Dad's in the water, Mom's in the dirt...

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Chris got back from scout camp late last night, we were all excited to see him. He had a great time up in the boundary waters and said it is even prettier than Yellowstone. To him, it felt like the tops of the mountains. They caught tons of fish and paddled about 20 miles in their canoes. The first day they had to rescue Brother Lemmon and his son when they became lost, which was a small setback, but nothing major or life threatening. Chris said that after bathing, he got a crazy urge and swam across the border into Canada…thus making him an underwater naked illegal immigrant for a minute or two… :)

Back on the homefront, we had a busy week. We wanted to surprise dad when he got home, so the kids helped me finish the landscaping on the hill. This was not your simple afternoon project, it took laying over 1000 square feet of weed-block paper, hauling 100 big bags of mulch up the hill, trimming a dozen prickly bushes, and pulling hundreds of weeds. If it were flat ground, I don't think it would have been nearly so hard, but trying to maintain a foothold on that thing was no easy task!

Next we pulled out the garden boxes and more weeds (they really do grow like weeds here) and we laid 200 square feet of sod. I have never seen Solei work so hard in her life, she was an awesome helper. Sierra helped entertain the little ones, which was very helpful too.

Back in the house, we all grabbed a toothbrush and scrubbed the grout between the tiles in the kitchen until it shined, which took a good 7 hours… I don’t think we have ever worked so hard together in one week. Unfortunately, the rest of the house has been neglected during these projects, so any visitors would think me to be a very lazy housewife….

The girls went to Splash Landing with the neighbors this week. The other kids were pretty much neglected, I'm afraid, and didn't have any excursions at all other than roaming the yard. Just one of those weeks...

I was just thinking today in church that I am going to really miss our ward, I absolutely adore the members here. Everyone is so friendly and sincere, even the wealthy doctor's wife with the big fancy house by the country club treats the lowliest of members with sincere respect, there are no cliques, gossip, show-offs, or anything of the sort. For example, there is one family that has recently started coming to church and the kids are a bit awkward (one I think may have some sort of handicap), but the young women have totally embraced them and made them feel welcome, I have really been impressed. Apparently they had tried attending other churches and felt rejected. Our ward really is like a big family whose doors are open to everyone... I am hoping it is like that in Duluth too.

The floods are starting to subside here, but sounds like they are moving south to Missouri. The news interviewed a woman in Burlington whose farm was under water from the Mississippi flooding, even though it was 7 miles away from where the river is supposed to be. Crazy!

No tornado warnings this week, thank goodness. Wind is not the best thing when you are laying down weed paper, trust me, I know!

The lightning bugs are out again and the kids have been chasing them every night. Chris said the mosquitoes were horrendous at the boundary waters (I can only imagine why), but there were no lightning bugs there.

I saw a video on YouTube showing surfers on the waves of Lake Superior, it really looked like the ocean. Maybe we will have to take up a new sport this summer…