MelvilleMinutes: June 2005

My terrific parents

I have been trying to make plans to go to Iowa. Rick isn't planning on going so I wanted to go with another experienced driver, especially since I have a tendency to fall asleep at the wheel. My sweet parents who were planning to fly out in Sept. decided they were willing to change their plans and go out with Mark and I in hot and muggy July. Now Sue might be able to go with me (assuming I can get Rick to loosen his hold on the Suburban) so my parents are gladly going back to their original plan. This whole thing has been a little crazy trying to work with everyone's schedules and wants and needs. It has been so helpful to have such accomadating parents. Sometimes we forget to notice how great our family is.....Thanks Mom and Dad!

Allie ..... OW!

We were feeling so bad for Tammy after Ben's accident that we decided to make her feel a little better. Allie was standing in our doorway today and the swamp cooler blew the door shut. She stumbled down the step and did a face plant on the cement. She has a road rash on the big goose egg on her head and her nose is all red. She didn't cry for too long, but everytime she touches it or brushes up against something she lets out this pitiful "owie". Sorry Tammy you are not necessarily the Mother of the Year now....we are also in contention.

Yellowstone

This will be a really brief update because I am supposed to be helping clean out the trailer. All eight of us went in the Suburban with the trailer in tow. Susanne and Allie slept in a small tent while the rest of us slept in the trailer. It is about a 5 hour drive but with two babies and construction we took about 6. The drive home was much worse. There was construction from Tremonton on and it took 2 1/2 hours just for that short stretch. It was an 8 1/2 hour day with two kids that were already tired of the car. Ya-ping did not like the trip very well. There were a few things she really liked but she doesn't plan on going back any day soon.
She is not a traveler or a camper and this involved both.
We visited many of our favorite sites and one new one....The brink of the upper falls. It was spectacular! We also got lucky enough to see a grizzly mama and two baby bears. They were quite a distance from the road but some nice people let us use their spotting scope to see better. We went to three nights of ranger talks by our campground. That was really fun. We learned a lot about the animal life, esp. the reintroduction of the wolves, the first two nights and the last night was more focused on geology and plant and animal adaptations.
We are home safe and are still friends with each other. That is nothing short of miraculous.

So cute

A plethora of cousins

saying goodbye

We visited with Shane, Sarah and Kathryn Sunday night before they left. It is sad to have all the Ebbert children leave us. Kathryn was as cute as could be. She talked and made silly noises and was so cheerful. It made it all the harder to say goodbye. I guess I just have to look at it as more places to go visit. I know April's leaving will come way too fast as well. She is currently looking for a place to store all of their stuff for the summer.
All is well at our house. Ya-ping and I are now visiting teaching companions and we work together in the RS nursery for enrichment night. In addition to that I help with cub scouts. I have to say I had been praying for ways to serve better because I felt like I was just kind of coasting as far as the church goes....then the Lord did just that. These two jobs are not my favorites and He wanted to see if I really meant what I said. I guess the lesson is to be careful what you ask for. I don't really mind cub scouts or the nursery but I have a hard time balancing my "teacher" side with my "fun" side. I was blessed with good kids and have a hard time dealing with kids who don't know when to behave calmly and kindly. As a teacher that is not too hard because I set the rules and then enforce them. At church it becomes a little harder.
I have rambled enough for one day. Hopefully all is well with everyone else, too.

Summer is here!

Hallelujah! School is done for another year. David taught me to add pictures today so you can see some of the world's cutest grandkids. I have been helping a friend with her daughter's wedding and true to form got things done just in the knick of time. I am now exhausted so I will just post this little bit and get back to it again later.