Petersen Family

2010-01-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

Thai Soup

2009-03-09T11:32:00.001-06:00

Saturday, March 7th
Thai Chicken-Basil Soup; a new recipe I wanted to try. I read the ingredients: chicken, basil, onion, ginger, lime juice. . . fish sauce? I'd never heard of fish sauce but coincidentally found it at the grocery store while I was looking for the rice noodles. I began to combine the ingredients, the sauteing onions, poblano chili, fresh ginger and garlic smelled unearthly it was so satisfying. Add fish sauce and cook one minute read the recipe. I opened the foreign substance and poured out the appropriate measurement. As I drained the contents into the pot gradual wafts of its scent reached my nose and my hairs stood on end. Few things in all this world smell as that fish sauce did; the bodily fluid that seeps from the liver to the neighboring duct, the dark secret places of an unkempt woman, perhaps rotting flesh also smells as rancid as this liquid I was emptying into my pot of heavenly aroma. "Noooo!" I thought after the deed had been done. What was I thinking?! A rush of anxiety passed through my person and I realized what evil had contaminated our meal. I quickly continued the recipe puring in chicken broth, water, spices, anything to dilute the repugnance of the stench. The smell had reached Chase and he too was in a panic for our fit-for-a-king meal. Turn up the unit, boil, boil, boil! In time it passed and after I had added the other ingredients I tested the broth for quality. Success! It was heavenly, it was perfect. How ridiculous I felt looking on my moment of distress . . .but funny too.

METHOD
1. In 6-quart Dutch oven (pot), heat oil on medium until hot. Add onion and poblano, and cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally. Add ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 1 tbsp. fish sauce; cook 1 minute.

2. Add broth, water and half of basil; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to medium-high. Stir in chicken and uncooked noodles; heat to boiling. Boil 1 minute.

3. Remove Dutch oven from heat. Skim off fat. To serve, stir in lime juice and remaining fish sauce and basil. Garnish each serving with basil sprigs. Serve with additional fish sauce if you like. (YEA RIGHT!). Makes 15 cups.

VERMONT PETERSENS

A Dream Come True

2009-01-12T20:57:00.002-07:00

Christmas was fun in Vermont, I'd like to take this time to promote the possibility of a "Christmas in Vermont" year where you all come to OUR house for Christmas...iiiit wooouuuld beee fuuun(encouraging tone).

We went to New York City last weekend so I wanted to put a post up about it. I'm going to take excerpts from my journal for the full explanation.

"We left at noon Friday, frantically tromping through the house to tie up loose ends before we ran out the door. I should have packed the night before to avoid the fear of materials forgotten. Eventually we had every bag in the car and Enoch strapped in. We were off on our adventure..."

"We took the ferry across the lake to get to the train station. The apparent wind was bitter cold as we stood on the observation deck of the boat. Light flecks of snow fell more fiercely with the wind blowing the way it was. The lake looked tired and moody, it's gray water lapping against the port side. Great heaps of ice clung to the steeply rising shores and hung mercilessly with jagged points..."

"The train station(built in 186?) was something from a story book or a charming country painting. A broad platform stretched out from the building with lampposts lining the side, bowing their illuminated heads in an antiqued arch...The wood floor creaked with each step and rolled with the rock of the foot. A dusty gray cat, flecked with random patches of orange, lay self-absorbed on the well-used couch..."

"Enoch hesitantly took a liking to the thing and knelt on the floor in front of the couch and looked at the cat. 'Her name's Choochoo,' said the station manager, 'she does pretty well with kids.' Enoch and Choochoo exchanged stares as if communicating by some other means than words..."

"...Enoch busied himself on the train benches, climbing over handle bars and hissing like a snake. He called himself Kah from The Jungle Book...The rocking of the train was comforting, hypnotizing. The sun began to sink behind the hills and the small snowy villages were dressed in the pink light...Six hours passed and we were at Penn Station in NYC. The song, "One Short Day in the Emerald City" rang in glorious melody through my head. The stirring movement of busy people getting from one point to the next was thrilling and confusing..."
>
"We hopped on the subway and emerged in the city where lights were flashing, people passing and taxis flying by...It was 10:00 when we got settled in [to our hotel room]...By 11:00 we were in bed...ALL of us. Enoch slept the whole night on the mattress on the floor and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning..." We dropped Enoch off at the baby-sitters then,

"We were off to see...the wizard, in WICKED!"
"As we walked against the wind, our eyes squinting, unavoidably catching random flakes in our lashes, the bright flashing lights of a restless city jumped against the gray sky. Time Square, Macy's, the Empire State building stood as beacons of the 'great city.' I couldn't help but compare it to Gregory Maguire's description of Oz, 'A city of insistence, of blanket declaration.' I began looking at the people and not the places, considering their life. 'Look, the poor - I mean are they the poor? The hungry of Oz?...Or is it just the - the surplus? The expendable human selvage?(pg 170)' But I was there on vacation, for pleasure, so like any heartless human I shrugged off the serious issue and saw the city for its' surface, for it's dazzle and awe..."

"We approached the theatre and signs for the musical rose from the concrete..."

"My excitement overwhelmed me, I was dancing, shuffling, singing while watching Chase's face for a reaction. They all chuckled which made me feel juvenile, but not enough to stop my welling excitement. The forum to the theatre was flooded...Gentlemen wearing ties held up souvenir booklets, CD's, t-shirts and more. My heart felt like it would ooze out of my chest, it was swelling, not beating fast, just swelling. The stage was perfect, it captured the mood of the book. Primitive wheels with cogs interlocking, twisting roots agitating the side walls with their coarseness. A winding stair case and there, looming above the stage and peering into the audience, was the dragon which sat atop the 'Clock of the Time Dragon' in the book. It made us part of the story, we became the crowded flocks surrounding the prophetical clockwork, watching as lives unfolded before us. I settled into my seat desperately trying to conceal my excitement which had turned into emotion by then. Chase turned to me and asked if I was excited,...I could feel my face flush and my eyes well up with tears...yes, I was. The first act was glorious, funny, entertaining and dramatically finished with the song Defying Gravity. I cried through it...It's a song of liberation...I watched in joy, in jealousy, in passion as the green character broke free from the shackles of judgment and remained true to herself..."

"When the curtain fell I felt as though I was shaken from a coma. The lights rose and suddenly I was brought back into reality and for a moment I understood why those who've experienced the after-life and return are ready to go back at any time. I walked out dazed, reluctant."

"Our fleight home left at 10:40pm...Enoch had his own seat on the airplane, thank goodness for that. As soon as the engines began to rattle the poor tired boy was asleep, finally at 11:00pm. That was that, a quick, magical night in NYC to see WICKED. I loved it!"

We love you all.

After we came back from Utah...

2008-09-14T21:26:00.001-06:00

Things took off quickly as soon as we got home. Chase started school the very next day and I had to start figuring out fun things to do to keep Enoch entertained again (a task gratefully relinquished to family members while in Utah). Before we get much more into it I wanted to post this cute picture of Enoch at his first swimming pool...yeah, he's pretty happy. One day while Chase was mudding the entrance to the kitchen it got very quiet except for a few giddy squeaks here or there. We looked over and found Enoch up to his elbows in the sheetrocking mud, VERY proud too. That was after we'd stripped him down from getting into the bowl of mudding water. As we've been remodeling I've discovered a more convenient and aerobic way to paint the walls.

Among the work we've found time to play. We took Enoch to the beach of Lake Champlain where Chase taught him how to go under water. We went as a ward so Enoch got the opportunity to terrorize the little girls a year older than him. He chased the brunette around the beach for a while eliciting tears from the girl but snickers from the parents. Later that week I took the Booger to Shelburne Farms where he chased chickens around for HOURS quickly learning he could dominate in the relationship. Through it all Enoch has developed DRASTICALLY in his verbal skills (over-dramatized wink). He's learning his colors while expressing his artistic side through a variety of mediums.

The Champlain Valley Fair opened August 25th and we were ready and waiting! The boy was thrilled to be able to experience his first rides (Enoch was pretty excited too)...

...I think. He was sad to get off the Mary-Go-Round but only because he didn't know we were going on... the "Spinning Dragons" next!

Followed by the KKK sheep and...

CARNIES!!!!!

Labor Day weekend we took off for a camping/sailing adventure. We took our little sailboat out for her maiden voyage (as far as WE were concerned). We motored to an island in Lake Champlain, set up camp and wallowed in the joys of S'mores! Enoch is an awesome little camper. The next day was six hours of windless sailing. It was a beautiful day, turned out to be the last day that warm this year. Mmm-mmm-mmm! Noth'n like sitting on a boat with nowhere to go, relaxing reggae in the background and a toddler who loves to stay in the cabin! Last night as we were about to take Enoch upstairs to go to bed we asked for our usual "Goodnight Kiss." Enoch puckered his lips and held out his chin walking first to Chase, then to me and immediately to the banister at the bottom of the stares. To which he promptly gave a kiss and headed up the stairs for bed. Apparently there is a secret love between him and the banister. Here is the Boog playing you some songs as we bid you all farewell.

Family Fun

2008-08-13T22:18:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictrures from dinner last week. It was so fun to get us all together before Chase had to leave us all once again. Sorry Jake--but you were at Disneyland, thats fun too!!! Love you all!!

2008-07-31T02:30:00.002-06:00

Create your own MySpace Countdown Counter Today!

DEMO!

2008-07-13T20:53:00.008-06:00

We've been demolishing our house. It took me a minute to figure out how to do demo, it probably sounds like a such an obvious thing to all of you, but it wasn't natural for me. After Chase showed me how to "wail" on the walls, demo went a little faster.
This one is me giving it my best effort.
We were in the middle of building a porch before Chase hurt his shoulder. It was exciting, but now we can't use our front door until it's finished (it's been two weeks now).
Things are moving along, pretty fast if you consider the fact that Chase is only 3/4 of a person right now and I don't know what I'm doing. We're enjoying other aspects of summer too. Enoch discovered the blackberry bushes in the backyard a couple weeks ago. Now, every time we go in the backyard, he B-lines for the bushes.
We had the very fortunate opportunity to go to NYC for the fourth of July. This is our little family watching the Macy's firework show...in the rain.
That day we had gone to central park where we found street performers, jazz music, lots of bicyclists and...a WATER FOUNTAIN! Enoch spent the rest of the day drying off. Before we came home we went to see the statue of liberty and walked through the Ellis Island immigration center. Very cool.
We are all doing well. This week Chase is out-of-town counseling at a summer camp for students interested in medicine. Enoch and I are alone in our broken home, but have lots of fun stuff planned to keep us busy. We're excited to see everyone. We love you.

Finally

2008-07-01T17:58:00.003-06:00

So I finally took new videos that would actually download. The other one after 14 hours I gave up--dumb internet ya know!! Besides now the garden looks better than before--amazing what a little fertilizer will do for plants!! Thanks mommy for instilling in me the desire to do this!!

2008-06-19T13:04:00.002-06:00

Here is a video of our garden You guys get the video cause i think i sound like an idiot, and i am only willing to share with those of you who love me no matter what!!! love ya all!!!

While it is uploading i will explain my garden k--
we have 3 yes 3 packages of beets, 2 packages of carrots, i package of radishes, 1 onion, 1/2 green onion, like 10 plants of peppers, Anahaeim, Jalapeno, green( 6 plants), and Serrano i think, i think 24 tomato plants and 2 cherry tomatoes, Honeydew, watermelon, and catalope, 2 rows of beans, 6 rows of peas, 20lb of planted potatoes--LOTS!! and 4 rows of corn. We just planted lettuce and swiss chard, and then we have pumpkins, zuchinne, yellow squash, banana squash, butternut squash, and i think that is finally it. Way to go into gardening on my own without children for slaves huh!!! Love you mom!! : ) PS i need you to come thin out everything!

Some Pictures For You To See

2008-06-08T19:55:00.006-06:00

I'm tired and want to go to bed, but I thought I should put a couple pictures on the blog of what we've been up to the last little while.

Sometime in February or March we went to a "sugaring" farm, that's where they make maple syrup.

It was freak'n cold outside but really really warm inside where they were boiling the maple sap, that was nice.

In May we celebrated Cinco de Mayo at some friends' house where Enoch gently tapped a pinata with a plastic baseball bat.

This was an improvement from the last couple times we've introduced him to pinata's where he screams and crys for "Mamamamama!"

One day Chase and I were downstairs doing grown-up things while Enoch was busily playing with toys and wondering around the house. We noticed he had gone upstairs and became quiet. Suddenly we heard something heavy falling down the stairs, Enoch's step stool. He scooted back downstairs, picked up his step stool and set it in front of his chair. He promptly sat down and set his feet up on his stool and grinned from ear to ear.

Chase started an illegal fire in our backyard to get rid of all the dead brush we had.

Memorial Day weekend we went camping with two other couples from our ward.

We discovered that Enoch is a TOTALLY AWESOME camper/hiker. We can take him anywhere...pretty much. We hiked the highest peak in Vermont (4,195 ft.)partly in the rain and Enoch slept through most of it.

This is your retarded sister/daughter-in-law. It's actually the best picture we have of the view at the top of the mountain, so if you can look past my melodramatic heroism you'll see a beautiful view of Vermont...on a cloudy day. So these are pictures of us on hikes with friends. Enjoy!

Our Trip

2008-03-22T22:33:00.003-06:00

Beautiful HUH!!!! Ahhh I love maddy!!!!

This is what you call a traffic jam!!!!! We laughed for a good ten muniutes after seeing this! We were on the top level of a double decker bus, which gave us a prime seat for peoples stupidity. It took them like 10 minutes to figure out how to undue this mess. Everyone had to back up and let others through then pull up to let the others through. Thank goodness for traffic lights, and wide roads in America..........I dont this i could drive in this without dieing!!! : ) This was in Paris by the way.
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So i just posted on my blog a little about our trip.....i am just tell you that on here just in case you are checking this more than my blog. Love ya all!!! Here is a pic for this blog.....

Vermont Petersens

2008-02-25T20:41:00.010-07:00

This was Chase's Birthday celebration at school.

This is Chase playing hockey.

This is Enoch wearing his "Duck Man" cape, which is actually a towel. He parades around the house in it after bath.

After receiving the chastisement of my life I felt that I should post so people know we still care.
Yup, we were graced by the presence of our matriarchal figure a few weeks ago. It was a RAD surprise, one we'll never forget and will forever be referred to when discussing cool things Mom has done in her life.
Last week Chase and I went to a furniture store, "Buck's Furniture," a name that screams class and quality. It was a one-and-a-half hour drive to Wolcott Vermont when we finally saw the big brown warehouse-like buildings. We got out of the car and while collecting our child I locked the car with the door still open (like a often do) and promptly shut the door behind us. Being the exceptionally astute person I am I immediately gasped and covered my mouth in horror as I realized I had locked the keys in the car...in the middle of nowhere. We rolled our eyes and headed for the door of the furniture store but only after passing a man dressed in a moose costume clearly in an attempt to attract customers on the lonely stretch of highway. We opened the door to a quaint, country consignment-type shop and were greeted by an electronic wax figure of an old man dressed in overalls and a straw hat. "Welcome to Buck's Furniture!" bellowed a prerecorded voice from the mechanical creature, "It may be hard to believe that over 50 years ago this store was . . ." It seemed a bit questionable but it was a furniture sale that couldn't be beat. Following our sales person through the dizzying maze of stairs, ramps and hallways we found what we were looking for, just passed the lamps whose stems were a pair of fishnet clad legs topped with a red shade (something you'd only see in "The Christmas Story,"...and Wolcott Vermont). We had accomplished what we had come for, but still had the daunting task of getting back into our car. (If you had just picked up the story at that sentence, we'd sound like a bunch of retards). Lucky for us, if medical school doesn't work out for Chase, he'll have an excellent future in the business of auto theft. He unlocked the car with a coat hanger, apparently that's all you need to break into our car, so now you know. We finalized out purchase in the customer lounge which was great, doughnuts, nachos, juice, hot chocolate that tasted like the store smelled, etc. While we were there we got two free tickets to one of the ski resorts here in Vermont, courtesy of 92.9 "The Bee." We haven't gone yet, but now I'll have a chance to compare the Vermont snow to Utah snow (Chase says there's no comparison, Utah is by far better).
Yes Vermont is beautiful but not without it's bizarre-eties

Chase White Coat Ceremony

2008-02-21T13:27:00.007-07:00

Hello Family,

I am really getting brave and writing on our blogspot.

Last Friday, I got to surprise Chase and Missy, and flew to Vermont to be there for Chase's white coat ceremony. It was so wonderful to be there with them and darling little Enoch, even if it was just only for 24 hours. It was well worth the flight! What a beautiful place they live in, and they have just a darling little home. It is so much like Grandma Pete's home, that it made me so homesick for her. The only thing it lacked was the smell of bacon cooking! Chase took us for a neat drive and showed off Vermont. What a beautiful place they live in. The campus has such neat old buildings. I can't wait to go back to see Chase and Missy and Enoch when the trees are all green!

practice

2008-02-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

Testing, Marci is teaching mommy.........

Hello out there??

2008-02-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

So no one is posting on here.......for a while there were lots of postings! Is it cause i changed the background???? : )

So becuase no one else is posting i am going to re-post a picture that is on mine and Brandons blog, cause i think it is a cute picture and i pretty much love it. So here is it.....now you people start posting.

Mom i would love to see pictures of the house.......

Jake........love to hear whats up in your life.........

Luke.......well you can post on your blog and i would be happy.....i need to see pictures of your children....i miss them!

Chase.......How is school?? Busy i know so i cannot expect long ones, but an update is always nice. Also, miss my cutle ol nephew.....

You guys realize i love children and love to see them....even in picutres and movies!! : )

Marci.....your good your posting right now

Quinn......HELLO your the only one that has NEVER posted......i think we would all love to hear from you.....you should take pictures too----you, i assume, get buffer everyday!

Ok so after that i think i am done. See my blog for updates....unless you want to get after me for that, and i would be happy to post some on here.

Love you all tons!!!
Marci Kay

new look

2008-01-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

So i gave our family's blog a face lift......if any of you hate it i will change it, but i thought the farm picture is cool. I also added my blog and Luke and Hils link to the blog so you can go directly to them. ok. bye!

Brandons Poor Face!!!

2008-01-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to post pictures of Brandons face after the accident.....so sorry they are kinda gross, but i still think it was awesome to watch the Dr. stich him up......i should have been a nurse!!! But not a dental Hygenist.....i was in the room the whole time they did his two room canals and honestly i almost lost it!! I had chills the whole time.....i can take blood and guts, but a drill in the teeth is just too harsh for this girly!! This doesnt give it much justice...you can only see two of the 4 broken teeth, and the place on his lip that he got stiches is barley showing, but ya get the picture huh!!

Anyhoo here they are!!

P.S. Nice pictures for being taken by a cell phone!! Amazing how technology works!

Neat "first" for me

2007-12-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

So.....Angelina is now 6 and had a "wiggly" tooth for about 2 days last week and she REALLY REALLY wanted to get it out. She tried and tried but to no avail. Shelly then tried and again...nada. So....she comes to me and asks me to pull it out. It was so cute! She comes over to me and said "Jake my tooth is really wiggly and me and mommy have tried to pull it out but we cant. Will you try?" So I sat down in the recliner and tried but it was really slippery! So I says to her... you know what my daddy used to do to pull out our teeth out? He used pliers!! Her mouth shut so fast i felt the wind on my face! LOL!! I had to PROMISE not to use the pliers and then she reluctantly opened back up and I tried once more...then.. POP!...out came the tooth. She was not int he least bit scared (except when I brought out the pliers or course) :) We hurried and put it in a plastic bag and she RAN to her room when we explained to her about the tooth fairy and put it under her pillow. You can guess the rest of the story, but I just thought it was neat because chances are I will not be there to pull any of Mitchells teeth let alone his first one. I really felt like a daddy that day and it was really cool!! I can see now why dad liked to pull our teeth out so much!

Love you all and can't wait to see you all this Christmas!!

Jake, Shelly and kids

Marci's Blog

2007-12-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

Gerr i hate internet and computers. There is nothing more annoying than having to type the same message twice because cyber space choose to ruin your life for 10 minutes.
Anyway i am writing today to annouce that i have my own blog. I have friends that have blogs, and thought i would be fun to have my own, that everyone can see. I dont know how many of you know, but ours is only visable to us, chase disigned it that way i guess....which is fine, but this way my friends can see what is up with me and my life too. I am planning on posting at both, but for now i am too stinkin busy, so if you want to see what i have already posted, you can view it at http://marcikay.blogspot.com/
I love you all and cant wait till Christmas and snowmobiling. Hope you are all praying for snow so we can go SNOWmobiling and not MUDmobiling!!! : )
Love, Little sister!

Restoring Old Blue

2007-11-26T00:23:00.001-07:00

Hello Family,

I put this together for a friend and thought that you would like to see it as well. I wish I had more pictures of the process but regretfully I was being myself and was way too caught up in getting the project done to remember to take some "in process" pictures. I am pretty proud of myself for getting some "before" pictures though. I hope that I didn't take too many liberties with dad's stories. If you have anything to add or subtract from what I wrote feel free. This is still an "in progress" story. Thanks, and I love you all very much.

Luke

Restoring “Old Blue”

I have to admit putting into words the story behind restoring my dad’s motorcycle is a bit intimidating to me. It is not a simple story but an ongoing quest for understanding. In order to portray the essence of this project I have to start from the beginning.

The story begins with a young man raised on a farm in Riverton, Utah. My dad, Craig Alan Petersen, was the youngest of 5 children. He loved working on the farm with his father and grew to be a very valuable asset to the farm. Although he was very committed to the farm, he also had a bit of a wild side, as most young men do. His greatest influence in this aspect of his life was an interesting young man named Steve Phelps who lived in one of the only other houses on the block. Steve was known for his loud voice and large belly. He was a very free spirit and a blast to hang out with. So it was not surprising that Steve had a good number of friends among the closest of which was my dad Craig. When this group of boys hit the high school scene Honda motorcycles were a huge craze, especially the new SL350 motorsport. This bike was highly advertised and wildly popular (I have heard from some that it still holds the record for the most bought and sold bike in the US). It was built to go anywhere the rider wanted to go asphalt, dirt, mud, water, rain, or shine. Dad and his friend Steve, along with a few of the other guys, bought into the craze and purchased 1971 SL350 K1s brand new off the lot.

This band of boys on power trips were living it up on their new machines. In fact, Steve, in all his free-spirited glory, even coined a snappy name for the group of bikers “Yogurt”. To this day no one can tell my how that name came about but no one really seemed too surprised to hear something so off-the-wall come from Steve. Their classmates have told me stories about how the yogurt clan would scream past the school bus on their bikes yelling “yogurt” and showing off for the girls. Then they would all get in front of the bus and slow way down delaying the school goers for considerable amounts of time. The boys would end this game by laying on the throttle and disappearing in the distance.

Dad and Steve rode the heck out of their bikes but eventually life caught up to them and circumstances led my dad into selling his machine. Steve, on the other hand kept his bike around. Although he did re-paint it once it eventually sat idle out in the back yard. One day in about 1991 when de-junking the yard Steve came across the old bike. He approached dad about getting rid of it who gladly took it off his hands. Dad took the bike to a local shop to have them get it running again. A slight tune up and new tires later he had the old yogurt machine running again. My mom recalls riding on the back of the old bike with dad when it came back from the shop.

Not long after the bike was running again dad was involved in a serious automobile accident that left him paralyzed. Old blue sat idle for another 3 or 4 years before us boys were old enough to “handle” it. One day we pulled it out and rode it around the block. Sadly, however, it had sat a little too long and was not running very well. We didn't ride it long before it would not run anymore. At that point in my life I knew nothing about motorcycles but my friends and I were determined to get it running again. All we really accomplished was tearing it apart and losing a bunch of parts. The bike then sat again gathering dust, but I never forgot about it.

The old SL350 took on greater meaning to me after dad passed away in 1998. I kicked around the idea of restoring it for years when finally the opportunity came when I enrolled in a small engine repair class here at USU in 2006. I dug the bike out from the old horse tack shed at home and hauled it up to Logan. I got a good feel for the magnitude of the project when on the way up I stopped at the Vescos Honda store in Brigham City to find a replacement for the fuel valve my friends and I lost years before. It took the parts guy 10 minutes to even find the bike model in the computer and then he informed me that most of the parts had been discontinued. A bit downhearted, I left the store and walked out to my truck with the motorcycle in the back. I stared at the bike for a little while wondering if I would ever be able to ride it again. Just then a car pulled up and an energetic kid got out and immediately said, is that an SL350? Are you going to restore it? I told him that was the plan and he assured me that it was possible and to try ebay for parts. I found his advice very useful in the days to come.

I started from ground zero restoring the motorcycle. Ever since I was little I have had this mysterious idea about motors and cars. I thought they were something that only a select few could understand. This mystery surrounding mechanics turned into almost a debilitating fear that in the past discouraged me from even trying. This time was going to be different though. I was determined to overcome this fear and I had the class to help me. In the class I learned that if a motor won’t run the problem must lie in one of three areas: spark, compression, or fuel delivery. A quick check of the bike showed that only compression was still good. I worked feverishly to get spark, chasing wires everywhere and investing in a good shop manual for the bike that included wiring diagrams. I had to buy a new battery and through a process of elimination and a bit of luck we found that the problem was in the grounding of the system. Now we had spark, but still no fuel. A deeper investigation of this problem resulted in the conclusion that the tank was so badly rusted that the fuel lines were full of rust and grime. I cleaned and lined the gas tank and purchased some carburetor rebuild kits from ebay. Soon enough I had fuel delivery and was ready to kick the engine over after nearly ten years of being idle. I can’t express how happy I was when the bike turned over. I let out a "yeehaw" in the shop that drew some pretty funny looks. Then came the hard part, deciding how far to go with the rest of the restoration.

I knew that this motorcycle meant more to me than just commuter bike or a weekend joyride so my wife and I decided that it was a project worth investing in and that I would be able to spend the money necessary to restore the bike, not to showroom condition but to a condition I could be proud of. Little did I know what I was getting into. First, I had to strip the bike down to the frame and sandblast and repaint the frame. This was scary as I didn’t know if I could put it all back together. I was surprised when it took me only a few hours to tear the bike down to the frame. I thought at that point that this was going to be a breeze. What followed was much less speedy. I worked on the bike every free moment from January 2007 until well into the summer. I set a goal of completion by the family reunion over the 4^th of July. It was a nightmare getting the right parts in but I put the final touches on the bike the night before we left for the reunion in Wayne County. This maiden voyage was such a blast. Not only did I get to show off the bike to my family but I got to put some miles on it and “break it in”. I literally did break some things but this trip enabled me to find and work out all the glitches.

I can’t explain the satisfaction it gives me to not only know that I overcame my fear of mechanicing but to sit in the seat of that bike and in a way be where dad had been 35 years ago. I wasn’t even there but I still get nostalgic about riding that bike every time I get on it. This bike was my way of reaching out to dad and of remembering him, even like being with him again and understanding more about who he was when he was closer to my age. It’s such an incredible feeling I can’t hope to explain. I joke that my brothers got tattoos to remember dad by and I rebuilt this bike. I’m not sure which caused more pain but I do think my coping mechanism was more healthy (although my wife may not agree having spent many “date nights” alone while I was working on the bike and hearing me complain about horrible nights sleep worrying about how I would fix something on the bike).

I guess I can sum up this story by saying that the Old Blue restoration project was more than just a hobby, it has become a tale of deep emotional yearning and lofty hopes coupled with a lot of determination amidst a considerable amount of uncertainty. Truly, I can say that this is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.

More Movies

2007-11-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Enoch was Frankenstein's Monster for Halloween because of his "natural" walk.

He also had his first birthday on Tuesday the 6th but we're celebrating it on the 10th. We had him open one of his presents anyway.

He Walks!

2007-10-23T19:44:00.000-06:00

And a little su'em-su'em for good humor. He gets it from his dad.

Vermont in the fall

This one is titled, "Autumn Seduction"

We attempted to hike to the top of 'Camel's Hump,' but it got too late, this was on the way down though. Enoch's a good little hiker ;)

2007-10-22T13:15:00.000-06:00

Posting videos is a scary thing. I'm always afraid if I take too long writing my message, the computer will decide it doesn't want to keep that much information in it's system and throw the video out. This is why I have posted twice, to ensure y'all got to see the nonsensical video I put on. We'll get one of Enoch totteling up eventually. Until then, here's us...

We went to the Champlain Valley Fair in August and Enoch met his first live sheep. Consequently a few weeks later we went to an orchard to pick apples where he met another sheep and wasn't nearly as interested as he was in this one.

Woops, should have flipped it for you, sorry about that. We like to call this one, "Oompa-Loompa." Enoch got spaghetti for dinner and later left an orange ring around the bathtub.

This is when we went to pick apples. Actually, we just collected them. The night before there had been a pretty good storm that knocked a lot of the apples off the trees so we didn't have to pay full price for picking them.

We recently got a fancy-pants leather office chair. Chase spent all evening teaching Enoch how to put leather chairs together. I think, by the end of the night, Enoch finally figured it out.

2007-10-22T12:44:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of Enoch (left) with one of his friends from church, Noah (right). Enoch is walking now though it is not his preferred method of transportation. I am trying to make curtains for our house...any suggestions? I am also seeing what I can do about getting a job at the airport down the street, that way we can fly all over to see people. Chase finished one of his big anatomy tests and is now working on dissecting the thoracic and pneumothoracic region (the guts) of his cadaver. This was the last week for leaves in Burlington. It's been breathtaking. The streets are lined with gold and when the wind blows it flutters down on my head. We're settling down in our home and getting ready for the winter. We love you.

-Vermont Petersens

Better Late Than Never

2007-10-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

Oct 21, 2007

Ok, I have finally decided I can contribute to this blog. What I really mean is this is the first time I have even attempted to access it, sorry. Anyway, I thought that I would give you all a bit of an update. As you probably know, little Madeleine Joy just turned a big fat 3 today. I didn't even remember until the primary pres. mentioned it today at church. Since we had the party last week I just spaced it. Plus she has been telling everyone that she's three for the last week. She is getting so dang big!! She makes real adult comments all the time now out of the blue like, "I'm tired, will you put me to sleep daddy?" She is also learning her prepositions now so we often hear the classic "Daddy where are you at to?". Just the other night she said something that really meant a lot to me and I want to share it. I was in the front room reading or something and she was supposed to be in bed. She kept coming out so I told her I would lock the door if she didn't stay in bed. Being tenacious and resourceful like her mother she started yelling for me. I went in there, I guess she could tell I was mad, and she promptly said, "I didn't get out of bed daddy?" I told her she needed to be quiet and go to bed and then left again. She yelled for me again so by now I was a little upset. I went in and demanded of her, "what do you need!!!!". She said, "I need you daddy". I answered, "why Maddy, why do you need me what is the matter?" Then she hit me with it, "Because you love me daddy!!" I could feel my whole countenance change. It was amazing the way she said that. I was sure that she really knew what love was and that she really knew that I loved her. Well, needless to say I spent some time cuddling with her and then she fell asleep. Aren't kids a blessing!?

Maddy was a kitty for her birthday.

Stalking her prey.

She got make-up from one of her friends.

Not everyone can eat their own face!!

In other news, we blessed little Craig last Sunday and it was real special. I really felt the worth of his great soul and such an excitement for his future in our family. He is starting to smile all the time and lately he has started having fun swatting at the toys in his swing and trying to suck on his little hand. He is pretty good these days. Except for the not sleeping at night bit. He still only makes it 4 or 5 hours and then gets up every couple to eat, but he is cute when he is sleeping. Hilarie can't understand how, being my son, he has a hard time sleeping.

I am gratefully done with my Accounting class and will even probably get an A. It was a lot of work to do a full class in half a semester, especially a class like that. (Don't even start in on the "ag classes are so easy" thing Chase, I am fully aware that your life sucks worse than mine right now :) The other couples in our I-MBA program and really nice and we are excited to go to England. There are 4 couples and all have kids so no one will be jealous of that couple that can go to whatever they want. We have booked our tickets for Dec 31st. We are now working on renting our house out (we put up the sign last night) :( and getting a place over there. Work is going well for me. We hired a new guy that is really working out well. I put in for a $25,000 grant to help assist our farmers that we hear has a really good chance of getting funded. This was the first grant attempt I have ever made so I am pretty excited to see if we get it, it would do a lot of good and Rhonda can't get her hands into it to use on her other projects.
I was given a cow elk tag this year by one of my clients for up by Bear Lake. I shot one last Thursday night. One shot at 300 yards right through the heart with the old 270. It was a fun hunt, I was especially glad to get off the mountain safely even though my hunting guides (yes I was even guided on this hunt) were a little plastered. I shot a yearling cow so we are hoping that it will be tender and tasty.

Hilarie is reading all that she can about England and Europe. In fact, the library has starting sending people to our house to check out books about England :). She is doing a great job of getting things ready for the trip and cleaning out our house. She is also doing a great job of holding onto her sanity with two little kids. This on top of her Mystery Shopping addiction and those type of things that get us a lot of free dinners etc.

We love you all and miss you, especially Chase, Missy, and Nuky New. See you later.

Luke, Hilarie, Maddy, and Craig

Update and Pictures!

2007-09-05T10:44:00.001-06:00

,
OUR NEW CAR!! NICE HUH??!!

I AM HOLDING MY FISHEY!
THE FISH THAT COUNTS AS TWO! : )

Hey Family!! So i thought i would put some pictures up here of our summer so far. and the one from our honeymoon. There are very few of the honeymoon pictures seems how i didnt look my best with a red swollen face. The others are from our very successful fishing trips!! I total have caught around 5 this summer.....thats good for me!! Plus the one i got at Sheep valley counts as like 2 so maybe i should just round up to 6 or 7--bad rounding i know, but math has never been my forte!!
As for our update, let see Me and Brandon just started another semester, my last and Brandons second to last. I am super excited to be done seems how i have been in school for like almost 20 years straight, minus the semester i took for Romania.
Other news might include the addition to our lives---our friend Altima, he is a great friend that doesnt require so much $$ to put gas in him. He is a pretty car, and we really love him!! : )
Other than that there isnt much.
I hope you all are doing great!!!
Love Marci Kay

The past while. . .

2007-09-04T19:09:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody,
I just thought I'd give an update on what's going on in Burlington. I am well into my second course, Cell and Molecular Biology, which is luckily a lot of review with a few different spins and details for me. It has still taken a great deal of reviewing however, which ended up consuming a good portion of our labor day weekend. We did however, visit the Champlain Valley Fair which was great. Enoch loved all of the animals and especially the sounds we would make when we introduced him to them. He is getting his 5th tooth, so the teething trials have resumed. He is also becoming more adventurous and has even started taking a few steps on his own before he pulls a Peter and looses faith. Missy has won my vote for homemaker of the year with all the gourmet dinners she has ever ready when I come home, not to mention the doting lunches that have my classmates all jealous. Also, today we went with the inspector and looked through our soon-to-be house from top to bottom. I learned a ton from him; very practical advice. We also met the children of the previous owner who grew up in that house (now in their 50's) and now live down the street. We are so excited. There is a lot of potential in that house.
Hope all's well with everybody.

Chase, Missy, and Enoch.

P.S. Enoch says he is starting to forget all of you already and needs some pictures of you to put in his slobber album so he can stay sharp. Please help him in this endeavor. Thanks.

WHAT A DARLING HOME!

2007-08-30T13:31:00.000-06:00

It sure looks cute from the outside! I can't wait to see pictures from the inside! Especially with all of you in it! Love you all, Mom

Growing up in a Hurry!

2007-08-30T11:24:00.000-06:00

For all of those who haven't heard the news yet, We have had an offer accepted on a home here in South Burlington! We have signed and are set to close the 20th of September. Missy has been busily arranging inspections and contacting lawyers (Vermont doesn't use title companies, they use Lawyers instead, wierd huh).

Here is a link to look at the MLS, Multiple Listing Service, sheet for the property. It is within walking distance of the Burlington Airport, which, consequently, is where I will be catching a bus to school from. We strategically chose this location so it wouldn't be such a burden to be constantly picking up our adoring family from the airport during their delightfully frequent visits. :) If we are busy you could just walk :)

http://vreinmls.com/ver/portal.html
My login is: cpeter6
password is: 2366

The listing is 4 Peterson Terrace, Yes we will be living on Peterson Terrace. There is also a Chase Street near campus but I thought that would be too awkward.

Click on the camera looking icon to look at pictures of the house. Just don't delete it just yet :)

We are really excited!

Talk to you all later,

Chase

P.S. For all of you for whom the pace of life or lack of interest would keep you from seeing our house, here is a glimpse from the outside.

Hey!

2007-08-28T13:33:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to drop a line and say hello. Hope the house hunting went well and we love ya! :)

I did it!

2007-08-23T15:59:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, I figured out how to use this blogger thing. Well.....I am sure there is alot to learn about it, but hey, I am here, and writing a bunch of nonsense! We are getting all the big timbers in the family room of our house. That is a huge success! And the roofer is working on the house! AS soon as I can figure out how to put a picture on the blog, we will be in fat city! Mom

This is going to be fun!!

2007-08-21T22:08:00.000-06:00

Hey all, i think this is a great idea, has anyone explained how to use this to mom??? She might have a name on here, but i dont think she knows how to post on it, what do you think??
Any way, i just thought i would make a fast post for now, and will post another one later. I just needed to play and figure out how this worked!! Talk to you later!

Promised Pics

2007-08-16T12:16:00.001-06:00

This is a picture of that time Enoch ambushed us!

Update from Vermont

2007-08-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!

Things are going great here in Vermont. We live in a beautiful area as far as natural features go like the river falls right in the middle of town and so forth.(those pictures are still coming) Our immediate location is slightly ghetto but deffinately tolerable. I am in my first week of actual classes and they are easing us in gradually which is merciful since I am still struggling to force myself back into the swing of studying. Missy and Enoch are doing great. They've started going on walk/runs in the mornings when I leave for school and often get together with other families in the ward and area to do things during the day. We are starting to ramp up our house hunting efforts. Results still pending ;) Life is pretty sweet here in Vermont. The high is usually in high 70's to low 80's and hasn't been too rainy. Campus is beautiful as is the city of Burlington and lake Champlain (google image it to get a better idea). I recently took the pictures off of our camara so excuse the huge shload of pics but mom keeps asking so she is responsible. All else is good. Post away everybody!
chase

Pictures from a BBQ here in Vermont

2007-08-14T15:06:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the family blog

2007-08-14T14:54:00.000-06:00

Howdy duty all!
I have talked to some of you guys about setting up a blog so we can all keep in touch without impersonal mass emails. Give it a try and see what you think.