Early Christmas Present

I had the "pleasure" of giving myself an early Christmas present this year! Actually, I haven't actually seen it yet, but I was able to feel it (Boy did I feel it!) and it cost me $125 now, and I'm sure more later. :)

The $125 was paid via check to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center Emergency Room, and in turn they gave me a CAT scan, a shot of morphine, and a urine strainer. Yep, that's right, Kidney Stones for Christmas!

The good news that the "First" stone appears to have passed. The bad news is that there appears to be some others that are still waiting to spread their Christmas cheer.

Today will mark the second time I've ever had to call in sick to work. The first was when I had my appendix out a few years ago, now it's these blasted kidney stones. (Ironically the pain is quite similar.) It will be nice to spend some time at home, play with the kids, and wait for round 2! Thank Goodness for pain pills!!!

I can't finish this post without saying thanks to Holly and her Mom. Holly called Carolee around 3 AM and she was at our house 15-20min later. She stayed at home with our kids while Holly graciously sacrificed her beauty sleep to take me to the Emergency Room. I have Holly to thank for a lot of things in my life but today specifically for taking such good care of me. THANKS!!!

Jackson's First Fight!

Jackson got into his first fight at school on Wednesday, Snowball Fight that is! Apparently one of the boys through an ice ball and hit Jack right in the eye. After a few minutes of tears Jackson was fine, other than some small cuts and a Black Eye! I guess we should have taken that family picture when we had the chance!

Saturday Hike

I went for a hike yesterday. I have been wanting to hike Maple all summer long and for some reason just had other things going on and hadn't accomplished this goal yet. So yesterday I strapped on my favorite hiking boots, my backpack and some hunter orange (it was the opening day of the deer hunt and did not want to be mistaken for a deer in some over excited hunter's eyes!).

Grandma and Grandpa Lambert's House - as seen from th top of Maple Mountian.

On this hike I came up with a few conclusions:

1. I'm out of shape!!! My legs are killing me!

2. ipods help keep your mind off the pain!

3. I really need to get a new camera & lens. Ever since my lens broke for my SLR I have been "real" camera-less. Point and shoot cameras are for the birds!

4. Fall is definitely my favorite season!

5. Life was meant to be lived outdoors - if we never get out we are missing the best things in life!

Frost!

This morning I went out to my car and had frost on my windshield! First time in quite some time that has happened!

I love Fall!

Sent from Brad Lambert's iPod

Fishing trip to Fish Lake, UT

When Holly asked me what I wanted for Father's Day last June - I told her I wanted to go fishing to Fish Lake where my father and grandfather had taken me fishing when I was a young boy. So we made some reservations and planned our trip. We drove down Friday afternoon and set up camp in the Makinaw campground. Grandma and Grandpa Strong were able to come with us and they were a great help!

We were successfull and caught more than a handful of fish. Some Rainbow trout and some perch. The first fish was caught by Holly and it ended up being a contender for the biggest fish caught by our party, only to be ousted out of first place by a 6 year old little girl named Jessica with a $14 spiderman fishing pole!!! Yep that's right, our little Jessica is quite the fisherwoman! She caught two respectable fish - with the biggest one being quite the jumper as it jumped out of the water mutiple times as she reeled it in.

Everyone caugh fish (Aspen even caught 2 on one cast!) and we all had fun!!! We did however make some resolutions for our next trip to fish lake. # 1 - A camper would be nice! #2 plan for more days - we had a lot fun and would have liked to have stayed longer. #3 If you visit a restaurant and the bathrooms are dirtier than the campground bathrooms and the restaurant is completely empty (nobody eating there) - DON'T eat there. We were leaving around dinner time and stopped at the Fish Lake Lodge to let the kids take a look a this old log building, they had a restaurant and we gave it a try. The food wasn't horrible - but it was also not worth half of what they were charging. Oh well - you live and learn.

Jackson is going to be a great fisherman - he has already mastered the task of fishing and sleeping at the same time!

Click on the link below for a slide show of pictures from this trip. (I'm having issues getting the slide show to post here - the link will work for now. If anybody is a pro at blogs/slideshows - I could use some help.)

http://www.slide.com/r/uv7puutV4j-uOPBoSk16eeChG0DtZhF7?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

Good Harvest!!!

Tonight I picked 158 tomatos from our garden! To realize how remarkable this is you need to see how small our garden is!

Sent from Brad Lambert's iPod

Cooking 101

Holly was gone tonight supporting her sister Beckie with the birth of her baby. Aspen & Jessica are with my Mom up Hobble Creek Canyon on a girls retreat, and Jackson ate dinner at Julie's house. So I was left with the task of feeding myself and myself only. This combined with a fridge full of tomatoes that we haven't eaten or given away yet (we have started giving tomatoes away to family and friends - we can't keep up!!!), I decided to make something for dinner using some of the 47 tomatoes I picked (tonight alone!). With no other mouths to feed, or complain if it didn't taste good, I decided to forgo any recipes or instructions and make something up. Instructions are for wimps anyway!

I looked in the pantry and at the bowl of freshly picked tomatoes looking for something that might spark an idea. It didn't take long and I had a dish in mind - no doubt the gormet version of this idea was more than likely stolen from something my Mom made or something I saw on Mindy's blog - The Bad Girls Kitchen. Here is what I came up with...

Vine Ripened Cherry and Grape Tomatoes & Anaheim Peppers picked fresh from from our Home Grown Backyard Garden and Fire Grilled Marinated Chicken Tenders (left over from last nights dinner). All Sauteed in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and seasoned with some Fresh, Coarsely Ground Black Pepper and some good old Table Salt. All of which was placed on top of some instant Rice a Roni Fettuccine Alfredo pasta mix. I know, I know, all you real cooks out there are screaming " Sinner! " in you minds as you read this - for mixing all those fresh ingredients with instant, preservative and sodium packed, Rica Roni - but hey - I did the best with what I had at the time! :) Additionally, although I could have handled cooking some real pasta - there is no chance I could have made an Alfredo sauce from scratch - I can't even spell "Fettuccine Alfredo" with out spell check or looking at the box!:)

It actually turned out pretty good - better than I expected. Good enough that I ate the hole plate by myself - leaving nothing but some dirty dishes in the sink. :):):)

MORE Tomatoes!!!

The flood has begun! We know are picking more tomatoes than we can eat. Even with Jessica who I would bet would rather eat a tomatoe than a piece of candy can't keep up! I guess it's time to make some Salsa!

TOMATOES!!!

Jessica has been anxiously awaiting the first red tomatoes from our garden and today was the day! This is our families first garden (only took us 10+ years to get it going) and we are starting to see the benefits. (Just in case you're wondering - Yes that is a Giselle dress, and Yes she finds a way to get in this dress almost every day!)

Our garden has been slow to start and compared to the neighbors our garden looks weak. But we are excited none the less! Our peppers are struggling and although our tomatoes had a slow start they are coming on now. Squash and cucumbers also had a slow start but I fear that one day they will take off and may even exceed our ability to eat them! We also planted some watermelons. I'm not sure what to think on this one - plants are growing but no melons yet???

I actually enjoy watering the garden and keeping an eye out for any new weedlings that are attempting to start up. It's a nice evening activity or a great start to a new day!

Quick trip to Colorado

I made a quick trip to Colorado to get a tooth fixed by the family dentist - Dr. Brad Strong (THANKS Brad!)

While I was there I couldn't resist heading to the Summer Camp Ranch. The Summer Camp is a family owned ranch where we run cows during the summer and fall months and also run hunting camps in the fall. I absolutely love spending time here, I could live here!.... Someday, (I'd have to convince Holly I could actually make some money and not just play at the ranch all day :) )

The highlight of my trip was when I went for a hike looking for some elk and found myself right in the middle of a bunch of cow elk. While I was there I found a BRAND NEW baby calf elk. It was so new it couldn't walk very well. I was about 5 ft away and could have easily picked it up, but decided to not traumatize it.

I took a lot of pictures - that's what I do for fun - hike and take landscape and wildlife photos. You can check out another blog that I have for the Summer Camp Ranch for more photos of this trip and other ranch outings. Here is a link to the Summer Camp Ranch Blog -http://summercampranch.blogspot.com/ .

5K Run

Our Family participated in the 2009 Live wElle 5K Run this weekend. Holly took 2 minutes off her previous time!!! This was my first year. With not running since my mission I was planning on doing a fair amount of walking but found that the motivation of the other runners helped me run more than I would have on my own. I did not catch my official time but remember it was 31 min and ??? seconds. (They should be posting the official times on the website soon)

Aspen also ran the 1 mile kids fun run. She had fun and completed very respectively. Aspen ran with some of her other cousins Tyler Strong, and Easton & Jacob Lancaster.





Jackson wanted to run (or fly) with his sister.

Bull Sale Video

Redd Raches Bull Sale

Our Family took a trip down south a couple weeks ago (I'm kind of a slow blogger). We fist went to Montrose, CO to visit Brad, Lezlee, Luke, & Cole Strong. Jessica got here cavities filled while we were there as well. We stayed in a hotel with a pool and i think that was the highlight of the trip for the kids - they love to swim, but then again what kid doesn't.

After a day or so in Montrose we got back on the road and headed for LaSal, UT to stay at the ranch house. The weather report was not looking good - it was calling for rain turning to snow. Any of you who have the route between Montrose and LaSal can imagine our concerns as we were driving Holly's 2-wheel drive mini van. I bought chains just in case. As it turns out we did not need them as the weather was clear the whole way. Murphy's law I guess, until that night and the next morning - it dumped 5-6 inches of snow in LaSal. If we did not have those chains we would not have made it out of the ranch house. As soon as we got to a lower elevation the roads were fine and we took them off.

We were headed to the Annual Redd Ranches Bull Sale - A Family run event that we love to help out with and enjoy getting a taste of ranch life atmosphere. Below are a few pictures from our trip, as well as link to a video posted to YouTube by my little brother Marc.

Jessica, Aspen, & Jackson swimming at the Hotel Pool in Montrose, CO.

Jackson hanging out with the colts.

My Dad and Pat are turning and applying marinade to the Famous Roast Beef served for lunch at the Bull Sale.

Aspen, Just being cute!

The ranch dog really wanted a piece of Jackson's Brownie.

You won't see many pictures of me as I am usually the one with the camera. But now my kids are wanting to take pictures too. I guess their a little curious why Dad always has his camera. It's just as fun to take the pictures as it is to share them with others later on!

Pat is great entertainment for the kids! :) :) :)

The Mighty Meat Cookers and Slicers! Marc, Pat, Brian, (and Arnold in the back)

When Holly first saw this photo she burst into laughter and said it looks like an engagement photo! Pat is single - I just didn't know he was getting serious with anyone, let alone Arnold! :):):)

Here is a link to a YouTube video from the Bull Sale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pILUjBCySGk

Another Saturday of Fun at Grandpa Lambert's House!

We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Lambert's house yesterday to take a quick horse ride and ended up staying the better part of the day. If was our three kids plus a couple of cousins (Lauren and Emma Beisinger). We rode the Paint horse, practicing basic ridding techniques in the round pen, rode the 4-Wheelers, and had a snowball fight with some of the remains of the snow that had been plowed from the driveway and piled up out back. Grandma had some special snow throwers that kept our hands from getting cold!

Jackson, cousin Emma, and Aspen waiting for their turn on the horse.

Jessica showing us her "I wanted to be next on the horse" face.

Aspen is getting better and better at riding by herself and loves to Trot on the Horse!

Jackson played hard and got a little tired at the end of the day!

Lauren leading Emma around on the Horse.

Thanks to the north side of the home and some piles of snow from Grandpa plowing the driveway there was enough snow for a springtime snowball fight!

Aspen got snow down the back of her shirt.

Aspen chasing after Lauren to get her back for the snow down her shirt.

All the kids thought it was fun to throw snow balls over the fence at Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandpa's Jeep!

Lambert Family Combined B-day Party

We had a small get together last weeked to celebrate all the Feburary & March birthdays we have in the Lambert Family. Here are few pics from the event.



Jackson was very excited about his gift from Aunt Melodee!

Brett praticing his child throwing and catching skills, Pace happy to be involved!

Jessica helping herself to some ice for her drink.

Playing in the Snow!

These pictures are from a few weeks ago when we had some fresh snow. Since these were taken we had a warm spell, a few inches of rain that melted all the snow, and then another blast of winter that brought the snow back.

We went out with intensions to build a snowman, but the snow was so powdery that it would not pack. Snow angels were just as fun.