Here is a little update on what the West family has been up to these last few weeks.

GARDENING
Ho....what?! I mean, anyway...Mike and I have spent a lot of time fixing up my grandpa's (known as Papa) yard. It's been a lot of fun but A LOT more work. His backyard had this weird, randomly placed wood deck covered in chipped red paint located in the far left corner of the back. It was shoddily made and I swear it gave me splinters just looking at it. It took a little time but we finally convinced Papa to get rid of it (he didn't want to have to deal with the mess, understandably) but we figured out ways to do it so it wouldn't be that bad and he agreed! No surprise, it wasn't too hard to take apart but we were left with a huge stack of wood (didn't think to take pictures of it) but thanks to Mike, my brothers and a few other kind people letting us borrow their pick-up trucks and/or trailer we were able to haul all that wood to the dump and we were left with a lovely patch of dirt.

So...what did we do with the dirt? We made a garden!!!! (Provident Living, right?)I must confess this was actually a main motivation for tearing down the deck. We were very excited about the prospect of having our own little garden. I thought it would be easy, you know...till the dirt a little and then plant away! Not so! Apparently American Fork top soil is like a gravel pit. He spent almost a whole week just clearing out rocks so that something might have a chance to grow. We cleared a TON (literally, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how much it all ended up weighing) but there are still quite a few little rocky friends.



Oh well, we eventually got it good enough so we went to WalMart, bought some manure, some seeds and a few plants. We tilled in the manure (After I had a quite discusting incident of trying to throw one of the poop bags over the fence and, being the weakling I am, it only made it half way up, split, and I was then covered in stinky layer of cow mist...not my finest moment). After that we made rows and planted seeds and plants. It was a very rewarding feeling to see it all done! SO far it is growing great. Here are some pictures and a list of all the our future vegetables:
-Carrots -corn
-Zuccini -brussel sprouts
-tomotoes -beans
-parsnips (an ode to Mike) -yellow squash
-lettuce -herbs
-spinach -a little melon patch with honeydew and cantaloupe


MIKE taking a break!

This is how I felt most of the time...grrrrr!


FINISHED!


PARKS
One thing I absolutely love around here are the many parks! I try to take Andrew on a long walk at least once a day and we usually end up going to find new, fun parks to play in. Andrew is more of an outdoor baby and he loves it! I also love the exercise and sunshine! Mike doesn't have to work in the early mornings anymore so when he isn't studying, he comes too! It's been a lot of fun!




I also have a fun new tradition with my good friend Kristi. She and her two cute girls meet up with Andrew and I every other Thursday to play at the park. It's been so fun catching up with her!! I meant to take pictures of the last time we got together but it ended up being too rainy to stay long (I don't know what we were thinking that day). I will post some soon!


SEEING THE UTAH SIGHTS
Since we now know we will be living in Scotland, we really wanted to take this summer and do all the fun things that we can in Utah before we go. I like to call it the Utah Bucket list. One of the first things we have done is visit the Sandy Aquarium. It was a lot of fun! Although I think Andrew had a better time looking at all the other kids than the fish! (Think he needs a playmate?!?) It was kind of short but we thought it was great and we got some fun pictures too!

Andrew and I got to touch a string ray! It felt like soft, mossy slime!


Andrew and Daddy!


This was supposed to be a picture of glitter fish, can't really tell but they were cool!


I thought he looks like yoda! YODA FROG!


It looks like the fish weren't the only thing on exhibit!


Is that you girlfriend, andrew? He was trying to kiss the fish!


This was supposed to be of jelly fish, can't really seem them but daddy and Andrew are having fun!


Here is an octopus! WOW! Mommy needs a tan!


Watch out Andrew, the octopus looks hungry!


Thanks Sandy Aquarium!