Jump Around

Kevin and Charisse made a Northwest visit a couple weeks ago to attend a family reunion with Charisse's family. Luckily for us, they were close enough to make a trip down to Portland for a couple days. The Bean kids just couldn't get enough! Kevin and Charisse always show such an interest in them that it's easy to see why the kids enjoy them so much. Kevin was a good sport and spent some time on the trampoline. I'd like to draw your attention to the picture in the bottom right-hand corner. Can you find Tanner?

(click to make larger)

Called to Serve

I went to Springfield this past weekend to listen to my parents and Jaylyn speak in church. They report to the Church and Family History Department in Salt Lake City on August 1. Here are some pictures from the day, which also happened to be Keaton's birthday. It was a beautiful day for taking pictures outside. Click on the collage to make it larger. I'm trying something new!

Garden Fresh

No salmonella for me this summer. Look at my tomatoes! They're coming along nicely and should provide me with plenty to share. You may be wondering why I have so many plants. Well, I live on the second floor and on windy days, the tree branches snagged the top of the tomato cages and swept them off the railing. So some plants became two and I bought a couple replacements for the ones I didn't think would make it. Surprise! They are apparently much more resilient than I realized. And now you're probably wondering why my tomato plants were up on the railing. Well, due to the aforementioned trees, the direct sun they crave is somewhat limited. So as you can see now, they're all set up - very happily, I might add - at the bottom of the stairs. Safe from trees and shade. Too bad you're all not closer...I guess the people at work will benefit the most. I can't wait until I'm out of an apartment and can develop a real garden! Next year, I think I'm going to see if I can get a plot in one of the community gardens we have around the city here. In fact, it's probably not too early to see if I can get on a waiting list. It's really a great program and I'm sure will provide me with many friend-making opportunities.

Day of Independence

When I was a child, the Fourth of July held a certain appeal that, as an adult, I can't quite articulate. There was something about the combination of a warm summer day and barbecues and water balloons and the sheer anticipation of getting to stay up late. Not to mention the explosives! On Friday, Brett and I went to a park/greenbelt in west Portland that puts on a very impressive fireworks show. Just sitting there looking at the crowd I thought about how fantastically excited I would've been if I was a kid there. As it was, I myself was very excited about the show. I love fireworks. Love them! We had a great time. When I was young - 6? 7? - my parents manned the high school band fireworks booth in our small town and every Fourth, I'm reminded of dismantling the booth and driving the truck home under the threat of catching a rogue spark as the celebrations had already begun. Well, I didn't do so much of the dismantling or driving, but I was an active observer. I'm sure the threat wasn't as imminent as it felt when I was little, but it sure was thrilling to my young self!
This doesn’t quite illustrate it, but the crowd was quite large. A good time was had by all!

The Itch

It seems I've got much to blog about right now, but haven't the time to sit down and do it. In the meantime, this fasincating - and disturbing - article about the urge to itch might capture your interest. I heard about it on a radio program recently after it was published in The New Yorker.

See if you can get through the article without scratching! It's long, but very interesting.