TIMP

For Christmas this year in Marie's family we gave each other the gift of an activity planned for the whole family. Many months ago for example you may recall that I almost killed Romney on our Merry Christmas family sledding activity and Marie considered not talking to me anymore.....but let's not dwell on that lapse in fatherly judgment.

Marie's sister Catherine gave us the gift of a family hike up Timpanogos. We each were given assignments for the hike as well. I, for example, was the "official time keeper - because everyone deserves a second chance." My assignment was a reference to one of my first attempts at a Curtis family activity which was hiking the full length of the narrows in Zion. The only problem was my alarm didn't wake me up in the morning and didn't wake up anyone else either so we were REALLY late getting to Marie's parents and siblings and her dad decided he didn't like me and I had this pit in my stomach that almost made me puke in his car which would have made him like me even less. It was not one of my finer moments.

Marie was the offical "dispenser of snacks." You see, one of Marie's jobs in life when it comes to taking care of her sister Cath is to always be sure to have snacks on hand at a moments notice. Cath needs a lot of snacks and as the parentified child, Marie feels it important to fulfill this need. She did not dissappoint on the hike.

We were so excited to have Peter and Marv on the hike with us. They are in about the same physical shape so they both had to bow out early. Peter held on a little longer than Marv but in fairness to Marv, Peter was being carried up the mountain.

This part always scares me on the way up...and the way down. (if you click on it you can see the trail switch backing along the side if the mountain)

Here we are on top. See how I'm hanging onto Marie? that is not an attempt at affectionate hand holding. That is an attempt to hold on to something, anything, that will keep me from falling off of the top because even though I'm smiling I feel like my stomach is dropping out. (author's note: I did not write the words "feel like my stomach is dropping out. I wrote something much more descriptive but my editor told me that no one wants to know what I wrote so it had to be deleted from the post. I just wanted you to know that I felt much worse than simply my stomach dropping out. thank you.){editors note: trust me. It was too much information.}

This is where we chased the mountain goats. These things can climb up into the craziest places.

On the way down we decided to ride the glacier rather than hike. We thought for sure this would save some time. It didn't. But it was more fun. And more wet. Here is Ben showing how it should be done. (notice the nice hat grab when he goes over) The rest of us went on our butts.

picture overload

So I've been trying for a month to write this post...seriously. I finally figured out the problem I was having uploading the pictures and it turns out that although I wanted to blame it on my suckity suck internet it was actually....operator error. Why does it always turn out to be my fault in the end?

BUT anyway I'm glad to finally share with you some of our recently taken family photos! They turned out great even though we cried just a little before the pictures. Well, maybe a whole week before the pictures. Do you ever fight a lot before your family pictures? I still remember exactly a family photo that is hanging in my parents house from back in the '80s when my mom though it would be cool to have big ball-y hair. We fought SO much that day. I laugh when I see us smiling in the picture because I remember that we were NOT happy.

So, yeah, we cried. We cried that none of our clothes matched and that we didn't have any style and that we had to wear old clothes and that our kids didn't know how to smile and that we had zits and that we were bald and.....you know....the usual stuff. Since it has been so long since I have blogged I think I'll have to be really honest and tell you that we cried because we felt like we didn't have any nice clothes and that we were not cute. It is hard with so many other cute people in the world. They all have style and grace. Why can't we have a little? LUCKILY, however, it turned out that at a minimum our kids are cute (at least we think so) and even though we are bald it is okay because being bald isn't so bad.

Another thing we have working for us, as well as against us, is other super stylish family members. The good thing about having super stylish family members is that they can come over and help. They will get out ALL of your clothes, along with lots of theirs, and they will put them all on the bed and then they will help you choose what to wear. This seems like a really good thing because since you are un-stylish and they are super stylish they will be able to find the exact combination of pants and socks and shirts and skirts to ensure that no one notices you are bald because you are dressed SO good. Another good thing is super stylish family members may also be willing to loan you their nice clothes because after visiting your closet they will agree that you don't have any nice clothes. There are some draw backs to having super stylish family members as well. Sometimes, for example, ignorance is bliss. My life was just great before I learned that I couldn't wear this shade of khaki next to my son who is wearing a different shade of khaki. Sometimes it feels great to just say - "Yeah, this shirt will go nicely with your skirt and we'll all look great." Sometimes it is not helpful to find out that your idea of what to wear is embarrassing and that the photographer might be laughing behind that camera at my lack of coordination. Sometimes I just want to not match and not know about it okay? Is that too much to ask? When having the only family photos you have had in a really really long time....yes. That is too much to ask.

I had a hard time deciding which pics to post so you get to see a lot of them! Plus I know my Grandma wants so see a lot of them so I'll blame it on her. (click on them to enlarge)


















































all photographs by Alli S. Miles - allismiles.blogspot.com you should email her right now to schedule your family shoot. She was really great. allsmiles.photography@gmail.com
(also - the quality and size of these pictures was greatly reduced to accomodate the blog. actual photos were much higher quality)

Super Peter

Little Peter turns one today! What a year, what a year, what a journey for this darling little one.

(Don't be deceived by the double candles on his birthday waffle. It's just been such a big year, one candle wasn't enough.)

He stopped by for a birthday visit to his adoring cousins for a customary and patiently endured session of mauling/loving.

When mom is away.....

It has been a whirlwind of activity this month. Girls Camp, Hebgen, Youth Conference, hike Timp, family reunion, and now, Marie's birthday. This birthday (the 23rd) (the 23rd of July - not the 23rd birthday. She is much older than 23) will mark Marie's first vacation sans gorgeous husband and kids. It was really hard for her to go but I just felt like she needed it.

When it came time to go she cried a lot. I mean a lot. I think she was homesick before she even left. She really felt like the right thing to do was to stay home and make us dinner and rub our feet and be sure that we didn't want for anything at all. In the end however, I instisted that she go. It was the only right thing to do.

Here are some things this week that made it clear Marie was out of town.

1. As we arrived one morning at the family reunion for breakfast and realized that we didn't have any shoes for Romney.

2. Later that same afternoon we arrived and Grandma's and Papa's house and Rom WAS wearing shoes, but Lainey wasn't.

3. I have been having a "Movies Marie Would Hate" marathon everynight with the help of the good people at redbox. So far I have watched, "Knowing," "Taken," and tonight's feature will be "12 Rounds." "Knowing" was wierd and I'm not really sure what happend but I am pretty sure Marie would have had nightmares. (I might have had one or two myself.) "Taken" just involved a lot of beating people up and shooting people which, you know, I'm totally into. Tonight looks like MOS (more of same) but with a lot more explostions and a lot more actors I've never heard of.

4. I only had one concern while getting Romney ready for church on Sunday: change enough of his clothes and wash enough of his body so that he no longer smells like pee all the time. I cannot confirm if I succeeded or not.

5. This blog post will likely contain egregious spelling and grammatical errors because my editor is out of town.

(picture from a recent family photo shoot we traded for a few nights at the condo. Just got the pictures and SO happy. check out the photographer - allismiles.blogspot.com She was great. There are two posts in July with pictures of our family. More to come later)