Thomas is Seven!

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Thomas' 7th birthday! He had a Sponge-bob party that was lots of fun. Eva got him his first MP3 player. It is funny how grown-up he seems walking around with it. I didn't know what kind of music to put on it, so my Sister-in-law Brenda suggested we put Brian Regan the comedian on it. Great suggestion! I put music on that I thought he might like, but every time I can hear his MP3 player it is Brian Regan that he is listening to. The week of Thomas's birthday was his all about me week. He is really into planes right now, so we made his poster in the shape of a plane. We thought it was pretty cool.

We call Timothy the Nightmare Boy because lately he is getting into everything! He looks at you with a wicked gleam in his eye and then does something bad like throw something hard at you, or run away from you when you are trying to change his poopy diaper. He loves to drive Eva and Thomas crazy. He definitely has the annoying little brother thing figured out.

Timothy loves to put on Thomas's bike helmet and walk around with it weighing his head down.

Eva is enjoying the after school program at the museum (where I work). It is called Art-n-Facts (like artifacts) and they learn all sorts of cool cultural things. She stresses out over math at school, but is doing well otherwise.

I have been inspired by Nancy and have set my 12 week goals, and have started working out again. Thanks Nancy!

10 years and other nonsense

It's official, I have worked at Edge of the Cedars for 10 years now as the Museum Store Manager. At times I have questioned if my loyalty has been rewarded or recognized, but the honest reality is what other employer would let you work a flexible work-week under 30 hours, and still give you full benefits? None in Blanding, that is for sure. I recently ran some sales figures for my region manager to determine if our decline in visitation has lead to a decline in sales. While I have experienced a 10-20 % decline in visitation, I have actually produced a 20% or more increase in sales! Of course, the true test of how well you are doing is sales per visitor. For my industry (museum stores) we strive for an average of $2.00 per visitor. Well for the first half of the year my average sales per visitor was nearly $5.00 per visitor! It is rewarding to see the effects of my hard work in a concrete way like that.

Because I Passionately Love My Wife and Would Do Anything for Her

It's Claydar's turn to Post!!

Kd and the kids went to Lake Powell with Nan and Britt on Friday. Of course I got left home alone. There was no food, no TV, and my Xbox was broken. So there I was alone, hungry, bored and a little scared. Hmmm Canyon Country is just down the street. I should go get some food! So I go and get a Valencia Orange juice and a bag of Carmel popcorn. That was my dinner. Obviously I'm not gifted in the art of making important decisions at critical times. I get home and realize that I'm still going to be hungry so I nuke some delicious pizza pockets and sit down to watch season 3 of Battle Star Gallactica. I sat there for3 hours and watched like 4 episodes. I then went to bed and read an Orson Scott Card novel for 2 more hours until 2:30 am at which point I decided that I should go to sleep. Needless to say I 'm still trying to catch up.

Kd and the kids had a great time at the lake. I'll defer to her to give the details....maybe on her next post.

My garden is doing well. I have some tomatoes, corn, peas and squash. The weeds are somewhat under control and most of the plants are alive. I've been able to cut my mowing time down to just under 1 hour a week not including edging and I'm loving the sprinkler system. Our new yard is great and I'm really enjoying the process of taking care of it. I just wish I didn't suffer from allergies.

Our cherry tree produced tons of fruit and it turns out that they are pretty good. I was worried that they were going to be not so sweet pie cherries, but they are actually pretty good. The only draw back to the cherry tree is the constant sticky floor from tracked in cherries.



Timothy is a full fledged walker now. He gets so happy and loves his new skills. It's crazy to see such a tiny boy walking and running around. His first word was "Eva". He now can say "Eye" while jabbing his little finger into your eye socket, and he's learning to imitate a lot of actions and sounds. It's so fun to watch my kids grow. I love them so much.

Now about the title. I asked Kd for suggestions on what to post. The Title is her suggestion. Honestly...What would I be without Kd? Where would I be? I can't imagine life without her. I love my kids so much and would do anything for them. Without Kd I wouldn't have the kids that I have. She completes my life. I love her so much.



She will read this in the morning and think, "yeah...I told him to write that," or "whatever!" Kd it's true I do love you and I missed you when you went to Lake Powell. I know it was only one night but I was sad, and hungry, and really bored. Most of all I was so glad to see you and the children come home ( the CHILDREN...).



Here's a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure......

Kd likes to have he picture taken

Thomas smiles

Sun Bathing Cousins

Timothy looks on

At Cottonwood wash

Fully Converted

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what a testimony of the gospel is, and how important it is to be truly converted. I know many people who claim membership in the LDS church, and belive it to be true, yet they choose not to live the gospel to the fullest. I have been there myself, whether it be not paying a full tithe, not going to all your Sunday meetings, or other things that keep us from being "fully converted". In the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not enough to just "believe" the church is true. We must start with, faith, then show our obedience by acting on that faith. As members of the church we truly believe that, "faith without works is dead". It is so important to have a testimony as a starting point for the gospel. I know this church is true, and that it is lead by a righteous prophet. I know that Joseph Smith truly did see Heavenly Father and Jesus, and that he is a true prophet who restored the true church on the earth. I know that Jesus lives, and that he died for my sins, so that I can return to live with him again if I choose to live worthy and repent of my wrongs. That is my testimony. I act on my testimony by living a clean life and fully participating in all my church meetings and accepting and performing my church callings. I attend the Temple at least once a month if not weekly. I do not make excuses for my failings. I am not perfect, but I act on what I believe. That is what it means to be fully converted. My testimony of the gospel is the driving force in my life and that is why I am who I am, and why my life is blessed. I am grateful for righteous examples in my life that have helped me make wise choices and fully live the gospel.

Night Games

The other night we introduced our children to "Night Games". It has been so long since Clay & I played, that we did not really know the correct rules or names for the games, but it was a blast anyway! My favorite parts of the night were when Eva hid so well (at sardines) that we all took a long time to find her; and when Clay came running around the house so insanely, that I could not catch him because I was laughing so hard!

Our cherry tree is overflowing with fruit, so come by and pick as much as you want. There is something magical about eating something you picked off a tree.

Woo Hoo!

In April I wrote my first ever grant. It was for funding to implement a Safe Routing Plan for our Elementary School. I served as the President last year for the School Community Council, and as a board, we were able to complete the Safe Routing Plan that should have been done years earlier. I got the grant done, but procrastinated getting it signed, then couldn't find the last person that needed to sign it. The day I needed to mail it I had to go to Dead Horse Point State Park to help out, so I recruited Clay to get the signature, and overnight the grant to Salt Lake. After numerous emails and phone messages that went unanswered, I figured that I was not going to get the funding. Yay, I was wrong! I was notified by email that not only was my project funded, but it scored the highest out of the 20 applications they received! I am so happy! I keep realizing how much like my Mother I am as time goes on. I am grateful for the good education she gave me, and the example of intelligence and success that she is to me. Wow, my first grant got funded, pretty cool eh?!

What do you get when you cross Napolean Dynamite with Hot Rod?

Well, Thomas of course! The other day I overheard Thomas telling Eva he needed to find some "sweet" jumps to take his bike on. He then said he needed to find some big dirt hills to take his bike down too. Thomas crashes in the driveway when there is no good reason for him to crash, so jumps? Not such a good idea.