Ian - Junior Year

Ian' junior year in High School.  What a cutie. He is in the Pep Band, banging on the Big Drum. He is a Dixie High Ambassadar, part of the E & E team (elections and eligibility) and on the Debate Team. Go IAN!

Outside of the house

Here are some of the different plants and trees around our yard.

 Bamboo

 The Bloomington Bluff from the courtyard by my bedroom.

 View across the back yard.

 Big Tree.

 Dunno. We have lots of these, though.

 Flowering Tree... lots of little white flowers that bloomed for just a short while.

A dozen Junipers.

 Pear tree.

 Fig tree

 This looks like a mug shot of a plant. In the courtyard.

 Little nasty hedge, I don't know what it's called.

 Farthest back tree against the wall.

 More courtyard.

Pitiful Pomegranate - 2/3 of it was dead and we cut it out.

 Our big tree started "snowing" last night and left a carpet of these things all over the lawn.

 Privet.

 Rose Garden

 Tree by the back wall.

Big nasty hedge surrounds a giant cedar in the front yard.

Fig fruit
And, oops, I forgot to take the Purple flowering plum tree in the front yard. The bees love it.  And finally, this beauty... We have some kind of Asian bush with big thorns, and beautiful flowers.

Joshua House

These are the "BEFORE" pictures:

 3rd bathroom

4th bedroom

 Bonus Room

 Bonus Room other view

 Dining Room

 Entry

 Family Room

 Hallway

 Hallway into Main Bath

 Ian's room

 Jared's room

 Kitchen

 Living Room

 Living Room other view

 Main Bath

 Master Bedroom looking into hot tub room (which we will turn into an office/library)

 Master Closets

Master Bath

Ian's such a cutie pa-tootie

Sophomore year at Dixie High School.

Playing drums in the Band.  Won 1st place Marching Band in St. George.

And the Football team took State.

School Pic 2011

Here's Ian's school picture for this school year, 2011-2012.

What a handsome kid!

Instant message exchange

sford: feeling really old today...
not only am I missing a tooth, but I can't see out of my left eye.
did it all day yesterday too, so I called the eye doc and have an appt for Friday.
Going to the dentist today.
So here I sit, BLIND AND TOOTHLESS.

dsccoord: wow.

sford: LOL
now I just need to borrow someone's cane.
Later:
sford: Do you remember a few weeks ago when you said to me, "At least you still have your teeth?"

dsccoord: WTH?
Yes. Weird

sford: hahahha

keepers

"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self." ~Aristotle

Linda Voelkel On a small scale, I get an opportunity to practice this concept every first Sunday of the month.

"There can be no fullness of life where there is slavery, and the man who is subject to his appetite is the most abject slave. He who can rule his passions is greater than a king."
-- David O. McKay

Sunday School Video Link

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?autoplay=true&index=3&locale=0&sourceId=04f3a899d5e92210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD

Oh, So True

The girls got Scotty this card for Father's Day. I thought I should post it, since it is oh, so true.

The Boys

Just a couple of things. It is so weird to have the boys to suddenly, or so it seems, be so much bigger than I am. Ian can rest his chin on the top of my head. He is thoroughly tickled by this new ability. I took the boys shoe shopping today and Ian bought size gigantic while Jared purchased humongous. It's ridiculous. They are immense. How can that be? How did it happen? How do I make it stop?

They make me laugh. Their word choices are always amusing. We were discussing Ian's upcoming birthday dinner. He decided he can get lots of food for the same money as going to a restaurant, so he wants me to fix a dinner of lobster tails, crab and shrimp. I asked, "What about salmon?" He replied, "NO! Only crustaceans." Who says that? What kind of word is that? Clever, funny, even brilliant. But it's not a very appetizing one, I think.

Pretty proud of Jared lately. He is really growing up. I think this concurrent enrollment college thing has really helped. I've caught him several times recently saying things like, Papa what's your schedule tomorrow? Can I sleep in and take the car, since I don't have class until later? Planning ahead. That's a new, and very appreciated, ability.

He did well on his ACT test. Got a 32, which will get him a scholarship just about anywhere in Utah. Too bad he doesn't want to go to a Utah school. I am still working on that.

Then, the best of all... he actually asked a girl to the prom today. He is embarrassed by the whole process and keeps saying OH GEEZ when I tell him everything he has to do, like get her a corsage, or get pictures taken. He is such a GUY and so clueless about what a girl thinks and wants. It's too funny. I hope he has a good time so he discovers he survived it and he can do it again because it was actually fun. Keeping my fingers crossed.