Rascals!

My garden is being wrecked by potato bugs. The little rascals* have been eating the stems of my plants at the base. This isn't the first year they've been a problem, but it's the worst they've ever been! 

I've been scouring the internet for solutions, and I can tell you everything about potato bugs now - from the regional names they go by (pill bugs, rolly pollies, slaters, Tom, Dick, and Harry...) to their individual family trees!

On the internet, people argue that pill bugs don't eat plants. They are wrong. Those of us who know will fight to the death to defend this truth. They have burrowed into my cantaloupe! Chewed their way through my leaves! And nibbled my stems!

Rascals!

Every last one of them!

I thought they were supposed to be harmless. They are not!

I've lost several plants this season to potato bugs, and I've started fighting back! 

With potatoes!

One solution offered on the internet is to put potatoes around your garden. The bugs will climb on the potatoes to eat them, and then you can throw them out! 

(Aside: I thought my chickens would love to eat potato bugs, so I set them lose in the garden several times. They won't touch them!)

The other day I sliced up some potatoes we had that were starting to go bad, and I placed them around the garden. Guess what! It worked! The bugs climbed on the potatoes, and I was able to relocate them to the garbage can where they can eat all the gross stuff and go live a happy life at the dump where they can eat even more gross stuff!

I don't know if this will solve the problem long-term, but it's a start! I'm going to see if I can distract them with potatoes well enough to lower their population in my garden. I might also throw in a few beer traps - but I don't have beer sitting around my house like I do potatoes. 

The funny thing is that I'm using store-bought POTATOES to place around my home-grown POTATOES to protect them from POTATO bugs. 

Rascals!

This has become my life's work, and I will spend more money on potatoes to protect my potatoes than I would to just buy potatoes instead of grow them. Tis the way of the garden.

*The word I use in person is actually worse than "rascals," but I'm keeping it G-rated here

Mission Updates

In a few days (June 30), Nicky will hit his one year mark for his mission. Sing with me now… “Whoa we’re halfway there, Whoa oh! Livin’ on a prayer.” 

Nicky on his bike in his last area

People always ask if it’s gone by fast or slow, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, it’s gone by pretty fast! It helps that Nicky has done very well, and he’s really independent. He was not always this way, and I'm thankful every day that he grew into it. If he were struggling mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, it would be a different story. Things aren’t perfect - he often tells us how hard it is, but he’s handling it. I’m sure he hides a lot from us, and when he gets home, he’ll tell the real story, but I truly believe he’s okay. 

A baptism Nicky has hoped for for a long time (the little gal on the right was a surprise baptism)

Now please don’t ever make me send a daughter out! Why do girls only serve 18 months? Because their moms can’t handle it! The level of worry over one of my daughters would be ten fold.

Here's a little update on the mission: 

- Nicky is in his third area and with his 7th companion. 

- He left Puerto Rico for five months and served in Antigua. It’s its own country. They don’t speak very much Spanish there, so he lost a bit of his language retention. He just went back to PR a couple of weeks ago. Missionaries aren't normally allowed to be alone, but he had to fly out and back by himself.

Nicky's house in Antigua

A cricket field (super popular in Antigua)

- Nicky got driving privileges in Antigua and learned to drive on the left side of the road.

- He ran over someone’s shade canopy in the church parking lot and had to replace it (it was a guy who happens to hate missionaries, so it just gave more fuel to the fire).

- He bought a pair of 44” waist jorts and wears them every p-day (he has a 36” waist, and all the shorts at the store in Antigua were too big or too small). 

Jorts for all - when Nicky saw this photo he said, "My jorts look so stupid!"

- He is getting a new mission president at the end of the month.

Possibly Nicky's last time seeing the mission president

- He is always finding animals. In Antigua he had a dog that stayed in his yard and a bunch of chickens. It started as three chickens, and he would feed them every morning, and they started bringing their friends. 

Teancum - the Book of Mormon cat

- They had a 5.5 earthquake in Antigua a few weeks ago (it reminded Nicky of home). They were on tsunami watch, but there were no issues.

- The locals have a hard time pronouncing Nicky's name, so they make up things to call him. One guy called him Elder Fruity Loops.

- Nicky had a companion who had yellow-ish blond hair, and everyone would ask him if he was Donald Trump's grandson. Poor kid! No one wants to be accused of looking like Trump. 

- Elder Rasband came to visit the mission, but Nicky didn't get to be there in person since he was in Antigua. 

The screen on the left has all the missionaries that had to be on Zoom because they were serving out on "the islands"

Elder Rasband talking to the island missionaries

- Nicky might get to see a visitor from home at the end of this month!

- He doesn't like buying stuff and is always acquiring free or used stuff - from his suit (one of his companions gave it to him) to his body soap (which he pulled out of the garbage can after another missionary threw some away). Every time we call him he has another hat, shirt, or clothing item that he got from someone else. 

- He recently learned what mangos can do to the digestive system. 

The missionaries' trunk full of mangos

- He went from a rainforest-y area to a small isolated island to a concrete jungle (currently he is in the concrete jungle). 

- He is a zone leader. 

- Nicky goes a lot of really cool places on his p-days.

- In his last area, they had a bug infestation in their house and an exterminator had to come. 

Infestation!

- Nicky absolutely loves his mission. Coming home is going to wreck him. 

A Lil Getaway

We just got back from a trip to Saint George with Scotty’s extended family. 

We left a few days early and spent some time in Brian Head. We stayed two nights at an air bnb (a condo that was really old but still nice enough for what we needed).

Brian Head

We went hiking in Cedar Breaks and ate at a really yummy place called the Burger Barn. It was pricey but so delicious!

Cedar Breaks

It's practically a salad!

Scotty's burger was so loaded (bacon, pulled pork, onion rings, and cole slaw) but so delicious!

The chicken fingers/iPad kids (and Eva's trademark photo face)

We had rented a pontoon at Panguitch Lake for Saturday, but a few days before our reservation the company called us and said they had to cancel due to low water. Scotty was devastated, but then he found a pontoon rental at Navajo Lake and booked there instead. 

When we got to the lake on Saturday afternoon, it was really windy. Scotty went and talked to the people we rented the pontoon from (two guys sitting on a porch smoking and drinking moonshine). They said we could still go out in the wind if we wanted to. I don't know what we thought would happen, but we gave it a whirl. We went out to the pontoon (escorted to the dock by a guy on a four wheeler drinking a beer) and found that it was quite... well... homemade? The benches were made out of 2x4's and the awning was a metal frame with a tin roof - half of which was missing (and while we were out on the lake, a chunk blew off). 

We attempted to drive out a bit, anchor the boat, and do some fishing, but it just didn't work out. It was so windy and miserable, and when we looked around, we realized we were the only people out on the lake. We decided to call it and go back to shore. Four wheeler guy saw us coming and met us there to park the boat, and they were nice and refunded our money. 

Since those plans fell through, we went back to the condo and went swimming and hung our for the rest of the night. 

On Sunday we headed into Cedar City and went to a park. Then we stopped by Walmart to buy Eva some shirts (she claims she packed shirts and someone stole them...) and a treat to take to our friends who just moved to Cedar City a few days prior (imagine moving 3.5 hours away and having us show up unexpectedly - you can't get away from us! You just can't!) We stopped for lunch and then went to the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum (which we've been to before) (horrible name, by the way. Who can remember that? I had to Google it). 

After the museum, we stopped at Maverik for sodas to sip on the way to Saint George. 

But rewind... while we were driving through Cedar City, we passed a really cool, old church a couple of times, and Scotty decided he wanted to peek inside. 

He opened the doors and there was a guy standing right there, and he invited us to come in and look around. Church was in session, so we tippy toed into the back of the chapel during Sunday school. The chapel was really cool (definitely old - the building was built in 1931). The pews were made from local cedar wood, and the rostrum is really unique. The entrance is a split level, so when you walk in, you have to go up or down stairs. The chapel is upstairs and the classrooms are downstairs. In the basement there is an old baptismal font that is no longer in use:

I've never seen anything like that in a church before! It was in a teeny tiny room, and I couldn't help but think that if my kids has been baptized in that room, we wouldn't have been able to fit our immediate family and grandparents in there! (It doesn't help that we have 8 parents!)

The outside of the church is really cool and definitely different from our modern day cookie-cutter buildings. I love old churches, but I can see how our churches nowadays are far more functional, even though they lack personality. Its always been my dream (since reading Wait Till Helen Comes) to live in an old church. If anyone ever needs me to make this church my home, I am willing to do that for the betterment of society.  

Home Sweet Church

On to Saint George...

Nerdy facts: there is a desert garden with an agave plant currently in bloom. Agave plants only bloom every 10-30 years. They can get up to 15 feet tall and can grow a foot a day prior to blooming! Scotty insisted that we go see the agave plant, so that was our first stop upon arriving in Saint George. This is evidence that I am now married to an old man (Mr. Wilson, perhaps?)

We stayed two nights in Saint George and spent time playing games, swimming, and eating delicious food with extended family. Facts about this side of the family: there are 8 families + grandma and grandpa (not all came, but most did). We had 37 people there. It was pure chaos. Very fun but very exhausting and overstimulating. 

And I didn't take a single picture after we saw the agave plant other that these two:

Watching The Music Man

Daisy's weird eating rituals

Everyone was scattered throughout the trip, and we just didn't catch any pictures. They probably would have been motion blurred anyway!

We had a good time, but we had to leave a day early because we had tickets to see Back to the Future the Musical (our Christmas gift to Zoe) (It. Was. Amazing!)

We always love a road trip, and we had a lot of fun. Coming back to real life is bitterweet. I love the comforts of home, but gosh, it's good to get away! 

Sunday Sentiments - Encounters

I always appreciate an Uchtdorf talk. In April's General Conference, he gave an address titled, "Encounter at the Empty Tomb."

After Christ's death, a small group of women came to His tomb and found Him missing. President Uchtdorf stated:

I have tried to imagine the depth of their grief. 

I can't. 

I have tried to imagine their heartache, helplessness, and hopelessness. 

I can't.

I've been taught my whole life about Christ's death and why it happened. I haven't fully understood the depth or magnitude of the sacrifice, but I've always had the knowledge of its occurrence and its outcome. For me, Christ's death has always been part of a story I've known the ending to. I never had to experience His death without knowing He was resurrected.

The women who found the tomb empty - Mary, Mary, Salome, and Joanna - had to experience Christ's death without knowing what would happen next. Fortunately that time of not knowing was short, and they were able to witness the beautiful miracle of Christ's resurrection. 

But still, there was a space of time where they had to face the unknown. I'm sure that in addition to immense grief, they had questions - deep, hard questions. I'm sure they felt overwhelming fear. 

But then, the miracle. 

President Uchtdorf said, "Early on that Sunday morning... a small group of friends who, despite grief, fear, and unanswered questions, encountered the empty tomb and learned for themselves the glorious truth of His Resurrection... these few women became the world's first witnesses of the single greatest event in the history of this world. "

I try to imagine how it would feel to witness Christ's death followed by His resurrection. 

Tremendous relief. 

Unfathomable awe. 

President Uchtdorf notes that, although we were not there on that Easter morning, we can still figuratively “encounter the tomb.” He asks, “What have we seen, felt, or experienced?” He encourages us to become witnesses of Jesus Christ and let our testimonies of Him make a difference in our lives. 

I hope to experience tremendous relief and unfathomable awe someday when I see my Savior face to face. In the meantime, I look for traces of Him everywhere, and I try to recognize my own “encounters” with Jesus. I haven’t yet seen, but I have felt. 

Conversations While Hiking (and such)

“This is boring. I’d rather be on a hike.”

-Daisy regarding the Human History Museum

—————

Daisy: I wonder how these rocks were formed.

Scotty: Read the placard, and it will tell you.

Daisy: It’s summer break. I don’t read.

—————

“Don’t fall! I can’t afford another mom!”

-Zoe

—————

“I just saved you 8 days of walking!”

-Daisy to a beetle after she carried it down the trail and placed it on a rock

—————

“You don’t need no fish to play fishing. Animal Crossing taught me that.”

-Daisy

—————

Me: Did you know that you should never carve in trees?

Eva: Yes.

Me: Okay, good. I wasn’t sure if Dad and I had ever taught you that.

Eva: You didn’t teach me that. I just know it from looking at trees.

—————

“When I’m tired, I get lots of energy.”

-Daisy, who always contradicts herself 

—————

Daisy: YOLO, Dad!

Scotty: I forgot what that means.

Eva: You forgot what FROYO means?

Scotty: No, not FROYO, FROMO!

Daisy: Dad, you’re mixing up YOLO and FOMO.

Scotty: What the heck is FOMO?

—————

“If I can catch men with my hands, I can catch fish with my hands.”

-Daisy

—————

“Eva, do a nice face, please.”

“EVA! Please do a nice face.”

“A nice face!”

“EVA!!”