Day is Done

I went home for my grandpa's funeral in February. I was grateful that I could be with family during this time. Although it is sad to lose him, he passed away under the best possible circumstances. He died in bed, at his own home, holding my grandma's hand. His obituary, written by one of his daughters, captures him. 

One of the things I most admire about my grandpa is how well-rounded he was. He was an outdoorsman who memorized poetry. He was a science lover who feared God. A tenor who boxed. He loved knowledge and had an insatiable curiosity. And he also loved to laugh. Although, I admit, I often missed the punchlines of his jokes because he would burst into a roaring laugh before finished telling it, I just had to laugh along with him just because his laugh was so terrific. I'll miss his company, but I know he is in a happier place free from his failing body and mind.

I took these pictures a little while after the funeral. Although we missed him, we were all happy to be able to celebrate his life together as the close family we are - and the close family he always wanted. 

-M

Christmas Break in Utah (Cont.)

Now that we're busy again with work and school, we look with envy at ourselves in these pictures of our Christmas break. I don't know who we thought we were, spending two weeks free of responsibility in the comfort of our parents' homes. We were like kids again out on break. We bowled, we watched movies, we played cards, we played pool, we went hiking, we went out to eat. We justified it by telling ourselves it was the last time for a long time that we'll have so much free time - since next Christmas I'll be working and who knows, maybe we'll have a baby. To tell you the truth, we were both having so much fun hanging out with family to even worry about it. 

One night we went bowling in Heber. Holiday Lanes is the epitome of a classic old school bowling alley. It's amazing. It feels like you're on a movie set. 

Being deprived of good Mexican food in New York, one of our first orders of business was to get tacos. Lonestar (below) is one of the best.

But nothing beats Red Iguana. Mmmm...killer nachos. The stuff of dreams.

And puntas.

I'm happier than I look in this picture. In fact, we're both convinced that there is something in Red Iguana's food that causes a slight euphoria. We've both felt it a number of times: in the hours after eating it, we both feel sustained but slight tingling sensations throughout our bodies. We might just be crazy. But I'd be curious to know if anyone else has felt this.

We love Caputo's, too. New York has great delis, but it's actually hard to find a good, fresh sandwich that hasn't been sitting in plastic since that morning (at least on the Upper West Side). The meatball: 

The Caputo:

And of course, In n' Out.

French toast foolishness at Park Cafe.

We were pretty gluttonous the whole trip. We also had Mazza, Jimmy Johns, Cafe Rio at least once, and the Mandarin. But we did fit in a hike in the unusually warm weather for January in Utah. We hiked the Lone Peak trail up Emigration Canyon.

Hard to believe this was Utah in January. No snow. It was sad.

-M

Christmas 2011

We had an amazing Christmas in Utah. We spent the morning with Cass’ family and gorged ourselves on a Christmas breakfast. Kevin made his signature omelets and hash browns. Cass and her sister made old-fashioned pancakes. Marshall mostly stood around.

Christmas evening we went and visited Marshall’s ever-growing family. We got to meet our niece Jude for the first time (she was born in November) and our niece Sofia keeps getting cuter. 

Marshall’s brother-in-law Chuck made him a dope print from a woodcut of Lord Alfred Tennyson. 

We finally got to meet our beautiful niece Jude, who can do an awesome impression of a bass fish hooked in the mouth.

Jude's Baby Blessing

The Sunday after Christmas, we were able to attend the blessing of Marshall’s sister’s baby, Judith (Jude).

Judith Laine has a special namesake. She was named after her two wonderful great-grandmas, Judith (Marshall’s grandma, below left) and Elaine (Chuck’s grandma, below right).