Friday, August 27, 2010

A Conversation Before Family Prayer

Me: So Shayla, you are now the reigning oldest sibling.
Shay: Yes, I've clawed my way to the top!
Me: And should she be unable to perform the duties of Oldest Sibling At Home,
 we have Sam as first runner-up
Dad: You better watch your back!
Shay: He's going to stage a coupe?
Sam: The power will be mine.
Shane: I'm just a peasant.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Peaches of Honesty

Yesterday as I was making the return trip from dropping Seth off for college in Utah, I stopped in St. George for gas. Whilst I was contemplating the cleanliness of the restrooms (tolerable, yet still a little disconcerting) I decided, on a whim, to ask the clerk for directions to the Jacob Hamblin house located nearby. We happen to be direct descendants of his--I mean Jacob Hamblin, not the clerk-- and I thought Shayla would enjoy learning a little about her ancestry. So I surprised her with a little detour into the past.

We were the only tourists there so we got some one-on-one time with the sweet sister missionary who was conducting the tours. I told her that Jacob was my Great-great Grandfather and for Shayla that means THREE GREATS and a grand! We didn't have a camera with us, so the missionary took some pictures and she said she would email them--so those will be a coming attraction. In the meantime, we enjoyed the tour and I got overwhelmed with emotion telling the Sister that Priscilla is the wife we are related to as we stood in Priscilla's room. She was set apart as a midwife and was promised she would not lose a mother or a baby. I told her the story of Priscilla crossing the plains as a little girl and almost getting trampled in a buffalo stampede. That knowledge courtesy of the Three Sisters project wherein I spent nine months writing a script for a family reunion movie my cousin filmed. That's another post altogether!

At the end of the tour, we were given some peaches that were grown on trees that were part of Jacob's famous orchard. We took our peaches and our warm feelings of time well spent with our hearts turned to our fathers (and mothers) and hit the road--we still had 6  hours of driving ahead of us.

All was well until I realized that the California border was coming up. The border where you must declare any fruit or nuts you might have stashed in your vehicle. I was enjoying some very tasty grapes I had purchased in Utah and started eating them faster so I wouldn't have to give them up, when I remembered the peaches!  I wanted those peaches. They were special peaches--part of my family heritage and I hadn't even gotten a bite of one yet! My first thought was to eat them too--and wake Shayla up and make her eat one--for the sake of family history and all. But I realized that would not be wise as we still had a few hours to go and I am not a fan of public restrooms--even tolerable ones.

Then, I had a wicked thought. I could just hand over the grapes and not mention the peaches. Those people at the border are not really interested in a couple of peaches. I wondered if they had fruit-sniffing dogs and I pictured myself spread-eagle on the ground getting handcuffed when they discovered the famous Jacob Hamblin peaches lurking behind my seat in a brown paper bag. Really it was just a fleeting thought.

My next thought was this:




My ancestor is famous for his honesty. This story of Jacob Hamblin's son trading a horse for blankets with an Indian chief is often used in Primary manuals as an example of honesty.


I was immediately chagrined to think that I had even considered trying to smuggle those
peaches across the California border.



So by the time I pulled up to the man in the orange vest asking me about fruit and nuts, I had the grapes in my hand. He took them as I fished around behind my seat for the peaches.
"I have some peaches too--I can't reach them--I'll have to get out of the car and find them."
He glanced at the grapes and thrust them back at me.
"These are fine. Have a nice day."
"What about the peaches?"
"Have a nice day."

So, since he insisted, I did have a nice a day. And I got to keep my integrity and my  peaches.
Honesty really is the best policy.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Mission Birthday

Happy Birthday to our missionary today--20 years old!


Wasn't he just turning ONE yesterday?





Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Cabin Perspective

The garden post was going to be a joke---sort of a spoof of my garden obsession, but by the time I took the pictures and started posting them I was lost in garden craziness and the beauty of nature and the wonder of delicious food growing out of the dirt and it didn't turn out the way I planned...

So, moving on--here's a little summary of our family time at the cabin:

I had forgotten that I glued googly eyes above the red lever that sticks out
of this little door in the laundry room. I don't even remember what the lever is for--
I just thought it was funny that a hole had to be cut so it could stick out like a tongue!

I just crack myself up.

This kind of sums up the personalities of these two brothers.
This was at the beginning of one of our forced death marches
 (as they affectionately call our awesome family hikes).


I gave Shane the camera and it looks like he found something to enjoy
in the midst of the suffering.

The youngsters fed this chipmunk my Natural Soy nut Energy Mix--
after mocking me for even considering it edible.


More of Shane's view of the hike.


They did make it to the top.
Now we come to a portion of the blog we'll call: Family Vacation Through Shayla's Eyes
She took these pictures as we were driving around town:
Delicious and environmentally conscientious!


BURGERVILLE!
(This picture was first-- then, suddenly blogspot decided to switch it around.
She likes to feel like she's the boss sometimes--whatever)

Yummmmm



The Paper Mill: The reason for Camas' existence.





Young's Deli? Hmmmm



FOREST HOME ROAD!



Prune Hill Chapel...
As per tradition, I let her practice driving in the church parking lot.


Now, the conclusion:

This bat was outside of the cabin...a positive change from last year.

That was it for pictures...we were so busy having fun and relaxing--this was all we took!
All the ones I took were on the first day there--then I didn't see my camera again until the end.
So, let's just say,
We swam and
waded in the river--
and threw lots of rocks in there too.
Some went to the Lake and
paintballing.
There was a Nerf War.
Shayla went to Girls Camp
I enjoyed my Stake YW Presidency Reunion
and luncheon (I cooked our fave: Salmon!)
We spent time with friends and family
We enjoyed church with our old ward.
We watched movies and
The Middle
We read in the comfy nooks of the cabin.
We played Redneck Life.
Dad worked hard on maintainence and repairs and
got everything ship-shape.
He found some time to read and relax too.
A Good Time Was Had By All





Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

But I did promise you an update on my garden! True to my word, here it is...

After two weeks away, I wasn't sure what would be left of my garden--what with the rabbits and the moles and the birds and the snails. I came home to this:

The mist was a little mysterious this morning...




The giant sunflowers got so top heavy, they hung their heads wearily toward each other.



These just keep popping up randomly--some kind of mum.



A fresh batch of sunflowers!
The tomatoes are ripening by the bushel
 (Like any good produce manager, I carefully arranged them so each one is showing her best side!)
Just the big ones--I'm not that OCD...


This crazy squash got a little carried away
Seth is the arm model here--we really wanted you to
see just how big it got and the tomato wasn't doing it justice!

This was my favorite surprise when I got back:
CANTALOUPE!!
And lots of them--I had to replant them three times in
my battle with the bunnies.
I win.

Happy Birthday Scott!

 It has been awhile since I updated this little family scrapbook on the internet. I like to pop over here from time to time and look at our ...