bonds of steele

Oh The Places You'll Go...

2011-06-28T18:01:00.000-06:00

graduation

Well it happened! Ty and Cass really did it! Tyler completed all of his coursework and credits to complete his BS in Digital Media and thus applied for graduation. The diploma has arrived and it is finally official! Cassidee, on the other hand, met with her advisor (which is really easy since she’s interning with him all summer) and he went thru the graduation application with her and the application was accepted! Her diploma with be coming around September (upon completion of the summer internship and math).

Ironman

We finally made it down to St. George to see what all the excitement was over this Ironman thing. It was amazing! Being able to go with Kevin helps a lot! We got to go out on a boat for the swim start Then Ty went with Kevin in the VIP car to take pix and vid during the bike course, and we all made it back down tot he finish line for the winners!

Truly one of the coolest things I’ve witnessed-if you get a chance take part in an Ironman! You can watch, volunteer, and get caught up in the adrenaline!

Ironman video

Orlando

Staying true to our reputation, we opted out of doing the pomp and circumstance that goes with traditional graduation. In other words, we did not buy a cap or gown nor did we do the ceremonial ‘walk’. Instead, we got on a plane in Salt Lake at 6 AM Wednesday morning and landed at 1:30 PM in Orlando Florida! After 6 days of different theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Islands of Adventure, & Universal Studios), we figured we had adequately celebrated our end of college.

in other news...

Tyler finished his training just before we headed out to Orlando. When we got back-he jumped right into building a website. According to Ty’s FaceBook status on May 20: “The best thing a boss could tell a web programmer, "The web site is yours, do whatever you want."- I love my job!” So needless to say, Ty and the new job are happy together.

Meanwhile, Cass started her summer internship upon the arrival home. She is interning at UVU with her academic adviser and the academic adviser training department. So far, so good.

Memorial Weekend

When we asked Grandma if she would teach us how to garden, we had no idea it came with a full yard make-over! But the yard needed it and we were all happy to help. Unfortunately we didn’t get any before/after pix, but we have a few of Ty in an apple tree and the robin's nest he found there.

We did plant a garden too! Grandpa showed us where he wanted it and gave us the plant and we planted a few tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli. We’ll check-in in a few weeks to see how we did.

Since the family was up to help with the yard, we also set up some appointment to look at houses. We’ll keep you posted on how the house hunting adventure goes-nothing as of yet, but the wheels are in motion.

Elder Lewis

“I´m doing great. We just came off of a good Sunday with a few "miracle" investigators who came to church without even being asked!

Yesterday, we had no less than 4 people try to feed us in just as many hours: an asado (Argentine barbeque, you don´t know what you´re missing), cookies and milk, a dozen donuts, and a final wave of empanadas and homemade bread. By the time we made it back to the apartment, we were both clutching our stomachs in agony, waiting for the pain to pass!

The Lord really has been good to us, and we´re happy to finish the transfer strong and pave the way for my next (last?) companion.

The members are getting really close to us. They do visits with us whenever we ask them to, and many of our investigators are there family members, up to the point where if we teach something without a member involved its almost like we´re failing...”

spring 2011

2011-06-11T14:08:00.002-06:00

Well it is apparent that homework trumps blog-even if it is small amounts of homework. As the semester ends, I am finding more time for blogging. Unfortunately there are 3 months that were missed in the midst. But the fact that I have stuff to blog about creates a paradox in that I don’t have time to blog about it because events are happening. Thus if I have time it must mean there is nothing to blog about.

That being said, the question is why go to all the trouble to summarize and write at all. Well this is the extent of the Steele journal so if posterity ever wants to know about Grandma and Grandpa Steele-this is about all they’ve got. So, here goes---

February:

Before going into the details of the major events, it should be mentioned that work kept us both busy. Not hard, just busy. There were also tons of get-togethers with friends, which is really want I wanted to happen this ‘final’ semester.

February opens with the Super Bowl weekend! The Dexter’s invited us all over and the boys watched the game while the girls made an apron for me! Kayde also found a recipe for beignet and we fried some ups and had a delicious treat!

Ty and I also learned how to make origami cranes! My dear friend Ris decided on the 1,000 crane wish and used them as decorations for her wedding! So a bunch of her friends got together and learned how to fold! Way to go Ris and Tevan!

Mieka’s final month in Orem! She was due to report to the MTC on March 30th so she decided to move back home for the month of March. A surprise party was held for her on the eve before her Orem farewell. We wish her the best of luck in Edmonton, Canada!

The month ended on a bit of a sad note. Dear Uncle Morrie passed away just after Valentine’s. He was going thru a very tough time physically, but the passing of a loved one is always hard. Grandma and Dad quickly arranged a funeral, and it was (at least) nice to see all the family again.

Just one week after the funeral Ty was on his way up to help with the aftermath and was re-ended in our newly revived Honda. Luckily Ty wasn’t hurt and we got a settlement for the Honda. Ty is optimistic he will be able to fix it himself and get Frankie back up and running.

Here is Elder Lewis’ thoughts for Uncle Morrie:

I was sorry to hear about Uncle Morrie. I know this has to be hard for each of you, especially Grandma. We love him and miss him. But how fortunate are we to have the gospel! As a missionary, it truly is heartwrenching to see the pain in people´s eyes when they don´t understand the plan of salvation. Without the healing power of the atonement in their lives, these wounds can last hears. Some of them are willing to accept His peace, and others, unfortunately, refuse to accept hope. Meanwhile, we who know can find the same strength as Martha. Though she mourned for her brother, her faith remained unwavering.

"Nevertheless, I know that whatsoever thing that thou shouldst ask of God, He will give it thee."

Moments like these are always painful; even God feels sorrow from time to time. However, if we respond like this great woman from the scriptures, we too can find solace in the Savior´s response:

"Thy brother shall rise again."

While it is true that we have to wait for this promise to be fulfilled, I testify that it is true. He is "the resurrection and the life" and "whosoever beleiveth in (him) shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life."

Our dear friend has gone home. His spirit has returned "to the God who gave it life." He is carrying on this great work on the other side of the veil. He loves us and is watching over us now. He is patiently waiting for the day when we wil meet each other once more, the day when he can return to his earthly body, and this time, he will be free of pain, of sickness, and of suffering. Certainly let us mourn for Him, and let us honor him by serving the Lord and trusting in His promises, by living worthily to find our dear friend in the Celestial Kingdom once more.

March:

Okay so March only has three main events, but it is birthday month so we stayed extra busy!

First off, I decided to throw Ty a surprise birthday fiesta! Planning started clear back in February and he fell for it all. Hilary made an awesome nacho cake! Kayde and Mieka helped with a piñata, and Maria made some great gorditas! Thanks everyone for helping decorate and bringing food, and thanks especially Nate for filming and Hilary for being the ‘distraction’!

Ty put together this clip-enjoy

Next big ticket item was the LA Travel Show! Ty and I are grateful that Dad and the CVB for St. George invite us to come because its always fun-plus we get time with Ty’s family! This year’s show was extremely exciting for me because I got to meet Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel! No it wasn’t just a photo opportunity-we (me, Dad and Ty) stood around and chatted with her at a party!

After the party we got a tour of the Grammy Museum and we lost Ty on the John Lennon floor.

I also want to talk up our hotel! We stayed at the Hotel Figuerroa in downtown. Definitely one of the coolest places ever! The pictures do not do it justice, but it was an attempt!

Well to round out the end of the month, we did the annual birthday sushi at Yamato! Delicious!

We wouldn’t want to forget dear Elder Lewis:

Everyone seems a little excited to here about life in Catonas. Well, here goes.

When I got here, the average ward attendance hovered around 60. Last

week we had 88, and I´m hoping to break 100 soon! Interestingly

enough, that doesn´t include the bishop, as he´s been sick in bed ever

since I got here. He´s a very good guy, and I hope that he gets better

soon. He´s already helped us with several lessons from his kitchen

table, having offered to let us teach investigators in his home. Once

he´s on his feet again, we could see some very good things happening.

He also has a son out on a mission, who just got to Brazil two weeks

ago. I think we´ve been sort of adopted in his place.

Supposedly, "you can´t baptize in Catonas" but that´s what they´ve

told me in every area I´ve had up to this point, so I really don´t

think that´s going to slow me down.

As far as the apartment... it´s infamous in the mission. Our roof

leaks, water enters in under the doorway, none of our furniture can

touch the walls, our it will be taken over by spiders, we don´t have

heated water, or purified water, and sometimes we just don´t have

water. We have very noisy neighbors who blast music all day long,

making it very hard to feel the Spirit during weekly planning

sessions. A giant flock of mosquitoes enter every time we open one of

the windows, and (Mom will never believe this) it´s a whole lot

cleaner now than it was when I got here.

But in spite of all that, it´s home! I love it!

The area´s practically all dirt streets, but that´s okay with me. The

members are very good to us, we eat well, and I´ll have to be very

careful not to gain weight in my last months.

Anyway, that´s all I´ve got time for. Thanks so much for your letters,

your love, and your support. I´ll be looking forward to hearing from

you after the Conference. Let me know what your favorite talks and

impressions were.

April:

Okay, so if truth be told, I only finished February and March before our trip in May (see other post) so the ‘April’ section of this post may seem a little brief.

First off, we have General Conference! Quite possibly my favorite weekend of spring! Everyone keeps say how geared it was toward the young single adults-which is true, but I have a feeling October’s conference will speak to a different crowd.

Second, Ty had interviews with ‘real jobs’! We are kinda rooting for the one our friend suggested (mostly because he’ll be working with Tyler), but Cass is mostly concerned with the benefits part.

Third, we are forcing upon pain of death that our friend Hilary watch Lord of the Rings! And since our dear friend Adam offered his apartment and life-sized-screen projector, we decided to make it a party! After the first half of Fellowship, Hilary was ready for the second half! This is a good sign, but I knew it would happen!

Fourth, we are of course swamped with finals! What’s new? That’s mostly why it took so long to get this post out! But since it did take so long, you get to see the results sooner than we did.

Tyler Spring GPA: 2.99

Cass Spring GPA: 3.76

Fifth, Ty got a real job! Yes, with our friend Scott, in fact, Scott is Ty’s supervisor! It comes complete with 40 hour work weeks, insurance, and employee access to the gym and pool! We are very excited!

Sixth, Dining Services put together an ‘Awards Night’ for the staff members. Both Cassidee and Paul won awards so that pretty much makes the salad room even more awesome! Thanks to everyone I work with!

Seventh, we joined the ward choir just in time for the Easter concert. It was fun enough-they even let Ty stay in the choir. During the meeting we found out that the student-married wards were being dissolved. It was a little sad, but since we are graduating we’d be finished anyway. It was a good way to leave the ward at any rate.

Eighth: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Grandpa Madson! Riley! and Shandon! all fall on April 11th!

So there is April in a nutshell. He’s Elder Lewis, he ends much better than I do:

“What a wonderful banquet of spiritual treats! I didn´t notice much of a solid theme, but an underlying principle seemed to run through the conference: God´s expectation´s versus Man´s efforts. Whether it was Elder Oaks helping us make our desires meet with those of the Lord, Elder Snow letting us see the hopeful horizon that God sees clearly, Elder Uchtdorf about living beneath our potential, or Elder Christofferson helping accept the Lord´s lifting counsel when it arrives, many of the talks compared what we often offer in comparison to what the Lord asks.

It seems that by popular opinion, Elder Bednar´s revelation talk was the gem of the conference. The analogy was so perfect, and has received comments from many people, including almost all of you. I quite liked it myself and am hoping to use it with several investigators.

I traveled by bus to listen to conference (mostly in Spanish) but we still managed to have 5 investigators listening, and hopefully a few more at home on the internet. Which leads to an interesting story... 10 minutes had passed since priesthood meeting had begun...and our chapel could not find the signal... which was very problematic for us, seeing as we had an investigator in the priesthood session! So... we piled into any and every vehicle that had arrived and shipped ourselves off to the nearest chapel with a satelite! For that reason, if someone could send me a text copy of Elder Andersen´s talk as soon as possible, I´d be very grateful... we sort of missed it, and I heard it was about missionary work...”

JANUARY:

2011-02-13T09:14:00.007-07:00

What a great way to start out the new year! Thank you Kayde & David, Sonja & Seth, and Hilary for an awesome murder-mystery-dinner-party! Sometimes last minute parties turn out to be the best ones. I want to especially thank Kayde and David for the fantastic dinner! They put in a lot of work for the dinner and it was pretty sweet to show up and have dinner ready and hot!

Always fun to celebrate among fiends!

…

I mean friends!

Let’s no forget the main purpose of January-it’s main purpose is to bring another semester. Although Tyler completed all his credits for his degree, both he and Cass received grant money for the full school year so they both decided to take a few fun classes since it was free. Cass still had to complete her math anyway so its not like there wasn’t going to be homework. We decided to take Church History (institute), Spanish 1010 and yoga (again) together, then Ty decided on a basketball class and a PHP (web languages) class, while Cass is interning as a TA for Phil (one of her favorite communication professors).

Happy Birthday Month Joe and Rachel! Thanks for the great game night (Flager’s) and awesome sushi (Dastrup’s)!

Well, we finally got hold our baby niece McKenna!

The Gibson and Thibodeau clans travelled their respectful ways to Utah County to meet up with the rest of the family for McKenna’s blessing, Tabitha and Jonathan’s anniversary, and a ton of birthday celebrations!

I know every one who was present would not want me to forget Rock Band night at Kayde and David’s. Well let’s just say I am the Rock Lobster queen!

On a final note, our dear Frankenstein (the Honda) finally passed inspection! After much hard labor on Ty’s part (a new radiator, new washer-fluid pump, a new tire, a few new spark plugs, and plenty more minor things), it lives!

Before January ends completely, we wanted to leave with a quote from Elder Lewis:

“Mom, in thinking about your talk, I realized that the most important message I could convey to future missionaries is that no price is too much to pay for this experience. I don´t care how good a job you have, or how fast your car can go, or how big your scholarship is, or how pretty your girlfriend is. It can all wait, and if it can´t wait, it´s not worth it anyway. The adversary will do everything to keep these kids from going on missions. Trust me, everything. He will throw offers and temptations of every kind. A mission is worth weathering it all. Believe me when I tell you that I´m not just saying that because it´s the "good answer." It´s the absolute truth. My mission has been worth every single sacrifice, both those paid in order to come here, and those paid in the field. The blessings I have received, the blessings my family has received, and the blessings I am fully confident that I will receive in the future are worth every second. Brian Regan once fantasized of being able to say "I walked on the moon," but even if he achieved his dream, it would be nothing compared to what any worthy missionary does daily. We have walked through the gates of heaven itself, and angels have been our guides. Any young man who doubts me will just have to come out here and walk with angels himself.”

December 2010

2010-12-31T11:02:00.001-07:00

I think this may bring us right up to December! Can you believe it! We caught up before the year ended! That is an amazing feat in our eyes!

So to start off, we have to have a disclaimer, the commercial Christmas season does not start in the Steele home until after finals. Yep, pretty much the first half of December is consumed with finals, while the second half is consumed with Christmas! However we are pleased to announce that it will no longer be as such. Tyler has completed the graduation requirements to receive a Bachelor of Science in Digital Media! Cassidee will complete her final course (intro to stats) and an internship by August 2011 and then she will receive her Bachelor of Arts in Communication! And yes then officially these two eager (and eternal) learners will be graduates!

So now that that is out of the way, onto Christmas!

Again this Christmas was spent at the Lewis home. No not because Cassidee can’t stand her in-laws, its much more selfish than that. A certain Elder Lewis is allowed a phone call to the family and she felt it necessary to be there for that call. Best Christmas present ever! Riley sounds great (and rather smooth too)! He sound enthusiastic, happy, spiritual, and healthy! It almost felt like a missionary Christmas party because not only did we get to talk to Ry, we also got to hear the Tobler’s speak after returning from their mission and the last Janson boy, Ethan gave is final testimony before he heads out for his mission!

Again we failed with the pictures this month (but honestly how good does one look Christmas morning). And there were a few other things worthy of note that happened in between finals and Christmas. First off was the annual Madson Christmas party-unfortunately we couldn’t stay all that long because of work, but we did get to hear Shand pump out Star Wars on the trombone! Second off was Hilary’s birthday party! It started at my place were we were gonna play games, but only managed eating and talking. Then it merged over to Kayde and David’s and we played the crazy Just Dance game. It makes you sweat!

I guess all that is left now is self-reflection. Hmmm. 2010 has been the best year so far of our marriage. And that isn’t to say that the other years have been bad, but rather that it seems to get better with time.

It feels like so much has happened this year and yet we both feel more relaxed and seem to have more time. Not to say we aren’t busy, but it doesn’t seem as rushed or intense. And now that school is not top priority, we can look forward to more entertaining projects to keep us busy!

In 2010...

BOOKS
Halt's Peril (#9 RA)	*
The Kings of Clonmel (#8 RA)	*
Mistborn: The Final Empire	*
The Red Pyramid (#1 KC)	*
The Siege of Macindaw (#6 RA)	*
The Sorcerer in the North (#5 RA)	*
Erak's Ranson (#7 RA)	*
Regeneration	*
Goodbye to Berlin	*
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything	*
Desert Solitaire	*
Women in Love	*
Mrs. Dalloway	*
Heart of Darkness	*
Sagwitch: Shoshone Chieftain, Mormon Elder	*
Camp Floyd and the Mormons: The Utah War	*
On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction	*
The Demigod Files	*
MOVIES & SHOWS
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (movie)	*
CATS (Tuacahn) TARZAN (Tuacahn)	*
Inception (movie) (Ty)	*
Avatar (movie) (Ty)	*
MUSIC
Mika (band)	*
Classical 89 (radio)	*
FIRSTS
vegetarian (Ty)	*
eyebrow wax (Ty)	*
St. George Ironman	*
smart phones	*
Matey's birthday	*
The Chocolate	*
The Sweet Tooth Fairy	*
public karaoke	*
niece	*
shovel snow (Cass)	*
research project (Cass)	*
Smash Bros (Cass)	*

fall semester (part 2)

2010-12-30T18:18:00.013-07:00

Well October is pretty much dominated by one main event--yes it would be Cassidee’s birthday month!

There were a few other events, such as General Conference that cannot go unmentioned, and a trade-show that was entertaining, and let us not forget about midterms.

But for the most part, October serves one main purpose and that is to allow for many excuses to party, play, and pig-out!

This year’s murder-mystery party was brought you you courtesy of ancient Greece (oh and Mom of course). Once Poseidon and Hephaestus went missing, the dangerous group of gods and goddesses were called together to solve the mystery. Among the attendees were:

Zeus and Hera

Athena

Hermes

Artemis

Dionysus

Hestia

AresAphrodite

with Hades and Persephone as hosts

and Apollo (in oracle form) and the hero Theseus as aides to our hosts.

The culprit was, in fact the old trickster himself, Hermes!

Then of course we have the annual birthday sushi! We also tried something new, Pirate Island Pizza! Good times all around!

And we won’t forget about Elder Lewis, here is what he had to say this month:

“if I had to pick a theme [from Conference], I would summarize it like this:

God has given us a supreme gift of agency, the ability to choose. With our agency, we make choices that bring consequences. Satan, the author of misery, tempts us to use our agency to bring about consequences that will make us miserable, while at the same time slowly taking away our agency as we follow him. On the other hand, our loving Father in heaven has given us several tools that allow us to use our agency to receive blessings. Among these tools are priesthood leaders, personal revelation, and fathers and mothers who teach us how to reap the consequences of using our agency wisely. Ultimately, if we utilize these tools in the manner that God intends, we will receive the greatest of all the consequences available: eternal life.”

November brings with it cold weather and massive feasting!

It also brought Braydon’s performance in CATS (as Bustopher Jones, he also was Apollo in last month’s party)

and my first niece McKenna was born!

Unfortunately not many picture were taken-actually if you left it up to us (Cass and Ty) pix just wouldn’t get taken-unless you want to see our cat-but he’s pretty boring. Luckily for us Kevin and Kayron were preparing Ry’s Christmas package and they needed pictures to send so we have a few from that.

Had we got to go to Georgia for Thanksgiving we might of had some pix with McKenna, but alas the life of a college student doesn’t allow for such adventures. Thank goodness they’ll be out in January for the baby blessing-I can’t wait to see that little girl! (Oh and the rest of the family too)!

Oh and, no the pic of Bustopher Jones is not of Braydon-we missed that photo opportunity too-he did a great job and we figured we could at least see what his character looked like.

Before it gets forgotten, Village Inn must be mentioned because it is in fact pie season! Cass had a lot of fun revisiting the VI for a serious pie intervention!

We can’t leave November without first hearing from that dear, devoted missionary, serving in the field:

“For your scripture (and most of your letter) today, Dad asked me for some ideas for missionary commitments. Well, have I got something for you! Taken from a talk I gave not too long ago, I give you:

Letting your light so shine
Becoming an effective member missionary in 5 simple steps

Pray for missionary opportunities, and be willing to receive them (see the example of Ammon in Mosiah 28ish plus D&C 4:7)
Be a friend! It´s pretty difficult to share the gospel with friends if we have no friends to share it with. Not having a social circle does no more good than sticking your candle under a bushel. (see again the example of Ammon in his relationship with King Lamoni in Alma chapter 17 I believe, especially where Ammon says the golden missionary line "I would desire to dwell among thy people for a time"
Be thou an example. This includes constant resilience to the things we should not do (drink, participate in crude humor, listen to/watch unfit media, etc) and constant obedience to the things we should (service, church activity, optomism, etc.) Only the worthy see miracles. The rest spend their lives trying to find the trick. (See Ammon´s dedication to service in the next chapter, his love for his fellow servants, his great sense of duty for the king, and his unconquerable faith in a dangerous situation.)
Look for missionary opportunities. Remember the promise is not only Ask and ye shall receive, but Seek and ye shall find. A missionary opportunity can start out as simple as explaining why you don´t want a cup of coffee, as simple as explaining what you do in seminary, as simple as letting others know, under the direction of the Spirit, that there is a way to ensure that our families can be together forever. They will come. To think that they do not come is to deny the promises of the Lord. (Again, look at the very interesting missionary opportunity that Ammon found. Faced with certain death, he rejoiced "that the power of God might be made manifest" through him.
This is the most difficult part. Let´s look at Ammon one last time. At this point, he´s brought face to face with the King. (You can imagine the scene, Ammon and King Lamoni staring at each other from across the room with a bunch of dismembered arms on the floor decorating the scenery.) We seem to imagine that King Lamoni was a golden investigator. He was curious of what Ammon had done, he was definitely thinking about deity. But the scripture says that "he answered him not, yeah for the space of an hour, for he knew not what he should say." (I´m totally paraphrasing, and in English). At this point, Ammon has a choice. He can say what missionaries hear everytime they ask for a referral: "Almost everyone I know is Mormon." or "Well, my friends know who I am. When they are interested they´ll ask me." or "They probably just need more time." or "I don´t want to impose my beliefs on anyone else." or "I don´t think my friend would be interested."

NO.

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

That´s not what Ammon did. He took the initiative. He took a risk. He took step number five. He opened his mouth. You know the rest of the story.”

fall semester (part 1)

2010-12-17T21:51:00.019-07:00

The semester must be winding down if a post is finally gonna make it out alive! And yes, the semester has winded down. The 13th -16th was finals week and we really were suppose to be done, but now it looks like Cass will be done by the end of April plus a summer internship, but Ty will be done by December pending on his math final!

As of August 25th, fall semester started with both Ty and Cass taking six classes (each). Grades don't come out until the 23rd and we'll get those posted if they are good.

August also brought new phone upgrades with our contract! We had all ready decided not to get smart phones, but of course they sucker you into a good deal and bam! We each are now the proud owners of the LG Ally, complete with Google Android!

Well it finally happened! I made it (via help of my most loved family) to one of the longest running musicals (on Broadway) in my life-CATS. Tuacahn’s production was really fun and all of us (me, Ty, Mom, Dad, and Shand) enjoyed it. In fact, I liked it more than I remember liking it in the past (from the video). It was funnier and I think I picked up more thanks to Matey. Thanks everyone for making it happen-it was a lot of fun. (I got a picture with Mr. Mistoffelees, but it was pretty blurry and fuzzy so I used Tuacahn’s Rum Tum Tugger pic instead).

Ty needed one last hurrah before starting school, so he begged Kevin to get the Fat Man's annual hike underway. Once we got down to St. George, Kevin surprised us with an ATV outing! I had never been before and it was so much fun! The boys went off to Fat Man's the next day and the girls did something fun....I'm sure. Fat Man’s Misery is about a 13 mile hike stating in Zion National Park and ending up ‘in the middle of nowhere’ as Ty put it. Lots of water (look closely, this is where they filmed the garbage escape scene in Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, where Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewy escape from the Storm Troopers), swimming, rappelling, and cuts, scratches, and bruises.

Fat Man’s (courtesy of the A to Zion YouTube channel)

I won't ever forget the beginning of this semester, Ashley and members of the Oliver family, our hearts and prayers are with you in your time of loss. May you find comfort and peace from our Heavenly Father and Savior.

Well it was bound to happen, fall semester was slated to start, but at least Maria kicked-it off with a fun BBQ party! College kids can never turn down free food!

After all the fun and excitement of starting a new semester, we finally got into the routine of school.

Cass:
Media Ethics
Small Group Communication
Argumentation
Anthropology of Mormonism
Mormon Cultural Studies
Power Yoga

Ty:
College Algebra
Web Languages (JavaScript)
Mass Communication and Society
Authoring for the Internet (Flash)
Digital Broadcasting
Power Yoga

So there you have it. August passed by just as such. I will use the "getting use to school" as the excuse for not posting that month! I will leave August with a quote form Elder Lewis:

(August 16, 2010)

"Yes, hump day has come and gone. It felt weirder than I thought it would, ... I´m taking advantage of this critical moment to make some "New Year´s" resolutions. For instance, I´m reading an entry in my journal every day from one year before to see progress and help me know what will be interesting to put in their from now on. I´m going to see how things go!"

And onto September!

September always brings Labor Day and this year we tricked an unsuspecting friend in coming down to St. George with us to go boating! It was quite the adventure! Mieka must have been feeling adventurous because technically this is the last boating trip we getting to on (due to school), and the lake is crazy busy!

The end of September marks Matey's birthday! So we attempted to take him up the canyon and get some pictures! The canyon was very beautiful with the leave just starting to change colors. However it was not Matey's favorite outing. He liked being outside, but he didn't want to pose and look cute in pictures-he would rather just flop down in the dirt under a bush. We'll just leave it at that.

Besides school the only other regular thing is Elder Lewis' letters. So many of September's letters were amazing. It was very hard to pick just one quote, but what can you do? Here is an update from him:

" Yes, the Lord is the author of this work, and he constantly reminds me of it. Each time we try to venture forth alone, we fail. When we rely on and work with the Lord, miracles happen. It really amounts to just that. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." And he does. The Savior leads us, guides us, walks beside us and helps us find the way - based on the simple conditions of obedience and love. Yes, if we do all that He teaches, we will live with Him someday. To put it simply, it´s true. It´s all true." (September 13, 2010)

JULY = summer vacation

2010-07-27T09:38:00.025-06:00

Okay so of course we take more vacations in the summer outside ofJuly, but per capita it seems to be the most vacation filled month-at least it feels that way.

First we have Independence Day!

(Sand Hollow and Hidden Canyon at Zion)

Then of course Ty left us all for Santa Fe!

And Utah throws in a special weekend for Pioneer Day!

After hitting Sand Hollow Thursday afternoon, Dad hooked us up w/tickets to Tarzan at Tuacahn on Friday night! Pretty cool stuff! And I got a breakfast w/my long lost St. George girlfriends on Saturday morning!

Aside from the vacations, this month we also hit 100% for FHE and (personal) home/visiting teaching-so we're feeling pretty good. Maybe we might even be ready for school to start at the end of August-at least we have a few more weeks.

by the way...

2010-06-29T10:04:00.023-06:00

by the way, here is a short film of what we've been up to since the last post...

OCTOBER: good luck Elder, happy birthday Cass

NOVEMBER: Matey, happy Thanksgiving

DECEMBER: California Christmas

JANUARY: happy New Year

FEBRUARY: LA Trade Show, happy Valentine's Day

MARCH: happy birthday Ty

APRIL: '50's party, Vegas, finals

MAY: IronMan, summer semester, Days of Camelot

JUNE: happy anniversary to us

spring semester

2010-06-05T20:47:00.002-06:00

Sorry we've been a bit out of touch lateley, hopefully this will be a good excuse:

Tyler : UVU spring 2010

Subject

Course

Course Title

Final Grade

DGM

320R

Advanced Topics in Digital Media Design

DGM

350R

Advanced Topics DMPP Event Broadcast

DGM

3520

Digital Motion Picture Production

DGM

3740

Web Content Management

DGM

4410

Senior Projects II

Attempted

Earned

GPA

Current Term:

15.000

3.60

Cumulative:

3.00

___________________________________________________________________

Cass : UVU spring 2010

Subject	Course	Course Title	Final Grade
ANTH	4200	Biol Religion Evolution Storytelling	A
ASL	2020	Intermediate American Sign Language II HH	A-
COMM	3010	History of Mass Communication	A
COMM	3020	Communication Research Methods	A
COMM	3410	Fundamentals of Mediation and Negotiation	A
COMM	4110	Interpersonal Communication Theory & Research	A


	Attempted	Earned	GPA
Current Term:	18.000	18.000	3.95
Cumulative:			3.53

not so daunting

2009-10-10T20:16:00.010-06:00

Well as most of you have noticed, this blog does not produce often occurring posts. This needs to change. I wanted this blog to be an online journal, but my letters to Elder Lewis would cover that better than this blog has. In this case I am my own worst enemy. I want this to blog to be amazing, witty, cleaver, cute, original, creative, informative, inclusive, up-to-date, and something for posterity to read, enjoy, and learn from. I am not fulfilling any of those desires. I have created a paradox because I never feel qualified to write, and when I decide I want to write, I make it such a daunting task that it never gets complete. I don't want to forget anything-but if I blogged more often I wouldn't forget anything. I want people to read this and think, "Wow, that was great!" or "She is so funny/witty/cleaver!" I feel as though I have a lot to live up to-mainly Kevin and Riley. I know I shouldn't compare myself, but I want this to be something people enjoy reading. As for now, no one is getting anything so I'm failing anyway.

Don't get the wrong idea, (Ty says this sounds so depressing, like blogging is all there is in life), I'm not depressed at all about blogging or about the amazing creativeness of others. I love reading other people's stuff-that's the problem I want to be awesome like all of you! Writing is a skill I long to develop! Ty says I need a hobby and I tell him I don't have time for hobbies. Writing, piano, cooking, are a few of the things I have interest in. School is the focus and I know there needs to be time for fun, but I'm the type to invest a lot of time (and sometimes money) into a hobby! I want to be good at it!

Anyway, this was just an update-for whatever its worth. I do have a "summer" blog draft that I'm working on and may get it posted eventually. For now, the direction of the Steele blog may be changing-at least that's the plan.

run-down of spring

2009-06-13T20:13:00.031-06:00

I guess its time for a little catch-up! I was going to post after Tyler's birthday sushi-but we never got our camera developed and the others who took pix never got back to us. So I kept waiting to blog, but more and more kept building up and then I got overwhelmed! Okay, so that sounds a little ridiculous, especially now that I'm home alone for the better part of my day, so here goes.

MARCH

Tyler was jobless at this point, just picking up as many shifts as possible at Village Inn and working hard at his on-call job w/FixFlash.

We had an amazing stake conference focusing on temples and families-specifically husbands and wives. "If you are worthy to walk and talk with God in his halls, what are you worried about?' That was the general feeling I had during the conference. We had Richard G. Hinckley, of the Seventy, President Merrill J. Bateman, president of the Provo Temple and his wife, as well as our stake presidency speak to us. President Hinckley left a very good impression in my mind with this quote, "Pray as if everything depends on the Lord-then get up off your knees and work as if everything depends on you." These words were very comforting and empowering. I had very spiritual and comforting feelings and thoughts through-out the conference. Tyler was working very hard and very late, for him it gave him new strength and rejuvenated his mojo for life.

As I said we had Ty's birthday sushi on Saturday 21st. We had a way fun time, thanks to the Gibson clan, Captian Rylz, The Shurigs, Miss Becky and Miss Angie and of course, Ryan! We sure love sushi-thanks Yamato! Then for the perfect birthday celebration, we shared another great birthday on March 22nd. The Draper Temple dedication was aired for us in our stake center that evening.

To wrap up a great month, our stake also put on a women's conference. Of the eight workshops offered, we were able to pick three, then help with the humanitarian workshop. I chose "Marriage: The Pathway to Eternal Life" given by our bishop and his wife, Steven and Sharlene Campbell, "On the Road to the How, When, & Ifs of Motherhood" given by Kathy Phillips, and "The Flip Flop of Me, Myself, and I" given by Karla Peeples. The messages were so great, informative and comforting. Tyler took my Saturday expo shift at VI so I could attend, and knowing that I went in prayerful and thankful. I took notes and made connections, learned insights and heard testimonies, and in all had a great day.

APRIL

April proved to be the busiest month-again! Winding down of the semester, waiting for Ry's mission call, General Conferene, Easter, the boy's birthday(s), Shandon's ordination, Easter-egg hunts, moving, Amanda and Zac's wedding, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Well upon the arrival of a certain letter, August 12th became a critical date and Buenos Aries will be getting another missionary shortly after that. In addition Tyler picked up some sweet gigs with the UVU Music Department-lets just say it covered rent. While working for the Music Department, Ty caught the eye of the UVU Regan Theatre director, John Bullock. John liked Ty's style and had an opening at the theatre. Ty was offered the job and starting in May, is the new light and sound manager at the Regan Theatre! WooHoo!

MAY

This was an adventure month to say the least! Upon winning a trip last September, we made plans to head out to Disneyland courtesy of Casablanca Express. To add the the joy of vacation, as a Christmas present from Kevin and Karyon, we got tickets to Brian Regan!

We started out our 'fabulous vacation' with a trip to Tuacahn to see Brian Regan on Friday (5/8). Then hit Zion National Park on Saturday. We decided on Emerald Pools, easy to moderate (if I remember correctly) and had a great time-minus the part where we (Cass and Ty) got chased by a rabid deer. No on ever tells you what to do if a deer attacks you. This poor fellow was suffering from a nasty cold and his coat was pretty shabby. However we escaped and finished our hike.

On Mother's Day Sunday, we drove down to La Crescenta to hang with the Thibodeaus. On Monay, we set out for the happiest place on earth and got Disneyland underway. Our camera died during our trip to Zion so our Disneyland pix are straight off the cell phone.

from left to right above: Cass w/the awesome pirate band, us behind the pirate boat, and us on Space Mountain
below is our dinner at Blue Bayou-the restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride

After getting back from that adventure (and starting summer semester) Ty found out that he would be working 10-12 hour days for the next week or so. That did not excite Cass other than the paycheck-especially after her mishap with the Village Inn schedule book. Unfortunately she forgot to request off the Brian Regan half of vacation, but her ever loving friends and co-workers put her on hiatus for the summer. So looking forward to a week of nothing, Cass decided to escape to St. George. Kevin was passing though on his way home from business and Cass hitched a ride down with him and Michelle. You see the Days of Camelot was over Memorial weekend and we were planning to attend, so the ride back was all taken care of-Cass could just head back after that.

Which now brings us to the Days of Camelot Faire. Oh what fun we had! Thanks bunch to Kayron for making such awesome outfits.

jousting

After all this foolishness, we decided to check out one more thing before head back north-Snow Canyon.

So there you have it-our spring run-down, maybe next time we'll keep a better tab-but it doesn't look like it so far ;)

It's Just 5-1/2 Hours

2009-02-18T19:56:00.025-07:00

Well our 5-1/2 hours was closer to 6-1/2-ish but it was great!

The idea of working the booth at the LA Times Travel and Adventure show sounded fun so we made plans to head down to St. George and hop aboard the St. George company van, hitching a ride with Kevin to LA. Upon realizing that our car registration was expired (last month) we figured while we were down, we might want to get it inspected and legal again. So we decided to have Tyler sluff his Thursday afternoon classes and head down to St. George early so we could get inspected and to the DMV before heading out on our adventure. We were under the false impression that good weather was with us, upon reaching Scipio we accepted our mistake and by Panguitch we were praying hard. At a speed of 45 mph in the fast lane, we found ourselves in the midst of a blizzard with taillights in front of us as the only conformation we were still on the road. All at once, we saw the motor home one car ahead of us dive into the median. Of course we're thinking "Oh my gosh! We just saw a wreck!" But then the car directly ahead of us followed suit-off into the median! What is going on? Then appearing as if poofed there, a jack-knifed FED-EX truck! So off we went into the median. I don't remember much, other than we made it thru unscathed and it didn't appear that anyone else was hurt in the six car pile-up. Well we got to St. George ok and our car was taken care of. The next morning Kayron informed us that I-15 was closed at Beaver last night from a different accident-needless to say we were very lucky-or very watched-over.

Our drive to Cali was uneventful (and we couldn't have been happier) except for Cass and Kevin's first experience at Tommy's Burgers. We made is safely to the Convention Center and set up, then checked in to the Marina Pacifica Hotel right on Venice Beach.

That night, we walked along the boardwalk, then wandered down the street to a great little sushi shack. Hama's Sushi Restaurant. Kevin tried Edamames and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Then back to the hotel to rest and arise early.

Our timing is definitely something that we need to work on. Early Saturday morning (Valentine's Day) we got up, got ready and headed downtown to make sure the booth was ready to go. We got there way early and missed out on breakfast, but ran down across the Convention Center to grab some hot chocolate and a doughnut. Then we worked the booth-and I got say it was so fun! It was easy and busy and nice! They day was a little long, but we had an awesome evening to look forward to! After closing up shop at the Convention Center we ran to Von's to get supplies for tomorrow then headed to the Thibodeau's to meet up for our awesome dinner at Claim Jumper! Thanks Dawna and Rick for taking care of us! It was a fabulous dinner and even better company!

Then we headed of the the Aztec Hotel/Elephant Bar to watch Rick and his band play! Wow! It was so fun! Watching the musicians on stage is just one of the coolest things. We unfortunately had to leave after the first set, Dawna was still recovering (you look great) and we all had the trade show the next morning.

Next morning we got to sleep in a bit so we decided to get breakfast on the boardwalk. It was nice and a great place to people-watch. Then we had to walk along the beach again as saw the cutest most adorable baby seagulls scampering around the surf. They were just delightful. But of course they made us late to the show! (Just a little).

Sunday's show was a success as well as Saturday's, it felt a little slower, but that could have been because the show's hours were shorter. Anyway we had a nice time, then promptly at 5:00 pm, we closed up shop and headed to the LA Temple to keep the Spirit.

Then we decided we'd better get some dinner so we wandered around the rich side of Santa Monica Pier Promenade, found a Buca Di Beppo and put our name on the list. A 40-minute wait, so naturally we wandered around the streets and were compelled to find the band that was playing. We found them, the two guitar players that is-they were amazing! After walked and observing we found ourselves in a Barns & Nobel. Here we discovered very important words of wisdom--'real men don't say splendid'! Thus proving that those cute, most adorable baby seagulls scampering around the surf, were NOT just delightful, because real men would say cute, adorable or delightful. Well we found our way back to Buca and waited another 15 minutes and less than satisfying service, but Buca still has great food. Well Monday brought and end to our trip. We got up extra early to head out and get to St. George with enough time to get us back to Orem by a decent hour. Lucky for us we got up early as we met awful weather in in the Cajon Pass. Let the pictures do the talking. Kevin was driving (yikes!), Tyler was serving as documentor and Cass had her face buried in a blanket in the back of the van. A expressed by the native Californian in the car, "I have never seen it like this in California!"

Well after a few tense hours (ok maybe not hours) we made it thru to clear weather. Dawna gave us a quick call checking that we had made it thru and informing us that I-15 was closed (2nd time in Cass and Tyler's trip). After detouring slightly in the black-hole of Barstow, we found ourselves calming driving thru the Gorge when Kevin observed the gas light come on. We thought for sure we'd make it and as we were pulling to the off-ramp of the first exit in St. George, the boys found themselves pushing the van off the freeway. So add another chapter to the LA Times Travel and Adventure novel, throw in some gas, food and Ryan and you'll reach the happy ending of a dry, uneventful drive back to Orem, and two very happy UVU students back to the grind!

In God's Hands

2009-01-25T20:06:00.005-07:00

There are times in one's life when you have to throw every bit of logic out the window and survive simply off faith. I need times like that in my life to kick me back into gear and remind me what it's all about-family, love and the gospel.

Family is a blessing beyond measure. My father's new blessing as first counselor in Washington's stake presidency, has brought our family together. Not just physically, but spiritually-I know that to be the pivotal point. For whatever reason we do the things we do, be it driving down just because God prompted us to, cook Sunday dinner Saturday night, or wake-up at 4:30 am and drive thru Utah weather-we all did it because of family. We came together in support of our family, supporting the gospel.

Love cannot give definition enough to the feeling it represents. When you can't contain your emotion, when the spirit has impressed your heart and mind, and when the tears are coming with a smile on your face-love is the only word we can express. However it is not enough. Hope, charity and love-three of the crucial laws to live by in our church. January 25, 2009 was a day for all three.

The gospel is what I want my life to revolve around. Today was a great supporting detail of why I believe what I believe, why I am who I am, and why my goals are what they are. Not for one minute today did my faith in our sure foundation ever waiver. Not one time did I ask was it worth it. Not one time did I feel today to be a wasted, rushed or awkward trip. All one has to do is ask God in sincere faith why and he'll tell you why and then there is no reason to doubt.

The Primary Choir was a great inspiration to me. How easy it is to forget those everyday lessons learned in Primary. As I listened to them sing, "If The Savior Stood Beside Me" I was reminded of the earliest step of righteousness. The easiest and most instilled qualities that are expected not only of our youth, but should be daily habits for us adults.

"If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously,
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?"

The meeting of the Washington Stake was a humbling, educating meeting. We heard from some of the church's greatest men and women. And as Elder Holland reminded us, "this meeting is not about the new or old stake presidency, this meeting is not about me or the other brethren on the stand, it is about Washington. We are all on a team, just like a track team, and today is President Ellsworth's turn to run the quarter mile. Down the road it will be another's turn to run."

"Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him...For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."
-- Alma 34:19, 32

Birthday Weekend (again)

2008-10-28T21:19:00.010-06:00

All right so the real birthday finally rolled around-yep just a month o' parties-I love birthday month. But finally the 25th came and so did the parties with it. We had another murder mystery party on Friday the 24th. We did the Chicago Caper (a boxed one), but unfortunatly only one picture turned out-really I need to just buy batteries-and it wasn't worth putting on the blog so sorry. But we had a blast once it got started-thanks James for being late with no reason and without a costume-honestly! But, after it got underway everyone did great and we had a blast! Thanks Cindy (Scoop) I had so much fun with you! It's nice when you have some one in character to play with, not that anyone wasn't, we (Cindy and I) just had a lot of fun together.

Next morning was my birthday day and we all went disc golfing. We had to take Rylz out for is first outing. So Tyler, Rylz and myself headed out to Bicentennial Park for some serious disc golf. There on the left we see Ry throwing and if you look closly (or click on the pic) you can even see his disc-good shot Rylz! Then of course a poor quality video just to show character ;)

Then we headed over to Rock Canyon (which will never be my favorite park, but we had to show Ry). OH MAN! The whole time we spent mostly looking for our discs! That's why Bicentennial is way better. So just to give you a flavor or what Rock Canyon is, here are a few pix.
So there is Ry looking for his disc,

and me laughing because I just sent Ty off to find mine. Then to top it off, the last hole is over a cliff. You see you are on the top of the hill and the basket is at the bottom so you're throwing straight down-unfortunately discs fly. Mine ended up in a tree, which was on the slope of the hill, which none of us could get to because the loose sand prevented us from climbing to the tree. So after much trial and only falling down the hill twice (once with Tyler) here I am in the tree looking for it.

Where's Cassidee?...There she is!

And lets not forget SUSHI at Yamato's! It was heavenly-need I say more?

Party Time!

2008-10-20T19:40:00.000-06:00

So we had the party and it was a blast! I was not the guilty party like last time, although a very strong case was built against me (and Kronk).

The cast included Scar (Ryan), Ursula (Angie), Hades (Shandon), Judge Doom (Dad), Jafar (Rylz), Prince John (Paul), Captain Hook (Jonathan), Cruella DeVil (Tabitha), Kronk (Tyler), Yzma (Me), Gaston (James), Evil Queen (Melissa) and The Queen of Hearts (Becky).

After all was said and done, it ended up being the Evil Queen as the culprit and all side-kicks were returned safely-well as safe as evil can get.

Thanks to all those who helped out and worked behind the scenes to make this happen. Mom and Dad of course for creating and hosting, Grandma and Grandpa for providing food and clean-up and Zac, Amanda (Zeus & Hera) and Spencer (Maleficent's Crow) for aiding the hosts, food, and everything else you did!

Next party on the agenda for the fam is Greek Gods I believe-that'll be down in St. George. Spence wants to try his hand and orchestrating a party so we're doing a boxed party this Friday and then he'll write one for Halloween! Good Luck! So that's what I did over the weekend, October is sort of like Birthday Month instead of Birthday Day. I love to celebrate and have friends over and any excuse to dress up will be exhausted!

...a pirate's life...

2008-09-05T17:58:00.016-06:00

Ahhh yes the life of a pirate...

So after a great reunion in Loa, of course we had to go boating! These pix and vids are from our August trip to SandHollow (despite the parasite on the beaches) it was great til Dad went out, then the waves were just too big-well Dad you'll get your chance in October.

Cass standing, Cass and Ry-'masters of the tube'-we had a blast!

As you can see it's great fun to be a pirate!

Where's That? No Arguing Over Prices

2008-08-30T21:17:00.006-06:00

So when your relatives live across the country-any chance you get to see them you take right? Even if that means meeting in Loa Utah for the family reunion. Yeah where's that?

Fortunately Loa is somewhere between here and Lake Powell so we had a slight advantage to those foreigners of Utah. Cousin Zac graduated this summer so his east coast family made the epic journey across the plains. Grandma though this the perfect time for a family reunion. After making the discovery that I had never met on of my cousins and they hadn't met my little brother I realized that a lifetime had passed since I'd seen these people. Well Aunt Lisa was getting settled in at her new job in Wayne County and she was in charge of the the county fair. Of course this meant that is where the family reunion will be held. Man oh man-I had a blast! We hit the rodeo the first night. Have you ever heard of wild cow milking? I hadn't either and I'm not even sure if that is it's proper name, but whatever it was it was hysterical! We rolled in rather late so we missed most of the rodeo, but fortunately we hit the good parts. Them buckin' broncos! Just gotta say the cowboy life ain't for me. Next morning we hit the parade and scored, frisbees, water bottles, necklaces, pencils and CANDY! Great fun! Then off to family pictures in the most beautiful canyon-just breathtaking. It didn't help that the wind was always up and never down. All us girls with our 'perfect' hair-yeah right! Then we adventured ourselves down to the 'watering hole' as Tyler so lovingly named it. The water was cold but I had to go swimming at some point. Rylz made a startling discovery, he was just sort of standing on the bank while myself, Tyler, Shand and the cousins were all playing in the water. When we were hiking out I asked him why he hadn't gotten in the water with us. "Well Cass, it was cold. I guess that northern Utah weather has finally weathered you! I'm just not as use to the cold I guess." Wow-that was depressing-oh well we had a great time! That night was the demolition derby! Woohoo! We hadn't ever been to one before and man were we in for a treat. Literally (thanks Grandma). After choosing a car for all 3 rounds and the final, I had won the most so I got the prize! See's Candy! Yeah that rocked!

Next morning was Sunday and of course we all gathered in the local chapel for our Sacrament Meeting. It was a cool church, they had a balcony! Guess where we sat-yep, upstairs. After we took a drive/hike to see some hieroglyphics. We also got to see a doe and her fawns-aww. Then it was lunch and-as all good things must-we had to end and part ways. What a fun reunion! Grandma is determined to have it like that from now on-and who would argue? Not me! We'd love to go back-thanks to all those who helped to orchestrate and plan-means a lot and can't wait to see you next time. Just remember there is no diving off the deck and no arguing over prices.

we made it !

2008-06-23T17:51:00.000-06:00

Well folks, go ahead and congratulate us, we made it to our first year mark! That's right our one year anniversary was June 22nd and we had a great time.

We traveled down to the sunny south to see Tuacahn's production of Les Miserables (A+ by the way) and spent some serious R&R time together.
Thanks everybody who helped to make this event a success! We love you guys!

As to future plans we look to moving down to Cedar City in April of '09 and starting at Southern Utah University or Dixie State College in the fall of '09. Tyler should have his Associates Degree in Digital Media by then and hopefully a few more things on his resume. By the by, if any one needs website work done or anything along the lines of digital media, drop him a line. If I can get past math I'll have my Associates in Communications. Other than that life is good, back to the grind and real life.

The get-a-way was great and we look forward to lake trips (it's all we get).

spring semester

2008-05-12T19:09:00.000-06:00

Well we just finished our spring semester, need I say more as to why the blogspot hasn't been updated in a while? We both did great! Ty had 2 A's and a B while I sat with a pretty with 3 A's. Here are a few snapshots of what Tyler's working toward in school. On the left is a logo for Festival Cinemas and on the right is our favorite rockstar jammin' out! I don't get to show off my work unless you enjoy to read. I've got a few great papers to show off, but alas no way to show them here.

We had a great time this semester and are all ready in full throtal for summer. Wish us luck!

SNOOPY!!!

2007-11-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

"...flashing my profile from side-front..."

So one more extravaganza! Captain Rylz staring as Snoopy in SNOOPY!!! We sure had a lot of fun visiting. We agreed one of the best trips down we've taken. Riley did great, the cast was fabulous and the songs were fun!

So good on ya boy! Too bad we missed closing night-that real life thing gets in the way at times. (But good for Tyler starting GEEK SQUAD at BEST BUY woohoo)! After a great weekend it's back to the grind. However Cass aced the ethics and values mid-term and Tyler even managed an A on it! That was a happy spot in the blanket of school life. Now work kicks into overdrive but I love the holiday season. We'll see how Tyler fairs on BLACK FRIDAY 4-4 ouch, but hey I've been pulling 12 hour shifts for years. :) JK babe I wish you luck. Anyway, a few more pix and we'll call it good. After all now really should be prime study time right? These are all from the play so enjoy-total highlight of the month!

Sorry it took so long to get up and running. I didn't manage to get it all finished before 'hell week' set in. Just kidding November is a good month just very busy with school being so close to out and the holiday season kicking in.
So here is the SNOOPY final product. Again I apologize for the somewhat random and haphazard picture placement. Still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing. Thanks Dad for the video-awesome!

CLUE party

2007-10-22T22:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah! We had a blast-once again! As you can see a great turn out and what a cast we had. Thanks so much for everyone who came. I love all who come to celebrate with us-kinda like a mini wedding reunion. Miss Scarlet being the guilty party this year came as quite a shock. "True or false?' 'True! Who are you? Perry Mason?" Anyway Madame Rose gave her a run for her money.

lake powell

2007-10-01T14:39:00.000-06:00

Woohoo,

So after 3 excellent days at Lake Powell, we're finally back. Oh but what great 3 days they were! After meeting up with Dad and the boys at Aunt Lisa's place, we set off on our trip. Rylz and I pulled the trailor off the dock, we parked and started our Monty Python decent back to the boat. When we got out of the Montero, we stopped and listened to everything Lake Powell had to offer. Nothing, absolute silence. I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Once settled on the houseboat we had dinner and turned in for the night. Thursday morning came and it was so nice not to have to wake up and even after getting up all we had to do is eat and jump in! So we did. It was great. The water was so nice-you know if Cass says it's nice it must have been. Tyler started us off with a quick kneeboard. Thus began the Powell Tour. Subserviently we all had our fare share of crash a burns. My personal favorite was Tyler's eye-popping face plant into the wood-drift pile, closley followed by Rylz over-the-front face expression. Of course it wouldn't be complete without Cass doing a quick little ski bit.

Just like the old Goofy cartoons. I could say I just suck so that's how it goes, however it takes more talent to stay up while doing the splits. Unfortunatly it takes more talent to single ski, ski. (Slolum). Meanwhile Dad is showing everybody up by doing everything. Bishop-of course. But honestly would it be a true lake tipe without tubing!

Enter

the RAVENGER and GEMINI. Teehehe!

So on your left we have the preview of Ty and Ry-just before the end. And on your right the aftermath of Ry staying on after Dad's rampage.
Yeah I went a couple times on Ravenger, but you've got to give props where they're due-Shandon is CHAMPION!

So there you have it, a few more pix for fun and onto something else.

Day One teehehe

2007-09-24T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well here we are. I saw my sister and brother in-law's and thought this was a great way to do a journal for our new life. Anyway, bare with me and we'll get up and running soon.