Gentlemen...Start Your Engines

PINEWOOD DERBY:

the activity that turns grown men into boys... C with his first ever pinewood derby car.

She wasn't the fastest car on the track this time,

but she made us proud.

Thank You Veterans!

Thanks to all who willingly sacrifice so much for our freedom.

May we never take it for granted.

(Teena Nemelka (L) hugs a picture of her son Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, and touches his boots as her husband Michael Nemelka comforts her during a memorial honoring the 13 victims of a mass shooting at Fort Hood at the U.S. Army's III Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas November 10, 2009)

Gotcha

Four years ago today, the CFO and I found ourselves in a government office in China anxiously awaiting to meet a little girl we had been hoping for, thinking about, praying about for 18 months. What an emotional day it was. We are so happy that O joined our family.
(We did not adopt the Chinese man in the middle....this is our guide, Micheal.)

Happy Halloween 2009

Powell Pics 2009

the entire purpose of the trip right in this picture....the CFO making "rooster tails" The "book ends": the dating-20 something-year-olds on the left and the old married farts on the right.
This is the closest we got to doing something "sporty"

People way up high.....too high to jump.

the trip architect looking stunning in his newly acquired blue headband.

the trip architect laying one out

the CFO and his boat...incidentally also named West's Winns

a hike to ancient Indian dwellings on the side of a cliff.

parting shot....the CFO

You Know You've Had a Good Trip to Lake Powell When...

• Your family agrees to watch your children while you are away.


• Your boat(s) work.


• You find a great place to park your houseboat.


• Your houseboat has anchors and you know how to use them.


• Your daytime high temperature is in the 80's.


• Your nighttime low temperature is in the 50's.


• You get to sleep under a gazillion stars every night.


• You see a shooting star before you fall asleep.


• Your air mattress stays inflated.


• Your husband doesn't care if you try a water sport....well, he doesn't say anything.


• Lots of others can't wait to try the wake board.


• You can find a dry towel


• You find the water may be shocking ice cold when you get in it, but then, somehow, becomes quite pleasant.


• You have a toilet.


• You listen to LOTS of music.


• The people in your group only get a few cuts and bruises....no E.R. needed.


• You can usually find your camera.


• Your expensive sunglasses don't sink to the bottom of the lake


• Your hat floats long enough to retrieve it....visors, not so lucky.


• As far as you know, the rats stay on the outside of the houseboat.


• You get to spend quality time with your spouse around the campfire.


• You have time to lounge around and read magazines about celebrities and fashion.


• You eat..... A LOT of amazing meals, with reckless abandon.


• Someone in your group makes homemade onion rings!!!!


• You only have to cook ONE meal and no one complained about it.


• You have a giant pile of soda on board.


• You you see your friends helping each other into their life jackets.
• Your swimsuit stays in place when you take your life jacket off.


• Your new white swimsuit isn't see-through.


• You experience very little wind. (double entendre intended).


• Your best wake boarder of the group is a woman.


• You get to see some awesome rock formations and Indian ruins.


• You wake up every morning and hear someone say, "I don't want to go home!".


• You have a professional hairstylist on board who braids your hair and paints your toenails.


• You do NOT hit a rock and sink.


• Your houseboat DOESN'T catch fire.


• You don't have to seek shelter in a cave.


• Your tent isn't broken and full of sand.


• You aren't pregnant.


• Your boat window doesn't shatter over your head.


• You wake up willingly at 6am to ski on water that looks like glass.


• You become so sore and wasted from skiing, but continue to ski some more.


• You see "rooster tails" and you are able to make them


• You are sad to leave.


• Your husband fixes the broken wheel on the boat trailer instead of driving home on it.


• You are able to avoid the couch that is in the middle of the freeway without any accidents.


• You realize that you are loosing the boat cover and are able to pull over and put it back on before any gear flies out of the boat.


• You get home safely and all of your kids are happy and safe and, BONUS, 2 of 3 kids are asleep.


• Your crying is from laughing so hard.


• You did NOT, at any time, fear for your life!

Pictures will soon follow.

How Many Polar Bears Should We Have?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jqcnBugnl8