lets play catch up...

and all of this information will not be in order. 

and everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty...

and the sun will still rise in the east...

so, on that note.

we have edens 19th birthday.

spent at grandma fayes house.

she came down from provo, and i met her in st george.

we went shopping and bought great harvest bread and new shoes.
drove around washington in grandpas new genesis.

i visited DI and scored dane a bunch of clothes for like $11.38.

we gorged at chuck o rama...

our favorite utah activity
with grandma and grandpa

and had costco cheesecake for dessert.
grandpa paid for car washes and toiletries.

and i think i went away only gaining 4 pounds after all the caramel/kettle corn i consumed too.

we looked at lots of old family photos and made roast beef.

dale and marty came over too

and watched the superbowl.

grandmas back still hurts and we pray everyday 

for it to miraculously heal itself.

shes a trooper for sure.

i wish i could take it all away.

but shes made out of good stuff, to use her own terminology.

we must be mother and daughter she says.

next is danes play.

hes one of the leads in suessical jr...

(horton the elephant to be exact)

a musical being put on by his elementary school.

hes doing awesome, and so excited.

(and apparently its a big deal to be picked for one of the leads-who knew?)

he and his friend carson came home today singing the songs, 

harmonizing like you cannot believe.

they didnt even realize it.

i think i have a singer/actor on my hands.

then a wonderful wedding...

richs brother gene and his bride nerette decided to tie the knot.

so i was invited to participate in the festivities.

with of course the promise of the best helper man ever.

(never experienced a man like that before)

and you know, i always welcome that invite.

even though i may sigh a heavy sigh.

and pop ibuprophen and exedrin.

its always good...and never once, have i regretted helping out.

because what i do will be remembered forever.

and that is nice.

so.

the bride wanted red and pink.

(yes, i said red AND pink)

and very traditional.

(not really a fan of red and pink and traditional-going against the grain a bit)

and what seemed like hundreds of boutineers and corsages

(everyone knows i hate making these with a passion-im not shy about telling everyone).

i was being challenged big time.

hard when the bride wants one thing and you know it might not work...

but it turned out alright.

actually quite alright.

and it did work.

much to my surprise.

only...

after i switched out the run of the mill vases for these glorious

huge fishbowls.

(which i didnt get a photo of)

i like fishbowls now.

my new favorite flower receptacle.

it was beautiful.

and was very fun to be a part of something so special.

and to see the beauty of a second opportunity.

and new love embrace those willing to give it a chance.

even though it may be hard and awkward.

i have a whole new attitude toward second chances now.

and being free to follow your heart.

and love with every fiber of your being.

now we have weird indian monuments 

found on deserted highways in the middle of nowhere.

let me tell you about our wild adventures in nevada.

not the vegas nevada, the "other" side of nevada.

the story starts like this...

eden decided it would be a good idea to lend her car to her friend.

to drive somewhere.

like california.

like stockton, california.

i guess it went something like this.

 "hey eden, can i borrow your car?"

(edens thinking like to go to rite aid for chap stick or something

or how about albertsons for some cheetos)

"sure" says eden.

(i dont think eden even knows where stockton is)

well, to make a long story short.

edens car headed to stockton...from provo.

like a hundred thousand miles away.

then...the drama started.

her trusty little car overheated.

and such unnamed drivers decided to ignore red flashing lights

warning that there was trouble under the hood.

big trouble.

so now we have one melted engine.

yes i said melted.

which needs to be replaced.

however, this trouble happened in the middle of nowhere.

on mentioned above deserted highway.

so in comes our brave rescue man...

(the man who rescues me all the time)

who hooks up his trusty trailer

to retrieve the beloved ronald.

 we found him forlorn and abandoned

(his hood broken from all the strangers looking at the damage)

in a tire shop of all places.

(again, in the middle of nowhere)

owned by some idiot named blake.

(wait, come to find out his WIFE owns the tire store

and most of the town-she was in palm springs getting a massage)

who had $500 cowboy boots on and a starched gaudy red shirt.

slick willy we will call him. 

anyway, our hero of the day, hooked ronald up and whisked him out of there.

 headed for arturos little shop in escondido.

a much better alternative to mr slick in winnemucca.

(who names a town that?)

anyway, our travels took us to some random, very bizarre monument.

so weird we had to stop and take a look.

voodooesque dont you think? 

kinda like when theres road kill in the gutter...

we even got a tour from a nice little man who lives in a trailer and his tiny yorkie with bad breath.

who only likes women and peed on every bit of art out there.

so as you can see this was a very interesting place...

set amongst incredible, beautiful scenery.

no wonder this indian guy wanted to live here.

and create here.

with his 6 kids, and wife number 2.

i guess he had another wife and 7 kids somewhere else.

all at the same time, so we were told.

hmmm.

wonder what his other house looked like?

so heres the infamous ronald.

getting a ride.

back home. 

but, before all that,

 we had to stop for a photo opp...

just call us the old hellions.

and no, we didnt pick up any hitchhikers or runaway murderers.

just a couple of rocks for my rock collection.

and a sore butt from hours in the car.

but mr hero and i seem to get along well on these adventures.

weve had a few.

and hopefully many more to come.

cuz we only have so many summers left.