Packing...

How many books is too many to take on a 14 hour flight? Five? Six? I finally decided I'd put three in my carry-on and pack three more in my suitcase for the trip home.

We have a 37 lb. per person limit for our luggage, including carry-ons. It gives new meaning to "packing light". Good thing we're not going somewhere cold! Kylie and I fit all our clothes into one suitcase and the other has everything else...including some crayons and pencils that Carlyn couldn't fit into hers. (She collected tons of used pencils and crayons to give to the school her mom teaches at. One of the things we do while we're there will be passing them out to the kids.)

One more day and hopefully we'll be on our way! I say "hopefully" because we're traveling stand-by. If we don't make it on Thursday's flight to Hong Kong, we'll have a day in San Francisco and try again Friday. I'm not good at the whole uncertainty thing...I'm trying really hard to just go with the flow. At least I'm not traveling with small children.

I don't think I'll be able to post anything while I'm gone, so farewell until July! Then I'll have LOTS to post!

Give a Kid a Camera...

and he'll take a picture of dog poop!

Here are a few other pictures Ben took yesterday when he got ahold of the camera. Some of them are actually quite interesting.

Almost an Eagle

We finally got Nathan's Eagle Scout project out of my dad's garage! They've been working on it sporadically since January. Hopefully two more work sessions and it's done. If it weren't for my dad, this project would never have happened. At Nathan's Eagle court of honor, my dad is getting the mother's pin! I honestly haven't done anything except nag Nathan about calling people to help and lending my strength yesterday.

Silly Sunbeams

I have the best calling in the ward: Sunbeam Teacher! Not only do I get to eat snacks, do crafts, and play every Sunday, I get to teach the cutest 3 & 4 year-old kids. They say the funniest things, too. I've been meaning to write down the things they say that make me laugh, so I decided to share them with you, too.

While on a walk around the church, we passed the Deacons (12 & 13 year-old boys) having their lesson out on the lawn. Dan yelled out, "Hey that's Mike! He's my sister!" much to the delight of Mike's classmates.

It was Dan's turn to say the opening prayer. I asked him if he needed any help. He shook his head, and proceeded to say the prayer: "Thank you for Batman. Thank you for Spiderman. Thank you for Iron Man." When I tried to interject a "Thank you for Primary...", he looked at me seriously and said, "I'm not done yet." And continued, "And thank you for Dr. Jones."

The singing time teacher, who is very pregnant with twins, was setting up three chairs for a game. She put up two large chairs and picked up a small, Sunbeam size chair to put in between them. Adana said very seriously, "You shouldn't sit on that. You might break it."

During singing time we sang "How Firm a Foundation." Next to me, Dan was singing right along..."It's fun to have a dalmatian..."

One of our visitors had a very loud singing voice. He didn't know the words, but he was happy to sing out anyway. Izaac gave him a very disgusted look, turned away, put his hands over his ears and said, "That's way too loud!"

Happy Birthday, Brad!

39 years old today! I'm already thinking up something good for the big 4-0 next year! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of him as a baby. I really need to bug his mom about getting some. Stay tuned next year...

The kids and I made him some stepping stones to put in the garden. (They're not quite dry yet.)

Ben won two tickets to the Kitsap Puma's soccer game tonight, so he took Brad as a birthday treat. He was so excited to be able to take his dad to watch Brad's favorite sport.

Update...

I found a few pictures of Brad when he was a kid:his Kindergarten picture,

and about 8 years old, in Hawaii.

Jillian doesn't believe these are pictures of Brad!

How Does My Garden Grow?

Very well, thank you! I love seeing the plants getting bigger and bigger. We had quite a hot spell this past week and everything grew so much. It makes me wonder what we could grow if we had that kind of weather all the time...but then I remember that I would be too hot to actually work in the garden, so it's a good thing our climate is generally mild.

This alien-looking thing is the top of an over-grown green onion. I think it's very exotic.
We're going to have a bumper crop of potatoes this year if the greens are any indication.

Our garlic is growing like mad; this is the first year we've tried garlic, so hopefully there will actually be some bulbs when we harvest.

And the greenbeans finally came up after planting them twice. Behind them, the peas are starting to get flowers, so we should see some pods soon.

A Baseball Weekend

Last night we went to a Mariner's game and today was Ben's last t-ball game of the season.

We usually go to one Mariner's game every summer; we went a little earlier than normal this year because Brad's good friend, Casey Winn, was chosen to throw out the first pitch at the game last night. The Livestrong Foundation sponsored a group night at the game, and as a cancer survivor and volunteer with the foundation, Casey was chosen. We got there just in time to see his big moment, but of course my camera batteries were dead and I missed taking the picture. I did get one of him walking off the field.

Since we were in the special Livestrong section, we all got free yellow Mariner's hats.

When we go to a game, we have to eat all the great ball-park food, like garlic fries, peanuts and cotton candy! Thank goodness it's only once a year...

It was a beautiful night for a game. We even saw the full moon rising above the stadium.

Then today was Ben's last t-ball game. His team has improved so much since the beginning of the season! There are a few kids who really get into the game and take it very seriously. Ben isn't one of them.

Yes, he's wearing the batting helmet backwards. He said, "I just listened for the sound of the ball being hit and then I knew when to run."

He insisted on wearing the yellow Mariner's hat to his game. He lost his team hat after the first game, so he's been wearing whatever he can come up with. I like the contrast of yellow and turquoise.

It's Hot, Hot, Hot...and I'm a Wimp, Wimp, Wimp!

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the sunny, warm weather we've had for the past two weeks. Today is getting close to uncomfortable for me, though. 86 at 3:30 in the afternoon. I'm starting to worry about going to the Philippines in 2 1/2 weeks...if I'm hot when it's 86 with 19% humidity, what am I going to do in 90+ with 100% humidity? Melt.