Jazz Playoffs vs Golden State

The Jazz are in the playoffs and after beating the Clippers, now they are playing the Golden State Warriors (the best team in the NBA and maybe, of all time).  The boys have been enjoying the games on TV and when they got a chance to see game four at the Vivint Smart Home Arena with Grandma and Grandpa, they were so excited!  Kandis bought Brandon playoff tickets for his birthday and they went to the Clippers games, but they weren't able to go to game four of the Western Conference Semifinals. Kandis offered them to the boys and everything worked out great. 

I was flying out to Ohio to meet with a client so right when school ended on Monday, May 8th, Jill and I picked up the children from school and drove me to the airport.  Then they went to Grandma's where she had a nice dinner made for them.  Alyssa and Jill drove home and the boys got to go to the last game of the season.  The Jazz were swept but the boys got to get a free shirt and loved seeing  Golden State play. 

While the boys went to the Jazz game, I took my boss to Ohio to meet with a client.  While there, we went to a Reds vs. Yankees baseball game.  John likes baseball so he bought me a ticket.  I'm not as big of a fan of baseball but it was fun being at the park and enjoying the atmosphere. 

Here is my Ohio selfie in front of a strip mall. 

When I got home from the trip, Logan's basketball team had a team party.  He had a lot of fun and hopefully, he can play with these boys again.  The coach lives in Herriman and had a lovely home.

Landon had a class field trip to Hogle Zoo.  Jill was able to chaperone and watch these seven children.  Landon was acting crazy and the boys all kept singing "The Eye of the Tiger" as they walked around the zoo.  They sang it especially loud to the tiger and thought that was so cool.

Later they walked to This is the Place Monument and gathered for a class photo.  It was nice; the teachers got them singing the Utah song they learned for their fourth grade program.

We ended the week at a baseball game that our in vitro doctor sponsored.  It was really nice of Dr.  Heiner to sponsor and we had a nice time eating a hot dog, drinks, and popcorn and watching the game.  We made it to the seventh inning stretch, but then left for home.  It was freezing cold and we'd had a long and busy day.

Last week, Logan told me about a boy in his class who became a vegetarian for 2-3 months and his dad gave him money for doing it.  I flippantly told Logan I'll give him $100 if he goes without eating desserts for six months until his birthday.  Surprisingly, he took me up on it and now Landon is doing it too.  So far they have gone two weeks and are going strong!  I'm proud of him for giving up treats, candy, desserts, and sugary snacks for this long.  He wants to drop some pounds for football this year and look good for Jr. High!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I wanted to do something nice for Jill but I struggled to find a thoughtful way to show my love for her.  We had been shopping and found her some sandals and some clothes, but I wanted to do something more meaningful.  I haven't baked in ages, but I decided a homemade cinnamon roll would be a delicious way to say "I love you."

When I was growing up I remember my mother cooking cinnamon rolls in the evening to the point that they were mostly done, but then finishing them in the morning.  A hot delicious homemade cinnamon roll is amazing. 

The problem was, I don't really know how to bake.  Because technically it was Saturday night, I was able to solicit Jill's help and we prepared the cinnamon rolls together.  The rolls raised perfectly and looked absolutely amazing!  We were both so excited for Sunday morning. 

We went to bed Saturday night and when we woke up Sunday morning....... they had all gone flat!!!   It turns out we hadn't cooked them long enough.  We had only cooked them about 4 minutes of the 13 minutes they are supposed to bake.  Apparently,  we should have baked them about 10 of the 13 minutes. We still baked them and they tasted okay, but they weren't as perfect as they would have been had we eaten them the night before. 

Jill and the children on Mother's Day morning with presents they had made at school.  

Here is our breakfast.

We had a nice Mother's Day at church and Jill received a nice chocolate from the ward.

After church, we got to celebrate Mother's Day with the Bunkalls.  Amy and Jill had prepared some chicken and salads and Corwin grilled up dinner.  Brett made some amazing guacamole and Robert brought rolls.  Judy is an amazing mother and mother-in-law and a fantastic grandmother to our kiddos.

After visiting with the Bunkalls we stopped by Grandma Bryant's to wish her a happy Mother's Day. We had celebrated the week before but our gift hadn't arrived yet.  During the last week, some of her Christmas dishes came so we were able to officially give her a Mother's Day present.

We love you Mom.

Then we were able to stop by Great Grandma Bunkall's to celebrate her day also.  Grandpa Bunkall isn't looking very good.  He seems to be in good spirits but is so skinny.  He has lost so much weight; it's sad to see him so small.

We had a fun family day and I hope Jill and all of the mothers in my life know how much they mean to me.  I love them all.

4th Grade Program and Scout Camp at Elk Ranch

Landon's 4th Grade program was on May 4th.  His class has been learning about Utah history this year.  The entire grade has spent months learning songs and dances all about Utah, so they could present this program.

The fourth graders performed a few times during school for the other grades at the school.  They also performed that evening for their parents.  Landon had a nice speaking part and did a terrific job.  He memorized his part and spoke loudly and clearly.  It was sad, though, because his basketball team was playing in a tournament that night at the same time.  Both boys have been playing in a spring league and this was the final week.  We assumed his team would win the first game and he would be able to play in the next two that they were favored to win.  We don't know what happened, but after the performance we found out that his team had lost and were eliminated from the tournament.  He was sad that he missed the game (and would have preferred to be there) but we felt he owed it to his classmates to perform with them.

Landon danced with one of his classmates, our neighbor, Audrey Moncur.  Landon really doesn't like girls at all, he is all boy.  He was not happy about having to dance either.  In fact, his teacher got after him and told him to change his attitude!  Audrey is a cute girl, though, and when he finally starts liking girls she would be a good one for him.  Landon was also unhappy about wearing jeans and a collared shirt.  He hasn't worn jeans for about two years, so this seemed like such a hardship to him!  He looked great, though, and even managed to dance with a smile during the performance.

Here is all of the 4th grade as they performed their songs.

After the performance all of the children went to their desks to show their county reports.  Each student had to complete a report on a Utah county, both a written report, and a display.  Landon reported on Wayne County and showed off what he learned.  He showed some pictures of our family as we hiked around Capitol Reef.  He did a great job.

Logan was also playing in a tournament during Landon's performance.  I dropped him off at his game an hour early so I could watch Landon.  Then after seeing Landon's county report, I took off to see the 2nd half of Logan's game.  His team won and he played great.

Friday was our Boy Scout campout.  My good friend, Brett Utley, owns an elk ranch south of Tooele and I arranged to have our Scout troop camp on his property and see the elk.  Logan wasn't able to come with everyone else because he had another basketball game that evening.  I brought Landon along with me and Logan was able to see us off at the church before his game.  Robert Bunkall also came along with us to see the elk and eat a good hamburger.

It was a fun camp because we ate at Penny's Bar and Grill, which is right next to the elk ranch in the middle of nowhere.  Penny's has such great food and everyone liked it so much they all said they will go back.  Landon and some of the boys got the foot long corn dog!

All of the dads got hamburgers. They were really good.

It's called Penny's because the bar has a layer of pennies on the counter.  It's really cool and I got a picture of our cook as well.  Penny's is a bar and grill but it's really a biker bar!  It's a great place for dinner for a bunch of Boy Scouts.

My friend Brett told us all about elk and it was so cool to hear about these huge beautiful animals. Landon is holding one of the antlers.

Some of the elk ate out of the boys' hands through the fence.

After hearing about the elk, I left Robert to set up our tent while I drove back to Cedar Fort and met Jill to pick up Logan.  Logan came out with us to spend the night.  We watched a fun scout movie from the 1960's called "Follow Me Boys."  We all tried to go to bed about midnight but when I woke up at 3:40 a.m., I could hear the boys in Logan's tent all talking loudly.  They hadn't been to bed and almost made it through the night without sleeping.  I got out of my sleeping bag and got after the boys so they would go to bed.  Finally, they all slept, only to wake again at 7:00 a.m.  By 8:00 a.m. Logan and Landon went back to Riverton with our Bishop, who had to leave early.  Logan had his championship game that morning and Landon had a basketball team party.

We had a bacon quesadilla (the scoutmaster mistakenly left the eggs he had cooked up the night before in his fridge).  We got on a trailer and went out to feed the elk.  It was really cool to see them so close.  The antlers aren't huge yet, but they are growing an inch a week.

Robert got the closest to feeding them by hand.  This is the closest the elk got and she backed off after this picture. 

Logan lost his game so his team took 2nd place in the tournament.  He had a lot of fun this spring season and his team did really well. The team they lost to thanked our coach because Logan's team gave them their biggest challenge of the season.  Both of our boys had a great experience playing this spring.  They had great coaches and were able to improve their skills.

Robert and I got back to Riverton just in time to give me fifteen minutes to shower and change before our family left for Landon's flag football game in Eagle Mountain.  This was one of the most hectic Saturdays we've had.  We had nine activities going that day, including Alyssa's soccer game, Landon's team party, Logan's game, and Landon's football game!  It was a crazy day but everything did finally end and Jill and I could rest easy Saturday night. 

Sunday we celebrated Mom's birthday, Dad's birthday, and Mother's Day for mom.  We had a delicious dinner at Shanel's house.  We all ate outside and had a great time visiting.  Jake and his family told us all about their fun trip to Spain.  

We got Mom Christmas plates for her amazing Christmas Eve party.  We gave Dad the awesome blue tooth meat thermometer so he can cook without checking the meat to see if it's done.  He can see from his phone when the meat reaches the right temperature and is ready to eat.  I love mine!

We finished the evening watching the cool video Jake made of their family's trip to Spain.  They had a blast and the video made it look so fun. Wow, what a full week.

Easter Morning

Landon keeps taking selfies with our phones!  He is a funny kid. 

I've been on the Riverton City Planning Commission now for about five years or so and it's something I really enjoy.  We meet two Thursday nights a month and discuss development in the city.  It isn't a glorified job.  Usually someone comes in and wants to develop a piece of their property.  Some neighbors come in and complain that they don't want any development next to them and want to keep the place an empty field.  We hear neighbor after neighbor express how they feel and then we make a decision.  Sometimes it's an approval and sometimes it's a denial.  On this particular night I got my 15 minutes of fame!  KSL was at our meeting and did a special on development.  I grabbed a screen shot of the TV news story.  I wasn't quoted or anything, but I did make it on TV.  The actual news story was pretty boring, but like I said, any publicity is good publicity, right?

Alyssa finally lost her first tooth!  It had been loose for a while and it finally began to bother her.  She was so afraid of me pulling it out with a pair of pliers but the tooth was so loose that I was able to just pull it out with my fingers.  I grabbed it and yanked and she pulled away and didn't want me to pull any more.  For a few seconds, I didn't even show her that I actually had the tooth in my hand.  When I showed her that I already had it out, she was shocked!  Then, she thought her mouth felt so funny without a tooth.  She was so excited to join the ranks of those who have lost a tooth.  I love my Alyssa.

The children did some Easter Egg hunting at Grandma Bunkall's.

Jill dyed some eggs with the children on Easter Eve.

Easter morning, we hid the baskets in fun places and the boys struggled to find their baskets.  Logan's was outside in the garage and Landon's was under the sink in the guest bathroom.  We got them pretty good this year.  We tried not to go crazy with candy and toys, but they each got a movie and a swimming suit, and a bit of candy.

Sadly I forgot to get a family Easter picture.  It's something we try and do every year.  Next year for sure, we'll have to take one.