Family Slide Show

I recently got all these pictures off of Brother 1's computer. I thought I'd share them with you all so that you can gain a better understanding of who I am and where I'm from. My parents moved to Maryland about five years ago, while I was away at college. Some people ask why I say I'm from Canada. Well, how could I ever claim Maryland when my childhood looks like this?


























This first picture is of my grandpa. Good looking guy, isn't he? He was headed for pro hockey, but he injured himself so he went back home. We're all happy about that, though, since he married my grandma at that point.























And oh! What have we here? Their wedding picture? Is it any wonder that all their grandchildren are so good looking? No. No, it's no wonder at all.


















Here we have a picture of Brother 1 as a baby. I really couldn't resist. We grew up in Porcupine, Ontario. My grandparents lived in South Porcupine, Ontario. (Which, intuitively, is west of Porcupine.)

















This picture represents what may have been the crowning moment of my father's life---his four oldest children all on the hockey rink. In fact, every year, he'd make our very own hockey rink in our yard. He'd board off the spot with plywood, shovel it down to the gravel, and water it down with a hose until it all froze into a perfect skating rink.

















Here are the two oldest boys with ducks. My parents---I don't know what they were thinking---allowed us to take duck feet or partridge feet with us to school for show-and-tell. If you pull on one of the tendons, you can make the foot open and close. Open and close. Open and close. Who needs a barbie when you've got a bird foot?



















And of course, there was always playing in the boat with the dead moose. What child had a meaningful childhood without this fundamental experience?
























Our parents and grandparents wanted to teach us the principle of stewardships. They gave us each a spot in my grandpa's garden where we were supposed to plant onions. Then, over the course of the summer, we'd watch and take care of our little patch of onions. Here's a picture of Grandpa with Brother 1 and his stewardship.

















I often tell my friends about our cottage on the lake. Here's a picture of what I've always been talking about. Normally, we'd go there in the summers, but we'd try to make a couple treks out there in the winter, too.

















Here's a picture of Brother 2. Brother 1 had cut a hole in the ice and went in for a dip. Brother 2 decided to do the same thing, but he also wanted to shampoo his hair. He got in the hole, put on the shampoo, thought he was going to die because it was so cold, hopped out of the hole, realized that the air outside on his wet skin was worse than having been in the hole in the first place, tried to rinse as much shampoo out of his hair as possible, and ran back up to the cottage. I also have a picture of Brother 1 in the hole, but for some reason, it wouldn't post properly.

So there are a few memories for you, and perhaps a little insight into what made me who I am today. It's a wonder after all that, that we all turned out so well-adjusted, and I'll say it again, ridiculously good looking. Here are two pictures of us: then and now. You'll notice that we have an addition to the family. This picture was taken at Brother 1's wedding to Sister-in-law (okay, okay, I know that they need better aliases!). For the sake of anonymity, I won't tell you which person in the picture is me.














13 comments:

B.G. Christensen said...

Wait. Top, second from the right? Or bottom left. Definitely bottom left.

By the way, who was your first-year English teacher who was doing a signing at the bookstore?

stupidramblings said...

Nice photos.

Now all you need is home movie footage of you and your siblings falling down on the ice and getting back up--and then falling...you get the picture.

Nice job on your HTML skills, by the way. Can I get you to make me a graphic of...A SHRUBBERY?

*gasp*

eek. eek. eek. EEK!

Cicada said...

Greg Taggart. It wasn't English 115---it was HonP 200, so it wasn't one of the master's students. Anyway, Greg wrote a book about missionary preparation and he was promoting it in the bookstore. I wish I'd been able to go, actually, but I was at work while he was there.

FoxyJ said...

You remind me that someone asked me to post some photos of my California semi-hippie childhood. I'll have to see if I have time for that. Of course we didn't have dead ducks or moose, so they definitely won't be as cool as yours...

Cooper said...

I find myself jealous that my family and I aren't as good looking as yours. But then the ice hole story makes me feel better.

Th. said...

.

Nice. Maybe my whole issue is that I really want to be a Canadian.

And one of the people in that photo looks really familiar, so I wonder if I have somewhere met you after all....

Anonymous said...

If you can't be a hot Canadian, then marry one. That's what I say.

Cicada said...

Squirrel Boy! I'm thrilled to see you here! I say, if you can't have naturally curly hair, then put it in sponge curlers. That's what I say.

Limon said...

I tried to take family pictures once, but we were so ugly that the camera kept spitting out the film. So I did some mashed potato sculptures instead. Much less shallow, mashed potatoes.

Mrs. Hass-Bark said...

Y'all are just so foxy!

PS--We also had dead animals--geese, deer, and rabbits. The males in my family (and one of the females--not me) are quite capable hunters. Which means we had to eat a LOT of venison stew, venison burgers, venison sausage, you get the idea. Good times.

Nemesis said...

In Alaska we know better than to play jungle-gym on a moose carcass. I'm just saying. There's always the chance that it's just unconscious and is going to come to and kick your brains out.

And if you're the one I think you are in the wedding picture, you look absolutely hot.

Kelly said...

Is it sick and wrong that I think your grandpa was a total hottie? Probably.

Love all the pictures and stories!

Anonymous said...

love it. Thanks for sharing!