Over the last couple weeks, we have done a few fun things as a family. I have been a slacker in updating my blog recently, but I wanted to write about a few things we have done in the last couple weeks.
A couple weeks before the break, our priests quorum had a planning meeting where we talked about what we wanted to do over the next 6 months. One of the things that was suggested was a winter campout. We planned it for the Friday night before Valentines day. I admit that I was not too excited to go, but eventually agreed that I would attend. A week or so before we went, I went to Sportsman’s Warehouse and got a bunch of cold weather gear. Things like wool socks, hand warmers, new gloves and a poncho. I felt like I was pretty prepared and got layered and went.
We decided to go to Lehi to some hot springs out there. We went and set up camp for about a half hour, then headed off to the hot springs. The parking lot was about a quarter of a mile from the hot springs and walked down to them. It actually was really warm and quite nice. I was pleasantly surprised.
We spent an hour or so there and then headed back to the camp where we had a little fireside presentation and we hung out and tried to stay warm. That night it snowed a couple inches and was very cold. I was not too excited to set up a tent to sleep in, so I offered to drive, then slept in the back of the van. While it wasn’t super warm, it was certainly better then being out in a tent. We got up, cleaned up and then headed home. Overall it was a lot of fun and I would do it again if asked.
That Saturday, was Valentines Day. Cami always does such a good job with Holidays and getting the boys excited about the little things. We always make little heart pizza’s and have fun together. This year was no different.
On Sunday of that week, we went up towards Park City, Utah and spent time with my Aunt and Uncle at their cabin. There were other family members that I haven’t seen in a while and it was a lot of fun to spend time with them. Koby and Spencer met some cousins that they had a lot of fun with.
We got there Sunday afternoon and stayed up eating and playing games well past midnight. Then we got up early and played on the snowmobiles, played more games, went out sledding with the boys and played more games. Then we stayed there and helped clean up and play more games then eventually headed home at about 5:30 that night. It is only a hour and fifteen minutes away, so it was close enough to get to very easily. 
It was a lot of fun to catch up with family and spend time with them. We are looking forward to more chances to see them and play some more games.
The next weekend, Tim and I took the boys to the UVU basketball game. This is one of the very fun things that we love to do together. There is a big practice gym behind the stands that we sit in that they go mess around in while they are not watching the game. Every once in a while they come watch a bit with me and eat popcorn and treats, then it is off to play some more and pretend to be college basketball players themselves.
Then tonight, the boys decided to make a tent in their bedroom that they are sleeping in tonight. They were pretty creative and excited about their tent. They wanted to get bathed and brush their teeth at about 7:15 tonight so they could lay in their tent and read books.
Finally at about 8:00 we read scriptures and said prayers, then they settled down and are sleeping right now. They are a blast and I love hanging out with them. I wish that I could spend more time with them, but love the time I do have at home with everyone and look forward to coming home after work and seeing them all.
There is an annual conference called the TED Conference that I have been following and talking about from time to time. It is a conference that happens every year where people from all over the world come and talk about technology and business. They talk about how to use our skills and industries to make a positive impact on the planet and human civilization.
This last Thursday night (February 5) they hosted their annual conference in California and for the first time part of it was also broadcast to a bunch of movies theaters around the country and over the web in real time. It was their “What I Wish For The World” segment. Every year they have nominations for people that are making huge changes in the world and they get a chance to get up and share their ideas with everyone.
In a talk by Sylvia Earl, one of the 2009 TED Prize Winners, she spoke about how the ocean is vital to human existence and how we need to protect it. During her talk, she showed some of the new features in Google Earth. If you haven’t seen it or played around with it, you need to download it and just take a look. I will promise you will be hooked.
Some of the cool things about it is the ability to travel the world and explore places you would not otherwise visit. It is actual satellite pictures of the earth that you can zoom into from outer space all the way down to a street view.
Not only can you see street view, but in the latest release you can go underwater. You have the ability to see the ocean floor and move along it as if you were walking on the bottom of the ocean.
One thing they do not have yet is any type of life under the ocean. I imagine that one day they will have a layer that would display certain types of fish and wildlife that are in a particular region, but that is not there yet.
They have also implemented their street view technology so you can simulate walking along the roads. This is a little weird but way cool. I can see how people could have mixed emotions about this feature. I think it is awesome and could prove to be a super valuable tool, but some people may feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
I am making some videos on how to do a few things in Google Earth, but keep getting sidetracked playing around with it. While I am working on that, here are some screen shots of some of the cool things you can find.
#1 – Washington DC – Capitol Hill, Library of Congress and the Supreme Court
#2 – New York City
#3 - Our Old House
#4 – Agua Azul – A 360 View 
#5 – Portuguese Flags
#6 – Underwater in Hawaii
#7 & 8 – One of the features that I didn’t talk about was the ability that you have to explore Mars (and soon other planets as well) and other parts of the solar system. You can zoom in pretty far and see where certain craters are and other bits of information. All very interesting.
Well, I hope that you have as much fun with this as I am. It is going to be really interesting to see what future enhancements they can make to the program.
We went to bed n Friday night with a full day already planned for Saturday. We got up and got going and didn’t seem to slow down until the kids were in bed for the night.
Here is what we did:
Because I coach the young men basketball team here in our stake I have games this time of the year. I usually take Koby and Spencer with me and let them run around. Koby is getting where he can throw a normal size ball up and make it most of the time. He is getting strong and likes to shoot when there is a break in the game or at halftime. The kids on the church team are nice enough to let them be there in the middle of the action, so that is nice. A couple of them even chase him around and pretend to try and block his shots. It is fun for them.
After that, we got ready and went to a really fun swimming pool here in Lehi called the Legacy Center. There are all the standard fun things like a lazy river, kids area and a really big water slide that the boys can go down all by themselves. There are two really nice things about it:
- The deep end of the pool is in a seperate part that you have to get out and walk a little bit to get to.
- The water is really, really warm. It almost feels like a spa. I think it was the warmest water in a pool I have been in in a while.
I forgot my camera, but will take it next time we go. They have a rock wall that Spencer saw some kids trying to climb. He said he wants to check it out so we will go next time.
After we got done swimming, we got showered off and headed to the BYU basketball game. One of the good things about being here in Provo is there are two University’s with pretty good sports teams. We have been to two BYU basketball games and two UVU basketball games. The boys love it, mostly because we get treats and they can wear their BYU or UVU t-shirts. BYU played Wyoming and beat them pretty badly.
After that we went and met Cami at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and had dinner and dessert. By the time we got home, it was after 9:00 and ready for bed.
It was a lot of fun and I love hanging out with my boys.
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