in the blue tv screen light

Max has been teething and isn't sleeping very well. He can't seem to fall asleep without either me or Nate, and after being asleep for mere minutes, he awakes crying in pain and can't calm down alone. We are being push-overs tonight. We brought him out to watch TV with us and eat some cottage cheese. Oh, the excitement. I remember being little and sneaking downstairs when I was supposed to be asleep. I assumed that I was missing out on something more fun than sleeping. My parents were probably just watching TV and eating cottage cheese.

weekendsbegin

Nate's cousin, Carmen, was married on Saturday in the Provo Temple. Nate and I attended the sealing (Carmen's sister, Mary, watched Max) and stuck around for a picture afterwards. It was a rainy day, the perfect Saturday weather when you plan on being indoors. It makes you feel like you aren't missing out on what's happening elsewhere. 

Nate's Uncle Tom

After the sealing, we drove up to Lehi to finalize our contract on our new town home. It took minutes, so we headed back down to Orem for the wedding luncheon. They had Costco pizza, breadsticks, fruit, salad, berry water, and root beer floats. How awesome is that? It was casual food, but the presentation was classy. 

Carmen

Nelson

Later that evening, the reception was held at the Skyroom on BYU campus.  I hadn't been there since Freshman year in 2002. We had sandwiches, soup shooters, and dessert bars. We visited with Nelson and his girlfriend, Alex, and an attorney and his wife. Annie and Grant played with Max the whole time. 

After the reception, we stopped at the grocery store. Lined outside were Christmas pines getting wet in the rain. They smelled amazing. We bought some Cornish game hens for Sunday dinner and then went home and watched two episodes of the X-Files. Sunday included good food and a new pair of pajamas for Max.

Dreams Really Do Come True

On Friday at work, things were a bit crazy due to quarter-end and year-end deals.  Things have been busy as well trying to get all our affairs in order to buy our house next month.  I ran down to the D.R. Horton model home hoping to deliver a check for our deposit, but no one was in the office.  I then decided to run up to Cabela's because they were giving Adobe employees a 25% discount on one item.  Em and I have been talking about buying a home-defense shotgun, so I wanted to check out the guns.  The Cabela's gun counter has its patrons take numbers to get help - DMV-style.  I was number 41 and they were at number 30 when I got in line.  They called out number 31 and a guy said, "I have number 31."  I recognized him immediately.  Without hesitating more than a few seconds, I walked up to him and said, "Are you Ken Griffey, Jr.?"  He coolly responded, "Yes" and shook my hand.  I asked if I could take a picture with him and he complied  I asked him if he was in the area hunting and he said, "Just passing through."  The clerk had called his number so we went down towards the rifle scopes which is what he was looking for.  I asked a random guy to take a picture and a couple of people looked at us awkwardly, most likely thinking that we were old friends (ha, I wish).  The first picture was blurry and I was embarrassed to take another, so I said it was fine, but the guy who took it insisted on taking another and the second turned out better.  I am glad he insisted or I would forever lament having a blurry picture of me with my childhood idol.  I told Ken that I had two hundred of his baseball cards and he just laughed.  As I walked away I simply said, "Thanks, Ken."  He was very gracious.

After Ken bought his scope ($2000), the same clerk who helped him called my number.  I asked him if he knew who he had just sold a scope to, and he said no.  I told him that he had just sold a scope to one of the best baseball players of all time (and added the proviso that if not for injuries he would have been the best) and that he should go home and look up Ken Griffey Jr. on Youtube.  I think it made his day to know that, and he said that he got the chills when I described Ken and his career.

To put this experience in context, I have to explain how much this guy meant to me from the age of 10-18.  Ken Griffey, Jr. played for the Seattle Mariners from 1989 to 1999, for the Cincinnati Reds from 2000-2008, for the Chicago White Sox from 2008-2009, and then he finished his career back in Seattle, finally retiring in 2010.  I was already a fan before the 1995 American League series against the Yankees, but it was after that series that he became my favorite player.  His nickname was "The Kid," and he finished his career with 630 home runs - sixth on the all-time career list behind Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds.  He played the game with panache and a joy that was fun to watch.  He was on pace to break Hank Aaron's record for home runs (755), but from 2000-2006 he had a lot of injuries that affected his bat speed and ultimately hampered his career.  He won 10 straight Gold Glove awards and 2 MVP awards in the 1990's.

I started collecting Ken Griffey's baseball cards and basically became obsessed with increasing the size of my collection.  In 1993, I received a baseball with his autograph on it for Christmas.  I still have it.  As I added more of his cards to my collection, I organized and reorganized my collection dozens of times.  During middle and high school I also used to draw a lot and began doing pencil sketches of him.

I can't think of any other person to run into that would be more impacting.  What were the chances that he would happen to be in Lehi, UT at Cabela's just at the time I was in the store?  What were the chances that Cabela's would happen to give Adobe employees a discount on the weekend that Ken was passing through Utah?  I still can't believe I met my favorite baseball player.  I guess working for Adobe has unlimited perks.

second cousins

My mom's side of the family had a cousins party last week. We almost didn't go (dare I confess aloud), but I am so glad we did. I had no idea there would be so many people there. I saw my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mark, as well as a few of their kids (Jenny, Laura, and Robert). I was surprised to see my uncle Eric. I hadn't seen him in 8 years or something. The Kings and the McCarty's were there. Max crawled around with the other little kids, but his favorite new friends were Romi and Mika, Margie's twin boys. Max would put his finger in their mouths or try to bite their cheeks. I know he's acting his age, but I also take his social interactions as signs that he loves people. He is curious and friendly. And if he sees a room of kids, you can bet your boots that he'll by nose-diving out of my arms and making a bee-line towards them.

snowballcicle

I don't know what happened to me, but I have no recollection of seeing snow last winter despite spending the early months of 2012 in Pennsylvania. The winter before that,  we were living in Arizona, so we saw snow only at Christmas. So I was pretty pumped to see snow within days of being back in Utah. Nate took Max outside for his first real look at snow (he was a newborn last winter), and he sucked on a snowball he had gripped in his hand. 

Everything is made new and fresh when you are showing it to your kid for the first time. It's pretty awesome to experience things anew. It excites me knowing I have years ahead of me with more Max firsts.

the way back

The way back to Utah wasn't without trouble, but that's to be expected when you fly standby. After saying goodbye to Kevin, the Dunfords and I ate at Five Guys before heading back to the airport. I said my goodbyes and sent them on their way. Well, thanks to the election and Obama's presence in Chicago, all flights were delayed... which would cause me to miss my connecting flight, the last flight of the night to Salt Lake. Dagnabbit. Keith and Lori had to come back to get me. I hate that... being an inconvenience. I spent that evening eating what was left of the pecan pie and watching a TV show with Sandra while she braided my damp hair in preparation for an early flight the next morning. I don't know about you, but I prefer to not have to blow dry my hair at 4 in the morning. I was super tired, but the day of travel with Max wasn't so bad. I ended having to board three planes. Max slept on the first two and played the entire third flight. Phew. Keeping him occupied in the airport was easy enough. We'd just walk around, and sometimes Max would push the stroller to get his wiggles out. And wow, the view flying into Salt Lake was gorgeous. It had been awhile since I'd flown in during daylight, so I struggled to get my camera out despite having Max on my lap, a container of crackers pinned under my right elbow, and a man sitting closely to my left. It was worth it.

Nate picked us up from the airport with a plate of food. I ate while he drove back to work where I dropped him off. I then met our friend Sam who showed me a few townhomes and houses. While I was gone, Nate had gone out with Sam a few times. We even put an offer in on a house, but that didn't work out in the end. Thank goodness. After seeing a particular townhome again that night, I was sure it was what we should buy. Nate agreed, and within a couple of days we had signed. But another post on that later... It was good to be home.

the goodbye

Max

Isaac

Lori (lipstick on collar)

Sandra

Keith

Maddie

Logan

last days

After getting back to Nazareth, Max and Isaac were able to spend some cousin time together. They would swap pacifiers, observe the others' eating habits, and push each other around in the big red car. Kevin loved having his nephews around for his last couple of days. For Kevin's last meal he wanted a Thanksgiving dinner, so I made my first pecan pie. The Turveys, Nathan and Rebecca Mains, and the missionaries came over for dinner, and we all played "Things" after. Someone answered "skinny dip" to one of the questions, and Mike Turvey said, "Skinny dip, eh? We call that Chunky Dunk where I'm from!" I'm pretty sure after that meal, we were all in the chunky dunk category, and Kevin was sent off with some good food in his belly.

Saturday in D.C.

The day after the wedding, the Dunfords and the Turveys visited some tourist sites in D.C. I had recently been there with Nate, so I didn't take too many pictures. We knew it was going to be cold, so the night before I asked Keith to get Max some gloves while at the store. They didn't have any, so he bought the next best thing - socks. 

War veterans in mass

We toured the Air and Space Museum, something I hadn't done before, but for some reason I wasn't that into it. AJ put Max on his shoulders and showed him around while I followed taking pictures... more interested in Max than the museum.

We visited the National Museum of Natural History, another place I hadn't visited before... and this one was extremely cool. We didn't have a lot of time, so I literally ran around taking pictures so that I could look more closely at the displays later on my computer. The evolution of skulls, the giant Titanoboa snake, the animal skeletons, the Hope Diamond... so much, so little time.

So this whole trip to and from D.C. for the wedding was traveled by van. Two vans, to be precise. The Dunfords drove their 15 passenger van, and the Turveys followed in their rental van. I was with the Dunfords. That probably goes without saying, because technically, I am a Dunford now. Anyway, Kevin, Logan, and Maddie were on the back bench. Aaron, Jasmine, and Isaac were on the middle bench. Sandra, Max, and I were on the front bench, and Keith and Lori were up front. Trying to stay awake, we put in a movie chosen by the kids... Flipper or something. Elijah Wood was in it, that's all I know. I was having a hard time paying attention because I started to feel sick. The TV was directly in front of me between the two front seats, and it glared so intensely that I got a headache. The speaker located on the door next to me was turned up high so the kids in back could hear. And then someone (name withheld to save face) took off their shoes and stunk up the van. Another person (name withheld to save face) was on the verge of messing their pants... and boy could you smell it. At this point, we stopped at a gas station for a potty break and some much needed air freshener. I also got a giant caffeinated fountain drink to chase down some Advil. Once piled back in the van, Jasmine ripped the top corner of the orange scented tree and tossed it into the back seat where Logan naively pulled the whole tree out of it's packaging. This unleashed the rankest fake-orange smell that certainly overpowered the stinky feet, but this only made my head pound more. The next leg of the trip was spent rolling my head around deliriously, eyes closed to keep out the light, hands over my ears to muffle Flipper's eh-eh-eh's. FINALLY, we arrived at Zach and Julie's hotel where we picked up Keith's car they had borrowed to get there. Aaron, Jasmine, and I took the car the rest of the way home to my much needed relief. If ever I've had all of my senses assaulted at once, it was that night in the 15 passenger van.

But yeah, you know, D.C. was fun.