service rendered

and very much appreciated!

It really was amazing what this group of kids from the ward accomplished tonight as they helped us with yard debris.

three little kittens

Doug discovered these brand new babies under the chatting tube in the garage today.

 

When he showed them to Brianna and I, Mama was taking note.

 

 

 

She moved them all the next morning.

cheering carter

 

 

 

vault

 

 

 

 

 

 

parallel bars

 

 

 

 

 

rings

 

 

 

 

      pommel  horse

 

 

 

floor exercise

 

 

and….

high bar

Carter received the highest mark of any Level IV 8-9 year olds on the high bar. The judge even congratulated him on his excellent routine. This is his fourth meet and his first State Championship. He finished 3rd overall!       (and he is still 8)

He was also honored for his academic achievements -- being an athlete with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.      (and his is higher)

 

We are so pleased that we had the opportunity to watch and celebrate his accomplishments. He is amazing!

quick trip

         We zipped up to North Carolina for the weekend. It’s not really a zippy trip to make, but we made the most of it.

mall shopping

backyard playing

birthday acknowledging

marshmallow roasting

 

byu basketball watching

restaurant dining

Sunday worshiping

slumber partying

and lots of quality  time in the car together     

dinner with friends

    

Tomas, Sabrina, and Ilene Rey from Argentina

 

 

John and Susan Haines

happy birthday melody

Love you!

sunday walk

 

 

     

 

 

enjoying the beautiful colors of the evening sky and being together on a Sunday

blooms of sea jellies

A chatty man on the beach this morning warned that if the jellie gets on you it “will raise a welt like a branding iron that will be with you for a long time.” He has been here for over five weeks and never seen the likes of what greeted us on our morning walk. Apparently, “the presence of ocean blooms is usually seasonal, responding to prey availability and increasing with temperature and sunshine. Ocean currents tend to congregate jellyfish into large swarms or "blooms", consisting of hundreds or thousands of individuals.”  

We saw hundreds at the very least and were quite carefully watching our every step.

A random lifeguard jeep motoring on the sand left a sound wake similar to a child popping bubble wrap. 

 

Some of the jellies were nestled, looking quite comfortable, among the seaweeds.

 

 

 

Others seemed to hoping for a quick ride back from whence they came. We also saw many spinning along  in the water having obtained their desire.

 

 

We returned to the condo much sooner than Doug would have liked…to accommodate my Spanish lesson.

After that,  I took our first tennis set 7-5. Only just yesterday, I realized that I hadn’t experienced any muscle failure as we played. My arm is getting very close to fully healed. It is a huge blessing that I don’t take for granted any day.

For obvious reasons the words to this song have been in my head

Jellicle Ball

If it happens to be a stormy night
We will practice a caper or two in the hall
If it happens the sun is shining bright
You would say we had nothing to do at all
We are resting and saving ourselves to be right
For the jellicle moon and the jellicle ball.

cbcc

We are eating and sleeping, studying Spanish and Preach My Gospel, reading, watching a little tv, enjoying the change of scenery, and I think we got half way through a movie last night before falling asleep. Today, we decided to play a little tennis. However, when I went to change into my tennis gear, I discovered to my dismay that I had not packed my tennis shoes. You can adlib some tennis paraphernalia, but not the shoes.  Really, I needed a new pair anyway! Really!

So we went to the ProShop at the Cocoa Beach Country Club after calling four different numbers, all unanswered. They had the shoe, the style, and the size I wanted.        (Big Smile)

However…

When Doug went to pay with his credit card, the Pro explained that they only take cash or check. We had neither with us. It is only about 8 minutes from the condo so we said that we would be back in a few minutes.

“Oh no,” he answered. “Don’t bother. Just put a check in the mail.” And without taking our name or any other identifying information, he handed us the shoes and an envelope and walked out of the shop.

I’ve got new tennis shoes.

el sol

President Benton, from the Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste Mission, sent us a copy of their weekly newsletter today. He and his wife talked with us on the phone this evening for about an hour and forty minutes. It is really exciting for us to be learning so many things about "our mission" and to be able to work with such wonderful people.

 

and the next day…

We ate at the Discovery Beach Bar and Grill.

It was “Italian Night” with an all-you-can-eat menu. The waitress took a quick look at me and correctly assumed, I did not want the “all- you-can-eat” option.

 

 

 

ode to the husband of a skinny wife

I wonder if we will eat in the next life. I mean, I realize that for some people, heaven would not be heaven without food. I am just not one of them. For me, eating is like filling up the gas tank of my car. It is expensive and needs to happen when I would rather be doing something else someplace else. For me the only redeeming value of food is the sociality of eating, reference the “released” blog a couple of days ago.

Most websites about gaining weight say the best way to gain weight is to eat six times a day. Six times a day! That is a lot of sociality. Suffice it to say…Food is just not my thing.

So…here we are staying at this wonderful condo in Cocoa Beach and pretty much the only restaurants in town are the kind normally listed under the generic “Hole in the Wall.”  My husband did some research, with his picky little wife in mind, and came up with:The Green Room Cafe is an organic restaurant located in downtown Cocoa Beach, FL. Our specialties include sandwiches, wraps, salads, real fruit smoothies, tasty vegetarian and vegan choices, wheat- and gluten-free alternatives (including desserts) and homemade soups.

It was delicious!