CREEPY CRAWLIES AND TINY SURPRISES

Ah the wonders of summer. Tuesday night I went to the book club meeting at Maria's house and was attacked by a huge swarm of mosquitoes lingering in her entryway. She was apologetic and, as each new member arrived, more of the pests swarmed into the front room. We were discussing the book we'd just read People of the Book and swatting at them with our copies! It's the first mosquitoes I'd seen this year. We discussed mosquitoes and ways to rid your life of them. We have had an awful time with wasps this year. One day I opened the mail box and out flew a mad one! Garth put my first rose of the year on the counter for me and out crawled an earwig. So summer is upon us except the sun has trouble shining more than one day at a time.

We've had good luck with our flowers so far thanks to Garth's hard work. We commented this morning about how pretty our hanging baskets of petunias are:

Later in the day he had to set one on the ground so he could work on the eaves. Here's what he found.

Ah the creativity of mothers!

MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIES

Many of you will recognize the Royal City Cemetery. On Sunday, Jennie, her girls and I went to visit the cemetery. The little girls hadn't been to a cemetery before. What a hoot! Jennie explained to them about cemeteries and extracted promises that they wouldn't pick the flowers, walk on the headstones, or be too noisy. They took off like a flash from the car and immediately headed down toward the trees and a grave where two sisters Jana Gonzalez and Judy Grimmer sat visiting. After we gathered them up, they looked carefully at each headstone saying, "Grandma, who died here?" for each and every one. At the entrance, several graves were decorated with wonderful smelling roses so they all smelled many of the flowers getting their little noses right into the petals. After a while, Angelynah dead serious (pardon the pun) said, "Grandma. Did you know half of these are real and half are fake?" She was also concerned that we have real flowers on my mommy's grave. Next thing we knew, they were rolling down the hill in their long Sunday dresses. On the way home, they declared that they'd had a wonderful time.

RED LETTER DAYS

This is our latest project. Yes, that's Uncle Tom on the roof and Garth on the contraption. Tom and Julia came over recently and Tom and Garth did this project. Julia and I sat in the house and talked and talked. We're planning a trip to White Salmon the first week of June and the four of us are going for a ride on the Mount Hood Railroad which we've wanted to do for quite a while. It's so fun to have family!

Looks like our Memorial Day weekend will be wet. I showed Marissa the weather icon on MSN and explained that it would be raining all weekend. She asked me why and then said, "Maybe it's because the clouds are sad." She's a frequent visitor to our house. Last night Grandpa and I took some of the grandkids to see the new Indiana Jones movie. We goofed. It was very late for them, but we actually all enjoyed the movie and dinner at McDonald's. Samantha and Andrew told us about their roles in the upcoming production of Alice in Wonderland on Friday to which we are invited.

We've not been doing too much. I had a wonderful Red Letter day yesterday when, as a family history consultant, I was finally able to access the long-awaited new family history website. To my dismay, I found many errors on the Whitby lines which I will have to get busy and correct. I haven't checked the other lines yet. Garth's been working on whatever-that-is-on-the-roof. I've been slogging through getting Andrew's quilt done. For some reason, it's been a difficult quilt to make.

Tomorrow after the temple, we're going to decorate (isn't that a funny term?) the graves in Connell and Pasco. I've been upset with how few patriotic things I'm able to find for the vets. I'm so proud of those in our family who have served in the military and those who made the supreme sacrifice. On the Gunter side of the family, one family lost all of their sons in the Civil War. We miss the grandparents as well as all the other loved ones.

Our local Church book store always tucks a little thought into our bags. Today's was: We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today. Let's do that.

MUSIC TO SOOTHE THE SAVAGE BEAST

I've spent my morning listening to music on my iPod and it's a great way to start out the day.

First I started with songs from a CD which Jeff made for me from a list of songs I gave him. I had to spend ten days in Seattle for a workshop which resulted in some requirements for bilingual teaching in Washington State (on which my name is printed as one of the contributors.). I was by myself and watched a TV special called The 100 Greatest Love Songs Ever Written which really made me miss my sweetie. I wrote my favorites and Jeff made the CD. He called it Mom's Love Songs for Dad. Garth hardly listened to it, but I love it. Then I moved to Anne Murray. I love her beautiful voice. I see she's still going strong and has a new album out. And then my all time favorite George Strait. Who can't get moving with All my Exes live in Texas? Now I'm listening to a new artist Julirae introduced me to: Eric Dodge. I also like Kenny G and Reba. Have a great day and listen to a little music along the way.

Check out my Slide Show!

OUR TRIP

Julirae reminded me that I hadn't blogged our trip. We had a great time. We enjoyed each other's company and learned a thing or two about each other. We encountered regular, ordinary spring weather--rain, snow, cold wind and 80 degree temperature. And we were awed by the beautiful magnificence of the Grand Tetons.

We headed first for Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was taken from a rest stop near Jackson.

This guy greeted us from a tourist trap in Jackson.

And these greeted us from everywhere we looked in Jackson

We spent a beautiful day here where we were married.

This is what I did during the long hours in the car.