'Ween treats

Cool punkies, Natch! I haven't carved pumpkins for years now...

While you were carving away, I was making Caramel Apple 'Ween Cuppies! Mmmm...

Boo!!!

Family Home Evening tonight was the family carving pumpkins. It wasn't supposed to be.

Dallin asked me last week if we could carve pumpkins on Saturday. I said we could. Saturday morning came and Tiffany told the kids that they needed to clean up their rooms before we could carve pumpkins. Six hours later, after many of their toys and books were taken away, they finally picked up the last piece of paper from the ground. Tiffany and I had somewhere to be and it was time to pick up the babysitter. Too bad they have their dads genes, 'cause if they didn't, they might have had their room clean a lot earlier and could've carved pumpkins on Saturday!

Here are three of the five pumpkins carved. Logan's is the traditional one. Emma's is the one with the big mouth. She said she wanted something scary and showed me what she wanted. She actually did the design. I was impressed. I designed the mischievous one. Dallin had a small one that didn't come out in the darkness as my battery was dying. Tiffany too carved hers as a translucent which looks great but wasn't bright enough to come out without a flash. Maybe later.

Happy Halloween!!

RE: Maine In Addition...

There was a paragraph that was started by dad, but somehow got left out. It starts, "Later in the day..."
I think he was going to tell about our little adventure as we went off the main drag, following this little gray line on the atlas/map, and the road got rougher and rougher, with little to no traffic. I think we had both decided we might have to turn around and go back the long way, and I thought, " the next vehicle that comes our way, we'll wave them down and ask if we are on the right road."

It wasn't two minutes later when here comes a car. Now mind you, most of the vehicles we saw were of the four-wheeling, pickup variety, but the car coming our way was a WHITE chrysler convertible, WITH the top down on this very dusty road. Go figure. As it got closer, it started to slow down, and the driver - the only occupant - put his hand out to indicate he wanted us to slow down, which we were happy to do.

He was a red-headed ENGLISHMAN and the car had California plates! What a very strange combination, I thought. He spoke first, asking if he was headed to where we had just come from, then it was our turn to ask questions. He told us we were on the right track, and then gave details about what was ahead, right down to the exact mileage till we got to the main road. We had a short, but fun conversation.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized this was no coincidence, and the timing, the "character" (honestly, I ask you: What are the odds of meeting up with an English bloke, driving a White convertible, top down, with Calif. licence plates in the back woods of Maine wanting to know directions from us, right after we had thought the same thing?), he HAD to be an angel aka, help from heaven! Way Cool.

De Plane, De Plane is almost De Same, De Same

Hey Carrie. The plane you flew in is almost the exact same as the one I fly. See the tail numbers N425ER. Just got excited and wanted to share, it even has the same markings on the side and wings.

Kaua'i by Air!

I'm finally getting another post up on here! It's been hard because I have been working so much and the rest of the time I spend running, so it leaves little time to get on and tell you much about what's going on here in Kaua'i. Thing are much better, but to be honest I'm actually getting a little homesick. I miss the fall and everybody back on the mainland. As beautiful as Kaua'i is and how amazing the experience has been, it is such a different way of life and so I'm glad that I get the chance to be here for a few months, but that I get to go home eventually.

There's a middle-aged married couple, Bruce and Ellen, that run a little airplane tour business and set up a little booth next to our store to get business from the people off the cruise ships. They offered to take Kim, Sherry, and I up on an airplane - for free (these run about $100/person) - so we went a few weeks ago and got to see the island from a completely different perspective. The pictures unfortunately are not as amazing as the real deal, but I'm posting a bunch of them so you can see how beautiful and remote this place is. The inside of the island is practically deserted, it's only out on the coastline where the people live and work, so it was impressive to see that there are still places like this in the world...nearly untouched.

And this time you can get mad at ME, not Dad, for posting scenery pictures. :)



Sherry, Bruce, Kim, and I all aboard the tiny little plane. Ready for take-off!


See that shopping center towards the middle left of the picture? That's Anchor Cove, the mall where Del Sol is. I've got a great view, even if we don't have air conditioning!


Here are some of the beautiful waterfalls you'll find on the island. You can't tell from the picture, but the falls drop over 100 feet (if I remember right) and men used to jump to "prove" their manliness. I think they all died. Pretty masculine, yeah?




The highest point in this picture is the Sleeping Giant. A few times I woke up at 4:30am to hike it up with my friend Danny. We had to take a flashlight and once, he cut through a switchback so he ended up in front of me. I nearly died cause I thought some scary guy was hanging out on the dark trail since I thought Danny was behind me! It's amazing to watch the sun rise over the ocean early in the morning.



Here are some of the ridges and rocky cliffs you'll find on the island.




Just another beautiful view of the tropical jungles.



We came across multiple rainbows along our hour-long flight in the air, and they made for some amazing scenery!




I finally got to see the Na Pali Coast! This is one of the most amazing places in this world!



Another picture of the Na Pali Coast. Remember Jurassic Park? This is where it was filmed.

Getting ready for . . . X-mass?

Already? Yeah, well that's what happens when you are in retail. The shops are all getting ready for X-mass before Halloween is even over... I mean, Santa is already interviewing children in our Mall!!!! Crazy! It seems that every year he comes earlier and earlier.

Well, my boss came up to me, asking; "How would you like to pick up a few hours at Sears Optical?" Well, I'm already working two days a week at SGH (Sunglass Hut) and then another three at LensCrafters, why not add another location to my list of places to be? Not to mention that Boders across the street could use a little help. (I would love to work there full time . . . but they can only offer part.) Needless to say, I didn't accept. It's bad enough trying to get Thanksgiving off with two locations wanting you to work for them that day.

Uh . . . ok, so that's my little story. Matt is lucky to only work at one location! *I turn green with envy at anyone who has a one-location job! Anyway, have fun getting ready for X-mass - oh! And everyone! Have a great HALLOWEEN!

Mainely speaking

Mom and I flew into Portland, ME, 9/24/07 - the trip took most of the day. After arriving we got lost looking for downtown Portland, but not bad enough to lose out on some clam chowder for dinner.

Our first stop the next day was at L.L. Bean's flagship store. It's in Freeport, Me which is about the size of a postage stamp. We stopped just long enough for LL Bean to make out like a bandit. We headed north, hiked to Moxie falls.

And ended up in Jackman near the Canadian (Quebec) border. We were so close and the fall colors so good that the next morning we took the small drive to Quebec - just to say we'd been there. Not such a good plan. All went well at first. Canada was happy to have us as visitors. We only drove in a few miles as there were no towns close by. Entry back into the US was a different story. Apparently we looked pretty suspicious and we were given the third degree for some time before we were let loose again. Ask Mom to fill in the details.

Later in the day we were following what

From here we mostly enjoyed the Fall colors and driving in upstate ME. Our third night we camped (yes, tent and all) along the Penobscot River. Here we could see Mt. Katahdin (ask me how to say it - must be a Maine pronunciation) the highest peak in the state the top of which is the end of the Appalachian trail. Anybody want to take half a year and hike it - the whole trail?

Maine has lots of moose, at least we saw lots of Moose crossing signs along the road. This pic was probably one moose that didn't cross at the appropriate road crossing.

Then ya just gotta love this one:

We saw several light houses so must include one of them. This is Bass Harbor in Acadia:

An old friend from work had a vacation place - he called it the "boat house" that he let us stay at. We enjoyed sitting on the back deck looking out on Herrick Bay as the tide ebbed and flowed. The bay was fairly small, a mile or so across and when the tide was out the bay was half empty. We just enjoyed that and the birds that came including the gulls that would find something good, fly up and drop it on the rocks to crack it open and then retrieve the treasure.

High Tide:

Tide half-way out:














We spent some time in Acadia Nat'l Park. It has several completely different sections. When we arrived at the first it was all foggy. You could here boats and even some people off shore, just couldn't see anything. The day we visited the main part of the park the weather cooperated much better. It's a much different type of park than what we're used to. I can't imagine coming here during high season. I think the best part of this day was downtown Bar Harbor. We went for dinner and your mother nearly lost her teeth biting into some scallops that were a little rocky. They did give her the meal for free. Bar Harbor is a touristy waterfront town and we enjoyed walking up and down a few streets. There was a DelSol store and we thought of Carrie as this is a place where cruise ships lay anchor.















This blogging is taking far toooooo long. The pictures don't end up up where or how I want them. Does anybody know how this is supposed to work? I do know a little html and fix it up a bit. OH, I see, there is an "Edit HTML" mode and a "Compose" mode. Switchin' to compose!!!!

You'd think that Maine is a smaller state, at least by western standards. That may be true, but getting anywhere along the coast requires going inland far enough so you could go back out along a penninsula or something to get where you wanted to be. For example, you could see Acadia from the boat- house, but it was probably about 40 miles anything but as the crow flies to get there. Just a word to the wise for anyone who goes to Maine or some other coastal place.

We were off the beaten track one night and were told lobster was really high priced so didn't order it then. Two nights later more along the main drag and found a lobster special. Figured we had to try it since this is the place to do so. Marti had the real deal but they ran out for me. The did have what they called a "lazy man's" lobster (already to eat). That sounded better to me anyway. Marti didn't really like some parts of the lobster and it is kind-a messy. Guess we don't have sea-legs yet and will likely stay with burgers or maybe a little fish and chips from here on out. We did have fun watching some lobster boats pulling in their cages.

Found a place Bluejacket Shipcrafters. They have model ships you can build. Really detailed and accurate. Some ready to build kits are as much as $500.

On our way to Boothbay Harbor we had to cross a new bridge that just went into operation this past year. It has two main support towers, one of which was a 400 ft. tall observation tower. Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory - Superlative views:

Right near the bridge was an old fort. Velly intellesting. It is amazing what the early settlers did to survive and secure theirs freedom.

I had reserved B&B place in Boothbay Harbor (to surprise Marti). The B&B was terrific and Boothbay Harber was a great place to visit. Should have spent an extra day or two here. We were planing to take a schooner trip the following day. But, wouldn't you know it, it got all fogged in and that was the last chance we had for such a trip. As they say, there's always next year.

The "Wedding Cake" house in Kennebunkport. Story has it that a sea captain got married and didn't have time to do things properly including having a wedding cake for the ceremony. So when he had made his fortune he built this house for his bride. What we won't do for love.

One last one. Here's what is supposed to be George Bush's (the first one) place in Kennebunkport:

Well, I was told not to include scenery, so you missed out on all the beautiful stuff. And this takes far toooo long, so the reviews better be hmmmm, good, if ya want anymore.

P.S. We made it home OK!!!

Day 84!!

Hey Hey, today is day 84 of my Body for Life challenge so I had my "after photos" taken. In order to keep our little blog rated 'G' I'm only including the pic with my shirt ON (Yeah, you know me, had to choose a flexing pose) but, suffice it to say that I've lost 32 lbs of fat, gained 11.5 lbs of lean muscle and went from 256lbs to 234lbs. From a 38+ waist to a 33-34! not to mention I feel great! How is it done? It's finding that extra degree (See my last blog). Something for you to shoot for Fred. Remember to take your before pics. If anyone wants to see my before and afters you'll have to ask--NOT posting them here! Love Me.

One Degree Makes ALL the Difference

CLICK HERE to see what I mean--May the force be with you!

With a name like that...

We had a doctors appointment earlier today, and we found out some exciting news.

We are expecting our third boy! Although Tiffany and I didn't really care, she was secretly hoping for a girl. Mostly because she wanted to create a girl room and was waiting to see if we could put two girls together in a room and the two boys in a room. Guess not. Sure, we need to expand homes for additional room, but that probably won't be for a couple more years. Until then Emma will have to share with one of the boys and that means no dedicated girly room.

So, let's begin a contest. What will Nathan and Tiffany name child #4? We have a first name chosen unless we can find a better name or if the boy pops out and just doesn't fit the name we chose. But a middle name is yet to be thought up so let us know of what you think it should be.

Go ahead and guess away. It will be interesting to see what you think we might choose.

Now, on your marks, get set, start the guessing!!

(By the way, Tiffany and I know a couple (and come to think of it, I think Cameron and Tammy knew them too at one point) that named their son, GUESS. The first time we asked what his name was, they said, "guess". Of course we didn't, and luckily so. I believe it was Shleen Monson who named it if you care to know. Crazy if you ask me.)

We'll just call it "The Incident"

I had an interesting evening tonight. You can read about it here.

Toodles!

Hi all you kids!

Hi Y'all,
Just got my account setup and will certainly spend some time later on keeping everyone updated on what's happen'n around here. For now, this is mainely what we saw in Maine. Work is calling again, so TTYL.
XOXOXXOO to all.

Dallin's Birthday

October 17, 2007

I am now a father of a seven year old.

Dallin had a good birthday. We had a cousin party for him up in Logan last Saturday, but we forgot our camera. Poor boy, won't get to remember it. Anyways, he wanted a Spooktacular party with everybody dressing up in costumes. We did, it was fun. We put on a haunted house in Tiffany's Grandma's crawlspace. Dallin was the one that wanted it, but he was the only one too scared to go down. Better luck next year.

Any ways, most of the birthday was shot in video, but here are a couple of pics that we had. A cake - a lego cake if you couldn't tell. After putting on a wild spooktacular birthday the previous Saturday, Tiffany did not have any energy left to get the cupcakes just right. Tiffany says she needs lessons from Darcey. The funny thing was when we asked Dallin about it he said, "It's OK, I will tell you it looks good so it doesn't hurt your feelings." LOL

Cheers,

Fred

The Savannah Crawl!

Here is the world premiere....

Hey Ya'll

At first I was going to Photo Blog only, then something came over me to write a little so here goes....Life in OK is exactly that, OK. Some of the going ons are interesting and I will not detail them out here but know that everything and everyone is OK.
Savannah is growing fast and is really fun to have around. She is a very good baby who seems to only get upset when her tummy is empty--which is often because she eats like a bird, she likes to snack more than eat. She seems to take notice of everything, today in church, while she was seated on my lap she started fussing while leaning forward and stretching out her arm. She turned and looked at me and then did it again, and then a 3rd time before I finally got it. Two rows up was a mother going through a diaper bag and while doing so had a bottle in her hand. Savannah saw the bottle somehow knew what it was and wanted it, I don't know how, from the angle I barely could tell what it was.
She is also crawling more going further and faster everyday. Also this week she got a good handle on pulling herself up on things.
She loves watching Sooner Football with Dad and during this weekends game she learned the 'Umpire hand signal' for a 'missed field goal'. While waiving her arm left and right she shakes her head to indicate the miss. Of course this movement is triggered best when dad yells out "The kick is up.....and it's....NO GOOD!" She'll then clap regardless of which team may have missed--we'll work on that one next week!
In other news, I have sold one of the tanning salons--mixed emotions of course but it's nice to see it go. Still in the process of transacting the whole deal but hope to be done in a few days.
Hope all is well, but most of all I hope my efforts here calm our mama down a bit :) A Thanksgiving trip to Colorado may be in the works, I'll let ya'll know if it will come to pass. Enjoy the pics but most of all, LOVE ME!
OH, AND ONE MORE THING!!! THE NEXT ONE....IT'S A GIRL!!! 80% SURE!! DUE FEB 18TH.

Savannah's Day with Dad