I have no idea where this question came from yesterday, but in the car one of the kids asked this question. It’s one of those questions only a kid would ask—and it’s kind of fun to think about (although it doesn’t really mean anything in the grander scheme of things).

Here are the answers our gang came up with:

1. Lindsay & Kyle: Agreed that heaven smells like laundry detergent.
2. Logan: Thinks heaven will smell like limes (gotta love citrus!)
3. Anita & I: Agreed that heaven will smell like newborn babies (the good smell)

What will heaven actually smell like? Who knows, but Logan said it best when we had all given our answers: “It will smell like that but better!”

So what do you think heaven will smell like?

P.S.: After I posted this I realized Kyle asked this same question back in January. I guess he didn’t get the answer he wanted then.

Tonight was one of those impromptu family nights that I absolutely love. They seem to come around more often in the fall when the weather turns a little colder and everyone just wants to huddle up together.

Our theme tonight was waffles and Knight Rider. For dinner I made “from scratch” waffles (they were AWESOME). After dinner we all sat down to watch the new version of Knight Rider. I remember watching this 80’s version with my family. No, it’s not quite the same but the boys love the car and the action—and we are all together.

Family memories are built on stuff like waffles and Knight Rider. Even if the kids don’t remember it…I know I will. Just enjoying each other’s company makes it worth while. And did I mention the waffles were good?

So…what are some of your favorite family memories?

For the past two days I have been a proverbial “bachelor” while my family has been in Wyoming visiting my wife’s parents. I know it sounds great…house to myself…schedule free to do anything I want…yada yada yada.

But it just ain’t so. It S-U-C-K-E-D! First, my lifeis plenty busy that I didn’t exactly get to do anything overly exciting (unless you count homework and boring TV exciting). And I flat out miss my family. They are a part of me and I love being with them. I have the greatest wife on the planet and I missed being with her and sharing my day with her. I have great kids and truly enjoy hanging out with them…they are just fun to be with (most of the time).

And to top it all off, I couldn’t sleep worth a &%^$#! It has been a long time since my work-travel days when I got used to sleeping alone. It doesn’t feel right and I couldn’t get used to it.

The good news? They are all home again! Life is back to “normal” (whatever that means). We are back together again…it feel right!

PS: After some more thought and discussion, here is the list of Manhood Principles we settled on:

1. A Real Man Knows and Walks with God
2. A Real Man Lives by Biblical Standards «We have a list of 12, but that’s another post
3. A Real Man Works for Something Bigger than Himself
4. A Real Man Loves and Protects His Wife and Family

Would still love your feedback and thoughts before it becomes “set in stone” this weekend”…

We just got back from three days at Jackson Lake (just 1.5 hours NE of Denver). We went with three other families…one of which has a boat! I absolutely L.O.V.E. getting away with family and friends! It feeds my soul and is always a great time. We went last year too, but we were alone then…fun, but it’s also good share the fun.

This particular weekend was spent with Greg & Susie (and their 3 girls), Michael & Amanda (and their son Noah), and Lindale & Briana (sp?) (and their son and daughter…this was the first time we’d met them…great family). All told we had 8 adults and 9 kids. Does it get an better?

Of course it was a hot weekend, but we spent most of it at the beach or on the boat. The first night sucked royally…wind blew hard all night…nobody got any more than a couple hours of sleep (and most didn’t get any sleep at all). But the next day paid the rewards as we water-skied and tubed for most of the day (thanks to Greg & Susie for pulling us around the lake).

I tried to be manly and get up on the wake board, but it was nothing doing. I did get up on the skis twice (but if you blinked you might have missed it). Nothing like trying something manly to keep you humble!  Lindsay was able to get up on the training skis once (she was up on the skis but couldn’t quite stand up). Always fun to watch your kids try something new and exciting and love every second of it…they especially loved being pulled by the tube!

We didn’t get a single picture…but our friends did so as soon as they post them we will share. Now we take it easy for the rest of the evening and get back to the “real world” of school (math is over for me, but I’m right back to it this week), work (ugh!), and the mundane parts of life that make it real. I always have a hard time getting to my devotions over a long weekend, but still feel connected with God anyway…He’s so good!

Oh yeah…almost forgot, Logan (our 8 year old) also learned to ride his bike this weekend! Now, of course, we can hardly get him off of it. It was a long time coming, but he picked it up fast once he put his mind to it (sounds like someone else I know…that would be me in case I was being to obtuse ). I’m so proud of him!

Every year we make a trek up to some private land in Como, CO. The tradition is that we go on Memorial and Labor Day weekend, but this year the snow kept us from getting there over Memorial so we pushed the trip to this past weekend. I must admit it was much warmer (day and night), but that’s not to say it didn’t have a few new wrinkles (see the last photo).

We always have fun with family and friends. The view is unbelievable and the fishing is usually out of this world (I caught 9 trout this year). The weekend typically includes poker, s’mores, rides on a recreational vehicle of some kind (this year it was a motorcycle thanks to my buddy Justin), working on the pond (see photos), and just taking it easy by the fire. This year was no exception…we had two new couples/families and had a great time. We missed some of the “old guard” (i.e.: Bill & Cindy and Larry & Shelley) but we are truly blessed to be able to use this pristine land and just get away from it all for a few days. If you’d like to join us just drop me a line…the more the merrier!

Here are some of the more memorable photos from the weekend…

 
The Busy Campsite

 
The Amazing View!

 
Some of the Gang hanging out by the fire.

 
Paul chilling out with some camp coffee
(not sure what the one glove thing was about?)

 
Food Fight!

 
Don’t they look like they love each other?

 
Does it get any better than this?

 
Logan & Kyle getting some good sleep.

 
Beavers have nothing on us man!
(Of course this broke about 2 hours later…but we’ll fix that)

 
Just as we were getting packed up to leave this hail storm pounded
us for about 5-8 minutes. That was a new one for us…now we’ve seen it all!

Our plans changed a bit this past weekend. Memorial Weekend is our annual camping trip to Como, CO. I think we’ve been going there for the past 5 years or so (Anita will correct me if I’m off one or two). We were all set for this year’s trip, we were in the middle of preparations on Friday night, when we got a call that informed us that the road to the campsite was covered with snow and wasn’t passable. A serious change of plans was in store for our weekend.

So what did we do? We improvised of course. Friday night was spent just trying to figure it out and get over the disappointment of a lost camping trip. Saturday we spent the afternoon with everyone who was going camping (as well as a few that weren’t) and barbecued at Paul & Leslie Foster’s house…followed by a couple poker games of course (and yes, Anita won one of them).

Sunday and Monday we headed down to my Granparent’s house in Cañon City. They spoiled us rotten and took us to the Royal Gorge on Monday afternoon. The weather was good and we had a great time. Not bad for a sudden change of plans. Here are a few pictures from the trip down south. Don’t miss the video at the end (Lindsay’s favorite part of the weekend I think).

 
My Grandparent’s Victorian House in Cañon City, CO 

 
My Grandparents (Ross & Charlotte) posing with the kids.

 
The beginning of the Royal Gorge afternoon.

 
Lindsay, Logan & Kyle riding the carousel.

 
A great view of the world’s highest suspension bridge.

 
A little ”wildlife” (the Elk in the background too).

  
Who doesn’t love a petting zoo?

 
The Air Tram across the Gorge…did I mention I hate heights?

 
A little perspective for the video.
This is the Royal Gorge Skycoaster from across the Gorge.
It’s the same ride as at Elitches, but swings out over the Gorge!!

Here’s the video of Lindsay and me riding the Royal Gorge Skycoaster. We both kind of talked each other into it, but I was impressed that Lindsay went through with it (although she wanted to back out a few times). You’ll note in the video that she is the one that pulls the rip cord. The video doesn’t really do the ride justice…it swings you out over the canyon…an awesome experience…and one that I got to share with Lindsay!!

If you can’t see the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

All in all a great weekend salvaged from what I thought was going to be a bummer!! You just can’t go wrong spending time with family and friends. A memorable Memorial Weekend…one for the memory banks.