Built a Fort/Sandbox for Caiden yesterday

Caiden had this small 5'x4' sandbox that he has out-grown. I've always had this little 6'x10' patch of dirt in the back yard that I wanted to build a fort/sandbox for Caiden and all his friends that come over. So with Alene's blessing, I got it done.

I poured the cement for the support 4'x4' posts on Thursday night:




Then I put up the beams and the floor:






Then I added the sand box and the ladder that will get you to the top:




Then I added the walls. Had to make a solid wall for the back that is on the fence-line so the kids don't toss stuff into the neighbors backyard. Also had to cut down a lot of branches that were in the way (the trees that border my property are these nasty cherry/plumb-type of trees that put out this putrid fruit that falls all over my backyard and stinks it up if I don't clean it every 5 days):








Here is the 85% finished product. Still need to add a slide on the right side and cut in the "escape hatch" that will allow them to open on the floor and climb down a rope ladder. Also have to add the roof and sand (obviously), so maybe I'm only about 70% done :) . I'll get most of that done w/in the next couple of days.





Update: Here is the finished product

Caiden has been to two Karate lessons now

He's really soaking it up and loving it. He attends the class with kids that appear to be as old as 8 or 9, but they have two instructors and one takes the kids closer to Caiden's age and the other instructor takes the older kids.

I was watching Caiden from outside (kind of hidden so he couldn't see me because I know he would get somewhat shy/self-conscious) and he was doing very well. The one thing that impressed me the most was that while the other kids that were practicing with him would flop around on the floor and goof off while the instructor was talking, or speaking to an individual kid, Caiden just stood there calmly and didn't move. His eyes constantly followed the instructor.

It was really cute seeing him learn his 8-point blocking. Once he learned it, they blind-folded him and then put a foam stick out by him as they counted out the blocks and tried to hit him with it (slowly) in the area that the block focus' on. Caiden did very good at consentrating on blocking while he was blind folded.

He really loves Karate. It's the first formal activity (besides pre-school) that he has gotten to do. I'd like to get him in soccer or T-ball this spring as well. Once he turns 9 though, he's on the football field :-).

I'm so excited for Alene

She just got a phat job promotion and raise. She's such a hard worker (both in her professional and personal life) and I'm so proud of the example she is to me in that regard.

Congratulations baby!

Saw a scene at Home Depot today that made me sad

I was in line behind a family consisting of: A "father" (I use the term father lightly because dude was nothing more than scum to me), a wife or significant other (who was very timid looking and quiet) and a little girl about 3 years old.

The "father" was standing in line and looked like a combination of a white-trash wannabe gangster. He had slicked back hair, a "Reams" tee shirt, and some huge baggy pants. He was dirty and stinky.

His little girl didn't appear to be doing anything crazy or out of the ordinary that any other little kids would do. In fact, I would say she was more behaved than 75% of other kids her age I see in stores.

As her mother and her were standing about 10' from her dad (who had a big cart of cement bags), she was just kind of singing little songs and rocking back and forth. She ran over by her dad's cart and it looked like just to be close to him, and he grabbed her by the arm. It looked like he was going to squeeze her arm right off. The little girl had tears just well up in her eyes and looked so innocent. The dad said something about her going back and standing by her mom. The mother didn't make a peep, nor did it look like she really cared.

I wanted to take that little girl and bring her home with me. I felt so sad knowing that she is going to grow up with parents like that, who likely regret even having her. I was also saddened at myself, for not having the balls enough to pipe up and do something, but I was thinking that I had no business intervening. That poor little girl didn't do anything crazy at all.

The other thing that pissed me off was how he treated the cashier, who was obviously from an African country (he spoke pretty broken english). The cashier was having problems with the customer before Mr. White-Trash/Gangster (aka WTG). He was taking a while to resolve it and Mr. Trash/Gangster was sitting back there raising his voice about how slow the cashier was. Once the cashier got to him to scan his bags of cement, he asked Mr. WTG how many bags he had. The WTG said it kind of quiet, so the cashier asked again and the WTG about ripped his head off with his 2nd response.

It made me sick to know there are people like him out there.

I'm so thankful for the life I've lived after seeing that. I don't want to come off judgemental, because I'm sure it has something to do with the way he was raised. It's just that I'm upset with this dude and the way he tries so hard to be angry. He has a beautiful daughter, whom I'm sure just wants his affection and he treats her like crap.

Anyway, that is my rant.

In honor of my 100th blog post

I'll use the space to tell my wife and son:

I LOVE YOU BOTH VERY MUCH!

Thank you both for being so good to me and for reminding me every day what is most important. I know I get out of line sometimes, but you are both there to guide me back in there. I'm so greatful to have both of you by my side in everything I do.

As a reminder of my endearing love for you both, I leave you with this picture of me:

Ate two fortune cookies after lunch today

Here is the first one:

"Visit a park, enjoy what nature has to offer."
I think I got this one a little too late, but oh well.

Here is the 2nd one:

"You are gifted in many ways"
I already knew that one :-)

Had fun yesterday

Yesterday was the actual celebration of the 24th of July. Had to work 1/2 a day yesterday though, but not a big deal.

Anyway, got home and took a dip in the pool we set up in the back yard. That water is COLD! It takes a while for the sun to really bake the stuff until it's nice water to swim in. Caiden and his friend James had fun. I like to run and do a full jump and 1/2 turn and land in side of it. I'm a little peeved though because the upper part (which holds air) of the pool liner has a leak, so it's pretty flat, but the pool still retains water pretty well. I'll need to patch that thing shortly. I hate finding leaks.

Alene's cousin's came over later on and we had a BBQ before heading over to Liberty Park for the fire works. However, during that time I started working on something I've been wanting to do forever. Build an outdoor toybox. It took me about 1/2 hour to frame it. I now have to go buy a sheet of OSB today to finish the outside on it. I love using my tools, especially my nail gun that I got from my family for my BD. I wish I had more stuff to use it with! I will soon enough (have to put on a roof next spring).

Anyway, after eating, we walked over to the Park and found a good place to see the fire works. The park is HUGE (2 blocks by 4 blocks) and they were setting the fireworks off across the street from the SE corner. We made our way through the thousands of people and found a PERFECT spot close to the corner of the street and set up. We sat for about 20 minutes and saw an amazing show. It was cool to see and feel the fireworks explode right in our faces. Just a cool feeling. Caiden enjoyed it too. I'll post some pictures to this thread later on. Got a cool picture of Caiden waving one of those glow in the dark braclets in front of his face.

Anyway, it was a good day.



Here is our lucious pool :-).



This is Caiden with a glow stick in his mouth :-)



This is Caiden waving a glow stick in front of his face.



Here are some pictures of the fireworks we saw at Liberty Park.

Had a pretty dang good weekend

It was "24th of July" here in Utah, which is a celebrated state holiday in rememberance of the day the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley.

On Saturday, Alene and I got a lot of work done around the house consisting of weeding the garden and planters, mowing the lawn, filling the truck with all the branches I cut down from my neighbors yard, and packing our bags for an over-night camping trip later that day.

We rented two NICE backpacks fromt he U of U's recreation store (or something like that) for $12.50 (total!). They were very nice. We loaded them up and met Alene's sister and the rest of her family (husband, Bill, and son Lanik). We went up Provo Canyon to a road called South Fork. We then parked our cars at a lot, which had a trail that lead up to Big Springs. We hiked up about a mile with our loaded packs (Caiden even carried my camelpack, which had all of his clothes in it) and camped at a spot across the creek, which was very private and secluded.

I absolutly LOVE the outdoors and did a lot of camping when I was younger, but not a lot since I was around 16 or 17. I love camping with Bill because I learn a ton from him about the outdoors. The dude has a memory of an Elephant too! After we set up camp, I headed out with him with water bottles to fill up. He has a small water purifier he takes with him. As we were walking, we came by this big open field and he stopped and said, "There's a spring right over here". I had no idea what he was talking about because all I saw was this big open field. We walked about 20' to the left and rest asured, there was a 3'x3' sized spring coming up out of the ground, very fresh looking. We pumped some of the most delicious water I've ever had!

The one thing that was upsetting was that there was a fire restriction in place. That is one of the greater things about camping! I understand they want to prevent fires, especially since this season has been very lush and wet, but it was still upsetting. The area we stayed in, everything was still green. It was very beautiful and I doubt would just burn up quickly. Oh well. We still broke the rules and lit a small fire anyway, but just long enough to cook our food. We brought pre-made burrito's covered in tin foil and heated them up. Not too shabby!

The next day we packed most of our stuff up (except our tents) and did a little day hike another mile up or so, to Big Springs. It was amazing and the water was so cold. It felt refreshing to dip my head inside the water.

The area itself was so over-whelming to me. As we hiked up one trail, we saw many other trails break off, or keep going in directions up giant mountain ranges that surrounded us. I was dieing to know where they went and hike up them. It amazed me at how small of an area of utah this was (just a tiny dot on a map) yet I could likely spend weeks exploring just that one area (if I had the time). Oh well. I just know that I for sure want to go back there someday. It was fun because we carried everything in on our hike and carried everything out.

The next day I ordered two things for Alene and I: 1. A Katadyn Hiker water filter; and 2. A pair of compression covers for our sleeping bags. We also got this idea from Bill and April. We had a problem getting our sleeping bags inside our packs (Bill and April were able to fit BOTH of their sleeping bags into one pack) and Bill showed us these compression sacks they have (which I'm pretty sure are common around the camping regulars). I'm definitely going to love these sacks, which will allow us to likely shrink our bags down to half their size.

Here is a picture of the trail on the way in.



Here is a picture of our campsite:



Here is a picture of the creek next to our campsite (see our tent?)



Here is a picture of the makeshift bridge that Bill made (he also made a handy little fridge in the creek to keep our drinks cold)



Here is a picture of a fern patch on the hike up to Big Springs. There are these fern patches everywhere. I've never seen so many fern plants.



Here is me, Caiden, and Alene at a lower area of Big Springs



Here is a picture of Big Springs. It's beautiful.



Here is a picture of Caiden and I with our packs, on our way back to the trail head.

I love America

I'm feeling somewhat patriotic and have to get a few things off my mind.

I'm a little peeved at the attitude toward America by both American's and non-American's. I believe in America. I believe in the system that was set up. I know that there are very corrupt politicians, but being the eternal optimist I am, I believe that there are also politicians that are good and just and doing what they feel is right.

I hate politics though. At least, I hate getting involved in them. To me, it seems there is no end to the arguing that could go on taking one side or the other. My main POV: Is it a good and just thing to do? Is the person I'm voting for of good character, someone that represents how I feel, or at least close to it? I do my best to research a little about my leaders, but sometimes I prove to be wrong.

I don't feel I'm in any position to judge our current leder, Mr. Bush. I have no idea if he is corrupt, or if they are just slams that try to bring him down, much like others tried their best to bring Bill Clinton down. I think both men are good people that sincerely try their hardest to do what they feel is right for the country.

I'm really fed up with politics though. It's so hard keeping up with all the arguments.

Back to my point: I love America. I know that there are shaky issues in which this nation was formed (taking away land from the natives, corrupt "founding fathers", slavery being the basis for getting the country going, etc.) but I still believe that America is a great nation that has many great things to offer the world.

We spend a lot of money helping other countries out. Some of it is for our advantage (so what) and some of it is just to help. I wish we could do everything, but we can't.

I believe in our Capitalist sytem too. I believe in every person working hard for what they want. I belive that with Capitalism, there are no limits to what you can accomplish, even if you are considered a low-end statistic; PROVE THE STATISTIC MAKERS WRONG! I hate big brother government control. I do believe that our sick and disabled should have some sort of care. I believe that our homeless and children should have some sort of care. I believe that there are opportunities for everyone to get out of the rutt. I believe there are ways of picking someone up off the ground, dusting them off, and sending them on their way. It's not impossible, but I believe that our government argues so freaking much, that the system allows for lazy people to take advantage of it. I'd like to think this system could be fixed, but I doubt it.

But still I believe. I'm very proud of our involvement in the World Wars and the contributions we made in over-coming tyranny. I'm proud of the sacrifices every soldier signs up to make. It makes me so sick to see people that live here, not support them or even show anger toward them. I think these people have issues.

But still, I believe in America. There is no other place I'd want to live. We provide so much for the world, whether it be in trade, or in opportunity. I'm peeved at how many in the world look at us as corrupt, while in their daily lives they are likely positively affected by things that America produces.

We are a world power and that is the bottom line. That statement has nothing to do with our "right as a world power", but more with what we've accomplished in so little time. My thinking is that any non-American's that hate America are likely just jealous. I know we have shady deals we've done, but put on a scale of the good vs. the evil we've been involved with, and I know the positive would out-weigh the negative.

I do believe in world harmony. I hate war, I hate killing, I hate corruption, I hate hate. I wish we could all just get along. I don't have the answers to all those issues either, just a thought in my mind at how nice it would be.

Still, I love America and the chances of competition to be the best that I can be, depending on how much effort I put into it.

I've heard some dudes make statements on how the world needs anarchy. WOW! That is scary. In the same breath, I've heard them mention that nothing will really get done in America unless we have an absolute dictator. WOW! again. Scary to think that people think that stuff will work.

I love America. I'm proud to be an American. I hope that my actions toward others that are non-American are in good light of what every American should be. I try to be a good person and I guess that is the best I can do.

I say God Bless the USA. I've recently seen a bumper sticker that has that saying with the "USA" crossed out and the word "WORLD" put in. I understand that context, but to a degree. I'm proud of my country, which is a place I have more control over than I would in the world. My country has offered me many great opportunities. My country directly affects my life and those I associate with first. Of course I want the world to be blessed, but I have no issues with asking for a special blessing on my own country. I know darn well people in other countries are just as nationalistic as we can be and I don't see others complaining about them.

I love America.

Had to be up at girl's camp from 6am to 6pm today

That sucked (somewhat).

On Sunday our Bishop asked if two of the men in the ward could spend the day up at a girl's church camp where a few of the girls in our ward were going to be at. Me and another dude (new dude in the ward) volunteered.

Had to get up at 4:30am. That sucked. Throw in the fact that on my way up, I cracked my window on the freeway to blow the dust off my lemon filled jelly donut, and my directions/map flew out the window. I pulled over to find it and it was likely on it's way to CA somewhere. I still had a faint memory of where to go.

It was pretty far up there and a really pretty drive up. Above the town of Marion, which is situated between Kamas and Oakley. Really pretty area and a nice camp site. Got there a little late (because of the map fiasco) but everyone was cool.

Basically just hung around all day. I got to know this new guy (Kurt) who is really cool and told me about this dope program for teachers and police officers.

His wife is a teacher and has been teaching for 6 years. He said two years ago when they got married, they bought a house that was worth around 100k, for 50k. The state payed the other 50k for them. He said there are no strings attached or anything, just that you have to either be a teacher or a law enforcement officer. In addition, the house has to be a HUD home. So there are a few stipulations, but buying a HUD home isn't THAT bad. Consider the fact that you only need to be in the house for 3 years before you sell it, and it's a nice deal. If you sell it w/in 3 years, you have to pay a pro-rated amount back.

Still, I'm a little more at ease at some options I may have as a poor teacher. At least I can look forward to having an opportunity to have a low house payment.

So I basically spent the day reading, writing down some FB stuff for my up-coming season, napping on a 12" wide bench, and more reading.

I've been taking my investing a little more serious. I upped my 401k contribution to 6% (because my company only matches up to 6% of what I put in, at 20% of that) and I made some changes to the funds and the allocations (sold some funds completely, distributed among others, and found the next day that because of those changes I made, I had an extra $100 in my account, so I was stoked). In addition, I'm putting 2% of my paycheck into the Stock Purchase plan. After a year, I get to buy stock based on the average price, which will likely get me some good loot. My companies stock trippled over the past year (was around $12 a share, now at $37). These are small amounts I won't miss, but will always be there when I need them.

Soooooo, the last 3 hours was a killer, waiting for 6pm to get there. The leaders there were nice and always talked about how gracious they were that we were there (we were there to assist if anyone got hurt, or needed a blessing, or a ride home) and they fed us. Not too bad of a deal. It was really pretty up there too!

On the drive in, there is this really freaky looking cabin that's being torn down. The freakier part is another cabin kind of built out of the hill-side that has a grass roof (you can't see it in the pictures, but you can see it from above as you are coming down the mountain). The places is plastered with no trespassing signs. I just took time to take a few snap shot's was all.


Here is a picture of the cabin being demolished (no one was there doing it at the time)


Here is a picture of that cabin up above (very spooky looking and it didn't seem to have any kind of a road going up to it?)


Here is a view of the town of Marion from the demolished cabin.

Over-all, it was a good day. Got some stuff done (oh yeah, got all my "thank you" cards filled out from my wedding), and got to relax (as best I could).

I was a little troubled when I picked up caiden to find that he threw a pretty big fit with his grandma and kicked her. Her husband (caiden's "step grandpa" spanked him, which I was glad he did. Caiden's mother doesn't believe in spankings, I do :). I gave Caiden a stern talk on the way home. He started to cry, so I know he felt bad. I then gave him a hug and told him that I hated what he did, but I don't hate him. I told him he is a good kid and he will grow up to be a Super Hero (it's his goal in life right now). I love my son, but it's so sad seeing him struggle at times. I hate diciplining him, but I won't hesitate to do it for his own good.

Here is one picture I took of him the other night when he was sleeping. I thought it was cute how he was positioned with his hand on his head, as though he was posing.




I'm tired now. I'm going to bed!