Last Lagoon (This Year)
Lagoon is closing for the season so we went one last time. Halloween is the best time to go.
Family
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Grami Del
Some people deserve to live forever yet on this beautiful Autumn day we spent the day with family celebrating a life beautifully lived and saying goodbye to Grami Del. She is in…
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Vegas Baby
I and my daughters and their friends took a trip to Las Vegas to see Harry Styles first concert since the Pandemic started. 1000 miles of driving One visit to Nephi – Brandon…
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Aubrey and Alyssa
I’ve worked from home for most of my life. My office is in the basement at the bottom of the stairs. Aubrey’s is next to it on the way to the storage room where I keep my…
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Look What Aubrey Drew
Aubrey’s gift to her grandmother’s this year was this drawing:
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Maker Faire
After a week with the Google tech elite today was a day dedicated to fun, curiosity and fascination. Callie brought Devin down Yesterday so we could spend today experiencing the…
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Viva Las Vegas
Day 1. The Dam Day. – March 29 Our first day we leave Las Vegas (doesn’t everyone?) and head out to Hoover Dam to take the Dam tour. It’s a really big dam. We pay our dam money…
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Gifts
It’s January. That means a couple of things: I’ll be forgetting to write the correct year for several weeks. I’m older so the forgetting will probably last for more than several…
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Huntsman Awards for Excellence in Education
My mother in law received a Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education this evening – a well deserved honor befitting her work as an educator over the past 16 years. Out of the…
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Kids these days
When I was a kid we watched TV on a 20” screen that weighed 600 pounds, output 480i (the antithesis of HD TV) and only provided very fuzzy, analog network channels. Howe we wished…
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Major Holiday With the Wife and Kids
It’s not often that the stars align and two big events coincide. Today is Father’s day, but it’s also our anniversary. Today is a big deal since it marks 15 years of being married…
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Haulin’ Balls
We’re driving across the California desert right now. The thermometer says it’s 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Every time we have to stop and get out of the car the kids tell me the heat…
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Doggie Shed
We’re visiting my parents in Idaho for the weekend so that the kids can go to my grandmother’s house to hunt Easter eggs. It’s a long story that involves who can be in town when…
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It’s Not Child Rearing It’s Crowd Control
I told Callie today that we deserve parent of the year awards which was especially funny given the state of affairs in our home. I’ve heard that one child isn’t to bad. We’ll…
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What I Got for Christmas This Year
We’re home from my parents which in a way marks the end of the Christmas celebration for us. Although, I am pushing for a return of the Twelve days of Christmas which doesn’t end…
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The Princess and the Pea
I made cashew chicken for dinner tonight. It has peas in it. As is typical of any dinner that doesn’t consist of corn dogs or chicken nuggets, Alyssa complained and didn’t eat…
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Family Trip Day One
Day one of the annual Ball family trip is now complete. We started the day by taking a long time to pack as usual and yelling at the kids. The first stop was the train museum in…
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Conversations With Devin
Today my two year old had this conversation with my wife: Devin: I want juice. Callie: How about milk. Devin: How about juice. Callie: How about milk. Devin: How about juice…
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Dude, it’s 420
Today is 4/20. That is significant for two reasons. One is that it is my parent’s wedding anniversary. My dad likes to get license plates with significant numbers. For years the…
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Aunt Dawn
I’ve been a pallbearer a number of times over the years. It’s an honor that I doubt very many people love since it means someone close to you has passed away. A week ago my Aunt…
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Snow and Rain
I just manged to get the kids in bed. It’s 9:00pm. I started at 6:30. I’m sitting here watching the rain letting my brain idle for a few moments until I get back into write code…
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I Got Older
I turned 34 yesterday. I assume you’ll ask why I didn’t write this yesterday and my response is it was my birthday why the hell should I have to do anymore work than just get out…
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The Nutcracker
We took Aubrey, Alyssa and Jenna to the Nutcracker Monday night. It is part of our effort to expose our children to culture. Devin doesn’t like ballet and utterly refused to go…
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Last Alfred William Ball Family Reunion – 57 Years
For 57 years the Ball family has held an annual reunion. This year was the last. Alfred William Ball was my great grandfather. This many years later the family has gotten so large…
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Rode Stoddard Creek Friday (A few Fridays ago)
These days I only manage to ride motorcycles with my dad, brother and brother-in-law about once a year. This time we made our way to Stoddard Creek. Its about 60 miles north of my…
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Yellowstone 3
Day 3. More driving. Always driving. We went to Tower and watched more water fall off rocks. That seems to happen a lot around here. There were a couple of colorful characters…
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Yellowstone 2
Sequels are never as good as the original so keep in mind that this one won’t be as good as the last one which wasn’t that great. I met more rangers today. Two of them seemed like…
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Yellowstone
We went to the happiest place on earth, now we’re off on a family vacation to the stinkiest place on Earth – Yellowstone. Like the Earth’s anus this place belches the nastiest gas…
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Watching for Signs
I wrote this on May 11th but never got around to posting it: We took the kids to Thanksgiving Point yesterday to look at the gardens. They had a great time. Whenever we travel…
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Our First ‘Phone Call’
My daughters are in kindergarten this year. Today we got our first call from their teacher. Apparently, Aubrey pinched someone. Callie said that Aubrey realized when her teacher…
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Our Tax Date
Tonight was the first time since September that I and Callie have been alone, together, outside of the house. We were able to spend 15 minutes eating a Quiznos sub in a gas…
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Family Search Conference
I am at the FamilySearch conference at BYU today which means that I had to get up at 5:30 this morning which is one my least favorite things in the world. Luckily caffeine is my…
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A Life Of Service
I attended my great uncle Wes’s funeral today. I never like the idea of going to funerals but every time I go I am glad I did. I didn’t spend a lot of time around Uncle Wes…
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Weddings So Totally Suck
Weddings suck. Everything about them, surrounding them and having to do with them is really quite inane. Although I am sure I will take a lot of crap for writing this which may or…
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You’re Welcome
Aubrey has been really good lately. Callie told her, “thank you for having such a good attitude.” She replied, “Thanks .., “ then whispered, “whatever that means.”
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Target
On the way back from Salt Lake we stopped at Target because we always do – there isn’t one in Logan. Target is a more interesting shopping experience than Walmart. Target has…
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The Flower Shop In Logan
My brother and sister in law bought the flower shop in Logan (Utah). It is always scary to start up a new business even when you are buying an existing one. My brother is even…
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It’s Like Pulling Teeth
Aubrey lost a tooth a couple of weeks ago. It was loose. We were eating dinner. She wanted an apple. I gave it to her. She took one bite and disappeared into the bathroom. We…
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Visited the Tetons
I grew up in southeast Idaho which is in close proximity to Jackson Hole, Wy and Grand Teton National Park. When I was a kid (I am going bald and my back is causing me problems so…
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The Spawn of Satan
My wife’s best friend moved to Kentucky a number of years ago because she married a guy from back there. We lamented that they were so far away because they were fun to hang out…
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Bored at Church
Yesterday, my daughter, out of the blue, told her sunday school teacher, “I’m so bored I could fall asleep.” We told her that she shouldn’t say things like that to her teachers –…
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David Ball
I attended my Uncle David’s funeral yesterday. He hadn’t been doing well for the past few months, but his passing was still a shock. This kind of funeral leaves you with mixed…