Lights at Temple Square 11.26.10

After sledding, we headed downtown to see the lights on Temple Square.  Holden was sick, so we had to go without Kurt and Ashleigh.  We bundled way up, thanks to the record cold, and decided to take Trax to avoid having to park downtown.

Cold?

It was FREEZING!  We all lost feeling in our toes and fingers in a very short time, but big puffy jackets took care of the rest of our bodies (right, Ananda?)

I know I already posted this one, but it just makes me happy.

The brothers took turns carrying EACH of my kids on their shoulders.  Yup.  Even Josh.

My heart ached watching them so happy together.  The last time we went to the lights, Brent was with us, carrying the kids on HIS shoulders.

Abby, Brent, Kate 

I'm constantly surprised how happiness and grief live in my heart simultaneously and how both combine to paint the simplest scene in more intense color.

  

Earlier in the week I'd found out that the pictures on my hard drive were irretrievable.  Well, maybe retrievable with a big enough investment, but no guarantees there, either.

Then, when we got home from the lights, I didn't close my camera bag.  Ben picked it up and, well, dropped my most expensive lens onto the tile floor, glass first.  I heard the shatter and let loose a little wail.  My f/1.8 50mm is pretty much dead (it is actually falling apart), my kit lens stinks, and then this...

Ben really felt terrible.  I collected myself, hugged him, and told him I knew it was an accident, and besides that, it was my own fault.  He hugged me and said he was so so sorry.  Sweet little man.  I looked closer at the lens and saw that my filter was the only thing that shattered, although the rim is bent and I can't get the filter off, and there's a little scratch on the lens itself.  That was reassuring.  I took a picture of the little mischief-maker to see if the lens would actually still shoot, and it did.

I won't even say "What else can go wrong?" anymore, because I've found that there's always something worse that can (and often DOES) go wrong and asking fate what else there is around the corner isn't really the best use of my energy.

I'm just glad I remembered that material goods, as important as they can be, are so much less important the feelings of a little three-year-old darling.  But man, wouldn't it be nice if my world decided to settle down and be easy for a while?