Category Archives: family
Vacations Suck
I can’t wait to get back to my cubicle.
Jessica and her ‘callipitter’ that I brought back from my run
Happy Father’s Day
Freightliner circa 1979
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there. Nothing beats being a dad. I am reminded of that every day when I come home from work to my wonderful family. The cares of the world get left behind for a few precious moments while a reunion takes place and we get to catch up with each other’s day.
My own dad spent many years as a long-haul truck driver. Swapping driving shifts with a partner and keeping the wheels turning for days at a time. Talk about endurance! I am amazed at the experiences he lived through such as getting flipped over in a Wyoming blizzard, and losing the brakes on a steep descent in Southern Utah. Whatever work ethic, mechanical ability, determination and toughness I may have – I owe to him. Words were many times wasted on deaf teenage ears, but what I saw with my eyes has stayed with me. Thank you for your great example, Dad. It hasn’t been forgotten.
And to my kiddos… Thanks for making life great. Your dad loves you very much. I’m so proud of each of you and of how well you (mostly!) get along. You are always so willing to help out with everything, it has made some of the challenging times we’ve had to go through a little bit easier. Our family is stronger as a result, and what you’ve learned will serve you well throughout your lives. Keep being who you are!
Malcolm, Natalie, Jessica, and Lindsey
My New Running Buddy
Today I took Jessica with me on my training run up Waterton Canyon. It was my first time running with the new stroller we bought, it worked great! We had a hard time finding one, most jogging-type strollers are built for kids half her size. Since she is almost 5, we were definitely coming to it late in the game. I bought a $uper nice one from REI and brought it home thinking I was ok because she was well within the weight limit spec. When I assembled it and we tried it out, the fit wasn’t even close. Back it went.
We finally happened to find one at Sports Authority that was large enough to do the job. It may only last us a year or so, but the price wasn’t too bad and I’m sure we’ll get some great use out of it. We already put it to the test at the zoo last week, today it was 8 miles of dirt road.
Jessica and baby Kelsea
The morning was on the cool side, but within half a mile I was shedding layers like crazy. I put out some heat pushing that load! There were tons of runners coming and going, I couldn’t believe all of the friendly greetings. Everyone would have a huge smile on their face as they waved at Jessica. It was a little funny when we would pass someone huffing and puffing their way up the road while we were carrying on a conversation about butterflies, or worms, or clouds, or whatever her 4 year old mind could come up with.
The highlight for Jessica was stopping at our turnaround to have our ‘Clif Bar Picnic’. I gave her and Elizabeth a Christmas present consisting of all different flavors of Clif Bars so they could try them out on their walks together. Jessica loves choosing a new one for each outing.
Today it was Cool Mint Chocolate!
We should have traded glasses!
Going down the canyon was fun. Most of the time was spent racing a bunch of worms underground that we could only see with a special machine… They were fast! We stopped about half way down and looked at some HUGE bighorn sheep. Lucky for us, they’re pretty docile.
Sheep ya later!
It turned out to be a great run and will definitely be something we do more of in the future.
The Scene Begins 
