I Am Daddy

When Jeffrey puts on a piece of clothing or holds an article that is particular to a person he becomes that person. Here he is as Daddy in boots and wearing an old pair of glasses.

Remembering

Jeffrey and I were watching a show today that showed a picture of the Colosseum and he pointed to it and said, "Hey I ran all the way around there." He remembered me telling him about the trip and how while daddy took pictures, Jeffrey and I walked the entire circumference of the Colosseum. I'm sad that he won't remember all of the trips we took with him. I guess taking pictures and reminding him is the only way we can help him know right?

Bear World

So over Labor day we had been planning a trip to Yellowstone with my whole family. My gram was going to pay for an 8 room cabin where we all stayed each night. Two days before Cory told me he just wasn't going to be able to go. This job of his is crazy...and I was so upset about it but in the end, he would have paid for weeks had he gone, so Jeffrey and I went to Utah the night before everyone was planning to go. Uncle Scott and Aunt Jen let us ride in the back of their suburban (Uncle Jeff and Aunt Melissa were in the middle seat) and they had planned on making a stop at Bear World in Idaho on the trip up.

 As we arrived at the park there was a place where you could drive through and see all of the big animals that they had. This was one of the grizzly bears. They have cute ears round just like a teddy bear. But I don't think they would be as cuddly.

I haven't seen a bear in real life closer than at the zoo, so it was pretty amazing to see them. Even if they weren't like wild bears. (These bears lived a cushy life of bread and donuts).

This is my favorite bear of the day! Isn't he cute?

Melissa, Scott, Jeff, and Jeffrey

I was one of those people who leashed my child. But honestly I had to (it was me against the unequaled energy of a 3 year old) and he really doesn't mind it.

We decided to go on the curator tour which was on this HUGE truck we drove around the same path we had before only this time we had food for the animals to eat. We gave these blond haired, blue eyed deer hay. No donuts for them.

See how polite they are? They sit up and when I held up my last donut to throw out one of them even waved at me as if he was asking for it. Of course I gave it to him.

That was what the truck looked like (Sort of) and I wanted to take a picture of the picture...I'm too cheap to buy them.

Bear world also had all of these rides available for the kiddos to ride. Best part? They were free after you paid admission. Jeffrey rode to his heart's content (actually he wanted to ride all day, but we had to get to Yellowstone sometime!) and thanks to his willing Uncle Scott, he got to ride the tree ride too.

Big Enough to Work With

When Jeffrey was younger I was nervous about taking out my off camera flash around him and placing them on their tripods. One push or pull could send them crashing to the ground from a six foot height and that would be the end of a $450 flash. Jeffrey is finally old enough that I feel comfortable to use my flashes when he is around. I certainly keep my eye on him as he loves to touch and explore new things, but I have to start with him at some point or I would never be able to use them at home.

Work kept me on Friday until eight in the evening, but it was nice to go home and know that I could forget all about work having emptied my In Box and checked off my long To Do list.

Saturday Not at the Office

Finally, a Saturday on which I did not have to go to work. I certainly could have. There is plenty of work waiting for me, but I received specific instructions from the CSM not to work on Saturday.

Instead, I spent it mowing the lawn and cleaning up with Tricia in our own bedroom. Our cleaning was not done until we took a trip to the Good Will and dropped off a bag of clothes and a large box of books.

Our night was finished off with taking photographs of Tricia on the front porch, baking cookies, and watching The Two Towers.

One Year Later

A lot has taken place in my life since last year on 06 September when an RPG came through my vehicle. Were it not for the calendar I can look at, I would not think it had already been a year since that early morning.

I have gained a lot of life lessons from that experience and the events that followed after. The fragility of life is made bare when it is lost or taken suddenly. Life also has many opportunities to show its resilience and will to continue on. Here are a few of the lessons I learned.

Friendship is great. Thanks for coming to see me in the Hospital back in Germany, SSG Link.

Telling others you love and care for them is a daily priority. I am glad for every phone call made and letter sent from Afghanistan. The calls and conversations from and in Colorado are just as important.

I depend on others, even strangers, no matter how independent I trick myself into feeling. SPC Harlow put on my tourniquet, a chopper picked me up, SSG Yepez walked me to the LZ, F-16 covered our exit, and a surgeon performed on me at 0400.

Jeffrey and His Tie

Missing Out On Yellow Stone Park

The Brown family has been planning a vacation to Yellow Stone National Park for many months now. Tricia and I were very excited to be able to go since we first heard about the idea. When a date was finally selected, it happened to be over a four-day weekend for me, which means our six-day vacation would only take me away from work for two days.

For the first eight weeks that I was at my new job as the battalion schools NCO, I did not have a computer. Everything I do is electronic and on the net, so I have been way behind the power curve until very recently when a laptop was procured for me. I am so far behind the power curve that I had to make the tough decision to skip out on the Yellow Stone trip and use all six days to work. My job is quite reactive because I have to deal with people and items they bring to me all through the working day. I need to take advantage of the four uninterrupted working days to catch up while there is no one to hand me more work through the day. It was a hard decision to make, but this is a critical time to catch up and begin to get ahead so that I can be proactive at work rather than reactive.

I am glad that Tricia and Jeffrey decided to continue on the trip. I would have been super bummed if I were at work this weekend knowing that they were both at home waiting for me.

Not going to Yellow Stone did give me the chance to attend a chapel session at the Denver Temple. I recognized many people from my ward there and it was an uplifting experience even though Tricia was not there to share it.