Fuddruckers with Beth

We've had Rosie's niece staying with us on and off for the past 5 weeks and Rosie thought it worthwhile to take her out to Fuddruckers for dinner one night.  Here's Rosie caught in the act of stealing some of John's food.

Not really but that is what it looks like and makes for a more interesting story.

Anyone that knows us well, knows that she has been struggling with eating due to some, as of yet,  undiscovered illness so it really wouldn't have done much good for her to be stealing for from me anyway.

Beth seemed to enjoy her meal, but was initially a little intimidated by the size of the burger that she ordered.  Rosie talked her into ordering a Strawberry shake which pretty well topped her off for the evening.  We originally planned to stop at Cold Stone Creamery, but after the shake there wasn't much reason for that.

Rosie's Hospital Trip

Rosie recently spent a morning at the hospital for a procedure to try and diagnose her illness.  She had a camera put down her throat into her stomach.  She was a real trooper through the whole thing despite being very nervous going into it.  We gave her a blessing the night before and everything went really well.  Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, nothing abnormal was detected visually, though they also took some tissue samples as they sent the camera down.  The tissue samples were found to exhibit signs of Acid Reflux Disease and she has had some more doctor visits to determine steps going forward. 

Love You Babe!

Biggs Family Reunion

Over the fourth of July weekend we not only celebrated Independence Day we also had the Biggs Family Reunion.  It was held at my Uncle Harolds place up in Pinedale, AZ which isn't terribly far from where the old family cabin is so we diecided rather than waste time setting up a tent and all that we would stay in the old cabin.  Many people don't care to stay in it because it's old and small, but I guess because Todd and I grew up going to the cabin and staying in it that it doesn't really bother us much.  It's just old and small.

Rosie wasn't terribly impressed with the old place eitehr but was a good sport about the experience for the most part.  Below are some pictures of the cabin as well as a picture of the land it sits on.  The apple trees were trees that were planted shortly after the place was built by my grandpa years ago.  At least that's what I remember being told.

We stayed at the cabin the first 2 nights and then decided rather than spend time driving back and forth that the last nigth we would rough it a bit and sleep outside on the ground. We ended up getting some mats donated to sleep on and we were able to cuddle up and stay relatively warm for the night.

In Pinedale there's this old structure-at least it appears old, but I think I was told it's not nearly as old as one might think, that has been dubbed "The Leaning Tower of Pinedale" for obvious reasons and Rosie decided it was a good photo op.

Overall, we had a great time, but our camera ran out of charge and we forgot the charger at home.  It was great spending time with family

Watch Out Annie Oakley!!! Mrs. Rosie is in Town Now!

I'm proud of Rosie because she over came her fear of guns and did some fine shooting.  With some coaching from Harold and encouragement from Kevin, Daryl, and me she killed the box:)

Just in case people thought the pictures were staged we figured we would put up one of the videos :)

Father's Day Thought

Dads

Have a kind of language all their own. I know this because I've been listening. SURPRISE!
For example, when dad's say, "Be careful." or " Make sure you call me," it really means, "I'm never going to stop worrying about you."
When they say, "You look pretty," or “You’re growing up too fast,” they’re really saying, “I wish I could hang onto you just a little longer.”
And when they say, Who’s that guy again?” what they really mean is, “Noone will ever be good enough for my little Girl.”
Well don’t worry Dad because I love that you care about me enough to say all those things and I just want you to know that no matter where I go or whoever comes into my life, a big part of my heart will belong to you.
Happy Father’s Day!

Love,
Rosie

Father's Day -- Epiphanies

I was watching TV, if you can call a long ad for 60s music TV, late last night with Rosie and one of the songs triggered a well-timed Dad memory that I instantly thought would be great for Kendra's book for Everett.
It happened when James Dean sang one of his famous story ballads 'Big Bad John' and I figured it should be shared. It was another one of those moments Dad probably didn't even realize he was leaving an indelible impression on one of his kids.
It was at a church basketball game (you know this has to get good :)) and as always I was tagging along because I just knew if they came up short they would ask me to play with them even though I was only 10 or 11 at the time. I was sitting on the bench next to Gary Palmer and they were at our end of the court when a shot went up. I guess dad was one of the taller guys on the team at 6' 2" and he and someone from the other team went up for the rebound. All I remember of the next few moments was that it got pretty physical (I don't think that they actually got in a fight) and Dad came away with the ball that he then powered back up with a shot under the basket. It happened quickly and probably wouldn't have been a huge moment had it not been for Gary singing "BIG BAD JOHN" as he was going up for a the shot and getting hammered by the guy he took the ball from as well as another guy.
It was one of those moments for me when I realized something about my Dad that I guess I kind of knew but when this happened I remember thinking, "My Dad is really really cool!"

Then there was the time while he was the time while he was serving as a counselor on the 3rd Ward Bishopric with Bishop Mike O'Loughlin at a MIA activity. Dad was dressed up with a curtain in front of him and shoes on his hands with Mom behind him acting out with his hands and shoving loads of food into his mouth. He kept telling her to wait and the more he tried to keep her from loading more in, the more she tried to put in. Everyone was laughing as the hilarity continued to unfold and April Mleynek made the comment, "He's such a great sport." I remember at the time thinking that it was something for me to learn from because I didn't like to be laughed at and would never put myself in a position for such ridicule. From then on I decided that I would allow myself to be a little more vulnerable.

The last story I thought of while thinking of Dad was another MIA activity (He was very good about magnifying his callings). There was a competition where people were divided into teams and one person had to run to the other end of the Cultural Hall, Stand a bat up on end, put there forehead on the handle end, spin around several times, and then run back to the other end and tag the next person. Then they would run up and do the same until the last person was done. Dad was on my team and I was thinking our chances for winning this thing was probably really good. I was behind him with one person between us and he took off down the court like a banshee and made the spins before anyone else. Then it got a bit hairy (try running after spinning in circles with your head on a bat). He started on his way back and started leaning to his right. I knew instantly that this was not going to go well. The more he tried to run and catch himself the more he leaned. He went crashing down in a heap and slid head first in the cabinets under the stage where the tables and chairs were kept.
Needles to say it scared the crap out of me and I didn't care about winning anymore. To everyone else it was understandably hilarious, but I found no humor in it. At that exact moment I realized just how much I loved and worshipped my Dad and seeing him out of control, even for a stupid kids game, was not a good moment for me. Not that we always had the best of moments since I at the time was an all-knowing teenager, but my Dad was, well, DAD. The greatest human being on earth. He ended up getting his composure well enough to get back to tag the next person and the entire time he too was laughing. I don't remember the outcome of the race or even fulfilling my leg of the race, but that moment was left a clear mark on my memory of MY DAD.

I love and miss him. I miss not being able to ask him questions or calling him to tell him what new thing I've learned. Even after 2 years my heart aches a little. Oh the reunion though when we meet again! I look forward to that moment and that joy fills the ache every time!

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a perfect BIRTHDAY!  Rosie started off (in the spirit of her Birthday month lets say garbage that she seems to have gotten every woman in my family to buy into) making me breakfast before heading to work.  It was french toast with fresh berries.  She has actually been making a huge effort since June 1st to make me happy with breakfast and making my lunch for work that I'm usually to lazy to make on my own and so I would normally just go out to lunch.

Along side breakfast was a wonderful card from her and Buddy.  The picture above was of the envelope.  Who wouldn't feel special with a card titled like that?!

Then tonight after work we went to Mom's house for "Tommy's Birthday."  This turned out to be a huge surprise party for me with a Nacho bar that had all the fixings!  According to Rosie I have my sisters to thank for all this.  It was awesome and unfortunately we forgot our camera, but there were plenty of them there so hopefully we can get some copies and I will try to get some more posted.  I was very surprised and was impressed by the number of family members that showed up for the party.  I have a wonderful family and extended family and I thank them all for the cards and gifts!  It was much more than expected and I hope that there is a picture of the posters that Karli made for me.  They were well done.

Then I got home late and checked the voicemail messages.  I had a sweet Happy Birthday rendition from Mum (aka Houdini).  It was nice and greatly appreciated.  Then there were the Facebook birthday wished from family and friends and even a couple of emails.
It's not so bad getting older when you have family and friends that treat you like this on a special day.