Can you tell we are sisters?

No, we didn't plan this. It was pretty funny when we both showed up at my parent's house wearing exactly the same thing. People always tell us we look alike and we've always thought that was crazy. Maybe there is a little family resemblance. Side note: Ali promptly changed after this picture. Love ya Al!

Happy Father's Day!

I have the best dad in the world. I know there are lots of great dads out there but I am quite partial to mine. Someday I'm going to write a book about my dad but for now I will just cut it down to blog size. My dad is my buddy, my hero, my teacher, my consultant, and so much more. He has helped teach me the power of optimism and how to make every day a good day. He has shown me how important it is to dream and to work hard for worthwhile goals. I've always known that my dad loves me and would do anything in his power to make me happy. I love you Dad.

I also think that Sophie has the greatest dad in the world. Happy Father's Day to you, Jake. Sophie is one lucky girl and she loves her dad. Sophie loves her dad because he takes her to Home Depot and buys her donuts, he carries her on his shoulders, sings her songs, plays with her, reads her books, takes her on bike rides, takes her to feed the ducks, and does anything he possibly can to make her happy.

Sophie and I feel very lucky to have such great dads. Happy Father's Day!

Graduation Speech

I went to my sister's graduation yesterday, and I had a lot of thoughts running through my head. First I was thinking, "How is Sophie going to make it through this," and then I thought, "Wow, I'm getting really old - what have I done with my life since graduation?"
I vaguely remember my graduation day. I think I was playing Tetris. I ate food with my family. Then I left for Lake Powell and watched my friend rear-end a car that was stopped at a red light.
Since that day, I'm not sure if I've really lived up to the potential that everybody told me I had that day. I don't know if anybody can. Apparently the room was full of lawyers and doctors and engineers. All I saw was a bunch of kids who were excited to move on to adulthood. Fools. If only they knew... I would've stayed eighteen for eighteen more years.
If I could speak at graduation this is how it would go:
"Wow. For some of you this is a really big deal to be graduating from high school. Some may see this as a great accomplishment, and others may see it as an exciting step into the real world, and having been in your position, I would feel the same. But I'm sure future-you would tell you a different story.
"Future-you may commend you for not falling into the traps of drugs, alcohol, crime, and emotional despair that may have kept you from graduating. But future-you is a fickle friend, and won't let you get off easy - there is plenty you need to know to help future-you improve his life. He would probably agree with the advice I'm going to give.

"If you find a good teacher (in any form) stay close to them. They are important and often hard to come by - often the lowest paid are the best."
"Life is going to be a lot of work and a lot of tough decisions. Day after day. Most of the time you just have to keep on keeping on.
"The rest of life is going to be complicated, confusing, and crazy - and most people make it through just fine.

The above speech would likely put a damper on any graduation. But my life since then has been a lot of hard work. The only thing that will take a high school graduate to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or whatever else they may want, is that individual's approach to each day. Thomas Edison said that you can judge a man by how he views his alarm clock.
Some broader advice - When life rains, rather than looking for sunny weather and trying to stay dry, it is better to learn how to play in the rain and find a good puddle. If it rains enough, build a dam.

Ode to the River

Jake on the bucket drum with Phil and Ryan as they create beautiful river music.

Jake and I in our Groovy Digs from Rags and Wags (which is our personal favorite thrift store)

One of my personal favorites of my dear ol' Dad in his glory years in the Grand Canyon. I sure am grateful to my Dad for starting the whole river legacy. It has been a big part of my life and I have loved working with my Dad, my siblings and my husband on the river. Thanks Dad.

This was one of my favorite days of rafting on the Locksa in Idaho. This was our first time running this river and it was quite an adventure.

Mat, Michael, Ali and Me

Oh the Salmon River, how I miss you. It is almost the beginning of another river season and I've been thinking about the river. I made a river memory book for Dad for Christmas and in the process I found a lot of great pictures. I thought I would post a few here as I reminisced about the river.

Jake and I are going to try to get up to Idaho to run a Main Salmon trip this summer. I've missed the river the past two years and it would be great to spend a week on the Salmon. I don't think I'm quite ready to take Sophie on the river but someday I know she would love it.

Life - Jake's first blog post.

I read this article today and found it rather insightful: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2008/04/29/your-job-as-your-identity-not-for-me-thanks/

For those of you who come to this blog to look at pictures, I'm sorry that you will be smattered with a philosophical ditty.

What is life really? I think about this too much and realize I should just sit back and enjoy the ride. But the question of what life is still haunts me, and sometimes it seems that all I can do is figure out what life is not.
I've discovered life is not your career. That's what the article above explains. However, it seems like an incredibly important part of living - especially when you are a sole provider for your family.
I've discovered life is not sports. Otherwise I would be classified either as mediocre or a loser - and I don't like that discovery, so I will assume that it is wrong. But even when I declare that life is not sports, when I want to relax and enjoy an hour or two, I go to espn.

I can think of far too many quotes about what life is about. Religion teaches us the purpose of life. I'm in favor of helping people, following my dreams, loving my family, working hard, etc. but the question that seems unanswered for me goes deeper. In the grand scheme of things, with 100 billion people having walked the face of the earth, it seems creating one's understanding of what life is rests upon creating a sense of importance to one's self.
A person is taught that there is a God who loves each one of us. That creates meaning and brings importance.
A person becomes self absorbed and thinks everybody wants to see them. Self-Purpose fulfilled - if they aren't important, they at least think they are.
A person may develop meaning from achieving a personal goal. Meaning fulfilled, and self importance achieved, albeit temporary.

But what happens if a person believes he is one in a trillion, easily replaceable, and can't figure out what life is. How does that person develop an understanding of what life is and why does that person wake up in the morning?

Harold Crick in Stranger than Fiction must think like this. He creates meaning when he distances himself from work. He begins to discover why his life is being narrated and how it will effect his final outcome. He finds companionship and pursues it spontaneously. In the end, his life is almost ended when saving a boy on a bike. He was living today, not concerned for tomorrow.

And while tomorrow will define our next today, I think living in the now is more important and will be my goal. (Unfortunately there might not be a lot of tomorrows without a career). I'll make living in the now give my life meaning now and tomorrow. Perhaps that is life. Life is what is happening now.

By the way, I think I kind of like writing, so you might have to get used to this.

Springtime in good ol' Provo

These pictures are a little old but they were too cute not to post.
I love this picture of our cute, little Sophie in her Easter dress. She wouldn't wear her sweater with her dress because she said it was scratchy, so she looks pretty tough with her muscles showing.

Congrats to Ali and Vance! They both just graduated from BYU, Ali in Advertising and Vance in German. They are headed to Illinois for Medical School in July. We will miss you guys like crazy. I'm glad your apartment will have two bedrooms because we are going to be regular visitors.

Sophie and her Dado

Sophie and Ellie.
Cousins and best buddies.
They love each other one second and beat each other up the next.

Sophie's pirate smile. She has a pretty sweet fake smile when we take pictures of her. What a character. Sophie thought Easter egg hunts and baskets were amazing. She thought the eggs were so cool and it blew her away when she realized they not only looked cool but had candy in them.

Hiking the Y

Sophie, Jake, some of our family and I all hiked the Y last week. I've hiked all over but this was my first time hiking the Y. It was also Jake and Sophie's first time so we all enjoyed ourselves and it was great to be outside. Sophie loved every second and has talked about our hike every day since then. She gets excited and says "Y" whenever she sees the Y on the mountain. She had fun riding in her backpack most of the way and even fell asleep on the way down. We are excited to take Sophie hiking and camping a lot this summer so it was just the first of many more adventures to come.

Sophie and her cousin, Ellie, had fun hiking together

Sophie looked extremely cute with her hat and ponytail sticking through.