Buried treasure, old friends, what we are 3/3 on, and family ties

I've been digging out the grass along the south and southwest corner of my yard next to the house to put in a big ol' flower bed. I don't like it when grass grows right up to the house (boring) so I've spent a crazy amount of time digging up the top layer of grass and making our garbage cans too heavy. The other day, I struck gold. Well green actually.

Could it be?

Why yes, yes it is the missing sprinkler valve box. On Friday Justin opened it up and there were 3 valves inside. That leaves one more box and 2 valves to find. :::sigh:::

It was under this much dirt and grass. We can't decide if it was intentionally covered up or just grown over in time. 

Justin helped me finish the south side on Friday so it is all clear. Next we grade it for proper drainage away from the house and I can plant as soon as the weather cools.

Check out the squash and pumpkin plants taking over the yard. I love it.

I finished up a much deliberated project in the basement. This half foundation wall that runs 2 of the 4 sides is a decorating challenge. I bought this cool tapestry of national and state parks but it is really a place holder for a new TV someday. Then I built some shelves to make the foundation wall less weird. 

I added some decor pieces I had in other parts of the house.  A few of these things are placeholders until I come across awesome stuff.

On Monday we had another friend gathering. This time it was for our friend Will and his family that have been living in Japan for a few years and back east for years before that. Will has been serving in the Marines since highschool and then in the JAG corps. I think it's been like 10 years since we've seen them.

We ate pizza from Nate and Kirsta's legit outdoor pizza oven and then talked and reminisced and played lawn games. Will is who I probably knew the best in high school out of all of Justin's friends. He, Ben, and I had French together junior year and it would have been the worst class because of the crazy angry teacher. But we stuck together and it was actually one of my favorite classes. We are still missing Dave in Minnesota and I haven't seen Randy in California for years either. Maybe someday we'll get all of them at the same time. (The same could be said for me and my friends. We're always missing at least one.)

Erica's front teeth are growing in crooked and behind her lower teeth so to the orthodontist we go.

Our orthodontist recommended a ramp put in behind her bottom teeth to coax those top teeth forward a bit. Henry had a similar problem at this age but his top teeth were farther back and more turned so he had full on braces. Erica didn't the braces (yet) and she was disappointed. I will take $400 over $1500 any day.

We go back after 2 weeks and see if it needs to be adjusted more or if the ramp can be removed. She has been handling not being able to chew like a champ. We are now 3 for 3 for orthodontia work. Just because Justin and I didn't need braces does not mean our kids will follow suit.

I'm going to get in trouble for posting this but only like 4 people read this so it's hardly considered social media. This is 3 of my 5 sisters and 2 of our 4 Syme cousins, David and Johnny. The 4 brothers of my uncle are all 12-17 years older than me so I didn't grow up with cousins on my dad's side. They were all off living their lives by the time I came along and I only saw them from time to time and had more in common with their little kids than them. My uncle has been in the hospital in Provo the past week so they have been stopping by my parents' house. Friday we finally got together. I loved hearing their stories of their jobs and travels. (Johnny lives in Ethiopia for his job with Boeing and David lived in Ghana for a time.) But I really loved hearing their memories of my dad when he was young and of our grandpa I never knew. Johnny next to me looks so much like my brothers. I feel like one of those people on tv that finds their long lost relatives.

Speaking of family resemblances....here's Justin's 6th grade picture. I think Henry inherited his hairline.

On Saturday I took the kids to Logan for the day to see my niece Jaana in town from DC. And since she was in town my nephew Peyton and his wife revealed the gender of their baby due in December. It's a boy! My other brother only has daughters so Peyton was our only hope for carrying on the Syme name. Good work. We are so excited for the first great-grand baby to join the family!

My two are the youngest grandkids so it's been awhile since we've had a baby in the family.

A trip to Logan always includes snowcones. It was raining when we got to the shack but Lisa still opened it up just for us. We could have as many as we wanted and try all the flavors!

I've decided I don't care so much what syrup I get as long as it has a scoop of ice cream in the bottom and an obscene amount of sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top.

From there we went to the county fair. The Cache County fair is much bigger than the Utah County fair by a longshot. They had rides and like 100 food vendors. My favorite part is always the animals. What's up with these sheep? Why do they look like dogs?

We found the pigeons but never did find the chickens.

We saw the pigs and sheep but never did find the cows which is too bad because cows are best. I think maybe they had already been auctioned off.

I'm pretty sure my kids' favorite part was playing in this stream that ran through the fair grounds. After this we got a funnel cake then we left to go get dinner. (I couldn't risk buying them each an $11 hamburger that they may or may not eat and they were not good enough sports to try any cool fair food.)

And then we went back to Matt's house for swimming and chatting by the pool.

The pictures looked like we had tons of fun all day long but in actuality it was pretty hard without Justin. Henry and James both whined to me and fought with each other just about every second. But I am happy I survived the day without (completely) losing my cool and I would endure more to see my Logan family.