Old friends

We met up with some old friends from our Provo/Orem days.  Josh and Michelle were on vacation from South Dakota where Josh is stationed with the Air Force.  Our families met up at a park in south Salt Lake.

Ouch

"That workout is kicking my butt! Whole upper body is sore. Gonna be worth, though.

(Workout = slipping on the ice in Liddiard's parking lot, and barely getting my arms under me before smacking my face. Back is hurting all sorts of fierce. Negotiating with ambulance chasers right now since having ice in a parking lot in the winter is clearly a sue-able offense. The American dream, getting something for nothing.)"

This was my Facebook status after taking a spill in the parking lot while helping Afton and Mya deliver their entries in the Christmas coloring contest.

Little Jimmy and MoTab

 

Date night at the Conference Center.  James Taylor was a favorite of ours when we were first married.  We listened to his CDs on the drive from Utah to Memphis.  So it was great to see him in person and in such a unique setting.

The tickets were for general admission seating.  The lower level was nearly full when we got there, but an usher pointed that she had two seats in the middle of the middle section.  What luck!  After sitting we found out why the seats were still available: my seat mate to my right had gotten a little too friendly with the bottle before the show.  He was knock your socks off drunk, which meant he was also a little too talkative.  But it also meant he was asleep by the midway point.

Hypothetical

"Purely hypothetical...let's say you have a daughter that has a little wet accident in bed one night. So you, totally hypothetically, get her cleaned and in a new set of PJs, strip the bed down, cover the bed again, and get her back to sleep. Then, if we might continue our conjecture here, you take the wet sheets and blankets and wash and dry them. When you get home from work the next day, your wife might say something like, "We have a problem with the dryer." So in this situation, the problem with the dryer would be that when you threw the sheets and blankets in the wash, you also included the bed cover, and that plastic bed cover might have just melted all over the dryer.

After the good laugh you'd have with your very caring and understanding and forgiving spouse, how would you go about fixing said problem if you found yourself knee high in this tomfoolery?"

Family Oscar Party

Alison was a great host for the annual Orgill Family Oscar Party.  She had an area to dress up and have photos taken, red carpet style.

Biggest Fans

Stefanie here, I finally added "myself" to this blog :).  Ryan does so well writing on the blog, and I always look forward to his posts; he's such an accomplished writer. However, I thought I'd put in my perspective on occasion to help keep it updated.   Ryan is also my biggest supporter in letting me spread my wings per se and dive into my own interests. No matter how hard the plunge is, he's always there to rescue me. I know some times he sees me as a bit crazy with the things I try to take on, but he never fails to support me along and help me when I get in too deep.

This reminds me a talk I heard given by President Hinkley making these remarks regarding women, particularly his wife.  He said women are endowed with particular qualities, divine qualities, which cause them to reach out in kindness and with love to those about them:  "We can encourage that outreach if we will give them opportunity to give expression to the talents and impulses that lie within them. In our old age my beloved companion said to me quietly one evening, 'You have always given me wings to fly and I have loved you for it.' " (Church News, "Women Pre-eminent as God's final creation."  Saturday, oct. 9, 2004)

It's due to Ryan's companionship and sacrifices that I can try to succeed in such endeavors and get to even share the experience with my special two little girls.  They are my biggest and most critical fans in life!  I love Ryan for it, and so many other reasons that make him such a good husband for me.  I thank him dearly!

 Ryan brings them often no matter the difficult circumstances, and I find joy in that. This is just one of the many activities:

 

Books

I like books.  I wouldn't say I love books, only because I'm pretty selective about what I like to read, I almost never read the same book twice, and it is easy for me to get stuck in the middle of a book if it doesn't strike me as very interesting.  But when I read I like to hold the actual book.  I rarely read anything on the iPad.  And I've got what I'm starting to consider to be a bad habit of having to own every book that I read.  When you're married to an English teacher and then you like to own a copy of each book you read, that ends up meaning you have lots of boxes of books in your basement.  One day we'll have a large library in our own home; just not this home.

I kind of set a goal in January to try to read 3 books each month this year.  I'm not great at setting goals, nor do I write them down.  But I thought I'd take an inventory of books I've finished so far to see how close I've come a little more than halfway through the year.

Brain Candy
Brain candy is a term I stole from a friend to describe books that are easy to plow through with fictional topics of law, governmental agencies, military, or science fiction.  I'd easily meet that goal if this is all I read.

Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly
The Poet - M.C.
Angels Flight - M.C.
Trunk Music - M.C.
Hell's Corner - David Baldacci
American Assassin - Vince Flynn

"Classics"
I'm using that term fairly liberally.  Some books I would throw in this category just because I know they were assigned reading in my schools or when Stefanie taught in Memphis.  Others are books I see listed on some of those "100 books you must read" on Facebook.

Cather in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok

Non-fiction
A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
Seal Team Six - Howard E. Wasdin
Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer

Fiction
For One More Day - Mitch Albom

Religious
The Peacegiver - James Ferrell

 So...not yet to the 21 books that I should be at by the end of July.  The problem is I figured 3/month would happen because at the end of 2011 I was reading books while doing cardio workouts on the treadmill or elliptical.  Now I don't exercise as much and I watch something on Netflix when I do.  I am currently working on The Infinite Atonement, The Kite Runner, and Dream Team.  We'll see how close I can get to a total of 36 by Dec. 31.

Father's Day

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new

__________________________________________

Father's Day.  Not my day.  I haven't ever really looked at it that way.  And I'm quite certain that for the foreseeable future that won't change.  In my mind, I'm still a son first.  And Father's Day is a day to remember Dad. 

Words can't express how profoundly those two little girls have changed my life.  Becoming a father altered what I think, how I feel, and who I am.  Afton and Mya love to dance to the song "I See The Light" from the movie Tangled.  I usually sit and listen to the lyrics while watching them dance.

All those days chasing down a daydream
All those years living in a blur
All that time never truly seeing
Things, the way they were
Now she's here shining in the starlight
Now she's here suddenly I know
If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

Though I didn't know it, I can look back now and see that in some ways, that verse described me, out of focus and never truly seeing things as they were.  Though I was happy and in love with a wonderful and beautiful woman, and was part of a loving and close family, being a father brought with it a new sky.  It brought focus to everything else.  It didn't necessarily define everything, but it framed all things.  Feeling what I felt for my daughters taught me more about how I felt about Stefanie, my own parents, and especially Heavenly Father.

I feel as though I've experienced a similar shift through my father's passing.  Dad being gone has deepened my gratitude and love for him, for my mother, for my siblings, for my wife, my children, and for my Heavenly Father.  This Father's Day, my first without Dad, fell on a Sunday and I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting.  I focused my remarks primarily on memories.  And how the memories of my Dad, and particularly the things I've missed being able to share with him, should stand as a symbol of the deepening desire we should feel to enrich and enlarge our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  An excerpt from my talk:

"...Being a father has forever altered how I view this great plan of salvation that we are a part of.  And one of the great things it has taught me is just how often our experiences during this mortal life can serve as a sign or a symbol of an eternal principle.  As I've thought of how much I've missed calling my Dad to invite him to dinner, or emailing him interesting news or a beautiful picture, I've contemplated the thoughts of a loving Heavenly Father who longs for us to communicate with Him, to share our hopes and joys and fears and sorrows, to invite Him into our lives so He can bless us, help us, and love us."

My Dad loved the following poem:

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help from above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Love you, Dad.  Thank you for again helping me look heavenward.

#34

At least I think it is #34.  That doesn't sound right.  But the math works out that way.

I had a great birthday.  Stefanie let me pick what I wanted to do, so I picked being with my three ladies, eating lots of meat, taking the lil' ladies to a movie...and I would've picked opening up many BYU presents if I'd thought that was an option.  Luckily that last one was part of the plan thanks to a great wife and thoughtful 5 year old.

 Stefanie had asked Afton what she thought I would want for my birthday.  Afton accurately answered a bunch of BYU stuff.  So Stef let Afton and Mya each pick out a BYU shirt for me, to go along with two Jimmer DVDs.  And sugar.  Awesome.

How could you want to spend your birthday away from these two?

 

Jimmered

Jimmer Fredette, the BYU Bomber.  Wearing my new shirt at the last BYU bball game.  Got all sorts of stares as we walked to our seats.