Dealing With Death

I suppose each of us respond to death in different ways. For me (SS) one of the manifestation is in my dreams. For about a year after my father died, I had a recurring dream of being stalked by a great white shark. The dream would take many different forms, but it usually involved ending up in deep gray water, often from a location that should not necessarily have had water associated with it, and then trying to escape while this shark mercilessly hunted me. The dream would end with me waking up in the middle of the night and my heart pounding.

A few nights ago the shark dreams returned, only but in a different form. Here I was in the water with several others after our boat had capsized, and the shark was not hunting me but another. In this dream we were trying to get to somewhere we could get out of the water and the shark was going past me as it homed in on this other person. In my dream I was pushing against the side of the shark trying get it to turn away but it was relentless. After it passed me, I found that there was a reef near to us that we could get out of the water and danger and I was screaming to this other person to climb up on to it, but he couldn't, and then the shark attacked him and tore him to bloody pieces in front of us. I woke up with my heart pounding. It didn't take me very much reflection to recognize that this dream was a response to the sudden death of my division chief, a good friend, mentor, and leader a few weeks ago.

Waiting for Pictures

I would like to post pictures of our newest nephew here, but his parents, which are otherwise quite technologically savvy and even have their own blog now, appear to have neglected their parental duties in this modern age and have not sent any digital images or posted on their blog even though baby C arrived two days ago.

Hopefully, they will take this very subtle hint....

UPDATE

Alright, at long last we finally have a photo. Parents claimed sleep deprivation kept them from being able to get on the computer (plus Grandma's sleeping mattress was in the way...)

Two Movies

We watched two movies this weekend Ironman and Penelope, one in the theaters and one on DVD.

Ironman is a passable fun summer flick. Although the plot is highly predictable, its funny and ironic enough to be amusing, with enough special effects to make the two hours pass pleasantly enough, if forgettably. Not up to the level of the more interesting Spiderman and Batman movies of this genre, but far better than Transformers.

Penelope on the other hand was a much more interesting movie. Its a modern fable of a young girl born with pig nose because of a family curse. While its not as complex or moving as Whale Rider in terms of a coming of age movie, it rates about the same as Holes,so definitely worth watching. Local girl Reese Whitherspoon produced it and plays a minor role.

Pink Camelback

From our various hikes at the family reunion and Zion, it became apparent that having little camelbacks for the young kids would be beneficial. Cousin n x 1.6 km received a nice little one for his birthday, so this weekend we picked up a nice pink one for our girls. ME models it here.

Humidity

One unpleasant thing about returning to TN has been the humidity.

Just for kicks I kept track of how many times I changed shirts yesterday.

Played soccer for ward team in stake league-wring about a liter of sweat out of my jersey after wards--> change to t-shirt when get home.

Go bike riding with Jonathan to local park, t-shirt is sopping wet when we get home, -->change to polo shirt for wedding reception (which is indoor so no need to change),

Go to walk/bike picnic and lead 2 mile walk carrying ME on my shoulders, polo shirt is soaking wet when get home--> change again.

Long Day's Journey into Night

We drove home to TN in two long days.

We made good time and listened to "The first four years" (a continuation of little house on the prairie) and "Where the Red Fern Grows" as well as part of "Tom Sawyer".

We didn't stop to see any sights, only stopping at Lincoln, NE long enough to sleep and then on again. America is a big country. Someday we will ride it by bike. (Bucket List item #10).

We lost an hour coming back to Central time, its not a pleasant thing.

We should send out a special thanks to all who hosted us on our trip, especially my mom. We also regret not being able to see so many of our friends. We focused this trip mostly on family, but recognize that we need to return more often. We hope in the meantime that this blog will keep you somewhat up to date on our happenings and hope you will reciprocate by starting a blog of your own (or sending us the link to your blog if you already have one.) Reading others blogs has been one of our great joys.

Wedding

AM’s brother JRR was married Friday. It was the second marriage for both he and his fiancé. On Thursday evening, we had a dinner for all of AM brothers and sisters. to meet his fiancé. AM spent all the day getting food ready for the dinner. J&HR drove up from California with their two twins, which was really exciting, as we hadn’t seen them for a long time. AM’s adopted mother and father also came, so it gave our kids another chance to meet them. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how grown-up J& PM's oldest daughter M is. She has become a very personable and vivacious young woman.

The wedding was held in the beautiful backyard of J’s fiancé’s sister. The weather was perfect, not too hot, but no moisture either. J& SL and many of their adult children and their families came, as well as J&PM and their kids, J&HR and their kids, SR and her daughter K, as well as AM’s parents. So it was a nice little reunion. J and M were married with ME and one of J and H’s twin daughter acting as flower girls/ring bearers