ALA Close Encounters

So, the family and I have returned safely from the land of many books and melting humidity (ALA in DC). I have to say that Tyler had the best encounter of them all, involving a chanca encounter with David Lubar. I wasn't expecting to see him there, but I pointed and grunted with the best of them when I spotted him while lurking in the Clarion booth.

That encounter led into something much bigger and much more extended, as a whole scenario developed between Mr. Lubar and John Green, with Tyler as a intermediary.

I could go into a huge explanation, but I am instead going to let you read it straight from Lubar's blog. follow this link http://davidlubar.livejournal.com/ and then read Monday, June 25th!

Almost Gone

So, it turns out I am not much better at blogging daily than I am at writing letters! Which is kind of weird, because up until I got married I think I was a pretty voluminous writer. Passing notes in class was a specialty in high school. But also , when I went away for college, i think I wrote to everyone and any constantly. Now - not so much - or virtually not at all.

Mike and I have been to Ikea a couple of times since it opened and this time we brought Krista along. We are redoing the furniture upstairs and wanted her opinion. In fact, we already got rid of the huge desk up there and put in just a small desk for the computer. Maybe that will help Krista a bit to keep her stuff on the shelves in her room. Don't roll your eyes DAD!!!

Tyler was away at EFY at the U of U all week. He liked his roommate and had great time. Now he has just a couple of days to see his friends before we head off to D.C, for the ALA convention. But he's also trying to finish the course work for driver's ed so that he can get his license and he is interviewing for a job at Cafe Rio so that he can earn some money.

Krista had an almost full time job last week. She is babysitting for a family in the neighborhood. It was supposed to be four hours a day, but last week it was 7-8 hours each day, because something came up in their family and they needed some help. Luckily they also have a pool, so Krista was tired, but also in heaven.

One evening Krista came home early, so the three of us at home went to see Pirates III. We all enjoyed it, except we agreed that the scene when the British ship blew up was just all wrong.

On Saturday, even though Tyler was back, he took off to be with his friends, who are all scattering to the far corners of the globe (literally) for the rest of the day. Mike, Krista and I went to the Gateway and viewed the Chalk Art Display that benfits Utah Foster Care. These were some of our favorites:
I thought all of these were beautifully executed. However, the flamenco dancer has one huge design flaw. Can you spot it?

A Brand New Baby Boy

Okay, so he's not so brand new. Actually, Tyler turns 16 today. My baby boy is really becoming grown up. He'll be off to EFY all next week, so he doesn't have a chance to go for his driver's license until the next week. He had some of his friends over on Friday for a party and wide screen movie night. I brought home a data projector for the summer. He and his friends like that idea. It s already been reserved for another birthday party. It does need new speakers, however.

Krista seems to have a part time job for the summer. We received a call from a family in the stake. Their daughter is back living with them because her husband has been called up to Iraq. She just found out she's pregnant with number three and she isn't doing very well. Krista is going to go up there for 4 hours each day so that mom can rest. This kind of thing is perfect for Krista, little child magnet that she is. Plus, iit will keep her busy!

Weeding Grumpy's Garden

Today Tyler, Krista and Cindy headed down to Provo where we met up with Bob, Gentry, Shane, MacKay and Rachel and worked really hard on Weeding the flower beds around Grummy and Grandfather's house. Tyler was in charge of digging up errant trees. Krista was the vinca queen. Rachel roted out grass (until she cut herself - then she was done). MacKay helped Krista and cleared paths. Gentry and Shane did whatever was asked of them - especially rooting up the 100's of oak seedlings all over the garden. I don't think we tore up anything important, but I'm sure we didn't leave it exactly asG randfather would want it.

We saw Brian briefly, but only long enough to say 'hi'. We finished well before lunch, so we hung out and watched "Dejavu", too.