On Tuesday this week, I, with some girls in my ward, had a Jan Terri party. I was the only male who showed up. We wore ridiculous clothes and listened to some Jan Terri. Then we took my framed Jan Terri picture and went to the park, where we took pictures with it/her. It was really random, but fun.
Then on Wednesday night, after classes, I drove home because my brother's family was in town. I was really excited to see my nephews, whom I hadn't seen since January. Preston is 7, Franklin is 4, and Baby (whose real name is Nathaniel) is 2. All of them seemed a little less shy around me this time around. I was able to spend time with them that night and most of the next day at my cousin Jesse's wedding. I think I spent the most time with Baby; he seemed most open to me. Six months ago he would pretend to speak by going "Wehhh" all the time. He doesn't do that now because he actually talks, although he leaves off a lot of consonants. There's something hilariously adorable about a two-year-old who hisses at his mom when he's mad, insists on running on the treadmill, and hand-feeds you the pepperoni from off the top of his pizza (after he's already put it in his mouth). When we were leaving the wedding, Franklin randomly said to me, "Uncle Mark, do you like Dr. Pepper?" His four-year-old speech made it sound like "Doctah Peppah." He had probably had that conversation with my cousins and decided to ask me. He told me he didn't like it. Preston told us he had had beer before. I certainly hope that's not true...
I was the best man at my cousin's wedding, which didn't really mean much except that I stood at the front with the other groomsmen and gave my cousin the rings. We groomsmen also were among the people who had to remain outside in the June heat to take pictures. My cousin Peter got a ministerial license from the internet, so he married them, which was a bit odd. I actually ate wedding foods that I otherwise wouldn't eat, such as chocolate-dipped strawberries, cupcakes, and candy.
There has been an incredible amount of wildfires lately, so much that it's been very smoky here in Provo, and ash has fallen. I don't recall ever seeing so much smoke or hearing of so many wildfires. Even the basement of the JFSB smelled of smoke on Friday morning.
Yesterday was one of the most productive Saturdays I've had in a while. I took a Book of Mormon test in the morning. I got an 88 on the multiple choice part, but I don't know about the essay part--hopefully this professor is more lenient (or more reasonable) than my history class. Then I practiced the piano briefly on campus. On my way home I pulled up my second goat head plant for the week, the other being at my cousin's wedding. Goat heads are an evil invasive species that caused me much grief on my mission. I would like to eradicate them. (You can read about them here; but be warned that there are some adult themes in the article, as the plant can be used as an aphrodisiac--which is just more proof that they are a plant of the devil.) I cleared out some dust from our laundry room and found an electronic hotel room key. I studied French for three hours and then I finished the Book of Mormon for my Book of Mormon class.
I got to bed early and had some weird dream that I can't remember. At 3:00 a book fell off of my roommate Bryton's dresser and woke me up. I looked over at his bed and noticed he wasn't there. Then I checked the time and went out to the living room to see if he had fallen asleep there. He was there, but he hadn't fallen asleep. He is the elders quorum president and he was preparing the lesson for today. He ended up only getting 45 minutes of sleep for the entire night because he spent so much time preparing. He's a better person than I am, because I would have said, "Forget this, I'm going to bed!" I was appreciative that he chose a topic relevant to the Fourth of July. I'm excited for the holiday--but I'm sad for it to be over, because most of July and all of August is the most terrible time of the year.
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