Pocatello: Novemeber 2010

We spent time last weekend in Pocatello for Zach's mission homecoming. We came up from Salt Lake. Others came over from Boise. It was actually pretty great. We were all together, but did a variety of different things. Remember, photos can be enlarged to show detail or weirdness. You can also right-click an enlarged photo to save it to your own computer.

Some of us spoke about missionary work.

Some of us had our eyes opened.


Some of us were even Bourne again.

Some of us engineered.




Some of us "engineered".

All of us ate pork.

Some of us said cheese.




Some of us pained.

Some of us ponged.

Some of us styled.



Some of us ducked out for pictures.


Some of us leaned in for pictures.




It was great to see all who came. A special thanks to all of the Southwicks. Zach for giving us a great reason to get together... and a talk well given. Ken and Annie for the beds, meals and counter space for all my stuff. Chelsea, Sydni and River for being the cousins and kids you are. One piece of advice though... I'd get rid of that creepy picture on your fridge with the pink frame. (see first photo above)

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.

Bear Lake 2009

We grabbed an opportunity to camp for a few days at Bear Lake again this year. Not the full Schoenfeld crew like last year (last minute planning) but still a welcome break.

Just a few highlights:

We had our tent (on the right) up for less than 15 minutes when a freak gust of wind blew it completely upside down, reassuring me once again that our luck is completely portable.

We also discovered, shortly after arrival, that our immediate campsite neighbors included a family with five small kids and a great dane and a dozen sorority girls from Utah State. The experience was neither as annoying nor as hot as it sounds.







We spent the better part of the time at or on the lake itself. Renting a ski boat one day and just chilling on the beach the next. I took a reasonable number of photos of the water itself, but none of them do justice. The particular blue-green color of Bear Lake is remarkable and reminds me of the Caribbean.

On Wednesday, the girls met some boys from the wave runner rental shop... and eventually... cleverly... invited them back to the campsite for a bonfire. I know it's perfectly normal and was probably the highlight of the trip for them, but still strikes a primal, grouchy nerve in me. I faked maturity, however, and appeared to be a completely reasonable father.








Q: Why attempt to eat a mediocre 28 inch, $55 pizza named Old Ephraim?
A: Because you can have a polaroid taken to prove you did.

Q: Why not attempt to eat Old Ephraim?
A: Common sense (not pictured).




This is a photo series that tells a miniature story.

1) Evan and River are out in the lake past this marsh and well beyond earshot.
Tracy goes out to get them for dinner (her idea, not mine).

2) The wind is louder and the marsh deeper than expected.
She has to go all the way out to be heard.

3) Tracy returns and tells me all about her adventure. The end.


In spite of a few minor setbacks (marauding skunks, incessant wind) I think a good time was had by all. Bear Lake may be becoming that thing we do every year as a family. We need more of those...

I took way more photos than you'd care to see here, but may put a gallery up on Flickr soon. Stay tuned.