Cinco and Mayo

Say hello to Cinco and Mayo. They were born on Boaz's birthday -- May 5th. Hence the names. :)

They were very nervous when we brought them home. They boys wanted to maul them with love.

Now they terrorize the house.

Lucy -- the cat who adopted us -- is put out. I'm not sure she will recover. Craig is hoping that she doesn't.

I can't wait until they get big enough to potty outside.

Father's Day

I had to give a talk on Father's Day. I was worried. I seem to cry at the slightest provocation. I didn't know how I was going to manage a talk that people could actually understand.

I had three weeks to think about it. Three weeks to think about my Dad. My memories of him.

At first I had no idea what to say, I was glad  I had three weeks.

Then the memories flooded in.

I remembered him laying on the floor and flipping us over his head in the front room. All of us lined up to have a turn. Couch cushions piled to soften the landing.

I remembered the privilege of sitting next to him at dinner. His marauding fork on our dinner plate.

I remembered him taking me on a Daddy/Daughter date when I was 11.

I remembered his stories. His stories about me when I was little. His stories about growing up in Idaho and his cousin Ron. I remembered his stories about his aunts and uncles -- and the family dramas.

I remembered his stories about his brother Jack.

I remembered his stories about Germany after WWII.

I remembered his sense of humor and laughing eyes.

I remembered him trying to teach me how to throw a softball.

I remembered him loving BYU sports.

I remembered him watching sports, and trying to teach me a little about what was going on at the same time.

I remembered how he loved to get us all riled up and then he would sit back and watch the fire works.

I remembered him taking me out for coffee and teaching me how to protect myself when I was about to go on my mission.

I remembered taking him to the beach, and he was disgusted that with so much water, you couldn't use it to water a lawn or garden.

I remembered visiting him, and he always asking me about my car or my job or trying to get me to talk to my mother.

I remembered so many little things. Little things that I miss.

I still try and live my life so he would be proud of me.

At the temple

After the back yard clean up, we all cleaned up and went to the temple. Back row: Carl, Holly, Joe, Pete, Craig, Front row: Aunt Renee, Meg, Nympha, Ariel, Devon, Deb Willa and me.

We clean up pretty well. It was sweet being there with the family.


Uncle Gary was taking the picture, so I took one of him and Aunt Renee. This was the first time I had seen them since they came home from Germany. They look good. :)

And then, Deb and Cody. :) A sweet day.

Many hands make light work.

Last weekend we visited my sister, Deb, in SLC. My family, that was close enough, all come and we attacked her back yard. We pulled weeds from two garden beds, fixed the fence, cleared the corners, trimmed the lilac bush and what ever else we could find to do. We spent hours laughing and eating and telling stories and teasing each other and getting in each other's way, etc.

After we were finished it looked fabulous!

We cleaned up and headed to the temple with my nephew on his first trip through. That was awesome.

This week, I looked at my baby garden spot and decided that I needed to clear out the remaining weeds and plant some peas, beans, and carrots. I cleared the spot for the corn.

I was lonely in my little garden spot and remembered what fun it was to work with my brothers and sisters.

Today, Craig and Josh and Boaz and I finished up the weeding and Craig and the boys planted one row of corn. It was so much more fun with more than just me and the shovel. :)

I am grateful for my family. I am grateful that we work together. Working together makes wonderful memories. Isn't that the point of a little, tiny garden anyway? :)

Little Carter

I can't even tell that he was sick. He is a happy, bouncy, wiggly boy. I had fun holding him, every chance I got. :)

A cat has adopted us . . . .

She knows she is not supposed to go in our room. I was ironing or something in a different room. I went into our bedroom to ask Craig something, and there she was.

Craig said she walked in like she belonged there, jumped up on the bed, and picked her spot.

I am still surprised that Craig let her.

Two mornings earlier, she came and sat on my head while I was reading a book.

If I only had the confidence of a cat. :)

Playing in St. George

Josh is the super star! Bowen seems to agree.

Three generations. Grandpa Oz, Craig and his boys.
What two boys do when they are waiting for church to start. :)

We love Grandma and Grandpa Oswald.

We came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. We played in a pool. We played at the park. We played cards -- Pitt (Boaz's new favorite game.) We played with cousins and aunts and uncles.

We ate good food. The buffet was delicious. They had crab. That meant I was happy. The BBQ at the Treasure's was delicious. Dinner at Holly and Joe's was delicious.

We talked and talked.

I didn't get pictures of everybody that we saw. That was my bad. But we enjoyed everybody that we did see.