First Day of Summer

Doesn't the look on Hy's face say it all?

Rednecks

So...my brother JC has started a redneck competition between my sister, Janelle, and I. However, we are different types of "rednecks." I am more of the "hick" type and Janelle is planning on more of the "car-on-cinder-blocks-in-the-front-yard" type. (Am I right Janelle?)

Anyway, we get points according to our redneck-ish living. We have taken the lead with our accumulation (sp?) of dogs over the last year. At last count, we have 2 corgis (mine) and 5 border collies (Evan's working dogs). This doesn't include the four dogs that Ev has found new homes for and the two that he has given to Peruvians.

And what's worse...I made a rule that we couldn't have more than two dogs at one time. I was the first one to break this rule with the corgis. And Ev actually uses his dogs on the ranch. So I really can't say anything now.

13 points (point per dog) for the Israelsen's.

This is my corgi "Whizzy" when I first got him as a pup in December.

Mom, remind you of anyone?

You know how they say what comes around goes around? Mom has a picture pretty identical to this one. This is the dessert I got for my birthday. Well Hyrum had started opening the fridge, but really hadn't gotten into anything. Suddenly...it was quiet...too quiet. This is what I found:

About a half hour later... (after I'd cleaned him and the fridge up).
Then one day, Jen got smart and put the cake up higher so Hyrum couldn't reach it. The end.

Last Day of School

Our last day of school was Friday, June 6th. My prize student (my only student) graduated with flying colors from Kindergarten. He is ready to step into the real world...1st grade. He got top math, reading, and writing student awards. His two older sisters and little brother joined us for the day. We showed Ashlee and Amanda 50-in-a-minute and they "taught" him the remaining two long vowel sound review. We ended the day with a rousing performance of the "3 Little Pigs" in which Austin did a smashing job as the "Big, Bad Wolf"...literally. And we had a pizza party.
We had a great time! Thanks, Bry-Bud!

(One of our last days of school. Buzzy was our honorary flag holder while we said "The Pledge of Allegiance." He even gave it a gentle waving look...it was great!)

Viente y siete

(Sorry, once again a sideways picture...) Happy Birthday to me! Wow! I still feel that young and I still have those same chubby rolls...now they're just not cute. Hmm...

My birthday was great! I went to a girl's camp certification (my new calling is asst. girls camp leader) and got to know the girls and other leaders better. Annie got me some cookies and ice cream and I got a few lovely renditions of "Happy Birthday" throughout the day. I came home where Evan made me a DELICIOUS steak dinner with pasta. He also said we needed to go couch shopping--YIPPEE!! The Humphries family made me a "Mud pie" ummmm....good and then did my dishes for me.

And I got phone calls from family. The best had to go to Granny T who called to wish me a "Happy Birthday" then told me that "they" were going to drop a nuclear bomb on Southern Utah today and I needed to have my car fueled up to get north. :)

What a lucky girl I am to have such great family and friends. The only downside to this birthday was it is the first birthday that I feel a little bit old now. Think about it...if you round to the nearest 5, when I hit 27 and 1/2 I will be rounding down to 30 instead of up to 25. Oh well....

Fast Trip to Rexburg

We made a quick trip to Rexburg this last weekend for Elliott's blessing. It was fun to go and see my "little" brother be a dad. I wish we could have stayed longer, but such is life. I didn't get any pics while we were there, but I did get a pic of Hy in his car seat. He was a pretty good traveler to last 14 hours. He's used to sitting in the car seat for a long time to get anywhere.

We got to see all of my immediate family and a grandma and aunt as well. Ev and I got to go to the new Rexburg Temple. Later we played in the hotel swimming pool and Hy loved it. And we went and crashed Decca's new apartment and roommates. Power to all my fellow Rexburg alumni.... :)

Flower Garden

So, I have been so ambitious about my flower garden this year. Amber (my neighbor) has helped me a lot and I enjoyed going to the green house in Ely. Hyrum LOVES to help out and will spend hours with a spade, shovel or rake tearing up everything I've just done. He loves the outdoors, dirt and water.

Now for the bad news....this last weekend, the SNAKES have come out....ewwww! I hate mice, but snakes...snakes are just worse. Last night, I quizzed Evan all about how to kill rattlers (*oh, sidenote: over half of the snakes have been rattlers...even worse) and what to do if someone gets bit, etc. Yeah, that was a BAD idea. The rest of the night, I thought snakes were in the house getting into Hy's crib and crawling into my bed. I didn't get a very restful night's sleep.