Yeah...
In about a month's time we have managed to partake in 7 different flights, and we still have a few more trips scheduled for the year! Miseries associated with a one-year-old-on-a-plane aside, it's hard to complain. We have been to some amazing places and seen some even more amazing people. So then, I want to thank up-front all of you who invited us into your homes over the last month. We hope it was as worth while for you as it was for us!
All travel and no sleepy makes angry baby
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| Yay Airplanes! |
One of Jennifer's good friends from Hillside Community Church in Golden, CO got married off this last weekend, providing us the perfect reason to head back for a long weekend and a short visit. As soon as I could get off work on Thursday we made the trip to LA to catch a redeye flight to Denver (see picture above). A stalwart friend made room for us in their basement and took the time to pick us up for the airport at 1am.
The three amigos
In college, I shared a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other guys in an apartment complex nicknamed the Cru-plex (I could write a whole separate post just about that. Maybe another day). Three of us stacked together in one room and because of that became quite close friends. Each of us have gotten married since and the wives subsequently also became fast friends. Suffice to say we have a great time whenever we get together.
The wedding, which we were all invited to, became a great opportunity for us to spend some time together again. The Makuh family (one of the three) housed all of us for the duration. The two families with kids slept in the house, the one without took the garage. Pretty stinkin' awesome.
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| The whole gang! From left to right: Underwoods, Makuhs, and Meyers! |
Be Wed!
The wedding was for the pastor's daughter and her super cool now husband. They are two very genuine, caring, fun people and their wedding was truly enjoyable to be at; easy going, not pretentious or dry, but still powerful and beautiful. The bride and groom selected a few songs for worship during the service and you could tangibly feel the passion for the Lord of the people in the room. The whole event was an awesome celebration of the Lord bringing together and blessing two of His children.
Weddings may not have the same refining influence of funerals (Ecc 7:2), but for me this served as a great reminder of the promises I made to my wife on our wedding day and of the unbelievable gift my wife is to me. I hope I can do a better job of living up to the task of being a better husband and father.
With this in mind we enjoyed the rest of the day's festivities. I even danced. That's my allotment of miracles for the day.
Not everything that glitters is Golden
We had a few things in mind that were must-do's for the visit. We have to spend some time in downtown Golden, and we have to stop by one of our favorite restaurants, the Sherpa House. This place serves Chai-Tea so delicious... its not fair to come up with an analogy. It's a reason to go to Golden in of itself.
So, we spent the next morning playing in a park and farmers market in downtown and finished up the morning with lunch at the Sherpa House.
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| Behold: the people eat ambrosia brought by sherpas. Makuh's on the left, Meyers and Jennifer on the right. In this picture (including the photographer), there are 3 kids, 3 engineers, and 3 nurses. Technically there are 4 kids with the bonus baby bump (Underwood baby #2!). |
A cool side note: the people who run the Sherpa House are actually from Nepal. They bring people over from Nepal for school and give them a job either working in the restaurant or working in their landscaping business. The whole restaurant outdoor space is decked out beautifully with flagstone, water features and sweet foliage thanks to the landscaping bit. This place didn't take long to become a Golden landmark.
We spent dinner that night with another set of good friends, the Loewen family, who invited us over for dinner that night. This is yet another great family with some hilarious kids. We are blessed to know them.
Fathers' Day.Spending time back in Golden, for us, was like picking up where we left off, as if we never left. Sunday morning at Hillside was friendly and powerful. We had a great time catching up with faces we haven't seen in a while and seeing all the new ones that have come into the world since we left.
It's sad to note that, relative to Mother's Day, church attendance is relatively poor on Father's Day. Its been shown in studies that when a Father is fixed in his faith, the children, are much more likely to remain faithful. This is a comment not on the state of American culture, but on the church itself. There are far too few strong Christian men in the church. This is all the more reason to celebrate the men in our churches that strive to live and lead well.
The Makuh family let us join them in their family Father's Day get-together. These two brothers are strong godly men that I look up to. Their diligence in loving their wive's and children deserves attention and respect. I thank the Lord I have had the opportunity to call both of them my friends.
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| 2 generation of Underwoods, 3 generations of Makuhs. The eldest Makuh makes the best pies in the world. |
Monday being our last day in Golden, Elliot (Makuh) had to go back to work. Elliot has an engineering degree, but he burnt out on office life and sought a respite for a time. He currently works a mobile alloy wheel repair franchise out of Arapahoe County. I was able to tag along with him for a day and help out repairing a few wheels at a couple car dealerships. It's pretty impressive to have a mobile workshop fit into a small trailer!
Seven wheels, 2 car dealerships, 2 burgers, and 4 margaritas later, Elliot and I returned back to the house to spend our last few hours with the rest of our families before we needed to head to the airport. Jennifer, Isabelle and I made it back safe and sound to Bakersfield by 1am the next morning.
I guess we just like night flights...
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