Will the Real Dave Please Stand UP?

We have done things for years with our friends the Stenquists.

We just click.

We all know that everyone has their own idiosyncrasies but it doesn't matter.

We get along anyway.

After Saturday night, I HAD to put this post together just for Dave.

Here are pictures of Dave over the years:

Formal night on the cruise


Going out to swim with the stingrays


Hanging out at Wolf Creek


Shooting on Labor Day


AND dressing up for Halloween.

My FAVORITE costume EVER!

I can't decide which I enjoyed more, the wig and makeup or the hair on the chest.




Here's to DAVE!

Gardenias

I have a fascination with flowers that grow in tropical settings.

I love hibiscus, gardenias, magnolias and any other tropical plant that DOESN'T do well in Utah.

I keep forgetting that I live in a desert with extreme temperature patterns.

One day Boyd and I were at Sam's and saw gardenia plants for sale.

I really, really wanted one.

After all, they wouldn't be selling them in Utah if they didn't do well here.

Right?

Well, I babied that little plant and almost gave up on it a few times.

In short, it hated the Utah climate.

It wanted warm, humid weather.

However, one bright day, I saw this:


The most beautiful, fragrant flower I have ever seen.

And I am happy.

Labor Day Picnic

Yes, I know. Labor Day was in September. But hey, I'm still catching up. Right?

We have a lovely park close to us that has a lazy river flowing through. Ducks abound on the shore by the river because...

People LOVE to come and throw bread to the ducks!!

We decided to join the masses Sunday afternoon and toss the ducks some bread.

This is how it goes:

You toss a few crumbs and a duck or two will wander over.

Then they tell two friends, and THEY tell two friends, and so on and so on...

Pretty soon you have a gaggle of geese and a deckload of ducks!


So here we are...feeding ducks.


Afterwards, we had a picnic along the river.

After all, what is going to the park and feeding ducks without a picnic and a bonafide roasted hot dog?

Those of you who don't know, I am sort of like Ben Matlock when it comes to hot dogs. I can eat them every day. But only if they are GOOD hot dogs. None of that wiener crap for me. Give me Nathans! Give me Hebrew Nationals! All beef!

But I digress.

Boyd got the briquets going in a grill by our picnic table. It was our intention to roast hot dogs with our hot dog roasting sticks. But it didn't work. Boyd just grabbed every one of those hot dogs and threw them on the grate and grilled 'em up.

Delicious!

We had salads, lemon and lime meringue cupcakes and, did I mention, hot dogs. It was so fun.

Even the flies enjoyed our meal.

Labor Day Shootout

Our friend, Dave, loves guns.

He loves to collect them and shoot them.

On the Labor Day weekend he suggested that we all go shooting on Labor Day.

We were all for it. And after all, I do like to shoot guns myself. I just haven't done it much.

So we set out for the most remote, obscure land I have seen for quite some time. We drove quite some distance west of Corinne.

Pretty much, there is nothing out there but weeds.

Dave had created some targets out of a couple of boxes and we started shooting.


You can see from the picture that some of our shots hit the bullseye and some did not. But it didn't matter, we just had a blast!

Dave brought one of his rifles along and had us shoot at a bush in the distance that you could barely see.

It was pretty cool to see the dirt rise up where the bullet struck around the bush.

Here is Dave shooting his rifle.


Adele prefers hand guns.


Boyd enjoyed the hand guns as well. In case you are wondering what those pink things are in his ears, they are ear plugs.


I enjoyed both the hand guns and the rifle. I'm not the best shot but I did OK for a novice.


We had such a good time that day.

We are grateful for such good friends as Adele and Dave.

Court's Birthday

Court celebrated his 20th birthday...in the mission field.

Here are some of his thoughts:

"Well, first off. I finally have reached my twenty. This is it, the end of my childhood. Eight months out, and I am not the same person that packed his life away and put it on hold, so that I could serve the Lord.

"I got my package. Ha, ha. I was so excited. I ripped it open (btw, I like that tie) and dug immediately looking for that watch. Food, fruit snacks were scattered about upon my desk. Then it clicked. The watch isn't in here. Oh, no. Ha, ha. But hey, what's better than a two part birthday. The day started out with breakfast with the Mission President. He invited the district leaders and their companions: Elders Cheney and Gowans (the two DL's whom I came out with), and Major and Taigan. It wasn't a birthday breakfast, but it turned out to be that way, lol. Then I am off to e-mail you. But tonight, we have dinner with our Ward Mission Leader. Then to a family who are going to bake me a Batman cake! Mwa, ha, ha. The Batman cake will continue."

In case you are wondering, Court requested a watch for his birthday that was designed after the TV series, "LOST". I looked online for over an hour looking for a watch that might meet his criteria. Just FYI, Lost watches are hard to find.

I did find one but it didn't come until 2 days after I mailed his package. It was coming from Malaysia, so of course it took a while.

In the meantime, I was stalking my sister's blog and she had a picture of a pillowcase that she saw in Pine Needles that you could do for a missionary.

My creative juices started flowing! My mom has an embroidery machine! She needs to practice! Right? On MY project!

I called her up, got her on board and then went fabric shopping.

I delivered the fabric to her and the next day she called me. It was done.

I was so excited! I couldn't wait to see the results.

Here they are:

Isaac in the Kitchen

I can't help it.

I love watching little Isaac.

I love seeing life through his eyes.

He makes me smile.

We have a designated kiddie drawer. You know. The tupperware drawer.

Kids are welcome to search and destroy.

Here is a link so you can see Isaac searching and destroying...



I really get a kick out of Yogi (the dog). He loves Isaac so much and yet is a little leery of him. He stays just out of his reach. You can see him wandering in and out of the video checking out what Little Man is doing.

Brock and Amanda

Ok. Here's the story:

Brock and Amanda both work at a local grocery store.

Brock is a front end manager and Amanda is a checker.

One day at work Amanda started talking to Brock. She asked him what he was doing on Saturday and then asked him if he wanted to go to a movie.

They went to the movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) and then to Red Robin for dinner.

And they went out again...and again...and again.

And thus began the dating and eventually, the courtship, of Brock and Amanda.

Brock loves to hike and decided to take Amanda to Adam's Canyon and hike all the way to the waterfall.

Here are some pictures of that date.





So, the date, in case you were wondering is December 30th.

I know, I know. Kalie was married in December also.

Do the Casselman children know of any other time to get married?

I guess we will find out. I have two more children who have the opportunity to choose their own wedding date.

In the meantime, we start our plans.

Flowers! Picked out.

Tuxes! Picked out.

Wedding luncheon! Still workin' on it.

Invitation list! Done.

At least we are doing the groom stuff in December. It's a lot less work and planning.

Happy wedding!!!

First Day of School

I know that this is a bit late, but hey. I'm catching up.

This school year is particularly exciting for Alyssa because...

SHE CAN DRIVE TO SCHOOL!!!


No more car pools!

No more waiting forever outside for the above child to come out of the school!

Now I can stay home and wait for her to walk in the door!

And pray that she makes it safely.

Staycation

So.

Just wait.

When you have older children, just try and plan a vacation that they:
a. Want to do
b. Can do

It's a challenge.

We started off with big plans.

Let's go to Vegas! Let's watch Blue Man Group! Let's go see Lion King!

Youngest daughter hated the idea. Who knows why.

Oldest son was fine with the idea just not the timing.

Boyd and I decided that we weren't going to spend all that money and have unhappy children so we changed our plans.

We decided to explore Salt Lake City and have a Staycation instead.

We reserved a 2 room suite in Sandy and began making plans.

We decided to go to Desert Star and see Hunk-cules.

It was a total spoof on the movie Hercules.

We invited Brock's fiance, Amanda, to spend the weekend with us.

Oh! Did I forget to mention that Brock is engaged? I'll write about it later.

Here the kiddos are, waiting for the play to begin.


I had to get a picture of the front of the building. Luckily for me, Boyd and Alyssa were cooperative.


Then we invited Kevin, Kalie and Isaac and Alyssa's friend, Tony to eat dinner with us at The Pie in Salt Lake. We ordered 4 large pizzas and garlic bread.

We devoured those pizzas.


Here we are at The Pie.


Then we invited everyone to the hotel for some swimming.

I spent so much time in the water that I didn't get many pictures.

I did get a picture of the lovebirds...

If you look closely you can see Kevin in the back of the picture, holding Isaac.


This isn't the best picture of Kalie or Isaac but it shows that they were there!


Swimming was so much fun. Everyone had a blast.

The last item on our agenda was to hike to donut falls.

Unfortunately, Boyd and Alyssa didn't feel well.

So it was just Brock and I. We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon (I think) and found the beginning of the trail.

We hiked all the way to the falls.

It's not a long hike and not too strenuous.

Really. Everyone should try it once.

If you look closely at the top of the picture you can see some water pouring into the donut. It is a round hole in the rock that water pours through and then comes rushing down the hill.


Brock and I had a great time hiking.

And that was the end of our trip this summer.

Easy. Inexpensive. And everyone was happy. Except Boyd, who got the flu.

Please don't judge me, dear readers (if I have any left)

Things around my house have been...well...hard. And...well...busy.

And even though I haven't posted lately I am still alive and learning to manage life's challenges and busy times in my own way.

Something had to give, and that something was my precious blog.

My creativity has definitely been on a down turn.

However, I can feel the juices firing up!

Yard work is coming to a close!

My little x-ray tracing project for Dr. Poole is almost finished!

Maybe, just maybe I will sit myself down and write myself a new post complete with pictures!

So. Don't abandon me.

Be patient with me.

I am returning...