International Fireworks Competition

On Saturday, August 1, we drove from Mindy's house to Vancouver, BC. The international fieworks competition was underway, and that night was the Chinese display. We checked in to our hotel and took the Sky Train downtown. We noticed that there were more gay couples in the city than we remembered being there. We found out later that night that Vancouver was hosting a gay pride parade that was very well attended. We did not attend. We were there for fireworks.

The fireworks were set off of a barge in English bay, so we went to a nearby beach and watched the sun set. It was just beautiful! And the fireworks show was really amazing. I don't remember ever seeing fireworks that were as impressive. I didn't take any pictures, because I was busy watching the show, so I guess you'll just have to imagine. They were way better than Springville's Art City Days fireworks, which are really very impressive, too.

I love the beach!

Mindy and Jason's house

We took a trip to Washington and Vancouver at the beginning of this month. On our way we stopped in Moscow and dropped Tiger off. We got his tank all set up, and tried to find food for him. Kate finally went outside and caught some grasshoppers that were very small and I believe he ate those. Mindy went later to the pet store and found him some meal worms that he really likes. He's cute. I hope Jonah has fun with him for a long time.

We stayed for only one day in Moscow, and went geocacheing for part of that day. Apparently our GPS was off a bit. Jonah, Dylan and I went one way into a very steep, very bushy creek bed and Mark and Megan went another way. When we were about to give up, Jonah found the cache right by the edge of the brush. We didn't even need to go down the creek bed. Yay Jonah! Everyone wanted to see what was in the box, and crowded around.Look carefully at Mindy (white t-shirt) in this picture. She is crooked! Really! Her back is in pretty bad shape and her torso is a bit off center to her hips and legs. She looked miserable! Well, really she looked beautiful as ever, but she looked like she felt miserable. I hope you're feeling better now, Mindy!
They have a pizza place in Moscow that sells huge pizzas. Here is Spencer withi one of his slices. It is so huge that they had to tip the box up to get it through the door when Jason and Mark brought it home! Yum!
Mark, Dylan and I wanted to find one more cache, and this was it. This is a marker placed by the Worthwhile Club in 1938 at the junction of 2 indian trails - the Nez Pierce Trail and the Stevens Trail. Who knew?

Our Paintings

Last week Mark had to go to Dallas to help a client, and you know the saying . . . "when the cats away . . . " So we played a bit. Tara helped me pick out colors for the kitchen and the kids bathroom, and a new doorknob. I know how much everyone loved the old one, but it's gone. You and your kids will now be able to open my front door without help. We also repainted the front door and it looks pretty good! There are a few spots with small paint lines, but it looks so much better than it did that I don't notice them very much. Here are some pictures. Tara and Spencer took most of them, and Spencer likes to be artistic. That's why.

Kids bathroom. Tara wanted it to be pretty green. She got what she wanted.

My kitchen. I love it. Mark didn't even notice for about an hour after he got home.

My front door. It's beautiful!

Here's the new dragon!

Here he is. This is the one lizard we got of the 12 eggs that were laid. It took him until 10pm tonight to finish getting himself out of the egg - and really Mark pulled it off of the tip of his tail. He is so cute! Jonah, we need to know his name so we can call him by name instead of just calling him "Him". We really won't know for sure the he's a he for a few weeks at least. It's OK to change his name later if you need to. Take a look, and let me know.

He's so tiny and cute! He hugs my finger and won't let go on his own. So far I haven't seen his eyes, but that should come pretty soon. He did take a drink while he was on Spencer's finger, so it looks like he's doing just fine.

We Have a Baby!!!!!

This morning, Spencer's birthday morning, there was finally a head popping out of an egg! Here are the pictures so far. As of right now, he is still halfway in the egg. We can see his arms and most of his chest, and he shakes every once in awhile trying to get himself out more.

That's his little arm poking down right next to the egg. His head is about the size of a large pea. Cute!

Christmas in Summer for Spencer

He finally got it! Spencer received his mission call today. I got off work at noon, came home to find that and his associates degree of science in the mailbox (and a Discover card offer - woohoo!). I called him to let him know, texted Tara, then worried that maybe she didn't carry her phone around (silly me) so I emailed and put a note on facebook. I called Mark to see if we could meet at his office and once all the scheduling was finished I went and picked up Spencer. I figured we needed him for this event. We drove to Mark's office while Spencer talked to Tara. He opened his package (it was a fat one) where we learned he will be going to the Brazil Brasilia Mission, reporting to the Brazil MTC on October 21. FUN! I am so glad it wasn't Mozambique!










This is the area of his mission. Click on it and you should be able to see it bigger.

Votes?

Anyone who wants to vote on where I shall be going for that mission thing should do so quickly, it is very probable that the call will come tomorrow.