I've Never Been Beaten So Thoroughly So Many Times

We all love Dave's tanks.

Corinne took this picture for me.  My camera died today, so our cell phones took over.

Joseph is such a charmer.  He has everyone wrapped around his finger.

I played a massive amount of Go Fish! and Memory today.  Kate told me that many years ago I told her that my mother taught me to "chest your cards."  Kate understood that my mother's name was Beth, and since then her family uses the phrase, "Beth your cards."  I liked that a lot.  I'm sure Mom would have loved it, too.

Ben did not want to join us, but that left him with no one to play with.  I promised him he'd have fun.

When he started getting matches, he did have fun!  But he only stayed for one round.

Ben and Jacob had fun together.  Jacob began asking for cards in the language of the particular match.  It was pretty funny.

There were many losers, although Jacob and I tied this particular hand of Go Fish!

Nate beat us all, at almost every game.  It was amazing.  Kate said she had never been beaten so thoroughly so many times.  I felt her pain, except I actually have fun playing whether I'm winning or not.

One of the matches is a butterfly which looks like a moth.  I've played with this deck of cards for almost two decades, and at some point somewhere some grandchild told me this was a butterfly.  I looked it up then, so I was certain I was right today. My phone confirmed the match for doubters.  Sometimes victory is more satisfying than at other times.  This was one of those times, especially since victories for me today were few and far between.

I've had such a fun time with Ben this summer, and we had fun today, too.

I was terrible at Memory today.  Fortunately, pretty much the kids only notice whether or not they win.  Here is Ben cleaning up, and yes, he did win this round.

Not everyone played with us.  Some people played with Joseph.

I took a break from losing to wash the dishes after Carolyn's efforts to make treats.  I loved listening to Ben chat with Corinne, Kate, Jill and Melanie about his African project to keep girls in school.  It was a delicate but very meaningful conversation.

I was not involved in making lunch, but I did eat a sandwich and enjoy the watermelon bowl.

Ben spent last night sleeping with his cousins at Uncle Dave's house.  He came back to the hotel with us this afternoon for some quiet time and decided this was a pretty cool place.  He's asleep 10 feet away from me right now.

The purpose of our trip was to see Julia's baptism.  This was a very special day.

Joseph came for the baptism, too.

I loved seeing so many of my family members here today.

I only cried a little.

My camera would have waited for Jacob to smile.  My cell phone is not that sophisticated.

Ben has attended the baptisms of many of his cousins.

Will was originally scheduled to baptize Julia, but since that didn't work out, Matt stepped up.

These two are great friends.

I moseyed around, taking pictures of whoever would sit still for me.

The truth is that Jeff knows how to sit still.  Joseph doesn't have that mastered yet.

Maybe Ben could use a few pointers, too.

Minutes before the meeting started, Richie walked into the chapel!

After the baptism itself, Ben and Richie walked to a play area.

If reverence is being quiet in another room, these two were very reverent.

Carolyn's parents live nearby and of course joined us, too.

Not a cookie was left.

Melissa enjoyed catching up with everyone.  We all stayed and chatted for an hour after the baptism.

Jonathan gets to keep his helmet for two more weeks, and then we'll have to relearn what he looks like.

Jill is excellent at behind-the-scenes help.  She quickly braided Julia's hair before the confirmation.

None of us could get enough of this scene.

I actually couldn't get enough of this scene, either.  Of course Corinne joined them right after my cell phone left the area.

The purpose of the fan in the earlier picture was to help out the air-conditioning.

Shortly after we returned home, Julia's neighbors surprised her with these bouquets.

Our family enjoyed a wonderful day together.

Corinne ordered a feast for dinner tonight.

I had to have a little chat with Dave about this raspberry/chocolate ice cream.  He suggested that I skip reading the label.  I can do that.

This Sounds Deceptively Like Fried Eggs

Carolyn greeted me when I arrived at her home this morning.  She had news.

She'd been texting with Will since 5 am.  Once she was up, she decided to make the dough for rolls for lunch.

She painted the last black fig from their tree.

Will, who was supposed to fly in tonight, ended up in the ER.

When Dave got up, he made me chocolatea while Carolyn updated him.  By this time we knew Will had a very unhappy appendix.  Although extremely concerned about Will, I did have to grill Dave about the improvements he'd obviously made to his recipe.

Still concerned about Will, who was being prepped for surgery, Dave asked about the eggs Steve had been making for me.  He tried his hand, very successfully.

One by one, the kids joined us.

One by one, Carolyn updated them.

Matt removed his appendix in solidarity with Will.

The morning progressed, with Will's roommate giving us updates. I needed a cookie.  Fortunately, there was one to be had.

Carolyn, Mel, Julia and I chose to take care of a few things.  First we went to the church to get baptismal clothing.  Other errands followed.

We arrived at home just in time for lunch, which Dave had put together from the rolls and last night's leftover brisket.  We learned the staff at Utah Valley Hospital had removed three errant appendixes from three different patients that morning.  Will was recovering nicely.

More beads were in order, made possible by three coupons.

I decided more cookies were in order.  Dave and I had a wonderful chat with Jacob about the rest of his life.  We don't quite have it all planned out yet, so don't ask any questions.

Melanie finished her bead project.  I was, of course, very impressed.

I finished the cookies.

In the meantime, we were receiving updates from cousins who were on their way.

Nate and Luke's reunion was joyous!

Ben was happy to have a cookie after a long drive.

Joseph taught everyone how to play Up Down.

Our afternoon was spectacular!

Joseph came over to say hi to me.

It's fun for me to see grandkids laughing together.

I did assist a few kids with milk as they sneaked a cookie.

The evening started to cool down.

Jacob still had a lot of energy in him after band practice.

I believe I was the only person in the backyard who had never seen a live cicada.

Julia was not impressed that Uncle Jeff was willing to save him from jumpers on the trampoline.

Jeff is always willing to help out.

Kate listened to Jacob's "Band is Life" speech.  While I'm not sure she's there yet, they did compare their tan lines from summer practices.

In the meantime, Dave prepped street tacos for dinner.

Jane was first in line.

Jane is great -- she very innocently seemed to go along with all of  Jacob's jokes while not actually falling for any of them.  I was seeing a true master at work.

Dinner was fabulous.

Soon it was time for Mexican Train.  Ben was on Melanie's team.  Carolyn won the first two games.

With panache, Jacob won the third game.

And Ben, to my delight, won the last game of the evening!