2016! Week 28(July 11-15)

 I finished up my PTA books this week so that I could turn them over to the new treasurer.  That was a joyful day.  We traded audits with another school.  You have to have a CPA do the audit so Jeff did theirs and they did mine.  It was nice to get it back and have it show my books were correct.  It was a huge stuggle for me mathmatically all year to keep them correct.

I've been walking with my friend Amee three days a week.  She is so awesome and I love chatting with her.  I grew up with one of her best friends who was my best friend back in elementary school. Saw a family of ducks on the way home. 

We spent an evening at Lagoon.  We picked Jeff up after work and stayed until it closed.  It was a beautiful night.  The lines were short which was awesome.  On the Chinese dragon ride there was a family in front of us with three small children.  I thought I heard the ride attendant that they wouldn't be able to ride because all of their kids needed to be sitting with an adult so I asked them if they wanted me to ride with one of them.  They said sure.  My kids were morified that I would do that and certain that the family thought I was going to kidnap their child.  When it was our turn I sat next to their daughter and it turned out that she had ridden the ride before that day and actually didn't need an adult.  She was so cute and told me how her favoroite color is pink.  When we got done I went to find my family and Ashney asked if I had scared the little girl and if her parents thought I was a stalker. 

Brigit and I also took Lela to lunch for her birthday.  She is 92.  We got her a gift card to Seagull Book and took her there after a yummy lunch at the Amber restauruant.  She got some really great books and clothes.  The Seagull Store in Spanish Fork is amazing and has so many awesome things.  We had a great time and were sad to have to leave.  

We went to see Tarzan in the theater.  Jeff has some friends that see movies weekly so he asked them what they thought of Tarzan.. They told him it was so boring and that they had both fallen asleep so I had pretty low expectations.  Boy were they wrong.  It was amazing!  A cinematic masterpiece in my opinion.  The story was rivieting and inspiring and thought provoking.  By the end I was sobbing.  I loved every second of this film.  Afterward we ran into my visiting teacher and her kids who had seen it too and they were surprised that it had effected me so deeply.  They had enjoyed it but not as much as me.  I have a habit of letting myself get really involved in a movie and blurring the line between reality and fiction.  This movie struck a huge chord with me.  I'm sure most people will think I am crazy but  I loved it and would see it again in a heart beat.  They took this picture of me afterward.

 The rest of the week was spent doing laundry, googling directions, buying snacks and activities all in anticipation of our upcoming summer road trip that weekend.  We are going to Nauvoo to see Jeff's parents who are serving a temple mission.  On the way we are stopping in Denver to see my 96 year old grandma and on the way home stopping in Chicago to see Scott and Malia and 

finally get to hold baby Ruby. 

2016! Week 27

Monday was the 4th like I talked about last week- but in addition to the festivities we also had to spend a good part of the morning finishing up the last few preparations for Ashtyn's departure to girls camp the next day.  She is a 4th year so she had to go up a day early on a back packing over night.  We have the crappiest camping gear so I had asked my mom if we could borrow her old back packing pack.  Ashtyn refused to use it and said it was too old fashioned and bulky.  So we used another pack we have that only has one pocket so we had to shove everything in together.  It didn't have a frame or hip straps for support so I was worried that it would be cumbersome for her.  Especially because it's only suppose to weigh 1/4 of your body weight and since she is only 80 lbs that was impossible.  She was so anxious for this trip.  She nearly had a nervous breakdown on Tuesday right before she was suppose to leave.  She doesn't do well with any type of new experience and it was going to be hard and uncomfortable.  We prayed and prayed together that she would feel calm and be able to do it.  When we got to the church she was fine.  She told me goodbye and off she went.  It was so exhausting mentally and physically getting her ready that I went home and crashed.  That night I woke up around 2 AM worring about her and if she was doing ok and if she was warm enough etc.  I prayed and prayed for her all night and could not fall back asleep.  I found out after she got home on Saturday that she had become really sick in the middle of the night that first night and was throwing up all night.  She said she was scared and crying and that they had talked about letting her call home so we could come and pick her up.  I know now that that was the reason I woke up.  The spirit woke me up so that I could pray for her and be aware of her needs- even if it wasn't clear at the time.  I know she was able to stay in part because her mothers prayers were heard.  It was a tender mercy for me and her that I was able to suffer and mourn with her in a sense.  I know she got sick from being dehydrated.  She had more than enough water but she is so tiny that she gets dehydrated really easily and carrying a heavy pack in the heat was just too much.

The next day was Whitney's turn to leave so we had another morning of packing.  Her's was way easier and she did most of it herself.

Wednesday night for young men's Ethan went to the temple.  

I love love that we can all go to the temple.

Thursday I got my hair done.  It had been way too long so it felt great to get it cut.  I always say I am going to cut it all off.  Espeically in the summer when it's so hot- but short hair is way harder to maintain so I always change my mind.  My hair dresser lives right by Jeff's grandparents home so I stopped by for a visit.  I adore them!  Grandpa slept almost the whole time.  He looks older and older every time I see him.  Not sure how much longer he will be around so I try to see them as often as we can.  At one point he sat up and grabbed a letter that was by him and started reading it.  Grandma told me that it was from Donald Trump asking for money for his campaign.  I don't know why he needs money when he is probably one of the richest Americans, but anyways I said grandpa is that your letter from Donald Trump?  He said that's my name.  I said what's your name and he said my name is Donald Trump, Donald Pearson Trump.  He said most people don't call me that but it's my name.  I was laughing so hard.  He kept insisting that his name was Trump so I said are you running for President?  He said no it's just my name.

Friday night.  We went to Topgolf with some of our neighbors.  It was really fun.  My hands were sore at the end from hitting so many balls.  We also had dinner there.  The food is yummy- but so much of it is spicy so I just ordered a spinich and goat cheese salad.  It was great but made my stomach hurt.  Pretty much any time I eat out my stomach hurts.  Food has always been somewhat of an enemy to me.  I can't ever figure out exactly what gives me problems because it's never the same things.  Afterward we went to the new Nielsen's custard that just opened by our house. 

It was a fun night.

Saturday my girlies returned home from camp.  I've taken to calling them Ashney because it's easier then saying the girls.  I really did miss them.  They had a blast.  That is when Ashtyn told me about throwing up.  I felt so bad- she is such a strong girl and keeps going even when things get hard.  Several of the leaders told me that Ashtyn bore an amazing testimony- they call her a spiritual giant.  I have felt that about her too- she does have a speical love of the 

Lord and understanding of spiritual things.

Saturday was also miss Whitney's birthday.  She is 14.  She is so beautiful.  She has become a lot more independant this year.  We adore her.  She is smart and kind and sweet.  She helps me when I need her to.  She is a loyal friend.  She is a great asset to our family and I love that she and Ashtyn can be so close.  She was so tired from camp that all she wanted to do was open presents and have her cake then wanted to sleep most of the day.  We will celebrate more next week.  

Here is more Ruby cuteness.  She really is a darling baby and it's only two more weeks till we get to meet her and hold her and spoil her.  I realized that when Corban was born I was so excited for his mom and dad to finally get to experience parenthood after waiting for so long- that I held back my affections for him so I wouldn't take any special moments from them.  I didn't go over as often as I wanted to or pick him up and hold him -when every time I saw him I was dying to cuddle him.  That was a warped point of view because I know they loved when people doted over him so I totally regret not taking advantage of his baby cuteness.  I will not be making the same mistake with Ruby.  My girls are going to have to fight me to hold her- ha ha.  It's probably good that her family lives out of state or I might have been camped out on their couch for the next year.

  

Jeff spent the whole day trying to get our drip lines going on our new plants.  He was unsucceful and will probably have to hire a professional to help us.  

One of the lines is blocked and we don't know why.  

Over all it was a pretty slow week with out the teenagers being here.

2016! Week 26

Ian offered to give the kids a piano/organ lesson and we jumped at the chance.  He is so talented at music and I would love for that to rub off on my kids.  We talked a lot about what it takes to become great at music and why some people do and some don't.  We decided it came down to a few things.  You have to be inspired at a young age.  You have to be exposed to great music- not just on the radio but at concerts, plays, symphonies, etc. You have to find music that is fun to play- if you aren't playing fun music that you want to learn you won't be motivated to keep practicing.  You have to be surrounded my musical instruments that you can pick up and play at will.  I think music is super important and I'm trying to get my kids involved in these things as much as possible.  

Wouldn't it be cool to have a family band?  Someday maybe.

He took us to his old ward house.  It was built in 1873 and is the only original chapel left in the city.  It was so cool.  I am in love with old buildings so it was so fun to get a tour.  

Ethan got to play his Star Wars song on the organ.  He loved it.  He wouldn't stop until he played the whole thing.  He talked about the organ the whole way home.  

This was the old safe they would use to keep the tithing money.  It was in the sunbeams classroom so we joked that they used it as a "chokey" when the kids were naughty.  Ha Ha.

I loved that there were fireplaces in some of the rooms.

Afterwards he took us to the Gilgal Gardens for a quick tour.  

We need to go back and see everything in detail.

The last day of school finally arrived.  I had mixed emotions.  The day before I took flowers to all the secretaries and the principal to thank them for all they have done for our family.  We have been going to this school for seven years.  I have been here at least once a week for the whole time as well so it is going to be so strange to not have any children in elementary.  It makes me a little sad.  

I was in charge of the 6th grade graduation party this year and we chose to do a luau.  We had my friend Steve Ames be the DJ, one mom made palm trees out of carpet rolls, there was a photo booth, tiki hut where we served slushes from Sonic, gave each child a lei when they came it, we held a prize drawing every 15 minutes, we danced, played games like musical chairs, hula hoop and the limbo.  We also made each child a memory book to take around and sign.  It turned out awesome.  I had so much help so it was easy!  

Here is Ethan with his english teacher Mr. Riquino.  He was also Ethan's 5th grade teacher.

Ethan and his frineds Alex and Zander.

Ethan and his friend Kolton and Brogen.

These are the kids Ethan has been with for the last six years.  We love all of them so much.  They are a great group of kids and I'm excited for them to spread their wings and fly in Jr. High. Front Row(left to right): Aaron, David, Ayvri, Sophie, Abby.  Middle Row: Kolton, Conner, Jesse, Ryan, Jamin, Brendan, Trisha, Lily, Emri, Maren, Cameron, Gabe. Back Row: Chase, Julia, Nicole, Ethan, Audrey, Alex and Zander

These guys have been our carpool.  They will never be in the same school again.  Ethan and Ayvri will be moving on to Jr. High.  We will miss them!

Friday night our friends and old neighbors- Craig and Tamilisa Miner were the act for the Brigham Young Concert in the park series.  There is a free concert from a local artist every Tuesday and Friday all summer long.  We adore these guys so we had to go.  Craig is one of the founding members of Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band.  He makes all of his own instruments.  They are both super talented and sound amazing together.  I could listen to them all day.  They play blue grass music.  We invited Kristy and the kids to come as well. It was a great time and perfect night.

Jeff hates my selfie obsession- ha ha.

Afterwards we walked to the temple.

Sunday night my family came over.  Some of the girls wanted to take a walk so I took 

them to my special tree.

Ryan, Ashtyn and I decided to test out the rope swing.  It was awesome.

Something about wearing a skirt makes me so brave.

Regan found a dead, stiff snake on the way back and picked it up.  There are not enough skirts in the world to make me brave enough to do that.

When we got back we went outside for a small fireworks show.  

Our neighbors had some too so we combined.

Monday was the actual 4th so I am going to include it in this weeks post.

We always go to the Holladay fireworks show.  First we go to Wendy's and eat and then we go to the park and play.  There is a nice river for skipping rocks.
 This year we invited Melinda's family to join us.

Then we headed over to the park to get a spot.  Peter Breinholt is a Holladay resident and puts on a great concert before the show.

These girls are so dang cute!

Brody and Ethan combined their glow sticks into a giant circle.

The fireworks never dissapoint.  It's one of the best shows in the valley.  We loved every minute! A few days before there was a video about the history of the Star Spangled Banner song and so it made me emotional thinking about all of those people willing to lose their life so that the flag would stay flying.  We are a truly blessed nation to have all of the freedoms we do.  God bless America!