Papa Comes

Of course after all that raving about Mormor I for sure can't leave out Papa!! My dad came and joined us this trip since it was going to be Jaxon's special 8th birthday and baptism. I never can exactly put my finger on what it is about having my dad here--but I really look forward to his presence. Besides the fact that he fixes everything that needs fixing (broken light fixtures, permanently clogged toilets, changing lightbulbs...etc. etc.), his presence here is just a comfort to me. Probably just cause he's my dad! 
Okay but before I go on, I want to include a letter that emailed to us while he was at home and my mom was here--hope that's okay with you, Dad! It was hilarious.

January 9, 2011

Hi all,

This might be short.  The night is almost upon us.  I was happy to accept Matt and Taryn’s supper invitation tonight.  After a delicious supper we watched a movie.  I got home in time to take out the recycling, talk to your mother on the phone, and type out this letter.

I drove your mother to the airport on Tuesday.  As it happened, a medical detail rep brought in lunch to the clinic that day.  After I finished a good helping of garlic laden pasta, I realized that it really didn’t matter how bad my garlic breath was, because your mother would not be around to put up with it.  It caused me to wonder how many other things I could do while your mother was away and not have to worry about it.  So I kept a list.  I’m sure I could add to the list if I had a little more time to think about it.

Here’s the list:

1.       Eat all the garlic I like with the only consequence being possible massive thirst and the resulting trips to the bathroom.

2.      Discharge all the flatulence I care to without fear of harassment, assuming I restrict such pleasures to home and not the office.

3.      Wash dishes the man’s way – turn on tap, swish dish under the water, put dish on drying rack.  Don’t even think about using soap.

4.      Leave the toilet seat up.  This is actually very hard to do.  I am too well trained.

5.      Play video games to my heart’s desire, including Texas Holdem, anytime of the night or day.

6.      Wash hands, dry hands on towel, and then scratch nose with towel.  That one gets me into major trouble when your mother catches me.

7.      Throw out things that could be recycled.  As a matter of fact I threw out a lot of things but I will skip the specifics since the evidence (or lack thereof) could be incriminating.

8.      Go to bed any dang time I feel like it.

9.      Have naps any dang time I feel like it.

10.  Eat cookies for breakfast.

11.  Eat cookies for lunch.

12.  Eat cookies for supper.

13.  Eat cookies anytime.

14.  Don’t eat any vegetables.

15.  Don’t eat any salad.

16.  Don’t eat anything that might be good for me.

17.  Leave the bedroom closet door open when I go to bed.

18.  Leave the bedroom door open when I go to bed.

19.  Leave the ensuite bathroom door open when I go to bed.

20.  Leave any door in the house open that I feel like when I go to bed.

21.  Use the same bowel and cutlery for all meals.  Wash bowel and cutlery after each use.  See 3 above.

22.  Heat up food in the microwave on a plate covered with saran wrap.

23.  Take peanut butter and jam sandwiches to work for lunch.

24.  Buy lunch when I get tired of peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

25.  Wear wickaway underwear to the gym all week without washing it after each use.  (I’m thinking of doing this.  I haven’t actually done it yet but it is nice to know that I could if I wanted to.)

26.  Let the answering machine answer all incoming phone calls.  (Unless it is special people I recognize on call display.)

Well, as you can see, it’s almost like being in heaven around here.  It would be except this place would never be heaven without the one ingredient that is missing.  Your mother.

Bye and love,

Dad/Art

Hilarious, right???!
He's been wanting to take the kids geocaching for some time, and was able to do that this time, which was fun for them...even though they only found one out of the four that they looked for. I love that he enjoys his nightly desserts with us, so my mom stocked the house with oreos and ice cream before he got here...always a nice excuse to ditch that diet and eat treats with him! (Although I know he's SUPER healthy at home and would never dream of eating ice cream and cookies every night, right Dad?) Jared had a crazy night at work the night before Jaxon's baptism--so my dad and I went early to the church to fill the font and set up chairs. It was a sad day when my parents left. That's for sure. Isaac didn't quite grasp that they were gone for good and kept asking for Mormor and Papa. It was very sweet. Now I'm wishing I got a picture of my dad and the upside down toilet and the nasty toothbrushes he found down the pipes--which is why its been permanently clogged--thank you Isaac!