MAYLIN2007

I didn't mean for so much time to go between posts. Time is really flying by. This week I drove on a field trip for Alex's class. It was fun to have Alex and 4 of his friends, plus his teacher in my car. We had a good time visiting. On the way home, I was a cool mom and stopped and got everyone a Krispy Kreme donut. We went to BYU's art museum and saw a fabulous display focusing on Islam. The art work, pottery, jewelry, rugs, artifacts.....were amazing. It was a great time. We also had lunch in the university's cafeteria. The teacher and other mothers and myself lamented that the Cougar Eat no longer sells taco salads from our past. Now, everything has turned to fast food vendors. We all talked about what a treat it was to have a delicious taco salad from the eatery when we were students. There is another reflection of how fast time is going.....things change and maybe not for the better. I can tell you those taco salads were better than any of the fast food chain...

Amid all the drama at our house (had the MRI, it came out okay so more tests to come), there were a couple of funny, amazing moments. The other day Alex came in the house yelling that the cat was in a fight with a snake. He said he thought it was a rattle snake or something. He said it was too big to be a garden snake. I went out with him, armed with a pitchfork. I had Maylin go get Jay. After a bit of time wrestling in the bushes, Jay came out with the below snake.  Jay determined it to be a garden snake, but the LARGEST one he had every seen. We showed the neighbors and the agreed that this sucker had to be a granddaddy garden snake. It was sick. Maylin hated it too. The snake would hiss and try to bite you if you took your hand off its head. I am not quite sure why the boys even wanted to hold it, but they did.....once they found it wasn't poisonous. On Sunday we went to a neighbors house to drop off some church stuff. Maylin said, "Those two are married?...

The other night I was at Zumba. I got a text during it from Jay. It said, "Alex was bored." Then the below picture was attached. That is flour mind you. In fact, it is two 50 pound buckets of flour. He invited two friends down to have a flour fight. Jay agreed to it. Not sure why. That is a lot of flour to waste, not to mention how hard it is to get flour out of clothes, hair and the lawn. They had a blast. As you can see, when Alex gets bored, a party or something else follows. (They wore goggles after finding out it gets in your eyes. Creative) Also, everything in the yard is ready! I have been canning peaches and salsa and making fresh raspberry and peach pies. They were to die for. I made 6 and I think I ate 3 of them on my own. Also made lots of jam. 

After a long day at school, Maylin falls asleep everyday. Doesn't look comfy to me, but apparently she doesn't care!

This is Austin's new companion.  His name is Elder    Brogyay Zamora from Argentina. Austin said he is quiet and shy. He really likes him. He makes Austin look tall, that is for sure. Here they are heading off to a service project. Austin is showing off his Texas shirt and his Barcelona, Spain shorts his last companion gave him.

A wise person told me the quote that entitles my post today. It is quite profound. We all live on this earth, knowing that it could end at any moment. Most of us live our lives so we have no regrets. I try to make every day meaningful. I don't want a day to go by where I think, "Wow. What did I even do today?" Even if it is just cleaning the house, I have at least done something. I was useful. I was productive. I mattered. I also believe that when we die, we really live again and for a very, very long time this time around. In fact, we live for eternity with our Heavenly Father, doing as I believe, very useful, productive things. Things that matter. I haven't posted for awhile because our lives around here have been like a  car on a roller coaster. I keep thinking we have to get off, somewhere, but apparently, as today has proven I am on the extended ride. The past few months one of my children has been struggling with serious health issues. And no, its not Aust...