(Before) and After

This summer, Tyler and I have been trying to fix up our house a little bit. Most of this fixing-up has occurred on the outside. (I guess the inside will have to wait until it's too cold to go out.) I've been meaning to put some pictures up, but haven't gotten around to it until now. Unfortunately, I don't have any "before" pictures, so you'll have to rely on my description of how the outside of the house looked before.

Before: a planter box filled with dry, yucky dirt.
After: a planter box full of great soil and pretty flowers!

Before: lots of weeds, rocks, concrete, tree trunks/roots, more weeds.
After: bushes! Tyler pulled the old tree trunks/roots out with his truck and put the sprinkler system in himself. We plan to either plant grass or a garden behind the last of the bushes.

Here's the whole house. You probably can't tell, but we planted flowers underneath the pine tree on the left. The grass was also...not as alive-looking as it is now. And Tyler did a fantastic job of trimming back the pine tree. It was getting a little overbearing.

Up next: painting the back door, painting the trim around the house?, painting the kitchen, planting grass/a garden.

Kids in Church

I got this from Janny, Tyler's grandma, and I thought it was pretty funny!

KIDS IN CHURCH

3 year old Reese:
"Our Father, who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen."

A little boy was overheard praying:
"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."

After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I want to stay with you guys."

One particular 4 year old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw an opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"

A father was at the beach with his children when the 4 year old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to heaven," the dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then asked, "Why did God throw him back down?"

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their 6 year old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," replied the girl. "Just say what you hear mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

:)

Birthday Fun

On Saturday, I turned the big 2-3 (although a few of my family members thought it was the big 2-4. Noooot quite. You'd all have to be year older for that to be true.) To celebrate, Tyler and I decided to start the day by hiking to the hot springs up Spanish Fork Canyon. Here are some pictures from the hike. Because I am the "family photographer," as Tyler puts it, I'm not in many of the pictures. The only picture that I am in isn't very good, so I'm not going to post it. :)

Here is Tyler at the hot springs.

The waterfall (and a, thankfully, not-nude bather).

"Is this the right place?" Tyler checking his GPS. Note the stellar masonry work in the background. It makes for some nice "hot springing." (P.S. We weren't really lost.)

On this hike, I learned how the earth passes gas: through hot springs. They stunk SO bad - compliments to the sulfur. Tyler and I had planned on getting in, but were immediately turned off by the putrid smell. In this picture, I caught the earth passing gas. I hope she's not embarrassed.

On Saturday afternoon, Tyler and I went to a Jeffs & Jeffs work party at Rob and Tracy's house. It was a lot of fun, and the food was fantastic! We had some of the halibut that the Jeffs boys brought back from Alaska. Mmmm.

After the work party, Tyler surprised me by taking me back to his parents' house for a surprise birthday party. Miri and Mike, Sami and Mark, and Katie and Joey all showed up for the surprise. We had some delicious Coldstone cake and then played Wii late into the night. Tyler did a great job putting the surprise together. :)

On Sunday, Tyler and I went up to my parents' house for halibut tacos and some more Coldstone ice cream. We then spent the evening watching the Olympics. Go USA!

Overall, it was a fun birthday! Now if only the birthdays could stop here...

What's in a name?

I saw this on Leslie's blog, and I thought it was so cool that I had to do it myself!

What Christine Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

What Tyler Means

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?