Camping up Logan Canyon

watch in high quality by going to youtube and clicking the button on the bottom right of the video


EDIT: Derek posted this, but failed to mention when this actually happened- no, we did not go camping this weekend- we WOULD have frozen! This actually happened like two weeks ago. And it was AWESOME! ;) Seriously, though, I would probably have to rate it the funnest camping trip I've ever been on.

Derek's EDIT: Yes even though this camping trip wasn't as manly as I'm used to camping trips being (bigger fires, hatchets, dead animals, guns, etc.) I had an extremely enjoyable time. It was just nice being up the woods with the family and not having any of the usual distractions (telephones, internet, TV, housework, studies). I was able to enjoy everyone's company in a way that just never happens anywhere else.

Beautiful Girls

Just look at them. They make my heart melt.

My Day in Pictures...

Note that my day didn't really start until I got this in the mail at 4:00

Yes, the brand new Canon Rebel XSi. I got it new on eBay for a delicious $618. I'm feeling pretty good about my purchase. So if you got a better deal, don't ruin it for me...

Before I got the mail today, though, I finally opened up my other birthday present



and started to use it to fix Derek's shorts. Any tips on patching? I fixed the rip, but he needs patches over all the special places.


Then I made some delicious orange cranberry scones while these people slept:

(first picture with the Rebel!)

(miraculously she didn't wake up to the noise and the flash)


(this one did wake up to the noise and the flash-- my bad. This is after that, though. It clearly didn't affect him too badly, though.)


Then later I fed all the sleepers this- from Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meals". It's known as "You-Won't-Be-Single-For-Long Vodka Cream Pasta". It's amazing.

A few recent pics...

Since it's been awhile since I posted good pics, enjoy these few:

Avril found my makeup bag.

Xandri getting ready for bed... doesn't this face just kill you?

Avril after brushing her teeth. My girls have amazing grins.

Ready for church.

When we're "helping" we're happy...

This is the look Xandri's been doing lately. I had to take a lot of pictures to catch her doing this instead of looking at Avril doing it. I'm not entirely sure what it means- but I love it.

Grandma Zan's Little Follower

It's kind of a running joke in our family about how much Derek's mom loves butter. One of these days, I'm going to stick popsicle sticks in all her butter cubes so she can just eat them like popsicles. Anyway, turns out Avril is also a fan of butter... check out what I found not so long ago:

The Energy Crisis

Now, normally I don't do the whole political thing on my blog here, but I thought this was definitely worth noting (a big thanks to Alana for posting it on her blog).

So at present, what are our political candidates plans for the energy crisis?

McCain wants to invest a couple billion in science and technology developing new ways to harness energy.

Obama wants to put more air in our tires.
Ok, that's not entirely fair. He's got other ideas. Compared to McCain's $2 billion over 15 years, he proposes $150 billion over 10 years.

For a full article on each of their solutions, click here.

So, until those 10-15 years of billions of government spending, what do we do? This guy, Pickens, seems to know what he's talking about and has a very interesting plan. Check him out.

The Zickgraf Version of the Olympics

Hose Spray & Ball to the Face Event