Memorial Day

Deni and I started out the day at 6:30am helping with the YM/YW Flag fund raiser that we did this year. We put out about 25 flags around the neighborhood. We got done about 7:00am. When we got home, we got our bikes and equipment loaded into the van ready for our bike and swim later in the day. At 8am we went to the ward pancake breakfast as a family. Finally about 9am we headed to Salem Pond to have one last training before our big even on June 2nd.

Deni went first. She swam the 1/2 mile swim, then road the 12 mile bike route. After she was done, it was my turn.

It was nice to actually have a holiday and not work. In the past, I've always volunteered to work on holidays as the extra money is always nice, however it was fun to just be at home and have a short week of work.

I built a little grow box today that we planted two different pumpkins in it. I asked Ryan and Sydney to select which pumpkin they wanted and I asked them to come up with a name for their plants. Ryan named his "Ghostrider" and Sydney named hers "Jackie".

Lunch at the MTC

Today we went as a family to the MTC in Provo to have lunch and attend sacrament with my parents. For the last year or so my dad has been serving as a Branch President over a Japanese Branch in the MTC. My parents have taken most, if not all of the grandkids, so they can experience the MTC, however Sydney hadn't gotten a chance yet. So we decided to take the whole family when it was Sydney's turn.

We got there about 12:30 and after getting our big visitor stickers we headed right for the cafeteria. The food is much like, if not exactly the same as the BYU dorms, but it wasn't about the food, it was about going to the MTC as a family and seeing literally over a thousand Young Men and Young Women all preparing to serve all over the world. Lunch was fun. The kids enjoyed the Ice Cream bar they had there.

After lunch, we had a little time before church started, so we took a little walking tour of the MTC and got a few pictures. Here is the whole family in front of a new missionary statue behind the MTC.

This is a classic MTC picture and I'm sure I have one with my Missionary companions 13 years ago.

We continued on our tour and walked up to the Provo Temple.

Here is Sydney in front of the Provo Temple's new fountain.

Here is Ryan in front of the Provo Temple's new fountain.

Half of church was in Japanese, which was odd to sit and hear, but we had a great time attending sacrament meeting at the MTC.

Sydney -Kiss the Girl dance recital

Tonight was Sydney's first dance recital. She has been taking dance for the last few months. She has really enjoyed it. Tonight's recital was a Disney Theme.

This was Sydney's first dance of the night and is to "Kiss the Girl" from Little Mermaid.


Sydney is very cute and quite a good little dancer.

Ryan's Underdog

The kids love to swing at the Park. They always want an underdog.

Underdog, the term describing a push on a swing where the person pushing runs underneath the person on the swing while pushing, resulting in a very high swing. The pusher often recites "Underdog, Underdog, Underdog", while pushing. Very popular with primary school children.

Although the kids don't chant "Underdog, Underdog, Underdog", they do squeal pretty loud.

Sydney's Underdog

The kids love to swing at the Park. They always want an underdog.

Underdog, the term describing a push on a swing where the person pushing runs underneath the person on the swing while pushing, resulting in a very high swing. The pusher often recites "Underdog, Underdog, Underdog", while pushing. Very popular with primary school children.

Although the kids don't chant "Underdog, Underdog, Underdog", they do squeal pretty loud.

Swimming Salem Pond

Tonight was the first time this year that Deni and I swam in open water. I've been swimming 2 to 3 times a week at an indoor swimming pool, but swimming in the open water is very different from swimming in the pool. For example, the water in the Pond is fairly clean, however when you are swimming in a pool you have a nice black line to follow. All you can see when swimming in the pond is green nothingness. It is a little eerie.


We went out to Salem Pond (Salem, Ut) got our wet suits on and swam the 1/2 mile swim. The water was cold. Deni can put her face in cold water a lot easier than I can. I started out the swim doing the sidestroke until I could keep my face in the water and swim freestyle.
Brett swimming:

My parents came out to Salem Pond to watch the kids while we swam. Ryan and Sydney were at the sandy beach to cheer us on as we got out of the water. While they were waiting they were playing in the sand and wading in the cold water.

After I got out, Sydney took my swim goggles and was acting silly.

Deni swimming:

After we got home, we both smelled like stinky pond water.

Swimming Results

I finally took Deni's watch to the swimming pool to measure my performance. I was able to complete a 1/2 mile swim in 13 minutes and 30 seconds.

	Total time (min)	Lap Time (secs)
Lap 1	41	41.34
Lap 2	1.27	45.76
Lap 3	2.14	46.99
Lap 4	3.03	49.07
Lap 5	3.54	51.2
Lap 6	4.5	56.24
Lap 7	5.41	50.79
Lap 8	6.32	51.28
Lap 9	7.26	53.81
Lap 10	8.19	53.5
Lap 11	9.11	51.78
Lap 12	10.05	53.26
Lap 13	10.57	52.86
Lap 14	11.48	50.25
Lap 15	12.39	51.23
Lap 16	13.3	51.13	½ mile
Lap 17	14.2	50.41
Lap 18	15.06	45.42

After 3 years of Vonage....

I signed up with Vonage in July 5, 2004. After almost 3 years of good service, it was time to move on to something cheaper. In the beginning we were paying a flat fee of $24.99 and no taxes. Over the last few years they have so graciously passed on taxes, etc to us, until we were paying just over $30.00 for our whole phone bill. It is much cheaper than a land line through Qwest, however it continued to go up, so I started looking for a cheaper alternative.

I found Sunrocket, which is another VOIP (Voice over IP) service like Vonage. But it was $210.00 ($17.50 a month) for a year for local and long distance. At that price, I almost cut my phone bill in half. However, I signed up under a promotion and actually got 2 years for $210.00. That is just under $9.00 a month. Not a bad deal.

Sydney Vs Shannon - Wii Boxing

We had Shannon over for Dinner tonight and she took on Sydney in Nintendo Wii Boxing. See the results below:

Backyard #2

I finally got the new front flower bed weeded and ready for Bark Mulch. We moved this tree here last year. I also transplanted two Russian Sage here. Last year they struggled but now are doing well.

I also finished up the side yard, so it is really for weed fabric to be put down and then fist sized rocks.

I also have a pretty good start on my new retaining wall. We dug down about 24 inches to make a place for the trampoline and some grow boxes. I bought these brick last year, but never got around to starting this project. Dad helped me get this far.

This is the view from our house of the new retaining wall.