Fifty Years

The day has arrived! I am half a century old. So long to my forties and hello to my fifties. Actually I am content and looking forward to the next decade of my life. Thanks to all those around me such as my wife Debbie and my children and grandchildren. To my parents for giving me a great start in life and my brothers. The Lord has given me so much and I try to thank Him every day! I live in an awesome place and have a great job and get to enjoy the outdoors often in the canyons and mountains of the southwest. Sure, I would like to work less and play more, but I know I shouldn't complain too much. I'll continue to work hard in the ER and then play even harder on my days off! This past week I was off duty at the hospital so I decided to try and do something outdoors every day with as many friends and family that could join me. I started the week with a multiple pitch rock climb with my friend John Tully at Red Rock Canyon on the west side of Vegas. The next day had me carving down snow slopes with Deb at Brian Head Resort on my snow board. It was a sunny spring day on great snow requiring sun screen and sun glasses. That evening I joined Eric and the scouts on a service project around the neighborhood. Wednesday had me in Zion National Park again with Tully climbing Ashtar Command a classic two pitch climb on Ataxia Tower. We then put the ropes in the truck and jumped in our kayaks and floated the Virgin River just as it emerges from the Narrows. We had to don wet suits as the water temp was 44 degrees. Zion is heaven on earth for me. That evening Deb and I took the sister missionaries in our area out to dinner to Ahi's my favorite local place to eat. Thursday morning Angie and I went mountain biking west of Bloomington on the Desert Bear Poppy Trail (formerly the Green Valley Loop). We then grabbed the climbing gear and headed over to Chuckawalla for an afternoon of climbing. We were joined by Deb, Sheri (yes....Sheri!), Hailey and Tully. It was one of those nice sunny afternoons at Chuckawalla that combines camaraderie, warm sunshine, challenging climbing and a great physical work out. Friday morning my friend Chad Farr and I went crack climbing above down town St. George at the Bluff Street Cracks on the Red Hill. Beautiful morning! Sunny but cool and crisp temperatures and again challenging climbing. Home for lunch and then we took the Mastercraft boat out of storage and went out to Sand Hollow and took our first wake board run of the year. The water was smooth and understandably cold but again the wet suits let us comfortably enjoy the day. I only took two wake board runs as my endurance is not yet developed but each run was great. My grand daughters joined us on the boat and loved playing in the red sand on the beach. That evening we had a grand party at our home. Deb and my girls cooked up a delicious cafe rio style dinner for all those who came. We had fun playing basketball, visiting, jacuzzi ing , and playing Kinect on the X-Box and looking at photos on the I-Mac all evening. Today has me riding my mountain bike again and attending Eric's Border League basketball game. We then will be canyoneering down a canyon near St. George. More birthday presents and of course cake. Love you all!!! (The above photos were all taken during this past week)