Yard Work Saturday!

Izzie trying to shoot the ball into the basket. I love this picture because it makes it look as though she has magical powers making the ball levitate in the air! She sure loved playing basketball outside with everyone!

Saturday was so awesome! It is the first Saturday (of many, I am sure!) that we were outside taking care of our little yard! I am so excited for all that we get to do. When we moved into this house I was really excited for the yard and the fruit trees and all the plants we are going to be able to take care of. Some people we talked to were kind of negative about it (You don't know how much time you have to put into them, there is a lot of care that you have to do, etc) but I am still excited. I do recognize that it will be work. Probably a lot of hard work. But, I don't care. What things of worth in life come with no work? Nothing! Not anything that matters, not anything that can exponentially increase your joy! Please, if you think of anything let me know! I can't say that anything comes to mind.

Anyway, I also recognize that we don't know much about maintaining fruit trees or grape vines or other things, but we are willing and eager to learn! I was so proud of my cute husband, watching youtube videos about pruning and maintaining grape vines. And then he went out and he did it! What an awesome example he is to me! I just love that guy! Well, we started our yard work around 10am and man, we didn't finish until about 1pm! I was so excited that I worked on our front yard planter, right in front of our front door. I ripped out all of the dead leaves off the plants and cleaned things up, and I am so excited! It looks awesome! I didn't realize how cute those little plants were because there was so much dead stuff on top of it! And now they are able to grow more and they see the light!

While we were gardening, Sammy was across the street playing with friends. I am glad that he got to play with friends, but as a mom it is a bittersweet thing. I want him to be out there, enjoying himself, but I worry about kids being mean to him. Some of the kids are older and they weren't as nice to my boy as I would have liked but they weren't hostile. I just had to sit back and let my little guy learn how to navigate the waters of friendship while I watched from afar. It almost killed me! At one point he was crying, but he wouldn't tell me what happened. It just broke my heart! I think someone may have hit him, but he wouldn't tell. I couldn't do anything about it. It is so frustrating! And another time he was sad and came home and when we asked what happened, he just said, "They hated me." And we asked, "Did they hit you?" and he repeated, "No. They just hated me." After that he stayed with us. I think he had fun gardening with us.

When it came time for lunch, we received a surprise visit and lunch from Auntie Soana and Uncle Caleb! They had been passing by a fundraiser for the Orem 8th ward (The Tongan Ward) and they bought two delicious plate lunches for Arnie and me! They were especially tasty after the appetite we had worked up doing yard work. It was also nice to watch funny SNL clips with them and just to enjoy their company for a brief 30 minutes or so. They are so awesome and I truly do wish that they lived closer!

After our quick visit, Arnold and I ran over to our resident Voice specialist, Isaac Hurtado. So, we are officially trying to prepare a solo and duet for the upcoming Easter program! And Isaac graciously agreed to coach us and give us some tips! It was so much to work with him and to feel more confident about performing this song. We are singing at tomorrow's choir practice and I hope it goes well! I am so nervous! I usually struggle to sing songs that are of a spiritual nature. I just get choked up and cry because I am feeling the spirit or the importance of the principles I am singing and then I can't sing because I am crying! Or my voice is too tight! Well, those are issues to deal with later, I can only practice and try my best. I was extremely happy to have the advice Isaac was willing to give us. Thank you!















More shots of Izzie playing basketball! She just looked so happy and cute that I had to put these ones in as well!

After our lessons we talked with Kim, Isaac's wife and my good friend. I just love her! And she is so fun to talk with. And then we gave their oldest kid a ride to a neighbor's house so she wouldn't have to pack up her little ones. What was fun about it was that he has just recently acquired his driving permit, so we let him drive and he did pretty well! It was fun to give him that opportunity. Then we went home to be with our kids and to hang out with my sister who was watching our kids during our lesson. She was so nice to come and watch the kids while we were gone because she had just taken a grueling teacher exam. I guess it is the one where you have to test for re-certification after 3 years. I am sure she did well, but I know we will all be happy to have official word that she is a-okay.






Here are clips of Sammy shooting the ball. He actually made a lot of shots and it was his first time shooting into a real hoop! I was amazed at his ability to do that! He really is an amazing boy! And he's mine! = )

We never went into the house. By now it is almost 3pm and we decided to play outside with the kids and Auntie Addie. We had a basketball and Arnie, Addie, and myself decided to start a game of HORSE! And guess who won?! That's right, ME! For those of you who don't know/realize I am definitely NOT the athletic one of the family! Somehow, I totally showed those guys who was boss on the court! It was fun. Sammy also had some friends come and join us in our driveway. We had kids drawing on our driveway, others shooting baskets and more digging through the rocks. At one point my friend Kim came over with her toddler. It was fun to have Izzie play with another kid her age. And we met our new neighbors who had moved in that very day! It just felt good to be a part of such a friendly neighborhood. I am so excited to be living in our house.

Here are some shots of my sister and me shooting the ball! I must have made my shot because it looks as though Izzie is cheering for me--something she would do every time I made my shots!







Arnie found a free app that let's you edit videos on your phone. Here is the same video from above with a little special effects!

The last game we played with the neighborhood kids was with a giant three person sling shot. We wrapped up a t-shirt and we would shoot it at other kids. The kids loved being targets and shooting it. We didn't have too many takers on holding the sling shot though. Arnie and I were so tired that we finally had to tell the kids that we were going inside! It was crazy! When we went inside we found out it was about 5:30pm! We had literally been outside all day!

It was around this time that I got invited to a play with my good friend Sharon. I wasn't sure about it--it was a scary, Victorian play--but I decided to go to be with my friend. Oh my gosh! I was so scared! It was the play version of the film "The Lady In Black" with Daniel Radcliffe. I knew it was scary, but I figured, "How scary could a live play be?" The answer is very, very scary!

We both didn't think it would be too bad. I think the worst part was that the "Lady" in black kept randomly showing up in different parts of the theater. And they would turn the lights off and on frequently! So, one minute the lights would go off, scuffle scuffle, and then the lights would be back up and the lady in black was standing right there! One time the lights went off and then back on and there was a child's rocking chair in the middle of the room, rocking. And the storyline was kind of disturbing. Whenever the death of a child is involved, it is never good.

I do feel bad because I know I scare people with my jumpiness. My husband has told me on multiple occasions that I am worse than any scary movie because I jump and scream and whatever else. I definitely don't think I helped my friend Sharon at all. I think I made it worse. When we were walking out of the theater we were passing some shops and didn't realize that there was a space between some buildings. These two guys pop out of the building as we are passing by and my friend jumped and screamed! She felt bad and the guys felt bad that they scared us, but we explained that we had just watched a scary play.

So, we drove to Gloria's Little Italy for some dessert. It was so good! We had a chocolate tartufo and a yummy nutella and cream cake. They were both absolutely divine! I wish I could have tried every dessert, they looked so good. We had a good time talking with each other and learning more interesting things about each other. I really do love my friends that I have made while living in this ward. I hope that we will be able to be lifelong friends and enjoy each other's company for many years to come.



My love the moment it became his birthday! Isn't he so cute?!

After this I came home and explained how scary everything was! My husband laughed at how silly I was. And he is right, I just need to stay away from scary things, I am much happier that way! Before we went to bed I filmed my husband giving some "words of wisdom" on his birthday as the clock changed to midnight. I think he may have ripped off another classic youtube video though. Actually, I know he did! I will also admit that I stayed up longer than usual watching Friends reruns to try to get all the scary play images out of my head. I think it worked. I didn't have to wake my husband once because I was scared!





Arnie's Words of Wisdom on his birthday. I think I have seen this before somewhere. Hmmmm......