I tell people that I grew up on the back of a snowmobile.  It’s not far from the truth, in my book.  My grandfather had them and when I was very young (age 1 or so, I think) my family would do their best make me look like the Michelin Man (I know I know, I look more like him now than I did then, but stay with me here) and I’d ride with my Dad or Grandfather.

When I was a teenager Grandpa’s snowmobiles were handed down to my Dad, and we continued to go throughout the winter.  Over the years, Dad bought newer machines and we went from two to four and we could go with larger groups.

I have great memories of snowmobiling in many of the gorgeous snow covered mountains of Northern Utah.  When the valley was completely covered under the inversion Dad and I would load up the machines and head for the mountains.  We’d climb the mountain for most of the morning and find a nice big area to stop an eat lunch.  The sky was always clear and blue.  We’d kick back on the machines and on occasion take a nap.  It was usually so warm that we’d have to unzip our jackets, or take them off completely.  After a while we’d run the machines all over the top of the mountain and towards the end of the afternoon we’d head back for the truck.

Dad was even daring enough to allow me to take them out with a few friends by myself.  I’m sure that he quadrupled his insurance during those outings and I wouldn’t have blamed him.  Life (and age) started to get in the way and we didn’t go as much over the years, so in the last few years Dad sold the four machines and trailer.  I do however have every intention of purchasing some for myself in the next few years.

That’s why when I hear of stories like this one it absolutely breaks my heart.

In August 2006, our family set a goal to see all of the LDS Temples in Utah before the end of this year.

I’m happy to report that we accomplished our goal with only hours to spare.  We saved the Salt Lake Temple for last and made our visit there this afternoon.

It has been great to see all of the Temples and to see parts of Utah that even I haven’t seen or don’t remember seeing.  I’m working on posting the photos from our trips.  Hopefully I’ll have it done soon.

For 2008 and 2009 we’re going to continue on with our goal, only now we’re going to try and visit others around the country.

We already have a trip planned to the Rexburg Temple Open House in a few weeks.  On that trip we will see the Rexburg and Idaho Falls Temples.  We also have a trip planned this summer that could potentially take us to the Denver, St. Louis, Nashville, Washington D.C., Columbus (OH), Nauvoo (IL), and Winter Quarters (NE) temples.

We’d also like to try and see the Twin Falls (ID), Boise (ID), Billings (MT) and Las Vegas (NV) temples before the end of the 2009.

One of the fun things about our visit today was that we took the kids to spot where I proposed to my wife 13 years ago next week.  They had never been to that spot, so I had a little fun with it.  As you can see below.

For the record, she said “Yes” and didn’t even hesitate.

When we built our home four years ago, one of the things that I really insisted on was that we have a South facing home.

My main reason was that the snow would (hopefully) melt off of the driveway faster.  It’s nice because if we get a little bit of snow, I don’t have to worry so much about shoveling the driveway, I just wait until the sun comes out later in the day and the snow magically disappears.

That’s one of the nice things about having a south facing house.  One of the bad things is when you are a snow lover like me, you don’t tend to get large piles of snow in front of your home.

In fact between our house and the neighbors the wind kicks up, forms a wind tunnel and blows most of of it away, so some sections of our yard have (frozen) grass exposed while others have a decent layer of snow.

Hopefully that will be reduced significantly when we finish our yard and put in the fencing.  For now I’ll just enjoy the snow that we do have and keep hoping for a lot more.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I like to cook.  As a result I watch my fair share of The Food Network.  I usually watch Iron Chef America in awe of what is being made.  One of my goals in life is to be able to open the pantry/fridge see what we have and be able to whip up something delicious from ingredients we have on hand.  Basically be able to “Iron Chef” my own dinner.

One of the typical ingredients in many dishes is alcohol.  I don’t drink and I have no desire to drink.  I also have no desire to have it in my food, so many recipes that I’ve thought would be fun to try I haven’t attempted because I’ve never really known what I could use instead of the alcohol and not destroy the dish.

I’ve always wanted to send a question to the Food Network Chefs and see if they’d actually respond with techniques for cooking without alcohol.  So Alton Brown if you’re reading this, please leave a comment, I’d love to hear your answer.

Which is why this cookbook is intriguing to me.  I may just purchase it just to see if I can learn to master some of substitute ingredients.

Occasionally when I tell some people that I maintain a personal website that mostly consists of this blog, they look at me like I’m from another planet.  This is especially the case when it comes to members of the LDS Church.  I’m not sure what it is but it seems like a lot of people see them as a negative or wicked thing.  It’s not everyone, but there are some that have.

I’ve always seen it from another angle. The church teaches that you should maintain a personal journal, write your personal history, etc.  I simply see this site as a very public personal journal.  I’ve even explained my intent of starting to write on this site is to improve my skills so I can begin writing my personal history.  To be honest, I’m not very good at keeping a written journal so this will have to do for now.

Which is why this press release was very refreshing to me.  I’m not saying that I’m going to start a crusade to start pushing the teachings and gospel of the LDS church, nor am I going to change much of what I say or do here, but I do hope that others will see what I’m doing in a different light.