I've always imagined my idyllic future home to be a bit off the beaten path (though not too far from my neighborhood Trader Joe's), with enough land to feel sequestered and peaceful. I did not, however, think I'd be the kind to enjoy having chickens or other farm animals. After this weekend with some of Brett's family, I feel differently.
Brett's aunt and uncle have a good bit of land around their home, some of which is dedicated to a bunch of chickens, ducks, geese, two wild bunnies, and a "jungle kitty" - Brett's name for outdoor kitties. Their middle-school-aged son, Robbie, shows his chickens at contests and has won a number of prizes, not to mention being well-versed when it comes to knowing all there is to know about his animals. We spent the better part of the evening trying to catch and hold anything that wouldn't scurry too quickly. Brett was even able to catch a duck, though Robbie had informed him he would be unable given their speed. Abandoning every caution for the kemptness of his clothing, he dove into a pile of chicken poop and caught the reluctant duck. I found I loved Jungle Kitty and geese and duckies and bunnies and chickees and want them all someday. 
[Brett:chicken as Rafiki:Simba]
We also visited Brett's dad's family, including two wonderfully adorable 4-year old twins, one of whom had a special crush on Mowlex and would take every opportunity to hang around her. While I was taking a nap on the couch, this same child came within 1 inch of my face and grinningly yelled, "LOOK AT MY FACE!" There are worse ways to wake up, given how cute they both are. 
Overall, we had a lovely weekend filled with viciously competitive road games (finding the ABCs in particular) and family time, with a perfect ending: an indulgent dinner at Red Robin, complete with chocolate malt shakes.
But fall is here now, and this autumn smells like work and change. It was a bountiful summer.
This is a short blog, only to recommend the film "The Visitor." Maybe Brett and I are late on the ball and you all have already enjoyed this film, but we just got to it, and were absolutely thrilled by it. I'm no articulate film critic, so I'll just let you know it's worth the investment. If any of you have recently seen films/read books of good report, please feel free to leave a note of them to me! I am always eager to eat up new material.
Memorial Day Weekend this year was excellent. Some friends from Provo were visiting, and our whole gang took to the Silver Falls for a scenic hike and some occasional frisbee.
(Brett surprised me with this sign after my last day of school)
Even though I still don't have my diploma from BYU because of a minor administrative error by some faculty in my department (I should receive it come August), I have some form of proof that I indeed graduated:
Here is some more "proof" of the happy weekend, following which are posted some photos of the newest member of our family:
And now presenting our new member: a mint Baldwin organ! One of our dear friends found this organ (complete with pedals and drum machine, see pic) on Craigslist under the "Free" section. We picked it up from a retirement home that just needed to get rid of it. We were happy to take this gem off their hands, although it took Brett, Matt, Cam, and Carl to get in our living room given its 600-lb-ish weight. It's beautiful, plays perfectly, and very handy now that I am the fill-in organist for our ward:
Next post on all the happenings in our dear Portland since!
I couldn't have asked for a better 24th birthday, which was like a daylong date with my best friend. Brett made me a cherry chip cake, complete with edible decorative stars and vanilla icing, which we eagerly devoured. This evening we spent milking my birthday for all of its privileges, i.e. free fried ice cream with our meal at Los Hermanos (which they kindly gave me sans employee singing), free frozen yogurt from Yoasis, and a free show! In addition, today we celebrated two other huge events, 1) selling our apartment contract and 2) securing housing in Portland next to our friends. We are relieved, to say the least, and very grateful. And I thank my family and friends for all of the nice messages.
Just a few more weeks until Portland! AH!
