The family reunion is over

Whew! And we don't have to be in charge again for five years. I'm so glad. It was a lot of fun, but we did miss those who couldn't make it. Hopefully, next year.

Little Big Sis had a great suggestion for dessert for Friday's dinner: ice cream-filled pineapples. You really should try this. It's a bit messy and sticky, and if you go for homemade ice cream, make it the day before to let it harden a bit in the freezer before you serve it.

Because of the fires in Utah County and the strong winds, most of it was moved inside. But there was a lot of good food and even better company.

Here's the whole motley crew.

Fought the brave fight

As many of my valiant readers know, we love to garden. We love to plot out what we are going to plant and where. We are, however, not opposed to volunteer plants making an effort to grow (except maybe squash; they have a tendency to take over the world). We have about six volunteer tomato plants growing among the peas and carrots right now. Imagine our surprise when we found a tomato plant growing in the crack below our front door step. We decided to let it flourish, if it could.

Yesterday, I noticed that it is now starting to wither. I'm afraid that the lack of regular water and the amount of concrete surrounding it has made its lifespan a short one. I'm now upset with myself that I didn't get pictures of it in all of its healthier stages. However, here is one from yesterday.

Rest in peace, little tomato plant. We're sorry you didn't make it, but we were wondering how we would use the door if you made it to a full-sized plant with fruit.

Happy Father's Day to Mr. Perfect and to fathers everywhere

Mr. Perfect had a perfect Father's Day. For breakfast, Most Happy Girl made waffles and grape juice (okay, so she made the grape juice last summer, but she opened it and poured on Father's Day). He also got a new leather belt (black) to wear to church. So far, so good.

On Tuesday, we confirmed with Drama Queen and Game Boy that Sunday dinner was doable for them. It wasn't our kids weekend, so it's always best to confirm these things. We asked them to ask Lawyer-in-the-Works if she could come, too. Everything was all set. Everyone could come.

For dinner, Mr. Perfect asked for spaghetti with homemade sauce, fresh peas from the garden, and garlic toast from homemade french bread. For dessert, homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I know what you're thinking. "Wow, that's a lot of cooking to be done." But if you make the pie and sauce the day before, it's not so bad. And the sauce is better if you let it sit a day or two in your fridge to blend. Asparagus rounded out the eating fare, as two veggies are always better than one.

Wordless Wednesday

Online classes and random stuff like that

Through my work, I've started an online class to learn basic and then advanced HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language), and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It's been a blast so far (possibly because I've passed all of my assignments so far). Right now, we're just starting with the basics of how to create and stylize web pages (HTML 4.01). Here are links to my assignments so far:

• My First HTML File
• My Second HTML File
• My Third File

And now you're probably thinking "Wow, big deal. The blog looks much cooler than that stuff!" True, but the blogging template is set up for me here. I mostly just type in what I want it to say, and use a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor to change font, color, style (bold, italics, underlined, etc.). I can go into the HTML and change some things, but not everything. In the class, I'll not only control the content, but every aspect of how it looks. It's really fun. With the blog, I chose the theme, but I didn't create it.

Most interesting thing I've learned so far:

You call that Steampunk?

A few pictures from Connecticut

Did I spell that correctly? I hope so. There's no squiggly red "WRONG SPELLING!" line under it in the title field. Okay. That's good.

Genius Child #3 and his comp, Elder Holt

Now, on to what you really want to read about. Genius Child #3 sent some pictures from a recent baptism he was able to participate in. He was thrilled when he was asked to perform the baptism. It's what he's in the mission field to do: help people come to Christ and make a commitment. Just so get a taste of what an amazing missionary this young man is, here's some of his testimony from a recent letter he sent home:

"I really love it out here. There's no place I'd rather be. This really is the Lord's work. The Book of Mormon maintains it's staunch position of being true. It's always true. Truth is things as they were, as they are, and as they will continue to be. The Book of Mormon has always been, is currently, and will always be true. Interesting thing I just realized. When I say that the Book of Mormon is true, it means a lot more than just that the Book is true. It means that everything contained within it is true, and that it did happen. The Book of Mormon's collection of prophets' testimonies of Jesus Christ coming, and having come, are inspired by God. Their words are the words of one crying from the dust. Their words are just as valid now as when they were spoken years and years ago. Their words were given to them by Christ himself, to bless all of us to know what we should do in this life. As we feast upon them, they will tell us all things which we should do. I know these things are true. They make me happy. Not just a fleeting happy. But a deep down inside my heart and soul kind of happy. The things of this world can't do that. They come as puffs of pleasure and fade away with the rest of the smoke the world blows at you. The word of God sinks in. It changes who we are, if we let it."

Yes, he really is that kind of man.

Update on the missionary: Since sending these pictures home and writing the letter, Genius Child #3 has been transferred (he's still in Connecticut) and is now a Zone Leader. Growing by leaps and bounds. We sure do love him.

Reality T.V. I might actually watch

Thanks, Miss Megan, for the laugh (and the link).

To Be Surprise

We love Sondre Lerche. The Dan in Real Life soundtrack is one of our favorites. He's from Norway, but I think his English is better than mine.

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, they have graduated!

Last week, both Lawyer-in-the-Works and Drama Queen donned the black robes of education, walked across a stage (braving ramps in dress shoes), and were awarded diplomas from their places of learning. Lawyer-in-the-Works from Westminster College; Drama Queen from Cottonwood High School. We are so happy for both girls. They did really well. In the fall, Lawyer-in-the-Works will be attending Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington, and Drama Queen will be joining PaintBall Boy in Cedar City, Utah at Southern Utah University.

Way to go! We love you!

A little Japanese cake for you

This is in honor of Most Happy Girl's parent's birthdays (Dad P yesterday and Mom P today). Happy Birthday!