BZZZ! I'm being SO stimulated

My "favorite" aunt sent me this link the other day. It is pretty interesting. Of course since it's on the internet it MUST be true. You can read all about the "stimulus" work that is going on in your state and also for any of your neighbors. I know that there was a bunch of hub-bub during the elections about the "Bridge To Nowhere". From what I can tell, that has nothing on some of these projects. Enjoy. I wonder if anyone is taking suggestions. I have some.

Q & A - with JJ

Now this is with JJ:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "unplug"
2. What makes dad happy? - "spending time with him"
3. What makes dad sad? - "not being able to see his kids activities/sports"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "wrestling"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "smart, no take that back, ladies man"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - 6'5"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "spend time with his kids"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "exercise no, sandbag"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "most successful ironman/civil engineer"
11. What is your dad really good at? - "chess"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "video games"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "civil engineer"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "smoothies"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "how hard he works"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "a combination of Dilbert and Grover"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "listen to music and travel"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "we love to run"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "I'm trash him in long distance"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "because of how much time he wants to spend with me and how much fun we have together"

Q & A - with Jake

Now, this is with Jake:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "Make your bed."
2. What makes dad happy? - "Finishing an Ironman"
3. What makes dad sad? - "when I'm not around"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "Olivia"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "Athletic"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - 6' 4"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "Run an Ironman"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "relax in the quietness at home"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "Running an Ironman"
11. What is your dad really good at? - "biking"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "relaxing"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "an engineer"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "chicken"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "how athletic you are"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "daffy duck"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "lacrosse"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "both very athletic"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "you're taller than me"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "because you play sports with me"

Q & A - with Olivia

Okay, thanks to my cousin I decided to ask Olivia a few questions. Here are her answers:

1. What is something dad always says to you? - "Make your bed"
2. What makes dad happy? - "Me"
3. What makes dad sad? - "When I'm not here"
4. How does dad make you laugh? - "By tickling me"
5. What was dad like as a child? - "Crazy"
6. How old is your dad? - "42"
7. How tall is your dad? - "About 5 feet"
8. What is his favorite thing to do? - "Stay on your computer"
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? - "You swim, you bike, and you run"
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? - "I don't know.
11. What is your dad really good at? - "Cranium"
12. What is your dad not very good at? - "Nothing"
13. What does your dad do for his job? - "Types and make things work"
14. What is your dad's favorite food? - "Oatmeal"
15. What makes you proud of your dad? - "Ironman finisher"
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? - "Mickey Mouse"
17. What do you and your dad do together? - "Jump on the tramp and play games"
18. How are you and your dad the same? - "Both like computers"
19. How are you and your dad different? - "You're a boy and I'm a girl"
20. How do you know your dad loves you? - "Because he tucks me in bed"

AAR - My song of the week/month/year

I've been meaning to post this. Great song, great video, great lyrics. I'm glad I have have great neighbors. Enjoy the song and video. Enjoy your life.

Am I nuts?

So am I just crazy or what? Signing up for a 2nd Ironman when I haven't even finished the first one? But call me compulsive. Call me looney. But it was calling me. Wanting me. It's in my own backyard for heaven's sake. Last year doing the 1/2 Ironman, I decided that that race was the hardest thing I had ever done. Now, with just a couple of weeks out, I'm really not too nervous about it. Come June, well, that's a different story. Anyhow, bring it on!

And for those triathletes out there in the world that are not familiar with my home state, St. George is awfully beautiful. Great time of the year as well. You will NOT be disappointed. Come on out. Let me show you MY home.

Beauty is a Beast

For the past couple of months Olivia has been preparing for the play "Beauty is a Beast". Kind of a spin from the "Beauty and the Beast" story. Olivia played 1 of the 4 "Beauty" parts. The premise is that this princess is mean and selfish so her 3 fairy godmothers turn her into a peasant where she not only falls in love with a poor boy but also realizes the error of her ways. Olivia was great and a natural.

The Great Debater (part II)

Last Saturday JJ competed at the State competition for debate and other forensic events. JJ is good. He's very good. And he proved it by taking first place in Foreign Extemp. The students are given a topic from international current events and they have 30 minutes to prepare a 7 minute speech. He faced some very stiff competition but still came out on top. Good job, JJ!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you you you?

Olivia's class took a trip to the infamous Hogle Zoo on Monday. A very calm group of well behaved children.

In front of the infamous "Elephant trunk" memorial.

I'm not sure what is up with the gang signs but Olivia and Christian are all about looking "cool"

Holy Hell!!!

Watch CBS Videos Online

Mi ahijada

Isn't she just darling?

Hi, I'm a Lymph node

So I'm no nurse. No doctor. But this afternoon I got to learn about the human organ - the Lymph node. These "nodes" are found all through the body and act as a "trap" for foreign particles. So when you get sick or are exposed to some kind of bacteria or something, the body tries to send this to one of these nodes. The nodes have these vessels to provide access to it. So this foreign object gets trapped and then surrounded by lots of cells and the cells continue to grow to keep this object trapped until it can process it and better protect the body the next time it is exposed to the foreign object. This is the job of the white blood cells. Children are more prone to "swollen glands" because their bodies haven't been exposed to as much crap as adults. I also learned that a healthy person could have an enlarged node because of a previous infection. Do you know how many lymph nodes the typical person has? I didn't. I had to look it up. Between 500-600? Simply amazing. I'm sure there is much more to learn but I found it fascinating. I learned something today that I didn't know before. The human body, my human body is SIMPLY AMAZING. It is a miracle. Eyes, heart, lungs, muscle, brain. And to think I can push this body to swim, then bike, and then run. It is amazing. I'm grateful for my health. I really am. I wake up every single more with a full heart thanking my Heavenly Father that I am healthy.

Encircled in His arms