Leap Year

Tomorrow is leap year day, or however you say that. What a weird quirky day if you really think about it. If my twins, Samuel and Marlee would have been born 5 days earlier then they were, then leap year would be their first Birthday. Lol, that is funny. Actually, if you really want to get crazy, then, think about this: Samuel, Marlee and lizzie are actually the same age, they just have different birthdays. With the focus on BIRTH. They were all "created" so to speak on the same day back in 2003. We have pictures to prove it too, although, we do not know which one is which at that point. LOL. Poor Lizzie was alive and doing well in her pietry dish and then BAm, they sucked all the H2o out of her and replaced it with Nitrogen and kept her frozen for three years. Lets just say, I'm glad I don't have to pay the clinic the $350 a year child support it took to keep her frozen in that icy tube. I am so grateful for each one of them. I love each one of them dearly and am so grateful for modern medicine and a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers prayers. My next post will be from Disneyland, celebrating the Twins Birthdays.
-Dan

Hope you brought your long johns.

Why do we do crazy things? Why do we push ourselves? Why would anyone in their right mind go atop a 10,000 ft mountain, one which the Utes called "Thunder Mountain", in the middle of winter and camp? Why? Why would anyone shovel snow for five straight hours, in a place that is constantly snowing and has a 12 ft snow base? ..And by the way would snow for another 24hrs straight. Finally, why would anyone then sleep in the snow that they had been shoveling for those many hours?

Because we can, that's why! To see if were alive, that's why!

...and that's exactly what we did. We went up to the what the Spanish called "Mesa Grande", a 10,000 ft mountain that has over 300 lakes, has had 8,000 yrs of habitation and is the largest flattop mountain in the world. And we did this in February. Without tents. With our shovels and a dream. Because we can.

This pic is of the sign, "Mesa Lakes" being covered by the drifting snow. Just to show you how deep the snow is. Now do you believe me?

The following is a series of photos taken while constructing our "snow cave." And yes, we did sleep in it that very night, the three of us; Me (Dan) and my buddies Mike Bench and Sean Buddeke. While the temperature outside was a snowy/windy 16*, it was a comfortable 35* inside our enclosed cave.

1. We picked our spot, a nice solid snow bank with the face out of the wind.

2. We began digging out the hallway and entranceway.

3. Slowly excavating a ton of snow! After the initial opening, we started the main room.

4. The main room was a big dome in this case. We would be sleeping 3. We made 3 bunks with what we call a "cold air trench" going down the middle. This lets the cold air settle below us.

5. We made several air holes using a ski pole and then finished off the inside. Then, we sealed off the door using masonry snow as shown below. And let it set up for several hours. In the pic of me below, you can hardly tell there is a huge snow cave directly behind me.

6. After the set up period, we re-carved our new smaller doorway and then got in to escape the snow and wind.

We worked very hard and were very proud of our labors. And there you have...our snow cave.

Klondike and snow caves...

Well, this morning I am going up to the top of the largest "flat topped" mountain in the world, the Grand Mesa. It is right next to Grand junction. That is where we are having our scout klondike. We are going up this morning to build the snow caves we are going to sleep in. I will have pics up in a few days. It should be very fun and the weather is calling for snow!!! hehe. See you soon.
-Dan

Pre-B-Day party for the twins

Last Saturday (Feb. 16th) we had a Pre-Birthday party for the twins. As you know, they will be turning "4" on March Fourth. This year they wanted to have a friend party so badly. We have never really had a party for them before, just lil family stuff and this year we are taking them to Disneyland!!! (BTW- they are so excited they can't stand it.) Anyhow, we will be gone on their actual birthdays so we decided to throw them a friend party a lil early.

Katie made fabulous "Cupcake" cakes for the both of them...

Princess theme for Marlee...

Transformer theme for Samuel...All the kids got to hit "pinatas"...

We played fun games and opened presents.....

...the twins were spoiled with presents and had tons of fun. The best part is, all we bought was cake mix and pinatas. All my money is going towards Disneyland. See you there Grandma Debi, Grandpa Greg and Millie.

My Valentine

TO: My Valentine

Katie,
Sometimes I think about
the first time I realized
that I love you...

It was as if my eyes
took a picture at that moment
and shared it with my heart...

Sometimes I think about
how much my life has changed
because of your love.

I think about you,
I think about your happiness,
I think about us,
and I think of our life together.

Then I realize you are..
as much a part of me
as the air I breathe...
and the dreams we share...

But, from time to time,
I still like to remember
the first time I looked into..
those big brown eyes.

I look into them deeply,
and realize I see my future...
within them.
Happy Valentines Day,

I love you.

-Dan

Dallas, Texas

A more accurate title might be: The inside of a hotel in Dallas. So last week I made my way, for the first time, to the LoneStar state. Very flat- my first impression. In truth, I did want to go spend some time seeing some of the cool things in Dallas, but I was there for a business meeting.

One of the coolest things to me, was seeing the place where JFK was assasinated. I sat at "the grassy knoll" and near the "book depository" and I couldn't help but feel the history of the place. Everyone knows the scene I am refferring to. JFK riding next to his wife Jaquelyn in the back of the convertible. It was very strange, as I said, I could "feel" the history of the place. It was a simple street, a simple piece of grass and a simple building. History.

Besides the JFK impression, we did many other fun things. (I won't bore you with the work portion) We had Scott Bloom (a comedian from VH1) come perform and entertain us. He was hillarious! He did a polyglot bit and also a pyschic act. Very very funny. Scott, "I feel connected with you, tell me, what is the name of the 15th century Japanese poet I am thinking of?" The lady's reply, "I don't know!" Scott, "Did you just say Yamagishi Idohknow? That's exactly who I was thinking of, amazing." It was so funny, it was very spur of the moment.

We also had a juggling act come and perform for us. "The passing act" They have won several TV competitions and are known worldwide. They were also very funny and very talented. The most amazing thing they did was, now picture this in your mind: One guy standing on the other guy's shoulders, balancing, then that guy standing on a board, that was balancing on a ball, and then they juggled swords to eachother. It was absolutely crazy. They only did that one for like 15 seconds, but still, insane. The funniest part was, they did that whilst wearing blindfolds, now they didn't have the blindfolds over their eyes, but they were wearing them...LOL around their necks. LOL. It was really cool.

Another cool thing was a "team building" event that we had. We were all (1150) brought into a room and told that we were going to build bikes. We were like okay... So then we broke into groups of five and starting building our bikes from these lil kits. When we finished, they said, everyone close their eyes and they brought in 225 eight year old orphans. At this point, we all figured out what was going on. Then the kids came to each group and gave us all a thank you card and picked up the bikes. People were crying and so happy and it was really cool. It was all about serving others. For some ppl, (out of our church) this was their first time serving anyone, maybe ever. My company paid for all of it. I work for a great company. We also went to "The House of Blues" and had Jim Bilushi perform live for us. He was really good. Quite the entertainer. Anyhow, I thought I'd just share some of the fun things that I did, while in the Republic of Texas.
-Dan

A few thoughts.

First of all, I can't believe that it is already February. Time is going by so fast it seems. Stalee, on her blog noted that her lil girl Kamree is growing up so fast, she is five now! My little Lizzie is a little jitterbug of acitvity. She, also, is growing up too fast. I can't believe my baby is walking and talking. The twins are almost 4!!! I thought they would never come and now they are almost 4.

Speaking on this topic, I am 30 years old. I am a young man. Last Sunday I was put into my second Bishopric. I am again the second counselor, (which I love). I was only in the previous Bishopric for 5 months, then we got a new Bishop and therefore Bishopric. While I am grateful not to be the Bishop. I am also very grateful to be called as one of his counselors. I love to serve the members of our ward and I am greateful for the trust that I have been given. I try to use each one of my talents in a way that would make the Lord pleased with me.

Today, I watched President Hinckley's Funeral. He died a week ago tomorrow. He was 97. I know that I have already posted some info regarding this, but I wanted to add just a few tidbits of information that I gleaned from the speakers today.

• Temples grew from 47 to 135 -working or under construction. Amazing!!!
• The church donated over $600 Million dollars in humanitarian aid Worldwide
• The Perpetual Education Fund was started and continues
• We received the "Proclamation to the Family"
• 1/3 of the current 13 Million members became such while he was President
• Over 600,000 missionaries have served during his tenure
• He was married for over 62 years.
• He gave us the state of the art, 21,000 seat Church Convention Center
• He received the "Medal of Freedom" our nations highest civic award
• All of this, while Gordon B. Hinckley as President of the Church

But most importantly, he gave us vision, enthusiasm, strength, service, compassion and his testimony that the Savior lives! I am greatful for his example and life. He was a humble man. Thank you President Hinckley for your 97 years of service and dedication. You have inspired us all.

Dan