*Monday Memos*

*Monday Memos*

 

dear memorial day, we used to always go on vacation on Memorial weekend, but once Tyson passed away, we have only done that a few times because I guess we feel a need to stick around and honor his memory.  I know he wouldn't want us to do that, but somehow it always works out that way.  And besides, Dave was on call again this year and we couldn't have gone anywhere even if we had wanted to.  It seems like he always gets call on all the holidays.

I think Tyson's area turned out pretty nice...  
It represents his love of Hawaii.  There are some other things that you can't see that are hiding in the back...like a really cute HERO wreath from Dave's mom and some other plants.

We miss you Tyson... 
We remember...

 My parents ↑

 The whole gang!

 At the cemetery ↑

 As per tradition we went out to breakfast after visiting the cemetery.  We have always gone to Bert's, but this year we decided to go to Moore's.  BIG mistake!  We had to wait for an hour to get our food.  The food is great, but not sure worth the wait!

After breakfast we came home and Dave and the boys did a lot of yard work, while I organized Taylor's mission letters.  Then we all headed to Ogden and went to eat at Costa Vida! YUM YUM YUM!  I LOVE their salads!  Dave and I shared one.  I forgot to take a picture!  Probably because Bryce gave me a hard time when we took one at breakfast.  He thinks I'm weird for taking photos when we are out to eat.  I probably am, but I like the pix for my blog and for the memories!  So this  ↓ is compliments of Google.

 Then we went to the Megaplex Theatre and watched Captain America.  It wasn't a movie I would have ever chosen (the boys did), but it was actually good. Quite violent, but a good plot and story which surprised me.  The theater there is so nice and comfy.  It was a fun way to spend the holiday.

dear deer (again!), I tried to get a shot of you when you were stretching and eating the tree above you.  It would have been great, but as soon as I opened the door you stopped.  I love having you visit my backyard frequently.  

dear mr. cat, once again I can't resist taking a photo of your relaxed state of sleeping.  I just want to cuddle and kiss you when you look like this.  Luckily, you actually let me kiss you and pet you when you are in this state, because you never do otherwise... well, inless it's 3 a.m. and you want some love.

 

dear trail run, jen took some great action shots today of us running.  Well, of me running.  I took some of her as well.  It was so GORGEOUS on the trail today!  We went up above the Mantua Dam and ran on the new bike trail.  We mostly hiked up and ran down.  Good for my legs since I'm still in marathon recovery mode.  We had to keep stopping to take in the view and take photos.  It was so therapeutic!  It did my soul good.  We even got sprinkled on with a light rain.  PERFECTION!

dear ward cleanup, I wish I would've taken some pictures when we were actually cleaning up the outside of the ward building, but I forgot.  I could have got some great ones of McKay and his buds.  At least I remembered to take this one of us feasting after the work.  We have a great ward and I am so happy we have such great peeps in it.  Dave wasn't able to make it because he was on call and had to work late.

Oh, I just saw McKay in this picture!  I didn't even know he was in it when I took it.  He is in the black shirt sitting at the table on the far right facing the church in the middle.

dear outside plants that I spent a fortune on, I usually do my own porch pots and other planted pots, but this year I went with Bonnie to purchase some for Mother's Day and couldn't resist getting some of my own.  The ones on my front porch aren't looking super healthy which I feared because the intense sun and heat always seems to take it's toll on those. One year I had to re-pot them three times before the summer was over.

 These are still beautiful!  Click to enlarge to see the details on the bottom left one.  It is just so pretty!  The one on the bottom right is just one that lived from last year.

This one ↓ is not looking so good and it makes me sad because it was BEYOND beautiful when I brought it home.  Wish I had a picture of it then.  I hope it will come to and snap out of it.  It's a good thing Dave is taking on their care because I have a BLACK thumb!

dear brownie mint cookies!  Oh how I love you!  I made a ton so I could take some to the ladies I visit teach, but I think I ate more than my share!  So. Delicious!

Yeah, I am sure I "suffer" from this ↓ though I wouldn't actually call it suffering!

dear I really HATE snakes!  No there is no snake in this photo because I wasn't going to STOP and take out my phone and snap a picture. I was too busy screaming bloody murder and running faster than I have ever run to get as far away from that thing as possible!  It had to be 4 feet long and just slithered right in front of me while I was on the Bird Refuge Trail.  The trail ended and I had to run in a patch of grass and I started to freak out thinking that if I were a snake, that is where I'd be and right then, sure enough, one goes slithering RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  I nearly stepped on him!  I'm sure my scream was heard in Idaho!  Oh my!  The heart rate went higher than I've ever got it while running!  I could not wait to get back on the asphalt!

dear taylor (aka elder wilding), there are no words needed for this picture ↓ other than maybe "wow".

I am very impressed with your cake making and decorating skills.  You made this ↓ for a baptism party and it turned out very cool!  I can't believe you even attempted to do a tier cake.  LOVE IT!  That's my boy!  At this rate, you will be able to make your own wedding cake instead of asking me to do it!

 Baptism....

 I am amazed at the dirt floor in the photo on the top right ↓.  I guess you are used to that, but that is just crazy to me.

The World Cup is coming and so it sounds like Brazil is going crazy getting excited and ready for it. I"m glad you are having fun with all the accessories for it.

I am soooooo proud of this boy!  He is an outstanding missionary!  He's been out 19 months!  Only five more to go!  Yippee!