Lots to report

Jon and I helped the YM and YW clean up the Logan Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day. Our group happened to clean the section with Jame Henry Martineau's grave.


Jon has taken on the project of replacing the edging in our yard. In this picture he is almost done with the north end of the back yard. He has to remove the existing edging (bricks) and then saw out a strip of the grass, flatten the soil, add gravel, add bricks, add some of the grass back, and make sure it is perfectly level. Wow, I am impressed!



Jon and I went to watch the WAC Track and Field Championship a few Saturdays ago. The last time a conference championship was held at USU, I ran in it. That was 1996. I even made it to the finals of the 800 meters. This meet was very nostalgic for that reason and also fun to watch.

Jon, Diana (Jon's sister), my mom, my sister Mandy, and I went to Yellowstone on Saturday. We visited Norris Geyser Basin and Artist Point in the morning. On our way to Tower Junction we stopped to watch a bear. It was the first bear most of us had seen in Yellowstone. My mom used to see them more when she was a kid because people fed them then.
We had a nice picnic lunch at Tower Falls. In the afternoon we hiked though the Mammoth Geyser area. Pretty good for someone who is 6 months pregnant! On Monday Jon and I drove home through Palisades and Afton. We stopped in Bennington to see my dad's grave. Here is a picture of Aunt Mernie's new headstone for the genealogists in the family.

Mothers Day Happenings

Jon took me up Logan Canyon for a Mothers' Day Eve hot dog roast on Saturday. After dinner, we drove to a trail head in the Right Hand Fork area. I had never been there before. The trail was pretty flat and followed a large creek. It was very scenic. It was the first time that I've really felt like exercising since I've been pregnant. We found a big beaver dam but no beaver. There were lovely rock outcroppings with great fossil potential. We had to turn around when we got to a place were the trail was washed out. On the way back we watched several deer cross the trail in front of us. Jon says that one of the trail branches goes to Old Ephraim's Grave. (Old Ephraim was a grizzly bear of legendary stature. )

Jon surprised me by ordering a rocking chair as a Mothers Day gift. He joked that meant I was middle-aged. The rocking chair is supposed to come this week. I can't wait to try it out.

Sunday morning Jon made me breakfast. It included homemade whole-wheat waffles and a chocolate banana smoothie. Mmmmmm. Jon sang primary hymns with the rest of the men in the ward as well as the primary during Sacrament meeting. It was great.

This was my first semi-officially sanctioned Mother's day and I really enjoyed it.

Visit from Celeste

On their way home from Primary Childrens' Hospital, Bethany and Celeste stopped at our house. We got to eat dinner with them. Celeste decided that the baby hairband that I made at enrichment meeting was rather tasty.

Jon should get the best uncle award. He does very well with girls. It's good practice.

We worked in our yard Saturday evening.

Jon put together the crib the other night. It turns into a bed when the child using it gets older. I decorated it and took the picture before we found out we were having a girl.

Bom Dia

We had a Brazilian Night for dinner on Friday. It included feijoada, rice, and homemade Brazilian limeade com leite. (The Bahian version uses milk.) Yummy!
Our other adventure was getting supplies for Jon's grand yard project. He's going to fix the dilapidated red brick border surrounding the grass in the front and back yards. We got mason line to make the border straight and pea gravel for a foundation for the border. As part of the global economic recovery program we are re-using the red bricks, but in a lawnmower and environmentally friendly way.
Jon is extremely surprised about winning the family exercise contest for the month of April. He brags that he didn't even include all the time he spent in the garden. :)

It's a ...

Baby Girl!!!

She's yawning and obviously not doing an Edvard Munch's "The Scream" impression.

She kept hiding her face with both hands but they were able to capture a few pictures when she moved them. She was constantly moving and turning away.

They said she is healthy and we are very happy about that.

Families are wonderful

Uncle Jonathan and Kloe

We visited with Jon's family this weekend in Orem. Some friends/neighbors had a wedding shower for Amanda Saturday morning. We helped set up for the wedding reception in the afternoon. Then we had a wonderful family dinner with turkey using china, crystal, and Grandma Phillips' silverware. It was for Amanda and Brendon and kind of a belated Easter dinner for all the people who ate crackers in the car on Easter Sunday.
The reception was very nice. Orem/Provo trees are all blooming and the tulips are out. Jon's sister's husband- Ray used to take wedding photos. He took pictures of Amanda and Brendon at sunset by the pretty trees in the church parking lot.
Jon and I enjoyed going to Colin and Katrina's 8:30am Sacrament meeting with them. Katrina participated in a musical number.
Afterward we drove up Provo canyon a few feet and took the road that goes to Rock Canyon campground. It was a nice little drive. We went to Jessica and Micah's and walked to church with them. It was Kloe's baby blessing. All went well accept that Kloe tried to jump out Micah's arms during the blessing. No one in the congregation could tell. We met a lot of Micah's family at the potluck after the meeting. We all had a great time. Jon fed Kloe so he got his food last but now he's her favorite uncle.
Jessica lent me her maternity clothes. I am very grateful for that.
We stopped by Katrina and Colin's to visit them. They showed us Jackson's hiking carrier. He loves it. Then we stopped at Mandy's. She fed us brownies and showed us pictures taken with her amazing new camera.
Next we stopped in Kaysville and Jon's best friend Matt's house. He and his wife had just gotten home from the hospital that afternoon where Keeley had had a c-section to deliver their adorable little one, Van Jeffery (named after his grandpas.)
It was a wonderful weekend.

A few glipses of Amanda and Brendon's wedding Updated

We had a fantastic trip to Seattle last week. We got to play with Amanda and meet Bendon and his wonderful family. It was firmly decided that all the members of Brendon's family are kindred spirits.

On Thursday we checked out the wedding chapel with adjacent chocolate factory. We picked up Amanda and drove as close to Mt. Rainier as we could get. We had a picnic at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort which has peaks around it that look like the Matterhorn. Mt. Rainier was covered in clouds but the drive was lovely. It took a good chunk of the day. We stopped at a park/campground with access to the waterfront where Amanda and I waded out up to our knees. In the evening Kaylene helped Amanda hem the best man's suit pants and we enjoyed the piano that Amanda got off Craig's List for free.

Phillips Family at waterfront

I told Amanda that this was her wedding rainbow.

Waterfall near Mt. Rainier

Fish hatchery park adjacent to reception center

Fountain next to wedding chapel

Boehm's Chocolate Factory

Ceiling of chapel

Chapel and Jon

Chapel sans Jon

Wedding rehersal: front two are Brendon's two siblings, next best man Uriah- who is stationed a Guantanamo Bay and maid of honor Brandi from Salt Lake, next is Brendon's mom Gayle and a niece acting as flower girl.

Bridal shot after the wedding. I was using the bride's camera for the main event and the pictures afterward. That is why I have very few here. I was so happy that Brendon's family is full of picture takers and Brendon and Amanda will have plenty of photos to choose from.

Happy couple

We had BBQ ribs and chicken, corn on the cob, rolls, and salad.


We had half an hour to set up the tables and decorate before the reception. Everyone helped.

Head wedding table: David, Kaylene, Amanda, Brendon, Gayle, and Bjorn
with some of Gayle's sisters in the background.

Wedding cake with friend who stayed up until 6am to finish the cake. Top two layers were chocolate, next cherry cordial, and finally carrot on the bottom.

After the reception Jon, Diana, Troy, and I drove through downtown Seattle. Jon found a wonderful overlook where we could see the skyline. What a view!!!

Caption contest!

On Saturday, Kaylene, David, Diana, Troy, Jon, and I visited Downtown Seattle again. We saw the waterfront, Pike's Place Market, the Space Needle, a singing fountain, and the music project building. Then we had a picnic on a park bench by the waterfront.

Coming home the pilot tilted the plane so we could see Mt. Rainier really well. Jonathan was finally happy because he had wanted to see it the whole trip. :)