2011 WRAP UP - ROLL'N INTO 2012

 Well it has been almost 6 months since Tiff and I have updated our blog so lets recap on some of the adventures we've had recently.

We went to the La Brea Ta Pits in late July. That was a lot of fun and very interesting actually. As it turns out there was a couple of art museums that we were supposed to pay to get into, but there was no sign posted. Either way that trip was pretty cool.

 July 2011

There was this big art... thing that cast really cool shadows when you stood in it. Seig Heil... fist pump... same thing right?

 

At the art exhibit there was a huge Tim Burton theme. Really big!

 Just Sing'n in the rain :)

 Who doesn't like Samurai armor seriously? 

Oct 2011

After goodness knows how many years we finally made it up to Utah for General conference, needless to say we have to yet make a session. Hanging out with nieces and nephews was a lot of fun though! 

  

 

 I think after about 5 trips out to Arizona, Tiff and I finally found a house that was worth buying. We will be closing on it here next Wednesday and will post better pictures later.

 Christmas 2011

 This year made us realize just how much we are excited to have kids to make Christmas a little more magical. We went to "Christmas on Nob Hill" and there was only one house lit up. It was a cool house, but sadly not one nativity scene or one thing representing the birth of Christ.

 

Disneyland 2 Jan 2012

 Ha! Now here is an interesting specimen! Haha the day after new years. Tiff and I hung out with uncle Steve and family at Disneyland. We had a blast and will have to do this more often. In all honesty though, I don't think this is a bad look for him.

 One often overlooked section of Disneyland is the Lincoln Memorial. It is a very special and inspiring presentation of a historic President of these United States and of a truly honorable man. I encourage everyone to go to it if they are at Disneyland!

 7 Jan 2012

 So Tiff and I decided to spend the day in San Diego and went to the Mormon Battalion Museum and this was actually a very interesting and fun tour. Our guide walked us through the history of how a battalion of 500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were recruited from Iowa to go fight in the Mexican American War, but ended up setting up a critical wagon trail for future pioneers heading westward and helping found the city of San Diego.

 Wifie. She is so good to me. :)

 How would you like to carry those things arround... I'll stick to my M16 thank you very much!

8 Jan 2012

 Ok so this is the Sunday School class that we help teach. They are wild, cute, and fun all at the same time. The two young men in the back are our missionaries, they wanted a picture before transferring to their next area.

Wifie at 19 weeks. I think we shall call him Logan Richard Herzog. Of course this means that we'll probably have a girl. ;) Just encase, we are prepared with Carrie Eliza Herzog.

Well maybe this can be a new years resolution to blog more. Only time will tell.

-Brown Man

July 4th Arizona Adventure

Still hanging out on a Sunday morning catching up on blog posts. I have made my way through time and space to our most recent adventure: Arizona 4th of July Trip!

We stayed at Tim and Christy's new house, so totally awesome! I can't wait 'till we can settle in and have a house of our own. Anyways we drove to Arizona to see family and participate in the baby blessing for Daisy, our newest niece. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was just nice being with family. 

Grandpa :)

 Here is David and Amanda's great hall. With Clark and Parker zooming along! I can't wait till they get older so that I can watch their football games (I think they'll be linebackers) and track meets (Clarke, Parker, and Tingen all love running!).

 The family playing Imagine If.

 

Quick, attack Grandpa! Oh also, f you lay down on the ground you are fair game for kids to play with. I was the sleeping dragon! :)

 So there really wasn't a whole lot to do that was both inside (because it was blazing hot in the Arizona heat) and kid friendly. So we went to Ikea. I will say that they had pretty decent food there, but that's how they sucker you in right?

On the road again back to Cali. Funny, we go to visit for the 4th, but that is actually the day that we drove back on. We did see some fireworks along the way which was cool. 

Well, until the next adventure or quiet Sunday when I post again.

-BM

It's fun being a Marine

So it was my turn to give the Sunday School lesson on the 26th of June. I love participation, so I told the kids that if they answer the question correctly they get to wear my kevlar. :) They thought it was so cool. Needless to say it was a success! SEMPER FI!

The Ending of an Era

America, we are in a sad state of affairs... I mean, I know that we call the redistribution of wealth "Quantitative Easing," we call taxes "fees," and that fiscal responsibility is synonymous with increasing your credit limit (raising the debt ceiling), but LOOK AT THIS!!!

So we're at Walmart the other day and this is what we found... evidence of a failed education system. That red box is look'n awfully blue to me; just say'n.

-BM

Disneyland!

Disneyland... what more is there to say right? It pretty much speaks for itself. We (Doug, Mandy, Tiff, and myself) went on the day after I got back from my trip to Nevada. We had a wonderful time. The last time Tiff and I were here was on Christmas Day last year. It was crowded beyond belief. Well, I guess it wasn't all that surprising that the park reached capacity that day, but it wasn't nearly as fun as this most recent trip. We even had a chance to explore California Adventure.

For those that haven't been recently, Soaring over California was by far the coolest ride they have there. You sit in this bench-seat-harness thing then you are elevated into a dome-shaped screen that totally envelops you! the dome shaped screen gives it a 3d effect without the headache, they include smells, and wind, it's just AWESOME!

 I really like this forced perspective painting behind them. When you are at the end of the street looking at it, it presents a pretty fun optical illusion.

 Cruis'n the park

This is what I feel and look like every Monday morning.

This is Tiffany being taken up in a pillar of light.

 Featuring Toy Story's new action figure: Sgt Markus... the zeal of Capt America combined with the Indiana Jones style.

 

Beautiful Wifie

Mr. Incredible has nothing on Sgt Markus. 

 

For as many trips as we go on. Tiff and I rarely have pictures of both of us. I really like this one.

-BM

Adventures

Well it's a nice Sunday morning and I haven't much to do, so I figured that I'd blog some of the happenings of the last few weeks that I haven't had a chance to post yet.

One of the simple pleasures that I've found to enjoy in life is the aspect of what I call "Adventures. " An adventure is simply one or more fun experiences that you couldn't otherwise have if you didn't get out of the house to do it. And the more you can cram into one extended adventure, the better! For example the Zogi Clan gathering was only the second phase of my most recent "adventure."

I recount my latest adventure as follows (I guess it's a good thing that I work logistics by trade huh?) :

Day 1 (prior to departure): Ultimate Frisbee at the park. I never played it before, and boy was it fun.

Day 2: Church in the morning then drive up to Zogistan Central Command

Day 3-8: Recorded in posts of the clan gathering, but included cutt'n firewood in the mornings, rock climbing, bbq's, camp fire breakfasts, a little bit of shooting, card games (this is sounding like a wild west story!), and it ended with the Grand 'Ol Push Ma!

Day 9: Depart for Pahrump, NV for Handgun Training. Pass by Lake Tahoe and pass through Death Valley.

Day 10 & 11: Shoot paper bad guys (GET SUM!) and depart for Anaheim, CA for Disneyland trip with Tiff and respective Bro and Sis in law.

Day 12: Disneyland

Day 13: Clean up from trip. Work on Sunday School lesson.

Day 14: Sleep In, get hair cut, and go back to the Ant Farm (Work). How convenient Day 14 was a Friday, (like that wasn't planned out).

Day 15: Trip to the San Diego Temple, board games, and dinner at a local Mexican eatery.

Day 16: Church and board games with the in-laws.

(Pictures & Story from 19-21 June)

 

People always say they want to visit other countries. That's fine. But I would encourage them to take the time and view the beautiful country we have here at home.

  

Did I mention that I stopped by Iraq on the way to Front Sight? Just Kidding, but if someone were to ask what it looked like... yeah this is pretty close.

 

Funny story while on the road. When I was passing through Death Valley I looked at my gas tank and thought hmmm.... I probably don't want to run out of gas here. So I look for the nearest gas station to put a couple of gallons in just to be safe. $10 got me 1.7 Gallons. I know that there wasn't a station for miles, but WOW!

 

Well here's a couple of photos from my training at Front Sight. This is actually my second course here and the training is TOP NOTCH! The instructor that you see with the sunglasses is Mr. Koop former Marine who actually instructed my 4 day tactical shotgun class.

 

A brief period of instruction... bottom line pistols aren't as powerful as long guns (duh)... solution: shoot him again. Two to the chest, and one to the head. :) I love solutions.

 

 This was controlled pair from the 7yd line and then head-shots at the command of the instructor. Not too bad for my first time I guess. If it matters to anyone I was shooting my Springfield XDm 40.

 

Same drill again, form the 3,7,10, & 15.

Same drill again, form the 3,7,10, & 15. 

If anyone ever gets a chance to receive training from Front Sight. I would highly recommend it! I know that I can effectively employ my M4 all the way out to 500 yrds, but low if I need to use a pistol or a shotgun in home defense situations, I am just that more prepared. I intend to go on to there advanced courses and I'll blog those as I get to them.

- Brown Man (BM)

The Grand 'Ol PushMa

Behold, the grand finale for the 2011 Zogi gathering... The Grand and Glorious PushMa (Held 18 June 2011)! After a fun week of cutt'n firewood in the mornings and various activities in the afternoons, we wanted to do something that Grandma would enjoy. So it was decided that a PushMa would be in fine order. For those that are unfamiliar, PushMa is a term allegedly coined by Uncle Steve for just as it implies; Pushing Ma (or the youngsters like me Grandma) around in her wheel chair. So we took her to a local Green Way and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

 

Pa, Sam, Ian, and Grandma preparing to embark on our journey.

That's strange... why isn't her Manservant (GrandPa) pushing? Guess, we have to give him a break every once in a while. 

 

Now here's a novel idea (evil grin). What we really need is to add some dog harnesses to Grandma's wheel chair and hook them up to these guys! A future Z.I.T. project perhaps?

The PushMa lasted about an hour and everyone had a great time, especially Grandma. 

Well, that concludes this years clan gathering. Next year will be interesting, with Sam heading off to bootcamp soon and I myself may be finishing off the Taliban in Afghanistan (Can that be done with paperwork?) Anyways, I'm sure that things will work out one way or another. 

Mark
Reporting from Zogi Southern Command