Lincoln and I got a chance to take a road trip with Uncle Jaron and Aunt Kelsey to Mackay. Although a funeral doesn't make for the circumstances, it was a rather pleasant trip. This is the first time the three siblings have been together Angel and I got married, almost 5 1/2 years. We met Grandma and Grandpa there and stayed in a graciously donated strange house that was very 60's up with a fairly newly remodeled basement. It was actually pretty nice. We took this picture in the bathroom downstairs to make Angel jealous that she wasn't there:
Since this was Mackay, the house was surrounded by farm land and farm equipment. So, we went out to take some pictures on some tractors.
Lots of tractor noises.
Trying to get it started.
More tractor noises.
He wasn't too happy when he had to share a seat with Dad.
This is just like the tractor I got to drive back in my pipe moving days. I started it up for him but decided not to take him for a ride because who knows what the tractor's owner and country laws would have done to me.
This is a picture of the sweet satellite dish installation on the house we stayed at:
If you can see there, the dish is mounted on a pole (and surrounded by chicken wire) and the cable is loosely on some tree branches over to the house. I just thought it was funny and then I started thinking about how the lumber yard sold satellite dishes and started wondering if Grandpa had anything to do with this...
While he was there Lincoln consoled and comforted Grandma and performed a waltz with Barbie for the amusement of everyone:
This may be the best picture I've ever seen of Grandpa. Also, Aunt Ann gave me an awesome hat.
This is more typical.
I have better picture of this group but they aren't as embarrassing for Jaron.
I like to see Lincoln play with things I played with as a kid.
For Angel's family's annual summer vacation we all headed up to Eden, UT to occupy a large rented house for about a week. There was lots of fun that happened but I only took pictures of a couple things so that's all you get.
Doug, Ken and I led an expedition to help all the kids learn a thing or two (probably just one) about repelling. As a primer, Doug rigged up a practice station on a column around the back of the house. Lincoln had been watching the other kids and wanted his turn to practice:
He did pretty good. Although he is stepping on the rope in that last one.
Lincoln didn't go for the real repelling though, maybe next year. He did however take a pretty serious hike with us up to a waterfall.
Getting psyched (and hugged) at the trailhead.
The goal.
The hike wasn't too long but it was pretty steep and rocky. Lincoln made it all the way to the top by himself. He likes hiking but he did need a bit of help on the way down.
Lincoln spent a lot of his time there just running around the house being happy and playing with cousins.
Also, my wife is beautiful.
Earlier this week we (and by 'we' I mean Angel) cooked up a roast in the crock-pot. For whatever reason this one was a bit drier and tougher than usual and I ended up cutting it into slices around 1/8"-1/4" thick (I promise this is going somewhere). Later I used the beef to make myself a sandwich for lunch. As I was sitting at work eating my sandwich with thick pieces of roast I was reminded of sandwiches from Grandma Vaden. I found myself wishing I had packed some milk in a mason jar with my lunch. What a genius idea.
This week I also designed our annual family Christmas card. As I was putting the finishing touches on it I started thinking about the people who might appreciate or care that I had made it myself. The list was pretty short (luckily I make them because I like to, not to impress people) but Grandma Vaden was on that list. She was an artist and her approval was worth having. It made me sad that she wouldn't be seeing it.
I think about her a lot more than I ever realized. I don't think about her since she's gone anymore than I did before, it's just that it's a much more poignant experience now. Each time it forces me to face the fact that she's gone and the world is worse for it. Even as I write this I'm reminded that I've lost my 'silent watcher.'
I meant for this to be happier but it's been more like the process my thoughts tend to follow:
Some event or thought triggers a memory from my childhood that involves Grandma.
Waves of happiness and nostalgia wash over me as think about anything related to her (everything about her makes me feel that way).
I slip into a bit of darkness when I remember she's gone.
I feel grateful that I was privileged enough to have the influence of such an amazing person in my life and grateful for the knowledge that I'll be able to be with her again.
I guess I'll end with that last point. I can think of numerous points in my life where, even from a distance, she influenced me for good (she still does). She left an immeasurable heritage of quiet dignity and strength. I look forward to the lessons that I'll continue to learn from her in the future. And here's a picture of her with Lincoln that makes me happy:
Living in Utah I hear people talk about droughts and pray for rain a lot. I think those people have a tendency to forget that we live in a desert. As such, it really doesn't rain much (we get plenty more snow than I would like but that's a whole different rant). So, when it's warm outside and it starts to rain you can usually count on it doing so lightly for about 30 seconds to a minute. You gotta take advantage of that rare warm summer rain.
This particular time it happened to not stop after 30-60 seconds but instead decided to intensify and dump hard with some nice thunder and lightning for a good long time. It was a good one to take advantage of.
We had already been out there for awhile running that circle when the video starts. Apparently a few of our neighbors saw us and, luckily, took it as a sign of good parenting instead of calling social services on us (I've got them fooled).
A little while ago Lincoln received a gift from his Grandpa Bob (Lincoln got his middle name from him too). He's been playing with it quite a bit so we thought we'd post a couple videos from when Grandma first brought it to him.
He knew exactly what to do with it but he did have a little bit of trouble figuring out the most efficient way to mount the beast.
He kept getting on and off this way for about five minutes.
Grandpa also sent along a cool wooden duck that Lincoln likes to pull around behind him and a tic-tac-toe game. Lincoln like to strategically place the circle pieces around the house (random is a strategy).
Thanks to Grandpa for the great stuff and the great example of charity and love in our lives. We love you Grandpa!
I had grand plans of writing up a wonderful Mother's Day post about... well, probably mothers I guess. Then, I didn't get it done before Mother's Day. Then, I sat down to the task on Mother's Day only to discover that we haven't taken a single picture on the nice camera since the last post. I did realize however, that I have a whole treasure trove of previously unreleased material locked inside my iPhone and Angel's iPod Touch. I spent a good while curating the material and transferring it to various more useful locations (my computer and YouTube). Then, I spent the rest of Mother's Day with the mothers in my life. Then I had stuff going on for a few days. Then, I sat down to write it again while Angel was at book club but blogger was down (so I played rock band instead). Then, I sat down just now to actually write this worthless information you hopefully haven't just read because I only wrote it as a poor justification of why this is a week late. Then, if you just read all of that I'll reward you with the knowledge that the word curating in the above wall of text is actually an unmarked link to some excellent bonus material that all the people who, like I would have, skipped the massive block of run on sentences to view the pictures and videos won't have the pleasure of viewing. Then, if you did read all this and viewed the bonus material you should leave a comment incorporating the word epic. Then, but actually before you leave the comment, you enjoy the other pictures and videos that I have some painstakingly arranged below. Enjoy!
Off we go! On a journey! Through pictures and video! And exclamation marks!
Make sure you're all packed up.
Don't forget the essential, like your glasses.
And your safety gear.
Make sure you've mailed off your taxes.
You could take your bike...
You might not get too far that way though.
Instead, maybe if you practice a lot (He did. For like an hour):
They may let you drive the train.
Just don't let them know about your narcolepsy...
Good times will be had by all! More exclamation marks!!!!!
Action and adventure!
There will be strange creatures!
Drama!
There will be weird cultural experiences!
Delicious Delicacies!
There will be, um... tea parties I guess!
There will be Krazy Kousins!
There will be family pictures!
There will definitely be shenanigans!
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "that sure was a fun journey but, it probably should have been like five posts instead of one." If you find yourself in that boat then to you I say, 'yup (and get out of my boat).'
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The hardest part of writing a blog post is the beginning. So, I'm not going to do that part...
BAM!!! Bowling pins!
It was Lincoln's birthday and these are the cupcakes we made for him. They were quite fun and I heard they were very good (I didn't actually eat one because I prefer not being diabetic). The cupcakes went along with a bowling theme because we held Lincoln's birthday party at... a bowling pin factory! ...I mean bowling alley! Here's a picture to prove it:
See, you can tell it's a bowling alley because you can kind of see some blurry non-descript balls in the dark background of the picture. Obviously a bowling alley. We also have some mental pictures to commemorate the occasion. (Note: you'll need to use you mind's eye to view these next few pictures (Some of those expensive home 3D glasses might work too but that's unverified)).
Here you see Lincoln pushing a ball down a little ramp thing towards the cowering pins.
Here's Lincoln's dad using all his manly muscles to hurl his ball at literally tens of miles per hour to destroy the poor defenseless pins' formation.
This is Lincoln's mom being thoroughly impressed with Lincoln's dad's bowling prowess and unmatched humility. The look on her face tells you that she is confident in the knowledge that the husband she chose has no equal.
If you asked me if we ever let Lincoln get up on the kitchen table I would say, "Absolutely not, that's not the kind of thing we tolerate at our house... at all... definitely not... and even if we did, we would at least make him take his shoes off.
Lincoln got a Buzz Lightyear Mr Potatohead...
...
I can't explain this picture any better than it explains itself.
Also, for any of you looking for comedy pointers, ramming a colorful sparkly thing in your mom's face is downright hilarious.
Lincoln also got a new bike for his birthday.
This is him pretending to ride it in the living room.
This is him pretending to ride it in the backyard.
This is him grappling with the concepts of peddling and steering (I'm sure he'll get it one day).
Luckily for him though the weather is starting to turn and that means he can get back into his element.
Because staying inside all winter can cause you to go into withdrawals. You'll start seeing slides in everything including, but not limited to, couch cushions, stairs, dad, and the hallway (you kind of have to do your own sliding on that last one since it's flat). When you're couped up inside though you have to deal with whatever playground equipment you can find:
