Cameron's New Pet

Those of you who know me well would know that I had a near heart-attack when I met Cameron's new pet.

This little (or should I say BIG) guy made his home right off of the side of our front porch. I have an EXTREME fear of spiders. I really hate them. Yes, I know "hate" is a very strong and not a very nice word...which is why I feel perfectly okay using it in this situation. :) This has got to be the LARGEST spider (and I mean THE LARGEST) I have ever seen (besides a tarantula). As you can see, it's as big as a plank of our siding. It's easily as big as the palm of my hand. I immediately started to tell Cam to kill it but he was too busy playing with it.

Now, in Utah the only thing I really had to deal with was the Black Widow...which I found them quite often making their sticky little homes on the stairs in my parents garage. I avoided going down those stairs like the plague. I use to dread the Christmas season because I KNEW that meant many a trip up and down those stairs carrying box after box of my mother's ENDLESS supply of Christmas decorations. By the way Mom, who does that now that I live in Missouri???

Anyway back to the subject....now that I live here in "Misery" I not only have Black Widows to worry about, but also tarantulas and the VERY scary Brown Recluse (which are VERY common here).

Side note: Last year I was walking off of the Showboat after work and Cameron and I walked around a corner and I almost stepped on a HUGE tarantula....traumatic experience.

My other "side note": A lady that we worked with on the Showboat was just sitting at her desk in her office and was bit by a brown recluse numerous times. She's now completely blind in her left eye.

I'm starting to think: "What in the world was Heavenly Father thinking about when he chose Missouri?"

Anyway, back to our new "pet." I, being the paranoid person that I am, immediately ran into the house and Googled this spider. I was SO incredibly happy to learn that it's a Yellow Garden Spider and COMPLETELY harmless. Ever since I learned this bit of material, we have co-existed together in (or on) the same house for almost a month now. Family: You should be so proud of me. This little guy has brought such a fascination of spiders into my life. Amazing isn't it? I find myself watching him quite often. I've also found myself joining in on Cameron's fun of finding a grasshopper or katydid and throwing them to the mercy of the UNmerciful black and yellow spider. It's so interesting to watch him move so quickly. Wrapping and wrapping and wrapping that web so quickly and efficiently. It always reminds me of Frodo and that HUGE spider (for you Lord of the Rings fans).

He has the most amazing and most beautiful web I think I've ever seen. Kind of like Charlotte's web. It's so amazing to see at the end of the day the imperfections and signs of battle and war that have occurred on that web throughout the day. Then, come morning, the web is once again restored to it's perfect and beautiful state. It has made me think of this thing that I've feared my entire life and what beauty has come from such a scary and intimidating creepy-crawley. But, it also makes me think of the many imperfections and battles that have occurred in my own life. I'm grateful for the Atonement in my life. I love knowing that my imperfections will be made whole by the time the "morning" rolls around. Can you tell I teach Sunday School? :)

This is just a cute picture I took this morning. Kashton's favorite toy lately is his feet. He's also officially 5 months old now (as of yesterday!).