Ben's Graduation!

Well I done it! Ive done fineshed coledge. Her's the prooof.

Andrea's New Car

Well we finally broke down and bought Andrea a car. We got a 2002 Hyundai Elantra. Andrea just accepted a job at Highland Family Practice, a doctors office about 15 minutes from our apartment, and she's going to need a way to get there. Anyway, here are the pictures.

First Week at Work

So these are some pictures of my new office and of my first assignment. My office is in South Jordan at 11800 South and 5222 West. I work for Kennecott Land, who is responsible for developing the Daybreak site for homes. I work under the Safety Superintendant who was gone on Thursday and Friday of this week, which left me overseeing my first project. (see below)

A major feature of the Daybreak site is it's man-made lake that flows serenely through the neighborhood and provides fishing, peddle boating, and cannoning. This lake is fed by water that is pumped in by two 5000 lb. pumps. These pumps will each push 4000 gallons a minute into the lake. When one of them failed this week, it became a big priority to get it fixed. My job was to ensure that Kennecott Land’s Safety protocols were followed and most importantly, that no one got injured during the critical lifting of the 2.5 ton pump motor.

Once the pump motor was out we had to pull the actual impelers out since it was believed that they were causing the problems with the motor. It took a long time but eventually we got the whole thing safely lifted and set outside where they could be worked on. No one got hurt and there were no close calls which makes it a good day for the guy in charge of safety (and everyone else too).

And we couldn't live in Utah and not celebrate pioneer day. Andrea and I lite off some fire works just for fun. I found two of the longest sparklers I've ever seen. I think they were about four feet long. Andrea is pictured below displaying them.

We Sail!

This is a late commer photo but we're alvery proud of Andrea's diving skills!

Andrea and I made the 13 hour drive from Rexburg to Lake Shasta, CA to be with my family on the 4th of July. These are some pictures from our sailing adventure on the legendary sailing vessel, "Spraymaker".

Since most of Northern California is on fire right now, we got to watch this fire fighting plane scoop up water (2 acre feet with each pass) and then dump it on a fire burning a nearby hill side.

This is Blake, my partner in crime at the BYU-Idaho Safety Office. I took these photos while flow testing fire hydrants at work. Yes we actually do work...some days.













These fire hydrants will pump out anywhere from 900-1200 gallons per minute. The water comes out at about 50-70 psi. Normally the red diffuser nozzle is pointed down at the ground so that passerbys aren't knocked across the street. But we decided to see what would happen when it was pointed up instead. (Warning: trained stunt man, do not attempt.)

Sometimes they're a little stubborn. I think we need a longer wrench.

Andrea and Ben's Birthdays

Andrea shows off her new Tweety Bird kite. She also got the green shirt she is wearing for her Birthday. (No I did not pick it out which is why it's so cute).













Andrea didn't want a birthday cake, she wanted a birthday pie. So Sarah Lee made her a nice Apple pie and I stuck candles in it.













Anyone who knows Andrea knows she loves Cheese so I got her a cheesy snack for her Birthday along with some of her favorite cereals.













Chris and Melissa both came over to help us celebrate.















My cake on the other hand nearly burned down the apartment. I leaned about six candles toward eachother in to parts of the cake to get this effect. It was awesome.

Memorial Day in Twin Falls

Shoshone Falls
The Dodds clan (including Dunbar's and Van De Graaffs) went on a walk by the mighty Shoshone Falls. I was reading about the geology of the area and when Lake Boneville flooded (11,000 years ago) the canyon, water flowed over the south canyon wall. The 460 ft. high Twin Falls bridge would have been under ten feet of water! Today all that remains of Lake Bonneville is the Great Salt Lake in Utah.











As we were hiking out of the canyon, we stopped and took some photos along the way. While I was taking this pictures I heard the rock walls start to buckle and crack. I knew I'd have to act fast...












So I threw down the camera and jumped under the rock wall to brace it while everyone got out. Luckily no one was injured.















This is Jenna Van De Graph, a very happy three year old. For her Birthday, she wanted a "princess castle cake". So her mom (Andrea's older sister Kristen) created this masterpiece. Andrea also helped out by doing the red frosting around the towers.












Ben and Joe on a sax/trombone duet. Listen at your own risk.