A Great Daughter

Even though I get on her case a lot, I can't help be realize what an amazing little girl I am raising. Last night I had a bad night. One of those nights where you just wish you had someone. Someone to love, hold, laugh, talk... Laying in bed is the hardest for me when you are there all alone. So ya I had my moment where I kind of lost it. Who was there to console me? Ya.. this perfect girl that I have. She came in and asked me not to be sad because it makes her sad. Followed by "Besides you have me." She laid with me for awhile and cracked some jokes to make me laugh. She hugged me so many times that I couldn't cry anymore. To finish up, she looked at me and said "You good? Okay I am going back to bed."

Its moments like that, that I will never forget. Regardless of where life takes me, I will always have those memories to remind me that I am not alone. That she will always be there for me. I will always know she is there to make me laugh. She will always melt my heart when I watch her help her little brother without being asked. She gives love to everyone and it shows in Jaxon, who is just the same.

I personally hope all my friends get a chance to meet this young lady. She is one in a million. She is my best friend. She is what makes me proud to be a Dad. Her Dad. I love you Taylor Lynn Wolfley.

I met four of the most amazing people Friday night

Safetysuit is one of my favorite bands of all time. Top four for sure. If you consider active bands, then top two. For many reasons, first and foremost, Doug Brown the lead singer told Beyonce to suck it at the concert (jokingly). He sings a great if you like then you should put a ring on it!

Their first album was/is called.. Life left to go. With the last song called exactly that. Very strong lyrics about suicide and talking someone out of attempting it. Its people like this who can bring such a strong message to people for such a good cause. I admire them on such a high level for it.

The concert was at UVU with the help of the Second Chance Foundation of Utah. The point is to help bring awareness to people with the thoughts of committing suicide. They want to build self esteem and make people feel better about themselves. Who better to do it than this band who brings such great energy to the stage. Doug made a great statement before a song about people helping others who are hurting on the inside. Then proceeded to have the ladies sing after him "I am beautiful." It was a very moving moment and realize what these guys are about. You knew it before if you have heard them, but when you see it live... you get a whole new prospective.

So they are flat out dominating this concert. Doug almost lost his guitar into the crowd, but was luckily holding onto it. I have it on my phone. Pretty classic! I almost had to take a kid outside to calm him down with my fist because he has a serious man crush on Doug. Hear me out.... Doug likes to be interactive with the crowd and he came up to the rail and this kid LAUNCHED himself to get him some Doug Brown action. He went to crazy and rammed into a girl and this 10 or 11 year old kid was getting crunched. So I laid down the law and he wasn't to bad after that.

After it was over with a brilliant performance of 'life left to go', people started to vacate. I was just sitting back and soaking in the things that they had talked about and then the band came out to sign autographs and mingle. First I met Jeremy Henshaw (Bass). I like to call him G.C. Deuce because he is a spitting image of Clooney. This guy was insanely nice. We talked for a bit about who writes the songs and the next album's title. Tate Cunningham came up (Drummer) came up and told me to start fly fishing and it would change my life. Sorry bro..not touching those slimy suckers. Then Dave Garofalo (Lead Guitar) made his way over and was like the the coolest, nicest guy ever. Talking to people about playing guitar and excited for people taking lessons. Also very very appreciative that people were there to see them play. This cat is insane to watch jam out. He dances the whole time and plays incredible at the same time. Doug Brown (Guiar, Lead Vocals) was obviously the busiest of the bunch, but still took time to sign my ipod and we joked about some twitter messages I sent him. Very nice guy with a lot of jokes for everyone. I was having to much fun talking to them, I didn't ever think about just thanking them for the message they send to people and how much their songs inspire people. Although it was short, one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I also met four of the most amazing guys ever that night. Forever a fan for what they do and how they do it. These guys do it the right way!

Thanks Safetysuit and Second Chance Foundation for doing what you do. Thanks for reminding people to love themselves and others. So easily forgotten and we people like that to help remind us.

Here are some links for you peeps and use them:

http://www.safetysuitmusic.com/

http://www.secondchancefoundationofutah.com/

Until next time and thanks for reading.

I hate school work

Back when we were having discussions about having children, I guess school work never came up. I hated school work. I still hate school work. Plus I suck at it. I have been doing good helping Taylor, but there are things coming up already that has made me try to think back if I was learning these things at her age. I think I was suppose to, but bypassed the learning part.

Today was classic. Jaxon has homework for his Kindergarten class. Its like...Draw a picture of something loud and quiet and practice counting to 20. Now thats what I am talking about!!! But Jaxon threw a frickin fit!!! I thought he was going to collapse from balling so hard. This is the part where I try to be understanding, but doesn't work out to good. He got it done.

Taylor amazes me when it comes to how her mind works. Last year she told the teacher it was my fault that she didn't get her homework done, because I didn't push her enough to do it. She also thinks that she is going to die from doing her homework. My answer to that, was..."Well at least you will have eternity to get it done." It did take her along time tonight to get her homework done. I told her "You would have gotten done a lot faster if you would leave me out of it."

I sit here with her and I thought of a movie I would like to share...

Tommy: My Dad was smart, I'm not

Richard: Very true. But there's two types of smarts, book smart, which waved bye bye to you long ago. And there's street smarts, the ability to read people.

Anyways...thats why people like us have got to forge ahead Helen. Am I right?

So many different things to do when you go camping

So I went camping this last weekend for labor day. Sadly it was my first time out this year. I blame my parents for this. After you camp in a trailer, you can't go back to a tent. So THANKS MOM for inconveniencing me and my kids by needing a new hip. Always thinking of yourself!!

But there are so many fun things to do while you go camping that you don't normally do at home. Like walk the dog. Or sit in a chair outside. Play a board game. Hell I even watched some t.v. I mean who would do that at home?? Really?

For the most part I did have a good time. I felt bad I didn't get Taylors 4-wheeler running to make the trip. So I did spend most of my day riding with the kids so they wouldn't get bored. Taylor did get to drive the Rhino a few times and was pretty good. Her first driving lesson...sniff sniff. She was killer on the 500. I told her we may have to sell her 90 and upgrade. She didn't like that idea. The unfortunate part of the trip is they saw me break down (emotionally) not on the wheeler. I tried really hard not to. But I had to get in the Rhino and just take a drive. There are just times when you realize how much you need that companion to help you. I love my kids more than anything in the world, but sometimes you just need help. I didn't have the teammate by my side to help me with that. It could have been a combination of having your friends from work get engaged or married just before camping. It could have been the sharp knife that was jabbed into my back from my ex right before I left. But it happened. I broke down and the kids recognized it and started to miss their mom in the process. I countered it with more riding and more riding annnnd a lot more riding. We did make a lot of campers upset by the dust we created. Hey don't set up camp by the best spot to ride and catch some air is what I say!!

So what I learned on this camping trip:

I can barely handle two days when trying to entertain my kids.

There are tons of things to do camping that you can't do at home.

I am an emotional wreck.

Hiking would be a lot easier if there was ski lifts in more places.

You can compress the diameter of your sleeping bag by driving over it when packing up.

Branches will hurt you if you are not paying attention while riding.

Its just over the next hill still works while camping when your kids want to get back to camp.

Remember to pack more than one shirt for your son.

Don't build fires with strong winds. (That was a close one)

I make amazing marshmallows for smores.