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.

Utah Photos

Some photos of our Utah trip (flickr photoset):

Nikon SB-600

I treated myself to a Nikon SB-600 flash for my D50. I'm very pleased with how it has improved my photos.



This photo was taken indoors (at the Ritchie's house in Cedar Hills, UT). In the past I've avoided taking photos indoors because of the shadows that the pop-up flash produces. But with an external flash, I'm able to tilt the flash head up and away from the subject, which produces a really nice, soft lighting.

Hot Chocolate

Took some photos while drinking some hot chocolate. Matt was being quite a character. See the Flickr photoset here.

Snickers Super Bowl Commercial

I didn't watch the Super Bowl this year, but I did catch the commercials today on the Internet. Far and away the best one was the Snickers ad.

Tuscany School Family Dance

On February 1st, 2007 the Tuscany Elementary School held it's inaugural family dance. Gracie looked forward to the dance for weeks. The dance was really well attended, and we all had a great time. Hannah didn't dance, except when Micheal Jackson was playing (she's her father's daughter). Matt spent most of his time running around the gym.

Here's a link to my Flickr photoset.