Haircut

So, at 2 1/2, Rachel still has almost no hair whatsoever, but the little hair she did have was growing in as a mullet. She had her first haircut this week to allow the sides and top some time to catch up with the back of her head:

Bye-Bye Nissan

We decided to give Nissan to the animal shelter. First, it is apparently illegal to harbor stray animals, so either way, we had to take her there. Surprisingly, it was difficult for us to figure out if we wanted to keep her or not. She was so cute and is a living thing. It was hard to know that this living thing would be locked up in a cage. However, we had our concerns for keeping her too. Since we live in a condo, the litter was messy. Also, she had sharp claws and scratched Rachel once which made Rachel no longer interested in her. Then, I thought about hair everywhere. She had short hair, but thinking about the mess I would have to clean up all the time was not an attractive feature. Mostly, though, a pet is a lot of work, and we are just too busy to be able to care for an animal in the best manner.
It was fun to have her for a while. It did change they dynamics of our family which was interesting. We can still change our minds and adopt her back in 11 days, but I really don't think that we have the time to deal with a pet. Besides, we really wanted a dog. I don't think we are cat people.

Not according to plan....

I'm still not sure what went wrong, but we went out tonight to buy this Dodge Dakota:

....and instead came home with this:

Jr. Gardener

Milkis!!!

A few of you will recognize what these are and understand how excited I was to find that there is a Korean market around the corner from my office that sells them:

**and because I know you can't read the text on the packages, they say "New feeling of soda beverage" and "Fill your mouth with a pleasure of rich chocolate flavor everyday."
It's good to see that they've still got the same nonsensical English slogans that I remembered.

Hooray for you!!!!

Air Show

We went to the airshow at Hill AFB this morning. They had skydivers, air demonsrations, planes you could go inside and $4 hot dogs.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We went to the open house at the new temple in S. Jordan tonight. It was very cool and a very beautiful temple:
If you're interested in a new home at Daybreak within walking distance of the temple, we can recommend a great builder (wink, wink):

We also went and saw UP. Rachel liked it a lot.

Where were we then???

Wow, we're getting really bad at actually remembering to do these posts each month, but the wait is over!! Here goes:

Tyler (in Ussuriysk, Russia)
05 June, 2004
We had a good day today. We got dogged on a few appointments, which wasn't much fun, but whatever. Tonight we stopped by the Cluffs to rest for a minute between appointments. We talked for a few minutes, got drinks and headed back out. They provide great support to the elders in the district. They were supposed to go to Nakhodka to do an Institute of Religion training, but found out that the Institute teacher there quit the to church, so there wasn't much point in going. Earlier we went with them to the phone company to translate for them and help them order a pre-paid phone call to Berlin. They found out this morning that they are going to a CES training in Moscow later this month and had to call someone in Berlin for more info. In Russia, even something as simple as making an international phone call can be difficult. I also did a baptismal interview with Vanya. His whole family joined the church about a year ago, but he got hit by a car and is now paralyzed. Its been a tough year for him and for his family, but he is finally getting baptised on Sunday.

We were also supposed to have a meeting today with Vadim all the way out in Mezhdurechje, but he wasn't home. Since we were in the area, we decided to stop by Margarita who is a great new member of the branch who lives out there. We were tired, very hot and sweaty (It was 27 degrees (80 F) today and super humid) and getting frustrated and cranky. Also, we were sort of freaked out because Mezhdurechje is where most of the town serial killer's victims have been found and they still haven't caught him. Anyway, just being there with her and her daughter and talking with them made me feel great. The church is true, and Margarita is happy because she knows about it. It made me really excited to get out and share the gospel with others.

I'm hoping that we get a lot of people at church tomorrow for a good fast/testimony meeting. Hopefully it won't be so hot and muggy either. Maybe it will even rain and people will go to church instead of their dachas.

*** Speaking of Dachas, I hated them on my mission because everybody spent their summer weekends there and wouldn't come to church, but now that I'm a grown-up living in a condo, I'd love to have a Dacha (a little house and garden in the country) to enjoy time away from the city during the summer.***

Vanya and his parents on his baptism day:

(Don't be alarmed about their expressions; in general, Russians rarely smile in family photos)

Here we are waiting for a bus or something. I honestly don't recall what was going on, I just don't have many digital pictures from Ussuriysk and this was all I could find.

Tori (in Aruba)
04 de Junio, 2004
Raul Garcia is getting baptised today! I'm excited! He has waited four long weeks, what testimony and faith. He is a normal, goofy 14 year old boy but is special and I just love him. Jose is coming along. He is 18 and his family is all inactive (most of the members here are) He really has to be sure because he has such bad examples all around him. Cesar and Ismael are doing well too. They are both excited to receive the priesthood. The work is great and the members are getting excited. We are also knocking on doors a lot which stinks, but I know the Lord loves me and is teaching me endurance and diligence. I love my Heavenly Father!