NEW PICKUP SITING!

It has been reported that a man looking very similar to your Dad has been spotted driving a black (uhg!) 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup!! If you see him, apprehend him and ask him for a ride!
Looking forward to the 4th! Dad & I will be there sometime Friday evening/night. --Mom

Oh Boy!

She's a jewel, isn't she? Yeah, that's oil, and although it didn't come out as well as I hoped, she looks a lot better than she did!

I'm glad to hear that scout camp went so well, especially towards the end. You two are great.

I've started working on Tom's mission album and am having a fabulous time. I asked his permission to read his mission journal and he is letting me. He wrote quite a bit before he left on his mish (high school and college days) and I'm enjoying reading about all that as well. It's just so weird to think he had all that time before in which I didn't know him at all. It's fun to read about the things he was doing and his thoughts. I'm typing up the entries since, well, he kind of has sloppy handwriting :) and most of it is also in pencil which we all know smears and isn't very permanent. I'm having a ball working on it!

I'm hoping to put little quotes from his journal into his album here and there, as well as his favorite scriptures.

Can't wait to see everyone on the Fourth! I'm so excited!

Scout Camp

Hey again,

we just wanted to let everyone know how fun scout camp was this year (yes, this is Ali speaking)!!  We were both pretty stressed out because we had new assignments this year, but kerry was definitely the more stressed of the two of us.  Poor guy.  Partly, we just didn't know exactly what to do, so we were both worried that we were always behind on something we didn't know we were responsible for.  However, by about Wednesday, the initial stress was over and things were starting to run smoothly.  Kerry was pretty bummed after the Monday night campfire because it was pretty rocky, but the Friday one was AWESOME!  At least we learn from our mistakes!  I was in charge of putting together the honor trail, which is a small hike up dedication hill with stations along it, each for a different point of the scout law.  I had to figure out what each person at the stations was going to say, and then make sure it ran smoothly.  Fortunately, I had the help of Kerry, LeeAnn Bowring, and the Spirit in putting it together, and it turned out really well.  In fact, Camp Entrada in Moab will also be using it this year because Ed Larson (who does the same thing as Kerry at that camp) asked Brother Larson if he had a script already written up that he  could borrow.  Cool, huh!  Anyway, there's lots more we could tell, but you'll just have to ask us when you see us over the 4th!  

P.S.  They had a lot of ham left over from camp, so we're donating some of the ham we were given to the family get together on the 4th.  Think 20 pounds will be enough?  :)

A reply from Nettie!!

Hey everybody!!  We just wanted to let you know that we did finally hear back from the birth mother that wrote us the week before camp.  Her name is Nettie, and although she thanked us for writing to her, she said she needs to take some time for herself to figure things out, so she let us know that she won't be writing us for a few months while she heads to her sisters house to stay for awhile.  She said that this doesn't mean that she hasn't chosen us, it just means she needs some time to herself.  We were just glad to hear from her, and to finally put a name to the e-mails we've been getting!  Everyone please keep her in your prayers, so that she'll have the guidance she needs.  We sure love you all!!  

Kerry & Ali

Okay, so Dad and I are feeling all kinds of successful -- we bought a Moen bathroom faucet at a yard sale last week for $10. I knew it was good because it was a Moen, but looked it up online today and it sells for $376!!! Holy cow! Now we'll have to re-do the bathroom just to plan around this beautiful new faucet!! Wahoo!! Who'd a thunk it?

Today Dad bought a brand new roaster pan (yard sale again) and thinks he's king of the hill. Next time we have company I'm sure he'll try it out! It'll even cook next year's Thanksgiving turkey! (No extra charge for mustard)

Thanks for the video of Pam's birthday, Once -- we can't figure out how to get a video on. Maybe you can give Dad a lesson when we're there -- yes, we're coming Monday! Plan to leave at 7 a.m. and spend the day.

Happy un-birthday Pam! Looks like you'll get your presents on the 4th of July, but guess that's better than in a van on the way to the MTC (but only slightly).

Grandma, Dad & I met Aunt Brenda in Tuba City last week and traveled on down to my cousin's funeral in Gilbert, Arizona -- 9 hours one way! It was a nice funeral and was fun to see the cactus, stay in a Hampton Inn, and even shop for 45 minutes at JC Penney on the way home (to get Dad a white shirt for Father's Day). Very nice to be home again, also. The trip was hard on Grandma, but she's a trooper!

We're looking forward to fun, fun, fun at this year's "reunion" on the 4th of July -- we'll all be there -- double Wahooooooooooo!!!! Nancy, Dad & I will furnish a bag of chips, a package of cookies and a pink salad for the lunch on the lawn that day. Can't wait to see everyone!!! -Mom

Dad and Mom, how was the Arizona trip?

Dad, would you send Pammi another invite to the blog? She struggles! I'm making her try again. Shanksh!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Pammi!

It's me!

I finally made it to the blog! I don't have much time right now or anything interesting to say even if I did have time, but I just wanted to say congrats to Kerry and Ali! That's exciting news even if it isn't a sure thing.
Also, as some of you have found out from experience, my phone is not working very well. I'm not sure what's wrong with it but it doesn't seem to like phone calls anymore so if a conversation with me ends mid-sentence don't be offended. I'm lucky if I can keep a call going for 5 minutes. And since I know how important I am to talk to, I can probably be found at Mom and Dad's house a lot of the time hehe.
Hope everyone is doing fabulous!

The New Job

Tom's new job is going pretty well. He did three pours on Friday and they all went well. He says cement trucks are a little hard to get used to, but he seems to be getting the hang of it.

We found out he'll have to work Saturdays here and there. It's pretty hit and miss, so he could end up working three Saturdays in a row, or every other, or have a few weeks without needing to go on the weekend at all. . . whatever they need him to do. Naturally it's not ideal, but we're not about to complain.

We're all doing fine and are happy for the updates on the blog! Yea!

I just saw a lovely house for sale here. Four bedroom, two bath. Decent sized yard. Unfortunately $150,000. I almost got excited about it until I remembered Dad's current situation. Poop!

So Mom is absolutely loving her new rock/flower garden by our front window. Many thanks to Tom and Nance for their assistance with this and other projects. It might be awhile before Tom offers his services to the Bayles homestead. Also many thanks to Pam, Kerry, and Ali for coming to the aid of a sad and lonely traveler. Pam saved me from being stuck in Payson and then we met Kerry and Ali at Chili's where they joined forces and bought me a lovely dinner. Kerry and Ali then hauled me to their home where they wined, dined, and entertained me fully for a couple of days. Then providing service above and beyond the call of duty, Ali had to haul me all the way back down to Payson. Thanks to all for your kindnesses.

Thanks, Grandad!!

Hey everybody!!  I just wanted to write and confirm that we did totally have a blast having Grandad up here for a few unexpected days!!  It was good to have an excuse to eat well and treat ourselves to activities and sweets that we might not have otherwise!  Mom gave a pretty good account of our exploits, but I do have to add that Ali also went golfing with us and even enjoyed it!!(at least that's what she says).  I have to hand it to her - she kept up just fine with Dad and I (or at least me, I just included Grandad so I wouldn't feel so bad), and she didn't even have left-handed clubs to help her!  There was one time, however, that she got frustrated enough with the "righty" clubs that she just turned one backwards and hit left with it anyway (it was actually a pretty good hit), but that's golf for ya.  Frustration.  

Anyway, we sure did have fun with Grandad, and we totally put him to work for us (haha!).  He switched a bunch of our outlets from two-prong to three-prong, adjusted all our blinds so that they're the right length (we didn't even know you could do that!), and made us a big batch of Lionhouse rolls!!  Oh........they were heavenly.  Dad, you have given us a weeks worth of the yummiest tuna sandwiches EVER.  What a Grandad!! (or should I say, "Quite a Merrill"?)