The "Q"

It is full on heat of the summer and we are happy to have purchased......a BBQ!!! It is a used one and it works like a charm. We've done shish kabobs a couple of times now and that seems to be our favorite.

The Surprise AKA "Royals Game"

I had to delete this post because it was messing up my blog. It was a long post with a great story. I don't want to type it all again because it took a long time. My mom and sister surprised me by coming out to visit a couple of weekends ago. The cover was that we were going to Kansas City for the Royals game. We went to the airport and they walked out!!!! We had such a wonderful time together!!!! It was the biggest and best surprise ever.

Check it....

I have been wanting to post this picture for a while but for some reason have put off this fine opportunity. This is Mark with.......THE WANDERLUST. His family went on a tour of the USA in this fine machine back in the day. Mark's siblings still talk about it today, and yes, the beaut is still around. I just hope you don't fall into the coveting trap that tends to occur when anyone beholds The Wanderlust.

Yardation Beautification Sensation

Hi! It's just me, Dorothy, here in Kansas. This spring weather is insane. From hail to wind to rain to sun, it's always an interesting place around these parts. "There's no place like home."

Along with spring weather (however loco it may be), we have moved from "indoor" projects to "outdoor" ones. We have been working on "yard beautification" for Monday Night FHE (and any other night we can fit in too) these past few weeks. Enjoy a before and after of the front of our house.

Before....

After...
Focusing on "yard beautification" has been a great experience for me. I have already learned many useful and helpful things. One, where did my muscles go???? I can't use a shovel for more than about 15 minutes without having to take a breather. Moral of the story: If you don't work the muscles, then they go bye-bye.
Two: I think if I HAD to choose a different profession, it would be landscape architecture. I have loved attempting to plan out our yard and it would be nice to know more about planning and creating a landscape. Moral of the story: there isn't one.
Three, all I need to put is Moral of the Story: Any house related project takes a lot longer than you think!
Last but not least, I have married well!!!!! This is the first time Mark and I have done manual labor yard work together. Mark is a git-r-dun kind of guy. But I didn't know he would be such a great yard worker!!! I was so impressed with his work ethic! He worked ALL day one Saturday digging out the grass so we could put in the dirt. I came home from a meeting and started helping him. It was about 8 at night, I thought we would probably be done for the night but he really wanted to keep working to finish. So we stayed out until probably ten or so finishing up tearing out the grass. Now mind you, this was a tough job. I tried doing it for about 5 minutes and told him I could help him but couldn't do the job myself. He had a very sore back the next few days but got the project finished! I was slightly surprised but completely impressed with my husband's ability to do manual labor and stick with it. Moral of the story: Sometimes you think you are married to someone absolutely great, but as you keep getting to know him, you realize he's magnificent, amazing, and Mr. Incredible.

P.S. We are also planting a little vegetable garden in the back, but I'm not telling anyone just in case nothing grows. shhhh! :)

Grammy

Our sweet Grammy Tew passed away recently and we made the trip to Utah to support her funeral. We were happy to be there because she holds such a precious spot in our hearts. Mark grew up with her around his whole life and I have found that she was such an easy person to love right from the beginning. I feel extremely blessed to have met her and developed a relationship with her before she passed away."The Boys" and parents

It was also nice to be able to spend time with family while we were there. We found time for croquet, badminton and volleyball. We of course fit in some board game time too! Cash Flow, Ticket to Ride, and Acquire were the favorites this time.







This is a picture of Mark with the branch that he broke off trying to save the dragon kite that was stuck in the tree. What a hero!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

eAsTeR wEeKeNd was just plain wonderful for us!!! We made a quick trip out to Utah for Mark's mission reunion. It was so neat to meet his mission Pres. and his wife. Were also able to see Mark's parents in SLC for a few hours. We had a good visit and went to Wheeler Historic Farm together.We enjoyed conference and also the Easter festivities in G-town. We were the last to find our basket, I probably would have asked for more clues, but luckily I married a good seeker. He did not give up and found our spoil!!! My favorite parts of our basket were the chips and cheese dip and the bubbles. Thanks, Mrs. E. Bunny! Greg ended up finding the most money in the money eggs this year--he took home $35. Lucky duck. I don't have a pic but he pinned the money on his shirt and took a victory lap around the house. Adding a new tradition to the usual, the men participated in an egg drop contest. Who can get their egg to not crack??? Check out these faces of concentration as they construct their "egg envelopes" using tape, cotton balls, paper, tp, etc...

Mark took 1st place in the egg drop using the "diaper" approach.
We also did an EaStEr BoNnEt parade in the house. We made bonnets out of paper plates and marched around to the Easter Bonnet song. My mom is really good at making things fun and doing traditions every year. Thanks for the fun weekend!!!

It's heaven to be 27.

Happy Happy Birthday, Mark Dear!
Happy days will come to you all year.
If I had one wish then it would be
a Happy Happy Birthday to you from me! We are lucky to celebrate our birthdays five days apart! We love celebrating them together because it sort of feels like we both get double celebrations, double yummy breakfasts, double treats, and double going out to eat. For Mark's day, we began with sleeping in since he had the day off. I love sleeping in. I made german pancakes and omelets for breakfast. mmmmm. I couldn't wait any longer, so I had Mark open some of his gifts right after breakfast. (I wonder who enjoys Mark's birthday more...him or I??? Probably me :) He opened up some shirt clips for french cuffs and a "mission letter" journal that I compiled for him. We spent most of the day in Topeka picking up some furniture and having birthday lunch at Red Robin, one of our favorites due to the endless delicious french fries. Mark also bought a nice indoor basketball and some grilling tools while we were out and about.
We came home to set up our new stuff (pictures coming soon) and Mark finished opening his gifts (Cinderella Man DVD and best of Steven R. Covey books on CD. exciting? yes). We made a little trip to Baskin Robins for our birthday treat of the hour. We are birthday clubbin' foos, which is another plus of having birthdays within a week of each other. We BOTH get to enjoy free ice creams at the same time! Mark finished off his day by blowing out ALL 27 candles on his brownie with german chocolate frosting cake. Happy Birthday!