Brother's unite!

It was a special occassion to be able to be with my brothers, John, Kendall, & Mike to support Autumn and her husband, who is also named Kendall, in their adoption of Alema. We hadn't been together for a couple of years and so this was special. I flew up on Thurs. night, stayed with Derek and then went fishing with Shaun and Derek at our "spot" on Friday. Of course, had a great time down on the stream and then Friday night we went to Salt Lake Temple to attend Alema's sealing to Autumn and Kendall Croft. What a special night it was!!! Then saturday, we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point to hit a few balls!!! That was plan 'B'. Plan 'A' was to go fishing after my brothers John and Kendall heard how we did on Friday. When the inquiry was made about the possibilities Derek and I just looked at each other reading each others' mind thinking that...."not going to be a very fun day, if we do indeed go fishing." The only thing that I kept going through my mind was figuring out how John was going to climb over barbed wire fences, climbing through them, wading through the stream and climbing through thistle and willows and then getting back to the car at the end of the day!!!! I had to quickly come up with an alternate plan, one that would be 'less stressful'. And so, you see everybody having fun hitting a bucket of balls. We had a great time!!!!!....and then we went to breakfast at, "One Man Band" restaurant in Lehi. Sunday, was the blessing and during that time everybody got together for pics on the steps of the chapel.

Pictured on the steps are: (fr) Ashley, Shaun, Krista, Autumn, holding Alema, Kelsi. (br) Kelland, Aubrey, Derek. All the cousins who were there. I really had an enjoyable time being with my bros. I couldn't have asked for a better week-end except having Maureen there also to share in my joy and of course Mom and Dad. I'm sure they were smiling this week-end.

Venting

I decided that I needed to vent because I am ticked off. I volunteered a while ago to teach an Enrichment class on Pizza making--not only traditional pizza but Rocky Road pizza, fruit pizza, peanut butter and honey pizza (for kids) Garden salad pizza, and a couple others. So I prepared for a few days--typed up all the recipes, copied them all, stapled them together, bought all the ingredients that cost me $45 and set up a bunch of chairs, cleaned my house and got my kitchen looking nice, etc. This morning, before I went to school, I made a big Rocky Road pizza and a fruit pizza so they could taste them tonight. After work I took Dennis to the airport and then came home and made a pizza dough (2 pizzas) that needed to set for 30 min. and was prepared to show everyone how to make it up to that point. Then we were going to assemble the pizzas and bake and eat. Well--7:00 came and went and one--yes 0ne--person came! Needlesstosay I canceled and am going to try freezing the pizzas that I made and I gave away the others. I am not happy about the support that I received. As Dennis said--"They stiffed the R.S. President!"
Maureen

Burrr!!!

I know it's the beginning of summer but it is already hot here in Las Vegas! Probably too hot for anything fun outside. So I thought I would go back 2 1/2 years ago when I went up to Idaho on a snowmobiling adventure with some of the guys in the ward. It was indeed an adventure as we were in snow well over our heads and in some areas over 20 ft. deep. We stayed in a cabin near Island Park and snowmobiled all day Friday, Saturday, rested on Sunday, then half day on Monday. Anyway, looking back at these pics kinda gives me the chills....so I know for some of you, you are all ready for the warm weather but for this island boy, I would much rather it be cold!!! Enjoy!

Snowmobiling is sooo much fun. To be able to go 80 mph on the trails with not much to worry about is really cool!! Some of the country we went through was awesome and eeriely quiet and almost like you were on another planet with the way the trees looked all iced up. Even though it was really, really cold, I still couldn't bring myself to wear pants up there. This might be a fun activity for the 'family' to think about as an alternate during another holiday break!!! Hey....I wonder if they snowmobile out at Lake Erie??? Marchelle, Nathan, we might have something to think about this winter!!!

Wow!

We've been reminded of what it is to be an example, knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. When Maureen and I were young and having young children in the home we would try to do our best to teach the right things to do, try to teach the gospel principles and mostly how to be good persons. The other day, unkowingly we were in the living room after having dinner and just relaxing. Grandma rested her legs up on the ottoman and then comes this little person, Kaile, out of nowhere and copies grandma!!! We just laughed our heads off!!!

And then the stark reality hit us like a ton of bricks! We had better watch what we do and what we say because there are little minds that are following us. When we least expect it, when we think there is no audience and when the roar of silence is deafening our example will be what is noticed and copied whether we like it or not. Much like to story that President Hinckley told of when looking for a car to buy he walked up to a car and kicked the tire and noticed that his son did the exact same thing...he walked up to it and kicked the tire. Our best teaching, likewise, will sometimes be the way we do things, the way we say things and the way we live. You can rest assure that little people are watching. Father's, most of all, happy father's day and secondly, be a good father!

WIP - (work in progress)

As you can see the grass is gone and the shrubs have been replaced with different ones. My artistic side has come out with the block wall facing the front sidewalk. Notice the two swells and then the returns towards the house, as they return they curve inward towards each other. Maureens first impression of the curves was that I was trying to symbolize certain female frontal anatomical parts!!! Butt!! on the contrary, if you were to look at the shape from the top you could clearly see that it will take on a "Heart" shape because there is 'a lot of love' in this project!! Within the heart will be grass and in between the grass and the house will be a paved sitting area with approaches from the corner of the sidewalk coming off the driveway and the front porch.

Of course, I had to bust out my Lakers shorts while working in the yard and doing my best impression of an illegal alien. Like the way my outfit is coordinated???? Maureen would definitely not approve...again!.......with the way I dress for this job but you know I'm getting older, perhaps wiser but more importantly a lot more self assured in my feelings of self-worth where I really don't care what other people think!!!! I'm at peace with myself!!!! Ha!!!!!

Anyway, it's hot right now so I thought I'd come in and cool off before going out for another lick. Will keep everybody updated with pics and thoughts as the project moves towards completion...I am excited to finally get a picture in my head about the final look!!