Sick of being sick

I'm sick of being sick.

I spent the whole weekend sick and in bed. I wasted the whole weekend (and it was beautiful here in Utah). I finally went to an Instacare on Sunday morning as I couldn't take it anymore (and neither could Deni.) Apparently, I'm harder to be around when I'm sick (grin).

Sydney had been diagnosed with having Strep earlier this week, so when I went in with the same symptoms, the Dr didn't even test me for strep, but rather just wrote out a prescription.

I wish I could bypass all the formalities of driving 50 miles round trip, paying a $25.00 co-pay to an Instacare Dr, as well as waiting in a Pharmacy for 30 minutes to get a weeks worth of pills. It seems like it would be easier to just say I need some pills, these are my symptoms and here's the history and my money.

On a better note, I began feeling better yesterday afternoon (after I missed Stake Conference). Hmm I wonder if there is some correlation there. I still have a sore throat, but my aches are gone, which makes like a million times better.

Take your son to work day

Today I had the opportunity to bring Ryan to work with me. Novell does a great job at these kind of events. We started out in the Hard Disk Cafe (which Ryan called the Hard Drive, which made me laugh a little.) We got a light breakfast, then off to the opening event. They had the local planetarium come and do an hour long science opening show. Ryan got picked to help in one of the demonstrations, where he had to go and use a bike pump to launch 2 liter bottle into the air. He was pretty excited to have gotten picked. There were probably at least 150 people (moms/dads and kids).

After the opening show, we then went to other little demos about Astrology, Careers in the FBI, Rockets (taught by a rocket scientist), etc. They were all fun activities. Ryan enjoyed the little spiffs each class gave as we left the room. He got a jump rope, pen, stuffed animal, etc.

We got done around noon, where we stopped by the hard disk to get some free cotton candy and popcorn.

By noon, I was feeling really bad, bad enough I wanted to go home for the rest of the day. It started out with a fever and was very achy. I had planned on going out to lunch with Ryan and then keeping him at my desk for the rest of the day, but because I felt so bad, I talked him into allowing us to go home for the rest of the day.

As I drove home, we drove by his school, jokingly I asked if he wanted to go back to school. Within a few minutes of being home, he decided that he wanted to head back to school.

11 long (and happy) years

Today is my 11 year Wedding anniversary. Hard to believe I've been married for 11 years. I'm not sure how the math actually works on this, as I'm only 29 (grin) and I was 21 when I got off my mission. Just doesn't add up.

Actually it hasn't been 11 long (and happy) years. It's more like 11 quick and extremely happy years. It's amazing how fast things go.

To celebrate, we dropped the kids at my parents so we could go out to eat. I tried to take Deni to Macaroni Grill, but she refused and made me take her to Cafe Rio (a favorite of ours).

We had a great time without kids just spending time alone.

Goblin Valley Campout

This week was Spring Break for the kids. We decided that it would be fun to go camping as a family to some of the cool places I've been as a Varsity Scouts Leader over the last few years. Because most of family live within 30 minutes (except Shane) we decided to invite my parents and my two sisters and families along as well on this campout. After a few phone calls and many email exchanges, it was set, we were headed to Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah.

I've been to Goblin Valley on four different occasions with the Scouts but none of my family had ever been there.

Dad and the older cousins went down on Wednesday night. My family joined them Thursday afternoon, with Teresa and Stefanie (and families) coming down Thursday evening.

We camped outside of the State Park about 6 miles. The State Park has limited camping and is usually booked out months in advance. The only real advantage to camping in the State park is flushing toilets and running water. Dad had pulled his trailer down, plus there was a permanent Bo-john 100 feet from our campsite.

After getting settled in, Thursday afternoon we headed into Goblin Valley State Park. It's an interesting place. 1/2 mile outside the ranger station is barren unattractive desert with nothing special. However as you drive into the park and drive the 1/2 mile up to viewing area things change very quickly. As we got to the parking lot, the kids were amazed to see all the Golbins and even more amazed when we told them they could run down into the Golbins and climb on/in them.

Surprisingly enough, Ryan and Sydney are great friends and enjoy playing and having a good time together. Here's a picture I caught right before we went exploring.



Here's a picture with Sydney, Ryan and Grandpa Berger exploring the Goblins.



As you can see from the picture, these "goblins" aren't small. You could also tell from Ryan's death grip he has on myself and Deni, as he's very much afraid of heights. It took a small miracle to get my whole family to the top of this Goblin for a photo opportunity.



Sydney has no fear. I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad thing. However she didn't let anything stop her from exploring the Goblins.



The next day, Friday morning, the whole family took a hike up Little While Horse Slot Canyon. I've been up this Slot Canyon many times, but was glad I was finally able to do it with my family. We even got Grandma Berger and Kennedy (Teresa's littlest) up the canyon.

Here's a picture of Deni and I hiking part of Little Wild Horse Canyon.



My mom and dad had to leave about halfway through the hike to head back to home for a surprise birthday party, but they were able to experience at least one of the narrow parts of Little Wild Horse Canyon. Mom, Dad, Teresa, Kennedy and Sydney headed back to camp, while the rest of us headed up the slot canyon. We all had a great time hike, climbing and exploring.

I think I took over 100 pictures this weekend, however here's a few of my favorite in a slideshow.

Training Update

For the last few months I've been working out at the onsite gym at Novell. I've been at Novell for almost 8 years and never taken advantage of it until this year.

The gym is exceptional and had everything I need. I've enjoyed walking down to the gym, grabbing a clean towel, working out, showering, and throwing my dirty towel in a basket for someone else to wash and fold. On top of that, for $5 a month, they'll do my laundry. Obviously it's only my work out clothes, but hey, $5 bucks for a clean pair of socks, shirt and pants each day - that's a deal.

My usual workout is 20k bike ride then either 10k elliptical or a 5k run on the treadmill. My work out takes about 2 hours roundtrip (which includes walk-in to an from my office, working out and showering.) I don't skimp on the shower - I love long showers. I usually do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To offset my long lunch these days, I get up earlier and read/respond to my emails from home. It's nice getting to work at 8am knowing I have a clean inbox and a jumpstart on the day.

When I got to the gym today, all the bikes were full. (There are 4 upright bikes and 2 sitting down bikes.) So I decided to run first. I'm not a fan of running but thought I'd run 5k today. My goal for the Salem Triathlon is to run the 5k in 24 minutes or less. Today I ran 5k in 24 minutes and 10 seconds. Not too bad. That's just under a 8 minute mile.

After the run, I got on the bike and did 20k in just under 35 minutes. I was sweating profusely by the time I got done with both.

Utah Flash Game

Ryan got some tickets to the Utah Flash (a D-league basketball team, where D-league is a step under the NBA.) If you know anything about me, I'm not a sports fan. I don't watch football or basketball, but Ryan was excited to have gotten some free tickets through his school, so we went. The game started at 7pm. I got home at 6:30pm from my campout. I quickly showered and we were out the door. We got there a little late, however basketball games go forever, so we only missed the first quarter.

The Utah Flash play at David O McKay Events Center in Orem.

Here's a picture of Ryan. We were able to sit right behind the basketball hoop on the 4th row.



Ryan saw a friend of his that came and sat by him. His friend had a noise maker that was given out before we go there. Ryan was more interested in the noise maker than he was in the game. During half time, they invited all the kids down on the floor to do the Makaran dance. There were so many kids, he didn't quite make it on the floor, which is ok, as he really didn't know the dance, but he was excited to go and try.

This was the Utah Flash last game of the season. (They won, by the way).

The game didn't get out until about 10pm.

It was fun to go to the game with Ryan. I enjoy spending time with him. He always makes me laugh.

Angels Landing - Zion National Park

I didn't sleep that well last night for a few reasons. First, my close camping neighbors didn't adhear to the 10pm quiet rule and decided it was a good idea to play their guitar around the campfire into the wee hours of the night. These same neighbors' kids were up and yelling at 6:15am, again a designated quiet time. I also forgot to take my air mattress that goes under my sleeping bag. However I did stay warm, despite the 33 degree overnight low.

I got up around 7:45am, ate breakfast, then helped take down all of the tents. We then drove the 1/2 mile to the visitor center to catch the shuttle up to Angels Landing. We left the Visitor Center around 9:15am and got to "The Grotto" stop, which is where the Angels Landing hike starts.

This picture was taken from the Shuttle Stop at "The Grotto". Angels Landing is the top of the peak.



If you can't tell from the picture above, the 5 mile roundtrip hike has an elevation change of 1,488 feet.

Here is a picture of Walter's Wiggles. It is a series of short switchbacks that help you gain that 1.488 feet pretty quickly.



2 miles into the hike, you come to a point called Scouts Lookout. Here's our group of hikers.




Here's a view looking down from Scouts Lookout down to the valley and canyon road below.



From Scouts Lookout you continue up along a narrow spine of rock for the last half-mile, complete with chains to help you reach the summit.



There are a few points, like the picture below where you start to wonder if you should continue on. We actually climbed up the middle of this narrow spine . As you can see, there were dizzying drop-offs on both sides—nearly a 1,200 foot drop on one side, and over 800 feet down on the other.




I've heard a number of times that the Angels Landing hike is not for anyone with a fear of heights and I would have to agree after having done it, however I had a young scout with me today that was deathly afraid of heights that we were able to coerce into making the whole hike to the summit. It took us longer, however he completed it successfully.




I thought many times today that I would love to bring my family to Zion National Park to experience Angel's Landing, however I think the 5 mile roundtrip hike is a little much for my kids at their current age. 5 or 6 years from now, however, that will be a different story.

I've seen the future and it scares me

This weekend I went on a campout with the Scouts to Zion National Park. This was my very first time to Zion. We left at 3:30pm and headed south for the 4 hour drive to our destination.

Because we left so early, we stopped for dinner in Cedar City. We stopped at a KFC, but I decided to run next door to Taco Bell. I found what I wanted on the menu and ordered. The menu said my meal was $5.39 +tax, so it was a surprise to me when the teenage/college age girl which took my order announced, "That will be $4.07."

I opened my wallet to get my cash, looked up at the menu one more time and pointed out to her that the menu stated my meal was $5.39. She looked at it and said, don't worry, you'll get what you ordered. Lucky me - right? Uh... there's more. So I hand her a 5 dollar bill. She apparently typed in that I gave her the correct change (meaning she typed in $4.07) into the machine. Of course, that then told her she owed me no change, but she knew she did. At this point, I could have given her a 2nd grade math refresher, by telling her 5.00 minus 4.07 is .93, but I decided to see how this would turn out. The 2nd grade math was escaping her, so she called for the much more qualified on-duty manager to help her with the math. She said the following "I messed up. He gave me $5.00 and the order total was $4.07, how much change do I need to give him?" The "manager" (and I use that very loosely) did the math in his head (which was his first mistake) and he said "43 cents". If not sure how he came to that number, but he made it sound official, so she gave me 43 cents. I thought about correcting both of them, but I thought they've probably punished themselves enough already (as I'm sure both of them will never be able to get a better job than Taco Bell.)

My food came as promised and was well worth the $4.57 I paid for it.

After eating dinner, we continued down to Zion National Park. After paying the $25 per vehicle fee to enter the park, we entered into Zion National Park and went to our $16 a night campsites. Our group of 6 (2 leaders and 4 boys) was in charge of getting the 6 tents setup before dark. We had another car coming down after dark.

We had a beautiful view from our campsite, although the campsites were quite small and close together. There were over 150 campsites in the Watchman campground (where we stayed) and they were all full.

15 second fishing

We signed Ryan up for an Urban Fishing class, put on by the city,where they teach young boys and girls the basics of fishing. Tonight was his first class (out of 6 classes). Deni dropped him off at 6pm for the 2 hour class. Deni had a ward activity she wanted to go to, so I got to pick up Ryan at 8pm, which seems a little late for a 7 yr old.

I got a little worried that he might be cold, so Sydney and I headed off for the pond to see how Ryan was doing. We got there about 7:40pm. Ryan hadn't caught anything yet (in the 1 hr and 40 minutes.) He was happy to see me as he wanted to go off the beaten path an on the other side of the pond. There were probably 30 kids lined up all fishing within 5 feet of each other. No wonder he hadn't caught anything.

So Ryan pointed to where he wanted to go and we walked over there. We were under a tree, so I asked if I could cast the line out for him. He agreed. Not even 15 seconds after the line hitting the water, Ryan's bobber started moving. I set the hook and handed the pole to Ryan to reel in. It was fun watching him. You would have thought he was pulling in a 50 lb trophy fish. He was excited and I was excited that we was able to catch a fish. When we got the fish in, it actually was bigger than all the ones others had been catching. Ryan wanted to keep the fish, so we did. I unhooked the fish and cast out again to the same spot. Again within 15 seconds of casting, the bobber started moving again. I set the hook again and let him reel it in. This fish was smaller, so we let it go.

At that point we were out of bait and it was about 8pm, so we decided to call it a night. I wasn't prepared to bring a fish home, so I made Ryan hold it the whole way home. He gave me a play by play description of the fish wiggling and squirming all the way home.

Here is Ryan with his prize fish.




Same fish, just holding it different.



We cleaned the fish together, leaving the head on, at Ryan's request. Apparently Deni doesn't like to have the heads still on and has requested from now on that the head is taken off so when she opens the refrigerator she doesn't have fish eyes looking at her.

Sydney the triathlete

Sydney learned to ride a two wheeler last week and since then our house hasn't been the same. She wants to be outside riding her bike. This evening she asked me to go on a bike ride with her, so while I was pumping up my bike tires, she took off. Until today, she has always needed help getting started but apparently I was taking too long, so she figured out how to start by herself.

I caught up to her while she was riding the horseshoe loop around neighborhood. On my bike, I have an odometer and when I caught up to her, she was riding at 10 mph and got up to about 12 mph at her peak. The horseshoe loop is 1/5th of a mile. We rode around it 5 times and I had to convince her it was time to go get Ryan from fishing lessons, else she would have wanted to go around and around.

So we rode 1 mile together and apparently she rode 2 other miles earlier today. So there you have it, my 4 year old rode 3 miles on her bike. If a 3 year old can do it, anyone can do it.

Deni and I think Sydney is going to follow in her parents shoes and be a little triathlete. She learned to swim this year too, so maybe next year she will debut her skills as a 5 year old triathlete (in a kids tri, of course).

We got snow again, but snow doesn't stop Sydney from riding her bike.