Home Improvements

At the end of August, my friend Ron Hada, invited a bunch of friends over to watch fight night.  Floyd Mayweather is a big-time boxer who came out of retirement because a loud mouth MMA fighter, Conor McGregor, kept calling him out.  Finally, the money got big enough they had a pay-per-view fight and it was unbelievable how big this event became.  Our families joined together at Ron's house and had a blast.  We ate amazing food and visited while watching some of the under card fights.  Nobody in the room knew anything about boxing, but it was really fun to be together and watch some great boxing matches.  Mostly, the women visited upstairs and didn't come down for the fight, but the men and children all had lots of fun.  I wish we could get together like this more often because it was so much fun to be together.  In the end Mayweather (the boxer) beat McGregor (the MMA fighter), which is what most people thought would happen.  The fight was boxing rules and sure enough the boxer won. 

Clearly I've been affected by all of the home improvement shows that I attend.  We have been wanting to put a new roof on our home for a couple of years and we finally pulled the trigger.  The company that did the job seems to have done well, but what do I know about roofs?  It looks nice from the street, though.

A random selfie while at the dentist, getting a root canal.

This is the Steed family.  They are a really nice family here in our neighborhood who have lived in this house for 23 years.  They built the home and raised their children in this house.

Buying this home as an investment property almost consumed me for several months as I prepared the financing, closed on the house, and then did some improvements.  The Steeds are very clean and they took really good care of the home, but some things needed to be brought up to date.

I was able to recruit the Ludlows and Jill to help me paint.  Our kids even joined in and helped a bit.  We spent Labor Day working on painting the entire home (except the basement).  It actually took a lot longer than Labor Day.  Each night, for a couple of weeks, I would come home and work on it for a couple of hours.

We had a picnic lunch in the family room before getting back to work.

Along with painting we had the professionals at RC Willey install new carpet and wood flooring throughout the kitchen, family room, and living room.  It was a large investment of time and money.

Hopefully this project all works out.  We found a really nice family, the Taylors, who are going to move in and live there for the foreseeable future. It was all a ton of work, but I've really enjoyed being a landlord and owning rental properties.  It takes a lot of work to get the homes ready, but we've been lucky with getting good renters.  Once the homes are rented, there haven't been too many headaches. 

The first part of September, I attended a solar show in Las Vegas for work.  Here is a fun shot of some of us at the EnerBank booth. 

The St. George Marathon is in about a month so I had to keep up my training and I went on a 10 mile run around Las Vegas.  I've ran the strip a bunch and I don't really like it.  Instead, I opted to run toward UNLV and ran out and back 5 miles.  I had no water and even early in the morning it was really hot.  After about 8 miles I stopped in a McDonald's thinking I could get a small drink.  I went into the bathroom where a homeless person was taking a bath in the sink!  I turned and walked out and finished my 10 mile run without hydration.  Vegas is crazy!

First Day of School and Eclipse

August 21st was a big deal for star gazers.  A total eclipse of the sun occurred during the middle of the day and it was visible throughout much of the United States.  Utah was not in the path of totality, but the eclipse was to be about 95% visible, which seemed pretty great to me.  A lot of people drove up to Idaho, though, so they could be a part of the full total eclipse.  This was a really big deal!  I had stayed home that morning for a dentist appointment, so I was able to come home and be with the family as we watched the moon eclipse the sun.  We were even prepared with special viewing glasses.  Two weeks earlier, Jill had gone to the planetarium and stood in a huge line to get the glasses.  It was a good thing she went when she did, because they sold out the next day.  It was really great to see the eclipse through the glasses.  

It was incredible to see it get dark when the eclipse happened.  It wasn't as dark as night, of course, but it was definitely darker.  The air felt cooler, too.  Even the shadows changed.  The shadows made by the leaves on our concrete looked like fluttering birds.  It was really strange.  It was pretty incredible to see the moon cover up the sun.  It was also kind of fun to see other people out on their porches looking up at the sky. 

Logan had been to Oquirrh Hills Middle School quite a few times before school began.  He spent a week and a half at the school attending a math class, for three hours a day.  He was registered for 8th grade Honors Math and the district provided a class to help bridge the gap between what he learned in 6th grade and this 8th grade class.  He also attended an Introduction to Band class for three days.  He was able to attend with all the other beginning trumpet players and learn how to hold the trumpet and even begin to play it.  He even went to the school a couple of times to check out his classes and see where his locker is.  He made sure to practice the combination so he could do it under the pressures of middle school!

Logan began 7th grade on Tuesday, August 22nd.  Here he is on that first day.  For the first time, he is walking to and from school; it's nice that Oquirrh Hills is so close!  In this picture, he is carrying his trumpet.  Logan surprised us when he decided to sign up for band, a first for our family.  He hasn't loved the piano (even though we still make him practice and take lessons) but he seems to be interested in band.  He struggled to play the trumpet the first few days, but it didn't take him long to get the hang of it.

Wednesday the 23rd was the first day of elementary school!  Alyssa is our happy child who was so excited to go back to school and start 2nd grade.  Her teacher this year is Mrs. Shaddick.

Landon began 5th grade.  He has a male teacher for the first time, named Mr. Copier.  We don't worry too much about Landon because he seems to fit in well and makes friends easy enough.  He doesn't seem to worry about things like what other kids think about him.  He just seems to fit in and is comfortable with his place in school, scouts, and sports.  He isn't always happy, but never feels like he is left out.

We hope it will be a great year for all three of our children!

Getting ready for middle school

One of my favorite runs is just north of San Francisco in an area called Muir Woods.  I travelled to Northern California for work, and was able to run it again.  It's kind of a long run (about 10 miles), but it's so beautiful.  Part of the run is through the redwood trees and they are incredible. Because of some road closures I ended up driving to Stinson Beach and then running backwards into Muir Woods.  It was really fun, but it was a bit cold and I worried about a storm blowing in.  Because of the clouds and storminess I didn't get the amazing views I have had before, but it was still a really cool run. Here is some of the moss growing on the trees. 

A redwood selfie.

It cleared up a bit as I headed back to Stinson Beach, but the views from the top of the mountain were blocked by clouds.  I took a different course to the Muir Woods and it ended up taking me 7 miles to get to the visitors center.  I got a quick drink but didn't want to run 14 miles so I ran back the steeper, shorter, harder route that was 5 miles, instead of retracing my steps for another 7 miles.

Dad was really nice and asked to take the boys out shooting.  They went to the Lee Kay center to shoot and the boys had a really fun time.  They both shot really well and enjoyed spending time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Hudson.

With just a week until school started, we thought it would be fun for Logan to host a going back to school party with some of the boys and girls from our neighborhood.  He invited all of the kids in our ward who were going into 7th grade at Oquirrh Hills Middle School, as well as some other friends from his 6th grade class.  He was really uncomfortable as we had him deliver invitations to the girls, but he got through it.  We had high hopes a party would help bridge the awkwardness of going into middle school.

The kids gathered in the backyard and played some games. They started with disc bash.  Then we put name tags of famous people on their backs and they had to ask each other yes/no questions to find out which famous person's name they had. We had various levels of success.  Some of the kids really had fun with it, but some others somehow just got the name from their friend so they could be done.  Junior High kids are funny.

We fed the kids dinner (hamburgers and hot dogs) and then the rest of the night they played other games.  The party turned out really well.  One girl, Sydney Rogers, came to the party and announced that she couldn't stay long because she had to leave early to babysit.  She was the last person to leave at about 9:30 p.m.!  We took that as a mark of success!  It took most of the kids a bit to warm up to each other, but by the end they were all playing fun games together and having a blast.  The first half of the night, Jill and I coordinated all of the activities, but by the end of the night they all just played by themselves with Jill and I visiting with their parents (when they arrived to pick them up).

It was a fun night!

Braces and Triathlon

August 2, Jill took the Beehives downtown to tour the Beehive House.  After the tour, they ate dessert at the Lion House before walking around Temple Square.  Alyssa had a blast being a part of the activity.  She feels so big when she's included with the Young Women.

August 9th was a big day for Logan.  He went into Welton Orthodontics with crooked teeth and came out with braces!

Jill and I both think that he looks so much older with braces.  Dr.  Welton told us that he should be able to get them off in about 12-15 months.  That's not too long and so far, they haven't hurt Logan too badly.

On August 9th, I was on a business trip and I got a text from the Moons that a terrible wind storm was blowing through Riverton.  It took out about 1/3 of one of our beautiful park strip trees.  It was so sad.  Jill and I planted those trees shortly after moving into that home sixteen years ago.  We love them and were so sad to see one damaged.

Later in the week I had a really great time with Landon and the Moon's son, Jesse, as we cut up the tree and took the branches to the dump.  It took two full truckloads to the dump to get rid of this section of tree that blew down.  I think we can save the tree, but it has a huge hole in it now and it's so sad.  Landon and Jesse worked so hard on helping me cut up the branches.  They had a blast using loppers and saws to cut the branches.  

August 12 was our multi-stake Triathlon.  It's a really fun activity that our stake has hosted for about 3-4 years now.  People assume I will participate because I run, but I'm in the peak of marathon training (for the St. George marathon) and can't miss a long Saturday run to do a triathlon.  Logan signed up, though, and he did great!  He had fun with his friends Brad and Greg Burton, and Hyrum Barlow.  He participated in the 300 meter swim (down and back 6 times) and then got on my bike for the 6 mile bike ride. 

Then he did the 2 mile run.

I'm so proud of Logan.  He hasn't been eating desserts or treats in an effort to go into Jr. High school in lean mean shape.  Participating in the triathlon was a great confidence boost.  He finished the whole thing in 1 hour 6 minutes and 27 seconds.  He was really tired at the end but had a lot of fun. Through a lot of it he stayed with Hyrum Barlow but Hyrum's bicycle didn't have gears so Logan took off and finished alone.  I'm really proud of him!  My running group started at 4:30 in the morning so we could get in a long run and finish and watch our children do the triathlon.  I got to see Logan swim, then I ran home to take Landon to football, while Jill helped Logan with the rest of the race.  Team effort today!

Here are the results:

Way to go Logan!

End of July Fun

Jill and the children really lived it up the last week of July.  My mom was watching Brooklyn and Brinlyn while the rest of the family was on trek, so they all got together for a field trip.  Jill picked them up in Taylorsville and they drove downtown to the Family History Library.  It's fun to see our children interact a bit more with the Jake Bryant girls than they have before.  It's really cute to see Brooklyn and Logan talking like teenagers.  Brin has always been great with Alyssa and Alyssa loves being a part of "the girls."  They had a great time playing downtown.  There are really fun interactive displays at the Library and the kids had a great time learning a bit about their family history.  Afterward, they walked through the Church History Museum next door.

That same week, Jill and the kids went to Lagoon.  It's been about ten years since our family had been there.  Landon was a baby and has no memories of it, Logan was only two years old, and of course Alyssa wasn't a part of our family yet.  It's crazy we have been so busy we couldn't even make time to go to Lagoon.  We decided that this year we would finally go.  It was hard to find a date, though, and finally there was just no time left in the summer for us to all go as a family so Jill took the children on July 28th.  The next week, football would be starting, so we needed to fit it in before then.  I took one for the team and went to work to pay for the trip while they all had a blast!  The Roundys, Robert, and Corwin and Judy had all bought season passes, so they met up with Jill.

The kids loved Lagoon!  Logan and Landon loved the rollercoasters, especially Cannibal.  It was the most intense ride at the park and it was their favorite.  Alyssa decided that she didn't want to go on any rides that went upside down, but she had a great time on everything else.

The kiddie rides were more Alyssa's speed.

After a perfect morning of cool weather and small lines, the group took a break for lunch.  Jill had packed a lunch and the kids enjoyed eating with their cousins.  After the break, they were ready for more rides.

Jill loved Lagoon as a kid.  She found, though, that it wasn't as much fun as an adult.  The rides that she used to love now made her queasy!  Even Tidal Wave was a bit rough for her.  She was glad that Amy, Robert, and even Grandpa were able to take the boys on the roller coasters.

While the boys went on rollercoasters, Jill was pretty happy to ride the carousel with Alyssa.

It was really fun for the kids to have Robert and Grandma and Grandpa along.

Jill bought the kids dinner at the park.  Eating out is always fun.

After dinner, they rode rides for a few more hours.  The kids would have been happy to stay until closing time, they were having so much fun.  They stayed until about 9:00, so they were able to enjoy the park when all the lights came on.  I'm glad they were all able to have fun.  Landon, especially, had really been wanting to go.  He loves thrill rides and had heard all about Lagoon from friends and cousins.  The kids thought it was an amazing day.

I've had a project that kept me busy during July.  In a crazy twist of events, we bought another house in our neighborhood.  Our former bishop, Bishop Densley, decided to move to Herriman to live by his daughter.  When he held a yard sale at his house, he announced to me that he was going to move.  I told him we would miss his family and that it was sad they were moving.  They had wanted to offer the home to another family in the ward so they could upgrade from a smaller home to a larger home.  I flippantly said, "Tell them they can buy your house, and I'll buy their house."  As it worked out, that family didn't buy his house, but another former bishop, Bishop Steed, did want to buy it.  His wife, Amy, approached me at church and said, "I understand you want to buy our house so we can buy the Densley's."  It absolutely threw me off my rocker.  I asked her to walk outside so we could talk.  Ultimately the talks led to the sale of the houses.  It was crazy the way it all happened and I'm still trying to decide if it was a good move or not, but it's too late now.  July was spent getting the financing in order and I spent the month of August painting and upgrading the house so it will be a nice home to rent.  More on that later.  Here is the HomeSteed, as I will be calling it for the next few years.  It's been fun and exhausting to get another rental property.  Now I'm crossing my fingers that it will be a good move.