Things have been going great for us this summer.

Although we haven’t been able to do a lot of stuff so far, we’ve enjoyed any available.

We finally made it up to the C mountain overlook here in Cedar. After that, we continued another 25 or so miles to the Kolob Reservoir and spent some time with the kids on the water. For a dirt road, it was actually very well kept and pretty smooth the whole way there. I was able to do 50MPH (speed limit 25) in several areas and had a lot of fun.

We also took a trip up to Bryce Canyon National Park. We went with our neighbors for this 50+ telescope star gazing event they were having there. The kids had a good time and the parents REALLY had a lot of fun looking at the planets including Mercury and Saturn (you could even see the rings). We also did a little hiking there while we waited for the sun to go down.

The trip to Bryce reminded me a lot of driving 4×4 with my dad out in the deep desert way outside of Barstow, somewhere between Barstow and Needles. The amount of stars that I saw was very similar because there was so little “light pollution” as the astronomers call it being deep in a national forest and a new moon.

This Bryce trip was awesome until we needed to drive home (around midnight + new moon = DARK). We must have seen over 16 deer close to the road as we trucked through the mountains to get back to Cedar City. The scariest section of driving was getting through Duck Creek without hitting a sudden-appearing deer. I took the lead the entire drive and my neighbor followed since I had the bigger vehicle. I did a lot of driving down the middle divider when it was dense with trees.

Other than that, I’ve been busting my tail working. I’ve hired two major php programming web development jobs for a couple ideas I’ve had. I am also launching about 2-4 websites a week. So far, things are progressing nicely with all of the things I’ve learned. Sales are up as well.
Our short term goal is to make enough to buy a Yamaha Rhino or Polaris Razr (new for 2008). They are awesome with side-by-side comfort with a steering wheel. But they are very expensive to buy!

Maybe when I find a bit more time, I’ll update the photo gallery with new pictures from these trips.

So how has your summer been? Leave a comment.

Categories: Family Updates
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About 5 days ago I was having problems with my computer freezing. Finally, after a few times, I decided to boot into BIOS and check temps. 100C!!!

Needless to say, my heatsink was failing and the heatsink fan was the cause. It was barely being detected by my motherboard and running just over 2200RPM. Typical heatsinks run around 4000-6000RPM.

It turned out to be an awesome problem because I’ve been meaning to upgrade my processor and RAM anyway to the max my motherboard could handle.

So, I just swapped the processor and RAM, put on a new heatsink and the temps are a lot better.

Bonus: I went from 1.4Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, and 266Mhz FSB to a 2.08Ghz (AMD Athlon 2800+), 1GB RAM, and 333Mhz FSB. For those that don’t speak computer, I basically doubled my computer’s speed. The cost? $190 in hardware including tax and shipping.

Hopefully this will extend the life of my computer for another 6 months to a year until I get a faster one to handle my business needs.

Categories: Family Updates
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Author: Tammy

In late April, we noticed a nest being built under the deck of our house. We thought this would be a great opportunity to watch the Robin Family and take pictures. Taking these pictures proved to be quite a challenge, since the nest was under the deck, you really couldn’t get a good look into the nest. Scott would have to climb up on a ladder and try to angle the camera into the nest to get some of the egg and baby pictures.

Mom Sitting

April 30th – Mom is sitting on the nest.

4 Blue Eggs

May 2nd – We find 4 blue eggs in the nest. Hard to see the 4th egg, but it’s there. Because of the deck right above the nest, it was very hard to get pictures inside the nest.

Newborns

May 16th – We had seen Mom leave the nest, and bringing worms back, so we thought the babies hatched. However, Mom didn’t stay away very long, so it took us a couple of days to get this cute picture of the newborn babies!

Feeding

May 16th – Mom is constantly flying back and forth gathering worms for the little ones.

Feathers on the Wings

May 18th – The babies are getting feathers on their wings. Make sure to click on the thumbnail picture to see the bigger picture and see all the detail in the wings and feathers.

Excuse Me

May 18th – Caught! Mamma Bird caught Scott taking pictures in the nest. She is squawking at us to get away so she can feed her babies.

Mom & Dad

May 18th – Usually Mom would fly in with food, and leave, then Dad would fly in with food and leave. Here we were able to catch both parents at the nest at the same time. Dad is on the left feeding, and Mom is on the right. Rare picture indeed.

Big Mouths

May 18th – Their bodies are small, but when it comes to feeding time, their mouths are large!!

Dad Squash

May 19th – Mamma Bird must be at the Robin Social today, as Dad took over sitting on the nest. Dad is quite a bit bigger than Mom, so there wasn’t as much room in the nest, so the babies starting hanging out over the sides, to avoid Dad sitting on them!

Dad Squash2

May 19th – Here’s the other side of the nest, and here’s another baby that didn’t appreciate Dad sitting in the nest!

Feeding Time

May 20th – Cut of Mom’s head a little here, but you can see all 4 babies are hungry and ready to eat. Mom’s constantly flying in and out of the nest all day long, just trying to keep these little ones fed. As soon as she comes in, all the babies stick their heads up like this!! When she flies away, they all fade back into their nest, and you don’t see them again until mom comes back.

Bigger

May 20th – While Mom’s away gathering food, Scott climbs the ladder and gets this great picture of the babies!

Growing Fast

May 24th – Caught Mom as she was coming in for a feeding, and the babies practically leap out of the nest to get that worm! The babies are getting big fast, and we’re almost taking daily pictures to keep up with them.

MINE!!

May 24th – Apparently, this baby was just a little more hungry than the other 3!! I love this amazing shot!

Hangin

May 24th – Waiting for Mom to come back with more food. A Mom’s work is never done! Where is Dad anyways?

Crowded

May 26th – Nest is getting crowded, and you can see them easily now over the nest.

Free

May 28th – I didn’t know when I took this picture that it was “Leaving the Nest Day.” This little guy made up his mind that he was going to be the first to leave the nest today.

Now What?

May 28th – “Alright I made it down, but I’m kinda stuck here. My wings don’t work so good, and I’m not quite sure where I’m supposed to go!”

Last One

May 28th – “I’m the last one in the nest. I’m not quite ready to go yet, so I’m just gonna sit here and think about it some more!” All the other babies were long gone, and this one just sat there. Scott even tried to scare it gently into jumping, by prodding him with a pvc pipe. The baby thought it was food, and tried to peck it! Still didn’t make him jump though.

Last One Down

May 28th – Yeah! The last one finally made it down out of the nest, but he wasn’t sure what to do either. As I sat outside and just watched him, Mom kept coming by and chirping at him, but he just wouldn’t go. Why is it the last kid just never wants to leave home??!!

Mom & Baby

May 28th – Finally Mom convinced the last baby to come along with her. This picture was taken through the window, that’s why it is a bit fuzzy. It’s definitely been an interesting month watching these babies grow up!!

To see the pictures bigger, just click on the link:  Robin Picture Album, and click on any picture to make it bigger.

Categories: Misc Stuff
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