Catch up time: Fly Fishing, Thanksgiving, the Dissertation, and Great Grandparents!

It's been a bit since we have contributed to the blog... we're still trying to get back into the swing of things since we've been back from our Thanksgiving break. It was definitely the break we needed, and it turned out to be exactly the experience we wanted. We started off the trip staying with our wonderful friends, the Peads, in Evanston, WY. We had a fantastic time talking until the wee hours of the morning and then enjoyed a quick morning breakfast together before we headed off to Provo, UT. Looking back, we wished we would have spent more time you guys... it would be awesome to be closer to you!

We made it to see Debbie's brother and sister for a little bit before we headed to the Despain's to watch the extremely frustrating and enfuriating BYU vs. Utah gaming with the Calvins. By the time it was over, we were all emotionally drained. I was too emotionally involved to be of any use for a group therapy session afterwards... I think we were all beyond help. Hopefully we'll all heal before the big game next year. We talked stayed up again, chatting as if it were old times... it was wonderful. We really love you guys! Thanks for letting us invade your home and thanks again Naomi for letting us use your room!

We then went to Church the next day. We weren't quite sure what to expect but were moved to tears a number of times as people would come up to see us, give us hugs, want to catch up, joke with our kids, hold our kids, and talk as if we had never left. It's hard to leave people and a life we knew and loved, but it was reassuring to know that how we feel for them was felt by others toward us as well. We really feel blessed to have been a part of the Bonneville 13th ward. We try not to compare our current ward with our former one, but dang, it's hard not to do it! We had dinner with the Algers which was a laugh a minute. They're family was so good to our kids and had become great friends of ours.
The next 4 days, I got at 5:30 every morning to go fishing on the Provo River. This has been a ritual of mine for the past 5 years to go at this particular time of year at 5:30 am, listen to Christmas carols, park at the river, stare up at the stars, ponder and pray about life. It's one of my sacred spots on the globe. The first two mornings I went solo. I caught a huge 22" brown but my camera was dead so no pics. But the last two mornings Darrick and I fished the secret spot (thanks Seth!) and Spencer joined us on Thanksgiving day. The pics are below... and yes, I am wearing a pink hat... not that there's anything wrong with that! My manliness is secure. The fishing was AWESOME! It was dang cold but it was all we hoped with would be with many 16+" browns with the rare plump rainbow mixed in. I had such a wonderful time with these fellas. I consider them some of my best friends and am glad that we have shared so many cool memories together. I had a picture of all us with our shirts off in the 19 degree weather but a modeling agency wanted it... Darrick tipped them off about having it. Thanks alot Darrick.










































































Monday morning, after fishing, I was able to work with my awesome advisor and we completely revised 80% of it! That means that I'll likely defend my dissertation in late January which would be such a weight off my shoulders. It was worth the trip just to do all that.

The next couple of days we had a tight schedule of visiting friends and family. We wished we could have seen more of our dear friends... we're really sorry we didn't get a chance to see some of them or have as long to visit as we wanted. Please know we still deeply care about our relationship!

For Thanksgiving we hung out with Debbie's brother and sister. We had an amazing feast that we made at Juliana's apartment (Thanks!) and watched great Christmas classics. The guys (David, Reese, Cameron, and myself) played a little bit of football outside while the women folk watched on. It was a great Thanksgiving and we are so grateful for family like them. We can really tell that they love us and our little ones. Thanks guys!
Thursday night we stayed with our friends Anna Mae and Burke, and friday morning Debbie ND Ana Mae saw the movie Twilight together.
On Friday, we headed up to Temple Square with Juliana and Dave to take the kids through the Visitor's Center and to watch them turn on the Temple Christmas lights. It was a magical, spiritual evening with the feelings of Christmas in the air until I scraped the van... then the spirit didn't always strive with this man, and we drove silently back to Dave's place, which I'm sure was quite awkward for those in the back seat... sorry guys! :) Here are some pics of our Temple Square adventure... isn't my wife a hottie?!?









We finally headed up that same evening to stay with my grandparents up in Inkom, ID. It was great to see them again and shoot the breeze about life. My parents were there spending Thanksgiving with them so it was quite the family get together. After munching on their leftovers, we left the next day on a 9 hr trip back to Fort Collins. It was an amazing trip and lived
















up to all of our expectations. It gave us courage to move forward, knowing that we have some roots to grow from and to rely on. Thanks for being there everyone. We truly to appreciate our friendships with all of you. It's going to sound corny, but I'll say it anyway... I think that we feel that we've had a slight glimpse of what Zion may feel like... there I said it, you won't hear that kind of stuff from me again... well, for now anyway.