Family History

Learning about our ancestors can be a really moving experience.  I've watched a few clips of the PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots, including this one about Dustin Hoffman.  The people who are discovering their family history are often moved to tears as they learn about the struggles and challenges their forebears have endured.

As I get older, I'm further and further removed from the days when I used to visit my own grandparents.  I have many fond memories of both my maternal and my paternal grandparents. Trips to stay overnight with them.  Sunday dinners.  Homemade ice cream.  Many fun experiences.  Sadly, all have them have been gone for quite some time at this point.  A couple years ago, Parker and I were working on his genealogy merit badge.  One of the requirements had us attend a family history resource center run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We searched for information about my grandpa, Roy Lind.  Among a few other things, we were able to pull up the recently-made-public 1940 census.  As we looked at the image of this document, we were able to see information about him.  He was 25 years old in 1940.  He was married with two children (one is an uncle that I know well, the other is an aunt who passed away long before I was born).  It showed that he completed the 8th grade and was currently working as a truck driver for Feed and Seed Stones (or something like that.  The handwriting was a bit hard to read.)  It was his first year on the job, he was working about 48 hours a week and his annual income was $1,960.  What a treasure to be able to see all of this.  It suddenly made his life so much more real to me.  He wasn't just the retired old man I had known.  He had once been a young man, working hard to feed his family.  I shed a few tears as I looked over that census page.

Recently I have started working out on a pretty regular basis.  We have an elliptical machine that I exercise on while watching Netflix.  Last week I finished a series and was looking for something new to watch.  Based on the detective series I often enjoy, Netflix suggested the series Columbo for me.  I've started watching it, and it's really quite entertaining.  It originally aired in the late 60's and early 70's.  Perhaps my favorite thing about the show is that I remember my Grandma Lind talking about it when I was a young child.  Every day when I get on the elliptical and start Columbo, for a moment I am an 8-year-old in her living room.  I can visualize the bookshelf with its many small dog ornaments, the doorway into her small kitchen and dining room, and her TV against the wall.  I can see her somewhat frizzy hair and almost smell her tater-tot casserole.  I know she'll have a crossword in her hand and a James Michener book on the end table.  I'm grateful to Netflix for suggesting this series to me.  I'm going to look for more ways to connect with those who have gone before me.  So many of them sacrificed so much and worked so hard to lay a foundation which has enabled me to live how and where I live today.

I'm grateful for that.

Jeremy

In the Dark

Conner has progressed so much in the last two years.  It's hard to believe he has been a part of our family for 23 months.  For most of the first year he struggled so much.  He couldn't speak English very well so his ability to communicate with anyone at school was extremely limited.  Other kids were nice to him, but he couldn't really make friends.  Pretty much every day we would ask him, "How was school?" and he would spit out, "BAD!!!"  That has turned around almost 180 degrees at this point.  He's a generally happy kid.  He speaks English quite well and has lots of friends at school.  When we took him to the high school basketball games this season, lots of kids would say hello, and often some of the kids would come and take him from us and lead him over to the student section.  He has a really good friend named Tanner who helps him at social events like dances.  Christi and I are so grateful for the many wonderful kids who are so attentive to Conner and genuinely like him.

After two years, he really has begun to enjoy life in America.  When we ask him how school was he usually says, "maybe good."  This is high praise coming from Conner:).  But one thing has remained consistent...his vigorous dislike of math.  If you ask him, "How do you like math?"  He responds with a vehement, "I Hate it!"  If he hears someone talking about math, he volunteers, "I HATE math!!!"  It has become very apparent that the kid does not like math.  And now I undertand why.

I have always loved math.  I have always been quite good at it and have been a tutor, paid and volunteer, for many students.  Many times I have seen great joy in the face of someone as a concept suddenly became clear to them.  Tonight for the very first time, Conner had math homework.  He has obviously studied the subject, but the work has been completely done at school.  Now he has gotten to a point where his English is good enough and his braille math is good enough that he is bringing work home.  And I really can't believe how hard it is.

First of all, since he's blind, he obviously can't write his problems down on a piece of paper.  Instead, he uses a device called a Braille Note.  This is an amazing machine that has moveable pegs for each braille letter.  As he types the braille into the machine, the pegs move so that the most recent typing is always available for him to read.  But as amazing as that is, think about it for a second.  Instead of having all of your previous work on a problem readily available in front of your eyes, he has to use his fingers and only has the most recent notations at his fingertips.  If he forgets something from earlier in the problem, he has to backspace through the braille until he gets back to that.  Not only that, but the notation is so challenging in braille.   Instead of the elegant simplicity of numerals, fractions, +, -, etc, each of these has to be represented by the 6 braille dots.  What's more, he can't quickly glance at the original problem.  Instead, he has to repeatedly reach from his Braille Note up to a large braille math book.  Now Conner is lucky.  He is quite brilliant.  His ability to do arithmetic in his head is phenomenal.  But once he's done it, he has to remember it, because he can't just write a middle-of-the-problem-answer down in the margin of his paper.  The whole thing is crazy!  However difficult I've made this sound, it's at least five times harder.  You really have to see it to believe it.

Conner, I am in awe of you.  Lexi, you too.  The daily struggles of life without sight are more than I think those of us with vision can possibly imagine.  And yet the two of you, and so many of your visully impaired friends, remain positive, happy people.  You are productive.  And perhaps the most amazing thing of all is how much light you share with the people around you while you yourself are surrounded by darkness.  I am forever grateful for the light you share with me each day.  You brighten my world.  Thank you!

Dad

Elli and the Dark Side

Darth Vader came to visit Elli at school last week.  She loved his breathing and his voice:)

A Wonderful Life

Shortly after we moved into our new home, the cap on the bottom post of our stairs came loose:

If you bumped it as you went by, it would fall off.  A couple months ago I finally got around to fixing it.  As I was placing some screws to keep it in place, Taylor walked by and asked what I was doing.  I told him I was fixing the railing.  His face got just a little sad and he said, "I'll miss it.  It always reminds me of "It's a Wonderful Life."

I must be doing something right as a father:)

-Jeremy

Throwback Thursday

A trip to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum in 2008:).  It's so fun to have so many cute kiddos!

Elli is loving the wind from the blow dryer:)

Grocery Budget

Right Footed: Watch the Movie!

Back in November, Sophi and I went on the best daddy date ever!  The two of us had an amazing time at the Napa Valley Film Festival, but what was clearly the highlight of the trip was the opportunity for Sophi to meet Jessica Cox.  Meeting another person born without arms was truly a life-changing experience for Soph.  Our sweet little girl was able to see what great things are in store for her as she grows up and gets to experience more and more of the world.  We are so grateful to Jessica Cox for sharing her time and encouragement with Sophi.

The movie Right Footed is a fantastic look at some of the things that have made Jessica such an inspiration to many people around the world.  It is an emotional and uplifting journey and is a movie that everyone could benefit from seeing.  It is now on a platform called Tugg that allows people around the country to host a local screening.  It's a pretty simple process, with no financial commitment from the host.  To learn more about it, watch this quick video:  Right Footed on Tugg.

Sophi and I would highly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to see just how much potential every one of us has, and how a positive attitude, perseverance and hard work can help all of us overcome the challenges in our lives:)

Jeremy

Lone Peak 2015

In September of last year, Taylor, Parker and I made our annual trek up Lone Peak.  Such a fun tradition!  This time we took Molly with us.  She did great.  We even had a sleeping bag for her to cuddle into during the night.  It was a bit of an adventure trying to get her to fall sleep, but I think she eventually did.

As usual we packed all of our gear in.  We took in the beautiful views, cooked over an open fire and enjoyed the silence and serenity of nature.  On the way back down we stopped at the waterfall and took a very cold dip in the river.  (Forgive us for our less-than-manly squeals as we laid down in the frigid water!)  Here are some pictures as well as some video of the waterfall.

The "resting rock" in the meadow that is about the half-way point:

Beautiful sunset!

Parker brings up water from the river for cooking and drinking:

 Parker needed some pictures of nature for a biology class: