Wrinkled Thoughts

Just 3 weeks after Sage went to visit her cousins in Phoenix, her cousin Vicky brought her kids up here for a visit. They got a good taste of the weather, but it didn't stop them all from having a good time.

They went on a hike up Bell Canyon to see the waterfall… Then, we all went to FRIGHTMARES at the the Lagoon… and then it snowed. Here's a few shots of the good times.

I was playing with my camera trying to take "artistic" shots, when I took these shots of the Colossus "Fire Dragon" ride at night. Not too shabby for not having a tripod. And yes, the train is SUPPOSED to be blurred… to show that it is in motion.

And then there is this shot. I'm not sure how I captured it exactly, but I think it has something to do with there being A) low light B) motion C) a lower ISO setting and D) The "Ghosts in the machine"… literally. Don't Avery and Isaac look "ghostly"? I love it.

When we left the Lagoon that night at 11:00pm it was 70 degrees… the next morning it was rainy and cold (of course, it was soccer Saturday). Saturday night it snowed… and today is Monday and heading toward 70 again. Go figure! 

Salt Lake has the craziest weather… We've been hovering around 70 degrees for most of October and it has been SWEET watching the leaves turn colors. However, as I mentioned in an earlier post, our weekends have been MISERABLE. Well, finally… we had some "after proof" of the bad weekend. Yup, this time the snow stuck around for a half a day… just long enough for Avery and Isaac to build a snowman and have a snowball fight. Notice, how warm they are dressed for the occasion. It's supposed to hit 70 again this week.

Because we are taking a long trip to Branson Missouri to see SIX over Halloween, we decided to carve our pumpkins early this year (while the weather was holding). Sage roasted the seeds and made an awesome snack that I chowed on all the next day. Did I mention I LOVE my new camera? 

So I did a little reading about how to take good pictures with my new spiffy camera… I then grabbed my tripod, shoved some Christmas lights in the pumpkins butts and took these stellar photos!

So I finally broke down and bought a REAL camera. I didn't know what I was missing until my friend Myke kept bugging me about it… and I relented. I'm glad I did! It has opened up a WHOLE new world of possibilities… and I don't even know how to use it entirely yet! The first day I got it, we went as a family to see Real Salt Lake play against the LA Galaxy. Beckham was supposed to be there, but alas, he was injured. So I threw on the 300mm lens and went nutz shooting pictures of Landon Donovan instead. Without a freakin' clue, I was able to grab a few gems from the cheap seats…

What a CRAZY soccer season that was!

We had BEAUTIFUL weather the whole fall season (September - October) EXCEPT on Saturdays. 5 Saturdays in a row, we had to deal with wind, rain, freezing cold and even SNOW. Every other day of the week had GREAT weather. We started to wonder if we were being punished. Anyway, the crap weather made it hard to take photos, but I did get a few gems as you can see below.

This year is going to be special because I have been chosen to coach our league's under12 boys "summer select" team in HAWAII next July! I've never been to Hawaii… but now that I can live vicariously through my children, I'll get to go EVERYWHERE!

I was able to take these with my new spiffy Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera. Taking pictures will never be the same… Love the Michael Jordan tongues.

So every once in awhile I have to send my wife away to regain her sanity. She usually goes to Phoenix to see her mother… sometimes she even runs into my brothers and sister while down there.

This trip was special because her cousin Carla was down visiting from Washington - so they all got together and did whatever female cousins do when they have new babies and nothing better to do. Here's a few shots she took while visiting.

While Sage was in Phoenix, my sister's daughter McKenzie had her 1-yr-old birthday bash, Hawaiian style. Looks like mass chaos to me, but I guess everyone had a good time. My dad enjoyed holding Maya during the party.

Sage even spent a night at the Ruff's house, where she went on a "date" with my friend Myke while his wife ran a booth at her church's carnival. Looks like good times! 

… All of my sister-in-law's friends and sisters have all posted a glamorous shot of her…

here's another.

My twins are SIX years old. Can you believe that? It seems like only yesterday I had my knee surgery… and a week late the twins were born (a month early). Yes, I was SUPPOSED to have a month to recover from my ACL replacement. Instead, I had to take my brace off a day early and had to drive myself to get my stitches removed. Good times! I dug up these crazy pictures of the inside of my knee… just because they are cool.

Oh yeah… the twins. They turned six and are now in kindergarten. Yes, they are going to be the "old ones" throughout their school careers… yup, they will be the big men on campus. Don't they look like they already have the attitude?

We took them to the ol' "Classic Skating" fun center for their birthday. They had a great time skating and bouncing around in the giant blow-up "castles". We had a "bunch" of kids there, including the Millican clan and second cousins. It was the twins first "big" party… because it is the year they start kindergarten. Their next "big" party will be when they turn 8 and get baptized.

Part of the party fun put them inside a tornado machine with fake money… does it look like they had a good time?

[ACT]http://www.vonwrinkle.com/blog/movies/twins-money.wmv,320,265[/ACT]

Beth Ann brought Parker and Nate to the party, and Allison brought Sawyer. As you can see, Allison has been assimilated into the Serviceclan quite nicely. The other photo is of the twins and their best buds, Nathan and Grayson. My friend William George Shalz brought his kids Jaxxin and Shazaya… I think that's how you spell their names.

And then there is the birthday song…

[ACT]http://www.vonwrinkle.com/blog/movies/twins-bday-song.wmv,320,265[/ACT]

We had a great trip in the middle of August with our good friends, the Millicans. Both families pulled our camp trailers to the Bear Lake KOA camp and spent a few days at the lake. We played at the beach most of the time, but we also rented a boat and some toys. I was even able to water ski for the first time in about 15 years… and I got up on a slalom ski on my first try! Woo Hoo! Here are some shots of the festivities.

The only rotten part of the trip was the fact that I had to work at night in the camp trailer using the KOA wireless internet connection. Thank goodness for laptops and wireless access points! 

Did I mention we took Toby… and he loved to chase the seagulls?

He almost got a few of them!

[ACT]http://www.vonwrinkle.com/blog/movies/toby-lake.wmv,320,265[/ACT]

Okay, so I think it has been about a month and a half since I updated my blog with anything interesting. That's what happens when you are so busy you can't see straight. Here's a few photos of Maya to catch you up-to-date. Back in August, we went to visit Grandma Cogdill, who immediately snatched Maya and held her the entire visit. Grandma loves those babies.

Maya has this nifty (goofy) chair that allows her to sit up and see the world by giving her support where her head-bobbly self doesn't have any yet. She loves to watch TV… don't know if she likes the shows, or just the pretty lights and sounds.

The next few posts will all be "catch-up"posts as well…