Jackhammers, gardens, and genders Oh My!

I rented a jack hammer this weekend. It was very fun and very tiring. I loved it. I also had my brother in law, Mike, and my friends Matt and Thomas over to help. I made sure everyone wore ear and eye protection. We had this super ugly pond in our back yard obstructing the view from the living room to the lawn. It also posed a safety risk for nieces, nephews and future kids of our own. Somehow I convinced Jen that now was a good time to rent because of the three day weekend. So, 8 hours of jackhammering later we were minus one pond and one boulder.

Jen has been reading 'fearociously' about gardening. We were recently called to be the ward cannery specialist and emergency preparedness specialist and were asked to give a 45 minute lessson to the combined priesthood-relief society meeting next week. Fortunatly they let us know at least 2.5 weeks in advance. I also took out a portion of the bushes next to the fence to make room for some 4x4 raised garden beds last week.

Tomorrow morning we find out the gender of the baby. Someone suggested keeping this a secret, we'll see how many seconds I can keep my lips sealed. I'm guessing about 3.

Slow and Steady wins the race.

Here are some pictures from last Saturday's Walk-a-thon. I'll let Megan or Oliver write about it.

This was the introduction of the "Angels." Here is Evan being introduced. Evan made some new friends. Oliver and I started our hiking every week. We hiked again on Tuesday up Rock Canyon. We aren't intense hikers yet but just wait, we will be soon.

Some updates on me are I've been working a good amount getting ready for the Park to open. I've had a crazy last week. The wavepool had to be resurfaced so we had to push our training back a week. Then they had to do it again this week. So the park opens Saturday and we have to be there at 6:35 AM to get set up for training that starts at 7 AM. The guards aren't to happy about that one. Tomorrow is going to be a really busy day. We have training at 3 with the lifeguards and then a friday night pool party at 8 right after. So we have to get all the last minute things ready for the park to open tomorrow night and Saturday morning before 3 o'clock tomorrow. Luckily I have two weeks before swim lessons start. I still have a lot to do before hand. I'm completely in charge of swim lessons this year. I've been changing some things for the better hopefully. This will be my legacy year. Lots of changes have been made for this season. So if it goes well then good things will be remembered. If not all they will remember is the bad things. Oh well.

Scouting out Manti

We had a fun little trip this afternoon to Manti. It was my first trip there and I was amazed by the beauty of the drive and the surprises we came across when we got there. We took some pictures and I wanted to share them. So for anyone else who has never been to Manti, you can have a little preview. You can see the Manti temple from Ephraim which is about 7 miles away. My first impression: it looks like a castle! A castle nestled in the hills of a peaceful little valley! As you get closer you can actually see the turrets and walls that make you think even more along the lines of castle. The castle of the Lord? As you drive up closer to the temple, I know there will be plenty of photo op spots for wedding photos. Here are three that are all along this side of the temple in the above photo. This is a set of stairs that I thought was amazing. Just sitting there with the beautiful stones.

Can't you just imagine the different poses and groupings you can have on this set of stones? It's pretty cool. Unless that's too cheesy for anyone, but I love it in my head. :)Then there are some benches just to the left of the group of stones(which were just to the left of the stairway to heaven).

A few blocks south of the temple is this chapel that looks like its made out of the same stone as the temple and inside those large windows, you can see what looks like an older portion of the building.

Another reason we went down was to look at potential hotels to stay the night before the upcoming wedding. We found two little bed and breakfasts in Manti itself(that were really the best options inside the little city). The first one is right across the street from the temple. The Manti House Inn is a cute little place that also has a restaurant that they run. It is in a very nice spot and is really cute. The banquet room was set up beautifully. (We got a shot, but it was kind of fuzzy). The second one was the Yardley Inn and Spa. It was really cool. Off the beaten path and we were lucky enough to have the owner, a cute little old lady, show us around. It made me want to stay there. So that was fun.

I think the other highlights of our trip besides the beautiful scenery that we didn't photograph at all, were finding this bird that Oliver couldn't identify in Manti (it's on the fence in the picture below), and then finding it again in Ephraim as we took a look around Snow College and the city park. I am still in the midst of finding out the name. just kidding...Oliver was right in his guessing and it is a Western Kingbird. And then of course, Evan and Ryan were much happier after getting out of the house to take naps on the drive down and then be out and about a little bit before driving back north. They are always a highlight of our trips.

MTC

Okay. I'm going to ask this question of the Hansen family becuase I only have one Brady family member to ask and the Hansen clan has...6 that can have a decent answer. My little sister Natalie went into the MTC today. Evan, Ryan and I went with her and so we got to see the inside of the MTC for the first time. My question is, what is your favorite memory or experience from the MTC? Now, Mom & Dad, you're welcome to use the story of how you met, but if you do, I'd still like to hear another story from when you were first entering the MTC yourselves. Just a little reminiscing for you all if possible. :)

Do you ever out grow it?

One thing I love about the summer is all the crazy things I encounter at my job. And while I'm not allowed to talk about most of them I can tell you the ones that happen to me. Earlier today at work the supervisors were practicing deep back boarding. I have to re certify on Monday and we have to demonstrate for the lifeguard class this week. I was one of the strappers. And when we finished we unstrapped the victim and she rolled of the board and the board hit me in the face right above my left eyebrow. I was very close to the board when it hit and it flew out of the water really fast. Luckily it didn't hit me right in the eye. So I have a really big bump on my head. But the good news is I got sunburned today and the redness all over my face detects from my big bump. What a great day. Just thought you all wanted to know that I'm still accident prone. And I don't think I'll ever out grow that one.

Growing growing...growling?

Oliver made a comment last night that silliness must be a nature thing instead of a nurture thing because Ryan is only 10 months old-surely that's not long enough to nurture silliness. (But since you all know Oliver, I think you might agree with me when I argue with him). The reason for all of that? Ryan found a small fleece bag and began running between the kitchen and bedroom with it on his head and thought it was hilarious. And two nights ago he discovered the joys of being chased. Thanks to Beth! And spent several minutes last night playing the chasing game with Oliver. Another hilarious thing to listen to when you catch him at the right moment: he growls. Seriously. He growls and he trills his tongue. It's amazing that a little being can do such grown up things. Its so much fun to see him change and become a (silly) little boy.

Evan doesn't have any new advances to tell you about, but he's getting taller which is causing us more grief on a daily basis. And making us realize that we need more shelfs and cabinets in higher locales.

This summer, one goal is to see how truly different our boys are with water. Evan loves the bathtub and the water, while Ryan HATES the tub, even if there is no water in it. We've purchased a little blow up pool and once it gets warmer we'll experiment.

Here's a few pictures from our walk this afternoon.

Officially signed Up for Sprint Triathlon

Woah Guess what we just committed to? We are going to participate in a sprint triathlon. For those of you who are like me and have no idea what that is, it is a race with three legs. The first leg is a 500 meter swim (10 laps), second, 15 mile bike ride, and third, 5k run (or in my case crawl because I am sure I will be dead by then). So most of you know I am a "big" Biggest Loser fan and tonight their challenge was to run a marathon. All 4 contestants finished the race. I guess you could say I was inspired. Also Charlie's great timing kicked in too because he has asked me to do this with him for months but I have turned him down cold. So Yay for good television inspiration and an awesome husband who gives me the most inspiration in the world. Oh and by the way I am in the 150's now and that hasn't happened probably since high school.

Babies

Our new niece was born this week. It's been fun to go over and hold the newborn in anticipation for our own in 6 months. Mike and Cindy named her Alice. Alice is very cute and a very calm baby. Jen and I also babysat Maggie (about 18 months) while Mike and Cindy rested on Sunday. I had also been asked to sub for Gospel Doctrine class (a first for me). We also recently heard the heartbeat for our baby. I didn't know they put the heartbeat on a speaker with a Doppler microphone. Our baby's 160 bpm sounded like something oceanic and peaceful. The next visit will let us know the gender. Then we can start thinking about names...

Here is Grampa Gil meeting Ryan for the first time after coming home from deployment.

Jimbo

Happy Birthday Jimbo You are awesome. We're all so excited for you wedding this summer. Can't wait to see ya.