Exhaustion as a Way of Life

I've had family members ask why The Daily Abi has not been updated for several weeks. My answer, exhaustion.

Abigail has certainly been a blessing to our family. However, her sleep habits feel more like a curse at times. Cristal and I haven't slept a full night in months. In fact, the majority of nights, the most consecutive hours of sleep we get is 2-3 hours. There have been those blessed nights of five consecutive hours here and there; but they're teasers that lull us into a false sense of hope. I'm reminded of a quote from the series Band of Brothers - '...Hope is the Denial of Reality'.

We do still find time for adventures and Sam's sporting activities; we've had a few powder days this winter. Although, here I sit writing as 24" of glorious powder lay untracked at Snow Basin this morning...parenthood???

 



Here along the Wasatch Front we've exceeded 60 days of measurable snow in the valley - the fifth longest stretch in recorded history for our area. Old man winter has been relentless. However, the winter provided me an opportunity to hike and ski the foothills above my house with Pele. Something I've never done. We skied into a herd of about 40 deer; which has never happened to me at a resort.

Christmas came and went as it does. It was wonderful, even through the haze of exhaustion. Our family tried to focus on a celebration for every day of the Christmas season. Sam and I thought it meant we got a different gift for each of the 12 days. Cristal gave us good morning kisses as our daily gift; which suited us just fine. Abigail was introduced to the snow, since we have more of it than we've ever had at our house.

Abigail did her second road trip to St George Utah for one of Sam's soccer tournaments. Two sets of grandparents and an uncle followed us there.

The tournament did not go too well. After winning three consecutive tournaments in St George, Sam's team didn't even make it to the semi-finals for this one. It was a good, humbling experience for Sam and the rest of the team.

Fortunately, the loss provided an opportunity for Abigail's uncle and I to get our first mountain bike rides of the season in. We rode over 35 miles of trails in the sun of St George; 22 miles on the Goulds/JEM/Hurricane Rim loop and then 13 miles on the Bear Claw Poppy trail.

Abigail loved playing in the sun at the hotel with baby William Skorut. The Skorut's joined us on our activities in St George.

Since the soccer tournament ended so abruptly for us, Opa Max and Grandma Becky invited us to the Desert Pearl Hotel in Springdale near Zion National Park for the remainder of our stay. We had a wonderful time, as always, in Springdale. The Desert Pearl was magnificent; nothing beats sitting by the river in the shadow of the majestic Zion cliffs.

The next day, President's Day, it was time to depart beautiful southern Utah, likely my favorite place on the planet. However, after my morning, 20 degree run, to the entrance of Zion Canyon, I think Cristal was feeling poor and picked on because she didn't really get an adventure; I at least had an early morning run. So when we packed up we ventured into Zion National Park prior to departing.

The park was beautiful. We couldn't help ourselves and drove to the top of the canyon where the scenery was magical; snow mixed with redrock and slickrock. The views were breathtaking; I think Abigail was pretty impressed too.

The adventure didn't end for us at the end of Zion National Park. In true VanDongen fashion, Cristal suggested we extend our drive home, take the back roads through Utah and visit Bryce Canyon. Which we did. The drive was absolutely spectacular. Small towns, rivers and creeks, snow covered mountains, and the reddest rocks I've ever seen in Red Canyon.

A hike through the snow at 8300' at Bryce Point in Bryce National Park rounded out our adventure.

Sam Kappernicking - really???

When the facilities are closed for the winter...Sam improvises.

Sleep is something I'll do plenty of when I die. I'll gladly continue to give it up to live the life we're living. We are truly blessed living in one of the best places on the planet to raise kids and find adventure right out our door step.

Grace upon Grace...

Christmas time with a baby, again, is as magical as it was 10 years ago; and at the rate we're going, will be so again in another 10 years.

Abigail Grace VanDongen was baptized on 12/15/2013. Our parish pastor, Father Rene, performed the baptism. We are thrilled that Abigail is now free of original sin and can live up to her name sake. God's Grace in our family doesn't sleep at night, feeds continually, and is full of love and poop.

The baptism was inspirational. And it happened even with Abigail's God Mother, Alex, not knowing what to say during the ceremony...good thing God understands "UMMM.....DAD HELP ME!"

Family and friends attended the baptism and the celebration at our house afterwards. Dad's brother and Pierce attended; Abigail's play buddy, William Skorut, and his family were there; our favorite aunt, Sharon with Sam and Jo; our good friends Sam and Ally; our friend Meg Morin and Cooper; and grandmas and grandpas of all varieties. Dad's good friends from the police department, Jim Spangenberg and Justin Hudson, and their families also attended...at risk of peril from entering the chapel.

Abigail's baptism was exciting. However, it was not the only exciting event of the weekend. Alex had her formal Army signing at the University of Utah on Friday 12/14/2013. Alex was sworn in. The ceremony was small, heart warming, and patriotic; young, great Americans eager to help shape the future of our great country. During the quietest, most special moment of the ceremony, Abigail decided to utter her first words ever, as loud and clear as a summer day, "UH OH!"...classic moment.

Of course no December is complete without a visit to Santa's workshop. We tried to mail Abigail to the North Pole with the Christmas letters; she wouldn't fit in the mailbox...but it sure was cute trying. Then Santa told Sam that he'd get what he wanted for Christmas...SNOW!

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season. Any family and friends that find these words...Merry Christmas and God Bless from our family to yours. We love you all.

Charmed

October and November 2012 have been months filled with Abi charm. Her personality is starting to blossom through continuous smiles. Although, as she ages, the sour fruit of that blossom is her ability to beacon the International Space Station with one singular scream; the 100 per day diaper changes are pretty sour too.

October ended, as it always does, with the traditional Vandongen Halloween celebration; Grandpa Max and Grandma Becky at our house eating one of Cristal's culinary masterpieces while Sam and his friend James break land speed records in the neighborhood collecting loot.

Abigail's Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Dave are Halloween junkies. They turn their house into a nightmare on Elm Street. Prior to the trick or treat event, we did our pilgrimage to their house for loot and frights.

Alex visited and celebrated with us too, sporting a super hero costume. Mom was a witch. Abigail was a pumpkin. I had a particularly good zombie costume. I participated in the Police Department's 'Trick or Treat' celebration at the police station. We commissioned a professional 'spook alley guy' to design a spook alley; and he was gifted with a make-up air brush. I was not a baby kisser that day. Sam is missing from the Halloween photo because the treasure that was awaiting him in the neighborhood was too tempting.

 

November was an exciting month because of the presidential election and others. It was also a great opportunity to teach my kids how not to behave; '...see those two guys, one of which will be president, don't act like that...' Thank you Republicans and Democrats for providing parenting opportunities...and nothing else.

It was Alex's first vote; she didn't write in her father as president. Abigail was absolutely dismayed that her father was not the write-in president elect.

We attended a harvest celebration with Travis, Niki, and baby Pierce at Pierce's school. We saw the fruits of Niki's labors as a board of directors member for her church and school. Pierce loved spending time with his cousins.

It's no secret we're a soccer family. Evidenced by Abigail's first toy, a soccer ball signed by members of the 2012 Gold Medal winning U.S. Women's Soccer Team. Along with that fanship, comes the annual investment in RSL soccer tickets. Unfortunately, that's also accompanied by the annual disappointments during playoff season. Abigail's first professional soccer game was likely the last RSL playoff game for many years to come; the boneheads broke up the core of the team after the loss. Of course, we'll continue the masochistic season ticket madness...we're fans!

The first significant 2012 Utah snow storm hit in early November. It deposited almost 18 inches in our yard. But, in true Utah fashion, the weather warmed to 60 degrees the next week and the snow base ended up in the Great Salt Lake. The ski resorts have been struggling since. With that said, as I write this, the snow is flying outside and indicators are we're in for a white Christmas.

To our delight, Abigail loved the snow. She helped Sam and I dig our house out. Then Sam showed her how Catholics make snow angels...arms and legs full of love, sprinkled with a tad of guilt.

As the Christmas season rolls along, our family thanks God for the many blessings of life. In our lives, our children are the manifestations of those blessings.

Current events demonstrate how precious, and at times, how short life is. It reminds me and my family to always show love; and never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them.