After you went Home, Mom, Danny, Caylea and I discussed where we want to rest when we follow you Home - remarkably all were united in opinion - Mount Bonnell, looking over the Austin skyline, and Lake Tahoe, a very special place in our family's life. All your family and close friends solemnly honored you on Bonnell after your Celebration Service; the place where you carried Seraina to the top to ask her to prom with a candy ring pop. (By the way--How did you carry her up all those stairs?!? I can barely walk up by myself.) Bonnell was the place you took all your friends, from Austin, from A&M, from CA to see your city - so many memories there. This week, Mom, Danny, Caylea, the Mundells and I honored you at Emerald Bay - the most beautiful point on Lake Tahoe - as your birthday passed on December 28. Your family will follow you soon, to Bonnell, to Tahoe - unless Jesus returns first.
Why Tahoe? Mom, Danny, Caylea, you and I first came to Tahoe soon after we moved to Vacaville - staying at a timeshare on the South Shore beach. I remember it snowed one Sunday morning and you, Caylea and Danny were so excited to see actual snow coming down - on a beach!!! Maybe that was the start of your habit of dancing in the rain - I remember you and your brother and sister running, dancing, catching snow and making snow angels on the beach. God blessed us with the cutest kids ever! We returned to Tahoe and then went to Reno another year. We found Reno to be a "sad" sort of city full of only gambling and little to do as a family. One highlight was you hanging up your clothes all by yourself and posing for a picture. So adorable!
Remember going to Circus Circus? You, Caylea and Danny did your first "gambling" to win stuffies (stuffed animals). How you loved stuffies, from Max, to your dragon, to monkeys to the A&M sock monkeys. Tahoe in your elementary years was dominated by skiing at Donner (primarily), sledding trips with the Mundells and Junior High camps (attending with your brother!). You loved skiing down the greens and blues at Donner - fearless and you loved the front slopes and occasionally the backside of the mountain when it was not too cold. Mom and I would take you guys out of school probably once a year and then maybe another weekend to ski and enjoy the snow. Mom tried skiing, but it wasn't her cup of tea. But she loved to take pictures and celebrate with her kids as you came down the slopes. I can see her smile and the reciprocated grins on your faces! We took Kelsi and Kurtis with us skiing too - I think twice, including once after we moved to TX. Our family skied as Kelsi and Kurtis learned to snowboard. We didn't go to North Lake Tahoe as a family - Mom and I found ourselves there by accident in a timeshare once and then with the church Jr. High leadership. South Lake was our family place.
My most vivid memory skiing was riding the Donner lift with you and Caylea, one on each side of me (neither of you liked being in the middle without a seat arm to hold on to when the lift rocked!). A brother and sister (who was ~6 years old) rode in front of us that time up the hill. Their parents waved to them from the bunny slope below to get off the lift on the low slope - the older brother jumped off, but the little sister did not. We shouted promises to the parents to watch out for the girl as she headed to the top of the mountain!!! On the top, we realized (as she fell coming off the lift) that the little girl had little clue with regards to skiing. We tried and tried to get her to ski, each time failing. I then handed my poles and skis to you and Caylea to take down the hill and I carried the girl and her gear down the hill, in knee deep snow. To say the least, delivering the girl to her parents was a joy - but I was exhausted. I then caught our breath, joined you, Caylea and Mom for food and drinks in the Ski House and got rejuvenated to ski some more that afternoon.
There are lots of other memories sledding, especially setting up slalom runs with the Jr. High group at Sierra Pines, jumping over curves, sleeping while the Jr. High worshiped and listened to messages. But the most memorable event was you sledding with Kurt Mundell off Hwy 80 on an old bunny ski slope turned sled run. While Indy and Shelby barked and complained as we sledded ("Can't you see it is cold here and you are getting wet!!!"), you and Kurt started at the top with Kurt sitting behind you on the sled. Mom, Danny, Caylea, the Mundells and I sat at the bottom of the hill watching a mom lead her young child across the sledding hill - right into your's and Kurt's pathway. We screamed warnings at the mom and watched in horror as you and Kurt upended the kid, sending his boots 20+ feet in the air. Believe it or not, Mom caught this on film! The mom and dad rushed to the child as he lay in the snow - the father yelling at the mother for her carelessness for minutes after. Thankfully, the kid was fine. I imagine Indy and Shelby were thinking - these humans are crazy!!!
The last trip to Tahoe was most memorable. We were getting ready to move to TX - life was going to really change for us. You, Caylea, Mom and I went to South Lake with Becky Fickess and Chris Voight for a long weekend camping trip. We camped at Zephyr Cove. We had a blast - cooking with Chris, games with Becky, hiking around as a family. We did a "mock" wedding on the Lake for Becky and Chris. You were the "best man." It was Summer and we went to Emerald Bay, looking at the beautiful scene, climbing on the rocks and being amazed at God's creation. We took pictures, laughed, joked and celebrated our life in CA with our close friends. It was a great way to end our time in CA - camping, joy and celebration in South Lake Tahoe. We continued to visit and enjoy the Voights - as they married, moved to Tulsa and adopted Avery. They each love you dearly!!!
Yosemite is our family favorite National Park - lots of memories there. Our family visited Yosemite three times while in CA - the first time you were 2.5 years old!! We camped in the Valley climbed to the top of Bridalveil Falls - up moss-covered, slippery rock steps to the top - and back down again, bribing you, Caylea and Danny with ice cream to avoid having to carry you down. Later as we were riding on a bus, the guide asked us if we had been to the top of the falls and we told her the story - she looked at you kids and thought "Wow! they must be tough kids!!" Yes you were!!! The highlight was at the outdoor church service in the Valley. We got there early - the whole trip we felt God's presence - I mean, He carved this amazing valley and gave us humans it as a natural megaphone of His glory. You and your brother and sister were too young to really "get" all that - rocks, leaves and stories of bears (and ice cream!) primarily caught your attention - or at least we thought. When the minister arrived, there were about 10 other people besides our family and he asked for someone to to lead singing. You raised your hand and stepped up with great confidence to sing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of your lungs. Everyone joined in. All this happened with Half Dome and the Valley in the background. The sounds, the sights of our kids left Mom and I remembering this as one of the premier times of worship in our lives. Your sense of God, your soft heart, your voice, and that of Caylea and Danny moves Mom and I to this day.
The second trip was full of more hiking (you guys were older then), up the back side of Half Dome and around the park. To get a camp site, Mom would call and call the day "space" opened each year to get us a spot. During this trip, we recognized the risk of bears in Yosemite as we passed by cars all along the road with windows popped out by "bear action." By then, we had perfected our family camping technique. A previous stay in the Sierras with the Lenhares got us prepared with warm camping gear and a food plan. We went the to the Sierras to baptize Yvonne at one of the black bottom lakes. We came to the lake with a big, new, three room tent, and our house sleeping bags, Power Rangers, Snow White, and I think Star Wars in style. These bags worked for Vacaville camping and indoor action, but not for below freezing camping. Indeed, the temperature dropped that first night. I awakened as the sun was coming up from restless sleep - Mom and I were laying on top of each other trying to keep warm. Mom warned me "Don't you come back until you get a fire going - we are freezing!!!" I looked in the other "room" and you were at the bottom of a pyramid of Caylea, Danny and Indy on top - all trying to use body heat to stay warm. That was funny - but clearly we needed better camping gear! Once the fire got going, we learned to cook great campground food - bacon first (always your favorite), followed by fried eggs in bacon grease and finally pancakes using the Bisquick containers for mixing and pouring. Yum, yum - we could fix up a breakfast! After that, you especially liked taking the lead in camp cooking. We celebrated Yvonne's baptism, committing her life to Jesus in an ice cold stream. You kids were not deterred by its temperature - you jumped in, shivering, and swimming around in the freezing water. Mom developed our "real" camping gear after this trip - real sleeping bags, better camp stoves, etc. and these were used from our backyard, friend's houses and all around Northern CA and then in TX.
The reality of bears in Yosemite became very real as Caylea, you and I when we came to the Valley a third time with one of your friends. We camped in the Boy Scout area outside the immediate Yosemite Valley - in tents as our usual style. One morning, we were cooking our traditional bacon, eggs and pancake breakfast - we saw him - a big bear in the distance approaching our camp. We quickly picked up cups, pans and utensils and banged them loudly to encourage our visitor to leave. Even far away, the bear was impressive. As Caylea was in Jr. High and you nearly done with elementary at Brown's Valley, we could hike and climb all around the valley, even to the top of Half Dome. It was a joyful time.
If I name a regret while in Texas, it was that we did not camp together as a family there. We spent weekends with basketball, track, football and Ultimate - lots of time together as a family (remember our "snow days" our first year in TX?) - but did not camp. That was our family thing in Maryland (starting in a friend's backyard as our first camping experience!) and in CA. Now you guys are grown up. It is hard to get you in a tent and not in a hotel or timeshare! I miss those times on the Lake, in the Valley, and just being together as a family.
In the new Heaven and Earth, the Bible teaches that there will be no more sea, but the river of water of Life will flow from the throne of God and the Lamb. My prayer is that Jesus will let the Pogues camp around that river as a family again, that we can cook bacon, eggs and pancakes, that we can play games and live in thanksgiving and praise God, that we will all be together again. Our every action in camping in Heaven will be to glorify God as a reunited family. We are five, forever, and will not be whole until we are with you before the throne of God. "Amen, Come Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20) and reunite our family for Your glory!!!!
Love you E,
Dad
