April 2007

In April I had to go to Washington DC for some meetings. The meetings were scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and under normal circumstances I would have flown out Sunday night, but due to flight schedules I was a lot less expensive for me to fly out Friday night, so I ended up staying over the week end.

Because I had some extra time, I decided I’d play tourist for a day and bought a tour with “Old Town Trolley” for $25. It was worth every penny. The tour covers Washington's major attractions such as the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, Washington National Cathedral, the White House, the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

The trolley’s stopped at each site every 15 minutes so you could get off at the sites you wanted to see and skip the ones you don’t have time for. It was perfect. I only had two regrets. First: I wish Hannah were there. It would have been much more fun with her. Second: I wish I would have brought warmer cloths. It was 60 in Denver and the forecast for DC was in the mid 50’s…..well it was much colder and the wind chill was brutal. I did the tour in a sweat shirt and froze my nubbins off.

On Sunday, I attended church in Virginia. The ward was very friendly, and I had a great time. I even got a dinner invitation, but declined. The rest of that day was spent in my hotel room and walking around Bethesda (that’s were my hotel was).

Monday meetings….Tuesday meetings…Tuesday night I get a call from my friend Tim, and he tells me that our friends Joe and Barbara Muir live in Chevy Chase MD. Tim had their address and contact information, and low and behold they lived 10 minutes away from my hotel. I was disappointed that I didn’t get this piece of information sooner, but I was able visit them.

Joe was instrumental in helping me return to the church, and the meeting was kind of emotional for me. It had been seven years since I’d last seen him and I wanted to tell him that I had been grateful every day for everything he’d done, but when I saw him it was the same old Joe, and he down played everything he did. It’s wonderful to have good friends.

December 25, 2006

As you may have heard, Denver had a heck of a snow storm last week. Roxborough received over 3 feet of snow, and some of the wind drifts were 6 feet. The whole town shut down, and we didn’t leave the house for 3 days, but had power, heat, and plenty of food, so it was like a vacation. Hannah went to work Wednesday morning, but decided to leave around 10:00 before the roads got too bad. When she got home, she had a movie, treats, and told me that we were going sledding. I told her that just because it was a snow day for her, I had to work (I had my laptop). The good news about technology is that I can work from home, and the bad news about technology is that I can work from home. It’s a mixed blessing.

By Saturday enough of the roads had been plowed that we could make it to the state park just up from our house, so we decided to go cross country skiing. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the snow was light powder – perfect conditions. The park was closed, which was great because we didn’t have to pay, so we skied in. The road to the park is about 3 ½ miles, and has great scenery. It’s almost better then the park. When we got to the park, we decided to do some exploring, and ended up having to make a choice of backtracking or going through a gully of scrub oak. We knew the scrub oak patch would stink to go through, but it was a long way to backtrack so we decided to go through. We found a dry stream bed that had slightly less trees in it and followed it down. The trees were so thick that we had to take off our skis and the snow was up to our waist. I slipped on a covered rock, and banged up my knee. I had a brief thought that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the main trail, but Hannah broke trail and we made it out in about 35 minutes. When we got home my knee had swollen up so bad it looked like I had an orange under my skin, and now it’s starting bruise nicely.

We went to church on Sunday, and Hannah gave a wonderful talk about the importance of receiving, and showing our appreciation for the gift of the atonement. She also sang in the choir.

That night we cooked a ham, made cheese mash potatoes, salad, rolls, and cherry cheese cake for desert. After the feast, we opened our presents, and being stuffed played “fat dog” (lay on the floor).

A few weeks ago Hannah asked me what I wanted to do for Christmas. This was our first Christmas without family, so we wanted to establish some traditions. I told her I didn’t have any ideas, and she asked me if I wanted to go downhill skiing.

When I worked at Brighton, I would volunteer to work on Christmas. I didn’t have any family in town, so I figured I’d let someone else spend it with their family. Christmas day was a great day to work… My boss would let me take a few runs before we opened, and everyone was in a great mood. I always wanted to go skiing with my family on Christmas, but because Hannah’s not a big downhill skier, I never thought we’d do it. The one condition that Hannah placed on the skiing adventure was that I couldn’t be too bossy.

Christmas morning we got up at 6:00 and drove to the Loveland Ski Area. It’s more of a local resort, so we didn’t think it would be as crowed as some of the destination areas. Another bonus is that they have an entire section of beginner / intermediate runs separate form the rest of the area. We had a wonderful day. I think this tradition may stick.

That evening we went and saw the new James Bond movie and ate all of our Christmas candy.

Hannah speaking…Christmas was wonderful this year even though we did not get to spend it with other family members. Because I was preparing for a talk the weeks leading up to Christmas I made an extra effort to reflect upon why I really should celebrate the season. Christmas is about celebrating our Savior and receiving our King. I didn’t make treats or buy lots of stuff but I was happy. I was happy with the blessings I do have because of the Birth of Christ…..my life, the Gospel, eternal families, the Comforter, an eternal perspective….life is wonderful.

And now your moment of ZEN.........(I was Santa again this year)

December 15, 2006

Last week stunk. Our cat Max had been fighting a cold for a few weeks. He seemed to get better, but then he would relapse and get sick again. We took him to the vet twice, but were unsatisfied with her diagnosis – “Max is in perfect health.” Hannah found a cat specialist in Castle Rock, 30 minutes south of us, and she took him there.

Once there, she explained the history and the vet noticed that Max’s coat looked unkempt. He decided to run some tests, and found that he had the virus called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). FIP is extremely rare, and only 1% of cats are diagnosed with it. He told us that there was no cure, and that Max would appear to get better, and then get worse – never fully recovering and steadily going down hill. The decision was made to put him down.

The morning we were scheduled to put him down, Max was feeling better and purred when we picked him up. It sounds dramatic, but it was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do in my life. I bawled like a baby. The last time I cried that hard I was a child. I really bonded with that cat. On Sundays when I’d take a nap, he would jump on the bed and sit two inches from my face staring at me until would lift up the blanket and he’d crawl in. If I rolled on his legs, he wouldn’t make a sound, just kick his way out, and then go back to sleep.

Hannah and I decided that we needed another cat right away, so we went to the pound and picked up a 15 pound black male. He’s very mellow, likes Sally (our other cat), and sleeps all day….he’s perfect. We tossed around several names, and landed on Pete…I think. For fun I’ll list a few of the names we tried on:

1. Berry White: Named after the R&B singer. Berry White was a ladies man, and had a deep baritone voice. When Pete was at the pound he was in a room with all females, and he would let them lay on him, and has a deep rumbling purr, but his meow is a soprano.
2. John Coffee: Named after the black guy in the movie “The Green Mile.”
3. Puddy: Named after David Puddy on Seinfield
4. Molasses (Mo for short): Black Strap Molasses??? Slower than molasses??? I don’t know it just seemed to kind of fit.
5. Mouse Face: From the side he looks like a mouse.
6. Chief Meow Meow. This was Hannah’s first choice but Eric rejected it.

What ever we end up calling him, we’re glad to have another cat.

October 8, 2006

Welcome Max Powers!!

Last Saturday Eric and I went to the animal shelter and adopted a new cat named Max. Eric named him Max Powers in tribute to one of his favorite Simpson episodes. I will explain….. Homer Simpson concludes that all of the bad things that have happened in his life are due to his weak name…. Homer. He decides to rename himself with the most powerful name he could think of….Max Powers. Later in the episode he has his wife’s name changed to Chesty Sinclair. I don’t feel it appropriate to rename our other cat Sally, Chesty.

Well Max is very, very tall and leggy. He has beautiful tiger stripes and is very friendly and soft. We love him already. He does meow way too loud. Every night this week he has woken Eric up at 4:00 a.m. For those of you who have not seen Eric woken up when he is deep asleep you will not be able to fathom the drama. Max meows very loud, Eric flips the light on, kicks the covers around, yells a lot, stomps around the room, threatens the poor little cat’s life, locks him in the laundry room, slams the door and then reports back to his sleepy and bewildered wife that in the morning they are returning Max to the pound. The funny thing is, is that when 6:30 a.m. arrives and Eric loves Max and comments on what a wonderful cat he his. You should also note that Eric refers to Max as Reggie, our old cat. I find this a little blasphemous but I think David, I mean Eric, may have inherited the renaming gene from his mother.

You will notice that Sally our other cat hates us now. She stares at the corner instead of associating with us or the new cat.

And now, your moment of ZEN.... I believe that this photo is "photoshoped," but it makes Hannah and I laugh really hard every time we see it....Remember you can double click on the image and it will enlarge.

September 17, 2006

Hello friends and family. Things are good here in Colorado. The weather is perfect… cool, crisp and sunny. The skies are blue and clear during the day and at night they are full of stars. We live in an area by the mountains away from the city. We do not have very many street lamps so the view at night is amazing.

I was just released from the primary presidency and am now the new young women’s president. I am looking forward to working with the young women. They are all kind, good girls. I will miss the primary terribly. When I was first called to the primary I didn’t think that I would enjoy it as much as I did. I’ve never really spent much time around children and I didn’t enjoy them like other people. I think that working in the primary presidency has been my all time favorite calling. I love the children; they set such a good example and love unconditionally. The Sunday that I was released the primary chorister asked the entire junior primary to come up and hug me. They mobbed me all at once and took turns hugging me. I was kneeling on the floor and was covered in little kids. I could see their sweet faces so excited to come and hug me that I started to cry. (I don’t like to cry in public) This made the chorister cry and all of the other primary leaders. I was surprised at how willing the children were to express love and gratitude.

We just had our first combined young men/ young women activity the other weekend. We took the youth to the ‘Taste of Littleton’. The Taste of Littleton is a community event where many local restaurants line Main Street in Littleton and provide samples of their food to the public. We purchased wrist bands for $5 which allowed us unlimited samples. It was a lot of fun. I do not have a counselor yet, so Eric came along and drove some of the kids in his car. My folks would have loved this event. They loooooove free samples.

Eric here. The taste of Littleton was fun, but I had to deal with young punks making fun of my Subaru. As Hannah pointed out, I had to drive some of the kids in my car. The kids I happen to get were gear heads. They all drove big trucks, and couldn’t fathom buying anything but American. Of course they also get 9 miles to the gallon, so by the time they get to the movies they don’t have enough money to get in, and I definitely highlighted that fact. In the end they came to respect the Sub. I floored it a couple of times, and let them feel the awesome power of its mighty four banger.

I was only able to ride twice this week. On Tuesday I rode the Apex trail, which was fun, but technically difficult. One of the keys to getting over technical terrain is to have momentum, witch requires power, and generating quick bursts of power every fifty feet wears you (me) out pretty quickly. The down hill was, as always, extremely fun. It drops down the Front Range with beautiful views of the city.

On Friday, Hannah and I met at the Chimney Gulch trail head, which goes up to look out mountain. This is one of my favorite trails. There are a few rocky sections, but for the most part it’s a steady climb for about five miles. The trail isn’t a loop so you have to watch out for riders coming up as your going down, but you can see far enough ahead to be able to get some decent speed.

Your moment of ZEN......

Memories of Reg

About three weeks ago, Reggie got out at night, and we never saw him again. We think that a fox or coyote got him. We miss him terribly, and the house seems empty with out him. Even though his name was Reggie, I usually called him Pal, because that’s what he was. He would come when we called. He’d follow us around when we were out in the yard, and just wanted to be by us. Of course I also called him Rotten Reg, and Reggie the ruiner, because he was constantly getting into things, but all in all Hannah and I decided that he was our favorite cat of all time.

Even though most of our “Moment of ZEN” pictures were of Reg, I thought I’d post a few more in his honor.

September 4, 2006

A few months ago, Hannah had a really good month at work, and as a reward she wanted to buy her sisters plane tickets to come out and visit. She decided that even though the fairs are reasonably priced, it was still to expensive. She said that she would go out and visit them. As time went by, I realized that she wasn’t going to buy a ticket (we have a lot we’re saving up for). I also knew that she really wanted to go, so I bought a ticket for her.


I was planning to go to the Black Hills in South Dakota when she was in Utah, but a week before she left I sprained my ankle playing basketball, and the weather was suposed to be rainy. Rather than drive five hours and go for easy bike rides in the rain, I decided to stay in Denver.


I’ve done a fair amount of traveling for work since Hannah and I have been married. While I never really like to leave, I’m working, so the time goes by quickly. Staying home while Hannah leaves STINKS. I was board out of my gourd. Hannah was livin' it up, so I would as well.

I took a few hours of on Friday, and rode the Hall Ranch trail just outside of Estes Park – North of Boulder. The first two miles are extremely technical and I ended up walking my bike up a lot of it. After the first section, there is a five mile loop that was fairly easy, and made for fast riding. On the way back, I was able to ride down most of the technical parts, and really enjoyed myself. I came home, ate left over spaghetti, watched some TV and went to bed.

It rained Saturday, so I changed the oil in my car, cleaned it out, did some minor things in the garage, went for a hike, and went out for Sushi.

I am addicted to Sushi. I can’t get enough of it. I dream about it. On my birthday a few years ago, Hannah took me out for Sushi. She had never had it and was skeptical. I knew she wouldn’t like the Nigiri Sushi, which is raw "whatever" on a ball of rice, so we got a sushi roll. I can’t remember what was in the roll, but the conversation went something like this:

Hannah: I just don’t like the texture of the fish.
Eric: It takes some getting use to.
Hannah: I’m just not a fan of the sauce.
Eric: The do have other sauces, or you don’t have to get any sauce.
Hannah: I really don't like the seaweed wrapper... it makes me gag.
Eric: So the only thing you like is the rice.
Hannah: Yeah, but even that tastes like the seaweed.

Needless to say, we haven’t gone out for Sushi together since.

This morning, I got up at 6:30 and went for another bike ride. This time I went to a trail just outside of Roxborough Park about a mile South of our house. I hadn’t been on this trail before because the entrance is in a gated community. We have some friends who live there, and they said that we could use their name to get past the gate, so I did, and had a great time. The pictures of the red rocks are of that trip.



And now your moment of ZEN.......

August 27, 2006

Hannah and I have started a mid-August resolution…..write more on our blog. It took the gentle prodding of some good friends. They used kind words like, “You have no excuses,” and “it’s been three months.” There is no need to mention names…you know who you are….and we miss you.

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A lot has happened. We went river rafting in Southern Colorado for our 5th year anniversary. I spent four days in Seattle for work and then we went to Oregon for a week and had a mini family reunion. Everyone was there with the exception of the Huntsmans, whom we all missed.

Since we don’t have time to go over everything in detail, we’ll do a quick summery:

The rafting trip was great. It was Hannah’s turn to plan the anniversary trip, which is good because she always has the best ideas. I got off work early and we drove down to Canon City in Southwestern Colorado and spent the night. The next morning we went rafting in the poring rain and loved every second of it. There was one other group in the trip with us. Two of them were members of the Church from Arvada ( a few miles North of us) and some foreign exchange students from Saudi Arabia, who consequently had never been swimming. We had a great time. Hannah and I had a boat to ourselves (plus the guide) so we sat right up front and faced the rapids all day. The guide was pretty cool and even let us “ride the bull”. To ride the bull one must sit on the front point of the raft with your legs over the front edge of the raft and hang on to the bow line like a cowboy holding onto a rodeo bull. As you hit the rapids you scream like an idiot and love every minute of it. We became friends with the other group and made plans to do it again next year.

I had to go to Seattle for a mid-year planning session. While I was there I took the opportunity to visit some customers and eat Sushi every night. It was great fun, and I enjoyed meeting some of the people I work with, but only get to talk to on the phone. At the end of the trip, I was ready to come home and realized that I don’t like Seattle as much as I thought I did. I still really like it, but it’s just too darn big. It takes too long to get to the mountains.

At the reunion we saw Sherry and Ray, David and Wren and their family, Grandma Petersen, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Parley and Aunt Kathryn and of course my parents. It was wonderful, but the schedule was really hard on me. Each morning I would wake up, eat some cereal with fresh raspberries and blackberries, lay around for a few hours and then go swimming. The hard part was going back to the real world.

And now your moment of ZEN......(Eric and his nieces running from the waves).

July 1, 2006

I just saved my baby Reggie’s life! I was walking out the door to go to the church and I saw a fox in our neighbor’s yard. I freaked out because he was so close to our house and I knew that Reggie (my cat not my baby) was outside. Just then I saw my fat, juicy, tender little cat stalking the fox. I was in my car and drove as fast as I could toward fox and the cat because they were only a few feet apart from one another. Reggie would have been a goner but the fox hadn’t seen him yet. I pulled up in front of them and honked my horn trying to keep Reggie from springing on the fox. The honking distracted both of them and gave me a few second to get out of my car and grab Reggie. I saved that dumb cat’s life. The worst part is, is that the fox was kind of cute and I couldn’t blame it for the situation. Well I came home all freaked out and now Eric and I don’t know what to do about this dumb old cat. I think it might be best for him to spend the rest of the summer with Melanie and Stoney.

Eric bought a new bike and has been riding a lot. He thinks he is better than me now that he has his fancy new bike with his fancy little biking shorts. Well he is. I can still take him on the uphill but as far as technical skills go the grasshopper has surpassed the master. I need to have my Dad, Stoney come to Colorado again for another bike ride and put Eric in his place.


Eric gave a wonderful talk today in church about the Plan of Happiness and the Atonement. This is the third time he has spoken in church in a year. He did a wonderful job. He is comfortable speaking in public and likes giving talks. Good thing because our ward is small and I am sure they will keep asking him to speak.

I am still working hard. Cub Scout day camp is this week and I am assigned to take the boys this Wednesday. Cubs…what can I say…they are appropriately named cubs. I have been missing my family and friends lately especially my sisters. I was so worked up about the fox attack that I had to call Jenny to calm down. She is the only one who can fully understand the tramas of being way too attached to a cat. On Fathers day I really missed my Dad. My Dad is wonderful. He taught me to love so many things that make my life happy. I hope that we are always close. I am always happier when he is around.

Eric and I are sooooooo excited to go and see his parents in July. David and Wren will be there and so will Sherry and Ray. I think Eric’s Grandma Ann and Aunt Sharon may be there as well. One good thing about our marriage is that both Eric and I love our in-laws. We love being around each other’s family.

Our 5th year anniversary is this week and it is my turn to plan something special. I still don’t know what we are going to do but it will be romantic. I will keep you all posted.

Well Melanie (my Mom) is an inspired woman. She gave Eric a case of brownie mix for his birthday and it is being put to good use tonight. My Mom Rocks!!!

Your moment of ZEN..... (if your wondering what Hannah has around her legs, it's a piece of elastic. She has take wide steps with it around her legs for her knee exercise’s)

May 21, 2006

I know, I know, I know. It’s been awhile since our last posting. There are two reasons for this. The first and, probably the most accurate is that I’m lazy. I don’t know why it’s so hard to keep this current. Once I’m typing everything goes smoothly; sitting down at the computer is the hard part. The second reason is that my camera is broken. The small clasp that holds the spring loaded battery in is missing, so every time I want to take a picture I have to hold the battery in. Without pictures, I think the blog would be boring.

A few weeks ago, we got a call from our friends Aaron and Kristen. They had some extra tickets for Les Miserables, and asked if we wanted to go with them. I usually balk at entertainment that requires dressing up, but Hannah really wanted to go, and I wanted to hang out with Aaron and Kristen, so we said yes.

The play was on a Friday night, and before I left work one of my co-workers asked me if I had any plans for the week end. Let me pause for a moment, and tell you about this individual. His name is Dean Holmstum, he’s single, he rides a Harley, and on the week ends he goes for beers with the boys. In short, he’s a man’s man. When Dean asked me if I had plans for the weekend I panicked. I wanted to tell him that I was going to Les Miserables, but I didn’t know how to pronounce it. Not wanting to butcher the title, I said I was going to “la Mis.” I had heard it referred to this before, but it never sounded so feminine as when I said it. Dean looked at me for a moment and said, “That’s ok…I’m sure you’ll have a great time.” We still joke about that. It was actually pretty funny.

Well despite the not wanting to dress up, and feeling awkward for not know how to pronounce the name, we had a wonderful time. The singing was great, and the story was inspiring. I was so impressed with the production, that I’m reading the book, and really enjoying it.

Work is going well. I’m starting to understand how to navigate IBM, which means that I’m more productive. I don’t have to spend twenty minutes researching each question I get.

The commute isn’t bad either. If I didn’t have one, it would be better, but I’m making the best of it.

I pass several great bike rides on the way home, so I’ve decided to ride once or twice a week. Last week I road the Heil Ranch trail. It’s just outside of Boulder and it reminds me of South Fork in Provo. It’s a long narrow valley, with beautiful meadows, and plenty of trees. It also has tons of open range cattle. As some of you know, I love cows. I don’t know what it is about them, but every time I see them I feel happy. The only problem Heil Ranch is that it’s quite rocky. A lot of the trails around here are rocky, and normally it doesn’t bother me, but this year I’ve been feeling like I just got beat up after every ride. I came home and told Hannah that I wanted a new bike. I was expecting to have to justify the purchase, but Hannah was wonderfully understanding, and said I could get one if it wasn’t too expensive. I was planning on getting a new bike this fall, so I’d been doing a lot of research, and already knew what I wanted. The bike shop I went to offered demos, so I demoed a bike on Friday, and bought it on Saturday. It’s like a dream come true. I can’t believe the difference.

Well that’s all I have to say for now.

We love, and miss all of you.

Eric and Hannah

And now your moment of ZEN.......

March 6, 2006

Today was a wonderfully sunny Sunday. The temperature reached the high 60’s and the sky was deep blue without a cloud in the sky. The whole week has been this way. Saturday I took the opportunity to go for a bike ride. Usually Hannah and I try to go on bike rides together, but she had been gone for several hours running errands, one of which was going to the gym. I decided that if I didn’t go by my self I wouldn’t go at all. So I packed up the car and took off. As I was leaving the neighborhood, I saw Hannah’s car coming my way. No one was behind me so I stopped. I was planning to ask her if she wanted to go with me, but when she rolled down her window all she said was “I’ve been betrayed,” and took off (the funny thing is just a few days earlier she was telling me that she wasn’t into drama. If that’s not drama I don’t know what is. : ) I called her on her cell, and asked her if she wanted to go. She said that she had to get ready for a party we were going to that night, and told me to have a good time.

I chose to ride Deer Creek, because it was close. I hadn’t ridden for a while, so I knew it was going to be hard, but its close, so it was the obviously choice. The first half of the trail is the most technical, and luckily was dry; the second half still had snow and ice, which made it more difficult. I got tired of pushing my bike so I only made it 2/3rds of the way up. It was fun anyway. After the trail I decided to ride on the road for a while and snapped a few shots of some decent size elk.

I was able to get pretty close to them before the started getting nervous. One of them took a rather aggressive stance, which surprised me. For a second I though I was going to be on of those “When Animals Attack” videos, but the elk decided to turn away instead.

(Hannah here) When I married Eric my long time biking buddy (Stoney, my Dad) started riding with the Bishop. I still ride with my Dad but not as often. I thought that Eric agreed to be a biking buddy, especially since we moved to Colorado. I don’t have anyone else to ride with and every time I ride by myself I feel like cougars are stalking me. Anyway, I was a little sad to see Eric’s Subaru driving down the rode with a bike on top.

Over the past few months I have been our ward’s Young Women’s basketball coach. It was tough at first. Most of the girls had never played basketball before and struggled with the basics….dribbling, hitting the backboard when shooting, not walking with the ball in your hand etc…. But the girls were so happy and dedicated. They came to all of our practices and loved it. We only have one elementary school gym in Roxborough and having access to it is rare. I started sneaking into an empty slot on Tuesday’s at 7:30 p.m. and claimed it as our time. One of the 11 year old boys in our primary is one a YMCA basketball team and asked if their boys team could practice with our. It turned out to be great. Every Tuesday night a bunch of LDS Young Women with several of their friends scrimmaged against a boys 11-12 year old team. They boys beat us every time, but we started mixing the team and the boys helped the girls learn how to pass and how to defend tough players. Because of their help our girls improved Soooooooooo much. It was amazing how good they are now. The Stake sport leaders came and hugged me after our last game. They have secretly been rooting for our little team, and commented on how good they are now.

Yesterday we had a end of season Basketball party at Cori Holloway’s house (the Young Women’s president). All of the girls and boys came. It was out of control. I forgot how different boys and girls are at that age. The girls were so nice but a little “goosey”. (My mother said I was goosey when I flirted too much) and the boys kept talking about poop.

Oh well, it was an excellent missionary experience and I enjoyed it. (Eric) I had a good time as well, but it made me feel old. I remember going to parties at that age, but this was the first time I was the “adult.”

3-06-06

Today was another beautiful day. IBM is located at the north end of Boulder. The west end of the campus is butted against the mountains, and everything to the east is farm land. I took advantage of the location and the great weather to go for a walk.

I passed horses that were fuzzy with their winter coats and enjoyed views of the mountains. When I returned to work I felt refreshed, and decided that I’m going to bring my bike tomorrow and go for a ride.

Last night we went over to Joe and Wendy’s for an evening of fun and excitement. I creamed Joe at both ping pong and darts (the previous sentence is an example of rewriting history. The power is with the writer. The truth is that Joe creamed me at both, but future generations will only see my writing and laud me as an exceptional sports man while feeling pity for Joe’s pitiful performance : ) After ping pong Joe burned some movies for us and Ely and I played retro video games. This was followed by lemon squares and a card game called Nerts, which I dominated yet again (see previous comment in parentheses). After Nerts the kids went to bed and we talked a little while longer. I found out that Wendy had been doing some genealogy recently. The past couple of weeks I have felt a strong desire to learn about our ancestors, and it was good to hear that someone else was feeling the same way. She’s going to show me how to use the church history web site, and both of us are going to ask our parents for any kind of stories / information they have. I was actually so excited that it was hard going to sleep. I never thought I would get riled up about genealogy.

Last week I talked to my nephew Kyle. He is attending Snow Collage in Ephraim Utah. He recently purchased some climbing gear ( I’m so proud of him ), and we discussed plans to rendezvous in Southern Utah for some outdoor adventures. I hope we can make it happen.

The summer after my mission Kyle and I did some backpacking on Heintzleman ridge in Juneau, and I realized that even though he was only 14 (I think) at the time, I enjoyed his company immensely, and I look forward to playing with him before he goes on his mission. He mentioned that he was going to try and go to Zion’s National Park during spring break, so I’m adding some pictures of a previous trip. These were taken on the “Angles Landing” trail. It’s very popular with lost of people, but still one of the best hikes I’ve ever been on. The second picture is of the actual trail. It goes on top of the fin. I thought I had a better one, but I can't find it.

We Love you all.

Eric and Hannah

And now your moment of ZEN.......