Great way to end 2008

Our family had blast ending our 2008. The day after Christmas we trucked down to Arizona to a little vacation rental in Queen Creek. From Friday through Wednesday we hung out with Tiffany's family. All of Tiff's siblings, together with all of their children, met together for the weekend. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we had a get together with Tiff's aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of other family. It was wonderful to hang out with everyone. As each day came more family arrived. The Saturday and Sunday gatherings were at Tiff's cousin Jeff's place. Here is a picture of all of Tiffany's siblings with their respective spouses, and all of their children together at one time.



On Monday we met at a park in Mesa. The kids got to feed the ducks and play basketball, wiffleball, and soccer.



On Sunday I attended my home ward from when I was 13-18 years old. It was almost 20 years since I had been in that building. I talked to my old Bishop and got the chance to thank him for all the time he spent helping me learn how to be a husband and father. I also got to see my High School Speech and Debate coach, who had moved into my old ward several years ago. In Priesthood I was asked to introduce myself. After I sat down the guy next to me said he knew my father. He introduced himself as "Brother Smith" and I asked him "are you Karla's dad?" He said yes and I told him that he and I used to be home teaching companions.

We were having so much fun I suggested we stay an extra day. The drive home Thursday took a long time because the Hoover Dam traffic was backed up over two miles with California folk heading to Vegas for New Years.

Once we got home I took two of my neices to "Partyland" to get New Years party favors. We also picked up a bunch of "over the hill" decorations for Tiffany's sister (my neices' mother) Janelle. We gave Janelle an inflatable walker, a sash that said "40 and fabulous", an "over the hill" pin that had flashing lights, and a couple of books (we had to throw in a few real gifts). Janelle was a good sport and wore the gear all night. When midnight came we toasted with apple cider and we watched the fireworks on TV. It was a fun ending to a neat year for our family.

Weekend at Mammoth

This last Memorial Day weekend we went to the Cabin at Mammoth Creek. We had a load of fun fishing out back. I even convinced Tiffany to take the family up to the lost lake for a picnic. She was not a big fan of the drive up, but once we got there everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. On Saturday we drove over to Duck Creek and visited the Hodson family. They are a family in our Ward who happen to have a HUGE and AMAZING place in Duck Creek. Tiffany got bit by the cabin bug about as bad as ever. Tuesday night she was all over the web looking for a place in Duck Creek.

Oh, and I broke a window at the Cabin trying to kill a bee with an empty Gatorade bottle (and no, I did not throw the bottle). We got a piece of glass to replace the pane I broke, and installed it by relying on some of the abilities I gained while running a painting company in law school.

We did not leave until after 5:00 p.m. Monday evening, and got home around 9:00 p.m. Vegas time. It was a wonderful extended weekend.

Camping in Pine Valley

Our family spent the second half of this week in Pine Valley. We camped in the South Juniper camp site. It was a pretty good set up. We rolled in Wednesday night and got set up at about 10:00 p.m. Thursday we got up and spent the day relaxing. I took my oldest fishing at the resevouir. The fishing was so so there, but down below the resevouir where it emptied in to the creek the fishing was AMAZING. There were two small pools at the base of the outlet that were both very hot. I would cast into one pool and get a strike, then cast into the next pool and get a strike. We were stricktly catch and release per Tiffany's orders.

Thursday night my oldest was attacked by mosquitos all night. She got over 40 bites!

Friday I ran 6.75 miles, which was no small feat given the altitude and the mountain roads I had to climb. Our family drove into a small town for supplies. We showered in a make shift structure of a tarp with some rope tied around three trees. Tiff set up a solar shower that got hot when left in the sun all day.

Friday evening a storm hit that dumped rain on us. Turns out our tent is pretty water tight so things were ok, but Tiff and I missed out on an evening in front of the fire that we were hoping for.

Saturday I did another 6.5 miles. We packed up and trucked back to Vegas.