Mario Kart

I haven't been diligent about posting lately, it's been a really busy week between all my many obligations, so I thought I'd put up this cute picture of my two oldest boys playing nintendo together. We had let Jeremy stay up late one night while Mary and Russ were here because Ammon wanted to spend some 'quality time' with him, and this is what they ended up doing. I think they spent about fifteen minutes playing Mario Kart together, and never even made it around the track once. They had a great time together, and I enjoyed sitting back and watching them giggle together.

Pretty Pedicure

Last week, to belatedly celebrate my birthday, my father had the brilliant idea that my mother and I should go get tandem pedicures. Never having had a pedicure before, and always eager to take advantage of my father's generosity, I was anxious to oblige his goodwill gesture. Hence, last Thursday morning my mother and I ended up in side by side pedicure chairs getting our feet pampered. I have to say, it was one of the most divine, relaxing experiences of my lifetime, and I wish that we would strike it rich soon so that I could justify the megabucks to get it doe on a regular basis. Plus, the girly pink I chose to adorn my toes makes me feel all warm and fuzzy every time I look down too!
I know it's been a while since I posted, and it seems like all the sudden my life has gotten really busy! Ever since Mary and Russ left earlier this week I have been kept running with various activities during the day. On Tuesday I started a new Institute Class on the Doctrine and Covenants that is being taught at the stake center out in Hyrum. I didn't think it would be very crowded, and several of the ladies in our ward, including a couple of close friends signed up to take it. Well, apparently your breathe the word 'nursery provided' within earshot of relief society, and the stampede begins. The poor nursery leaders were inundated with the 'children of Israel' and I believe the final count for the first week was 35 children. Even Kadon stayed in the nursery most of the time, and I have high hopes for the next 9 weeks. I'm really excited about the class, and am hoping to learn a lot about the book that I am the last familiar with. Ammon also took a business trip this week, and our women's ensemble got together this morning to practice, and I'm watching my friends little boys tonight so she and her husband can get out for a hot date. The chaos never ends for the weary, apparently!

To Sleep....

Just wanted to post and let you know we're all still alive. I'm hoping today is going to be a good day, because even though Kadon got up at the far too early hour of 6:15, he went back to sleep and none of us got up until about ten minutes to eight. I'm glad that Kadon finally got a good night's sleep, he was getting more and more cranky as the days went on. Now if only I can get him to take a good nap this afternoon....
This morning Mary and I are going over to my good friend Laura's house and we're going to sing in a quartet that we started up. Our first sopranon is out today, so Mary is being kind enough to fill in. We're working on a beautiful piece that at some point we should be able to perform it in sacrament meeting. Then Mary and Russ are heading to the temple to do a session, and we are all going out on a double date tonight. We're going to see the movie Invincible. It is a sports movie, which Ammon is really excited about, but it's one of those feel-good sports movie that the rest of us should like. Anyway, have a great day/weekend everybody!

Labor Day BBQ

On Monday, labor day, we had a BBQ that we invited my parents too. We were able to borrow a grill from one of my neighbors, and we grilled Cornell chicken. My parents were planning to be there at 5 o'clock, and at 4 o'clock, we were all sitting in the living room, and Mary and Ammon decided that the coffee table needed to be refinished to match the dining room table. They hauled the table downstairs, and while I chased the kids, chatted with my mother and tried to generally control the chaos; Russ entertained us all with his singing between turning and basting the chicken; and Ammon and Mary sweated over the coffee table. They were even able to get the neighborhood kids involved! It is now Wednesday, and the coffee table is still sitting out on my patio. Mary is going to put one more coat of varnish on the table this afternoon, and we'll let is it sit outside and cure until tomorrow night, and should be able to use it my Friday morning. I'm glad that they decided to get it done, because it looks really great, and I know it will give us many more years of use. When we get some photos of it completed, I'll post those too. Hope you all can forgive me for not being more updated on here!

Mayan

On Saturday we drove down to Sandy, just south of Salt Lake City, and visited a really interesting restaurant named 'The Mayan'. It's done in a jungle theme, and the tables are meant to look like they're amongst this forest of trees. In the front of the restaurant, they have a huge diving pool, and some cliffs about 30 feet high that they stage a diving show from about every 30 minutes. We got a table about halfway up the height to the diving platforms, so we had a great view of the divers on their way down. They serve Mexican food, which is actually really reasonably priced, considering the show that is provided with dinner. Kadon liked the diving so much that between shows he would clap his hands and point at the pool, hoping that another diver would come out. Luckily for us, in between two of the shows, a diver and a coach used the time to practice a new dive. This poor man dived for at least 25 minutes straight, but at least it provided entertainment for my one year old! All in all, it was a very long drive for a meal, but it was still a lot of fun!

Playground and Picnic

I know I haven't been updating normally, so I will attempt to provide a synopsis of what we have been up to. Since Mary and Russ have been here, Ammon was able to take an extra couple of days off around the labor day holiday. On Friday we took a picnic lunch and Russ's RC plane to a park and played fora few hours. The plan was to let the kids watch the plane fly, but it wasn't working properly, and only flew for about five minutes. The kids had a great time at the playground, though. It was a little bit different playground than what we're used to. Mary surmised that it must have been a playground meant to be accessible to handicapped children. They had some really interesting toys, and my kids had a really great time playing with the different things.

Table Refinishing

With the help of his parents, Ammon refinished our table yesterday. Mary started out sanding the original finish off the table, and then helped Ammon finish the job. After that was finally
completed, Ammon fine-sanded the table again, and then added a lovely stain that Russ was able to find at the local hardware store. Russ was able to locate a stain that was nearly an exact match to the one that Ammon and Mary sanded off. After the stain was applied, and had dried sufficiently, Mary instructed Ammon on how to apply the first coat of varnish. With Russ and I standing by as sentinels of imperfections, the first coat turned out beautifully. Mary applied a second coat about an hour later, and just before dinner, Russ went outside and applied the third and final coat of varnish. The table turned out beautifully,and I am thrilled that I can actually wipe food off of it without having the sponge stick to the surface of the table!! We are really appreciative for the help they have given us, and will cherish this table for many more years to come.