Looking Back at 2009

Last year, I blogged that I do a family video each year that recaps our family's year in pictures and video. This year I have been very slow in getting the 2009 video done. Part of it has definitely been because of time, but 2009 wasn't the best year for us in several ways. So who knows, maybe unconsciously I have held off. But I am getting it done and thought I would share one of the sections from 2009's Rapier Family Video. As you might imagine, with the passing of my mom, she factors heavily into many aspects of the whole video this year. But especially in this one.

Utah Trip Days 6&7: Idaho Is Worth $4 and Pedro's Address

I have to admit. For whatever reason, this last full day in Utah was my favorite of the trip. I don't know if it was just me, but we all seemed a bit more relaxed and just let the day come to us. We had a very laid back time schedule and maybe that made all the difference. But either way, it was a fantastic day. It went something like this...

8:12 a.m. - Get up, get dressed, get down to breakfast. As this was very similar to every other day this week, we will move on.

9:35 a.m. - Braden has to use the facilities and can't make it back up to the room so he goes in the restroom right off of the lobby. I elect to wait for him...and wait...and wait...I go into check on him and he let's me know that he is working on it, but not to get in any hurry.

9:57 a.m. - Braden emerges. I think Braden needs to take a break from pizza after this trip for at least two weeks.

10:15 a.m. - We travel to Temple Square one last time. Upon arrival, I begin to wonder if Kate now equates Temple Square with misery as she begins to transform into Rosemary's baby yet again.

10:42 a.m. - Arnold Friberg, the artist responsible for painting all of the paintings used in the Book of Mormon, had passed away a little over a week earlier. So the tabernacle was closed as they prepared for his memorial service. So we made our way over to the South Visitors' Center which we had not made it to the previous day. I believe that Braden managed to touch every screen he was allowed to several times.

10:51 a.m. - Have to tell Abby for the second or third time to leave Kate alone.

10:59 a.m. - Make our way back to the North Visitors' Center so we can see the Christus one more time. Finally, along the way, I jump on Abby pretty hard about leaving Kate alone. After yelling (in subdued tones of course) at each other, I have had it and say, "Fine. She is all yours. You will have to deal with her when she gets out of hand. Your mom and I will not be there to help you." Don't you hate it when you get so clever about disciplining your children and it backfires. You believe they will come to you very shortly begging for you to take back the punishment they didn't realize was a punishment but what they were actually asking for in the first place...only this time, it totally didn't happen. Abby took care of Kate better than I had been. Early July and my Father of the Year 2010 hopes are in complete flames. Well, at least I made it to July right?





11:08 a.m. - We are looking at the Christus and we notice a man walk up to it and begin putting troll dolls on the base. He then stepped back and took a picture of them. So we took a picture of him. How could we not? I am getting the sense they probably see just about everything imaginable at Temple Square.



11:22 a.m. - We are wrapping up and I am waiting for everyone to finish when a Japanese sister walks up and is just taken with Kate. She tries to talk to me and...I can't understand a word she is saying. I try to talk back to her and she can't understand me either. Amazingly though, we hold a ten minute conversation. I only wish I had been privy to both sides of the conversation instead of just one.

1:08 p.m. - After a lunch of left over pizza (poor Braden...or maybe poor us. Not Sure!) we meet Jerry and we pile in the van to head for Logan. The only reason is that we have a son named Logan who desparately wants to have his picture taken in front of the Logan temple because it is "his" temple. He has a picture of it in his room even though no member of our family had ever been there. It is a beautiful day and the further we go, the more beautiful the scenery. By the time we hit Logan, I am ready to move there. Then Jerry reminds me that winter does not look kindly on this place.

2:47 p.m. - We arrive at the Logan Temple and it is...closed for renovation. Of course. But, we decide we have driven all this way, we are getting that picture one way or the other. We actually find an open gate and begin to wander the temple grounds. It is actually really nice that it was closed as no one was around including any construction workers. We stroll casually around and find the best sign of the day. See the picture below.



2:58 p.m. - Find the right spot to take pictures of Logan. Then we decide to play on the hills of grass. Kate just periodically decides she is going to throw a fit and does so a couple of times. However, it leads to one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. Now see this picture below.









3:17 p.m. - Head to the campus of Utah State University. Just wanted to see it. Once we arrive I wonder why it was I wanted to attend ASU. The campus is just gorgeous. My wife gently reminds me yet again that it is summer and not winter and I should take it all in perspective. She has a point.



3:32 p.m. - Go to downtown Logan to get ice cream at the Blue Bird Cafe. This restaurant was established in 1914. Once inside it is very good to see that they have managed to hang onto most of their original patrons. The ice cream is delicious and we are able to make the very important bathroom stop.

3:57 p.m. - Just about every business in Logan is having a sidewalk sale. It is clearly a planned thing as every business has something out on the sidewalk. You will be stunned to know that as we were making our way back to the car, I lost Shannon. Had to backtrack and found her in a store that sold what can only be described as stylish women's wear that every dashing gent would certainly find to be just swell. I ask her why she is shopping in my grandmother's closet when she let's me know that they actually do have a white skirt that is pretty much what she has been looking for. While she is trying it on, Abby and I look at the jewelry. Gaudy and nothing available under $60. Ugly and expensive. I am liking this place more and more.

4:23 p.m. - Finally meet back up with Jerry who since he had to wait decided he might as well buy a pair of sandals. These are not just any sandals, they have a bottle opener on the bottom. I am silently cussing my luck that I got stuck in the Generation GAP while my brother was shopping at a place that sold shoes with awesome accessories. We load back in the van and head for Idaho. We are only 20 minutes away and I can't think of anything that is going to be pulling me back to Idaho in this lifetime. If I really want to hit all fifty states before I die, we have to take advantage of opportunities like this.

4:51 p.m. - Hit the Idaho border and just like the tourists we are, we hop out and get a picture under the Welcome To Idaho sign. Smells like cows. No earth shattering judgement, just an observation.



5:02 p.m. - On the way to Idaho, Jerry mentions that Utahans will drive across the Idaho border to get lottery tickets. Hadn't thought of that. Suddenly the sign in Fredonia, Arizona makes more sense now that placed such a high value on Lotto. Since this is somewhat of a local custom (I do recognize that we are stretching the limits of the definition of local custom) I drive into Franklin, ID and stop at the first convenience store where I purchase a lottery ticket. I ask the clerk to give me any ticket that says Idaho on it. She tells me they all say Idaho on them unless I want the $20 ticket that has Idaho in big letters. I assure her that the Idaho State Lottery symbol in the corner is sufficient. She asks why I care about Idaho being on the ticket. I explain that I am from Arizona and have never been to Idaho before. This immediately animates my clerk and the clerk next to her. She asks, "Have you ever seen Napolean Dynamite?"

I don't want to admit to being the only person in the Mormon Belt who has never seen (nor desired to see) that movie so I say yes.

She says, "I live in Pedro's house." This means nothing to me so I look at her blankly and she says, "Well, I mean the house they used when they filmed the outside of his house. Here, you can go see it." At which point she writes her address on the back of the receipt. I thank her very much and go out to the car. Shannon sees the receipt and asks, "What is that."

"Pedro's address."

Now Shannon has seen the movie but apparently this explanation doesn't suffice so I explain the whole conversation to which Shannon says, "So she just wrote her address on your receipt?"

"Yep."

"That's just weird." Which is true. Shockingly, we do not make the trip to go see Pedro's house. However, my lottery ticket was a winner. I won $4 on a $2 ticket. Unfortunately, the store is very busy and not really worth the time to get $2. (Sigh)

7:11 p.m. - Now we head to Layton, UT where the Davis Arts Council holds their Summer with Stars fund raising concerts. Kirt is the director of the Davis Arts Council and has gotten us free tickets to the Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers that night. Shannon and I are pretty excited as these guys remind both of us of our youth.

7:32 p.m. - Dinner is served at the amphitheater in the form of either hamburgers or hot dogs. When we finally get to the counter, they are running low on hamburgers so we make them a deal. Logan doesn't like hamburgers. (I know, believe me I know.) So we agree not to take a hamburger for his meal if they will give us two buns with cheese. I am sure both parties walked away from that transaction thinking, "Sucker!"

8:00 p.m. - Concert starts. I had been looking forward to this, but had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I forgot how many songs of theirs I knew and they are very good showman. After about 4 songs, the kids got tired, but Jerry (whose love of Country Music has never really materialized) offered to take them to the park right next door so Shannon and I got to enjoy the concert by ourselves. We absolutely loved it. Highlights included the audience singing All The Gold In California, the jokes made at the expense of those who arrived late and remembering all these songs I had forgotten I knew. One new song we had never heard before was "Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down". It was an uplifting motivational song.





9:30 p.m. - Say goodbye to Kirt and head back to the hotel.

10:45 p.m. - Get everyone down and call it a night.

The next day consisted of driving, driving and more driving. While the GPS said we should be on the road for about 8.5 hours, it ended up being closer to 11 before we pulled into Flagstaff to stay at my cousin Shauna's house. Highlights included:

-Being stopped by a head-on collision outside of Paige, AZ and having to wait while it got cleared off. It woke Kate up. Crap.

-Ate at Nedra's Too and the lights were out in the bathroom. It brought to mind new words to an old country song. "You and me going whizzing in the dark." I can see why they went with the words they did.

-Shannon called her mom and found out the easy job we had asked them to do of feeding Buddy while we were gone had turned into a nightmare. In Marilyn's words, "Why didn't you ask for something easier like measuring the wind?" He escaped daily and led them on many wild goose chases.

-Logan peed on the side of the highway in the dark. How could it not end that way.

We finally made our way home Sunday evening after church in Flagstaff and lunch at Shauna's. It was a great vacation, but we were ready to be home. No one more so than Kate.