Author: Tammy

Well, we just got back from Las Vegas, and contrary to what most people believe, there is more to do there, than just spend all your time at casinos.

We had our kids with us for this trip, because we were meeting up with Scott’s sister, Wendy, and our nieces and nephew. We left for Las Vegas early Monday, and when we arrived, the first thing we did was hit up the Las Vegas Premium Outlets off I-15 and Grand Central. This place has 120 stores, all on the outside, and it was great shopping. We got lots of school shopping done by stopping at the Vans store for shoes, and clothing shopping done at The Children’s Place Outlet, Carters, and OshKosh B’Gosh. Cole even got a kick out of seeing his name on the sign and windows at the Kenneth Cole store. Scott’s hands were red and lined up pretty bad by carrying all these clothes in this big shopping bag that had a rope handle, but he made it through the Outlet center and back to the car.

We still had some more time before family was to be there, so we headed to the Meadows Mall. The Meadows mall was an awesome mall with over 140 stores, on 2 floors. I think the kids loved the Healthy Living Kids Soft Play Area the best. Kids can play on the soft equipment while learning about healthy living. There is soft seating lining the inside of the Play Area for parents to take a break. Inside the play area, there were lots of toys and structures to play and climb on. There was a play bed that kids could jump on, a slide, and a soccer ball tunnel. I know the kids didn’t learn a darn thing about healthy living, but they sure had fun playing!! A perfect way for the kids to get out some energy.

Of course, spending all that energy makes kids hungry, so thankfully, there was a nice food court right on the top level of the mall. The kids ate at McDonald’s and Scott and I ate at Extreme Pita. It’s been so long since I had a pita, the last time I remember, I was living in New Hampshire! The food there was really good! While we were eating, our niece called and said she had arrived in Vegas, so off to the Tropicana we went!

We got our room at the Tropicana, and of course, the kids wanted to swim, so they changed right away and spent hours at the pool, just having fun playing in the water with their cousins. Wendy, Scott and I went off to play some games, and none of us won anything. We really wanted to play some $5 Blackjack, but they only had 2 tables open, and they were both filled. We walked around some more, lost some more money, went back to the blackjack tables, and the same people were there…it seemed like we were never going to get to play. After walking around for a while, Wendy found a really cool shirt that she just had to have, so Scott bought it for her.  It said, “I’m not 40, I’m 18 with 22 years experience!”  I told Wendy to save it for me, as a birthday present in a few years.   After checking on the kids at the pool, I took Cole back to the room so he could change, and we just hung out at the room, and played games together on my PSP (PlayStation Portable). Wendy and Scott continued to try to get on a table, with no luck, after they lost more money, they came to join Cole and I in the room.

We went to go see everyone at Scott’s mom’s room, and peer out their balcony room to the New York, New York hotel. After visiting for a bit, we said good bye to everyone, since they had to go to bed early to catch an early airline flight to their final destination of New York for 16 days. We wished them all a good trip, and Wendy a safe trip back home, and then Scott, I, Brittany and Cole went to eat at the Garden Cafe. No sooner did we order food, and Cole got a few bites of food into his belly, then he totally crashed out there on the restaurant booth while the rest of us finished our meal. We had a nice meal, and towards the end, even Brittany was showing signs of tiredness. We carried Cole, and made it back to our hotel room, where the kids were out in just minutes.

This morning (Tuesday), we all got up and got ready to go for breakfast. Instead of eating at the casino, we decided to go find an IHOP. We found one on Rainbow Blvd, thanks to the phone book that was in our room. After IHOP, we surprised the kids, and took them to Chuck E. Cheese on Lake Mead Blvd. We bought them 100 tokens, and off they went playing in their own mini-vegas, dropping coin after coin, and getting tickets after tickets. Scott and I were really impressed with this Chuck E Cheese, after having a bad experience at the one in Sandy, Utah where half the games were broken. That one really put a sour taste in our mouth. At this Chuck E Cheese on Lake Mead, we only found 2 games that couldn’t be played, so the kids had a really great time here.

After Chuck E. Cheese, we took them to another of their favorite places that they loved in California. Toys R Us! We don’t have one close to us here in Cedar, so we took them there with at $10 spending limit each, and they just had fun playing with all the toys, and cars, and train sets all over the store. This was our last stop before heading to Costco in Saint George.

We’ve taken the kids to all the standard kid activities in Vegas, like the lions at MGM, dolphins at Mirage, the water show at Bellagio, volcano show at Mirage, Pirates show at Treasure Island, etc, so we had to find other activities in Vegas. The kids had a great time in Vegas, and the best part for Scott and I was that we could take them to places where there wasn’t a smoking atmosphere like in the casinos.

Called Mom, and found out that everyone landed in New York, no problem, and that they were already with family there, so I know they’ll have a great 16 day trip there. There’s no place like home, so we are all glad to be back home, and get back to work. After listening to phone messages, we found out that Brittany’s soccer practice will be starting Friday for the fall season of AYSO! And Cole will be getting his schedule soon, too! Oh well, I guess there’s no rest for the Mom Taxi!!

Categories: Family Updates
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Author: Scott
Wow, I don’t think I’ve been outside in at least four days. Grass needs another cuttin’ too. Ugh.

I haven’t worked this hard on anything, ever. Having spent 15 hours of my day working on a new website, maintaining healthy friendships, and keeping up with all of the affiliate managers begging me to “pick me! Ohh pick me! MEE!! – Donkey, Shrek”, I have to say, it has been rough.

When I moved to Utah, things were great. Things were awesome in fact. All I had to do was answer a few emails a day and the sales from my previous websites kept us afloat. Then around November last year, for whatever reason, the market I was in just collapsed.

I figure the sales collapse was due to the fact that:
1) The economy started going down the tubes
2) Gas prices
3) The products I was selling were not a “gotta have it!” necessity.

The only thing that has kept us floating from Nov – May has been my business to business software line of products. Businesses have not cut back spending, in fact, to my eyes, they have increased spending during this period. Even the FBI has purchased from me!

Needless to say, it was some scary times. In January after realizing our financial problems weren’t self correcting as it previously has, I knew changes had to be made.

Soooo, from January forward I have been relearning the new internet marketing techniques, the new things affiliates can sell, and the new procedures. At least 10 hours a day was spent doing research on forums, blogs, and other various websites.

Around May, I hired out some new (expensive) PHP (programming)/MySQL (database) development to focus on just two of my many ideas. This was a very risky move because we didn’t have any capital available. Helloooooooooo debt! Just charge it! Tammy wasn’t too impressed with me but supported the move….

After 100+ new domains being purchased and new projects delivered, I have been working nonstop to get these new ideas launched. Even Tammy has donated many hours to my projects. Thanks hun! As with anything, the hard work has already started to pay off and we’re doing better now than ever before.

In the end, I’ll be in several highly competitive markets. In case anyone is wondering, I still do not sell anything that I couldn’t show my own mother. In other words, no adult materials, no illegal, everything legit. I’m proud of that.

These new projects all require input from the public. I call it “user generated content.” So although I am working incredibly hard right now, once I get all the needed data recorded, hired content published, and other odds and ends tied together, these sites will be on autopilot. They will only require an hour a week to maintain and I can move on to the many other ideas I have, or, take a vacation! Haha.

We’re all heading to Las Vegas on Monday. We’re keeping all of our plans in-tact and the kids should have a great time. This will be a well deserved break for me, although, our gambling allowance will be very minimal this time around. We’ll still have a good time. We have a lot of non-gambling things planned including back to school shopping.

Well, as this site was previously titled Scott Buehler’s Ramblings, this type of post is what I do best. By the way, as you may have noticed, I changed the email newsletter from showing the content of each post I make. Now you’ll see the subject of the post and a link to read the entry. Also, at the bottom of the emails sent, there’s an easy unsubscribe link if you choose not to receive these emails. Just remember, there’s no way to resubscribe unless you email me directly.

Categories: Family Updates, Misc Stuff
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Author: Tammy

Congratulations to Brittany who scored in the top ten percent of students, nationally!

The Iowa tests are nationally, standardized norm-referenced tests that provide a comparison of Utah student achievement with the achievement of a nationally representative group of students. The resulting scores are interpreted in terms of comparisons made to a national sample of students in the same grade.

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) measure academic acheivement in reading, language, math, social studies, and science for kindergarten through 8th grade.

I found this picture on her school’s local blog, so thought I’d post it here. The tests were taken in May 2007.

Third grade high achievers – Brittany is in the back row, second from the left

Categories: Family Updates
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Author: Scott
I decided to change the URL structure of the posts within this site.

I also updated the header images with newer ones from our recent outings. What do you think?

All of the images in the header are from what I took with our camera. Hope you enjoy them!

Categories: Misc Stuff
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Author: Tammy

We had a heck of a day yesterday! It was an awesome day and we were only about 30 miles from Cedar City for most of the day. We (yes, all 4 of us, including Cole) walked over 5 miles total today doing different hikes in the Cedar Breaks and Duck Creek Area.

Bristlecone Pine Trail scenes.

We started up Route 14, and our first hike was the Bristlecone Pine Trail. It’s a short 1/2 mile trail to an amazing overlook of Zion Canyon in the distance, and the drainage of the Virgin River. Most of the Bristlecone Pines in this forest are an average of 2000 years old, some are 4500 years old!

Alpine Pond

Our next stop was into Cedar Breaks National Monument to the Alpine Pond Trail. This is a 2 mile hike that is not difficult at all. There are two trails, an upper and a lower trail that when combined make the whole Alpine Pond Trail. The Upper trail is a piece of cake. The Lower Trail does have a short climb up to the beautiful Cedar Breaks Amphitheater, and a view of Brian Head Peak in the distance. At the beginning of the trail, there is a $1 trail guide that will guide you through the numbered posts along the trail. Cole, at the age of 5, had a great time looking for the numbered posts, and never complained about this hike at 10,000 feet elevation.

Ice cave with Tammy behind the camera.

After the Alpine Pond Trail, we stopped at the Duck Creek Visitor Center to pick up some trail maps and then headed to the Ice Cave. Ice Cave is much smaller than the Mammoth Cave that we went to later, with only one chamber, but this cave has year round icicles, and ice. We climbed in the cave, and it was so cold that we could see our breath. In fact, we were standing on huge ice chunks, and saw snow inside the cave in mid-July!!! Trying to walk around the cave was like skating on ice. After cooling off in the Ice Cave, we traveled to Cascade Falls.

Cascade Falls.

Cascade Falls Trail. This trail is aptly named for the water fall that flows out of the side of the cliff. The trail provides awesome views of Zion National Park and beyond. The water that flows over the falls is supplied by Navajo Lake through an underground lava tube or sink hole. The water flows a couple miles underground through the tube before exiting at the Virgin River Rim. This trail is about 3/4 miles long, but well worth the trip. We had ventured this trail, last year, with Scott’s mom and step-dad, but only made it to the overlook. There is a “Trail Closed” sign at the overlook, but the Ranger we talked to told us that we could go past the sign. He did warn us there were drop offs, fallen rocks, and some washouts so to be careful, especially with young kids. As we continued on this narrow trail, we could hear the waterfall getting closer and closer. Nothing took our breath away more than seeing this beautiful waterfall come out of nowhere from the side of a cliff! We made the trip to the waterfall and back with no problems.

Scenes from Aspen Mirror Lake.

From the waterfall, we went to Aspen Mirror Lake. This is a short but scenic trail that takes you to this small mountain lake. The lake is surrounded by Aspen trees, and would make an amazing place to visit in the Autumn to see all the leaves changing colors. This lake is not very large, but it is stocked with rainbow trout for those who like to fish.

Strawberry Point scenes.

Just 9 miles from the Duck Creek Village, is the sign for Strawberry Point. We tried to find this scenic viewpoint once before, and nearly got stuck in melted-snow-turned-mud early last spring. After the initial sign at the turn for Strawberry Point, there were no other signs until we found Strawberry Ridge. Thinking that maybe Ridge and Point were the same, we tried to travel down this very rough, bumpy road in our truck. After about a mile, we decided to turn around, and continue down the main road, and within a few minutes, we did find the unmarked turnoff to Strawberry Point. This time we were able to make it to the scenic view of red rock formations and Zion National Park in the distance.

Mammoth Caves scenes.

The kids love Mammoth Cave, and since we were in the area, we decided to go back to this cave. Mammoth Cave, at 8050 feet in elevation, opens to one of the largest lava tubes in Utah, with over 2200 feet of passages. Formed by cooling lava and flowing water, Mammoth Cave is part of the Markagunt Plateau. Geologists believe that some of this lava is only several thousand years old, which is relatively young in geologic terms. During summer months, the cave is a popular nightly resting spot for several bat species and is frequented by other small birds and mammals.

The Mammoth Cave looks like a big hole in the ground at first glance and is fun to explore. Take a good light for every person. The cave is pitch dark after the first turn. The exit is a small tube that allows only enough room to slide through on your belly, or if you’re small like our kids, they can duck their heads and walk / climb out the smaller tube.

Next stop. Bower Cave.

On the way back to Route 14, we decided to check out Bower Cave. We heard from the Ranger that the ladder down into the cave was broken, but still wanted to check it out to see the size. It was just a short 100 yard walk from the parking area to the cave that seems to just appear in front of you. Inside the cave there were 3 tree limbs, and we wondered if this was the broken ladder the Ranger spoke of. It seemed that even if you were able to get inside the cave, there was no way out, except to climb the slippery tree branches, so after a short stay at the cave, we hiked back to the truck, and made our trip home.

It was an exhausting day, small drops of rain cooled us on some of our hikes, and as we drove Route 14 home, we were blessed with a free truck wash, in the way of heavy rain, that cleared away all the red dust from the day. We love having so much stuff to do so close to home!!

To see all the pictures from our trip, including pictures of us with the kids, check out the following link: Click To See More Pictures!!

Categories: Family Updates
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Author: Tammy

As Scott wrote in his earlier post, we had an awesome time at Lake Powell. We were impressed at how big this lake is at 186 miles long!! The lake is the second largest man-made reservoir in the country (Lake Mead being the first). It was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the controversial Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, spanning a 1932 square mile recreation area in southern Utah, and Northern Arizona.

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam, a concrete structure rising 710 feet above the Colorado River, was completed in 1963. The dam provides essential water storage and power for much of the southwestern United States.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the largest natural bridge on earth, is the most famous site on Lake Powell. Each year hundreds of thousands of visitors come to admire this graceful stone arc, located about 50 water miles from Wahweap Marina and accessible by tour boats and private vessels. A courtesy dock is available for short-term docking while people make the 1 mile round trip walk to the bridge. Prior to the formation of Lake Powell, visiting Rainbow Bridge required a long 14 mile, rugged, waterless hike or horseback ride. You can still hike the original trail from abandoned Rainbow Lodge after acquiring a permit from the Navajo nation.

Rainbow Bridge is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and can be found in the canyon-lands of southeastern Utah. Rainbow Bridge stands at an impressive 290 feet tall and spanning 275 feet; the top of the bridge is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide. Many references point out that the U.S. Capitol would fit beneath the span, about as long as a football field and it’s almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

NOT OUR PICTURE. Other shots of Rainbow Bridge from the internet.

Rainbow Bridge is made of salmon-pink sandstone, with dark red and brown vertical streaks of iron ore. These particles, called “desert varnish,” may have leached from the rocks, or they may have been carried by the wind as dust that stuck to the moister areas of the rock. Subtle shades of purple and orange are brought out by the afternoon sunlight, turning the bridge into a rainbow of stone.

Respect Sign

A Sacred Place

The region’s American Indians, including the San Juan Paiutes and White Mesa Paiutes, but especially the Navajos, consider Rainbow Bridge to be sacred and a place of worship. The Navajo believe rainbows represent the guardians of the universe. Seeing it and standing beneath it makes it easy to understand why the Native Americans hold the bridge as a sacred place — and why they fight so hard for its protection.

The Navajos named the bridge Nonnezoshe or “rainbow turned to stone.” Several Native American families still reside nearby.

There is an attempt by the National Park Service to preserve the sanctity of the bridge. That’s why swimming isn’t allowed, and commercial filming is closely monitored.

NOT OUR PICTURE. Other shots of Rainbow Bridge from the internet. See the water?

How Was Rainbow Bridge Formed?

The base of Rainbow Bridge was built by nature hundreds of millions of years ago, as layers of reddish-brown sands and muds, called Kayenta Sandstone, were deposited and compacted. The span of the bridge, composed of Navajo Sandstone, was formed as wave after wave of sand was deposited, forming dunes up to 1,000 feet high. Over the next 100 million years, the base and the dunes were buried under more than 5,000 feet of rock layers. The heat and immense pressure further compacted and hardened the rock of these formations.

Around 60 million years ago, the area now known as the Colorado Plateau began to uplift. Streams cut into and eroded the layers of rock as they lifted above sea level. As these massive layers rose and tilted, streams gained more momentum and force. Water flowing off Navajo Mountain formed Bridge Creek. As the creek meandered toward the Colorado River, it slowly eroded the sandstone, creating thin rock walls as it nearly looped back on itself. Rushing water during floods pounded away at the walls until the loosely cemented Navajo sandstone gave way, creating a hole. Over the centuries, as the creek flowed through the hole, it continued to work away at the sandstone until Rainbow Bridge was formed.

Tribute to Natives

How Was Rainbow Bridge Discovered?

Rainbow Bridge was probably first seen by white people in the 1880s during a gold rush in Glen Canyon. Miners swarmed over the area seeking the precious metal and without a doubt ventured up the canyon. None of them, however, seemed compelled to share the news of this startling geologic oddity with the rest of the country.

Rainbow Bridge, brochures and Park Service studies note, was more permanently discovered on Aug. 14, 1909. Byron Cummings, dean of arts and sciences at the University of Utah, and W.B. Douglass, a government surveyor, had heard rumors of a great stone arch and set out from Kayenta, Ariz., at the same time, leading separate exploration parties. Eventually they combined forces and were led to the landmark by Jim Mike (then known as Mike’s Boy), a Paiute, and Nasja-Begay, variously described as a Paiute and a Navajo.

Mike — who lived over a century, passing away in 1977 — is now generally credited with finding the massive bridge in about 1900 while seeking pasture for a herd of horses.

Publicity following the Douglass-Cummings expedition gave Rainbow Bridge, tucked away in an obscure canyon below Navajo Mountain in the midst of the desolate Colorado Plateau, international renown.

President William Howard Taft proclaimed the wonder a national monument, setting aside a 160-acre tract on May 30, 1910.

If you ever have the chance to see this amazing natural wonder, I would definitely recommend it, because the same natural elements that made this beauty, could eventually destroy it if something ever happened to the dam holding back the Colorado River.

To see a lot more pictures from this awesome trip, click here!

Categories: Family Updates
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Author: Scott
We’ve definitely had one heck of a weekend.

We finally got to see Tammy’s best friend Krista from New Hampshire. It’s been a very long time, too long in fact. We had a fantastic time with them when we had the chance to meet with them during their honeymoon.

Friday was pretty hectic considering I only had three hours sleep. I simply couldn’t fall asleep the night before, and having to get up at 5AM, I didn’t have a choice but to get up, get ready, and drive!!

So we did. Our three hour drive from Cedar to Lake Powell was very nice and relaxing. Then we got to meet with Kris and her husband Andy for the second time during their honeymoon. Shortly afterwards, we walked down to our tour boat and began our 7 1/2 hours tour of Lake Powell.

We rode the Colorado River for 3 hours to get to Rainbow Bridge. Then we were given 90 minutes to hike to Rainbow Bridge and take our pictures, then the 3 hour trip back.

Here’s the pictures from this awesome day.

We also took a few pictures from the drive to Lake Powell as we went through Zion National Park. Here are these pictures.

After dinner with Andy and Kris in their hotel room, we started our drive back around 7:45PM. After the hour difference, we arrived home around 11:45PM. Having only 3 hours sleep the night before, I was tired! We got to bed around 1AM after settling back in and talking about our trip.

Yesterday, the 14th, after dealing with drama from our in-laws and my mom, we decided to go to Kolob Canyons. Kolob was an excellent decision for a break. Being only 20 minutes from Cedar, we were amazed at how awesome Kolob Canyons really is. We went on the Taylor Creek hike. Here are some photos of this.

Depending on how the weather is Monday, we’ll decide whether to stay home or head to Dixie National Forest for some neat looking trails there. Looks fun!

Enjoy the pictures!

Categories: Family Updates
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Hi all,

Tammy and I worked together to update our VIP mailing list. We added about 10 new email contacts to this notification list. To those that have never received our email notification before, welcome to ScottBuehler.com, our personal family blog!

I upgraded all of the software this website runs on today. If you have any problems using any functions of this site, like the main page, inner pages, gallery, contact form, etc, feel free to let me know. My email is scott -at- scottbuehler.com.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery. Tammy’s been adding a lot of photos there recently.

By the way, if you don’t want on this notification list, just let me know via the contact form and I’ll remove you right away. Likewise, if you’d like to be added, send me a quick email via the contact form and I’ll add you in.

Thanks all!

Categories: Projects
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