Our FUN, yet not so great ADVENTURE!!

Well, a few months ago Tyler read a story online about someone who decided to launch a weather balloon with a camera and GPS tracker attached. His hope that he would get pictures of the ground like you would get from an airplane. Instead he got pictures like this:

The balloon went to about 90,000ft before it burst! We decided we wanted to try! So we got all the supplies: camera, boost mobile phone with GPS tracking system, hand warmers, weather balloon, rope, bags to create drag when falling, helium tank, duct tape, a big 2 GB SD card and tin foil. We used an online program to determine where we should launch the balloon so it would land in a reasonably good location that it would be easy to spot and retrieve.



Finally, Saturday arrived and the weather looked pretty good. We raced out to our launching location. Got everything set up, and launched the balloon.





My Dad (Stan) and brother (Shawn) tracked our balloon until it got to 20,000 ft when we...lost signal and.... never...got...it...back!!! :( We hoped it would eventually pick back up, but nothing. We've gone out looking for our balloon by calculating where it should have popped and then where it should have landed, but to no avail. Sadly, we lost our experiment, but we are all determined to try again. Next time we will use an actual GPS tracking system instead of Boost mobile. For now we just hope someone will call us if they find it. :)


While looking for our balloon we split up into two cars. Tyler and I drove all around these fields out in the middle of no where, when we suddenly approached this beautiful canyon!!!! It's literally just out in the middle of miles and miles of farm land! No balloon, but awesome discoveries!


Tyler was excited that he got to try out our four-wheel drive for the first time in our new "manly" Exterra. The tires on this this are HUGE!!! We love our new car!! :D And yes, that is the "road" we drove on.



Well, we will most definitely try this again now that we know a few things to do differently. ha, oh yes, and after we sent our balloon off we all took a turn sucking helium that was left over in the tank. SO FUNNY!! I have videos on facebook, so check them out! :D

Recent Doins

So pretty much it's hard to come up with interesting blogs when we don't have kids yet, and when we're in between vacations. :)

But here's a list of our recent doings:

• I finished my second to last semester of college!!! All I have left is student teaching. Woot Woot!!!
• May 1st was my brother Shawn's birthday as well as Tyler and my anniversary. 2 Years! We celebrated by going out to eat in Salt Lake, going to the Jazz game, and staying at the Hilton. :) It was wonderful!
  
• Tyler is working for Big Dog once again. This time however, he is selling insulation, solar panels, and windmills. He's enjoyed it so far, and we are excited to see how the summer goes.
• We are currently living in Rexburg, ID and it has been FREEZING!! We're living here while Tyler completes some training as well as everything ready in Oregon for us to go sell out there. We will be leaving to Oregon the end of this month or beginning of the June. Tyler's family has been kind enough to allow us to crash at their place during these weeks we're in Idaho.
• I am learning how to play the piano. Tyler's sister Emily is teaching me. :) I can now master the right hand of Lullaby, Ode to Joy, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and It's Raining It's Pouring. Amazing, I know! :)
  
• I am so excited to read a book for FUN!!! Yay! I am currently reading Fablehaven. It's nice because it's fun, super easy read, and pretty much I'm just happy to be reading. Tyler's brother Jacob has all 5 books. So that's been nice!
• I am also working on finalizing a short children's picture book that I will hopefully get published. :) Shawn has agreed to drawing the pictures if there is good enough potential for him to make millions. :) jk... but he did say he was interested whether or not it bombs.
  
• Next weekend Tyler and I will head back down to Utah to visit because Shawn and my adorable nephew Lincoln are coming up from Arizona to visit. It will also be my 22nd birthday. So I get to party with them. :)

Well, that's about all for now. I can't find our camera or I'd post a few pictures from our Anniversary.
We hope everyone is happy and well!!!