Jumble had a wonderful time at EFY the first week in June. She ASKED the bishop if she could speak in church the following Sunday. He was happy to let her. She talked about some of her experiences there and how it has strengthened her testimony. The Sunday Jumble returned from EFY, the YM and YW helped with church meetings at the Utah State Developmental Center. This is an institution with severely mentally and physically handicapped residents. We helped by pushing the residents in their wheel chairs from their living quarters to the church for Sunday morning meetings. It was fast Sunday and I was surprised when Jumble stood up at their meetings to share a very sweet testimony. Then that afternoon she shared her testimony again in our home ward sacrament meeting and again in our YW meeting. Between that, EFY, speaking in church, and our testimony meeting at our family reunion, we figured out that she shared her testimony six times in just 2 weeks. Then she shared it again at Girl's Camp making seven times in less than a month. We are so happy to see how the trial she has experienced the last 9 months has made her stronger spiritually, because boy, it has NOT been fun! We know Heavenly Father knows what experiences we need to help us learn and grow. But it would be nice if we could learn what we need to in an easier way. It doesn't seem to work that way, though.
Minnie attended honor band for one week in June. They ended the week with a concert that was very well-done and enjoyable. I couldn't seem to get the camera to work right that day (I'm sure it was operator error, not the camera) so I only got blurry greenish photos:
Jumble has marched in three parades and performed in a concert at the American Fork Amphitheater with the marching band:
These were taken at the AF Amphitheater concert.
The day after we got back from Girl's Camp was the American Fork Steel Days Parade and AFHS Marching Band fundraising breakfast. This means getting up really really early and standing in the sun flipping pancakes for 4 hours straight. (Or if you are Niles, pouring juice and milk into cups for 4 hours straight and helping set up, clean up, load, and unload equipment for several more hours.) The breakfast was a huge success, as always, and Niles managed to get a fairly decent photo of Jumble marching in the parade:
I am still babysitting Harley, who is nearly 3 months old now, and Courtney, who is nearly 11 months old. Harley is still a really easy baby who mostly sleeps and eats and is content otherwise. The hardest part about babysitting him is that he arrives by 6:30 a.m. every morning. Courtney is walking a few steps at a time now and getting into everything! Here is a photo of Jumble with Harley:
This was taken when he was barely over a month old. He is quite a bit bigger and chunkier now!
This past weekend we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day Concert with Tim and Rachelle. They had four tickets and needed someone to go with them. We are thankful they thought to ask us. It was an amazing concert! The Tabernacle Choir is celebrating 100 years of recording so they did some history spots in between some of the singing. It was very interesting and entertaining. We were sitting in a part of the Conference Center auditorium where we could see the screens with signers doing ASL for the hearing impaired. One of the male signers was very animated and energetic. We spent half the concert giggling at his enthusiastic gestures and facial expressions. One of the numbers the choir sang was "Seventy-six Trombones" from the Music Man. This signer actually had his cheeks puffed out like he was blowing into a tuba and had his hands in the position of playing various imaginary instruments throughout the song. Hilarious! Somehow these kinds of funny things always happen when Tim is involved. Besides the funny parts, it was also a very uplifting concert. President Monson was there and made a few remarks. I just finished reading a book my mom and dad gave me for my birthday which is part of a series that is based on real events from early church history from the lives of a real family (that happen to be some of my ancestors.) This book covered the time of the fall of Far West, MO to the mobs. As I sat in the beautiful Conference Center and walked past the huge church office building and walked around part of Temple Square and the Plaza and looked up at the magnificent Salt Lake Temple, I feel so grateful to those early pioneer saints for all the sacrifices that they made and for their faith. It is amazing to see how blessed and prosperous the church has become when things were so terribly hard and desolate in the beginning. Once the members of the church were hunted and persecuted and driven from their homes as if they were common criminals multiple times. Most members were desperately poor and lacking basic needs like food and shelter. Now the church is able to help relieve the suffering of millions of people in desperate circumstances throughout the world. I wish those early saints could have seen the church today. It may have made their severe trials a tiny bit easier to bear. I owe them a huge debt since their faithfulness has blessed my life so much.
On Saturday it was "Seventy-six Trombones" again because Minnie and I went to see the community production of the Music Man. Jumble has been participating at the end when they have the AFHS Marching Band march into the auditorium playing, of course, "Seventy-six Trombones." The production was very well done, I thought. The actors and actresses were amazing. I can never remember the words to "Seventy-six Trombones" past the first two lines so I listened carefully both to the Tabernacle Choir and to Harold Hill singing the words but I still had it running through my head yesterday and couldn't remember more than the first two lines. What is it about that song? Tonight is the last night and then Jumble will be done with that.
Our garden is growing like crazy. We had a bunch of strawberries about a month ago but they seem to be done now. We should be inundated with squash and tomatoes soon. We are currently getting broccoli, cabbage, peas, potatoes, and onions. One night this week we had a dinner entirely from our garden (except for the smoked sausage.) I steamed broccoli and peas, boiled some cabbage, and fried potatoes and onions. Have I mentioned my awesome husband who built the boxes and did the planting, watering, and harvesting?
We got back from Girl's Camp on July 9th. That evening, Minnie went to get her hamster, Peeky, out of his cage to say hello and discovered that he wasn't moving. He still felt warm and soft so he must have died only shortly before. It was pretty sad that she just missed playing with him one last time since she hadn't seen him at all for a week. But since hamsters only live two years at most, and we have had him 1 1/2 years, it wasn't too surprising. For some reason, I had it in my mind lately that he was going to die pretty soon. Minnie was pretty upset that evening but hasn't seemed too distressed about it since. She hasn't decided yet if she is going to get another one or not. (Guess what Niles and I hope she decides.) We have a chewed up towel and blanket to remember him by.
Hamster meets dog. Some dogs would eat the hamster! But not Boomer.
These were taken a few months after we got Peeky. Minnie has changed a lot in the last year!!Atom decided to be a little entrepreneur on Saturday. Inspired by the neighbor boys who had a lemonade stand a few days before, he decided to sell juice. We already had some mixed juice in the fridge so he informed us he was going to sell it and needed cups and a table. He got his toy cash register from downstairs and we humored him and got out the card table and some plastic cups. I was amazed that he ended up making a little over $7.00! Pretty tricky of him since a lot of it was from us. Take your parent's juice, pour it into cups, and then sell it back to them! After we each purchased one cup, he delivered additional cups to us (without us asking for more) and informed us of the price! He was so excited and would come in to tell me he had just served "2 customers" etc. I just hope he doesn't want to do it again--every day this week! I was going to take a photo of him at his stand (with the red all around his mouth clearly showing that he had sampled his own merchandise) but didn't get a chance to grab the camera amidst laundry, preparing my Sunday lesson, and doing marching band booster secretary stuff. Niles took the time to remind him about tithing and helped him fill out a slip after he closed up his business.
We got a flyer on our door this week about a meeting to organize a neighborhood watch program. This prompted an amusing conversation between Atom (5 years) and I:
Atom: Look mom, can we go to this? Everyone gets one of these! (pointing to a picture of a root beer float in the bottom corner proclaiming "Root Beer Floats for everyone!")
Me: Um, I don't know. I have a different meeting that night so you'll have to ask Dad if he is going.
Atom: I am going to that and get a root beer float!
Me: Why don't we just get some root beer and ice cream and have root beer floats here? Because I can't go to that meeting since I will be at a different one and I don't know if Dad will want to take you. It's really a boring meeting for adults, not kids.
Atom: But it says right here: bring your family, friends, and neighbors! (Sometimes we wish he hadn't taught himself to read already!)
Me: You are right--but I think they mean ADULT family, friends, and neighbors. You would be bored, they are talking about organizing to fight crime in our neighborhood.
Atom: I can take the portable DVD player. That is a great idea! (So he can watch a movie during the boring meeting part)
Me: I'm pretty sure Dad still won't want to take you to the meeting.
Atom: (Ignoring me) I think I will also take my bat to the meeting!
Me: Your bat? Why would you take your bat to the meeting?
Atom: To fight the criminals with!
Me: Oh! The criminals won't be at the meeting! The police will be there and they will be teaching us how to look out for criminals in our neighborhood.
Atom: Oh. Well, I'm still going to have a root beer float.
Yesterday he reminded me that it is only two more days until the meeting. So funny that he is so excited about this meeting just because they are having root beer floats! I think we will have root beer floats for family night refreshments tonight and hopefully that will make him happy and he won't pester Niles to take him to the meeting tomorrow night, because when that kid gets something into his head, it sticks!
Sometime soon I will attempt post about our Pew Family Reunion and Girl's Camp adventures!
