Swim and BBQ

Today Amanda and I rode our bikes to the Harlines, where we of course swam.

John joined us for a little lunch break. Then we cooked up some vegetables on the grill. It feels so summery at their house.

Happy Father's Day!

Today was a family day. After Stake Conference Ryan got his mission call, my mom and sister came over for paninis, then we went to John and Claudia's to say goodbye to the Sebras, where we made a new little friend.

Then John's dad came to town for a quick business trip, so we had dinner together.

And dessert, of course.

New Office

Remember this room? I was anxious to remove the wood paneling...

Only to find a rainbow. While John was working this week I filled in the holes and primed.

Then Amanda helped me paint. We chose "Manzanita Leaf" by Kelly Moore, because my visiting teacher has it in her living room and we love it.

Then John added base boards

and bead board.

We used my parent's miter for corners and the Harline's jigsaw for outlets (and Javier at Home Depot cut the 8 foot panels in thirds for us).

Then he put on the chair railing and voila, my visions realized. Bless his heart.

I took the bedspread and curtains my aunt got me as a kid from my parents' house and put some of her other furniture in the room.

It feels much brighter and bigger now.

Two rooms down, one to go! I just need some more color inspiration first...

The Real Giants

Kevin and Ashley invited us up to LDS night at the SF Giants game.

I love this park because

1) Coke bottle slide. When I came as a kid I don't know how much of the games I actually saw

2) Overlooks the bay. Nothing better than seeing a ball hit into the water

3) No tornadoes. Although it does make for a less exciting game.

We played the Orioles, and lost 1-4.

But we still had such a fun time!

(Blurry camera picture of the bay bridge from the park)

The Quiet Game

I don't think we're supposed to give primary classes treats, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Our lesson this week was on reverence, and I told them every five minutes they didn't talk out of turn they could have an m&m. I had a beanie bear I passed when they wanted to talk, which was probably as rewarding as the candy. Worked like a charm. They said they want to play again every week, but next time have marshmallows or chocolate chips. Best fifty cents I ever spent.

Here are 8 of my kids (out of 11) holding the song prompts. John substituted with me today and pointed out that the kids that can read are showing the words to the ones that can't. Irony at its finest.

Birthday Time!

You can't celebrate John without food. It started with a simple yellow cake with Nutella as frosting. I made it in an angel food cake pan so it looked like a John-sized donut.

Friday night he went to Red Lobster with Mark as per tradition. (Amanda hooked me up with a bag full of cheesy biscuits)

His friend Jon Paul sent him this shirt. He wore it to Sweet Tomatoes, where he put bacon on this baked potato. He's not really supposed to have bacon right now, but how could he not with a shirt like that?

Their little soft serves are the perfect dessert because you're always so full from lunch.

Then we threw a party at Brian and Annie's where we're house and pet sitting. (They offered... although they may have been joking...)

He had a devil's food cake with cream cheese frosting. He blew all those candles out with a tiny puff of air. I'm still amazed.

His friends came throughout the evening and they played various wii games.

Then we went in the spa. And when we got pruney came back in to play some more.

He got the Beatles band game, whose songs my mom was well acquainted with.

One last song before we all crashed.

P.S. John's birthday is our half-iversary. I can't believe it's already been six months!

The Gigantes

The Harlines invited us to a San Jose Giants game vs. the Modesto Nuts. (Katie-friend, Corry, Austin, Scott and Karyn)

Then we had rootbeer floats. No family night is complete without treats!

First Week of Summer

1) In-N-Out on the way home from the temple--John's first burger without his colon

2) Swimming! We went to a gym's pool to try out their aerobics class on Tuesday, Mark's apartment pool Thursday, the Summer's pool while we babysat on Friday, and the Scott's pool last night for Heather's birthday. (John's burning out, but I'm just getting warmed up :)

3) I went to my first canning party

and have some delightful strawberry jam to show for it

4) My parent's garage is tidied

5) 99 cent rootbeer floats are back

6) Baseball

This is during John's lunch break, but he also plays stake softball on Saturdays

7) Tutoring is over, so more time for babysitting... although playing army guys with Luka all day made me want daughters even more.

(Plus, girls have cuter clothing options.)