garbage follies

Don't you just love being awakened at 6:00 a.m. by the roar of the garbage truck outside your house? It gets even better when Mark asks me, "Did you put the garbage can out on the street?" I reply, "No, but Jared was supposed to last night when he took the kitchen garbage out." That was good enough for Mark, since Jared is usually pretty reliable when it comes to these sorts of things, so he gets in the shower to begin getting ready for work. Meanwhile, as I lay in my warm cozy bed, I keep wondering if I better check to make SURE the garbage is out on the street since living with a completely full garbage can for another week would be a pain in the neck. Wondering gets the better of me and I quietly get out of bed and peek out the window to see if the garbage is out there -- AAAAACK!!! It's not out on the street! I dash through the house, grab some flip flops by the door and head outside to figure out if we've completely missed the garbage truck or if by some miracle it hasn't come down the other side of the street yet. I run over to the neighbors cans and peer inside -- empty. I run across the street to the other neighbors cans -- full! But what if they missed it too? I run to another neighbors garbage can to peek inside -- Hallelujah, it's full! I grabbed our garbage can and rolled it noisily across the street to join the full cans waiting for the garbage truck to make another pass. Whew -- we'll have an empty garbage can this week! I head inside, glad that it's still dark outside so the whole neighborhood didn't see me running around in pj's looking inside everyone's garbage cans. I'm also glad I didn't have to take the garbage can around the corner and down the street! (Yep, we've done that before!) I crawl back in bed. When Mark gets out of the shower, I tell him about my adventures. We hear the roar of the garbage truck again. Once dressed and ready for work, Mark heads out to make sure the garbage got picked up and bring the trash can back home.

weekend notes

While Mark was at work on Friday, he was offered tickets to a concert at the Conference Center on Saturday night. We made arrangements and got to go on Saturday! The concert was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Utah Symphony, and special guests Denyce Graves (soprano with the Met), Brian Stokes Mitchell (broadway singer, just having finished a run with Man of La Mancha), and Erich Kunzel (conductor of the Cinncinati Pops). Wow -- it was really good! I especially enjoyed hearing Brian Stokes Mitchell, because I like the Broadway-style music/singing.

On Sunday the boys were part of the primary program that was presented during sacrament meeting. I realized a few days before that this would be Jared's last primary program -- wow, he's growing up (next year he'll be in YM)! Since all three boys were participating, I invited all the grandparents. G&G Vawdrey had other commitments that day, but my parents were free, so they decided to come spend the day with us. It was really nice having them here for a visit. The boys all did well by behaving (i.e. being reverent) and saying their parts clearly so everyone could understand what they were saying. That evening, Jared had his first Court of Honor. His age group was in charge of the flag ceremony and Jared did the calling (announcing). He did great! Jared received his Tenderfoot and a "special" award -- a Thomas Jefferson dollar. He got that from one of the head scout leaders because during his recent board of review he was able to recite the scout Outdoor Code (Law?) from memory. Way to go, Jared!
Yesterday was a tomato day. Mom & Dad brought me a bunch of tomatoes that were left over from John's farmer's market, so I bottled 7 pints and 7 quarts of tomatoes and made a small batch of salsa. Unfortunately, I didn't have a great sealing day, and one pint and one quart didn't seal. I ended up with about 1/2 gallon of salsa. I love seeing my shelves and freezer getting full -- I get a weird sense of accomplishment out of it!

misc picts

Here's my soccer boy! Jacob had an awesome soccer game last week when he ran hard, kicked hard, and made two goals! Does this cute face just look like mischief, or what?!
I LOVE this picture of Ryan soaring out of the swing!

fresh raspberries

Matthew knows fresh is always the best!

harley CHI-c

I am now the proud owner of this CHI flat iron! For the whole two days I've had it, I love it! There's a nifty little story to my getting this particular CHI. I asked Amie to get the CHI for me at her beauty supply. I was prepared to spend $99. Laura advised me to just get a plain black one, maybe the older model, because it was supposed to be better that the newer ones that come in funky colors. I told Amie this and she checked out the beauty supply. When she got there, the supplier was offereing a $89 special on a camoflauge model, and the black one I requested was going to be over $100. The other option was a $99 pink one with little ribbons on it for breast cancer awareness month or a model that was black with "scroll-y" thingys on it. I told her to get the black "scroll-y" one since I really wasn't into camo or pink ribbons and I didn't want to spend more money. Well, I thought she said "scroll", but she really said "skull-y". When I picked it up from Amie, I came to discover the miscommunication -- my CHI had skulls with angel wings on it!! What the heck?!? Amie & I had a good laugh. Who knew I was a biker chic?


The box also contained another prize -- a "skull-y" hat!! Who in their right mind would ever wear this thing in public? Notice the CHI in red sequins above the ear, a nice touch. Mark is contemplating getting me a Harley jacket, chaps and bandana to go with it for my b-day.

harvest time

Last week was definitely harvest time around here. This is just a sampling of the wonderful produce that we've been enjoying: Unfortunately, I can't take credit for growing all this wonderful stuff! The peppers are from Heidi's garden, the honeydew from Eric's garden, the cucumber from G&G Vawdrey's garden and the peaches, squash, and zuchini are from our yard. I got a ton of tomatoes from G&G Vawdrey and turned them into a HUGE batch of salsa! (I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of that!)

Here is our peach harvest. Doesn't seem like a lot (honestly the picture doesn't really show how much there is), but considering that our peach tree is really only a branch nowadays, this is quite luscious! Sadly, the peaches are rather small this year and they were about a week and a half late due to the wet cold spring we had.
However, the peach branch harvest managed to give me 14 quarts of bottle peaches, a batch of jam, some to munch on and...

this yummy peach cheesecake dessert! I think our tree has THE best peaches in the world, but that's because I can pick them when they are perfectly ripe.I discovered this recipe in the newspaper a couple of years or so ago -- a Brigham City Peach Days winner. (If anyone wants the recipe, e-mail me)
G&G Vawdrey have a HUGE pear tree and if we get lucky, the pears aren't wormy! I got lucky -- and bottled these 7 quarts. The pears were also smaller this year than in past years, but they still taste great!

And lastly, this is my most favorite treat of the season: raspberries picked fresh from our yard! Add a bit of sugar and milk and enjoy!

weighing in

This afternoon Jacob wanted to use the scale to see how much he weighed. Here are his results:

1. standing, both feet on scale: 37 pounds


2. one foot: 37 pounds


3. one hand: 10 pounds


4. head: 0 pounds (hmmm, is there nothing in there or is it just hard to read the scale when you're on your head?


5. bum: 30 pounds

BTW: I just realized the kid in the picture looks very similar to Jacob, but it's not Jacob.

elna

Last night we learned that a very sweet older sister in our ward passed away suddenly. Gosh, Elna was just sitting in church Sunday very happy and healthy! Anyway, I have been thinking about her all day. She was one of these people that was always positive, happy, sincere, humble, and going out of her way to encourage/cheer up people around her. Everybody loved her and she was a favorite of the youth and primary kids to "visit" -- Jared & his scout friends just visited and took cookies to her about a month ago. She was famous for her "notes" -- I betcha everybody in the ward at one time or another has received a card with a handwritten note of appreciation or wish for happiness from Elna. I will miss those notes and I will miss seeing her bright and smiling face sitting in the RS room when I teach. I am saddened at her passing, but at the same time I am so happy for her -- she has been a widow for quite a few years and has missed her husband very much. I'm sure they are having a VERY happy homecoming!

happy 14th anniversary

Mark & I celebrated our anniversary a few days early since that was when Grandma & Grandpa V. were available to have the boys for an overnighter. I dropped the boys off at G&G's after school on Friday and then headed back into SL to meet Mark so we could go to the temple there. I am always amazed at the architecture, murals and workmanship of that building -- no wonder it took 40 years to build! Afterward, we decided to check out Thaifoon. We had lettuce wraps, mango chicken, and pad thai -- all were very good, but the chicken especially had some sort of spice on it that I didn't care for, so I didn't eat much of that. We meandered around the Gateway for a bit after dinner and then came home. The house is very quiet when the boys aren't here -- wow! Saturday morning Mark took me on a hike up Adams Canyon to the waterfall there (the same hike he took the big boys on a month or so ago) I had been wanting to go on a "short" hike lately, so this was perfect -- about 5 or 6 miles round trip. On our way back out to pick up the boys, I dragged Mark shopping for a few anniversary presents -- two new "good quality" saute pans and a new vacuum. Hopefully the Calphalon cookware will last forever. I had seriously considered buying a Dyson vacuum and found a good price, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money, so we got the same Bissell that other Vawdrey family members have and have really liked -- so far I'm very pleased. We were pretty low key this year in our celebration, but it was exactly what we wanted to do. Simply being able to be alone together and have a conversation or at least complete a sentence without interruption was wonderful! It's important to reconnect and remind ourselves how much we love each other. It seems the boys have sucked all our energy and patience lately, so a little break was very refreshing. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their time with G&G (I'm pretty sure THEY needed a break from US too) --thanks, G&G!

jacob's first EVER soccer game

Jacob played his very first soccer game last Wednesday! He was kind of hanging back at first, avoiding the kicking group of boys huddled around the ball, but later in the game he got the hang of what was going on and even ended up scoring a goal! He was super excited about that! There are 6 boys on his team and they play 3 vs. 3. I don't know which is the best thing about soccer this year -- Jacob being the only one of our kids playing soccer this season OR having all his games being played at the field behind our elementary school! I can't help but love the convenience of both!!