Visitng The Fam

Harry, contemplating the Universe ...

...and his gourmet lollipop from Gramma.

Post trade show I usually head for home right away, but I haven't had a lot of time off this summer so I took a couple of extra days on the backside to visit the family. My mom lives an hour south of SLC, so we were based out of Orem, Utah.

I say based out of, as we tried to get out of Orem as much as possible. Orem is a giant strip mall with more payday loan and pawn shops per square mile than I've seen outside Detroit. Orem, if you'll excuse my candor, is the Schaumburg Illinois of Utah without the big mall. Orem is a good place to be from.*

Now Provo, just a few blocks south, is a lovely little town with a real downtown and a beautiful campus (BYU), cute houses and parks. Pretty town.

We took advantage of the proximity of Orem to Sundance. For five bucks you can spend an hour riding the chair lift and just enjoy the scenery without freezing. The quad is perfect for our family. I am not as skilled in self-portraits as Whitney so this is as good as it gets.

We played around, ate some home-cooked food and visited with my brother and sister who live in Orem too. Had some fun shooting pics of Harry, my sister's youngest, who is very photogenic and an absolute riot. He loves to wrestle, and at one point declared that "Uncle Darren has small muscles. I have HUGE muscles." Then he jumped on my head.

Then I sent a text message to my brother regarding his eminent fatherhood (number four). We are both sometimes men of few words. No, really. Here's proof.


More later on the San Rafael Swell,

Canoelover

*Not all Orem is hideously ugly and unlivable. There a few small oases such as Kristin's parent's garden, which is fantastic...as are her parents. These are really good people and I wish they lived in Wisconsin with us.