Whew! What a week!

This week has been jam-packed, so I hope you won't all mind a bit of a longer post. I promise to keep it as (t)witty as possible.

1. On Thursday I flew over to Utah to visit the family and see Simon before he heads back to EAC. It was a really great trip. I hadn't seen my sister in far too long and Shane in even longer. I also got to hang with two of my favorite little boys in the world - Henry and Ethan. To win over their affection (oh yes, I will use bribery if necessary) I got them a few little things. One of them was this onesie for Ethan. I was unsure as to the size to get because - well, he has what we call a "weight issue". I mean, check out these thighs!

He was originally wearing pants, but the moment his mom left the room we stripped him down and made sure that his thighs were recorded for posterity and embarrassement with women in his future dating life. They are FANTASTIC!!! If only someone would feel the same way when my thighs get dimpled and puckered. Don't you just love the belt?

With Hank, it took a trip to the park to win him over. It didn't matter that it started to rain, he was one with the swing.

He also mysteriously became my best friend when I was pounding the fun-sized Snickers. I love a man who knows what he wants!

Another great treat this weekend was that my Aunt Lynn, Uncle Steve, and Cousin Brian (along with his lovely girlfriend Alicia) were in town so I got to see Brian before he enters the MTC to serve (this is true) Mandarin speaking in Paris, France. If anyone was going to get this call it would definetly be Brian. He is going to be great.

The reason we had all come together this weekend was to hear Simon give his homecoming talk. He did a wonderful job and I am so proud of him. It was also great to sing with him and Megan in the ward choir that my dad conducts. It took me back...

2. Megan says that if you want to see a cross-section of America, hang out in a gas station for awhile. I think she is on to something. Yesterday, though, I found another place to go for the same experience. I volunteered at the Marian House, a Catholic Charitites soup kitchen downtown. I went with one woman and four young women from my church and worked for about six hours. The first two hours were spent in preperation. We were in charge of making the sandwiches. Now, you have to understand that almost all of the food there is donated so you just have to make do with what you've got. This means that we got to know all the weird meat that has been injected with things that have no business being injected into meat, like olive loaf. Then when the kitchen opened I was in charge of taking the dishes from people who were done and scraping off all the food before giving it to the dishwashers. You wouldn't think this would be a tough job, but thank goodness I had an apron on because the food was flying! I also came to know a slop bucket quite intimately, something I never expected. I was insanely busy for about four hours, but it was a wonderful day. It was the most interesting combination of people - all ages, races, and apparent social circumstances. It seems that they have created a real family there where they are all rooting for each other. It was a great thing to see.

3. The other night I met the newest member of our family, Beckett Beagley.

Though technically he is my first cousin once removed, Mike has decided that Nate and I are his cosuncle and his cosaunt. He is the sweetest little thing and his family seems to be over the moon that he is finally here. So are we!

4. If the goal in golf is to score below par, why do we say when something is bad that it is sub-par?