The Cousin Cafe

Rebecca delivered her first Sacrament Meeting talk today. I don't have any pictures of her standing at the pulpit, but I do have pictures of Judson and Sarah Tolman, the pioneers Rebecca talked about. She did a wonderful job, and I was very proud of her. I also suffered knowing how nervous she was until she finished giving her talk. The umbilical cord may be severed, but there are real cords that tie mothers' emotions to their children's. So many highs and lows.

Do you think Judson and Sarah ever posed for pictures like these people down below? J & S sure look serious.

We lucky people were invited to the Cousin Cafe for dinner. Rebecca and Kaylyn printed a menu (the kids' menus had games on the backs) and took our orders. Then they served our delicious dinners out on the patio and only charged Spencer $73. It was a steal at that. They're considering opening a restaurant while they're in college.

Kaylyn Came to Town

Spencer's airplane creations get more sophisticated with each passing day. For this design, he abandoned packing tape and used hot glue.

Last weekend, Ben helped the young women hike a fourteener. This weekend, he did a 25-mile bike ride with the young men. What will my Superman do next week?

The girls decorated two cake mixes worth of cupcakes and delivered some to the neighbors. Just like human beings, each cupcake was an original.

It's been so fun to have Kaylyn with us this week. She and Eva collected cattails at Josh's pond.

Math Camp

Our magnificent Broomfield Rotary Club puts on a tuition-free math camp for 2nd-4th graders in the summer. This is Eva eating her pre-math camp breakfast feast on Monday with her friend across the table (whom you cannot see in this picture). She comes home everyday with new math camp songs. "We love math camp, yes, we do. We love math camp. How 'bout you?" Retired teachers are the tip top.

Mount Quandary

Ben, Rebecca, and I showed up at the church parking lot at noon on Friday. We met the ward young women and their fearless leaders there. Everyone was looking fresh and clean and chipper. When we met back at the church parking lot on Saturday at 7:00, nobody looked clean, everyone looked sunburned, and there was a distinct look of triumph on each face.

Why?

Because we climbed a fourteener! Mt. Quandary, elevation 14,265 ft.

We camped near Frisco Friday night. Ben and I had bought a lovely clearance-table tent at Dick's on Thursday night and felt so smug about the great deal we'd gotten until we pulled it out of its box at the campsite and found that the poles were missing. We slept on cots under the freezing cold stars until we couldn't stand it anymore and moved in to the minivan.

We woke those poor girls up at 4:30 am to drive to the trailhead and were on the trail by 6:00. It was tough. One website I looked at said it was a "lung-popping hike." That sounds about right. Also, much of the hike was above the treeline, and there are absolutely no bathroom facilities anywhere along the trail, not even at the trailhead, and we were on the mountain for 9 hours. I'll let your imagination run with that for a while.

The young women of the Broomfield 1st Ward are an inspiration. You should have seen them. One of them even hiked it with a broken toe! Every last one of them made it to the summit.

Poopsy, Silly Fruit, and Clotheslines

We just couldn't help stopping in at the pet store to see Poopsy. The kids held and held her until I pulled them away. I wonder which lucky family will take Poopsy home. I made sure Rocco was out of the room when I pulled these pictures off the camera. It would hurt his feelings, for sure.

I ate lots of these morsels while we were in China but thought I would never see them again. Imagine my surprise when I saw them at the Pacific Ocean Marketplace yesterday. I don't know what they're called, so we call them Silly Fruit. Does anyone know what they're called? The flesh is translucent white and has the texture of jello.

I picked up another habit in China. It's called Hanging Clothes on the Line. I had never before considered Hanging Clothes on the Line. In fact, our last two homeowner's associations classified Hanging Clothes on the Line as a subversive activity, so I thought there was something morally, or at the very least, socially questionable about it. But now that I've tried it, I'm hooked. The clothes are so straight when they dry that my iron may get a bit lonely. Plus, my mouth just about waters when I think of all the kilowatt hours I don't have to pay for.