Since we have been married we have only missed one trip up to Idaho for Christmas. It was the year Tyli was born the day after Christmas. Traditionally we take of the next day (around 3:00 AM in the morning) and get to Grandma and Grandpa Ruth's house around 6:00 PM. This year was no exception. The hardest part about leaving this year was getting the kids to go to sleep. The forecast was clear all the way up the Idaho. This wasn't quite the case. At Kanab we drove through fog and then we hit a few little snow flurries. We were going to make it in record time until we had to exit the freeway and take a detour. Because of previous accidents that day I-15 was closed for 6 miles. It took us over three hours to travel these 6 miles of detour. We were so lucky that our kids were being super good. I was probably the grumpiest of everybody. Malad pass was a little nasty but it is always a little bit nasty no surprises there.


Our kids have been so excited to go play in the snow. It didn't take long for them to get their clothes on and freeze to death. Tyli lasted about 6 minutes until she pulled her gloves off and then it was time for her to go in. This is how she prefers to play in the snow now.







These pictures were taken before it really started to snow. The green utility box can no longer be seen as it is covered. I really am surprised how long Dallin and McKade stay out there. I know there feet have to be freezing off.They are both having a great time in the snow. Jami has even gotten into shoveling snow. Where she is shoveling in the picture is now an almost 6 foot tall sledding mountain I shoveled for the kids to play on.I always looked forward to going to Prescott to play in the snow. I only remember 2 or 3 times where there was really a lot of snow to play on. It is a lot of fun for the kids. when Jami is talking in the video it is really starting to blow hard outside.

Dallin was able to participate in his first school program. Each kindergarden class was able to sing one song by themselves and two songs with all of the other kindergarden classes. Dallin's class came out with antlers and a big read nose they looked really cute.

Grandpa and Grandma Clark were able to come as well as Stephanie and her kidos. McKade was a little grumpy and had a big scowl on his face until it was time for the cookies then he cheered up. I think he just wanted to be up there singing with the other kids. He loves to sings and will belt out Christmas songs like you wouldn't believe. It is a little spooky to see my kids growing up. At least my Wii age is still 26 :)

Since I am not doing wrestling this year I have kept myself busy doing christmas lights. I will make almost as much as wrestling in three hard and busy weeks. The same time as all the light installs I had a project due for an online class. This is the video I had to make. It is good enough for the class but I am going to finish and give it to my dad for a christmas gift. I thought you might like to see the preview.

Dallin was way more excited for Halloween this year then any year before. We had a pumpkin carving party on Monday and we enjoyed cupcakes and of course pumpkin seeds. Dallin helped me pick and start the designs. Dallin was spider man McKade was a monkey and Tyli was a princess/fairy again.
I was able to bring them out trick or treating. Tyli and Mckade were not thrilled about the neighborhood haunted house but they had a great time for about forty minutes. After that McKade informed me that he was too tired and it was time to go home. I dropped McKade and Tyli home and Dallin and I knocked a few more streets. As we walked Dallin explained how he loved October and how it is his favorite time of year. He wishes it was Halloween every day. We have to worry about one less tooth being rotted out of his head from all the candy he got as he lost his first front tooth. I had to pull it out because the front was completely out but the back was still holding on. I think we will probably be singing all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth quite a bit this year.
If you wondered how I was able to take the kids trick or treating on a Friday night, we have also had a little sadness come into our lives. For those of you who didn't know Jami was pregnant but is having a second miscarriage in 3 months. Doctor told her she needed to stay off her feet. Friday afternoon she started bleeding and I went straight home. I took the kids and missed the game so that she could just lay down and relax. They some how managed to win in double overtime without me. Jami and I just spent the last 7 hours in the ER because Jami was getting dizzy and bleeding quite a bit. It is almost more difficult to handle this mentally then it is physically. She posted about this on her blog if you would like to know more about what happened. Thank you for all the prayer and help we have received.

Dallins Fall Break was the week after mine so we didn't get to do too many crazy things. One of my favorite things was to drop and pick up Dallin from his kindergarten class. Twice we got to ride bikes home, and once Grandpa came over for pizza with the Greers so we drove Dallin over to the school. We have not buzzed Dallin's hair for a few months so it is getting longer. He likes to make his own Mohawks.

As soon as it drys it falls down but he does look pretty interesting when he leaves. His teacher ,Miss Lin, commented one morning that she noticed Dallin had done his own hair that morning.

Another fun thing we did was to go to Tumbleweed park off of Germann and McQueen. The kids had a blast running back and forth for an hour and a half. McKado would not pose for any picks but he couldn't hide how much he loved the tire swing. Dallin also was pretty impressed by the giant turtle shell. In one part of the park they have a sand pit in which you can dig up the dinosaur bones, and it has a giant Gila Monster. McKade would not go near it. He thought it was real. We then walked around San Tan Mall and went to Logan's Road House. They have great deals for meals during the week. Dallin and McKade love throwing the peanut shells on the floor. Dallin got carried away a few time and threw the peanut shell against the far wall. Good thing we were in the far corner and it was slow. It is our kids favorite restaurant.We also love making a big breakfast when I am on break. I know these Cinnamon rolls look a little messy and wouldn't win any style points, but I am finally figuring out how to make them taste really good. The kids also had a blast helping me make them. Finally Friday is football fun day and we always have a game. Jami has been having fun with Ty's hair. I think this was pretty cool and all the students thought her hair was really cool. Tyli really likes football and is already quite the cheerleader. She will yell Go Big Blue and clap her hands. When the boys yell tackle him, regardless if we are on defense or not, she will repeat whatever they say. It is fun to see all the kids running all over the field after the games. They love it. Jami gets lots of exercise walking back and forth to the bathrooms. It seems that as soon as either Dallin or McKade gets back the other one now has to go.

I have not mentioned how my team is doing this year and I am not going mention it very much if that lets you know how well we are doing!! YIKES is all I am going to say. One quick example of how the season has gone. Last week going into the fourth quarter we were winning 20-8. With 5 minutes left we were winning 20-14. In the next 4 minutes we allowed them to score 3 touchdowns and we scored one. We lost 34-26. Words can't really describe the frustration. We have good athletes that will play great for 80% of the game and then just go insane for the other 20%. They have improved greatly but still can not finish when the pressure is on. They will be fine as a team when they are older but they can not get it together now this season. I am looking forward to seeing what it is like to be a teacher without coaching a sport as I am not doing wrestling or basketball this year. I let you know how that goes.

Uncle Brad hooked the kidos up with some cool new bike helmets. They wouldn't take them off for a couple of hours. Tyli was just excited to wear Dallins old helmet. McKado lately has been not wanting to take pictures again. He did not think he was in this one. Thanks Brad for the Helmets.

Jami and I just had a conversation about how sneaky our little daughter might already be. When we moved Tyli out of the crib and into a toddler bed it was also time for the Binki to go. She is not allowed to have the Binki during the day but we let her still have one at night. She did not like this idea very much. It is amazing how many binkis we thought were lost appeared out of nowhere. One night last week we heard Tyli rolling around and kicking the wall. She is a crazy sleeper and it is nothing new. Every night we hear her kicking the wall as she rolls around. this time she started to cry so we went in to calm her down and put her back to sleep. Neither Jami or I could find her pink binki anywhere. We looked all around the bed, in the sheets, basically everywhere. When we couldn't find it Jami went and got the green binki to give to her.
In the morning the first thing Jami does when Tyli wakes up is get her binki from her. She took the green binki she had given her when she woke up in the night away from her and changed her diaper. The instant Tyli was on the ground she ran to her closet door opened it, picked up the "lost" pink binki, and ran quickly out of the room.
Option #1: She made an incredibly lucky guess that a binki happened to be in the closet.
Option #2: What we thought was her kicking the wall was the closet door closing after she put the binki in it. She then hopped back in bed and cried for a binki until we went in a gave her another one. Then in the morning when the other binki was taken away she went to her hidden stash in the closet, grabbed the pink binki, and made a run for it.

I am really hoping that it was option #1 but I don't think so. What do you think? Is my little, cute, innocent daughter already that sneaky?

While this week was pretty exhausting for Jami and I we decided we needed to get out and do something with the kids. Brad had mentioned to me that he had a lot of fun going on a hike and flashing everyone with the scouts so I thought we would try it out. We hiked a "small" portion of the San Tan Trail. Both Tyli and McKade fell asleep on the way to the mountain. When we got them up and awake again they were all pretty fired up for their big hike. It cost $1.00 per person to walk the trail. I had brought my extra change to pay the fee. I put it in the provided envelope and tried to make it fit in the slot. When the envelope was 3/4 the way thought he slot I heard the end of the envelope open and all the change clattered to the bottom of the metal drop box. Sorry to whoever has to collect the money.
The kids kept looking at the highest peaks and telling each other how they would have so much fun at the top. With in 2 minutes of walking Mckade refused to hold hands and decided to do a face plant into the rocks and gravel. We hurried to him and found a scraped nose and cheek as well as a mouthful of dirt. He still would not hold our hands and 30 seconds later as he was jumping around he went down a second time and scraped his arm. We could still see the car from where we were at. Mckade slightly crying informed us "mom, this is not a safe walk." I convinced him that I needed him to hold my hand to keep me safe and he then agreed to help me out by holding my hand. This trail is very rocky and honestly it wasn't the prettiest hike I have ever been on. Once we had gone on for about a quarter mile I turned around and said "wow you can see almost the whole valley" Dallin replied I can see two valleys. I explained that it was just one big valley. McKade not wanting to be left out said I can see True Valley too. We had gone to True Valley a week or two ago and bought some bolts for Tyli's bed. We were having a great time. At this spot on the trail their is an old cemetery and a few smaller peaks. The boys said they wanted to go up. So, while McKade could not stay on his feet on the flat trail he was a little billy goat going up and down the hills. Jami couldn't even keep up with him so I held his hand. The boys were pretty proud of themselves when they got to the top. The peak is higher then it looks in the picture. Jami and Tyli stopped a little short of the very top and they took this picture from where they stopped. We climbed back down and got home with just enougth time for Jami not to be late to her relief society meeting. It was nice to get out of the house and do something as a family.

Pete my first real fish "named in honor of Pete the goldfish" has taken the long twisting journey down the toilet. The night before I told Jami he didn't look good and the next morning he was upside down on the bottom of the tank. Jami told me she thought Pete was going to die since the first week that we got the fish. Somehow he always seems to pull through and he lived for over a year and a half. We still have two of the original 5 fish we bought. Two decided to pull a Nemo and get sucked up the filter. So we still have cow McKades fish, Bonecrusher Dallin's fish, the three amigos, and the new addition Sushi. It is the same type of fish as Pete was but all white. I don't want to forget Cheesy, our snail, who is now huge. We got cheesy a buddy a little blue snail Jami likes to call Code Blue(???) We are still keeping our pets simple and I am still pretty sure we don't want to take care of a dog yet.

Well I think Karma is getting me back for all the wins and blowouts I had last year as a football coach. We are not only losing right now we are getting out butts kicked! We have lost 51-0, 49-12, and 34-6. We did win one game 12-0 but holy cow! The team I have is really not that bad. In the game we were tied 6-6 with 2 minutes left in the 1st half. The other team scored two touchdowns in those last two minutes and two more in the first two minutes of the second half giving us the result of 34-6. In the other 44 minutes of the game we in most ways out played the team. I asked them what they would do if someone just walked up and punched them in the face. They all answer they would fight back. My reply was well these teams are punching you in the face it is about time that you started to fight back. The boys are all very nice and I think that is part of the problem. Too nice.

Other then football life is great. Jami is getting the hang of selling scentsy candles and is working hard figuring out how to keep the 3 year old learning their letters rather then looking at the little crocodile in our fish tank.
I am predicting that Jefferson finds some hot mama at BYU that catches his eye before Thanksgiving. What do you all think?

After a church lesson on spousal abuse Jami said I have to get rid of my outfit. She doesn't want people in the ward to get the wrong idea if they came over. Well maybe not, I don't really wear cheap gold chains around the house or under armor. I guess I do occasionally where a hat but the pictures mostly came about due to a dare from Jami. We were cleaning our room and found this gold necklace. Jami almost never wears yellow gold but I told her she should wear it. She dared me to wear it to school so I decided to try it on. Now if have known me for a while you know how much I love my bling, but this necklace fit more like a choker. I don't think I will be wearing it to school but it was fun to put the under armor on and take some pictures.

After dealing with two boys and a little girl who do not share their toys very well Jami and I needed to call in some back up. Dallin likes to antagonize younger siblings. When McKade is being antagonized he likes to squeal like a stuck pig in Jami's words. Tyli resorts to lying on the floor and crying. So while the kids were invited to go play outside we made an emergency call to good St. Nick. I know he is still on vacation but drastic times calls for drastic measures. Santa came and helped us out by removing every single toy that could be found in the house. Later I asked the kids if they saw the sleigh and they said no. When the kids came in we had them sit down and told them the situation. They didn't believe us. I told them that Santa made a deal with us that if they promised to behave and showed they could be good he would bring them back. Dallin didn't believe us so we told him to go look. He took longer then we though he would and when he came back he said that his eyes were watering a little bit.

I have the opportunity to teach A hour this year. It is taking a little while to get used to. 5:30 seems to come around earlier then you would think. Jami and I are going to bed earlier but after a nice summer of not having to get up real early it was a definite change. When I don't coach a sport I will be able to go home at 1:45 which will be great. Right now I am enjoying a little time between my last class and practice starting.

It has been fun to see Dallin enjoy his first week of school. Everyday after a little questioning he lets us know about his new adventures. The first day it was how cool the balance beam was at the playground and the drinking fountain in his room. Day two we found out that there was a cutter in his class. I asked if he meant a Colter but no he meant a cutter who gets in front of you in line. The next fun thing was when he told me about these really cool things called cubbies. Then on Thursday he told us that people talked to him today through the ceiling. We both just started laughing and explained to him about speakers in the ceiling. It is fun seeing him learn so many new things. His favorite part of school is recess so I guess he does follow after his dad.

If any of you watch TV I am sure you have notice Mr. Opportunity from the Honda add. Mr. O is looking good here and he is knocking. The funny part about him knocking is that McKade really believes that he is knocking on our TV. Every time the commercial comes on he says hey that guy hit our TV. McKade keeps us laughing. We have waited a little while to potty train both Dallin and McKade. We heard the statement you can start potty training them at two and work on it until they are three or you can wait till they are three and do it once. For both boys we waited until they are within two months of turning three. Part of this has to do when I have vacation from school. McKade still is having a little trouble with his desire to go #2 but we really didn't have any #1 accidents after day 2. He has had no trouble at night. Jami is already loving only changing one child's stinking diaper. Enough bathroom talk, school is about to start and we had our district rally. This is where all the teachers, for some unknown reason, get together and each school does a skit. Because HHS is the best we always end up doing this full on productions. This year I got suckered into dressing up in the track uniform and being up on the stage. I didn't realize that outside the normal dance moves all the teachers had to do I would, with the other clubs and sports representatives, have the opportunity to do a little freestyle dancing. Those of you who know me well understand how much I love to bust a move in front of close to 1000 of my peers. So on the stage a few of the other teachers who also had to be front and center with me decided to enter on the stage doing cartwheels. This gave me the idea to walk across the stage on my handa rather. This was a great idea as it cut the dance time for me in half. I walked across the stage and realized it was a good choice not to wear the super skimpy track shorts.(I had thought about it for a while) It looked pretty good for a 250 lb. person. Anyways it will be interesting when schools starts. NO GUM ALLOWED. It should be fun enforcing that new rule!!!

After a long week of wiggling Dallin's first tooth finally decided to come out. It started getting loose a day or two before we left on our trip. Dallin was certain that it would fall out in Idaho and that Grandma Ruth would pull it out. But that dang tooth just hung in there. We arrived home late last night and about 15 minutes after we put the boys to bed Dallin came out with this big grin on his face. McKade must have jumped up on Dallin and in the process finished off the very very loose tooth. The toothfairy came last night and now McKade thinks his teeth are next. He thinks the toothfairy is going to bring him a monster truck.

I know that I take a break every once and a while from blogging so when I saw this post on two of my friends blogs I thought I would try it out and see who is still checking in.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together or just say hello.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

I decided to take all the boys out this morning. We decided to go to Ross Park and climb on the rocks. My two nephews Carson red head, and Colton with the hat got to come along. Even with out the two little girls who had stay at home you can see they are a bit of a wild group when they are together. They have a huge twisty slide there as well as a lot of big rocks to climb on. The boys had a blast climbing all over the rocks. Some of the rocks are smooth on one side so you can slide down them.We should have taken family picture this morning as it was cool and had nice lighting. To finish off the day I thought they all deserved a little ice cream. It was a fun morning.

They were all starving so we wanted to cross the street and get some food. There is a ton of construction going on so our hike went a little further then I had planned. We ended up getting McDonalds again as the kids didn't like any of the other choices. After we ate we cruised around the fountains and took a picture were all the brides take their picture before we went up to the 26th floor of the church headquarters.Dallin really thought it was cool being so high up in the sky looking down at all the people. Jami must have just had a discussion with him about the angel Moroni because he would not stop talking about it.

We also walked around the Church history museum for a bit. The only drama there was that McKade was poopy but there was not changing station in the upstairs bathroom of the church history museum. McKade froze his little booty off. We then picked up Jami and went to see Aunt Carolyn. We always enjoy visiting them. It is so much fun. The kids love to play and look at all the animals hanging on the walls. I had McKade convinced that the turkey would go to the bathroom on him if he stood underneath it. We usually only spend a few waking hours visiting so it was very nice to be able to have a nice long visit and get spoiled rotten like we always do. The Aunt Carolyn was nice enough to watch our kids during the wedding the next day. That evening we were invited to the family dinner. The Johnsons gathered on one side and the Prices on the other. The Clarks sat in the middle. It was a lot of time and some good food. Jami and the kids left and me and the boys now had time for the bachelor party. Being the old tired men that we are we were pretty boring. Seth was still on east coast time, Luke has a little baby, and I had just travel hundreds of mile in a car. So we settled on going to iceburg for milkshakes. Pretty crazy I know. It is a good thing we brought David Johnson along because he sure brought some energy. DOOM! Eliott and Dave Ford met us there to get ripped off. We were all expecting a giant iceburg shake but this was not to be. It was 12 ounce mini cups. So we spent the next hour or so sitting on an old rickety table talking and having fun. Day two of the trip was great.

PS.. Seth's wedding was very nice and he and Jane looked very nice. My favorite part of the wedding is when his brother Dave jumped into his arms as he came out of the temple almost knocking him to the ground.