3 Strange Days

Beau and Riggs

Ryker pretending to be "Predator"

Some of the Crew and G'pa Andersen

Riggsles and his natural "faux hawk"

Beau Rocking Out

I took Zane to the airport today. Beau was with me. On the way back we heard the below song by School of Fish. I was listening to the 90's station on Sirius. I had forgotten all about this song. Not even on my Ipod. It will be now. I taught Beau how to rock out. The pictures is included. We listened to the song twice with the windows rolled down and the radio all the way up. It was awesome! Strange moments, out of the blue, like these are really enjoyable.

For three strange days

I had no obligations

My mind was a blur

I did not know what to do

I think I lost myself

When I lost my motivation

Now I'm walking 'round the city

Just waiting to come to

For three strange...For three strange daysI couldn't put a smile on my face

So they dressed me up in all of their clothes

And took me somewhere else

Johnny Clueless was there

With his simulated wood grain

So I pulled up a chair

And started drinking by myself

For three strange...I've got to make it through

No matter what it takes

Oh I've got to make it through

These strange daysI lay down for a while

And I woke up on the ocean

Floating on my back

And staring at the gray

It was completely still

Except the pounding of my heart

Bringing me back to life

From three strange days

Three strange...Three strange daysThree strange days

My Mom, Grandpa, and Zane came to visit us this week. My Mom left yesterday with Grandpa. Poor Grandpa. He just is getting old and can't think too well anymore. We had an enjoyable time. Hopefully they did too. Zane and I got up this AM and went Mtn. Biking. It was actually warm, like summer should be.

Rachael comes this week, with Nathan. I hope Nathan enjoys it, he is going to be mobbed by his 5 cousins. I don't think he will be lacking for any entertainment. We are really looking forward to it.

Here is a video of Ryker and Dawson on the Dunes. Ryker is the one that gets stuck, and Dawson comes to rescue him, but ends up making it worse. Check out Ryker falling down, and Dawson giving one more blast of the throttle just to make sure he is stuck. Pretty funny stuff!

OK, on my first blog when I asked for snow, I just meant for the winter season. This was taken just this week, the last week in May. Notice the SNOW FLAKES! Wow. You know what they say: "be careful for what you ask for..."
Things have been real busy, as usual. We went to the dunes again last weekend. Photos will be posted a new blog later. All of the boys got Buzz cuts, so that saves some money on haircuts. The kids got out of school last week. I, personally (Matt) am happy about that. I don't have to drive them to school anymore, and Melissa does not have to pick them up, which will save money in gas. On the flip side, Melissa gets to have them in her hair all day long. Her most recent, repeated comment is "What did we do? Five kids!". No kidding.
I will post some more later...

The Dunes

Our family's newest member "Charlie"

These pictures will help catch you up

Melissa & Beau kick'n it
Riggs just could not take it anymore
Beau get'n ready for winter X games

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. Since I am short on time, I have put these in to catch you up on the past few months. Enjoy.

MOAB

Riggsy in the backpack
The crew and the cousins
Buzzy and Preston in a hole

It has been a while since the last blog. Not because nothing has happened, but because so much is happening there has been no time to blog.

We went to Moab last week for the kid's spring break. It is an annual trip we go on with Melissa's parents and sisters and their families. Normally it is much warmer than where we live and it primes us for the summer season. This year, not so. It snowed the whole way down and for the first two days of being there. I was determined to ride my bike anyway, and got snowed on, but it was fun. At least I did not sweat much! The last two days were much warmer. Luckily the Motel had a hot tub and warm pool. The boys just love to swim everyday. This year we played golf, which took the time space we usually use to ride go carts and see a movie. Below are the pictures and a video.

We were supposed to go on another trip this week to Goblin Valley with my cousin Dan and Jen, but at the last moment, I did not get paid enough from my outstanding bills due, and we had to forfeit the trip in lieu of waiting for more pay to arrive. It was very disappointing to say the least. It will probably be for the better because I just got slammed with work again this week. Next week, I am supposed to go play again in Moab. Just a guys trip that weekend. Meeting some friends from Phoenix. Then the week after that I am going to go play again. This time with Dan, Rick, my uncle Mike and cousin Mike. It will be a Wild Hogs weekend in S. Utah. I am renting a Harley since I don't own one. Now I just need to get a license!

You may think, man you are playing a lot Matt. And my response would be "dang right". I have arrived at the philosophy that my last thought in life will not be "man I should have worked more". Quite the contrary. So I figure, as long as I am providing for the family (which is barely working out lately), being a good husband and father, then play I must, and as much as I can! Another thought that has come to me lately that I may start testing out is the new motto: "Food and Fun before bills". I doubt that the creditors will appreciate it that much, but hey it makes me feel better, even if I don't take action on it.

For a more serious note. I got to see my good friends Cory and Jenny last week in Moab. They moved there a couple of years ago. Cory is a river guide down there, and just got his own boat to manage. He showed it to me. I did not realize that river boats were so big, and with such a big motor. I enjoyed seeing what he was doing to it in getting it ready for the big season. He said there will be big, big water this summer because of the anticipated runoff on the Colorado River. After that I went back to his house and talked to him and Jenni for quite a while. I really enjoyed connecting with them again. It has been too long. I hope I can do it again, soon. Cory is thinking about getting another dirt bike (he gave it up a few years ago). I hope he does, as now that that is one of my favorite things to do, I would love to ride with him.

Well check this out. 72 degrees on Monday. Snow yesterday and today and in the 30's all day long. Wow, talk about a swing! I know April is generally a little chilly and rainy around here, but ususally things are blooming, it is green, and it is much warmer. I really got my wish this year! Plenty of snow. I will be snowmobiling into June probably. Speaking of which, I had another reality check last week. There is a thing that one can do each Spring in regards to snowmobiles. One can "Snowcheck" a sled. What that means is that you can give a sled dealer $500 now, to gaurantee a brand new sled of the next year's model delivered by Nov. 15th. If it does not show up by then, then you get $1500 back. Plus you get all sorts of extras for taking the risk. I wante to get a new one so bad, but Melissa planted my feet back on the earth and I had to pass. Perhaps next year...

MOOSE MUNCH

Check out the picture! I was just getting done appraising a home in Park City and was walking to my car. 50 feet away, lo and behold a Moose! In the middle of the street. At first I thought it was a bear and jumped about 10 feet in the air. After I dried my shorts, I realized it was a Moose. Much to my joy, this year is a record snow fall year. Because of this, all of the deer, elk, and moose are coming down from the higher elevations to get food. In fact, we have been encouraged, if we live slightly out of town, to set up feeding spots, as they are having a hard time living because of the snowfall and scarcity of food.

It has been awhile since we checked in. The coolest thing that has happened for me (Matt) since then, was that I got to have lunch with an old Junior High/High School friend. I had not seen or spoke to him for 18 years. He moved to Chicago right after graduation and got married to his High School sweetheart. Somehow he found my name on classmates dot com and connected with me. He was going to be in Salt Lake on business and wanted to catch up. We planned on having lunch for an hour or so, but 3+ hours later we were still talking. We had to reluctantly shut it down, as he had to get to his appointments. I now know what women feel like when they enjoy talking so much to each other for hours (or was it the female hormones I have been taking to help me feel like what my wife feels like, being a woman?). He has three kids and it was great because he related a lot of the same experiences I have had, being a parent. You know, wondering if you are raising the kids in an appropriate manner, learning how to let go and let them make decisions-sometimes to their detriment, trying to figure out where the money will come from to pay the bills and keep them housed, fed and clothed. He looked great, and the pictures of his family were well appreciated. I hope I get the opportunity to do that again someday. Zack, thanks for calling!

Gross Pointe Blank!! Check it out. I bought that, and my favoritist movie of all time, "Better Off Dead" the other day on Amazon. I have watched both movies repeatedly, and still want more. What is going on with me? New midlife crisis? I love those older movies with John Cusack. "Sorry Ricky that your mom blew up last night". "What do you do for a living? Oh, I get paid to assasinate people. Oh, I hear that is a growth industry." Name where those lines came from and I will give you a prize.

This is what we do when it's not snowing

I figured that I would post some great pictures of what we do when it is not winter around here (spring, summer, and fall). We bought a toy hauler last spring and took up motor sports. We were going to the local sand dunes about 2 times a month this last year. These photos are from our last trip down there.

Also an update:

After putting my application to be on the Search and Rescue team over a year ago, they finally called me last week. I am pretty excited about it. I have been itching to get outside of myself and do some service for something that matters for a long time, instead of just focusing on paying bills, and myself. For some reason, my church callings (though they may be many at this time), don't give me the satisfaction of service that S & R does. I have an avalanche training this week. Should be worthwhile. There have been quite a few deaths around here this winter already from avalanches. Hopefully my new acquired snowmobiling skills will come in handy, as that is what the majority of searches are for around here-lost snowmobilers.

I have one gripe, then I will be over it! We have gotten about 4 feet of NEW snow this last week here. I am in charge of coaching the Young Men's basketball team, and we had a game on Saturday AM. It was total blue skies, and all of this new snow to play on. I had friends going riding, but I could not, as I was coaching-that was painful enough. When I got to the game, we had to forfeit, because we did not have enough players! Keep in mind that we have enough players usually to field two teams. Come on parents and players! If you are going to commit to a team, at least let the coach know you or your kid won't be showing. We coaches volunteer a lot of time away from our family and from our own little freetime, which is great and rewarding when the efforts are not taken for granted. Give me a break! This weekend, I think I will just let them know that I will not be there, and that one of the parents can go in my stead. Geez.

Sorry, had to get it off my chest. Peace out, werd to ya mutha, and all that...