Christmas/Hailey's Birthday (of last year)

Is it sad that I'm posting photos from Christmas and Hailey's Birthday when it's now April? Very. Might time and the pure charm of these photos diminish my shame? I'm going with yes, but we'll let future you decide that for your future self.

Tree Decorating Festivities and General Decor - Not sure how things are elsewhere, but around these parts, tree trimming isn't a democracy. Tracy decides on the type of tree (think skinny... almost sickly) and on the decorations that allowed on board. There were protests the first few years... and you still might hear a murmur of dissent here and there... but I think it's safe to say that everyone has fallen in line. She does however relent occasionally, allowing the certain sentimental ornaments to be placed on the tree... around back... where they can't be seen without the assistance of mirrors.

I didn't take any pictures of Christmas morning. I've stopped that completely, having decided that those pictures, more than any others... are completely unflattering. I mean who looks good in bed head and pajamas, buried under a pile of barely deserved presents? ;)

Speaking of pajamas... Hailey made ours this year. They rock. Wonder if she knows she's on the hook for that task forever?

Up next? Hailey and Eden's combined birthday post.

And Yet...

Another year of poor gardening comes to a close. The chile peppers didn't go anywhere. The basil was a bust. Even the tomatoes went down in flames. Who can't grow tomatoes? Apparently us.

And yet... Just when we were ready to completely write off the whole endeavor... hope has been ever so slightly restored.

While the strawberries didn't exactly yield a lot of fruit, they didn't die. And because they are perennials, they might have even established a firm footing with next season in mind.

The pumpkins pulled off a comeback in the nick of time. There won't be many of them and they won't win any prizes. They will however, make Tracy happy whenever she goes out to check on them. This is, for me, almost entirely the point.

And perhaps best of all... Blackberries. In an unexpected turn, the vines I hate have produced something I love. Will there be more? Enough to make a truce? Or better yet a pie? Stay tuned...

Ascent

Tracy and I have taken up hiking!
Okay, not exactly.

We did, however, take the following three steps toward becoming hikers:
1) We bought a map of the hiking trails along the Wasatch Front.
2) We looked at (but didn't buy) hiking shoes at REI.
3) We actually went on a hike. (not our first, but not too far from it)

It's probably also worth noting that if you live in Utah and don't hike, you'll be viewed dimly... not unlike the way you'll be viewed if you say you don't really like dogs... or kids. We don't have anything against hiking... except the incessant climbing part. As it turns out, if you live in a valley, and decide to go somewhere... anywhere you go will be uphill. Drastically so if you live in the valley we do.

We looked at the map and picked out a trail to follow in Big Cottonwood Canyon... the name escapes me. What didn't escape me was the listed distance, difficulty rating and elevation gain. .8 Miles, "Easy" and about 500 feet. This looked promising. We agreed that the key to our hiking success was to start slow and work our way up from there.

Like most, or maybe even all, of our plans... it began to unravel quickly. We couldn't find the trailhead we were looking for, so we took an alternate instead. Lake Blanche, the sign read. One way distance: three miles. Now I'm no good at math, but I was pretty sure 3.0 miles is longer than .80 miles. It was. The sign didn't really say much else. Whatever... We were here. Let's do this!

How did it go? I'll just cover the high points:

• Tracy is in better shape than I am... as apparently is everyone else. As toddlers and old folks made the return trip down, she was patient and waited while I frequently pulled over for a breather on the way up. I did do better than she on the downhill portion of the hike... maybe she does need those shoes afterall.
• We never quite made it to Lake Blanche... Dinner Plans and low blood sugar cut the hike short. We were probably only about halfway in... later research revealed the hike to be a roughly five hour endeavor. Three hours and a half hours up, and hour and a half back. The internet also revealed the elevation gain... 2500 feet. Yikes. If you're unimpressed, keep in mind that the starting elevation for this hike is over 7000 feet. Don't worry, I'll always provide more reasons to be unimpressed.
• Even though we didn't make it all the way up this time around. It was so worthwhile. Time together, doing something difficult and new. It was also a nice reminder of a simple truth. We live in an amazing place with even more amazing places a short drive away.

Rest assured... endless uphill trail to Lake Blanche... We'll be back.

The Best Things

Naps...

Tracy not looking a day older...

A brief tour of Millcreek Canyon...


Tracy's obsession with making the perfect mousse...

Evan's obsession with Tracy's obsession

Getting this close...

Occasionally being referred to as "dashing"...

Shrimp Po' Boy Sandwiches...

Father's Day presents...

Father's Day Gifts...

Not pictured:
- Eden pulling Rickshaws for YMAD...
- Finally learning how to adjust our sprinklers...
- Running with Tracy and Nike+...
- Mazza with the Southwicks...
- Riding my scooter to work...
- Banbury Cross Maple Bars...
- Barbara's Visit...
- The time when I told a room full of people at church that Tracy's birthday was on Tuesday. (It was on Wednesday)

Just a few moments from a really decent week. I promise I'll try to write something more soon. Maybe a poem? I don't think I've ever written a poem.

Seriously?

Today I was alerted to the presence of two sets of pictures on the interwebs.

This first one is me, posted on Chad Hurst's Blog. He's a photographer friend of mine working through a self-imposed project called 30 Portraits, 30 Days. Here he successfully shows my hair loss and the plate of ribs I never got to eat. Unsurprisingly, I hate him now. Not really. I sort of knew what I was in for. Although, I am hoping there's a more flattering photo somewhere in the bunch.

And then there are these photos of Tracy from the Lifestyle section of the Salt Lake Tribune. Here her complete cuteness and fashion sense are on display. Bald spot? Nope. Plate of greasy ribs? Not really. Just her being adorable.


And lastly... not online... until now: this photo of her in the dining room. I think she looks amazing, she thinks it just shows her wrinkles. If she even has wrinkles, I can't see them. I'll never see them.

I can only assume from the length of our marriage and the disparity in these photos that she looks past my "wrinkles" too.

Thanks

I wrote this a while back. The date is out of date, the sentiment isn't.

It's Thanksgiving... Well yesterday was anyway. It came and went a little faster than usual I guess. We stayed here... just us. No extended family. Almost not even all of us. Eden worked most of the day and half of the night. Black Friday. Ugh. I don't get it.

We took it easy... had snacks, played a few games and watched three episodes of The Walking Dead. A Zombie shows on Thanksgiving... pretty entertaining, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Kind of puts you on edge a little—makes you feel oddly vulnerable. Although the prime rib and pecan sweet potatoes did seem to soothe the nerves.

I had this activity planned, but we never quite got around to doing it. Tracy and I picked out some cards at Target with the idea that everyone would select three people to write notes to... preferably someone we were grateful for. Like most of my good intentions... the moment passed without capture. Lame.

In lieu of writing the cards tonight, I thought I'd just say why I'm grateful for Tracy. (An incomplete list)

She seems to genuinely love me, understand me and perhaps even thinks I'm handsome. I have no explanation for any of this, but she is hands-down the very best thing I have going in my life.
She works so hard.
She complains so little.
She is completely herself. (I've mistakenly, unsuccessfully tried to change this)
People love her for it.
She secretly throws everyone's things away.
She never really reads the labels.
She worries about driving when it snows.
Or rains.
She worries (just a little) about everything.

She just listens.

She helps where I can't.
She has a sweet tooth.
She bakes well.
She bakes weekly.
She has nicknames.
She looks fantastic.
She wrinkles her nose when I describe something I like that she doesn't.

She speaks her mind.

I'm also grateful for:
Hailey, Eden and Evan. (I owe her for them too)
My Mom and Dad

The brothers and sisters I see too little of
That guy who invented cameras
That guy who invented chocolate milk
The people at Adobe and Apple
Second Chances: I need as many as I can get.
Just being home: Our place could be nicer and cooler... and it's all my fault. But still, I'm just as happy not going anywhere.

Halloween 2010

A big thanks goes to Tracy for carving pumpkins, making cupcakes and answering the door... mostly while Hailey and I obliviouly played LIMBO downstairs. She just makes thing nice for everyone. Is it any wonder we all prefer to stay home?

The American

So the other Saturday Tracy and I decide to ditch the boy and go catch an afternoon movie. We were almost giddy. We had both seen the trailers for The American and thought it was a no-lose proposition. George Clooney. In Europe. With the sniper rifle.

In hindsight, we should have done a little more detective work. The movie consisted of 103 minutes of advanced gunsmithing, punctuated by two minutes of violence and nudity.

Now I don't really know the origin of the word matinee... I'm guessing it's French. And based on our experience with this one, I'm guessing the translation is something akin to "what grandma and grandpa do just after lunch". Unexpectedly, we (along with one other couple) were the youngest people in the theater by a good thirty years... which turns out to be a problem for only two reasons:

1) Watching romantical scenes in a theater is awkward. Watching them in a theater thick with old-timers is not an improvement. We didn't do our homework before choosing the film... I still can't sleep at night thinking that they had.

2) Hearing aids make a particularly high pitched sound when they need adjusting... or batteries... or crushing. If we were watching anything but this sleepy turd, this wouldn't have been a problem. As it was, the entire movie was scored with something akin to a dog whistle... a painful wail only two couples seemed to hear.

Worst movie ever.

After the movie, I ducked in the bathroom to rid myself of the diet coke I had been nursing for two straight hours. While washing up, I notice (perhaps erroneously) that I might look just the tiniest bit like George Clooney. Walking through the lobby, I have the audacity to mention this this imaginary resemblance to Tracy. The best part? She says without a hint of sarcasm, "I was just thinking the same thing".

Best movie ever.

Mother's Day Highlights

Granted, Mother's day was two months ago... but who's calling the shots around here? Don't worry, it will be brief and somewhat painless.

Mom's favorite gift... 8 sets of Fiesta flatware, inexplicably wrapped.

My favorite gift... Mom, still putting up with us.

Tracy Turns... Older.

In spite of appearances, Tracy does age. Well, she has birthdays. Today was one them. After she opened presents I took a few photos... man I miss my real camera. Do you really have to have an expensive dSLR to have shots in focus? I didn't think so before. As is turns out, cameras also have this self-timer feature... allowing the photographer a full 10 seconds to get in frame with the rest of the group... thus you'll see below, rare photos of the whole family together. More than ever, I love these guys. Happy Birthday Tracy, you deserve better... Or at the very least, I deserve worse.






And just in case you wondered if our singing had improved...

Where's Weirdo?

If you can't find Tracy but you know she's home, look here first. No, she's not hiding from me and the kids, she's standing in front of the vent, trying to get warm. Okay, maybe it's a two birds, one stone kind of thing.

Remedial Reviews

I don't read nearly as much as I ought to these days.
When I'm upright, I'm too easily distracted by flickering screens.
When I lie down, I just fall asleep.

So why should you take reading suggestions from me? You shouldn't. Fortunately, all of the books below were recommended or bought for me by people smarter than myself.

My latest read (yes, I'm 42 and way behind the curve.) and recommendation and favorite of Tracy's. A 20/20 view of human nature. Beautiful without being flowery. Apparently they're called classics for a reason.

A recent Christmas gift from Tracy and the kids. Illustrations you instantly love.
If reincarnation were the real deal... I'd want to come back as Charley Harper.

Todd, a close friend (and employer of mine) gave me this one... among many others. Science of all kinds made accessible and entertaining. In an effort to give Calvin and Hobbes a rest, I read the chapter on geology to Evan a couple of nights ago. He's hooked now too.

A gift from Ken, my brother-in-law and culinary soulmate. If you can only have one cookbook, start here. Don't let the Betty Crockeresque title and aesthetic fool you, this book is up-to-date, down-to-earth and brilliantly useful. If you have this one already, get his International cookbook next.

Another recommendation from Ken. Possibly my favorite book. A surprising look at water and how it behaves in the American desert. I hate this cover though... the one I have is different. Apparently the publisher thought it needed a dramatic and misleading subhead to spice things up.