A father's influence.....

This summer we have been able to spend some extra time in Burlington because I have been working for Cammy's father on the ranch. There are some hills near Burlington (Honda for those who would know) where people take their motorbikes out to ride. Well, Dylan's grandmother took him out to the hills one day with his bike. He had a blast going down the smaller hills, but didn't want to try any of the bigger hills. A few day later I wanted to take him out and try some of the larger hills. We went out, and despite a little trepidation on Dylan's part, he actually did some pretty big hills. He learned that day that 'you can do anything you set your mind to.' We had a lot of fun. So much fun that Dylan wanted to go out again. Of course, we did. This time dad was determined to get Dylan to go down some of the big hills. It took some coaxing, but we finally got him going about 3/4 of the way down the big hills. He didn't dare start at the top, and I actually do have some limits, so I wouldn't let him go down the entire hill. I was so proud of him! He was being very brave going down these long, steep hills. He would get going pretty fast, but he never fell. Well, we found one last hill (isn't that how it always is?). I talked Dylan into going down from about 1/2 way up the hill. When he tells the story now he says, "Dad made me go down the biggest hill possible. I told him no, but he said I didn't have a choice. Then he pushed me down.' It didn't happen that way, just so you know. But I did encourage him and remind him what he learned the time before, that you could do anything you set your mind to. He went down and got going pretty fast. He wobbled a bit but did fine. We BOTH decided to put him up a little farther on the next run (which translated into about 10 feet). Dylan took off fine, but he went down a little bit different path, and as the one saying goes, 'and that made all the difference.' I could tell he was going pretty fast, and all of the sudden he hit a jump that I didn't know was there. Both his wheels came off the ground and in a split second I thought, 'this is going to be bad!' It was. When he landed he lost control and the wheel flipped around and tossed him over the bike. He went head first into the dirt and rocks. Well, actually, he went chin first, as you can see from the pictures.













I sprinted down to him. He had the wind knocked out of him a little bit, so he was struggling to breathe so he could cry. I picked him up and saw his chin and I felt awful! It is hard when your child gets hurt badly, but when you know that you are directly at fault, it is even harder. Well, I picked him up and started carrying him to the car. Before we even got there he had stopped crying. He was SO tough! He was even telling me that it didn't hurt. So I had to try and explain what adrenaline is and how it sometimes keeps us from feeling pain. Fortunately, my parents are both EMTs, and they only live a mile from the accident. Unfortunately, nobody was home. Fortunately, there are a number of EMTs who live in Burlington who I know pretty well. Unfortunately, none of them were home. Long story short, I ended up taking him to my uncle Mark's house. Dianna was home and Ryan's wife Alysha cleaned Dylan all up while I held Nathan and Taylor and some friend entertained Wesley. Yes, Cammy was out of town. As soon as we got back home to Powell we took these pictures and a video. It sure looked ugly. It was a bad deal all the way around. It has been two weeks now, and his chin is looking much better. I probably should have taken him to get stitches, but I thought we had it together pretty good. As long as we can keep Dylan from picking at it, it should heal okay. But I've learned my lesson.....if you're going to send your kid down a big hill, point them away from the jump at the bottom!

I'll love you forever....

Just over seven years ago a lady in Burlington told me that her daughter was coming up for the summer and that I should take her over to the college ward to meet some of the other kids. I thought, "Why not?" So, her first Sunday in town I invited her to go to church with me. Her sister was in town, so she declined. Not wanting to seem like a quitter, I asked her to go with me the next week. She accepted. It turns out I was supposed to sing in church that Sunday.....I figured if she still wanted to hang out after that then my chances were pretty good.

Well, I went to pick her up in the 'Golden Eagle' (the very cherry, gold, '85 Chrysler Newport I was driving at the time) and I guess with the car and the singing, she couldn't resist... :) I took her to a dance at the institute a few days later. It was a fun dance, but I never got to dance with her because every time a song got over there were three or four guys standing there trying to ask her to dance. I played the cool card like it didn't bother me, but I could feel some jealousy creeping in. Finally, on the second-to-last song, I stood right next to her and the guy she was dancing with....I don't know about them, but I felt a little awkward. As soon as the song was over I asked her to dance. The song was 'Love of a Lifetime,' and I knew it was fate.....well, I at least got my hopes up.

We started dating a little while later. She made me smile every minute I was with her. She was so fun. So fresh. And she just made me very happy. I had never felt that way before. I decided I didn't want all those feelings to end. We were married August 16, 2001, and everyday I thank God for having sent Camille to me.

We started going to school together which was a lot of fun. Camille got pregnant later that fall, and our first son Dylan was born the next summer. We moved to Laramie so I could finish school and our second son, Wesley, was born there. We loved Laramie (well, the people a lot more than the weather). We finished school and moved back to Burlington, where our third son, Nathan, was born. Now we're in Powell and loving it. We have seen a lot of ups and downs with the stresses and fun of school, work, trying to have and raise children, and figuring out this 'dance'.

Camille definitely got the short end of the stick, but I am so lucky to have her. She is the most beautiful, hard-working, dedicated, loving person I know. She inspires me and helps me be a better husband and father. I've come to the conclusion that I was either a very special person in Heaven and Heavenly Father rewarded me with Camille for my good works or I was a lost cause and He sent His very best angel to try and save me. I tend to believe the latter.

Camille, you mean the world to me! I will love you forever and like you for always! I have loved the wonderful seven years we've spent together and I am really looking forward to the rest of eternity. Thank you for putting up with me! HAPPY 7th ANNIVERSARY!! I love you!

Wesley

We decided we needed to add a slideshow of Wesley so he wouldn't feel left out.....it's at the bottom of this page....enjoy!

Family pics in Disneyland

Here we are hangin' loose in Disneyland. This was at breakfast with the Disney characters




I told Wesley the hippos from the Jungle Safari would get him if he wasn't a good boy, so he sat with mom.....he still got nervous when the hippos jumped out of the water right next to the boat!


Here we gooooooooo!!! This was the fastest little roller coaster I'd ever seen! Kid's were flying out left and right, wheel bearings were falling off; it was crazy! Cammy and Wesley had no idea what they were getting into....but Wesley still wanted to go again and again!


Dylan, Grace and Tyler thought it would be cool to get their faces painted. Unfortunately the sweet paint jobs only lasted until they had an itchy nose, or accidently wiped their faces. But they were still pretty neat. The boys got spiders, and Grace got a butterfly....


I'm not exactly sure where this picture was taken, but it was definitely in Disneyland....or somewhere close.


We were so lucky we got to go into Tarzan's ACTUAL tree house! We even saw the leopard's footprints when it tried to get baby Tarzan. At the bottom there was a rope you could climb, and Dylan almost made it to the top.....with hardly any help!

More good times in Disneyland!!

Sisters! Camille and Faith didn't realize that a gigantic butterfly almost landed on them while they were getting their picture taken!!!



We found a really cool place we could leave the kids while we went on the 'big kid' rides.....ha ha! This was in the Roger Rabbit fun house, and eventhough it might look like those aren't real bars....well, they are. These kids are tough!

More characters!!

This is little bear. Poor guy could 'bear'ly hold the pens with his mangled claws! It was comical to watch. Here are Gracie, Wesley, Tyler and Dylan. You'll notice that Nathan is not in the pictures.....he was a little camera shy.....and in Burlington. We left him with Grandma and Grandpa, but don't tell him that!



Goofy stopped by one morning for breakfast! The kids were really excited, and they got to play a game with him and Pluto. However, later in the day while we were in the park, we saw Goofy again, but he was too cool for school and acted like he didn't even remember us.....argh! Here is Wesley getting his book signed while Emily and Tyler wait in line.


We were lucky enough to see Mr. Incredible and his supersonic speedy son, Dash.....oh wait! That's Dylan! He's really fast too. We were lucky because we got there right when they started signing autographs, so we didn't have to wait in line. It was....well....incredible!


Finally! Of course for the rat we had to wait in a 40 minute line! He has his own little house and helpers moving people right on through....not very personable, but at least we got the autographs! Tyler, Grace, Wesley, Emily and Dylan (face paint pictures are forth coming).

Disney characters

Every morning we would go to a 'Character Breakfast" where random Disney characters would show up to say hi and sign autographs. All the kids got autograph books, so that was a big deal....to get each characters' Herbie Hancock. They were so worried about getting the signatures, they sometimes didn't enjoy being with the characters. Pluto was funny because "he" had to use his nose to write on. Wesley wasn't too sure what to think about it, but he sure thought it was cool after "he" left. I say "he" because his handwriting was too good for a boy dog.


Rafiki (sp) even scared me! They couldn't hold the pens very well, and sometimes it was very awkward for the to sign the little books, but the kids sure had a blast meeting so many of the Disney characters. They would come right by the table and they would just get swarmed....needless to say, there was not a lot of eating going on!


Chip (or Dale) was flying solo, but that didn't stop him from signing all the autograph books. They would never talk! But they smiled the whole time! It would be hard to be so happy all day, but they probably get free food and shelter.