Ideas for when you are stuck in snow

Information to remember if you get your car stuck in the snow. A few years ago, we drove to Beaver and drove up the canyon. We were in our new Suburban and decided to go on a dirt road. Well it really wasn't dirt, it was snowy, icy roads. Well we started up the road, but soonly got stuck. Our wheels were spinning, which were creating an icy rut. We had a car load of people. We were in four wheel drive and could not get our vehicle out of this rut. Our resources were limited. Since resources were limited, our creativity kicked in. We ended up trying to find rocks to put in front of the tires. But there were frozen in the ground. So we got the garbage out of the car and the dirty clothes. We stuff them under the tires. With a push, we were soon on our way.

This story came to mind, after I stopped to help some kids stuck off the side of the road. Once again, there were icy rut where the tires were spinning. I said there is no traction. The girls said, I know. I don't know what to do. I starting scanning the ground. I found some pine cones and pine boughs. With a push and the pine cones, they were on their way.

It sure give one a good feeling, to help people. It sure lifts one's spirit, when you help someone along the road in life.

Colby's letter in MTC 2/25/07

So you all had a lot going on this week it sounds like. You all had alot of questions for me. I will answer them. I just had a few things to ask before I get to that. I think it would be cool to get Motab music or some Disney. Thank you for the pictures those help a ton. There seemed like there was something else, but I have to say I have forgotten.

Dad---I will start with Dad's green letter because it is right in front of me. Well, I don't have any good idea for blogging. With my schedule I wake at 6:30. I am in class by 7:00, read the Book of Mormon til 7:15---go to breakfast---go back to class for about 4 hours--eat lunch at 11:50---go back to class for another 4 hours until about 4:50---go to dinner. Monday morning we do service and I have gym periods Monday through Friday. Sundays are meetings and personal study, but 7:00, we have a devotional. After devotional we have movie night, and this week they are playing The Testament movie. That will be awesome. On Tuesdays, we have another devotional where at least someone from the Seventies come and speak to us.

You asked about getting up at 6:30 and it isn't too bad. The problem is getting to sleep at 10:30. I have had a slight case of insomnia. I get into my bed and just lay there forever before I fall asleep. It is weird.

Congratulations on the science fair. How did the High School fair go? I think that answers, at least the better part of your questions. It sounds like Rock Springs is going pretty well though. Did you ever get in contact with Darin Woods? Are you still talking to Gregerson a lot? Have you went out golfing since the Jimmy Open? Well I guess, on to Mom's card.

Mom--well my MTC experience is honestly amazing. I will admit though that I have been homesick a few times, but only for a few minutes at a time. Everyone here is amazing. Elder Muir and I get along very well. I could only compare it to Bryson and Elder Herrera, I think, because we aren't companions, but we do a lot together. My comp is rad and Elder Ward is cool, and that is everyone in our room. I have a kid in my district that went to Altara(their elementary school in Sandy) the same time I did, but we didn't have any of the same teachers, his name is Elder Payne. Then his companion, Elder McCarthy, is from New Zealand and I love that kid, he is so awesome. Oh I just remembered the other thing I was going to ask. Elder McCarthy's birthday is in a month, so you should send him a present. I think he took a liking to my towel with "Hutchings" embroidered into it. So if you can send him something like that or anything, because I don't think that he will be receiving much of anything. Since he is from New Zealand. This kid is amazing and has an amazing accent. We have another 4 elders in our district and they are all way rad. One is from Wisconsin, one is from Texas, one if from Kemmerer, Wyoming and one is from back East somewhere.

Elyssa---Congratulations! That is so cool on the science fair. About the survivor from the Holocaust, his book is up in my old room. How is school and choir going? So did you end up taking the cell phone?

Bryson---So did Scott and Becca end up going out again? How is work and school going? Well the language is going great. I have been here for 11 days and have taught the first half of the first lesson in French. That seems like it is a good sign. I don't much time and need to write Tyler's part.

Tyler--What have you been up to? How is Abbey? tell her I am disappointed that I haven't received a letter from her yet. How is school? How is work? Well man I gotta go--peace out now.

Well, family, I love you all and I m doing great. I have spent about $80 on shots between flu and Hep B. I am doing great and hope all of you are also. I am now off to a devotional. Then off to watch "The Testament" movie. I will catch ya later.

Much love,

Elder Colby Hutchings

PS You aren't the only ones who haven't heard from my friends. As of now, I have only heard from Kylee (2 letters) Peace out

Smile from a shovel and the snow

While shoveling my driveway this morning, I couldn't help but think of the last time Colby had a shovel in his hand. It was when he and his friends buried Abbey's car. It made me smile.

Through My Daughter's Eyes

This morning I wanted to write about a teenager that Wows me. This individual has a very strong personality. This can be a good thing if used for good. This teen has so much love to give. (I am going to give a hint now) "She" works very hard in her studies and her grades so it. It is always fun to have her talk to me about her day and she tells me that she is hyper right now, or sometime during the day. She is very organized with her life. She is responsible with her possessions in her life, and her obligations. She is on top of things. She is so loving and caring for the family pets. She has so much fun with the leaders and past leaders in her Young Women's. She is helpful around the house. Just like any other teenager, loves the computer, Internet, and cell phone. She has a love for children and babysitting. Of course, if you know our family at all, "she" is my daughter, Elyssa.

Those are all great qualities, but I want to tell you about a couple of others that I admire. I look at her testimony and I am impressed. For the past six months I have witness the growth of her testimony, and have heard her bear it publically a couple of times. What a strength to know where your strength in life comes from. She loves her Heavenly Father and knows him. Wow!

That may seem little, but I see it as, when times are tough, she knows where to go and who to rely on for strength. She depends on the most dependable.

Another quality I am impress with and probably envious of her ability to perform in front of crowds. As a little girl, she would sing a cute little song in front of the family. She then sang at her brother's baptism. In fifth grade, her teacher asked her if she would sing a solo. That is hard enough, but it would be in front of her whole school. Right now, I believe it would be great to do a comparison story.

When I was in Kindergarten, our school was having a May Day assembly. The sixth graders were weaving the ribbons on the May pole. Anyways, they asked me to jump rope in front of the whole school, because I was a pretty good jump roper. They called me up and I just sat there. Mrs. Williams came to me and tried to get me to go jump rope. I sat there and I started to cry. To say the least, I never jump roped in front of the school. I lack the courage.

Last week, Elyssa sang another solo. She sang one in front of a judge, and in front of the sixth graders at an Elementary school. Wow! What courage she has, and that isn't mentioning the talent of her beautiful voice. Double Wow!

Elyssa, I want you to always remember and never forget that you are loved. You are loved by your Heavenly Father, so walk tall. I know for a fact that your family loves you. Your Mom and Dad are so proud of you. "Through My Daughter's Eyes" I have learned so much.

On one of my entries someone asked the question, "Are you afraid for your kids to grow up?" At first it was no, of course not. Then I started thinking about that question and decided to change my mind. (That's my right, I am a woman.)

These are my reasons:

Well, I have travel down a "small" portion of the road of life. I have experienced and seen many things. There has been many rocks in the road, detours, falling trees, storms, mountains, flowers, and woods. Therefore, I am excited for my kids to grow up and I am scared for my kids to grow up.

A parent would love to protect their children from harm or unnecessary heartache by guiding them down certain roads and avoiding others. It is not to control their lives, but instead to guide them because of experience and knowledge.

Life is to learn and experience, that is one reason why we are here.

My children hope know that when they leave everyday, that they are loved.

I hope that when they are faced with a choice that they choose the decision that means most to you.

I hope that they respect others and most important respect themselves.

There is a country western group that sings a song that sums "My wish".

My wish--Rascal Flatts

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you,

is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you,

and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back,

but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything,

yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you,

is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you,

and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

Colby's first letter from the MTC 2/16/07

Dear Family,

It is Friday. I was suppose to write you on Wednesday night, but I wasn't told that until Thursday morning. Everything is going awesomely. My companion is Elder Shaw from Kaysville. We are rooming with Elder Muir and Elder Ward. They are all preparing to serve in the Congo Africa mission. I am the only one out of the four to be going to Canada. In our district though we have 2 people going to Ghana, and 3 people going to Congo and people are going to Montreal.

The language so far is coming pretty good. We can now pray, bear testimony, approach people and introduce ourselves in French. People tole me that these first few days would be the worst and longest, but they really aren't that bad. The 11 hours you are in the classroom just seems to fly by. The food here is good, which is probably a bad thing, because I am in a classroom for 11 hours a day. I look forward to Saturday because that's our first gym period.

Well, I should probably wrap it up here soon. We just ate lunch really fast and thought we would write our families between lunch and class. Class starts here in 5 minutes. I love you all and hope you are all doing great.

Love,

Colby

PS--You should send me some pictures because I didn't bring any. Oh yes, I forgot to mention to Tyler that 2 of my 3 roommates know Abbey, or at least who Abbey is. Just thought that I would let you know.

Colby's in the MTC

RUT 6 – I haven’t posted for a while, and I wasn’t planning on posting anything today, but when I looked at the Blog, I made the mistake of scrolling down through the pictures and posts that are there. When I got down to the pictures of Colby a lump came to my throat and a tear came to my eye. I’m not going to lie, I miss my Partner.

Right now it is about 1:30 in the afternoon, so if Colby were here, he would by awake by now. It has been nice over the last month or so being able to sit and talk to Colby during the day, and having Colby go on my trips to Rock Springs and Franklin, Idaho with me.

I think the toughest part of his being gone right now is that we haven’t heard from him yet, so I don’t know how he is doing.

The toughest parts of missionary life for Colby will be getting up at 6:30 in the morning and staying awake all day in class. I can see him telling his companion to come back at 10:00 and wake him up. Or telling his companion that he can do without a morning shower and breakfast so to come back and wake him up when breakfast is over. Oh well, by now, I’m sure he will be used to the early to bed and early to rise thing.

I have to take some consolation in the fact that I’ve sent two out and they have both come back bigger, stronger, faster, etc.. I can’t say the time goes by quickly though. It didn’t when Tyler and Bryson were gone, and I’m sure it won’t go by quickly while Colby is gone. Two years is two years. I’m not complaining. I’m proud of Colby just like I’m proud of his brothers. Colby will learn a lot and grow a ton, and I’m glad he made the decision to go on a mission.

Another thing I’m missing – kind of - over the last week, is the lack of people in the house every night. None of Colby’s friends have been coming over since he left, and that leaves the house much emptier. In fact one night last week I went downstairs and everyone was out of the house, the doors were locked, all the lights were off, and the family was all in. It was 10:15. That has to be a new house record. I have to be honest here - I hope we can at least tie that record more often.

I sure hope something comes in the mail today. I’ve gone out to check it about ten times already. I’m going to have to have a talk with that mailman.

The dogs are barking. That might be the mailman with a letter from Colby!!!!

Later…

Can you get too much of a good thing?

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? I know that when you eat too much ice cream you get sick. If you drink too much water or milk in a period of time, "the gallon challenge", you WILL throw up. Is talking on the phone too much good or bad? Is watching too much TV? What about the computer or internet? What about hanging with friends? How about working too much? Can there be too much golf?

My thought is there should be balance in life. If one put too much in the balance on one side or the other, life becomes out of balance. If you eat too much of your favorite dish or food, your body gets sick, or fat. If one watches too much TV, you loose the chances of experiencing life. If one spends too much time on the internet, life will slowly slip away and you'll wonder what happened to life.

How do we keep balance in our lives? It is sometimes hard to see ourselves, because we are too involved. We have each other to help keep balance in our lives. It is if we will listen. Most of the time, others can see what we are too caught up to see. Just like a picture or a sunset, colors are in full balance and they are beautiful.

History in the making

Well, this marks my entry into the bloging world. I have been introduced previously by my parents briefly by way of story and by photo, neither of which were all that flattering. As they said I am a student at the University of Utah and I work at Fidelity Investments. This week has been an interesting one. We had the opportunity to drop off my brother at the MTC. It was a day full of mixed emotions. Of course I was sad to see him go, but was excited for him at the same time. He will do well, and he will learn a lot.

Dropping off my brother got me thinking of my mission. I thought about all the interesting experiences I had, and even more all the growing and interesting experiences Colby has before him. It will be good for him. I am having a bit of writers block so I think I am going to cut this blog short. I am hoping somehow that it will be a little easier from here on out now that I broke the ice.

Bryson

alright well this is Elyssa,
this week is going to be really stressful cause as you can tell from the other blog i got into the High School science fair and that is this wednesday and thursday and so i have to sign in for that and get everything ready. then i have High School registration on wednesday and thurday so there is the first problem. then on during the day on thursday i have a solo. i'm singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and i'm really stressed about that.
school is going great, in a way. i'm really sad that Colby is gone but i'm staying strong. other than that not much is happening.
later....

We Won

RUT 5 - We won. Oh yea. We won first prize in the Oquirrh Hills Middle School Science Fair. Now it is on to the High School to show our project and come away with another first place ribbon.

Later...

RUT 4 – This is going to be an unabashed litany of prose demonstrating the purpose for the pride I have in my son, Colby. So, if you don’t want to hear a bunch of banter about my “Partner”, you may want to go to another blog now.

Anyway, those of you who know the family realize that tomorrow morning my baby boy, Colby, will be leaving the family for two years to enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo in order to prepare to serve a two year mission for the Mormon Church. He will be at the MTC for about two months to learn the French language, after which he will spend the following 22 months in and around Montreal, Canada. Colby has grown up way too fast for my liking. He is my baby boy, so as he gets older, so does his dad.

I’m not ashamed to say that I cried like a baby when both Tyler and Bryson left us to go on their missions two plus years ago, and I’m certain I will be crying like a baby tomorrow afternoon when I say goodbye to Colby.

Since Colby was a baby he has been my “Partner”. I have watched him grow probably more than I have been involved with his growth. He has been a wonderful son, and very easy to raise. I feel more like a spectator on the sidelines then a coach when it comes to Colby. He has pretty much made the right choices and done the right things without a lot of prodding from me.

I remember back to when Colby was born. The kid was huge. He was nine pounds, but he just kind of slipped into the world, the way he has kind of just slipped along through life. We got to the hospital at about 2:30 in the morning. It was raining, and it took us a while to get to the hospital because my car broke down on the freeway. I got it running again, and when we finished the half hour drive to Lakeside, California from Hacienda Heights, Colby was ready to come. It took a while for them to complete the paper work once we got to the hospital, and by the time they got it all done and got Debbie into a room, Colby was on his way out.

He was a big ball of love, and he really has been the same ever since. Of all the people I know in this world, Colby has the greatest ability to love everyone he meets. That is not without its rewards either.

My memory goes back to a time when Colby was about five years old. Our family and my brother’s familywere fishing on Salem Ponds. No one was catching anything. It was quite depressing. Colby took off down the bank of the pond for a while, and I lost track of him. He came back about a half hour later with a string of at least a half dozen fish. They were all cleaned and ready to cook. When I asked him where he got the fish, his response was that a couple had been fishing all weekend. He talked to them for a while, and they were about to leave. Instead of taking the fish home, they wanted to give them to him. He just makes friends that fast.

Another time our family was up sledding. Colby was about six. We would take turns sledding down and carrying the sled back up the hill again. Colby went down on the sled, and we lost sight of him as he went around a corner on the trail. We waited for him to come hiking back up the trail, and after a while I thought I would have to go get him. Just as I got up to go see what was taking him so long, here comes a snow mobile with a couple on it, and Colby on the back. Once again, Colby had made friends with the snow mobilers, and the rest of that day he had a free ride back up the hill every time he sledded down.

Colby continues to make friends to this day. I think that when he leaves, we will feel like the house is empty, because I would imagine his twenty or so friends that are here at the house every night won’t spend their evenings here without Colby. In fact it is 11:00 the night before Colby goes into the MTC right now. He was set apart at 9:30 this evening. There are still about forty kids at the house saying their last goodbyes to Colby. Colby promised he would get the last one out by midnight, but if they are gone by 2:00 in the morning I will be surprised.

I’m certain that Colby will make friends quickly when he gets to Canada too. He is just that way.

I am trying not to make this too long. Colby will be missed by all of us. He is a great son, and I am very proud of him. I love him a ton.

Later….

Slow down, you move too fast

As parents, we look back in life to evaluate life, time, growth, etc... We remember how each of our children were when they were small. We love each one of them and new that each one was a gift of love. We would talk to them as babies and try to get them to smile. We were proud when our babies would smile. Then we wanted them to sit up all by themselves. So we would practice with them so their backs would get strong enough or their bellies were big enough to hold them up. Oh, we were so excited when they could do this task.

We then would want to see them become mobile, so we work with their legs and their arms so that they would be able to be strong to crawl across the floor. Whooaaa We were excited with their progress. **Note: this is when you really have to keep your eye on them, when they are mobile. Anyways, we would then want our babies to get ready for the next step, and that is walking. We would hold their little hands a little forward so that would encourage them to take a little step. We would also set them on their feet and work on their balance. We were always right their to catch them before they fell, if they got off balance.

All of this is within the first 18 months of life. Now our children are well past these stages, and we think where has the time gone? We couldn't wait until they got to the next stage in life and we were so excited for them to get to start the next stage. Now we see our children getting ready to get to the next stage and we want to slow down time and enjoy it a bit before they move on to the next.

When Tyler and Bryson went on their missions, Mom, me, cried alot. I couldn't figure out why. They were doing what their were suppose to be doing. They were serving their Heavenly Father and serving the people of their mission calls. Why wouldn't I be happy. I came to the conclusion why. Life as I 've known it, would never be the same.

So knowing that life won't be the same, as parents with children approaching new stages in their lives, we are wanting to slow this process down a bit. We would love for them to go on the long drives and count the flags, play basketball, play the alphabet game, sing Shania at the top our lungs, snuggle up to their parents while watching tv or talk to each other on our bed at night. We, as parents, want to enjoy the stage before you, as children, hurry on to another stage. We are just as excited to growth and see the strength that our children have in each stage, as they did as babies. We are wanting to slow time down and enjoy the time in each stage and not rush to the next one.

Anyways, parents, don't rush your children through the stages of life so quickly, and kids, don't rush through the stages so quickly. Interesting, the same advice for parents as children. mmmmm

COEEF

RUT 3 – Four days in a row at the gym. I can get all the way up the stairs now without resting on the landing. Anyway, I had an epiphany (A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization) today while I was on the tread mill. Well, not really an epiphany, I just wanted to use a big word. It was more like a random thought. Now, I don’t really want to turn this Blog into a political forum, but I thought since I am posting on the Blog, and my children are the main readers of the Blog, I would try to post some items related to my thoughts or ideas on different subjects that otherwise would go by the wayside. Anyway, let me take you into my mind a bit.

I have to go back a few days first. I was listening to the Doug Wright show on KSL the other morning. Those of you who live in Utah understand that it is the political season here when the legislature meets for a month or so and creates a bunch more laws to make our society a better place to live – sometimes. Anyway, there have been some controversial bills put before the legislature during the session, and one in particular was a bill that turned back the clock on the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. I’m not certain of all of the particulars of the bill, but it supposedly attempts to outlaw most abortions in the state of Utah.

Anyway, Doug Wright, the KSL personality, was taking calls about the bill. First, he made it very clear that he is against the bill because of the estimated $5,000,000 plus that it would cost the state to defend it in court, and because in the opinion of the Utah Attorney General there is no chance of the bill being deemed to be constitutional. Doug Wright’s position appeared to be that there are plenty of other programs that the money could be used for much more effectively to help both unborn children as well as living children in the state. He made it clear that he is in favor of outlawing abortion, but that the bill before the Utah Assembly would not accomplish that.

He took a call from an individual who was completely opposed to Doug’s position. The gentleman stated, “if we save one life with the $5 million, it is worth the money.” Doug tried to help him understand that the money would not go to save a single child, but that it would be wasted in unwinnable court battles. The gentleman continued his verbal support of the bill.

The whole conversation made me think quite a bit. The reason for this RUT is not to discuss my feelings or opinion related to the legalization of abortion. The point I want to make to my children, and I guess anyone else who will listen, is that sometimes we do what we think are the right things, for the wrong reason.

What became very clear to me while listening to the caller on the radio was that he was more interested in “saving” the mother of any unborn child than he was in saving unborn children. He was more concerned about imposing his will on any woman that might feel it necessary to have an abortion than he was in saving the life of unborn children.

I contrast the attitude I heard from this caller with the one I have found in someone I truly respect. I’ve had the opportunity of meeting and spending some time with Norm Purdue. Norm is a pretty ordinary guy, who worked hard all his life to provide for his family. He took his family to Ethiopia several years ago on a service vacation to help work on villages in Ethiopia. Norm found a country with a huge problem. Girls were having children by the time they were 13, and they were dying of AIDS by the time they were in their late teens.

Norm came back to the states and decided that he could do something to help these girls. He took a unique approach to the problem. He also found that the girls in Ethiopia are generally uneducated. His position was that if we can educate them, they can change their lives. Also if they are educated, they will educate the next generation of children, both male and female, which will have a profound positive effect on the entire country.

From Norm’s desire to save these children, he started the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF). His organization is now directly responsible for educating over 500 girls a year in Ethiopia. The interesting thing is that it costs about $200 per year to provide books, uniforms and tuition to educate a girl in Ethiopia. Just for fun, let’s do the math. How many girls could Norm save with $5,000,000? The quick answer is 25,000. But as girls get educated, they will tend to educate others, and so the number grows. COEEF’s website can be found at www.coeef.org. Have a look at it, and if you have a desire to save the life of a child, and you can pull together $200 extra dollars, I would suggest you strongly consider sponsoring one of Norm’s kids in Ethiopia.

Later…

What is a Blog

I just googled the word "Blog", and I thought that it would have to be an acronymn, but it isn't. It is short for Weblog. And when you look up the definition it says - Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.

Well, I thought about how I would write on this thing, and I think it would be better for me to call my posts RUTS which stands for "Random Unintelligible Thoughts".

So here goes my second RUT. I was at the Gym working out this morning. BTW, this is my second day of my new diet and exercise program. Well, I guess since I went to Olive Garden for lunch yesterday and had "all you can eat" soup salad and breadsticks with a side order of alfredo sauce, I can't really say I've started the diet yet, but I have gone to the gym for two days in a row. Maybe tomorrow I will get up the energy to even go inside the gym and work out. :)

But seriously, things have changed since I was a kid. Now you work out on these computerized machines. You put your weight and age into the machine, and then it comes up with your target heart rate. They even have little sensors that you hold on to while you are working out, and it tells you your heart rate. It tells you whether your heart rate is too low, too high or in the target zone. Now tell me something, by the time I walk up the stairs to where all this fancy equipment is, my heart rate is already above the target zone and into the danger level - does that mean I shouldn't be working out on those machines?

Anyway, back to my RUT - while I was there at the gym (with my heart rate way above the danger line), I was watching a father and his son (about four years old)playing basketball out on the floor. It sure brought back a lot of memories for me. I spent a half hour on this crazy machine watching this kid trying to put the basketball in the hoop. His dad would go shoot a few baskets, and then he would come back to his son and try to teach him the proper technique for shooting. His son was just hucking that basketball at the basket for all he was worth. He was hitting the bottom of the hoop when he threw it up. But he kept trying - and smiling. He finally made it about 20 minutes into my workout. I about came off the bike cheering for the kid. It was fun to watch -

And, as I said, it brought me back to a day long ago when I used to take my boys out to the court. They would mostly watch me play my games and go shoot a few hoops before and after the game and at the breaks. They were fun father and son outings. Except one game I took the boys to that is. It was a Saturday morning game. Tyler and Bryson were 5 or 6 and Colby was about three.

The nerves were running before the game, and I was running late, so I had to stop in for a pre-game leak. Well, the boys needed to go too, and since they couldn't reach the urinal yet, and I didn't have time for them to go one at a time in the only available stall, I decided we would take care of them in a mass production fashion. So, I situated them all inside one of the stalls. Colby and Bryson were on the sides, and Tyler was in the front of the toilet. I got them set up and then left the stall for them to get their work done, and closed the door behind me.

Things were going well for a few seconds. Then something terrible happened. I believe it was Colby who first lost control of his hose. That is when I heard a yelp - not from Colby but from Bryson - who was directly across from him. I guess when Bryson went to cover his face, he let go of his hose. That is when Colby and Tyler started screaming. I guess Bryson was moving around trying to get out of the direct stream which sent water in all directions. By the time I got to the door and opened it, there were three boys dripping wet, with hoses still running. Luckily I only opened the door a crack, and, due to my quick thinking, I immediatley closed it again. I waited a minute or two. It was tough with all the crying and screaming going on, but I'm glad I did. They were still dripping by the time I reopened the door, and now they were all crying.

So what is a dad to do - the game is about to start. You have three boys dripping from head to toe in unpleasentness. I had to think quick. I threw them each up on the counter, and washed them down the best I could in twenty seconds. Then I unrolled a half a roll of paper towels, handed them to the boys and told them to come into the gym when they were dried off. I can't remember if we won the game that day, but I sure had a memory to last a life time.

Enough fodder, back to my original RUT. When I was at the gym, it brought back great memories when the boys were kids playing baseball, soccer and football. I coached the boys' teams when I could, and that reminds me of some good stories for other posts. I have also had a great time watching Colby play LaCrosse the last several years. What a fun sport that is to watch. Advice for young fathers - spend as much time as you can having fun with your kids playing and watching sports. When you are old and grey, you will be glad you did.

Indulge me one more minute. Today Elyssa's science project was due. So, I spent half the night last night finishing it for her. I hope we get a good grade. It was fun to do though. We put together a report on how to determine the speed of an object by taking pictures of the object at a predetermined shutter speed, and calculating the speed based on the distance the object travels. Ask us about the project if you want to know more. It was fun spending time with her working on it.

Later...

The Family

OK. This is it. My first post on the family blog. Debbie stayed up all night last night to set this blog up, so I thought I should at least write a little something this morning. Maybe a little about the family would be good for those of you who are just joining the blog for the first time:

I'm Dean - I'm the dad. I was raised in Central California, met Debbie at college and moved to Los Angeles for much of the first ten years of our marriage. We then moved to Salt Lake City area in 1991, and have been in the area ever since.

Debbie - she's the mom, was raised in Whittier and Hacienda Heights California. She went off to college in Idaho where she and I met. She tried to live in my hometown of Merced, California for a few months after our marriage, but she is a Southern California girl, and so we were back to Southern California. I next tried to pull her away to Missoula, Montana, but when the temperature dipped below zero, we were on our way back to Sunny Southern California. In 1991 we finally broke the ties of Southern California when I was transferred with work to Salt Lake City. We have spent the last 15 years in the Salt Lake area.

Tyler - he's the oldest son. Tyler returned last fall from serving a mission in Bangkok, Thailand for the Mormon church. He works full time at Fidelity Investments, and he is a full time student at University of Utah. He can tell you more about himself.

Bryson - he's the second son (by less than 5 minutes). (Tell me if these two sound like twins). He returned this fall from serving a mission in Tampa, Florida. He works full time at Fidelity Investments, and he is a full time studentat Universty of Utah. He can tell you more about himself.

Colby - he's the baby boy. He is leaving on a mission for the Mormon church next Wednesday. He will spend the next two years in Montreal, Canada.

Elyssa - she is the baby. She is about to turn 16 and spends her time chatting with boys and singing. She loves both of them. I hope she gets on American Idol, wins it all, and shares her winnnings with her Dad.

That's the family. They can tell you more themselves. I will try to write from time to time on this and post some pics. Anyway, here is the latest pic. we have of the whole gang, taken last weekend when we went ice fishing at Fish lake in Southern Utah. BTW, Bryson is the hungy one in the picture. You can guess the rest.

Later...

A New Start in the Blogging World

Just like a marriage or having children, you really don't know what you are into until you are experiencing it. That is how I feel about this Blogging World. I have muddled through the set up and adding pictures, and this is the first "Blog". Abbey, Tyler's friend, girlfriend, or whatever they may be, has introduced us to the Blogging world. We thought it was cool, and we were very impressed. We, as a family, thought it would be fun to keep up a site while Colby is on his mission. It is scary, yet exciting. A new frontier is about to begin.