Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

What a super family! Logan loved his superman costume so we all decided to dress up like him. Ashley is the "superman in the off season."

You be the judge, who has the better Super Grin? The better Super Hair? Overall cuter Superman?

We took Logan to the ward Trunk-or-Treat activity for Halloween. The activity ended up being moved inside due to rain, but we still had lots of fun. Logan got the hand of trick-or-treating quickly and loved it. He also had fun helping to had out candy to other kids. He became very attached to his pumpkin full of candy and had a hard time letting it go when it was time for bed.

Sean got into a wrestling match with one of the boys he used to teach in Sunday School. . . again. At least this time they weren't in their Sunday clothes.

Our cute little Superman!

Logan likes to wear Daddy's hat. This time he figured out how to put it on like a bonnet.

Riding Lightning McQueen with Daddy's boots on. He didn't get very far!

We haven't posted anything for a while so I thought I'd put up a couple new pics of Logan. This is logan on the morning of his 2nd birthday, September 30. What a handsome young man!


Logan got has learned that the camera is a really cool gadget to play with! He to ahold of the camera and took several pictures of himself, the ceiling, his stomach, etc.


Logan in his bucket of stuffed animals. He surprises us every day with how much he is learning and growing.

Fall Vacation

Last week was Sean's fall break from school before he starts his last class this year. Mark and Carol came out to visit and to pick up the Mini and take it back to Utah. While they were here we were able to take a fun trip and do some sight seeing.
First, we visited the Jelly Belly factory where we took a tour and learned about how Jelly Bellys are made.

Next we drove to San Francisco where we found a beautiful spot that overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge, the bay, and all of San Francisto. It was a nice sunny, warm day so we could see everything from this spot.

Next we drove to Lombard Street, the street famous for being the windiest street in the country, and then to Coit Tower.
After we checked into our hotel, we spent the afternoon doing some shopping. We went to Ghirardelli Square, home of Ghirardelli chocolate, Fisherman's Wharf, and Pier 39. We ate dinner at Bubba Gump's on Pier 39 and did some more shopping.

When Logan started to get tired and fussy, Grandpa took him for a ride on the carousel. Logan didn't know what to think of it.

On Tuesday morning, we walked to pier 33 to catch our ferry out to Alcatraz. The previous evening had gotten quite cold once the sun went down so we expected a chilly morning, but we were pleasantly surprised with another beautiful, warm day. We took the audio tour of Alcatraz then caught the ferry back to the city.


After lunch in San Jose, we took a tour of the Winchester Mystery House. It is a house built by the wife of the son of the man who invented Winchester rifles. After her husband and child died, a medium told her that to appease the spirits of all those killed by the Winchester Rifle, she needed to start building on a house and keep up continuous construction. Construction continued 24/7 on her home for 38 years, until the day of her death. The house and grounds are amazing. In the house are several strange things such as a staircase leading to the ceiling, a 2nd story door leading to the outside without any stairs, a window in a wall that all you can see through it is the wall, etc. It was very neat!
The picture isn't turned, this is a window that is built into the floor.
Grandma and Grandpa with Logan in the courtyard of the Winchester house.


On Wednesday morning, we drove to Danville and toured the Blackhawk Auto Museum.

After that it was back to Sacramento to take a break from all of the walking we had done so far that week.

Thrusday we went to the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento. Logan loves to see the trains, but he doesn't like the manequins, they scare him. Every time he sees one, he will hide his face until we are far away from it. We don't know why they bother him so much. The upper level of the museum is Logan's favorite because it is where all of the model trains are and there is an area where there are toy train sets that kids can play with. He would play there all day if we let him. After lunch at the Rio Cafe located on the bank of the river, we walked through Old Sacramento and did some shopping.
We had a full week full of a lot of walking and by Friday all o four feet were sore, but we had a good time and got to see a lot of interesting things.
Now Sean is back in school, working on his last class that he will take here in California.

running on the dyno WAHOOO!!!!!

This is a shot showing just how narrow the mini is. It probaly wouldn't have fit without the new tires and wheel spacers installed.

Usually you adjust the length of the dyno to have the non driven wheels sit in the low spot just in front of the rear roller but the mini is too short for it to adjust that far.

Closer shot of the Dynojet dyno. We were able to run about 150 miles on the dyno to begin the initial breakin. We will have to do some more breakin before doing a full tilt power run on a dyno.

The mini back at my apartment. My teacher helped me tow it over since it isn't quite road ready.

Next to this Jeep Grand Cherokee you can really see just how small the mini is.

The fuel cell installed with the all important stickers that are good for 10 horsepower each. we had to build a custom base to hold it level and anchor it securely in place.

Another shot of the fuel cell.

The engine installed complete with super custom intake. It is just a piece of silicone 45 degree elbow and cheap napa cone filter.

We have the ralley light are now mounted. It helps to see better at night.

The header mounted.

New rear view mirrors.

Another view of the new engine installed.

Both front and rear wheels installed on the car.

September 13

Today is our fifth anniversary!! Time has gone so fast, it seems like just a few months ago we were getting married.

Sacramento Zoo

Today we took Logan to the Sacramento Zoo. He LOVED it! He was so excited to see the animals and couldn't wait to see another and another. The Sacramento Zoo isn't very big, but they have several animals that we had never seen before. The Anteater is surprisingly big, I thought it would be closer to the size of a large raccoon but instead it is quite large, easily the size of a big dog. We also saw some antelope that were striped, funny, spazy birds, and poison dart frogs. We had lots of fun.


The red pandas are always some of my favorite animals at the zoo. Logan wanted to pet them. They do look really soft.


Sean and Logan are just inches away from the tiger. Luckily, it is behind glass. There was quite a crowd around the window and the tiger was looking lazily around at everybody...until it saw Sean. It may have been Sean's bright shirt, or his spiky hair, but something caught the tiger's attention and it gave him a look that said, "I'm comin' for you!"

This picture shows just how short the custom axles are. They use the Honda inner cv joint and the Mini outer cv joint.

The brakes mounted on the subframe. The extra long wheel studs were for when we thought that we would have to put wheel spacers on the front. we found out later that we wont have to put the spacers on so we put the original shorter studs on.

This is the front of the engine without the exhaust manifold attached.

The side of the engine showing the MSD ignition for better spark.

This is the back of the engine showing the engine harness and remote oil filter installed on the engine.