I was walking alone alongside the Sevier river the other day. This part of the river was wide and slow, perfect for floating and swimming. Behind me a small way was a truck carrying a half a dozen teenagers and floating tubes. Due to some trick of the acoustics in the area, I could hear one person whistling Come Thou Fount as clearly as if he were standing behind my right ear.

Do you remember when, as a teenager, some things were just funny for no reason whatsoever? I hear one of the young ladies in the truck giggle: "Look! Some random guy! hahahaha!" The "random guy" was me. I turned and waved, and a boy said, "Dude, he can hear you! hahahaha!" They pass me by giggling like they had found the richest joke ever.

Delores picked me up from school on the south side of town one evening, with Abigail in the back cooing as she so often does. Because she was somewhat agitated, we gave her the a box of tissues to play with as we drove home. We should have known how much fun was going on in the back seat by how quiet it was. When we came home, this is how we found our little angel:

Abigail reached a landmark today. After only eleven months, a fourth tooth finally gasped in its first breath of air. My how she grows. Already, her favorite word is "Hi" and her favorite pasttime is bouncing up and down to the Enchanted soundtrack. A few days ago she spent not less than ten minutes bouncing herself up and down in my arms, filled with the thrill of life.

An evening or so ago, we sat in the tall grass together in our back yard, watching tiny grasshoppers skip to and fro. Abigail giggled when I would catch one in my hand and held it in my palm for her to see. In only a moment, the hopper launched toward freedom, and a delighted Abigail watched and grinned. She thought they were just great. We spent some time yesterday playing basketball and chasing roly poly bugs.

Delores is the best mom. I love watching Abigail, her large eyes full of wonder at her mother. Where Delores goes, Abigail trots along behind, babbling away and content because mom is close. Delores is tireless and affectionate to the last moment of every day. I count myself a fortunate man.

We had a delightful experience during the 4th of July in Provo. The parades were enjoyable -- really. I've never liked parades. Sitting, waiting, baking in the sun, plugging ears, waiting for something, anything to happen. Not my cup of tea. Yet somehow, it was different. It was really fun. Everything is different now, and perhaps that is part of being a dad.

The family set up some inflatable pools in the yard. One pool was large, the other not so much. The rules for the were: "To play in the small pool, you must be less than *(pause while asking for the name of the oldest toddler)* four years old." This met some sighs of sorrow from the older boys, and sighs of relief from a few moms. The small pool was soon forgotten, however, for they discovered a new game: see how many pitchers of hot water need to be carried from the kitchen to make the large pool warm. It was like watching a colony of ants at work, all the nieces and nephews trotting in and out with steaming pitchers containing a few cups of hot water. It was all good fun.

Abigail, we learned, loves playing in pools of water. This was her first time. Smothered in sunscreen until a moose could pass out from the fumes, we stood her in the small pool. She sat down once, and with eyes widening at the chill, darted so quickly to her feet and to the edge of the pool that I thought we had given birth to an acrobat. After a few moments of clinging desperately to the side of the pool, curiosity overcame her and she gingerly reached over and started patting the water with her hand. Oh, she loved it!

Since then, she gets thrilled all over and begins hopping up and down in our arms at the site of a body of water, be it inflatable pool or bathtub. Her excitement about life is a thrill for me. Similar to how exciting life became when I married Delores, life is richer because of my little girl. Oh, I could be a daddy forever.

The Barker reunion rolled around again this year, and we held it at the dinosaur park at the mouth of Ogden canyon. We had quite a delightful time. Delores and I missed the turn when driving to the park, and did not realize it until we exited the other side of the canyon and had our choices of remote ski resorts for destinations. At last, doing honor to all males, I stopped and asked for directions.

My kid sister is an aspiring photographer, and she has a knack of grabbing neat photos. This picture is one of hers. If any of you are looking for a good photographer...

We also had games at the party. One game consisted of standing on wobbly wooden platforms and knocking an opponent off theirs with only a foam sword. It was rich fun. We were sad when the third sword broke, leaving nothing left for the game. It was a somewhat embarassing truth that three different Rimingtons were responsible for each of the three different broken swords. We're a rowdy bunch.

As the extended Dorton clan contentedly watched Jacob and Delores open birthday presents on Sunday, Isabel enters the room from the kitchen saying:

"Everyone, I have an announcement....

"Samuel is eating Delores' cake."

The room was a sudden picture of motion.

I'll admit it. We didn't always vacuum every day (or week, for that matter); but we do much better now that Abigail's unrelenting curiosity married her budding mobility.

So how did she find a rusty old staple to eat? It hasn't been more than a day, or maybe two, since the vacuum scrubbed that very patch of floor.

Thank heavens she hasn't figured out how to use her tongue to swallow solids.

She did it! She really did it!

And I wanna brag about her. 

Monday was an exciting day for us. Delores defended her thesis at last, and stood triumphant after a grueling hour-and-a-half. Some of the professors on the panel were quite flattering in their praise of Delores' effots.

Abigail came along, and spent most of the time being chased away from all the tasty textbooks in Dr. Gast's office by Delores' good friend Anne.  Afterwards, we enjoyed some long-awaited Aggie Ice Cream.

It was kind of funny, after several waves of denial washed over us, to say, "It's done....Only three rounds of revisions left before it is finished." Three rounds of revisions, but at least no more defence.

At any rate, we're understandably happy. Next time you see Delores, give her a hug from all of us. 

Folks say that teaching a few simple signs to a child can help them learn to communicate, and thus reduce the frustrations of toddlerhood. So it is that we have a few signs that we use when we talk to her. "Mom", "Dad", "Milk", "Diaper", "Food", "Up", "Was' up, Dog?"... Only the essentials.

Well, of all the goodness, she picked up on one!

Milk, she said to Delores yesterday morning. She was hungry. Milk, she said to Delores in the afternoon when, again, she was hungry.

Hearing about it from Delores made my day!

We visited the Dorton clan for Easter. There were easter eggs. There were crafts. There was a wonderful Sabbath service.

And as we were leaving, the nieces invited me to join in their game with the nephews. Princesses and Bad Guys, they called it. The girls were all princesses. The boys were all bad guys, "except," they explained to me, "for you. You're a good guy..."

The game resembled steal-the-flag; only there wasn't any flag. The princesses would get caught by the bad guys and put in jail, which the boys studiously goal-tended. The only way to get out was to be saved by another princess or, even, the good guy.

I saved Isabel from the crowd, lifted her onto my shoulders, and ran from all pursuing bad guys who wanted to capture the princess, and pursuing princesses who wanted their turn. It only takes a half dozen princesses for a good guy to realize how woefully out of shape he is... What made it worse was saving the oldest for last. Who thought of that maneuver?

When all was said and done, I joined my two most precious princesses, and started the journey home, unable to hide the smile on my face. I love my two families.