No, I'm not done, what's his name again?

Sydney was saying her pray tonight and paused for a long time. I wasn't sure why she had paused, so after a long silence, I decided to prompt her by saying "In the name of....." to see if she would finish her prayer. She then said, "No, I'm not done, what's his name again?" Not knowing which name she was talking about, I asked her who she was talking about. She then said "I remember President Monson, and Elder Eyring, but what's the other guys name." She of course was referring to the Prophet (President Monson) and First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I told her it was "Elder Uchtdorf" and she promptly continued on with her prayer.

Happy 31st Birhday Deni

Today was Deni's 31st birthday. Very anticlimactic for her, I'm sure. Why, you ask?

1. Deni bought her own birthday present
2. Deni opened it a few weeks ago

See her early birthday post

Today was extremely busy today with church, meetings, etc however I did find time to make Deni dinner (even though it was only a spaghetti dinner).

After dinner, we went out on a walk as a family. Actually only Deni and I walked. Ryan was on his roller blades and Sydney on her scooter. As we walked, it gave us time to walk hand in hand without the kids being so close. I sure enjoy walking hand in hand with Deni.

Happy Birthday Deni. I love you.

Back from Wood Badge

I had a great opportunity to attend Wood Badge at Camp Maple Dell this last week. Even better, Deni was able to attend with me. Although we didn't see much of each other, here is a picture that was taken towards the end of the week.



I've been functioning as the Boy Scouts of America Varsity Coach for the boys that are 14 and 15 in my ward for the last couple of years and Deni was recently called as the Primary President in our Ward, which means she has the responsibility over the 11 year old Boy Scouts. We've both had leader specific training in our own areas, however a co-worker of mine had been "bugging" me to sign up for Wood Badge for sometime and I finally broke down and signed up for it and shortly thereafter, Deni signed up for the same training.

Camp Maple Dell is a Boy Scout Camp up Payson Canyon and it was beautiful this time of year. Here is a picture of the lake at Camp Maple Dell.



Wood Badge is an Adult Scout leadership training. The training aims to make better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills and by creating a bond and commitment to the Scout movement. The Training was a combination of classroom and practical outdoors-based trainings.

Going to Wood Badge was a huge sacrifice for us. Not only was it 5 days off of work + all day Saturday, but it was also the cost of the training ($160.00 per person) plus getting a full uniform (including belt, socks, activity shirts, etc. - And that ain't cheap.) Deni and I already had Shirts, however we didn't have a full uniform. We do now.

As for the training itself, they asked us to not talk much about the actual materials/lessons so that those that go will get the full experience. Wood Badge was a unique training that helped me learn new skills that I am applying to Scouting, work, and home life. We were divided into patrols where we played, lived and worked together. Deni and I were in different patrols, so we didn't see each other much, matter of fact I had to steal a kiss from her about 5 days into the training when our paths briefly crossed.

Deni getting an award during lunch.




We were also able to experience the fun and adventure of Scouting first hand (it was pretty amazing to see Bishops and Stake Leaders acting like 14 yr old boys and having fun in competitions). Throughout the whole experience, the staff set a perfect example of how a perfect pack, troop, team and crew should be run.

All in all, it was a great week and well worth the time spent.

Here are some pictures of my Patrol

Salsa day

The tomato plants. Actually these tall tomato plants aren't the actual tomatoes we used. The Roma tomato is a much smaller plant (barely in the picture to the left) with a longer beefier tomato. These tall plants are Beefmaster and Early Girls.



Deni and Sydney blanching the tomatoes to get the skin off.



Cooking the peppers on the grill



Cooking the Salsa. You boil the salsa for about 30 minutes.



Finished Product - Today we bottled 14 quarts of fresh Salsa.