We enjoyed a typical Oak Hills 4th of July. Our ward put on breakfast for the neighborhood which was a huge success. There was a long line the whole time. Brian rolled our bbq up to the park to cook on. They served French toast, pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs and juice. We had a good time visiting with neighbors and ward members. We enjoyed the parade at 12:30. Melissa marched with her trumpet with the Westview crowd (she didn't have a souzaphone to play-so used her trumpet. She said that she just fingured the notes but didn't play since it would be in the wrong key!)- they got a donation and also free tickets to the bbq at the park for doing so. It was a small group but they sounded good. Some ward firends invited us over for a bbq at 6- so we went and enjoyed that . I made choc chip cookies to take over. They had a nice crowd there- including several elders and our new mission president. Rachel invited a couple of her friends to come watch the fireworks with us. They came early and cooked some marshmallows over the fire pit. We all went up to our reserved spot at 9:30. It gets more crowded each year, but the show is always good. Afterwards we did some fireworks in our driveway.
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| Westview mini-band |
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| Once a year we wear these shirts! |
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| Melissa writing Melissa |
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| Writing names |
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| Brian Sparkling |
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| Emily, Serena, and Rachel |
Tues the 5th we kind of just relaxed. We have been watching the Harry Potter Movies one at a time for the past few weeks gearing up for the last installment on the 15th. (the girls have 12:16 am tickets) We only have 3 more to go now. Melissa is racing thru the books trying to read them all in time. Tomorrow (Tuesday) she and her friend will have an all day movie watching marathon.
Brian has been taking day trips on the motorcycle with the girls.. He is ready for some new scenery and a longer ride- he says he is tierd of looking at trees- they block anyother view. He took Rachel to Tillamook to the cheese factory on Wed the 6th. Her highlight of the trip was her dad buying her a little foam block loaf of cheese which all of the girls think is soooo cute!
Melissa went to a friend's sweet 16 masquerade party on Friday Aug. 8th. She spent time making a mask to match her formal that we made for her when she went to the MYS Ball. We had some drama with that dress the morning of the party- we had been working on repairing some rips in the tulle and had it laid out on the sewing table upstairs the night before. When Mel went up to look at it (after we had all been pulling weeds in the front yard) she freaked- the cat had barfed all over the dress! I was at home depot at the time and received the panicked call from her. I rushed home to find the dress in a horrible mess. We wiped up and flushed the “yuck” as best as we could, stuffed the dress in a big garbage bag, and ran off to find a dry cleaner. Unfortunately the only cleaners that could do it in a day, had already turned off their boilers for the weekend. So we went home and washed it in our washer on the delicate cycle, crossing our fingers. It didn’t wash all out on the first try, so we spot hand washed it and put it thru again. After the 2nd try it was ok. Luckily it was a sunny day so we hung it out to dry in the backyard, hoping it would be ready to wear in time. It was! And Mel looked beautiful in it for the big party that evening.
Also on Friday, we were able to serve lunch to the Elders at the stake center where they were holding a zone conference. The mom’s of missionaries from our ward were asked to do it. One remarkable sister in the ward was in charge and organized it all. All I had to do was put stuff in my crock pot the day before and cook some rice. It was a build-you- own-burrito and was well received by all those hungry Elders (about 60). The girls helped serve at the buffet table. It was fun. There was a young lady (she was about 17) that showed up at the stake center and wanted to know what was going on and if she could help. Of course we put her to work. Jess and Mel had a good time visiting with her- and they sat with the sister missionaries to eat. It turns out she wasn’t a member, but likes to volunteer. She lives in the neighborhood and felt ok about coming by the church because the elders had tracked into her house the week before. Of course the sisters were eager to talk with her during lunch and got her address for further discussions! After the meal was over the elders asked us all from the kitchen to come into the cultural hall and had us stand up front by the stage. They had us introduce ourselves and tell us where our sons were serving then they sang us a couple of songs- Army of Helaman- with the words changed as a thank you- and As I have Loved You. Then they all came and shook our hands and thanked us personally. It was really touching, and wonderful to be able to serve them. Of course we thought of our own missionary eating burritos in Brazil, and hoped the members were watching over and taking care of him too. It was nice.
