The Throws of Winter

Abigail’s arrival to our family’s lives has been nothing less than a blessing. The experiences with her through the Fall season have added a new spice to our lives. She’s challenging, charming, beautiful, chunky, shy, and loud. She has Alex’s demeanor, Sam’s drive and her mother’s reasoning. She’s obsessed with bellies and mine is the only one with hair, so she loves it…hopefully, she doesn’t get that from me.

The Fall started out with the family participating in a 5K run in support of a work colleague’s wife who was going through breast cancer treatment. Cristal even participated, pregnant no less, while pushing Abigail in the jogger. It was Sam’s first organized run like this. We agreed it would be a slow, family affair. However, upon arrival, Sam saw the runners warming up. He asked if there was going to be a winner in the race; we said yes, but that we were just here for the fun run.

 

Sam was having nothing to do with a fun run. As we lined up with the other runners, Sam began to make his way to the front of the very large group of runners. When the gun sounded, Sam was off with the lead pack of runners. I attempted to catch him to explain that even though 5K was not a significant distance, it was still not sprintable. I was not able to catch Sam. And it was not from a lack of effort; I ran my best 5K time since I was in my 20’s and came in 18^th place. Sam placed 2^nd, behind a competitive cross country runner.

 

Alex continues to make us proud with her commitment to school, her country, us, and God. Her grades are better than they were in high school. She's an engaged ROTC cadet and soon to be soldier nurse. She spends every Sunday with the family. And she rarely misses Sunday mass. We love that kid.

 

Alex with Utah Governor Gary Herbert

 

The Fall weather provides the perfect opportunities for activities along the Wasatch Front. One of our favorites is mountain biking. Sam has become an accomplished rider. However, his confidence bites him from time to time. Look closely at the third photo...Sam does not have a third nipple, that's where his handle bars almost impaled him during a ride above our house.

 

 

 

Halloween was absolutely priceless with Abigail and the rest of the family. Abigail was a hedgehog. Sam demonstrated what he thought of referees; he was a blind referee. We trick-or-treated in the neighborhood. Abigail definitely figured out the gig. At our neighbor’s house, the McMasters, their dog Buddy, who Abigail knows well, brought her a ball at the door. She took the ball, and instead of throwing it as she normally would, she put it in her goodie bag. The neighbors thought it was so cute we ended up with another ball for Pele.

 

 

Pumpkin carving is always an event at our house. The kids love it, mom and dad love it, and Pele loves it (because he harnesses his inner vegan and eats the seeds). It starts at Packs Pumpkin Patch in the west farmlands of Farmington and culminates in the zombaic creations that light our porch on Halloween night.

 

 

 

We did our annual pilgrimage to St George Utah for the Thanksgiving soccer tournament. I’m not sure how many years we’ve been doing this, but I think it’s on the order of ten consecutive tournaments; and based on how our life is evolving, I don’t see an end to it any time soon.

The tournament is always a good time. Sam’s team always does well in tournaments; however, this year was different, they were knocked out early and did not make it to the play-off rounds. We had a gaggle of grumpy boys on our hands.

 

Our solution for the grumps was to extend the trip one extra night. We reserved a room in Springdale with our good friends, the Skoruts. An afternoon hike in Zion National Park quickly helped the boys forget about the tournament. Then a carb laden dinner at The Bit and Spur restaurant rounded out the day so the tournament blues were nothing but a distant memory fading away in digestive juices.

 

Sunday morning I woke up early for a run through Springdale. I’ve run through Springdale before, but never before dawn and never during the Christmas season. It was absolutely magical. The Christmas lights illuminated the streets, and the stars were abundant in the moonless sky. The 20 degree morning was bone chilling, but I was lost in the experience and didn’t notice how cold my hands were until I entered the hotel gym. While warming up in the gym, still before dawn and before anybody in the town was stirring, Sam came wandering in and joined me while I did a Short Card. These tiny moments in time are my life long treasures.

Winter is now bearing down on us. We've squirreled away our winter stash and dusted off the skis. And wouldn't you know, the first major storm hits and Sam and I are both down with the flu. This morning I woke up from my flu induced daze to see Cristal, 7 months pregnant, shoveling snow in the drive-way.
 

Abigail has enriched our lives more than we ever could have imagined. Our lives have always been filled with meaning; however, watching new lives develop before your very eyes is truly a spiritual experience.