Can you Belize it!!!

Last week we had the chance to go to Belize with some of our friends Brandon/Courtney, and Jason/Becky. We originally planned on going to Italy, but with the exchange rate being so crappy right now, we decided that we couldn't afford it until we saved up. Belize was a blast and so relaxing. Cody has not been able to take time off of work since he has been with skywest so our travels have been limited to 3 days or less. Well he finally had some sick days he could use, so we got to go for a week. We haven't got all the pics yet, so we'll post some more when we get them.

The first adventure was trying to fly 6 people on standby all the way to Central America.

Amazingly enough we didn't have any problems on the way there or back... I guess it was good that we all split up and went to Atlanta at different times.

Next, we spent a day in Belize City. Talk about GHETTO. This place was run down and not very tourist friendly, but there were some cool things to do there so we had to stay for a while. First we went Cave Tubing... which is exactly what it sounds like. (We have pics on an underwater camera, that is getting developed right now.)They have rivers that wind through the jungles and go through caves. Its kindof like floating the canal in logan, except a lot cooler scenery. Next we had to go visit some Mayan Ruins, Which were amazing and Hot!






Next, we took a boat ride out to Ambergris Caye to spend the rest of our time on the island. This place was almost just as ghetto, but it was directed a little more towards tourists so it wasn't as bad. The island had a really simple lifestyle to it. The motto was no shirts no shoes no problem. In Ambergris we were there to scubadive and snorkel, so thats what we did. Unfortunately the Scuba was pretty disappointing. We have heard that it is some of the best diving in the world, so that is why we went, but the visibility was bad and there was hardly any marine life. In fact the best dive wasn't even a dive at all. It was snorkeling in shark ray alley. There we petted some nurse sharks, and tried to avoid the spear of the manta rays while playing with them.


The food there was interesting, everything is served with beans and rice and you have to put hot sauce on it to get the full flavor. Cody and everyone else loved the food, but Tennille wasn't to fond of it. Although Tennille was the first one to try gibnut (we found out that gibnut is a cousin of a rat) so that could have something to do with it.
We found one place called Waraguma's that had great food and we ate there at least once a day if not twice. One of the specialties is a Papusa, which is like a meat filled pancake... Yummy!





We will post the rest of the pics later. But we have a contest for everyone.

Whoever can come up with the best caption for this pic of Jason,Cody,and Brandon get a trip to Belize!

BELIZE...here we come!

So besides the fact that its HURRICANE SEASON, we are taking our chances and hitting up Belize next week. We will be going with two other crazy couples...Brandon/Courntney and Jason/Becky and we can't wait! Hopefully the weather will be good because we're planning on going diving while we are there. I apologize to Cody in advance for any sea sickness that will occur... our last dive trip in Mexico didn't turn out so well!

BEHOLD....THE REFORMER!

So over the summer, I have been taking Intensive Mat and Reformer courses to become a certified instructor through Stott Pilates. At first I had planned on only taking the Mat course because I had no idea what the Reformer was all about....but on a whim, I decided to do the Reformer course and am so glad that I did! For those of you who don't know, this machine really strengthens your stabilizing muscles (the ones that help us walk, stay balanced, etc). Honestly, since I have started to work out on it, I feel that I could go back into dancing with no injuries at all. I can't say enough about Pilates and how it has helped my insanity! Now I just need to get Cody on it...his body is falling apart (bad back, chest pain, heel pain, etc, etc) Hopefully one day I'll have 4000 dollars to buy the machine, but for now, I am just excited to start teaching. If anyone is interested...I teach private Reformer sessions at the Tree House Gym in Draper. Yay!

OSHKOSH!!!

If anyone knows anything about aviation you should know what Oshkosh (or EAA Airventure) is. Its kindof the Mecca for pilots. It is held in Oshkosh Wisconsin, and it is the largest gathering of aircraft enthusiasts in the world. The city of Oshkosh goes from a population of approx 100,00 during the rest of the year, but during that one week the population is anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000... so you get the point, its HUGE!

YEA, THOSE ARE ALL AIRPLANES

Anyway, I got the chance to fly out there in a seminole this past week and spend a couple of days in Oshkosh. It was awesome!!!


There was so much to do, and so many pictures to take I'll just include some of my favorite things from out there.

First we got the chance to fly over Nauvoo, then we stayed in Burlington Il, (which is right next door) so we went and visited.



Honestly, I wasn't really impressed with the place. It was really cool to see where everything started but i don't think I would ever plan a full trip around Nauvoo. Granted we were there on a sunday evening and nothing was open, it might have been different if there was stuff open for us.




Apparently "Jerrys one man band" is there every year entertaining on his accordion and "one man band instruments". I wonder if he sales many of his cassettes that are for sale... seriously, casettes.




I found the airplane that chad(my brother) and I are going to build some day. We both dream of owning a P-51 mustang but the 2.5 million dollar price on the retired P-51's is a little pricey for me. This is a 3/4 scale kit, that flies at 200 MPH. Realisticly it would take about 2.5 years to build, if I was doing it in my spare time. Hopefully in the next couple years!!!





HONDA JET



I tried to look at all the VLJ's (very light Jet) so I could decide what one I want to buy in a couple years. VLJ's are a really new, really cool concept to the aviation world. They are an airplane that offers the benefits of flying up high but doesn't have the same fuel cost as a regular "business jet" They are very small (some as small as 4 seats) but the price tag on them is anywhere from 1 mil to 3 mil. which is pretty cheap if you compare it to their bigger business jet brothers.

Cessna mustang interior


I got to ride a personal jet pack, just kidding, but they did a demo of this thing and it works. If you have a spare 100K laying around you could be the proud new owner of a Martin Personal jet Pack. They might even include a cool helmet like the guy on the movie rocketman had.



I also had the honor to be in the presence of Dr. Boseman Jr. and his family. They made a 4 hour drive to come to Oshkosh for 3.5 hours, then had to drive 4 hours back. Wow thats a lot of driving. THanks Pete and Liz for coming out, that was awesome to see ya. And peter let me know that his semi-annual blog update was getting a little to hectic, so it has changed to just an annual blog update. So I'll include some pics to prove they did leave the house for once!

Here is the photo proof that molly can show some affection... yea we are holding hands. Do you see the confused look on my face?




Getting out of Oshkosh was even more interesting than getting in. With 10,000 planes on the airport you can only imagine how hectic it would be to take off or land at any given time.

First off, there were about 60 airplanes waiting to get out at the same time as us. Once we got to the front of the line we basically were on the end of the runway with about 8 other planes. As soon as 1 would start rolling they would send the next one on his way.

So we took off, then directly after us there was a flight of three t-28's (WWII airplanes) barrelling down our way. We were able to get out of there safely though... which is better than some people!











On the way home we stayed the night in Cheyenne Wy, because we needed gas and it was about 2:30 am. So we decided to just throw out our sleeping bags there on the ramp next to our airplane.
















wow that was a long post, sorry!

So you think you can dance...

Last year Tennille became obsessed with the show "so you think you can dance" which eventually made me obsessed with it too. Anyway I wanted to surprise her last year, so I submitted for tickets. Well we never got them last year, but I got an email last sunday that said our name finally came up and we had tickets to the thursday showing, the live results show. Luckily enough, thursday is both of our days off and we fly for free so we decided we would go and try to get in. (last time we tried to go to a show, the price is right, we stood in line for 4.5 hours and still didn't get in; so we were a little weary about this one)

Anyway, we flew out there wednesday night and stayed at my cousins house. It was good to see Hadyn, Griffin, Steph and Tris. Apparently they do the live results show in 2 parts. So for the first part we had to be at the studio (same one as the price is right) at 7 am so we were on the road early. After a couple hours of waiting in line we finally got in to the studio.

I guess not too many people come to the morning part (this is where they tape the opening group dance) so we got front row right in front of the judges.


After the first filming session we had a 3 hour break before we had to be back. When we got back there was a huge line formed,

but luckily we got to go right to the front because we went to the morning filming session. This session was the actual live results show, and we got to see One Republic perform as well.

Watch at 2:22 for proof of us being there!

Anyway, they didn't let us take cameras into the studio for obvious reasons so we didn't get any pics inside. But this was a blast and if anyone gets the chance to go you should, it was well worth the time.

Tennille's First ride of the season

So as we get older and my friends start to have kids, I hear them say that they would almost rather watch their kid do good at something they love then to do it themselves. We I can tell that will totally be true when we have kids. Tennille was able to finally get off work and make it to the lake to try out her new wakeboard set up!




Last year, after many-o-hard falls she finally started clearing the wake (for you non wakeboarders, this is a big plateau most people face, so its a big deal) Well I thought it would take a while for her to get back in the groove, but after 5 minutes she was hitting wake to wake jumps without even thinking about it. The moral of the story is: Tennille is AWESOME, but also I was so stoked to see her do it, I just wanted to fore go my turn to keep watching her ride.




Our next step: We need to buy a boat!!!

Also my buddy Josh made this video of me riding, so I would feel guilty if I didn't thank him properly. Josh, I'm always Downfortheride!

Find more videos like this on myWakeUtah

THANKS CHAD and RORI!

We had such a good time the other night at the Tim McGraw concert. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the music was awesome...the people watching wasn't bad either! People do the craziest things at concerts.
Anyway, thank you to Chad and Rori for hooking us up with tickets. It was fun to go to dinner with you guys and hang out for a bit. It was also good to spend some time with Amy and Jer...we all haven't been in the same place at once for a long time. Good times with the fam!
Cody and I love going to concerts during the summer. It's so romantic to sit underneath the stars together and listen to good music. (Cody will probably gag when he reads this.) We also ran into some friends from Logan (Mitch and Natalie)...it was good to see them!


Jer, Amy, me, Cody, Chad, and Rori


Me, Cody, Mitch, and Natalie

First Ride

So I finally got out on the water a couple weeks ago for the first pull of the year. I was a little bit rusty but it was a good time anyway. Tennille and I tried to get back out yesterday, but it didn't end up working out... we are stuck bumming rides off of friends and can't stand the fact that we don't have a boat at our disposal!!! O Well, that will come some day.
So, here is a little video my buddy put together. Its me riding at 1:20-1:45, I know I'm real rusty!

Find more videos like this on myWakeUtah

OLD MAN CODY!!

Yes, its true...Cody is now a quarter century old! Since we both had to work on his birthday (so lame) we celebrated it last week with his family. I have a tradition now with Cody that for every birthday I make him a special birthday cake.
This year, I decided to make him an airplane cake and I have no idea how it turned out looking like an airplane because it literally started out as a pile of broken cake...but with a little frosting you can fix anything!




We had a yummy barbecue in the backyard while cute Olivia (our niece) took Kusaba on about ten different walks around the neighborhood. Cody and I told Addie and Olivia that we would pay them $1 for every time they take the dog on a walk...they are smart kids...they'll leave for five minutes, come back, and then leave again. I think we owe them about 15 bucks by now! Anyway, it was a fun night to hang out with the fam. Happy Birthday babe...I love ya!

Summer fun.....and Summer SCARES....

Cody and I just got back from Orlando which I will comment on in a sec. (Orlando is part of the "summer fun") I first have to comment on the "summer scares"...we now live in Bluffdale, UT which for those of you who don't know on the far southwest side of the Salt Lake Valley. The house we live in borders a desert-like wilderness (Do you see where I'm going with this?) Anyway, the other day I took the dog on a run right behind our house on what I thought was a really fun trail. NO way! Toward the end of the run, I yelled to Kusaba to come get a drink out of the canal that parallels the trail...he comes trotting over. I look down at our feet and there is a freakin huge rattlesnake one foot away from us. I have never yelled so loud in my entire life...in fact a few swear words might have slipped out. Kusaba and I took off running. My heart was beating so fast because my life had flashed before my eyes! I am absolutely terrified of rattlesnakes. Needless to say, I ran down the middle of the street the entire way home.

Well, the story does not end there. My parents came and stayed at our house while we were away in Orlando. They came to tend the dog and have a nice, relaxing time away from Logan. Well, the second Cody and I get off the plane, my phone rings and I answer...it's my mom. "YOU HAVE GOT TO MOVE!" were the first words out of her mouth. She went on to tell me that she found another rattlesnake right on our back porch next to the door. Are you kidding me? These disgusting creatures are invading the neighborhood and to tell you the truth, we might move because of it! A gruesome side note: My dad went outside and fought the snake with a shovel. My dad won the battle thank goodness...he ended up cutting it in half. Yeah, that's pretty gross. So, now I am looking in every corner and crevice when I go outside. You just never know!




Now on to the summer fun!! As I mentioned, Cody and I went to Orlando this week to celebrate his 25th birthday. A quarter century....wow! We had a really good time down there after we got finished dodging a near hurricane/tornado. Our first day, we went wakeboarding at the cable park.
I had never been to a cable park before and it was awesome! Instead of a boat pulling you around a lake there are a series of cables that are attaching to ropes and handles. It took me a while to get used to the cables and I have a sore neck to prove it (I face planted too many times!) We had so much fun enjoying the sun and watching the little kids school us in wakeboarding. There were some 8 year olds pulling out tricks that we would never even attempt!

Cody and I also took a tour of the Correct Craft factory (a huge boat manufacturing company) and I actually really enjoyed it. We felt like we were on an episode of "How it's made".
The guide showed us how a boat is made from start to finish. I am amazed at the manual labor that is put into those things. It was cool to see the chopper gun and how fiberglass and resin combine to make the boats. No wonder they are so expensive!

Our trip was short and sweet and we did things that most people wouldn't do when you go to Orlando. We didn't do the Disney or Universal thing, but maybe next time!

Ryan and Lindsey got hitched!

Wow, it has been awhile since we have updated this thing. I promise to do better. Well on May 22nd, my friend, Lindsey, and Cody's best friend Ryan got married up in Logan. It was a beautiful wedding besides that fact that it rained all day. Ryan and Lindsey are so happy together.

Cody was one of Ryan's best men and looked pretty handsome if I do say so myself! We had a really good time seeing old friends and catching up. Cody, of course had to break out his orange suit at the reception...too bad I didn't get any pics of that!