Old Man

I'm not sure if I'm just getting old or just having a moment, but two weekends in a row, my boys kicked my trash on the trail.

Two weeks ago, Gideon and I climbed to Sundial Peak via Blanche lake). Mid October was not an ideal time and it was a little treacherous but we made it. However, on the way up to Lake Blanche, Gideon, as usual was hiking pretty fast. I was struggling to keep up with him. The only reason he didn't leave me behind was because there was and old lady cruising up the trail behind us and my pride wouldn't let me get passed up by her.

Sidenote: At the top of sundial peak, Gideon found the log of entries (typical for a peak) and was perusing through it. He found several phone numbers that people had posted and he began calling people. It was amusing to see peoples' reactions to his call. When they realized where he was calling from, they all seemed to really enjoy it.

Then, a week later, Reece and I mountain biked elephant rock. I got so winded and had to get off and walk the bike a few times. We made eventually made it to the top and it was really beautiful.

I'm hoping it was just a fluke but maybe it's a turning point. 

Harper Casts a Long Shadow

Harper's been gone to Alabama for a over 6 months but her siblings are still heavily influenced by her.

The other day, Reece showed my his wallet, which consisted of an Altoids can; something that Harper did as well.

Also, recently, Gideon has been producing lots of baggy pants. He sows them from other second-hand clothing or blankets. Also, something was doing before she left.

It just proofs that Harper can be thousands of miles away but still in the hearts of her family.

Dramatic changes

Reece showed me his yearbook pics from the last 3 years. It's crazy to see him go through so many changes; especially his hair. Quite a few phases there. But I feel like I can finally see what he will look like when he's an adult.

What's wrong with Gattaca?!

When Harper and I went to Hawaii, we began watching Gattaca one night but never finished it. I have a library of movies that I like to watch with the kids and Gattaca is one of them.

We never got around to finishing it and now Harper is on her mission in Alabama so it's going to be a while.

Then the other day, Hudson and I decided to watch it. We got to about the exact same place and then stopped because it was late. I think we stopped in the exact same place as we did with Harper.

Why can't we finish this movie!?

Spoiler: Hudson and I did finish it later.

Beastmode unlocked

 

Ever since the kids and I went and did puruna weep canyon before Harper left, Gideon has demonstrated himself to be a very strong hik
er.

Since then, Gideon has been on a hiking kick; setting up numerous excursions with his school friends. I joined him and a few friends on overnight hikes through the narrows, up to Kings peak, and then recently to Gideon, Hudson and I summitted the Grand Teton.

Gideon is now a faster hiker than me, even with a full pack, which is remarkable. It's a stark contrast to when he and I summited King's peak only 4 years ago.

The Rise and Fall and Rise of the Titanic

Another 4th of July, another cardboard regatta. This is our fourth one and I'm not sure if we're getting better or worse but we're having more fun for sure. 

This year we decided to do the Titanic. It was a big hit with the crowd. The boys kept shouting how the Titanic was unsinkable and the crowd egged it up. They even had their cousin Claire at the front doing the posing as Rose with Celine Dion playing My heart Will Go on.

We designed the boat to be able to split the two pieces. The boat definitely lived up to its name. It started off strong and the boys did split it but only seconds before they hit the first rapids and both sections of the boat immediately fell over filled with water. 

Not all was lost though, cuz we won the "best crash" award. It's the first time we've won in an award. 

Spring Skiing

It was undisputedly a pretty crappy ski season, but we still got a few days in. By far, my favorite was our last day of spring skiing.

It was a warm day and we all got into it. Eventually, we were all shirts off (Harper inspired)

We even got fit in some tailgating with Hudson's 4Runner.

Barefoot Hiking

In February, most of the kids (all except Gideon) went down to a Southern Utah to do a hike I've wanted to do for a long time; water canyon and the white domes.

It was a great day hike. The kids were awesome. The main canyon feature is very reminiscent of subway. The white domes were amazing too. 

The hike even included a stop to make and castles and do some yoga.

Not far into the hike, Reece and Harper got it in their heads to start hiking barefoot; which they did for the remainder of the hike. I couldn't believe it because it wasn't soft sand the entire way. There were rocks and sticks and all sorts of debri along the trail. Crazy kids!

Nostalgia gone wrong

Harper's always been a very nostalgic girl. She easily grows attached to things that remind her of past events or memories. This would include rocks (or even cactuses) that she would put in her pocket from hikes. So much so that she had to be limited to one container of memorabilia (that container eventually overflowed into a couple more but that's okay).

The other day she was finally cleaning out these containers and going through things she had collected over the years that were significant to her. 

There were lots of things you'd expect; several journals and diaries. Even the body of an apple head doll she had made.

However, here are some of the more interesting things that she has held on to for years. WARNING: It gets a little weird.

Her criminal mischief charges from Utah State Second District Utah Court. Luckily, she got off with no jail time.

All the phones she's ever owned (and destroyed). Mind you, she's only 18 and didn't have a phone until she was 15. It's a lot of phones.

This is a scrap of carpet left over from the remodel of the Bountiful tabernacle where she has gone to church all her life.

This is the uncleaned food bowl of Zoey; the dog we had before Tucker.

Bad boots

Sort of a strange conicidence, but both Harper and Hudson had funny boot malfunctions this year.

First, last winter season, Harper's boots started falling apart. The soles began tearing off. I tried glueing them on but they didn't hold and by the end of the season it was completely hanging off.

It was so bad that Harper started riding goofing so the worst boot (the one wear the tread was completely dislocated) would stay strapped to the board.

The next one involved  Hudson and her hiking boots. Funny enough, Harper actually got these boots from a random lady she visited in Montana, but the boots were a much better fit for Hudson. The lady must have known the boots were at the end of the life. 

The first time Hudson used them, was a 7 mile hike to 5th hot springs. We had a blast but not long after we started, the soles began peeling off.  Since we had to wear micro spikes, we were able to jimmy rig them to hold on for the majority of the hike, but by the end it was a pretty sad sight.

It's a lifestyle

I previously posted a while back about how Reece was having a phase with nudity and how frequently he would be naked or in his underwear. 

I have now come to the conclusion that it wasn't a phase, but rather a lifestyle decision. This kids has a comfort with being naked that I think even strippers would envy.

I genuinely believe he'd be fine just wearing his underwear outside but only covers himself with a 'modesty' blanket for the sensitivities of the general public.

Cardboard Regatta 2025

Morgan city's cardboard regatta is in its 7th year and this is our 3rd year participating. And it was probably our best year yet.

Each year we get better and faster at the construction and we add more kids to the boat. This year we added cousin Claire. That made five kids in the boat.

The construction was very different this year. First, we didn't use glue connect the cardboard, just duct tape. and secondly, I was better prepared ahead of time with the parts I needed.

So, firstly, glueing takes a long time because it has to be braced and dry before you can move into the next part. This year, we used 17 rolls of duct tape!!! but it was so much faster.

And second, we just had a better plan. We knew what we wanted to build way ahead of time so we are able to get the cardboard pieces we wanted. In fact, one of the young men who grew up in our neighborhood now works in flooring and was able to supply us with many many cardboard tubes. Very useful for our project.

We used all sorts of power tools including chainsaws to speed the process up.

This all paid off because we were able to build the boat in one day, as opposed to multiple days.

Probably the best part was that we were able to get in the parade. The previous couple years, the boat wasn't completed in time for us to make it to the parade. The kids really enjoyed that part. I enjoyed it too. It was especially cool to use Harper's Jeep. This gave it a very military feel.