4th of July

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, and if you had spent one with my extended family I'm sure it would be your favorite too. I'll give you a glimpse of the amazingness that is a Cornwall 4th of July Celebration:

 Everyone on my mom's side gathers at my grandparents house, and with my mom having eight kids in her family there are a lot of us! It starts with a flag raising ceremony by the scouts in our family, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer. Then there's a little devotional service with stories or scriptures about our freedom and then my Grandma and Grandpa usually say a few words. It's good to start the day off right, thinking about all those who served and sacrificed (and still are!) for the blessings we enjoy every day. Then the partying starts...and goes all day! My grandparents live in a small town and there is a great parade every year that still throws candy. I was horrified when I went to a parade a few years ago and NO ONE THREW CANDY. What kind of parade is that?! For the rest of the day there are mounds of salt water taffy and tootsie rolls all over the place.

 Following the parade there is a feast of fried chicken, potato salad, jello salad, watermelon, baked beans, a million desserts, and the BEST THING of all is the HOME-MADE ROOT BEER. If you've never had home-made root beer, put it on your bucket list because life is not complete until you've tried it. When I was younger my cousins and I would drink so much of that stuff it probably replaced the blood in our veins by the end of the day. Delicious.

 Games and relaxing and sometimes a huge slip'n'slide usually follow. And when it gets dark, a family firework show. It is one of the best days of the year. Freedom, faith, family, and food. Nothing better than that.

Fire ants

Everyone warned me about the fire ants here in Texas, now I know why. I was pulling weeds in a garden I work in and i was feeling pretty good about myself as I pulled out this huge weed. What I didn't see was the ERUPTION of ants who were angry their home was just destroyed, but I felt them a few seconds later as they started attacking my wrists, right above my gloves. They are just teeny tiny little ants but man do their bites pack a punch! I scrambled to get them off but not before I got about 10 bites on my left arm and 2 or 3 on my right. That was on Thursday and they are still all blistered up and itch a lot. I consider this a crucial initiation step on my journey to become a Texan. And so, I will wear my blisters with pride...and probably avoid ants at all costs from here on out. Those suckers are mean!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I am pretty busy studying for the bar exam later this summer but I did have to take one break this past week.  I have been an Indians fan since I think 1954 when my grandpa decided the Indians would be his team.  There has been a lot of heartbreak with this team I inherited... but they came to Houston this week!  It may be a while before they get back so Tiffany and I went to the game.  Kind of a low scoring affair because the pitchers pitched really well but I was happy when the game was over and my Indians had come out on top 2-0.

The seat we had were given to us by our friend, they were great!  He works for a company that buys season tickets and he gets them for games now and then.

This was an attempt to do some panoramic stitching.  Four pictures together is the only way I could show the view we had!  The seams aren't perfect but you get the idea.

If Emery's going to have a team, it might as well be mine!  Got
to start her young so there is no confusion later in life.

Posted By Gavin

Primary Chorister

"OHHHH here we are together, together, together. Oh here we are together in our primary!"

I was recently called as our the Primary chorister for our ward. In the LDS church, all the positions are filled by the members of the congregation, from the Bishop (similar to pastor or preacher) to the Sunday school teacher, to the Cub Scout leader, to the Nursery teacher. No one is paid, it's all volunteer. I am now in charge of singing time for the kids. I am so excited! I love working with the kids and hearing not only the funny things they say, but sometimes the profound insights they have. Their innocence and purity is so refreshing.

I enjoy working with kids because they are so easy to please and they get so excited. Last week was my first week and I made a huge cheeseburger out of poster board and wrote a song on the back of each piece. Then as they'd pick a piece we'd sing the song and build our giant cheeseburger. They loved it. And it was a pretty ugly cheeseburger, but they didn't care. This week I made these:

Made out of posterboard, 6.5" cubes

They would roll the song dice first, then if they sang it well they could roll the other one which would give us "how" to sing: loud, reverent, bold, quiet, stand up, and WILD card (wild being they had to follow me and I would have them sing loud, then quiet, stand up, then sit down etc.). It was so simple but they were excited about it and listened and sang their little hearts out. My favorite was when they sang "BOLDLY". It involved lots of strong arm gestures and low tones and attempted deep vibrato. It was hilarious. 

One boy, probably 8 or so, got picked to come up and roll the die and he picks it up, eyes it skeptically, then turns to me and says, "I can tell this is just paper." I'm not sure what he was expecting it to be, but whatever it was he was quite disappointed when he discovered they were only paper. 

I am so excited for this new calling. I had the realization that if we stay in this ward I could potentially have this calling for YEARS. It was the happiest thought I'd had all day. 

Bolivar Peninsula

Last week we took a fun little excursion down to Bolivar Peninsula, where you can park your car on the beach and camp right on the water (which is the Gulf of Mexico). We went in the middle of the week so there was hardly anyone around. Our trip was cut short as Emery was sick and didn't sleep hardly at all the night we were there and then had a fever, but it was fun while it lasted. I LOVE the beach. We got there around 6 or 7 pm, set up camp, then took Emery down to the water for her first touch of the ocean.

 She seemed to really enjoy it. The waves scared her a little bit when we held her over them, but she liked getting her feet wet. She also loved playing in the sand and I'm really sad I didn't get a picture of it. She sat there in front of me digging in it, putting it on my legs and her legs, trying to eat it, and finally sneaking a taste when I wasn't paying close enough attention.

Gavin's photography skills on display

It was a beautiful place and we had so much fun in the short amount of time we were there. It was so nice to escape to the beach, look for shells, watch the crabs sneak around the sand, sleep under the stars (...well, under a tent...but that's less than a roof!) and fall asleep to the sound of the waves. Emery slept terribly and woke up really early, which was unfortunate, but we were able to take a sunrise walk on the beach and it was beautiful. 

So that was our last excursion for a few months. Short, but sweet. Now it's crunch time for Gavin as he has to take the Bar at the end of July. 

Gahwin and My Yibby

This is a picture of my niece, Olivia, who is now 2 1/2 years old. As you can guess from the picture, Olivia and Gavin are great friends and adventure buddies. They hide from the monsters, they sword fight, he throws her 8 feet in the air, he tickles her, she tackles him, and have all sorts of fun together. He has really missed her since we've moved to Texas. When we Facetime with them she only wants to see "GAH-WIN!!!" And he always loves to see "My Yibby". (She can say GaVin but has been saying it the other way forever. Also, if asked who she was she used to reply, "you".  Then she learned her name and pronounced it Yibby, then she would tell you it was O-Lib-ee-ah. Now she says Olivia.)

Tonight my mom was watching Olivia while Natalie was at work and they Facetimed us because Olivia wanted to see her friend Gavin. She was so excited to see him and after talking a minute said, "You need to come home Gahwin." I replied, "Yes, Liv, we're going to come see you in August." She looked confused then said, "But I'm not in August!" Haha, good point. "No, you aren't, that's right Olivia, we're going to see you in Idaho in a little while." That wasn't a good enough answer and she told Gavin a few more times he needed to come home. It was really sweet. Man, I love that little girl, even if she does love Gavin more than me. :)

The fox

I sing an old song to Emery as her nightly lullaby that my mom sang to me, her mom sang to her, and possibly her mom sang to her. I'm not sure how far back it goes. Here are the lyrics my family sings, maybe they are familiar:

Oh the fox went out one chilly night He prayed yo the moon to give him light He had many miles to go that night before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o He had many miles to go that night Before he reached the town-o He crept into the farmers pen Where the chicken and geese were kept therein He said, "one of you is gonna grease my chin Before I leave this town-o, town-o, town-o Yes one of you is gonna grease my chin Before I leave this town-o" He grabbed the old gray goose round the neck The little ones he threw across his back He didn't mind the quack quack quack Or the legs all danglin down-o, down-o, down-o He didn't mind the quack quack quack Or the legs all danglin down-o The old farmer's wife she jumped outta bed She ran to The window, poked out her head She said "John, John, the gray goose is gone And the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o" She said "John, John, the gray goose is gone And the fox is on the town-o" Old John he ran to the top of the hill He blew his horn both loud and shrill The fox said I better flee with my kill Cuz they'll soon be on my trail-o, trail-o,trail-o The fox said I better flee with my kill Cuz they'll soon be on my trail-o That old fox he crept in to his den Where he counted his little ones 8, 9, 10 They said, "daddy you better go back again Cuz it looks like a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o" They said, "daddy you better go back again Cuz it looks like a mighty fine town-o" That old fox and his wife without any strife Cut up that goose with a fork and a knife They'd never had such a supper in their life And the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o They'd never had such a supper in their life And the little ones chewed on the bones-o

It's a long one. Lately Gavin has taken a liking to this song and wanted to learn it. He also found some chords online and accompanies on the guitar now. It's a catchy tune and I could tell it was stuck in his head often because he would randomly ask me questions like, "Why are they quacking? CHicken and geese don't quack." (online versions say ducks and geese which admittedly makes more sense). Or "farms aren't in towns. Why is the fox going into a town if he's going to a farm? And why do the babies say to go back to the town?" Or "so do the baby foxes eat the goose too or do they just chew on the bones?" Gavin has totally over-analyzed every verse in this song. Maybe it's because I grew up hearing it, or maybe its because he's a man and needs things to make sense or be fixed, but I've never even thought about the things he questions. It makes me chuckle every time I sing it now.