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A few things that have made me smile lately...

The results of giving these adorable artists a fifty cent package of pipe cleaners and a little instruction.  Love you guys!

The deck is beginning to look like a deck.  Nice, huh?  Makes the whole yard look different, I think.

This is yet another shot of my beloved 'Betty Boop' rose.  Only this time, it's taken with my new camera.  A 10 Megapixel Kodak with a 10x Optical zoom.  I think I'm going to like it!

I'm in Heaven

gOf course, the big news at our house this week was the arrival of Tristan and Nickolas.  While we were so glad that they are doing well, Mike and I have had our hands full hanging out with Joey while her mom and dad were at the hospital.  Today, Grandpa and Grandma Hadley took Joey for a little while so that we could go to the NICU and visit the boys.

I actually got to touch them in their bassinets!  Their skin is so soft.  Each boy had to show off just a bit for us.  Tristan had a big meal while we were there.  Nickolas had to demonstrate his lung power with a couple of good shouts.  We also spent some time comparing them...so many differences in addition to the obvious similarities.  And as always with the new members of the family, it's so much fun to see little flashes of likeness to other people that we love.

Welcome to the clan, Tristan and Nickolas!

Joe's Toes

I've spent this week hanging out with my buddy, Joey.  We've played in the pool and worked in the yard and watched Dora the Explorer.  Today, she really tested my grandmothering skills by wanting 'purple toes'.  We found the perfect purple polish while we were shopping.  I've never been great at pedicures, but I've got to admit.  These are some of the cutest toes around.  Don't you agree?

Garden Help

Since I'm having such a hard time getting all the yard and garden work done, I hired some garden help.  She's very dedicated, every flower is fully watered.  Best of all, she works for snacks.

Thanks, Miss Bean!

You know what they say...

...when the cat is away, the mouse will play!  Bwahahaha!

Actually, it'll just be exciting stuff like sewing and painting and weeding, but at least I'll be able to do it whenever I want.  Mike likes a regular schedule.  Me, I like to fly by the seat of my pants.  LOL! Yay for scout camps!

In other news,

I managed to find some help for the yard work.  Joey volunteered to water the flowers.  As in, water every flower in the yard, one by one.  It took a good long time, and we both had a lot of fun. Thanks Joey!

In The Garden - June 11

An eternal truth - weed seeds will germinate and grow faster than the seeds of any desirable plant.  Guaranteed.  *sighs*  I have spent a lot of time this week removing the undesirable elements so that the yummy and beautiful ones have room to grow.  Doesn't usually bother me as much later in the season when the zucchini plants are six feet across, but now, when they're only two inches tall, those weeds just irritate the heck out of me.  It is somewhat satisfying to rip them out by their little roots and compost them.  Great way to vent my frustrations!

 Grow, little guy, grow!  I have big plans for you.  Bwahahaha!  Actually, my plans for you are the same as the plans that I've had for every first tomato every year since I've had a garden of my own.  I will eat you as I stand in the garden.  Nothing tastes as good as that first tomato every year.

This is a sight of great joy.  These poppies are the progeny of poppy seed that Grandpa Clow gave me when we first moved into the house only a few months before he died.  The seeds were originally gathered by him and his family from wild colonies of poppies growing in the Arizona desert.

When I moved the herb garden last year, I tried to plant the herbs in between the patches of poppies, hoping that the poppies would seed as usual and come up in the same spot this year.  The poppy plants seemed to resent the intrusion and showed their disapproval and looking very sad for the rest of the growing season.  I wasn't sure whether they had set any seed or not.  They did!  I have a small, but thriving patch of poppies keeping my herbs company.

My pink peonies.  I just love the color and fragrance!  These were given to me by Carol Brown, starts that someone had given her.  Took a few years for them to become established, but they are well worth the wait.

This is one of my gardening assistants.  LOL!  She took a break to swing for a bit.  She calls the swing "weeee".  When I took out my camera, she said 'cheese'.  The whole time she was swinging, she repeated "weeee" "cheese", "weeee" "cheese", over and over.  When I put the camera back in my pocket, she yelled "cheese, Granny, cheese!"  So I had to take this one last picture.

Missionary Monday - May31

Okay.  I'm finally ready to talk about D-Day, also known as dropping Ben off at the MTC.  The day went really smoothly.  We left early enough to stop at Subway in Orem for lunch.  Since Joey had come along for the ride, we used up our last few extra minutes at a park in Provo near the house where Mike and I had lived when we were first married.

The MTC at first appearance looked jam-packed with cars and people, but it was actually a very well organized operation.  The missionaries were standing in small groups waiting to welcome the newbies.  When Ben got out of the Jeep, they quickly asked him about the important stuff...like having his immunization record, NOT having house keys, and was he ready to go???  There was just time for a quick hug, and then, he was off to start missionary life.  Much better, IMO, than sitting there blubbering during the presentation for the families.  Mike and I were both a bit teary-eyed, and Joey kept asking "where's Ben?"  We all went and drowned our sorrows in some Creamery ice cream at BYU.

A pic of Joey and her missionary...

A couple of action pics of Joey at the park...

Thanks Joey for helping Granny and Papa through a tough day.  We couldn't have done it without you!

In the Garden - May 24

A picture is worth a thousand words...

 .

Don't know yet if it got cold enough to freeze these little fellas.  May have to replant about half the garden.  Oh, the vagaries of spring weather!

Busy week!

Whoa! Where did this week go??? Seems like I was running so fast to get everything done, and yet, the week still passed me by.

The absolute highlight of the whole week was going out to lunch with PJ! She is so much fun and such a little lady. We went to McD's for burgers and some time at the play center. Then off for some retail therapy at Wallie's World and the dollar store. PJ's sixth birthday is coming up and she helped with some of her birthday shopping. I hope we get to do that again soon.

Also got some quiltmaking done this week. Oh, how I love to make quilts! I am working with fabrics from the Moda Boutique line. They are so soft and silky and printed so beautifully. It's luxurious to work with them. Here's a pic of the WIP:

Joey came to play

Didja know that chocolate frosting makes good finger paint?

My buddy Joey

Yesterday, Joey and I had some time to play while her mom and dad were at the doctor.  Since the weather was cooperating for a change, we spent most of the visit outside.

Since I was digging in the flower beds,  Joey spent some time digging in the sandbox.  Nothing like hanging out with Granny in the yard to help a little person learn to love to get dirty!

Trust me.  Joey was having waaaay more fun than it looks like in this picture!  She was all smiles most of the time.  This was her first time of the day going down the slide by herself.  A little stage fright, I guess.