New Car

Hard to believe that my little girl is turning 16. Where has the time gone?  We have had quite the fun adventure up to this point. Whether it was researching cars, test driving, and shopping, it has been a fun journey. I will be sad (and relieved) for it to be coming to an end. Madison got her dream car. It's the nicest car in the family. I hope I did a good thing. She is my burnt toast. 

Kerplop

That's the sound of $500 sinking to the bottom of Lake Mead. We had our Go Pro camera attached to an extender pole. It could float as long as the pole was extended but would sink otherwise. I thought Madison knew that but she didn't. She threw my way asking me to photograph them jumping off some cliffs. Before I could get there, it started to sink. I dove for it, but couldn't find it. What a helpless feeling. Ah well. It's replaceable. Frustrating, but replaceable. Like the Calvin and Hobbs comic, after Calvin had broke something and was so distraught, his Dad says something to the effect of putting it in perspective of him expecting a wrecked car when Calvin grows up. Shouldn't even joke about that, especially since Madison is so close to getting her license. 

Fun at Lake Mead

I had a blast putting together some of the highlights over the last few years at Lake Mead.  I had a lot of random clips and snippets of various outings.  It brought back so many fun memories.  I have, among other things, the first water ski rides of Madison and Gabs (and Drake for that matter when he rode on my shoulders), our first camping adventure, lots of cliff jumping, etc.  For my birthday this year, Heather got me a Go Pro camera that takes high def pictures.  You can have it under water and it takes phenomenal shots.  It can be attached to different things to get different fun angles.  I can't wait to put together another video.  In the mean time, click on this link and enjoy fifteen minutes of fun.

FUN AT LAKE MEAD

Cherries and root beer

I gotta say, few things in my life have topped the fun I have had on Lake Mead. One of the simple pleasures that made it even better was bringing some Dads root beer with our lunch and some cherries from Costco. Nothing beats just spitting the pits right into the lake while you float lazily along. We also found a perfect little cove to hang out. That lake is a hidden gem of Las Vegas. 

High of the week

I made it to Drake's third basketball game yesterday. It's the first game I've been able to attend. Heather always told me about one kid on his team that is really good that scores all the points. Well, we had a little miracle this game. First, that kid wasn't there. Second, Drake somehow got the ball within shooting distance. Third, he wasn't mauled by the other team and was able to get a shot off. Fourth, it went in. And lastly, I was there to witness the whole thing. After he made it, the fists pumping in the air and jumping up and down in excitement made it all worth it. He probably won't score again for the rest of the season. He is just beginning and can't dribble well and doesn't get the game very well yet. He plays his little heart out, though. Some of the boys are seven and a lot bigger and better. It was just awesome to be there for that shot. It was one in a million. What I would do to have recorded that. Oh well. I've got a permanent memory. Later, when Heather and I were talking about it, we agreed that it wasn't just the high of the day, but of the week as well. Love that little man. 

Gabs Is Frozen

We enjoyed going to Gabrielle’s piano recital the other day.  Lindsay Futrell, her piano teacher, had the room done up in a movie theme, and every kid played songs from different Disney movies.  Gabrielle played the Mickey Mouse theme song and the song from frozen. She did a great job, and her piano playing just gets better and better. She asked me the other day that for her birthday she get a hymnbook. I just got doubled the return on my investment from those years of piano lessons.  There is a video of the performance on the bottom...

Simple minds, simple pleasures

So Drake begged me to do the "marble game" with him, and so we put this contraption together.  Needless to say, the two of us spent all morning today "racing" our marbles down and seeing who would win.  The first one in usually doesn't make it down the fastest, surprising enough.  There is too much going on with the swirling dishes of chance up above.  The first marble to make it through the second purple swirl wins.  A lot can happen from the initial drop to that point.  Fun stuff.  I think Drake could have played it all day long.  Why is it that such simple things can be so much fun???

Monster Jam part II

Wow, talk about some red-neck, white trash, yehaw kind of a night.  We sure had fun, though.  It was fun to watch the trucks launch off all the jumps and go crazy.  A lot of the trucks broke or got put on their back after a short time on the track.  A few of them were able to go the whole time and then into the bonus time.  I am including a video of some of the highlights.  Enjoy...

Gabs and Drake are already begging for tickets for next year.  We went with some good friends of ours put the street.  It might have to be one of our own little traditions.  :)

Monster Jam Las Vegas

I had a blast taking Drake to monster Jam last night. We got some sweet tickets from our neighbor friends. The cars would race down and then jump at the end. The winner would advance just like a tournament bracket.  We are going again tonight for the derby and the crashing. I guess they drive the trucks till they quit or are trashed. Good times.  I can't wait for tonight. 

It's the little things...

So our home network has been sputtering along lately. Computers would hang up. Movies wouldn't load. Netflix would be iffy. I would constantly have to reset the router all the time. I finally decided enough was enough. I ordered a new one from Amazon with all the bells an whistles. It came today and I had everything up and running in less than an hour. To test it, I had my security cameras, iPhones, iPads, three Netflix movies playing, a computer downloading a movie, and surfing on two other computers all at the same time. It handled it all without a hitch. YESSSS!!!!! I love it when things work.

T-Ball

I think parents sign their kids up for sports half-way so they can just have pictures of their kids in fun uniforms. Hopefully the kids learn something along the way. Drake looks great in his new duds.

Camping with the Scouts

I had a great time camping with Drake and the scouts up Red Rock Canyon yesterday. We cooked tinfoil dinners and made s'mores. Billy Palmer showed the boys how to make brownies out of a hollowed out orange wrapped in tinfoil. Everything was great until bedtime. Then the wind decided to kick up. I bet peak gusts approached 40 to 50 mph. I took our gear and threw it in the bed of the truck. Drake slept like a baby through it all once we got out of that noisy tent. I don't think any of the leaders got more than an hour or two, though. So grateful for a warm, comfortable bed right now.

A NEW CHAPTER…

Well, it's hard to believe, but I have a daughter who is old enough to drive.  Madison, of course, wanted to go to the DMV the absolute day she was legal to get her driving permit.  All of her friends have taken the test and are either driving or have the permit themselves.  As an added bonus, they all failed the test the first time through.  That helped Madison, because they were able to tell her things they didn't study that were on there.  For example, she studied all of the numbers and facts associated with getting a DUI, even though she would have skipped it if her friends hadn't told her that a TON of questions came from there.  

I didn't have any doubts about it, though.  I knew she would do great.  Of course, she passed it the first time through, so it was just a matter of waiting.  Even that wasn't that bad. All in all, we spent about three hours at the DMV.  I think that is a record.  Pitiful that it is like that every day and they don't do anything about it.  In any case, it was a bitter-sweet moment giving her the keys to my truck and letting her drive home.  She did great.  Hopefully she will be a fantastic driver.  She even went on the interstate.  I don't see the big deal, but Heather was freaking out about that.  I guess all of her friends hadn't gone on the interstate for months and months after getting their permit.  Heck, if anything, I think the interstate is easier than side roads.  

It is hard to believe that she is driving already.  It seems like yesterday when I was getting to leave work early because Heather had gone in to the hospital.  Madison isn't my little girl anymore.  Little by little, she is spreading her wings.  It won't be long at all before those wings will be strong enough to experiment with flying on their own.  I can't wait, but then again, I could wait forever.  In the meantime, I will have fun for these next six months driving with her every chance I can, pointing out gotchas and trying to help her be a more responsible driver than I was when I turned 16.  Perhaps I can save her the pain of getting a license revoked and having to take the bus everywhere.  

New Alarm

I just made one of the most satisfying calls of my life yesterday. I called ADT (our old security monitoring company) and told them to pack sand. I have paid to have a monitored alarm system for close to ten years. I figure by conservative estimates at $30 a month, that comes out to $3,600.  Needless to say, that kind of money could buy one heck of a system. 

It would be one thing if I felt I was getting anything for the money spent. Over time, I have been less and less satisfied with ADT and didn't even feel that they were doing anything. It was a false sense of security. I only kept them because of my homeowners policy discount. Well, the last straw was them raising my bill, again, for a rent-a-cop company to respond to alarm events.  

I spent hours researching and comparing DIY systems and finally decided on Fortress. It is a wireless system that will call up to 6 phone numbers if your alarm is triggered. You can also integrate additional features like window break sensors, flood sensors, CO2 and fire alarms, etc.

The last thing I did was order a 4 camera wireless security camera with a 500 gig DVR. It can be monitored from a smart phone remotely and has IR to record at night. 

The way I see it, my system is monitored way better than it was before because the response time (neighbors will be called if Heather and I don't pick up the call) will be way faster, plus I get better features and better security. The best thing of all is saying goodbye to that ridiculous and practically worthless monthly fee to ADT.  Now, to find a way to ditch cable...

Easy come, easy go

Gabs got braces today. Madison's come off tomorrow. Seems like yesterday when I was watching Madison in the chair getting her lips stretched out like the predator alien. 

Love the Beach

The stars aligned perfectly and Heather was able to join me with the kids on an Orange County overnight. Hasn't happened often, but I love it when it does. I rented a car and we headed for the beach. Drake didn't last long before getting soaked, and Gabrielle from the waist down. Later that night I swam and hot tubbed with them at the hotel pool. They have most of the day after to play while I head off to continue my trip. Good times.

All good things must come to an end.

Bitter sweet day today. We leave for home today after about ten days of fun at the cabin. I had to show this photo of us sledding and the lake fogged over below. It has been beautiful up here.  The weather has changed so much up here. It will be foggy all morning and then clear up and be crystal clear. Too bad we didn't get more snow, though. As a result, we completely trashed a few sleds going over gravel embedded in the show and ice on the roads. What a blast. Now I need another vacation after this vacation...

Love the cabin

I came to my parents cabin in Bear Lake, Utah since I had a vacation week (love my seniority at Southwest). The girls had finals so they were going to come up later on (flights ended up being full so they never made it).  Drake and I have had a blast for the past week. We have hitched up a sled behind the quad and zipped around all over the place, gone hot-tubbing, played games, watched movies, etc.  It is so much fun up here. We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa, Steve and Debbie and their families. Good times...

Happy New Year!!!

Well, unbelievably, it is 2014.  I hope to do a better job of keeping a journal and showing some highlights of our family life.  Time moves by too quickly.  We had a fun time being with Heather's family in Utah for a few days.  We were all there together.  Madison put together a photo booth and we took a lot of fun pictures.  Additionally, we danced and partied like only cousins can do when loud music is blaring in the background.

I also needed to add our latest snowman.  This has been a tradition of ours for the past four years now.  We always go up to Mount Charleston and take the kids sledding.  This year we also added to the fun by making hot chocolate on a portable stove.  Yum.  This guy turned out HUGE this year.  Our biggest one yet, for sure.  The weather has been so nice, though, that he only lasted a few days.  Bummer.  Our last one lasted through the new year and beyond.