Ray of Sunshine

The yard is looking great! I need to post a current picture of the backyard. along the fence on the left-hand side there was a row of overgrown small trees and bushes that was pushing the neighbors fence down. One weekend Jason and I decided to tackle it and prepare to put a newer fence in in a few months. A lot of the trees were dead so they were easy to pull out. So we started and worked out there for a few hours and then stopped for the day to get dinner ready and served. Anyways, our next door neighbors on the other side of the fence came over the next day and he was sooo happy to see the trees go. He's lived next door for twenty years and hated the trees. He's able to get his truck into his backyard, unlike us (not really happy that we can't get a car in the back) and with his truck, tied rope on the remaining trees an bushes and pulled it out in a jiffy. And then within a week, he had a beautiful fence put up. I'm glad he had the moolah handy to do so, because we weren't planning on knocking down the fence yet. So, it looks fabulous! It's so nice. I love our backyard. And every Saturday Jason, the kids and I are out there pulling weeds and trying to improve the yard. It looks so much nicer now than it did when we first moved in.

Sunday we went to Crystal and Clay's baby blessing for their son Christopher William Woods. Cute little guy! We went over to Grandma Barbara's after for a luncheon. Crystal and Clay live with her and help her out. I've already forgotten how small babies are and it's only been a half a year since Kyle has really grown. Oh, how I love babies!!!

Kyle's party is coming along nicely. I was having a hard time planning it, but I finally have the menu finalized! It will be great! Here's what I'm serving and I'm so excited!

Refreshments:
2-3 variety of party pinwheels
chips and salsa
homemade banana bread
watermelon
cookie tray variety
jello tower
birthday cake
pop and water

Dinner:
sloppy joes
potato salad
green salad
chips
& whatever is left from refreshments.

I have to say it is easier to plan parties now that I had the calling of being Enrichment Leader in the Logan 23rd Ward. I learned a lot from my calling and loved it! I absolutely love it! I learned how to serve a large group of people good food for a reasonable price! And I learned how to decorate for a party!

The kids are enjoying nicer weather finally! It's still stormy at times but nothing like it was in early and mid May. And it's not too hot yet, so they can enjoy being outside.

Kyle has learned how to push himself backwards and forwards on his little push car-- hand me down from Lily. He loves it! And he has had the pleasure of tasting Popsicles and ice-cream and loves it. He tackles me whenever i head to the freezer! He'll sit on his little car, put his feet up, and kick back and relax eating his Popsicle. He's not walking yet, but he's very close to standing up, and I think once he does that, it'll be official... My baby will have truly grown. ;) It's a bitter sweet feeling.

Lily has learned how to ride her tricycle! And she loves it! She also loves the frozen goods, and enjoys playing outside. I love that the back is fully fenced in, it gives me comfort to know that and be able to send her out to play safely. She also no longer uses a stroller when we go for walks. So we only use a single stroller now for Kyle and Lily walks next to me. It's great to give her good exercise and teach her about how to navigate herself on the sidewalk and streets. I've started talking to her about crossing, and checking both ways to look for cars. When we get to an intersection to cross, she'll grab my hand before we cross and really does take mind to looking for cars. She really is getting to be a big girl.

I cannot say how much we love this house! How much we've grown to love Preston. I feel safer here, more accepted?-- strange as that sounds to me, or perhaps just happily settled is a better way to put it. I feel safer going for long walks here verses when I lived in Logan, and people are the nicest I've ever come across in my life. We meet new people every time we go for a walk. People will just stop us to chat and introduce themselves. They have a real interest in knowing who their neighbors are and as Jason said, "They look you in the eye's when they talk to you here." It's nice. On our walks, we've been invited into homes, invited over to dinner and family night, and even walked right into a play date on our walk home. We've had friends invite us to the park and life is just quiet. I feel like this place is just ideal for us. True, it's a small town. And I thought I disliked small towns, but I think that dislike came from living in the small town I grew up in. Preston is filled with kind people, hard working people, and honest people. And we're really not to far from Logan, and one of these weekends we'll venture to Pocatello, because Jason and I have never been there.

We love our God; we love each other; we love our lives; we love our home. It's a season of blessings for us. We've had our fair share of storms and they are still there, concerning extended family, but here's a ray of sunshine.