Field Trip

You all know the Dog Walker is attending the local community college and he is getting so close to graduation! If all goes well he will graduate in December with his AS degree in pre-education. He is pretty excited to never have to worry about taking a hard math class again.

Anyway, we are in the last week of the semester and then finals are next week. That means tons of assignments and big projects are due! It's been a rough go between that, putting the little ones back in school, and starting dance and football.

Weeping Mulberry

One of his classes is Conservation Biology and he had an opportunity to take a field trip (several actually) for extra credit. So today, the Drama Queen, Bossy, Baby Doll, the Dog Walker, Crafty, Fajita, and I all headed for the Conservation Water Park in West Jordan. It's an interesting place full of different landscaping ideas for water conservancy. They mostly use drought-resistant plants and drip irrigation systems.

Testing the grass

The girls thought their garden boxes full of veggies were cool, especially the green beans with the red flowers. We have only ever planted the variety with white blooms. Their favorite tree by far was the Weeping Mulberry. It was seriously cool! The girls all hid beneath its drooping branches like they were in a little hut. I would have loved a tree like that when I was a kid!

Bossy loved all the grass displays since she is trying to decide on a variety for her backyard. It's amazing how much more water some types take than others. It might be fun to go back on another day and do senior pics for Princess. They have some beautiful little arbors and benches. We talked to the Head Landscaper and asked him all the questions we needed for the Dog Walker's final report. He was so helpful and very willing to tell about his work.

It was definitely something I would recommend if you live close by. And the best part?
It's free!

Letters from Teach in Texas

I was just thinking how few of these letters I will be able to share with you before Teach comes home. It's only 3 weeks!!!

I love this story. Please realize I had to take out the real name of the church.

So, I have to tell you this crazy story. I'm going to tell you the name of the church but if you choose to share this story please take out the name. So I went on an exchange with my Sister Trainer Leaders this week. In that city there is a massive church. City Book Church. I'm pretty sure it is truly the whore of the earth. It takes up about a block and a half and is about 3 times the size of one of our buildings. They teach how to "protect yourself from Mormons" The preacher is a huge anti-mormon man and spreads vicious lies. They have classes just talking about anti-mormon "doctrine" so obvi this is a huge trial for anyone that serves there. 

But my STL was telling me a story about a man in their ward. Elder Martino of the Quorum of the Seventy is in their ward and he is... very well off. One time about 3 years ago, this church had a pair of garments on display. So, Elder Martino goes into the building and confronts the preacher and tells him to take the garments down. He says no. With the power and authority that this man has to prophesy he says, "Take these garments down or you will go to Hell." This "man of God" from City Book Church refuses to and doesn't care that it will send him to Hell. Elder Martino says, "Take these garments down or I will buy this entire church and demolish it to the ground and no one will ever hear of City Book Church again." The man took down the garments.

 
How cool/crazy is that?!?! First of all, the persecution is so real. But second of all. I admire Elder Martino's willingness to always stand as a witness of God and to stand for truth and righteousness. He was willing to buy this church just so it could be demolished. I just.... wow.

And I can't believe there is really so much awful ... hatred, lies, and persecution against the church. Obviously the church is true.

Obviously. :)

Can't wait to give you a big hug, Teach!

Last Big Hurrah

I told you already that my little ones started school this morning, so that meant this past weekend was our last opportunity for one big party! So we did. All weekend...

On Thursday we had our Pioneer Day Celebration and the grandkids wanted to stay and spend the night, but I convinced them that Friday night was the backyard camp out. I bought hot dogs, chips, and s'mores stuff and asked the Dog Walker to set up the tent for me. Then the Drama Queen filled the air mattresses while the kids set up the firepit.

We roasted hot dogs on forks rather than throw them on the BBQ and we burned a few marshmallows, but most of them made pretty tasty s'mores. The kids played cards and night games. I helped the Dog Walker post the last of his homework, but the kids were a little annoyed that he was reading Conservation Biology when they wanted to play.

We settled in about 1:30 am and I finally got a little sleep. Emphasis on "a little." The Drama Queen and I were up at 8:30, she was making pancakes for everyone while I made lunches and the kids dropped the tent. We ate at 9:15 and then got everyone dressed and out to the Lowe's class to build little Taco Trucks by 10:00.

Back home we all changed into our swimming suits and piled into the van. We were off to Seven Peaks in Provo. Princess's dance group was going there and we weren't about to miss the opportunity to see her. (Besides, it was free with our Pass of all Passes.)

It was a sweet reunion and a very hot day. Crafty got stung and I had to take her to first aid. Prima Donna got an awful sunburn and I constantly chased Baby Doll around to try to keep her from drowning.

Fajita got a little lost with a boy from school and it was all more than crazy. Did I tell you that other than our dinner on Friday night Bossy and Gamer didn't join us in any of these activities? Yeah. It was a kid/grandkid thing.

We stopped by Krispie Kremes and picked up the kids' free donuts for their grades and then we headed for home. We arrived around 7:00 and the Dog Walker was totally stressed about the two assignments he still had to finish before midnight.

No rest for the weary.
Or the sunburned.

The Dog Walker's Concert

The Dog Walker has been singing with his Institute Choir all summer. Remember when I told you he had to be downtown at 5:45 am on Pioneer Day? Yeah, they sang in the Tabernacle that day. His smaller choir is combined with choirs from the main campus institute and another from the university.


Today they sang at the Historic Church on 8th East and 4th South. It was so beautiful and so was the church!

We also celebrated the 20th birthday of our home with fireworks and ice cream. I'll mostly leave you with some pics today, but I promise I will post on the rest of our fantastic weekend tomorrow.

My life starts back up now. School for the little ones, dance classes, football tryouts... it will definitely be a busy week!

I want you to know that I feel just like Curly...

...it was a long concert!