Happy, Happy Birthday

My family did a fabulous job of filling in for Darwin on my birthday. We had a great time together! Skylar, my younger brother (I can't really call him my "little" brother because he's much bigger than me), made a delicious breakfast for everyone: cinnamon pancakes, eggs, & bacon--totally yummy! In fact, it was so good I was still so full I skipped lunch and waited until dinner to eat again. After breakfast and relaxing for a bit, we went to swim in the pool, and I laid out for awhile in the sun and fried myself a little bit as you can see from the pictures. After swimming we relaxed a bit more and then had a scrumptious dinner of grilled chicken, squash & zucchini, pasta salad, and of course, potato chips :). After dinner we relaxed again while we waited for more family to come over to have cake, ice cream & pie. All chocolate by the way! It was totally yummy too. Although I loved being with my family (thanks for taking such good care of me, guys!) the highlight of my day was being able to talk to Darwin on the phone. When he called me in the morning he had all of the people on his trip with him sing Happy Birthday to me. Totally cute :) And then he called me last night to wish me a happy birthday again. I really like having our birthdays so close together, but I have to say I'd love it if he weren't gone for our birthdays again. But regardless of being together or apart, I think we both had a blast for a birthdays and it's inevitable that now that our birthdays are past, we're both one year older and wiser too :). Also, thanks to everyone else for all the wonderful birthday wishes. They were absolutely appreciated!

All I want for my birthday is...

I hope everyone isn't sick of me posting new things so much lately, but I absolutely have to get this post up. I have to express how grateful I am to a Heavenly Father who is merciful and how much he truly knows & loves each one of us. Therefore, because of his love for us, he watches over & protects us. Here's the story behind my gratitude...

With Darwin being out of town, I always get a little uneasy about being at home by myself, but I'm a big girl, so I can handle it, right? Well, all day long today, on and off, I could smell gas coming from the water heater in our laundry room. I didn't really think anything of it because it's happened in the past & it always comes and goes. (Not to mention I had our apartment manager over here a couple weeks ago when it happened and she didn't seem to think it was a very big deal.) So I kind of blew it off and didn't let it bug me. Then, tonight around 9:30 while I was washing dishes, I could smell the gas in the kitchen (usually I can only smell it in the hallway where our laundry room is), so I went to check it out and as I opened the laundry room door, the smell was almost overwhelming! Darwin called me shortly after & I asked him the name of the gas company because I couldn't think of it for the life of me, and I told him what was up but that I'd call the company tomorrow because I didn't think they'd be open. Then a minute later I got a pretty strong feeling that I should call them tonight because that was the worst I had ever smelled the gas. So, I told Darwin I was going to call the gas company & I'd call him right back. After calling the gas company, the guy on the phone told me to wait outside until someone could come check it out and that someone should be here within an hour (it was probably about 9:45 when I called). I was a little irritated that I had to wait outside, but I did it anyway and just talked to Darwin on the phone the whole time--we hung up just before the gas guy came. When he came in, he couldn't detect anything right away and said it was probably just a minor leakage. He still couldn't find anything and asked me to turn some hot water on to get the water heater working. About 30 seconds after I heard the water heater turn on, his machine started beeping like crazy! The guy stayed in the laundry room for another good 5-10 minutes, and then called me in. The conversation went something like this...

Gas Guy: "Ma'am, let me show you something in here. It's a very good thing you called us tonight and had someone come check this out." He then proceeded to tell me that the gas was not being sucked up the pipe as it should, sorry I don't know all the technical terms, but that there was an out-draft and showed me how you can test it. (At this point my heart begins to pound, and I don't even know what else he's going to say to me yet.) "My machine picked up off-the-charts levels of carbon monoxide poisoning. My machine only detects 9999 parts per mil, and that's what it's telling me we have here." (LETHAL amounts of carbon monoxide, by the way!!)
Me: "Really?" (Trying to act calm but totally panicking, especially because I just heard on the news less than an hour before about a family being saved because a 911 dispatcher told them to get out of the house because it sounded like they had high quantities of carbon monoxide in their house.)
Gas Guy: "Yeah, I shut off your water heater and you won't be able to use it until you get this fixed." And then he named off about 3 or 4 other hazards in relation to the water heater, had me sign a "Notice of Unsafe Operating Condition" slip to give to my apartment manager, and then left.

Good grief! Talk about wake up call! The guy was totally nice and tried to help me settle my nerves. I made sure it's safe for me to sleep here tonight and he told me I'd be fine now that he turned the water heater off, and as long as I keep the windows open to let the air in the apartment vent out. So, after all of this excitement, I'm still a bit nervous to go to sleep tonight. It's several hours past my normal bed time and I'm still completely wide awake. I know everything will be fine, but I have to say too that after all of this, all I want for my birthday is a carbon monoxide detector; and I will for sure be going to get one tomorrow!! But, also, thanks be to a merciful Father in Heaven who loves me and has answered our prayers by watching over me while Darwin is gone and prompting me to call the gas company! Let this be a warning to us all...go get a carbon monoxide detector!!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart!

Today is Darwin's birthday, and although he is gone all week, I wanted to tell him how much I love him and how blessed I am to have him as my husband. Anyone who knows Dar, knows how much of a people- person he is. He loves to be around friends, family, or acquaintances, and loves to make people laugh. He is super easy to get along with and always loves to have fun and play jokes with/on people. He's someone who really knows how to have fun while you work, rather than to just play when the work is over. He is brilliant and really has a passion for the Earth and for teaching others all the things he knows. He is really excited to start his masters program this fall and to further his education, because his knows the more he learns the more it will benefit his students and our family. He is very dedicated in all that he does, and has an amazingly strong work ethic (he credits that to all his work in the garden when he was young--Thanks, Mom & Dad Deming!!). Darwin has a strong testimony of his Savior and the Gospel and does all he can to serve God's children. He loves his calling in the Teacher's Quorum, and loves to learn new things from his boys. Darwin is a great provider for our little family, is the best husband in the world, and is determined to do his best in all that he does. I can't wait for the opportunity to see him with our own children and I know that he will be the best dad in the world someday. I really could go on and on about him, but I don't want to make people sick with all this mushy love stuff :) Darwin, thank you for all your love and support. You're the best husband a girl could ever hope for and be blessed with. You mean the world to me, don't you ever forget it!! Happy Birthday, Darling! I love you!!

I feel like this picture needs a caption. There are kids inside that tube, and Darwin is dumping a bucket of water on them :) They loved it until someone had the idea to put the hose straight in on them. Dar is always able to help the kids have fun, probably because he's just a big kid himself!

Something to think about...

I saw this on the Hettinger's page, and Suzanne...I hope you don't mind that I borrowed this from you :) I had recently made a goal to read the Book of Mormon before my birthday, which is next Friday. Because Darwin & I were in Park City all week I decided to take advantage of my free time at the hotel while he was in his meetings to get through as much of it as I could. This is the first time I've read through the BOM this quickly and it really is amazing how everything flows and how you can really see the Lord's hand in its pages. I guess I've always just read a few chapters at a time for my daily scripture study and it's always been my favorite book of scripture to read, but I've found a new love of this amazing book, and my testimony of it has really grown. I'm glad I gave myself this challenge, and I can't wait to finish it in a few days! I actually just started my reading on Wednesday and as of this afternoon I've made it through Alma 30, then when I saw this posted on the Hettinger's page I couldn't help but share it with those of you who read the Deming blog. How much different would our lives be if we lived by these questions?

Book of Mormon and Your Cell Phone

• Wonder what would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like our cell phones?
• What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
• What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
• What if we flipped through it several times a day?
• What if we spent an hour or more using it each day?
• What if we used it to receive messages from its text?
• What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
• What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
• What if we used it as we traveled?
• What if we used it in case of an emergency?
• This is something to make you go ...Hummm...where is my Book of Mormon?

Art City Days BBQ

I couldn't resist adding another post about our Art City Days weekend. After the Hancocks left us to go do some family things, Darwin and I went and mowed his parents yard and then went to a BBQ with Jared & Tracee's family. It was our first time eating Aussie Burgers (Jared is from Australia), and they were TAAST-EE! I didn't get a picture of the burger, but I can describe it to you. You first put your beef patty on the bun, then an egg, strips of bacon, pineapple, beets, caramelized onion, lettuce, mustard/ketchup and your top bun....I think that's everything. But the goal is to bite through all layers at once. Totally a fun experience :) Thank you, McSweeneys for including me & Darwin in your amazing traditions! After the BBQ we had to find something to pass the time until we could go to the Art City Days fireworks. Jared's kind-of brother-in-law, Mike, invented this game he called Gazee-ball (notice the picture below):

You can kind of see the blue ball up at the top going through the space, and the water cooler with the red tin on top. We were trying to throw the ball through the space and get it to land in the tin without bouncing out because Jared said he'd take the person to dinner at a restaurant of their choice if they could get it in without the ball bouncing out. I think we all got it in at least once, but Jared's wife, Tracee is the only one who got it to stay in the tin. Well done, Trace!

Me & Jared's niece, Sydney.

The kids playing in the sprinkler. It looks like Reagan is also playing the sprinkler but she actually hated the water because it was too cold. Maybe next year :)

Jared posing for the camera.

Dar preparing himself to catch the ball if it came his way.

Thanks for a fun, relaxing weekend everyone! The carnival was great. The parade was hot but fun. The reunion was fun. The BBQ was super yummy! It's wonderful to have such good friends who take such good care of us!

Art City Days

This past week was Art City Days in Springville, as well as Darwin's 10 year high school reunion. We had the opportunity to have his best friend, Bard Hancock, and his family stay with us while he came up to attend the reunion also. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the reunion, but we had a blast anyway! Darwin almost won an award for knowing the most languages (English, Portuguese, & learning to speak Whale) but the guy who did win said that he speaks English, Spanish & the language of Love. Soo close! Bard & Kerri won an award for having the most kids (4) but tied with 2 other couples as well. It was fun for Darwin to catch up with some old friends and for me to see some of his friends from high school that I know too. We tried to take advantage of having Bard & Kerri up for the weekend and staying with us because they live down in St. George, UT and & don't get to see them very much. I must have been preoccupied with other things because I didn't get very many pictures of anything this weekend. We still had a blast, and it was great to have you stay with us, Hancocks! You're more than welcome to come stay with us again the next time you come up!

Bard & Kerri getting the geese to come after them for bread

Darwin was soo close to having a goose eat out of his hand...then a car came & ruined it!

So, we went to feed the ducks, but these HUGE fish in the water kept eating the bread instead :)

Steadfast & Immovable; Mosiah 5:15

Darwin and I had the opportunity this week to attend a pioneer trek with our stake. We had an absolute blast once you get past the sore feet and legs from the walking, and the sore forearms from pulling the handcarts. It really was an incredible experience for us to be a part of, and hopefully it changed some of the youth's lives. Below are a few of our favorite pictures:

Beautiful Sunrise

Amazing Sunset the same night

3 of Darwin's Teachers: Forrest, Greg, & Jess - Great boys!

Me helping our Bishop & some of the Stake leaders push our handcart through knee deep muddy water. Soo fun! Bishop & I had a blast! (Dar is taking the picture, otherwise he was helping too.)

Darwin portraying one the the 4 Sweetwater River Rescuers. Great job, Dar! He got to carry me across first, so we didn't get a picture of that.

This really was a great experience for us, and like I said, we had a great time. We both got sun burned, we died of heat throughout the day, and nearly froze to death at night :) Our Stake did a wonderful job in putting the whole thing together and there really is too much to say about the trip than can be written in our blog. They fed us so well that I gained 2 pounds within our three day trek, and it will absolutely be a memory not soon forgotten. A few "Remember When's" of the trip:

Favorite Quote of the Trek:

President Olsen, 2nd Counselor in the Stake Presidency, Trail Boss of the Trek, and member of our ward, was sitting with his wife during a fireside one night. Another Brother from our ward, Brother Fletcher was going around taking pictures of the events:
Pres. Olsen asks Bro. Fletcher, "What are you doing?"
Bro. Fletcher responds, "Taking pictures."
Pres. Olsen, "But we don't want the Indians to see us!"
(Really a had-to-be-there kind of a quote, especially if you know Pres. Olsen....hilarious! Dar & I laughed for a good 5 minutes, while we were supposed to be reverently listening to the fireside. Oops!)

Favorite Song of the Trek: To the tune of "The Handcart Song"
"For some must push and some must trudge and we go marching through the sludge...."

1st year down....

As of this afternoon at 2:30, Darwin has successfully completed his first year of teaching. And not just his first year of teaching, but his first year of teaching JUNIOR HIGH!! This year he has had a taste of teaching 7th, 8th, and 9th graders, and although I can't say he's enjoyed every minute of it, he has enjoyed most of it, and come out on top of the heap of the other new teachers from this year. Darwin's administration absolutely adores him, as well as his students, and we all feel that he has done VERY well for his first year. Of course there were ups and downs, and several hills to climb and conquer, but he did it! I'm sure if you ask him, he'd be more than happy to tell you about some of his incredible learning experiences he was able to gain this year. There have been funny moments to the point he was almost rolling on the floor laughing at/with his students, and then there were moments when he wanted to strangle some of the students (not really) and maybe even some of the faculty. Either way, this has been another small step in the trail of life that Darwin has approached and successfully defeated. One of the assistant principals told us today that he thinks Darwin has done phenomenal this year when compared to some other teachers in their first year of teaching. Congratulations, Darling! I'm soo proud of you!

Happy JUNE!!!

I have to say that June is absolutely my favorite month of the year!! It's probably because my birthday is this month (the 27th), as well as Darwin's (the 24th). June is just such a happy month, you can't help but enjoy the sunshine and an occasional water activity outside to cool down. June, to me, is also kind of the official start of summer because it's when school gets out (I was done in April, but Darwin finishes on Thursday, so summer really gets to start for us this week!! Yay!). Our summer is going to be completely crazy this year...you wanna see our schedule? Either way, here it is:

June 9, 10, 11: Darwin and I will be on a pioneer trek with our stake
June 13, 14: Darwin's 10 year high school reunion activities
June 16-20: Darwin will be in Park City all week for a conference for school
June 23-28: Darwin will be gone again for a basin and range field trip with BYU--and he's going to miss both of our birthdays :(
July 4: Independence Day Activities---we can't wait for the Hot Air Balloon Fest!!
July 8-29: We'll be in New York for 3 full weeks!! Yay!! Watch out NY....here come the Demings!!
July 30, 31 & Aug 1: Dar has a 3-day field trip in between 2 of our other trips
Aug 2-14: We go to Oregon with Dar's family for a crab fishing trip/vacation. Yay!
Aug 19: Dar has to be back at school
Aug 27: Fall semester starts for me

All in all, Darwin will be home for only about 3 1/2 total weeks of his entire summer! We definitely didn't intend for our summer to get this crazy, but we're totally looking forward to our fabulous Summer 2008 adventures!