It's Alive!

This blog has been mostly dead for a few consecutive months now, I'm sorry to say. It just seemed like I needed a big reason to blog again because it had been so long. Well big reasons have come and gone and I continued my neglect of this digital space. Life is good, and life is busy. There have been ups and downs, but mostly ups.

Lately, some people who I care about deeply are in the midst of incredibly trying times. It brings me down when I think about it, and I've had a heavy heart for a couple of weeks now. With the sadness though comes more reliance on faith and a greater desire to help and support where I can. We certainly are never helpless, never comfortless, and never without a friend.

There is incredible strength in the bonds that we share with our family and friends. Courage and hope can be drawn from the most simple of gestures and connections. I recognize the need in myself to improve in my ability and willingness to act.

I've learned that gratitude is the most effective remedy for sadness and sorrow. Everyday I'm more and more grateful for my family. Natalie is an absolute rock. The best partner I could ever wish for in this life. Abby is the most fun person I've ever met. She is so full of life and energy. She amazes and inspires me every day, and she makes me laugh constantly. From her lips have been uttered some of the most pure and sincere and beautiful prayers I've ever heard.

Happy Memories

Lately, it seems like there has been a lot of sad things happening to people I know and love. A large majority of these instances have been completely out of control of the people they are affecting the most. I thought it might be good to generate some discussion and sharing of happy memories. Seems how this is my idea I'll start.

Memory #1 - Last summer we attended our friends Jake and Eli's wedding reception. It was in a lush, green, secluded back yard on one of those perfect summer evenings. The light back there was incredible and Abby was having a great time dancing to the music and running in circles on the grass. We were there with some of our best friends, most of whom we hadn't seen for some time. I can't put my finger on exactly why it was so great, but I distinctly remember thinking that night that I was experiencing something very close to heaven.  I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Memory #2 - This one is hard to explain, and it is not so much a solitary memory because it has happened more than once. Sometimes when I'm in a social setting, I'll catch a glance of Natalie from across the room and for a second I'm seeing her again for the first time. It is similar to times when you see pictures or video of yourself from an angle your not used to seeing. It takes a second for you to realize who you are looking at followed by a flood of thoughts. Do I really walk like that? Etc. However, when this happens with Natalie, after the recognition takes place a flood of memories of our lives together comes into my brain and it makes me happy.

Memory #3 - I remember being a very young kid, and being incredibly excited for my older brothers to come home from college. I would watch tv with the volume low so I could listen for the back door and hear the familiar voice. It always seemed like an eternity waiting for them, but they always made me feel like a million bucks when the time finally came.

Please, share some good memories, I think we could all use them.

Somebody is Excited for the Home Opener

Ouch

After 2 years of not water skiing, Saturday's trip followed by a lot of loading and unloading equipment, followed by playing a two hour set, followed by more loading and unloading equipment, followed by a fast, has left us with a very sore Jesse on Monday morning. It was a fantastic day, so the pain is all worth it. I just seem to be getting more and more reminders that I'm closer to 30 than I would like to admit.

Easter 2009

Abby's Cousins Josh and Grace

Abby's Cousin Meah

Grace

Kiera

Kiera

Abby hasn't seen the sun much yet.

Favorites For 2008

A quick list off the top of my head of highlights for the year 2008.

11. Playing on a soccer team comprised with a lot of my best friends from growing up. (James, Chad, Scott, Tony)
10. Trip to Disneyland with James, Dede, Tiff, Ryan, Christian, and Max. Seems like it was so long ago. Anyways, it was so dang fun. I forgot what a cool place it is.
9. Almost seeing Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, and their kid exiting Space Mountain. It was consolation that everyone who was with me got to see them, and I think I saw the back of his Harrison's head just before he went out the door.
8. Serving in scouts and Deacon's Quorum has been fun, challenging, and interesting. Some highlights and some frustrations.
7. Watching RSL games at Rio Tinto Stadium was so incredible. The place is beautiful, and the atmosphere is great. If you haven't been you need to go in 2009.
6. Jumping into James and Tony's arms when Yura Movsysian scored in the last minute vs. Colorado to put RSL into the playoffs.
5. The Dark Knight. Intense, disturbing, philosophical, and in the end somewhat uplifting. I love a movie that keeps you thinking long after the credits have rolled. It is extremely rare in an action movie where the action is clearly secondary to the themes, stellar performances, and character and plot development. Not for kids.
4. Some new bands I got into this year: Arcade Fire, Band of Annuals, Dustin Kensrue, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, The Gaslight Anthem, and Spoon. I know most have been around for a while, but these are bands that I started to listen to and enjoy this year. I highly recommend all of them.
3. Summer trip up to the Northwest with Natalie and her family. We even made it up into Victoria for a day. It was a good time.
2. Roofing my Dad's garage with the dudes. I'm not sure about the place in the list, but it was actually a really fun experience to do some manual labor along side my Dad, brothers, and nephews. We were sure we would be done in 45 minutes or so. 6 hours later, we all had a lot more respect for roofers. It was worth it to see how delighted Dad was with his new roof.
1. Welcoming my Abby into the world. She has lit up our home with her smiles and her sweet spirit, and has brought Natalie and I that much closer together.

If I Die Trying

When we were in Boise for Thanksgiving, we had arranged for a portrait of all the grandkids on Natalie's side. We went to Target's photo place because our sister in law had had some good luck with them in the past. Well, we went on black Friday, and it was kind of a mad house. When we got the kids all dressed up and arranged some of them just couldn't handle the immense pressure of being cute on demand. It turned into quite a cryfest, and the photographer was less than amused. After about 5 minutes, she pretty much kicked us out of the studio. We circled the wagons (shopping carts) outside the portrait studio, and took a deep breath as we tried to decide what the next course of action would be. As we were discussing and reminiscing the mini-nightmare we had just encountered, somebody noticed that the two grandchildren who had been the most upset in the studio were now happy as larks standing up in the shopping cart as we talked. Somebody suggested going to the Christmas isle and attempting our own portrait with the kids in the shopping cart. We all chuckled and then made a bee-line for the holiday isle. We were determined to get a good photo of the kids from our trip to Target. We knew the staff would probably not be too into what we were doing so we posted a couple of lookouts, tried to avoid eye contact with fellow Target patrons, and snapped a few photos. This is the result.

The Departed

I wrote this song for my teenage nieces and nephews. It's a time in life when there are so many emotions and forces pulling at you from every direction. It can be great and it can be terrible, and it's usually some of both.

A New Christmas Tradition?

I've toyed around with this idea for a while, and I think it would be a really fun thing to try. If it worked out, it could turn into a new Christmas tradition. A couple of years ago during Christmas time, my mother in law Cathy and Natalie and I spent a couple of hours playing and singing Christmas songs together. Cathy and I both had the old Reader's Digest Christmas Songbook, and we just flipped through and chose our favorites and played and sung song after song. After that night, I thought that it would be really fun to do the same thing on a slightly larger scale (with more instruments and more voices). It would be fun to have instruments such as a violin, cello, piano, guitars, bass, keyboard, percussion, harmonica, mandolin, harp (wink, nudge Christine). Anyway you get the idea.

It would be a casual get together, basically a Christmas party with a few friends where at some point we do this sing along/play along musical experiment. I envision almost all acoustic instruments so the setup would be pretty minimal. Maybe just an electric bass and keyboards plugged in. We would print copies of the music so you could just show up and play. The one requirement for attending would be that you either sing or play so that there is no audience, only performers. (We will have shakers and tambourines and possibly hand clapping/snapping for non singers/non players who want to participate).

Well, that is my crazy idea. Please leave a comment if you would be interested in participating. Let me know what instrument(s) you would play (including voice). Also, I will throw out a few dates, if possible list which date would work best. Possible dates: Friday December 5th, Sunday December 7th, Saturday December 13th. If none of these work you could certainly suggest another date, I'm just trying to get the ball rolling and see what kind of interest there would be.

You Might Have Seen this on ESPN2

The stadium is spectacular, the crowd was energetic, the players were a little nervous, and we made our national television debut during ESPN2's broadcast. It was a great night, but unfortunately New York sat back and played for the tie and RSL was unable to break through for the winner.

September In Photos and Moving Pictures

(click for large version)

Sorry about my mid-movie sneeze.

Beautiful West Jordan Home For Sale

No, we're not moving, but my sister and her wonderful family are moving to a state far, far away. If they could put their house on a truck and drive it to Pennsylvania, they would. They have really loved this house. It has been perfect for their family. If you or anyone you know is looking for a near new 4 bedroom home in the quiet suburbs of West Jordan, look no further. Click here for the listing page and further details.

IT'S A GIRL!

The wait is over, and we now know the gender of our little humanoid offspring. I was thinking it would be a boy, but I couldn't be happier. She is so cute, and I think she has my chin. Look how sharp and pointy that sucker is. The doctor and ultrasound tech said everything looks perfect. She's got a strong little heart and weighs one pound. She looks really uncomfortable in there, but she probably doesn't know the difference. Well, that's it that's the big news for the next litte while. This is a profile shot, and to me it looks like she's smiling.