The bane of my existence!

Tina's van started to over heat, so I figured I would change the coolant and give it a little tune up. It continued to over heat, and the coolant would just disappear from the radiator. I continued to fill the coolant and bleed the air out, but it seemed to get worse and worse. For those of you who haven't beat me to the end of my story, the head gaskets have gone bad. I purchased a wrecked van of the same model and prepared myself mentally for the long process of the ever impossible minivan engine swap. It really wasn't as bad to remove as I had thought it would be. Neil come over to help and we had the engines (wrecked van and our van) out in about 5 hours. I put new plugs and some parts on the engine going back in. I had previously run the motor of the wrecked van and did a few quick checks to insure it's quality, so I was pretty excited to get it put into our van. It took a little longer to get it in than it did to get the other two out, but with the help of Scott and Rohan we were able to do it in about 7 hours (including an hour of frustration due to a stupid tax on my part) The van fired right up on the first try (which isn't typical for my work) sounded great, run well, and idled smooth. After it warmed up I jumped in for a test drive. It took off down the road, much more power than the old engine! about 1/2 mile down the road I noticed some smoke (which is also typical when changing engines for me) I figured a hose had been left off, or maybe residual oil burning off, but much to my dismay as I entered the driveway it was pouring a brownish/cream colored fluid was leaking from the bask of the motor. I pulled the oil dipstick and sure enough it was full of a bubbly gross brown colored oil. You guessed it..... bad head gasket!
After much debate we decided to skip the motor rebuild and buy another van. I searched for the van style we wanted and found about 6 we liked. Long story short each of the 6 were showing signs of bad head gaskets, or actually had them go out while we were lookng at them!!
Now the van sits in the garage awaiting my compassionate touch. We are going to pull the motor and replace the head gaskets in hope that it will return to the reliable family van it once was....

Finally the day comes!
The other day I decided I have waited long enough. I was not yet a man. I have been going through life pretending to be something I was not. I had friends that were real men, and I was always needing their help to show me the right way. I was failing in my ability to create. I was neglecting my duties because I could not accomplish them on my own. It was time for me to grow up. I needed to do what the big kids do. I needed to break away from the menial life I had been living....
It was time for a WELDER!!!

Now I realize that this is a simple 110 wire feed, but it is the first steps to becoming a man. After I learn to not hurt my self with this one I will move up to 22o. I must first walk before I run. I must have the milk before the meat. I will become a man soon enough!

Famous wife and kids

Tina was asked to do a photo with the girls for a "news paper add" when the girls were just a couple months old. We thought it was cool and have a couple copies of the article that ran in the davis county paper. One day we received a phone call from a friend telling us they had seen her on a billboard..... What a shock! My first question was "where the heck is my money!?". It has been fun for Tina to get phone calls from people that have seen her. The board is just before the Centerville exit on north bound I-15. What cute girls I have- all 3!

TAKE BACK UTAH RALLY

Saturday was a "take back Utah rally" Over 3,000 people rode quads, bikes ,UTV's , and jeeps from 5th south up state st to the capitol building in protest of the federal government closing public lands from public access. We had a pretty good turnout, the staging area for the parade was seven blocks long, three lanes wide, and we were packed in.
I was really disappointed with the news coverage, especially KSL. The reporter chicks husband sits on the SUWA board!! How can that be an unbiased report? half of her report was on SUWA's opinions and agenda.. Blast the stupid liberals- I say we hang them all! Dont get me started on Obama.....
In the pic above Dano is on the first blue bike, then Kevin, Kelly on the Quad, then Me on the 3rd blue bike.

Swimming Time!

For the Peterson Family reunion we went to cherry hill, so of course the girls had to get their first swimming lessons. Abby on picture left and Ally on right. We had to go to 4 different stores to finally find the floaties for them, but it was well worth it. The girls would kick their legs and actually swim themselves around the swimming pool.
We camped at cherry hill also, it was like a small city there. All the campers were packed in real tight. It was a little tricky to get the monster fifth wheel in, but of course Brian can do it. He even backed it into our tight spot in one try. We had a good time visiting with family.

4th of July

Hmm, girls are still asleep.
For the 4th a friend and I went out west of Utah Lake to fire off a few rounds. On my way out I called to thank Sgt. Kevin Marquardson for his particitation in insuring our freedoms. With the Obama administration I thought this might be the last 4th of July the country would actually be free. I invited Kevin to come shoot as well (this being the best idea of the day). He came out on his new bullet bike -Suzuki gsxr600. I was able to ride it back into town, while he drove my minivan. Needless to say I made it back a LOT faster than he did. You can really cover more ground at 110mph than you can at 45mph. I really enjoyed the short ride.

For the evening the my whole family, some of Tina's family, and some of our friends went to the West Jordan city park, made some BBQ, played croquet, and watched fireworks. We really had a good time.

Dads turn to post...

Tina is at work today. The girls are asleep. I don't want to clean the kitchen. I have already looked at my usual forums and sites. It's only 10:00. I figured I could blog for a bit!

I have been keeping an eye out for something that could take the whole family on fun adventures, while providing the excitement and fun that Tina and I are used to. I determined that a toyota 4runner would do the trick. I was out doing an appraisal, and in the guys driveway sat a busted ol' 1990 4runner. It hadn't been registered in 5 years. I offered him $100, he said he wanted more around $500, so I gave $150 :) We towed it home, hooked up the jumper cables and she fired right up. It was only running on 3.5 of the 6 cylinders, but it ran good enough to beat up, right?

For memorial day we went on a trip to 5 mile pass, and ran the rattlesnake and constrictor trails. (rated a 3+ of 5) We had a great time, and the girls slept through most of it.
For Tina's birthday we took the fifth wheel and 4runner and went camping for 3 days up American Fork Canyon. We went on the Forest lake trail (rated 5 of 5) and nearly put the 4runner on it's side. We saw a lot of beautiful views and wildlife. The girls also enjoyed this trip a lot.

After the forest lake trail Tina decide we needed a lift. I thought it would be more reasonable to buy something that already had a lift and not spend the money on the 4runner we had. Being that I have been rather rough on the 4runner- a few dents, bent bumper, and a missing exhaust (thanks to a large rock in the river crossing behind us in above picture) I decided it was time to move on. I sold the 4runner for $575. and started looking of the next family toy. I found it!

This is a '96 Jeep Cherokee. I paid a whopping $333 for it. It is equipped with a 4" lift and 31" rock crawler tires. It did not run due to a major electrical problem that could not be found by the previous owners. I spent a couple hours researching and chasing wires, until I found a corroded electrical connection to the ignition module. One $.02 butt connector later and problem solved. It has the 4.0 high output 6 cylinder motor, and it runs great.

I wanted to see it's flexibility (as it will be used for climbing over rocks). This is 23", and there is a bit more to go as well. I think it should fit our wants well enough, and if not we could get a bigger lift!

The next problem I have to solve is that our 5th wheel trailer is too long to pull the jeep behind it on another trailer, so in order to pull doubles I have to get a new 5th wheel. Bummer.

As a direct result of having kids I have had to get a 4 door truck, a jeep, and a new 5th wheel. I should have had kids a long time ago!

The girls are great. Just this week they have started sitting up on their own. They both are learning to use their vocal cords and like to talk a lot (they obviously get it from their mother).

The UPDATES y'all have been waiting for.....

To start the updates... In case any of you were wondering how I do it with twins? This picture should say it ALL!! I have the help of the most loving and caring husband and daddy, as he likes to be called!!

The girls went on their first camping trip to the Sand Dunes for the Easter week. We were there late afternoon April 7th to late afternoon April 11th!! We all had a blast! Here is a short description of the pics in order from top to bottom... 1)Brian holding his girls (Abby right & Ally left). 2) This is our 36 foot 5th wheel trailer we made into a toy hauler. This is what we stayed in. It has running water, heat, and the works to keep a young family warm thanks to a wonderful husband and daddy. 3) The girls after a jeep four wheeling adventure. The sunglasses and hats where in proper order when we started the trip, but they just shimmied their way down with all the bumps!! 4&5) The girls showing that they are ready for their first ride in their adorable sun hats Abby's hat is white and Ally's is yellow. Brian and I got a good laugh and the girls. We figured they thoroughly enjoyed the four wheeling because they cried every time we stopped and were quiet while we were on the go! 6) The girls and myself. The pink ear protection did exactly what it was supposed to. The girls slept like rocks! 7) The girls taking their first nap at the dunes in their pack and play while we were setting up camp the first day.

The girls were blessed March 29th and they looked like little princesses! They got all decked out for their very special day. Allyison is in purple and Abigail is in pink. Brian did an amazing job as he followed the direction of the spirit in giving the girls very beautiful and individual blessings.