Dancin' in the Rain

To say the least we were relieved to get a few rainstorms this week. We have no air conditioning in our apartment, so we have been surviving through the mercies of cooler basement air, open windows at night and a few fans. However, I wouldn't dare venture to say that we have even been comfortable....it's just too hot! So when the sky poured water on us, how could we possibly miss an opportunity to get soaked dancing in the middle of the street? The truth is, we couldn't!

We were supposed to head up to the Wind Rivers this weekend with atec's family, but it didn't work out. So pmc took the opportunity to install our new dishwasher (which our landlord graciously consented to get for the apartment which previously didn't have one....IF we would take on the installation costs). Pmc decided to take on the task himself, so that he could get some new tools of course! Atec was sure pleased to find that upon completion of the job the dishwasher worked perfect, with no leaks whatsoever. Of course she was also happy to discover that she can lay off the search for new tools for him for a while! It can be hard working keeping him happy......kind of like a 1 year old gets bored of their toys!

Anyway, lest we digress......we did miss something last Saturday, that atec personally would like to put a picture of on here. She went to a wedding shower for her former college roommate, who will be the last of that group of friends to get married. Sitting and talking together you'd think that we were still just sitting discussing homework and boys in Maple View #6. However, between 5 total roomates and what we referred to as our "pseudo-roommate", we now have a cumulative of (I could be on the short end here) 4 college degrees, 14 years of marriage, 2 babies, and a mission! Of course those of you who have moved far past our stage of life have much more to claim, but at our stage there is a bit of gratitude at the great friends we have and our experiences together.

This week was a little "ruff!"

Well well well, we're glad for the end of another week and to have a short holiday. We spent most of the week covering lots of ground and checking in on two houses. We were happy to be doing some house sitting for the Alder's, who live just above pmc's elementary school. Meanwhile, the family who live above us also was gone, so we were keeping a closer eye on things at home too. That meant lots of coming and going, getting things we had at the wrong place and being at the Alder's at the right times to make sure that the dogs were taken care of was a bit exhausting, but it was fun too. Pmc was glad to give atec a little more exposure and understanding of the prospects of future life with a dog. The house-sitting went relatively well - after the little fiasco our first night. The Alder's have two miniature dachshunds - Chessie and Meg - When we got to the house and let the dogs out, Chessie took off down the street, which shouldn't have happened as these dogs were trained with an underground electric fence. We searched for about an hour total, but to no avail. We talked to the Alders, who were up in Sun Valley, and we all agreed that it would be best to get to bed and see how things were in the morning. I was confident that Chessie would come back while we were asleep, figuring that she simply wasn't cofortable with us around yet, and with us downstairs sleeping she could return and not have to face us for a while. Sure enough, in the morning Chessie was on the back patio again, barking at us. I think she realized after spending a night outside alone that she'd be better off just giving us a chance. From then on we were fine. The dogs were well behaved, and we kind of enjoyed taking them out on walks together.

Before all that started, we enjoyed a Monday night Bees game with atec's family. It was really fun, and a good game too, won by the home team, 10-7. Lots of runs! Pmc also got to go on Wednesday with his Mom, Dad, and brother.

As if we didn't already have enough going on this week, atec's days were taken by the 1st Annual Evans/Cundick Studios String Camp, put on of course by atec and here sister Chelsi (hence the name...) Many of the students from both studio's participated, and I'm told it all went well except for a few hassles from Riverton Music's end regarding the space they had reserved. The camp culminated in a Grand Recital on Friday, which pmc got to go to, since it was his afternoon off! The students all played great, and the teachers played a little something too!

And amazingly anough, we also found time this week for both atec and pmc to read, in it's entirety, "Harry Potter: The Order of the Pheonix" (year 5) as we relaxed around the Alder's house, in preparation for our eventual tackling of the final book "The Deathly Hallows." (Please, no comments...)

Perhaps the most fun we had was Friday night, when our friends, the Naylors, called to invite us to go up to Bountiful to see fireworks there. It turned out to be a great time, and it was fun to discover this well-kept secret. It wasn't too crowded, but it was a good little show. I was impressed, and it was great to be out with married friends.

Well, until next week, KTFB. And, if anyone has comments about the length of pmc's hair, they are welcomed, as I can't make my own mind up on the matter!

Fun in the Sun

Other than the normal work-week, we found ourselves spending our time outside this week, even though we have heard that the air quality isn't too stellar right now!

Friday morning we headed up to Bear Lake for a family camping trip with atec's dad and siblings. Her family had a cabin on the East shore in Idaho until a few years ago. Different from the normal water skiing, we spent the day on the beach and in the water. Even though we felt we did a good job of applying sunblock regularly, we both received our first post-mission sunburns. After being out of the sun for so long, our shoulders and backs just didn't fare too well.

In the late afternoon we headed up to Bloomington Lake, deemed as atec's favorite place on earth! There is a very tall tree that leans over the small glacier lake, that has a rope swing hanging from it at about 50 feet. The cool water felt good in the heat of the day. We included one video of pmc going off the swing!

On Saturday morning we headed to Logan for the day because atec's grandmother had an 85th birthday party in the park. We had hoped to get a chance to attend the temple there, but alas it was closed and we had to settle for a picture. This is taken from a spot that atec always wanted to get a picture from while she lived in Logan, but just never got a chance!

At the party Grandma Ruthie had brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren attending in large numbers (we guesstimate 80)! We didn't get a big group photo, but did get to all share what we love most about our grandma. She lost her husband to illness when atec's dad was 7 years old, but she definitely took responsibility to raise up the amazing Eyre progeny. Intimidating as it was for pmc, he was a great sport and remembered the names of all atec's cousins (and their husbands and wives) that were there! We spent some time playing Frisbee with a few others, and pmc made some fun catches we thought we'd share.

Now what?

Alright, so atec has been saying for weeks now that she can't wait for the musical to be over.....but to be honest she really enjoyed a great week watching pmc as Rocky. He did such a great job, and she fell in love with his voice all over again. The stage just put a special spark in his eye that she doesn't always get to see! One of the most impressive bits of the musical was pmc and his brother, Steve, juggling six baseballs between them.

We did get one night off of the musical to visit the Oakley Rodeo for Independence Day. We got decked out and went to the Cundick cabin for dinner before heading off to see the riders and then the fireworks! atec must say she believes that pmc would be a great cowboy in real life, but alas pmc sees no prospects there.

Atec had the week off work so she spent her time, when she wasn't watching the musical (and maybe a little during her 2nd and 3rd viewings of the show), reading up on Harry Potter in anticipation of the new book. She also spent a little time just hanging out with her sisters, when they could all drag each other away from reading!

Atec also got a chance to attend a bridal shower for one of her violin friends. These girls hadn't all been together since they went to Europe together as part of the Rocky Mountain Youth Camerata in 2001.

But the question we keep getting asked is, now what? Now that the musical is over, what are we going to do with our time? No worries, we have plenty of family vacations to keep us busy aside from work. Atec is also going to try to make some digital scrapbooks of sorts, while pmc works out his fall school schedule. Wish us luck!

No Business Like Show Business

I'm sure this is old hat by now, but the only thing really going on in pmc's life is the show. All the performances have gone well, though we're not entirely in sync with the orchestra sometimes. More rehearsal time was needed, but didn't happen. Oh well, it's still a good show with a very talented cast. Atec and her family came to see the show Thursday and they loved it, though Serenity (atec's sister) said the music was dull. I didn't write it, I only sing it.

Atec worked a long week out at Daybreak taking care of the twins. I got to join her for lunch on Wednesday, which was really nice. It's hard for us to be apart so much, but I guess we'd better get used to it... it's just hard when the show takes away nights. Next week, it'll all be different... thank goodness.

Friday we had the pleasure of taking care of Holly's kids on Friday - Atec did most of the work of course. I got off work at 2, so we went and saw Disney's latest, Ratatouille. (Ra-tuh-too-ee) It was fun to see it with the kids. Then they dropped me off at the theater, went swimming and had dinner, and enjoyed a sleepover. (The first of many hostings of nieces and nephews we hope.) This was taken Sat. morning.

I've also been spending lots of time contemplating my future career. I'm sure I'd enjoy being a doctor, and I know I'm smart enough to do it, it's just that I don't want to wait 10+ years to get it. I'm ready now to get settled, and that wouldn't do it for me. One thing I have noticed is that I like working with my hands, repairing furniture and such. I also really like my major - Human Development and Family Studies. For now, I'm just keeping options open whilst I explore a bit.