September - Mina's 17th and Jason's 45th Birthdays

9/1 to 9/3: 

Saturday Candi and I went to Lowes and to the mall. We are looking for curtain options for the rooms. We also need a chest of drawers for Mina's room. We moved more furniture back into the rooms and cleaned up the house. The 2 teenagers tend to leave stuff around and not be very tidy. Gets on my nerves a bit. I keep telling them to clean up after themselves. It's September already. I'm not ready for Summer to be done, what a bummer.

9/4 to 9/10: 

I gave the kids each a Father's blessing Sunday night. I remember telling Tyrell that he will one day know the reasons why his mission is delayed and will understand that it is because the Lord loves him. Monday was Labor Day so I had it off. We were invited to go have a firepit up in Little Cottonwood canyon at the Tanners Flat camp site by Jody and Monica. We had hotdogs and smores. Jaxon and I climbed up the rocks of a waterfall nearby then found a safer way down over rocks on the side of the river. We took the little kids back up the safe way so they could look. I had the Fantasy football draft after work from home. This one was for my work league. Candi was at training still. Wednesday was Mina's 17th birthday. I took her to Pho Cali for dinner. We talked some. I enjoy my one-on-one time with the kids. We had cakes and presents when we got home. Mum and Scott and kids were there. But wow, 17 already. Can't believe it.

9/11 to 9/17: 

Sunday we had Regional conference. We watched it at the Stake center. At 6pm Tyrell and I went over and gave Kendra a blessing. She's going in to the hospital in the morning to give birth to her 3rd child by c section. Her non-lds mother-in-law and Lucas was there for it. So it was a good experience. I went and watched Mina play tennis again Tuesday and Thursday. She and Julie beat West Jordan and barely lost to Copper Hills in both sets so they have really improved since I first watched them. It is fun to watch them. On Saturday it was the 22nd anniversary for Candi and I. We celebrated by going to eat at Chinese Gourmet, lol. We always end up going there because we get the most bang for our buck. The 3 younger kids are doing well with home school. They like it and seem to be learning a lot. Erana's reading is getting much better.

9/18 to 9/24: 

Candi and I left after sacrament. We went to the anniversary inn for the night in Logan. We stayed in the Egypt suite. It was nicely done up with Ancient Egypt statues and paintings and stuff. We had a good time relaxing in the hot tub. Always enjoy our overnight get-a-ways but such a fleeting moment. Love my wife so much. She's the best thing ever to happen to me as well as the kids of course. We stopped at the Honey store on the way home the next day. Watched Mina play tennis again Thursday. She's getting good her and Julie.

9/25 to 9/30: 

On the 28th Mina's tennis team was playing in the Regional tournament at Brighton HS. I left work early to go watch. They lost the first game that I missed but caught the second. They won that against West Jordan. They had another game the next day. When Candi was done with her job we went to the Castle Creek Inn for the night for my b-day present. We stayed in the King's Lodge which has a pool table. We had fun. We ate their free snacks in the kitchen area. We had a hot tub and played pool. It was a nice night together again. It was a deal for $99 which it's usually $200 something for that room so we went for it. In the morning we didn't know what time the game was but went straight to it after checking out at 11am. Mina and Julie were playing Cottonwood HS and just lost a tie breaker first set. We watched the second set which was very close but they won. The third set was close again but they lost 4-6. If they had won they would go to the State tournament. Mina was bummed and crying after, but we told her they should be very proud doing so well on their first year playing. At night the kids got me bunch of yummy goodies for my 45th b-day. We had Krispy creme dough nuts instead of cake.

August

8/1 to 8/6: 

The kids performed at a Samoan Youth festival Friday night. It wasn't big with heaps of people. It was in the indoor Equestrian center in South Jordan. They did good. Saturday was Dray's baptism. After we ate and visited with family. Talked with Sreeve, Ryan and her sister Kelly for a bit. I planned a short trip to Capitol Reef so I've been looking forward to that. We leave tomorrow.

8/7 to 8/13: 

We went to sacrament meeting in another ward at 9am then left to get ready to go to Capitol Reef resort right outside the park. We are staying in a covered wagon that has 4 bunks and a king bed. The drive down was about 3 and a half hours. We stopped in Scipio to get gas and potty break. We were too early to check in at about 3pm so we went to the Hickman Bridge trail and hiked that. It was pretty hot. Our water bottles were running out fast. I took my tripod and we took family photos at different locations for this year's Christmas cards. The scenery is really beautiful. Had never been there before to Capitol Reef. Hickman bridge is a large arch. We were the only ones there for a few minutes so we took more photos. We hiked back quickly because we had no water. We stopped and looked at heiroglyphics that the Fremont people drew on the cliff sides. Very interesting. Then we checked-in. The kids were excited to stay in the wagon. Right out side is a gas firepit that they turn on from 7pm to 11pm. They went for a swim in the pool. It's not too big. I didn't get in. We had hotdogs and chicken left overs from Dray's baptism feed that Candi scabbed and brought along. Also roasted marshmallows and made smores. Each wagon gets its own key to a private bathroom in a building just a few steps away. It looks new and was very nice. The stars at night were very bright. Our sleep in the wagon was nice.

Monday morning we woke up and had breakfast we brought. We had cereal and milk and stuff. We got ready and we drove to the park first stopping at an overlook just before you go in and took some photos. Then we stopped at the visitor center and looked around, watched a short film and bought a few souvenirs. We then took the 8 mile scenic drive and at the end of the paved road drove down the dirt road to the end so we can hike the canyon walk to the Tanks. It was a hot day and we tried to stick to the shade. The walk was nice though through the canyon walls. There was a part of the wall where people wrote their names and the date. Some dates were back to the 1880's. The Tanks are pools of water in round craters where the rain run-off  is gathered. Erana and Mina didn't climb up to them. It was an extra climb up the canyon side to get to them and they were tired. But Erana was doing very well walking the far distance. On the way back I saw more hieroglyphics on the wall. We drove back up the scenic drive to the Fruita picnic area and had lunch. We laid on blankets on the grass and relaxed and ate sandwiches and chips. My camera focus quit working because I think some dust got in and it focuses on that dust. That was a bummer so we used Candi's phone for the rest of the trip. We walked to the old home where a mormon family had lived their since the late 1800's and last lived there in the 1940's. It's now a store. We bought drinks and ice cream and sat on a table outside to eat them. The settlers there had planted a lot of fruit orchards. The public are allowed to pick the fruit. We stopped and got apples and also looked at an old school house. Our last stop was to go to the Goosenecks. It's an overlook of a canyon the was really deep. It was a gorgeous view. There was another short hike that Tyrell, Jaxon and I did called Sunset or something. Took lots of photos. We went back to the wagon and I took the 3 younger ones to the pool. We went back and had dinner again around the firepit. Hotdogs and stuff. The night was beautiful again with clear skies.

Tuesday morning we had a 9am appointment to go on a 2 hour horse ride. Just Candi and Erana didn't go. They went to the pool and into Torrey town and stuff while we were gone. It was fun. Our guide was Crystal. She is a cow girl from Minnesota. The views along the trail were beautiful. It was a 6 mile trip. It was basically going north of the Resort we stayed at heading towards the reef cliffs then turning west, then back again. Tyrell's horse kept letting off and stopping to eat grass. Leila did well. They all had fun. It was an experience to remember. My butt was getting sore near the end. When I finally got off my legs were stiff and my knees could hardly bend back straight. Crystal let Erana on the horse for a little bit and she was happy about that. We got in the van and headed off home. Stopped in Torrey at the little grocery store and a souvenir store. We were impressed with a German family. That's one of things we noticed was a lot of different languages being spoken around us. Mostly visitors from Europe. Two young German boys 11 or 12 were busily taking things out of their RV storage and rearranging things to make space for stuff the Dad bought from the store. He just dropped it off and went in the RV. A few minutes later just after the boys are done he comes back out and locks the storage doors and they're off. Candi and I were teasing Jaxon. "If that was you you'd have asked a dozen questions by now." "It doesn't fit, there's no room, how can I make it fit?" Jaxon just laughs. Another lady sitting watching said, "Wow, my kids would be sitting watching the parents do all that." We got home around 4:30pm. That was our vacation for the year. All our money is saved for new carpet.

Wed night was the Ward swim party at the Taylorsville Rec pools. Distant rain clouds threatened to shut us down with lightning but didn't. Watched some of the Olympics sevens rugby this week. First games for rugby to back since 1924 or something. Well NZ did badly and lost the semi-final to Fiji who went on to win the Gold. NZ almost didn't make the semi-final having lost 2 matches before then.

8/14 to 8/20: 

Mina went and spoke in the Cedar Breaks ward as part of a Stake youth council on Sunday. Candi started her JetBlue job training Tuesday. She had orientation last Thurs and Fri. Training is from 3:30pm to 11:30pm so we've had to get used to a new schedule in our lives. We went to Taylor Barlow's wedding without Candi Fri evening. She married a Tongan-American who went on his mission to Aussie and knows Ollie Wolferstan and helped get him activated. Ollie was at the reception and we had a chat. I took the kids but not Tyrell. We stayed and ate and mingled and danced a bit before taking off home. I talked to Uncle Jono and Auntie Louise and Sharon was there and other cousins. Almost forgot to mention that Erana, Leila and Jaxon started home schooling this week. Candi is using the easypeasy home school online curriculum. It should be good but we'll see how it's going to work out. I'm a tiny bit worried as to how challenging it will be or how much they will get out of it. But I already notice some reading exercises use the Bible which it something you will never see in public school. The public school system is just rubbish that's why we are trying home school. Jaxon will probably go back to high school though unless there is a good online accredited school we come across. I went and watched Mina play tennis. She is playing with her friend Julie on a doubles team for Taylorsville High varsity. It was rough watching them. They played Copper Hills away and won 1 out of 12 games or 2 sets of 6. It's both their first time playing. They can only get better from here but they are having fun.

8/21 to 8/27: 

It was Wes and Jen's baby blessing for Ella Ray. We went to their church and ate at the church pavilion after. It was kinda weird eating at their church pavilion while their church was still going on. Tyrell was speaking at our church so Candi and Mum went to it then came back. Candi had training all wek again. On the last few weekends and some nights we've been painting the walls in the rooms we're getting carpet in and also moving all the furniture into the basement to get ready for the carpet install. It's been a major pain. Looking forward to when it is all done. We had our Fantasy Football draft Saturday night. We had pizza and desserts and stuff that they all brang. I'm not sure how my team wil do this year, wasn't that great of a draft. We'll see.

8/28 to 8/31: 

I took Monday off to finish up painting and moving furniture out of our rooms. Tuesday the carpet was installed which looks nice, YAY!! We started moving furniture back to our rooms but it's a slow process.

July

Scripture of the Month: D&C 137:6

"For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts."

7/1 to 7/2: 

Friday 7/1 we went to spend the day at Pineview. The lake level was high. We found a spot and had a nice relaxing day on the beach on a very hot day. Only Tyrell didn't come. We stopped and got cherries and raspberries on the way. On the way home we got thick shakes at the usual place.

7/3 to 7/9: 

Mon, July 4th we had nothing planned but we were invited by Monica to go to her sister Claudia's home with her new rich husband in Midway. They have a nice home in a quiet place next to the Homestead golf course. The husband is very nice. We walked over to the Homestead to see where the place is that has a natural hot spring in a cave thing that is like a dome with a hole in the top like a volcano. They let people go scuba diving in it. Off in the near distance is another hill in Midway that they light fireworks from. The top of the dome has a nice view and we noticed people setting up chairs for it so Claudia decided to have everyone go back for the fireworks at 10pm. Before then we ate and lit our own fireworks. Jody lit one that shot off sideways again. It caught some weed bushes on fire in the yard but they rushed to put it out. Everyone was laughing but could have been dangerous. We watched the fireworks at 10pm from the dome hill. It was nice then we went home. I didn't work the next day Tuesday as I flexed. I worked Friday to cover for Forrest at work.

7/10 to 7/16: 

Pokemon Go is all the Craze! tons of people at the park now walking around trying to catch Pokemon, kids found a phone and a charger left by people at the park!  Monday we were invited to a Bishopric dinner at Winchester park. They bbq'ed burgers and hotdogs for us. Candi brought a kale salad. Some other families were there from the ward like the Campbells, Foxes, Hauets. It was nice. Candi has been taking the kids swimming to 7 Peaks a lot since she got summer passes. They like it. They go with Heather and kids. I ordered folding chairs for the deck and a deck box that they will go in from Walmart. It will save space on or under the deck when it's time pack them away for the winter. I put the box together on Saturday. Wednesday Candi, Mina and Jaxon went to Snowbird for the youth activity. They had fun. I worked from home that day. Saturday we helped Scott move into their new home in the Murray Bluffs. It is one street over from our ward boundaries but the Stake President said they can still go to Brookshire ward. It's a nice big home with a nice big yard.

7/17 to 7/23: 

Monday at 6:30pm we went to the Jets & Katina's concert at UVU. We sat next to Jackson Kaka and his wife Jaiden who I found out is the daughter of Eugene Ackermann. She's a cute girl. Jackson reffed a lot of the youth sevens games and is from Temple View. They have only been married for a month and a half. The concert was mean as. A lady named Fetai was first. She sang beautiful church songs. Junior Maile sang some country songs which was nice. I didn't expect country at a poly concert so that was refreshing. The Jets were next. They sang some of old and new songs. They were funny when they were going to do 'Crush on You' they started to stretch first. They had the crowd do a lot of 80's dance moves. The older brother was pulling off some of his locking and popping moves. Tyrell, Mina and Jaxon came. They enjoyed it. The Katina's were blimmin awesome as well. They are a Samoan family of brothers that were raised pentacostal so they sing a lot of christian songs that were really nice and had good messages. They also sang a few old school r&b songs and slow jams. But the messages they shared and the lyrics of having praise, thanks and trust in the Lord were uplifting. It was a very enjoyable night. We got home after 11pm. I took the next day off so I slept in. We went to 7 Peaks Provo with Jonah and Maya and met Heather and kids. It was a hot day. The water was warm. Had a nice time.

6/17: This girl getting Tyrells face cleanser stuck in her hair!!! Had to use the scissors and cut it out of her hair!

7/24 to 7/31: 

Pioneer Day was Monday the 25th since the 24th was Sunday. We broke up our old couch and chucked it away since we bought new ones. We found nice brown leather ones on ksl and bought it and a seat and ottoman for $800. This guy was selling them and we picked them up in our van and Heather's van. We also went on a hike up Little cottonwood canyon on the little cottonwood trail. Went to the river and relaxed in the nice surroundings for a bit. Just Leila and Erana came. I also strengthened the deck box I got and water proofed the inside with caulking. We went on the roof to see if there were much fireworks at night. There were some not heaps.