Goodbye Lynn

I'm sad to write that Tara's dad, Lynn, passed away late Friday night after a series of health problems that put him in the hospital a few weeks ago.  Lynn was 81 years old and he put up a brave fight while his body was failing him.  This has been a rough month for Tara's family, as Lynn's health has been up one day and down the next.  In the end, the Houtz' wanted to honor their father's wishes by not keeping him on the treatments that were helping him survive.  They took off the machines after a family meeting on Friday and Lynn passed away shortly before midnight.

Lynn has always been such a good influence in my life.  From the moment I met Tara he was friendly and accepted me as part of the family.  Lynn was always a person I would talk with about life.  Since we were both early risers on family trips  there was usually an hour or more where the two of us would be the only ones awake.  It was then I would ask Lynn questions or discuss some of issues on my mind.  His advice and wisdom really helped me as a young husband and father.

I can never thank him enough for the help he provided my family.  He served us many times and I could always count on his help whenever I was working on a project around the house.  We raided his garden, borrowed his tools, and took of his time - Lynn was always willing to give us whatever we needed.

I am sorry to see Lynn pass beyond the veil.  It hurts to have our loved ones move on.  I know that Lynn was so important to Tara and I ache for her loss.  Still, I know that Lynn was ready for his next journey.  Thank you Lynn for your life and example.  You will be missed.

Date Night

Tara and I did something that doesn't happen very often - we went on a date.  My parents are in town, giving us a chance for a babysitter, and I thought it would be nice to take Tara out for an evening.  The past couple of weeks have been really draining, both emotionally and physically, so we needed a night out.

It was time to paint the town red.  Ok, so we headed over to Red Lobster with a gift card I got a few months ago.  My favorite part of dinner was the fact that Tara met me at the restaurant, 20 minutes after I was seated at the table.  It was great watching all the people try not to look at me sitting solo in my booth. A few years ago sitting alone would have been a big deal, with smart phones you really don't even notice.

After dinner we walked across the parking lot to the dollar movie.  In spite of my aversion to Brad Pitt movies we decided to see Moneyball.  As Tara and I are both baseball fans we really liked the movie.  I knew most of the story all ready, but it was interesting to see how much the baseball establishment hated the changes that Billy Beane made with his team.

In the end our evening was over by 10 pm.  The date itself wasn't anything special -  gift card dinner and a dollar movie.  Still, the fact that we took some time for ourselves was priceless.

Changes at Work

My return from the Christmas break arrived far too quickly.  It's amazing how hard it is to come back after a couple of weeks off!  When we all came back into the office we were greeted by some major changes.  A few months ago we learned that half of our building was being demolished as the College of Ed gets a new building over the next couple of years. 

I must say I've been pretty skeptical that the changes would actually take place.  You know how it is, the planning is a lot easier than the actual project.  I thought it would be late Spring or early Summer before we ever saw any real action.  I was wrong.

Every day this week our afternoons have been interrupted by the heavy pounding of the equipment pounding on our building.  This building was coming down and soon.  

It's actually been pretty fun watching the progress as the demolition takes place.  You'd leave work and the next day a wall would be down or the windows would be missing.

In the end the west wing was gone.  I guess now we have to watch as the missing walls are filled in and a new entryway is built.  Our building looks small compared to how it was last month, but at least we still have our offices!

Photo of the Day: Tube Time

Over the holiday break Tara and I moved the old TV into our bedroom,  we didn't realize it would come with three little attachments.

Happy New Year's

We ended 2011 in a new way for our family. Since we're down in New Harmony visiting my parents we decided to see how Southern Utah rings in the new year. We headed down to Springdale to see fireworks as part of the Zion Joy to the World celebration.

We started our trip by trying to find a restaurant for dinner.  You'd be surprised but this was harder that we thought.  Springdale is more of spring/summer town and most places were closed "for the season."   Eventually we found a fun little Mexican place where the food was good and best of all - they were open. Casas de Amigos fit the bill for us (Big Al was able to have an enchilada and a taco) so we were ready to move on to the rest of our festivities.

We didn't know what to expect from a fireworks show in small town.  When we arrived at the community center you could tell that the event was bigger than we had imagined.  The center had set up tons of outdoor fire station to keep us warm.  It really had a fun vibe as people from all over Southern Utah came to watch the show.

The fireworks were great!  Who would have imagined a twenty minute extravaganza put on by Springdale.  The best part was the beautiful views of red rock illuminated by the bursting colors in the night sky.  We were so close you felt like the fireworks were right on top of you - it was amazing.  Thanks to the town of Springdale for kicking off our New Year's on the right note.

from Jason Butler via Facebook

After a brief stop in Hurricane to look at Christmas lights (they really have a few homes from Christmas Vacation),  we headed back to New Harmony to watch the ball drop.  The kids were so excited to stay up til midnight.  Kennedy talked and talked about how she wanted to make it to the new year.  She wanted to watch Times Square on tv and see the party.  By the time we made it back to my parents you could tell the excitement was gone.  In a matter of moments all the kids were in jammies and the new year came in like this.....

Happy New Year everyone!