joe's blog

Welcome to the new home for "thefrees.com". I have changed to some new software that will give us new features.

If you want to make a posting then just click on the "create content" from the list on the left, then select "blog entry". You should then be set.

Be sure to select all of the categories that apply (use the command-key on a mac and control-key on a PC [I think, or alt-key]) to choose more than one.

I will let you know of other new features as I get them in there. Let me know if you run into any trouble...

Bec Reid and I (Holly) went to paragonah for the weekend. We saw Lauren play "The Old Woman in The Golden Goose" and had fun at the Paragonah Pioneer Day Carnival. We participated in lots of games like "fishing", Stick pulling and ,as you can see form Brandon's chocolate mouth, a cake walk which he won multiple times. Thank you so much,Holly

Here are some pictures about Chad's Birthday and Avery.

Daniel and Rebecca both qualified through the divisionals and semi-finals to swim in the city finals. Only eight in each age group for each stroke were allowed to go on. Daniel qualified in 8th position for breaststroke and Rebecca qualified 8th for freestyle. Mountain View's mens swim coach has been really happy with all the Free's that have been swimming, he has even talked Jess into trying out for the team this year. Nate, McKay, Elena, Josh all swam exceptionally well this year. I think they need to give a ribbon to the parents who sat in the 2000 degree weather in the stands!

They did great both finishing 8th. Here are some video clips: Daniel Rebecca

Diana and I went to the moutains (See Canyon Trailhead near Christopher Creek) for our 23rd Anniversary celebration. We left early Friday morning and had camp setup by about 10:30am and a fish on the line a few minutes later. We ended up keeping four fish on ice for dinner then took off for a hike to the Spring. Most of these pictures come from the hike. I got up early Saturday and drove in to Payson to get the latest Harry Potter book. Then we spent most of the day reading it together. Very fun time, we'd like to go again soon!

Rebecca and Holly gave us a scare on Thursday (I'm sure they were more scared than we were). A young man that just turned 17 turned his Suburban in front of their little white car and there was a crunch sound. They both had their seatbelts on and have the bruises and abrasions along the neck to prove it.

The police called Marilee and just told her they had been in an accident and what hospital they were being taken to. Nothing about the seriousness. She called Rich at work and then I got to go with her to the hospital. We went in and they made her answer questions and fill out paperwork before they would let us see them. While we were in the lobby the ambulance came. These pictures were taken with my lousy camera phone through the window and the shades.

The picture with the guy in the helmut is Holly the other is Rebecca. It turns out the guy with the helmut is Rich! He had just arrived and went in with them. He didn't have to go through the paperwork!

We were really impressed with the Nelson's hospitality for us. But I think next time they can tone done the entertainment a bit!

A few of us snuck over to Panaca on Friday for a couple of hours. We looked at the Wheeler Ranch, played in the sand dunes and swam in the spring! This is a great time of year for the tadpoles or pollywogs. You could see them popping up to get a gulp of air. It looked like bubbles all over the surface! Too fun. The picture will link you to many pictures of the adventures that day. I got carried away with the Wheeler Ranch...but that site had a sacred feeling to me.

Here are some great pictures from gang in Brazil! It is great to see you all! Keep 'em coming!

Here are some more pictures of this cutie!

Matt just sent some pictures of him and someone else on some 4 wheelers at the dunes. Matt is the one in the air and with the flowers.

John sent these pictures of the results of his cooking prowess. Too bad there is not a browser out there that has smell and taste...mmmm....these look good.

Becca liked the pictures Joseph sent. Particularly the baby squirrel! She wanted to show him a video too. So click on the picture to see the video.

Here are some more Avery Pictures. This time with a big Uncle and a couple of Cousin Uncles (can you say that?)

We got a few more pictures from Joseph in Wisconsin. Many are from preparation day. One of the movies from the rollercoaster show a member of stake presidency in the car behind him. Looks like happy people out there!

Here are the pictures of the newest member of the family! Welcome!