The Warnick Way

We were told we could bring in some clothes

2010-12-09T23:48:00.000-08:00

Here he is almost ready to go, if someone would just take out these needles and tubes.

Time in the NICU

2010-12-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

While little Caleb is getting to flirt with all the nurses and other little girls at the hospital, mommy and daddy got to visit and play with him at every chance they could. It's so fun to hold him, feed him, and even change him. He has recieved three transfusions, but after each one his platelet count drops, however, it has slowed down each time. The doctors say not to worry and to give the little guy time to figure out what is good and what is bad in his blood and that eventually the good will overcome the bad and he will stabilize. Until that we can visit and hold him and play with him and if we are too tired even take a little nap with him. We have mainly just been trying to convince him that it really isn't the end of the world if he comes home with us and that we will treat him right, crazy kid!

Low platelets don't help prevent bruising that much and when your daddy already bruises like a peach that isn't great news for your little baby hand after you rip out your own IV line.

"I know it was you, I'm watching you!"

Hold up

2010-12-09T23:38:00.000-08:00

Things aren't quite as easy as they seem, but to our luck the night nurse was doing her inspections and noticed some red dots that weren't bumps but looked like the should be, she suspected something bad and the doctor ordered a blood count, turns out little Caleb had low platelets and it would have been bad to just leave the hospital without getting better. So into the NICU we are admitted while mom gets her walking papers and has to check out.

The first day

2010-12-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

We spent the first day just trying to figure out what was going on and where that nice warm hot tub went, some of us were just content staring at the little baby and enjoying our new addition to the family.

Things went so well that they told us we would be able to go home as a family the next moring, YAY!

Your package has arrived

2010-12-09T23:31:00.000-08:00

The nurses did a fantastic job detailing him and getting him all cleaned up, I even dared to do one handed hold, must've been delirious or something.

Mom got to feed him and to no one's surprise he took right to that bottle like a true Warnick, way to go son, Daddy's proud!

Let's do this!

2010-12-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

It's about mid-afternoon and I'm signaling Becky with "What's missing from this picture?"

Okay, I'm gonna have do this myself, Ready?

Ok, after hours and hours and hours of contractions and not getting anywhere. And once the pain gotted managed the meds were upped and we had quick progression towards the end goal, Dr. Martin actually delivered another baby in the next suite over and stepped in to say if we didn't get going he might have to do somehting about it. That was all the motivation team momma and sonny needed to get this moving. Within two hours the doctor was called back in at 9:50 after pushing for twenty minutes and he showed up at 10:10, messed around for a few minutes, told Becky to push a couple of excruciating minutes, which won't be fully understood by us mortal men and at 10:16 p.m. Baby Caleb entered the world triumphantly!

Weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches lung we have a fine healthy boy with ten fingers and ten toes. What a cute kid!

The time has come

2010-12-09T23:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday December 2, 2010 we arrived at the hospital at 600 a.m. ready to have a baby boy, well I was ready to watch and fetch ice chips since my other assignment of knowing where the hospital was and getting us there was fulfilled upon arrival. We got all set up in Labor and Delivery suite #6 and our day began with IV drip and monitors all over.

How's that pain going, feeling anything yet?

I think I'm ready for my epidural NOW!

Once the name went on the board it was written in stone, baby Caleb was on his way.

Nursery

2010-11-26T17:04:00.001-08:00

Just to prove that we are actually ready for this little guy to get here I am posting the crib he will be calling home for a while. this was taken in the middle of post Black Friday gift wrapping so excuse the mess. Big thanks for the furniture to really nice coworker that was getting rid of it. With all the other gifts we have received so far we truly feel blessed to have such great family and friends, now as Becky would say "Come out baby!"

Things we've been up to

2010-11-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

Seems like the months go by quickly, we've had a lot of fun and have enjoyed this last phase of
the kidless life, next week it all changes, oh boy!

We attended Mike's niece's baptism in Utah in September, aren't we cute?

Had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with the neighbors, we worked so hard on that smoked turkey, let me tell you it was difficult! Even putting the sides in those styrofoam cups, tough life I'm telling you.

Our home improvement project consisted of tearing up the nasty carpet that was in our condo, cheap carpet from the builder + four years of foot traffic + two dogs living full time indoors = time for some new flooring

We went the cheap route and since we had a concrete subfloor, yes even on the second story we just finished the concrete. We had to stay off it for four days, so we thank those friends that put us up or let dogs stay the day with them. We put on a concrete stain and then wet-sealed it. We like not having the carpet and will enjoy it for the meantime, who knows what the future will bring.

Happy Birthday Mike

2010-07-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the fifth of July, i.e. Mike's Birthday in grand style, with cake and candles, homemade ice cream, and of course fireworks. It was a bunch of fun and a great day.

Is it official if it doesn't make a blog

2010-07-02T18:32:00.001-07:00

Or facebook or twitter? Anyways we found out today that we will be expecting a Baby Boy in December, yeah we knew the whole December part for a couple months but are excited about the Boy part. Becky is doing well and seems to have more energy now that the first trimester is over, here's to continuing on the path of wellness.

Delaware Beaches

2010-07-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

We relaxed and spent some time on the beach in Rehoboth, it was so nice and we had a great time, chilling under the 1970's brown vinyl umbrella. It was easy finding our spot on the beach. It was so nice sitting and listening to waves and watching all the people.

We originally were going to get bikes for a couple hours, that turned out to be a couple days. The little shop was so laid back they didn't even require a pre-pay or anything and then only charged us a day, highly miss such a trusting business and glad to see that there is still that attitude in America. Highly recommend heading to 1st and Maryland if you ever end up there.

Of course we had a bunch of food, including pizza, hamburgers and sandwiches. Even managed to fit some seafood, funnel cake and Bacon Ice Cream in somehow.

Washington DC Trip

2010-07-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

This is my first video ever, I don't really feel like redoing it right now so here is the first final video with half the song over the pictures.....it's a learning curve! We had a blast, ran a ton, saw a bunch, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Scale the Strat

2010-06-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

Becky was inspired by her Half-marathon training to switch over to stair climbing and prepare for the "Scale the Strat" event. It's an event and fundraiser for the Southern Nevada Lung Association; which she decided to do in honor of her Uncle Larry who passed away in December from Lung Cancer. Thanks to many different pledges she by far exceeded her goal and made it to the top on one peice.
108 floors, 1455 stairs, 1 elevator ride down

After winding up all those stairs she was a little dizzy and the change in elevation didn't help any.

Fully recovered and ready to go.....down.

NASCAR Race

2010-06-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to the race with some friends, it was well worth the trip, we had great seats and felt that we were going to have a great day, the only thing forgotten was earplugs. We thought we could do without but it wasn't five laps into it that Becky went to get something to save our hearing.

Its' a beautiful smell when you combine tires and racing fuel, one thing we weren't expecting is all of the tire debris that was on our skin and in our hair. The race was excellent and very exciting to the end.

Scavenger Hunt #2

2010-06-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest things was peoples reactions to what you were doing, these guys thought it was pretty cool we wanted a picture with them, we thought it was cool they had a "souvenier cup" that was shaped like a guitar

My best street performer statue impersonation

This guy was a real help he kept pulling hats out of his bag for each of us, then put his bird on our shoulder, it wasn't until after dinner that someone realized the bird left me a tip on my shirt, thanks Polly!

If there aren't beads it's not a party

Friends B-day Scavenger Hunt

2010-06-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

One of our friends had a scavenger hunt on the Strip for her Birthday hunt, the contestants were divided into teams and then had to find items on the list, some were easy, some were hard and some just couldn't be found at all

"ugly carpet"

"gold statue"

"dance floor" i.e. the Beatles entry

Sixth Anniversary Celebration

2010-06-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Christmas night we celebrated our sixth anniversary by going to the recently opened City Center and attending the new Cirque du Soleil show Viva Elvis

We also ate at a new Michel Mina restaraunt called American Fish, it was very delicious and enjoyed by all.

The show was awesome, had seats right in the middle on the second row, it appeared the some of the dancers were going to kick us with their blue suede shoes but we made it through the night.

Christmas 2009

2010-06-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Christmas this year by staying in Vegas, just the two of us. We did miss the family but it was so nice not having to worry about travel and fighting traffic, we really enjoyed it and had a great time relaxing and enjoying the season.

Becky even made it snow for Max.

I think Max felt shunned because we didn't actually buy him anything special but he forgave us when we gave him a new chew bone to work on that afternoon.

Davis Christmas Party

2010-06-14T23:37:00.000-07:00

We helped out with the Annual Davis Christmas Party, part of the agreement of moving from Utah was that we would try and come back and help cook, decorate, and have a good time. I was in charge of "cooking" the lasagna, they were actually homemade, just decided to freeze them and put them in boxes for a little different look.

Santa, what are you doing?

Witches Brew? for a christmas party?

Race Day #9

2010-06-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

The three finishers celebrating the glorious run.

And most important of all....streeeeetching.

Maybe I should start doing this running thing, I mean between all the photo stops and Monorail I did 5 miles, but then again I'm not a runner......yet.

Race Day #8

2010-06-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

Final surprise cheering spot in front of Caesar's Palace, they were surprised to see me here because it was so close to the finish line, they picked up the pace a little and outran me to the finish but they finished strong.

Video at the Finish Line

You're a winner!

Race Day #7

2010-06-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

I made my up to the north end but missed them as they outran the Monorail between miles 4 and 6 but they had to circle around come back south so I waited in front the the world's larget gift shop.

More than half-way and still running strong.

Actually wearing the same clothing still, it was easier to find them too because I knew what other groups to look for as they got closer.

Race Day #6

2010-06-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

The first running sighting, this is about mile 4 and they are going strong, and very excited.

After cheering the girls on, I went over and saw the "run-thru" wedding, they had 70 couples make or renew vows on the half marathon, attended ove course by the running Elvi

Race Day #5

2010-06-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

As I waited for them to run south before turning around and heading north on the Strip I walked up to the Paris and took a few pictures of "soon-to-open" City Center, it was cool to get the street view of it from some place other than Google.

With the sun up, the temperature was increasing finally, this presented the issue of knowing that the girls had layers on that they would take off and leave on the side of the road, not knowing what they had on underneath, therefore scanning runner after runner so that I didn't miss them, I started taking random shots when I thought they might be getting close, I won't post those 120 pics. My advice is for the support team to have something unique like a fluorescent shirt or balloons for the runners to look forward to.

Still looking for them.

Race Day #4

2010-06-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

They had a bunch of cheerleading teams come out to encourage the runners as they passed by, of course at 6:30 in the morning some of these girls were still trying to find their cheerful side.

I missed the first group of elite runners, this is the second and they were gone quickly.

One of the news teams covering the race.

They also had bands about every three miles, it is the Rock-n-Roll Marathon after all. I'm sure you can guess they were playing upbeat music most of the morning.

Race Day #3

2010-06-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Finally found, all bundled up and ready to go, this is pure excitement.

It's only a half mile to the start line, makes for a nice warmup.

I enjoyed the fireworks and the quietness of the Strip being shutdown to all traffic, it was weird, actually.

Race Day #2

2010-06-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a better shot of the festivities at the start line.

I began my walk back to corral 26... notice the darker sky.

Has anyone seen my wife? I'm still looking but it is getting lighter.

Race Day #1

2010-06-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

Race Day started early, about 4:30 to get down to the strip and park, then walk to the staging area, turns out we had to separate on Trop so that Becky could make it down to the Mandalay Bay.

I made the mistake of going inside, a lot of the people were trying to stay warm and warm up at the same time, others were just drunk and stumbling back to their hotel rooms from the night before.

This is the staging area with all the gear bags, they had a system down to get a bag and then run it down the line, seemed to be pretty efficient but also people were dropping off their warm clothes and then starting to freeze. It was just above freezing right before the sun came up to warm up the runners.

The starting line in all of it's glory, with Magic Tigers and showgirls as well, I thought I would start at the front and work my way back to find the girls.

Half Marathon Prep

2010-06-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Becky ran the Las Vegas Half Marathon with her sis-in-law, Stephanie and her brother ran the full marathon, in order to prepare they got a bunch of swag at the registration then we all went and prepared at the Haufbrauhaus.

The music was great, lots of crowd interaction, especially by those that were wearing beer goggles.

So happy and full after the delicious food was served and eaten.

I tried to get Becky to go up drink these girls under the table, she decided not to start drinking and just stayed to laugh at the merry women.

Dust Bunnies

2010-03-03T16:09:00.001-08:00

Wow, look at the size of those dust bunnies, they are humongous.

Halloween and Hockey

2009-11-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

Some have asked for pictures of our Halloween costumes, found some on the other camera when I downloaded it, we wanted to go with something current in the news so here is "Michael Jackson" and "Dr. Conrad Murray" it was fun making sure "MJ" had his medicine all night, a couple M&M's can go a long way in making it look real.

We finally made it back to LV Wranglers hockey game, it was really fun and we ran into a couple friends that we haven't seen in a while, we had a good time and don't plan on taking so long to get back to the next one. And yes it was the first basketball game so I had to wear a USU shirt to show some support, it's great to have Bball back on the schedule. Go AGGIES!

Six years ago.....

2009-11-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

Six years ago this October we got engaged, to celebrate we went on a date to Roy's and celebrated with some yummy chocolate souffle.

We decided that we didn't need much of a reason to go to Roy's but six years is something to be happy about.

Camping Trip

2009-11-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

We had the chance to go Camping in October with some of Mike's coworkers, we didn't want to go too far so we settled on the Logandale Red Rocks, I mean can you get enough of camping around red rock? We had a great time and cooked up some dutch oven cowboy chili, breakfast on the grill with pancakes and eggs, sausage and bacon. We headed over to the sand dunes to play around a little and then took a ride on the four-wheeler, it was a great little fun trip and Max had such a great time carrying a red rock with him wherever he went that he passed out for two days when we got home.

Not just any other Dewd

2009-11-03T23:17:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I am a Mountain Dew junkie, drink it quite regularly, if not daily. I have been recieving the Dewsletter for quite some time and also have done surveys and things over the years. Surprisingly I got a notice that I would recieve a test sample of the three new flavors that they were testing. Well one day a large box came in the mail and inside were three mysterious cans of unlabelled Dew goodness. All we knew was the number, nothing about flavor. It was cool trying each of the three. And I even shared with Greg and Kevin. My favorite was the red one #509, it was a tropical berry flavor.

The Walking Tours

2009-11-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

Before we went we printed several walking tours from Frommers Guide. We did Algier's Point the first day since we wanted to ride the ferry across the Mississippi, it was a really nice area and one of the older parts of town, it was a theme that almost half of the houses had either burned or flooded several times. We also did a couple around the French Quarter, it is a great way to get out and appreciate all the different architectural influences that can be found in the city. We really liked the different balconies and ironwork and the courtyards found in a lot of the buildings. We walked through the U.S. Mint and the Farmer's Market to find some souvenirs, successfully. And ended on Pirate's Alley which ironically is located right next to the Cathedral.

New Orleans Food

2009-11-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

We ended up eating like kings down there. We had a couple places picked out from Restaurant.com to save some money, the Oceana Grill and Alpine Restaruant. We also checked out Fat Hen Grill which had a Womelette, a waffle with an omelette baked on top and into, which turned out to be a fabulously great breakfast. We also had dinner out at Commander's Palace, very good place and the service was high class and definitely five stars.

Dinner at Commander's, the best was getting seafood almost every meal.

This meal has been conquered.

A trip to New Orleans would not be complete without a trip or two to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets, aka French doughnuts.

We lucked into this place, a local favorite, we couldn't decide what we wanted for brunch and Becky remembered that Mother's had been recomended. It was awesome, the PoBoys are some the best, especially with some Debris on them. But to top off the meal we ordered a serving of bread pudding and it was some of the best ever. Definitely recomend checking this place out for some Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner.

The rain never stopped

2009-11-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

After walking around a day and the rain not stopping the second day we came to accept that it wasn't leaving anytime soon, so onward we went not to be slowed down.

We walked up to the Superdome and the whole time I asked myself if I could've done this after Hurricane Katrina...my thoughts are I would have walked to Houston if I had stuck around, anyways it was interesting to try and place everything into what I remembered seeing on the news and then actually being there. We didn't see the ninth ward where they are still building but downtown and the French Quarter are very much looking like they should, only with a few empty buildings from businesses that couldn't come back and the economic downturn of recent.

We decided to go cheap and check out the college game instead of the NFL Saints game. Coincidentally Tulane was playing BYU that weekend so we were always surrounded by a bunch of Mormons, weird considering it was the Big Easy and even on Bourbon Street it was a version of drunk, drunk, Mormon.

Since we went with college we got great seats, the front row, however they really could have used some more body heat in here. We were soaked from the walk and they had the AC cranked for the Sunday crowd so it was about 60 degrees in there. Yes we cheered for both teams, which quickly turned into a route by the Cougars.

New Orleans

2009-11-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

For our big trip this year we had to choose where to fly to use our Southwest flights that we had earned so we spun the globe and landed on New Orleans, yes it was almost that scientific. We both thought that it would be a fun place to go see and someplace that we wouldnt have to spend too much money, thank you free flights and priceline for a great deal at the JW Marriot

We checked out the Audubon Aquarium to stay out of the rain, of course that was paradoxical as we then entered an indoors rain forest that was dry while outside was drizzling.

I'm hiding from all of the scary fish and birds.

Photographic evidence that she at least got close, this was a lot more successful than the Stingray pool.

I wanted to touch the scorpion but instead I touched some stinky slimy bug.

Summer of Concerts

2009-11-03T22:23:00.000-08:00

We got our rock on several times this Summer during several concerts. The first was Aerosmith/ZZ Top which we won tickets on KOMP. The next week Mike went to CrueFest to watch Godsmack and Motley Crue. Then the finale of the summer was Nickelback's Tour. One of the greatest things to do at a concert of course is to people watch and we are pros at that so it was a great time, even when Aerosmith took a whole hour to come out after ZZ Top.

My favorites were 1. Godsmack 2. Papa Roach 3. Drowning Pool 4. Nickelback 5. Aerosmith

More Sedona

2009-11-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

The trail ahead.

Sedona is an interesting little vacation town, if you can picture the red rocks of Moab and the people of Park City you can easily figure out what Sedona is all about.

This church was really cool to go and see, it is built right out on the rocks and made pretty much out of concrete and glass jutting from the rocks. It was a cool spot to stop on the way out of town.

Sedona Trip

2009-11-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

In July we had a fun trip to Sedona with some friends, thanks Angela and BJ, we stayed the weekend in a nice condo, went swimming a bunch, especially since it was about 105 degrees. One desert to another isn't too bad I guess. Besides relaxing, eating, shopping we did some four-wheeling in Angela's Toyota Avalon, not the best for off-road use, hiking, actual four-wheeling and some sight seeing. We didn't get into the whole paranormal activity or sweat lodges that the area is known for so we will have to go back sometime.

Becky and Angela on top of Devil's Bridge

From the bottom, staring at the sun

BJ, Angela, Becky, Mike (I'm in awe of driving the four-wheelers a maximum 20 MPH, so fast)

Since we were the most "advanced" riders we took up the rear of the tour, our tour guide read my mind and said I couldn't fall back and then speed to catch up, she kept a pretty good eye on us, fortunately there were a few blind corners to have some fun. Our excuse was that we were just keeping out of the dust. Notice how by this time I had mastered the "smile" to avoid eating too many bugs and dust. We became trail veterans in a short time at the back of the pack. We had a good time and were shown some cool backcountry by our tour guide, Arizona ATV Adventures.

Summer Happenings #3

2009-07-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

So this is how I thought I was going to spend the Saturday before my big birthday, golfing 18 holes at the Red Rock Country Club for free, thanks to my friend Michael. Well that didn't quite turn out that way because on hole number 14 he returned a call from his wife who was nine months pregnant to find out that her "water" broke.....so we drove off and rushed home, I was pretty excited for him and thought I should tell Becky............

Surprise!!!!!

She had gotten me and caught me off guard, and had invited a ton of friends over, we definitely had a full house and a great time celebrating and eating and playing Rockband.

And I got two cakes, I guess one for each fifteen years, luckily I didn't have to blow out thirty candles.

And since Kaelli and Michael lied they had to wait until the day their baby was due for her to make an appearance, too bad it wasn't a day earlier then in thirty years she would be celebrating the big 3-0 and I would be....dead :)

Summer Happenings #2

2009-07-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

My coworkers talked me into trying the Blazin' Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings, so one Friday to qualify we had to eat 12 Wings smothered in Blazin' Sauce. I had never tried to tempt fate by eating such a stomach turner and up to three weeks prior to this I didn't even dare go beyond Hot. Well I decided to see how well I could do and qualified in 2:15, not bad considering the grease was so hot that I ended up with a blister on my thumb. The competition was the very next day so I had to get my game face on quick, which almost didn't happen because signing the papers on the car took a long time. I was in heat number three and the first two times were 1:01 and 1:05 so I didn't really think that I had a chance. Thanks to my coworkers we got Johnny Cash singing "Ring of Fire" and them cheering me on I stood up a split second after the first guy did but he still had a mouthful of chicken and mine was empty so it was on to the finals in 1:09. Of course there was a few sodas to try and cool the fire around the lips. The Finals we had four of us that wanted to combine the prizes and split them up equally but the fifth guy was in it to win it, and so I embarqued on my third dozen of Blazin' Wings in 24 hours. I managed to get them down in about 0:58 which was good enough for third place, $100 in gift certificates to BWWs. I also managed to win one of the drawings for 6 wings a week for a year.....giddy up!

Here I am recapping the successful adventure afterwards, not really wanting to move, but having plenty to brag about.

Summer Adventures #1

2009-07-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come to get a new vehicle for the family, unfortunately it was at a time that we needed to because the Jeep Wrangler was broken and has been getting a lot of miles on it, so our new vehicle is........

Wouldn't that have been hilarious, my shoulders literally went from window to the passenger seat, however there was a nice little back bench for Max that would have been perfect for long, or short trips around town that seemed long. Just had a little problem getting the feet from under the steering wheel. Actually we bought a 2007 Nissan Maxima, it is super nice and we have both enjoyed driving it so far.

Even Max likes to ride in the back seat because the vents blow right at him and he gets nice and cool.

Church Activity at the Park

2009-05-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night as an Elder's Quorum we had a fun party, we cooked up hot dogs and fries, thanks to a generous offering of Bro. Cannon and his work's trailer. It was great and we had a lot of people turn out for it.

Blogger Virgin

2009-05-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well here it goes, I guess.

I have never blogged before, so you get to experience my first post. Blogging has been on my "To Do" list for a few years, but I conviently never got around to it before now. I'm not sure why I have been putting this off for so long, I think I was scared about posting something on the internet and what to write. As always, Mike has been awesome and has kept the blog going over the years. Perhaps with my new found spare time, I will actually get around to posting to this more frequently.

I do have a question for the other bloggers out there. Where does everyone find those cute templates and backgrounds???

Where did February go?

2009-02-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable that the month has already gone by, and I wasn't even going to post today but once in a while a rare gem comes by that just makes me literally laugh out loud. Today it was a wonderful video for everyone that is a fan of or has watched The Office. I give to you The Office: Musical......

We've Lost the Way

2009-02-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

Apparently showing the political side of me sent me off to the dark side and scared me away from coming back. This is a travesty since it has been months packed with many activities, trips, holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, and so forth. Ever since the New Year I have meant to get on here and catch up, write about the real exciting things and the not so off the wall sort of things. Now it is February and I'm deciding to hit what I hit and miss what I miss. Tonight I'll post some of the cool things that Becky and I have done since November and we'll see how it rolls from there. Things I've neglected to share: Thankgiving, Being delayed due to a snow storm in Las Vegas of all places, Vacation to Florida, Five-year Anniversary, woo-hoo, Cruise to Grand Cayman and Mexico, Siteseeing in Tampa Bay, Falling in love with OSI, seeing our first NFL football game live and in person, coincidentally in Tampa Bay, my favorite team, New year's, Cheering on the Utes, Watching the Aggies and Rebels, but realizing I'm an Aggie through and through, The Office Partay, Racing Go Karts, Quick trip with the neighbors to Salt Lake to see the Jazz play the Cavs, surprising the Faddis' with a quick stop when they didn't know we were even up there, priceless, Becky's 25th Birthday, Golfing in shorts and a T-shirt with no wind and hitting the flag stick not once but twice, winning the office playoff pool and my first and probably last casino bet of the Superbowl, beginner's luck is bad sometimes. Wow that is one long list I'll be back shortly to see what I get out.

Election Thoughts

2008-11-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

So I have kept relatively quiet about the historic election we had, mainly because I have found that I don't like having an uneducated conversation about politics, usually I am the one lacking education. This year was different for me, I listened to all sides of the arguments, and in the end found both candidates for President unfavorable in many ways, but appealing in quite a few. I can't help but wonder why more emphasis isn't put on the primary elections as the thought I had was, How can these two be the most qualified people willing to run for President of the United States of America? I ended up casting a vote for McCain/Palin mainly on the hope that Palin could bring a voice to Washington DC, the "average" voice. I am glad with the results, I hope that Obama figures a way to let the country turn around, I say let because I believe that the economy needs to cycle and this just happens to be a lower dip than the last couple, perhaps more greed was garnered this upswing. I also hope that nothing happens to him, as much as I like Palin, I dislike Biden. Here's to the Democratic government following through and putting a ton of money into infrastructure, the engineering world could use a boost from the bottom.

One more thought that I have is how one person can make a difference, many times I have heard "I'm not voting, my vote doesn't really count" This election I learned that one vote may not mean much in the 128 million votes cast but one voter can influence many. I went from an uneducated, can't stand anything the Democratic candidates are promising, to almost giving my vote to Obama, this is mainly thanks to some great posts by my cousin Brian and a couple friends at work. One other example is the huge battle in California over the Proposition 8. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I am glad that it was passed, watching the rallies being held the last couple of days saddens me especially when I saw this picture today:

I know several people that either battle with homosexuality or live the homosexual lifestyle, they are aware of how I treat them and hopefully appreciate that I try and treat them as equal. I am amazed at how the gays and lesbians are turning this into a war against a religion. I do not feel that this was bought by anyone, amazingly the opposition raised over $37 million versus $35 million for it. I think that amount of money to be raised is amazing, I thought we were in economic trials? I feel close to this though because I was surprised when the church was going to ask for help in making phone calls to support the proposition, many people I know were willing to sacrifice time to do so, but plans were scrapped because Californians stepped up and made calls themselves. Many of my gay friends pride themselves on being different, my novel idea is why don't they set up something and then try and tell us "married" people how much better their lives are. I hope that something gets peacefully resolved and sooner the better.

What have you done lately?

2008-09-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my cousin's blog and since I wanted to kill fifteen minutes I stole it and used it too.

List of 99 things - Have you done . . . ?

1. Started your own blog (several times, thanks for reading)
2. Slept under the stars (hardly a better place to sleep)
3. Played in a band (does Rockband count?)
4. Visited Hawaii (can I buy a ticket now)
5. Watched a meteor shower (seen a couple without even planning on it)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (time for a road trip)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped (I jumped out of a boat once and my swimsuit got caught until it ripped does that count?)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning (good times, good times)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (we got two tomatoes off the plant on our condo balcony this summer)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (about time to do it again)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (of course, almost got caught a couple times too)

27. Run a Marathon (I’ve walked a 5K though)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (both in the same night, several times)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (One of the best ways to vacation, can’t wait until December)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (Thanks Dad)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Unfortunately couldn’t list who)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (Did I really teach myself Russian?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (If I can pay for lunch I’m happy)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (why does that sound dirty?)
41. Sung karaoke (Becky want to play singstar?
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (I think it is the coolest thing to do, and just as cool to have it done for you)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (This should have been yes if my parents weren’t such speedy drivers)

47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (but who am I to tell?)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (for two whole years)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I’m counting bribing my wife to do a couple chores for a couple cookies as this one)
62. Gone whale watching (I know that there aren’t whales in Lake Mead, but I kept an eye out for them)
63. Got flowers for no reason (I just love my wife sometimes)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I just donated blood yesterday, aren’t I special, and twice a week for most of college I “sold” my plasma for a little extra gas money, plus the girls were cute too.)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Still not certain it was a concentration camp but from what I saw in Kaliningrad and the members we asked it was)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (anyone surprised that they are tractors?)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (in seventh grade I got to see the north side with my mom and then the south side with my dad a week later, two separate trips)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (I buy used but they are always brand new to me, even the 1980 Ford I first bought when I was 16)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (most notably riding my bike through flood waters as a kid)
85. Read the entire Bible (okay I skipped a few of the “so and so begat so and so”
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (floated)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Copy this list and bold the things YOU have done. Then post it on your blog!

What do you call it?

2008-09-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

I found this cool survey that was done throughout America, and what the "locals" called Soda Pop. I notice that I tend to gravitate to calling it soda more often than anything else.

A trip to the mountains

2008-09-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I took Max up to try out a four wheel drive trail, it still amazes me that within 45 minutes from the dry heat of the valley you can find a cool mountain with a little “creek” and trees changing colors. I had been wanting to check this trail out for some time now and a coworker that lives at the other end was doing it the same day, we had planned to meet at the top, however due to a timing issue I didn’t get to the top and he was postponed for a couple hours, just leaves more to check out. On the way back as Max was searching for rocks in the water, I talked to a couple Jeepers that were coming in from a different trail, they gave me a few different ways to get around up there and told me about some other awesome trails to take. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

September 11, 2008

2008-09-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been seven years since I woke up to go to class and found out the world had changed. As the years go by the memories of that time still seem fresh in my mind, that month following the attacks was amazing to me, people actually seemed like they cared about the greater good. We all had that common link and we were all put on alert, I like to sometimes remind myself that is who I want to be all the time, whether or not it is recieved well. Take some time to remember where you were when the world stopped spinning. I would like to thank the thousands of troops that have gone, are fighting, or preparing for the fight and send them my full American Support.

God Bless America!!

Something to Enjoy

2008-09-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

A while back a friend sent me a link to a website, lately it has become an enjoyable sunday night guilty pleasure for me to check out, as it is updated weekly on Sundays. The website is the PostSecret blog, for those of you that want to check it out, there are always ones that make me laugh, or think "do I know them", or realize just how happy I am with where I am. It is an interesting concept and makes me think sometimes if I were to do one what would it be? But then I am such an Honest Abe that I can't think of one. For more on the PostSecret community check out here and here.

Labor Day Weekend Part 1

2008-09-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Our Labor Day Weekend was all about not "Laboring" and celebrating all of the "Laboring" we've been doing all summer. This is how the Warnicks like to spend quality snuggle time on the couch watching Batman Begins.

After our movie we headed down to Henderson to watch our beloved Aggies get beat in football, reasons to celebrate:
1.) It is football and not basketball
2.) Rebel fans still felt it necessary to "taunt" us and that they were up by two scores over the third to last team in the nation, it was quite easy to take the beating, of course in the second half we packed up and moved over to the Aggie section to cheer for all the first downs (what were there like a total of five?)
3.) In-N-Out double-double with animal style fries after the game.
Those three items made the night victorious for me, oh and we beat the spread to make my coworkers happy too.
As you can see the stands were packed full.

Sunday after church we headed down to the Palazzo Resort/Casino/Paradise. We lucked out on a deal through Priceline and then got even luckier to make it onto the 37th floor, with a view out onto the Strip and overlooking the Pool, I couldn't have requested a better spot. The suite was huge, as it was more than half of our condo, with two TVs in the main area and a little TV in the bathroom.

Labor Day Weekend Part 2

2008-09-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great time the first day out at the pool, a little cold front moved through so the wind was picking up and it cooled clear down to 97, Becky was freezing. We walked all around the pool area and even went over to the Venetian pool deck, we came out right by the Tao Beach and they had music blaring and drunk people dancing so we escaped back to the quiet of the Palazzo.
Later that night we enjoyed dinner at Dos Caminos, tasty guacamole, and some amazing steak and seared tuna, topped off with some delicious Pistachio Banana Crepes. We walked around the shops and went through all of Barney's New York, we both would've had a hard time finding anything we liked in there. We wanted to enjoy the Suite some more so we headed upstairs, the staff had turned down the sheets, turned on a little music and put chocolates on the pillows.

On Monday we had breakfast at one of our favorites: The Omelet House and then Becky went with a neighbor to get a massage and kiss the holiday goodbye.

Becky said that I had to post this gross picture, not only is it bad because it is my feet but notice the size of my right foot, let's just say that dress socks pressing on an infection on the back of your leg does not allow for sufficient drainage, therefore my foot looked like a watermelon and my ankle dissappeared for a couple of days. Becky knows it's bad when I tell her about it and say I might have to go to the Doctor, this was the day I finally admitted I better go get it checked out.

Going on a Staycation!

2008-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't heard this term it is where you take a vacation without leaving town, for those of us lucky enough to live in Las Vegas there are plenty of options to do this, we are going to have a nice night at the Palazzo and will be able to relax and have an amazing time to get ready for the rest of the week, we'll post pictures of how the Warnicks fit right in at a five star resort later. Happy labor day to all!

Memories of Max

2008-08-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is so funny, and reminds me of the first two nights with Max, before we took care of that problem.

Why so Serious?

2008-07-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Had a wonderful Friday night, went and saw the Dark Knight, although Becky was not going to go see such a scary movie. Somebody either tell her that was a terrible decision or tell me that she made a good choice. Greg, Tom, and I met up with Dane and Cassie, and one of Dane's friends for a showing at the IMAX theater. We got there at 6 for the 7 show and the line was already over 100 people long, so we sat on the sixth row, it wasn't bad since I sat on the fourth row for Ironman. The great thing about going to the IMAX and paying extra is they only show previews for the IMAX movies so they are limited, in fact we only saw two, then the adventure began. I was amazed at every aspect of the movie. I thought that it is something I will have to go and see again to really get everything that happened. I highly recommend it, unless you are scared of the Joker and don't think that Batman will prevail, no spoilers, I won't say if he does, or doesn't. After the show we introduced Tom to Capriotti's Sandwiches, I thought it was a shame that he had never been after three months of living in Vegas, and then we all went and played a wild game of BINGO, we thought our odds were good, since there were only about 50 people there but I think that the guy selling the cards was very unlucky so we didn't win at all. It was a great night and a very good movie.

Sometimes the news hits close to home

2008-07-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas Review Journal

"SKY POINTE DRIVE

Man shot, killed in northwest LV store

A man was shot and killed Wednesday morning at a northwest Las Vegas convenience store.

Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said officers were called to the scene about 8 a.m. by people reporting shots fired in the Guru Express, 6698 Sky Pointe Drive, at Cimarron Road.

When officers arrived, they found the body of a man who had been shot, possibly multiple times, Cassell said.

The victim's name wasn't available.

Anybody with information on the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555."

Luckily I wasn't buying a soda yesterday morning, I knew the fridge in my cubicle would be a good idea. It may have saved my life.

Something to get you through the summer....

2008-07-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

I love Kevin, I'm gonna go get me some ice cream now!

What time is it?

2008-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well it is summer and the heat has been turned up another notch here in Vegas. I was reminiscing about the good old days of being a kid in the summer when I thought about all the fun times playing with Super Soakers. I was probably 12 when I got my first and only super Soaker the SS 100, I found this about the evolution of the Super Soaker and I must say that the new guns with all of there fancy dual tanks and multiple nozzles are all about the looks.
I'd be glad to take on anyone with my old trusty SS 100, of course that would only be able to happen if I didn't pump it too hard and break the handle. Hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July and stay safe with the fireworks.

Living like the Indians

2008-06-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

J B and Mike's Mom have done some cool Indianesque Pictographs on the cinderblock wall behind their house, years ago after Becky and I and Debbie moved away they put family members handprints on the wall to add a personal touch. Unfortunately everytime since then that we have all been around it has either been too cold, too wet, or we were just too busy. Finally we did, except Bruce, and my mom was very happy to have a piece of her kids to look at in the back yard.

I think that Becky is doing some sort of dance move here.

Dutch Oven Family Celebration

2008-06-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

We always had a big Dutch Oven dinner at the annual Family Camp, since we haven't had Family Camp in a while we had the dinner part on what would have been Grandpa Davis' 93rd birthday, I think in all we had over 15 dutch ovens going, I never got any of the food because I was too busy eating, yummy yummy.

Becky says that she is finally full, and very happy.

Here's my Grandma with her kids that could make it to the Party.

My grandma brought a bunch of old notebooks that she used to write about each family event and would include a few pictures from each, it was blogging before computers, well while looking through a few I got to realize just how cool of a kid I was growing up and how thankful I am that they were finally able to make smaller glasses for almost blind people and that I found a job and saved up for Lasik, in most of the pictures I felt like....theirs Mike's glasses and body.

Seattle Fun

2008-06-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

The real reason to go to Seattle, to see the Mariners play some baseball, of course they were playing the Tigers so Mike's Dad came up as well. They split the two games so each was happy for their teams that haven't been doing too well this year. I am just glad that the Mariner's won at all.

We also got to see some good friends, Trish and Derek, of course they just happened to be moving so we went and helped a little bit, Heres Becky trying to still Derek's policeman hat.

The third great thing about Seattle is the fresh Seafood, we had some at every meal practically. Of course the best is the weekend Brunch at Salty's, it is the best and has a great view across the Puget Sound to Seattle.

Seattle Cont.

2008-06-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

We stopped by a couple random places in our driving around, it was fun to be able to drive around and see the different neighborhoods in Seattle and have the GPS so that we didn't get totally lost, although with Mike driving the poor girl had to "Recalculate" every other block.

This is north of downtown in a section called "Magnolia" nice view of the sound and of the Space Needle, and oh so green.

Kat's Wedding

2008-06-22T14:59:00.001-07:00

We went up to Utah to seed Becky's college roommate get married in Mid-May, the wedding was at the Joseph Smith Memorial building, I wasn't big into taking pictures of the wedding but did get a few shots of the big downtown construction project going on, not quite as exciting as all the Vegas construction but it was weird to see it from high up.

Looking at the hole that used to be Crossroads Mall, I felt my geekiness coming out as I was analyzing the geotechnical side of this project...go engineers.

Apparently the only semi-picture that I got of the couple was this one. It was fun and nice to see them get married.

The Wedding Continues

2008-06-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Caught this at the perfect moment, sometimes even I get lucky!

Random places like this make me really miss Utah, then the mosquitoes started attacking us and that thought went away.

After the wedding we continued out to the Great Salt Lake and found this unique structure, part of a bird and wildlife refuge, it has a nice one mile boardwalk around the mosquito infested and bird populated swampland that is the GSL.

Home Improvement 101

2008-06-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

After storing them in the garage for 1 1/2 years we finally built the shelf in laundry room and a shoe shelf in the closet, the shoe shelf didn't look as organized as this one so it didn't make the cut.

I think we have all the parts but it is hard to remember for so long.

Are you a Guitar Hero or a Rock Band strummer?

2008-04-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

This video is hilarious, they should have used trucks for the extended notes.

Memories remain even though bridges are burned

2008-04-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend one of my all-time favorite bridges was burned, all the way into the Colorado River below, of course I remember the crazy times driving the cattle truck to Grand Junction and having to fold in the mirrors, not able to make it through otherwise but I also was reminded of the first trip that Becky and I took to Moab, right before we got engaged, guess I didn't scare her off too much. Nor did my cousins. We were on our way out of town and wanted to see the river so we drove up and took a stroll across the bridge, thankfully we did that almost five years ago because we couldn't anymore.

Of course this is what it looked like that fateful night........

Old friends have returned....

2008-04-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

This last week I truly have realized how much I love TV, with the desperation caused by the writers' strike I have missed some dear friends that I have known since 2005. Welcome back Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Kevin, and the other members of the Office, you've been missed. I mean I have even tuned into American Idol I missed them so much, luckily our friend hooked us on Lost, otherwise I may have sunk to even lower, more desperate measures. So here we go seeing how Michael gets rid of Jan, if Jim has the guts to ask that question, and see Dwight being tortured, by everyone including Angela. At least now I no longer have to feel bad about not doing things because, "There isn't anything good on TV" to a few more weeks of a full DVR and many laughs until the summer break.

Snoop Dogg Joins the Mormon Church

2008-04-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

If god doesn't work in mysterious ways then there really can't be an explanation for this, but here it is in all of its glory........
http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/20395/1/

Actually it was an April Fools Day joke, probably one of the best of the year, I could just picture a tour with him and Gladys Knight, how many raps could he come up with when inspired by the Spirit instead of the Chron?

When little ones have to leave us

2008-03-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

My cousin just lost her five year old son to Luekemia, it is sad when taking it all in, questions always arise as far as why a child would have to suffer such an untimely death. Matthew's was so quick, we found out he was sick Friday and he passed away on Saturday. I am glad that from this tragedy, those that are close to the situation will be able to find some strength in the events that have occured since last Friday. God does work in mysterious ways, yet even amongst the saddest or worst times we can find peace and comfort in the knowledge that he would not leave us alone and that something must be coming from each trial that we are given. Matthew, even though I didn't really get to know you, you are family and I love you, I also believe that now you are in heaven with some of the most caring people that I have known. Death has been a rarety in my life, and I consider myself very lucky for that but on the few occasions that it has entered I am very grateful for the emotions and strength given to me. To the Pritts I wish that you may continue onward, cherish the wonderful years that you had him here, and continue to look forward to the time that you are reunited on the other side. As I have learned from my Mom, it may not seem possible to do, but there are plenty of things that life gives when something like a child is taken away. May God bless you always.

Matthew Raymond Pritt

2008-03-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

"Our Miracle"
Twinkle, twinkle little star, Do you know how loved you are? Our little red-headed angel flew home to the loving arms of his Heavenly Father on Saturday, March 22, 2008 due to complications of Leukemia. Matthew Raymond Pritt was born in Provo, Utah on October 26, 2002 to Michael and Connie Pritt. Little did we know how many lives he would touch in the 5 short years of his life. Matthew was a bubbly little miracle full of love. He had great faith in Jesus Christ and loved to go to church, primary and have family home evening. He enjoyed being with his father on scouting activities and loved soccer, swimming, trains, animals, but most of all his little brother. His many friends and cousins will miss him so much.
Matthew is survived by his parents and brother, Nathanael, his grandparents Thomas and Ann Pritt, Royce and Joyce Walker, his best friend and cousin, Geran Winn, and two great-grandmothers, Maxine Davis and Arveda Pritt including many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Funeral services for Matthew will be held Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:00 am in the American Fork 37th LDS Ward Chapel located at 440 North 1100 East, American Fork, Utah. Family and friends may call Thursday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Warenski Funeral Home, 1776 North 900 East, American Fork, Utah and at an additional viewing at the church on Friday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to services.
The Pritt family would like to thank everyone, especially those who cared for Matthew at Primary Children's Medical Center, for the outpouring of love which they have received. They have asked that in lieu of flowers that friends please donate to the Matthew Pritt Trust Fund. Funds received will be used to offset medical and funeral expenses and the remainder will be donated to the Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation directed to the cancer unit.

A new start:

2008-01-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Looks like I should resurrect this thing and try and get it going again........

More to come soon.

Coyote Visits Chicago Sandwich Stop

2007-04-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is crazy.........blame it on global warming. :o)

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

CHICAGO — For one day, at least, the roadrunner was safe. It seems the coyote was hankering for another kind of fast food.

Employees and customers at a downtown Chicago Quiznos sandwich shop were stunned to see a coyote walk through the propped-open front door Tuesday afternoon and lie down in a cooler stocked with fruit juice and soda.

"It wasn't aggressive at all," restaurant manager Bina Patel told the Chicago Tribune. "It was just looking around."

Employees and customers calmly cleared out of the restaurant, though some took the time to finish their sandwiches and snap some cell-phone photos, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Animal control officers took the passive coyote away after about 40 minutes, after a curious crowd had gathered outside.

"This one definitely I will definitely remember forever. A coyote in downtown Chicago," Quiznos employee Rick Torres told WLS-TV.

The city captures 10 to 15 coyotes every year, especially in the spring when they are most active, said Anne Kent, director of Chicago Animal Care and Control. Veterinarians will examine the coyote and, if he is not injured, release him into the wild.

A Neat Trick

2007-04-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

If you have ever wondered where people actually lived in your ward now you can see a ward map online: it is actual pretty simple to do..........

The information is all on this page:

Ward Map>Step 1> So you want a Ward Map?

Step 1: Got to www.lds.org and login to your ward site. (Its under the "About the Church" and then "Stake and Ward Websites") If you have never accessed this then you will need your church membership information, including membership number and confirmation date.

Step 2: Click on "Membership Directory"

Step 3: At the top of the list, right side there is a cvs option left click and then click "OK" Save this file to the desktop in order to find it later.

Step 4: Download this file to the desktop:

http://wardmap.theballfamily.org/WardMap.vbs

Step 5: Run the script file: It will ask you if you have the membership directory, click "OK" then find the File you saved in step 3 and hit enter.

Step 6: A new window should pop-up with a map and info search bar. Wait for the markers to load onto the map and you should have a quick map of your ward members.

(Note: if you don't have Flash Player you can load it here. If you need to change the settings for it then click on the Settings and on the third tab at the top change, Global Security Settings, the setting to "Always Allow")

Enjoy the fun.

Grave Digger's Freestyle Run

2007-03-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

It's a great save at 2:50 and then watch the end roll.

After the races was a Freestyle event.........

2007-03-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Batman got in one great jump before his rear axle broke.

This was my favorite obstacle, it was a boat in a pond, then they lifted an ice cream truck on top of it.

Apparently jumping over it wasn't too easy...........

The end of the night for most trucks....being towed out.

2007-03-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to the 2007 Monster Jam World Championships on Saturday night, it was amazing to see the races, these trucks got up to 60 mph before slamming on the brakes and making a U-turn, accelerating and then jumping over cars to the finish line. The world Champion for this year came down to Batman vs. Grave Digger and as you can see by the picture Batman was victorious. It was a blast and we would definitely go again.

Today was a day to forget

2007-01-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

So not only did I fill out my timesheet and have a whopping 67 hours on it, after taking off a few for screw around time, I was dead tired and by lunch needed a break so off to Carl's Jr. I go for a Western Bacon goodness, no sooner do I walk through the door than I realize that I forgot my wallet on my desk, SHOOT!! So I turn around and drive by the old Crystal Cove and back to the office, the drive rejuvenates me and I start working thinking that I will just leave even earlier, well by 2:30 I am dead and HUNGRY so I decide to run and grab something, on my way out I realized that I almost forgot the wallet again, I can't believe that I actually got stuff done around there today, well i came back and worked until 5 anyways and on my way out to the Jeep realize that I don't have my wallet.........well I had just cleaned up my desk and panic starts to hit.........frantic search of cubicle turns up nothing, even crazier search of Jeep turns up garbage and a basketball nothing.......back inside and scour the conference room, submittal room and coworkers desks.......nothing, so back outside......nothing........bathroom nothing!!! About half way through I realized that I may have left it in the Jeep.........crap that is not good, or that it fell out on my way inside....even worse. Drive home after forty minutes of searching and start calling credit card companies.........charge already shows up from Terrible Herbst.........and I didn't even buy anything from there........yep it is stolen.......I found these five steps below and followed them although I did not have #1 done and would suggest that you take the five minutes to do it........at least make a list.......even of store savings cards.....I am sitting here thinking did I have that???? Oh and be prepared to sit on hold for the police........my time was thirty minutes.....but that could just be Vegas on a Friday night.

Crap, Crap, Crap

2007-01-26T22:42:00.000-08:00

Step 1. The first step is something you should do NOW -- before anything goes wrong: Make copies of all your credit cards, ID cards and licenses -- everything in your wallet.If you think you're immune from having your credit cards stolen, you're wrong. We hope it never happens to you, but it certainly could, and your experience will be less traumatic if you are prepared.Make sure you photocopy both sides of all your cards, and/or list your account numbers, and the toll free phone numbers you'd need to call to report them missing. Keep this photocopy in a separate, safe place.If you've already done this in the past, have you updated it lately? Is a copy of everything in your wallet included?

Step 2. The second thing to do is call the companies that issued your credit cards to report the theft. Do this as soon as you discover the problem. Use the toll free number -- most companies are available 24 hours a day to deal with these emergencies. Write down the name of each person you speak with.It's a good idea to follow up each of your phone calls with a letter (you can do this after you complete Step 5 -- it's not as time critical). Summarize your phone conversation, including your name, account number, when you noticed that your card was missing, the date you first reported the loss via phone, and the name of the person you spoke with.Alternatively, you can purchase a credit card registration service for an annual fee and register your account numbers with this service. Then, you only have to make one phone call to report all card losses (rather than calling each individual issuer). Many services also will request replacement credit cards on your behalf.We believe these services are pricey for what they offer, but some people appreciate the service. If you go this route, compare offers since they do vary. In any event, you do need to make sure you keep your info up to date with the registration service, or it won't help you.

Step 3. Next, call the three national credit-reporting agencies to report the theft, and ask them to attach a 'fraud alert' to all your credit cards. Here are the three agencies and their numbers:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

Step 4. If your social security card is missing, call the Social Security Administration (fraud line) at 1-800-269-0271. Also, be sure the Motor Vehicles Bureau about your drivers license, as well as any other organizations from which you lost cards.

Step 5. Next, call the police in the jurisdiction where your credit card(s) was stolen to report the theft.We hope your credit card and/or wallet is never stolen. However, now you know exactly what to do if it is. Have a great week.

Some from a dam Christmas celebration...

2007-01-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken on the way and at the Hoover Dam, we went there on Christmas Eve, although I have been there a few times, it is the first time that I went on the tour. I was quite impressive as always, but I really wish you were able to go outside and see the dam from the river bottom to get a feel for just how big it really is.
Don't bother me I'm looking at a civil engineering marvel.........

Some beautiful concrete columns to hold up the new bridge...

They allow all sorts of scary people to walk across the dam.

Looking forward to 2007

2006-12-28T16:05:00.000-08:00

Well it is time to recommit to this, I am going to try a few different things this year, which hopefully will lead to weekly seesions but I really make no guarantees.......