Keeping Peace in the Family

It recently--as in just this afternoon--came to my attention that one of the unnamed members of my family was a little hurt when picture in the header of this blog was changed to a photograph that no longer contained the family.  How was I to know that putting a picture of me with a huge fish would cause so much angst among my progeny?

Anyway, in the spirit of nostalgia, and mainly for my own entertainment, here are the series of pictures that have graced the header of Soderblogger since its inception in 2009.

The original 2009 Soderblogger photo.  Look how little the kids were!  This was before we went to Thailand.  Right before we went to Thailand.

Early 2011, family photo at the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya.  And yes, I am wearing FiveFingers.

Mid-2011 on the grass in front of our house, right before we left Thailand.  The kids were still much smaller than they are today.  And fortunately there were no snakes in that grass.

2013 at Cannon Beach in Oregon.  The sun was obviously very bright and in everybody's eyes.  Not at all like that rainy day when The Inferno emerged courtesy of The Goonies.

2017 with the massive amberjack I caught.  And no family because apparently I'm a heartless, cruel man, hence this update.

What I Did This Summer

I know that someone out there is thinking, "Really?  It's the second week of October and you're just writing about your summer now?"  My response to that is, "Yeah, I am."  For starters, we just got back from a quick family trip down to the lake, and even though it's early October, it was in the 80s and felt like early September.  And second, look over to the right and notice when the last time I actually posted to my blog; it's been more than TWO YEARS.  It's practically a Halloween miracle that I'm writing at all, so thank the Great Pumpkin and let's move on.

 May: I went to the Outer Banks with some good friends to celebrate one of those friend's birthday with some fishing in the ocean.  I only got marginally seasick, but I didn't puke.  For the record, I caught a 40 pound amberjack.  It was delicious.

Yeah, I caught that.  It was exhausting.

Typical hot, sweaty American in Bangkok.

June: As much as I hate to, I had to go to Thailand and Laos for work.  Should I have put something in there to indicate that the previous sentence was supposed to be sarcastic?  Because I actually love going to Southeast Asia.  Anyway,  I have a separate post to write about that adventure because it's Thailand and Laos.

July: We spent some time at a friend's place up in the hills of West Virginia. True to West Virginia traditions, we shot stuff.  It was pretty awesome.

It's important for your ear pro to match your outfit.

That's my girl!

Katniss Everdeen, eat your heart out!

Trophy shot.

August: My daughters dyed my hair at girls camp, because blondes are supposed to have more fun, and because I made a deal with them.  We also hung out with our awesome friends and had an awesome time because our friends are awesome.

See, I'm literally having more fun, you can see it on my face.

This is a seriously shady lot.  Trust me.

September: I took Anne back to BYU-Idaho for her junior year of college.  When did I get old enough to have a junior in college?  While I was back in Utah, I went golfing with my dad and brother.  Just as important, I got to spend some time in my beloved Utah mountains.

Bell Canyon waterfall and some dork from Virginia.

Beautiful mountain lake--how did I not know about this place when I was growing up in Utah?

Last, but certainly not least, we got a dog.

Well, hello there!