What is Alex doing right now?

Alex is at scout camp this week, and I miss him so much. We are not usually apart this long, ever.

I bet he is having so much fun with trying to complete all the fun merit badges, like canoeing, archery, rifle shooting, and the two other ones I can't remember right now. There is a fun group of boys as well in the same camp, so that will make it so much more fun. I think Alex mentioned something about being a patrol leader for the week and having to wake up every morning at 5:30. Ouch, if it's true.

I know they are eating like kings because Chef Anderson is providing all the meals from his fabulous "Chef's Table" restaurant. The pool at the camp is out of order, so the daily disinfectant swim is not going to help the boys with their pre-pubescent BO. And considering the temperature has been about 100 (37 C for the metric people) every day. I think the odor at the camp is quite robust. I can only imagine what we will find and smell when we go to the parents' night on Friday. Gas mask, anyone?

Only 3 more days until he comes home.

What have I accomplished while he has been gone, you ask?
-Laundry, after "The Nine" left yesterday morning. (Miss them already)
-TV, catching up with all the shows I DVR:d while "The Nine" were at my house.
-Sleep, took a late evening nap last night. Thanks Amber for the hint. :)

Empty-Nesters for a week

Alex left for Scout Camp this morning for the whole week. "The Nine" (Finns) are leaving tomorrow morning back to Finland. Rod and I will be all ALONE for the whole entire week. The question is...what should I do?

Happy Birthday, America

We will start the Independence Day celebration with a tribute to the Scottish Heritage, or as Rod calls the bag-pipe music-"a sure way to cry".



Elle and Alex ready to watch the parade on University Avenue in Provo. Are they sleeping?



Our friends, Petri, Ritva and Minna came all the way from Finland to watch the parade. They loved it.



Rod and Whitney in their seats watching the parade.



Orem City float



Pirates of the Caribbean float



After the parade, one of our neighbors set up a slip and slide in our park, and here are Samuli and Alex right after slipping and sliding down the hill on the piece of plastic. They had so much fun, and it was FREE.



Alex showing all how to slip and slide down the hill. Alex was so fast.. must be all the practice over the years.

Would I look good in this?

The answer is obvious. Of course I would, and I did. We had a fun ride last night up to Sundance with Rod while Alex was at Scouts...if it only was a convertible.

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.