We Have a Garden!

We have officially planted our first vegetable garden! It may not be the prettiest thing I've ever seen- but I'm pretty excited about it. We'll see if my enthusiasm for it keeps up enough throughout the summer to keep it alive :-)

Weekend Picnic at the Park

This weekend we got together with Uncle Dalen and Aunt Karinne for some fun at the park. We ate some KFC, tossed a frisby, played in the little stream & on the swings, and just relaxed together. The babies didn't like the water because it was so cold, but they loved the swings.

Rowan enjoyed reaching up to get the leaves off the trees and Miriam was content to wear her new stylin' shades from Aunt Amber and be held.

Both going for the sophisticated look

Keegan came up with the perfect use for the bucket of chicken when we were all done with it :-)
I love how Miri's little head is poking out from behind him.

Floatin'

Here are some pictures of one of many trips to float the canal in Logan this summer.


Brrr its cold!

Kim took some pretty good pictures! It was one of the few times we let her out of the house to have some fun between setting up cribs, going through baby clothes, and sewing!

Ride to the Water Slides

Friday was a big day. The last few months I've been saving up to either restore the bike I have or buy a new one. After intense research and deep thinking, I decided to buy the Redline 925. I couldn't be happier with it. There are a few things I had Robert at Recycled Bikes swap out for me before I bought it so I would have no regrets. In case you don't know, I'm very particular about making big purchases. I'll have to post pictures of it soon. After I picked up the bike and rode it home, Martha and I set off for the Logan Aquatic Center by bike of course. The stake sponsored the activity, and provided food so it surprised me there weren't more couples there. Oh well, their loss. Me and my pal Ryan ended up jumping off the diving board about a thousand times until we literally slapped ourselves silly on the water. What we lacked in grace we made up for in stupidity. We decided to move on to the water slide and see how far we could skim across the water at the end. Ryan nearly made it to the exit stairs so he won. Our wives seemed to stay entertained by chatting and watching us hurt ourselves as they floated leisurely in the shallow end. We rode our bikes home as it was getting dark and on the way back I just so happen to run over a thorn. I, of course, didn't realize this until the next morning when I went to grab my bike and to my dismay the rear tire was flat. I have been riding my old skool bike back and forth to work for the last two months and the first day I ride the new one I get a flat! It was no prob though, cuz when I went to see Robert he set me up with a tube and patch kit, so I was back on the road in no time.

Camping - same place, different company

A few weeks ago we got together with a bunch of my family for a fun weekend in Cache Valley. Hannah, Karl and their four kids came up from Lehi as part of their vacation to join the rest of us (my sister Karinne, my sister Meghan- her hub Carson and dog Nani, and me and Keegan) for a little camping. After searching around for available campsites Meghan found one up at Porcupine Dam in the Cinnamon Creek campgrounds. Keegan and I were pretty familiar with our campsite as we had just been their two weeks previous for our ward campout. :-) It was the EXACT site as we stayed before- but it was a nice one so no complaints!

Meghan was pretty on top of it and had spent a lot of her week getting ready for this event- which meant that we ate very well while we were there. Tin foil dinners, s'mores, banana boats, and blueberry pancakes all turned out great! Jacen, who is eight and the oldest of the Pyne kiddies was the only one who had ever gone camping (officially) and it was so much fun to witness the first ever roasting of a marshmallow and tasting of a s'more or campfire grilled meal :-) And yes, we all quoted 'The Sand Lot' as we made our s'mores.

The 12 of us fit into two different tents. The Pynes brought up a HUGE tent that eight of us fit in while Megs, Cars, K-Poo and Nani fit into the other. With all the body heat in the big tent it wasn't as cold of a night as I had the first time up there, but there were still reasons to not sleep soundly. I'm not sure what time it was, but I awoke in the pitch black tent to what really felt like a scurrying little critter at my feet. I have to admit I was a little nervous! I know raccoons can be pretty vicious and it felt about that size and my feet were right by the door. I wanted to reach for my flashlight to see what it was but at the same time didn't want to startle whatever it was- especially after reading a bunch of notices posted all over the campground about how to deal with animal encounters! But... as it turned out it was my nephew who was so cold that he had curled up at the bottom of his sleeping bag into a little ball and shivering! In my defense- he's a pretty skinny kid and I did not think if he was cold he would squirm all the way to the other end of his bag to get warm. It was pretty funny though. For the most part the kids did a great job during the night- especially for being as young as they are- and only woke us a few times.

The next morning we made breakfast, cleaned up, played 500 with nothing other than a Nerf football, and then went on a little hike following the creek. We had little contests of who could hit certain protruding rocks, and really just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Jacen got pretty good at skipping rocks in the creek, while Nani was getting annoyed because she tried unsuccessfully to retrieve every rock that was thrown in the water. Little Kirsty, after being told not to throw rocks while she was behind people, picked up a particularly large one that ended up in Jacen's back instead of the creek. Kirsty ended up doing the crying instead of Jacen but Hannah was able to console her and she was able to muster up an apology which also helped her to calm down. Hannah lifted up Jacen's shirt to see the damage and put a hand over her mouth before he could see her reaction. There was definitely an imprint!!

After a little more playing we finished packing up and headed back to Meg's and Carson's place for lunch. And a nap. We were all pretty tired but took naps in rounds so the kids could have a playmate. Keegan, Karinne and I took the first round. Luckily Megs had her camera handy to catch the after camp-nap pose :-)


We all spent the night at Meghan's and went to the Logan Aquatic Center the next day. Karinne's roommate Whitney went with us and it was a lot of fun! Alyssa who is five and normally the most timid, turned out to be the most adventurous swimmer and even went down the big water slide twice.

The rest of Saturday was spent playing games like Balderdash (or Bladderdash as the Monsons call it), Scattergories, and games on the Wii or PS2. Of course we had to take advantage of 7-Eleven's FREE slurpy offer, in honor of the date: 7/11.

Sunday was nice and relaxing as well. It was a good day to recover from our sunburns by staying indoors. We were sad to have the Pynes leave. I'm glad we have such a good family that we look for reasons to try and extend our time together rather than shorten it.

Patriotic Weekend

A fireworks display on Independence Day eve kicked off our weekend celebration. The show originated in Romney Stadium-the venue where Utah State's football team lose all their games. We watched from the field just adjacent the stadium along with all the other poor folk. Shells were launched contstantly for nearly 30 minutes--a pleasant surprise. We invited some friends over to watch The Sandlot, it's really a great summer flick. It's one of those movies that is hard to resist quoting the lines before they come.

The following day we attended the Cruise In at the Cache County fairgrounds. We rode our bikes there to avoid the hassle of finding a parking spot, but unfortunately we did not avoid the hassle of a ticket booth that only accepted cash. Therefore, we rode our bikes to the bank and back to the gates, so much for saving time! Once we were admitted onto the grounds, we walked around and checked out the cars. There were at least 100 cars parked on the grass in rows of about 15. Considering our geographic region, I couldn't believe how diverse the collection was. I think I was having a little bit more fun than Martha checking out all the cars, but she liked them too. I rewarded her with a snow cone for being a good sport. After she polished it off, she went back for another. What can I say, the girl likes shaved ice. My favorite car there was a Duesenberg. If you don't know what those look like you should really look them up. They look like the kind of car some rich miser like Mr. Burns would drive, a car who's driver would run over any poverty stricken low lifes who got in the way. After we zig zagged our way around all the cars, we headed for the outdoor arena where an anxious crowd awaited the forthcoming of Styx from behind the curtain. The Dennis DeYoung-less Styx still managed to rock the house. I came this close to bringing my Paradise Theater vinyl record for the band to sign. They played all the hits, Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man), which if I could digress for a second can I just say I love song titles that include a parenthetical phrase? The only other example I can thing of is Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) but I'm sure you can think of more. Moving right along...Fooling Yourself, Grand Illusion, Come Sail Away, Crystal Ball, Lorelei, Renegade. The only ones I would have liked to hear would be Mr. Roboto and Babe, but those tracks just didn't fit the set so I understand. The attendees were equally entertaining. Just when I thought some styles were long gone, I attend an event at the fairgrounds and realize they are not dead. From the guy with the Michael Bolton haircut accessorized with a fanny pack to the 40 year old bleach blond with the fake tan strutting her stuff, I thank you for not letting these nearly extinct fashion trends die off. Our bike ride home was lit by fellow patriots lighting the sky with their pyrotechnics. Before midnight I had to listen to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". If you haven't felt patriotic lately, jam that tune then tell me how ya feel.

Oh no, that's not it, we're only to Saturday, this weekend was packed with good times! The weather cooperated perfectly over the weekend so we felt we should continue to enjoy it. In the mid afternoon, we acquired some inner-tubes courtesy our pals Ryan and Brianna who had the idea to float the canal. We ascended up Hwy 89 a few miles just near second dam to the canal's entrance. The channel of water is about 12 feet wide and about 40° F. It moves at a decent pace, the trip probably takes around 30 minutes. The water is fairly shallow, the deepest part is less than three feet, so you really have to make sure you lift up any body parts that may be below the tubes reach. Unfortunately, Ryan was taken by surprise a couple times and his lower back was a witness to this fact. We played sand volleyball at first dam right by where the canal dumped us out. My ankle is still giving me a little trouble, so I couldn't fully enjoy myself, but it was still fun.That evening the roads closed at around 6:30 for the Cruise In parade. All the cars that had been in the show at the fairgrounds the last few days took to the streets for our viewing pleasure. Although I enjoyed looking at the cars parked on the grass, I much prefer to see them on the road where they belong. There's just nothing like the blub blub sound from an old carbureted engine and the smell of gasoline being burned at less than 15 MPG.

Country Weekend

The first official weekend of Summer 2008 was a good one. Martha picked me up from work along with our pals Nathaniel and Lina to go camping at Cinnamon Creek, a small campground the church owns just past Paradise. The gravel road leading to the campsite was kinda sketch, very narrow and right along Porcupine dam's reservoir--no guardrails. There were about 20 other couples in attendance, many of whom, like us, brought tin foil dinners. I forgot how long those things take to cook. I swear we must've waited at least an hour. Our friends Marcie and Travis brought pita bread, pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Now that was a smart idea! I think Travis saw me eyeing his with envy, because he offered to make me one and I gratefully accepted. I really enjoyed sitting around the fire and conversing with our pals from church. I always like when the darkness finally overtakes the light because all the stars are visible. The city just doesn't display them like the country. Once everybody's food settled, we brought out the obligatory marshmallows. It just isn't a campout unless mallows are roasted. Me and Martha were one step ahead, we came prepared with bananas, mini marshmallows, and sweet morsels of all varieties. I can't remember the last time I wrapped a banana boat in tin foil, it turned out magnificently. We slept so-so that night, but woke up to a superb breakfast. We came home and took a nap to make up for that lost sleep.

That evening, we attended the Cache Valley rodeo. I hadn't been to one in awhile and it was the first rodeo Martha's ever been to. One unlucky fella fractured his leg after getting bucked off a bull. Being from Oregon, it was refreshing to be in a place that was not so politically correct. Somehow I doubt that the rodeo clown's speech required meticulous preparation by a public relations specialist. Events included (and I am unsure of their official names but here goes): bareback bronc riding, saddled bronc riding, bull riding, mutton busting, team roping, steer wrestling, an baby cow tying upping. I throughly enjoyed myself, the show entertainined me. Besides, I like being around country folk, they seem to appreciate America and the good Lord better than city folk do.

Week 1

So, I survived my first week on the job. I thought I'd include a pic of me riding off triumphantly into the sunset on my retro classic. I did a little research and found Campania bikes originated in southern California in the 70's--just another company that jumped on the bandwagon of Japanese made road bikes. Funny how knock-off brands from 30 years ago are still far superior to the department store bikes of today. I plan on either stripping the bike of its parts and building a single speed, or doing a cash + trade for one that's already built up.

After work me and Martha attended Summerfest over at the tabernacle. We enjoyed strolling from booth-to-booth to view the locals' artwork. The weather could not have been better.

Tonight we went furniture shopping, some of it for the legendary brick corner. I really think we're on to something, but I don't want to make an announcement just yet . Options are still being considered. Hopefully we'll have it figured out before the next full moon.