Book Tag

1. Pick up the nearest book to you (one of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

(i offer a word of warning first, i've already packed away all of our books, except a few of afton's and the ones paul was reading, that means the closest book on hand is one of pauls favorites... and by counting down sentences for this, it easily went on to page 124, and covered half that page as well... if i ever get this kind of tag again, i will do what book suits my purposes, not necessarily what's closest on hand ;)

"No nation acquainted with the nature of our political association would be unwise enough to enter into stipulations with the United States, by which they concede privlages of any importance to them, while they were apprised that the engagements on the part of the Union, might at any moment be violated by its members; and while they found from experience that they might enjoy every advantage they desired in our markets, without granting us any return, but such as their momentary convienence might suggest. It is not therefore to be wondered at, that Mr. Jenkinson in ushering into the House of Commons a bill for regulating the temporary intercourse between the two countries, should preface its introduction by a declaration that similar provisions in former bills had been found to answer every purpose to the commerce of Great Britain, & that it would be prudent to persist in the plan until it should appear whether the American government was likely or not to acquire greater consistancy.
"Several States have endeavoured by seperate prohibitions, restrictions and exclusions to influence the conduct of that kingdom in particular; but the want of concert, arising from the want of a general authority, and from clashing, and dissimilar views in the States, has hitherto frustrated every experiment of the kind; and will continue to do so as long as the same obstacles to an uniformity of measures continue to exist."

The Federalist Papers No 22: Hamilton.

I tag Anna, Megan, and Mom.

a week of accomplishments

this week has been full of excitement, well, kinda...

1) my flowers look great! they're the biggest marigolds i've ever seen, they're more like bushes than flowers--as much as 2 feet across, and nearly that tall (please disregard the weeds in the background, i've since taken care of them)
2) paul had a birthday--29--with a party at the park, 5 other families joined us for hot dogs and hamburgers and playground fun, i think it was a successs
3) i got new shorts, and they fit (and i'm proud of how they fit, though i still haven't really lost weight since the baby)
4) afton went to the potty and actually accomplished something! we haven't really been pusing potty training, because of the move, so we're excited that she's taking some initiative already.
5) rayna's really started smiling, though the only picture i have that captures it is really fuzzy, it's also definately a smile. she is still really stingy with smiles, and i rarely see them, but at least i know that she knows how!
6) we've pretty much decided to rent our house, and while we'd be a lot more excited if we could sell it, we're meeting with the renters tomorrow and hope to come to an accord.

house ideas?

we've recently been given an offer for our house, only not to buy. paul has an ex-co-worker (she recently got a better job) that's planning on staying in globe for up to four more years, but she and her husband aren't interested in buying, just renting. they like our house, and would be long-term renters (year contracts, for up to four years), and the rent would cover the morgage and insurance payments, but not much else (if anything). the problem is we're not planning on heading back out this way to check up on the property, and we're not sure if we'd be able to sell better later anyhow (especially since we may not be around then) we need to decide for sure as soon as possible, and we'd appreciate any advice. would you leave a house on the market hoping it'll sell soon, or take the renters and pull it off the market for a few years? globe theoretically has people moving in to work at the mines (we know the mines are hiring), but the market has slowed in the last month. any suggestions?

one more new pic

i got my new camera... and it takes forever for the bigger pics to upload online with this slow connection!

july already

happy july. we loved the fourth, we went to some friends' house where we had an incredible dinner (including great pit-roasted beef), and a perfect, straight on view of the fireworks. it was a pretty good show too, and there were tons of people there to entertain our kids, i only got the baby for a few minutes the whole night (when she was hungry). afton wasn't too sure what to make of the fireworks at first, she was a little nervous, but before a full minute, she had started saying "wow," "boom," and "yea!" she tried identifying a few colors, but unfortunately, the only color she can really remember is blue, so she was usually wrong when guessing. it was still a fun night, especially since paul had gotten back a day early and was there with us!

on another note, today was rayna's blessing. it was nice to see so many friends and family there, paul's mom, brother, 2 of his sisters, a brother-in-law, and niece were there, as well as the taylors from tucson, my friend (and old roommate) cara, and my aunt hilary and her family. a couple of them had to leave early (right after sacrament meeting), but we were happy to see them just the same, and we really appreciate them coming all this way for such a quick visit. everyone else came by the house afterwards and played games and ate food. also fun and appreciated! the blessing was especially nice, and rayna was, of course, very quiet and good during it. here's how paul recorded her blessing for her baby book:
"Rayna was blessed that she might be a light to her family & a constant reminder of all things spiritual. She was blessed with wisdom to be able to discern with good judgement the character of other people so she can choose carefully the people she will associate herself with. She was blessed with an ability to be a peacemaker & arbiter among her family, friends, peers & other associates throughout her life. She was blessed to have a desire to be a missionary, to share the gospel with those who are close to her and whom she loves. She was blessed with strength to develop a testimony sufficiently strong that she will be able to share it with others so they will feel of the gospel's truth."

i love my family.


ps, i have pictures from the fourth, and of rayna in her blessing dress, but my camera card reader is broken, so it may be a little while before i can post any more pictures.

day three

i guess now it's just a matter of who'll give up first. ok, not really.
the girls and i've been doing pretty good here. afton's still acting two (she threw a temper tantrum today while my friends were over), but she had a good nap too, so i guess they cancel out mostly. actually, today i was really tired at nap time, so as soon as i got afton down, i fed the baby and tried to lay down myself, rayna was wide awake, so it took a while, then i finally just lay down on the bed with her, just to rest my eyes, and before i could really blink afton was crying, it took me a minute to open my eyes back up, then i realized i'd been out for an hour and a half, rayna fell asleep next to me, and it really was time for afton to get up! i guess i can't complain, i did feel rested, once i got over the fact that it felt like i hadn't even really blinked.

back to that first comment, paul called this morning. i guess they've changed their pick-up point. one of the boys can't quite keep up with the others, and the other leader hurt his ankle. they evidentally decided that they'd essentially camp the rest of teh time, and they still plan on coming home on saturday. i didn't really get many details, so i'm not sure if that's exactly right, the cell phone reception wasn't the greatest, but whatever happens, we're excited to have him back home soon!