Floating

Our family at Redfish in 2008...photo by Brant Avondet-Thanks Brant!

The past few months just seem to have just gone by so quickly. Last week I got to go to scout camp with the young men, then also had our Hopkins reunion. It was really good to see my brothers and their families (my sisters' too but they live nearby and we see them often anyway). I have also been working on the basement. I finished the bathroom in the basement(less a mirror, shower curtain and some trim) and have one bedroom about half done. I think we were a little over ambitious in working on the basement. i just planned on doing the bathroom, but we thought, "hey while we are at it we might as well do two bedrooms..." yea, it ballooned! And we learned that bathrooms are quite pricey in and of themselves. I am very happy to have the bathroom done, but I think that the timing was bad as work has been slow all year. Good time to do work on the house...but bad time to work on the house with little cash flow.

TJ got a new foot without a cord tether...he likes that he can put it on and take it off himself now.

We are expecting our 4th child any day now. August 4th is the due date, but Jess has typically been a couple weeks early and this weekend would be a great time to have a baby! The Waddoups family is going to Redfish Lake this coming week and I am planning on going for a couple of days with Christopher, Creedance & TJ. Jess is planning on staying home, but any of that depends on when this baby comes and how Jess is feeling and coping. If she has the baby she may come and camp with us in the bus for a night...but even that is up in the air.

He was very excited about the new foot!

We are very excited for another little one, however are very lost as to what to name the little guy! There are some names that we like, but have too many other relatives with those names. Then there are some that we seem to really like, then we hear someone call for their child with that name and it just sounds a little off...the name works in theory but not in practice. There just doesn't seem to be anything that feels right yet. A bit frustrating.

Slickrock Practice Loop at Moab-Rusty is riding near the bottom.

Life just seems to be moving on as a blur. I do fun things (Moab with Tyson, Rusty, Kevin, Kyle & Dave in May), accomplish challenges (house projects, garden, little on the bus), go to work, and take care of church callings. Life is crazy. I don't really ever slow down. However the last two nights I did sit in the backyard after dinner and watch the shadow of the house grow...and slowly move over the garden and up the fence. That was nice. To sit and watch the garden and grass grow. I worry that while doing this I am missing something else grow, or that I am not growing myself. These weeks, months and years feel (to me) to become a blur. I feel that I need to slow down somehow and absorb what is happening, to be an observer and active participant in my life...whatever that would mean.

Overlooking castle valley along Porcupine Rim.

Nearing the end of Porcupine Rim