Neil Dennis

We have traveled all over the east coast but not spent much time in Utah, so we are spending several days in Utah.

Then we drove to see some sites

We hit many of the major national parks in the area.

Funny thing on the top of a plateau we found fish fossils. Most of Utah was covered by water including this area.

We had some steep trails (this isn't one of them) Eric on of the harder trails rolled his ATV, no one was hurt and there was no damage, but it made Eric gun shy of ATVs. Camille and I love them, Eric may be a while before he ever rides again.

After riding we relaxed and played mini golf at the camp where we rented the ATVs, we also had lunch here. This isn't were we are staying, but it is a nice place to stay, we might come back here some day.

In the afternoon we went to Bryce Canyon. I grew up in Utah, but it took me moving away to the east coast to actually decide to tour my home land. I had never been to Bryce Canyon. To those who haven't been... you need to go, to those who have been... you know what I'm talking about.

First off it is orange and ful of big walled canyons

These are really big. There is a path that leads to the bottom, I'm sporting a stiff hamstring so I was a little worried about the 5 miler we were going to take but I went anyway. Eric laughed at his "lame" parent and took pictures most of the way.

We started off with the long switch back hike to to the bottom. Down wasn't too bad, but you know the physics rule... what goes down must eventually go up... wait..

Camille and I have always wanted to go to a demolition derby, and today was the day.

We spent the day with family

Loud car smashing

and more smashing

And still more smashing...

Followed by fire works and patriotic music... what a country :)

There really are so many family events that were not possible for us to attend living in NH or IA. Nathan's Ordination is another one of those. We met with family and spend the day with them.

Tina had a concert in Salt Lake City... it was an outdoor performance and we were able to hang out with Camille's family for the day. We went to dinner then to the concert and as we drove home we watched the fireworks (we wanted to get out of there before the huge crowd of people.

The picture of Tina isn't very good, it was dark and she was a ways away.

Camille's parents came up from Arizona, it was good to see them along with the rest of the family.

One of the cool things about living in Utah is that we can spend time with family... for something as trivial as a day of pampering and getting your nails done. I'm talking about Camille, not me as far as the pampering and nails go. But it is really cool to be so close to family.

When you think about it... aren't feet funny looking?

Today I found out that I need a bigger boat. We purchased one in IA because it was a good deal and it would fit in the garage. However it is small, and with small has a less than impressively powerful engine.

We put seven in the boat (probably more weight than we should) and the boat was to slow to pull a skier. But we had some fun on the tube.

Determined Eric

Daniel enjoying the wind

And me... actually the boat is not out of gas... I'm just waiting for them to take off.

Just a post to let you know that Eric is still working... it seems to taking a bit longer than he thought. He wanted to be done in 4 weeks. (It is a big deck)

This time at Mantua we were able to start the boat... always more fun to boat when it starts...

Mantua is small but pretty.

We didn't water ski, but it was warm enough to get in the water. Both Eric and I got on the tube.

Of course we ate on the boat (as we always do)

And we just sat in the sun and relaxed... my favorite... what can be better than a boat?

On the way back we dropped of some humanitarian aid (food and such) to a local pantry. The food was collected by my employer and donated by me and my colleagues.

Yes the date is correct, right after Eric finished his 2nd 25 mile bike adventure he did his 50!!! He is done!

Eric only had a couple of merit badges left for his eagle scout award. We purchased a bike for him so he could get his biking merit badge. I even took his bike on the bike to work week during the middle of May.

Camille drove along with Eric today for his second 25 mile bike ride.

We got our boat out and cleaned and are headed to Mantua today. The youth are planning a summer trip to Mantua to camp and ski, I would like to get the boat out and get familiar with the reservoir before then.

All was going to plan until we got it to Mantua and tried to start it and ended up with a dead battery. No problem this happened last year and I had my jumper cables. However this time the battery wouldn't take a charge. We couldn't get the engine to turn over. So we pulled the boat to Wal-Mart and got a new battery and a battery charge with a trickle charge that will will use next winter to perserve the battery.

The boat wouldn't start so we took it to the dealer where we had it winterized. They said just keep cranking it until it starts. So we did and it did.

So our first boating day we drug the boat all over the valley but it never made it to running in the lake.

Eric has wanted to be a wood worker for a long time now. This summer rather than get a summer job we decided to hire him as a contractor to give him some work experience.

He measured the deck, did some research and came up with an estimate for the work. To sand and stain the top and to sand the bottom was $2,500.00. We would advance him money on tools and that would reduce what we owed him when the job was completed. The deck needed sanding to remove the old paint, then stained.

The idea is that if he really likes the work this would be a good project to give him some skill and some experience and a reference. If he didn't like the work then he would know to head a different direction.

Before shot, you can see that it really needs to be done.

Eric happily working...

The end of school is coming, so is the deadline for year end projects. Eric of course put his Spanish class video off until the last night before it was due, most of it was due to scheduling the actors. I was able to use my new iMac and the video editing features to help them out. The entire project is way to long to post, but DVD's are available for those who order now (while supplies last).

I did include the trailer to the video:

Eric loves the piano and has found a new piano teacher here in Ogden that he likes. He had a piano recital today, shortly after he started taking lessons, so for this recital he just played a couple of his favorites. The two he selected are not the most technically challenging, but he loves the emotions of the music.

We have a tradition of coloring Easter eggs, so today we carried on that tradition. We are getting a bit old for this since our youngest is 17 years old, but how else can I get unlimited hard boiled eggs? Camille thinks they are bad for me.

We also have a neighbor who decorates cakes, they are fun to take around and even more fun to eat :)

If you ever want a cake for a special occasion then order one yourself.

More signs of spring are around, this is a waterfall up the canyon on the way to Pine View Reservoir. The river is running really high in that they are releasing water from the dam to accomodate spring run off. You would never see something like this in Iowa.

We have a funny pet bird that thinks he can fly. About once a year he attempts an escape via a closed window or screen or something similar. Due to the sudden stop there is a nice dust mark created and outlines the bird. This year he tried to escape via microwave door??? What can I say he only has a pea sized brain. If you look carefully you can see the print of his right wing.

It has not been what I would consider a very hard winter, it has been cold and a bit snowy but the snow was not nearly as heavy as I remember it being as a child growing up in West Bountiful, Utah. I don't know if it is because we are in a location of the valley less snowy or if my perception is off. Anyway we saw the first signs of spring approaching... Ducks!!! We saw these two hanging around in the fall. Well I'm not sure it was these two exactly, they look the same to me, it is hard to tell the difference me not being a duck and all... Looks like they made it back safely.

We purchased a new dishwasher from Lowes, we had the option of installing it ourselves, but knowing my schedule I decided to have them install it. The installers goofed and didn't attach the drain correctly and it was leaking. We finally figured it out today.

It dripped down into Eric's room and made a bubble in the paint

The installers were quick to respond and their insurance sent us a check for damages. Of course we took the check and spent it elsewhere... we will fix the damage as needed when we repaint.