What a Difference Ten Years Makes (copycat post)

Last month, Mindy did a blog post about how much

her life has changed in the last five years.

As I read her post, I thought about how my life has

changed in the last five years - and came to the

conclusion that it's pretty much the same.

I live in the same place, and with the same wonderful

people, only there are twice as many of them now.

But 10 years ago, my life was VERY different.
I was getting ready for my last semester at BYU,
and I hadn't even met John.
I thought I'd share some memories from the
summer of 1999, and although this post won't be as witty
as Mindy's post, it also shouldn't be as long.
(Because I have neither the time, nor the talent
to produce a post equal to one of Mindy's masterpieces.)

Ten years ago I spent my last summer at Home.
Our family tradition was to watch the fireworks
down by the river on the 4th of July.
I took this photo of the Temple there while we waited for the fireworks.
Incidentally, the stroller in the foreground belonged
to my friend, Julie. She gave it to me when Bentley was born,
and I used it until it fell apart. The poor stroller
was totally unaware at this point of it's eventual fate.

Ten years ago, I spent my days "working" here with Mindy:

One of the Best. Jobs. Ever.
I got to spend almost every day sitting on a mower
and listening to music (I wish we'd had MP3 players back then).
The cemetery was old (for Idaho) and beautiful.
These days, John mows the lawn with our push mower,
or we pay some local boys to do it for us.

This year, I went to our Ward Bike Parade
and took pictures of Bentley, Maxwell, and Jonah.
Ten years ago, I went to my Ward's 24th of July Bike Parade.
I didn't have children yet, so I took pictures of
my Dad (in the duck hat),
Greg, (with the shades), and Mikey (cowboy hat).

These days, I get to hold babies as much as I like.
Ten years ago, I occasionally got to hold babies,
but they weren't my own.
These babies belong to my friend, Julie.
That summer, my Mom and I moved Mindy
into her first apartment at ISU.
(This was before her mission, but after her run-ins with
her arch enemy, the President of Ricks College.)

The job Mindy and I had at the cemetery was pretty sweet,
but Warren's job at the skating rink was a close second.
I don't remember if he let us in free or not,
but it was pretty fun to visit him at work, regardless.

The highlight of our summer might have been the day
that we found this thing in driveway next door.

Warren decided to trap it. Notice that he has bare feet,
and he's using a laundry basket.
He's really lucky that he didn't lose a toe.
That thing was snappy.

That plan didn't work, but he eventually caught the
thing (Warren, what WAS it?), and called
animal control. Then, the news showed up to
interview Warren and his friends.

Maybe while the news guy was at our house, he
should have gotten a photo of this fashion statement:

Did Spencer know how to dress, or what?
If he'd been around more that summer, I might
have had more photos to choose from,
and wouldn't have had to post this one. :)

Ten years later, I'm married with five kids,
Mindy is on her way to world domination,
Warren is married and and working at a bank
(instead of trapping animals for a living).
Spencer is married, and he's the kid who ruins the
curve in most of his classes at Canisius.
Mikey just got home from Brazil and is on his
way to BYU to play in the Marching Band,
and Greg is in Portugal, beginning a two year mission.

What a difference 10 years makes!