Quinn & Aryn

SWEET Corn Festival!

I think maybe I've been a little too negative about things lately, in particular what it's like living in Keokuk. I need to change my perspective. Yesterday, after church, I was decided to go to the Sweet Corn Festival in West Point, Iowa and I realized just how SWEET life here really is. Here are a few of the many sweet highlights of the festival:

First, loads and loads of sweet corn...

Sweet daisy dukes and teen Moms...
Sweet corn enthusiasts with sweet corn to go...

Sweet Moms with sweetly-fit T-shirts...

Sweet dudes with belts over their shirt...

Sweet hats celebrating the many fairs and festivals of Iowa...

Sweet family time...

Sweet St. Louis Cardinal fan...

Sweet jean shorts, muscle shirts, and tats...

Sweet teen NASCAR enthusiasts...

Sweet camo' man...

Sweet dude thinking it's Mardi Gras....

Sweet belt gizmos...

Belt-gizmo-guy with a sweeeet shirt, and best of all a SWEET hickey on his neck...

Sweet....

Sweet hair, sweet back sweat, sweet ability to smoke with no hands...

Not-so-sweet bellyache from too much corn (check out the rash on his stomach--sweet)...

Sweet safety-goggle glasses and sweet preparedness
(Need anything measured? I'm your guy!)...

Sweet wangstas....

Sweet Jerry Garcia impersonators...

Sweet haircuts on sweet ticket-taker guys...

Sweet special effects (Hey, how did my legs get turned around from my body?)...

Sweet do-rag and take-home box
(Did he steal Mr. Belt-Gizmo, hicky guy's shirt?)....

Speaking of sweet "do"...

Sweet hat, muscle shirt, camo shorts, skee-ball skillz....

SWEET pony-tail and sweet knowing he's literate...

Sweet dude with sweet shades and sweeeeet chin hair...

Sweet local style of the sweet babes (surprised I don't have a girlfriend out here yet?)...

Sweet messages...

Latest pictures of kids

So, I've kind of gone the way of Facebook these days, as the infrequency of my updates indicates, but thought I'd post the two latest pictures of the kids.

Quinn - about 13 months

Aryn - 3 1/2 years old

Home Sweet Enchanting Home

No matter how old you are, sometimes you just need some parent time. I had been thinking about Mom & Dad a lot and feeling a desire to be with them and be back "home", so I decided to go spend the weekend with them in New Mexico. It was such a great break and good catharsis for me. For the last year any spare time and money that I mustered up has been used to go see Aryn & Quinn, which I completely love and enjoy; however, I also really want to be able to spend some time with my other family as well. I especially want to make sure I create opportunities to spend time with Mom and try to offer her as much love and support as possible during her battle with her cancer. I was able to travel out Thursday and returned Tuesday--a wonderful five days together. Mom was recovering from her last round of chemotherapy before her surgery in June, but was feeling OK and looked great. She is such a courageous fighter. Dad continues to be a strong and steady foundation for Mom and the whole family. They are both just awesome! Although the weather was unusually cool, cloudy, and rainy, we did get some sunshine and a nice enough day to get out to Paako Ridge golf course and enjoy a round of golf together. Mom even came along for the ride! Thanks Mom, Dad, KC, Kellie, Isaac, and Eliza for a fantastic weekend.

Beautiful Paako Ridge

My favorite kind of father & son outing

Being goofy with KC

Mom and Dad--always supporting each other

One of the things I miss most about living in NM is golf outings with Dad & KC

Kellie being excited about her new earrings she got in Santa Fe--she's so cute.

KC & Kellie while going to the countless art galleries on Canyon Road in Santa Fe.

Some New Mexico beauty... the Rio Grande and the verdant oasis of vegetation it creates

...Cactus flowers

...old churches and sanctuaries--this one at Chimayo

...Southwestern charm

...the "Bosque" along the river

Utah Trip 4/23 to 4/28

Well, I'm back in Keokuk. A 24-hour shift later, and it's time to post my latest trip out to Utah to see Aryn & Quinn. Although the time gap between this trip and my last trip was much smaller than my previous visit, it still always seems like a long time in between visits. Aryn greeted me with her usual heart-melting hug and smile. Quinn looked at me with a "do I know you?" suspicious stare. It only took Quinn a couple of minutes (and perhaps a little jealousy when Aryn was getting her hug) however, to quickly run over and get in on the action. I was hoping for better weather because it's much easier to find activities for the kids when I can include outdoors, but winter was still trying to hold on out in Utah, and overall we had a mixed bag of sunshine, clouds, rain, and even snow. Aunt Kathee and Uncle Dave were gracious enough to host me again, and we started the visit by just playing at their house, but then filled out the week with trips to Rock Canyon, Hogle Zoo, Discovery Museum, Sugarhouse Park, and of course plenty of time in Alpine.

In Provo at Aunt Kathee and Uncle Dave's

Rock Canyon

We played by the BYU football stadium with lots of grassy hills to
run and roll down and even a cougar to climb on.

Of course, a lot of time was spent at Sara's in beautiful Alpine, and she is
always gracious at letting us play there and feeding us yummy meals.

We spent a chilly day at Hogle Zoo where the kids got to see
their favorite animals-- giraffes (Aryn) and birds (Quinn)

Discovery Museum in the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City

Sugarhouse Park
enjoying the playground, ducks, geese and sunshine.

It was a really wonderful visit. The kids are just so much fun to be with, and this trip I got to spend five days instead of three or four. I'm so grateful for a job in which I can pack in all my work into a few days and be able to take off to see the kids without needing to utilize vacation time. I was also glad to have been able to see Grandma Roberts and her beautifully remodeled home, in addition to a few old friends, which made the trip even more enjoyable after the kids got tucked into bed. Aunt Kathee and Uncle Dave are so wonderful and hospitable for letting me crash at their place too. It's going to be a rough 6 weeks before I get to see the kids again. I've chosen to take a visit in May to see Mom instead of the kids, knowing that I will get to spend some good quality time with the kids at the beginning of June in Sedona. So, that's the next trip I'm eagerly awaiting.

AND...Before I'm done, I need to throw a little shout out to my AMAZING sister Kellie, and brother-in-law KC, who both celebrated their birthday while I was away. What wonderful siblings and friends they both are. It seems like just yesterday we were all living together in Royal Farms in Sandy or Holliday or wherever that was. My how times change. :) You guys rock, and I appreciate and value both of your friendship. HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!