ch-ch-ch-ch-changes and digressions

Then....

and now....

The cemetary trees have grown. The family has grown. The number of pixels has grown. The amount of chub in my cheeks (both pairs) has grown. The distances between have grown. The appreciation for sharing and making new memories has grown. Does that mean this goofy bunch of Stratton Brats are growing up? Probably a little, but hopefully not too much.


You might well wonder why we take our family photo at the cemetery. It could be in memory of Craig's childhood tendency to projectile vomit whenever we drove by the cemetery. Perhaps it's to showcase Craig's Eagle Scout benches of cementness. It might even be for the lovely views of Pine Valley and Toquerville Hill (or whatever it's called... I always thought of it as the man-in-the-mountain's torso or the hill with the comet shaped black rocks. anywho...) Maybe it's the oddness of the location that allows us to be our naturally odd selves and thus take a decent picture. It might be any or all of these reasons, but the most influential reason is because Mom said so. Who needs more of a reason than that?

Just for the record, Levi's third date theory constitutes him coming over to my house on my birthday on the open invitation for friends and family to come celebrate. Furthermore, when it is considered that I spent time talking with a cute lawyer guy in whom I was also interested, it becomes obvious that it was in no way a date. It was a visit. He even gave me a paperback copy of Artemis Fowl because he wasn't sure enough of our new relationship to merit giving me a hardback gift. Of course, that was the evening of our first kiss, but that is entirely beside the point - though it does say something about Levi's wisdom in choosing a paperback. If a paperback got him some lip action, where would a hardback have gotten us? Scandalous! Speaking of birthdays, mine is next Tuesday, just in case you all were planning a wonderful birthday surprise and wasn't sure which day to free up. ;)