While it’s hilarious, it’s also a great picture of the bond between dad and daughter. Right now, I think my dad was glad I was a runner and not a cheerleader.

So thanks for being so great, Dad! This post is for you, and I promise to try and update (Ben and Kelly Moore* haha) more often.

*Check out past comments and you’ll get the joke.

You know what else wears me out? Captions.

One more Christmas-related post coming up!

It looks so sad and dwarfed in its pan. The crust was also really thick and painfully crunchy. Yet, I didn’t think the pan was the problem. Something else must have been wrong. I turned to Megan, my cousin and cooking/baking extraordinare, who suggested that my yeast was bad and that I wasn’t kneading for long enough. I used new yeast and kneaded until the end of time last night and…drum roll please…it was still a failure. Truth be told, I was too ashamed to get photo evidence of my most recent let down.

On the bright side, loaf number 5 wasn’t as dense and was larger than the one above. Megan suggests that I knead by hand and not with my “handy” mixer, so we’ll try that once this loaf runs out. I also think I need to let it rise for much longer since the weather is pretty chilly these days.

One small victory was when Matt got home from practice, he asked for some of the partially failed bread! I thought last batch would have led to eternal breadmaking distrust. Yet, his “thumbs up” while chewing is encouragement enough to continue on. I’ll keep you all udpated.

]]> http://emilyandmatt.org/blog/family/close-but-no-loaf/feed/ 1 http://emilyandmatt.org/blog/happily-married/year-one-without-papa/ http://emilyandmatt.org/blog/happily-married/year-one-without-papa/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:08:55 +0000 Emily http://emilyandmatt.org/blog/happily-married/year-one-without-papa/ Today is the one-year anniversary of the death of Papa, my grandpa. In this year there have been three family weddings, all of which were a time of fun and celebration for our family. Yet, there was still something missing in those weddings, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.

It has been challenging to have the family cope with the loss of a man who we all admired and deeply loved. Family gatherings and life itself hasn’t been the same, but we are all thankful for the family we still have and the legacy he left for us to look up to as we navigate life.

I wrote the following on my personal blog last year and it doesn’t seem like I posted it here. I’m posting it here today to remember and reflect.

—

Oct. 14, 2007

Some days I have to remind myself that life will get better in a few days, just wait. But I’m realizing more and more that in the waiting, it doesn’t seem to lull. I guess that’s what happens when you transition into adulthood.

That wishful thinking was on my mind last week: just wait until the weekend, you’ll have a chance to relax and you’ll get a fresh start on Monday. That kind of thinking is what gets you into trouble. Well, I’m really not that superstitious, but I am becoming a devout believer in When-it-rains-it-pours-ism.

The torrential downpour of a weird day was this: My mom woke me up this morning to the news that my Papa (grandfather) had died in the night. I was waiting to hear “he collapsed, but he’s okay.” But it wasn’t the case this time. I was really close with Papa and hadn’t seen it coming, although his health wasn’t particularly good as of late. In my groggy, distraught state, I realized that this was the day that my brother had long-planned to propose to his girlfriend.

As the day nears its end, I am exhausted from the extreme emotions. In my experience with loss in the family, God has always blessed us. When my great-grandma died, my cousin Joshua was born about a month later. Today, I have a sister-in-law. And very recently, Matt and Megan’s fiance Matthew just joined in as well. It’s not right to say that it offsets the losses, but I count these people as huge blessings for these times.

Papa’s legacy was loving the Lord and loving others. His family reached far beyond our little unit. With the new families that are now starting to be made, I pray that we’ll take Papa’s legacy in stride.

Having rarely dealt with death much, I’ve always been somewhat bothered by the Christian attitude that it’s a time to celebrate, that he/she is home with the Lord. Sometimes I feel people may misunderstand this idea and think we’re not mourning. As I told Matt tonight, I know he’s in heaven, but I have the right to be sad and cry for a while because I miss him down here. And I do feel deeply sad.

Yet, Papa was a man of God. I know he would want us to rejoice because he’s in heaven. All day I still didn’t feel like I was ready for this, but at church we sang a song that is helping me. It is because Jesus died for all of us that we don’t have to be afraid of death. Death has no power over God; it’s a temporary parting. We sang the following song at church tonight and I was able to rejoice in this fact. I wish everyone who has lost a loved one could know this level of comfort that comes from above.

Mighty to Save — Hillsong

Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Bridge:
Shine your light
And let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King, Jesus

My parents started the “weekend” with a small kick-off party at our house. The weather was great, despite a “not-so-hot August night” forecast. Aloha shirts packed our freshly stained deck and we all “pigged out” on my mom’s kalua pork. It broke da mouf.

Of course, everyone was excited to see not one, but two newlywed couples, as my brother and Sarah came up for the event. My mom had put together wedding photo albums and I’m pretty sure they were a staple at all the coming events. I must say it was and still is so weird to look at wedding pictures. Having pictures of the event means it’s over! The one day you spend so long dreaming about has gone. It would be more upsetting if married life wasn’t so great.

After chatting with everyone well into the night, Matt and I said our goodbyes. Then came a flood of verbal invitations to party! party! party! These crazies had a party each night through Saturday! We were already tired after the first and here they want us to eat their food and drink tropical libations again and again and again.

Well, we made it to Friday and Saturday night. Both of which were awesome. These people know how to party, that’s for sure. It was all we could to do keep up. Part of me was relieved to go straight to the fun stuff without having to stare at cars all day. I would like to think I put in my time during my childhood. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy car shows, but not as much as some people I know.

Anywho, I only thought to bring out my camera once (d’oh!) and wish I had more to share with you all. Next time I will get more sleep and be camera-shutter happy. And thanks to everyone for having us over to your parties!