Saturday, May 26, 2007

The North Country, and SUNY Binghamton

Hi everyone. The last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful so I thought I would put up a couple of pictures from my trip with Erin to visit her family in "The North Country" of New York State. She grew up (and her folks still live close to) the St. Lawrence River that separates New York from Canada. It's rural, and very pretty. I realized this when I visited Western New York where Dad and family lived and am amazed that the rural areas are in the same state as New York City. Erin's dad built the log home where they live now out of the forest that they live on. It's a great place and I think it's so cool that it came from the property where it now sits.


We hung out there for a few days and then headed down to Binghamton where Erin's younger sister (Aliesha) just graduated from SUNY Binghamton in Human Development. It was fun, a lot of ceremonies and restaurants (not a bad thing with the restaurant part). You will be happy to hear that Erin and I have taught her family Nerts (as well as various Bozemanites). I've had a lot of fun with Erin's family. On the way to Binghamton her dad put on a Crash Test Dummies CD, they were both singing along to the "Hmmm mmmm mmmmm mmmmm" song. It cracked me up that they knew all the words (actually, they knew the whole CD) and did actions that go along with the lyrics like I do when I'm messing around. We had a pretty fun time. Here I'll put a picture of them all here (notice the USU sweatshirt Erin's sister is wearing?).

Sorry, I'm going to end this abruptly because I'm done writing but I'll try to give more details about the trip and/or my new job (or something else) later.

P.S. Erin wanted to make sure you all know that her dad is laughing, not just a weirdo.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like a fun family and that you had a great time. We look forward to go back to our NY friends this fall on the way to see Melecia's family. We didn't get that far to the northeast, but we really enjoyed the country around the Canadian border. That's pretty impressive that they could memorize an entire CD. I can't even remember the name of the movie I saw last week. Oh well. Love you, Dad

Anonymous said...

That is way funny about the song. I want to see the actions they were doing with it. Sheesh good thing my family isn't that weird! Just kidding Erin, I am sure Glen, Joel and Paul could tell you some stories that would make your head spin about my family.
So correct me if I read it wrong but Erin's family made their house out of the stuff from the forest right? Maybe I need to read it again?
I was really surprised by New York when we went to visit Mike and Susan also, not what I was expecting.
I am excited to hear more about the trip and your job. Keep up with the pictures, it's nice to see pictures of you and Erin!

Maude said...

What a fun story! I love the story about the log house. Neat. I listened/watched the song, and laughed at the thought of them singing along. Makes me comfortable that we're not the only weird family around! (See Joni, other families dance and sing crazy songs, too!) :)

Sounds like a wonderful trip, Joel. The job still going well?

Anonymous said...

I think that Crash Test Dummies song was ranked on VH1 as one of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever". I can't argue with that. Any song with Mmmm as the chorus is pretty weird. I just Googled it and it was #15. Here's the list: http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/50_most_awesomely_bad_songs/series_countdown.jhtml


Where did Erin's sister get the sweatshirt?

Joel said...

Yeah, Kendi. They cut the trees, milled them, etc. It's pretty cool. I would love to do it but don't expect to ever have the time and expertise for something like that.
I've always loved the MMM song, it is totally random but the dude's deep-A voice is cool. The rest of the songs are equally as random. Remember the one about Tarzan and Superman?
I'll have to do an update about the work, but I'm enjoying it. Quite a challenge.

Joel said...

The USU sweatshirt was a graduation gift from Erin and I. I know, wrong school.

Anonymous said...

They look like a fun and loving group! Congratulations to Erin's sister on her graduation, and on her good taste in hoodie fashion! I will have to listen to the "crash test dummies" - I must be living in a cave!
-Melecia