Reinforcing the 2nd Amendment

There are many reasons why Americans feel the need to preserve and protect the right to bear arms, such as: deterring undemocratic government, repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, facilitating a natural right of self-defense, participating in law enforcement, etc. Today we had fun preserivng our rights granted under the Constitution. It's always nice to have fun fulfilling one's civic duty. Today we did just that: we introduced the young Clark cousins to firearms.

We (Papa, Matt, Jolene, Megan, and I) took Lilly, Morgan, Sierra, and Boden to the range to introduce them to firearms.  We had a great time and several men thanked us for bringing kids out to the range to introduce them to firearms the right way.  I guess I just took it for granted that most kids would have a proper introduction and instruction using firearms, but after thinking about it more, I guess our society generally introduces children and adolescents to firearms the wrong way: through violent media.  Before I start "going off", I want to recap how the kids did as some of the kiddos had experienced using a firearm previously, while others had not.

Lilly had reservations about shooting, but after seeing Morgan use the child-sized .22 rifle, she decided she wanted to try. After firing 10 or so rounds, she kept asking, "Five more?"  See below for how they ended up doing.

Sierra and Boden also did very well.  See below for how they ended up doing.

How We Broke the News to Grandma

Most of you know by now that we've moved back to Tucson. For those of you who were curious how Melissa broke the news to her Mom, here's the video:

The Christmas News

We love Christmas!  It's full of family, better-than-average-societal kindness, smiles, laughing, good food, and surprises.  We've had much of that this Christmas... including surprises.  Our great surprise is that we've moved back to Tucson!  Yep, you heard it right folks, we've moved back to Tucson.

This little plan of our has been in the works since last September, but it wasn't final until just a couple weeks ago.  So we thought it would be fun to surprise our families at Christmas when we arrived in Tucson for our "visit".  It was fun to see the surprise in their faces when we told them.

Here's how it all went down:

Back in September, it wasn't clear to me that the competitive contract I've been working on for the past 18mos would be awarded to my company.  Now I'm not a "glass is half empty" kind of guy, but I do believe that the glass will be empty before you know it unless you do something about it.  So I started my contingency planning.  That contingency planning led me to talk to some friends within my company back in Tucson.  After a couple conversations, it was apparent that there was a great opportunity back in Tucson.  So I talked to Melissa about it and she was excited about the chance to be back with family... I take that back... she was ECSTATIC about the chance to move back to Tucson.  So I pursued the opportunity, and it led to fruition.  So I start work in Tucson on Jan 25th!

Now rather than make the arduous 1700 mile trip for Christmas, then go back for a couple weeks, then make it all again, we decided to just move before Christmas.  So we loaded up the stuff that Melissa and the kids will need for a couple weeks and hit the road.  I'll have to go back to Huntsville for a couple weeks to work, watch the movers pack our stuff, and finalize the sale of our home in Huntsville.  But then I'll be back in Tucson in late January.


We'll miss Alabama.  We'll miss the many friends we have there, the woods in our backyard, the short commute to work, the verdant beauty of the south, living in the country, and so much more, but family is priceless.  We're glad to be back with them.

Everybody Loves Bubblebaths!

Our Lilly: A Scientist in the Making

It's not uncommon in the South to have your children involved in PopWarner Football starting at at 5. Whether a boy, who dawns the uniform, hungry for action and yet bewildered on the field, or a young honey that dotes the little cheerleader outfit and lines the side of the field screaming cheers, there are lots of little kids out there who see a future in football. Many parents live through their children with hopes that their son will play Varisty football or lead the varsity cheer squad in High School and someday land sports scholarships to college.

I on the other hand am a skeptic of such a plan. You see, I was never blessed with great physical stature, nor above-average speed or agility. In fact I was 4'11" weighing under 100lbs as a freshman in high school, and realized that contact sports were not something I was ever going to excel in. So a plan for my future success did not involve sports. Then I got involved in bicycle riding. I did pretty well with the bicycle; participating in races such as the El Tour de Tucson while I was in high school. I recall finishing within the top 50 riders in one race. And that was earned while rising a mountain bike with semi-smooth tires. I had dreams of being in the Olympics when they were in Atlanta in 1996. Slowly my dreams faded as I realized I didn't want to put in the effort to achieve such dreams. It took more than I was willing to give for it, but I had fun riding. I would ride all over town as a teenage boy. I even recall my mom letting me "ditch" school to go for a ride if I could prove my grades were all A's.

Perhaps music would be my "thing". I played in youth Orchestras until I heard the high school orchestra "perform". They sounded so bad, I switched to the trombone. I played the trombone for years and had a great time doing it. I played for years in Jazz bands in and out of high school. I played in the Jazz Band at the University. I had a ball. But, again, I would never be a professional.

So what would my "thing" be? I still don't know. Chicken farmer? Vegetable Farmer? Tree Enthusiast? Home Improvement guy? Photographer? Through all my little hobbies that I have waxed and then somewhat waned interest in, I've learned that I enjoy the variety of life's opportunities. I don't have to be good at everything. I don't have to be good at anything. It's just fun to try different things.

So when Lilly came home one day from school and said her school was forming a Math club and that she wanted to join, we said, "Sure thing." Her club met twice a week for a half hour to an hour before school started. They just studied math! They practiced different problems, had quizzes, etc. Then she announced that their club was going to attend a regional mathematics competition. Great! She studied evn harder, asking us to quiz her and ask her math questions. We did until the day of the competition. She had a good breakfast, and then I took her to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. There, amidst hundreds of other children, I saw the future of America's science and technology. No offense against PopWarner football, but this event carried with it an efficacy unrivaled by other youth activity, regardless how noble they might seem. I saw children of many different ethnicities, backgrounds, and yes, even variety in the socio-economic class. But it didn't matter. These kids were all there spend their Saturday solving tough problems. Wow. Call them nerds if you like, but I call them the future of America.

Needless to say, we were proud Lilly was a part of it. So I said "goodbye and good luck" and "do your best", and "If you get stumped, say a prayer and move on" and I left her to spend several hours of her precious Saturday solving problems. What's even better is that amidst all those children, Lilly's little 4th grade team won 2nd place! We are so proud of her!

 

So if her interest in math or science fades, that's fine with me. She will have gained experience and tasted something she hadn't before. But if this is a glimpse into her future, I can only imagine what great things she will see and do and make and solve. Our Lilly: A scientist in the making.

The Huntsville Times - 6 November 2009

To start off, we've got some good news: we're expecting little Clark #5 in May of next year!  We're all excited.  The kids are all hoping for a little brother, so we'll see what happens.  I've heard several, "Are you crazy?" statements and seen a few questionable looks... "must be either Mormon or Catholic..."  To set the record straight, I'm Mormon.  And in several months there will be another little Mormon running around, terrorizing the world.  Dan has been so much fun, we just want him to have a little brother (or sister) that he'll hopefully treat with care.  Hopefully Dan hasn't learned much from Kate; who smothers him!  She pulls his cheeks, and doesn't realize that the reason he runs away is because he hates being smothered.  Though recently he's taken to fighting back.  He's learned that in some "games", the best defense is a good offense.  Back to the baby... We probably will not elect to find out the baby's gender prior to birth.  But who knows, we may cave in to the desire to take a peek!  So far, both Melissa and the baby appear to be healthy. 

Halloween was great.  No sick kiddos like last year!  At least not before the candy binge!  Melissa did a great job making the kids' costumes (as always).  Lilly was a '50s girl, dressed for a sock hop.  Morgan was a traditional Japanese princess in a kimono.  Kate was "Glinda", the good witch of the north (from the Wizard of Oz).  Dan was a monkey with a vest and fez-type hat (same costume as last year).  We went to a Halloween party at Church on Friday night.  It was a chili cook-off / Trunk-or-Treat party.  Melissa made that fabulous cheesy barley sausage soup instead of chili.  I ate about 27 bowls of it.  Really, it was more like 5, but if I had a bigger stomach, I'm sure I would have eaten more.  It's soo delicious.  I think we were introduced to it by Ben and Lesley, and it is definitely one of my favorites.  Well, Melissa won a prize for the soup.  No it wasn't a stupid certificate, she got a little decorative scarecrow.  And believe me, scare-crows are much better than stupid certificates.  Stupid certificates usually aren't worth the paper they're printed on.  Except if you're giving them to a kid.  Our kids love certiifcates.  I tell them all the time, if you behave yourself, you'll win the "daughter-of-the-week award".  Like most things, that practice will probably come back to bite me some day in a way I never could have imagined.

On Halloween, one of the local grocery stores advertised a "Monster Bash" Halloween party, with safe trick-or-treating.  Last year we walked areound the neighborhood, but many folks weren't home, and half-way through, Kate started whining about having to walk.  It was good that we had the wagon.  So we figured we'd opt for the close proximity trick-or-treating at the grocery store strip mall.  Upon arrival, there was ONE guy standing in front, dressed as Dracula, passing out three candies to each kid.  I'm positive that the other families that were arriving were thinking the same thing we were:  "This is the lamest excuse for a 'Monster Bash' we've ever been exposed to."  ONE guy.  Come on.  We could have saved our gas money and spent the time better.  Oh well, on the bright side, there was less candy for the kids to eat.

On Monday, the kids once again opted to trade-in their candy for a toy.  Melissa established that Halloween tradition a few years ago, and I love it.  A few days after Halloween, we offer to trade the kids a <$10 toy for all of their candy.  So we gave all the kids' candy to the local missionaries.  They can give it to little kids in the community... or just eat it and rot their own teeth and get fat.

We put out some fall flowers (mums) to add some color to our front planter.  Lilly and I enjoyed working together to plant them.  There's something fabulous about mulch and dirt and planting stuff.  It's just an awesome thing to do.  I recall bringing home a truck load of much and just standing by the truck to smell the mulch.  It just smells good.  I hit the jack-pot here.  Some time ago, I spotted a huge pile of mulch off the side of the road a ways.  After coveting it for some time, I decided to stop coveting it and just find out whether it was for the taking.  So I looked up property/plot maps and land-ownership records online, and called the owner (who lives in Michigan).  At first he thought I was asking if I coulod dump debris on his land, but then realized I was asking if I coul take the dumped mulch.  He said, "take it."  So I've been getting truck-beds full of it recently for use around the house & yard.

Dan celebrated his 2nd birthday and got some new boots from his 'kickin' aunts, Megan and Jojo.  Thanks girls!  He loves 'em!

The chickens a re doing well.  We're still getting 5-6 eggs a day.  The only problem is one of the Rhode Island Red hens is getting pecked.  She has a pretty bare back now as several other hens have begun pecking and eating her back feathers.  See the attached photo.  I think I'll make a set of "pants" for her (thanks for the idea Mom!)

Well that's it for now!
Josh & Co.

No Caption Needed

Secret Keeper

Every time Joshua and I found out that I was pregnant, we decided not to tell anyone until after my first doctor's appointment. Yeah, right. We were NEVER able to do this. Expecting a baby is just way too exciting to keep to yourself. This time We finally did it! Yes, we are expecting Clark kiddo #5! I had my first doctor's appointment today and everything is going as it should. I am a little over 8 weeks and am due on May 28th. What's also cool is that I kept the secret. Even though I was tempted many, many times over the past four weeks to tell someone, I kept the cat in the bag. I feel like a have reached a milestone--I am more deserving now to be called an adult.

Fat Man in a Little Coat

Here's Dan's rendition of Chris Farley's "Fat Man in a Little Coat"

Great Smoky Mountains: Day 4

The highlight of Day four was our trip to Cataloochee.  Cataloochee is a remote valley with a meadow that is frequented by an elk herd and other wildlife.  We drove the 16 miles along the twisty dirt road and it was worth every minute.  See for yourself:

Great Smoky Mountains: Day 3

Wednesday was fun.  The day started with a quick breakfast after a night of drenching rain.  Everyone slept soundly and stayed dry; which is a defininte plus.  By dry, I meant, no one got wet from all the rain that fell during the night.  I guess I should be even more grateful that the kids all stayed dry during the night from all the bodily fluids that could reak havoc to a camping trip.  I'll take water over vomit, urine, diahrea, and blood any day.  All of these have most assuredly been experienced during one or more campouts in the past though, so our dues have been paid.

After breakfast, we headed off to the stables.  Again, it was quite a drive.  I should have looked at the distance to the stables from our camp before making the reservation, because it took us over an hour to drive to the stables from our camp!  When we arrived, we all got to ride in an open air carriage, whcih was pulled by a Percheron Draft horse named "Rob".  Rob was huge.  He was a beautiful animal, though mostly we saw hir rear end.  The carriage fit 8 people (6 in the back with 2 in the front: driver & shotgun).  The ride took us alongside a river.

After the carriage ride, Melissa, Lillian, and Morgan went on a trail ride that ended up going through a river.  Melissa said her horse tripped while crossing the river ans almost dumped her in the water.  She ended up with one foot in the water, but a soggy shoe is better than complete immersion!

Great Smoky Mountains: Day 2

The second day of our trip to the Great Smokies was full of car driving.  It wasn't intentional, I just underestimated the size of the park.  I guess I was used to the national parks in southern Arizona, which are much smaller than the GSMNP.  Oh well, the kiddos did great!  Even Dan and Kate didd pretty good, though we did wish there was some kind of "force-field" that we could have gotten as a dealer-installed option to keep Kate from touching Dan.  He's learned to fight back, which is not a good thing this early.

We started the day with a trip across the park via the Newfound Gap Road.  It is a road that bisects the park and travels in a general North-South direction.  As we traveled about, the views of the mountains covered with deciduous trees in the midst of their fall color change was breath-taking.  Really, it was amazing.  God is most assuredly an artist, as the colors that make up the fall are not something a mortal could come up with.  We got there too early for the peak of fall color, but it was still really nice.  As I look at the picture, I realize that the photo just doesn't do it justice.  It seemed to look much more red, orange, and yellow in real life.  Hmm.

After arriving at the trailhead to the summit of "Clingman's Dome", we all piled out of the car. Dan took his favorite spot in the backpack. I've gotten quite used to the weight of him being in the backpack, which is roughly 40lbs.  It's a good thing I was used to it too, because along the rather steep mile long hike to and from the summit, I ended up carrying Kate in my arms, with her huggin my chest.  I'll admit, I was winded when we arrived at the top.  Oh was it worth it though.  We were above the clouds, like poking our heads out from under a white blanket.  The peak, which stands at 6643 feet, is the third highest peak east of the Mississippi.  It's crazy to think how perspective changes when there isn't a plethora of western-Rockies-type mountains readily accessible.  I thought the mountains were huge, but then I have to temper that thought with what is in the west.  It's true, they don't have the height that the Rockies do, but at least they are covered with trees.

The trail to and from the summit is actually a portion of the Appalachian Trail, so we can truthfully say that we've hiked the Appalachian Trail (or at least a portion of it)  Here's proof!

The way back down was tougher.  The extra weight on my knees was too much, so Melissa had to carry Kate for a portion of the way down.  The extra weight of Kate is a better option than to listen to her whining.  She tends to whine quite a bit.  Even Dan recognizes the fact that Kate's a whiner.  He'll say, "Whining.  Kate.  Whining."  Too funny.

Here's another photo of me with Dan in the pack.  I took the picture myself, so it's a little rough.

In a nutshell, day #2 was also awesome.

Great Smoky Mountains: Day 1

I've decided to blog on our trip last week, one day at a time... so here's the first entry.

The kids had "Fall Break" this past week, so I took the week off and we went camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The park is a HUGE mountainous park that lies along the eastern Tennessee border with North Carolina.  It was lovely.  We departed on our adventure early last Monday, and after a stop a Bass Pro Shops, we were on our way into the park.

The word on the street was that the park can be crowded, so after a little research, we discovered a rather remote camp, called "Big Creek".  Big Creek only had 12 camping sites, and it had no RV capabilities, and it was located along a dirt road that had some single lane bridges, so we figured it was a safe bet.  It was glorious.  We set up camp on Monday morning, and played in the creek.  We fished, though caught nothing.

Native brook trout are much easier to spook and are much more suspicious of unnaturally-appearing objects.  And they have a keen sense of smell, though from what I've read, it's hard to measure precisely how keen.  It has been demonstrated that a salmon with its supernatural sense of smell can detect when a man sticks his hand in the water 100 feet upstream! It has also been said that the olfactory system in fish is several times better than that of a good bird dog. There are differing reports of the actual numbers of olfactory cells in dogs, humans, and fish in what I've read, but suffice it to say that on average, the reports claim dogs have anywhere from 20-40 times more olfactory cells than humans.  Wow.  To dumb it down for myself, I thnk of the following analogous question:  Would you be hesitant to take a bite of a delicious-looking turkey dinner if it smelled like used motor oil? Ugghhh.

Okay, enough with fish biology, I just remember why trout bait is really nasty smelling:  the bait smell has to over power the smell of the human that put it on the hook.  So I had to tell the girls that when they're using flies instead of bait, they've got to be careful not to touch the fly if they can avoid it.

I got a few bites using a brown-colored Elk Hair Caddis fly, but landed nothing.  I gave Lilly fly casting lessons later, hoping that would yield more success.

Monday was Dan's second birthday, so we had baked potatoes covered with Que Bueno nacho cheese sauce (his favorite!) and Dump Cake with Ice Cream!  It was delicious!  I have to say that the gift of 50lbs of Que Bueno nacho cheese sauce that Nana and Papa sent Dan is still yielding meals of delight!  It was funny to see Morgan's reaction after tasting the Dump Cake and Ice Cream.  She exclaimed, "Oh Gosh!" and leaned back in ecstasy.

How the North Won the Civil War

What did Dan do to Kaiser???  They told us that the Civil War was brother against brother, and father against son.  But they never said anything about cousins!  Don't worry, Dan didn't actually kill Kaiser (my brother Joseph's son), but Dan is definitely enthusiastic about his victory! 

The Huntsville Times - 23 September 2009

All:

I just realized recently that I never sent the August edition of The Huntsville Times.  Much has transpired.  Here's a few highlights:
1. The kids are back to school.
2. Melissa's brother, Danny, moved in with us, and Melissa taught him how to make bread.  Then he got bit by a raccoon and he moved back out.  Guess he couldn't stand us... or maybe it was "Rocky Raccoon" that drove him away. Just kidding... he went back to AZ to go to school... a good decision.  I've attached a picture of the vicious raccoon that bit him.
3. Little Dan is learning to become a tolerant brother.  His sisters dress him up and "smother" him sometimes.  Most of the time he goes along with it.  When he's had enough, he retaliates.
4. The girls have started dance classes.  They enjoys the classes immensely, but get quite a workout.  We like that they come home from classes feeling tired.

I'll send more soon.

Josh & Co

 

 

We've Got Eggs!

So the chickens have started laying eggs! It's about time they started pulling their weight around here. Here are the first eggs and the kids' reaction to them:

Pioneer Day

I love our heritage. I know just about every religion has their unique holidays, and I love every one of them. In fact, I'll take any excuse for a holiday. So we celebrate "Pioneer Day" with the rest of most "Mormons" on the 24th of July to commemorate the day the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley, which concluded their 1000+ mile exodus westward to escape religious persecution. We honor the sacrafices those early saints made to establish and maintain the religious freedom. Many fought, were beaten, driven, and even martyred because of their unwillingness to part with their sacredly held beliefs.

Our ward (congregation) had a Pioneer Day celebration on Saturday, so of course we attended. I have to praise Melissa for her dedication to our children. She made new pioneer dresses for the older girls (Lillian and Morgan) as they had outgrown their previous dresses. She slaved at the sewing machine for several evenings to allow the girls to have pioneer dresses. Kudos to Melissa! What a mom! All I had to do was bend some wire I got from behind the shed and put new strings in the wagon cover.

Here's a photo of the girls while on the trek:

(just kidding.. it's doctored)

Here's a photo from when we finally got there:

Sleepin' Through Church

Today was one of those days you have to write about for fear off forgetting the experience, and it was too rich to forget. We got up this morning, had breakfast, looked at old pictures (a favorite past-time of ours) and then later in the morning, got ready to attend church. Our church services start at 1:00PM, which typically is pretty good, because the kids have already eaten lunch, and Dan usually falls asleep on the way to church, so it's more pleasant for us all. On days when he doesn't fall asleep, he personifies a tornado on one's lap. That's why we call him the "Lap Tornado". If you've seen a tornado, or at least the aftermath, the imagery is close to what it's like after Dan "rips" through. In fact, I've started wearing a bow-tie to church because the long neck ties create an occupational hazard. (Not kidding!)

At any rate, today was no different. Dan was asleep when we got to church. Great! However, halfway through Sacrament Meeting (the main worship service), ALL our kids were asleep! Yep every last one of them. Morgan was leaning over on my leg. I had Dan in my lap. Lilly was snuggled into Melissa's shoulder. And Kate was busy drooling on Melissa's leg. Melissa and I looked at each other and we just chuckled silently.

We've talked on more than one occasion about whether 'sleeping though church' is okay, but are always reminded mentally of the words of President Spencer Kimball: "When I was a very small boy, I was taught the habit of going to sacrament meetings. Mother always took me with her. Those warm afternoons I soon became drowsy and leaned over on her lap to sleep. I may not have learned much from the sermons, but I learned the habit of “going to meeting.” The habit stayed with me through my life. (“Chapter 16: The Sabbath—A Delight,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006),165–77)"

So I guess it's okay if a kid did it and turned out to be a prophet!

As a final note, after church, Lilly asked how we knew she was sleeping because she was pretty sure she wasn't actually asleep. Melissa told her, "Lilly, you were snoring. I had to nudge you periodically to keep you from snoring too loud!"

The Huntsville Times - 19 July 2009

The Weather Has Been Beautiful
First of all, I have to say that I'm not missing the summer weather of the desert southwest. The low humidity was nice, but our oven has low humidity as well. We did have one week that was pretty hot (like 97 degrees with 80 percent humidity), but the other weeks haven't been bad at all. Some weeks have been downright awesome. Like this one. For the past several days, the highs have been in the 70's and low 80's. And on top of that, the humidity has been pretty low. Not 5% low, like Tucson, but relatively low. It's been lovely.

We'll Kill The 'Ole Red Rooster When She Comes
So there's a few things that have been noteworthy in our lives ove the past month or so. One was dinner today. Though 'she' hasn't "come around the mountain" yet, nor was she "drivin six white horses", but we DID kill the 'ole red rooster! Yep. Here's the scoop: 18 weeks ago, we bought 10 chicks. Though we purchased "pullets" or hens, the breeder only guaranteed a 90% gender selection rate. So one of our chicks turned out to be a rooster (see below).

We couldn't tell until he was about 14 weeks old and started getting bigger than the other hens. He also started growing "saddle feathers" and other rooster characteristic plummage. However, the kicker was when he started crowing! That gets annoying fast. And for those of you who didn't know, roosters don't just get crow once or even a few times in the morning. They crow ALL DAY LONG! He crowed so much, it drove us bonkers. So I tried to sell him on craigslist, but how many people want 1 rooster... yeah. Nobody. Can't imagine why. So Friday night after the chickens all set up to roost for the night, I pulled him out of the coop and confined him to the small cage I have (you're suppposed to be fasting before you meet your maker, ya know... really it's to keep them from defecating during the butchering process and contaminating the meat). Then in the morning, I broke his neck, picked him clean, eviscerated him, and then put him in the fridge. Then Melissa took over. She did a great job roasting him (see below), but she wasn't very hungry to eat him.

The girls had no trouble eating it. I asked Morgan whether she liked him better alive or in her mouth and stomach. She responded, "Brewster was delicious!" I loved it! Not the meat; Morgan's response. The girls even asked me what I did with the feathers... they were all wanting to get his green irridescent tail feathers. The feathers were rather pretty. In all, he wasn't worth the effort. He wasn't meaty enough to be worth the two hours it took me to cull, pick, and butcher him. So if you're looking for a cheap meal, plan on having a big flock, else go the the grocery store. It was a good learning experience for me though... it had been ten years since I done it, so it was good to refresh my skills.

The Destroying Angel Breaks Free
For the longest time, we've been saved by the fact that our little explorer (Dan) can't open doors by himself. Hoever, we know that nature (and now little boys) can't be contained for long. Yes, Dan has learned to open doors. It's a sad day. Now he can go into his sisters' rooms and steal their stuff. He can also open the door to the garage. What's more is that once the door from the house to the garage has been opened, it's simply irresistable to him to leave the garage door button alone. So up goes the garage door and he's a free man! Our little destroying angel has found his way out (see below).


We'll just have to be more careful now. I'm gonna have to keep the car keys in my pocket!

Camp Clark
This past week we had the joy of having Howe cousins (Spencer, Hannah, and Rose) stay with us for a couple days. It was awesome for us, and especially for the kids to get to have their cousins staying with them for a couple of days. In the course of the visit, Lillian and Spencer completed a 'latch hook' tapestry. They did a great job policing each other to make sure they only completed a certain area before handing the tapestry off to each other; as they were taking turns working on it (see below).


Thanks to Lisa (my sister-in-law) for the tapestry gift! It took Lilly a white to get started, but once they started, they couldn't get enough of it! In the course of the week, the kids cooked, played, stayed up LATE!, played, made crafts, watched movies, etc. In all they had a great time. We're glad Melissa's brother Jeremy and his wife Linda, trusted us with their three younger kids for a couple days. The kids loved it. (see attached file: "Six crazy kids.jpg")




Clark Family Summer Reading Program
So every year in Tucson, the public library sponsored a summer reading program that culminated in some sort of coupon that equalled a free prize for reading for a significant duration of time. SInce we lost our sponsor, we determined to craft our own prize. So we promised the kids that when they completed 30 hours of reading this summer, we'd take them to "Point Mallard". Point Mallard is a huge recreational area that includes golfing, camping, and has a huge water park. We told the kids we could go to the water park once they each had completed 30 hours of reading. Of course Lilly finished that 2 weeks into summer break, but it took Morgan and Kate a bit longer. But alas, they reached their goal, so away we went. It was REALLY cool. There were tons of water slides, a wave pool, and an awesome area for the littlest kiddos. I have to especially pay tribute to Morgan, who just completed the first grade and also just completed book four of the Harry Potter series. It's like 700+ pages and she's entering the second grade. She is seriously a genius. I don't think I have ever read a book that has more thn 700 pages in my life, let alone before I was in second grade! All I can say is Wow! Great job Mo!


The Garden and Refrigerator Pickles
So if you asked me two months ago whether the garden was a total loss, I would have most assuredly answered yes. Some critter got in our corn and ate it all. The beets were measly. The carrots were bad. The onions were small. You get the picture. I wasn't happy about the state of the garden and Melissa wasn't either. However, when our tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers started producing, our perception changed (see below).
Our cucumbers are producing so prolifically that Melissa has searched for a good pickle recipe. Boy did she find one. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. Those pickles are good. We have this gallon jar in the fridge that she just keeps adding cucumbers to, but man are they good. I ate a pile of them on my sandwich the other day.


Morgan's Artwork Published
I know this is getting long, but I do have to plug Morgan's latest art. She got published in the weekly Church bulletin. Each week, the ward bulleting is published and showcases some form of black and white cover art (we aren't rich, so we can't do color bulletins). A couple weeks ago, Morgan must have submitted some artwork, because when we got to Church, we saw that her art was printed on the cover. (see attached file: "Morgan's Published Artwork.jpg"). She told us it wasn't her best, but she was excited to see it published. We should ahve done like many famous kids' parent do and sue for royalties. I'm sure we'd be loaded by now. At least she kept a copy for her journal.