Funicular

 Oh hi Jacob!

You know, I think of you a lot. I wonder how today was, how this week was. Your letters are always good, so I look forward to them.

This time last week I was all excited about that interview. I think it went pretty well. I did have a strong feeling that it was more of the same as my current job. I also felt that the guy I was interviewing with was pretty condescending, but at least he was professional. I was supposed to send him some more samples, but Im just not into it. I’ve been praying about it, but haven’t had real strong feelings to follow up. I guess there’s more to a new job than the carrot of more pay.

So, I never sent you a recap of the game, I will after this. But it was a mess. Oregon state seems like the best team we’ve played so far. Their offense was amazing. Utahs now tied for first in the south, with the tiebreaker, and no team is undefeated in the Pac12. But it still sucked.

So we had another weekend trip. It occurred to me that we’ve been doing a lot since you’ve been gone. This has not been by design. With the exception of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison trip, they were all free, and unexpected. That being said, we missed you, and the trip was fun. Mom’s buddy at work owns a nice condo right by Deer Valley. It was pretty nice. You’re brothers went to see Dune Friday night, so moms and I went alone. We got up there and checked in. Then we went to eat. We made the mistake of eating on main street. We went to a diner that, unbeknown to us, was gluten free…ick. Mom wanted to get some snacks after so we stopped at the store. Afterwards, we sat in the hot tub that was on the porch. It was fun, but I’m even awkward in water that’s only two feet deep. That made us nice and tired, so we went to bed. I often don’t sleep well on the road, so I tossed and turned all night.

By this 5:30 the next morning I was ready to get up. But Mom was sleeping and I felt a lot peace just laying there next to her. She finally woke up about 6:30 and asked if I wanted to go get donuts. She’d heard of a gas station in Kamas, about 20 minutes away that had good ones. Of course I was on board, so we drove over in the dark and the rain. It was surprisingly peaceful. It was literally a Chevron station, there were a bunch of hunters and workers in line in front of us. I always feel prideful when I’m with the prettiest person in the building. After, we went and got breakfast at the Kamas cafe. It was fun to be with your mom alone.

We went back to Park City to figure out what to do when your brothers came up. All of the summer activities were closed, and none of the winter ones had started yet, plus it was raining. Ben and Joey got up there at about 10:30. Ben was ranting about how we gave him bad directions, but they got him there close enough that he found us. Then there was a rant about parking, but somehow that worked itself out too. We hung out for a while in the condo, then mom decided that she wanted to go to the Olympic Sports Park. That’s where they did bobsled and ski jumping during the Olympics. All of the activities were closed but the tour, simulators, and museum, so we did that. It was fun. Some of the work I did for the Games is in the museum, which I’m very proud of. Mom wants to go back and ride the bobsled…I told her I’d go, but I may have had my fingers crossed. I would be interested in seeing a bobsled competition though.

We went to get burritos at Albertos after that. We can’t eat Mexican food without talking about you. The BYU Washington State game was on, we were still feeling confident about the Utes chances then.

Before we went back to the room, we went across the way to the St. Regis hotel. That may be the only hotel in the state fancier than the Grand America. The have this train/tram thing called a funicular that takes guests from a lobby building at the base of the mountain to the hotel itself on top. It’s a car the is pulled up train tracks by a cable. The car is articulated to stay level through the grade changes. That’s a lot of words to say we took a fancy elevator to the top of a hill and back. It was pretty, and fun, but mostly free.

By the time we were done with that, it was getting time for the game, so we went back. Mom warmed up the $5 pizzas she bought. I kept you posted on the game progress, so I don’t need to go over that again. 

This morning we just got up about 8:30 and cleaned up and came home. Ben had to conduct at church. After, we hung out and went to grandmas for dinner. She made tacos and enchiladas. Ben and joe helped with getting dinner ready, mom and I cleaned up, everyone else sat there with their mouths agape (I’m not planning on showing this letter to your mother).

We just got home from grandmas. Mom’s making cinnamon rolls for breakfast, Joseph is shooting hoops, and Ben is finishing homework.

I’m sending a few pictures of the week, mostly the trip. There’s one of the Iron Giant torso I’ve printed. I’m printing another batch of parts currently. 

Mom’s planning your Christmas package. Aunt Lithia found a more reliable delivery method. Please let us know what you need in your letter tomorrow.

My day tomorrow looks more open than last Monday, so I hope we get to chat longer. I miss you kid, but I admire how you are making the best of a tough transition. We were talking to Uncle Tim tonight about how you have the most foreign mission experience of anyone so far, mostly because of your service during the floods.

Well dude, that’s about all I have for this letter.

Love-YA-I-tell-YA! 

Pops