Farewell Elder

It's been almost three weeks since Lad
 left home to start his new adventure.

I guess It's taken me awhile to update my blog because,
 I knew this would be a hard post to do.

If you know Lad at all, you would not be a bit surprised  that he decided to serve as a full time missionary
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
 He will be serving in the Carlsbad, CA. mission for two years.

Being the oldest of such a close knit family, it will be hard for us to be with out him for two years.

He can write to us and we will get phone calls at Christmas and Mother's Day. He will be missed everyday, at the office, at home, and even at the Shucks Auto parts store!

Before Lad left we had my dear friend Raquel, take
a few family photos.

We drove Lad to Provo and got permission from the mission president, to see my youngest brother Devin. Of course, he responded best to "Elder Nelson" We took him and his companions to lunch. We spent an hour asking questions and getting advice about missionary work. Devin is very much into his work and is very happy. I think it had been about four years since I'd last seen him.

 Lad already looks like a seasoned missionary! After we said good-bye to Devin and his companions

we had an hour before Lad was to arrive at the
 Missionary Training Center.

 The Provo Temple is right across the street from the MTC.
We tried to say good-bye to Lad there. We knew we wouldn't have much time later.

It was comforting to see all the Elders there at the MTC,
 waiting for the new arrivals.

 I know Lad is where he is supposed to be.

The Lord is looking out for him,
and he will never be alone these two years.

 He will be an amazing missionary!

God speed Lad, we love you!

Frugal 'Eggsploits'

Next time someone asks me if I recycle I'm saying Yes.
 I may not fuss with the blue bin and recycle cans or newspaper, but I am recycling a house.

Here is our newly built chicken coop, all made out of reusable materials from the Villa.

First we had to pull nails from the old lumber.

It took a long time to pull all those nails.

After we got the foundation built and level, it went together pretty quickly.

We had just enough metal roofing left over to cover the roof with a nice overhang.

These ole' birds are gonna be sittin' pretty this winter in their fully insulated pad.

I loved the idea of using this screen door. It will provide sunlight and ventilation.

The six squares next to the door are the nesting boxes.

Arron engineered a cool folding door so I can access them from the outside.

Inside view of the nesting boxes.
 (This is where all the magic happens)

 These chicks have it pretty sweet, we even installed
wall-to-wall paneling.

This little door leads to their future run.

Stay tuned for the finishing touches, and moving day!

4th of July Weekend

I Love the 4th. It may actually be my favorite celebration!

I mean, come on... when else do you get beautiful weather,
great food, parades and fireworks?

 It was hard to narrow down my photos for this post so
 I hope you enjoy all of them.

Arron and I started the morning off by riding our motorbikes to Melba for the parade.
The kids wanted to sleep in this year so we just took the dog.

Small towns are the best when it comes to patriotism.

I admit it's a little bit redneck,
but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Okay, I have to stop the 'parade of photos' for a second to say...

 when I saw this group of Mexicans on these beautiful,
well trained horses,

proudly holding the American flag, I teared up.

We fell in right  behind the last of the parade participants.
I felt like I was in the parade.

 Olive was such a good girl, following at Arron's side.
She didn't even mind when people asked,

"can I pet your Labradoodle?" 

I could see Arron just cringe.
(why would anyone mix a lab with a poodle?)

We saw flags everywhere. It was wonderful.

After the parade everyone just left their chairs
and went to the tractor pull.

No need to worry about them,
 they will still be there when you get back.

At the tractor pull I bought 6 raffle tickets for a new lawn tractor.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I am so impressed with how this small town can put on such an amazing celebration.

I just can't say enough, they even moved all the fun to Saturday so families could spend Sunday

the way it was intended to be spent.

We came back later Saturday night for the fireworks display.

Arron's a pro at finding the best parking spot for an easy exit.
While he parked we found a sweet spot for viewing the show.
We actually got showered with debris from the explosions.
It was awesome!

I love when they play "Great Balls of Fire" they light off these huge fire bombs.
You can feel the heat from them and they actually mushroom cloud above your heads.

 It's not the 4th of July without great food.
Thanks to Don and Suzanne we had a delicious BBQ.
Grilled chicken, Grandma Glady's Lemon Jello Salad,
(I will post the recipe soon)
Lemonade, Watermelon and all the fixin's.
After we ate we went to Caleb's for dessert
and a barn raisin' (well a shed)
Amy and I didn't know we were both making berry trifles.
Great minds think alike I guess.
They were very refreshing and a perfect finish to our meal.

Skye played with the cousins and Lad rode Amy's Harley.
She's a lucky, lucky girl. We're all a bit jealous.

I am so fortunate to live in this country.
 America is still the bees knees.
People go to great lengths to live here.
Others go to even greater lengths to keep us free.

God Bless America

Lad's 19th Birthday Bash

When we asked Lad what he'd like to do for his birthday he quickly replied, "Go camping" Due to Arron's crazy schedule right now, we decided the next best thing was to invite friends to the Villa for a BBQ and outdoor movie. Staying at the Villa is like camping. I think everyone had a great time. Including Lad. Here are some pictures taken with his new camera.

The real fun started after the BBQ when everyone went
 to play on the swing.

Everyone waiting in line for their turn. Skye has built quite the platform, the braver you are the further back you 'take off.' I imagine by the end of the summer he'll have a full fledged fort around this tree. Every time I go down there to swing I see more additions, tools, and lumber.

Our beautiful day started to turn...into a thunderstorm.

We were forced to move the theatre indoors. I love Galaxy Quest!

I hope you had a fun Birthday Lad! You're one amazing man.
You are loved by so many, especially me.