It finally happened.. our lives will never be the same

This morning Deni and Ryan had a dentist appointment so I met them at the Dentist office and brought Sydney to work with me while they were getting their teeth cleaned. At Novell, it is shutdown week, which means that 95% of the company is not here, mainly a skeleton support crew, which I'm apart of this year. So bringing Sydney into the office for an hour wasn't a big deal. We took a walk to get Sydney a drink. We got her some hot chocolate (choco). We sat in the breezeway for about 15 minutes while she drank her choco. Sydney is a funny little girl. She would hear people going up and down the stairs. She said "Oh - Mommy!" I would say, "No mommy is at the dentist" Her next response was "Oh - Santa!" Ha.

Sadly enough, at the ripe old age of 29 months, tonight Sydney finally figured out she could get out of her crib. When we were putting the kids down for bed, Deni put Sydney in her crib then went upstairs to get something. When Deni came down, to her surprise, Sydney was no where to be found. Deni came and asked me if I had gotten Sydney out of her crib and when I said no, we both realized our lives have changed forever. We no longer have a way to contain Sydney at night.

After we got the kids down for bed, Deni and I went on a date. Ok we just watched a movie in the basement, but we told Ryan we were going on a date. It was fun to watch a movie together without the kids and laugh.

Favorite pictures 2005

While getting a few pictures together for our Christmas letter, I decided that these were my current favorite pictures. Of course, I used all 4 of them in my Christmas letter. Makes sense- right?

Thanks for the money...

Techincally today and tomorrow are paid holidays for me, but I decided that I would work them to make some extra money. I went into work about 8am and stayed till about 1:30pm at which time I went home for lunch. Since my job is to answer the phone when it rings, I can have all my work transfered to my cell phone, which I did for the remainder of the day. I didn't get a single call all day, but did get caught up on a few personal things while I was waiting.

We dropped the kids off at my parents about 3pm and when shopping trying to find good after Christmas deals. Deni got a few things at Old Navy. I went to Gart's Sports and finally bought the jacket I have been wanting for some time. The North Face Denali fleece jacket. I got the black on black jacket. It is the inner liner that can be zipped into most of North Face Jackets. I bought it with my Christmas money. Unfortunalty, the Denali was the ONLY North Face Jacket that wasn't 25% off. I have never seen that jacket on sale.

It is a very nice jacket.

the other side of the camera

Well Santa did find us.

Ryan woke up about 7:45 and we had to wake Sydney about 8am.

I tried to be like my dad and make the kids run from my bedroom to the front room, while I captured it on film. Growing up, we always had to wait for dad to wake up and get his contacts in. It seemed like an eternity most of the time. Then dad would go downstairs and get his camera. Since he could see what "Santa" brought us, he would tease us and say "oh - I'm not sure Santa has been here yet" or "You must have been naughty this year because Santa didn't leave you anything" Once dad was set with his camera equipment and we were all standing at the top of the stairs, he would say, "Alright come on down" and we would run down the stairs towards the front room.



It's a lot different being on the other side of the camera. It's also fun to see my kids running to see what Santa brought them. I'm sure my Dad enjoyed this as well when we were growing up, which is why he teased us every Christmas and captured it each year on film.

Ryan got legos and a batman. Along with a leappad to help him increase his writing of letters and numbers.

Sydney got everything princess this year. She got a Cinderella dress, shoes, wand, etc. Along with a newborn Cabbage Patch Doll and a full size Cabbage Patch Doll. She is a cute little girl. I'm a little concerned she is 2 going on 16.



Deni surprised me with a Better Than Ezra DVD I have wanted for some time, along with a BTE CD. Deni and I agreed that we would surprise each other with a gift, but we would mainly have money to spend after Christmas. Deni did a good job, but I bombed as usual on Deni's surprise gift. At least she has some cash to make it better. I told Deni that she is good at this surprise stuff, so next year she can buy me a surprise and her a surprise so I don't mess it up.

We had church at 1pm. When we pulled up at 12:45, there were 3 cars in the WHOLE parking lot. It concerned me that no one was coming to church. But went in and helped get the sacrament ready. People came in slowly and there was about 75% attendance from normal. We basically sang songs the whole hour, which was nice. It was like a song fast and testimony meeting, people would walk up and explain what song we were going to sing and why they liked it. A good way to spend church on Christmas day.

Rudolf the red nosed......

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents this year. Everyone was there except for Shane. We had lunch and spent time as a family. When we were leaving, Ryan was so excited about Christmas he found my headlight and decided to be Rudolf. Ryan has quite an imagination, as you can see.



As I put Ryan to bed tonight, he said "Santa is going to be here in 10 seconds". I said "well you better get in bed then." Ryan then said "Dad, I"m going to dream about sugar plums dancing in my head."

It looks like Santa will find us tonight. Matter of fact, I think he has already come and is done putting out all the presents.

Here is the note Ryan left Santa. Thought it was cute.

Ice fishing Scofield

We all slept at my parents house last night so we could wake up early and go ice fishing. My mom agreed to watch Sydney, so Deni, Ryan and I went ice fishing. We left around 6am and headed towards Scofield, which is about an hour away from Spanish Fork up Highway 6. As we were driving up highway 6 we hit quite a bit of black ice not even 5 minutes later we saw a small truck that had slid off the road. Others had stopped to help them, so we continued on. We missed the turn off to Scofield. Actually the truck would not stop, so we slid past it. Made a U turn and we were on our way. When we got to the Scofield Dam, a punk kid had lost control of his car and ran into the barrier by the dam. We stopped and pulled him off, as his car was stuck on the barrier. He had quite the fowl mouth. We offered our cell phone for him to call someone. I told him he would have to dial 801, as it was long distance. I had forgotten that down here the area code was 435. So he dialed a few times and couldn't get through. He mention 435 being the area code, then he asked me if he had to dial 801 then 435. I thought that was odd, but told him to then dial 435 then the phone number. Afterwards dad told me he smelt alcohol on his breathe, which make more sense now. He finally got through to his Grandmother. The first thing he said was "Grandma, I didn't wreck the car, ok well I did wreck the car but it isn't that bad" I've never heard so many 4 letter words in a single sentence (and he was talking to his Grandma).

After about 30-45 minutes helping him, we finally got on the road to fish. We got to the place and headed out on the ice. Dad had purchased a new power ice auger, which makes a huge difference. We went about 50 yards off bank and drilled a few holes. Within a few minutes, Deni had caught the first fish. It was a little 6 inch trout. We stayed there for a few more minutes and since nothing was biting, Dad and I ran off with the ice auger and his fish finder to find a better place. We all moved over towards the island in Scofield lake, but still had no luck there.




Deni had to go to the bathroom, so she took the snowmobile. Before she left, I made sure she could start it on her own, which she did. She was gone for about 30 minutes, so Ryan and I took the other snowmobile and went looking for her. We drove over to the truck, but didn't see her, so came back. Another 30 minutes went by, still no Deni. Just when I was going to go look for her, I looked back towards the truck and saw her about 50 feet away, she couldn't get the snowmobile started and decided to walk. We clocked it when we went back, to see how far she had walked. It was a mile, which in snowboots and walking on ice with 2 inches of snow on top, isn't easy and probably felt like 5 miles.

Since the fish weren't biting, I decided to play in the ice. I fist pushed the snow away from the hole we had drilled and notice the ice was very clear and it looked like a black hole. I laid down and put my face in the ice hole and noticed the water was very clear as well and I could actually see the bottom of the lake. We were about 12 feet of water.

Since the ice was so clear, I decided to put my hand in the water and touch the bottom of the ice. The ice was about 8 inches thick and the water was a chilly 42 degrees. For the time it took me to get a picture of my hand in the water, my hand and arm were numb.



At about 1pm we decided to call it a day and head back. Despite not catching any fish, it was fun to be out on the ice with Deni and Ryan and try. I tried to get Ryan to tell everyone that I caught the only fish and everyone else got skunked, but he wanted to be honest and tell everyone that Deni was the only one to catch a fish.

By authority invested in me

Tonight I attended my nephew, Devin Ellis', Eagle Court of Honor and got to participate. Here is what I got to say. The bold stuff is what I liked to say.

Being duly authorized by the Boy Scouts of America, I challenge you to accept the following charge. Raise your right hand to the square and make the scout sign. Repeat the charge after me:

As an Eagle Scout I pledge throughout my life to follow the Scout Oath, the Scout law, to constantly look for ways to serve others and to honor my Priesthood covenants.

I reaffirm my allegiance to the God-given Constitution that has made America great.

On my honor I will do my best to assist other Scouts who are climbing the trail to Eagle, and to make my training, my example, my rank, and my influence count strongly in my family, my troop and team, my quorum, my community, and my country. To this I pledge my sacred honor.

”Two”

Scout Devin Ellis, by authority invested in me by the Utah National Parks Council, Boy Scouts of America, I pronounce you an Eagle Scout, with all the honor, privilege, and responsibility you have accepted, that goes with this prestigious recognition.

Devin, Please be seated in the Eagle’s Nest"

My eyes are dark

This morning I was laying in bed and Sydney came running into the room saying "hide, hide" meaning she wanted to hide under the covers with me. So she jumped up in bed and we pulled the covers over our heads. She immediately said, "Oh my eyes are dark" I thought it was funny so I mentioned it to Deni. Deni says she started saying that a few days ago when things got dark.

On a side note, one of the neighbor girls was trying to make some money to buy Christmas gifts and put a flyer on our door that she was going to do babysitting on Saturday from 11 to 1, feed the kids and have crafts for them to do. All for $1.50 a child. Usually a babysitter charges $1.50 an hr per kid. It was a deal. So even though we are really done with our shopping for the kids, we took the kids over and had a couple of hours alone. We ended up going looking for some useful stocking stuffers. After about 2.5 hrs we finally got some flashlight/headlamps for the kids (and Deni, since she didn't have one).

After dinner, we drove out to the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork. Basically they turn the Spanish Fork Golf course into a money making display of lights. At $5 a car, they are doing quite well. While we were driving through, I counted at least 100 cars and we were only there for about 20 minutes. I figured they can get about 200 cars a hour. It is open for 4 hrs, so that is about $4,000 a night. Not bad for a few lights at a gold course that can't be used during the winter.

Once a year...

Deni asked me to help out at the Nursery while she was at Enrichment tonight. The lady that asked if I could help out said that you are only asked to do it once a year and if they call you before it has been a year, tell them to call someone else (so others get their fair share.)

So I went. Armed with a few christmas movies. There were 18 kids and no treats, For 2+ hrs. Luckily I had one other man there to help out but it was a learning experience.

I now know why they only ask you once a year. If it was any sooner, you would probably remember and tell them NO.

I am thankful for my kids. For the most part, they are very well behaved kids. They were angels compared 90% of the kids I was watching.

I love minimum wage workers

I got home tonight and Deni mentioned she wanted to go shopping for some clothes for the kids. Mervyns had a 50% off sale and we had four $10 cards from black friday, which could be used for every $20 spent. (spend $20 and get $10 off)

We got to Mervyns, picked out 2 pair of Levi's for Ryan. Our total was $30.00. Since our cards were "spend $20 bucks get $10 off", it made sence to get to at least get to $40.00, so that we could use two of our $10 cards to get $20 bucks off. We got some more things and ended up close to $60 bucks, so we could now use 3 of our $10 cards and get $30. Deni checked out and the total came to $65.00. I said, oh, we should spend $15 dollars more, so we can get an additional $10.00. The lady had already charged Deni's card, so she said, well I could return it all and do it again. I said, ok well I'll go get another $15 worth of clothes, so we could get $10 off. Then the lady said, you don't have to do that. I'll just return it and then use all four of your $10 off cards. Both Deni and I scratched our heads and mentioned it didn't sound right, however she continued to take another $10 off without us buying anything more. So our $65 bill went down to $23 dollars.

You have to love minimum wage workers.