the Cards game...

Now that we're in St. Louis we decided the best way to get acquainted with the city was to go to a Cardinals game. At my job, pretty much everyone has season tickets and a lot of people can't use them every home game, so they were easy to get. Our seats were in the outfield, just on the right field side of center like the 4th row up. Perfect view of all the action. The stadium was incredible and it was a perfect night to catch a game. They won 6 - 1, so I was allowed to go back to work the next day. The people who gave me the tickets said if they lost not to come back.

Ashley and I at the Mall

While I was in Utah I got together with my friend Ashley from High School and we did what we do best, nothing really. We just walked around and took random pictures. It was great, Ashley's always been such a great friend so this post is dedicated to you and your awesomeness.

Haley's Soccer Game

In Utah we went to my sister Haley's soccer game. It was the playoff game.



















Her team is called the Lehi Strikers.








They lost that game but, they were 2nd place in the league. So Haley was a little sad, but they sure did well.

the JAZZ game!!!!

So along the way on our travels through Utah, my older sister Emily decided to solidify her spot in heaven and get Jazz tickets for Game 3 against the Lakers. So her, Kim and my old man all met in Ogden and hopped on the train and headed to Salt Lake City for the showdown. It was great to ride the train cause we missed all the traffic both going to and coming from the game. (Also I (Jake) was interviewed by both the Standard Examiner (see http://www.standard.net/live and the video entitled "Follow our Drew Godleski as he rides FrontRunner to the Jazz game) and a TV station from Spain, Canal +, for my thoughts on the game).

It was an awesome game, very intense and extremely loud the entire time. Some kid named David Archuleta sang the national anthem. The song wasn't too bad, but everyone, including Kim and my sister made a huge fuss over him....anyone heard of him?

Anyways, the Jazz played a decent game and pulled it off in the end, 104 - 99. It was a TON of fun to get to go to a Jazz playoff game and my sister is awesome for pulling it off.

Kim getting ready for the game wearing her new boyfriend's shirt.

Photo op on the train on the way to the game.
View from our seats. Pretty high up, but closer to heaven so our prayers got there first.
David Archuleta singing the national anthem. Apparently none of the Jazz players wanted his autograph.
Mr. Archuleta again. Not a bad singing voice for picking some random kid to sing at the game. Maybe this will help him launch some sort of career.
Jake and Old Man River stoically observing the refs not allow Kobe to be harmed the entire game.

MOAB: Bikes & 4-Wheelers....

Ok, so if you don't already know, little miss Kimberly and I are spending our summer outside of the broiling oven of Phoenix and going to be living in the humid sauna of St. Louis while I prove to my wife that I am capable of holding down a good job. For three months at least. On our way out to the exciting Midwest, we are visiting both of our families in Utah.

So we met up with Kim's family in Moab, Utah, which has got to be one of the most amazing places on this earth. Perfect warm weather. Beautiful breathtaking views. And plenty of rocks to climb on with both 4-wheelers and your conventional peddle bicycle.

We had so much fun riding on the Jeep trails and passing all of the slow-poke trucks creeping along. We made a good attempt at Slickrock on our bikes, but had to stick to most of the practice loop. Still made about 7 miles of it though. Still incredibly tough.

A big cliff on the Slickrock Trail.
Kim taking pictures of herself. Classic pose.
We hiked to this little hole in the rock.
A long line of Jeeps and FJ's. We just went around them.
One of the longest, steepest hills we had to climb.