Out of the Storm and Into the Fire (or rather Sewer)

Well we are slowly settling into our place. The inside is still chaos, so you will just have to wait on photos. Things were going great, until this:

Whoa. Not that I figured tearing out and replacing the sewer would be easy and clean. Hmmm...haven't we been here before? "Deja vu all over again" as they say. In fact, these same guys replaced our sewer at our last house. Only there the sewer was 5-6 feet deep; here it is 9. That extra 3 feet makes quite a difference:

Despite the mess, I'm sure we'll eventually be glad to have a new sewer (like in a year from now).

One last photo. Erika and Finn in the only part of the house not stacked with boxes or discarded sewer pipe:

A to B to C

Well it has been a toilsome 8 weeks of mind-numbing real-estate madness, but we finally made it 1967 E Wilson Ave. This all began with the statement (probably from my lips) of "let's list it and see what happens..." What happened is this:

- Our house went under contract in 8 days (!) just after Erika left for New Orleans.

- Buyers wanted to own it in <3 weeks, which if you've ever seen our basement or shed, created a fair bit of stress.

- I convinced Erika to let me offer on a house (1967 E Wilson) while she was away. The sellers countered close to asking and we decided to back off until Erika returned.

- Erika returned. We frantically moved out of 1400 S., moved to a rent-free rental that a good friend of ours had vacant for the month, and put in a low, but fair offer on 1967 E. Wilson. Our timing was right and they countered <1% higher; we accepted.

- We moved into 1449 E 3150 S (rental) with 1 mattress, 1 pack and play, 1 rug, 1 armchair, 1 table & 3 chairs, 1 skillet, 1 pot, five knives, 4 forks, and 3 spoons. Livin' was light (no TV, no internet, little mail), but relaxing. I read almost 2 books and we spent most of our time playing with Finn, walking, and talking about our (possible) new house.

- After a lot of drama on behalf of the sellers, we finally closed on 1967 E and moved in last Wednesday! We are glad to be settling down, unpacking our stuff (one of two PODs arrived yesterday), checking out our house (and scheming about future projects), and meeting neighbors (so far we have met neighbors from 4 nearby houses!).

A special thanks to all of our family and friends who helped us move, put us up for >3 weeks, watched Finn, and had us over for BBQs.

So I'll stop blabbing and share some photos.

Last photo in 1400 S. We were both a little sad to leave (E more than me)...we put a lot of sweat into that place. In the end, I was glad to be free.


Our humble, temporary residence. After three weeks we were ready to move on.


1967 E Wilson Ave!


Finn enjoying his new slide (he goes up and down on his own!)

Moving = Fun

Just a few photos of Finn playing:

3 Days!

Erika has been away for 7 days now. Finn and I have had fun, and especially enjoyed time with Nana, but are hoping these last three days go fast! In case you haven't heard, we put our house up for sale (yes we are crazy) and accepted an offer in 8 days (what real estate slump?)! The down side is that we have to be out of our house by May 7 (yikes!). Oh yeah, and we need to find another place. OK, on to the photos:

Finn enjoying Fairmont Park. I can't believe how old
he looks in this photo.

We've been loving this spring/summer weather.
Here we are eatin' out. Note Finn's own burger.

Caught reading the "daddy book" the daddy and kid
in the book look just like Finn and I, which is fun
for Finn (and kinda creepy for me).

Finn enjoying his Nana time. We are both so thankful that she came!

Preppin' for packing. If you look closely you'll see a little kid packed in there.

EarthWatch

If you're wondering where Erika is and what in the world she is doing in New Orleans, click here: http://www.earthwatch2.org/lff/DuRoss/

Happy Easter

Kaya, Greta, Finn

Finn had fun getting a taste of his first Easter egg hunt. He lasted a little while before getting distracted by the sandbox and food.

Schmee Schmoo

Finn's vocabulary seems to be growing exponentially these last few weeks. Driving around town he continues to point out the red, white and "blue bus", the "yellow bus" and today it was "bike car" for a bike mounted on the back of a car. The colors he knows are rapidly expanding to include: red, pink, green, yellow, blue, purple, white and black. Opposites such as push/pull, off/on, in/out, and up/down are becoming more common terms. Hudson is praised for being a "good boy" until he wants him out for "night night".

below are a few images of Finn's version of Andy Goldsworthy style art with the creation of "snow mouse". Notice the nice rice cracker touch. Next time we build something like this I'll know to consider a location that is visible from a window knowing that Finn will want to visually keep checking on it. Who knows, maybe this will be the last of the snow for the season...

Back at It

Quick Laugh

Here's a video I captured of Finn and his "good dog" Hudson:



-cbd

Double-Double

Well I finally made it down to St. George for a "Winter" climbing trip with my friend Stefan. We had postponed the trip two previous times due to scheduling difficulties and weather, but persevered and made it down. We met up with an old friend Eric, now living and teaching in Cedar City, and hit three different areas in three days.

Overall it was a great trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the warm rock, plentiful (and mostly well bolted) routes, and complete lack of crowds. We saw one person the entire time...the author of the guide book who put up about 400 routes in the area in the last decade. And I got to fulfill a long-neglected In-N-Out fix, hence the title "double-double," which is their signature burger and one of only four menu items, unless of course you know the "secret menu" (unlike Eric).

Here are some of my favorite photos:

Day 1 we visited an area called the Prophesy Wall...
moderate, well bolted routes abound.
Stefan's camper patiently waits....

Eric belaying Stefan on a classic "5.10" at
the Prophesy Wall.

Eric stepping up and leading a super fun and moderate
(but somewhat scary looking) route at the Zen Wall,
just outside of Santa Clara.

That's me on a moderate, but exposed
route at the Zen Wall.

Stefan leading at the Zen Wall.

Oh for a macro lens. Beautiful Yucca...
but poor depth of focus. Still like the shot though.

Eric and Dana getting ready to climb at the very cobbly
Parowan Gap, just out side of Cedar City.

-Chris

Give me MORE outdoors

Things have been a little still on the home front with Chris sick all last week and now I've been home a few days taking care of Finn. Despite running a fever and being fairly congested, Finn still had his cheery moments where he wanted to be outside. Here he is making a pit-stop to play with the ski poles on the front porch before we walk to the grocery store for milk. He's so fascinated with skis and poles and loves riding in the backpack while we're skiing. It won't be two long and he'll be schooshing or kicking and gliding himself (maybe next year).

Yay-Yeay

Yesterday Erika took advantage of lots of fresh snow in the Wasatch and Finn and I had a good long day together. Here are some photos from throughout the day...which seemed to focus on Hudson.

On a rough night, I usually take advantage of Hudson's midnight backyard wanderings (he always gets up when we get up) to calm Finn. Looking out the window into backyard and searching for "Yay-Yeay" always calms him down. The other day Finn realized that he could push his stool up to the back window and look out on his own. I captured this from outside:

The idea of Hudson walking through his own mini-door must be so strange and exciting for Finn. Here he is calling for Hudson,

and here he comes...look out!


And finally, a video that I took at lunch...listen for Hudson's growl near the end.





Chris

Did you say dung beetle?

Well, this is a random smattering of photos and events to update everyone. Below: Finn showing off his dung beetle shirt. I can't believe he is big enough to fit this shirt. It seemed so huge when we received it in the mail from friends in S. Africa last year. He thinks he's pretty funny peeking through the back of my hat. I agree, it is pretty comical.





A recent teaser week of warm weather made it feel like Spring and left me craving a little change. It's been a year since my hair was last cut so I figured it was time to go short again, and a little blonder.

Lastly, I can't help but mention how proud I am of few of Chris's recent accomplishments. Last night he received a 2009 WSSPC (Western States Seismic Policy Council) Award in Excellence under the category of Research, specifically Wasatch and Sevier Faults Paleoseismic Research.

It's been a number of weeks now since Chris made the news, but there are still a few family members that haven't had the link to see it. Click here to see him speak about "Putting Down Roots in Utah".