When in a hurry...maggots happen

The question I'm posting is: Should I chop off my hand? Read on, and comment.

Today was one of those days when I had to be on a strict schedule, so all the planets would line up and all the planned events would happen on time. And this is where you should say:"Yeeaahh, riiighht!"

My morning at work went fine. Alex was safely at Carsen's house until I went to pick him up for a dentist appointment at 1pm. I was even little early at Carsen's so I wasn't worried about making it to the dentist. Alex and Carsen hopped in the car (my big Suburban), and I thought, hey, I'm going to back up to the neighbor's driveway so I don't have to drive around the block. So, I put my truck in reverse, and off I went....only hitting two garbage cans that were set at the curb behind my truck. And tumbling down they went. The boys and I got out of the truck to assess the damage. No damage but week old trash strewn everywhere, and a can of freshly cut grass, as well. In closer examination of the trash, there.were.maggots.everywhere!

Quickly I started gathering the garbage bags back into the can, and scooping up the uneaten fruit, and watermelon rinds (dinner last night?) with my hands...along with the maggots. Both boys looked on...disgusted. Don't blame them. I told Carsen to go get a broom and a dust pan (only used to scoop up the grass, Katie). The owner of the cans came outside, and said:"Oh, boy". I apologized profusely, but I'm sure he looked at the color of my hair and made his own conclusions. He brought another broom and told me not to worry about it. I'm sure he was as appauled to see the maggots as I was.

Things you don't think about what happens in a black garbage can full of trash in a 100 degree heat, huh?

I ran inside after the clean-up, washed my hands, twice. Alex came in, washed his hands, twice, and spit twice (Alex has to spit and wash his hands when something gross happens). He still spit out the window when we were in the truck, on our way to the dentist.

What is your answer? What should I do with my maimed and ruined hand? Bleach it? Chop it off? Never use it for anything ever again?

And for those who have never seen a maggot (today was my first, too). Here is a nice picture.

South Carolina came to Utah

Craig, Janessa, Grace and Abigail came to visit us last night from South Carolina. It was so good to see them again since Thanksgiving. Both girls have grown so much. Must be the SC sun and humidity.

Happy Birthday, Grace! She is turning 4 today!!! What a big girl.


Alex holding Grace. So sweet!


Smile Abby! Craig and Janessa told us that this is how she smiles for the pictures.


Janessa and Craig and a cold one...ok, it is Apple Beer.

Rod trying to teach Grace "paper, rock, scissors".

An Invitation to play

Alex had yet another basketball camp this week. This time it was at the Orem High coached by the Orem High Coach and Mountain View High Coach. At the end of the camp, they had a free throw shooting contest and Alex won the contest. Congrats Alex! He is now two t-shirts richer than before.

During the week, we received a phone call from the Mountain View High School Head Basketball Coach Gardner, extending an invitation to Alex to play with the freshmen (Alex is going into 8th grade) in the BYU team camp this weekend. There are over 30 teams from Utah, Idaho and Arizona at this camp (Freshmen, Sophomores, Junior Varsity and Varsity). The games started Thursday, and Alex played against Logan, which they lost, and then at 9:30pm they played against Lone Peak, which they won.

This morning Alex had another game against Weber, which they lost. The last game was at 1pm today against Wasatch, which they won. The mini-tournaments will be later today at 4:40-5:30pm. The last tournament will be at 6:50pm tonight. The bummer thing is that Rod has missed every game because he is in Mexico this week. But texting is wonderful and he feels like he is part of the games through morse code.

Alex did really well, even though the opposing team members were often a couple heads taller than him. He was frustrated that he didn't get very many shots off but this is all good practice for Alex, and a huge honor to play with the big boys. Thanks Coach Gardner.


Alex in the blue (should be in maroon)


Alex trying to find a player to pass the ball to.


Alex in full action.

The Incredible Hulk, Larsen style

Our Incredible Hulk was sleeping last night, and something woke him up. The wrath, the incredibly powerful wrath was upon me. Truly a scary moment. I thought his shirt was going to rip, and his muscles explode out of the sleeves. He almost broke through the walls and smashed some bricks. Luckily it was just a movie dream.

How does a Finn eat her ice-cream?

Since Thursday morning, we have had 9 Finnish people at our house for a short visit. They just left yesterday after church to drive to Vegas and then to California. On Saturday we went to the pool first and then to some awesome Mexican food. When everyone was done eating, Anniina said that she wanted some ice-cream. So we went to Baskin Robbins for some great dessert. Here she is eating as much ice-cream as possible. Looks like the Finns eat their ice-cream the same way we do here: One lick at a time.


Anniina eating her ice-cream, double scoop. She was amazed how big the ice-cream balls were.


Lick it quick, or it will melt!

Eddie is back...

We went to the Provo pool yesterday for some sun and fun, and lo' and behold who we bumped into! Yes, Eddie. He is in town with Janet for a few weeks and then heads back to California after 4th of July. It was so good to see him. We really love and miss that boy.

For you, who don't know who Eddie is, he played in our soccer team for many, many years until last fall when he moved to California to live with his dad. He is an incredible soccer player.


Eddie and Alex at the Provo pool.

All-Star and MVP

Alex was at the BYU Basketball camp this week. At the end of the week, they had two important games: the All-Star game, and the Championship game. Alex played in both games. At the award ceremony, when all the awards were handed out, Alex received the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award. That's huge! There were over 400 boys at this camp, 8 leagues, and one boy from each league received the MVP award. That is such a great honor. Alex is on cloud nine, or maybe it is cloud ten for him. Awesome, Great, tremendous, splendid, super and excellent job Alex!

Alex and BYU Head Basketball Coach Dave Rose

I don't do tags

This is for those people who want to put my name at the end of their tag to tag me, I DON'T DO TAGS. So don't bother. So sorry to disappoint, but I'm way, way too lazy to do all of that thinking about my life. I can hardly remember what I did last night (cleaned from 5pm to midnight) let alone think what I did 10 years ago. BUT, I enjoy reading your tags, so just wipe my name from your memory when you are about to enter the next 5 names to tag.

Little Women

9 friends from Finland are coming this Wednesday, that's tomorrow, to visit us for three weeks. We are so excited to have them at our house. But instead of cleaning all night and preparing for the visit, I opted out, and went to the Hale Center Theater to watch the Little Women instead with Katie, her sister Sharon and their parents. It was such a fun musical, even though at times, I heard sniffling next to me when Katie and Sharon were full on bawling at the sad parts. I totally recommend this musical for all. As usual, Hale Center puts out great plays.

Orem Summerfest-Fireworks

When we returned home from Maui, Orem Summerfest was in full swing. After sleeping all day, we rolled out of bed and went to see the fireworks. They were great, as usual.

Arriving home from Maui

Sunrise at 32,000 feet...arriving into the mainland.


10 minutes later.


10 minutes later.

10 minutes later. Good morning, sunshine!

And no, I didn't sleep at all on the way home. It is just one of those things that I can't do in the airplane. I can't read either...the only thing I CAN do is look out the window and keep my eye on the "road". Also, I kept my eyes on this engine because if something happened, there would have been so many things, I could have done to save the aircraft...like panic.

Hello Salt Lake City.

Alex not so happy to be home. Join the gang, buddy!

Carsen still has sleep in his eyes.

It is good to be home...I guess.

Rap at Haleakala, Day 8 in Maui

Alex and Carsen, and their "Food Rap" at the beautiful Haleakala volcano at 10,000 feet. Turn the volume up.


Carsen and Alex with the Haleakala volcano in the background (notice that the boys are NOT on this side of the fence, of course). This was a perfect day to drive up to the volcano, because it was such a clear day, even though the clouds moved in and out, we got a great view to the bottom of the volcano.


"Best friends on three"

The highest point on Maui: 10,023 feet.

View towards Lahaina

Haleakala once again. Just breathtaking scenery.

Standing dangerously on the cliff. Yes, I was scared.

Beautiful jacarandas, eucalyptus and other trees grew right off the road on the way to Haleakala.

Today was the last day on Maui. We boarded the 10pm plane back to SLC. It was hard to say good-bye, because as many of you know, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hawaii, and it feels like my second home, or should I say, third home. I'm not even going to tell in which order the "homes" come in.

Hawaiian Gigolos, Day 7 in Maui

Boom Baby!


Alex in the waves at Black Rock


Mr. Sandman. Check out the ear.


Alex is ready to hit the waves.

These are the Hawaiian Gigolos after dinner at Mama's Fish House.

Usher? No, that's just Alex.

Hey, hey, baby...

I'm speechless.

Shoot for the moon, boys.

It is getting sillier and sillier.

Alex

Carsen

Alex and Carsen, the Hawaiian Gigolos.

After a Day in the Sun...Deep Fried People, Day 6 in Maui

The big boys, Greg and Rod, went golfing at the Kaanapali Royal Course this morning. While they were golfing for free (yep, had to attend one of those 90 minute sales presentations to be able to get free golfing, it was worth it, and no, we didn't buy a timeshare), we had a relaxing day at the pool working on our tans.


Alex, the sun-worshipper. No need for sun screen, he wanted a good tan today. Notice, he still has a pale skin. This is early in the morning.


Alex and Carsen laying out...who needs sun screen?


Drinking Lava Flows by the pool, and getting more tan.

Alex and Rod playing in the pool before going snorkeling and boogie-boarding at the Black Rock. Sun screen has been applied at this point. Too late, you ask? Yes, WAY too late.

Rod showing off his Mexican/Oriental Hat purchase. He is ready to harvest the nearby rice patties.

At the end of the day...here is the result. Extreme pain with burnt skin. The wall is the same color as the boys' skin.

Aloe Vera has been applied, yet burning continues. Carsen mentioned that tomorrow will be indoor activity day, ONLY! We shall see.