Weekend Reunion With Friends

Last weekend we had the opportunity to stay at a large cabin with some good friends I met when I was first at BYU. Most of us lived together in the same apartment complex, and I have been friends with them since.

We spent our time there eating, playing games, relaxing, walking, eating, and talking. Especially talking. It was so fun to see everyone there. Some of these friends we see fairly frequently, but it has been years since I saw some others.

The cabin had a number activities there that we enjoyed. There was a hot tub, pool table, foosball table, and air hockey table. Nate and I especially enjoyed the pool table. There was also a playground out back that Austin really liked. In fact, Austin had a great time there playing both by himself and with other kids.

Austin sliding into a pile of leaves

Playing air hockey

Saturday we all headed to Dairy Keen in Heber for lunch. Austin loved all the trains there, and had fun on the one they have outside.

Monday morning after our time at the cabin was up, we drove up to the Provo River Falls while we were relatively close to it before heading home. It was a good time to go since it wasn't very crowded, and the falls were beautiful.

Apollo

On October 13, my family's dog Apollo passed away. That was five weeks ago from today. He just turned twelve years old in August. I have been wanting to write something in memory of Apollo for awhile now, but have had a hard time actually doing it. The end of his life came so abruptly and unexpectedly. It started with what everyone thought was an eye infection that Monday. Soon it became clear that it was much worse than that...he had cancer. Apollo went downhill incredibly fast. He wouldn't eat anything, and he hardly drank anything either. He was obviously miserable, and my parents took him into the vet to have him put down that Thursday afternoon. It makes me so sad every time I think about it.

He has been greatly missed, most acutely by my mom, but also by the rest of my family. He was really a great dog. He was incredibly patient, and he was so obedient. I was quite excited when my parents finally got him as a puppy...having a dog was something I had been longing for every since I can remember. I was also frustrated that my parents had waited until I was gone and attending college to finally get a dog.

Apollo in November 2004 - shortly after my parents brought him home

Apollo was a cute puppy. I enjoyed watching his antics, like how he went wild barking at the vacuum whenever we were cleaning.

On Christmas Day 2004

My brother Ben was particularly close to Apollo since he still lived at home when my parents decided to get a dog.

New Years Day 2005

Apollo became a usual and pleasantly anticipated part of all my visits home. As I sorted through my pictures of him, I found that most of my images came from holiday celebrations, especially Halloween and Christmas.

Christmas 2005

Family Halloween Party 2006

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2010

Family Halloween Party 2014

In fact, Apollo played a huge roll when deciding what dog we would get. My experience with Apollo helped me to conclude that we should also get a Sheltie.

Apollo was such a beautiful dog. It was hard to not have him around this year at our family's annual Halloween party. It is strange to not see him when I am at my parents' house. I know I will continue to miss him.

December 2008

Halloween Festivities

October was a month full of Halloween festivities, as usual. For example, we took Austin to the city's Halloween Carnival one Friday evening. He dressed as a magician. He loved playing the games there, getting his face painted, and picking up plenty of treats.

We also attended our ward's Halloween Carnival, where Austin also participated in various Halloween activities and games.

The Friday before Halloween we went to our family's annual party where we enjoyed eating dinner, carving jack-o-lanterns, dressing in our costumes, eating doughnuts, listening to Halloween stories, and watching a movie.

This last year we grew white pumpkins in our garden, so we thought we would carve one of them on this occasion. As it turned out, that was easier said than done. I think that the top of the pumpkin was about two inches thick and very difficult to get through. Nate finally got the top off using a drill. We decided to go with a very simple design...

We had fun trick-or-treating with Austin on Halloween night too. Unfortunately, someone decided to steal our treats we left out for trick-or-treaters while we were gone though. Not only did they take all the candy, but they also took our bowl. I am just grateful it wasn't my favorite bowl, but we were still very irritated. We have left candy out like that for years without any issues, but it doesn't look like we will be doing that again.