Tackling THE Project!

This is the project that has needed to be done before the heat sets in - and this is no small project. Because we have had a good share of rains this last season, our yard is green, but not the kind of green we want. The weeds have taken over the place, so when we woke up today and saw that the weather was cool and breezy, we knew that today was the day. I think the clincher was when Michaela drove in from Rexburg for the weekend and called our yard a "jungle". I didn't dare take a "before" shot...I was too embarrassed. So here we are, in the middle of weed pulling, with the family and even the missionaries, who just happened to drive by and lend a hand.
Almost done!

After much hard work, and sore hands, we headed into the house for a well-deserved, though LATE, breakfast of crumbcake, pancakes, bacon, eggs, and juice. Mmm boy!

I almost feel bad that Michaela brought her guy friend with her for the weekend - he got roped into helping. He was a good sport and probably saw that it was going to take ALL hands to tackle a project like this!

Now we can at least keep a handle on the weeds that pop up from time to time. (Actually, there's really more weeds in our lawn than LAWN!)

Dad's Girl

The older I get, the more I am SO much my dad...and I am SO okay with that. I used to complain about some of the things I got from my dad, but now I see that they are all things that don't matter anyway. I have come to focus more on what I DID get from dad...and I am so grateful for it all. For any of you that TRULY know me, you know that I am just as blond as my dad...eyelashes, eyebrows, and all! (Thank goodness for eyebrow dye, mascara, and self-tanner. I even got his white legs!) I got the red in my hair from him, which has turned to a nice "platinum" (I like to call it "celestial"), my freckles from him, and even my crooked smile from him. All things that I thought were nuisances, but have become so endearing to me.

I even have the rough, wrinkled, thick skin of my dad! Who would have thought that something that detailed could be handed down to a child, all the way down to not being able to close off that last finger next to the rest. Yep, dad can't do that either! That's pretty cool, I think. (At least I can grow my nails out to help the look a little...)

But with all of the "nuisances" that I've been given from my dad, my hope is that I eventually get so much more of him - the parts that I have come to love so much. How he never says anything bad about anyone. NEVER. How everything he does is for someone else. EVERYTHING. How he is so devoted to God and the cause that he would die for it. How he has always put mom first. I hope I can someday put Kevin first in all things. Sure, it's taken dad 80 years to become who he is today...but frankly, I have never known him to be any other person than who he has always been to me. Now more than ever, I am so thankful I am so much like my dad.

Another Bummer...

I've decided that I hate transfers. I thought it was aweful to have to let the sisters go back in January, but this is just as bad. I usually don't get so attached to Elders, but these guys have taken up where the girls left off and outdone themselves. Our ward has had baptisms up the wazoo, and it's because of Elders like these. Well, after only 6 weeks, Elder Gibson is gone :(
We better get another Elder on fire...that's all I have to say.
Elder Arbizu, Elder Gibson, and the rest of us (minus Tibi, who had already gone to bed!) On a lighter note, this kid has finally graced us with one of his headstands!