Calico Basin

This Sunday our ward was split so we just had sacrament meeting. Because the weather was so nice and we had so much Sunday to burn we went for a walk at Calico Basin (near Red Rock).

Taj needs to work on his silly face posing because his cousins are GOOD at it!

The whole crew.

Taj in his element. Running with no boundaries.

Cathy taught the kids how to do some rock climbing

I guess Las Vegas has its own beauty. But I wouldn't complain if it had a beach.

Children's Museum with the cousins

It has been really nice having a family membership at the Lied Discovery Children's Museum. We went down there today with Taj's cousins.

Kaleido-Taj

Kaleido-cutie

Practicing some head stand action

Monkey see monkey do

What healthy appetites they have

rotate and balance

Adding a turbo charger and changing spark plugs

pilot, co-pilot and head stewardess

huff and puff and blow me a bubble

Stitching Stella - Halloween in Vegas

Stitching Stella was created in November 2008 by: Lindsay-ann and Lorrie.

Stella's first impression of Halloween was a tad scary when she was almost eaten by a monster.

Stella's charming personality calmed the monster and they became good friends.

Then Stella ventured out into the night in pursuit of candy and fun.

Stella also helped hand out candy to all the ghouls and goblins.

Stella trick-or-treated with a fearsome lion.

Stella trick-or-treated with a monkey.

That night Stella slept on a mountain of Halloween candy and dreamed of her next adventure. Or maybe she was in a diabetic coma. Either way she was very peaceful.

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Everyone's children should watch and love this (with the volume waaay up!).

Garbage Bag Super Kids

We have kind of a boring backyard. Taj's cousins came over to play today and wanted to play out back. Since there were not many toys to play with they decided to use some garbage bags that were laying around to make capes.

Super kids with magic safety aluminum foil balls.

Pretty creative.

Good thing Taj's cousin knows how to tie knots.

Super girl!

Reno Retreat

This weekend we went to Reno with Grandma Gail to visit Cathy's sister. Somehow we didn't get any pictures with them (lame I know) but we had a blast. Ari got tons of attention so she was happy. Taj loved playing with Allie (their black labrador) and going to the park with the 3-story tall slide. Cathy loved hanging with her mom and sister (and taking a bath in the jacuzzi bathtub). I really liked riding in Cathy's nephew's truck listening to some loud music with two 12" subwoofers. Thanks for the fantastic weekend!

Beautiful day overlooking Reno.

We lucked out when someone gave us a certificate for a free mine tour in Virginia City, NV. Our guide Mark was cool and an interesting character.

Cathy and Taj standing in front of an old pneumatic drill used in this 150 year old mine.

Taj was in heaven on the Virginia City train tracks. He kept asking us "Want to fix the couplings?"

We went for a ride on this 100 year old steam train.

Nickelrock "representing" in front of an old fire fighter wagon.

Main Street Virginia City, NV (authentic boardwalk sidewalk).

Classic camel racing.

Taj and Ari were amazingly good for the 8 hr road trip to and from Reno. Grandma Gail propped Taj's head up with this pillow and blanket to keep him from sleeping all crooked necked.

Silverman Triathlon 2009

One of my professors this semester offered extra credit if we volunteered to help at the Silverman Triathlon (last weekend). Always down for some extra credit I volunteered for the first 5 hours of the triathlon. I helped hand out the time chips for the athletes before the race started. After the race began I was a "wetsuit stripper" (helped remove wetsuits so the athletes could hop right on their bike and go. The athletes had bike clothes on under the wetsuits for the record). It was really inspiring to see about 900 people all participating in such an incredible athletic event. In case you don't know what a triathlon is, it is a 2.4 mile open water swim followed directly by a 112 mile bike ride and then running 26.2 miles. I have a lot of respect for people who can do this kind of thing.

5 am Lake Mead, morning of the race. I don't think I have ever seen so many nice bikes at one time.

I snapped this at the start of the half-triathlon on my iPhone.

There was a group of veterans called "Operation Rebound" that participated in the half-triathlon. The guy in the blue swim cap just swam 1.2 miles with one arm (he lost his right arm between his elbow and shoulder in combat). The guy in the red cap swam next to him stabilizing him the whole way. Amazing. I didn't get a photo but another veteran swam the 1.2 miles with no legs below his knees (all arms).

Taj tasting atomic fireball

Part of the fun of being a parent is getting to see your kids try different foods for the first time. We have let Taj try pickles and raw onions and most anything he asks to taste. Most times the extreme reaction we were hoping for turns out to be somewhat lackluster. This is no exception.

Lion vs. Monster

Taj has a blast every time that my friend Josh comes over. Here is a little video from before trick or treating. Just having fun.

Zeppelin, Wooby and Sprout hair

Just a couple more reasons I love my kids.

One goal I have for my daughter is to teach her to love classic rock. This Led Zeppelin onesy is probably my favorite baby outfit.

Taj started the tradition.

I remember going around my house with my "wooby" (blanket) as a cape. This just made me happy.

I have always liked the "sprout hair-do."

Happy Trick or Treating!

Last year Taj only made it to 6 or 7 houses because he got tired and couldn't walk so well. This year Taj was bolting around the neighborhood in the true candy spirit. He was wishing everyone a Happy Trick or Treating (cutesville)!

Ari all bundled up helping Grandpa pass out candy to the trick or treaters.

Lickety Lion.

This is the best decorated Halloween houses I have ever seen. They have been doing this for years. If you look hard you can see spiderman's carcass dangling from the rope over the street with a spider next to him.

Halloween night they had a 3 ft spider mounted to a remote control car that would dash out of the garage as trick or treaters approached to scare them.

These people definitely have the Halloween spirit. Taj was brave enough to trick or treat this house (he is no cowardly lion).