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I stumbled across some pictures of Kyra from a “photo shoot” we did a few months ago. I couldn’t resist making a little collage.

For the last couple of years, my friend RaeAnna has told me I need a new hairstyle. Without directly insulting my barber (Laralee), she’s said things like “You actually want your hair to look like that?” and told me how much better it would look if I’d let her cut it and add some “product”.

She also gives free haircuts to local missionaries, since they don’t really have the money to spend on a “professional” barber (25 bucks for a five-minute trim?). So she agreed to cut Zaque’s hair as well, since he’s about to be a missionary.

Zaque and I took a quick photo before we headed over:

His hair wasn’t nearly as poofy as usual, because he’d just taken a shower and it was still wet and somewhat matted down. But it was pretty much in full ‘fro mode.

We sat down in RaeAnna’s kitchen and she went to work. Zaque’s hair took nearly an hour to finish– she kept trimming this and that.

At one point she’d pretty much shaved the sides, but the top was still long and curly, and he looked somewhat like Titan from Megamind:

Then she went to work on me. She trimmed the sides and back, pretty much like Zaque’s, and then added some “product”. She insists that “even engineers can be hot”.

The results:

Today I bid farewell to my good friend Dave, with whom I’ve enjoyed a thousand lunch conversations over many years.

His startup, KickView, continues to thrive. He started it a few years ago, and in a way I was one of the founders, but at the time I was pretty busy with Zing and couldn’t dedicate enough time to really help him get off the ground. So instead I fell into the role of an advisor, and the two of us talked about strategies and business ideas and all sorts of things. He drew from my experience starting and running a company, and I learned a lot from him along the way. It’s been fun to watch his journey, and I’m sure going to miss those lunch conversations.

Tonight was my last GRU board meeting. I’ve been on the board for the past three years, and before that I was a league coordinator, tournament director, captain, webmaster, official scorekeeper, and a host of other things. This organization has been a huge part of my life for the past twenty years, and it was (as always) bittersweet to bid farewell to the rest of the board.

It’s always amazing to me to see the power that a group of passionate volunteers can have. GRU has come a long way in twenty years, due in large part to the tireless work of the board. I’m leaving it in good hands, but that doesn’t mean I won’t miss being a part of it. Thanks for all the memories, guys.

As we continue to dig through the corners of our basement, packing up our house for the move, it’s been interesting to find some things that were long forgotten. For example, today I unearthed a couple boxes of coins I’d amassed in high school. I played poker with my friends for many years, and I tucked away my winnings. It was always nickel-dime-quarter stakes, but over the years I ended up with a lot of nickels, dimes, and quarters.

Everything was neatly rolled, so I loaded the boxes into my trunk (combined, all these coins weighed over a hundred pounds) and drove to the bank. I hefted these onto the counter by the teller, who informed me he’d have to crack open all the rolled coins and run them through the big counting machine in the back room. After a twenty-minute wait, he came back and reported the grand total: $654.65. Clearly my rolling wasn’t as accurate as I thought years ago. But still, it’s nice to have that money in my bank account instead of sitting in a box under the basement stairs.

I also found a savings bond that Grandma Schroeder had given me when I was a wee lad:

Based on the date, this was a Christmas present when I was fourteen. The bond cost $25 and matured at $50. But, since I’d let it sit in my basement for over three decades, the interest had accumulated so the total redemption was a cool $103. Thanks, Grandma!

Now, as I continue to pack, I’m on the prowl for other things I can “cash in”…

As Laralee and I walked around the neighborhood, we were surprised at the number of sunflowers at various houses. I started snapping pictures of them as we walked…

And one perfectly-formed flower:

As we finished our walk, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset (note Longs Peak in the bottom left).

On our walk this evening, Laralee and I saw this bumper sticker on a rusted-out truck.

Stumbled across this photo on the internet today. Wholesome.

Alex timed his wedding carefully so he and Kaitlyn would have a few days to honeymoon before starting classes, so we took the opportunity to bring a bunch of things from home for both him and Kyra. We managed to fill a U-Haul trailer with a bed, dresser, nightstands, Kyra’s enormous comfy chair, and boxes upon boxes of stuff.

Unlike the last time she headed off to college, Kyra knows her roommate (a woman who served in the same mission), knows the campus, and knows what her major will be. So she’s much more confident, excited, and ready to be social. We unloaded things into her new apartment, which is cleverly called a “lodge” because it sounds fancier even though it’s just as worn-down as any college apartment.

After a bunch of wedding festivities, we stopped at the shave-ice shack near her old apartment complex and enjoyed a late-night treat.

It wasn’t quite as good as the one on Kaua’i, but that might be because it wasn’t a scorching sunny 90 degrees, and we weren’t actually in the Hawai’ian Islands (although the shack was themed that way). Still, I’m definitely a convert to shave ice and hope to get a machine for Christmas or something.

It’ll be fun to have Kyra and Alex at BYU together, along with a bunch of friends they’ve made over the past few years. I hope their college experience is awesome.

Yesterday was Alex’s wedding. In the few months since he announced his engagement, we’ve been watching him plan, organize, and run through a thousand details leading up to the big event. Kaitlyn, his betrothed, did her share of the work from afar, since the two of them weren’t together for most of the summer. It was definitely hard to have a long-distance relationship, and to plan a long-distance wedding, but it all came together beautifully.

Here’s the happy couple at the head table:

And of course some goofy faces too:

Here’s a shot of their first dance. Notice their cloaks, and the dagger at Alex’s side. It was a medieval-themed wedding, and although most people showed up in standard Sunday clothes, there were a handful of committed friends who were carrying shields, covered in chain-mail armor, and even a guy in a full knight’s suit straight out of Monty Python. Alex and Kaitlyn cut their wedding cake with a sword!

Later during the reception, Zaque unfurled a long scroll and announced the story of the happy couple. He embellished it a bit, and added some side commentary like only he can. The tale was hilarious.

As an added bonus, we saw a bunch of old friends from Longmont. Some of them drove all the way out from Colorado, while others are now living in Utah and had a shorter trip. I ran into three yahoos who I’ve known since they were little boys:

And we took a picture of (almost) all of the Colorado crowd:

It was great to see all of the planning come together in a ceremony and reception that was fun for all. Now Kaitlex (as they will be known hereafter) is on their honeymoon. It’s weird to think I have a kid who’s married but I’m really excited for them. Here’s wishing them many, many happy years to come.