Gone, Gone, Gone! Really Gone . . .

Why, you might ask, is this song from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss running through my head and becoming the title of my first post in a month?  Could be because the album "Raising Sand" is really great -- but no.  Try traveling for business seven out of the last eight weeks.  Ouch. 

I must say though, that there are advantages to this.  Like the fact that all three children race to hug me when I walk in the door, shouting "Daddy!" with an enthusiasm that could light up the dark of a desert night. Or the fact that Keegan insists on grabbing my finger and leading me around the house for hours on end.  When I leave for work, he now says "NO DADDY! NO WORK!" and cries hard when I walk out the door.  If that doesn't make you appreciate life and family, few things will. 

Then there is the fact that professionally, I have never had more fun in my life.  I seriously love my work notwithstanding the travel. That said, it is clear that my wife does not.  So weekends have been filled with kids and honey dos.  As a consequence, I have failed you, dear reader (thanks for continuing to look Annie!).  Well, I will try a little repentance with this post, which I hope will be a longer one.   We have made good use of the few free weekends, so we have a few pics to post.  Here goes!

ALPINE LOOP AND STUART FALLS

A few weeks back, we managed to drive Alpine loop right after a snowstorm, and catch one of the two weekends that actually had autumn color (we've learned that fall color is very brief in Utah!). Here are a few pics from the trip.

This aspen grove was absolutely magical.  I have never been surrounded by more glowing gold leaves in my life.  It was awesome.

The mountain top snow provided the perfect backdrop for all the color.  It was such a glorious afternoon. 

Here is the family at the top of the loop.  Aldie is wearing his mom's fleece top for pants because he managed to fall into the American Fork river on the way up, and totally soak his pants.  Not a good day for forgetting replacement clothes, but we managed!

Aren't they just the cutest boys?  Now if we could just get them to behave like they look . . .

I think gold and white must be the colors of heaven, and Aspen groves are a heaven on earth when fall rolls around.  

Alpine loop also has access to Stuart falls, which is a place I remember going with my paternal grandparents when I was about Kate's age.  I have distinct memories of this place from that day. Fun to be there again so many years later.

Doesn't this one look like an old woman in the shower?  Big nose, scrunchy face, shower cap.  I can't see it any other way now that I've thought of that.

GOLDEN SPIKE AND THE SPIRAL JETTY

Just last weekend, we took the kids out to Golden Spike National Historic Site, because I had never been there.  Here are the Kids at THE SPOT.

As Keegan sat for this picture, he said "Snake!" Sure enough, there he was, right on the Golden Spike tie. Glad he didn't have a rattle on his tail. 

Of course, there was no corralling the boys after that. They chased him down the track for quite a ways.

Here is Aldie standing on an original rail, perhaps the only one left (the rest went to construct weapons in World War II).

Turns out that the Spiral Jetty is only a short drive (over a rough dirt road) from Golden Spike.  It is a piece of installation art that was done in 1970 by Robert Smithson.  It was covered with water for almost three decades, but now is on a big salt flat.  This first picture was taken by Kate. Not bad, hey? 

The kids had a riot on the surrounding salt flat. They found this huge crystal in a pool in the flat.  Kate took this photo also, as her mom held it up.  Very evocative of the place, I think.

There is a lot of red algae on this arm of the lake, which has a reported 27% alkalinity.  It produces an otherworldly landscape.  

The Jetty itself is quite salt encrusted. 

Picture of the day belongs to Kath, though, who took the below with Kate's little point and shoot.  Keegan and I were out exploring the lake edge.  

Well, there you go, Annie (and anyone else who still looks once in a while). It is all I had time for tonight. I hope to be better this coming month, which should not be so crazy.  

I Did It!

So we have also started Alden in soccer this fall.  Any of you who have seen three-year olds play soccer know that it is more like a rugby scrum than anything--mashed bodies, pushing, shoving, and the ball eventually squirts out somewhere.  Good coaching consists of just getting  your players to remember which way they are supposed to kick the ball (don't laugh, it is not as easy as it sounds!).  Some teams only show up with two or three players (and one of those will wander off the field for "a little break" right in the middle of the play).
 
But this chaos of premature competition was a real joy for me this weekend. 

Let me put it in context.  The first week Alden had a game, he didn't want to play.  I told him he had to.  He sat on the field and cried.  No running, no kicking; just tears, pouting and sitting. I never lost my temper, but I told him if he didn't play, I would not let him watch TV for the rest of the weekend.  That at least got him to stay out on the field.  After that we went home, and I found he had a temperature of 102.9 -- BAD DAD! REALLY BAD DAD! I felt like a one of those psycho sports parents -- and that is a very dark feeling! 

Anyway, the next week, no one was sick, and I promised a trip to Blockbuster and the donut store if he tried really hard to kick the ball.  And whaddya know, he had a great time. Ran all over, smiled, laughed, kicked, and mixed it up with the best of them.  

That brings us to yesterday.  He did great again. Yes, the other team was undermanned. And yes, if anyone was counting, the other team actually won.  But Alden actually scored a goal!  

(Moments before the fateful strike!)

He ran off the field and shouting, "I did it!" "I really did it!"  He was at once surprised and pleased and feeling like he had achieved something he didn't think he knew how do do.  And I haven't had that much fun in quite a long time.  Great going, little buddy!

Proud of our Girl II

First, a brief but heartfelt sorry! One post in August (and not checking anyone else's blog :-0) is simply not acceptable. We will try to be better this month.

But this post is not about that -- it is about our Great Kate.  She started soccer last week, and is busily applying the lessons learned from her "Joseph" (the play she was in) experience, which are: (1) work hard to do your best; and (2) have fun. We have now added a third: try to get better each time.  From these pictures of her in action with the Bountiful Blue Sharks (go team!), I hope you can see she is doing well at all of those.

Here she is running with her good friend and team-mate Brianne.

Check out that intense concentration on the ball!

Getting set for a great kick.

Not afraid to mix it up!

We are very proud of the effort she is putting in!  And lest any of you think she is just a jock . . . 

The other night I was watching the democratic convention, when Kate came down and sat beside me. After a few minutes, she said "Dad, I know it is probably too late, but I really wish you would vote for John McCain!"  (My enthusiasm for Obama is by now well known around our house.)  

I replied, "Why do  you want me to do that, Kate?"  

"Because HE is against drugs and seems like a really nice man.  Besides, I am not sure this Obama has enough experience."  (This is a direct, verbatim quote, I kid you not, and was stated with great enthusiasm and intensity, and with particular emphasis on the word "he".)

Trying not to laugh, I asked Kate where she learned this, to which she replied, "Oh, from the commercial on TV."  

I was tempted to tell her that you can't really believe everything you see on TV, especially political commercials, but I refrained.  Instead, I told her I was thrilled that she was paying attention, and I hoped she would keep studying who would make the best President.  Nonetheless, I couldn't resist concluding with a whispered "By the way, I think Obama is against drugs too, because he has two girls about your age."  To which she responded, "Oh well, I guess anyone will be better than President Bush; he's terrible!"  

I still chuckle about that one, and I think it fair to say that no one can call my eight-year old daughter uninformed. 

As if to prove the point, just as Kate was leaving, the cameras panned to Hillary Clinton, and Kate exclaimed "Hey, there's Hillary!"  Mind you, it is not like we have big Hillary Clinton posters at our house or anything, and I can't recall ever discussing anything about Mrs. Clinton with Kate.  (The funniest comment came next though: "So who is that guy next to her?")

Whatever 99% of my neighbors think about Hillary, I was very grateful for the tone in my daughter's voice that all but said 'she's a woman and she ran for President.'  It was educational, to say the least, to see how Kate identified with her.  So I guess any way you look at it, this year has been a banner year for politics in the Bailey household.

P.S. Sorry to all you Republicans out there, but don't worry, Kate may yet talk me out of it. 

Proud of Our Girl

  Kate has been working hard all summer as one of the children's chorus in a local production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  The result came in the form of three shows this Wednesday through Friday.  The first day, she was so nervous, she never smiled once, was very tentative, and told us she didn't like it at all.  And believe it or not, she has always been very self - conscious when she is the center of attention in a large group, and getting up and performing has been a very, very hard thing for her to do.  

Our response was that everyone gets nervous, and that the only things she had to do to make us happy were to: (1) try hard and (2) have fun.  She received a ton of family support on Thursday night (THANKS FAM!) and began to enjoy herself, and by Friday, when I took these pictures, she was an old pro, having a great time and really getting into the show.

She was so at ease during the middle of the Friday show, that as she she and her group were out in the audience isles waiting to go up on stage, she nudged up close to my seat and whispered "Dad, make sure you get a picture of Joseph, I have a crush on him!"  Hence this photo.  I didn't bother mention that at 13 he was waaaay too old for her. She knows the age difference between her mother and I and wouldn't hesitate to use it against me.  I am in so much trouble.



At the end of the show, I walked up to tell her how proud I was, because she had tried hard and had fun.  Big softy that I am, I started to cry. Can you believe that? Sometimes I wonder if I am not genetically descended from a jellyfish -- no backbone whatsoever. But I really was just tickled that she had faced what for her was a really big fear, and had been able to smile through it and enjoy herself.  She is a great girl and I am a very lucky, even if totally pathetic and schmaltzy, dad.

Back to Heaven

Alden woke me up at 3:30 a.m. on July 24th and I couldn't go back to sleep.  What to do, but head back to heaven, aka the Uintas.  I know there are some out there who are nowhere near mountains and really miss them.  This one is for you.

Not Your Typical Sunday

Alden spent most of last Saturday with fever and chills.  When he tried to swallow breakfast Sunday morning, he literally screamed in pain.  Fearing strep, we skipped church . . . 

and went straight to heaven!  

Otherwise known as Soapstone cut-off in the Uinta mountains, Kate arrived and exclaimed "Dad!  This place must be heaven!"  And so, for a day, it was.  I truly have never seen so many flowers in one place at one time in my entire life.  

Add in white-barked aspen, and how can you not believe in the hand of God? I think the very essence of God can be found in the fact that he takes what could be such a huge negative -- the chaos and brutality of survival of the fittest -- and uses it to create such remarkable beauty and order.  That speaks so deeply of faith and the power to match any circumstance with soaring hope.  Surely therein lies our God. 



Add in family, and the picture from heaven is pretty complete.  So for now, greetings from heaven!
 

SUMMER!

Take one hot, sunny day and add one grassy hill, one four dollar sheet of visqueen plastic, one running hose and two kids, and what do you get? 

A TOTAL FREAKING BLAST!

Nothing like an otter pop break in the shade. Below, pictures of the poor little guy who slept through it all -- just because he is too cute to leave out!

Should

Life is full of an awful lot of “shoulds,” and they can form a suffocating tsunami as the days race by. But today I must give in to one despite the late hour, and write this brief note. No, there is no momentous event to record.  Simply a wonderful evening, filled with visits from some very dear, old friends, much laughter, a beautiful sunset, and chasing children.  After our friends had gone our smiles still lingered, and as the night sky darkened, fireworks filled the air over the North Salt Lake hills we see from our back yard. 

There I sat on a grassy hill behind our home, Alden on my lap, Kate in my other arm, and my sweetheart by my side (Keegan was long asleep), watching the show.  Kate squeezed me; Alden kissed my arm repeatedly, without saying anything, and there we sat quietly, perhaps for the first time in months, thinking about life and multi-colored flame. These are the moments one "should" always remember—quiet holding, fond thoughts, a complete and serene spirit of joy in simply touching someone you love.

I am more content now than I have ever been at any time in my life.  I deeply love my wife and children; I live close to the father I idolize and my giving, thoughtful mom. The father-in-law whose spirit I so enjoy and who never ceases to amaze me is just down the road with his sweet wife.  I am part of two great families, with brothers, sisters and in-laws that I feel, to a person, are best friends.  My work is, for perhaps the first time ever, verging on the border of fun.  My home is beautiful and built with great care. My life has been filled with wonderful people.  I have seen much of the beauty God created in this world, and I live in the freest, most open and miraculous country on the planet. 

No, things are not perfect.  Yes, I worry often about many very important things, not the least of which is what kind of future will bear down on my children.  Mortality bores into my bones a little more each day (and some days more than others). Yet I cannot deny that of all of God’s children, I perhaps have the least room for complaint.  Who knows what tomorrow brings, but at this time, on this day, I am very, very happy.

In Retrospect, It Was A Little Too Quiet In There . . .

All we wanted to do was have an adult conversation for FIVE MINUTES. Is that really so much to ask? Ok, Ok, we have been repainting the whole house for weeks now, and I suppose that deserves some penance, but was it really that much of an affront? Isn't it punishment enough that one of us has had to guard Keegan (keep him out of the paint, so to speak) for literally every waking minute for all of those weeks?

Guess not. How can someone so little do so much damage? His status as “Perfect Child” is hereby permanently revoked, and no amount of cheesy grins is going to change that.