Jared's Blog (soon to be changed to?)

Decorating With Wood

2011-11-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

Today we did some cleaning in the morning and then went on a short shopping trip while the boys were still in school. Julaine took me to a store called the Wood Connection. It is just as woman friendly and anti-man like as the other store she likes called Rod Works. It is great walking in the door and being stared down because you and one other person are the only men in a store stuffed with women. The store is full of creative ideas to decorate with. No doubt the building was built in the early 80's and has a very small parking lot. The layout of the store is very odd. When you first enter the store you come down a long hallway with three cash registers, so the the in and out are very congested. While we were there the girls picked up some metal rods used for decorating that were curled on the ends. The girls thought they looked a lot like mustaches and held them up to their faces. After they pulled them away from above their lips the rods left black marks on their skin. Both of the girls were left with Charlie Chaplin style black mustaches that we all got a good laugh out of. It is a lot of fun for Julaine to find the projects she has done so far that involve gluing, painting, and detailing. Afterwards we stopped by the polar opposite of her store, the Home Depot. I wanted to see how much a band saw was so that I could cut some things out for her on my own. Later that night we were back at the house for pizza and movie time with the kids.

Pie and a Challenge

2011-11-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today started like an average day; but around 4:30pm everything changed. There has been a hornets nest near the top of my house near the hexagon shaped vent for most of the summer. I had had put out some of those yellow plastic traps that they are supposed to fly into, but I only caught one over the summer. With the colder weather we have been having I figured they had all left their nest or were still tiny larva. I got the 15 foot ladder out and began to climb. It was a little shaky but I made it to the top. I went to put my foot on the shingles and stopped. I thought, holy crap I hope I don't fall and get hurt. This roof is pretty steep and if I fall I will have two kids scarred for life. After going up and down 4 or 5 times I finally made a courageous crawl from the top of the ladder to the roof. I brought a long piece of PVC pipe with me and began to crawl on my knees further up the roof until I was up against the wall of the second story. On the roof I saw a dead hornet that looked like it had just frozen there and died. I thought; awesome that is probably the last of them, this shouldn't be too bad. With a couple of swings I finally knocked the hornets nest down beside me only to find there were plenty of hornets hanging around. Instantly I was transformed into Jackie Chan and without thinking kicked it off the roof. Only after I began to think oh crap a couple of my kids are down there and so I began to shout out to them to run. Luckily they flew away quickly and no one was stung. Afterwards we had dinner and had Apple and Peach pie to celebrate the 364th day of the year (the other pie day besides March 14th).

Crash Day

2011-11-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today was Wednesday, or as I know it crash day. It is always a challenge to switch from staying up all night working back to the world of daylight. Julaine and the girls spend the day with friends while I slept half the day away. In the afternoon the boys came home from school. After getting the report of what had been happening the girls got home. That lead to scouts, dinner, and then bath time. With everyone cleaned up and in their PJ's we had our delayed F.H.E. We read a book about a bear and another about filling up other peoples imaginary buckets. We watched the first 15 chapters of the children's version of the Book of Mormon and then got everyone in their beds. With a quiet house, a new Sherpa throw, and some hot chocolate we watched an episode of Chuck online. It's weird not having the character who plays chuck not have the intersect. I have skipped a couple of seasons and decided to jump back in before the show ends. Looks like I have missed a lot of plot twists, but overall it was o.k.

Birthday Bash

2011-11-05T23:50:00.001-06:00

Today we celebrated the birthday of my youngest daughter's first birthday. We started the day at my parents for a big breakfast. It was good to see everyone on that side of the family. The kids played with toys while parents talked. Nothing too exciting happened it was good to briefly catch up with everyone and how they were doing. When we were leaving it began to snow some pretty big flakes. Later we ended up at Old Navy and the toy store to pick up a new Winter coat and one last present. After we finished shopping we made our way over to celebrate with Julaine's side of the family. Everyone ate lunch, opened presents, and enjoyed cake and ice cream. We were very grateful for all the gifts that she was given throughout the day. When we got back home in the afternoon it was weird to see green grass again after the snow we had been in earlier. We had dinner and cleaned up for the evening. All the kids had gone to bed so we decided to watch the movie Quigley Down Under. Neither of us had seen it but had heard it was a good show from multiple people. It was a good show that we both enjoyed watching.

Trees

2011-11-04T23:46:00.001-06:00

Today was spent racing around to complete tasks before the storm came in. We started the day with some grocery shopping, followed by taking the kids to pick up a birthday present for the baby. When we got home I put the bags of groceries in the house and raced out to the back yard. I hurried to finish planting the trees with the boys and picking up the tools in the yard. After finished that job I spread a bag of fertilizer around the yard, successfully filled in the tree holes and watering them we had taco soup and then headed to Walmart to pick up some more items for the baby's birthday. On our way back it began to rain and get windy. I am glad to have completed this before a change in weather made it ultra cold outside.

Fix and Clean

2011-11-03T21:44:00.001-06:00

With the colder weather now here we have been spending more time than we have been inside. Today was chore day in the house. This meant I got to clean up rooms, do laundry, fix the vacuum, and lower the crib mattress. That's right my youngest is now tall enough that she could have jumped the rail. Luckily we haven't had that problem and got the base is just right for her now. Tonight we have had some pretty strong wind, if the weather is good tomorrow we should be able to finish the second hole in the back yard and plant the two apple trees before the snow on Saturday.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:00:00.000-06:00

This was the second Halloween at our new home. There were a few more kids who were trick-or-treating this year at our house. I think this is due to the new street lights on our street that make it a brighter place to walk as well as a few more houses that have been built closer to our street. A couple of days before the holiday we went to the kids party at the school. It was a Harry Potter themed party. The gym was over crowded with parents and kids changing their money out for whatever currency they use in the book. The money was then used to buy hot dogs and drinks to help fund raising for the school. Afterwards there were different activities placed in classrooms in the school. The one the kids liked was potion making where they got to make slime they could take home and play with.

On the actual holiday the kids started the day with a costume parade at their school. We got to see everyone and the creative costumes that some people had come up with. After the parade we picked up the pumpkin, pizza, and root beer for dinner that night. When everyone got home they were excited and hyper due to treats they had already enjoyed at school parties that day. It was warm enough this year that we were able to go out on the deck and carve the pumpkin so it would not be as messy inside. After the pumpkin got put on the front porch and everyone filled up with pizza they got their costumes on. This year we had two captains, a witch/ballerina/princess, and a princess. Through the HOA some of the families in the neighborhood did some bigger things than just hand out candy. Some of them included hot dogs, hot chocolate, popcorn, and a haunted house. All of them had a great time, picked up a ton of candy, and were monsters the next day when they had to wake up for school.

Slime and Smurfs

2011-10-29T00:42:00.000-06:00

Today was a very fall day, sunny but cool. After picking up a burger for lunch the boys and I dug a hole for the new apple tree. While digging the 2 foot deep hole we filled the wheelbarrow twice with rocks. We finished digging the hole today, but did not have enough time to put the tree in. The kids had a Halloween party at their school tonight. It was a Harry Potter themed party and there were a ton of families there. For one of the activities they got to make their own slime. They all that it was a pretty cool thing to be able to do. We then went to catch the Smurf movie. It is not really a family show, but more just for children. The best part was watching the kids reactions to the jokes and singing the Smurf song. After a couple of quick stops we were home and all of the kids were so tired they wandered up the stairs like zombies and fell right to sleep. Overall it was a pretty busy day.

An average day

2011-10-27T23:25:00.000-06:00

Today was a very easy going and mild day. It had a lazy start of me in comfy clothes for the first part of the day. We first went out to pick up one of my daughters who had a very positive report from her teacher and is making great progress in school. To celebrate the hard work that she and my wife have been putting in we went out to lunch. We enjoyed drinks and sandwiches. After lunch we took a drive around the neighborhood to see the new houses being built, changes to landscaping, and to get some sunshine. Even in this cooler weather the grass is still growing strong, so I mowed the lawn which might be for the last time this year. It has been a odd year for weather. I took the lettuce out of the garden and saw that in the next couple of days that we may have a few more red tomatoes. Julaine made a great baked potato soup and I took care of the baths and PJ's tonight. After everyone fell asleep we watched the pilot episode of "Once Upon a Time". Overall not an exciting day, but it was nice to be home and be with family.

Movie Night

2011-10-27T00:47:00.000-06:00

After getting three hours of sleep and then going to meetings and working a regular shift I was ready to crash. I slept for most of the day until the kids got home. Afterwards the boys both enjoyed going to scouts and then we all had some pizza for dinner. After a book with the kids and they had gone to bed we both watched the movie Captain America. It has lots of shooting and fighting so nothing the kids could see, but it is a movie we both liked a lot.

Fall Colors

2011-10-23T00:42:00.000-06:00

Today started like an average Saturday with cleaning and breakfast cereal. Later in the day we did some shopping. Besides the normal stops at Target and Walmart, we picked up some paint and wood for some decorations that Julaine is working on. After picking up what we needed we got some soda and pizza and headed up the canyon. We had a fun time looking at all of the red, yellow, and brown leaves. It was too cold to do any hiking and everything is closed for the season. It was cool to see a huge tree that had fallen into the river during a previous storm. When we had our fill of the outdoors we came home and watched an episode of Doctor Who and ate some raspberry cookies.

Blog 2.0....It starts again

2011-10-22T02:13:00.001-06:00

Hello again to all three of you readers of this blog. Hahahaha. Anyway, I thought I would try blogging again. Not that I want to communicate any political stands or have something amazing to share with the world. Sometimes it is just nice to have somewhere to post and write other than Twitter and Facebook. It has been a while since the last post to this blog. We were able to build a great home at a location that we love. Many of you have already visited, but if you haven't send me an email and I can give you directions. If you have already feel free to drop in again. Below is a picture from my latest adventure, "fixing the one year old fridge."

This was something that I didn't thing I would have to do for a while. The pieces I replaced were the compressor start relay and the overload. First I spent some time using the vacuum to clean the coils under the fridge. This minor cleaning job did not help, but it did make things look cleaner afterwards. Next I searched the internet and made many calls to part stores I was able to track down a part that would replace the two, but would not be an exact match. This gave me a great excuse spend some quality time at Home Depot to purchase an ohmmeter and pick up some drill bits. That's right the drill bits were extra and not needed for this project. Anyway with a little help from the guys at the store I was able to get the part wired correctly and stop the ice cream from melting! The kids had fun watching and there were no injuries to report.

The Hunt Begins!!

2010-03-25T23:28:00.003-06:00

We have lived in apartments in cities all over northern Utah for the 11 years; and now we have a chance to own a home. We are very excited and nervous at the same time. We have been working towards being eligible for ownership for almost a year now. We have been window shopping along the way. And now we are excited to be able to officially look for a home. We are looking around the Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain areas. If anyone knows any good areas or builders they have been pleased with please let us know.

Museum Fun

2010-03-21T22:35:00.003-06:00

We got our annual pass to Thanksgiving Point and took everyone to the Dino Museum yesterday. My youngest was the funnest to watch. She is two this year and the simplest things got her excited. When the saw the T-Rex at the entrance she said "woof woof" and the pterodactyl at the front made her clap and eyes get huge. They added a room of hands on exhibits they are trying out before they open the children's discovery museum next year. They all enjoyed launching bits of paper to the roof and catch them as the floated back down. It is a lot of fun and the kids learn a lot from going.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......

2010-03-17T22:04:00.003-06:00

What's that? Oh, hello......yes it has been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. It has been over a half a year since my last post; so I guess there have not been any latest greatest happenings in my life lately that were worth writing about. Spring break has hit this week and it gave me a chance to use my new computer for some fun rather than just assignments. I have gone through and made sure the annoying broken links have been deleted or now work again. If you can think of any good ones to add please let me know. Hopefully there is more to come!!

Wild Weather

2009-08-06T23:30:00.002-06:00

It was a long night for everyone here last night. Like most of Utah we experienced some strong winds and rain last night. Three of the four kids were up until 11 o'clock because they were freaked out by the weather. Outside there were tree branches that broke, tumble weeds scratching against their window, and shingles flying off of roofs. They ended up making a blanket fort and we got out the camping lantern to make everyone feel safe. Everyone was fine and finally went to bed.

The First Day of Spring

2009-03-20T19:36:00.006-06:00

Today was the first day of spring. It was a warm and windy. Everyone was excited to do some outdoor activities. We rode bikes, scooters, and flew kites. Later we did some spring shopping to get everyone out of the winter blahs. It felt good to be out in the sun and have fun together.

Christmas pics

2009-01-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Fall Colors

2008-11-07T21:33:00.002-07:00

We took advantage of the unusually warm weather this fall and took a trip up the canyon. We went on a short hike while we were there. We had the whole canyon to ourselves, except for a couple of people at the beginning of the trail. There were a lot of fall colors to see, but most of the leaves had already fallen to the ground. The kids had a lot of fun standing on the bridge and throwing leaves into the river. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T21:59:00.000-06:00

We started the day with a Halloween costume parade at the kids school. Mom and Dad drove down to see them in their costumes. They were very excited to have them visit, and see them dress up. After the boys got out of school we drove to the mall and the kids did some trick-or-treating. When we finished our trek around the mall we drove home and went to the trunk-or-treat at the church. It started to rain just as the kids were finishing. We went home to enjoy pizza while the kids stuffed themselves with candy.

End of Warm Weather

2008-10-10T22:09:00.012-06:00

We enjoyed the last few days of warm weather this year walking the gardens and taking silly pictures. We were surprised at all the colors that were still around this fall. Not only were the leaves turning yellows and reds, but there were lots of flowers still in bloom. It was a great day for an afternoon walk.

Fire Dept. Open House

2008-10-10T21:36:00.005-06:00

Wednesday night was the Kaysville Fire Dept. open house. Scott gave the kids a personal tour of all the cool equipment and vehicles at the fire station. Carter's favorite thing to do was the smoke house. Tyler was excited about the entire experience as he bounced around the fire trucks and ambulances. Allison liked everything, but she was very shy that night. The kids had a fun time watching the helicopter take off, getting lots of shiny stickers, and sitting inside the fire trucks.

General Conference Weekend

2008-10-04T23:59:00.002-06:00

Julaine got the idea from the Ensign or Friend that the kids would enjoy a "reverence tent" during conference weekend. She wanted to make it funner for the kids so that they might listen a millisecond longer than they normally would. They had treats and got to chill in their PJ's as they pretended and listened to general conference.

Laundry Room Leak

2008-10-01T23:47:00.001-06:00

We woke up to find a water bubble forming behind the paint in our laundry room. It is the first time that this had happened since we have lived in this apartment. We called our maintenance crew who were easy going on the phone and panicked once they came and saw how bad it was. It turns out the hot water pipe for the laundry room in the apartment above us was causing the leak. The maintence ended up cutting holes and tearing off paint in our ceiling and wall to inspect and repair the pipe. It was the weekend adventure.

First Day of School

2008-08-19T23:39:00.003-06:00

It was the first day of school for Tyler and Carter. Both would rather be at home goofing around. They were also excited to meet their new teachers and make new friends in class. Tyler already having a year under his belt wasn't too worried. Carter was both nervous and excited at the same time. They both did great and made it home excited at the end of the day.

Salt Lake in the Summer

2008-07-26T23:02:00.000-06:00

One of the things that we did this summer that the kids enjoyed doing was visiting the Church history museum. The feature exhibit this year showed the rennovation of the Tabernackle. There was a childrens area where the kids got to dress up, play with hands on exhibits, and make drawings. Time flew by. What we thought would be a quick visit turned into a long fun one.

Fifth Water Springs

2008-07-26T02:31:00.001-06:00

thanksgiving point

2008-07-21T22:45:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving Point

2008-07-19T23:03:00.001-06:00

We went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point today. I uploaded some pictures showing the kids cooling down during the hot weather Saturday.

Summer Camping

2008-07-18T22:37:00.000-06:00

These are a few of the pictures from the overnight camping trip we took up Timpanogus Canyon. We stayed in our tent at the Timpanookie campsite. We did the average family camping outing by roasting hot dogs and making s'mores. It rained on us during the night but thankfully no one got wet. When we woke up it was a cold morning that quickly warmed up as the sun rose abovethe mountain. We sat around the fire and had a fun time as a family.

July 4th

2008-07-04T23:19:00.001-06:00

We visited with both sets of grandparents on the 4th of July. Everyone ate a lot of BBQ, sat and talked, and enjoyed the fireworks. The kids got to see their Uncle Scott in the Kaysville City parade. He hooked them up with tons of candy when he came by on the fire truck. All the kids sitting around us were jealous. After the parade the kids got to play outside and swim. Everyone enjoyed the fireworks and warm summer night together.

Lagoon

2008-06-27T23:04:00.001-06:00

On June 26th our family went to Lagoon. It was one of the big things that we planned that our family would do this summer. The kids had been talking about it for an entire year.

Everyone had a great time. Tyler was finally tall enough to ride the white roller coaster. He was very brave and rode it while screaming and hanging on to the lap bar. After the ride finished I asked him what he though and he thought it was both fun and scary. Carter talked about riding the lady bug drop long before we went because he did not ride it during our last visit. When we got to the park his courage quickly left him. After some talking to, we rode it together but he was still scared and did not want to ride it any time soon. Allison did very well with rides that stayed low to the ground and circled around. She disliked anything that flew, and she was very excited the entire day.

While we were there the kids were able to get their picture taken at pioneer village. The kids enjoyed riding the new Odysey and everyone had a great day. The only thing that everyone really disliked was the ice cold water at Lagoon-a-beach. We stayed from open to close. When we left everyone was very tired and ready to go home to their beds.

2008-06-21T22:33:00.005-06:00

On Saturday, June 21 we went to a open house at my work. I work at IM Flash. I work in a clean room making flash memroy for things like ipods, cell phones, and cameras. The job I have there is high tech and usually difficult to explain to people. This made it easier for the family to see what I do first hand.

At the open house there were booths set up to explain each area of the site. Some of the activities at the booths included sorting candy and getting a bag to eat throught their visit, putting ingredients in a mixer and using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, and using remote control cars to race against the automation computer. After a BBQ lunch there were a bunch of carnival games for the kids to play, junk food to eat, and a bounce house to help them burn off all of the sugar they had eaten.

Video about what I do: http://extmedia.micron.com/webmedia/imft/IMFTRecruitingFinal.wmv

Work web site:

http://www.imftech.com/

Cascade Springs

2008-06-20T23:10:00.000-06:00

On June 19th we took the family van for a drive through American Fork Canyon. We drove on the Alpine Loop over the summit and to the other side of the mountain. The hike that we went on was in the mountains close to Midway, Utah. Our short hike was at Cascade Springs. It is a very short and quiet hike. The paths in the area are well paved jogging paths part of the time, and wooden boardwalks for the other part. The trails are very stroller friendly and there are plenty of trees to offer shade during most of the hike. There are two loops to the trail, an upper and lower ring that are connected. We chose to just go through the lower ring this time. The lower loop is about one mile long, which was the perfect distance for everyone.

The area is made of rock terraces that are made from the deposits of minerals caring in the spring water from this geologically active area. The spring water breaks down the limestone and bedrock found in the mountains around the area and deposits the minerals forming terraces and natural pools of water.

The water is very clear and the boardwalks allow visitors to walk directly over the pools and view the wildlife. Living in the pools are mostly brown trout and snails. There are birds, chipmunks, and other wildlife but the trout are the funnest to watch. We were able to hike just before sunset. As bugs would come near the water of the pools the trout would jump out of the water to enjoy their bug dinners. It was a fun hike for everyone and a good get away from everything.

Saturday Hike

2008-05-24T19:51:00.009-06:00

Today we went on a fun hike near the entrance to the Alpine Loop. It was only 1.3 miles, but it was long enough for the kids to burn some energy off. The sun was out in the afternoon, and the wind was cool and felt good while we were walking. There was snow still under some of the pine trees that was beginning to melt in the warm weather. At the end of the hike we found a waterfall of cold water. While we were taking the picture near the waterfall a hummingbird flew near my face and startled me. The views were great and everyone had a good time except for Mackenzie. Julaine carried her in a baby carrier the whole way. She cried the last half of the hike, and finally cheered up when she was buckled back in her car seat in the van.