravine Walk Flickr photo set here.

Grandpa Wolff and Hannah

Snow on May 24th 2007

Incredible.

Photos from Grandpa Melchin's 86 Birthday

Some photos from Grandpa Melchin's 86th birthday party.

Mother's Day 2007

Happy Mother's Day Erin... and mom.

May 6, 207

Black Bullets Soccer

I was a lone coach this weekend at soccer, so I didn't take many photos. It's hard being the lone coach.

Tuscany Soccer 2007

Both Grace and Matt started soccer today. Despite being slightly under the wheather, Gracie had a great time -- they both did.

We started at 9:30 with Matt.

Matt was so engrossed - he was instantly focused on the coach, and showed a very high level of interest in meeting the other kids and getting to kick the ball.



The U4 teams just practiced today, no game. All the kids had fun. The toughest part of the day for Matt's team was to come up with a team name. After some deliberation, they settled on, "The Black Bullets" (Erin suggested the Black Panthers, but the negative connotation threw some of the parents). Matt's going to love soccer. I've started a Flickr photo collection for the 2007 U4 season. Check back each Saturday for updated photos.



After Matt's team was done, we moved over one field for Gracie's practice. Grace hasn't been feeling well these last few days, and Erin wasn't sure if she should play today. In fact before leaving for the field, I determined that she probably shouldn't play. However, as Gracie watched Matt's team she became more and more exited to play, and by the time it was here turn we couldn't keep her away no matter how sick she felt.



I wasn't able to get as many photos of Grace and her team, the Green Aligators, because Erin had to leave and I had to step up my assistant coaching involvement during the game. The U6 division has a short practice then a game each week.

Gracie did so well. She scored three goals (only one intentionally). She got out and ran hard and, took a break as she needed to. Here she is putting on some tough defence.



I've started a Flickr photo collection of Gracie's season. Again, I'll update this each week after the game.

Denver

I'm sitting here with Keri and Cade watching the Colorado Avalanche hockey game, and I'm watching Cade become as animated as I've ever seen him (he just put his feet on the coffee table, and his voice raised to something more than a whisper).



We arrived in Denver yesterday. Denver is quite a nice city, pretty, well organized, clean -- I've said to Erin several times that I could live in Denver. It's quite a contrast with the suburbs of Salt Lake, which seem to be terribly disorganized.

The kids whethered the flight alright -- Matt broke down at the end of the trip but otherwise did alright. Hannah didn't have her own seat, and so she was quite difficult to reign in. Fortunately the flight from SLC to Denver is only 52 minutes.

I've updated my Utah/Denver Flickr photo collection with some new photos.