Another December already?

Almost over. The year is almost over. I can't believe we are at the end of another year. It seems like just a couple of months ago Preston was born and I was in Iowa making a Ginger Bread House with Andrew. Man it has gone by fast. Braden has spent the year tearing things apart and putting them back together. Going to the sand dunes and work, and now he cleaned up the garage just enough that he could put a transmission in it. Yep, he took the trans out of his truck and is re-building it in the garage. (I know it's crazy. He has a new tool box that is so big I think I could park my truck in it. It is nice. Brooke work and works. She has been going to football games and of course more work. She even works back at ColdStone once in a while. She actually took a new position at 1-800 Contacts and seems to enjoy the change. Sometimes I even get to see her at home, though not often. Whitney is looking great and getting closer to her due date. ISABELLA... does that sound great or what? IZZY, BELLA, ISABELL...way cool. I am excited. We have been working on the nursery for Isabell and it is coming along great. She already has more furniture than I own now. Lucky girl. Oh yeah, Jason and his dad just bought a twin engine plane. He had to fly it back to Utah from Florida. I just talked to Courtney on the phone and she said that Andrew and Preston had to get their shots today. OOWWWEEEE... Preston had to get 8 shots. Tough kids. Andrew is very excited for Christmas. Courtney and Doug are in the middle of buying a home and it has been very nerve racking for Courtney. They are doing well though. Stacey had a scare the other day at work when their plane hit a flock of birds. She sent me the picture of a bird smeared on a plane. She said she thought it was coming through the floor. she is doing well. I can't believe I have been in my new position at work for almost a year now. Crazy year. Well our tree is finally decorated. I got lucky and Stacey put it up and put the lights on it. she did a great job. I spent last night putting the ornaments on it. So if you look at it and they are grouped together in spots you know who to blame. I also put the lights on the house last week. I did it at 10:00 at night. It worked out great. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Season. Merry Christmas and thanks for reading my ramblings. See ya, I need to get ready for a new year.

Wont be long now!

Just around two months now, and we all get a new little girl in the family. I am so excited. Whitney looks great! I wonder if Jason is nervous? I was, with our first (second, third and fourth). They have been working on the baby's room and it looks great! Stacey spent the other day getting a bassinet ready. It is an exciting time. Names seem to always be the topic. Abigail, Piper, Todette, etc. (Okay, Not Todette) She will be much too pretty for that. It will be very interesting having a little girl around. We need to get a new baseball glove, fishing pole, golf clubs etc. That stuff can probably wait...until summer. I was able to go golfing with Taylor, Scott and Grandpa the other day. It was a lot of fun. The day was nice and warm. I don't know how many times Taylor has golfed but he did very well. Taylor's only problem is that he thinks every drive should start with a gun blast. We had a great time. I hope Scott is planning on taking me ice fishing this year. (Do you think that last line was too forward?) Oh well, if you don't beg, you get to stay home. Winter is here and it won't be long and I will be wishing the snow was gone. I am already tired of shoveling snow and I don't even know where the shovel is. Oh well, just remember, life is always changing and no matter what...Won't Be Long Now! (Hang in there Whit)

Fall fun

Well here I am watching the World Series game 6 and hoping the Yankees can win the whole thing tonight. Stacey is flying tonight, and Brooke is sitting here with me. She has applied for a new position at work and has an interview tomorrow. She is doing well and keeping very busy. Braden is in the process of replacing the intake manifold on our Blazer (big job), and going to the sand dunes as often as he can. Stacey is doing well since her appendix surgery. She has had to work a lot lately. Oh yeah, and her hair is back to blonde. Looks great. Even Brooke is blonde again. Halloween was fun. Whitney and I decided to make chili. Home made chili. We have never made chili. It turned out great. Yep, surprised both of us. It was fun spending the day with her. She is out there in more ways than one. Our pumpkin carving before Halloween was great. Brooke, Whitney, Jason, Stacey, Judy, and me spent the hole night perfecting our pumpkin carving artistry. OK, mine was not artistry, but it was fun. The leaves are almost all gone, the weather is getting colder, and it was dark when I went to work and dark when I got home from work. The nights are too long. Oh yeah,Scott, Dad, and I went fishing to Jordanelle 2 weeks ago. It was a great day. Yep the fishing was great but the catching was non-existent. Dad and Scott did catch a good case of the flu though. (Actually dad did catch a nice fish) Thanks to both of them for not sharing the flu with me. Thank you to Mark and Mallory for seeing Andrew,Preston and Doug last weekend. Andrew was very excited to see you. Whitney and Stacey are getting ready for Whitney's baby shower that takes place in the middle of the month. It would be a good day for the guys to go and do something. Guys, guys, OK girls tell the guys. Dad and I are going golfing tomorrow. It will be interesting because I have not golfed in quite a while. Well I hope everyone is enjoying the fall and remember - not enough days until Christmas. See ya.

Plans Change

You know nothing ever goes as planned. Saturday, Stacey flew out for work, and on Monday morning at 2:30 a.m. I got a phone call from Stacey and she was sick, sick, sick. I tried to diagnose over the phone, (you know how we all become doctors at that time) but I just had to say "go to the Emergency Room". Since I was having a hard time making a diagnosis without all of my equipment the emergency room sounded second best. It is a good thing she went in because her appendix was broken, yep, broken. They got her into surgery while I tried to get a flight out to be with her. (Cheering Section) She is doing well, and she has some great people here helping her. She is sore and has a lot of nausea but she's doing great.
By the way, the drive from Redman, Oregon to Medford, Oregon is gorgeous. It would be a great place to camp and fish. They have a bunch of fires that all started today. I can see one fire from Stacey's hospital room window. Well I'll say goodbye for now, and see if she (and I) can get some sleep. Bye all.

A pretty good summer... but not long enough.

How has everyone's summer been? You know, I wait all year for spring to get here. The smell of fresh cut grass, warm days, long nights, and BASEBALL. The problem is the next thing I know, summer is over. I do like Fall though. Nice temperatures, colored leaves, pumpkins, and great fishing. There is one thing that makes me think of fall and it is the smell of dry leaves. I know weird, and you are probably glad I shared that with you. NOT. Well we are sitting here watching BYU hang in there with Oklahoma. Oh crap, we just fumbled in the end zone.

Guess what? Dad and I went fishing to Tibble Reservoir last Wednesday and we caught a ton of trout. We were using a fly and a bubble and we knocked them dead. It was great. It has been a pretty good summer. We have fished a little, we went to St. George, went to the airshow, and now we get to go to Lagoon. Right now it looks like Stacey, Brook, Courtney, Andrew, Preston and I will be at Lagoon next week. Drew is so excited. It should be lots of fun. I was able to go to the JDRF walk at Wheeler Farm for Brenner. -By the way the Cougars just scored 7 to 7 - Back to the walk... It was fun and there was a lot of people there. The Jazz Bear and Grizz for the Grizzlies were both there. The weather was great and they also had a car show. Andrew this is for you... They had a car that looked like it was a the Transformer BARRICADE. I'll try to put a picture on the blog.

Last week I went somewhere and when I returned Braden and Brock (Braden's Buddy) had torn out all of the grass out (OK there was nit that much) from the side of the house, and they graded it out pretty well. They are pretty good with a Bobcat. That was a surprise to come home to. We had talked about it but I had no idea it would be right now. Now I have to do something with it.

Well I guess everyone is back in school and I hope things are going well for everyone.

I am just rambling so I will say goodbye. GOODBYE!

Busy week

Hi everyone, Courtney started her new job at the hospital. She seems to really like it. Their family seems to be doing well in Mesquite. Preston received another haircut from his dad and instead of using a 6 or 8 setting they used a 2 or 3. He has no hair now, but he looks great! Preston, at least your hair will grow back and not fall out or turn gray. (Yet) I don't know if I told everyone but we found out that Whitney is having a girl. Yes I said a girl! All of the sudden we need to buy girls things. We are going to have a granddaughter. Wahooo!! It's going to be great. Does anyone know if they make a decent baseball glove in pink? Last week was pretty busy. I was in California all week and Stacey was all over the states. She even had to divert one of their flights because of a medical problem. She also is going to probably going to be in some of the filming for the airlines training and she is excited about that. Brooke is back from Lake Powell, and Braden is back from Bear Lake. My week in California was spent testing new Oracle software. (Forgive me for the bad pictures but they are from my cell phone. It's all I had) The testing was long each day but we did get a chance to do things after work. Monday we went to see the YANKEES play the A's. It was great. The Oakland stadium is old and cold. It sells like wet cement and stale hot dogs. We were on the bleacher section and the seats were very good. Although the Yankees lost it was very fun. The temperature must have been about 60 degrees and very foggy. We also went in to San Francisco on Wednesday. We went to Pier 39 and saw the sea lions. The smelled like a sweaty locker room with the door to the restroom open. YES they stink! We saw Giradelli square and rode a trolley car. It was fun but I wish the family was there. It is never as much fun as it could be when you don't have some close to you to share it with. San Francisco was eerie. The fog was rolling in and it was like a scene from the movie The Fog. You know when the lady in the light tower could see the fog moving into the shore... very eerie. The whole time we were in the Oakland area the temperature was in the 70's. Well now I am back home and its 90 degrees at least. What a difference.

Summer FUN

Last week Doug, Courtney, Andrew and Preston were all here for the weekend. It was fun. Andrew, Preston and I went to the "Wetlands" (Duck pond) to feed our stale bread to the ducks, and whatever else was there. It was a long walk in to the "Big Pond" so Andrew through rock the whole way in and Preston could not take his eyes off of Drew. When we walk up to the pond there was about 30 birds under a tree, but when they heard us they all stood up and started walking toward us. (Fresh meat) Andrew said " look they are all walking over to see us." That was the last happy sound from him for a while. Because when he threw a piece of bread towards the crowd of birds they began running toward us. Andrew freaked out yelling "Get them away!"

Preston was calm and very intrigued by the birds. There were a bunch of duck and a few geese in the group. Well I finally get Drew settled down so he could feed the birds when a huge gray goose walked up behind Drew. Drew had no idea she was there until he turned around to get a piece of bread from the bag and there he was Face-to-Beak with the largest goose of the group and she wanted bread. Andrew screamed so loud that I thought Preston was going to cry. "Get it outta here!" he was yelling. I finally got her to leave him alone and things settled down. It was a great afternoon.

Guess what? Whitney and Jason find out real soon if it is a boy or a girl! What's your guess?

It seems like the odds are running towards the baby being a girl. We shall see.

Brooke has been working her butt off to be able to go to Lake Powell, and Braden is just working his butt off. (not really they still have their butts)

This week is the St. George trip. I don't care if I just sit, sit, sit. "Don't bug me I'm thinking."

Hope everyone has a great week.

Oh yeah, the pictures are from the airshow at HAFB.

Wow is it hot!

Well here it is, the months that we wait for and now its time to complain about the heat. not really. Last week was a good one. Dad and Scott and I were able to go fishing up at Current Creek. We did however have one problem. One big problem. My boat ran terrible. Thanks goodness it was a good day, and we were able to catch some fish anyway. Scott caught the most fish. His fish count was - A few. Dad and my fish count was less than a few. (I know Scott knows how many he caught but I was trying to forget). I was able to go to one of Dallas' baseball games. In fact the day before he hit a Home Run, and it was at a very big ball park. It was a major league home run. He plays very well and even pitched the game that I watched. I can tell he is having a lot of fun playing ball, and I am sure he loves having his dad coach the team. Great job Jeff.
Well, this was a good time to write because it gets my mind off the horrible toothache I have. I broke a little piece off of my tooth while we were fishing and on Thursday night I broke a big CHUNK of the same tooth off. (Kids remember to brush and floss your teeth. Especially if you are a Quinn. Remember you probably only have 4 or 5 anyway) I am hoping tomorrow I can get in to a dentist and get them to do something about it.
We went to Draper days yesterday and watched the fireworks. They were pretty good. What is bad is that it took us almost an hour to get home because of the traffic and we only live ten minutes away.
Courtney, Doug, Andrew and Preston are doing well. It is cooler in Mesquite than here in Sandy. They have only been between 108 degrees and 125 degrees. They are in their winter coats. They are having a good time swimming in the pool. And Drew is learning how to use his swim goggles.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about my new calling. I am in the nursery with about 12 kids my own age. It is pretty good duty. You break up a couple of fights, tell a story, eat some fish crackers or cookies, blow some bubbles and go home.
Hope you are all doing well. See ya later.

Everyone up!

Well last week was scout camp. We have been getting ready since last December when I signed our troop up and we began to plan. Just a heads up for anyone who reads this and is a Scoutmaster or might go to scout camp. If you are signing up for merit badges for your camp you need to go to another website to sign up. http://www.doubleknot.com/ The camp information on the websites do not tell you this. So don't keep clicking on the "sign up for merit badges here" button. It won't ever work. I know what you are thinking and YES I have told the BSA office and the Great Salt Lake Council. I think by now they hate me. I am their most wanted fugitive.

But enough about that (see how ticked off I was) Scout Camp was very good. The boys earned around 38 merit badges in 3 days. We even had one boy earn his shotgun shooting merit badge. Way cool. Bear Lake was beautiful and COLD! Easy for the swim check because you could almost walk on water. We did get a little rain (yes because I went camping) but it was at night after we had gone to bed. There are tons of mosquitoes and they are hungry. I ate a bunch of Tabasco so I hope the ones that bit me got heartburn. The boys were good, except for one, and the camp was a success.

I heard from Courtney today. They are in Mesquite in a condo waiting for the power to be turned on. They are sitting at the pool enjoying the sunshine.

Well I need to go mow the backyard before it rains. The grass is so tall I need to put it into bales like hay. Jeff do you still have the goat? I have the yard to feed it.

See ya later.

All is quiet again...

All is quiet again...

BUT WAIT, BIG NEWS... More noise is coming! Whitney is pregnant!!! Jason and Whitney are going to have a baby. What a great Fathers Day announcement! Way cool another grand baby. Maybe a girl. (I threw that in for Paige, she said we are in a girl drought) I hope Whitney has an easy pregnancy. Of course she has already been getting sick. Hang in there Whit. Another pilot in the family.

Well we have been very luck to have Doug, Courtney, Andrew and Preston around for a while. It was nice to have the noise. It was crowded and cramped but it was nice. Preston started to crawl on Sunday. Now he really can get around. Doug was able to take his test up at the U of U on Sunday. 5-1/2 hours of testing. I am sure he breathed a big sigh of relief as he finished. Luckily for Doug I knew the answers. True, False, False, True...

Well the Giles clan left for Nevada today. Tear, sniff, tear, sniff, tear. I don't know if I am going to be able to go to sleep without a bedtime story about "Bumblebee the Transformer" told to me by Andrew. And what will I do without my shirts smelling like formula that Preston liked to shower everyone with? You know it isn't as fun playing with the matchbox cars by yourself. It's all good though, they will be back around the end of July.

Until then, Brooke can sleep in, until who knows when, in peace.

It was a great start to the summer. We ll need to go to "Cowabunga" water park before they go home in July. I hope all of you are having a good summer too.

Man, it is quiet...man am I boring...Preston! Andrew! Where are you?

I hope they have a great time in Nevada. Thanks for everything Giles clan.

What great sounds!

About a month ago our grandson Andrew was able to come to our house and spend some time. Since that time we have had some great sounds. Everything from "Grandpa, Thanks for coming to my house" to "GRANDPA'S A DONUT HEAD" at the top of his lungs. Sounds from riding TRAXX to Gateway to sounds of the Thunderbirds at the Airshow...and now the sounds of a six month old giggling all day. Yep, Doug, Courtney, and Preston are here too. Preston is such a happy baby, and he loves his brother. All Andrew has to do is say "Peek-A-Boo" and Preston laughs. Doug has finally been able to schedule a day to take his boards, and Courtney is just trying to keep all of the balls in the air. It is great to have them around. I am going to miss going to Iowa just a bit. Okay that's enough, I'm over it. The extended family has been great. they are all so excited to see Doug and Courtney's family. Andrew is going to miss all of them when the move to Nevada. Well if it doesn't rain all day Saturday I need to take Andrew fishing. I bought him a fishing pole the other day and he spent 2 hours that day practicing how to cast, and chasing the next door neighbor, Ethan ,on his bike casting the bobber into the bike, and scaring the crap out of Ethan. He is getting pretty good. Well I better go, it is time for the sound machine to be coming home from Whitney's. I hope you like the Airshow pictures. See ya later.

Standy and the friendly skies.

I don't know what they are talking about if they ever say that less people are flying the friendly skies, because last Thursday I was trying to fly "Standby" to get to Iowa for Doug's graduation. I started at the Delta gate at 6:00 a.m. and the flight was full. I made it clear to the airplane before they called me back. This was a sign of things to come for the rest of the day. I spent the next 11 or 12 hours trying to make a flight. I was running from one airline counter, to the next one trying to get even close to Iowa. I was finally able to fly out the next day into Omaha, Nebraska. I rented a car and finally got to the Giles home. When I walked in their house there was Preston (a great looking 5 month old future Hall of Fame great) lying on the floor talking to himself. I walked in and knelt above him and he started to giggle. He and I laughed for 20 minutes. He is such a happy camper. When Drew and Court returned to the house Drew gave me a great big hug and told me he missed me. It was worth every minute of the day before.
The next day we were all able to go to Doug's graduation. By the way Doug is now a DOCTOR. Doctor John Douglas Giles (sound pretty cool). I think he is going by "Doctor Doug." Andrew let everyone know his dad is a doctor. It was great to be there.
Courtney and Doug have done a terrific job keeping up with things and getting through school for Doug. Courtney you are awesome. You are a great mom, and you are doing a great job raising these boys. I know it hasn't been easy but my hats off to you. Doug (I didn't mean to leave you out) you have done a great job also. Drew has been able to golf, swim, go to the zoo and many other things.
Well after the graduation I was able to bring Andrew back to Utah with me. I don't think he understands that he is not going back to Iowa. It is great to be around him. He is so smart. He has already helped me fix the lawn mower, and he said we need to get the "motor scooter" running.
Today he and Brenner were playing and he got a goose egg on his fore head. He shook it off. He spent a day with Crystall, Tanner and Brenner and my dad and tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa Bleazard are going to watch him while I am at work. Every time I get home he tells me he missed me. So cool.
Well, I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week.

Wicked Weekend

Well I finally was able to see Wicked this weekend. Whitney won tickets! $25.00 seats and we were on the sixth row. Yep six. It was better than I thought it would be. Galinda (Glinda) the good witch was hilarious and reminded my of Whitney, and of Stacey when I first met her. It was a lot of fun. The story was great and the scenery was terrific. I would go again. Sunday we went to Jennifer and Joe's for Family Home Evening and they did a good job. It was about choices and consequences. Connor did a good job telling his part of the lesson. I went early and took some pictures of the Weber River and I even wet a hook. Yep I caught three very small trout. Just my size. But it was a nice start to the season. Well tomorrow is Monday and back to work. Man the weekends go by so fast it is not fair. I know it is the same for all of you so have a nice Wicked week. Love ya all.

Desert Geteway

Hi everyone. I have got to tell you about the cool weekend I had. Braden and I have been trying to do something together for weeks now, and last weekend we did. We went to the sand dunes, Little Sahara, Sand Mountain, whatever you want to call it. Braden took his four wheeler and I rented one. First off, it was kind of frustrating at first. I hustled home from work, picked up my four wheeler, got home, threw some clothes together and waited, and waited, and waited. Braden was in no hurry to load or put things together. He kept saying don't worry we will be fine. We don't need to be there until we get there. Well we finally left home about 9:00 pm and filled up the truck and the bikes and headed for the dunes. We arrived at Sand Mountain at around 11:00 or 11:30 pm and unloaded everything. Oh yeah, Braden's friend Greg went with us. At 11:30 PM (yep, at night) Braden said let's go for a ride. Greg's bike did not have a headlight which meant he had to stay back. But no, Super Braden to the rescue! Braden found a headlight and had it mounted and wired to Greg's machine in about 10 minutes. Awesome. We left the camp and rode the four wheelers till about 3:30 am which was great because the camp was noisy anyway until 4:00 am (that's when everyone goes to bed) So we went to bed too, and slept for at least a good 3 hours until 7:00 am when I heard the first motorcycle start up next to our camp. Well that was it, I was up. I started messing around and getting ready for the day. Braden got up and he and I went for a ride for about an hour. When we got back Greg was awake. We rode all over Sand Mountain until 3:00 in the afternoon. Then it started to rain. Let me tell you something, Braden can ride!!! He was riding across the front of the mountains (which is hard enough) but he was doing it while riding a wheelie the whole time. He was jumping and racing up Sand Mountain like he was shot out of a canon. He is very good, and as you can tell, I was very impressed. I was glad to follow along and not get hurt and not totally embarrass myself. We left about 4:00 to head for home, it started to rain. I was tired.
Sunday morning... I am in pain. I hurt everywhere and I did not even wreck. It hurt to turn the key to start the car. I've got sore muscles in places that I did not know I had muscles. Maybe it is just sore fat. At 11:00 am I sat down to put on my shoes and fell asleep until 1:30. What a great time I had. Thanks Braden. If any of you get the chance to go ride the bikes at the dunes, go. It is amazing. Well thanks for reading I hope you all are doing well. HAPPY RIDING! I am going to get into a hot shower and fall asleep again. Bye.

Time marches on... Yahoo it's Spring! (somewhere)

And on and on. Here it is the middle of April and I hope everyone has their taxes filed. I keep forgetting to write. Our grandson Preston is 4 months old now and growing like a weed. Of course when you're born at 10-lbs 11-oz it is easier to grow like a really big weed. I can always hear him in the background, testing out his voice, when I talk to Courtney on the phone. Andrew is sick and I feel really bad for him. Court said he spent all last night throwing up, which meant he could not go to preschool today. He has sent me a few pictures in the mail that he has colored for me and Stacey. I will put them on the blog. He can't wait to go fishing, so I need to get out to Iowa and bring him back with me so we can go catch some fish. Brooke is trying to decide what to do about school. There are so many things she is interested in that almost everyday brings a new idea. She worries too much. She will be good at whatever she puts her mind to. Braden is constantly tearing something with a motor apart and putting it back together again. (I will never get my garage back) He now has his four-wheeler running and he has powder coated the frame to his motorcycle. It is gorgeous. It is the coolest shade of green, and it has so much metal flake in it that the color just pops. He is going to the sand dunes this weekend.
BIG NEWS... Whitney's old Taurus is no longer in the driveway. Yep, it has been sold. Yahoo! Of course Braden now has his buddy's trailer on the side of my house. I can't win. Stacey has been trying to get Wicked tickets in the lottery each night. So far she has struck out. It seems they are a little easier to get in Chicago, although she did make it onto the six-o'clock news. I spent part of Easter weekend at a monstrous cabin, thanks to Scott and April. It belongs to some friends of theirs and it is awesome. We had a great time playing pool, trying to sign karaoke, and riding the four-wheelers. It was very fun weekend. Thank you Scott and April.
Well time to go to bed. I have to be to work early tomorrow (6:00 am) and you know how badly I need my beauty sleep. I hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy every day because...Time really does march on, before I know it I'll be complaining about the snow again.

Finally feeling better. (I think)

Just thought I would show you a picture of the New Draper Temple.

Well it's been a while since I wrote anything. Not because I did not want to but I have been sick for the last month. Yep, just like everyone else. Last Sunday I finally went into the Instacare office because I was still feeling crummy. I was only there for two hours. I know, it has to be a record. While I was there I saw a bunch of people from my ward, so I am not sure who was in church last Sunday. When all was said and done the doctor said I had Bronchitis and two other -things that end in -itis. I can't remember. But so far so good. I am starting to feel better I think. I hope everyone else is too. Well since last time I wrote Braden purchased an old non-running ATV from his buddy. I have to hand it to him because two weeks later it is running very well. Brooke is in school and Saturday she had I take home test that we all had fun with. (We are lucky we didn't make her flunk the test) She passed with flying colors. Whitney and Jason have purchased a new car. A BMW! They even let me drive and it is way cool. Jason helped me out last Wednesday with the scouts (we are working on our Aviation merit badge). He did a great job and pretty much assured the scouts that I have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to flying. It was a good night. Stacey has been flying a lot and this last trip she has been in Chicago a few times. Tonight she ends up in L.A. I talked to my grandson Andrew on the phone and I said "I love you, lots" He told me "I love you, watch too grandpa" back. So I need to speak more clearly. He is awesome. I hope you all have a great week.

Well another week has gone by. Last Saturday we celebrated Dads birthday and Crystal's birthday. It was good fun at the Marriott watching the kids in the pool throwing the ball at each other and eating pizza and cake. It was nice to see everyone. I know that the kids had a blast. Brooke is working on a presentation for school. She has to explain how to do something. She is telling the class how to wash a car. I am hoping she learned something from it because our car could use a good washing. Come to think of it so could her car. Braden is working on a four wheeler that he has. It has an electric problem. I was helping him so it probably has more than an electric problem now. He will figure it out. I don't know if I mentioned it but he has been on the Atkins diet. He has lost quite a bit of weight, the only problem is that he eats enough eggs that we need to own chickens and probably a cow or two. Stacey has been flying a lot but she is home today. She went flying with Jason on Saturday and was the pilot for a while. Courtney and Doug are in Nevada looking at his new job and the city they are going to live in. Andrew is back in Iowa staying with his cousins and probably having a ball. Well I hope everyone is well and enjoying life. Talk to you later.

Just a week.

What a difference a week makes. Last week we were in Iowa visiting. Everyone was doing well. Now we are back home and it seems like everyone is not feeling well. I started into a cold or whatever on Valentines Day. (I know, Happy Valentines Day to me!) I have the worst sore throat. (See my picture above) I know that Courtney and at least Preston are not feeling well either. That's what you get when you get together and someone brings a cold to the party. A cold. The gift that keeps on giving. Just great. I either have a runny nose or I can't breathe. I am looking to give this away if any one is in the market for a cold. Cheap. Stacey just got home today from all over and she is tired. So with her and I we are "Sick and Tired." I hope everyone else is doing well and that they enjoyed their Valentines Day. Okay, it's not my picture. This is a guy that was on the wharf in San Francisco. You gotta admit, its a good resemblance. What a difference a week makes. Take care.

Family Trip

Are they great or what?

Well we are all back from Iowa and it was great. The blessing was great. We all got up so we could make the 9:00 Sacrament meeting and guess what? We were not only on time, but early to church. I know, another miracle. We were all surprised when Becky (Doug's mother) showed up to sacrament meeting. Pretty cool. Doug did a great job with Preston's blessing, even though at first I thought everyone in the circle was going to bounce Preston right into the back row of the chapel. There is a difference between a gentle rocking to calm the baby, and trying to toss the child into the air during the blessing. Preston spent the remainder of the blessing trying to sit up. I thought we might drop him. I know Doug was worried too because he had a great grip on the back of Preston. We got lucky and the weather was pretty good. Well we at least saw some sunshine. Braden did pretty good driving in Iowa. I went for a ride with him and he was actually able to find his way around. I think he liked Iowa. It was good to see Stacey, Whitney and Courtney together. I wish Brooke could have come. But she had to work, and sometimes that happens. Andrew wrestled with everyone and raced cars on the table with Braden. Preston looks great and he is not as big as the pictures make him look. (Remember each camera adds ten pounds). He is a good kid but of course as soon as we left he got sick. I think he just misses us. Courtney and I spent a lot of time together trying to rid her computer of a virus. We finally removed it. I hope it is still working. Everyone was able to make their flights home even though they we all full. I was lucky and sat between two Sumo Wrestlers. Not really, but there was not much seat left between them, and of course that is where my seat was. So I sat for 4 hours on the flight from Cincinnati to Salt Lake with my elbows touching each other across my chest. Yep, really comfortable, NOT!! Thanks Courtney and Doug for letting us come out and be with you guys. We had a great time. I can't wait until you are closer to us. By the way everyone Doug is almost finished with school and already has a job offer. Yahoo!! Thanks again, it was fun. Well until next time. "Keep your stick on the ice."

It's a blessing!

(Are those the greatest grandsons or what?)

Yes, it is a blessing. We now have two healthy grandsons and wouldn't you know it, Preston is already 2 months old and we get to go to Iowa for his baby blessing. It seems like yesterday I was in Iowa with Andrew playing cars, crashing airplanes, building forts and watching the "Polar Express" (the best Movie of all time, as far as Drew is concerned) while Courtney and Doug were at the Hospital waiting for Preston to make his way into the family. I am excited to get out there and see everyone. I am also glad that Braden is going with us. He has not been to Iowa yet.

Andrew wanted to know if our house was still in MYtah. You know like YOUtah. Isn't he is great.

It is now Wednesday night. We leave on Friday and I have no idea when we are all coming back. Some have to be back early and some do not. I have not put one thing in a suitcase or backpack yet. I usually go to see them with only a backpack and what ever else will fit in there with my camera. Stacey said I have to take more than a backpack this time. "So it is written, so it shall be."

We had a great Superbowl Sunday at Jeff and Susan's house last weekend. Sue and Jeff did a great job with the Family Home Evening lesson. Thank you Jeff and Sue.

I hope everyone has a great time while we are gone to Iowa, because I am going to.

Yep, It's a blessing.

What a nice weekend!

Hi everyone. Well last weekend was pretty fun. While we had the inversion in Salt Lake and it was freezing cold. Stacey was in sunny San Francisco for a 24 hour layover. So I hopped on a flight to San Francisco to enjoy the sun with her. The weather was great and the crew that she was flying with were pretty fun. We Road the B.A.R.T. (Bay Area Rail Transit) like a subway or Traxx into San Fran. From there we walked and walked and walked. Yes pioneer children we walked. We went up to China Town so they could see how crowded it could be. It was a mess. Tons of people and cars on one-way streets. T-Shirts for sale everywhere. We even saw a corner market where they had chicken feet for sale.We walked down to the pier where we saw the dinner fleets and the harbour cruises leaving. The ocean is great! I could be on Fisherman's Wharf all day. Most of the people we were with could not stand the smell of the fish and seafood. We saw Sea Lions and Alcatraz (see picture). They are way cool. We walked over to the battleship Jeremiah O'Brien and the old submarine that are in the harbour. We even walked up to Ghirardelli Square for Stacey's sweet tooth. The chocolate was very good. We ate on the wharf , but to tell the truth the food was not that great. I was a little disappointed. We looked at a lot of things but one of the best and funniest was a black man at the pier called the "Bushman." The Bushman sits behind some branches (That he drags everywhere with him) and when unsuspecting people walk by he jumps out at them or growls at them. The people loose their mind screaming and jumping out of the way. It was fun to watch him do that. I know it does not take much to amuse me. The day was a great day away. Stacey and I really enjoyed it. Everyone needs a weekend like that once in a while. I hope your weekend was as much fun.

Reflections of Christmas

Thinking back...what a strange Christmas season this one was. The day after Thanksgiving we did not get up early to fight the crowds to buy presents we could not live without. But we still made it to IHOP for breakfast! On December 2nd Courtney had "Preston" our 2nd grandson. He was very small. Only a whopping 10lbs 11 oz. What a great looking kid! I (Todd) was able to go to Iowa for Preston's birth (and to play with Drew), so the Christmas lights did not get put up on the house. (I don't need to take them down either) We built a snowman that after a while was leaning so far back it looked like he was doing the limbo. Drew also built a ginger bread house covered in candy. Most of the candy never made it to the house. I had a great time with Courtney, Doug, Drew and Preston. Stacey was able to go to Iowa the next week and be with the Giles clan and help with the new baby. She had a good time but said she almost froze to death. One of the days it was -8 degrees without the wind chill factor.

Christmas Miracle: We sent a Christmas package to Iowa for the Giles clan and it actually got there before Christmas. "Yahoo! Postal Service."

Stacey had to work on Christmas. The weather was so bad that instead of being home at 8:00 p.m. she got home around 2:00 a.m. We were glad she made it home safe.

Brooke and Braden had to work a lot of the season. It was great to have them around. Brooke and I went shopping together a couple of times. Braden had most of his shopping done fairly early. I of course did not.

Like I said "What a strange Christmas season.

Oh yeah, the picture is at Temple Square. Also, I hope I am doing this right. If not, bear with me. Courtney is teaching me to blog. Have a great 2009!