It's only been 10 days since our last post, but it feels like a lot longer. It seems like we've been doing stuff every single day, and that is basically true. For instance, we've:

-had Thomas' brother and cousin over. They cooked dinner and we made dessert.

Lisa, Thomas, Anna, Samuel.

Yummy pasta-chicken-sauce dinner by Anna & Samuel

-bid Anna farewell.
-decided on a whim to go look at a car for sale in Salt Lake City. It didn't work out, but we made the most of our crazy evening and stopped at Ikea for dinner.
-spent time with a friend while her husband was out of town.
-waited in line for an hour to get into the BYU Surplus Sale. Found a functioning computer for my Dad, and met a lady in love with France (she lived there for a year when she was 7-8, as did Thomas).
-failed safety & emissions.
-bought tires.
-driven to Idaho Falls after work for the weekend. We met up with my family and stayed at a hotel there.

Thomas liked the (cardboard) "Drive Thru Open" sign pictured here.

Idaho Falls Temple

Idaho Falls Temple

Pretty sunset on the Snake River. Thomas ran across the street to shoot this - little did we know, that as soon as we got in the car, the colors were even brighter and spread even further. Oh well.

We found this cool installation art in a round-about in Idaho Falls, just down the road from the Walmart. We also saw a Hunting & Fishing Shop thing in the front of the Walmart (like where they usually have a salon and/or optometrist). Funny.

-attended the Idaho Falls temple. Took wrong roads several times on the way there, and even though our group got separated and such, we were (miraculously) still able to check out of the hotel on time.

Idaho Falls Temple

-spent a day wandering around BYU-Idaho campus.

Parents & sis

It poured rain while we toured campus.

Dad & me

There's a lot of pretty art at BYU-I

...and no sharks, apparently.

-driven from Rexburg back to our apartment.

Rexburg temple.... :o)

-spent the Sabbath doing church-related stuff (attending church... and some of us visit-taught/went to choir while others napped) and hanging out with family (pizza, rocky road bars, We Bought A Zoo).
-with Dad's help, fixed other issues on our car.
-gone out to Tucano's with the family to share our "addiction" with them :o)

Uh, Mom, we were taking a picture ;o)

Mom & Dad

-passed safety & emissions.
-taken a walk up to the duck pond.

Napping quackers

mighty good little swimmers :o)

We've been busy, but it's been good, and worthwhile. We will welcome a sleep-in day, though.

oxox

The ball's in my court

...OOPS! Forgot to post the last couple weeks! Thomas didn't even remind me :o)

At the beginning of May we redeemed our Pass of All Passes vouchers and used them right away at Trafalga for some mini-golf and "XD Experiences." According to their price list we have already gotten our money's worth from our passes.

On the 6th, we had the pleasure of watching the CES Fireside/Devotional broadcast from Sacramento, California (from a building at which I used to attend church as a YSA!). My sister and some of her friends were in the choir! The talk, by Elder Marvin K. Jensen, was quite uplifting. He spoke about the Sacred Grove and likened various growth patterns of the trees there to our own lives & spiritual progression.

We had Samuel & Anna over for dinner one evening after all going to the temple together. We made & ate burritos. They were yummy. And it was fun to hang out with family! Anna's visit is coming to a close so we're glad we've gotten to spend some time with her.

I think we helped a couple people move since we last wrote.

On Saturday the 12th, we had a very full and busy day. We got to attend the broadcast of the groundbreaking for the Provo City Center Temple in the morning. Later on, I got my nails painted for a Young Women camp fundraiser/Mothers' Day gift. Then we headed to Taylorsville for a baby shower, Salt Lake City proper for lunch, the This is the Place Monument, and finally to Riverton for a concert at Midvalley Bible Church.

The park has other monuments as well - this commemorates the Mormon Battalion. I liked it because of its mention of San Francisco, Mormon Emigrant Trail, and other California places :o)

In commemoration of the Pony Express

This Is The Place monument

Pioneer family, praying

Fun captions on a car parked outside the concert

On Mothers' Day we got to Google Hangout with my family. We were going to do the same with Thomas' family but circumstances did not allow for it that day. We did the following day, instead. We are blessed with truly wonderful mothers, and the other mothers in our family - Elizabeth and Camille - are quite extraordinary as well, and are wonderful examples!

À part ça...not much to tell. Here are some interesting pictures, though:

Thomas was entertained by all the AC units

Fun balloon  creations

Is it sad that we feel better when we see yards with worse dandelion problems than ours?

The multi-stake center/office building thing

A lid for one of our pans fits on a #10 can perfectly, which was very convenient for making tamales!

They really turned out quite well.

oxox

Our Previously Untitled Post

A post from us is long overdue, considering all the many things we've done this last week or two. We've been more free (in theory) due to Lisa being done with the semester, but have found plenty of things to fill it; so many, in fact, that we haven't even had a chance to redeem our $9.99 Pass of All Passes yet, but hopefully we'll have a chance to do that as well soon!

We've been lucky to have a lot of Thomas' family in town. On Monday we had a barbecue with some of the family and friends. We mentioned cousin Anna last time. Her sister also was in town prior to entering the MTC, and coupled with some others, it was a fun get-together, complete with complementary ice-blocking, thanks to some previous patrons.

Sarah & Anna at Rock Canyon

Various Hoffmans, Bradshaws, and Petersons :o)

Anna-- she is a quite talented photographer!

Burgers, Mushroom-Swiss burgers, and chicken

Our new twin nephews

Thomas on ice

Thomas was asked to snap some photos as a backup photographer at a reception for some extended family, so we once again spent time with family.

The reception was at Le Jardin

Thomas took guests' photos at this cute "photo booth"

The Mr. & Mrs., with her family

Camille made this cake (and ours as well) -- methinks we need a Bradshaw Bakery to go along with our Bistro :o)

Another day, we made it up to Salt Lake, and enjoyed the serenity of the Temple Square grounds contrasted with the bustle of the new City Creek Center that advertises its high-end wares with less-than-enthusiastic-looking models.

Bridge that spans the street, connecting the mall (on two blocks)

Lights we liked above the escalators

The best part of the mall... that it is so near the (extremely peaceful) temple grounds!

As far as individual projects, Lisa's been doing quite a bit of genealogy/family history work, as well as sewing Thomas' old T-shirts into more useful things. Thomas sharpened his Linux skills by compiling his own operating system from scratch.

Despite being busy, we do try to find time for each other, too. We've been on several walks, visited the temple, and watched a bit of Everybody Loves Raymond and I Love Lucy. We also watched My Fair Lady to further our linguistic understanding...gotta keep learning even if school is out!