Bear Lake vacation 2010

Every year we go on a vacation to Bear Lake with Laura's Family. Here are a few pics and some hopefully interesting, possibly offensive commentary.

Here is the Cabin that we stayed in, it was awesome. The cabin had plenty of room for everyone, a game room in the basement and a sweet deck.

We arrived on Sunday night.

On Monday morning it was My and Laura's turn to make breakfast so we made my famous Crepe buffet. Check out that huge pile of Crepes.

I even got Marc to help out

Laura trying to decide what to put on her crepe, "there are to many choices"

She couldn't decide which topping to put on her crepe so she just ate it plain, and later complained that the crepe bar was to simple.

Later we went to the beach in the back of Korey's truck

Charly girl and Zoe

This looks like a simple photo of some beach fun but a very simple principle can be learned from this. Whenever anyone would get Emily wet she would freak out, so naturally she became our target. So, when something bothers you it is best to bottle up your frustration inside or you may be harassed for the rest of your life.

Well Emily refused to get wet, so we carried her out to the water and helped her.

Aiden and Ella holding hands jumping the waves, how special!

The poppy has a big smile on his face because he is going to keep that whole box of chips to himself.

Okay, I have to admit this one's kind of gay.

The poppy is plugging his nose because someone in close proximity passed gas, Grammy swore it was the smell of opening a fresh bag of chips, I disagree.

For those of you who don't know Emily, this pic. will give you a bit of insight, she has a very bad temper, notice how she has Keyton by the neck, this is just before she pushed his face in the sand as punishment for saying a naughty word (fiddlesticks)

Look at Keytons face after having it shoved in the sand, Em is in the background coming back to spank him for crying.

All of the children (and Korey) gathering around Grammy and Poppy, Korey says he feels safer and more secure in their presence.

Cole later convinced us to bury him and sculpt a body with large.....features. Later when he saw the pic he got mad because we had put shells over his bosoms, "its just not natural" he said.

Charly floating around.

Laura watching the girls play in the sand. Check out that prego belly.

Emily wasn't getting enough attention from us, so she started posing to make the other guys check her out. She walked up and down the entire beach doing that pose. I had to splash her with water to get her to stop.

Cole rode his 4-wheeler to the beach and got pulled over so he had to put it in the truck to bring it back, there were plenty of empty seats in the cab of the truck, but Cole wanted to ride it back in true Juab style.

After returning we engaged in an intense game of Dr. Mario on the N64, notice how we all have the exact same look on our faces.

After our game we had a family home evening with everyone.

First we did a skit and Grammy insisted that we dress up as authentic as possible. When we walked in someone screamed in horror. Notice how Sarah is covering her eyes in disgust. I can't help but think it was because of my Loincloth.

In case you can't read our name badges or tell from our costumes. I was Lamen, Cole was Lemuel, Andy was Nephi, The Poppy was Lehi and Nick was Sam (I think)

After doing some research on the always reliable web I realized that only Andy's costume was Authentic.

Okay, we actually had to use the script because we were to busy (playing Dr. Mario) to memorize our lines.

Jenny led the kids in a primary song. Keyton is crying in the background because he claimed that Ashylin was singing one Octive off, and was ruining the whole song.

Later we went downstairs and played "Things" till Midnight

On Tuesday we went to the pool

Ashlyn crying (I hope Emily doesn't catch her)

Aiden is always up for being thrown around

Charly chillin in the water

We decided to dive through a tiny tube as well. Cole called it the "Birth Canal" whatever that means.

You can't go to Bear Lake without getting one of their famous raspberry shakes (which incidentally taste exactly like every other raspberry shake in the world)

Back to the Pool

No trip to the pool is complete without a triple decker chicken fight

Emily and Sarah had a quick game of patt-a-cake before engaging in battle.

When kids find something they like they want to do it over, and over, and over. This photo is me catching Charly for the 21st time.

Grubbin out on the deck

Where did Aiden get that pizza in his hands?

The Girls had a blast playing together. Needless to say there was no shortage of drama.

Laura teaching the kids at an early age that there is no real use for bathroom doors.

This pic. just goes to show you how gross girls are as all the women gather around to pick at a boil on The Poppys back

Marc was so disgusted at the whole boil picking incident that he left and read a book.

I was winning the game of pool but Korey threatened to either arrest me or use his taser on me so I let him win.

Andy has a very ingenious game strategy, he somehow releases toxic air from his rear end which causes confusion,reddening of the eyes, and nauseousness to overcome his opponents.

This is Grammy trying desperately to somehow filter out the toxic air.

More Dr. Mario, fortunately Andy is hellagood at this one so he didn't have to release any toxic gasses. But he should have because Sarah won the next game.

After our time was up at the cabin we went with the Wrights to Lava Hot Springs. Incidentally Lava is pronounced "lä-və"

First we floated down the river

Keyton crying after realizing his shorts totally mismatch his life vest.

Charly, Aiden and one white hairy leg.

No its not a big crazy looking butterfly, just me.

After floating the river we went to the local water park.

Aiden gracefully falling off the rock wall, I don't know how he stopped to pose for a pic in mid-air.

My Laura playing with Charly girl, prego women aren't supposed to go down the big slides.

Cole somehow convinced me to jump off the extremely high platforms with him.

                          

This is me jumping on Cole's head for leaping ahead of me, it took him a while to surface but he survived.

Here is an action shot of us jumping off the high tower, it is a lot higher than it looks!

Don't you love when someone takes a pic. right when you are taking a bite?

Later on we decided to do some high class shopping, Aiden forgot his shirt and shoes so he borrowed Cole's shirt and Korey's flip flops, whiskey tango.

                                                                                                                                             

The first store was called "Crystals and Caverns" actually I can't remember its real name.

This statue would go good in any formal living room, ooh, get the one with saggy breasts please.

I believe this one is for bathrooms, do I need to explain what the figure is doing?

What weapon collection is complete without some Swastika Chinese throwing stars, wait isn't that an oxymoron? Chinese Swastika?

The next store had some really useful stuff

Every fine food establishment carries this product line. I would be proud to be seen carrying a big bottle of this sauce down the street, wouldn't you?

Tastes like crap but it wont give you gas!

The kids showing off their awesome stuff, cowboy hats and a pop gun, Keyton was to busy playing with his exciting and fun Geode rock to be in the picture

 Every kid needs a geode, they are hours and hours of nonstop fun and excitement, I mean think of all the things you can do with them..........oh sorry about that pause I became mesmerized just by looking at that awesome geode photo

Sometimes Korey gets Diarrhea of the mouth but this day he got Diarrhea of the.....well you can figure it out.

                           

Korey kicking the door, begging Emily to get out of the bathroom.

After an eventful day we went to Idaho's best kept secret world famous hot pools.  When I say "hot pools" what I mean to say is "hotter than hell, flaming hot scalding pools"

The girls dipping their feet in the coolest, I mean least hot pool

I can't put my finger on what this pic. reminds me of....

When we returned to the house, Cole and I wanted to check out the locked basement so we looked up how to pick a lock on the trusty web and after trying for a half hour we still couldn't get in. I guess we should have consulted Wikipedia, a very trustworthy site.

Before saying the closing prayer on this blog post I feel prompted to mention the house that we stayed in.

Apparently the owner of the rental company is obsessed with cats, here are some pics of the decor. The entire house was decorated with similar things. There were too many to show them all, but it was a sight to behold.

My favorite cat item was this sweet cat shaped Tape Measure, I tried to steal it so I could take it to work but Laura found it in my bag, slapped my hand and made me put it back.

Another Short Story

Lately I have been Crazy Busy at work and haven't had any time to update my blog. After continual harassment by the now 5 people who read my blog I have decided to do a quick update today, and a more detailed update when I have time. Sorry if its rough I have a 12:00 deadline to meet.

Well since it is Sunday I thought it would be appropriate to share a special spiritual message with you and speak of things that will make you feel warm and tingly inside.

Here is a special spiritual rendering to help set the mood.

The idea of sharing this story came to me on Thursday when we went to the airport to pick up my younger brother Rusty. He was flying home from Louisiana after serving a full time mission.

Well first of all before sharing my spiritual experience. I have to include a small experience from the airport. In my family we like to play tricks on each other or try to embarrass our siblings or parents so Tyler gave me the idea to hide behind the corner and jump out and scare Rusty when he came walking out, so Aiden and I hid around the corner and watched for him in the reflection of the glass. After a long wait and a few weired looks, we got the signal from my Dad that Rusty was on his way. When he neared we jumped out and yelled as loud as we could to startle him "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". Grabbing him and pushing him away from the other returning Missionaries.

This is Me and Aiden running in for the scare.

I thought it was a very good Idea. It was delivered with the most precise timing and intensity, our plan however perfect it may have been was a complete and utter failure. When we jumped out Rusty didn't even flinch, he kept walking as if though we were not even there, and gave me a look as if to say "Get away from me you A-hole" Whoa, sorry about the profanity, don't blame me Rusty is the one who thought it not me!


After the scare attack, notice how Rut seems to not even notice me.






Aiden finally got Rut to show some love.

Now I know that I typically do not share experiences of the spiritual nature, and I am not a touchy feely kind of guy, but today I am going to make an exception. I hope I can get through this, but please bear with me if you hear my voice crack or have to wait for me to regain composure.

This particular story comes from my own personal mission. Many of you probably don't know that I served a mission in Honduras, yes that's a country, its located in central America and they speak Spanish. Here are a few typical pics to give you an idea of what its like there.



This is me standing on a hill overlooking the capital Tegucigalpa.



This is Me posing in front of one of their awesome garbage trucks. Notice that the garbage is stacked so high it nearly hits the power lines.


Ever wonder where all of our old beat up school buses go after they die? Well they go to Honduras and are used for public transportation. This one got a paint job, most are still yellow and have the original school name and district on the side. We once saw one from Salt Lake.

Me carrying a box. The lady in front of me is selling fruit from a basket balanced on her head.

Okay now that you have seen pretty much all there is to see from my mission I will continue with the story.

I will call this story:

"THE DOG THAT FELT THE SPIRIT"

When I had been in the mission for about 9 months I was in an area called the Kennedy with my favorite mission companion and dear friend Elder Gamble pictured below.

This is me and Gamble with a convert named Nelson, after seeing this pic Gamble was very upset because Nelson put his hand on my thigh and not on his. I don't like to talk about the mission to Gamble because he is still mad about it.


Here is Gamble being harassed by a drunk who was obsessed with him. He (the drunk) kept yelling "Gracias a Jeovah" while trying to hug Gamble. Notice how the drunkard is pulling Gambles head in for a kiss. Fortunately Gamble has a very strong neck and was able to avoid a nasty drunkman smooch.

Elder Gamble and I had been teaching a young college student named Marvin. Marvin had recently undergone Testicular surgery and was always home so we were always able to teach him weather he liked it or not. For those of you who dont know what "Testicular Surgery" is, it means that he had to have his Junk operated on. Marvin lived with his mother, and their Dog. Marvins mother also happened to be slightly insane. We would often teach both or if Marvin wasn't feeling good we would teach his Mom alone.

Marvins mother was very sweet, she owned a candy stand and would give us a treat from her stand whenever we visited. She was always kind and let us in her home no matter when or what was going on. She also had a really cool old fashioned phone that we were planning on somehow acquiring.
One day Gamble and I were out on the streets doing our missionary thing. After all of our appointments and plans fell through and several people hid from us in plain sight, we decided to visit our faithful investigators Marvin, and his Mom.

We approached the house and knocked on the gate, most houses in this area had an enclosed porch surrounded by a gate or walls like the one pictured below. So rather that knocking on the door one would tap on the metal gate with something hard to get the attention of the occupants.



When we tapped on the gate Marvins dog ran out of the opened door on to the porch and started barking like crazy, he wouldn't shut up, the barking was echoing off the porch roof and into the house. In the house we could hear Mavin's sweet old Mom talking on the phone to someone so we waited.
This is an actual picture of the offending dog.

As we waited the barking got louder and louder and the dog got madder and madder. I thought it was going to break down the gate and attack Gamble, (I say "attack Gamble" because I would have used him as a human shield to protect myself from the dog.) Just when we didn't think the commotion could get any worse all of the sudden Mavin's mom said "HOLD ON" to the person she was speaking with and sat the phone down. "Sweet" I thought, she is going to let us in. When she came out she was not her typical happy self she looked at us and I swear her eyes were red, she then looked at the dog and then stomped on it as hard as she could putting all of her 92 pounds of weight on it, she then violently kicked it about five times, and proceeded to beat the dog over and over. The angry barks were replaced with yelps of pain, as the dog tried to escape the clutches of its lunatic master she gave it one final swift kick to the hind end as it yelped and ran away. The poor dog was so confused and freightened that it ran right into the edge of the doorway before finally making its way into the house.

Once the dog finally escaped near death a very silent, and awkward moment then followed. "Um......Buenas Tardes" I said to break the awkward silence, the old lady then looked at us in disgust turned away and slammed the door as hard as she could right in our faces. We stood there for about 32.5 seconds in complete silence trying to fathom what had just happened, then we both broke out in uncontrollable laughter and left.

We lost a good investigator that day, and an even better source of free candy, but the experience made it all worth it. I will never forget this special experience for the rest of my life. We never saw Marvin or his lunatic mom ever again, and we all lived happily ever after.

The End

Please feel free to use this spiritual experience in any sacrenment talk or sunday school lesson that you may be giving in the future.

Spaghetti Sauce

I wanted to thank all those of you who frequent my Blog and as a reward I am giving you the opportunity to read the following posting.


Its been a few weeks since my last posting, so thought I would give a few updates on the most important recent events in our lives.


Well first of all, my Blog followers have doubled, with numbers reaching the upper 4's (if you include Laura and myself). I am hoping to have five followers within the next month or so, I've got my fingers crossed, literally, which makes it very hard to type. I aim to reach double digits before 2015, assuming that that whole 2012 world ending rumor doesn't come true and shatter my goal.




Also something else very exciting happened today!!! I joined a group on facebook called port-a-potty awareness, which helps raise awareness about the importance of port-a-pottys, and their critical role in society.



I recently discovered the worlds greatest soft ice cream, it can be found at parkers drive in, that's in American Fork. Also I concluded that Orbit, wintermint gum is the best on earth, its very delightful.



I also wanted to discuss one of my many hang ups. Am I the only one who thinks that when a person makes an important announcement that their is an awkward moment that inevitably follows? When an announcement is made the announcer expects all this glory and recognition, and the people who are receiving the announcement feel pressured to give out this glory or recognition even if they don't really care, or care very little. If the announcer doesn't receive sufficient recognition they feel let down. If the announcees give too much recognition the announcer feels like they are faking it. Its a complicated spider web that should be avoided if possible, just thought I would share that with you for no reason in particular.




Now to some juicy news, Laura is totally pregolicious.





For those of you who don't know what that means, she is pregnant! We found out a few weeks ago. I somehow got her to agree that we announce how and when I want so this is it. So to my followers you are the first to find out. Please write your name in the comment box, or email me so I know the order in which you found out.

IMPORTANT:
Most importantly, we chose to let people find out through my blog so please respect our decision and don't go blabbing this news to ANYONE!!! I want them to find out on their own, if you want to share the news please tell them to read my Blog, but please do not tell them directly!