Happy Birthday Uncle D!

Happy Happy Birthday Damon! Damon likes to pretend to be mean but he is a big ole' softy inside. He is the first person to come help if you need him. He will probably get there surprisingly fast because he tends to speed, and has this awesome yellow corvette that looks a lot like the picture above. I will never forget the experience of driving down Huntington Canyon with him one Summer evening. Talk about trill rides. He use to fly airplanes too and he loves to shoot guns...He may be an adrenaline junkie.

Damon is a hard worker, just like my mom, and my Grandma and my Grandpa. I think it's a family trait. He gets things done, and doesn't complain about how long it takes. He has helped us all with so many projects. So I guess this is a good time to say Thank You!!!
You are probably working today, but I hope you have a great day Damon! We love you!!

Waiting....

Today is a waiting day. I am waiting for our new furniture to arrive (sometime between 11 and 1), and I am axiously waiting for Mark's weekly email from Brazil. Mark's letters are so great, full of enthusiasm, and excitement but he has managed to keep his sarcastic edge that makes me laugh. He writes letters the same way he speaks, so it's easy to hear him saying in my mind what is written. He loves Brazil, and seems to have a respect for the people and their culture after just one month. It's fun to have a missionary.


We read this for FHE last night. It is SO cute! It was a little too old for Miriam, we had to adapt it. I think it would be perfect for 4 & 5 year olds. It's about manners, but the reader gets to pick the correct response to different situations. Carolyn and Mark Buehner are geniuses. They also wrote Fanny's Dream, Snowmen at Night, and I am sure, a bunch of other cute children's books.

I made the cake Michelle posted the recipe for (July archives). You had to beat eggs for 15 min!! Mine did not look as pretty as Michelle's but it was soooo good. I used fresh whipped cream too. It should be noted that I am a chocolate lover through and through. The type of person, who after finishing off a piece of dessert, looks around to see everyone else has only taken a few bites because it "too rich". So all you vanilla lovers should probably try a different cake.

Birthday Recap

Thank you Thank you Thank You for all the cards, emails, and birthday blogs! I have never received so many birthday wishes and it's all due to the blogging world! Here is a little sampling of my birthday wishes/gifts. That's right, there is an ipod in there! Yea! I don't have to carry my "ghetto blaster" from room to room while listening to audio books anymore. Now I just need to know all the best online book places so I can go on a downloading rampage. The cute cards are from Jill, Hannah, my Mother & Father in-law, Heidi, and Taraje. The ecards and blog wishes were a happy surprise too (Kristi-thank you for the pretend E party, Cristin, Sarah, Julia & Lara thank you!). My sister-in-law Lisa (the blogging worlds newest member, how lucky are we?!) treated us to dinner in honor of my birthday. My good friend Fiona took me to breakfast at the Market Street Grill (so good) and made me a bracelet. It was a birthday celebration spread over a few days which was nice. I have to say the best gift I received was the slave labor from my father-in-law who came to help us paint, and my mom who watched Miriam all day (not to mention bought me tons of painting supplies).


This was a rather hectic, tiring birthday, but I can't complain because so much work was done. I feel such a sense of relief. We still need to do some clean-up work, paint doors, closets and the kitchen but I feel like I can handle it now.

Here is a blurry picture of the colors we choose. Georgian Blue for the living room and downstairs bathroom, Ripe Riesling for the kitchen, Sea Bean for the halls, our room, and the upstairs bathroom the whole house has white trim and white ceilings. It was difficult to decide on colors. I was leaning toward brown or tan neutral colors, but Darin wanted more color...more color without going into reds or purples. I wanted to stay away from yellows, so here we are green and blue with a grayish neutral. I think we found "us" in our color selection, the challenge will now be to decorate in our style...which is something like; contemporary, lived-in, a bit modern, not too expensive, a bit of the East Coast, some pottery barn, kind of Scandinavian, children friendly look. It will be a challenge for sure.

Miriam's room is a brighter green called Spring Green. When she saw her room, Grandpa asked how she liked it and she looked at him and said "I like pink" so, she is not too impressed. I promised her a pink bed to make up for it.



This is what our TV screen looks like these days. The TV crashed to the ground yesterday and we have been seeing rainbows ever since. The volume and channel controls are also out of whack. I have been thinking of not replacing it. We can watch movies on our computer, and all the news we could want or need is on the internet. We are going to go a few weeks without it and see how things go.

Cute Children's Clothes

My Cousin Kristi, blogged about some cute children's clothing websites that I have loved perusing. Last night at the Farmers Market a new booth showed up selling homemade children's clothes and I thought they were darling. Here is the website Robin's Nest Originals. It's a small site because Mikel, the woman who sews the clothing makes them out of her home, but she can custom make pretty much anything. I especially loved the jeans with the ruffle and matching tops. I just splurged on a dress for Miriam so I couldn't order or buy anything, but next splurge time I am defiantly going to call her.

I need to persuade my sister-in-law Cristin to give away her clothing secrets because her children are always dressed darling.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

It's my Grandpa's Birthday today! I asked him how he was going to celebrate and he said something to the affect of buying the coffee and cola's for the guys at the B & K (a local gas station). I feel so lucky to have a grandparent who still owns a farm. I never realized how novel it is to have seen goats up close...to have been pressured into trying to ride them. Wait, maybe I am not so lucky after all...haha. Grandpa is a character that is for sure. Here is one of my favorite memories of him. He took me to a local diner for breakfast one day, or maybe lunch I can't remember which. As we walked in he started singing "Good Morning to you...Good Morning to you" and shaking hands with everyone who was in the diner. I thought he had gone mad, but everyone smiled and laughed and shook both of our hands. I guess it was a common occurrence. Grandpa is very friendly, loves to joke and tell stories, dance, and music. He is a fun Grandpa to have. He won't read this because he doesn't do the internet but I will say it anyway I Love You Grandpa!

The week so far....

My mom made this Snow White costume for me when I was 4. I think it is darling. She made it without a pattern, 9 months pregnant, while living in my Grandparents basement with 3 little kids. Amazing. Of course Miriam wants to wear it all the time. Whenever she is dressed in something normal, you know there have been tears, tantrums, and compromises at our house.


Yesterday was the last day of Joy School. This was such a fun thing to do. The kids loved it. I am tinkering with the idea of doing Joy School rather than pre-school when Miriam turns 3 next year. I could then use pre-school money to put her in something fun like Kindermusik or Power tumbling. I don't know though...2 hours 2 days a week Miriam free sounds good too. I am just tinkering with the idea, any suggestions would be welcome.

We have had some fun visitors the last few weeks. Shauna and James came by during their last summer fling and then Alicia and Lisa stopped by on their trip down to SUU. Our home is not visitor friendly at the moment. We still have no living room furniture and there are no doors up...Anywhere. Our guests met at our door and were whisked away to a restaurant, which was very fun for us because we got an excuse to go out to eat! Miriam benefited greatly from the visits. Shauna and James brought her the very hip Harley Davidson levi jacket. Alicia took one more opportunity to use her employee discount at Old Navy and brought the polk-a-dot dress and cute pants. Miriam is wearing the dress right now (compromise, dress instead of Snow White because the dress has pink polk-a-dots, but she insists on wearing her "clacky" black shoes). Alicia, she looks so cute!! Thank you both for the cute clothes! I know Alicia is going to be the style maven at SUU. It's a good thing she is here to spread the message to Utah girls, that the rest of the world laughs when they see a shade under a halter, or tube top. Good Luck Alicia!!

Helper Arts Festival

This last weekend we sold soap at the Helper Art and Music Festival. If you have never been to this event and live in Utah, it's worth the 2-3 hour drive to little ole' Helper to check it out (if you like art that is). Helper is a little town outside of Price. It was settled by coal miners and railroad workers. At one time was on it's way to becoming a good size town, since a train depot is located there. With the closing of so many mines, it is practically a ghost town now, and it is surround by honest to goodness ghost towns. Helper main street consists of a few antique shops, a coal and train museum, 2 little diners, a gas station, a bank, and a state liquor store. Most of the other downtown buildings are empty, or they were until a few artists began buying them up. During the art festival, these buildings become art galleries for well known artists in Utah. You can walk in and out of them, looking at and buying art. Along the road, other artists display their art under canopies. Further down the road you come to the crafts, and then the food booths. I am sure the Park City and Salt Lake Art Festivals are larger, with more variety, but they can't compete with old Helper Main Street. It's so quaint and quirky with the huge statue of a coal miner, and the cute little Town Hall.

They have a little section reserved for kids to create artwork of their own, and of couse had a train to ride. They also had a children's gallery and gave awards. Actually, I think they gave awards for the other arts work as well. The added bonus is Spring Canyon being so close. That is where the "White Lady" haunts the ruined buildings. Rumor has it that a mine blew up and killed hundreds of men including the husband and son of the woman who is now called "White Lady". I think every teenager in Carbon County has driven up the canyon to have their socks scared off. I can't say I really ever saw the White Lady, but I have been scared enough to pee my pants up there.

My family was great to help us out this weekend. Miriam was in heaven playing with her cousins. Especially Madison who played endless hours of dress up with her, and Sarah who delt with all the kids for the majority of the time. Miriam has been very discontented now that we are home. I am simply not as much fun as "Hulkman Marcus" and "My Mudder Madison".

Ouch!

Miriam and I were in a small accident today. I was putting her in her car seat when a truck backed into our drivers side back door. The car was pushed into me, pinning my foot between the curb and the tire and knocking Miriam and I to the ground. I couldn't get my foot out, and Miriam was hysterical. The woman who hit me was hysterical as well, I felt so sorry for her. She was apologizing over and over, and crying almost as hard as Miriam. I just kept saying "it's okay, get the car off my foot...It's alright, get the car off my foot!". My key and ignition are a bit sensitive, I have it down, but the woman and her daughter could not get my car to start. They called the police and after a few minutes got the car started, rolled it back a little and I yanked my foot free. I called Darin, but because I didn't want the woman to feel bad I kept the conversation very cool and aloof "small accident....tire hit my foot...not a bit deal". He apparently, was wondering if he should even come, but he did sweet man that he is, to find me unable to walk. It is one of those annoying but not serious injuries. I need to stay off it for a few days (WHAT?? painting, selling soap a two year old, are you kidding me??), but no serious damage done. I honestly feel so bad for the woman who hit us, I am sure she is having a hard time with this. I will call her tomorrow and tell her I am fine.

Miriam has seemed a little strange since it happened, which is to be expected. When I was pinned she kept saying "GET UP MOMMY, GET UP! I will help you up!" and then (this made me laugh) "I NEED A TISSUE!". We were coming out of Joy School when it happened so Mandy, the woman who taught today took her inside for a dress up tea party during the police report stuff. How sweet is that??? At the doctors office I had hoped she would stay in the waiting room with Darin to play with the toys but she burst into tears when I suggested it. When I opened the fridge tonight she came and held the door so I wouldn't "get pinned again". Very sad. I hope she is okay. I think we need to stop talking about it because she gets clingy and whiney whenever someone calls and I tell the story.

I am so grateful we are okay. So happy that nothing happened to Miriam. So delighted that I married the man that I did.

"Your Majesty"

It's time once again for the Miriam update. I was reminded that I needed to document her quirks and funnies last night during Family Home Evening. After the lesson we were going through the Gospel Art Kit quizzing Miriam on the pictures. We are so impressed that she knew President Hinkley, Baptism, Marriage in the Temple, and then we got to a picture showing a boy passing the Sacrament. "What is that boy doing Miriam" we asked. " He is giving the samples" she replied. Too many trips to Costco I believe. I am addicted to the oh so cheap Costco hot dogs but that is another topic for another blog.

Here are some phrases Miriam has been saying lately:
"You like the color blue, doncha?"
"What you up to Dad?"
"You are a stinker Mom." this said with a coy smile.
"Actually Mom, Bananas make me sick" she said this exact phrase, but it's the "actually" word that she has been using a lot.


The Princess phase is in full swing. She insists on wearing skirts or dresses. She now switches from character to character at any given whim. At one moment she is calling me "Your Majesty" and then quickly glares at me because I am the wicked stepmother. Darin is Prince Charming at times, or a horse, or a dog. When she sees me doing the dishes then she turns into the wicked stepmother and starts ordering me around. She also loves to become the Fairy Godmother and often Bibbidy Bobbidy Bo's me. This morning when I went to get her from the crib she said "Ariel, I am Flounder!". She has been Flounder all morning. She is quite dramatic, and has a very expressive face. Darin says she is me amplified which makes me wonder what how others see me.

Miriam and her friend Emerson (boy) were playing on our playgroud last Sunday when she suddenly threw her arms around him and said "Prince Charming!". She closed her eyes and went in for the kiss. Emerson is an animal fanatic (he knows every species of monkey at the Hogle Zoo) so he started making this animal sniffing nose but eventually kissed her back. Emerson's parents were laughing but it made me cringe...I hope she doesn't start attacking little boys in nursery. I hope she isn't becoming "wicked" at playgroups and ordering others around. I hope other mothers will think "what a vivid imagination she has" and not "what is her mother teaching her?".

This is Miriam...she is all ribbons, sparkles, bows, and drama at the moment. I don't really mind, but I am still hoping she will love math and science like her Dad. Scholarships for female engineers are AMAZING. If I really were her Fairy Godmother I would bestow the gift of nerdiness upon her. I hope she will become a nerdy brave princess.

Haberdashery

hab·er·dash·er (hăb'ər-dăsh'ər)
n.

1. A dealer in men's furnishings.
2. Chiefly British. A dealer in sewing notions and small wares.

[Middle English, perhaps from Anglo-Norman hapertas, petty wares.]

We sold soap this weekend on quaint Main street. The first morning we were set up outside of the local mens haberdashery. The owner (who is only there by appointment, and even then good luck getting him to answer his phone to make one) asked Darin to help him bring out some tables of white dress shirts. After the tables were set he asked Darin's size and gave him a shirt. Darin of course tried to refuse but how can you refuse a haberdasher??? So, we made our booth fee within 15 min. of setting up the first morning. We don't feel too bad, my parents bought Mark's missionary suit and pants from him. We spent the weekend selling soap and painting.

We are currently living in chaos. All our living room furniture (excluding bookcases) are in our garage, and every other room has all the furniture pushed to the middle. Closets are stuffed with odds and ends, gallons of paint, rollers, and brushes are under the kitchen table. The next two weeks will be devoted to painting the ceilings and then the color goes on the walls.


Ella Enchanted is amazing. I loved it. It's a Cinderella type story but the main character is much more interesting than the bird singing, picked on Disney one (although I do like that movie too). This story reminded me of all the Cinderella type books and stories that I love: Cinder Edna, The Ordinary Princess, Fanny's Dream. Does anyone know any others?? We also watched the LDS version of Pride and Prejudice while cutting and labeling soap. LOVED it! I was laughing so hard, although I have said this about other movies (Happy Texas) which got some mixed reviews from my friends and family. I may have a strange sense of humor...but if I do Darin does too because he loves Happy Texas as much as I do. We are meant to be.

Bridge to Terabithia

This is one of the books I listened to while washing walls. I washed walls while crying and sniffling. It was quite a site (I saw myself in our dresser mirror) chest heaving, scrunched up red face, sweaty from working. I was exhausted afterwards because both washing walls and crying wear me out! It is such a simple story, but I was completely drawn to the lead characters. I kind of knew how the story would end instinctively, but wasn't miffed by the predictability. Again, I love stories told through the eyes of a child. I think my favorite parts are when the Jess talks to his teacher at the end, and when Leslie's dad thinks about giving PT (the dog) to Jess but can't part with it. In both of these cases, people are perceived to be a certain way, and one conversation changes everything.
It is a sad book. I think I would make sure to have a conversation with my child after it's been read. It would create a great opportunity for discussions on important issues.

I just checked out Ella Enchanted to listen to while I finish priming walls tomorrow. It's not a Newbery Medal winner, but is an Honor book. Sometimes I like the Newbery Honor books better. We'll see.

Exhausted but Happy

Whew-ee, we are so tired. I am so glad we have today (Sunday) to recoup. My parents came up this weekend to help us texturize and prime our walls. My parents are so amazing. They worked so hard for 1 & 1/2 days and quit only when Darin and I called it quits. Our walls look so great, which is miraculous considering the shape they were in before. My dad owns a paint store so they know what they are doing, and I have to add that Porter paint is awesome. I think its more expensive than a lot of brands, it's the kind that contractors use, but I love it. I have noticed my neighbor can get 3 rooms painted in a day, but I don't think she paints the way my mom paints. My mom is a perfectionist which means you completely wash walls, lightly sand, have the floors vacuumed and cleaned, tape off everything will NICE tape, clean as you go, remove tape as you paint, and clean off brushes. I guess if you are going to use nice paint you might as well do it right. Darin and I have a lot more to do. We still need to prime the upstairs and then the actual color needs to get on the walls (we are hoping Darin's dad will come down for this one, we understand he is a paint master himself). It's so nice to be getting this project done, we just need to keep the momentum up. I have to say it one more time: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my parents. I couldn't ask for more supportive and wonderful parents.

Has anyone else been tackling home improvements this summer??

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and other good reads.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you out there who suggested this book(Cristin, Lara, I can't remember who else). I loved it. It's been on my blog as a current read for a month but I finished it in a week, I just haven't updated. I returned it to the library so unfortunately I can't quote any great lines. I always love getting a view of the world from a child, it changes everything. Alcoholic unstable fathers become music making heroes. Aunts who are "easy" or "tramps" become champions with tender hearts. It gives a whole new spin on the world. I can see why we are suppose to become like little children. Now I am reading To Kill A Mocking Bird because Kristi, and Jessica (Stull) loved it so much. So far I do too.

We are currently getting ready to paint our house THE WHOLE house, so I have lots of audio book time. We have to wash all the walls, sand them, tack cloth them before we do the texturizing, priming, and finally painting (Darin has been fixing nail pops, and spackling). My parents are coming up this weekend to help...thank heavens for parents! Anyway back to my audio books, I have listened to The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Princess Diaries -Princess Party and am currently listening to Bridge to Terrabithia (back to my Newberry Award goal). I LOVE the Sisterhood books. I think I like them more than the Princess Diaries. I do have to warn mothers out there that they should read them before getting them for daughters. Intimacy comes up in both series, so it might not be a good book until there is a certain maturity and understanding there.

Miriam as Dorothy

Here is a sampling of the pictures Darin took a few weeks ago. My husband is amazing. He sees something he is interested in learning, he does some research, and TA DA he can do it. He just loves to learn, and he wants to learn so much he usually does something a few times and moves on to another hobby. This creates a lot of "hobby stuff" at our house, but when it gets frustrating (and expensive) I try to remember that this love of learning, and curiosity of life is something I love the most about him. It's something I hope he passes on to our children. They won't get it from me, although I am trying in be progressive (blogging). I am more of a content settled person. Learning new things can intimidate me.
One of Darin's old/new hobbies is photography. He took a photography class in high school, but when things went digital he became interested again (he loves technology). My mom asked me to have some new pictures of Miriam for Mark's farewell so we rushed to the woods to take some pictures. It was perfect timing because Miriam's devotion is splitting between Dorothy and, Angelina Ballerina. Sometimes Angelina comes grocery shopping with us instead of Dorothy, and (gasp) Miriam called one of her dolls Angelina the other day. I hope Dorothy is not completely replaced but I am glad we documented this part of her childhood in pictures just in case.

This is my favorite picture, Darin softened it using Gimp (an open source program, similar to Adobe Photoshop). I think now that this dress looks more like Alice in Wonderland than Dorothy, especially since Miriam has blond hair but it will have to do. The shoes are the most important part anyway:) Did I mention I love and admire my husband???

Dancing Queen!

My sister Julia (the picture above is of her as a little ballerina) is opening a dance studio! She has been working toward this goal ever since she moved back to Price. If you have little girls and live anywhere near Price, Utah you need to sign up! Julia is so enthusiastic about dance she motivates others just by being near her. She is also a very talented choreographer, she as written award winning dances. She has been teaching little girls for the last 3 years and has all these cute sayings and songs to help them learn. Those who don't have little ones and live far away can help her with your creativity. See my other sisters, Sarah's blog to see how you can help.
We are so proud of you Julia!!

Attraction

Darin and I saw bits and pieces of this TV program about attraction between men and women. These social scientists did a study on people being attracted to others who look similar to themselves. It was really interesting. They did this big speed dating test where, using a computer, they matched the attendees with the member of the opposite sex whose features resembled theirs. Of course the daters didn't know this, and then they were asked to rank each male or female they met using this dial under the table. It was amazing how accurate the scientist turned out to be! Oh! I forgot to mention that the daters were not allowed to speak to each other so it was all on appearances. They did the test again, allowing the daters to speak and the results did change some depending on what careers were, who knew how to flirt etc. However, the results still indicated that people are attracted to.... well I guess themselves, in many cases. Ever since, Darin and I have been looking at couples to decide if they look similar or not. It's become a game, we also do it with pet owners because the same seems to hold true. The most interesting thing to me is that I don't think Darin and I look anything alike, besides being very pale and not tanning easily. Darin is average height and very slender, very long legs, I am short and have, what I refer to as a bedonkadonk behind or a J-Lo build (heavier than J with shorter legs). I have a very large mouth with large teeth, Darin has a small mouth, I have a smallish nose, Darin has a large one. It goes on and on, but I am wondering if we just can't see how alike we look. Maybe we do look alike and are just in denial? Just some random thoughts I have been having lately.

My Secret Chef

At the beginning of the month I commented on Jessie's blog (a fellow blogger and scrapbooker extrordinare)about going to one of those make a month worth of dinners places. She wanted to know what I thought about it so I am going to post my experience so far.

Pros
1. It was fun to go put together the dinners! You go from station to station following directions, leaving the mess in someone else's kitchen, all the prep work had been done. They guy in charge kept calling us "LADIES" and brought out fresh baked cookies.

2. It is SO nice to have so many meals to choose from any given night of the week and not have to worry about dinner.

3. The meals are good! Not as many veggies as I would normally have, and much more meat but they are varied and taste good. There are a few we haven't liked as well, but you can choose not to make the ones you don't like.

4. The meals come in 3 or 6 serving sizes. This helps me regulate when I have eaten a serving. They have all the calories, points, fat grams etc posted on their website so I could keep track of how many calories I am eating.

5. It doesn't hurt my feelings if Darin doesn't like the meal. I just say "we won't get this one next time". I don't know about the rest of you, but when one of the meals I spent so much time and energy on is tossed aside my blood boils at the ingratitude. It's really not fair either since it's just an opinion, and I really do want to know what my husband thinks. I guess this gets us both off the hook.

Cons
1. It cost $218 for 24 meals, that's just dinners. I still have to buy lunch and breakfast items for our family. That puts us way over our monthly budget. I got 24 meals because I cut the 6 servings in half. If you had a family of more than 3 adults you would have to get the 6 serving size which is just 12 meals for $218.

2. Fresh always tastes better than frozen.

3. You do have to block out about 2 1/2 hours to go make the dinners, pack them home in boxes or a laundry basket (they are HEAVY), and have room in your freezer.

The main con for me is the cost. I am going to try to make a month worth of meals and do all the prep work myself sometime soon (maybe not in August because we are painting and still selling soap) to see how the cost compares. It may be worth the extra money to not have the hassle and extra work...or it may not. I guess it will depend on the cost difference. One thing my mother-in-law pointed out was that if doing this keeps you from running for fast food then it will save money in the long run. So that is something to consider. It defiantly helps me be more happy and content at dinner time. I guess that is actually the best benefit of all...a happy mom:)

Mark

My little brother Mark should be in Brazil by now. I am sure he is completely overwhelmed, I remember when I was in the Provo MTC someone had made the anaolgy of learning at the MTC to trying to drink from a firehose. Yep, thats what it was like for me...and I was speaking English. I am happy that he is there, I just ache knowing that he will go through so many rough times, and yet, I know it will all be for his good.
Mark's farewell was really nice. We sang a song as a family which, those of you who sing with your families know, can get stressful (coordinating schedules, lots of opinions). It's also brings a closeness I haven't felt from any other activity. It's pretty powerful. I was watching my two brothers sing and I was amazed by them. My big brother looks just like my Grandpa Young and has a rich bass voice, Mark looks just like Grandpa Rasmussen and has a clear tenor voice, like my dad. My mom has a beautiful soprano voice. Julia can sing alto or soproano, I can only sing alto, Sarah has a nice voice too but because she is the only one who plays the piano, she is always the accompianist. I don't think our preformace was all that great, but it's the practice time that I liked the best.
Mark's talk was one of the best I have ever heard given by a soon to be missionary. I was prepared to weep and wale through the whole thing. Half way through, I realized I wasn't crying and didn't feel like crying because I was so interested in what he was saying. He spoke about becoming a disciple of Christ, and his words caused me to do some introspection. I completely forgot that he was even going to Brazil!

The luncheon afterwards was nice. Here is a picture of my Grandpa Young giving Mark some advice. He also gave him an Emery County rock to throw into the ocean or lake out there. It's a tradition he does with all the missionaries in our family.

Here is my dad, Heather, and her son Chris. Heather is so great to come to all our family events. She is a riot to talk to and her kids are wonderful. Her oldest dauther Elise, took Miriam under her wing and entertained her the whole time they were there. Also, a picture of Josh and Johnny paying with squirt guns in their Sunday clothes. It was so bloomin' hot that whole week. We put up canopies with misters and had a dozen squirt guns.
We will miss Mark, but we are so proud of him. It's so fun to have a missionary out.