The Last Two Weeks

Well, we've had a very busy last few weeks. First Grandpa and Grandma Haddock came and visited us. Of course Grandpa and I had to spend a couple of days on the lake fishing. Grandpa really wanted to catch a Northern Pike, so here we go, he caught one. Actually he caught about 10 of these. We also went and picked wild blueberries and raspberries. The last night they were here we had fresh fish, fresh blueberry cheesecake and Minnesota wild rice. Yummy!

While they were here we also spent some time playing around and visiting some local attractions such as the North American Bear Center. Ady really liked looking at the bears. Two of the bears were very active and playing. Then Kasey, Ady and Brock left with Grandma and Grandpa to go back to Utah for Brock's check-up and a couple of family get-togethers. Kasey took the kids to a Clark family reunion in Wellsville. Things seemed to be going well, and then Saturday night someone from work came over to our house and told me that I had a family emergency and that Kasey needed me to call her right away. Fighting off feelings of panic I ran down to the lodge and got a hold of Kasey. Then Kasey told me the kind of news you never want to hear. Kasey's youngest sister's husband, Brandon, had killed himself. We were both shocked. Suicide is one of those things that you hear about, but never think of anyone you know actually doing it. And then to have someone in the immediate family, someone that you actually knew, had spent time with, always assumed would be there at the next family get-together to be dead hits you pretty hard. Suicide is one of those things that you always assumes wouldn't happen to your family. As Kasey and I talked questions came tumbling out, some of them answerable but too many have the answer of "I don't know". Emotions including anger, guilt, shame and deep sadness get thrown together all at once. We decided that Kasey would stay for the funeral, but that I would stay in Minnesota. Then Monday at Brock's Check-up it was decided that Brock would have another surgery and the surgery was scheduled for the following day. Kasey called me, and we decided that I should join her in Utah for a few days. So I got off work, got in the car and headed South. I stopped in the middle of South Dakota for a nap and eventually arrived in Utah 25 hours after getting off work. Brock's surgery went "okay". The doctors said that it wasn't exactly what they were hoping for, but it was an improvement. They don't know if he will need another surgery later, but if he does, they will probably do open heart surgery.

We were able to spend a couple days "relaxing" with family. Don't get me wrong, seeing people is always nice, but I'm not sure I felt that the time was relaxing. We wanted to spend time with both of our families, so it was back and forth a couple times. Juggling multiple family schedules, figuring out priorities and still remembering to smile was hard at times. We went to the new Trafalga with my family and Ady loved it. She must of rode the rides 100 times or more. Wore me out just watching her. With Kasey's family we enjoyed a family dinner and took a family picture. After the funeral we got back on the road and headed for Minnesota.
Being as the funeral was in Blackfoot Idaho, and we had our Yellowstone vacation cut short this last May with Kasey's kidney stone, I asked Kasey if she wanted me to drive through Yellowstone this time and give her an opportunity to see Yellowstone Falls. She thought that was a good idea and a so Yellowstone trip #2 it was.

A very nice lady saw me trying to snap a picture of ourselves and took this photo of all four of us at Artist Point. Of course since we were healthy, we couldn't just do a normal lookout point. Kasey wanted to hike down one of the trails. So we did. We went on Uncle Tom's Trail down to the lower lookout point of Lower Falls. In addition to the path, there are 328 metal steps that traversed the side of the cliff. Of course Ady decided that she wanted to wear her plastic flip-flops and was completely useless on the steps so she ended up on my shoulders. Kasey and I were pretty tired when we were done. Not to worry though, Brock and Ady were as chipper as can be after the climb back up!

The view at the bottom was pretty neat. The roar of the falls was really loud and you could feel the spray. After we left the falls we enjoyed the drive, once again marveling at the beauty of Yellowstone and had fun trying to point out the animals before Ady could find them. Once again we were successful in finding a Grizzly bear with cubs! After it got dark we left and headed East again. Of course, as soon as we left the civilized area, Ady told us that she had to go potty. So we asked her if she could make it to the next bathroom, she replied "No Dad, I need go in woods". I found the nearest pullout and quickly got her out. So there we were, just off the road, in the dark and Ady was doing her impersonation of a squat-which means that she was squatting while leaning back with me holding her under arms keeping her balance and there she was trying to see what was coming out. Well that was taken care of and we were about to get on the road again, Ady was in her seat and she informed us that she had to go again. She was holding her stomach and making a funny noise, so I quickly grabbed her and ran back over to our spot. This time I could tell that we didn't have much time, so I just pulled her shorts and panties off and she didn't even wait to squat. Of course she was impressed that she could go in the woods and wanted to see what was going on back there. The problem was that she didn't think she had a good vantage point so she decided move for a better view. Not to worry, I caught her foot just before she stepped in her mess. Then when she was in her new position pointing at her accomplishment she proceeded to add an additional deposit. By this time I was sure she was done. Just to be safe, I asked her. She told me she was done. Seriously she looked right at me and told me that she was finished. So I walked back to the car, got the toilet paper out again and returned. Then as I was wiping her bum she pooped on me. Freaking unbelievable!!

After driving all night and with no further incidents with the children, we arrived in South Dakota early the next morning. I was ready for a short break so we went and visited Mt. Rushmore. After leaving Mt. Rushmore we spent another day and a half traveling home. Between potty breaks, McDonald's playpens, fuel-ups, and Brock's feeding breaks we finally made it back home at 9pm Monday night. 25 hours to drive from Minnesota to Utah, 52 hours to drive from Utah to Minnesota.

Sunsets of Minnesota

As some of you may know, I love taking pictures of things, as long as the photo has no people. I sometimes wonder if this is something I get from my father. See my Dad hates being in photos. I have taken it a step further, I don't really like anyone being in my photos. But I really enjoy taking pictures of anything related to nature. Kasey does insist that I take pictures of the kids, and sometimes I will even put her in a picture. Here in Minnesota I am in an amateur photographers dream. We have the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises. So I decided to share some of the pictures that I've taken this past month of sunsets on the lake.

I just like how the colors came out on this one. Although I would never be caught wearing purple and orange(thank goodness I'm a Jazz fan and not a Suns fan) I think that in a sunset the two colors go together really well.

I caught this sunset through the trees and was worried that it wouldn't turn out well. But after loading it on the computer I decided that I kinda like it.

This is my favorite one, I really like how the clouds look like they are on fire and that same effect is reflected on the water.

Moving day.

We moved into a more permanent place this week. Great view of the lake and way more room. Ady was worried as we were packing up and decided she wanted to personally move a few of her things. Even though I explained to her that we were just going down the road, she didn't want to lose her stuff for another month. So here you see her with her favorite sippy cup, her princess Belle water bottle, her current favorite stuffed dog, in her hand is a purple ducky bath toy and a todder chew toy that she likes to give brock, and if you look closely at the pocket on her dress you will see that it is stuffed with things like bouncy balls and a fishing pamphlet that she got from me. Quite the character.
So on one hand you have the negative effect of having moved so much that our three year old fears for her toys when she sees us loading a box or suitcase. But on the other, we had as good a time as any Christmas morning with Ady when we unpacked our trailer and pulled out stuff that has been in boxes for either, one month(since leaving Utah), or 6 months(since leaving Hawaii), 2 and a half years(since leaving Key West), or for 4 and a half years(since moving to Key West and leaving stuff in storage). Ady loved finding her old stuff and things that she didn't know we had and even some that we had forgotten we had. Ady has an awesome sense of fashion(Kasey blames me since I dress her in crazy combinations on a regular basis). Here she is wearing purple snow boots(it was in the 80 degree range), a summer dress, several kukui nut leis, a cheap bead necklace, and a light jacket. To make it more interesting the boots are about 5 sizes too big, but she wore them all day long.

And finally here is Brock in his life jacket. He hates it and cries most of them time when it is on, but hopefully he will learn to adjust. I also think it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to lay him down in the bottom of the canoe and allowed him to look about.

When we were looking around for somewhere to move into for the summer we commented on the amount of open space around the apartment and mentioned that it would be good for Ady to have somewhere to run around. The landlord was right there and he quickly told us that she shouldn't be allowed to run around unsupervised. His tone wasn't suggesting that we wouldn't watch her, or that she would cause problems so I looked at him somewhat curiously. He then went on to inform us that wolves and bears in the area make it unsafe for children to just play outside unsupervised. We left the appointment and were discussing how odd a comment that was, and were sure that we'd never heard that line before when looking at an apartment. Kasey of course was worrying and asking me how many bears are in the area, do we need to worry much, do you think we'll ever see one, how many people get attacked each year... I immediately began to inform her that bear sightings are rare, and we'll probably never see a bear or wolf, and the guy was a little off his rocker. Just as I got done saying this I had to slam on my brakes as a bear came out of the woods in front of us and crossed the highway. Two days later I had to slow down for a wolf. I guess in Northern Minnesota you keep an eye on your kids when they are outdoors, and one eye on the woods.

Evening Canoe Rides

We have finally got a signed purchase agreement and have been pretty busy the last week or so trying to learn all we can about this business that we are getting involved in. In the evenings when things slow down we usually like to take a canoe out, and paddle around the lake or fish. Ady is so funny when we catch a fish. She wants to touch each fish but will close her eyes while doing so. She gets super excited when she sees the fish on the end of the line and starts screaming "fish, fish, fish" and we sometimes have trouble the canoe violently rocking as she will be moving all over the place trying to contain her excitement. Then as soon as we let the fish go adn watch it swim away she will turn to me and say, "again Dad, catch another please". She is a great fishing buddy. Last night we were out and I asked her what kind of fish should we catch and she said, "a big one, catch a big big fish Dad, okay?". As of yet, we have no big fish to report but together we are working on it.

Ady loves being out on the water, Brock, not so much. He does okay as long as we are paddling, but once we stop to fish, he starts to cry.