Family Photo's Jackson Style

I asked Jenn if she'd take our family pictures while we were in Jackson Hole, if it worked out.  I didn't want to stress too much about what we were wearing, or where we were taking them, or making sure we found the time at all costs.  Oh... I was delusional.

Actually, it wasn't too bad.  I managed to piece together a few things we already have, add some jewelry and a couple of shirts to tie everything else in, and we had the clothes.  Minus the shoes for Kate and Milo that I didn't bring.  Oops.

And, I really tried to not stress me (or Jenn) out on finding the time and place.  I didn't want people to stay back from whatever they wanted to do on the day just to take photos.  I think we did okay on that part.  After a day of hiking and brunch and naps I threw all the kids in the bath and did my hair before dinner, and we just went outside the house and had great weather and lighting for about a half hour worth of pictures.  Between that, a helpful princess Jess, and a great photographer, we got these...

We also got these...

Thanks Jenn!  We love them ALL!

hardcastle.photography

Friends

This is one of those posts that's probably just for me.  Feel free to skip it.  I suppose it might be interesting if I scan a few old photos, so we'll see if I get around to that.

I think I've been really fortunate in my life to have had great friends.  Many of them I've stayed close to through the years, different schools, cities, spouses, kids, divorces, just about everything.

My first best friend was Brent.  It was in Provo (we moved when I was 4 from there), but I remember him. I remember how much I liked him and how sad (I'd almost say devastated) I felt when we moved away.  It kind of makes me think about Hyrum.  He was truly sad when I realized that he wouldn't see Joshua again, and when we talk about getting a new house, he get's really sad that Max won't live by us anymore.  I remember years later drawing pictures of my 'future family' with Brent.  It included 8 kids, so not very realistic!

When we moved to Roy I became friends with Kristin.  She was in our ward and we went to school together.  It was a typical little girl friendship, we probably spent as many days and hours hating each other as we did playing with each other, but we hung in there long enough to create a real friendship that has lasted  even until today.  I took my kids over to see her new house last month and even if we got a year or two without seeing each other we still have a lot to talk about.

Then comes high school.  I had a few friends that were really important to me, in more ways than one, that were older and didn't go to school with me.  Cindy and Brandon come to mind.  We haven't kept in contact much (I suppose I have contact with Cindy on social media) but it doesn't mean they were less influential in my life at the time.  Cindy for the good (she served a mission) and Brandon... well, for different reasons.

 I was also friends with a bunch of student government type of guys too; Aaron, Bryon, Matt that were all year older than me.  I seemed to be closer to a few of those guys right after their missions though.  Aaron helped me realize that I wanted to serve a mission and really helped me see that I had received an answer to my prayers, but was too scared to admit it.  He also taught me out to geek out on jets and all things military, something that has come in handy later in life.  Matt... well, Matt introduced me to a fun way to spend your time late at night.  And, although he wasn't the best, I have to admit, he was my first.  And Bryon... well, we'll get to Bryon later.

In high school I hung out with a pretty big group of friends, especially my senior year.  We were all from  different walks of life; choir, seminary council, sport teams, student government.  But for some reason, a bunch of us really clicked and I had so much fun and lost so much sleep with that group that I'll always remember them.  Andrea was definitely my closest girl friend during that time.  She moved with her family to Germany a couple weeks after we graduated and I was sure that I'd never recover from losing her as a close friend.   We've stayed close over the years.  Spending more time with each other at different times.  Mostly, after we both moved to Salt Lake.  Always a good time, and always fun to be around.  We still talk via social media and the occasional text about strange dreams and whatnot.

I had a lot of close guy friends too; Rick, Ben, Jason, Shane, Tyson, Brian, and Taft.  I was definitely closer to Taft at least near the end of high school and through college and his mission.  He was one that we could sit and say nothing and be comfortable in the silence, or talk for hours about nothing.  He taught me how to play the guitar and to not ride my brakes going down a hill.  I learned how to rock climb with him and Ben, and how to stick up for myself when friends tried to walk all over me.  I hung out with his family a lot and Aunt LeeAnn loved giving him all the weekend leftovers when he went back up to school the month or two before I left for New Zealand.

Kathy, Bryon and I were quite a threesome for a long time.  Friends in high school, we started hanging out a lot after we graduated and Bryon returned from Portugal.  Kathy and I just happened to be in the same college apartment building (although different apartments) and for the next 2 years after that, we shared an apartment, and a room our third year.  After my mission and graduation from Utah State I moved in with her in Salt Lake while she finished grad school.  When she got her first 'real job' in Yuma, AZ, Bryon and I couldn't wait to go down and see her.  I've been down 2 or 3 times since, and we always make time for the three of us when she's up in Utah during the summer and Christmas breaks.  I'm not sure a bunch of 30 year olds could have been through more together (unless you are the characters of FRIENDS -a show we all loved and had an awesome finale party for).  High school, college, grad school, living in different states, marriages, (one for me and one for Byron -depending on the legal mood of the state of Utah), coming out, crazy families, first drinking experiences, I could go on.  We've gone through a few awkward moments where our friendship has felt strained or coerced, but so far, we've always come out on top.  I think it's safe to say we can all go weeks or months without talking and easily fall into familiar territory and old jokes quite easily.

Since those days I think my friends are a little different.  I made a lot of good friends at work, and I still manage to see quite a bit, or as often as we can all get together for lunch; April, Vicki, Jen, Emily.  Book club girls; Megan, Vicki (again), and Heather. And a roommate, Yvette.  I see her sister, Yvonne more often now, since she cuts my hair, but we were all quite close during those years.

It seems like family takes a lot of time, and I've had to make do with a different kind of relationship with a lot of people.  My sister, who we NEVER got along and couldn't have been more opposite during high school and college talk nearly ever day, same as my mom, another woman I never thought I'd see eye to eye on during my teenage years.  Most of my free time (when spent with another person) is spent with Justin, and that's the way it should be.

I remember talking to my mom on two different occasions.  Once was in junior high, when one of my friends was a boy.  I told her that we'd always be friends, no matter what.  She may have been a little insensitive, but spoke with wisdom when she told me that we wouldn't.  I had the same conversation with her about my guy friends in high school.  I was certain that we'd always be friends, regardless of where life took us and our spouses and everything.  She told me we wouldn't, that things would change when we started dating seriously and got married.  I guess she was only half right.  It's not the same, but thanks to the ease that social media and the internet allows, you can keep in contact with a lot of people that we wouldn't normally be able to.  One private message on facebook led to a dinner with Taft and his wife in Denver a week later.  Of course it was different, we hadn't really seen and spent time together fore more than a decade, but I was surprised at how much we got along and had plenty of things to talk about.  It was an added bonus that our spouses didn't seem to mind much and even seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm aware of the good friends I've had.  I chose good friends that were good influences on me early on.  They might not all still live and think the same way we all did a few years back, but I'm glad that I'm the type of person (and they are) that looks for they blessings of diversity and the importance of maintaining those friendships. Forgive the cheesy thought/poem, but it's been in my mind a lot lately.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.  Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same.


PS It took me a bit longer than it should have, but I (obviously) uploaded some old photo's.  There's probably only one person (maybe) who reads this blog, that is in these pics.  Don't worry, Andrea, I won't be posting any of these anywhere else any time soon!  (Even though that close up of us before Junior Prom is pretty hot!)

Denver

So, Justin has a new billet (job) with the Navy.  It's with a unit that supports Africa and drills from the Buckely Air Force Base in Denver, CO.  Which means, he'll be traveling to Denver every month for his drill weekends.  This weekend was his first time, and between the Navy and Oracle (he also has a new job back in Sales with Oracle) he was there all week and I joined him Friday night.

Thanks to the Lafeens for taking the kids for the whole weekend, and the kids had a blast and I didn't worry about them at all!

I have a good friend, Taft, from high school that moved to the area a few years ago and when I contacted him for good places to eat and do in the area we decided to try and have dinner together on Friday.  I think we were all glad that we did, because we had a fun time at dinner.  I felt a little bad because they just had a baby three weeks ago, but Lesha even managed to get a break for a few minutes because some (slightly crazy?) lady at another table asked to hold her for a while.  Seriously?  Who asks a stranger to hold their baby at a restaurant?

Anyway, good food and good company Friday night and we headed back to the hotel, about 15 minutes away from the base.

Justin had to be on base by 6:30, so we drove over there and I went to the gym right after.  It was a really nice facility and I decided to try and find a Farmers Market close by to get breakfast from.  Easier said then done. The short version is, I got to see a lot of downtown Denver and a couple of the suburbs and it was a nice drive.  The long version includes lots of turns, beautiful tree-lined streets, and a stop at Target to get a phone charger because using your map app for 3 hours straight can really drain a battery.

I was determined to get something delicious for breakfast, even though it was closer to lunch, so I made one more out of the way drive to a place Taft had told me about, Snooze.  I asked for a spot at the bar and was fully prepared to eat by myself and bring a to-go order for Justin's lunch.  However, they grossly misjudged the wait time.  I waited for about 30 minutes and by the time they seated me I started to worry about getting back to the base during Justin's lunch.  I sat there another 20-30 minutes before asking for both orders to be to-go and I ate my OMG French Toast with Justin.  It was worth the wait!

I finally made it back to the hotel, showered for the day, and we got ready for the Rockies game with Justin's new unit.  It was a fun night, we had another great meal at the park, and got to talk of guys from his unit.  We were a little away from all the action, which made it hard to follow much of the game.  But, I'm happy to report my major league track record remains intact.  Every single major league game I've ever attended, the home team has won.  All three of them.

Sunday morning was a lot of the same.  Took Justin on base, went and worked out.  This time I hurried back to the hotel and back to base to get a new military ID.  My previous ID picture was taken about 2 weeks after having Kate.  If anyone thinks their drivers license picture is bad, I can say, without a doubt, my photo was worse.  Seriously, it was REALLY bad.  I was happy to get another one.

When I mentioned my failure at finding a Farmers Market Taft suggested one and he and his family met me there for lunch.  It was a cute market, with a bunch of food trucks and produce.  I was a little sad that I couldn't take any home with me.  And dogs.  There were so many dogs!  Taft and Lesha warned me that their kids had to pet every dog they saw.  They weren't kidding.  Those kids (asked permission and) played with every single dog there.  It was adorable.  Made me want a dog even more than I do (which is a lot).

I had a couple of hours before Justin was done and found a movie that worked with the time I had.  It was pretty bad.  Some high school football movie.  How do you screw up a high school football movie?  The fact that no one was in the theatre when I got there (and only 2 other people showed up) should have been a clue on how bad it was going to be.

That's it.  I picked up Justin and we went to the airport.  Hung out in the USO for a while (Leather recliners, free snacks and computers, toys for the kids) and came home.

I noticed a few things about Denver:
*Every one goes the speed limit.  It was weird.
*Lots of construction on the freeways.  Just like home a few years ago.
*I thought I'd see more prius' and Subaru's.  (I was assured that they had their fair share)
*I saw 2 Whole Foods, a Trader Joes, and a Sprouts before I saw a Wal Mart.  Awesome.
*The Rockies have a great stadium.  But, it's no Fenway!