The Next Chapter in my Brother's Life

Well, today I helped my older brother Byron finally pack all their possessions onto the largest Penske truck you can get without a CDL. He and his young family are leaving tomorrow for Indiana and a whole new experience. For more than a month now they have been living at
his in-laws while his family's near future was worked out. At first they were going to move from Salt Lake to Ogden, a scant 40 miles or so, but when that didn't work out they decided that they would try Indiana, a bit farther away. You see, Byron's father-in-law has been living out there since about the beginning of the year with the intention of moving the rest of his family out upon completion of the school year. So even though it seems random, it's not so much.

So Byron and I spent the better part of four hours today loading this truck. James, the oldest son at just about three, amused himself by continually asking me what I was doing. I told him that if he asked me the same question every ten minutes for the next three hours I would always say the same thing: "moving stuff". His watch was fast though, and after what must have been one or two minutes he figured it was time to ask again. Micheal, at just over 18 months, wanted to see what it would feel like to pull an appliance dolly down on himself. It didn't turn out as well as he thought it would. Finally, Emily, at about two months old, didn't do much of anything except make sure someone was holding her at all times.

At last the truck was packed and one of Byron's former coworkers came to help lift the piano on the truck. We celebrated the initial packing of the truck with dinner at a little chinese spot in Clearfield and headed for Bluffdale. My wife met us in Bluffdale and we spent some time with them while we could.

The most difficult part about seeing them move is that we won't get to be around the kids. Last year we went to Island Park, Idaho for a week and the whole family was very disappointed when we found out that they wouldn't be coming. Despite that, it's a great opportunity for Byron and Kari.

Also I was happy that Byron, Shaun and I were able to go on a hike on Memorial Day. We hiked to Grandeur Peak and had a great time. Byron said its a good thing he was able to go to the mountains since Indiana's highest point is something like 1500 ft. Here's a pic of us at the summit (that's Byron, Shaun, and I from left to right). Thats what the Salt Lake Valley looked like at 8:00 am on Memorial Day.