So in no particular order (chronological or importance) here we go:

Life Events

Liam was Born
Gave Liam a name and a blessing
Bought an iPad
Went to the Masters
Ran a Marathon in Dublin, Ireland
Spoke at a Funeral
17th place in Suncrest Half Marathon

Fun

Went to Disneyworld with the family
Ran the Epic Relay Race with awesome team in beautiful Jackson Hole
Full Week of Scout Camp- created and played Spotlights and Ninjas
Drove the Mustangs at Miller Sports Park
Played Promontory Point
Played Glenwild
Played Salt Lake Country Club
Played Valhalla Golf course
Walked the San Antonio Boardwalk with my wife and family
Went to the Nickelcade to help my wife induce labor
Won 3 point contest by some miracle
Asked and went to Prom with Michelle

Random

Learned the game Dominion
Thought that it would be genius to invent Tattoos that disappear after 3 years
Started mbahack.org which I haven’t maintained
Started Parental Ponderings blog
1st experiment with crowdsourcing
Bought an iPhone 4S- quickly fell in and out of love with Siri-
Started early rise routine for one month
Ended Early rise routine
Bumper Sticker Call Campaign idea
Caught a fly out of the air
Memorized Proclamation to the Word: The Family

Travel

Grand Teton NP
Glacier National Park
Zion National Park
Idea to do an International Marathon entered into my thoughts and never left
9/11 Memorial in NYC
Walked through Occupy Wall Street demonstrations
Visited Stonehenge
Visited Salisbury Cathedral
Toured the Roman Baths in Bath England
Visited Blenheim Castle
Went to Preston, England Temple
Visited York
Visited London Temple
Saw the London Bridge
Toured Tower of London
Visited Churchill Museum in London
Drove the Ring of Kerry
Visited Killarney National Park in Ireland
Toured Trinity College- saw the Book of Kells
Miracle of the returning of our passports
Fulfilled lifelong dream of going to Four Corners

Movies Watched

Knight and Day
Bobby Fischer at Sundance
Unstoppable
Social Network
Source Code
Killers
X-Men First Class
Season 4 of 24
How to train your dragon
True Grit
Regretfully watched “Limitless”
Regretfully watched “Green Hornet”
Harry Potter- Last one
Pay it Forward
Sherlock Holmes (1st one)
Made it through Fiddler on the Roof for the 1st time
2nd Sherlock Holmes

Books Listened to or Read

Listened to “Lone Survivor”
Read “Seal Target Geranimo”
Listened to “The Hunger Games”
Listened to “The Last Lecture”
Listened to “How to Master Your Time” by Brian Tracy
Listened to “Million Dollar Habits” by Brian Tracy

Today in Sunday school somebody made the comment that early on in their marriage they wanted recognition from the other person with regards to what they had done (we were discussing Jesus’ teachings in Matt 6:1). It hit me that if I was organized enough, I would have written down every diaper I have changed, and I probably average 3/day and I want Michelle to know when I changed the diaper, how messy it was, how fussy Liam was, while emphasizing how much I am doing. As I was thinking about comment, it hit me that I was as the hypocrites Jesus was teaching. I’ve got some changing to do (not just more diapers). Besides, Michelle probably changes 4 to 5 times the diapers I change and not once has she told me how many diapers she changed as I walk through the door after work. It is kind of funny that as I write this I am picturing a whiteboard above his changing station with how many diapers that we changed and who did it and a score of how messy it was. We’ll take a picture of those statistics every month and put it in Liam’s book of remembrance so he knows of the great sacrifices we made and when he dares complain we’ll demand a review of that book. Aaah, the joys of parenthood, the sleepless nights and the crap filled hands, the drooled on shirts, and the home bound nights (especially the dates that have to be creative enough to count as a date and not like every other night in the house together), the countless hours spent feeding, and rocking, and holding. The thankless nature of it all, must be quite refining. They don’t even remember, we have no concept of what our parents go through for the first year or two of our lives, no wonder why the sin of ingratitude is weighty. Thanks mom and dad for raising me and changing all my diapers, sorry I cried so much and that I didn’t sleep. Thanks for not killing me.

By the way, Liam is a great baby and has increased our joy infinitely, and the dirty diapers, the consistent crying, and discussed difficulties, are absolutely nothing compared to the joys of parenthood. I know that “the family is ordained of God.”

oh.. our almost daily thoughts on parenting can be found on another blog www.parentalponderings.posterous.com

Asked Michelle to Marry Me (January 9^th)

Sealed to Michelle in Draper Temple (April 17^th)

Learned we would be having a baby boy and selected name William

Got PRK Corrective Eye Surgery

Fun Activities

Snowshoeing with the family

Last Couchsurfing experience (see www.couchsurfing.org)

Rented out bowling alley for reception

Observed a Jazz basketball team practice session

Went Skiing

Went to a couple of Jazz Games

Ragnar Relay in DC

Played in Utah Open Golf Tournament (FYI: not as a professional)

Did an Elvis Presley impersonation

Went to Cirque de Soleil “O”

Random

Taught Junior Achievement Class for Middle School

Perfected my ability to crack and open an egg with only one hand

New Windows on the house

Ran Spectrum 10K- 48 minutes (suckered into it through intense peer pressure and it was done with little to no training, thus not in the fun category)

Fixed up house (replaced lights, ceiling, redid Kitchen cupboards)

Moved Roommates Out

Was on the radio about VLCM

Met Frank Layden (Old Jazz Basketball coach)

Read the Declaration of Independence on the 4^th of July

Michelle cut her hand and got stitches

Got a concussion from Soccer and lost memory for 1 hour

Worked on Opening VLCM Global

Learned the game Dominion

Spiritual

Visited 7+ new Temples (San Antonio, Sacramento, Bern, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Denver, Portland)

Grandma passed away

Gave away a Book of Mormon

Watched 2 friends get baptized

Travel

Las Vegas

Puerto Vallarta on Honeymoon to a private beach house

Road trip to Oregon (Haystack Rock, Temple

Went to St. George and visited Michelle’s Grandma

Went to Boulder Colorado to Visit Scott and Sadie (4^th of July)

Went to Europe

Went to Tour de France

Saw Monet’s house

Saw Arc de Triomphe

Ate hot dog fromage

Slept in Overnight Train Car

Went to Nice, France

Florence, Italy (Cooking Class, Michelangelo’s David, El Duomo, Andy Miller, Uffizi Museum)

Rome (Vatican City, Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Roman Forum, Borghese Gallery, Colosseum, National Museum)

Pompeii, Italy

Salzburg, Austria (Sound of Music Tour, Puppet Show)

Frankfurt Temple

Freiburg Temple

Dachau (Concentration Camp, and Town Party)

Munich, Germany

Interlaken, Switzerland (Hang Gliding, and beautiful mountains and lakes)

Bern Temple in Switzerland

Las Vegas again

Fallon, Nevada for Thanksgiving

San Francisco Roadtrip(India consulate, Dalancey St. Restaurant, Musee Mechanique, Aquarium, Sacramento Temple, SF Moma, Muir Woods)

Movies Watched or Watched again

Avatar

Bourne Identity

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Star Trek

Truman show

Nacho Libre

How to Train your dragon

Karate Kid with Jackie Chan

Disney’s Aladdin

Disney’s Tangled

The Tourist

Tron

Harry Potter

3^rd Chronicles of Narnia

Books Listened to or Read

Go Getter

How to connect in Business

Influencer

Go-Giver

The 4-hour work week

Ready, Fire, Aim

“Driven” by Larry H. Miller

“What it takes to be #1” by Vince Lombardi Jr.

Listened to Mitt Romney’s  “No Apology”

“The Anatomy of Peace”

- Intensity and focus will make reality out of dreams
- The more wealthy you are the more service oriented you need to be
- A healthy and happy person will enjoy wealth longer
- Happiness is found for the rich the same way it is for the poor (family and non family relationships, service, hard work)
- You can get more done by having a routine
- I think frugality is an ingredient for happiness (the richer man then in some respects must fight harder for happiness than the poorer man)
- To diffuse an argument- ask a lot of questions, listen, then repair.
- Make a habit of writing down and digesting life’s lessons. You will progress faster that way
- Stop and ponder
- Money will change you unless you work at it not changing you
- Keep promises (as an employer) to your employees
- The turning points in Larry H Millers life were when he married Gail
and when he started paying tithing
- It takes big risks to achieve big things.
- As people approach death they dwell on relationships not their
possessions
- After difficulty or contention with someone it is important to go to great lengths to reach out and make things right.
- Write letters to your friends and family
- Learn how to delegate
- If possible don’t go into personal debt. Stay out of it, when you get out.
- “Don’t change your standard of living as your income increases”
- If you love possessions, you will be made captive by them.
- It is important to sit back a few times a year and wonder what it all is for?
- Learn how to keep the passion
- Go to work everyday and do what needs to be done
- “Life is way too short to spend it all at work” – Gail Miller
- It is usually the challenges that help us grow the most

Larry H Miller’s Business Suggestions
- “Don’t expand too fast, protect the base”
- In negotiations- go early, inspect value, curb excess desire, learn what other wants and don’t assume, do whole deals, think on your feet, negotiate for self.
- Ask lots of questions
- “Even more important than the will to win is the will to prepare to win.”
- “You don’t have to blow out another’s candle to let your own shine”
- “Don’t make a bad deal just to make a deal”
- “Keep money in perspective”
- Be patient
- “Play to your own strengths”
- “Trust your instincts”
- “Manage business at the level of business you are actually doing; not at the level you wish you were doing”
- “Learn not to confuse the elements of motion and progress. Progress always requires motion, but motion isn’t always progress.
- “Accomplish more by not caring who gets the credit”
- “If you want extraordinary results, you must put in extraordinary effort.”
- “Don’t assume people see problems as clearly as you do.”
- “Let the fires burn all around you and fix one problem at a time.”
- “You can’t do it if you aren’t there”
- Create a reputation of doing what you say you’ll do
- “In negotiations try to give the other person what he wants”