Ain't no need to watch where you're goin', just need to know where you've been. - Mater

Alice Mia Fish

2009-08-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Meet the newest member of the Fish family. Alice Mia....she was born on August 8th. 6 lbs 11 oz. 18" long. Born at 4:33 a.m. Mom and baby checked into the hospital around 4:10 a.m. Baby was in a hurry to come...all summer long we have said that any day is good for the baby to come except Aug. 8th. Lisy's brother was getting married that day at 9:00 a.m. Lisy's doctor was teasing with us and said. "Well that went smooth enough, would you still like to make it to that wedding?" Alice was also born on her Great-Grandpa Bass' birthday and also the same day that Tyler's family came to Utah from South Carolina 21 years ago...on Alpine days. She is a sweet baby and the Children adore her. Alice is just over a week old and it seems strange to imagine life without her.

*Natalie is so happy to have a little sister, she is already planning matching outfits for the two of them. She also is the one who named the baby.

Fishing and Matthew's T-Ball game

2009-06-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Tyler has been so anxious to fish all spring. Finally he got his chance at the Schlappi "guarantee catch" pond. What a beautiful place. We took the kids and met with Tilly and Tyler and the Trunnells for a fun fishing evening. We roasted hot dogs for dinner. It was also great to see Tilly and Tyler's new house in Fairview.

Matthew is so excited to play T-Ball. He is a great player...we think he has a much better arm at throwing than his swing at bat. It's a blast watching these little kids run around the bases with helmets that are five sizes too big.

Matthew's 4th Birthday

2009-06-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

A little post birthday celebration with the Halloween face paint. He was trying to make himself look really mean. As if he didn't get enough attention at his birthday party.

While the boys were playing with Matthew's new soccer ball, Natalie and Kennidee decided they needed some girl time. They made themselves into little Indian girls.

Landon and Matthew

Happy 4th Birthday Matthew...he loves chocolate sheet cake. He was eating birthday cake for a long time after. He wanted birthday cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was gald to see it finally gone. We had a simple party this year with a small crowd--whomever, was around at the time, it was fun and Matthew is so glad to be four.

Thanksgiving Point

2009-06-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

Savannah Bunker and Natalie...who needs swimming suits anyway!

I'm so glad I put sunscreen on Blair...twice I did, and he is still red. It could have been worse.

One of Natalie's favorite places was the Secret Garden. She loves flowers and such.

Anna, Elsie, and Natalie loved the lily pads and flowers. We even saw a frog next to a lily pad.

We had a wonderful time at The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point with the Bunkers and some of the Trunnells. The Children enjoyed it as much as the adults. We especially had a great time on the golf carts. Grandpa was giving fun rides all around the Gardens. The kids really enjoyed ending the hot day the the Children's Garden getting soaked in Noah's Ark. We lost Blair for a short while and that was no fun at all. He had helped himself into the bathroom and couldn't open the door from the inside to let himself out. He is a quiet boy who likes to wander.

On our way home from the Gardens Uncle Darren treated everyone to some yummy gigantic ice cream bars from Costco.

The van was a riot...as this picture says it all. I'm just glad I wasn't in the back. WHOA!

Some Fun Times With Thomas The Train

2009-06-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great little train ride on Thomas. The kids thought it was the real thing, they spent the whole time walking between carts and enjoying the views from the train. They also enjoyed being with the Trunnell cousins.

Natalie and Elsie getting in some pet shop playing time while aboard the train.

We can't go anywhere without some sort of sports ball.

What cute kids. The only thing missing on our day out with Thomas was Sir Topham Hat.

Temple Time

2009-06-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Matthew

Blair

Natalie

We thought we would get pictures at the Temple with all the pretty tulips, there are a few tulips you can see in the back ground; however, we came a little too late in the season. Maybe next year.

Routine Visit to the Lab

2009-06-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

At one of our weekly visits for Natalie at Primary's she picked a pair of sunglasses for her prize and Matthew and Blair shared some jacks...which they began playing in the center of the walkway, I had to coax them to play somewhere less traveled. We had to wait for the blood test results this time so we sat on the grass outside the hospital and told funny stories. I was glad I had my camera with me that day.

2009-01-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Not sure where to start with this entry. November seems so long ago now and its tough to remember the happenings that are now history. At the end of November Lisy and I took a trip back down to watch our Sister in-law compete in the IRONMAN. The event is incredible, and is well worth attending even if you don't know anyone competing.

I finally got Orangle Legal Provo up and running. December 1st was a our first day, and since then have gained a few clients who will use us on a regular basis. It's tough when you are the accountant, manager, sales, production worker and janitor. Somebody's gotta do it. Our machines are pretty cool, we can scan, print and copy anything. Plus they all have high speed document feeders, so scanning pictures projects is quite efficient. I've had a couple projects scanning pictures and burning them to disk. Seems like a lot of people now, are looking to digitize their old photos or scrapbooks and then saving them with their exisiting pictures on their hard drive. If anyone is interested in this service call me 801.878.0868

The kids are growing up fast. Blair is starting to speak in addition to showing his muscles. Natalie's health seems to be the same, therefore it is day to day making sure she takes her medicene as needed. She's loving to learn her numbers and will not stop singing the alphabet song. Matthew continues to find new ways to wear me out. However, his energy and excitement I keep telling myself, will benefit the family one of these days. He is pretty funny, and loves to help me around the house.

2008-11-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

This past month has been good to us as we've enjoyed the fall colors. Since the weather has been relatively warm, it seems that Autumn has stuck around longer this year. Which is OK by me since I think we got gypped out of a solid Fall last year.

Since the last entry I have been making preparations for our new business in Provo. So far we have leased a space and moved some of the furniture/machines in. It has been exciting taking the risk of starting up something new. This is our website: Orangelt.com

The kids enjoyed Halloween last night. Matthew was a Race Car driver, Natalie a pink flying bat, and Blair a State Trooper. All had fun gathering candy at the Trunk or Treat.

Long Time New Change

2008-09-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

These entries are turning out to be more of a quartely event than a weekly. I am excited about the change in weather and with it the colors fall brings around each year. The kids are growing up and excited for the snow to fly. We found out 2 weeks ago Lisy is pregnant with our 4th. We are very excited. Possibly the baby is due to come in May/June.

My place of employment was recently bought out by RICHO copiers, and with most buyouts there comes corporate restructuring. My location was informed 2 weeks ago we would be shutting down in Oct. This gave me a great excuse to start up a business more close to home. So in October sometime I hope to have Orange Legal Technologies up and running with my partner to service the legal industry in Utah County.

Blair, Natalie & Matthew

2008-07-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

Radiator-Rodeo & Fishing

2008-07-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'm going to recap the best I can what has happened the past couple weeks. As most of our friends know, I take pride in still driving my 95 Honda Accord. It has 214,000 miles on it now and although she is trustworthy most of the time she is starting to show her age. This past week the radiator exploded on me as I coasted into my parents place. I couldn't wrap my mind around paying someone $300-400 to replace it, so I called around to price new radiators. After a little search I found one at PepBoys for a $100. I then called my Dad (G-money) to help me out. After close to 3 hours we had pulled out the old and replaced the Honda "Rice Rocket" with a new radiator. I still can't believe we went through the whole process without having to go back to the auto parts store to buy something more. If anyone needs to replace their radiator, try doing it yourself and saving some money----WELL WORTH IT!

Strawberry Days Rodeo---I can't believe what the rednecks are charging these days to watch horses and bulls. Nevertheless, since it is only once a year it seems to be worth it. The entertainment part of the show has made some incredible advances since the last rodeo I attended several years ago. (From what I remember it was some cowboy parading a black horse around the arena trying to convince us it was "the" Black Beauty" we all read about as children in the boring classic we've come to love. ) This year however, it was two dudes doing back flips on motorcycles---need I say more.

Matthew had is 3rd Birthday recently. We had the much of the family over for a party. He loved the gifts and balloons. He and I went fishing the other week up to Jordanel and dropped a couple lines in. We had no luck there, so we decided to head down to the Provo river where Matthew reeled one in.

2008-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I finaly caught a fish up provo canyon.

Fishing/Dentist & last Day at Snowbird

2008-06-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

This past week Natalie got a hair cut from Aunt Tilly and had an appointment with the dentist at Primary Children's hospital. She had so many cavities the doctor needed to put her under in order to fix her teeth. When it was all said and done Natalie woke up to having 4 new caps in her mouth or what she refers to as "sparkly teeth." She was very brave through the whole ordeal.

Ryan and I had a cousins day out up at the Bird Saturday. Mid-mountain still had around 10' of snow and the weather was perfect to get some last turns in. We started off at Mineral Basin in the morning... it was good. However when the sun warmed up the snow, things got better over the entire mountain. We hike up Baldy and found our best turns there. The highlight of the day was on little cirque where we hit a small chute. The first video shows how anxious Ryan was to hit the chute before I could get him on video. I was ticked, however it was so fun we gave it a second try and I got some good footage of him screaming down the mountain. Ryan, you're a Man's Man. It also seems to be that the last day of the year is when I muster up enough courage to attempt a 360. It's safe to say that I am still as good as I was the first day I ever tried one....terrible. I will tout however that I am consistant, and consitancy is the mark of a champion. Maybe, I'm the Man's man? Anyhow, not much beats a day on the mountain with my cousin.

The other week I took the family fishing up at Tibble Fork Reservoir. I of told my self not to expect much since that place has been fish out since who knows when. Of course we caught nothing, but having the family up there was great and the scenery always seems to never disappoint.

2008-05-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

We don't know who this man was however, we gave him a standing ovation for bringing his own style and sweater to the beach.
I caught this fish staring at me while snorkling one day. He said I didn't need to use the flash because my skin was already reflecting enough light. What a nice guy.......so polite.

These are some of the pics taken at Maui. Our camera is waterproof so we got some cool underwater footage while we were there.

Maui / American Fork Steel Women's Triathlon

2008-05-18T16:13:00.001-07:00

Lisy, ran her first triathlon yesterday! She did fantastic finishing in 1 hr & 23 mins, 30th in her age group. It was fun having the whole family come out the help cheer she and Jessica on to the finish line.

It has been far too long since we updated this blog. Last April Lisy and I had the chance to go to Maui for a week. It was awesome. However, we did miss the kids half way through the trip. They will have to come next time.

I always thought a tropical paradise vacation was overrated.....I was sorely mistaken. Lisy and I stayed at the Ka'aanapalli beach resort in Maui and went snorkling almost every day. My favorite part was having nothing to do and watching the sunsets. We also got a bunch of hiking in the time we were there. The Seven Sacred pools, and the bamboo forest was exciting. The whole place was straight out of Magnum PI minus the mustache and chest hair.

Been a while

2007-12-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since our last entry, so I will try and remember as much as I can.

Since moving to Utah it has been great being in the cooler weather and playing in all the new snow. However we took Natalie and Matthew sledding up American Fork canyon yesterday. It was their first time, and pretty much a disaster. Although the surroundings were picture perfect the kids were not having anything to do with the bitter cold weather. Matthew cried non stop and Natalie decided half way into it she'd rather not be there either. I got most of it on video. If you listened to the commentary made by our kids, it would make your ears bleed. I keep telling myself next time will be better.

Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year especially when there is snow. We are getting light snow at the moment and predicted to have a larger storm for Christmas Eve. It is wonderful we will be able to spend most of our time this holiday season with family, however we are looking forward to our house eventually selling in Phoenix so that we may get into our own house this next year. So, if any of you are moving or know of anyone moving to Phoenix go to this site: http://www.2122rockwood.com/ and purchase our home.

Our little Blair has begun to crawl and in addition is able to be a little more independent which is great for us. He is just as wide as he is tall, built like a tank.

Lisy and I also had our 5th Anniversary on December 20th. It was great because the big storm blew in just in time, just like our wedding day. Lisy got a necklace and also let me take her out to dinner. What a deal!

Marathon and Matthew gets a haircut

2007-10-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Matthew finaly got a haircut this past week. He looks like a different person now. Thanks to his Uncle Jonny.

This past Sept. 6 we all went to St. George to watch Tyler run the marathon. It was a good time with Jeanette joining us to fill Natalie's spot as she was sick and couldn't make the trip. We made it down on Friday and waited for Tyler along the way as he made his 26 mile run to the finish line. His time was 3:03. Although it qualifies for Boston it was still just a bit slower than his first time through the St. George marathon. It was also fun to see friends from home there racing too.

Disneyland

2007-09-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

This past week was awesome. It was my last day at my place of employment on Labor day. We celebrated that and Lisy's birthday by going to Disneyland! The kids loved it, and Uncle Michael coming along. The first thing Natalie wanted to do was to buy some princess shoes. Then it was off to ride all the rides. We did however make it to the beach, which the kids enjoyed somewhat. The water was a little much for them. The temperature was perfect, and the water warm.
We are anticipating our move this week back up to Utah. We are excited to start a new chapter in our lives with IKON (my new place of employment) Things are good in Phoenix, and will be even better when fall comes around and we will be in Utah.

quick update

2007-06-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this for a while. Lisy and the family have been up in Utah for the past 2 weeks visiting. I've been here working and running. I'm up to 10 miles now, and it seems each run is becoming easier. It has been incredibly lonely down here while the family is up in Utah. I'll be excited to see them this next week.

2007-05-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

This past week our family went swimming with some friends. It was a good time because Matthew and Natalie enjoy swimming so much. Both are not afraid of the water as long a Dad lets the hold on to him. Blair was there and slept most of the time. I'm excited when he becomes more active. Its too bad the most active he get is when he's loading his pants in the middle of the night 5 times over. He sure is cute though.

I'm still running, and finished a 6 miler last Saturday. My knees are starting to hurt more often now, so I am needing to ice them after each run. I used to always think those who complained of bad knees were giving an excuse not to exercise. Now I am eating a bit of humble pie, because my knees really do hurt!

Natalie

2007-05-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Natalie's hemoglobin count was low enough for her to require a blood transfusion. What a difference it made for her complexion. Everything went relatively well considering the insertion of the needle, which Natalie hates. We are hoping this will be the last time she needs something like this. Nevertheless we are grateful for the time one transfusion gives her before she becomes fatigued.

Lisy has been trying to keep up with the two older children while at the same time tending to Blair. She is amazing I don't know how she does it. He (Blair), I believe looks more like a Schellenberg these days. We are excited for our trip up to Utah at the end of June and can't wait to see everyone.

I've still been running consistently and feel I've made progress. I'm not so winded anymore after a short run. I am excited to be working towards the goal of finishing the St. George Marathon in October. I've also enjoyed borrowing Lisy's iPOD Shuffle, which by the way is the most convenient apparatus for listening to music while running.

Its getting hot down here in Phoenix, and we are not looking forward to Jun, July, Aug, Sept and Oct. I sincerely believe the devil packed his bags a long time ago and resides somewhere else where it is not so hot. Its so hot down here last summer as I was driving down the highway with the air on full blast, I did not realize I had the heat on instead of the A/C! WOOOOO, that's HOT!!!

Matthew & Natalie

2007-05-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

Matthew & Natalie's Tower.

Family Update

2007-05-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

I thought I would jot down a few happenings within our family in order to keep everyone updated. As most of you know we just welcomed our new son (Blair) into our family on April 13th. Since then Lisy and I have been adjusting to being out numbered with kids. Matthew is also currently getting used to being kicked off of the roost. As for Natalie, her health seems to be improving day by day. We are incredibly grateful for the support from friends and family as we have been searching for an answer to what her body is going through. As of late her energy and personality have been rising through the ailments that have so long held her down. We are confident through prayer, good dieting and professional assistance her health will be restored.

We went to the Grand Canyon a couple weeks ago as a family, which was very fun, that is except for the ride up and back. The kids wore us out in the car. However, the Grand Canyon, or the Grand Candy as our kids would call it was incredible. I'll post more pictures up of the trip.

Last week I decided to make another attempt in restoring my passion for running. Therefore I signed up for the St. George Marathon, which will be ran in October '07. I've got 4 months to kick it in gear and make the best of my training. I'm excited about all the "fresh rock" I'm going to listen to on my mp3 player. Wooooooooooo! Laugh all you want but there is nothing that gets me more pumped than a little Motley Crew in the morning! I ran 24 miles last week and didn't vomit once, which is a good sign for me. We'll see how it goes. If anyone want's a killer soundtrack for running let me know. I've got all the fresh rock you can handle.

Just Getting Started

2007-05-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is our first entry. Sending large files across the internet can be a pain so, I figured this would be easier for friends and family to view our videos and pictures. We'll see how it goes.