Bike Carwash

(I tried calling it the Bikewash, but that evidently wasn't acceptable)

Lots of fun and excitement today at the Bike Carwash. Water sprayers . . . fwumpy brushes . . . soap sprayers . . . flaps . . . and so forth.

Also, 4 sparkling clean bikes (and trikes)

Yard Work

Big Loads of Dirt

Scooping

Ky comes to investigate

The boys supervise

Spreading out the dirt

First Harvest

My new bike and our first real garden harvest: basil, two zucchini, and some chard! We rode our bikes over to check on the garden, and Abe and Seb were so excited. (I always let them eat some basil leaves while we are there. They like that.) We also have a bunch of tomatoes ripening. I'm trying to decide what to cook with the ceremonial First Zucchini. Tortilla soup, perhaps?

Red Rover, Frisbee, and other Cousinly Delights

Here we are at our fun picnic with the cousins. Abe is starting to really love being around his cousins (especially Katy and Adam), so he was happy, and Sam and Kenneth seem to be ready to break all kinds of frisbee records. Abe also played Red Rover for the first time, and I think he liked it. (Even though it ended with someone in tears . . . as always . . . it's still one of my favorite games---I always loved playing it in grade school.) I was happy because we brought Nana's "World's Greatest Cookies." Sebby was happy because there were lots of water sprinklers to count. And Malachi was happy because, well, because he's always happy. What a good baby.

Here is the cookie recipe (for you, Karen):

World's Greatest Cookies

2 sticks margarine (1 c.), softened
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
3 c. flour (or so)
2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking pwd.
1/2 t. salt

1/2-1 c. chocolate chips

Mix as usual; Bake at 325 for 11-12 min.

Toothy

Yes. Malachi has a tooth. Two teeth, in fact. There have been no serious biting incidents . . . so far.

Tall Boy with Purple Tie

Abey is shooting up like a weed! I had to get him some new ties to fit his newly tall frame. He still hasn't graduated to tying his own tie, though (this is a zipper tie)--I guess that will come pretty soon. He is so handsome!

Kennecott Copper Mine

If you've been to the Bingham Copper Mine, chances are you have a picture of you standing next to this very tire. (But probably not with that eerie, disembodied head peering through behind you!) Now we, too, are among that number.


It was a fascinating excursion! We got to watch the truck pouring powdered dynamite down into the holes for blasting (which, regrettably, we were not allowed to be present for), and see the huge trucks crawling up and down the spiraled edges of the mine, like ants. Very large ants. (Compare the scale of the white pickup truck and the huge dump truck in the bottom picture.)

It was inevitable

This . . . (small carwash for little cars)

has evolved into this (big carwash, for boys):

I saw a mighty angel fly

We've been watching the progress on the nearby temple with great interest, but not too much has been going on lately. Then, today, we went outside and saw two big cranes at the end of the street! So we grabbed our camera and got over there, just in time to see:

Moroni! We watched them hook him onto one of the cranes and then lift two men up in another crane to help secure him to the spire.

All the boys were very interested!

Now we can see the whole spire from our windows upstairs! Hooray!

Teddy Bear Picnic

We went to a Teddy Bear Picnic last night---a community activity---and the boys wore their panda bear suits from Halloween. After dinner, there was a Bear Parade, horseshoes, volleyball, and a playground to play on.

Sebby spent most of his time doing this (we think he has sprinkler-related OCD):

and asking, "May I have more yemonade?" We were barely able to get him to walk in the parade, which he eventually did holding his monkey and saying, "This is my monkey-bear! This is my monkey-bear!"

Honey was awarded the "Most Huggable Bear" prize, which was good, since he was certainly the most-hugged bear present. Abey loves him SO much. And he was so shy and proud when he went up to get the certificate. :) He also got a coupon for a free pizza buffet at a place nearby. Yum!

Ky brought his bear (Sam calls it a dog, but it isn't), but spent most of his time biting it and other things (his foot).


Here is Sebby taking a break from his sprinkler-counting activities. Yes, we found his other shoe.

Gollum's Cookies

These are Gollum's Cookies. Yum!

New Pool

The new pool just opened yesterday, and we've already been there twice: once in the morning and once in the evening. A good time was had by all (as they say).



Don't be deceived by Ky's cute smile. He spent most of his time doing this:

Like a baby shark.