July 4th, 2006 - FIREWORKS
Went to Becky and Weston's house and had a great BBQ and lit off fireworks. Thanks to Steve and Cassie for bringing the Big Box of fireworks. We all had a lot of fun with sparklers, lighting and watching the fireworks. Thanks to others in the surrounding area for suppling shots of the illegal ones.

June 30, 2006 - BIRTHDAY DINNERS
Happy Birthday to Jody. Jody and I went to a restaurant called Rasputin's and it was very good authentic Russian food. I would definitely recommend it to others and I would go again. Then the next night we went out with our friends to celebrate all of our summer birthdays at a Japanese Steak house. We had steak and shrimp and sushi. What's not to love about that. They cooked everything right in front of us and it was pretty cool. Then we played cards and talked, without the kids, for a change.

June 26, 2006 - KNOTTY PINES
We went camping and hiking with the Fraser family at Knotty Pines, near Kamas. The kids had a lot of fun. We had a lot of candy too, thanks to Steve's new candy canon. Needless to say, I am coveting it. It was really cool! It was a fun hike at a little trail called Nobletts Trail. Too bad we couldn't stay longer.

June 17, 2006 - SOCCER
Today was Malcolm's last game for the season. It has been fun, and they kids have really grown and gotten a lot better. I am sure most of them will want to come back and play again. We also had a BBQ over at the coach's house.

June 12, 2006 - BIRTHDAYS
Jenna's birthday kicks off a month of celebration of four out of five of our family birthdays. We are thinking about changing Brianne's b-day celebration from January to July. OK, well I am thinking about it. We went swimming and had pizza for Jenna's birthday. She even got a new umbrella that she really wanted.

May 27 to June 3, 2006 - STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
We had a wonderful vacation in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We were able to use a family time share that was not being used. We went hiking, saw a waterfall, went shopping, saw some movies, played at the park, saw the Botanical Gardens, and generally had a fun time. The only hitch was on the way home, just a few miles before Vernal, we started to lose power. We barely made it to Vernal and thanks to some wonderful people that helped us, we were taken care of. The Ford Dealership let us park our van in their lot and borrow a car. We ate a good but very slow Mexican Restaurant. It was one time when I was not in a hurry to leave. Weston and Becky answered a call for help and drove a new alternator from Salt Lake that evening, and put it in and we all arrived home about 3:30am in the morning. It may have seemed bad, but we could have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere. We were truly blessed. And we really had an enjoyable trip.

May 20, 2006 - ETHNIC FESTIVAL
Okay, so it is called the Living Traditions Festival held annually down by the City and County building. It is really fun, we had a lot of great food, and we even met Joe that we taught English with in China. Actually it was a really busy day with a soccer game, the afternoon spent downtown and the evening at Brie Murdock's wedding. I have never seen the large chocolate fondue fountains that you dip food in, but I was very impressed. I wonder how much it would be to install one in my home.

May 14, 2006 - CUB SCOUTS
Jody is now Malcolm's den mother. I think she and the boys will all have fun learning all this new scout stuff. I am sure I will be roped into helping from time to time.

Sometime in May 2006 - ASSISTANT COACH
In case I forget to mention, I became Malcolm's assistant soccer coach. It is fun and taxing at the same time. You have to keep things interesting and moving with 1st and 2nd graders, and your patience will be tested.

April 21, 2006 - KITCHEN REMODELING
We have started "Kitchen Remodeling Project 2006." First phase is to paint the walls and cabinets. Next we will get new light fixtures and then we get to replace our horrid carpet. Carpet in the kitchen? Who in their right mind put carpet it the kitchen in the first place.

April 15, 2006 - SOCCER
Malcolm is starting to play soccer so we were able to get his team uniform and meet with his coach today. He is very excited to play.

April 7, 2006 - ANNIVERSARY
We have been married for 11 wonderful years and how time has flown. It was nice to spend some time together. We went out and saw the play AIDA at Hale Center Theater, and then went and had a steak and shrimp dinner. We had a lot of fun together.

March 31, 2006 - MISSION REUNION
I got to see some friends from Japan. It was a missionary reunion with some of the missionaries that served with President Onda from 1993 to 1995, in the Okayama (now called Hiroshima) LDS Mission in Japan. It was so good to see them. They have not changed at all, except their kids are all grown up and attending college. I saw a few people I know, but most of them came after me, so that made me feel a little old.

March 14, 2006 - HARRY POTTER
Could not resist going out to purchase the newest Harry Potter movie, number 4.

March 9, 2006 - VIOLIN
Started teaching violin lessons again, for a friends daughter.

March 7, 2006 - SCIENCE FAIR
Malcolm decided to enter the Science Fair. He did a great project on Sound. He made some "phones" out of string and plastic cups and then tested them with dry string, wet string and wet/frozen string. Then Jody and I helped him put things together and then he did a presentation in front of the whole 2nd grade. Out of the five classes about 15 did projects.

March 6,2006 - DOUGHNUTS
For our annual celebration of Mom and Dad's anniversary, it was our family's turn to get the doughnuts. We had a good time playing games and talking and watching the kids.

March 4, 2006 - BAPTISMS
Our neighbors, Tyler and Aubrey Johnson got baptized and they asked me to baptize them. It was a good experience, that I have not had since my LDS mission in Japan. We also tried to make it to our other friend's daughter, Madison's, baptism, but we just missed it. But we did go out with the Lawrences and their family to Golden Coral. It was a busy day.

February 18, 2006 - GOTCHA DAY AND MOVIES
Last night we celebrated Gotcha Day! for Jenna. We have had her for two years now and are so grateful we have her. She is definitely a Daddies girl, which is good most of the time especially since Jody has to take care of Brianne so much right now. Also we sent Malcolm and Jenna with my mom to my Grandma Yardley's 75th birthday party. We were sorry we could not go but did not want to travel with Brianne. They all had fun and Jody and I had a rather quite day and watched three movies and did some things around the house. And it snowed in the evening, forcing us to stay home.

February 7, 2006 - ZATHURA
Malcolm and I went to see Zathura the movie at the mall. It was somewhat like Jumangi, but because I like sci-fi better, I liked Zathura better. We had fun on a father-son outing. Malcolm wants to know when we can do this again.

February 4, 2006 - FCC PARTY
Jenna, Malcolm and I went to the Families with Children from China party. We had a lot of fun, met some old friends and new friends. The group really continued to grow and we are glad for the friendships we have made.

February 3, 2006 - RESTING AT HOME
After not having much to write about and then no time to write, I finally have some more information about Brianne. Jody and I went to the hospital on Friday January 27th so Jody could be induced. After waiting all day, not knowing when things would happen, Brianne was finally born just before 5pm. After that things moved so quickly with taking care of Brianne and Jody, we have not had much time. I was able to help give Brianne her first bath. I was also amazed at the new things I found out about babies, and how strong they really are. You do have to be careful with them, but they don't break like a little porcelain doll. Jody and Brianne both did very well during the birth and were both healthy. At home, we just stayed inside for a few days resting, sleeping, eating, cleaning, and holding Brianne. Many people have called to check on us, offer food or to take Malcolm or Jenna. Thank you so much to all those that have helped us. We are almost back on our feet and in full swing. Maybe give us another week or two. Matt even had time to make some California roll's for his lunch one day.

January 29, 2006 - CHINESE NEW YEAR
Malcolm, Jenna and I went to pick Jody up from the hospital, so all that we did to celebrate the Chinese New Year, was to wear our Chinese clothing. I guess we will have to go back to China soon, as Jenna's outfit is getting too small.

January 10, 2006 - CRADLE
Well, we finally got the cradle setup in our bedroom. Jody says now the baby can come anytime. I don't know that I am quite ready yet, but the baby comes when she comes. It is a combination of excitement, anticipation, and a little worry that things will go all right.

January 7, 2006 - MINNIE MOUSE BALLOON
While seeing the Poulsen family yesterday, Jenna got jealous of Porter's balloon. She wanted a balloon. And not just any balloon, she wanted at Minnie Mouse one. She has now been promised one when her baby sister is born. Would someone please see that she gets one?!

January 6, 2006 - HUNTER JAMES POULSEN
We went to the hospital today to see the Poulsen family. Cassie went into the hospital about 8am and had Hunter at 12:50. She was looking really good that night. We had fun seeing this new tiny addition to our family.

January 2, 2006 - BEDS
Things are becoming a little surreal. It just does not seem real. The crib is up, so we took down the "Baby Bear Bed" and made Jenna sleep in Malcolm's old bed. Now Malcolm has his own room and has started sleeping in his new bed. It is only taking Jenna a few days to realize that the crib is not her bed and it is for her "baby siser."

January 1, 2006 - NEW YEARS
We rang in the New Year with our friends. With the Herrera family and Sonntag family we played games, ate lots of food, watched videos, tried to keep the kids out of trouble and generally had a great time. We did not even have to try to keep the kids awake. Jenna and Jody both made it through.

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