September 24th was a LONG day! Jason, Kris, Ray and I spent all morning riding sweet action trails in Park City. At 2:00 we met up with Ryan (who was baby-sitting). We crammed into the Man-Van and drove up Big Cottonwood to Guardsmen Pass above Brighton.

We got a late start on the Wasatch Crest Trail, which actually worked out really well 'cause there weren't many people on the trail that late in the day. By the time we got all the way across the Crest Trail to the top of Mill Creek Canyon, the shadows were starting to lengthen.

No problem for five bikin' morons ... it only took us 15 minutes to reach the end of the trail. And here's how we did it:

This was all Ryan's idea. He said, "Let's go out in the desert and ride" ... something like that. Once we realized he was serious (we are a pair of morons after all), we decided to give it a shot. And Kris came, too.

Conclusion: It was amazing !

Finally, we have a new camera! Jason, Miles, Kris and I headed up to the Strawberry Narrows to try it out. We're pretty pleased with the quality ... the trail wasn't bad either. I jumped in behind Jason and chased him through sagebrush, pines and aspens. Jason is riding his new Ellsworth Moment All-Mountain bike and he ain't easy to keep up with!

It was early in June and the snow had just recently melted. There was a lot of dead-fall on the trail, but we found a nice long stretch where we could unwind ...

Music by Anberlin

It's Springtime again ... time to get the bikes out! On a lovely Spring morning, three morons headed south to the San Rafael Swell. The Good Water Rim trail is located on the edge of a formation called the Wedge, a tilted land mass on the north side of the San Rafael River. The river cuts through the Wedge creating what is called the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River. It was a very nice ride with fabulous views around every bend in the trail. Oh, yeah ... both Jason and Ryan crashed. Jason was ok ... Ryan, not so much.

On a bright sunny Saturday morning, three morons headed out for a 16 mile bike ride. Unfortunately, it didn't stay sunny. At the furthest point in the ride (Ray's Valley Road), a big black cloud appeared on the horizon. Ten minutes later, there was thunder and lightning. Ten minutes after that, we got hit - first by wind, then by hail ... and then it really got nasty! The temperature dropped from 90 to 60 very quickly. As we reached the "3rd Water Trail" turnoff, we dropped our bikes and ducked under a "tree" (actually, a very unpleasant bush, in a cow pasture). We were surrounded by fresh cow pies ... apparently the storm scared the poop out of those cows!!

On a lovely Saturday morning in June, a couple of morons headed south to the happenin' city of Panguitch, Utah. Other than a brisk breeze (and a broken chain), it was a perfect day for biking! The only thing missing was JASON ...

Shortly after our Moab Misadventure, we made some significant upgrades to Miles' mountain bike. We changed it from a 7 speed to a 9 speed by installing all new Shimano components: crankset, shifters, 9 speed cassette, chain, rear derailleur and DX platform pedals. After we finished, we decided to go for a little test ride to see if we could break anything. We ended up at Three Forks Trail in Diamond Fork Canyon. The ride uphill was uneventful (a lot of huffing, puffing, etc.). But the ride back down was good fun:

On May 22, a pair of morons, and Miles and Kris, loaded up the bikes and headed to Moab. Things didn't go quite like we had planned. Miles bike broke (stripped pedal threads), Kris damaged a middle chainring two miles into the ride, and then, just when things couldn't get any worse, Ryan decided, while flying wildly down a sandstone hill, to go over the handle bars and slam into the ground, doing damage to his knee, both elbows, his right hip, a glove, and his head (we're still pretty upset about the glove). Here's a video of our "misadventure".

Hey Jason : We all miss you, a lot!!

On September 1st , Elder Jason turned 20 years old! None of us were at his birthday party because he was in Ireland at the time. Jason recently sent us the following video of his rowdy birthday party.

Happy Birthday Jason!!

On a cold October morning, two morons drove up onto a high mesa in Southern Utah to ride their bikes. Here's their awesome adventure ...

On a cold August morning, two morons got into a little rubber raft and floated down the mighty Provo River. Here's our awesome adventure ...

Jason has had some wonderful experiences in Ireland. He spent the first couple of months in a nice area in Northeast Dublin. Most recently, he has been transferred and is now working with a new companion in the Southwest area of Dublin. We hope to have photos of this new area soon. In the meantime, here is a collection of photos taken mostly during the month of June 2009 prior to his transfer.

Elder Jason Palmer
c/o Ireland Dublin Mission
The Willows
Finglas Road
Glasnevin, Dublin 11
Ireland

We've finally received some photos from Elder Jason in Ireland. Once he arrived in Dublin, the Mission President assigned him a companion and put him right to work. He seems to have adjusted to mission life without too much anxiety, and he reports that all is well. He called home on Mother's day and spoke for a long while with Mom, Chelsea and Bethanie. Dad got to listen in. He sounds good.

Jason with Elder Anderson

Where Elder Jason Sleeps
One of the Locals

Elder Jason studying. Looks like he still doesn't put his shoes away.

Not sure where this is ... I hope he's not lost again!

Now I know he's lost! And, his suit pants are dirty (left knee).
As I understand it, he was playing Soccer in his suit ... typical Missionary.

This is O'Connell Street in Downtown Dublin. The tall pointy structure in the background is a very tall monument in the middle of the road ... where else to put a monument? The short structure in the foreground is Jason ... also in the middle of the road.

Three Missionaries who don't know how to use a camera.
If they did, Jason would be in the photo, right?

This is an interesting photo looking out across the rooftops in Dublin.

This is a short video of a Dublin Ward Activity ... an exciting round of horseshoes, and lots of folks standing around. Cool.

Jason spent only a few short weeks in the MTC before flying to Ireland. He made lots of friends for a brief moment, then, very early in the morning on April 7th, he went to the Salt Lake Airport. He called home at 7:00am and spoke to Mom and Dad for about 3 minutes. We laughed, we cried, we wished him well, then he was gone. It was a long day for Mom and Dad as we worried about Jason flying half way around the world by himself.

Fortunately, Jason made it to Dublin, Ireland and was immediately put to work. I'll post pictures of Jason in Ireland as soon as I get some. Mail from Ireland takes 3-4 weeks.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from his brief time at the MTC ... in no particular order.

Jason went into the MTC in Provo on March 18. We were all there to see him off and wish him well. We laughed, we cried, then we all went home. Every few hours we would turn to each other and say "I wonder what Jason is doing now?". Here are some pictures from that day.

Jason in front of the MTC with Dad, Mom and Chelsea

Inside, Jason officially became Elder Palmer

Mom is, like, way proud!!

Here's the whole crowd.

Jason has no idea what's going on ... he's just happy to be here.

An announcement for all:

Jason's mission papers have officially been sent to Salt Lake City as of last week. We expect the call to come in the mail within a few weeks and Jason is anxious to get gone. We'll keep you updated... family members probably don't want to hear about a mission call on a blog. That seems a bit impersonal. No, with a substantial amount of luck the call will come with Ryan and Tamara in Utah, Amber and Beau on the webcam, Miles and Bethanie at the house and Chelsea... on the speaker of the telephone. (sorry Chelsea?)

Right now Jason is starting to take temple prep classes. He received his patriarchal blessing a couple weeks ago with Mom and Dad. Also, we're planning to have Jason set apart as an elder while Ryan and Grandpa will be in town around Thanksgiving.

Just thought you all should know.

The day after going to Angel's Landing (see below...) and watching the BYU Football Team lose to TCU, Dad and I traveled to Gooseberry Mesa for a little mountain biking. This trail is one of the best in Utah and it was no disappointment today!


Last time we were here, Ryan crashed and burned on a certain part of the trail. It was awful... blood was everywhere and his inner tube exploded. In commemoration of that event, Dad and I set up a monument.

We were so excited, in fact, that we put together a reenactment of the scene.

By the end of the 16 mile trail, poor Dad was tuckered out.

We were about a mile from the end of the trail when Dad started to give out. It didn't help that he was out of water. We got back to the van all right, so everything was happy in the end.

Dad and I went south last weekend. We left early Thursday morning and drove straight to Zion National Park, where we decided to attempt the climb to Angel's Landing. Bethanie made it, so why not us?

At the Beginning there was an ogre. He wouldn't let us pass unless we correctly answered his three questions. (Red... no! Yelllloooowww.....) It was pretty slippery too.

The trail is pretty wild.

The views were impressive too.

There was a big hole in the ground to look at too.