P.S. Sarin got married...to Jared. Yeah, I'm behind 4 months, no biggie , right?

The stunningly beautiful bride!

The happy couple coming out of the temple. Aren't they radiant??

Our family, minus Devin (still in Africa on his mission) & minus half my Dad's head--oopsies!

And a plug for "Elm Tree" photography (Mark & Megan Hymas)--they did a great job!!

Wow, whose cute kid is that??

Precious moment CAUGHT! Jaydon hugging Grammie, my Dad's mom

And now, after all that happiness, they continue in bliss while serving the area of Seattle, Washington with much-needed PEST CONTROL (her THIRD successful summer in a row, & Jared is a killer sales guy--that's actually how they met, isn't THAT romantic). Hence the video in Spencer's apartment (see below--oh, Spencer is out there too this summer, so now, I'm the only child in the family that has not done pest control. Alas.). Note: the spider is the size of Spencer's hand, be prepared, it is not for the faint of heart.

Welcome to Indiana!

There we are--the red dot--just a few miles from the border of Ohio (in fact, we even have a couple in our ward that live in Ohio!)

And this, my friends, is our view wherever we go. I'm amazed at how urban & city-ish it can be one minute, and then voila, 5 minutes later you're in huge cornfields! And here, it's just ALL cornfields (well, we do have a gas station, a Dollar General & a Subway...oh, & let's not forget our favorite little Cafe that has GREAT food!). Our little main street here is a LOT like Sugar City's--quaint & short-lived

And this is the welcome sign as you come into town :) I love it!! Who knows, maybe I'll cash in some time...

The Magic of Ordinary Days

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Squirrel hunting at the local park...and my cute sandwich I couldn't resist taking a picture of (Jaydon made it for me & wanted to be sure I got the one with JAM on it instead of HONEY like the boys prefer :)


Doing their daily reading on the resurrected trampoline (*see earlier post about what happened to the poor thing, but thanks to genius Tony it's now mostly the same--look closely & you can see the bent pole near the back of it, ah well, it was only $25 after all!)

The building of our own fire pit(we have easy-going landlords who let us dig up their yard for good purposes, they told me I could put in a garden next summer too!)! And our FHE fire w/ mallows & yes, hot dogs (don't worry, I got the healthiest kind available to mankind)

Zoo pictures--the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is AMAZING!! Come some time & we'll show you around :)

The statue of the actual-sized Komodo Dragon they have at this awesome zoo!!

The House

Our humble beginnings: The Aboite Inn--the one room month-to-month we lived in for awhile until we found the house...wow, it was cozy...especially when my Dad came with the U-haul & Sissy-the-cat (we already had the lizard residing with us from when Tony brought it a month earlier!)

First, our "bonus" feature--THE TIKI HUT! I can't imagine why the previous renters left it...neither can Sissy apparently (she's using the bird's nest the boys found as a pillow--comfy)

MY favorite feature--the enormous field (that we don't have to mow!) that abuts our backyard so the boys can search for grasshoppers/crickets/butterflies to their hearts' content. It's the cutest thing to see them out there with their butterfly nets, their screened-in 'bug-catchers' & Sissy pouncing along behind them--I think she's more like a dog than a cat sometimes

Before & (semi) After pictures of our house--we still have a long way to go, but it's a house, NOT an apartment (we're just renting for now, but we got it for super-duper cheap each month & it has AC & a dishwasher)!! It has lots of old-house "charm" but we're grateful to have our own place & I'M grateful Tony cut off a million branches off the nasty pine tree so now you can see the house :)

A rather dark glimpse of the living room inside...

The Pilgrims & Indians part of "The Trip"

Here is our naked friend...at the Plymouth Plantation the Native Americans dress authentically, but they will answer questions normally, like they are from our time to give greater perspective, while doing actual work from the time period (this guy is making a canoe). The Pilgrims are dressed authentically & answer all questions like they are actually from that historical time period. It was pretty neat. They farm in the mornings, & all do work from that actual time period (fix roofs, farm work, cooper-work, chop wood, etc.) to keep the village running.

Here is what most believe is "Plymouth Rock." It is approximately where the Pilgrims landed.

Here is the actual Plymouth "rock" now in a cage below the reach of fingers because I guess the size has dwindled over time from too much luv'n.

And...The Mayflower!

The D.C. part of "The Trip"

One of my favorite heroes of all time. He did so much for our country, and yet, he was a man with faults and weaknesses he was constantly working to overcome. He wasn't perfect, but he accomplished so much in spite of all his struggles because he never gave up.

Ford's Theatre, & the box he was shot in. Such a somber place. Such a tragedy.

Part of the "JFK" memorial. I've been to D.C. a couple times previously, but this was the first time I've been to this memorial & it was just beautiful.

Another first for this D.C. trip--Arlington Cemetery. Seeing the changing of the guard was awesome. Those that are trained & perform this duty must adhere to a very strict lifestyle for the period they are there. No drinking, watching t.v., etc. They live right there & take up to 10 hours to ready their uniforms to perform their 30 min. duty. We were told that even during Hurricane Katrina, they refused to leave their post. They take it very seriously.

The Boston part of "The Trip"

The Old North Church where the "two-if-by-sea" lanterns were hung in the belfry arch--with a lovely statue of good ol' Paul in front (poor Dawes & Prescott, no statues for them...)

One of the only pictures I'm actually in--because I was SO incredibly excited to be in front of Louisa May Alcott's home!

From the top of Bunker Hill-beauty!

Our vehicle for the "Duck Tour" of Boston--it even takes you in the water!

A marker for "The Freedom Trail" that goes all around Boston--this one is for the site of the "Boston Massacre." After teaching about this particular event for the last 3 years to a bunch of 10 yr-olds, I tell you, it was such a THRILL to be standing in the actual location!

The Old North Bridge where the Redcoats & Minutemen met for one of the earliest battles in the American Revolution

The actual house of Paul Revere--he had 15 children all living in here & it was considered to be a large house for that time period!