"Holiest Place On Earth"

The day before Christmas I headed out to fly fish the Provo River in 25 degree weather. Yes, I love fly fishing THAT much.
I thought I was pretty hard core. I mean, few people are crazy enough to stand IN a river when its that cold. It was so cold that my fishing line would freeze to my rod every 15 minutes. No one else was on the river and I had the whole river to myself! Until I saw this guy....

A kayaker. When I saw him, I was sitting on a rock in the sun trying to warm up my hands to the point that I could feel them. I couldn't have been colder. In that moment, I saw the kayaker do the unthinkable- he flipped his kayak over.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE COLD on your face and head? He got himself upright again, floated a little bit more, and flipped into the water AGAIN! "What is happening?" I thought to myself. "Is he trying to kill himself? Do I need to jump in and save him?"

He flipped upright again and after dunking himself a third time, he floated towards me.

"Hello!", said the crazy kayaker.
"Did you just dunk yourself?", I asked, being both physically and mentally frozen after witnessing what only could be described as suicidal.
"Yes, I did", he said.
"WHY?" I asked, knowing that within 10 minutes the water on his head/face would freeze solid.
"Merry Christmas!" he said. Then he went back, dunked himself again, and floated past me for the last time. I caught our last exchange on video.



Bear Grylls of "Man vs Wild" has nothing on this guy. Even though the fishing was good, it was too cold to continue fishing. After another 30 minutes passed by and I was still sitting on a rock in the sun trying to warm up, the kayaker approached me on a trail carrying his kayak and oar. As I thought of what to say to this cuckoo bird, he greeted me with "There is NO place holier than where we are right now!"

HAHA! What a character!

Part of why I was excited to fish despite the temperature was to break in my new Sage ONE fly rod, Lamson LiteSpeed reel, and Simms Guide jacket. I love my new gear!!!



And so do the fish!

FRIENDS

This week my long time friend Andy Ray and his wife and kids were in town. He's in school in Kentucky so we don't get to see him very often. On short notice, we got together with them and Robert Kempton's family for some fun. As always, we told a lot of jokes about ex-girlfriends, stories about getting into mischief, and bragging about who is the coolest.

Here is a shot of our kids/future troublemakers:

(Maddux R., Reed, Dane K., Sadie R., Ashley K., Trent K., Chandler K.)



Next time we'll have to plan it better so we have more Chandler High friends get together. I wish there were 60 days in December instead of only 31 cuz there is never enough time to see everyone and do everything during the Holidays. Merry Christmas everyone!

In Case There Were Any Doubts...

In case there were any doubts...this kid is still the cutest EVERRR~!

Attention Please! We have an Announcement...

Everybody's really excited around here...

...cuz Candace is pregnant! She's due in May, which will also mark Roo's 2nd birthday.

YAYYY!! We're planning on finding the sex of the baby in the near future. We'll keep you posted. The pregnancy has been smooth for Candace. I think she's just surprised how fast her stomach is growing.

First Dune Trip

As long as I can remember, I've been excited for the day when I could take my family camping, particularly to the dunes. I was careful to make sure whoever I married shared this dream. Candace loves to camp and as a young girl she regularly went to the dunes but its been 20 years or so since her last trip. Its only been 3 years, however, since I surprised her with a ride home from our wedding reception in a yellow dune buggy (thanks Peter Ray).



Fast forward to the present...and we finally had our first dune trip. We've been wanting to go for a while, but since an enclosed trailer or RV is sort of required when bringing a wife and baby (and we don't have either), we haven't been able to go. Luckily, we had the chance to go with some families from church that have RVs to sleep in and keep us out of the cold.

Friday was windy and rainy. Saturday morning was cold and clear.

This picture is funny to me because mother and son are making the same face.

Candace and I were concerned with how Roo would do in the cold and with all the noise from the atvs and dirtbikes. He LOVED exploring and playing in the sand. As always, he slept like a champ and kept us entertained.

Candace was eager to show what she could do on the quad.

RooBear wants a ride.


And, here's Mama hitting the trails.

I had fun riding the quad and offroading my truck. A few times, Candace drove the quad and I followed with Reed in the truck. Good thing I brought a shovel with me, because I did get stuck in the sand a few times and had to dig myself out.



One of the families had a sand car/dune buggy and offered to tour the dunes with Candace and Reed while I rode the quad. Despite the loud noises and bumpy ride through the dunes, Reed FELL ASLEEP!!!
Haha! We let him sit there and sleep for over an hour once we returned to camp. What a good boy.
The weather turned out to be great and everybody stayed safe. The families we went with were so nice to share their stuff with us.

RooBear can't wait until our next trip. Me neither.

Here's some footage of what makes the dunes so fun. Its like a roller coaster except you can control where you want to go:

17 months.

Our little 17 month old loves:

• Flushing things down the toilet and then saying "duh duh" in an "all gone!" tone.  What he's flushed/tried to flush so far: toilet paper he pulls off the roll, a tampon with the wrapper on, a big bottle of listerine, and one of my nikes.  These are just the things that have actually made it into the toilet.
• Climbing up on the coffee table and walking backwards.  Yes, he falls and no, he's not allowed to even be up there.
• Emptying out any cabinet he can find in 30 seconds flat.
• Throwing a full out stomping, crying, yelling, temper tantrum because I won't put on my silly-looking shop glasses right that second.
• Anything to do with being outside.  He's always been happiest outdoors.
• Fighting his way out of the high chair.  He would rather eat on the go - one bite at a time with playing in between.  This is not good for Mama.
• Giving Mama and Dada loves and kisses.  He is SUCH a good snuggler and will randomly come up to you for a hug or kiss.
• Praying.  He folds his arms as soon as I put him in his high chair at mealtime.  He will also randomly fold his arms, close his eyes, and mumble gibberish throughout the day.
• Swimming.  This boy loves the water.
• Making a really stern face, scolding me with his finger and shaking his head "no" when he knows he's doing something he shouldn't be.
• Getting super frustrated and whining/yelling if he can't figure out a task right away - like putting the lid on a tupperware by himself.
• Pointing to things and saying "ttttt" (that) so we name what it is.
• Skipping his afternoon nap.  I think we're down to one nap a day.  Sad day for Mama.
• Climbing up on anything he can find and figuring out different ways to slide or climb back down.
• Waiving "bye" to Dada in the morning and blowing lots of kisses.
• Eating black beans, cookies, smoothies, bananas (only if he can hold it and pull the peel down himself), peaches, and pretty much any meat (takes after his dad, not his mom on this one).
• Opening and closing doors.
• Dancing.  He loves music.
• Animals - especially doggies.  If he sees one or a picture of one he will say "mmm mmm!" in a "ruff ruff!" tone.  He will also say "cack cack" for a duck sound and does a perfect fishy noise.
• Saying "mama", "dada", and mimicking the tone of "uh oh".
• Signing "all done", "more", "please", and "thank you".
• Pointing to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, and toes.
• Shaking his head "no" at me for pretty much anything I ask him.

Here are some random pictures from this summer:

Reed is such a good boy.  He's really the highlight of our life.  We love him tons and although he's turning into a true toddler, he is a joy to be around.  He has a happy, chill countenance even when he's teething or sick.  He's even funny when he throws a fit (mostly because it's over the silliest random things).  We love our Reedy Roo Bear!  Can't believe he's 17 months already!

3 Years Into Eternity...

"YES", this is a blog about my anniversary and "YES", you're about to see some really old and fun pictures of my Cbug. This is a 2005 photo, back when we were young and I didn't have a double chin or 3 knee surgeries, and we had enough energy to stay up past 10pm! Times have changed!

Here's a picture when I half jokingly asked Candace in 2007 if she wanted to fly to Las Vegas with me to buy a pickup truck. She said "yes". You could tell we had a lot of fun on the plane.

And on the ride back to AZ...Candace and I dated 4 times before tying the knot. I'm glad we both came to our senses and committed to marry. Our little chunker, Reedy RooBear is the sunshine in our day.
Its common knowledge that Candace is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for having the world's prettiest blue eyes....but did you know that she also holds the record for the world's most beautiful skin? I joke with Candace that in 3 years of marriage I don't think she's ever had a pimple or blemish!She's always had a classy way about her. It definitely pulled me in.

There is a lot I can say about my wife. I think the best thing that I could ever want is exactly what Candace is, TRUE | COMMITTED | TALENTED | BEAUTIFUL | SOO SMART | CARING | FOCUSED | and TRYING TO GROW CLOSER TO GOD.

I love her soo much. I need to work on telling her more often. Happy 3rd Year, Cbug! Only 999,999,999,999,999 x 100 more years to go!

Bass Fishing and Off Roading

For my birthday this year, Candace surprised me with a gift card for a guided bass fishing trip to Saguaro Lake. We took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and spent some time on the water. We met our guide at the lake at 5:30am so it was an EARLY morning.

Luckily, it was well worth it!

Arizona has such beautiful sunrises & sunsets, especially on the lake.

Gorgeous! We saw some bald eagles, too.


Candace was a lot of fun to fish with. She was casting, reeling, and catching fish like a pro!

Notice my shirt in this one. My brother Taylor recently made the BYU Lacrosse team as a freshman and I couldn't be more proud of him.

After catching a handful of fish with our guide and enjoying a relaxing Arizona sunrise, we headed up the road to do some off-roading on the back side of Saguaro Lake. Ever since my knee surgery, I've been itching to get out and get dirty in the desert.

From the top of a hill we climbed, you can see part of Saguaro Lake.


Again, Candace was a good sport. We climbed some pretty intense hills and got stuck on one. Candace had a little bit of a panic attack when, as we were stuck on a very steep hill, she saw this tow truck at the bottom pulling a vehicle that had rolled.

The fishing and off roading was a great escape from a stressful week. Its amazing how much better I feel after some time doing what I love with who I love! I'm not the only one that felt better...

Its not easy to look good after waking up at 4:30am and spending the morning on the lake and in the dirt. Candace does it well!
(And thanks to Tim and Jen for watching RooBear!)