Spencer and Soccer

Spencer was finally interested in participating in organized sports this fall so we put him into a soccer league.  It is pretty laid back, they don't keep score, everyone gets to play every position, and mostly they just encourage the kids to have fun.  Spencer is loving it!  Now how do I put this next part - Ummm  he isn't very good, at all.  He is sort-of afraid of the ball so he mostly just dances around the outside of the pack of kids going after the ball.  It is pretty hilarious.  But once again, he is loving it.  He does show some improvement from week to week so we are hoping by the end of the season he makes contact with the ball a few times :)

One proud kid in his cleats and shin guards.  He was pretty excited about the "gear" needed to play.

He loves playing goalie!  I think mostly because it doesn't involve running.  And I know what your thinking, how can you play goalie if you are afraid of the ball, pretty much just like this, spending more time playing with gloves than watching the ball.

I didn't realize how cold it gets at 8 in the morning in October.  This is us getting ready to go to the soccer game.  Good Times!

Good Things to Come

Saw this Mormon Message today.  One of my favorite talks of all time.  We've all been there at some point haven't we?

Obsessions

Those of you who are my Facebook friends (and still check Facebook) may know that Melissa bought herself a new pair of gloves yesterday.   Not just any gloves mind you, these were quilting gloves.  Now by a show of hands how many of you out there knew that there was such a thing as quilting gloves?  I had no idea, but I have spent the last day wrapping my mind around quilting gloves and let me tell you it brought a smile to my face every time I envisioned it, but seeing the gloves in action made me laugh out loud.  

Wait for it

I'm gonna get her a bandanna and some shades and then for Christmas we're going to look into retrofitting her Bernina with a V-Twin for a little more power.

Now lest you think I am picking on her too much I understand I have my own Obsessions as well.  I recently bought a road bike which will make 9 bikes that I have owned since High School.  I currently only own 2, having sold 3 bikes to pay for my road bike.  I have two pairs of cycling shoes, 3 jerseys, 3 pair of shorts, 2 pair of gloves, one pair of sunglasses, one helmet (I have broken two others over the years), a toolbox full of bicycle-specific tools, a truing stand, a bike work-stand, and a shed full of spare parts.  As if all that wasn't enough I was planning on shaving my legs yesterday but I couldn't find a razor.  

We all have our vices and if Melissa wants to have some funky gloves to make her feel cool while quilting then I'm all for it.  (She says they help a lot....so do smooth legs.)

Destinations

My sister recently posted about her 5 favorite vacation places in the US .  Now I haven't been to as many places in the US as Charlotte, but I have been to quite a few.  The more I thought about my list the more I realized that I am becoming my father.  I picked my top 5 based on places that I would like to go next week if given the time and money to do so.  So here it is.

1.  Lake Powell - I love everything about the lake.  The recreation is awesome, but that's not all.  The beauty of the canyon that can be experienced so many different ways.  Hiking, boating, boarding, cooking, swimming, fishing, how could it not be number 1 on the list.

2.  North Fork/Zion Canyon - Sure this is home and I will probably visit the area at least once a week for the next 40 years, but I love it. It helps that my favorite activities include camping, dutch oven cooking, mountain biking, and hiking.  There really is only one place in the continental United States that I would go rather than here which is why it is number two.  Someday I hope to do a multi-day hike from the place this picture was taken to the bottom of Zion Canyon (seen in the distance).

3. Oregon Coast - The only thing that you can't find in the Rocky Mountains is the ocean and the Oregon coast brings the mountains to the ocean.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  We went camping here (are you noticing a theme) while we were living in Yakima a few years ago and it was great.  Walking on the beach with the kids in the morning made me want to rush home and watch Goonies.  I think I even saw a pirate ship coming out of a cove in the fog early one morning.

4. Seattle -  This is the only city that even makes the top 10.  I'm not a city guy.  South Bend is too big for me, but Seattle is great.  We spent a week in Seattle in a hotel less than a mile from Pike Place Market.  It was a blast to walk along the pier and take in the atmosphere.  We took a boat out onto the Sound and gazed on the Seattle Skyline, by far my favorite skyline (though Chicago is pretty cool too).  We didn't get to eat as much seafood as I would have liked to, but I'm hoping to do that someday when we go without the kids.  Of course it helps that our visit to Seattle included 4 straight days of sunshine.  It rained as we were driving through the mountain pass.

5.  Yellowstone - I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was a kid, but I'm itching to go back.  I assume if you've gotten this far you can understand from my earlier choices why Yellowstone makes the list.

I realize that my top five are all out west.  What can I say I love it out there.  DC, Boston, Chicago, Niagara, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Smoky Mountains, the great lakes, they're nice, but if I never visit any of those places again I won't be disappointed about it (I would like to go back to Maryland, because I have some pretty cool relatives out there that are really fun to visit).  I've never been to Maine and I can't remember Florida or the Atlantic Coast very well so there's hope that someplace east of the Mississippi might make the list, but I wouldn't bet on it.

As I write this I do remember a quick visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and that was pretty cool.  It might have made the list if I made it to 6.

So there you have it.  Feel free to disagree with my list (heaven knows Melissa probably does).

And for you Canadian readers out there, I'm really looking forward to spending some time in the Canadian Rockies and BC.  From what I've heard they might crack the list if it was a top 5 of North America.

Choices

Melissa and I were talking the other day about how good life feels right now.  She was paying the bills and noticing how different things are now than they were a few years ago.  Our tight budget has become somewhat looser.  Our ability to save for the future has increased and our stress concerning financial emergencies has greatly decreased.  It's funny how easy life often seems when things go according to plan.

Things didn't go according to plan in August and for a time life was hard.  On a bad day Melissa might say that it is still hard and she certainly has her hard days, but they are getting fewer and farther in between.  It is often said that through trials we are strengthened and while I don't know if I am any stronger I do know that we, as a family, are stronger.  If nothing else at least our little ones are more prepared for the winter if our heat should go out.

Sometime in 2011 we will face the decision of whether or not to continue trying to have children.  2 months ago the phrase "trying to have children" was foreign to me.  We decided to wait a few month, at least, before making any decisions because Melissa's not ready now and truth be told I'm probably not ready either.  That is not to say that we haven't discussed the future.  We have.  There has been a lot of pondering and a lot of prayer concerning our family.  At this point I don't know what the decision will be, but I am excited to make the choice.

I love the choices in life.  I love that I have the ability to make decisions that will affect me tomorrow as well as 10, 20, 50 years down the road.  It scares me at times, but it's a good scare.  Maybe Melissa has me to blame for what transpired in August (not really) because I am scared of the future as it seems normal.  All our big choices seem to be behind us.  I chose to go on a mission.  I chose to leave Cedar for school.  I chose an eternal companion.  We chose to go away to medical school and then after spending a wonderful year in Cedar City we decided to leave again for residency.  Along the way we chose to have 5 children and found out that we are not always in control.  All but the last of those decisions have gone pretty much according to plan and nothing too unexpected has happened during that time.

I often imagine my life (and for the past 10 years, our life) as a line on a graph that is heading upward much like a graph of the stock market (one of my own measures of success is comfort in your own dorkiness).  As I have approached each of the above choices there has been a right decision and a wrong decision for me.  Not that the opposite decision was inherently bad, just that it wasn't the most correct decision for me.  One choice keeps my graph going up while the other does not or if it does it does so in a less steep curve.  My graph is changing now.  I now see two different colored lines on the graph and try as I may, I can't compare them to each other with any degree of usefulness.  This decision coming in a few months is different for me.  After praying and pondering and fasting and talking and crying I have come to the conclusion that there isn't a wrong decision.  I'm not even sure if there is a better decision.  I feel that this decision is one to be made based on what we want and that feels so strange.  Melissa tells me she is scared to face it, but for whatever reason I'm super excited and I can't explain why.