Life's a Filet of Fish: Criminal Blog Negligence

Yes, I haven't been updating nearly regularly enough...ly. I last left off in March. Considering that it is now late June, I'm going to rather expeditiously breeze through some of the goings-on. This mainly consists of an epic photo dump.

Before we dive into it, I need to take a moment to remember my grandfather, Ray Reese, who passed away rather suddenly at the end of March. He had some health troubles the month prior, but nothing had seemed insurmountable until we learned that he had a type of neuroendocrine cancer which rapidly metastasizes. It is suspected that it was triggered by ultraviolet radiation burns endured during his time in the navy (colloquially known as bad sunburns). Within a couple of weeks of his diagnosis, his health deteriorated quickly and he passed in the night after having said his farewells to all his family--remotely for us, as we were unable to fly to Brigham City on such short notice.

Grandpa was a sweet, strong man. I never knew him to complain nor shrink away from doing something hard. He was confident and strong in his faith. He was happy. He absolutely would destroy you if you played Phase 10 or Rook. In fact, the only time I remember beating him at any game we played was when I moved a part of my aircraft carrier off the playing board in Battleship. During my extended singlehood, he was never pushy in getting me to date...but after talking with him I'd always feel more motivated to try a little harder. I'm grateful that he was able to seal Alison and me before he passed.

The last bit of personal correspondence I had received from him was a card congratulating us with John's birth. It was brief, thoughtful, and a bit poignant as he never got to hold him in his hands before he died. He'll never get to know his great-grandpa.

We had to take Johnny on an airplane a bit earlier than we had originally anticipated (we had a Disneyland trip planned for the following week). The services were held on Friday, April 4th, so we had to fly in the night before.

We met my mom in the Phoenix airport, because that was apparently the cheapest route to fly.

Thankfully, John took to air travel fairly easily. He spent most of the time asleep. I'm also afraid these may be the easiest flights we make with him.

At the funeral I got to introduce most of my cousins to Alison, as they weren't able to attend our wedding. Dad had to do a lot of the planning for the funeral, and I think it turned out nicely. Grandpa had a lot of friends in Brigham City. He was a sealer in the Ogden temple and then in Brigham City. He was working right up until a month or so before his diagnosis.

Being a Reese function, there was of course plenty of candies

Grandpa served in the navy during the Korean War. He was active in his group of veterans, so many of his compatriots attended the funeral, including a gun salute at the graveside. I acquired one of the spent cartridge blanks.

Grandpa actually already had the headstone done long before his death.

For Eric and Haley, this was the first time they ever got to interact with John.

In semi-Big Chill fashion, everyone hung out at the family house after the services. Many of my relatives I haven't seen since leaving school.

Eric was his usual self.

The age difference between John and my cousin Angela's girl is 6 months. He's still close to her size.

We visited an old boxcar, which was kind of creepy. I can't exactly remember the significance of it, except that it had something to do with family history. There was an old teddy in the tree by the boxcar.

Our stay was brief. We both had work to attend to.

Back home, they finally started building the house next door to us.

John finally learned to express some emotion other than crying, which was nice.

Then it was back to the airport to see the other side of the family. This trip was under more happy circumstances, thankfully.

We met up at Robby and Michelle's for an extended weekend at Disneyland. It was the first time in maybe 10 years that I had visited the park.

That is Charlotte, the youngest of the LA Gibbs.

On the train with the LA Gibbs (minus Emma)

We took a guided tour through some of the historical parts of Disneyland. We got to spend some time in Walt Disney's personal apartment that overlooked Main Street. Apparently he spent many nights there as the park was in its early days, making sure everything went just right. The apartment has remained as a sort of small window into his legacy. We weren't allowed to touch anything.

Baby Elizabeth and Baby John

Some of the Ladies Gibb

We even got to meet up with the NY Gibbs for a little while. It's a much more expansive family reunion than my own family's. Of course, I'm the only one with kids at the moment, so that makes the family unit smaller.

Graham and our little kid

Doling of Dole Whips

Chelsea and Graham of the NY Gibbs

I was there too. Most of the time I was taking the pictures though.

Hilary, Elizabeth, and Mike (left to right).

Dinner in Frontierland. Even though it was California, it still got a bit chilly in the early April evenings

Star Tours. Not nerdy.

The NY Gibbs minus Linda (who didn't want to close out the park with us)

Note that I'm wearing my Planet Money T-shirt

Andrew and Emma (Emma especially) couldn't get enough of Johnny

We couldn't resist the urge to get a Tigger outfit for our kid. We ended up getting a 12 month size because Disney apparently caters to small kids.

Babies on parade

This is what happens when Ryan gets a sword

The Browns (Andrew, Hilary, and Ian) plus Mike in the middle

Smile for the selfie? O...okay?

"Ey...what's new?"

Mind the ducks

Near the French Quarter

Nightly Disney fireworks

Elizabeth and Ryan with Grandma Debby

Johnny looking gangsta

Since we were staying in the Grand Californian Hotel, we were able to get into California Adventure an hour before the park opens to the general public. It turned out to be very nice for getting to popular attractions before the line got ridiculous.

Navigating the nearly empty streets of Pleasure Pier

Sometimes folks didn't know I was photographing, resulting in some very 19th century-esque poses.

Aboard the Ferris wheel

Trying to talk but not saying anything

Lunch at an Italian restaurant in California Adventure

Emma really couldn't keep her hands off our son

In front of the fountains

Goofy showed up randomly to conduct a water show set to music.

There are also Pixar parades. It was a rather big hit with the older kids.

Of course, Johnny didn't really care.

Robby and Andrew leaving the Zephyr ride

All the kids gathered on the fence while waiting

We spent some time in the animation room in California Adventure. The kids danced and sang almost the entire time.

It was Robby's birthday while we were at the park, and we ordered a special surprise for him.

Kids and cake. Gotta love it.

I think even better than the Disneyland firework show is the World of Color water show in California Adventure. Using lights, projectors, and waterspouts, they're able to do some pretty neat things.

Oh there was also fire too

We had a space of time to do whatever Alison and I wanted to without our kid, closing out the park at midnight. The night was especially dark because a total lunar eclipse.