The only torture I condone is by parents

So, I feel that it is a perk that every parent should be able to enjoy...of course I'm talking about torturing your kids. In 16 years when I'm showing these pictures to Cassie's boyfriend I will politely let her know that it is payback for always waking up in the middle of the night and demanding food. That's not insensitive, is it? Oh well, I can live with it. We still need to take the really embarassing naked pictures...(insert evil laugh here).

Who has a kid?

So, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law were over tonight. Then they decide that they are going to go to the grocery store. So, my wife decides that she will go as well. Long story short, I follow them all out into the driveway and as my wife is getting in the car and getting ready to leave she wants to know if I'm coming. Meanwhile, our daughter is sleeping in the house!

So, I politely ask my wife...."And who would be staying and watching Cassie?"

And the light comes on...I guess it happens to everyone at some point. At least I didn't jump in the car and drive away with them. :)

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

Last Tuesday my wife Teri and I took our daughter Cassie to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. No matter how many times I drive to unknown places, I never seem to learn that printing out directions is always a good idea. I thought to myself, how hard can it be to find the gardens? Apparently, with me as chief navigator, it can be difficult. It turns out it is on the far edge of Thanksgiving Point, further west of the golf course and nowhere near the main buildings and movie theater. We found it eventually and with the only injury being my pride for navigation.

Thanksgiving Point is the home of the largest man-made waterfall in North America! It was pretty cool to see from below, and even cooler to see from above.





There is a Koi pond with a vending machine to buy food to feed the gluttonous fish. Unfortunately, I emptied my pockets of my loose change right before we left the house and Teri had left her purse in the car. I almost cried, but she promised if I was a big boy and behaved I would get a treat later.


Our daughter slept pretty much the entire time we were walking around. Here she is sleeping with her mouth open just like her dad! Don't ask me why the picture is upside-down.


Pretty flowers!

I highly recommend going to the gardens at least once. We were there for probably an hour or an hour and a half and we only saw 20-percent of the gardens. You can also rent a segway scooter or a golf cart if you don't want to walk the entire garden. I'm definitely going to get a segway sometime because I've always wanted to ride one. You can check out more information at http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/ if you want.

New and Improved Baby Binky Wear!

Parents! Have you ever found yourself cursing because your baby just won’t keep their binky in their mouth? Are you tired of thinking “There’s got to be a better way”? Well, look no further! Here at ET Industries we have solved your every worry! Introducing the patented Binky Harness. Not only does it keep the binky in the mouth for hours of enjoyment for your baby, but it looks aesthetically pleasing. You can order the Binky Harness in any color so it matches different outfits. Three Binky Harnesses are only $19.95 plush S&H!! What a deal!



Note: No babies were harmed during testing of this new product. Also, for all of you up-tight people out there, we removed it shortly after installation because it is probably not a good idea to tie it onto your baby.

Coming out soon, the Baby Security System! Includes a rabid pit bull to place in the crib with your baby so he/she can’t be kidnapped. Warning: Make sure your child is actually kept in a smaller dog proof cage inside the crib.

GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra

Last night I went and saw GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra with my brother Dave and his brother-in-law Rich Drew. It....was....awesome!!

I think that people are too serious sometimes. I expected it to be lame...and it was....so that made it enjoyable. I was actually laughing at several parts because of how horrible the acting or the story was. I'm not sure if they meant to make it that way to keep it like the old cartoon or if it was an accident. I would have to say that I do think it was better than Transformers 2.

You know what I wonder....do these super-villains that get maimed still go renew their driver's license? I'm thinking that it would be difficult.

DMV: Sir, this doesn't even look like you anymore....you can't use the same photo.

King Cobra: Look lady I've been standing in line for two hours, just renew my license before I call my henchmen over here to convince you.

DMV: That's it...this window is closed sir. You can just come back tomorrow.

King Cobra: Sometimes I don't even think it is worth keeping this thing current.

1 Trillion Dollars

I saw this on Shane's blog and I'm going to steal it and take credit for it....so forget what I just said. I found this, thought it was interesting, and I'm now sharing it with you.

If you have ever wondered about the different sums of money you hear being talked about on television and in the movies you should check out this link:

http://www.zee.me/blog/2009/03/what-does-one-trillion-dollars-look-like/

I recently read something that said that the U.S. owes China one trillion dollars. It makes you think about it more after you have looked at this.

Payson Salmon Supper

On the first Friday in August the City of Payson, Utah holds a salmon supper. The salmon is cooked by the firemen. They started at 5:00 and go until 8:00. My brother-in-law Brandon and I went on August 7. We arrived at about 5:45 and there was probably already 200 people in line in front of us, if not more.

It was awesome! The meal was $15 and came with a very large piece of salmon, baked potato, cole slaw, a roll, a cookie, a bottle of water, and a napkin.

So remember, mark your calendar for next year! We will be attending for sure and gettin' our fish on!

Yoda's Dyslexic Wife Soda

So, I've always imagined that Yoda must have had relatives that you never had a chance to get to know in the Star Wars movies. His wife, for example, was probably dyslexic. I imagine an exchange would go something like this:

Soda: "I'm heading to the store."
Yoda: "To the store I head."
Soda: "That's what I said."
Yoda: "What I said that is."
Soda: "Stop correcting my sentences."
Yoda: "Weird ways you talk Soda."
Soda: "I hate you Yoda!"
Yoda: "Annoying you are."

And at that point Yoda probably had to kill Soda even though she was the only other member of his race left. It was a steep price to pay, but sometimes your woman drives you crazy and you have to take a lightsaber to her to get some peace and quiet....or something like that.

Introduction to Cassie

My daughter, Cassie, was born in Provo on May 23rd of this year. She was 15.5 inches long, 2 lbs 15 ounces, and she was a girl....naturally. Her social security number is.....wait a minute. She was nine weeks early and was immediatly put into the NICU (newborn icu) at the Provo hospital. She was in the hospital for six weeks and then was able to come home. It was so nice to have her home and not have to drive to the hospital several times a day. Of course, that was also the point that we had to start learning how to be parents. It turns out it is a lot more work than a cat....who knew? She is now 7 lbs 12 ounces as of August 13.

She's just beautiful and a pain in my a** at the same time. Of course, we love her very much and are glad that she has joined our family! You can see her being held by my neice Liza. If something is small compared to Liza, she is definately small!

Destruction of the Innocent Raingutter

So, we get home and I decide that I want to back the camper trailer into our driveway so it will be easier to unload. My wife (Teri) gets out to guide me back so I don't hit anything. So, she starts guiding me back, you know, with the little hand gesture that we all use so expertly. All of the sudden her hands start flayling about and then cover her mouth as she looks up at the back end of the trailer. I pull forward a few feet and come around to look. The trailer hit the roof of my house! She turns to me and says something like "You hit the house..." I am thinking "Isn't that what you are supposed to be helping me avoid?"

She explains to me that she was watching the fence and our garbage can and didn't realize that I was about to hit the roof. My rain gutter is destroyed, but don't worry because the garbage can was saved. My garbage man will be thrilled....in fact I mean to leave him a note about the situation so he can fully appreciate that his friend was not harmed.

I've always said that my wife is a strawberry blonde.....sometimes I wonder which side is more dominant.....

If you have read all of this, then you have filled your quota for the day....go take a break, drink a soda....and don't forget to hug your garbageman..... :)

Company Campout

This weekend (August 13) was the annual Franson Civil Engineers campout. We went to Granite Flats campground in American Fork Canyon. Some employees went up the canyon on Thursday night. I decided to bring up the camper on Thursday night so it would be set up for Friday. After setting up the camper it was time to go off-roading!

Brandon Peterson, Chad Brown, my bro-in-law (Brandon) and I went riding on 4-wheelers Thursday evening. We left at approximately 6:00 from Tibble Fork Reservoir, and headed up the mountain to our destination at George Tyng's grave on Miller Hill. We reached the grave site at about 7:30. At that point it started raining pretty hard so my bro-in-law and I decided to start heading down the mountain.

We arrived back at camp at about 9:15 and started to reheat and eat some dinner. About 10:30 we were starting to get concerned that the others hadn't made it back down to camp. We decided to jump in the truck and start heading back up the mountain towards the mine site. This is as far as you can get without a 4-wheeler.

Luckily we ran into Brandon and Chad about 2 miles up the road from the reservoir. We found out that they decided to keep exploring after my bro-in-law and I started heading down the mountain. Also, Brandon's Arctic Cat ATV had broken down when they were heading back to camp. Chad had been towing and pushing him down the mountain when it wasn't steep enough to just coast.

They were watching Kung Foo Panda back at camp with the projector and generator. Now that is camping! I came back home to sleep overnight.

Friday

On Friday morning Teri and I awoke and headed back up to camp to get some breakfast! We had eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, hot cocoa, etc.

Friday was also craft day. The kids (with plenty of adults joining in) built marshallow shooters out of small pvc pipe. There were marshmallows everywhere. I think there are still a few on my shoes. I finally built one because these rebel soldiers were hitting us innocent civilians.

They also decorated hats with puff paints and markers. I forgot a hat so I grabbed one after it seemed that everyone else had one.

Several of the people decided to go on hikes or go fishing. Teri and I hung out at camp and watched Shrek 2. Lunch was sandwiches, chips, potato salad. Most of the people didn't return to camp until later in the afternoon. If they all call in sick on Monday we will know the turkey and roast beef had stayed out too long before they ate it.

Friday night's dinner was steak, chicken, potatoes, salads, etc. The steak was so soft I could cut it with a plastic butter knife. It was awesome! Chad's parents have come down from Idaho every year we have had this campout to cook the food. Joel Brown has a cooking trailer that has burners, griddles, and grills. It's a sweet set up to cook food for a large crowd.

After dinner we all hung out around the fire and talked. It got cold pretty fast and it wasn't long before even the fire couldn't keep the cold away. I had our daughter Cassie wrapped up in a blanket and then zipped up in my coat. She was out like a light the entire time we were hanging out after dinner.

Saturday

Saturday morning brought more food....and unfortunately more rain. We were battling the rain all weekend and it put a bit of a damper on the activities.

Not long after breakfast most people started breaking down their camps and getting ready to head home. Nothing is more fun than trying to pack up in the rain. Finally the packing was over and we all drove home. Of course, most of us then had several hours worth of work to do once we were home, but that comes with vacation I suppose. Good thing I have a day to rest before work starts again ;)

-EA