Waiting for customers



Koper's outfit of the day.

It has been a fun, busy, crazy week.  Cousin Michelle has been hanging out with us in the afternoons and we have loved it!  The boys love to play with Teagan and I love to visit with Michelle.  We have actually had some sun this week, so the boys decided to create a lemonade stand and people actually stopped!!!  Last time we tried a lemonade stand, Weston got embarrassed because I called Mom and Dad and had them stop by.  This time, he and Koper did the whole thing by themselves.  They were very patient waiting for customers but eventually gave up and drank the rest of the lemonade.  They have also been building wooden ramps in the driveway with all my scrap wood.  The ramps have escalated and now they use the bark pile to create the incline.  No broken bones yet, just skinned knees.
I have been working on opening another Bountiful Baskets site in Moscow.  My goal was to open a site on the east side of town.  A guy in our ward works at Eastside Marketplace, so while Weston was at preschool, I took Koper and Ivan to his office.  He didn't really know me so I had to introduce myself, sell him on Bountiful Baskets and then ask him to introduce me to the owners of Eastside.  I then had to sell them on the idea of allowing us to use their facility for free.  They were very kind and have given us a space to use.  I signed a lease for Bountiful Baskets to use one of their vacant shops.  We'll start over there at the end of the month.
Seth finishes his last final tomorrow and then we'll officially start summer!!!  He will work with the football team during the summer and then start school again in the fall.

I introduced the boys to a new movie tonight that Mom and Dad found in the $5 bin.  I'll give you a hint:

"I don't want character.  I want dogs."

It was actually full of life and death, talk of God and a few motherly moments.  So, it was perfect for the sabbath and Mother's Day.  We even talked about resurrection at the end.

Kanyon's 8

The baptism went well Friday evening. Thanks to the brothers and families for coming to support us. I know it was at a miserable time. Kanyon was so excited, he wishes he could do it again! His teachers from school both came, so that was an exciting thing also.

Cub Scout Kanyon, stayed home long enough on Tues to have some 4 Layer dessert before heading off to scouts for the first time. Thanks for the uniform!

Kanyon's BDAY present. It was much needed. Now all he wants to do is ride, ride, ride!

(I've been attempting to publish for the last hour. Thank heavens for Google. )

Driving adventures

Driving adventures in DC

Click the link above to read Kelly's write up about driving in the neighborhoods near our house.

Hoping for Warmer Weather!!!!

Greetings from Moscow. We had a nice day yesterday so Mom and I planted all the flowers we have been buying. The two beds in front are planted as well as several pots and the two rectangle ones we had hanging off the old deck in back. They are just sitting on the concrete at the bottom of the stairs. Now I need to talk Seth into digging the hole so we can "plant" the fire hydrant at the base of the stairs too.

Seth is finished with school tomorrow. WSU graduation was yesterday and UofI is next week. This years has just flown by.

Yesterday I got the great idea of getting a large pot and tree of some type to sit on the deck. We looked around and most everyone told us it wasn't such a good idea. Maybe we'll get some type of artwork instead.

We stopped and talked to Aunt Brenda and Uncle Chuck after church today. This morning they took the breathing tube out of Matt Skinner and he is breathing on this own. They also described how they went into his right lung (the one having the problem) and through a tube used tweezers and peeled the gel-like mucous of the walls. If this "stuff" is allowed to harden it could cause him to lose the use of the lung. The 20 minute surgery took three hours. They left the tube in to drain the area around the lung. This all must have worked because removing the breathing tube was a major step toward recovery. They have been keeping him heavily sedated because of the tube down his throat so now they will lessen his medication and bring him back to reality. Things are looking better but keep him in your prayers.

That's it for this week.

Well, the first week here in DC has come and gone. I have had several requests for pictures, but Kelly took the camera with her on her trip, so they'll have to wait until she gets back. My job is going well so far. I am an expert phone answerer and mail sorter and I've also gotten to do lots of other fun stuff. During the first few days I learned how to give tours of the Capitol. We get to use some of the underground tunnels between buildings and it's fun to figure out how it all connects. I'm scheduled to take a tour of the Capitol dome (all the way to the top, we get to look out just below the statue of Freedom) some time in June.
On a normal day I leave my house around 7:45. I walk about 10 blocks to the Metro, ride for about 10 minutes and then get off and walk the last 10-15 minutes to work. My office building is just across the street, to the south of the Capitol. So far the weather is still nice and the morning walk isn't bad. When I get to work, we sort the mail and newspapers for the day and get the office opened up. After that, we catch up on the day's news, answer the phones, greet people as they come into the office and do whatever we're asked. So far everyone have treated the interns very well. When they ask us to do something like make copies or pick up the congressman's dry cleaning it is usually kind of apologetically, like they know it's not a fun job and feel bad. My congressman has been very nice to us. On the first day he had us into his office, welcomed us and told us to just relax and have a good time. He's very approachable and as long as he's not in a meeting, always allows visitors into his office to chat, take a picture and see the cot he sleeps on every night in his office. We get all kinds of phone calls during the day. Lot's of people call in to register support or opposition for pieces of legislation, one called in to compliment the congressman's hair and we have a few regular crazies who call in with all kinds of theories. After only one week I already have a regular caller who calls in from Shreveport, LA and asks for me by name. He always has a new episode from Current TV that he wants me to watch and he tells me all about it.

This is the building I work in, The Longworth House Office Building.