Rose

A day of shooting with Rose.

Rose and I

Colour Country

A few photos from our Spring break hikes.

Snow's Canyon

I've always thought that Southern Utah has the most beautiful desert country on Earth.

Mad Max

Sadie-bo-badie

She has the stinkin' cutest smile.

Spencer is notorious for the faces he makes when the camera shutter opens.

Desert Spring

Kanab's Colour Country

That is our hiking destination.

Some how we made it to the top without killing any of the kids. 

There was a pretty stiff wind that day. 

Angels

One of my afternoons in the Southern country was spent at a cold misty park, watching air show aerobatics. The kids preferred the playground, but when the Blue Angels took the stage we stopped to watch.

What a great shot. Too bad I can't claim it. I was on the slide with the kids.

Photo by Bonnie Fernelius

I did take the remaining photos, thought they aren't anything special

Of the 1000+ photos I snapped off this was one of my favorites.

It was crazy windy the two days of the air show, but they said the wouldn't cancel it irrespective of rain, sleet or snow, and apparently wind too.

Pretend

I can easily say that I am Sadie's favorite. At every opportunity during our trip to Saint George Sadie would ask me if I wanted to play. She loved playing "Money Game" which was really Connect Four, but to her it was like putting money in a piggy bank. A few of the afternoons we played at the park. I have come to the conclusion that the people who design playgrounds do so with some sort of sadistic intent. Those playgrounds are death traps for children. I mean really, are they trying to give me a heart attack? Do they think that a three year old child will be content to play on the kiddy slide when all of the big girls and boys are climbing, swinging, and flying down steep slides with so much glee. (I noticed at two of the newer parks that the slides were designed with bumps in them. I can't understand how that might be enjoyable, maybe its their light body mass, but those bumps didn't feel so nice on my rump.) Occasionally Sadie would get hurt, but when she did she was as happy to find comfort in my arms as she was her mama's. 

Sadie's favorite activity was to play pretend. She would instruct me to lie down on her bed with her, she would cover us with her blanky, and then after two of my sleepy snores she would say, "Cockadooledoo!" We'd get up and then she would pretend to cook for me. We also played dolls one evening. You would think that with regular engagements with the kiddos at Primary Children's that I would be better at pretend play, but I'm not. It's not that often that I have the opportunity to play pretend, but occasionally I'm able to enjoy in the magical world of a child's imagination. Adults who are long removed from children soon forget how to play, with pretend being well out of their comfort zone. 

I love playing with my nieces and nephews.  

(Thanks to my Twin for taking photos of her children and myself playing. I don't know if she realizes what my reasoning is for giving her the camera when I want her to take the photos that are impossible for me to take, but I do so for you... that you might have them for your pleasure.)

Sadie and I playing pretend. 

My Sadie-bo-badie, she is after all one-quarter me. 

The last night we stayed I told Sadie a lovely story while she cuddled in my arms. Then we went into her room and I read her bedtime story after story. Just before I wished her good night she said, "Uncle Gary, can you stay forever?" I wish I could.

I so badly want a little girl of my own. I want my Gracie...

Fixture

It's not a permanent fixture, but I thought I'd try it out for a few weeks. 

1.5 Weeks Growth

The girls at work seemed to love it.

Packing

I have a couple of perplexing question as to my future in the coming year. One of them is in regards to my belongings. What am I going to do with them? There are very few things that I will be able to bring with me to Dominica. Everything else must be packed and stored. Where and with whom, I do not know. It is because of this uncertainty that I've began packaging my life into discrete little boxes. Today I have been packing photos, old letters, and other precious items. In browsing over them I came upon a poem and a picture that an ex-girlfriend, my Fair Maiden, gave me some years ago. The items are without value, but I still treasure them.

Just Punked

Two weeks ago my arch nemesis, Josh, was teasing the hostesses. He casually mentioned to me that I could join him in the banter, yet he did not trust me to remain loyal to his cause, stating that I might turn against him and help defend the ladies. It it true, at times Josh and I team up to tease one of our fellow coworkers, such as Kristen our manager, while at other times we are pitted against each other, using coworkers and even each others tables as ammunition in the ongoing war. I have those that are dedicated to me, he has his, but for the better part most of our coworkers are in limbo, and willing to side with whom ever is able to make the best pun. I would have likely remained uninvolved with the banter between Josh and the hostesses, but to say that I would likely defect from team Joshua and side with the ladies; how could I resist the invitation to one up Josh? Especially in the name of being the defender of the fair maidens. 

I began to scheme. Once settled upon a plan I brought the hostesses into the secrete combination. The idea was simple. For some time I have been threatening to plant a fish in Josh's truck, to stink it up (I'm still trying to figure out how to get the fish past the locked doors), thus a prank involving his truck seemed appropriate. Originally I thought that the hostesses could just trash his truck, but most people who do this negligently use something like shaving cream to write taunts on the car, not realizing that the chemicals contained within the cream will actually damage the paint. I decided that I had better put the details together myself, and then put the hostesses to work to pull it off. The destruction had to be innocuous, but witty. I decided upon the 'prank' that friends of newly weds do to the wedding car following the nuptial. I made a banner to tie to his tailgate, with cans streaming behind. The cans were tucked under the truck in such a way so that they would only fall to bump upon the road once he was on the freeway. The clammer would force him to pullover to see what was wrong with his truck. As he walked around the vehicle he would see the banner and cans, but rather than reading 'Just Married' it would read 'Just Punked'. I had hoped to follow him home, so I could photograph him with that look of dismay that would surly grace his face, but I left the point-and-shoot-camera in the trunk of the car, and it was too cold to turn on. (I knew I should have brought my SLR camera with the telephoto lens.) The pranked was planed in such a way that while I formulated the plan and put the materials together, it would be the hostesses who pull it off. This provided me with an alibi, as I arrived at work before Josh and we typically walk out together at the end of the night. 

At this moment in time he doesn't know who did it. He believes me to be in cahoots with the conspirators, which I am, but I'm denying everything, albeit with an intentional air of guilt. Tomorrow I will post flyer with a picture of his truck being punked on the bulletin board at work, offering an reward for information leading to the apprehension of the scoundrels who would do such an awful thing. (Although I could not take the photo that I wanted, Josh was kind enough to take a photo of my handy work, which he posted on Facebook. As I don't have a Facebook account any longer, one of my coconspirators was kind enough to copy and email me the photo, which I will now use against him to patronize him for many days to come.) Will he retaliate? Of course, but for now I will bask in the sweetness of revenge. 

JUST PUNKED