Fourteen Pictures for the Fourteenth of June 2014

Calvin:  We got our pigs this week -- Clyde and Amora (named after
the sellers.)

Jane:  Our niece, Jesse, is visiting this weekend and helped to harvest
the lavender.  She has as calming an influence on people as lavender does.

Ande: After taking me to an art museum, buying me gelato, giving me the last bite, 
picking out postcards for our family collection, and introducing me to his friends, 
Joe humored me and brought me to the Lincoln monument at 10pm, 
even though it was out of the way
 and he saw it every day on his way to work when he lived here.

Joe:  The Best Man.

Zeph:  This is all we've seen of Zeph the last three days. I think it's safe to say his cousins wore him out. 

Abe:  Camping with the Young Men

Grace:  I made Abe a Father's Day cake

Henry:  In my very own bedroom now.

Michelle: Four things can be deduced from this picture:
1. I babysat today (the pictured child is not mine).
2. My children took naps at the same time today, but not the same as the
aforementioned child (they are not in the pool).
3. We had a long winter in Mississippi (my white legs have not yet recovered).
4. A few weeks ago on a Sunday morning, I hurriedly painted only the toes
that show with the shoes I wore that day.

Afton’s first camping trip. She helped us pack in to our camp 
(only a few hundred yards) and she learned that she doesn’t like Smores!

Eliza loves standing up now. Hopefully she’ll be taking steps soon.

Ty:  Michelle cut her fingers a few times about a month ago, so I often come home to this sight. 
 Now I do all of the knife washing.

Atlas:  "Say what?!"

Cali:  Mom gave me the gift of time for my birthday this year, so while
Ray and Levin were fishing, I went to Moses Lake and quilted.

Ray and Levin:  Catching salmon on the Copper River in Alaska.

Homemaking Tip - Sweet & Easy Ground Cover

Strawberry plants make a pretty and inexpensive ground cover. They are easy to grow, spread to fill in the gaps (unless you have a little boy named Levin that likes to dig, or a dog named Dan that likes to bury bones and soak in the sun), and they produce something too.  This little patch yielded a gallon this afternoon.

Monday Memories - Graduates

Calvin - BYU Graduation 1983

Calvin and I celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary last week. When we met we were going to BYU, but I’ve already told you that story.  

However, what I didn’t tell you was that I was worried Calvin was still working towards a bachelor’s degree when he was 31 years old.  I worried that because he hadn't graduated at 25 it meant he had goofed off, hadn't taken life seriously, lacked ambition and maturity, or wouldn’t be able to provide for a family.

Thankfully I never threw the stone at Calvin, just in his general direction. I later learned he had served a two year church mission and then been drafted in the Army where he served four years. He couldn’t have graduated at 25 if he’d wanted to.

However, that still left seven years unaccounted for.  Most bachelor’s degrees require four years. I tossed a few more stones in his direction, before learning he’d put himself through school while married and with two children. That bought him another six years, but one year was still unaccounted for.  Calvin readily admitted he spent that year hunting rather than studying. I mentally tsked-tsked but kept my throwing arm still.

With most of the years wisely accounted for, I took the risk and married him . . . and felt a bit stupid that I thought he should have graduated earlier.

A year later when he walked across the stage to receive his diploma, several of his professors gave him a standing ovation of sorts.  They recognized what it took for him to get there.  I felt appropriately stupider.

Now, here we are a multitude of years later and I’m set to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from BYU in August. It has taken me thirty-four years to earn that bachelor’s degree. Thirty-four years.  (And Calvin, who was comparatively on the fast track, even paid for half of it.)  Start throwing stones Calvin. Start throwing stones.  I deserve every last one of them.