Isn't it fun to find cool things really close by?  One evening we dropped Eric off at Carlos' going away (back home to Brazil) party.  We just drove down the road in Conway and stopped at this pretty church.  The way the sunlight was glowing through the fancy windows was so beautiful. These old churches definitely had character!

Going, Going, Gone!

Our snazzy blue boat is ours no more, but the memories will never leave, I'm quite sure! Keith sold this boat to a buddy. Just for fun, lets hear some memories from Eric's point of view.  This was written when Eric was 13.

My family knows a lot of ways to have fun. We ski, fish, hunt, camp, go on hikes, and a lot more. When I am around them, it is easy to have fun. My top three ways to spend time with my family are inner tubing at Lake Samish, vacationing in Hawaii, and skiing at Sun Peaks in Canada (or anywhere else).

My family has gone inner tubing for a lot of years. We probably started even before I was born. Lack of technology never discouraged our family from having fun. We used to use an old fishing boat (The one pictured above) and actual tire inner tubes with a rope tied around them. For life jackets, we used bulky, un-sporty, fishing PFDs. Apparently, the tubes were not meant for tubing on a lake. They would randomly submerge for about four seconds at a time, but my siblings say it was about ten seconds underwater. Eventually, we got a large tube meant for tubing on a lake that could fit three people on it. Later on we upgraded to fancy water ski life jackets. This year my brother and dad bought a fancy water ski boat that came with water skis. We got another inner tube so we could play bumper tubes. The new tube was smaller and moved around a lot more so it would bump into our bigger tube. A couple of times, the new, blue tube collided with the other one really hard and the blue tube flipped over the big tube. There were two people on each tube and somehow someone from the blue tube knocked someone off the red tube. After that collision I was the only person still on the tube.

My Mother's Day

Yes, it was awhile ago, but I figured as long as I post about it before Father's Day, which is tomorrow, I'm still ok.  This is the beautiful hanging basket from the kids.  I love flowers,and a hanging basket is something to be enjoyed all summer long.  Devin picked this out at Walmart where he was working at the time, and I have to say, he's got good taste.  I happened to be shopping at WalMart a few days later, and this hanging basket was by far the one I liked best.  Thanks kids for remembering me and my love of flowers!  You are so sweet!

For breakfast on Mother's Day we had a lovely feast.  The boys really had this kitchen rockin' and rollin'!        But I couldn't resist taking a picture of these fabulous papayas and limes.  Every wonderful bite reminded me of Hawaii.  This is our standard breakfast food there.  It's quite rare to eat this here, but so fantastic!  Just love the flavor combination.  It's brilliant!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It was fun to have the brothers up for Mom's birthday

celebration on Sunday. She looks wonderful!

We had a nice picnic, the weather was a bit

breezy, so we opted for the warm indoors.

Well mom, keep up the good work, you're a

great motivator for all of us to live right and

take care of ourselves so we can look and feel as

good as you at your age!

Devin Showing Off His Mad Skills!

While shopping at Cabelas in Utah, Devin found

this toy, and showed us all how the trick is performed.

Amazing! This was actually more difficult than

it looks. Eric gave it a try and we realized it

takes a good bit of practice! Devin had a friend

at BYUI who taught him a bit. Don't know what

it's called, but it looks like fun!

Eric's 16th Birthday

Eric's birthday was fun this year.

He kind of indicated he would like to be surprised, so we figured

out a sneaky way to throw him a party. First, I had to enlist the help

of his best friend Andre to contact the other kids for me.  He's a wiz

at texting, and I knew he could get the word out and keep it on the

down low so Eric wouldn't be the wiser.  He did great!  The kids

all met at the movie theater.  Our only job was to get Eric there.

We had planned to go to dinner with two other families to plan

 the three boys' Court of Honor.  So on the way, we just made a

quick stop to see what movies were playing, in case we wanted to

go to a show later.  Of course, the movie times are only listed

all the way inside, at the ticket counter.  Keith went on in to

"check the movie times."  When he found the kids all there and

waiting he called my cell phone and told me that Eric and I better

come in, there was something we needed to see.  Now Eric

was thoroughly confused by this time, because not only were we

late for our dinner appointment, but Dad was acting pretty weird.

It worked great though.  When we walked into the theater Eric's

friends were standing near the entrance and all shouted SURPRISE!

at the appropriate moment.  It's a good idea to make sure you

have girls invited when you want something shouted out, especially

in public.  They did a great job. 

So after the show, they came back to our house for cake

and games.  I had been frosting this cake while Eric was home

but I sort of hid it once it was done, and luckily he never

asked me what it was for.

Everyone gets into licking the frosting off of birthday candles.

I must say, these kids can sing a pretty good sounding

 birthday song.  A musical group.

And generous!  Lots of fun cards and gifts!

The kids played Curses.  It was fun to hear so much laughter in the

house! Eric had a great evening, it turned out to be really fun,

hanging out with his friends on a Friday evening, just before he

 turned sweet sixteen on Sunday!

In keeping with tradition, we also had a family celebration on his

birthday. Eric requested a rhubarb cake for the first time. 

So once Eric FINALLY turned 16, the first order of business for

this dynamic duo was to plan a date!  Andre is glad to have a friend

who's up for double dating.  His birthday is in February, and he

said it's taken FOREVER for Eric to be old enough to date! 

He had to wait two whole months!

A few more Utah pics

Before church.  These guys look pretty dapper.

Sure enjoyed the opportunity to visit Diane's ward where she serves

as Relief Society President.  She's doing a good job.

The rain quit in the afternoon, just as we were leaving Temple Square

so we were able to take some photos in this lovely place.

The pre-MTC breafast/brunch.  Blueberry buttermilk pancakes,

bacon and Keith's now famous fruit smoothies.

Devin is very pleased with the first bite.  He's sporting

Dennis' African Apron.

Oh yeah, we had fruit, too.

Dennis carefully fanned out like four of those beautiful pancakes

on his plate.  No problem!

At the MTC. 

When we dropped him off, an Elder from the MTC greeted us

at the car, shook Devin's hand and helped him with his luggage.

Then Eric got out and he said, worriedly, "You've got two?"

I assured him I had Eric for a few more years!

It was a wonderful day, and I am thrilled for Devin!

A Beautiful Day for a Hike

For our Memorial Day celebration we thought we'd head for the hills

and take a scenic hike.  The weather cooperated beautifully.

Eric took advantage of this little patch of snow and sent a snowball

or two flying at us.

It was pretty cold up close to the falling waters!

Some of my favorite things, water, rocks, and a sweet hike

on a sunny day,

with my sweetheart, of course.

Stewart Falls, near Sundance Resort.  A couple of miles round trip,

uphill both ways, but worth it.

I spied this "Y" in the mountain.  Very interesting, wouldn't you say?

Sunday Dinner in Provo

When the sun is shining it's time to enjoy the outdoors.  Perfect time

for a picnic.  Devin's choice for dinner?  BBQ chicken and crab

with all the usual side dishes.  The briquettes tooks awhile to heat

up, so we decided to stand around and watch.  That always speeds

up the process.

Devin is showing off his delicious crab leg.

Keith is showing Eric the fine art of breaking into the crab meat.

Everyone is eating til they're plum full.

A nice game of frisbee to finish off the day.  I really like this park

by Diane and Dennis' apartment.  The grass is so nice, the trees

are well spaced to provide shade.

And you sure feel safe with this Indian Chief standing at the ready to

guard your yummy picnic food.  Behind him is a cool pioneer village replica.

While playing frisbee, someone accidentally threw it over the fence.

Keith pryed the gate open just enough for Eric to squeeze through

and rescue our beloved flying disc.  Thanks for saving it Eric!