Dinner

Ethan made dinner again. It was steak and veggie kabobs. He threw in the French fries for Courtney's benefit.

 

Pumpin' Gas

Ethan's driving lesson last week included pumping gas. It was a new experience for him but he did great!

He is getting more driving practice and is getting more comfortable. He still isn't ready to go on bigger roads but we are working up to it. 

 

Craig's List Couch

I have been watching for couches on Craig's List and found one that I wanted to check out.  I went to Washington to look at it and they were good.  There is a couch and a love seat.  Both of them have double, electric recliners.  So I bought them and Bryan and I got them home in the van and truck.  We put them in the garage where I shampooed and vacuumed them.  The people had restuffed them and cleaned them but I wanted to clean them just to be sure.

When Ethan got home from his trip, he helped us move out the old couch (which has served us well but is really broken):

And move in the new couches!  His legs are kind of long for the recliner but he likes it anyway.

So now we have our living room done!  Yeah!

Meanwhile, back at home....

We kept busy while Ethan was gone.  We went to a movie one afternoon, which will remain nameless because it was SO DUMB!  And we ate ice cream, watched TV, went to the Ivins Reservoir (I'm so mad that I forgot my phone so I couldn't take picture), and wore Courtney out.  Pool girl!

Teacher/Priest Quorum Cali Trip

Our ward does a priest quorum trip every summer to LA. Last year they invited the teachers but we were on a cruise so Ethan didn't get to go. He was so excited to be able to go this year. He and the other boys unloaded insulation blocks from a truck for the ym president to raise the money. And they had a blast.

They left early Monday morning, headed for Los Angeles. They went to Farrell's for lunch and had pickle shots. They were told that the shots were bad enough on their own but that you could put hot sauce in them if you wanted. The boys put about 14-15 drops in each shot and Ethan said it wasn't bad at all.

They were able to check into their Air B &B which was a luxury apartment with a pool and hot tub in downtown LA. They met the owner, who was 23 years old and "radiated success." Turns out he was a stuntman so he backed his car up 3 flights to the parking garage....backward. He impressed the boys.

They then went to the Angel's Stadium for the game. They were in the platinum luxury box. They took an elevator up and passed all the lesser boxes before going through an arch to the platinum boxes. They had food, couches, and big screens. They went out to a balcony that had seats. They were in heaven. 

 

 

 

They stayed through the end of the game and the fireworks. Then went to bed at the apartment. 

Tuesday morning they woke up and went to Pink's Hotdogs. It was later morning, so it was kind of brunch.  But Ethan said it was good food.

They went to the Los Angeles Temple and did baptisms.  I had sent a bunch of family names with Ethan that they were able to complete for me.  They met a man who had been homeless a year ago.  He has been able to get off the streets and travels 2 hours to go to the temple every week to do baptisms.  They thought that was pretty cool.

After they finished up, they changed their clothes and went to the Santa Monica beach.  It was overcast, which was lucky for Ethan because he doesn't like using sunscreen, and the water was cold but they dove in and played in the waves anyway.  They had a lot of fun.  At one point a seal swam close to one boy and they all thought it as a shark and that "he was toast" but it turned out to be a seal and they all had a good laugh.

When they finished at the beach they went back to the condo and got in the pool and hot tub.  They played games (football and Frisbee) then went back to the room to play some video games.  They had Costco pizza for dinner and Ethan said it was the best meal they had the entire trip. ;)

They stayed up late (11 p.m.) playing games and woke up late morning again.  They went to Bigmista's BBQ for breakfast/lunch and then went back to the Los Angeles Temple to do another day of baptisms.

When they finished up the went back to the condo and to the pool where they stayed for about 4 hours.  Again, it was chicken and football in the water and they had a blast!  They ate chinese food for dinner and then played poker.  In the evening the boys got hungry so the Bishop told them to go to the convenience store across the street.  So the boys walked around in downtown LA, at night, looking for food.  Luckily they said a prayer that day because nothing happened.

Since their leaders had taught them poker, and there was a nice poker table with cards and chips in the condo, the boys stayed up until 1 a.m playing poker.  Ethan said he isn't very good at it.

Thursday morning they woke up, ate Carl's Jr (Ethan ate 2 big breakfast sandwiches, his favorite!) and then they drove home.  They got home around 2:45  p.m. and Ethan was exhausted but he had a great time.

I am so glad that the boys are given the chance to work all year to earn the money to go on this trip.  It is a great bonding experience for the boys and they are able to serve in the LA Temple, which they wouldn't be able to otherwise.  And they have great love and respect for their leaders (who wouldn't when they feed you like that, take you to a baseball game in a luxury box and teach you to play poker!).  Knowing how much work and effort was put into this trip, I am grateful for good leaders.

Ethan is looking forward to next year's trip!

The Armoire

When we bought the entertainment center off Craig's list we also got an armoire for free. We cleaned it up and on Memorial Day, between the texture drying and painting the wall, we painted the armoire. It turned out really well and is now in our bedroom sitting room.

 

The wall is done!

On Memorial Day Bryan and I finished texturizing and painting the wall. We haven't done the molding yet but it looks great.