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We got a simple little video camera back at Christmas, but I haven’t bothered to upload / post anything before now… I spent a few minutes to see what’s involved, so here goes — a couple today from Colin visiting for dinner:

A couple comments on the yard: we just had the old patio torn out and a new stamped-concrete patio poured. Next comes the deck where the old patio was, then hopefully a sprinkler system so we can finally grow grass consistently. It’s going to be a busy summer

It’s been a long time since I posted a general update. We’ve been busy. Most recently we built cars for the Pinewood Derby race. Trent is almost official in scouts, and Alec decided to make one, too, so we got to build three. It was rather involved trying to get them all done at once. At least they were all black…

For Easter we had a lot of fun decorating and hiding/finding eggs, as usual…

I made the mistake at one point of tossing one of Mark’s eggs into his basket. He immediately decided that throwing the eggs looked like much more fun than picking them up.

This past week we started the spring soccer season, with Caleb, Trent and Alec all playing again. Kim and I are team-coaching Alec’s team, which should be fun. We didn’t really account for Mark in planning how to run practices, however, so that will be an interesting challenge as always.

More photos from the last few months here:

My birthday was last week. Happy birthday to me. I’ve been recovering from a bad ankle sprain the last few weeks. Playing ultimate is one of my favorite things, so it’s pretty frustrating when I can’t.

We also celebrated Mark’s 1st birtday a few weeks ago. Mark and my other boys definitely rank very high on my list of favorites.

Halloween was fun for the boys, but I think the most fun was harvesting the pumpkins from our garden, then carving them together. The fall weather has been awesome, and we’ve enjoyed lots of outdoor activities, including some corn mazes.

At the corn maze, we saw a large trebuchet for launching pumpkins. We were all impressed by that. It was the inspiration for Trent’s simple machine project — we chose to launch jumbo marshmallows, and he had a lot of fun demoing it at school.

More pictures from recent weeks, including Halloween and other fall fun:

October already… general conference was this weekend, very uplifting as usual. I even managed to watch most all of it — we have the rest recorded for later. Something to do while I fold laundry tomorrow night. But more on conference later. First, the most important part — pictures here:

A quick recap on September and into October:

• Alec ended up having his two front teeth removed after his bicycle accident. Just means he’ll be toothless for a few years.
• The boys started school — 4th, 2nd, and preschool.
• Soccer season started as well. Three games every Saturday. It’s tough to have both of us there at all of them, but I know the boys appreciate it when we do. It’s Alec’s first season, and he rocks Trent is now at the level with goalies. He loves defense and forward. He’s been nick-named ‘The Wall’. Caleb’s now playing on the intermediate league, and it’s fun to see how they are really starting to play soccer!
• Mark is walking a few steps now. He loves the dog, the dog puts up with him really well.

This week, we took a little trip to Rocky Mountain National Park to see the Elk rut. It was a beautiful day in the mountains, and it was cool to see (and hear) the big bulls bugling to gather their harems together. In one part of the valley (Moraine Park), the cows were grazing up within 10 feet of the cars and people. It was a fun experience.

I spent Friday / Saturday digging a trench for conduit to put in an electrical line out to our shed. The older boys ‘helped’ a bit too — mostly they enjoyed playing in the dirt and throwing dirt clods. I was hurrying to get it dug and put in the conduit before the forecasted storm moved in Saturday night, but that never materialized.

Laying the electrical lines is the first step in a bunch of work we have planned for the back yard. It’s slow going, though, as it often has to take back seat to other priorities. But we are anxious to be able to enjoy our yard more.

I really enjoyed watching / listening to conference. I just want to write a few of the thoughts that were memorable to me:

• The calling of President Eyring to the First Presidency, and Elder Cook to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Elder Ballard’s message about being prepared to share the gospel — know what we want to say, answer the question being asked. Few people will have the time or patience to listen to an hour discourse on the church. We can be more effective with a few specific points.
• President Eyring’s counsel to pray for others instead of ourselves. Forget our own concerns and shortcomings. True power in prayer and in priesthood service comes from focusing on the needs of others, seeking to understand their needs and find ways to serve them.
• President Monson’s anecdote about the boy with ‘flaming red hair’ — followed by President Hinckley’s challenge to him to dye his own hair!
• Elder Oak’s talk on good, better, best. It really is easy to merely be a good person, so much more to seek and exemplify the best in all we do.
• President Hinckley: Singers can sing the same song over and over again, orchestras repeat the same works, but a speaker is expected to give a new message each time… I enjoy his wit, as well as his words of testimony and counsel.

Hey mom — look familiar?

Alec has only been riding a bicycle for a few weeks. Saturday he was following his brothers to the park, and got out of control going down a hill. I was a bit older when I did the same thing (was that the first or the second time?) There’s still some concern that he may have a more serious injury with his arm — that after a broken hand last fall and a broken arm last spring. And just in time for school…

Yes, Caleb, Trent, and Alec will finally be starting back to school this week. Soccer practices started two weeks ago, so we’re getting back into the full swing. Kim and crew went to help out with Caleb’s and Trent’s teachers to get their classrooms ready. Caleb has his first male teacher this year, which is exciting for him.

Congrats to my parents on reaching 38 years.  Sure, I understand more all the time that they are not perfect, but I certainly respect them for what they have done together.  Almost 12 years already for me and Kim — I think we’ve done lots of good stuff together so far together, too

To conclude, I’ll pass along a thought from Bishop Foster this morning, taken from 2 Timothy 2:2 –

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

The point he shared is that in our ministering and administering, a big part of our duty is to “teach others also” and “commit … to faithful men” that they may also be engaged.  Many things are easier and most quickly done when we do them ourselves.  But we are expected to work with and through others, that we all benefit from the chance to serve and learn from each other.  I certainly see that as a stumbling block for me, in my personal and professional life, as well as serving in the church.  As I’ve heard it said: we have to allow others to grow on our time.

I feel like I’ve been traveling the last month… it all started with a Slade family reunion here in Fort Collins the first week of July, followed by a Mills family reunion in Newport Beach, CA, then a trip to Portland for a conference, and finally a quick trip out to Intel’s site in Hudson, MA. I’ve had more than enough of airports and airplanes for a while.

For the Slade reunion, we played around in Ft Collins for a bit, but the highlight was camping in RMNP for a couple nights. All the time I’ve lived in Colorado, I’ve never been up there before, and it really is beautiful. The company was great, too! It was not an ideal for young-ens learning to crawl, with dirt, rocks, and more dirt everywhere you look — So Kim just made a cameo with Mark. She left early to make it out of the canyon and home before dark… but then a flat and a destroyed tire meant she wasn’t home until 11pm or so. But I’m grateful for her effort to be involved!

The Mills reunion was spent in a couple of beach houses right off the beach in Newport. It was a great location, I can understand why so many people are drawn there. But way too many people for me. For more crowded fun, we spent a day at Disneyland (I even managed to sprain my ankle). We also went to the Medieval Times show, which the boys enjoyed. Still not much there in all of that that works well for a crawling baby (babies + sand = not recommended). Again I’m grateful to Kim for her patience and desire to be involved.

While in Portland, a man stopped me on the street to ask for some money. He gave me his story about his truck being stolen (he’s a hardwood flooring contractor), along with his wallet, cellphone, etc. The police wouldn’t come out to help him since no injury was involved. He needed $30 to take the train/bus up to his custom house up in the hills. I ended up getting $40 out of the ATM for him, and we exchanged contact info so he could get it back to me. We talked for a couple minutes, and I asked him whether I could send him a copy of the Book of Mormon as a return favor — I wanted him to understand why I stopped to listen to his story and help him out, regardless of whether I believed his story or expect to ever receive it back:

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

Mosiah 4:16-22

He said he would be willing to accept it and read it — he himself had lost his faith through the course of a divorce and other trials, but he said he believed people were brought together in such encounters for a reason. Still waiting to hear back from him though…

The trip to Hudson was short, with half of it spent in transit. My recommendation: avoid Southwest Airlines, at least for business travel. That was not a pleasant experience. I did get to see my sister Merrit for dinner and (part of) a movie. Another recommendation: avoid Transformers. Not worth the garbage.

So now I’m home with no travel plans any time soon. School is just a few weeks away for the boys. We hope to enjoy the remainder of the summer by doing as little as possible. But with all the boys and everything else, there’s always something…

I actually wrote this up last Sunday but never managed to get it posted because I hadn’t gotten the pictures up… they’re up now, so enjoy!

One last thing: check out my write-up / tutorial on using RSS feeds to stay on top of new blog posts…

Today’s Memorial Day, and we plan to do pretty much nothing… just resting and recovering from the last few weeks of frenzied activity. The boys finished up school, and we’re looking forward to a long summer vacation.

Our summer plans include lots of swimming (when Alec gets his cast off), camping, golfing, yard work, reading, violin practicing, and a trip to CA for a Mills family reunion. Should be fun. More pictures:

My ‘weekly’ updates have become monthly-at-most, but that’s life. I’m sure you can relate. A rundown of some of the events of the past few weeks:

Caleb and Trent had their class music concerts at school. We look forward to many years of such things…

Everyone participated in the Friday Night Fun Run held out the neighborhood elementary. Trent won the 1k race. Kim, Mark, and Alec all ran together. Caleb and I ran the 2.5k together — at least part of it. He got tired of running at my pace and left me behind. He’s definitely got the runner’s build, which I don’t have.

Trent lost the first of his front teeth (finally!)

Kim took the boys fishing at Parkwood Lake….

… while I was working an overnight shift helping to set up the Data Center at Intel’s new facility in Fort Collins. This weekend we finally move to the new building (just across the street) after being at HP for the past two years since our acquisition.

Friday I took the boys golfing. We’ve been enjoying the great spring weather, and between soccer games, yard work, etc, we’ve gotten quite a bit of sun already. The boys are very anxious for the pool to open up in another month or so (not as anxious as they are for school to be done, however).

The full collection of pictures is here:

The last ten days have been crazy busy, but I’ve had some great experiences here in Israel. No time to describe them all right now, so I want to start with just a bit of a travelogue of what I’ve seen so far. Unfortunately the weather here has been very cloudy and hazy, so the pictures have been somewhat disappointing. But hopefully you can enjoy them anyway…

I’ll be here in Haifa for one more week, then hopefully back in time for Caleb’s pinewood derby on Friday. Then saturday soccer games start again, and all kinds of other fun stuff. I’m looking forward to spring.

The past few weeks have been very busy for many reasons, not the least of which is that I’m headed out today for a two-week trip to Israel on business. I’ll be staying in Haifa, working at the Intel facility there. I hope to do some sight-seeing and such as well. I’m certainly planning to post pictures and experiences here, so stay tuned!

Life is pretty much busy in every other aspect as well. Caleb’s been playing basketball, now soccer is starting up for Caleb and Trent next week. I’ll be back in time for the first games, and then we roll on into soummer with lots of other activities.

Since I’ll be gone for the next two weeks, Caleb and I had to hurry to finish up his pinewood derby car. I hope to arrive home on the evening of the derby itself to see it race. And yes, Caleb did a lot of it. This year we also got some help from our neighbor — it was nice to use his tools instead of having to drag mine out from the shed. Trent can’t wait until he gets to do a car - but he’ll probably just miss the deadline for it next year since his birthday is in April.

I really hope to get back into the habit of writing regularly. I enjoy hearing from any of you who manage to keep in touch as well.