WARNING: this is a guest blog by Blake.... read at your own risk

HI world.... wow, i'm taking my first steps into, as all the kids these days say, "blogging". Right now as i'm trying to do this, Owen is climbing all over me trying to lick my face... it's pretty dang funny, but he has that "stinky spit"... yeah you know what 'm talking about, that weird spit smell. anyways.... the reason for this guest appearance is to tell the world (what sarah doesn't seem to think is such a big deal)... yesterday I took Owen on his FIRST HIKE!!! I'm am the proudest dad on this side of the Mississippi right now.

We went out to Antelope Island and went on the Buffalo Point Hike to the top of a"HUGE" mountain. It was a half mile hike up to the top which gave us a great view of the Great Salt Lake and then once up there, a bunch of boulders and rocks to climb and play on. So, onto why i'm so proud... he hiked the whole way up himself, completely by himself! he held my hand and just hiked away. Yesterday morning I bought him some little tiny Hiking boots and he climbed like a pro in them. I was smiling the whole way up watching him figure out how to scramble over the rocks and pick his path up.

So, now the highlights of the trip: Several Japanese Tourists, they thought Owen was cute hiking his way up the mountain. So we stopped and talked with them for a bit. Then the Lizard. Some other people up there caught a lizard and brought it over for Owen to look at. At first he was pretty scared of it, then i held it and he realized it was ok to touch. SO, then he went nuts with it. he was holding it and letting it crawl on him. Then he'd put it down and pick it up and put it down and pick it up. Once he grabbed it by the tail and started shaking it, i had to jump in before he killed it. The best highlight though, was when he crapped his pants and I had to strip him down on the top of the mountain and change his diaper. It was pretty cold with the strong wind, so he was pretty "puckered" up, it was a challenge to get the cleaning done.

We stayed at the top of the mountain for about 40 minutes and then he was pretty tired so threw him on my shoulders and hiked him out to the car. he fell asleep almost instantly once he was in his car seat.

People probably wonder why i'm making such a big deal of this.... well i just loved the time with him, out in nature, getting him excited about things that I like. I am so excited to be doing fun things and introducing him to so many great things. I love spending time with just him (not that I don't love being with Sarah). It's great to just be out with the boy, watching him learn and figure things out. Now he is always asking to go "hiking, see lizard!!!". In fact, I plan to take many trips around and do little hikes with him, i bought a Utah State Parks pass, so i'd like to get to some of the other places around here as well.

If anyone has any recomendations for good hikes to take little studs on, let us know. here's some pictures of the trip.