North to Alaska!

The day before Erik left Provo to head back to Atlanta, we got to spend some time with his cousins, the Bankheads, who were in town to see their daughter off to the Missionary Training Center (MTC). Melissa ("Mo") has been called to serve a mission in Anchorage, Alaska! We are all excited for her. Her older sister, Elizabeth (Abigail's birthday "twin"), also served a mission--in Korea.

They treated us to a nice lunch on Tuesday, and we met up again Wednesday morning at the MTC (which was across the street from where we were living in Provo) to say our goodbyes. The above picture was taken on the lawn out in front. The proud parents, Phil and Rhonda, are in the middle with Abigail; the blondie is the now-official Sister (Mo) Bankhead, and the lovely brunette next to her is Elizabeth. We were delighted to be included in this special family occasion, and we're all proud of Melissa!

Here is Abigail sitting on Uncle Phil's lap. Phil is Erik's mom's brother, and it's so funny to be around him because he reminds me so much of her. He was thrilled with an opportunity to make Abby's grandma jealous, so he called her cell phone right there at the restaurant to rub it in that he was having the greatest time with her granddaughter. (She was too busy packing for her trip to Europe, however, to answer any phone calls from her pesky little brother!) She needn't have been too envious anyway; Phil had to bride Abby with his sunglasses to get her to sit in his lap!

Abigail looked really charming for the pictures....While we were waiting to meet up with the Bankheads, we noticed she was drooling dirt all over her clean shirt. We hadn't noticed her stick a big, muddy rock in her mouth a few moments before. I still haven't figured out why they're so appealing....

The Bankhead girls also invited me to an annual Tea Party hosted by Rhonda's mother and sisters in Lehi. Although I had an enormous term project due the next morning, I decided to crash the party and am so glad I did! I had a blast! The rules were that you had to wear a dress and a hat. Elizabeth was kind enough to lend me the latter, since I hadn't thought to bring any of my fancy tea party hats with me to Provo....

The party was "simply lovely." We had it outside in the backyard where we could enjoy their beautiful garden. We had some delicious finger-foods and then took turns playing croquet and bocce. I had never played either before but did surprisingly well at the first. For those who've never played, I'll try to briefly explain the game. The goal is to hit your ball through a series of several tiny metal loops. On each turn, you're allowed one hit (one attempt to get to and/or through the loop). However, if you hit another player's ball, you're allowed an additional hit OR you can choose to be really nasty and hit that player's ball as hard as you can (away from the playing field). I was the first to make it through all the loops but decided to then continue with the "poison" variation of the game, where the first person through all the loops (as well as succeeding players who make it through) then goes back and tries to hit other players' balls to "poison" them and get them out of the game. The catch is that he/she cannot go under any of the loops or get "poisoned" by any other balls that have made it through all the loops.

My ball soon became the terror of the lawn until I'd killed everybody off except one other girl who had also made it through all the loops. In the end, I missed her ball by a hair and thus presented myself on a silver platter to her stick. Oh, well. I had a lot of fun!

"The Terror" up to bat--Just a little side note here: I thought it was funny that Phil seemed the most animated at this party (did I mention he was the only guy?). He was the one instructing everyone on how to play the game....more specifically, how to play the game ruthlessly. I was an attentive student....Here he is coaching from the sidelines: "Now whack that blue ball right next to you! Whack it as hard as you can!"

Looking very unladylike

With Melissa and Elizabeth -- Elizabeth outshined us all in her party getup. The picture doesn't do justice to the splendid dress she had on. (ah, the wonderful things you can get at DI)