We bought Ryan a Dionaea muscipula

When I got home the other day, Ryan could barely wait to tell me about the plant he wanted to buy from the store. Ryan was so excited, he could barely talk complete sentences.

He finally calmed down and told me about the Venus Fly trap that he wanted. I asked him how much it was and he told me $2.00. Deni had told him he needed to talk to me to see if he could get it.

It just so happens that Ryan had just made $2.00 by watering the neighbors flowers while they were out of town. However I reminded him that he needed to pay his tithing first, which would be 20 cents of the $2.00, which means he would only have $1.80 left. However, I told him that if he was good and payed his tithing first, then Mom and Dad could make up the difference and help him get the Venus Fly trap.

Sunday came and I helped him pay his tithing by filling out a donation slip and he promptly gave it to the Bishopric. I figured it was time to have a FHE that discussed tithing and then for us to go on a little field trip to get his plant.

And that is what we did. We read a few scriptures about paying tithing and its blessings and then we went on a field trip. We started driving towards downtown Spansih Fork and Ryan kept attempting to guess where we were going. It was driving him crazy. As we pulled into the Macey's parking lot, he knew what we were up to and guessed we were going to get him the Venus Fly trap.

We walked into Macey's and went back to where the Venus Fly traps were, however they were gone. The first thing that popped into my head as "great, I just had this lesson on tithing and if you pay your tithing, you will be blessed and the dang plant isn't here anymore." Luckily, the plants had been moved and we found them.

We got 2 plants ($1.99 each) and headed off to pay for them. When we got them home, Ryan wanted to immediately feed them.I have to admit, it is fun to watch them. We stunned a fly and dropped it into the plant last night and it immediately closed on the fly. The fly tried to get out, however it couldn't.

Venus Flytrap Background

Although the Venus Flytrap has captivated people across the world, the plants actually grow in an incredibly small geographic area. In the wild, they are found in a 700-mile region along the coast of North and South Carolina. Within this area, the plants are further limited to living in humid, wet and sunny bogs and wetland areas.

Training Update

Well it's been almost a month since I agreed to do the Yuba Triathlon. Since that time I've been swimming many times, running twice (I'm still not getting into running yet) and my most recent event, I bought a road bike for me for me to ride and train on. I bought a Trek Pilot 2.1 S.P.A. from MadDog Cycles. My bike is almost exactly the same as Deni's with a few tweaks.

Since buying my bike, I rode to and from work (about 25 miles round trip.) The ride to work wasn't too bad for my first "long" ride. Work is only 11.6 miles away, however I wanted to see what my time for 12.4 miles would be (20k) so I rode past my work till I hit 12.4 miles. My first measured 12.4 mile bike ride was 38 minutes even. On the way home, I road the same route home and it took me 41 minutes and 10 seconds. On the way home, there are a few more uphills that slowed me down, but all in all, I was pretty happy I was able to do what I did.

On my swimming, I have come to the conclusion I like swimming distances in a pool rather than an open body of water. You would think swimming is swimming, however there is quite a difference. Swimming in a pool, you can see the bottom of the pool, see the nice lines to follow and you can stop every 50 meters if needed to hold on to the side. You can't do that in open water, unless you have a canoe. I've been swimming in the Spanish Fork Reserviour and Salem Pond. Both are really odd, as you can see down about 2 feet, then a greenish-blueish abyss beneath. It's a little wierd feeling. So wierd that at one point, I closed my eyes each time my head went down into the water. I would open my eyes when I took a breath, and close them again whenI put my head in the water.

My last swim in the pool was Thursday July 6th. I was able to swim 300 meters on my front without stopping. When I did stop, I stopped for 30 seconds and then continued on and instead of stopping, I would swim on my back for 50 meters to catch my breath. Deni always swims on her front, never having to stop or do the backstroke when she races. I've come to the conclusion that we are either swim differently or my upperbody is way out of shape. Each time I get done with my 1/2 mile swim, my upperbody is tired, whereas Deni's is not.

I've got 2 months from today to be ready for the Triathlon. I've got to be a little more dedicated in my training. I plan on riding 2-3 times a week to work (75-100 miles a week), with little workouts on the bike here and there. I need to get on a scheudle for running too. We try to swim about 2 times a week, which is going well and I'm happy with my progress for now.

4th of July

I worked as usual. There's something about getting paid double time for working a holiday. Holiday's at Novell are usually quiet. That was the case today and I got alot of work done, which was nice. It's amazing how much work you can get done when your phone doesn't ring, I don't sign into Instant Message, or I have alot of emails I have to answer.

As usual, the Provo parade started out with a few milatary jets buzz University Ave, which means they fly right over Novell. Each year I work, I hear the rumble of jets coming, then they fly over Novell on their way up University Ave and the parade route.

Since I worked today, I decided I would take Thursday and Friday off and spend it with the family.

After work, we had 2 families from our neighborhood come over for dinner. We grilled hamburgers and visited. After everyone left, we rode our bikes around and watched people set their fireworks off.

I was amazed at how many illegal fireworks were set off in our neighborhood.

Fast Sunday...

We fasted for my dad today. He's been having chest pains again after doing minor things like walking upstairs, etc. That's not a good sign for someone that has had open heart surgery and multiple stints put in.

He's got a Dr's appointment coming up to see what is going on.

Luke and Misty went to church with us today, ate some lunch with us and then headed on the rest of their journey to visit other family and friends. It was good to have them here and to catch up with them. It's amazing how different we all ended up with careers, etc.

BYU Freshman Friends reunion

We had a get together of the BYU Freshman Friends at our house today. Luke and Misty Meldrum were up from Texas, so we thought it would be a good excuse to get all of us together again.

Ben Williams, Steve Ostermiller, Luke Meldrum, myself, Emily Lamphere, and Brent Anderson (and all their spouses) came. It's amazing how big this group is getting. Ben W has 4 kids now, Steve-0 has 3, we have 2, Emily L has one, Brent and kerstin are Pregnant and Luke and Misty are in the process of adopting.

It was fun as always to get together, catch up a little bit on what is going on in everyone's lifes.

After we ate, we set off some fireworks and sparklers in front of the house.

Luke and Misty stayed the night with us too.

Looks like I'll be a triathelete soon

Deni has been begging me to train with her to do a triathlon. After a year of her asking, I finally gave in and said maybe. Well not to long after that, I was signed up for the Yuba Triathlon on Sept 9, 2006. I guess that means I better start training for it.

On Monday night, Deni and I went to the Orem Community pool to start the official training. Deni printed out a 11 week training guide for me that said I needed to swim 200 meters. (800 meters is 1/2 mile, and the distance you have to swim in the Triathlon.). I don't think I have ever swam a 1/2 mile in my life, but I was able to do it. Of course, I stopped a quite a few times, but I was able to eventually able to get the 1/2 mile in.

Then tonight, Deni took me running. She said we could run a 1 mile, however when we got about 1/2 mile into the run, I wasn't sure if I could go much further, however I wasn't about to let Deni show me up, so instead of saying, lets head back, I said, "let's keep going". Not sure what I was thinking other than I wasn't going to wuss out infront of my wife. So we ended up running 2 miles without stopping. Just like I wanted to stop, so did Deni but she didn't want to tell me. Deni's knee was hurting her but she wasn't about to tell me and ask me to walk with her, so she ran the most of the way with her knee hurting.

So my training starts.

T-ball for Ryan

Deni signed Ryan up for T-ball this year. When I was 10 or so, I played Baseball and really disliked it, however Deni grew up playing softball and really wanted Ryan to try out T-ball.

Check out this sprint home. He's not even touching the ground!



With Ryan's age group, they had one practice, got their team shirts and hats and a schedule for the bi-weekly games (no more practices). Ryan is on the Silverhawks. He seemed to favor his left hand for batting, so he is officially a left handed batter. His bi-weekly games are for 50 minutes. No score is kept, no one can really get out, and all the kids are allowed to bat till the everyone has batted, then they switch. This continues on till the 50 minute time limit has run out.

Tonight was Ryan's first game. He was so excited. He did lots of jumping in place and other movements that constitute the excitement of a 5 yr old.

Here are a few pictures of Ryan batting.





He was fun to watch. He was more concerned about the birds or airplanes overhead than he was witht he ball, but it was fun to watch him and share in his excitement.

Ryan Graduates Kindergarten

Today was Ryan's official last day of Kindergarten. All the Kindergarten classes got together and had a 30-45 minute presentation of songs they had learned. I took off work for an hour to come see the presentation. Grandma and Grandpa Berger came too. It was fun to see him up on the stage with his class.

After the "graduation" Deni thought it would be appropriate to take Ryan out to lunch. We went to Carl's Jr, Ryan's Favorite.

Next year Ryan will be in 1st grade. They just built a brand new elementary school close to our house that Ryan will be attending. They just finished it about 2 weeks ago. Because of the school change, Ryan will be losing some of the friends he made in Kindergarten this year, but I'm sure he will make new friends within minutes.

Shew fly, Don't bother me.

At dinner this evening there was a fly bothering us at the kitchen table. It was bothering Sydney more than anyone and she was starting to get angry. I finally said to her, "Sydney, say Shew fly, don't bother me." She waited a second and then said, "Don't bother me, Shoefly."

6yrs with Novell

As I got into work this morning, I have the following email in my inbox.

Dear Brett,

Congratulations on your 6 year anniversary with Novell! We would like to take this opportunity to recognize your contributions since your service date of May 1, 2000

Sincerely,

The team at Novell

It doesn't feel like I have been at Novell for that long, but Deni was pregnant with Ryan when I started and Ryan is almost 6. Time flies.