"Heber Creeper"

Things have been very busy around our house lately. I have gone back to work, we have had almost non-stop company, and Brendon has been picking up side jobs almost daily. So over this past weekend we took so time to ourselves and went camping. Brendon wanted to go fishing, so we went up to Strawberry Reservoir to camp. We thought since we would be going through Heber, we would go for a train ride. The train departed the Heber Depot and went down Provo canyon and back up. The three hour ride was beautiful and a very enjoyable experience.

The next day we went over to Strawberry for some nice relaxing fishing. We ended up catching more craw-dads with some bacon than we did fish. Brendon and I saw a duck caught in some fishing line, so our relaxing fishing turned into a rescue mission. Luckily, Brendon was able to get her untangled and she swam away with ease. We stopped by the Strawberry River on the way out and it was full of Salmon swimming up-stream to spawn. There were thousands of them all gathered together in this one area. The breed of Salmon (kokanee) turn pink when they spawn and then they die. It had to be one of the coolest natural things we've ever seen.

The weather was pretty nice for us and even though it was offically the last weekend of summer... I'm sure there will still be more camping trips and adventures to come this year. Brendon drew out for a deer tag for the hunt this year so we'll probably be going out for that.

Here is our "Beary Happy Camper"

Level Playing Field

Several weeks ago, Jared and I noticed we were looking at each other pretty much eye to eye. After we de-shoe'd ourselves, we lined up back to back. Despite Jared's best efforts, he still hadn't reached Dad's height. The tape measure indicated I had about a 1/2" advantage. Last night, I found myself looking up at Jared. No big deal. Jared had shoes on, I didn't. But the question lingered. Who is taller...? Once again, the shoes came off and we lined up back to back. This time, we balanced a level on our heads to see what the bubble would tell us. The bubble was smack dab in the middle. Either I'm shrinking at an incredible rate, or Jared is continuing to grow at a fast pace. The tape measure answered the question. Jared is officially 6'6".

Notes

I have made a few notes to myself this week that I thought I would share. . .

• Note to self: toilet brushes are not good for cleaning leather sofas (thanks, Tristan)
• Not to self: masking tape is not good for windows, especially if the tape has been on a window that gets the direct afternoon sun (thanks, Kennedy)
• Note to self: a snack in the van is worth more than a case of mac n cheese at home
• Note to self: Sacrament meeting with three kids and no dad is destined to be a three-ring circus

Tristan has found the"terrible" side of two. I sure love him but he has a way of throwing things (sippy cups, toys, food, tantrums). He wants mom's attention a lot but scrubbing the leather sofa with a dirty toilet brush is not the way to her heart.

Kennedy has enjoyed going to preschool five days a week. We are carpooling with a friend but she lives farther away than we do so we are in the van for about an hour. She takes the kids to school and I bring them home. Unfortunately, since we are in the van so long Tristan falls asleep half the time and then his nap is over for the day.

Chris left yesterday for Boston. He is giving a talk at the annual radiation oncology meeting. I took the kids to church today anticipating that things would go well. Jack was sleepy but instead of falling asleep he had a meltdown during the sacrament. I told Kennedy to stay with our friend and told Tristan to come out with me. He didn't understand and stayed until I got out the door. Then I heard, "MOMMY!!!!! WAIT!!!!!" The door came open again and a terrified little boy came running out. Oh, if only this were the worst of it. I got Jack settled down and took them back in to sit down. Just as I did Jack started screaming again and Kennedy and Tristan starting fighting over a coloring book. More screaming, "MINE!!!" "NO! MINE" Again, I took Jack and Tristan out and decided it would be a better meeting if we weren't there today. Another friend came out to the hallway to ask if there was anything I needed. "Yes", I said, "some Calgon" (Calgon, take me away for those of you who don't remember the old commercials)!

To end on a positive note, we celebrated paying off our student loans this week and Jack is now sleeping 12 hours at night. YEAH!

Happy 1st Birthday Siennah!

Today was Siennah's first birthday! I can't believe it has already been a year since Heavenly Father blessed us with this little angel. This year has been the best year of my life. It has been so much fun watching Siennah grow and learn new things. She is almost exclusively walking now. And she has a big vocabulary (in my opinion) of about 20 words that she knows exactly what she's saying. She is very opinionated and knows what she wants. I am so proud to be her mommy and I can't wait to see what she will do next!
We have decided to do Siennah's birthday party on the first Saturday in October. I will send invitations and directions but just a heads up for those of you who have to work and travel.
Here are some pictures of the birthday girl that I took today.

One small step for . . . Dorm kind . . .

Tonight, Derek and I made our first attempt at a home made meal. We went out and got ingredients for poppy-seed chicken, a favorite meal of both of ours, came back, and after a call or two to my mother, got going on the production of said meal. Despite some slightly burned rice, it was a success. The dorm all loved it, and we all were thoroughly stuffed. Perhaps this is an omen of things to come . . . Then again, it might just be a rare occurrence. Only time will tell.

Gale Tale

We had our annual Garden feast at the Gales today--corn, squash, potatoes, cabbage, all gathered from the garden. Yum, yum! Joyce always comes up with a story about one of her family members, so here it is. Every year, Carmen and Richard make the trek to the State Fair with their prize ram. They set up camp with the Yardleys, bring their lawn chairs and have a good time visiting while the kids have a ball. Blaize and Justice have been part of it, too. This year Blaize announced that he had to go to the bathroom. Richard said, "Well, you know where it is, so just hurry back". It was within their eye sight so they watched him go and then went back to their visiting. Quite some time later Carmen said, "I wonder where Blaize is, he sure is taking his time". Richard said, "Oh, he's probably found somebody to talk to". Blaize is a kid who likes to talk to anybody. Finally Carmen insisted that Richard go to find him. Well, Blaize was nowhere to be found. This created quite a stir among those present and they all began the search to find Blaize. They looked every where including the carnival rides, still no Blaize. They even went so far as to alert Security that they had a missing boy. Finally Richard checked in the "chicken house", an unlikely place for a young boy to locate. But, there he was, making himself useful as a guide. As Richard stood there watching, Blaize conducted a walking tour for someone, explaining that "this chicken laid an egg yesterday and this chicken has some baby chicks, and this chicken is a thoroughbred, etc". Finally, Richard walked up to him, grabbed his ear, and scolded him for scaring them half to death. He explained that the police were looking for him and his grandma was crying because she thought she had lost him. Blaize started to cry because he surely thought he was going to be sent to "kid jail".

Grilled Peaches

4 Large peaches
2-3 Tbs. water
4 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tsp. rum extract
Vanilla icecream

In a sauce pan, combine butter, water, brown sugar, cinnamon, rum extract, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until thick and syrupy.
Meanwhile, wash and dry the peaches and cut them in half. Remove the pits. Spray the peaches lightly with pam. Place cut side down and grill over med-high heat for about 5 minutes or until grill marks appear. Turn the peaches over and spoon the brown sugar mixture over top, filling up the pit cavity. Continue grilling until the syrup is bubbly and the peaches are soft. Serve warm with vanilla icecream and more syrup drizzled over the top.

Visitors

We finally had someone make the drive to see where we live! Jason's parents drove up yesterday afternoon. We showed them our house and neighborhood, and went for a walk on the greenbelt to see the "duts" as Siennah calls them. After that we had a barbeque and watched a movie. Today we went to church and had lunch but Jason's parents had to leave shortly after that. It was a really short visit but I'm glad they got to come see where we live.
I loved reading Josh and Derek's post about school. That is so fun that you are living together.
And I love Mandy's birthday invitation. That is so cute and creative. Speaking of birthdays, we are going to be having a 1st birthday party for Siennah either the last Sat. in September or the first Sat. in October. We are having issues with finding a time when everyone will be able to come. But as soon as we get it all figured out, you are all invited to come. I will be sending out invitations shortly. I'm pretty sure we are having it at our friend's house in Lehi.
I hope you are all doing well. It's so fun to see more postings and pictures lately. I'm going to shock you all and post a recipe that I tried out last night and it was a hit!
Love, Tyff

Four Ten's and some mountain theropy

Last week I started a new shift. Still on day shift but I am working ten hour days, four days a week with Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Today I took advantage of my extra day. I started by taking in some hot air ballon action at the city's Sky fest. An anual event that features hot air ballons, radio controlled airplanes and kite flying. It reminded me of when we used to get up early and take our young kids to the ballon fest in Provo around the fourth of July. I will have to go back tomorrow to catch the RC planes. After that I headed up the canyon to gather some fire wood. I say gather but it is much more difficult than that. Usually we can find piled up trees that the logging company rejected and pull up and start cutting away. They have closed the area that the loggers are in because some idiot was cutting up their log decks. So I have to drive around and look for dead trees to cut down and haul them up to the road. It is pretty hard work. It is that time of year to get it done before the snow flies. I will be selling just a little bit of firewood this year which is just fine with me. I think I am getting too old for this crap!!!!!!! Here are some pictures from my day. Love, Ron

Jack is Three Months Old

Happy three-month birthday Jack. Here is his progression in pictures:

One Week

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

What a whooping wonderful family we have!

I have been blocked from the internet for a week because of some problem with my internet services. That's like having your feet knocked out from under you. Anyway, I called Walt Kerksiek today and he came right up. Apparently my computer did some updates and fouled up the internet IP address for me. Good old Walt--he fixed everything. Anyway, I have been reading the latest contributions to the family blog and didn't want them to end. I was happy to see something from everybody--even the college students (especially the college students). But where was Rachel? It was fun to read Mandy's invitation to her birthday party. It was fun reading ALL of your contributions. Thanks for responding. I love every one of you.

Birthday Invitation - From Amanda

Amanda is inviting all her cousins, their spouses and 1st cousins once removed to a "virtual" birthday party. Following is a version of the invitation she is sending to her friends....

Recipe for: Amanda’s Birthday Party

Serves: 10
From the Kitchen of: Lowe’s Cooking Academy


Ingredients
10 cousins plus families
10 Homemade Personal Pizzas
10 cups of lemonade
Dash of fun and imagination
10 ounces of laughter
20 hands of friendship
1 large cake
1 gallon of ice cream
Add Balloons to taste
Garnish with Streamers


Recipe Instructions
Add friendship, fun and imagination in the kitchen at xxxx Berkley Drive on September 12. Blend until laugher bubbles to the top. Bake from 5:00 – 8:00 PM. Top off with Cake and Ice Cream. Please join Amanda for cooking fun at the Lowe’s Cooking Academy. Call the Master Chef at (xxx) xxx-xxxx to make your reservation. Hurry! Space is limited!

First Day of Preschool

Thanks everyone for humoring me. I LOVED reading all the blog entries, didn't you? I loved all the pictures too. Now, that wasn't so bad was it? Let's keep it up.

Kennedy started dance last week and here she is in her cute dance outfit.

She also started preschool today. This is a picture of her outside her classroom. She has the lamest schedule this week. Yesterday we went for only 1/2 hour to meet her teacher and today and tomorrow they requested the children only come for 1 1/2 hours. It wasn't worth it for me to go home so I took the boys to the Life and Science Museum. Tristan loves that place. He got to play with some big Tonka trucks and we went through the butterfly house. He loves butterflies.

With this being a "slow-start" week I had to take Kennedy into her classroom and also pick her up. Normally there is a drop-off and pick-up line so I won't even have to get out of the car. I must have looked like a lunatic today taking all three of my kids in. I had to cross a street to get from the parking lot to the school. I had Jack in his car seat and was trying to get Tristan to hold my hand. He is so stubborn, that if I try he drops to the ground and almost knocks me over! Then he runs away from me and I try to keep up with him with Jack bobbing around in his carrier! This is how I get my work out!

Well, we are expecting a hurricane tomorrow so wish us luck! (Jack will probably sleep through it.)

Da Collage Life

As the first update from da collage kids, I, Josh, shall post pictures of our domr.

This is our attempt at making a panorama of the room. Unfortunately, it merely combined to show my bed, my shelves, and the desk. Of course, the rest of the room is completely spotless.

Here is our lovely little kitchen, along with the RA reading twilight.

Our hallway.

The Poster in our hallway. Lovely thing to wake up to every morning.

And now, Derek will you fill you in on the classes aspect of collage.

The collegiate cougars part two

Having been given the assignment to report by the resident screenwriter of this dorm, i shall hereby do so. Upon moving in, the thought never occured to either Josh or me that the euphoria that accompanied complete freedom, unlimited funds (okay thats a lie), and newfound friends could ever be spoiled by anything short of nuclear war. But that was about to change for the worse. Classes intervened. Texbooks were purchased. Mothers were absent at mealtime. Jobs were attained. Monetary funds dwindled. Class assignments flooded in to displace free time. You would think this was school or something...

"Campin in the Rain"

I'm sure you all know that we spent our Labor Day weekend camping. What else would we be doing? Again we chose to go to a new place besides our property and we ended up in the mountains by Castledale Utah. We went with my cousin and her family. She brought their new addition, Jessie Rain, who is about 7 weeks old and we proved once more that you can go camping with little ones. Michael had a great time as he always does outside. One day we drove up to a lake and did a little fishing. Brendon did catch a couple but nothing big enough to eat. On Sunday night the big storm blew in and we got rained on pretty hard. It woke us up and kept going all night. We were in our little trailer and my cousin was using our tent trailer. All Brendon and I could think about while we were getting pounded by the rain, was "How is Toni doing?" So when it let up a little I sprinted over to them hoping that they weren't soaked, and when I opened the door....they were dry as a bone and dead asleep.

Here is a picture of our happy camper and all of us, including Chevis, at the lake fishing. After the rain let up Monday morning we packed up and headed home.

Later on Monday evening my mom arrived for her week stay with us. She is watching Michael during the day while I go to work. Tuesday was my first day back and I sure have alot of things to work on to get it back to the way it was before I left. Hopefully I won't be there that long to even worry about it. All I think about all day is my precious baby boy! Michael is getting so strong! He loves to stand up. And seeing that smile will melt anyone's heart!
We hope all is well with everyone! Love you!

Here is Michael and his cousin Jessie hanging out in the pack n play camping!

Old Farts

I will concede the fact that I am an "old fart", (notice I didn't say we). I was sick on Saturday and Sunday and yes, I did lay around the house. On Monday Marilee had to work and I worked on some of my side jobs out in the woodshop and a stereo surround system install job at someones home. So while the girls were out having a great time we were bringing home the bacon.

On a more somber note. I don't know how many of you heard about the tragedy that struck our community ten days ago. A medical team that flies out of Cedar to service rural communities crashed while leaving Moab killing all ten on board. I have been in that twin engine King Air and have flown with the pilot that died. We knew quite a few of the staff and some of our family had been treated by this dermatology clinic. Alyssa had been to Dr Ellsworths cabin with their son who had just left for his mission. We took the wedding pictures of Marci Tillery when she got married 7 years ago. This tragedy shook the entire town and you would be hard pressed to find anyone in town that wasn't connected to someone in the crash. It makes you realize how precious life is and how things can change in an instant. Dr Ellsworth had a son on board who's wife is 8 months along. Dave Goddard had his daughter with him who works at the clinic. We went to Marci's funeral and it was very sad to see the two little boys 6 and 3 that are without their mom. Sorry for the sad commentary. Enjoy every day, be a good friend, serve your fellow man, I love each and every one of you, Ron

Mary and Lyssa's Labor Day Weekend

Dad gave ME the assignment of posting Labor Day weekend on the blog because they are old farts and just sat at home all weekend. ;) Mary and I went to the Iron County Fair and Rodeo on Saturday night and also Monday night. This crazy goofy picture was taken on Mary's phone at the rodeo. It was the best we could do for pics taken during the weekend. We had a really good time, my friend Jessica is the first attendant rodeo princess, she raced barrels on Monday night and took second place. We also enjoyed the bull riders getting bucked off and trampelled on! It's pretty intense. At the carnival we were stoked to get on the rides because it is the funnest thing that exists around here once in a while. After a few minutes on our first ride, the power went out. The carnival got dark and our ride slowly spinned us around and up and down, we were a little scared! But it came back on and we kept riding. The next ride we went on was called the "Inverter." It goes completely upside down and hangs ya there for a second, and then turns while Mary screams to make it stop! But before the ride started, a boy got on and I noticed he was by himself. My first instinct was to ask him why he was alone. He just got red cheeks and kept walking. The next thing I know, the carnival worker running the ride is telling me that this boy wants me to go sit by him. He was a messenger back and forth for a few minutes until he got frustrated and made me get up and go sit by him. This man was so hilarious! I think me and Mary will be quoting him for months! She asked him if her shoes were going to fall off, his response was a quick YEEEUP! You oughta hear the way he said it, priceless. We got a kick out of him. So I sat by this boy for the ride and got to know him a little. His name is Chuck, he's from Tropic, and he is a bull rider. He works as a trail ride instructor, so he gets to ride horses all day, lucky him! He was a really sweet kid. We swapped numbers and continued to text for the next couple days. We hung out with him on Monday at the rodeo and fair again. We all had a blast wasting money on tickets and cotton candy and when we were an inch from throwing up we decided it was time to head home! Chuck and I are good friends now, he came over to Cedar today for a few things and we hung out, I think it'll be a funny story when people ask how we met! It turns out that he, like Mary, is a convert. He was just baptized in March. It was quite exciting news to Mary because "converts rock!" Anyway that was our weekend. We always have fun with our crazy friends. I really enjoyed reading everyone else's posts! The "Ron Lowe" family misses everyone!
-Mary and Lyss

My exciting weekend

My exciting weekend began Friday morning and ended Friday evening. My two sisters and I made the annual trek to Provo for the Story Telling Fest which we enjoyed immensely. The best part was that Ann took her "Handicap" sign and we were able to park on the festival grounds instead of a church parking lot where you had to be shuttled to the event. Yikes! I can't believe I said that. Never thought I would get excited about a Handicap sticker. Ann accuses us of inviting her along only because she has one. But I have enjoyed reading about everybody elses fun weekend and I can't believe how much Jack has grown. We need Christi to throw out a challenge more often. This blog thing is really fun.

Final Comment

There, I did it. I published my first pictures to the blog. Christi, are you happy?

The Newlyweds

Today, Kristin and I celebrated 24 years of wedding bliss. We skipped the barbecue in favor of going out to dinner together. We went to P.F. Cheng's. The picture was taken just prior to our departure.

Jared takes flight

Jared had a little spare time during the three day weekend. He constructed an airplane out of legos.

Exchange Student

Since our family doesn't know how to operate without at least three children, we decided to add an exchange student to the mix. Tae Ho is from Korea. He is 15 years old and is a Freshman at Grapevine High. He will be a part of our family for the entire school year. Tae Ho is participating in the typical Labor Day tradition of barbecuing hamburgers. He did a good job.

Exploring Idaho Mountains

Thank you Christi for the motivational email! I am so guilty of being a slacker. I have no excuse!
We enjoyed a nice day in the mountains. We decided to just drive and explore without a destination in mind. The mountains out here are pretty but they don't even come close to the Utah mountains. We found a little town called Lowman that is right on the river. We had a nice little picnic by the water and hiked on some trails. It was a lot of fun! Siennah loved it. She loves being outside. She is getting so big! I can't believe she will be 1 next month! She has taken a few steps but she hasn't quite caught on yet. She says a ton of words. It seems like she says a new word every day. She is so much fun! I hope you all had a fun weekend!
Love,
Tyff
Siennah has the craziest hair!

Final Goodbye

Priesthood opening exercises is not usually a place to express one's creativity. However, every once in a while, a youth or an adult will find a way to break the monotony. Such was the case nearly eight years ago. A youth in our ward was leading the music for the last time (the following week, he and his family moved to Utah). The young man was known to have quite a sense of humor. As his final musical selection, he chose to sing hymn #2, "The Spirit of God". With a twinkle in his eye but with a deadpan look on his face, he slowed the hymn down to a snails pace. We sang ALL FOUR VERSES. There is nothing more painful than singing that hymn as if it were a death march. The young man didn't crack a smile. He didn't let on that he was playing a trick on all of us. I am not sure everyone picked up on his humor, but I couldn't help chuckling to myself. What a way to exit!

I shared this story with Derek prior to his last time playing the piano for Priesthood opening exercises. On the surface, I shared this story for Derek's amusement. Deep down, I was throwing down the gauntlet; "Derek, see if you can top that". I kind of forgot about my unsaid challenge to Derek. Fast forward to Priesthood opening exercise. When my counselor announced we would sing hymn number 106, "God Speed the Right", I didn't think anything of it. It took about one measure before I realized Derek had accepted my challenge. He played the hymn at triple speed. We sang all three verses in the time it usually takes to sing one verse. Once again, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. Derek, what a way to exit!!

Plan B

The plan for our Labor Day weekend was to spend all day Saturday at the Storytelling festival and all day Monday at the lake. We had wave runners and a boat reserved with a rental company. So much for planning. This is what really happened.
Saturday--spent all day at a funeral. Did make it to the storytelling festival for the evening performance.
Monday--canceled boat and wave runners. Too cold. Spent the day at our house with various family members eating tacos and playing games. Here are a couple of photos as evidence. There are even smiles on faces to show that plan B turned out just fine.


Rachel, Derek and Josh, (Marcia, baby Piper, and Nicolas in the background) getting ready for a rousing game of Apples to Apples.

Derek surveys his creation of cards and candy.

By the way, the college students are enjoying themselves. We'll see if that continues after classes start tomorrow.