I'm going to Hell for loving this, but...

...I love seeing people get hurt sometimes. Enjoy.




Allow me to put this kid's thoughts into words:

Watch me pull this cool trick in a stoic fashion - I won't even crack a smile. I hate "the man" and my parents!

Wow, I see trouble ahead, better dismount.

Oh man - that really hurt! It's okay - just need to walk it off. Walking it off... Okay... walking it off isn't helping. Let me grab my shoe and see if that returns any of my dignity... Crap - I wish I could draw enough breath to tell my buddy to turn off that stupid camera.

Honestly, can you imagine getting hit in the junk so hard that it knocks your shoe/headphones off?

Camping with the boys

Well, the Brough clan headed down to our favorite part of the world again for one last hurrah before we part ways for the summer. For a while, it didn't look like it was going to happen due to work schedule conflicts and military training...

Eli was INCREDIBLEY excited to go fishing - I think these pictures say it all. He helped his grandpa catch a fish, which got off the hook right before they got it in to shore. My dad was pretty quick however and he reached into the water and "slapped" the fish out onto the bank. Eli thought this was AMAZING and spent the next 5 minutes slapping the fish while my dad tried to clean it.


Here is Eli telling about Grandpa's fish - there is also a minor reference to a certain pine hen incident:


Eli spent a LONG time dipping his lure in the water while he stood on a big rock - here is his explanation of what he is doing:


Apart from the fish slapping, the other main interesting event of the night was a result of the fact that we only brought 4 jakes lures for 5 spinning rods. Carl lost the first one, and then my little brother Jed got his snagged. In the process of handing me his fishing pole so I could try to un-snag the lure, the top half of the pole came off and slid down the line into the water. It's one thing to lose a $1.00 lure, but quite another to lose the top half of an Ugly Stick, so we goaded Jed into stripping down to his boxers and swimming out to get his lure and pole.

Eli thought it was pretty amazing and funny that Jed went into the water - he laughed uncontrollably when Jed stated that he couldn't breathe and was experiencing heart failure (my son shows tendencies similar to his grandmother who ALSO laughs at the pain and discomfort of others). Jed retrieved the top half of the spinning rod, but gave up the search for the lure - however after my dad and I offered him money (a total of $15), he went in for another trip which was unsuccessful.


Here is some EXCELLENT footage of Jed suffering - enjoy (I know my sister Leesa will!):


We spent quite a bit of time on the 4 wheelers during the trip - Jed and I got "lost" on the way to Pine Creek resevoir and ran into some "light resistance" (pictured below)

Don't worry, it was nothing the AR-15, Remington 870, or Jed's Ruger 10/22 couldn't handle. We survived against all odds. As I like to say, the only good rock chuck/rabbit/coyote, etc... is a
dead... whatever. Also, we may or may not have hit a pine hen with our four wheeler... while it was up in a tree - I don't like to talk about it.

Eli stayed up until 11:00 PM the first night, waiting for his peach cobbler. He wolfed down a few bites before he finally asked to go to bed. He slept through a LOT of noise until about 8:30 the next morning when we had to wake him for breakfast.

The next day was a lot of fun - my dad took Eli to Pine Creek where Eli and his famed Spider Man pole caught 8 fish. In the mean time, the brothers (that includes our brother in law Carl) went for another ride on the ATV's - through Dark Valley and up the Cartwheel Trail toward prospector lake. The trail was reminiscent of "death row" on the Bair Gutsman only it was about a 1/2 mile long and vibrated our fillings out of our molars.

We tried to find a trail that looped around back toward our camp site at Cook Lake, but we ended up having to back track. Todd was able to dispatch a ravenous muskrat that was trying to bar us from crossing a stream - thankfully we survived and Todd racked up another kill.

Eli became so dirty at times that his grandpa had to remove his shirt and shake the dirt/dust from it throughout the day.

Due to time/vacation constraints, we were only able to spend two days down on the Boulder. We had a lot of fun and the grimy/dirty smile on Eli's face made the trip worth it to me.

Still "good to go"

I got another one of those letters from the hospital- the kind that say I still am in remission. It's weird to think about it - Becca and I have convinced ourselves that this whole "cancer thing" was just a fluke and we're back on track. We make jokes about it. Honestly though, every time one of those papers comes in the mail, I reflect on how lucky I am for every day I get to spend above ground with the people I love.

Have a great weekend - Eli and I are going fishing!

My orders finally came through!

I've been waiting to post this for a little while since it wasn't 100% that it was going to happen this summer... but I finally got orders for my officer training! I've been waiting for two years to get to this point, so it feels really good arrived here.

Soon I'll start BOLC II at lovely Fort Benning, Georgia, on July 6th and will spend 7 weeks in training that all U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenants must pass before getting training in their branch specific job. BOLC II is a fairly new training that the Army has come up with to help better prepare new Lieutenants for combat operations in the Middle East, regardless of whether they are in a combat oriented branch/position. The only downside to this training is that I won't see Becca and Eli for 7 weeks.

Becca will be quitting her job as an apartment manager; she and Eli will be moving in with her parents. Becca is ecstatic that she won't have to be dealing with the shenanigans that come with her job, and I am pretty happy that she won't be home alone dealing with strangers while I am in another state. Eli is going to be the happiest of all since he'll have a huge back yard to play in and he'll get to hang out with Grandpa and work in the garden.


After BOLC II, I'll be headed to BOLC III/Armor OBC at Fort Knox, Kentucky and thankfully I 'll get to bring Becca and Eli with me! The last time I was at Fort Knox was to attend LTC; where our instructors dressed like this:Drill Sergeant Flowers will be happy to know that I am a big fan of flutter kicks now.

I'll go through 12 weeks of Armor OBC, and then break for Christmas - after which I head back to Fort Knox for 2-3 weeks of Scout Leader Course training - this will give me designation as a cavalry officer instead of an armor officer.
If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. It also makes a really good excuse to miss my 10 year high school reunion (yeesh I'm old!).

Xbox 360

Well, I'm very disappointed in myself - I hopped on the band wagon and bought an xbox 360

I had been saving money for a new pistol, but then the urges overcame me and I blew my fun money on a video game console that will no doubt be a sponge for absorbing time that might have been spent on more noble pursuits.

By the way, I've had it for less than a week and I've already beaten Halo 3 and COD 4.

On the bright side, at least I was smart enough to wait until I had finished my last semester before committing the stupidity of the year.

It's so much fun :-)

Drill Weekend

I finished my first drill weekend as an el-tee (sorry if you're tired of hearing about this, but I worked really hard to get hear so SUCK IT UP!), and I have to share my amusing anecdotes:

Customs and Courtesies
I have a friend (who shall remain anonymous), let's call him B. Mower... no that's too obvious, let's call him Ben M. Anyways - Ben decided it would be hilarious to dramatically salute me in grand style, but then he turned and walked right past the battalion commander, and wished him good morning WITHOUT rendering a salute. Oops - the BC let PFC Mower know he wasn't impressed.

Where's PFC Brough!?
At the end of the first day of drill, our company 1st Sergeant was making a lot of noise looking for a "PFC Brough". I made my way over to him, and the look on his face told me that he wasn't sure if he was supposed to punish me for impersonating an officer, or stand at attention as he addressed me. If you're wondering why a 2nd Lieutenant is listed as a Private 1st Class on the unit roster, then you've never experienced how slowly paperwork travels in the National Guard. In any case, this poor NCO wondered aloud if I planned on being promoted to Colonel before next month's drill.

The Rappel Tower
I've been on MANY rappel towers, but I've never been able to rappel off the simulated helicopter skid - until today. I was pretty pumped to go rappelling again today, but I have to admit - I was disappointed. It wasn't BORING by any means - but I seem to remember the rappel tower being much more exciting - and the helicopter skid was less fun than the rappelling wall. Oh well...

Do unto others...
One lesson I have learned in the Army is that it pays to be respectful of others - regardless of whether they are your subordinates, peers, or superiors. I learned this lesson first hand when I returned to ROTC this spring. I suddenly found that my subordinates from two years ago had become my peers. I was EXTREMELY happy that just about every one of them had a kind word for me and was happy to see me again.

There were a few individuals at drill this month that appeared to be noticeably nervous in my presence now that I outrank them. Their unease is probably due to the fact that they treat all of their subordinates poorly, and wondered if I might return the favor. Of course, I'm not a vindictive person, but I'm not going to tell them that *insert evil laughter here*.

The moral of the story is that while it may be fun to be an jerk, sometimes that guy that you put through hell could become the guy that you have to salute.

The Major is back

I spoke with Major Roberts yesterday, fresh back from deployment to Iraq.

For all you vintage USU Army ROTC guys (circa 2004 - 2005), you'll remember Major (then Captain) Roberts. He was my first ROTC instructor and he never missed a chance to brainwash his cadets into thinking that the Engineers are the best branch of the Army. (Fact - The first Medal of Honor recipient in the GWOT, was given to an Army Engineer)

I remember very clearly sitting in a chair in front of Major Robert's desk while he looked me over to decide if I was worth sending to Leaders Training Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky back in the summer of 2004.

My favorite memory of Major Roberts goes back to the military history trip in the summer of 2005. Mrs. Roberts yelled (as she tried not to laugh) at the Major as he inched a 15 passenger van closer and closer to an over zealous and cranky employee of the Maryland Department of Transportation on the highway running past Camp Frettard.

Incidentally, we were on our way to a dining establishment called "Beef Shakes". Major Roberts instructed me to approach the takeout window and ask for a "beefshake", as advertised on their billboard. They gave me the stink eye and tried to justify their lousy diner name - maybe you had to be there... it was hilarious.

Others of you might remember a certain "coming out" ceremony as well - involving a sleeping bag at several dining in ceremonies...

I better limit my stories to the information I've already given, being that the Major has MUCH more incriminating information about me.

The Turkey Hunt

I am still trying to get a hold of some pictures of our "alleged" turkey hunt, but here is the skinny:

Within hours of being made a Lieutenant, I was half asleep in the back of my father in laws truck, heading south to Wayne County for the turkey hunt. John (my father in law) and Mike (brother in law) were lucky enough to draw out for the Boulder Plateau, and I came along as a guide/cook since I have spent a lot of time in the area and was foolish enough to guarantee John a turkey if he drew out there.

Before marrying Becca, my hunting experience was extremely limited, being that my father is a die hard fisherman more than a hunter. John has taken me hunting several times over the years, so it was kind of nice to be helping him find the game for a change.

There was still snow on the ground, so we had to ditch the truck. John and Mike got on their ATV and left me at camp to cook dinner (how did that happen?!). The next day, we went out with one of John's friends (Ron) and his daughter Jenny. John got a poor shot at a tom and missed - but Mike and Jenny were able to get their turkeys before we left for home.

Luckily, John is benevolent and he forgave me for not delivering on my promise to get him a turkey. I also forgot to bring the ingredients for the dutch oven dinner and dessert - but I think I'm forgiven for that too since I didn't burn either of them.

John did exact some small form of revenge by giving a turkey leg/claw to Eli as a "back scratcher".

The Shotgun

It's been kind of crazy for the last few weeks - I haven't had time to post all of the substantial events that have occurred recently

I think that both Becca and I have mentioned this, but Becca and my parents were kind enough to pitch in and get me a new firearm for my "anti-zombie" arsenal of freedom. It's a Remington 870 Express with an extending magazine tube and an 18" cylinder bore barrel. For those of you who AREN'T rabid gun fanatics, it suffices to say that it is black and evil looking.

Here is Eli, modeling the shotgun in true manly/Brough style:

My mother in law will be pleased to note the trigger lock is in place and the gun is not loaded for the picture ;-)

Within 48 hours, the 870 had already drawn blood down on the Boulder Mountain. It did its part to reduce the jack rabbit population, which is part of another story...

The Big Day

Well, I finally am a 2nd Lieutenant and a college graduate.

It's been a long time coming and our family is very happy. Becca has done a pretty good job describing the event here.

I cleaned up a few of the photos for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure if that's the case).

Oh yeah

The bachelor party

My brother in law Danny is getting married May 9th, and we helped him celebrate the final days of his bachelorhood in grand style.

Look how truly BA we are!

Seriously, we had a lot of fun - I'm glad I ended up with brothers in law that love to have fun.

You can read about it all here: Linky

Back in the saddle again

Well... my two week leave of absence from work has ended and I couldn't be happier. Well, I could ALWAYS be HAPPIER (think independently wealthy, with a cabin in the boulder mountains, ATV's, snowmobiles, guns and ammo to shoot critters, etc...), but within the realm of immediate plausibility I think I'm doing pretty well:

• In the first place, my employer was kind enough to grant me the leave of absence I needed so badly in order finish my bachelors degree at Utah State University this semester (thanks ADP!).
• Second, I ACTUALLY DID IT!!! I had to complete a Science of Sound class, which turned out to be more of a physics/math class than the "history of music" class I hoped it was (be warned!) - I haven't taken a math class in years and I had to hire a tutor to help me get started. Still, I was able to finish the entire class in about 1.5 weeks, which is amazing to me.
• I also finished my Senior thesis, which is another story...

I commission in the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant on the 2nd of May, and then I will officially graduate on May 3rd. I am so happy that I don't know what to do! If you listen very closely, you can hear my parents breathing a sigh of relief that their oldest son has finally graduated. You can also hear my mother wringing her hands at the thought of her son in a combat zone.

I am very happy to be done - life seems to have so much savor now. My dad says that life just gets harder, but I have to echo my sister's sentiments - next year I won't be working 4/10's so I can get up at 5 AM every Thursday to drive to Logan and "play Army" all day, while I write my senior thesis and finish a physics class.

I commission at 10:00 AM, May 2nd, at Utah State University - my long suffering wife and my patient mother will be pinning the gold bars on me, Sgt First Class Lawrell Cook (the man who was perservering enough to make sure I got into LTC at Ft. Knox at the last minute back in 2005!) will give me my first salute, and Lt. Colonel (Retired) S. Rand Curtis (who is everything I want to be as an officer) will adminster the officer's oath to me.

I'm almost sad to be leaving the USU ROTC - even though most of the men and women I've met there have moved on. They are all over the world now - in various bases in across the United States as well as Germany, Korea, Alaska, Iraq, Afghanistan, and probably other places I don't know about. We all went through the same initiation:

• Looking for that blasted missing land nav stake at Temple Fork
• Suffering near cardiac arrest as we crossed a freezing river/lake under a zodiac boat
• Turning around at the 1 mile mark by Aggie Village during the APFT
• Having Jacob Harris kick you off "his" computer in the cadet lounge
• Playing Halo and talking trash in the cadet lounge
• Trying to hoist a ruck sack up the side of a cliff for the Jim Bridger Challenge
• Having LTC Curtis greet you with "Hello Handsome!" and then seconds later comment that your ears, hands, face, or nose is the "freakiest body appendage in our organization"
• Listening to Clint Edwards and/or myself muse on the benefits of a Red Dawn or Zombie Uprising scenario
• Being brainwashed into thinking that no real man would play Ultimate Frisbee or wear ankle socks
  

The list could go on and on. I can only look forward to what the future holds. Keep your fingers crossed.

Breaking Todd into the derby

My little brother Todd (who is now taller than me), accompanied us tonight on what has become a family tradition (thanks to my brother in law Mike) - THE ROLLER DERBY!


I told Becca that before the night was out I would get a picture of Todd with his arm around a derby girl. Little did we know that it would be the QUEEN of all derby girls: Dirty Pirate Hooker! (I can only wonder what my mother will think when she reads this - you might want to call me Mom.)


As it turns out, Dirty Pirate Hooker (or Jenny as she is known when she's not on the flat track) is the aunt of a girl in Becca's primary class - who'd a thunk it?!


Eli doesn't look very happy in this pic, because he was cheering for the OTHER team. He'd rather have a picture with our other favorite derby girl, Honey DeLunatic! We got to meet Honey after the bout - she gave Becca some helpful advice on becoming a derby girl - I just wish I'd been handier with the camera so we could have gotten another pic of Todd with his arm around a derby girl! I guess we'll just have to wait until the next bout...

Eli is a fan... :-)

Are we there yet?

I'm taking a break from my school work right now to preserve my sanity:

My semester ends the 28th of April, and I am feverishly working to complete an entire online class in a period of two weeks (it's a long story).

Anyways... yesterday I was able to ride on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter yesterday for the first time in about 2.5 years. I was slightly disappointed with the ride, as the pilot had the crew chief close the side doors and he didn't really do any cool maneuvers to make our stomach's jump. I guess I shouldn't complain because any ride in a helicopter is a treat.

As you can see from the pictures, there is still plenty of snow up Temple Fork Canyon.

This is me totally bragging, but yesterday I was able to physically subdue both of my brothers at the same time. Even though I'm about 20 lbs overweight, the extra weight still gives me some leverage - enough to put my brother Todd in the rear naked choke hold (I own you man!). Needless to say, Todd will probably be kicking my butt very shortly after reading this... (Todd, just remember when you have ME in the choke hold, that when I start tapping your arm, that means I give up/am about to pass out and you can let go.)

The funny thing about our little grappling match is that my little sister Leesa was worried that Todd was choking (that's why it's called a choke hold Leesa) whereas my mother was mostly concerned that we didn't break her bannister - you can tell she's been the mother of three boys for quite some time now.

What I'm really trying to say is that I'm SO HAPPY that my brother Todd has come home from his mission! I've missed that kid so much; our family feels complete again.

And happy birthdays this week Leesa and Laurie!

Here we go again...

...same old stuff again.

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My little brother Todd is nearing the end of his two year mission service in Peru! My parents, and my two youngest sibling are in country with him right now - touring some of the amazing wonders of the country and meeting many of the people Todd associated with while he was down there.

Todd is amazing - he's overcome many challenges that life has thrown at him and has become an outstanding individual that anyone would admire and emulate. I'm excited to see him when he gets home this Thursday - I only wish I could have gotten the time off work to go down and pick him up.

---

President Monson can wiggle his ears - who would have thunk it?

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DON'T QUESTION AUTHORITY!!!

I talked to certain county's Sheriff's office about the legality of a certain activity regarding hunting - I like to stay within the bounds of the law most of the time... ;-)

Anyways, the overzealous officer/dispatcher (the man on the phone wouldn't give me his name/title) told me emphatically that the bounds of the law were much stricter than I thought (in regards to this activity).

When I asked him if he knew where I could look up the laws that he was quoting, he told me that I didn't need to - his word on the matter was sufficient. I insisted, that in spite of him appearing to be an honest individual, I'd rather lookup the law myself rather than just take his word. He finally confessed that he didn't know where I would be able to look it up (I suggested the library, the internet, the county sherrif's office as places - if he could just give me the name of the ordinance/law/section of code I should look for or point me in the right direction).

This is confusing to me - I have a few friends in law enforcement that are NOT pompous jack asses... Had I asked them such a question (they aren't representatives of the county I was calling) and they didn't know the answer to my question, they would have told me as much and probably offered to get me to someone who did know the answer - anything to help an individual who is trying to comply with the law.

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Filliing out my ROTC accessions packet... what branch do I want? 2 years ago, I was all set to become a helicopter pilot - now I'm not sure what I am going to do.

My top three choices are: Aviation, Engineers, and Armor

We'll see what I get :-)

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Scouts!

I have been an assistant scoutmaster for the last 3 weeks. I work with 12-14 year old boys, and let me tell you - I have had to pull a few tricks from my Army background to help me out. My old Drill Sergeants would be proud to see me doing my part to keep these kids in line. It's quite the task since there are all extremely bright boys for their age and every single one of them has a cell phone that they are constantly talking/texting/gaming on.

Anyways, I'm pretty excited to have an excuse to go camping/fishing at least once a month now.

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Politics

Have you ever had the feeling that the transormation of America into a socialist state is an eventual inevitability?

I'm not talking about "the apalling behavior of kids these days", but rather the appalling behavior of the craven masses who willingly sacrifice freedoms so that the government will take care of them and protect us from ourselves.

John McCain is a Repulican In Name Only, not much better than Hillary Cinton or Barack Obama - the people who are intent on taking away the last our personal freedoms for our own good, and lowering America to a prosperity level that will be less enviable to the rest of the world.

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Becca's new haircut

Becca, her mom, and her sister all drove down to St. George this weekend - sole purpose of the trip was to get haircuts from Becca's aunt Teresa - the only person they truely trust their golden locks to.

Apparently it was worth the trip - Becca's hair is much shorter now - but the results are stunning. Thanks Teresa!

Guns for Grandma - Death of a Tape Deck

While we were hunting bunnies on the Burr Trail, we took a moment to destroy the old tape deck from the pathfinder. We hadn't had very much luck killing bunnies at this point, so it was nice to have a stationary target for a change.

This old tape deck was a gigantic pain in the butt - the LCD no longer worked so you had to guess what radio station you were on, or wait for the DJ to identify the station. My brother in law Mike helped me switch it out with a new stereo - long story short it wasn't easy and/or pretty.

I'm afraid that someone or something had to suffer for the hours of frustration we endured - this tape deck had it coming:



The little voice you heard saying, "I wanna shoot one too!" is that of Eli, my pride and joy! I could hardly deny my own son the opportunity to reek revenge. Sorry Valerie, you aren't going to like this one:



Thanks to Mike for taking the video!

The great Brough migration - Spring 2008

Every once in a while, Becca get's this homicidal look in her eyes (okay, maybe it's a little more frequent than that) which lets me know that it's time to get her out. Out of these four walls, out of this city, as far away as time/money will permit. A little over a month ago, I recognized the early warning signs and realized that I needed to take action immediately. We decided to use some of the precious little vacation time that hasn't been used for my final ROTC class, and head down to Capitol Reef.

Becca is planning on blogging this trip as well - if you want the "warm fuzzy" version of the trip, then you'd better read her blog - this version is the "hardcore awesome" version.

Day 1 - We left Salt Lake in the afternoon, the same day that I took my first Army PT test in about 2 years (I still am hurting, but I passed). We drove for about 3.5 hours until we arrived at our hotel in Torrey. I know that a hotel is not very "hardcore", but after a long day of hiking, off roading, and shooting stuff... relaxing in the hot tub seemed like an acceptable alternative to sleeping in a tent in Fruita.

You can see the picture of Eli setup for the road trip with his portable DVD player and big glass of rootbeer. We ate dinner at a cool place called Slackers - which had the BEST burgers we've tasted in a long time.

Day 2 - We woke up early in the morning and headed into the park - looking for any hikes that Eli would be able to complete on his own legs.

Amazingly enough, he dawdled during the short walk through Capitol Gorge to The Tanks, but he led the charge up the side of the Grand Wash to Cassidy Arch - a 3.5 mile round trip hike that ascends over 1,000 feet from the valley floor. Apparently all he needs is motivation (bring on the suck - Eli loves suffering and pain!). His primary motivation is that he was our leader - he carried the GPS the entire trip and pointed out over sign or trail marker we came across.


The pictures we took on the trail to Cassidy Arch don't do justice to the views we experienced.










Later on that night, Becca's brothers, Danny and Mike showed up - Eli was a little unhappy that this meant he now had to sleep on the floor - but that's a sacrifice that I was willing to make (I'm not making father of the year any time soon).






Day 3 - we took the Notom road along the Water Pocket Fold (ancient coral reef that runs the entire length of the park) down to the Burr Trail. Close to the intersection of these two dirt roads is a stretch of road on the Burr Trail call "The Switchbacks". I don't know how high they climb, but it was an amazing drive that made Becca very nervous in the passenger seat.

We climbed the Strike Valley Overlook where Danny and Mike got some awesome pictures of themselves looking cool in an equally cool setting, and then set out for our main event of the day - killing commies... er... rabbits. We drove around on a dirt road off of the Burr Trail, looking for the hordes of rabbits that had menaced us in that area last year.

We executed a few bunnies, and then along the way, we somehow got the pathfinder stuck on a part of the jeep trail which had been washed out by the spring rains (the cause of this incident is something we don't bring up in conversation around our house). We used an e-tool (folding shovel), a jack, and a lot of rocks which Becca found to lift up the pathfinder, which had been high centered, and spent close to an hour getting it out of the hole I drove it into on the road that Becca didn't want us to drive on :-)
In the end, we all agreed that we had a lot of fun getting the pathfinder unstuck.

As a bonus, on the way back to the Burr Trail, we saw a bunch of rabbits just STANDING/SITTING (whatever the hell jackrabbits do) STILL BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!! I stopped the car and was about the shoot the first one, and Becca told me to give her the gun and let her shoot. This was a true test of our love, and I almost failed. I finally gave Becca the gun, and let her shoot at the passive rabbit - which she missed. Three times. She gave up, so I grabbed the gun, and went "tactical". For those of you who AREN'T in the Army, "tactical" means that while wearing shorts and a t-shirt, you go prone in a pile of thorns so you can accurately shoot a rabbit with an AR15 from about 80 feet.

After killing a few more rabbits, we drove on to Boulder, where we ate a delicious meal at the Boulder Mesa Cafe, where Eli played with a bucket of toy trains (his highlight of the trip, on par with swimming at the hotel in Torrey - just ask him if you don't believe me).

We drove across the east side of the Boulder mountain as quickly as possible in the dark, so as to make it back to the hotel before the pool closed. We took great care to avoid the skunks, deer, and elk that were crossing the highway, but managed to add a vehicular kill to the number of dead rabbits for that day (score one for the good guys!).

Day 4 - we were so sad to be coming home - we hiked up to Chimney Rock and ate lunch in Fruita before driving home to all of our problems back in SLC. Our timing couldn't have been better though, since it snowed/rain the entire drive home!

The "Sorensen Snort"

Becca's family has an endearing way of taking things they like, modifying them ever so slightly, and then renaming them with their own moniker.

For example, you know those delicious chocolate and coconut squares? You may know them as "magic cookie bars", but if Becca makes them for you, you'd better call them "Sorensen Squares".

Also, there's a delightful card game known in some circles as "Swiss". If you're playing with Becca and her family, you'd be surprised to find out that you're playing "Sorensen Swiss".

I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, but I've decided that it's MY turn to give something the Sorensen name: The "Sorensen Snort".

If you get Becca to laugh (not just giggle, but really laugh) sometimes she'll do this little snort. It's funny, because she'll get a little embarrassed and blush (it's really cute), but she won't be able to stop laughing.

An sample of the jokes that evoke the Sorensen Snort (courtesy of Alicia Carter's sister):

What do you call four bullfighters in quick sand?
Cuatro Sinko!

The funny thing is that Eli does the same snort if I viciously tickle him... It's genetic

The "DB" incident...

I'm referring to this incident. Seriously, how bad is the word "douche bag"?

I forgot about saying "Bastards" too - thanks for reminding me Stacy.