Like Father, Like Son

Saturday was a big day for Rylan, for all of us actually. Rylan has been practicing for the last few months and was declared ready for his first dance performance. He originally was only going to do one dance, but at the last minute was added to a second dance. He was a little nervous, but did very well. He has been seeing these dances since he was born, so it seemed only natural that at some point he would take an interest. Now he just needs to grow a little so he is tall enough, and heavy enough to make a good partner. Some dances are just too hard if the guy can't reach above your head. I took some video, but it took over two hours to upload to the group's site so I won't repost it here. If you want to see it go to http://www.narodnaofslc.blogspot.com/, or click on the link on the sidebar. We are so proud of the hard work Rylan put into this.

Rockhounds

Rylan has been facinated with rocks since his class did a unit on them at the begining of the school year. He has been begging to go out to the Dugway geode beds. Last week his teacher finally convinced me it would be a good idea.

We started out going through Tooele, and on to Vernon were there is a collection site for stuff called banded rhyolite, or wonderstone. This site was pretty easy to find and get to, just super windy. The hardest part was convincing the kids they couldn't bring all of it home.

Then we went on to the geode beds. This involves 50 miles on "improved"dirt roads. Part of the way it follows the old Pony Express Highway, so we got a history lesson too.

The geode beds were a little farther off the road and harder to get to. The only sign was at the turn off from the main road, then there were a million little dirt paths. We finally figured out the path most of the vehicles were following and wound our way back there. Once you find the main site where they use big machines to dig out pits in the hillside it is easy to find geodes. Alyssa got out of the car and instantly started picking up sparkly fragments.

This was a fun trip, and well worth your time if you are interested in rocks. Just do your research online to find directions becase there really are tons of dirt roads that go off into nowhere.

Rite of Passage

This week had a big event for Colton. He lost his first tooth on Monday. He had been wiggling that thing for weeks, anticipating the day it would actually fall out. That day at lunch he tried to pull it out, and just made himself cry. That evening we were on our way to the library. Rylan told him to see if it would move if he blew on it. So he stood it up, blew on it, and it fell out. We were all a little surprised.

Awww! So sweet!

If only they were so cute when they were awake. They fight like cats and dogs all day and then curl up together to watch TV and fall asleep. It is these cute moments that keep me from totally loosing my mind.

Friday's quick quote

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself."

- Mikhail Baryshnikov

Blessed! No Really!

This may not look like a blessing, especially to our landlord, but trust me it could have been so much worse. First blessing, the timing. This happened right about noon today. I had picked up Colton from school and felt the need to hurry inside to fix lunch, even though there was no real need to hurry. I closed the front door, walked across the room, heard a big gust of wind, and felt a huge bang that shook the building. I first thought earthquake, but then the shaking quit, so I then thought, "Who hit the building?", it has happened before. I told the kids to stay put, and went outside. The neighbors were standing in the parking lot staring at the grass. That is when I saw all the brick and figured it out. Now the brick has had a gap near the top for years. We recently got new siding, I think all the pounding made the problem worse, and the wind we have had all night last night and today did it in.

The second blessing about the timing was that the older kids were still in school. By 4:00, the grass where the bricks now lay is normally covered with about a dozen children playing soccer or football. In the evenings they are typically joined by the older parts of their families, thus the folding chair. If the brick had fallen then, well let's just say it is a good thing I know CPR, and there is a field right next door for Lfeflight to land in. It would have been deadly.

The next blessing is where the brick broke off. As you can see above the natural gas meters are on that side of the building. The brick broke off right about chin level on me. Much lower and there would have been a major natural gas leak or explosion. Same thing if the brick had fallen straight down instead of leaning out.

Next blessing is that there is very little structural damage. Other than a few small holes where the supports pulled out, the side of the building is intact. In my very untrained opinion, the landlord shouldn't have much trouble just putting some more siding on this side of the building too. I feel for the poor guy, he already is putting out tens of thousands in upgrades and repairs at the command of West Valley City, and then this happens. But like I said it most deffinately could be worse! I have finally stopped shaking from the adrenaline rush, I guess Erik and I will be spending our evening helping with the clean up when the landlord arrives. If you ever wonder if the Lord is watching out for us, the answer my friends is most deffinately YES! I hope your day is blessed...mine sure was.