Family picks from 2006

I finally got Jen to burn these pics onto a disc that we took of our family back in the fall of 2006. Although they are almost 2 years old these are some of my favorites. Enjoy.

Taggert's swmming lessons

OK.......OK.......OK.........Taggert we will take you swimming.

Taggert took his last dive in the pool with floaties. Taggert is now the newest swimmer in the Ralphs' home. After 2 weeks of lessons at Clearfield Aquatic Center he can now officially swim.

He has a mean backstroke and his breaststroke is coming along. He will compete in his first triathlon next week..................Well maybe not quite next week but he moving in the right direction.........Great job Tag.

3-0 Football Syracuse Black

Jaden played another tough game on Saturday. They played Logan red and it got off to a rocky start as they fell behind 6-0. Jaden was able to break a couple of tough runs to score two touchdowns and the boys pulled out a tough win against a scrappy Logan team. We ended up winning the game 13-6. This was an important win as it guarantees home field advantage for the first round in the playoffs. We play another 3-0 team this next Saturday as they play Layton Red. Should be a great matchup and a tough game.

School Started today

School finally started today for Morgan and Jaden. Morgan is a senior at CHS and Jaden is in the 8th grade at Syr. Jr. High. They were both pretty excited and feel comfortable with their classes and hope to do well this year.

Emmory and Taggert are on year round school at Bluffridge Ele. and have been going for 3 weeks now. Emmory is in the 5th grade and Taggert just started his first year of school in Kindergarten. They were also both excited to get back as mom and dad were as well.

Should be a fun filled year of school and sporting activities for our family.

Football and Soccer weekend with the Ralphs' 2-0 for football 0-1 for soccer

Jaden had his second game of the season and although the score was closer than the game Syracuse Black still came away with a win. We Played Moutain Crest Blue at Mtn. Crest High School. The final score was 26-20. Jaden again had a good game with 3 more touchdowns this week and Tyler Brown got his first TD since his accident took him out for the full season last year. It was neat to see the boys get another win. We also had 4 tunovers for the game which let Mtn. Crest utilize their opportunities to almost steal a win.

Jaden also had a soccer game at Weber County FG and Lost 4-2 in a hard fought game. Because his team (Steam) does not have a goalie they take turns playing and Jaden played the entire second half in the goal. They scored once on him as a player headed a cross past him and into the net. He played well but after a full day of football he was a little tired out on the field. The temperature for the soccer game was in the mid 90's and it was very hot.

Syracuse Black plays a tough game this coming Saturday as they take on a good Logan Red team who is also 2-0. We play in Syracuse this week for our first home game and we hope that the homefield advantage will give us an edge. Stay tuned for an update of the game on Sat.

Football at the Ralphs' home Syracuse Black 1-0

Well it's that time of year again that we put on the pads and get out there and hit something. Jaden has his first football game this Saturday against Brigham City Purple in BC. The family is excited to watch the team play this year. The team did well last year and Jaden played better than we ever thought he would as it was his first year. We have a good bunch of kids to coach this year and most of them seem willing to learn and are not afraid to get out and get after it.
We will see what this Saturday holds for our first game and see if the boys are ready. More later.............
Well the first football game of the season ended in a win against a scrappy Brigham City Purple team. It was played at Watkins park in B.C. and the team played well for their first game. No turnovers and we executed most of the offensive plays without much problem. It was exciting to see the boys come together for their first game of the season.
Jaden played exceptionally well as he had 3 touchdowns in the 20-6 win. BC's offense could never get going as our defense shut down most of everything that they did. Most of the boys were able to overcome their pregame jitters to go out and get things done. It was an important win for this team as we are looking to build upon the success of last year.
I will continue to update each weeks game on this blog and hopefully we will have a successful year as a team. It has been exciting to be a part of the team as a coach this year and I hope I can continue to help these boys progress in their desire to improve in their football skills and teamwork.

Duane and Jen's hike up Waterfall Canyon

Jen took me up Waterfall Canyon for our 18th anniversary. It was a great time. It has been about 15 years since we have been up there. It was pretty hot on June 28th so we took a couple of small towels that we kept wet around our neck. There were several people coming down the trail as we went up. By the time we got to the top we were very hot and ready to be cooled off by the falling water off of the cliffs. We stayed up at the top for about 1 hour and then we decided it was time to head down the trail. We had been hiking down about 15 minutes when a couple coming up the trail told us to be careful and not step on the rattlesnake in the trail. That did not sit well with Jen and I had them show us exactly where it was on the trail. It wasn't very big but they said that small rattlesnakes venom is more potent that an adult. We tried to find another way around and Jen promptly climbed ten feet up the mountain through the spider infested weeds instead of jumping over the snake. I had to show my masculinity so I jumped over it and we were on our way down the trail. It was nice to get to the bridge because we knew we were almost to the bottom. It was a great time and hopefully it is not 10 years until we get back there again.

We will have to take our kids up there this year before it snows this winter.

The water was cold but after we had hiked for an hour it felt very good to stand in the waterfall. By the time we had reached the car we were almost completely dry. Later that night we ended up eating at the new Iggy's at the new downtown center in Ogden. They have really cleaned up that part of town since they demolished the old Ogden City Mall.
We had a great time for our 18th anniversary and we hope to have at least 18 more.

Jaden and Dads trip to see a 49ers game in SanFrancisco

It was a good father and son bonding trip with Jaden. I had some sky miles that I had to use or lose so I thought I'd take Jaden to his first NFL game. We went to SF because it was close. We stayed at a dive but it was a bed to sleep in and was relatively close to the stadium.
Jaden was a little concerned about the snow on the plane. We had to sit on the tarmac and wait to be de-iced. In the end we were on our way and it was an fairly uneventful plane ride to SF.

We made it downtown to Hyde Street and rode the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf and had a good time. Jaden thought it was pretty cool to go up and down the roads on the trolley and end up down by the water.
Jaden was hungry so while I stood in line to get on the trolley he went in to Burger King and bought us some fries and a drink.
Although the sun was out it was a little chilly and we ended up buying Jaden a jacket to keep his fat free body warm. He felt much better after that. We wanted to get a little
closer to the Golden Gate Bridge but we only had an afternoon so see the sights in SF so this was as close as we got. Even from this far away you could tell it was very BIG.
They had quite a few live bands playing down in Fisherman's Wharf. We ended up eating lunch at Johnny Rockets and watched a Pantomime and a Magician performing on the street. We also got to see Alcatraz and although it was also pretty far away it was cool to see. They do a triathlon every year down there called escape from Alcatraz. It

would be neat to do it one year. I'm not sure how far it is out to Alcatraz but I'm sure it is much farther than it looks because I remember reading that no-one had ever escaped from Alcatraz and lived to tell about it. It seems to be a very popular tourist attraction as there was a line for the ferry that was really long to get to the island to see it.

Jaden had some fun with these 3 hooligans sitting on the bench. He thought it would be pretty funny and it was as you can see.

Right next to our hotel was Utah avenue and Jaden wanted a picture next to this building. We decided to take a walk down the street the night before the game to take in as much as we could of SF plus we were also very hungry.

We got up real early the next morning and went to the stadium to take it all in. They had a huge tailgating party and there was more food being cooked outside the stadium than inside. There were cars, trucks and motorhomes lined up for half a mile that had tv's food and football games going on. Jaden thought he was pretty cool getting autographs of the 49ers dancers and even got his picture taken with one of them. He didn't know what to say to her so he said "Thanks" As you can see by the picture we were one of the very first people that were let into the stadium so we walked all around and checked out all of the surroundings, found our seats and took tons of pictures. Jaden was grinning from ear to ear and to be honest so was I. What a great experience.

We walked around the whole stadium on the inside and out and were running on a little adrenalin when we got back to our seats for the kickoff.

The game was pretty cool and we watched the whole thing. The 9ers lost to the vikings. Alex Smith did not get to play due to an injury so it wasn't as cool as we hoped it would be.

The traffic was an absolute nightmare getting back to the hotel and we had to cruise to make it to the airport on time to catch our flight home.

Some great memories were made and I hope to do more things like this with all of our kids in the future.

Family Pictures

This is my rocket. My bike times have improved quite a bit over last year. I wish my body were as fast as this bike.







Me and my sweetheart. What would I do with out her.












Wow, Morgan will be a senior this year. She wants mom and dad to flip the bill for a car for her senior year. Ouch.

















Jaden has cut his hair since this photo and still looks great. He doesn't think so but mom and dad do.

















Emmory is daddy's little girl but she is not so little anymore.
















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Taggert started kindergaten last week. He loves it. Jen got him taking swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago and now he has grown gills.













Our panoramic family.







Morgan and Mom before the big dance. Jen is looking at the hot mailman that just dropped off the mail.











Ellie Mae. The best dog in the world.












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Just ask dad what came first. The Easter Bunny or the egg.












Moab Half Marathon in 2007
Bluffridge 5K 2008

The first post to the Ralphs' Family Blog

Hey there, finally got with it and decided to put together a blog. Hopefully as a family we can add some value here and find some meaningless or thoughtful items to display and post.

Please feel free to add to anything you wish.

It's not a Tumor............

Let my people Go................