Summertime, Summertime

After living in Hawaii, you take for granted being able to go outside anytime you want.  We just finished our second winter back in Utah and it is so nice not feeling stuck in the house all day now that summer is upon us.

This past week has been a busy one full of outdoor adventures.  We hiked up Bell's Canyon with the kids.  Gwen had a soccer tournament.  We took Mason swimming at the pool here in Suncrest.  Katie has run all over the mountains up here.  Gwen has played outside with neighborhood kids every night until the sun goes down.  I played a round of golf.  Mason has spent evenings covering our driveway in chalk art.

Just being able to get out again makes me think that "seasons" aren't all they're cracked up to be.  I could go back to summer all year.

Kemmerer Wyoming

We have an interesting week ahead.  Last week one of Katie's partners sent out an email letting everyone know that the job she was scheduled to be on fell through and that she'd be available if anyone needed help.  One of the jobs in Wyoming was a little behind and the senior asked if Katie she would be willing to spend two days up in Wyoming.  Katie agreed and within 24 hours, the agreed upon 2 day assignment became a full week.  We'll be fine, but it sure wasn't news that Gwen wanted to hear.  So we decided to stay home from church and make it a "family day" before Katie leaves town.

We've had a fun day together that started with the top to bottom cleaning that we usually do every other week.  We then piled in the car and went to Cheesecake Factory.  Mason and Gwen spent our 10-minute wait for a table pressing their faces against the glass of the display case debating over which piece of cheesecake they were going to order.  It sort of got Mason in a frenzy.

After stuffing ourselves we drove over to Murray Park.  Gwen busted out her roller blades, Mason his scooter.  Mason decided to roll down a massive, steep hill and was covered from head to toe in dead grass.  Hours later we're still plucking it from his hair.  We also found a large pond surrounded by thousands of rocks.  I think Mason felt it was his responsibility to throw every one of those rocks into that pond.  I think he could of stayed there throwing rocks for hours.  I stopped throwing rocks with him and glanced over at my beautiful wife sitting on the lawn, eyes closed, head back, looking up at the sun trying to soak up some vitamin D.  It was like watching a Swede coming out of a dark winter.

We didn't do anything spectacular, but it sure has felt like a perfect day.  We're all going to miss Katie next week, but Kemmerer Wyoming will be lucky to have her.

2011 Christmas by Gwen

Last Christmas, our family went on a small trip to Salt Lake City. We spent a night downtown just a few weeks before Christmas.  We just went there for one day, but it was still fun!

First we went to the Marriott to check in.  The lobby was really nice and I really liked how they had stores and shops.  We went by to take a look at the pool and it looked like fun.  Our room was a perfect size and we could see the new City Creek Shopping Center from our room.  The room was big enough that it didn’t feel crowded.

Next we went to dinner at the Olive Garden.  It is only a block away from our hotel.  It was really good.  I always like the Olive Garden.  But it was really hot and there were a lot of people there. 

Then we walked to a Trax station.  Trax is a train system in Salt Lake.  We took Trax to Temple Square.  There were millions of Christmas lights and it was really cool.  We stayed there for a half hour.  We started getting cold and went back to our hotel.  On the way back, we bought hot chocolate.

The next morning we went downstairs to the lobby and we went to Starbucks and I got the breakfast cinnamon bun and it wasn’t as good as it looked.  Then we got our swimsuits on and went down to the pool.  While mom went running in the gym, dad, Mason and I went swimming.  The pool is indoors.  It was really fun, but after a while, it got a little crowded for the small pool.  Finally, we packed-up and left.

We had lots of fun.  It would be a fun tradition to do every year.  I think it would be great trip for all ages.  

New Year's 2012

We just started a new year.  We feel so blessed for our health, our kids, our happy marriage, and our home.  2011 could have been a better year financially, but we hope 2012 will be better.

Katie and I each had to speak in Sacrament Meeting yesterday.  The topic for Katie was how her testimony in Christ helped her in 2011 and mine was strengthening your testimony in Christ for the new year.  I spent much of my talk referencing Neal A. Maxwell's talk "Swallowed Up in the Will of The Father."  It was a talk that had great impact on me as a missionary and it was timely to read through it again.  It certainly encouraged me to try a little harder.  Katie used a talk by Richard G. Scott for her talk, "The Power of a Strong Testimony."  She did a great job.  I was reminded how lucky I am to have her as my wife.  Mason started primary.  Gwen told us that he was brought to the front during sharing time as an example of a reverent child.  I was surprised to hear that and am quite certain it will be the only time he'll be recognized for such a role.

For New Year's Katie and I took the kids out for pizza.  We then played Yatzee with Gwen.  The kids were down by 8:00 and Katie and I were down well before midnight.

2012 will certainly have its challenges.  It will be the first year that we'll get to see what a "busy season" is like for Katie.  It will also be the first summer in a long time that Gwen won't have Katie home with her.  I truly hope she adjusts well.  As for me, I really need to start making some money.  I've felt like a failure at work lately and am tired of watching our savings shrink.  I'd like to pay off our debts and start putting some money in the bank.  I'd also like to make sure our family has the opportunity to travel abroad this year.  The kids are growing up so quickly that I really feel this strong desire to get out and travel as a family while we all still have time together.

Here's hoping for a prosperous 2012.

Mason at the Pool

Mason was born to go in the water.  He was born in Hawaii and Katie would take he and Gwen to the pool ever day.  He would beg to get in the pool and most days Katie would get in with him.  One day she wasn't up for getting wet and grew tired of Mason whining to get in.  Eventually she decided to let him jump in, swallow some water and hopefully realize that it wasn't fun to get in the water by himself.  The plan backfired when Mason jumped in, held his breath and swam back to the edge of the pool.  Our water baby was born.  This videos was taken when he was 16 months and had been swimming on his own for about 3 months...absolutely fearless.

First Post

December 24, 2011

I'm really going to go through with this.  I've always wanted to keep a "journal" but just have never gone through with it.  It's too bad, because there are so many great stories and comments the kids have shared through the years that we will never remember.

We're an average family of 4, one girl and one boy.  Katie and I have been married 12 years and during those 12 years we've lived in Austin for 2 years, Oahu for 3 and Utah for 7.  We tend to get a little anxious after we've been in one house or one city for too long.  We've lived in our current home for a little over a year and I think both Katie and I are wondering when we should move again and break up our routine.  

Katie works outside the home as an auditor for a CPA firm.  It's difficult to manage both her professional and home lives, but she is amazing and somehow finds boundless energy to be amazing at both.  She has such drive that I think she would feel a little unfulfilled just doing one or the other.  

I'm currently working as a recruiter.  It's not something I love, but it pays the bills and allows a ton of freedom.  That freedom will come in handy as Katie's schedule gets hectic with work.  I also enjoy that freedom because in the back of mind I see myself taking long weekend vacations with both Gwen and Mason as they grow older in order to stay close with them and have that special alone time when I might still have some influence on them as they grow older.

Katie and I both feel very blessed to have Gwen and Mason.  We joke that with Gwen we have the epitome of a girl; thoughtful, tender hearted, maternal and sweet.  With Mason we have the epitome of a boy; rough, fearless, a little crass and a jokester.  We've been fortunate because despite the age difference, our two kids have always been close.  Gwen was 6 when Mason was born.  She had been the center of everything for the first 6 years of her life and we didn't know how she'd adjust to having a brother.  The first day or two started out a little rough.  The day Katie was released from the hospital, we put the new baby in his stroller and went for a family walk.  Gwen lagged a few steps behind and when I stopped to ask what was bothering her, she said "I'm just remember how it was before the baby got here."  I think that was her last moment of worrying about the way things used to be and from that point on she has looked after and loved her little brother.  And Mason has always looked up to his sister as the coolest person in the world.  We are proud to be their parents.

I hope to keep this blog current.  I hope that I'm honest and open about joys, fears, wins, losses and that through this blog my kids can know their dad even better.  I hope that my family always stays close and love each other as much a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years and so on as we do today.  I hope we have many adventures and don't just coast through life.  I hope we take risks.  I hope we live.  I hope we keep the gospel of Christ in our lives.  I hope we are a remarkable family, not just because of what we accomplish but also because of how much we care for one another.  I hope this blog will show the Chandler family's course through life and that we'll always feel blessed to be a part of that journey together.