November

Scripture of the Month: Alma 37:35

"O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God."

11/1 to 11/5: 

Candi spent the week taking Lian around to stores and stuff. They went to Gardner village Tuesday. Friday we took them downtown to see the SL Temple. We looked around the visitors center and City Creek mall. On the way back we stopped at the Chinese Gourmet for lunch. Skylar was homesick the first day but got used to us and enjoyed her stay. Leila and Erana love to play with her. She had her 9th birthday Saturday. We walked around Silver Lake that day. It had snow around it. Lian and Skylar took lots of pictures with the snow. They had a snow fight in the trees. We had a smores pizza for her cake. Also the All Blacks lost to Ireland for the first time ever since they started playing each other in 1905. The game was in Chicago, score was 40-29. They played really bad and made so many mistakes, dropping the ball all the time when the try line was open in front of them. Ireland played out of their skins and deserved it more. The day before the All Blacks were celebrating with the Chicago Red Sox at the parade for winning the baseball for the first time since 1908 or something like that so they jinxed themselves.

 

                              

11/6 to 11/12: 

Monday the kids went rock climbing at the Rec center. They saw it when they watched Leila play bball Saturday. Skylar wanted to try it. They also went to the zoo during the day and had a good time because they said all the animals were out and walking around and you could see them clearly instead of laying in caves and cages where you can't see them that they usually do whenever we go. Tuesday morning our wallboards were finally finished by Paul's floors. Lian and Skylar left to San Francisco at 11am. At night we watched the elections until about 11:30 and Donald Trump was winning by a lot before I went to sleep. In the morning it was official, he won. I was very happy. Hillary Clinton is one corrupt, lying, sleazy woman. I won't get into everything bad she has done but I'm glad she lost and good riddance. All the news were against Trump with the over-the-top bias and had her winning by a landslide. It was the opposite. She lost the electoral college by a landslide. So ahh, good job all you liberal, leftist, regressive, globalist news people and celebrities trying to sway the election for the Democrats. Now hopefully Trump follows through on his campaign promises to "Make America Great Again" because Obama has made things so much worse. The worst President in the history of this nation. Hopefully Trump undoes everything he did and relegates his legacy to the dust bin of history. I had Thursday off since Veterans Day was Friday and I have Fridays off anyway. Friday evening we went to the Veterans Day concert in the Huntsman Center at the U of U. Mina's school choir sang in it with some other schools. It was nice. A nice way to pay tribute to our Veterans. Tyrell didn't come.

11/13 to 11/19: 

This week was uneventful. For FHE we are learning another ponderize scripture. I think we may have done it before but oh well. Alma 37:35.

11/20 to 11/26: 

We had Thanksgiving at Tania's. We had a nice feed and watched the Cowboys beat the Redskins. The Cowboys are doing awesome this year so far. Only one loss. They have a rookie QB Dak Prescott and a rookie RB Ezekiel Elliot. Both are doing great.

11/27 to 11/30: 

Went to the Dentist Monday. No cavities!

October - Leila's 11th Birthday

10/1 to 10/8: 

We watched General Conference today. Took Leila to her basketball game at the Tville Rec ctr during the 2nd session. She scored 2 baskets and they won. She did good but is probably the shortest on her team. I also watched the All Black thrash Argentina when I got back. I watched priesthood in my room with Tyrell and Jaxon. There were good talks. Sunday we watched more GC. Monday I flexed because I'm working Friday. The kids came to my work Tuesday for a field trip the the Capitol building centennial celebrations. They walked in there but the loud echoing noise because of all the school kids was scaring Erana so they went out. I went and met them and walked around he Capitol with them and ate lunch in the cafe. I took them up to my office so they can see where I work. They went back into the Capitol as most of the school kids had left. Leila and Tyrell had a piano recital at night. They did really well. Candi started working at home this week, Wed, Fri and Sat. She has a desk under Mina's loft bed in the upstairs room. Saturday I took Leila to her bball game.

10/9 to 10/15: 

I had Columbus Day off Monday. I spent the time painting our walls outside and fixing the deck light. I replaced a gfc plug in the fixture but found out how to reset it correctly so the new one was unnecessary. I was trying to reset it with no power but it reset once the power was on. Oh well. Not much else going this week. Leila had practice and another game. She is doing ok but not really improving because she needs to go out and play at the playground on her own.

10/16 to 10/22: 

Played tennis with Mina and kids on Friday. I was rusty as. Mina beat me 4 games to 2. She is too good for me right now but a little practice and I'll catch up. Leila did some good hits and was beating Jaxon a lot. It was her first time trying her new racket her friend Jenna got her for her birthday. She and Jenna went to the Witch breakfast at Gardner's Village Thursday morning for Leila's b-day. Friday evening we watched Julia act as Jasmine in her Aladdin play in Draper. She was really good and sings very well. We got photos with her after.

 

10/23 to 10/29: 

Our baseboards were finished Monday. They are nice! Finally done. Tyrell started the mission class they wanted him to take. He is with 5 other people that have mental disabilities like autism and such and he feels a little awkward. It's such a waste of time but I said to stick with it as it's only 4 classes. Friday we played tennis again and this time I beat Mina in a set of 6 games. I was trying my best and she was kinda lackadaisical. Saturday Leila had a b-ball game. Then after Candi and I went to the mattress sale at Taylorsville HS for Mina's choir fundraiser. We ordered 2 twin mattresses for Laila and Erana. Mina will get to keep about $150 of that for her choir trip. We ate at Sizzlers for Leila's birthday. She got a new bicycle. It's a nice one. It's a coaster beach type bike with a rack at the back and a basket in the front. Leila loves it. I ordered off Walmart and had to put it together.

 

10/30 to 10/31: 

Candi's sister Lian and her granddaughter Sklar arrived Sunday evening. Their flight was delayed a few hours because of rain in San Francisco. She brought heaps of chocolate and some shirts. Sklar was a bit homesick the first night but got used it and plays with Erana and Leila. For Halloween we went to Jody's. We ate and then took the kids trick or treating. Well they went without me the first time but I went with them the second time. Skylar didn't go to any houses with spider decorations. She doesn't like them. Jaxon was Red Hood again. Leila was Batgirl, Erana was a leopard and Skylar was Harley Quinn. Mina was...I forgot. It was a nice evening, just a little cool when the sun went down.

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.