Summer and Fall 2010

Its been a really long time since I've posted anything. I will try and do a quick update to the summer and fall this year. It was nice being out for summer and getting to spend time with Olin, watching him discover new things. He is now almost a year old, time has gone by so fast. He started to crawl around 6 1/2 months, and life became a lot more hectic once he was mobile. He was into everything that he was not suppose to be into. He currently is trying to get the hang of walking. He can walk really well behind a little push toy. He can stand by himself but as soon as he realizes what he's doing he quickly drops to his bum. I have come to the conclusion that Olin is really timid and kind of a scaredy cat when it comes to trying new things.

Morgan is now the head coach at Highland High School, which has been nice because its here in Pocatello. Her team was really young this year, mostly sophomores and a freshmen. They did really good and got second in districts, but didn't quite make it to state. Hopefully next year they will get to state because they should have almost the same team just with more experience.

This is a perfect example of Olin getting into things that he shouldn't be getting into. I have since fixed this problem by adding a door of plexi-glass on the DVD case.

This is Olin's first black eye. Sometimes life can be a bit rough when you first start to move around a lot.

This is a picture that Morgan took of one of the Rose bushes that we have in our back yard. They were really pretty and bloomed all summer long.

This is at Bear Lake at Morgan's family reunion. I was a little skeptical on whether or not he would like the lake because for a little guy it wasn't the warmest water. My Mom and Meagan helped prepare him though by letting Rhone and Olin swim in the little blow up pool in the front yard before we went to Morgan's reunion.

Olin was a big help picking produce from the garden. For first time gardeners Morgan and I did pretty good. The Zucchini plants did really good, so did the tomatoes and the lettuce. The Corn, cucumbers and pea's did okay but not great.

.When Meagan, Ben and Rhone came out this fall for hunting season they brought Olins' Birthday present with them since they won't be able to make it back out for a while. He got a Sleeping Bag that is just his size, so we will be able to spend next summer camping in the mountains.

This is Olins' first Halloween. We didn't do much tricker-or-treating we just stopped at Nana and Papa's, Grandma and Grandpa Rose, Grandma and Grandpa Jones, and Grandma Betty's. Morgan had to work that night so me and Olin headed back up home to hand out treats at our own house, and we got a lot of trick-or-treaters.

The little toy to the left is what he pushes around and walks behind. He is so close to just standing up and walking, I can't imagine that it will be too long until he fully figures it out without the aid of the walker.

These last two pictures are why Idaho is the best place to live, the scenery. The first picture was taken from the west hills outside of Malad while camping this summer. The second picture was taken earlier today. The last few days have been full of snow and winter weather, which has made driving hectic but has made for some beautiful scenery. The second picture was taken in the mountains just east of Pocatello.

Olin and Rhone

This past couple of weeks my sister and Rhone have been in town. It was so fun watching Olin and Rhone together. Rhone really liked Olin and always wanted to help him. Olin received lots of hugs, helped burping, and swinging in the swing from Rhone. It was so cute watching the two of them interact. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Olin really liked the four wheeler ride, at least until he fell asleep.

Nana and Papa with the Rhone and Olin up Kents Canyon.

Look matching P.J.s

This is a great picture, you can totally see how excited Rhone is that Olin came to see him.

A Big HUG from his cousin.

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa Rose's, it was a cold Easter

Olin in his Phillies outfit my Mom brought back from Philadelphia, I think he's just about ready for tee ball.

Granny and Gramps came up to visit Olin and Rhone.

Olin at his first cookout he really liked the fire, it kinda hypnotized him

Whats New?

The last little while has been extremely busy. Morgan had a national volleyball tournament in Denver, started back at work, and is busy taking care of Olin. School has been going well, I am just finishing spring break. Another couple months and the year will be over. I am definitely looking forward to summer. Morgan and I have also began the process of purchasing a home. It is in Chubbuck, and has 3 bedroom and 2 baths all on one level. Here are a few pictures.




Here is also a picture of Olin just so you can see how much bigger he has gotten.

Finally an Update

Its been a while since I posted anything so I thought I would take a second and upload a few pictures of Olin. He is growing like a weed, he is now 23 inches and a little over 13 pounds. I think thats pretty good considering he is just 8 weeks old. When he is being held he likes to face out so I can see everything that is going on. He holds his head up really well, and is starting to smile and giggle more. We start getting him ready for bed about 9, sometimes he will fall asleep almost immediately and others he's awake till 11:30. He does usually sleep for one 4 hour stretch though which is really nice, then wake up to eat.


Morgan, Olin, and me on Christmas morning



My Mom and Olin (Olin is in his Christmas Clothes)



Me and Olin checking Meagan, Ben, and Rhone's blog


I think Olin would sleep great if we would let him sleep on his stomach, he really likes it. Tummy time use to end up like this with him trying to sleep, now he eventually gets tired of being on his tummy and gets mad and starts to cry.


I had to put this picture up so Meagan could see it. My parents got Morgan and I a Wii for Christmas and this is my Dad and Morgan bowling.

Baby Olin

I though i would take a second and upload a few pictures of Olin. Meagan really wanted me to upload some so she could see him. It would have been nice if Olin could have come a day earlier so Meagan and Rhone could have seen him before they had to head back to Dover. Olin was born at 9:47 pm on December 2nd, his weight was 8 pounds 14 ounces and was 22 inches long. Both Olin and Morgan are doing good.


This picture was taken the morning of the 3rd




This picture was taken this morning.

A post for July

I'm getting a little better about posting, its only been a month since the last one. This past month has been really busy for me and Morgan. She has started summer volleyball camps, and open gyms which can be quite time consuming. The 4th of July was fun as always, I love watching the fireworks. Every time I hear one of the huge booms I can help but think of explosions and what the soldiers of this country have gone through to keep us free and safe. The parade in Malad on the 4th was fun to watch as always and this year her grand parents were the grand marshalls.

Morgan went to the doctor last thursday and the baby is a boy (if the ultrasound is correct). Now that we know the sex of the baby it seems more real to me for some reason. Its pretty amazing what they can do with the technology anymore, below is a video clip from the Ultrasound. It looks like the baby is doing some hard thinking


I also went on a quick little trip up Mount Harrison, I love the mountains to me there is no where prettier. There was still a bit of snow up there and it looks like there will be snow in some spots for quite some time. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

Looking toward Mount Independence which has an elevation of just under 10,000ft



Using a large rock and the timer to get a picture in front of Mount Harrison

Finally a new post!

I know I am horrible at putting updates on the blog. As you can imagine alot has happened in the past 2 months since I last posted. Morgan is finally done with her club volleyball for the year. She has a few things this summer with her Shelley team (camps and stuff). My last day of school was June 5th, its good to have one year behind me. I also signed my contract for next year back out at Aberdeen, so I will at least have a job until August 2010 which is great considering the shape the economy is in right now.
Most of you already know that Morgan and I are expecting a baby around the 2nd of December, so she is just under 16 weeks along. The doctor wanted to have an ultra-sound done at her last appointment to kinda pin-point the due date so below is a scan of one of the ultrasound pictures.


So far this summer I have only been able to go camping once because it has been unusually rainy lately. I went up North Canyon just outside of Malad for one evening and pitched the tent Morgans family got me for Christmas. It worked really good, it rained all night but I slept dry. I hope that once it stops raining everyday I will be able to go camping a few more times this summer. Below are a few pitures of what I have been doing so far this summer.


My camp spot up North Canyon



The pictures above were taken on a hike in the mountains just to the west of Pocatello. It you look closely in the one picture you can see a deer. On the way back to the car from this hike I got caught in a rain storm and got soaked (not that much fun).


This is a picture of a Reeves/Ringneck pheasant cross. The guy that my dad gets the game bird chicks from had a bunch of extra birds this spring so he brought a bunch down and released them on our property up North Canyon. Its awesome to just drive out through the field and be able to see 10-15 birds every time.

Well, its been a little over a month since I have posted anything so I thought I better get to it. Meagan, Ben and Rhone came up to Idaho for a quick visit at the beginning of February, and it was great to visit and spend some time with them. Morgans volleyball teams are still doing really well in her tournaments down in Salt Lake. I was also suppose to post a correction, because her club has 13 teams total which is quite a bit more than I said last time. This past week was spring break, which is pretty early for spring break. It was awesome to have little bit of a break from the students and preparing lessons. Unfortunately this is the last real break until school is out which isn't until June 5th. Over the break my old blazers transmission went out. Since the vehicle was probably only worth 2000 dollars and it was going to take 2600 to fix, we broke down and got a new vehicle. Well not NEW but new to us. Its a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer with 71000 miles, which was about 120000 miles less than my old blazer. This is by far the newest vehicle I have ever owned. Hopefully I can get at least 200000 miles out of it like I have the old blazer and the park avenue. Here are a few pictures:



I wanted to thank everyone that wished Morgan and I a happy anniversary. We celebrated our third anniversary on the 10th. Its hard to believe its already been three years, it doesn't seem like its been 3 years to me. If you were to ask Morgan though you might get a different answer, I have to admit I am probably not the easiest person to life with since I am always RIGHT (well, at least in my mind). All joking aside its been a great three years.

Monthly Update

Christmas has come and gone, and as always its a great time of year. Morgan and I had a great Christmas. It was great seeing family and getting to catch up. Morgan had to work Christmas eve, which kind of sinks but we were able to go down to Malad Christmas morning and spend the day down there. The Christmas break off from school was really nice, I was definitely ready for a break.
I am sure most of you know that my sister and brother-in-law had their baby on January 9th, his name is Rhone and is a cute little guy. Its still kind of strange to think that my little sister has a child. Ben also got his plane assignment, its a C-5. If you haven't seen a picture of a C-5 look it up, its impressive something that big can actually get off the ground.
Morgan has started her own volleyball club this year, its called Club Next. She has a total of four teams (she is only coaching one of them), the girls range from age 14-18. She had her first tournament this past weekend down in Salt Lake. Her teams did really well. The team she coaches won their division as did the 14's team.

Here are a few pictures of the past month:

Some chuckars trying to make it through the winter



Morgan opening her gifts on Christmas morning


Puppies from the last litter


Wintering deer down by my grandpa Crittenden's property in Samaria

I am not very good and keeping everybody in the blogging world up to date on what has been going on in our lives, life just gets so busy. My sister told me that I had to post, because last sunday I had an eye injury. Even though the story sounds unbelievable its completely true.
Last sunday I went down to Malad to help my Dad catch 500 chukars so he could take them to Oregon to a hunting club that bought them. We started to catch the birds around 10:00 pm because they are easier to catch in the dark because they are roosting. All 500 birds were in the catch pen that is probably around 15ft by 15ft. We use big nets and then transfer the birds from the nets to the boxes that they will travel in. Because there are 500 birds in such a small pen birds fly everywhere. As I reached with the net to scoop some birds up one bird flew and hit me directly in the eye. I told you it was a pretty unbelievable story.
My eye is actually fine I can see good out of it still it just looks horrible because I broke a bunch of blood vessels which has caused it to turn red.
Here are a couple of pictures:

Crazy Scheduales

I know, its been forever since I have posted anything but life can get awfully busy.  These past few months have just been crazy.  I started teaching the 18th of August and that has really taken up all my free time. I keep telling myself that after the first year I won't have to spend so much of my free time at home creating lesson plans, and getting stuff ready for class the next day. Here is my daily routine; I wake up at 6:00 and get ready for school, meet the ladies I car pool with in the mall parking lot at 6:50, arrive at school at 7:30,  I get back to Pocatello from school around 4:30, start preparing tomorrows lessons for the three classes I teach and correct homework, eat dinner around 8:30-9:00, then try to be in bed by 10:00.  I really look forward to friday nights and saturdays because I refuse to do any school work on those days because I need a break.

Besides work, there has been a few other things that have happened.  Meagan came home for a visit earlier this month, which worked out great for me because we get out of school for two weeks during the first of October for spud harvest. It was great to visit with her, especially since she will not be able to come back home for Christmas this year. I have also been able to relax and go hunting quite a bit. Just being outside and veiwing all the beautiful scenery we have here in Idaho can ease the stress levels immensely.  Morgan started coaching again this fall.  This time she is the head coach at Shelley High School.  Her team did really well considering she did not have a single senior.  They finished second in the district and lost their play in game for the state tournament. She is still working the night shifts at the hospital to. When she has her 6 days on at work I hardly get to see her.  I leave before she is home, and she is at practice when I get home, I see her for about 30 minutes as she gets ready for work then she is off again. Now that her season is over we will be able to see each other more often. Her brother got married last weekend so we had the opportunity to go to the Logan Temple with them.  Its always nice to visit the temple and be around family. Hopefully it won't be another three months until I post again but the way life is who knows.

Morgan and I went down to Malad for Independence Day. Its was good to celebrate our Nations Independence, and thank god that we are lucky enough to live in a free country. Morgans grandparents were even in the parade. They got to ride in the back of a buggy that was being pulled by a team of horses. Parades in small towns are the best because you know almost everyone that is in them. After the parade we just relaxed and visited our families. Morgans brother Court and his family came up from Utah, and her other brother Rocky came back from his internship at Hells Canyon Dam. As always Malads firework show was pretty impressive for a small town, however I don't think it was quite as good as it has been in the past. All in all it was a great holiday, I hope everyone else had a great Independence Day to.

This is just one of the nice old cars that was in the parade.

This was a very interesting looking car. The rumor around Malad was that this was one of only two cars like this that exist, the relative of someone in Malad owns this one and Jay Leno owned the other. Isn't it crazy how fast rumors can get around a small town.

Only in Malad do you see old tractors in the parade.

Here is a Picture of Morgans' Grandparents in the Independence Day parade.