::grandpa's guitars::

At least a few of them.

When we were in UT in Sept for Murphy's wedding Max had a fun sunday afternoon playing some of Grandpa Ken's guitars.
The Gibson Explorer:

This one was relatively new to the collection. We hadn't ever seen it much. It's pretty cool though.

The Fender Telocaster. Kathy got this one for Ken for his birthday one year. It was one of the first nice guitars he had and he loved it. It's one I remember him playing the most. I love Max's pose here.

This next one is an interesting one. It was commissioned from a polygamist guy that builds guitars. Ken picked out the design and it took the guy about nine months to make it. There's even a blog post about it. Max loves the american flag theme too.

The last one I have a picture of right now is a cool Gretsch. Kris and I picked it out for him when we lived in Kansas City. I think it's a very cool looking guitar.

This is only a fraction of the guitar collection that Ken had. It's a fun one. Next time we're there we'll take a few more photos and share.
(and he did make a book--here's a link to see some of it as pdf if you want to!)

::found::

I found this on the dining room table the other day.

I don't think I can play this song, but as long as Max can we're in good shape.
I think it's the cutest song I've ever seen.

::visits::

We were lucky enough to have Kris's parents here to visit for what was essentially a long weekend. They got here Saturday night and I took them to the airport on Wednesday morning. We had a great time. Kathy has been here before, but this was Ken's first time and we had fun showing him around.
Kris and Max took him up on a four wheeling drive in the Land Rover into the mountains where they saw wild turkeys and wore Ken right out. We took them to a delicious Mexican restaurant. We went to the Cowgirl grill where they got to enjoy the awesomeness of the ice cream baked potato. Kathy and I did a little shopping. Ken got to see the office and meet the people that we work with. We got to sing christmas carols--especially Max's current favorite "The 12 days of Christmas" over and over...

I think Kathy's favorite part was Sandy though. She said this was the oldest any of her grandbabies had ever been before she got to hold him. She made up for it though while she was here. The boy was always happily snuggled up in her arms.

I love this picture. Sandy was in heaven.


He has his eyes open so much more lately. It's very fun.

The bummer was that poor Ken had a work emergency come up just before they came out, and so he was stuck at his little makeshift workstation in our living room for a lot of time. But what would a visit from Ken be without a work emergency, really?

At least we have a bunch of computer stuff, so we could make sure he could get stuff done.

But he took a break long enough to play guitars with Max. Max is doing really well with his lessons, and so was able to play with Ken quite well. It was really fun to hear them play and sing together.



Max is lucky to have such a rich heritage of guitar playing and appreciation from both his Grandpas. We expect great things from him as far as guitars are concerned! At least we want him to be able to serenade girls in college...

Even Sandy got a little Grandpa time. Ken was holding him for me while I did something, and when I came back into the room this is what I saw:


It cracked me up. Lucky Grandpa--not everybody gets those special Sandy kisses.

We're so glad they came, and we'll have lots more to show and do next time they make it out here.
And if you want to see some more fun pictures, see Ken's post here.

::feets rest::

We found a new guitar teacher out here for Max. He seems awesome. He's a classical guitarist and has taught lots of kids. He also has three big hairy malamutish dogs, dresses just like my dad and lives 5 minutes away. (YAY! I do enough driving right now.)
Max had his first lesson last week, and the teacher requested that Kris and Max construct a footrest/boost for Max to use while playing. So this weekend they headed out to the hardware store, bought a 2x4 and went for it.
I guess Kris let Max do it all--basically anyway. He was way excited.

It's always a good thing for dads and sons to have projects together.

And it was nice because I got to relax and rest while they were doing it--though I have to admit the power saw sounds from the garage did make me a little tense.

But everybody survived.
Now the trick is just getting Max to actually keep his feet ON the footrest.


He'll get the hang of it.

I expect him to be playing Stairway to Heaven for me anytime now. For now I'm enjoying Buffalo Gals and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. Good stuff.

::staycation activity #3--practicing::

I love to see these two guys playing together. Even though getting Max to play what you want him to is a little like pulling teeth (well, really I should ask Kris about that, but that's what I think.)
Max is the king of procrastinators. He'd much rather play anything--anything else in the world than what you want him too.
But that's ok. When he finally plays with Kris it's really fun. He's getting better and better too.

::lessons::

Guitar lessons have begun.

We found a nice old guy at a local music store that enjoys teaching little kids. And Max has loved him so far. Max has delighted the teacher with his enthusiasm and interest. It's only been two weeks though, so we'll see if it all continues. As of now it's darling to see him with the little guitar. And it's really fun to have him in the house practicing, though if you have a headache stay away--far away.

He'll be playing the Ewok theme from Star Wars before we know it. (That's what he wanted Kris to teach him tonight, much to Kris's chagrin.)