August 05, 2007

July 2007

Dear Kids,

Sadly, I write this knowing that the end of summer is just around the corner. The days are getting shorter and there is lots of talk about football on the radio and TV...both tale tale signs that we’ll be breaking out the long sleeves here in a bit. When I decided to move back to Utah in 2001 I would often get confused looks by my friends (friends who just couldn’t fathom why someone would ever want to live anywhere but San Francisco). “The summers,” I would explain “are just about as perfect as anything I can imagine.”

While the time we enjoy sitting on the porch with a cold beverage in hand draws to a close, I am happy to report that we’ve made the best of our time this summer.

Last week was spent at Lake Powell and St. George with nearly all the Hurst's (sadly Suzanne, Jeremy & Tennyson couldn’t make it due to their moving across town). Now, I have to confess that when I was in high school I hatched this fantasy that I’d meet a girl whose family had a houseboat docked at Lake Powell. It was my most favorite place on earth after all, and I just knew that my family would never spend money on something like that. So you can just imagine the look on my face when your mom dropped this little nugget on me when we were dating, “Yeah, we’ve got a boat. It’s docked at Wahweap.”

A few months into our courtship I was invited to spend a few days aboard the Rebel. One evening we were sitting on the roof watching the sunset and I just knew that I wanted your mom to be my wife. It was then that I knew that God answered prayers as He knew that THAT WAS ALL I EVER WANTED!

We had a fantastic time, even though the Rebel is a little claustrophobic given the 22 people who were on board. Thanks to the determination of uncle Dave, we had an intimate spot with lots of morning shade, our own little beach and some good places to hike and swim. We ate lots of empty calories and read lots of magazines. Talked. Watched cousin Ethan catch several varieties of junk fish. Swam. Floated. Skied. Fished. Administered sun block and went on lots and lots of boat rides.

It was this trip that I finally learned how to drive a boat. Usually these duties are left up to uncles Justin, Dave, Jared, Jason and Grandpa Ross but due to a numbers crunch it was up to me to step up and help. I was happy to do so and now look forward to driving more next year. Maybe I’ll even pull a skier or two.

All of this fun comes at a price of course, and seeing how I’m not exactly employed to the level I’d like to be I am currently scrambling to find myself a full-time job. I have been fortunate to have been freelancing with an agency in downtown Salt Lake since May, but that has now ended as the woman I was filling in for is now back from maternal leave. Fortunately I still have a number of well-paying gigs on the calendar and may possibly be producing an album here in the near future. I am forever grateful to your mom and her support...who knows, maybe we’ll move to LA where I could do more session work. Nahhhh...just kidding. I hate LA.

I just celebrated my 38th birthday a few days ago. And by celebrated I mean that your mom gave me a hard drive from Costco that I’ve had my eye on for a while. While not the most romantic gift, this hard drive will store hundreds and hundreds of photos of you cute little monsters, so in a way I can see the romance.

It’s probably also worth noting that I went to my twenty-year high school reunion this past month. I was fortunate to have had a really good experience in high school, which I guess is pretty rare judging by classics such as Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Your mom even had a good time due in part to the “many good friends I have” and “all the 80’s music” being played by the DJ.

It was kind of a surreal experience as I caught up with my former classmates hearing about their transition into adulthood...teenage kids, established career paths and the like. It was then and there that I gave thanks for my life. I have experienced so much as I have taken such an unconventional route in discovering who I am. I am so grateful for who I am and how I came to be.

RUBY-

You may have noticed that your mom and I have been spelling lots of words around you lately. This is largely due to the fact that you can understand so many words. It seems like every day you impress me with YET ANOTHER WORD. Not only can you say words, you know what so many of them mean.

A couple of days ago I asked you to take a used rag to the hamper. “Hamper” you said and walked directly into your room and deposited the used rag in the hamper. I was dumbfounded as I was positive you’d do something else with the rag. Maybe it was a lucky guess, but I’d like to think that you are on par to become the smartest human being of all time.

Not only can you say dozens of words, you can also count to five. You love letters and like to point them out whenever occasion permits. I was wearing a shirt that had “ACE” spelled across the chest and you’d point to them and say “F” “S” “D” “J” and such. Your uncle Jared, who was in the room at the time, looked at me and asked if that was normal for a kid that age to be doing that. I responded that it was normal for MY children to do it so GET USED TO IT.

Alright then, I know I’ve gone on enough about your talking, but one other thing worth mentioning is that you are beginning to speak in sentences. The funny thing is that your sentences sound something like, “Ajfkdsi fkjsh shase fkesidfn water.” Or, “Eish kalammao dingi cla cla bubbles.” Obviously you understand that there should be words to say before the one word you do know, but you just don’t understand what they are. You are so adorable when you do this. Your mom and I often find ourselves deep in laughter.

Last month at your 18 month check up you sized in above your 100th percentile in height (while coming in around the 50th percentile for weight...let’s get that number up a bit, huh?). So this might mean that you’ll be tall and skinny just like your momma.

We were so nervous that you’d be one of those kids who would hold the boat hostage with your moods at Lake Powell. Given that nap time didn’t really happen we were so relieved that you were an absolute dream. You LOVED the beach, the sand, boat rides, swimming and spending time with your cousins. It was fun watching you become more familiar with everyone even to the point where you knew the names of almost everyone on the boat.

It was fun exposing you to some of the animals we’d been reading about in your books. We saw lots of fish and ducks and birds. I never got tired of hearing you point them out. You also loved to point out the boat, water, moon, clouds, rocks, sand, chips and weeds.

BABY #2-
Your mom is uncomfortable. Really, really uncomfortable. Her elderly old-timer patients often ask if she’s having twins. She’s nice and says “no,” meanwhile under the surface she’s holding back her frustrations. Nothing fits. She’s taken to wearing loose skirts and t-shirts almost exclusively. Lesson learned: NEVER be THIS pregnant during summer.

We have been frantically working on the house preparing to make space for you. My old office will now be your bedroom, or maybe it’ll be Ruby’s new room as we’re not exactly sure just what to do. Either way it won’t really matter too much as you’ll be in our room for the first few months.

We feel you kickin’ and movin’ quite a bit these days. Like Ruby, you seem to be most active in the early AM, smack-dab in the middle of your mom’s sleep. I guess that in some way you are preparing us for the sleeplessness we’re about to experience over the next few months.

We still both strongly feel that you are going to be a boy, which is good as we have finally come to an agreement on a boy name. If you are a girl then we’ll have to confront that dilemma head-on and make a quick decision. We both have a list and it will be a test of our negotiation skills to see who haggles best.

Alright then kiddo’s...I gotta get ready for church. This month promises to be yet another eventful one. We’ll have almost all the Campbell’s in town for a reunion near Kamas where we’re renting a cabin out in the woods. We’re so excited to see everybody and watch the cousins do what they do.

Love,
Daddy

Posted by patatomic at August 5, 2007 11:15 AM

Comments

It seems so wrong that I was not at Powell. I cry when I think of what I missed. I miss you guys so much.

Posted by: Aunt Suzy at August 9, 2007 08:57 AM

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