Janna with Choto the spider monkey.

The Bachelor Life

Well, I'm a lone man in the Garden of Eden. That's right. Janna is visiting her parents with the girls and I'm left home alone. My first reaction every time this happens is, "Yes, I can do what I want, when I want, and how I want". That feeling usually wears off about 3 or 4 hours after they've gone. Don't get me wrong, sleeping in a bed without a 3 year old's feet in my face feels pretty good. I am getting use to the occasional heel to the chin at three or four in the morning though. It is pretty dang quiet around here. Even the Wii doesn't seem as appealing without my girls around. One thing I am looking forward to is some possible fishing this weekend. Also taking a quiet nap on Sunday without interruption. One thing is certain; I wouldn't ever trade all the naps and all the fishing in the world for my girls, all three of them. There's just something about coming home from work and making gorilla sounds around the corner and getting a response from two small little chimps beating their chests and saying "ooh, ooh, ooh". That's right, my girls are turning into a couple of chimps. No, they're still my little princesses. Just ask
Taylee. We do like to make animal sounds every once in a while. I'm really glad they are able to go see Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. I wish they lived closer or we lived closer to them. I'm sure they're going to have a blast and it sounds like Grandpa is going to take Taylee fishing. I wish I could be there. Grandpa said they will definitely take some pictures to show me, just in case I'm not jealous enough. I'm sure Janna is excited to visit her family too. I don't think she was too excited about the drive though. Well, I better get back to my bachelor activities such as sleeping and going to work. Sounds like fun huh? Actually I do like my job, but I could use some more sleep so I better hit the hay. Boa noite and good night!

Viva Las Vegas BABY!

So last weekend we were able to go and visit Bryant and Amme in Las Vegas. We had a really good time. Between beautiful 65 degree weather, good food, the strip, and guitar hero we had plenty to do to keep us busy. Taylee and Lauren had a lot of fun playing together. It sounds like their relationship has reached new heights being that they are no longer cousins, but sisters, according to Lauren. Buffalo Wild Wings is always a treat and Bryant introduced us to a new pizza joint near the strip. We also went to Lake Las Vegas which was nice and relaxing. We were there around the time the sun was going down and the weather was perfect. Saturday I had mentioned to Bryant that I had been looking into getting a Wii but could never find any of them in Utah. He suggested that we call a few places to see if we could find one. I had my doubts, but on the second or third call we found some at Best Buy. We hurried and jumped in the car and sped off to Best Buy to see if we could get one or two of them. We got there and it looked like the last one was being sold. Luckily they had more in the back. I finally got my hands on a Wii! Yesterday I bought guitar hero, so now we're set. Anyways, we had a really good time with the family in Vegas. It was nice to be together with the entire family. That doesn't seem to happen as often these days.

Catching Up

So it's been a while since I have updated our blog. I think it was actually before Christmas. Well, let me bring you up to speed. We had a great Christmas in Arizona with Janna's family. We first went to Grandma Brimhall's in Winslow. We then spent a couple days up at the ranch which was a lot of fun. We had a great time playing games, eating good food, watching movies, and just relaxing. We then went back to Winslow for Christmas eve and day, and then headed down to Mesa. Mesa was awesome, especially the weather. I actually got to play quite a bit of tennis, in DECEMBER!!! It was a blast. Dave and I definitely took advantage of the nice weather with Paul out on the courts. It was the first official Mesa Open. We had a really good time there in Mesa with Paul and Racquels family and Lael and Janie. We also got the chance to play the Wii quite a bit. One night we went and saw the lights at the Mesa temple. It was a bit chilly, but nothing like Salt Lake. Taylee loved the lights and the giant nativity. Taylee and Leah had a great time with their cousins Lexi and Hannah. All in all it was a great Christmas. Visiting Mesa in the winter for the first time was a great thing. I had only been there in the summer and it was always super hot. It's definitely a lot more appealing now.

Well coming back to reality after having a long break was pretty tough, but now were back in the swing of things. Works going well and I continue having a good times with my compadres at G. Brown Design. Taylee and Leah are pretty as ever and continue getting smarter each day. Taylee wrote her name by herself for the first time the other day. She also loves art and coloring. She can spend hours coloring and drawing pictures. She's really good too. Leah loves to get into everything. She definitely has an attitude. She's a blast though. Janna's doing well but is anxious for us to get another car. I don't blame her. She's stuck at home sometimes and I can see how that could drive a person crazy. We'll there's not much more to write but I'm going to try and do better in the future about staying up to date.

Tis the Season!

Well I just got done reading a couple of e-mails from Tara and looking at her blog and it inspired me to write a little. It also put me even more in the Christmas spirit. I guess having a nice snow storm going on outside right now also helps. Anyways, I'm excited for Christmas. It's fun because Taylee is definitely grasping the idea of Christmas. She even wants to write a letter to Santa. She's also quick to discipline other children by saying "You better be good so Santa will come". She's not at all shy to tell other kids that , even though we have to remind her of that fact every so often when she's beating up on her little sister. Well, I just wanted to post a few pictures of the kids and also of Taylee playing in the snow. Keep in touch everyone. Hopefully we'll see or hear from some of you over the holidays.

Third Round World Lunch Tour

Well today was the infamous monthly world lunch tour at work. So far we have traveled to Tibet, the U.S. and as of today, Italia. Starting off in Tibet, to say the least, was adventurous. The food was okay and definitely better than the smell. The spicy potatoes were my favorite. We did see a nice portrait of the Dolley Llama. In the second month we toured the mother land by eating at the one and only Crown Burger. Besides the continuous greasy burps through out the day, the food was great. The home made fry sauce was a nice addtition to the delicious and artery clogging fries. All in all in was a filling experience. Today we ventured to Europe by visiting Tony Capputo's Deli. The sandwiches were great, but some of us felt somewhat cheated. I figured by ordering the Capputo sandwich you couldn't go wrong. I'm an idiot because the guy in front of me ordered the meatball sandwich and I had already ordered mine. When he got his giant sub it made my Capputo look like a dollar menu item from Mac D's. Bart from work put it well. It felt like Christmas when you open your presents and your brother gets the sweet gift that everyone is looking at and your stuck with your weather station or bright blue shirt. Yeah, both Bart and Dan got the shaft too. Well I shouldn't say we totally got the shaft because the sandwiches were good. Our trip to Italy was a good one and definitely a learning experience. We now know what to get next time we head to Capputos. We just have to follow the examples of Mike and Po. Anyway, it was a great world lunch tour today and as always I'm looking foward to next months adventure.

Para meus Amigos Brasileiros

E ai gente, beleza! Voces estao vendo a nova pagina da familia Ruedas. Espero que voces gostem. Aqui voces encontrarao fotos, comentarios, e novidades da nossa familia. Voces podem deixar comentarios tambem entao nao sejam timidos. Obrigado e um abracao ao meus queridos amigos do amado Brasil. Falou!