. . . st tyler's day . . .

. . . memorial day was hot last year . . .

. . . no big deal . . .

. . . tyler {and his dad ~ thanks ernie!} installed

this awesome water basketball standard . . .

. . . he had previously cut down

all the old/overgrown shrubs

in the pool area . . .

. . . {note stumps in the background} . . .

. . . which he then proceeded to dig out . . .

. . . one by one . . .

. . . he also shored up this brick pillar . . .

. . . which was really leaning . . .

. . . not too pretty, but it worked like a charm . . .

. . . after which he tore out and replaced

all of the antiquated drip lines . . .

. . . his slacker mother-in-law

finally got around to

picking out some plants . . .

. . . he immediately dug every hole . . .

. . . and perfectly planted them all . . .

. . . resulting in a nicely revamped back yard . . .

. . . with summer just around the corner . . .

. . . he finished his outside chores just in time

for our weekend painting party . . .

. . . where he tried to leave his mark . . .

. . . happy birthday, t-jo! . . .

. . . we're lucky to have you around . . .

. . . of legal age . . .

. . . really? . . .

. . . twenty-one years have passed . . .

. . . and my baby is now an adult . . .

. . . an adult who will be back on american soil

in twenty-four days!!!!! . . .

. . . hey! if you're reading this . . .

. . . it'd be swell if you'd

drop him a quick birthday email . . .

. . . what a great surprise that would be on monday . . .

. . . an inbox flooded with happy wishes . . .

. . . andrew [dot] romney [at] myldsmail [dot] net . . .

. . . go ahead . . .

. . . make his day! . . .

. . . nice stuff this week . . .

. . . started happening on sunday . . .

. . . early . . .

. . . before church . . .

. . . when really sweet friends

brought daffodils . . .

. . . aka "sunshine" they said . . .

. . . also ~ my favorite . . .

. . . then on monday . . .

. . . my roots were returned

to their rightful blondness . . .

. . . ahhhhhhh! thanks chrissy . . .

. . . tuesday . . .

. . . oh! how i wish i had a picture

of my awesome visiting teachers . . .

. . . because when i answered the doorbell . . .

. . . they were drenched . . .

. . . sopping wet . . .

. . . why? . . .

. . . they had been picking up

all the contents of my recycle bin . . .

. . . which had blown over and scattered

in the crazy wind before the rain . . .

. . . diet coke, lemonade,

and dr. pepper cans everywhere! . . .

. . . not so nice stuff . . .

. . . my vintage {that sounds better than "old"} oven . . .

. . . bit the dust . . .

. . . after 26 1/2 years . . .

. . . the verdict? ~ "not worth repairing" . . .

. . . also old: cooktop with coil burners . . .

. . . fun, eh? . . .

. . . back to nice stuff . . .

. . . these guys showed up this morning . . .

. . . to perform an ovenectomy . . .

. . . r.i.p. dear whirlpools . . .

. . . welcome to the two thousands . . .

. . . i should probably cook a little more now . . .

. . . in fact ~ now i can bake

three pans of cookies

at the same time

in one oven . . .

. . . convection, baby! . . .

. . . and look how smart

those GE profile people are . . .

. . . they hid the bottom element

in the oven floor . . .

. . . easy peasy cleanup! . . .

. . . also nice is this finished quilt . . .

. . . check out the paisley quilting . . .

. . . with variegated thread . . .

. . . the colors are kind of spring-ish . . .

. . . so ~ it's on the wall . . .

. . . it's been a week full of nice stuff so far . . .

. . . oh, canada! . . .

. . . lots of polka dots . . .

. . . little birdies . . .

. . . in multi colors . . .

. . . perhaps i should have pressed {and focused} a little better? . . .

. . . plus the hugest ric rac i've ever seen . . .

. . . kept me busy last week

while i "watched" cross country skiing

and the biathlon . . .

. . . because, seriously . . .

. . . who actually watches

cross country skiing

and the biathlon, anyway? . . .

. . . we're really all just waiting

for figure skating

and snowboarding . . .

. . . and curling . . .

. . . her name is "waffles gone wild, eh?" . . .

. . . i super sized her . . .

. . . she's about 80 inches square . . .

. . . for now . . .

. . . twenty-three/one . . .

. . . one of the awesome experiences Drew has had

during his twenty-three months in Mexico

is visiting these pyramids

~ Teotihuacan ~

on Monday 15 February 2010 . . .

. . . he's pictured here (on the left)

with Elder Jon Michael Arnett

and Elder Nate Francis . . .

. . . Elder Francis was scheduled to return

to his home in Portland

Monday 22 February 2010 . . .

. . . but, on Saturday 20 February 2010 . . .

. . . a short 48 hours before his departure . . .

. . . the unthinkable happened . . .

. . . Drew shared the following with us:

"{Elder Francis} was at his church lighting the boiler (gas water heater) when the boiler exploded. It was a new boiler and he was just lighting it as he had done a million times before, so it indeed was a complete accident. The explosion threw Francis back and the boiler broke part of the wall. The boiler was in a little shed next to the church and the heat was so strong from the explosion that the door melted shut. It is kind of a horror story and I cry just thinking about it, but with the help of two strangers that heard the explosion and his companion, they got the door opened and Francis was taken to a hospital nearby. He was left with severe burns to his hands, arms, neck and face, with his hands and arms being the worst."

. . . read the rest of the story here . . .

. . . thankfully, Elder Francis/Nate-dog arrived "home"

{aka a Portland area burn unit}

via medical transport plane by 5:30am on the 23rd

~ just hours after his

originally scheduled homecoming time . . .

. . . his sweet mom reports that

he is doing a little better each day . . .

. . . he remains in our family's prayers . . .

. . . as well as those of

a couple hundred missionaries in Mexico . . .

. . . it's going to be a long month for my son . . .

. . . i know he can't wait to talk to his friend again . . .

. . . verde . . .

. . . welcome to march . . .

. . . quick! . . .

. . . what color do YOU associate

with the third month of the year? . . .

. . . if you live in arizona, green is everywhere . . .

. . . our grass is at its peak of greenness

{word/not a word?} . . .

. . . thank you, rain! . . .

. . . plants that have been relatively dormant all winter

are now sprouting like crazy . . .

. . . our neighbors are sporting a new paint job . . .

. . . whoa! really green . . .

. . . and now . . .

. . . now . . .

. . . they've also gone green . . .

. . . so ~ this is our backyard view . . .

. . . and i bet you're just green with envy . . .

. . . happy birthday meemers . . .

. . . twenty-four sounds really old, doesn't it? . . .

. . . but let's hope you're never TOO old for twirly dresses . . .

. . . and gorgeous l...o...n...g (naturally) blonde hair . . .

{hurray! it's getting there again!}

. . . here's to

lots of good stuff happening for you

in twenty ten . . .

. . . sweet . . .

. . . trust me . . .

. . . there's not a lot of excitement around here . . .

. . . but take a look at these cute valentines . . .

. . . amber found this idea somewhere in blogland . . .

. . . and she was nice enough . . .

. . . to let me borrow some . . . 

. . . for a little relief society display . . .

. . . the most blogworthy moment i've had lately . . .

{also thanks to shellene for the use of her "xoxo"}

. . . twenty-two/two . . .

. . . woo hoo! . . .

. . . not much longer 'til 

uncle drew gets to see 

his nieces and nephews again . . .

. . . two nephews, he'll be meeting 

for the very first time . . .

. . . addi's so grown up . . .

. . . i know he'll love tate's hilarious expressions . . .

. . . elliott's belly . . .

. . . and tagg's non-stop wiggles . . .

. . . along with halleigh's "in your face"-ness . . .

{p.s. swap meet bubble guns = 10 minutes of fun}

. . . also ~ to clarify ~ the title of these monthly posts (always on the second day of the month)

 represent how many months drew's been gone/how many 'til he comes home . . .

. . . distractions . . .

. . . here's the thing . . .

. . . there are times when 

you just need a little distraction . . .

. . . maybe you're going through 

a stressful something . . .

. . . or a painful something . . .

. . . or a monotonous something . . .

. . . or a neverending something . . .

. . . in that case, a change of pace 

can be just the ticket . . .

. . . maybe you jump in the car with your besties . . .

. . . and maybe you head for 

the happiest place on earth . . .

. . . that's right ~ 

the orange county marketplace . . .

{followed very closely by the newly discovered tai pan in rancho cucamonga, might i add}

. . . then, maybe, just maybe . . .

. . . half-way through the drive . . .

. . . you need to stop for various reasons . . .

. . . including, but not limited to:

•refueling

•potty breaks

•fresh diet cokes

•reading material, perhaps

. . . may i suggest reader's oasis books . . .

. . . located in the heart of 

beautiful downtown quartzsite, arizona . . .

. . . look! there's my friends 

vicki {in black} and amanda {in pink} . . .

. . . they're checking out the mags {25¢ ea} . . .

. . . or maybe . . . 

. . . just maybe . . . 

. . . they were trying to get 

up close and personal with paul winer . . .

. . . bookstore owner . . .

. . . and nudist . . .

{look ma! no tan lines!}

. . . talk about your distractions! . . .