Behold Mine Enemy

The other day I was reading my scriptures, and I thought to myself, "I really don't have any enemies." Well, I have since acquired many. And a few weeks ago, when I did that tag that asked for obsessions, I really didn't have any. But now I do.

Behold the mighty squash bug, sworn enemy of the galactic alliance! (Guess which movie we've watched a hundred times this week.) The squash bug feeds by sucking the sap out of a squash plant until it dies. Kind of like a mosquito or a vampire. Thus you will see no bites out of your leaves, like grasshoppers would leave. No, you will just notice one day that your plant doesn't look so good. Giving it water doesn't seem to perk it up, and then suddenly it's dead.
Grrrr. They make me so mad. So why not just spray the things? Well, the malathion and seven powder have little or no effect on the adults or the eggs. It will kill the babies, so you are doing some good, but you'd better keep doing it because the adults are just going to lay more eggs and keep sucking the life out of your plant. No, the only way to defeat the adults is to squash them. And they are big. (Up to an inch long.) And creepy. And so yucky. And they can fly short distances. So my mornings and evenings lately are spent with rock in hand, searching out squash bugs to squash and eggs to remove. Ooooh, I hate it.
I now have both an enemy and an obsession.
And it's not a good thing.

Birthdays!

On Saturday we celebrated two very important birthdays. My brother Chris' son Corban turned one-year-old, and Jef turned... more than that.

So we headed on down to Cedar City for a double birthday party.
Jef spent the morning with some buggies and his new kite at the Little Salt Lake. (A large expanse of nothing - pictured on the left - that only a kiteskater could love.)
That afternoon we had birthday parties at the Discovery Park. (Such a cool park. You really should stop by and check it out.)

There was candle-blowing, cake and ice cream eating, present opening, and lots of playing on the playground. Or in other words, it was a great party!
Many thanks to Chris and Misty for hosting the party and letting us stay with them. They were very brave.

If Wil had a Blog

If my little brother Wil had a blog, I think he would definitely post these pictures of the coolest swing ever, found at the Discovery Park in Cedar City.
He had so much fun!

Sunflowers

Each garden year is defined by the volunteer plants growing in it. There was the year of the pumpkins (very messy), the year of the tomatoes (includes the memory of me on my hands and knees smelling each little weed to see if it was a tomato plant), and this is the year of the sunflowers. In my garden there are carrots, beans, broccoli, corn, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and potatoes. What's that? You can't see any of those plants? That's probably because of the forest of sunflowers growing over it all. Jef says I should pull them up because the other plants aren't getting enough sun. But I can't bring myself to do it, because I think it is just so cool! Imagine what my garden will look like when they all bloom! If I'm not forced to pull them up before that time, then I'll post another picture of my sunflower (used to be vegetable) garden.

Bird's Eye View

On Pioneer Day, everyone gathers at the football field in Monroe to watch the fireworks. But this year we got a little something extra. There were eight paragliders flying around up in the sky. Just before it got dark, they came down, circled the crowd a few times, and landed in the adjacent field. Pretty cool, huh? And I'm sure you've already guessed my surprise ending. One of those eight was our favorite paraglider - Jef!

He took the camera up with him, and here is a sample of the pictures he took from 12,000 feet up.

This is a view of Duck Lake, Big Lake, Deep Lake,
(such clever names)
and the mountains behind Forsytheville.

This is the top of Cove Mountain.
You know, the one that says IN.

This is a picture of a paraglider.
Oh, and that mountain is cool, too. ;)


Looking down the crevice you saw on the left of the last picture.
(also Cove Mountain)

This paraglider is easier to find.
And that's Monroe in the background.

Pioneer Day

Well, we started out the day by watching the parade and collecting LOTS of candy.

Then to the park for some crowded fun.
First is pony rides...

Then on to the blow-up activities.
(The rides are blown-up, not the participants)

Then Cannon wanted to ride the Penta-Whirl, so Jef went with him.
Can you believe it? Jef riding someone else's Penta-Whirl?
It's just not right.
We also enjoyed a few churros and snow cones.

And, of course, we finished up with fireworks.

HAPPY PIONEER DAY!!!

Color a Rainbow

I bought some crayons at the back-to-school sale, and my children have been playing with them ever since. Not coloring with them. Oh, no no. Just playing with them. Making rainbows, and patterns, and just arranging them in all kinds of fun ways. Who knew that crayons were so much fun?

Short Hair

Oh my gosh, I cut my hair!
Cut it clear off!
And I have to say that I love it. But not everyone shares my opinion.
Cannon cried.
Emily said I looked "scary."
Jef said it would take some getting used to.
But let me just tell ya...
It is a glorious thing to feel the wind blow through short hair.
And my shower time has been drastically reduced because I don't have to wash 20 lbs. of hair.

And it takes me about 1 minute to do my hair.
Who wouldn't love that?

Swimmer Winners

We hurried home from the reunion so that Ben could go to his last swim meet. It was the big invitational, and there were seven teams there. Ben and his friends won first place medals for being the fastest 8 & under freestyle relay. Wahoo! Yeah, Ben!

Are You My Mother?

We attended the Anderson Family reunion on the 18th, and had lots of fun. But I must say that the highlight of the whole reunion was our production of Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman.

I'm sorry that it's a little dark and a little far away, and you can't see the faces Lydia was making at her audience. It was so funny. She was scrunching up her face at them after they laughed at her, and just totally playing to her audience. Where does she get that from, anyway?

Sadie Nicole Irish

Congratulations to Lisa and Shawn!
(and Dudey, and Andre)

Sadie Nicole Irish was born July 17th

She was 9 lbs, 9 oz. Wow!
Isn't she adorable? I just love that little lower lip thing they do.
So cute!

4th of July

OK, so I realize this is a little late, but this whole computer crash thing has really thrown me for a loop. But here, finally, is my account of our Independence Day.

On Independence Day Eve, (the 3rd of July), the city hosts the Children's Parade. Every kid in town decorates their bike, or their wagon, or their stroller, and gets to ride down main street. It is insanely crowded, way too long, and very very hot. But the kids love it.

On the 4th, we headed for Koosharem.

We watched the parade and ate candy,
ran in some races,

Played Bingo,
Got wet,
And took a nap or two.
Happy 4th of July!