There and Back Again

The family (sans Eden) drove to Boise to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents. A much needed break ensued. We watched a healthy dose of sports (any for us is a lot), went jogging, raked leaves, played games, went shopping, ate turkey, went to a movie, saw family, took naps and ate turkey again.

This is my Mom and Dad.
They are alway good sports about the food we eat and the mess we bring.

These are the lego racers Evan and I built.
In spite of the wings, mine basically rocked over his.


Hailey and Tracy at the gaming (kitchen) table...
Ticket to Ride is serious business.


Like a good son and grandson, we helped Grandpa rake leaves in the front.
Like typical knuckleheads, we forgot to do the back.

We capped off the trip at the airport. Eden arrived home from India.
Covered in henna. Craving cheeseburgers. Gifts for all.
She took tons of photos... maybe she'll let me post some here.

I could still do way better on the photo front...
This new camera isn't the magic wand I thought it would be.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

An incomplete, inarticulate list of things I'm grateful for...

Tracy - completely genuine, strong, my personal savior
Hailey - smart, fiery, a softer heart than anyone knew
Eden - outgoing, involved, a magnetic personality
Evan - funny, inventive, always good hearted
Resilience - one of the most important gifts we have
Forgiveness - the most important gift we have
Potential - new paper, new pen, everything's possible
Places - The kind you try to capture by breathing more deeply
Movies - they're not all good, but someone, somewhere is making another
Pie - the best days seem to include it, more days should

Gifts

Ken and Annie visited Salt Lake on Friday to pick up their new car.
It was a short visit. Just a couple of hours including a lunch at Koko Kitchen.

While it's always great to catch up, the best part of their visit is pictured below. All from their garden. All homemade. To me, there's almost no better gift one could receive. I highly recommend having relatives in Idaho's farm country.

Recently, They Looked Like This

Turning Point

It snowed yesterday. I suspect fall is finished.

Wheels Up

Remember this photo? Probably not. I posted it way back in February. This is Eden holding her acceptance letter to Youth Making a Difference (YMAD). I'll let you read more about the organization on your own, but in the interest of time, I'll sum up the critical stuff here...

- YMAD is a non-profit that takes teens to do humanitarian work in India.
- Eden has spent the last year with a group of fellow students preparing to go.
- They will work primarily in remote villages outside of Kolkata (Calcutta).
- She left this morning at 5am.
- She and Tracy waited until the very last minute to cry. (I was unaffected).
- She will have not have access to a cell phone or ranch dressing for 17 days.

The place:


The people:


We are excited for her and proud of her.
If you only knew how far she has come...

You can also follow their daily progress on the YMAD blog.

Stay tuned.

The Big Show

Like Hailey and Eden before him, Evan recently tried out for show choir. If you're not familiar with the concept, show choir combines the singing of choir and the "show" of showing people things. Usually props or humorously choreographed movements. Although some choir directors get the "show" part better than others, we have always enjoyed the performances. This one was no different. Evan also unexpectedly auditioned for a solo. Our kids never cease to surprise.


They invited the students to submit designs for the program. Evan's (not pictured) was not used. Okay, I may have helped a little too much.

Tomorrow Says Hi