This is Halloween, this is halloween...

DURING

Our backyard will be completed this week! Yay!! Our grass was put in today. When we got home the kids ran through the house straight to the lawn and ran circles and rolled on the grass and got back up to run some more. One might have mistaken them for puppies.

BEFORE

So here is our backyard. Yes, some of those weeds are taller than the fence. Pathetic yet we had no need to cut them down until now!

My neighbor

Today when we were driving home from my parents (the house I grew up in) our old neighbor was out sweeping her walk. We grew up raking her leaves, riding our bikes up her driveway and declining the tea she offered us. ; ) Sweet lady. Her husband died probably 10 yrs ago. My Dad mowed their lawn, swept leaves off their roof and other misc. jobs since I can remember. We visited every once and a while and always sang to them every Christmas. She would invite us into their immaculate home. White carpet, porcelain elephants, fancy paintings. I'm sure my Mom was quite nervous. ; ) Shortly after her husband passed away she talked to my parents about the church and was baptized at 83 yrs. of age. - To sum up an amazing story in 1 sentence.

Well today we stopped and said Hi. My Mom had a birthday present to give her. When I pulled up she couldn't believe I was old enough to drive let alone 2 kids in the backseat. She is losing her memory a little bit & her daughter wants to put her in a assisted living home but she adamantly refuses. She said to me "I just love keeping house, I can't do that anymore if they put me in a home." Of all things I think housework would be the first thing I would like to scratch off my list! She must be close to 90, she's lonely, losing her memory and all she wants is to keep house.

Our little conversation made me quite grateful for all the housework I do and all the housework that is staring me in the face. I do it everyday and yet there will always be more tomorrow, while discouraging it is nice to know that I have so many other things that fill my life besides housework. Making a home is a wonderful thing. And someday if I am lonely and old and housework is the only link to my memory and meaning in my life then bring on the dishes!! I'm sure my gratefulness for cleaning will wear off shortly but just for today...

Facebook

So I have recently started a page on facebook. Quite exciting news, huh? Just when I start feeling comfortable blogging I start something else. anyway. I am amazed how social facebook is & how eager they are to find other facebook friends for you. But I guess that's cool and maybe a little weird too. Instant messenger was just starting to come around my senior year of high school. But not very many people had it at that point. The AOL dial-up sounds are still engraved in my brain. Holy cow what a bad student I would have been back in the day if I had all these websites to keep up with while trying to study Biology!

Gympoopstics

I love watching gymnastics but this time around I have been a little disappointed. I understand why the US got silver in the the team gymnastics BUT the individual vault and bars situations are beyond me. I don't see how the girl from China got a bronze and landed on her knees! over someone who landed both vaults - Alicia. Sure her vault was ranked more difficult but she couldn't pull it off! Doesn't that have anything to do with it? Her hands were in the wrong place and she landed on her knees. Knees being different than feet. So I guess the judging is based more on intentions than actual performance. Just when I was moving on with my life.
Nastia gets silver in a tie? They go shift it into some back-up micro scoring within the scoring the first time around came out as a tie????? I am not too gymnastic savvy, maybe that is the reason I am so disgusted.

AND as far as the age-limit thing goes, apparently the young Chinese girls can compete with older girls so maybe they should reevaluate the age range. Because when you lose to someone with poor judging, the same person who shouldn't even be there in the first place you might as well just hand them the salt to poor in your gaping wound.

Sounds like a broken system.

oh what do you do in the summer time?

Well I feel like we are just getting back to reality. We took a trip to UT and had a great time with the Healys in July. We got back just in time for a Valk retreat in Pinecrest. Then, Uncle Brett, Eric's brother came to visit and my mom and I celebrated our birthdays together! It has been a fun and busy summer. Needless to say we don't have any travel plans for the rest of the year. The slideshow is a bit lengthy but in case you are up late, bored or really interested in another one of my amaaaaazing slideshows than kick back and enjoy. ; )