Father's Day 4.0

Today is Father's Day. This is my fourth Father's Day as an actual dad, and it has been by far my best. Chanel made me some sweet Broncos pajama pants, complete with pockets. She also gave me a cool shirt that says "New York. Paris. London. Rome. Castle Rock." I really think CR belongs in the same category as those other cities, but I'll save that for another blog. We had some amazing steaks, vegetables and a potato dish. Had a waiter brought this meal to me at a restaurant I would have demanded he escort me to the kitchen so I could shake the hand of the epicural genius that developed the tasty masterpiece. But it was Chanel, so I gave her props and ate like a man that hadn't eaten in a number of decades. Man that woman can cook. I mean she can really cook. She can also make me feel like I'm the most special, most loved man alive. I love her like absolutely crazy.

I'm really thankful that I have the opportunity to be a father. A talk given in church today helped me understand how important the role of father is. The speaker gave statistics about homes without fathers, and it seems that the kids in these homes don't fare as well as the kids in homes with dad around.

I love my girls. I choke up when I think about them growing up and getting married. I want to be a cool dad when they start dating but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be Rambo and hunt down the potential escorts with my big machine guns, hand grenades and machettis. I want to protect them at all costs.

Those fathers out there that are reading this know what I mean when I say I love my girls. I can't explain the deep love I have, the joy I get when Julia hugs me or Lauren Grace smiles at me. My heart melts when I'm around them. The world stops spinning and all my troubles go away when I see them. No matter what happens to me professionally, I will always be their daddy, and that means the entire world to me. I thank God for giving me a miniature view of what He feels for all his children.

I'm thankful for Chanel. She is an incredible mom, and an awesome wife. I don't know how she does what she does, but I'm very glad that she does. We're best friends. She has helped me become the person that I am. What a cool chick.

In other news, I built a bunk bed for the girls. I have a hard time building sandwiches, let alone beds, so I decided to document the monumentous event. Check out the progression photos.

Finally, what blog would be complete without a few artsy shots of Lauren Grace?

Visions of Jack

I'm really not in the mood to blog right now. I don't have that burning fire-like writer's desire in me, and that makes me a little upset. Kerouac would write for hours and hours straight, he'd write like mad, like a bullet train he'd type away all through the night. I wish I could do that, but my attention span is very short, and I don't want drugs and alcohol to help me stay awake all night. One day I will write a novel that will be considered great years after I die. Or, I won't. Either way, I just don't feel like blogging right now.

I think it's funny that when you spell check your blog the word blog is considered a misspelling.

Isn't this a cool picture of Lauren Grace sleeping in the back seat of our car?

I love this town

It's been over a month since I posted my last blog. It would have been longer if my close friend Dylan hadn't persuaded me to "get my blog on."

I have decided to express my love for my home town in this post. Every morning I wake up, look out my window and thank God that I live in the world's greatest town. When you think of Anytown, U.S.A. you think of Castle Rock, with its rolling green hills, corner cafes, bridges in the heart of downtown, and trains that blow their ever-traveling whistles to let you know they've just been through America and they're ready to tell you all about their travels before they start them all over again.

Some day I plan to put into words the feelings I get when I look at my town so you can fully comprehend how great it is to live here. That may take a while, so yesterday I decided to take Lauren Grace with me around town to snap some photos of this wonderful corner of the earth. Check them out:

This is "The Rock," a cool formation that can be seen from all over town, and from I-25 as well. It's our Golden Gate Bridge, our Statue of Liberty, our Sears Tower, and I love it. One day I'll climb it. If I survive I'll post pictures.

It may be difficult to tell by these pictures, but Castle Rock offers some amazing views. The Wal-Mart roof can be seen in the photo on the left. The photo on the right was taken from a Catholic church parking lot.


I am fascinated by bridges, especially if there's choo-choo trains on them (center). The one on the right is downtown, and it spans a little river with a walking trail beside it. A few weeks ago they had a plastic duck race down there.



"Downtown, let's go downtown." Downtown Castle Rock is a perfect example of a classic downtown, before Sam Goody and Sports Authority and Baskin Robbins took over America's landscape and pocketbooks. The top center photo is a shot of a sweet ice cream shop called Olde Towne Creamery, which service ice cream made from the milk of Boulder, CO cows. Top right is a shot of a rockin' music shop that I need to check out.

I am going to post more photos this evening. Please post a comment and let me know what you think of this place. And remember, our basement bedroom is always open for visitors.