Day 20 - Remembering...

Not many things bring tears to my eyes... a firefighter has to be strong you know... but, part of me died ten years ago while I stood in the kitchen at the firehouse and watched the towers fall... we all knew that our "brothers" would be rushing in and giving their all... and realizing, but for the Grace of God, it could have been us.  God be with our brothers and sisters and all who were touched by this tragedy.

I will never forget!

Scott
Deputy Fire Chief, Retired

Day 19 - Vibrant Tongues and Top Shot

Saturday, 10 September

Another great day today (even though I thought it was 9-11 and I did not figure out it wasn't until late this afternoon when I was talking on the phone with my son... It is really weird being out of touch with the world because there is no TV to watch here... But I am getting kind of used to it.)

This morning, Hyrum was a little wound up during breakfast so Deb asked him to go play in the toy room for awhile.  When I was getting my breakfast, I turned around and saw this image... I told Deb to grab her camera, which fortunately was on the counter next to her, and she was able to catch the "Red Blue Blur" decompressing!  This has to be my new favorite photo.

Later, Deb had each of the boys pose with "the cape"... this is the same one that their dad wore for similar photos when he was a boy their age...

Grandma Deb had to go to Walmart for something, and I just needed to take a drive (getting a little cabin feverish)... So I took the boys to Sonic for lunch and they each had "slush" with their "Wacky Packs".

The highlight of the day was watching Kaleb shoot, for the first time, the new Henry Repeating Rifle that I gave to him for his 8th birthday.  It is a modified version of the one that Ammon is shooting (I gave that one to him last year on his 8th).

Both boys sat for my NRA Basic Rifle Course before shooting the rifles.  They both are very good shots and very responsible gun owners... Kaleb wants to be on "Top Shot" someday.

Grandpa and Kaleb had a little friendly competition...

When we were done shooting, he turned to me and said, "Grandpa, how did you get to be so good?"

I guess, that means I won?

Actually, he was a tough competitor.

He and Ammon had fun dreaming up different target scenarios... this one was fun... they tried to pick them off from the top down... they did well too.

While we were shooting, Hyrum colored with his grandma.

After dinner, we all watched a movie together and then the boys went to bed after getting their clothes ready for church tomorrow.  Deb and I went out and sat on the swing on the pavilion and watched the full moon light up the valley below, as we listened to the amazing night sounds that are here... a very wonderful way to finish a great day!

As I go to sleep tonight, I am thinking about the 343 firefighter brothers and sisters that lost their lives 10 years ago on that tragic day when our country was attacked by radical Islamic terrorists... May God continue to help their families and friends heal and may they find some peace tomorrow as the tragedy is commemorated... and the same wish goes out to all the countless others who lost their lives or were affected by 9-11-01.   I will never forget!

Day 18 - Boyhood Paradise - A Perfect day

Friday, 09 September

Today was an incredible day!  Brandyn and Jen left for their cruise at 0330 (yes that is correct).  When the boys awoke, Deb hiked up into the rocks in front of the house and began to explore.  When I got up a short while later, I joined them.  We had so much fun exploring the rocks and caves.  Then the boys went swimming in the pond.  They watched some TV with Deb while I finished a book I was reading, then they played a game.  Tonight Ammon made his signature spaghetti sauce (it was awesome), and then we watched a movie together.  After the movie, they read books before bed and then went right to sleep.  It doesn't get any better than this (and they were never more than 50 yards from their front door!)  I am going to post most of the photos that deb and I took today... they are self-explanatory!  Enjoy.