MY BIRTHDAY BOY

Surprise. Happy Birthday Spencer. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I am so happy that you were born. Another great year we have had together. Sorry I don't know how to do the cool stuff like you do. But lets face the facts I am not as cool as you. Spence, I am so grateful for you. Thanks for being my best friend. I am so happy to have you for eternity. I look forward to each new day we have. You are so great. I hope you have an amazing day. Come home fast we have a surprise waiting for you. We miss you, Logan keeps saying "daddy, daddy". Who needs work anyways especially on your birthday. I love you, Amber (AAL)

Our Disneyland Pictures from our last trip... Better late than never

It has been a few weeks now since we returned from our trip to Disneyland. I took a ton of pictures and was feeling a little overwhelmed about putting them up or even going through them... So here they all are on a slide show. If you double click on the slide show it should open up the web album and you can see the bigger versions of the pictures.

We had a blast. Just looking through all of these pictures makes me wish that we were still there. My family has so much fun there, we all act like little kids and do whatever we want. This year we even had matching shirts. Our incredibles shirts got us free rides on a few occasions, it was fun to walk around and have people point at us and say, "look, it's the incredibles..." We met captain Jack Sparrow, and Snoop Dogg. We rode every ride multiple times. This year we especially loved Buzz Lightyear's astro blasters. We rode that 20 - 30 times trying to get the highest score. Alyson and Ben held the top spot for the longest time, then I came up from behind and took the high at 615,000. Logan loved Pirates and Winnie the Pooh. Kristen took him on it over and over while the rest of us rode Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain was supposed to be closed for our trip but they opened it up without telling anyone and so we rode it on the last two days of the trip. We got soaked!!! One night we watched the fireworks show from the columbia ship, it was really cool. Logan loved the Main Street Electric Light Parade. Ben got pooped on... What else... Logan was so fun to watch on the rides, He would cry out, "More!" whenever the ride would end, and sometimes the ride operator would be so impressed that they would let us go again. He loved riding Buzz by himself and actually hit some of the targets. I really should have written down more earlier so that I wouldn't forget it all, now it seems like the trip just kind of blends into a blur of fun. We will definately do it again soon.

Hobble Creek Cabin

Here are Ben and Al. They came up late, but we had a lot of fun staying up talking.

Logan and his second cousin Aiden. Too bad we don't live closer, they would have a ton of fun together.

When we were in Utah for the wedding we went up Hobble Creek Canyon to a cabin where Amber's Grandparents are living. We cooked hotdogs and sang camp songs. Chris and Chelz came up with Aiden and Sydney. Ben and Al also showed up later that night. We had a lot of fun. I have more pictures but blogger is having trouble loading them so I will put them up when it finally decides to work.
This is a picture of my dad playing his Goya. He is really good at playing camp songs and getting everyone to join in. We have many memories camping and singing around a fire and sometimes people from nearby campsites would hear him and come and join us.

I love you Amber

When I found this song, it made me think of you.

5 Years and Counting... To infinity and beyond!

Happy Anniversary Amber Asay Lover!!! Thankyou for making me who I am, the luckiest guy on earth!!!

Man I have really lost some weight since then... If I tried on that tux today, I'd be swimming in it!

It has been 10 years since we met and 5 since we were married. We have so many great and wonderful memories and a beautiful son. I am excited to see what the future holds for us! I love you!

Grandma Ketterer

While we were at Disneyland, we got the news that Grandma Ketterer had passed away. This came as hard news but was by no means unexpected as she had been suffering from alzheimer's disease for over a decade. Physically she was, for the most part, healthy but as alzheimer's took its hold, she had become much like a child mentally. This was very hard for us to see because she was always so intelligent and sharp. She lived in my parents home with us for a few years after Grandpa died. Her family eventually put her into an assisted living home that specialized in caring for people with alzheimer's disease. While she was there I did not visit her very often because it was hard. I have some memories of her before Grandpa died and before the disease took over her mind. To me she was not the same person that was at the assisted living center. It was easier for me to imagine that she was already gone. Her death is hard on me because I hate to see my Mother alone without any parents left. I can only imagine that it is terribly lonely having your mother die. On the other hand, I am happy that she is no longer imprisoned by a body that is worn out. I can imagine that she is happy where she is now and finally after all these years, able to be with here husband and her family and loved ones. For the dead, death has no sting.

Kareen Jordan Ketterer 1919 ~ 2007 Kareen Jordan Ketterer, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, 87, passed away peacefully May 10, 2007 in Sandy, Utah. She was born December 28, 1919 in Howell, Utah to David Henry Jordan and Mary Hannah Pidcock. Kareen graduated from the Univerity of Utah in 1942 with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education. She was sealed to Paul Ketterer Jr., her sweetheart in the Salt Lake Temple on November 21, 1946. She was a loving wife and mother. She was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The most important things in her life were her family and service to others. She enjoyed reading, cooking, sewing and gardening. Kareen is survived by her children: Pauleen (Courtland) Cottrell, Carmen (Lance) Okimoto, Leslie (Craig) Smith and Karl (Vickie) Ketterer; sister Emily Burton; 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, two brothers, Reed Jordan and Neal Jordan and three sisters, Lois Lake, Mary Joyce Jordan and her twin, Carmen Jordan. A Viewing will be held Monday May 14, 2007 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City. Private family services will be held on Tuesday.

Home Sweet Home

Last night we returned home from our trip to Disneyland. It has been a month since both Amber and I have been home together! It was hard to leave our families in the West but it was sure nice to be back home. Poor Logan's clock is all messed up. He spent a week in Las Vegas and two weeks in Utah and finally one week in California. Last night after dark, he was still up running around the house playing with his toys. We finally put him in his bed around 8:30 and he cried for about 20 minutes until he finally settled down and went to sleep. It was nice to be back in our bed. The bed in California seemed comfortable after walking around Disneyland all day but failed to give us the kind of sleep that we finally got last night. The Disney trip was great as expected. For most of our time there, the park was for the most part empty, and the weather, though a little hot was really not that bad. One of our favorite rides, Splash Mountain was closed for most of the trip, but it reopened and we were able to ride it on our last day (it made the trip complete). On our second day at the park we had celebrity experience when we bumped into Snoop Dog and his family at Space Mountain... Now I can die in peace.... Yeah whatever. We ate alot of ice cream and pizza and watched alot of fireworks. We took about 500 pictures! I am still unpacking all of our baggage so I will go through them and post them soon. When we got home, we were greeted by all of the food that I was supposed to throw away before I left but didn't and a dead battery in the Hyundai luxury sedan. Every silver lining has its cloud...

The Rain Song

I stumbled on this today at work and it brought back some great memories. Me and my best friend Armando learned this song and used to ditch school and go over to my grandma's house to play it for her. Pretty special song.

Bri and Ryan

Here are a few of the pics from the wedding. You really couldn't have asked for better weather, or a prettier Temple.

The happy parents.

The tulips were in full bloom.

After a full day of wedding stuff, Logan and Jade had to take a rest...

Sometimes you just have to make the most of a good looking Tux.

This is what Bri and Ryan have to look forward to. These are all of the current Asay grandkids: Nathan, Logan, Emily, Jade and Ben.

The reception was a great chance for us all to meet up with friends and family...

The getaway car after it was properly decorated.

The Timpanogos Temple

The temple was beautiful for Bri's wedding, the flowers were all in bloom and the sun was shining so much that we all got sunburned.

We sure do miss the mountains since we moved East. The trees and hills are pretty here in Maryland but having been away from the mountains for nearly a year, they were especially eye-catching.

Grandpa's fun new toy

My first day in Utah, Amber was looking through an ad for Toys R Us and saw this fun little four wheeler. My dad was in the kitchen when she mentioned how cute it was and how much she thought that Logan would love it. He started laughing and went out into the garage. When he came back in, he was carrying the very same four wheeler that she had seen in the ad. Great minds think alike, and Logan had a blast rolling around the kitchen floor making car noises. What can I say..? Logan has inherited his father's weakness.

Something

wow

I miss you Amber!

He's the Logan in Logandale

I have so many memories of Logandale Nevada. This is where I first met Amber's Family. I went to her prom there in 1998. It was hard on all of us when the Asays packed up and moved to New Mexico. When we decided on naming Logan, we never made the connection with Logandale, but it is fitting. Logandale will always be special to us.

A few miles from the Asay house, there is this great spot to go shooting. It became a tradition whenever we were all together to go out and have clay pigeon shooting contests. I was never any good, but the competition was always pretty tight between the Asay boys. Then one day, Bri got a hold of a shot gun and gave all of the boys a run for their money. Logan tried his hand at throwing pigeons...

Logandale is pretty small and I often get in trouble with Amber's mom for poking fun. There are no signal lights in Logandale, and there is only one stop sign. I was in town for the grand opening of the McDonalds... I could go on but I would probably get into trouble. Bottom line though, Logandale was a great place to be. There is a great small town feel and everyone knew everyone.

First week without Amber

It feels like it has been a long time since I posted anything. Amber took Logan and went to Vegas for a bridal shower for her sister a week and a half ago and she took the camera with her, so with no Logan to take pictures of, and no camera to take pictures with, I kind of slacked off on the blog. I joined up with Amber and Logan in Utah for the weekend of the wedding and everything went well. It was fun to be back in Utah to see old friends and to spend time with family and to support Bri. The weekend went really fast and before I knew it I was flying home to Maryland. The week that Amber was gone, I tried to keep busy around here. I went over to Monica and Peter's place for a delicious four course BBQ and then Bern and Eric had me over the next night for burgers and hot dogs. It was the first time since I left Utah that I felt like was home. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends that we have made out here. I hate being away from Amber. I spent 3 months away from her back in 2005 and ever since, I can hardly stand to be away for a day. It sure made it easier having people here to support me. Now I have another week ahead of me before I fly to California to meet up with Amber, Logan and my family. I can hardly wait to see them all again and to finally bring Amber back home!

Jim as Dwight

Question: What kind of bear is best?

I love this show!

You Never Give Me Your Money

Another awesome song from Troubleclef and the Beatles. You have to double click on the post to get it to play.

Less than 3 weeks to go!!

We are all getting excited for upcoming trip to Disneyland. We are meeting my parents and sisters and brother-in-law there and will be spending a little over a week enjoying the park. This will be Logans second time there. We took him last summer and he loved looking around at all of the fun sights. I think he will enjoy it even more this time now that he can walk and ride some of the rides. He is crazy about elephants so I am sure we will be riding Dumbo till we are all dizzy.

Hooray for Halo!

Since we moved to Maryland we haven't been able to throw the Halo parties that we used to. It seems like every Saturday night we used to get everyone over to our apartment and move the couches and hook up 3 or 4 Xbox systems and stay up all night playing capture the flag. Our favorite map was/is "hang em high" (pictured below) It seems like that was the only map we ever played and we got so good at that map that sometimes games would last hours. Once we moved we attempted to hook up over the internet and play but, only Halo 2 works online and our favorite map is only on Halo 1. Well, I guess that enough people complained and the developers finally put out a new map that is modeled after the original (pictured above). We are excited to hook up soon and see if it is as fun as the original. Sorry for the sudden splurge of geekyness, I will try to keep it in check in the future.

End of the Ring Pop

A couple of days ago, Logan wanted to play with the ring from the ring pop that Dana sent for Valentine's day. It is really cool, there is a red blinking light that flashes, in fact, before we figured out how to turn it off, it really freaked me out one night when I got up to get a drink. I was half asleep and when I got into the kitchen and the whole room was flashing red, I thought there was a bomb or something... I was so out of it that it made sense... Anyways, back to the real story. Logan was playing with this in the bathroom. From the other room I heard the toilet flush ( Amber lets Logan flush the toilet as part of his pre-potty training) We usually keep the door shut so when I heard the toilet flush I ran in to find that he had thrown his ring in and flushed it. Well, It was fun while it lasted. Maybe some poor sap at a sewage treatment plant somewhere will get freaked out when he is confronted with the flashing red light...

Congrats to Chris & Chelsea

Our cousins and good friends, Chris and Chelsea, received a new addition to their family this past tuesday. They named her Sydney Brooke. Mom and Baby are doing well and we are really excited to see her when we go to Utah this month.

She looks pretty cute all decked out in pink. I think I see some chelsea in her face...

Mission Update

I try to update David's page once a week. I just wanted to put a little something up on our page as well. It has been almost half a year since David left on his mission to Cuiaba Brazil. We were on our way out here to Maryland when he got his call and so I think our experience with him being gone is a little different than it has been for the folks at home. With the new rules, we get to email him every week, so it is kind of like he is in Utah still (minus the phone calls). I am 8 years older than David so it is kind of trippy to think about him being on his mission. That means I am getting old. He seems to be happy and doing well. We miss him often, especially having him over to the apartment to play games and watch movies. When we were still in Orem, he spent many nights sleeping on our couch so that he could stay up late playing with us. We also miss his humor and his eagerness to help out. I feel like I am writing about him as if he were dead... So let me just say that we really do feel the blessings of his service in our home and our family. We are inspired to be better examples and better people. We will be happy for him to come home!

Bri and Ryan's Wedding Announcement

We are all heading out to Utah for the wedding. Originally, they were going to come out to Maryland to work for a few months, but they changed their plans on us... We're pretty bummed about it. Congrats to the couple-to-be!

UVU!!!

I thought that this ad was funny, especially how they crossed out the blue on blueprint. I am really excited about UVSC becoming UVU. It was kind of frustrating while I was going there when they kept changing around which classes were required. I think it added a semester to my career...

The cool thing is I get a new diploma with UVU written on it!!

The Office - Dwight's Pepper Spray

Amber and I watched this last night and we almost woke up Logan because we were laughing so hard. Dwight can say whatever about Bono and Superman, He is my Hero!

Thanks for the Basket!

Bern and Erik gave us an easter basket for Logan and he loved it. All except for the plastic grass, He didn't like the feel of it on his hands. It was funny to see him weigh it out in his mind. Were the goodies and candy worth the uncomfort required to remove the grass to get to them? In the end, the desire for M&M s and rubber ducky won out. Thanks!!

Eggtastic

Logan starts on his masterpiece that was later sold to a russian museum for millions.

Sometimes the egg dying gets too hard to handle. This drives many to drinking.

We read on the package not to add vinegar to the pink tablet. But we are way smarter than the color experts at "Dudleys" so we added it anyways, thinking it would really make a potent mixture. We were wrong. The pink didn't really work out. But the blue and yellow were awesome.

Last but not least, Jocey got her annual butt-kicking on my easter egg. This was no easy feat. The eggs seemed impervious to the crayon. It took three tries to get it right. Looks like you lost again this year:)

Happy Easter!!

We miss the great times with Grandma Cottrell and the rest of the family, We are trying to keep the traditions alive. We colored eggs while listening to John Denver sing about mountains. We miss and love you all.

We enjoyed an egg fight of epic proportions. We changed the music to the Braveheart soundtrack for effect.

Logan walked away undefeated ultimate champion, and he didn't even have to use Grandma's wooden egg...