Goodbye House

Good bye house. We loved you and made some incredible memories with you:

• 13 Christmases


• 12 first days of school pictures


• 4 Kids brought home to this house


• 14 Amazing Earnshaw Firework shows.


• 6 Job Changes (for Tommy; Megan doesn't change jobs);


• 2 New Cars (XC90 and Acadia)

Things Tate says

QUOTE 1

While moving Tate's Lego temple got destroyed. Making a joke, I said "Tate, your temple is destroyed and not one block stands upon another." I was quoting Matthew 24:2 when Jesus predicts the temple in Jerusalem being destroyed.

Tate, quick as can be, replies, "Dad, destroy this temple and in 3 days, I will raise it up again." (quoting John 2:19).

It actually only took Tate 2 days to rebuild it, but nice comeback.



QUOTE 2

CONTEXT: Tate is assigned to clean the front room. He frequently only cleans the rug and ignores the hardwood around the edges of the room. Mom reminds him often that he missed part of the room.

One day Tate says, "Mufasa: Simba, everything the carpet touches is our kingdom.  Simba: But what about the edges over there? Mufasa: That is the edge of the rug, you must never clean there." We had a good laugh, but serously Kid. Clean the hardwood.

New Driver

Every parent takes a picture like this and post about how crazy it is. Now I understand. It is crazy. I can't belive this kid is old enough to drive (learner's permit).

Moving Day

The move was a bit crazy.

Because we were trying hard to finish things on the new 'Holbrook' house, we delayed the move as long as possible. In fact, the Mancusos were moving in that same day at 2 PM, so the pressure was on.



Because of the basement remodel, the couch wouldn't fit up the stairs. So, we chopped it in half. We were planning to get rid of it anyway, so no tears were shed (it was a pretty nasty couch).

One sad admission. Megan and I received a 9-slot picture frame after we were married. It was boxed up for a couple moves until we moved into our Bountiful move. For whatever reason, we put only one picture (our engagement picture) in the one of the slots, then left the stock photos in the rest. We put it in the cabinet of our dining room.

That picture frame sat perched in our dining cabinet for 13 years. We never changed it.



[caption id="attachment_1974" align="aligncenter" width="225"] There sits the picture frame with its stock photos and all.[/caption]

 

Solar Eclipse and Traffic Apocalypse

On Sunday, August 20th, we joined half of Utah and drove up to the palasades in Idaho to camp and see the total eclipse. After the dire warnings about complete shutdown of all humanity, we were pleasantly surprised to see the roads clear and no signs of panic. To be honest, I debated whether to go to the eclipse, as I thought it would be neat but maybe not worth the drive and hassle.

I was wrong. The eclipse WAS AMAZING! Especially the totality. That part was insane; the darkness, the temperature drop, the stars coming out...



Now, immediately, afterward is where it got interesting. Right after totality, one family drove off. They had already packed and were reeling to go. I liken this to the family who gets up and leaves during the fireworks finale or the closing prayer of stake conference.

I, on the otherhand, am the guy who likes to hang out and 'out wait' everyone else after the fireworks. Then, leisure walk to my car and enjoy a stress free drive home. Hence, we waited until the moon completely finished moving out from in front of the Sun before breaking camp. We started driving toward Idaho Falls and I even had us stop for lunch outside of Idaho Falls. I kept thinking a couple hours would do the trick, but the siblings kept reporting scenes of horrible traffic.

So we decided to stop at Sportman Park (which is really cool) to kill more time...then the Idaho Falls temple...then the Idaho Falls Zoo.





At 7 PM, we finally had to face the music and get on the road. It was horrible, but not nearly as bad as the earlier traffic that my siblings experienced.  Got home at midnight.

Oh well, it was worth it. And I enjoyed the tour of Idaho Falls.