The Country Club Life!

For the most part of July, we lived what many would refer to as the country club lifestyle. Many of our planned activities consisted of swimming, tennis, golf, and enjoying a movie.  On July 9th, we had the Hill family over for a pool party at the Aix La Chapelle apartments.  We provided pizza and they provided the party.  We swam around, played tag, and even had an "entry into the pool" contest.  In the contest, you had to provide your most entertaining, most excellent, entry into the pool.  Though there was no clear winner, it was rather enjoyable to watch.  A favorite activity though was the human ladder.  We would stack on each other's shoulders and got up to four or five people tall.  Mike or Big Jon would be on the bottom, then tall Jon, myself, and the kids on top of me.  It was a riot to see how tall we could go without tipping over.

This summer, Mike was kind enough to let me join a tennis league.  I had not played tennis in a long time and so it was interesting to say the least.  My first match was awful.  I played an older lady which I should have beat rather easily had I been playing.  Instead, I couldn't keep it together mentally and had a major breakdown.  Looking back it was rather embarrassing, yet, I learned my lesson going forward that I cannot act like a baphoon on the court.  After a couple of matches, they paired me against the former U of U tennis coach.  She had played professionally back in her day.  She was the best in the league.  Even though I did not win it was a great match.  I believe I lost 6-3, 6-4.  However, we had great points and it was a lot of fun.   I aced her several times and I was the one to make her frustrated. Though it may be prideful, I was excited to do so well seeing she didn't even take a second look at me for a scholarship to the U of U.  Mac was also playing in a league as well.  She was on a team with Sarah and the regular group of older, well-to-do, and very entertaining ladies.  They always had their snacks and alcohol to accompany the match.  They are always good for a laugh and added to Mac's enjoyment of league.  It was fun to be able to party with her at tennis as well.  We even celebrated our losses with a dinner at the Training Table.  Can't get much better than that.

Mid month we took a trip to Cedar City to view the live theater. My parents had two extra tickets to see Les Miserables at the Shakespearean festival.  We were invited to join them since Levi and Michelle had other plans.  Prior to the show, Mike was able to locate a couple of North Face shirts on clearance. Obviously, we couldn't pass that deal up.  We then went to Top Spot Drive-In and enjoyed not only some ice cream, but a few games of Monopoly Deal.  We then made our way to the theater and saw the famous Les Miserables. At intermission, Mike and my Dad were able to sneak us in some ridiculously hard pretzel, which the snack shop would have been better off throwing away.  It was well done.  However, one of the actors, who was in love with Cosette, was a little over the top at times.  When Jean Valjean was carrying him after he had been wounded, he had the craziest bug eyes and weirdest facial expressions we had ever seen.  At a climatic point where we should have been serious, we couldn't help but laugh.    

In keeping with our country club lifestyle, we frequented the movies on a couple of different occasions, had a dinner date at Jim's restaurant, and on the 21st, Mike and I went golfing with many of the Hill men.  We were paired up in teams to do a little bit of scrabble golf.  The teams were as follows: Mike, Curt, Papa, and myself versus Big Jon, Danny, Marty, and Ben.  Mike was pulling in the long shots for our team where Papa was filling in on the mid range.  Curt and I got our occasional shots in and even though I would love to say we won, I'm pretty sure we lost.  Yet, we still had a great time.  Since we were at the Eaglewood golf course, Uncle Curt was gracious enough to invite us all over for pizza.  He also let us try out his hunting bows in his backyard.  He created a little shooting range for himself.  It is marked out every five feet or so and shoots into a big target.  The boys were pretty good.  Mike and some experience shooting bows.  Jon owned his own bow and had been practicing for the big hunts.  As for myself, the target wasn't always big enough for my arrows.  I may have even lost an arrow in the back woods.  Though it did get significantly easier when they let me use Kenna's bow.  I think the pink camo really helped me out.

4th of July Holiday Celebration!

As tradition follows, we attended the Eaglewood fireworks on the 3rd of July.  Although the fireworks were nice, as always, the night itself wasn't anything spectacular.  My mom had come into town but preferred to stay at my Grandma Bingham's house.  Levi and Michelle went to the fireworks as well but they had other parties to join.  We met with Levi long enough to say hi and sign some paperwork for our life insurance.  The redeeming factor of the night was seeing Kash and the Wood family.  It's always a pleasure to talk with Kash and Kacee was kind enough to let us join her family for the firework show.  It was fun to catch up with her seeing as they were living in Washington. She was close to having her baby girl and still looked so cute even with her pregnant belly.

Don't worry we were able to still make the holiday eventful by going into the mountains.  On the fourth, my grandma gathered the family in Mueller Park canyon.  Jake, one of Mike's college roommates, joined us as well.  His wife, a nurse, was on duty for the day and so he was looking for some company for the holiday.  My Grandpa loved to hear that he was a biology teacher.  In his typical fashion, he brought to attention that he got to teach about the birds and the bees.  However, my favorite was when Jason thought he was Mac's boyfriend.  Unfortunately, they were unaware of the misunderstanding and we could have really played it up.

After filling our bellies and spending some time around the family, a group of us decided to bike up to Elephant rock.  Mike Brose took the lead with my mom, Mac, Jake, Mike, and I following his lead.  It was a pleasant ride up as we enjoyed the scenery, the company, and biking of course.  Jake's bike didn't make his journey any easier, nevertheless, he was a great sport.  We spent some time up top enjoying the view, trail mix, and re-hydrating.  One of my favorite moments, as always, was coming down the mountain.  I was ahead of Mac and would periodically turn to check on her.  One time as I did so, she nearly did an endo over her front handlebars of her bike.  Luckily she was able to get back on track without eating the dirt.  Knowing she was OK, we had a good laugh.  It was a great bike ride and one we vowed we would do again in the future.

On Saturday, the 7th, my mom had lined up Mt. Timpanagos with the Brose's and the Matt and Val Baldwin.  It was a good hour or so hike up to the top of the mountain.  Val and Matt are always very good at keeping conversations going.  In fact, Mike and I decided after the hike we want to be more like them when it comes to this area.  They are very good at making you feel important by learning more about you.  Plus Val is very good at bringing up interesting conversations.  By profession she is   a relationship coach and thus posed three questions to Mike and I.  She wanted to know what the best part of marriage is, the hardest part, and what was the most surprising thing we learned.  Though she didn't just want quick answers, so she gave us the hike to think about it.  Sheree was also curious to hear the answers as well.  Sheree and I also had great conversations about kids.  She told me about her first time finding out she was a mom and how she was not really a "kid" person herself.  Yet, here she was with 5 boys and she loves it.

It took us about an hour or so to get to the top.  The cave was really neat.  Mike and I were feeling pretty good about our cave knowledge seeing we had just done the Minnetonka cave the previous month.  Everybody really seemed to like it.  Val was super impressed.  One of Sheree's boys was told it was his cave- he like any boy- thought that was pretty neat.  The tour guide was trying to illustrate the point that it is a public cave and so it is all of ours and as such we should treat it well.  We had more conversation on the way down.  We then decided it was time to go to JCW's and get some food.  On the drive over, we revealed our answers to Val and Matt.  We both thought it was great just having a best friend, confidant, and somebody to be with all the time.  I remember conversing was, and is, one of my hardest parts of marriage.  Mike's most surprising thing was the amount of hair that girls shed.  We then went in to JCW's to enjoy some awesome hamburgers and shakes.  Happy Day.        

Yellowstone, take three!

The time had arrived yet again to brave Yellowstone.  As in past years, we were trying another route.  My first year we stayed at the original cabin where the family had gone for years.  It was quickly realized the family had outgrown this cabin.  The next year, Mama Deb and Papa Hill rented a cabin large enough to house the whole family.  Again, it may have been too close of quarters.  So this year we ventured into Yellowstone Park and stayed at Madison Campground.  Dave and Amanda had a trailer, along with Jon and Julie.  The parents rented a trailer for the week.  Becky and her girls stayed with in their trailer seeing Ben was still in Mongolia for work.  The rest of us set up camp in tents.

Madison proved to be a good selection.  It was shaded with lots of trees, bison roamed through the camp, and the river was within walking distance.  The river proved to be one of the favorite play areas of the trip.  The river was warm in places due to the runoff from the Firehole.  The kids put on their life jackets and we had a huge swimming pool to play in.  One area of the river had a little rapid section, where you could float down.  If you weren't careful, you could go further down river than anticipated.  Mark lost a shoe and I, myself, went further than I was comfortable with.  Thankfully, I have Mike who knows and understands rivers.  After playing in the river for a time, Big John, Mark, Danny, and Mike all went on an adventure.  We don't really know exactly what they were doing, however, when they came back they were covered in war paint, aka mud.  All of them had decorated their bodies to their liking, one had a superman sign, another a smiley face, and so on.  They truly are a wild bunch.

As expected, we did the traditional Yellowstone activities.  We did the upper and lower loops.  We stopped at the traditional sights.  We ate at the Wild West Pizzeria.  We got shakes at Eagle's.  We went wolf watching.  Only this time, it was as if we were on national geographic.  Typically you wait for a while until one of the regulars spots a wolf.  They then describe where it is to the others.  Upon looking through the binoculars, you can see way out there a wolf.  It will stay for a little while and then usually reverts to the trees.  But not this time.  We were able to see a pack of wolves.  They were closer than normal and you could spot them up on the hillside without any binoculars.  Small, yes, but visible. They were also on the move.  They were hunting a herd of elk.  We followed them for a few miles and watched them in their element.  They would circle around the elk and appeared to be just watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.  Though they didn't attack while we were there, it was amazing to see their strategic approach.  As if that wasn't enough, on the hillside you could also see a grizzly bear.  It was really neat.

One of my favorite activities, was sitting around the campfire each night and talking with the group.  One of the nights, Danny introduced a question that would forevermore stick with the family.  The dreaded life jacket question.  Danny had felt there was some favoritism going on with the larger families.  It became a joke that all families needed to have at least five kids before they received special treatment.  As the discussion progressed, many tried to ask who was the favorite child.  Of course, Mama Deb refused to answer.  They then pursued a different course.  A course to see who the least favorite child was.  Danny posed a scenario to Mama Deb.  She was to answer if she had one too few life jackets, which of her children would not receive a life jacket and hence not survive.  She refused many times to answer the question.  However, after much pestering, she finally decided Mike would not receive the life jacket.  Her reasoning being he could swim better than the other children. Poor mike had been singled out.  One could take it as a compliment as she thought he was the most competent of her children. Or one could take it at face value.  Either way, we have made sure to stock ourselves with plenty of life jackets, just in case.

Cabin Getaway!

*Not Actual Cabin*

 Druanne, one of my college roommates, had planned a getaway to her cabin just above Cedar City.  As always, Mike and I jumped on the bandwagon.  Some of the other roommates were invited but were unable to attend.  We drove up late and were given instructions on how to get there.  Cell reception was very poor and the directions were mainly based on landmarks.  So Dru and Landon, Dru's fiance at the time, were going to meet us at a particular gate and take us the rest of the way in.  After driving for some time and not connecting with them we began to doubt ourselves.  We kept pursuing, nevertheless, and were able to spot the razor headlights to take us to the cabin getaway.

The cabin was owned by Dru's extended family.  In fact, they own three cabins in the area and lots, and lots of land.  Turns out posterity benefits from ancestors who decided to settle an area.  Lucky ducks!  Anyways, her aunt had set up a hunt in the surrounding trees.  Cat eyes, aka red reflectors, were placed on the trees.  By flashing a light onto the reflectors you had found your next searching spot.  The hunt continued until you made your way back to the cabin. What we weren't expecting was to find a real animal.  Whether it was a cougar, a fox, or a deer we will never know.  But we saw something in those woods that night.  To top off the night, we turned on the incredible green monster, known as the Hulk.  

The next day we lived it up.  Landon had packed up quite a collection of guns.  Mike couldn't have been more pleased.  They spent an hour or so in the morning shooting off guns.  One shot in particular made the boys smile, the bullet had spliced a huge piece of wood proving how powerful the shots were.  We then hopped on the razors and cruised around the local area.  We drove to a lookout spot where we were able to overlook Zion's National Park.  It was really neat to see it from this view.  We then went to a small pond where we could catch frogs.  Mike was an expert frog catcher.  I, on the other hand, struggled to catch one.  I would get so close and then get panicky to grab it at the last second giving the frog a chance to get away.  Mike tried teaching me a technique where you could swat the frog onto dry ground thus giving yourself a better opportunity as the frog was not in it's comfort zone.  I tried the technique and with my luck the frog disappeared into some brush.  The others were kind enough to let me hold their frogs.  They even tried racing the frogs at one point.  Yes, you could say we are easily entertained.

Later in the day, Dru's uncle, a friend, and a couple of her cousins came up.  They took us on a long four wheeler adventure to see their property lines and to check out more of the area.  We drove around a lake for a bit and ended up pretty dusty!  We thought there was no better way to get cleaned off then jumping in the frog infested lake.  We made our way back to the lake and after some convincing, Dru and I jumped in together.  Thankfully, we had the men to pull us out so we didn't have to walk along the bottom of the pond.  It was time to shower and get cleaned up and get our tin foil dinners cooking.  Little did we know, we were going to meet a celebrity of the news in connection with the presidential election.  Her name, Nanette Billings.  It was Dru's cousin's mother-in-law who had just stopped by to say hello to their daughter at the cabin.  Now for a little bit of background.  Nanette's husband, Willie, was the Washington County Republican Party Chairman.  As such, he was going to meet with Fred Karger, an openly gay presidential candidate.  He had come to Utah to try to get local Republican leaders and the church to stop funding efforts against gay marriage.  Willie's meeting went rather well and Karger sent him home with some campaign paraphernalia.  Well, this did not go well with Mrs. Billings.  She threw the paraphernalia away and wrote an email to Mr. Karger calling him a radical idiot and saying "thank goodness he can't procreate."  Needless to say, the press was notified and she became headline news.  Not one of the brightest moments, but it was rather entertaining to listen to her side of the story.  

First Mountain Peak!

On June 16th, we set out to redeem ourselves and yet again tackle the great Mount Olympus.  On our first attempt, we were not ready to tackle it.  I was not well prepared and a short ways into the hike I already had a pretty good blister forming.  My socks were too low, sliding off my feet, and not providing my heel any protection from my shoes.  Mike was prepared, as he always is, but was not physically capable that day.  He had to take several pit stops on the side of the trail, if you know what I mean.  Needless to say, we turned back and ventured we would tackle it some other time.

The time had arrived to redeem ourselves.  We got a later start than expected.  It was already starting to get warm by the time we started climbing, but we were determined to complete it this time.  We kept a pretty steady pace and were already faring far better than last time.  No blisters and no pit stops in site.  We were able to make it to the top of the mountain in about three hours.  It was the first peak I had ever climbed.  Feeling pretty accomplished, we enjoyed some snacks and the view from the top.  We shared the company of several other climbers.  One man was with a club and they just get together and hike different spots.  We spoke with another man about how Utah is so great for the diversity and the joys of mountain biking.  However, one man stuck out in particular.  He was proud to let everyone know that he had climbed this peak multiple times in preparation to his upcoming Spartan run.  He was so good he even ran it with chairs on his back so he could have a place to sit at the top.  Don't worry, he was representing USA well with his lovely stars and stripes bandanna.  Let's just say, he didn't appear to lack any self confidence.

After we had our fill of the top, filled our bellies, and chatted with the mountain clan we booked it down the mountain.  We found it much easier on the joints to jog down the mountain, leading us to make it back to the car in about an hour.  We cut our climbing time in a third.  Thankfully wewere able to get Mike refueled before the effects of dehydration set in too heavily.  For months to come I could proudly look up at the peak and say, "Hey, I climbed that!"  You could say, I was a wee bit proud of myself.  

Lake of Bears!

For the first year or so in our Holladay apartments, we had a young couple, much like ourselves, who were living above us.  Our primary interaction with them was to make sure we paid our internet bill and stayed current with them.  Occasionally we would do things in a larger group setting because we were both friends with the Skokos's.  However, as there time to move drew closer, it seemed as if we started to hang out with them more often.  A friendship developed to the point, where they even invited us to join them at their cabin in Bear Lake.  We jumped on the opportunity.
On the drive up to the cabin, Mike and Adam discussed career opportunities and desires.  Adam was either close to graduating or had just graduated.  Currently he was working at a construction job with good hours, good pay, and a sweet truck.  To top it off, the owner wanted Adam and his son to take over the business. However, this is not what Adam wanted.  He wanted to make it big in the finance world.  He wanted more of a challenge and didn't want to go into business with the son.  Mike, on the other hand, thought he had it made.  Especially after putting in long and treacherous days at Zane Benefits for almost a year now.  I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, eh?

Once we arrived in Bear Lake, we had to stop at Labeaus's for a traditional raspberry shake.  As Megan was eating her corn dog, she had a sheer look of terror come over her face.  Words cannot even describe how great her facial expression was.  She let out a gasp as we are all trying to figure out what was going on.  Turns out a skunk, yup a skunk, brushed up against her leg.  It was at this moment when we realized this was going to be a great weekend getaway.  However, this was just the beginning.  Later that night as we were hanging out in the main living room, we saw a small creature run across the floor.  Mike, the Mighty Mouse Hunter, was born.  The boys quickly got to work.  Mike located a plastic toy putter and some fire tongs and began his hunt. To all of our amazement mice kept appearing.  Needless, to say they found a system to quickly trap and kill the mice.  Mike would use the putter to trap the mouse and then Adam would use the fire tongs to squeeze the mouse to death.  Admittedly a little grotesque, but also relevant under the circumstances.  By the end of the hunt, six mice had been killed and laid to rest in front of the cabin.  Later we would learn, Adam was and is terrified of Mice.  Yet, he pulled through strong.

The next morning we would start a different sort of adventures.  We decided to check out the famous Minnetonka  Caves in the Cache Valley National Forest.  The cave was definitely worth seeing, however, what made it most enjoyable was our tour guide friend.  He was a young lad of about 15 what he lacked in stature, he made up for in personality.  At one point, he was explaining about the composition of the cave.  It was made of carbonic acid.  He then went on, "Do you know what else has carbonic acid, soda pop.  You drink soda pop."  Having said what he needed to say, he turned on his heel, and was off to the next site.  Another classic moment was in a part of the cave which apparently had good acoustics.  He said, "For example" and then proceeded to sing "Don't waste your time on me..."  We loved every minute of it.  After exploring the cave, we set out on our own explorations.  We were driving around the mountains looking for a rope swing.  Unfortunately, it was snowing, and we were unable to find it.  However, we didn't leave empty handed.  We discovered a huge half-pipe of rocks.  Mike quickly deemed it, "Hell's Half Pipe."  It was nature's playground for the boys.  Still having some light, we decided we would try braving the lake.  Being as cold as it was, only Mike and Adam dared to go into the water.  They played around in the Kayak for a little bit.  Then Megan and I joined them in some warmer water, aka the hot tubs.  It was a great way to soak up the activities of a great weekend.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make me a Match!

It has been on my bucket years to be a matchmaker.  Not simply where they have a good time and could possibly go on a couple of dates.  My goal is to get two people hitched!  The only problem is I'm not very good at it.  Usually my criteria is along the lines of they are both single, friends with us, and pretty cool person so they must work out.  One weekend we decided to give it a go and set up two of our college friends on a date.  I had a good friend, Britney, who had just gotten back from a mission and was looking for love.  Mike had an old buddy, Mark, who had played the field many times over and wouldn't mind settling down. We briefed our pals, told them we would double date, and it was scheduled.

Mike and I were in charge of the planning.  After throwing around several ideas we nailed down a final plan.  We were going to go to Cafe Rio, the Nickle Arcade, and then play it by ear.  Mark arrived at our place and we hopped in the car to retrieve Britney.  After knocking for several minutes and getting no response, Mark came looking for help.  I called Britney and out she came.  Off to a strong start, we were now officially ready to party.  On the drive over to Cafe Rio, Mike and I decided we would further educate our friends about their date.  Mike started out by taking the liberty of sharing all of Mark's fine qualities with Britney and then I followed suite.  Yup, we know how to make it real awkward.

Despite our attempts at awkwardness, the dinner went rather smoothly.  Brit spent a few minutes chatting with old acquaintances and then they continued to get to know one another better.  After doing the small talk thing for a bit, it was time to have some real fun.  We spiced it up at the Nicklecade.  We went around trying various games.  Brit and I found we had a particular liking for Deal or No Deal.  Our highest win was at $750,000! Unfortunately, it was only paid out in tickets.  Fortunately for us we were able to get some sweet prizes, aka mustaches and candy!  After all our nickles were spent, and our prizes claimed, we decided to go to Britney's house to play a little tennis.  It was a fun evening, nevertheless, love was not to be found.  Brit was maybe still slightly awkward from just returning from the mission and Mark was leaving for Jackson Hole the next day. Oh well.


Even though love didn't work out for them, later that weekend we were able to find a different kind of love.  We met Ryan and Kenzie at City Creek.  Ryan was able to convince Mike to finally purchase a pair of Salomon shorts that he had been eyeing for a while now.  Ryan also purchased a pair.  For many upcoming adventures, we would see the boys in their matching Salomon shorts.  A pair of shorts worthy of love.

Time to Celebrate!

A couple weeks after Mike's birthday, it was finally time to celebrate his 28th birthday.  We were going to get the coveted Ducky and see what Tuttle, Idaho had to offer.  I had called Wayne, the owner of the duckies and High Adventure River Tour, a couple weeks back to ensure the ducky's were still for sale at $200 a piece.  He let me know we would be good to go an and was kind enough to work with me when we pushed back the pick up date.  He let us know we could also set up camp at his RV park for the night.  We were also going to be picking up two additional duckies, one for Ryan and Kenzie, the other one for Jake and Netti.  We had stopped by an additional time with Ryan and Kenzie to view the ducky's as we made our way to the Oregon Coast last year.  Ryan was also sold on the idea of the ducky and was glad we would be able to secure him one of the ducky's.  With three duckies on the line, you better believe Mike would pick out the very best one.

We arrived late Friday night.  Wayne was kind enough to show us where the showers were located along with possible camp spots.  We set up camp and would go exploring the next morning.  Wayne was a great host and gave us several different options in the morning of things to do.  Of course we were looking to try out the ducky- so he said we could try out the river or he also recommended a "beautiful" spot called 1,000 springs about 5 miles away in Haggerman, Idaho.  We decided we would give 1,000 springs a try.  Upon arriving, we decided the "beautiful spot" Wayne had told us about had had some pretty features but the island itself wasn't so beautiful.  I guess Wayne had been stuck in Tuttle a little too long.  Nevertheless, we were glad we came.  The boat launch was located at a swimming pool which was naturally heated by a hot springs.  We paid our fees and launched our ducky's into the Snake River.  Just across the river is an island with an old house on it.  We paddled about halfway around the island and saw a waterfall.  We stopped to check it out.  We climbed up the rocks close to the top of the waterfall.  We then saw a trail where you could view the old house.  We walked up to the gates.  On the way back, we saw a very manly looking woman, welcome to the small town life!  With that image seared in our minds, we continued our quest around the island.  After getting back to the dock, I noticed a drain for the hot pots.  I wanted to warm up and paddled over there.  Little did I know, how blasting hot it would be!  It definitely did the job and warmed me up but I kept my distance after the initial burn.  In paddling around the river, we had worked up quite an appetite.  Lucky for us, we had some cups of noodles in the car waiting for us.  I soaked up the sun while Mike cooled of in the shade.

After filling our tummies and baking ourselves to a crisp, we drove around Haggerman to see what else it had to offer.  Surprisingly enough we were able to find several things to occupy our time.  We went to a fish hatchery where we saw several very large sturgeon and some other not so attractive fish.  After sufficiently staring at the poor, trapped fish we continued on our way.  To our surprise, we saw Haggerman also had a Fossil Beds National Monument.  We stopped to check it out and found various types of fossils including, but not limited to, the famous, "Haggerman Horse".  They also have on display a Saber-tooth Cat, Ground Sloth, Camel, and many other unique animals along with information related to the Oregon Trail.  According to their website, it is "one of the most fossilferous Pliocene-aged sites in the world", aka 3.5 million years ago just prior to the Ice Age and which represents the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna.  Don't worry, I did have to look that up on Wikipedia.  Nevertheless, it was a fun little museum where they even let you cool off with an informational video in the back room, which we utilized.

In one afternoon w were able to see many of the main highlights of the small towns Haggerman and Tuttle, Idaho.  Feeling pretty accomplished we decided it was time to pack up and head home.  We packed up our newly purchased duckies, said good-bye to Wayne, and hit the road back to Salt Lake.  We took a slight detour in Twin Falls to grab some food.  We were pretty hungry by this point and decided Sizzler, a buffet with unlimited grub, would be an excellent choice.  We went to order and they informed us that to get a steak and a salad bar was practically the same price as just a salad bar so obviously we decided to get ourselves a steak. We both came to the realization that this was the best steak we had ever eaten at a restaurant.  Although, the fact that we were camping may have played into it.  Yet, we still felt like royalty.  It was a great feast to end the birthday celebration and the acquisition of our newest boat, the ducky!

Mother's Day Surprise!

Mother's Day was just around the corner.  My dad wanted to surprise my mom with all of us coming down for the weekend.  Of course we were game for a trip down south.  We also had a very special Mother's Day gift to give to our mother's...removable tattoo's!  Don't worry we did provide more practical gifts as well but the tat's far surpassed any other gift we could give.  Mama Deb had a good laugh while Marty had some ideas of where to put the tats.  We left after work on Friday and picked Levi up in Cedar City to have him join the party as well.  Michelle would not be joining us this weekend as she had a 10 day camp out for school.  It couldn't have been a more suiting activity for Michelle.  It was ironic to think she was in the woods as we were eating some frozen yogurt at Menchi's and watching a crazy lady make a scene in the parking lot.  Apparently she was saying some pretty off the wall things, some people decided to call the cops and she was not too happy to say the least.  Later that night, we tried the famous wiggle scooters, they were as everybody had said, slow and hard to get going.  Needless to say, we didn't waste too much time with those slow scooters.  We had other activities to pursue.

Saturday morning, my mom had to go into work for a few hours.  Lucky for her she had put one of her tattoo's on her neck.  It made a great look for her in the Salon.  My mom is not the biggest fan of golfing, so while she went into work, the rest of us went golfing.  Mac and my dad split a round, which was probably a good thing seeing my dad was on the phone for much of the time, and Mac doesn't like doing the full nine holes. Golf is definitely a love/hate relationship for me.  I love it when I am doing well, which in all reality isn't too often, and it is super frustrating when you are losing.  Well this day of golfing was a not so hot one.  I was doing terrible, however, Mike was doing awesome.  I know a good supportive wife should be throwing up high fives and patting him on the back,  but, unfortunately, I was not being such a good wife.  Instead, of throwing high fives I was throwing my clubs. Curse my competitive spirit.  Yet it was a fun time on the course with the gang.

After my mom returned, we did one of her favorite things to do, biking.  In Washington Fields there was a trail she loved doing which she lovingly referred to as the horse head trail.  It received the name due to the fact that there was actually a dead horse's head on the trail.  Pretty crazy, eh?  It was supposed to be a pretty easy trail.  All was going well until my pedal fell off my bike.  Mike was kind enough to take my bike and give me his bike.  He got creative and rode the other bike the rest of the way home like a scooter.  He got his work out and good deed all done in one fell swoop.  He was still able to make it fun for all and that's one reason I love him so! We also spent time swimming in the pool, playing Monopoly Deal, our "true" Mother's day gift which was a smashing success, and saw none other than War Horse.  Probably better than the movie itself was renting the movie.  We went to the Red Box and my dad was up getting the movie.  My mom told him to get War Horse, he said, "What?".  Again, she repeated, "Get War Horse".  Levi pointed out, very accurately I might add, how much they symbolized an aging couple.  As one tried to communicate to the other but their aged ears were failing them.  We all had a good laugh.  

To top off the weekend, we figured we still had a new kickball, which was my dad's birthday present, which we needed to use.  After drinking some home-made orange julius we all headed out to a nearby park.  We split up into teams and started kicking.  It wasn't long before we realized how out of shape we all were in.  A few times around the bases, in the hot sun, and we were feeling it.  The Orange Julius that had previously tasted so good, wasn't settling too well and many of us were feeling slightly queezy.  We spent a good deal of time in the shade drinking some cool water!  Despite our opposition, with the sickness, and the breeziness we endured and finished the game. Mike, Mac, and I lost, even after our almost super dramatic comeback.  So close and yet so far!

Mike's Birthday/Hill Family to the Rescue!

Yup,  you guessed it, Mike was about to get a whole lot wiser.  He was going to be turning 28!  Mike had been eyeing a ducky we saw at a garage sale for an old rafting company for over a year.  It was on a return trip from Boise where it all got started.  My dad recommended on our drive back from Boise we stop to look at the Malad Gorge, as it was worth seeing.  On the same exit, luck would have it there was a large sign for a "Garage Sale" posted and we decided to stop and check it out.  It happened to be a High Adventure River Touring company/campground.  It was here where Mike first spotted the ducky.  Mike fell in love at first sight and tried to convince me of how great a deal it was.  I was able to talk him into getting the man's number and thinking about it.  But after a year plus of delay, I decided I had delayed him long enough and was going to surprise him with not only the ducky but a trip to  retrieve it in good ole' Tuttle, Idaho. However, a series of events led us to rearrange the scheduling of our ducky trip.

At the end of April, after returning from a beautiful trip to France, Mark had an unfortunate accident...with a toilet.  Before leaving for France, Mark decided he was going to be leaving his job at the Post Register and start looking for work elsewhere.  Upon returning from France, he was going to work on odds and ends around the house to get it ready to sell.  One day he was going to replace the toilet and do some painting in the bathroom while the toilet was out.  Unfortunately, the toilet had other plans.  It attacked Mark and had sliced his wrist open.  Thankfully, Mark was able to think clearly enough to call 9-1-1 and get in a position to lose the least amount of blood as possible.  Carrie had been out at a doctor's appointment and was promptly notified.  She was able to call a neighbor to pick up Taylor as she raced back home. She arrived in time to see the ambulance.  The neighbor's husband gave Mark a blessing in the ambulance.  Fortunately, Mark was able to see a hand specialist who was quick to get him into surgery.  Mark was going to be OK with a little bit of rest and physical therapy.  However, Mark would not be able to live down the fact that he had just gotten worked by a toilet which severed three tendons, two nerves, and the radial artery.  Poor Mark.

On the 3rd of May, Mike moved up in the world though and was now 28. It hit him for the first time that he was closer to 30 and I was closer to 20.  For the first time, Mike realized he had in fact robbed the cradle!   With this realization, there was nothing left to do but embrace it and celebrate.  My dad happened to be in town and wanted to take us out to Rodizio Grill for Mike's birthday.  We obviously accepted and had a wonderful feast.  On the drive home we were rear ended, creating only a few small screw marks in the back of the Corolla.  Obviously we weren't too impacted as we rented "We bought a Zoo" and had a nice relaxing night.  Pretty easy going birthday but the real birthday party would come in a few weeks on our ducky trip.  Needless to say, with Mark being down for the next few weeks, Carrie needed some assistance with the house and that took priority over Haggerman.  Plus, in a few weeks it would only warm up that much more making the ducky trip even more enjoyable.  So Friday after work, Danny, Jon, David, Mike, and I all hopped in the Expedition with Papa Hill and made the trip up to Idaho Falls. Mama Deb had gone up a few days prior to help Carrie paint the kitchen cabinets.   We had a great road trip.  My favorite part was when we decided to play Karaoke with the iPod.  Only this time, the singer had to put in the headphones as the rest of the car tried to guess which song was being sung.  It was really funny and we got to hear some excellent solos.  We also stopped at Arctic Circle to grab some grub before arriving at Mark's house to do the real work.

We all pitched in as David worked on the sprinklers, Jon and Papa Hill spackled the playroom, and Danny, Mike, and myself painted several rooms, baseboards and all.  Carrie's brother-in-law also was able to do some odds and ends around the house as he had once been a contractor.  In between painting, we took a short intermission to destroy the shed in the backyard.  Jon, Danny, Mike, and I took turns kicking, running into, and our favorite sledge hammering the walls of the shed.  In no time, we had demolished the shed and had it loaded on a trailer to take to the dump.  We also made sure to take away that awful toilet and put it in it's place.  We showed it who was boss. The weekend turned into another great party with good food, aka Donuts and KFC, music, and just a good time.  At KFC, Mike decided to try the Double Down sandwich.  A sandwich made with fried chicken as the substitute for bread and even though it was dripping with grease it was surprisingly pretty tasty.   We also found out the honey isn't really honey after all.  Rather it's a "honey sauce", good one KFC.  Despite the disappointment with the "honey sauce", it was a rather successful weekend where much was accomplished.

To Tri or Not to Tri!

At the end of April, one of the Utah State fraternity's was putting on a triathlon.  Because it was at the school, it was better priced than most.  Ryan and Kenzie were going to do it and invited us to join. Neither Mike and I had ever done a triathlon and thought at this price it was worth testing the waters.  We slept over at Ryan and Kenzie's house so we could get up bright and early, ready to get our race on.  Saturday morning we arose and checked into the race.  We went through the orientation and were getting pumped. Mike and I were well equipped with our basic swim goggles and hefty mountain bikes.  Ryan and Kenzie had done a few in their days and were giving us some tricks of the trade for faster transitions between events.  We followed their advice by laying out our clothes by the bikes, rolling down the socks, and loosening up the shoes all in the hopes of saving a minute or two.  We were going to need all the help we could get.

It was only a sprint triathlon meaning a 500 yard swim, 10 mile bike ride, and a 5K run.  Doesn't sound so bad, right?  Think again.  The race started in the hyper pools.  Ryan, Kenzie, and Mike all did some warm up laps to get started.  I was a little chilled so I waited it out instead.  Eventually it was time for the first wave to get started.  I was getting more and more nervous the closer it got to my time.  It wasn't like I was expecting to win, but my competitive streak was definitely showing it's colors.  Initially, we were hoping for the warmer pool until someone mentioned you swim faster in a cooler pool.  We quickly switched our mind set, as mentioned before, we could use all the help we could get.  But luck was not on our side, we were both in the warm pool.  Mike and I were swimming side by side in the same line.  He beat me by a few seconds but we were both pulling in at 12 minutes.  After swallowing and burping up some significant water, it was time to get onto the bikes.  I stumbled out to my bike and Mike and I started out biking together.  It didn't last too long as Mike showed his strength and pushed quickly ahead.  He outshone me by eight minutes in this leg of the race as I was at a remarkable 46 minutes compared to his 38.  Unfortunately, being on mountain bikes proved to be a much larger disadvantage than either of us had previously thought.

After getting past left and right, we were finally to the last stretch the 5K run.  Both of us were pretty spent by this point, but we persevered.  I ran past one of the volunteers and said something along the lines of, "Only crazy people do this".  As I was promptly reminded, I was one of them.  However, I got a boost of extra strength when I ran past the library.  Behind me running in her socks, is my friend Druanne Murray!  She ran by my side for a bit giving me the will to keep going.  I was just trudging along.  Finally, the end was in sight and I lost my balance.  I ate it on the sidewalk with the finish line in sight.  Luckily I wasn't going so fast as to get road rash, just a little embarrassed.  I finished the race and was spent.  Mike had finished the 5K in 24 minutes bringing his total time to 1 hour and 16 minutes.  I was 11 minutes behind at 1 hour and 27 minutes, with a 26 minute 5K.  Mike placed 32nd for the men and I was 15th for the women.  However, it wasn't too shabby considering we burped our way through the pool, lumbered through on our mountain bikes, and I ate it on the run.  Not bad for our first triathlon!  We treated ourselves to a meal at the Beehive Grill for all of our hard work.  Mike would also serve to brighten our spirits the next day on the rope swing.  We were out for a nice casual bike ride and came across a nice rope swing across a little creek.  Mike was getting fancy and tried to run in a circle, while holding onto the rope, around the banks, but he didn't have quite enough momentum.  He was left hanging until his strength exhausted him and he fell into the creek.  It was a good end to the weekend!

From the South to the North!

My dad's birthday was quickly approaching, so we thought it would be a great time to get away to St. George.  We were there the weekend prior to his birthday so we could start the "Birthday Week" celebration. We lived up the weekend with a variety of sports, including: swimming, baseball, tennis, and kickball.  Our birthday gift may have played a small role in some of the activity selection.  We had wisely given him a kids baseball bat and baseball along with a Sponge Bob kickball.  Pretty smart planning, eh?  We played a little baseball in the backyard and had a home-run derby. There were many balls we had to retrieve from over the fence, because we were that good  In the pool, Levi introduced us to a game called "Pencil, Cannonball, or Dive".  You had to jump off the diving board and someone would call out one of the three positions.  In mid-air, you had to switch into that position.  So simple, yet so fun.

We also played a little tennis at the Summit Athletic Club  They had a little drop-in doubles where you could show up and they would pair you up to play some fun doubles matches.  Levi and Michelle were partners, Mac had a younger male counterpart, my mom was paired up with a nice gentleman, and Mike and I made an unstoppable team.  To my dad's dismay, he was hoping we were going to be on the same team.  Instead he was paired off with a very serious player.  Let's just say my dad wasn't having the best of time as he was feeling the pressure and not living up to his double's partner's expectations.  It didn't help that we were smoking them, too!  Though when frustrations were very visible, we backed off a little too much giving them a chance to close in on us.  Don't worry, we still pulled it out.  Later the teams were switched up and the "serious" player was on Michelle's team.  He was very friendly to her only making the whole situation that much more enjoyable.  After playing a little doubles, I played a little one-on-one with my parent's neighbor.  The others, minus my mom, went in for an ab workout led by Levi.  Mike was so sore within the next few days he couldn't even stand up all the way.  It was pretty hilarious.Among all the activities and fun, Mike's favorite part of the weekend., however, was the time we were able to spend in the Salon.  I decided it was time to chop off my hair and spice things up a bit.  We were both a little nervous after the initial snips.  But I must say, it turned out rather sassy!  We had to show it off, so what better way than pedaling around the neighborhood on the beach cruiser tandem bicycle.

The next weekend we headed to the other end of the state and joined Danny and Haley and Jon and Julie's family at Crystal Hot Springs.  Wellyn and Everett loved going down the water slide and we had a blast joining them on the fun.  Mike, Danny, and Jon entertained us to see who could do the highest breach out of the water.   We also had a contest to see who could crawl across the pool fastest and many other games most normal people wouldn't understand.  But what do they know anyways they are right there with us enjoying soaking in warm water that smells like rotten eggs. Life can't get much better.  After a fun night in the hot pots, we spent our first night camping in the good ole' Subaru Outback.  It actually worked out pretty well and worked as our own personal mini-trailer.

The next day we took off to Logan for the rest of the weekend.  We joined Kenzie's family at Britain's high school track meet.  She is a nationally ranked high jumper so that was fun to see for a little bit.  Kenzie hung back with her family while Mike, Devin, and Ryan kayaked a portion of the Logan river.  I volunteered to run shuttle and get a little shut eye as they ran the river.  The boy's worked up quite an appetite so we stopped at Mo Betta Steaks and had ourselves a delightful Hawaiian feast.  Later that night we sat deliberating what our next plan of attack should be.  We waited till the last second and then rushed off to the theater to catch a movie.  Ryan and Kenzie were also excited to introduce us to Zeppe's Italian Water which was a new addition to Logan.  Pretty much it is a fancy snow cone with some ice cream- aka delectable. Though the biggest news of the weekend,  Mike and I decided we were ready to bring little junior Hill's into the world.  It was the start of one of our biggest adventures yet!

A Swell Start to Spring!

During the month of March my company got me into doing a bracket for March Madness.  I had never done it before and was excited to see what it was all about.  I decided it would be fun to have a little side contest with Mike as well.  Neither of us really follow college basketball so I thought it would even the playing fields.  Let's just say Mike smoked me.  At the beginning, it was relatively close.  However, with each passing round I fell further and further behind.  Needless to say, Mike won the first year.  It's funny how often you check the final scores though once you have written down your picks for the year. It definitely spices up March.  So we decided it was a tradition we would continue and I was determined to get him next year.

With March Madness heating up March and spring rapidly approaching, it could only mean one thing, it was time to get out the camping gear again.  On the weekend of the 22nd of March, we were going to join Ryan and Kenzie and Dusty and Michelle on their trip to San Rafael Swells.  They would be carpooling down and as a way for us to save on a little extra gas money they suggested we pick up their siblings, Donna and Britain, and split gas money with them.  Mike was able to pick them up and then swing by my work and grab me as well.  With the crew on board, we were ready to hit the road, literally.  Mike was loving driving the Subaru in the swells.  He was hitting those curves so fast and was all the more encouraged with Donna and Britain squealing and laughing the whole time.  They were loving their little roller coaster ride. I, on the other hand, was a little more nervous for not only our safety but also the well being of the car.  Mike was 100% confident we would be just fine.  Thankfully, he was right, despite a few close calls, we pulled safely into the campsite.

By the time we arrived, it was dark and time to set up camp.  We were camping by the entrance to Ding and Dang.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get up there quite as early as the other car and join them on their hike through the canyon.  However, Donna was able to find a pretty sweet cross bow that provided great entertainment to the group, especially Mike.  It was a homemade bow that shot sticks a good 20 feet or so.  We all enjoyed sitting around the fire watching Mike and a few of the others shooting sticks out into the surrounding area.  The trip was off to a great start.  In the morning, we awoke and drove over to the trail head for Baptist Draw.  Ryan had his handy navigation tool and we began the 9-10 mile journey.  It was a fun hike with several different repels.  I had an awkward repel where I was heading down head first.  The others had a pretty good laugh and Ryan was able to help straighten me out before reaching the bottom.  After several miles of hiking we stopped to have some lunch.  We enjoyed throwing sandstone at the walls and watching the sandstone explode into a powdered mess.  After dropping off the largest repel, the canyon shortly opens up to a larger slot.  We again sat to rest before making the final trek up to the car.  Again rocks were thrown, but this time it was more of a game where we tried to hit particular targets.  Perhaps there is a correlation with being tired and having a desire to throw rocks.  Either way it worked out that way for us.  It was a fun trip. 

The next week was conference weekend so we decided to hang around town.  Let's be real, we couldn't fathom missing the famous Hill Family Potato Bar in between Sunday sessions of conference.  The Wednesday before conference we had a game night at the Hill residence.  As always, there was a yummy dessert involved.  On this particular night, we had pie because Village Inn ran a special on their pies on Wednesday nights.  We played games, laughing, chatting, and eating pie.  All was well until we got to the last slice of pie.  Trouble quickly arose as the situation became clear to those at the table.  Let's just say, I had never seen grown men act like animals  to get the last remaining piece of pie.  They were like savages.  It could have been because we had just seen or were going to see the Hunger Games or it could have been the Hills natural drive for sugar. All I know, is it was quite entertaining.

Well, conference weekend had arrived and as usual, Mr. Mac had their buy one suit get one for $1 sale.  Danny and Mike went in on the offer together.  They must have been feeling in sync as they even bought the same suit.  But you can't blame them when it was such a good looking suit!  Saturday morning we awoke and turned on the Saturday Morning session at our place and then decided we would watch the afternoon session at the Hill home.  We were itching to get out and ride our bikes since the weather was getting nicer.  We thought we could even ride our bikes to there place in between sessions.  It was a brilliant plan, it was only 13 miles and most of it would be pretty easy going.  Or so we thought.  Turns out strong head wind along with our mountain bikes, aka non-road bikes, can prove quite challenging.  At times, it seemed as if we weren't making any progress.  It took us over an hour to go those measly 13 miles, but it was definitely worth the experience.  Not to mention we would be able to recuperate the next day as we were not only spiritually fed but as we carbo-loaded on delicious potatoes!