Rivertrip October 2009

Yes that's right I limited this post to 26 photos. It's my blog and I'll do what I want to. For those not in the know the river is a strip of the Colorado just below Lake Havasu. Beth's family has been going to the river house on the California side for ever. We spent the first week in October down there.
Probably one of my favorite photos. Lily waves goodbye to the boat with her cousins in tow. We spent one day down at the Wagon Wheel, 20 miles or so down river, with Ruben Kathy and gang.
The gang: Sara, Tony, Jason, Heidi and Nick.
Nick was a super good sport to play and entertain the kids. He also introduced Jack to the Scooby Doo movies which I could not be more thrilled about.
Would somebody please potty train this kid. Diapers in general are a bust but really cramp your style with boats and swimming.
We all had to keep an eye out for Jack, Nick and their water cannons.
Highlight of the week was surfing. Tony's boat throws an awesome wave and we spent many an hour trolling up and down the river.
This trip was my first time trying wake surfing and I could ride without the rope but if I really wanted to carve it up I preferred using it. With any luck I'll grow up to be as good as Jason and pull off 360s etc. without it.
Just look at the water that waited for us at just about all times of the day.
She's so cute with her little hat. Now if we could just get her to ever keep a bow or a clip in her hair.
Jack rocking the gun, holster, and diaper look while checking the traps. He got those for his birthday and has barely let him out of his sight since.
Beth getting in on the surfing action. She picked it up fast and too had a lot of fun. She had the advantage of being goofy foot along with everyone else. I was basically the only regular and had to wait for all of them to take a turn. But I did have the advantage of the cleaner wave. So there! I guess the way the prop rotates helps one side more than the other.
We still got out to lay down some slalom ski turns. Once again Tony's boat was just too fun.
Lily was in heaven with all these adults around her to giver her squeeze its, capri suns, fruit snacks, etc. anytime she wanted.
Jack loves his mommy but can you blame him?
I spent most of the week trying to clear the wake on the wakeboard and consistently landing just short. Finally on the last day my coach, Jason, told me I was wimping out and needed to attack the wake. That made the difference and also created a lot less stress on my shoulder.
Jack and Lily playing on the dock. We had a few bandannas left over from the birthday celebration.
Some pretty sweet sunsets. The weather was actually on the cool side, hovering around 90 degrees instead of the usual 93.
Lily watching from the boat.
She's ready for a turn on the tube. Did not happen.
Bringing me sunscreen for her fair little legs and arms. You might notice the beginnings of the riverstache.

Lily did not want to be left out of the goggle fun. Here she is with her aunt Heidi. Nick didn't appreciate anyone trying to out-nerd him in a photo.
It took pretty much the whole week before Jack started to get as comfortable in the water as he was in the pool just a few weeks before. Finally by Friday he was jumping off the dock and diving head first off the swim deck. By head first I of course mean lowering your chin to your chest and jumping in feet first.
Blanket? Check. Cowboy hat? Check. Goggles? Check. Gun? Check. OK Jack's ready for the day.
Isn't this nice when the two boys gang up on the baby girl? Lily thought it was the best thing ever.
One of the standard activities for any successful river trip, reading. On the way home we stayed a night in Vegas to see BYU-UNLV and attend Will's baby blessing the next day. You might notice the riverstache really coming into it's own.

It was a great trip and could not have come at a more perfect time. The sun, water, friends, relaxation, mexican food, board shorts, good tunes, are all very therapeutic. And for the heck of it here's our theme song of the week. Must have listened to this two dozen times.

Adios Señor Stache

Just for an update since the poll closed. The mustache is gone and was actually gone while the poll was still tied at 18. Thanks goes to the last minute voter who pushed it over for not turning me into a liar.

In reality I was always to shave before my next customer meeting (two days ago) for one simple reason, I look like a jackass with a mustache. For that reason alone I wanted to shave before church on Sunday but in the end I decided I was having too much fun getting new reactions from people. And boy was it fun. My Sunday School class (14 and 15 year olds) never went better. They kept their eyes up front and couldn't stop smiling. The only off topic discussions were whether I made a better Mario or Luigi. They settled on Luigi because Mario was "too fat". I wasn't sure if it was because they think I'm skinny or just not Mario fat. EQ was also fun. Those that you know well enough have no problem laughing, or even asking "WTH(eck)?" It's those that you only sorta know that provide the most comedy as you can watch them debate "is this for real?"

This brings me to another problem that I've been struggling with. Are the people that voted to keep the stache really my friends? I mean really? Did you do it because it made you look like a better husband? Made you feel better about your man? Hey at least I don't grow a ridiculous mustache like Emmett. Or do you truly wish more non-firemen wore one? I'm curious because the only person I found that could stand looking at it for extended periods was Lily. She's so nice to me.

Now that I acknowledged I'm aware of how I look I should warn you not to be too surprised to see a return. Just for amusement's sake. Like the time I bought a fridge pack of Tab because I thought it was ridiculous. Every time I opened the fridge I would laugh. Much like I would laugh every time I looked the mirror. Christmas/New Year's is too soon. Maybe Hawaii in February. Who wants to go to Hawaii in February? We do.

Jack turns 3 proceeds to crash

Jack turned 3 on October 5 and before we left town on the 3rd we gathered at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. Thanks to all those that came. We got Jack his first bike and I can't rember the last time I was this excited for a birthday. Beth also found some cowboy gear in Jackson Hole that he just loves.
I'm glad Brian didn't listen to me and turn the video off after 38 seconds. Jack promptly grabbed his helmet and took his bike for his first spin, only to crash into the table. It was hilarious. Brian put more photos up here. WARNING: Chuck E. Cheese music playing in the background!

coming snail mail soon

In an effort to push that previous photo down the page we'll rewind to the last day I did shave.

Coming soon via Christmas card (assuming this is the photo Beth selects and you happen to be one of the six addresses we have):


This is when Jack announced "I already did one more" and stood up, pulled the smarties out of his shirt pocket, and walked away.

I like this one with Jack reaching to give his sister a hug.

With Michael paying us a visit from BYU-Hawaii over Conference Weekend and we used the opportunity to get some family photos. The conversation with Michael before this photo went something like this ...
Michael: Hey family good to see you, this is Tashina.
Family: Nice to meet you Tashina.
Michael: She's going to need to be in the picture because I asked her to marry me this afternoon.
Family: Oh great, that's fantastic!
Michael: yeah we are super excited. Well it's been real...see you guys in SLC January 2nd for the wedding.

The Riverstache Poll

Soon I'll post some pictures from our week at the river but first a matter of business. As is custom at the river I went a couple days without shaving, then as a joke I shaved everything but my stache to try and get a reaction from Beth. She went on to ignore it for several days hoping it would go away and not wanting to give me the pleasure of a reaction. Next thing you know it had been a week and I'm in too deep. I felt like I have to let this thing ride. Beth seems to think it has to go, and fast. So I told her we'd put it to a poll. What do think? Be sure to vote on the right.

Although I don't like the reactions I get from parents when I smile at them and their kids I do like the possibilities this creates for Halloween. I could be Magnum P.I., Mexican, Super Mario, Uncle Bill, and um uh lots of others I'm sure.