Lake Mead Trip

This past weekend was awesome!  My roommates and I realized that we had had enough of all this cold Utah weather, so we decided to escape from it all and make a weekend boating trip down to Lake Mead!  It was a blast!  We were able to stay with some friends in Vegas for a few nights and then spend much of the day Friday and Saturday on the lake.  The air temperatures were around 70-75, and probably weren't the best for Lake Mead, but we Utahans LOVED it.  Besides, since all the local yocals were scared off by the "low temperatures",  it felt like we had the lake to ourselves and were able to enjoy the near perfect water to ourselves! (perfect meaning smooth by the way...the temperature of water was still really cold! ha ha)  Anyway I was really glad we were able to go.  Here are some photos from the trip:

Some of us might have gambled...and one of us might have won three hundred dollars!!!!  Boo Yeah!!!!

This was the best part of the trip though.  Saturday morning Chad came and picked me up and I was able to spend some time with my nephews.  I loved seeing Jay, Rex, and Little Eli.  It is always so much fun spending time with them.  The new baby is such a cool little guy.  I loved getting the chance to hold and meet him.  Jay and Rex were great too.  

If you can't tell, Jay didn't want to be in this photo :)

Cluffs Update

I realized I haven't posted anything about the Cluffs for a while so here's a quick post about what we did last week.

Special needs mutual talent show:

Last Thursday night I took Jared, Taylor and Jordin to their special needs mutual talent show. It was awesome!  They attend the special needs mutual in Sandy and it has been really good for them.  The leaders and youth counselors are so great.  They do a wonderful job of including everyone and fostering an environment where the kids can truly enjoy themselves.  I loved watching the talent show and seeing the support everyone was giving the kids.  Taylor and Jordin both participated and were so funny with their talents.  Jordin stood and recited her favorite animals and Taylor stood and told a joke about dinosaurs...of course. :)

Haircuts, Wingers, and Nickelcade:

Saturday night Sylvia and Jordin went to the Conference Center for the Womans Conference so the boys and I up and decided to have ourselves a bit of a guys night out.  We got crazy and painted the town red by getting some haircuts, ordering some wings, and staying out late playing video games.  You KNOW it was a blast! :)  Its actually funny cause I can't help but notice how much older the boys are getting.  Nickelcade and haircuts have been our routine for a while so its hard not to be a little nostalgic while we're doing them.  In fact, I remember before my mission going to Nickelcade with Jared and having to find stools for him to sit on because he was too short to reach the controls for most of the games!  Ha Ha!  Now all he wants to do is challenge me to air hockey and ski ball competitions.  Its funny to see how things change.  He's all into sports now too.  At wingers I couldn't help but laugh at how much he was getting into watching the NCAA tournament games with me...I guess Spongebob and Ben10 are no longer the center of his universe.  Too bad.  :)  Taylor's funny too because he'sreally developing a funny sense of humor.  He loves teasing and playing jokes with me.  His new thing is to act like he's all the sudden comatose and make me move him around to wherever we're going.  Its kinda funny.  At Nickelcade he really gets into games where he can win tickets that he can use to redeem for...well...dinosaurs.  Ok, maybe Taylor isn't changing quite as fast as Jared is. :)  And by the way, thats a good thing.

Trip to Vegas

This past weekend was really fun.  I decided to go to Vegas and visit Chad and Lindsay and the boys and also attend some of the Mountain West basketball championship tournament.  It has always been something that I have wanted to do so it was fun to finally go and do it...plus, I always love the chance to see my nephews and and hang out with my family that lives out of state.  Other than Utah playing like a high school team, Chad and I had a good time at the game.  Too bad I forgot my camera for it.  ---  Good thing I made up for it by taking lots of photos of the boys. :)  I had so much fun being around Rex and Jay-boy.  They are such good kids and it makes me happy to be their uncle...too bad coybin wasn't there to play with them.  Jay is as smart and creative as ever.  He loves the new super mario brothers game on the wii, his new coin collection, playing outside, and making maps...especially treasure maps.  Rex is strong and athletic and very happy by nature.  He loves playing any game with a ball, teasing and making jokes, following Jay, shooting hoops, dancing, and watching Dora the Explorer and Spongebob...of course.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Jay at T-Ball

Rex playing Basketball

Playing in the backyard

Silly guys

At the park

Thanks guys for the fun weekend!!!

Office Superiority

I recently watched one of the original episodes of The Office and there's really no debate...The UK version of The Office is sooooo much more funny than the american version.

Hockey Game

Last night was pretty fun.  My boss Jerry had some extra Grizzlies tickets and invited a bunch of us from the office go to the game with him.  The seats were really good.  I guess they are Jimmy Chunga's from 101.9 the end.  Jerry plays on a club team with Chunga...who apparently plays goalie.  Anyway, the seats were directly next to the fiber glass boards on the first row right behind one of the goals.  It was SO cool.  Hockey games are fun to go to because of all the action, but sitting so close and being next to the boards gave me a whole new perspective!  All the hits, checks, and pucks flying towards us made the match really exciting.  In fact, it was pretty hard not to flinch each time one of the pucks ricocheted loudly off the glass in front of us.  Anyway,  it was fun going and seeing the game so close to the ice.

Master of Public Administration

Well its official.  Last night I turned in my application to the University of Utah's Master of Public Administration Program . . . and I wont lie, it feels really good to have it done! :)  After a month of preparing for the MAT, writing my letter of intent, filling out applications, and making sure my letters of recommendation got submitted, its nice to finally sit back and exhale a little.  I guess now all I need to do is wait...which might not be any better! :)  Actually, things shouldn't be too bad.  One of the administrators told me yesterday that I should receive news sometime in March about whether or not I'll be accepted, so the wait really wont be that bad.  Thanks, by the way, to all the family and friend who helped me get everything ready to turn in.  The proof reading and the extra help studying really made a difference. So, again, Thank You! :)

WOW!

I can not believe how good tonights episode was. Lost is SOOOOOOOO good! I hate having to wait another week for it to come on. Two BIG thumbs up on the final season's opening episode...and yes a single tear just formed in the corner of my eye while I was writing the words 'final season' just now. Sniffle.

PS Sawyer is still the best and Jack sucks big time