2022- Week 25 (Jun 20- Jun 26)

 We trimmed back the snowball bush. It was really over grown.

Malia and I got together to finish planning the Amazing Race game for our upcoming family vacation. When we were done we grabbed food at Tony Burgers. Wow what amazing food. One of the best burgers and fries I have had- also one of the most expensive.

The young women went to camp this week and Jeff and I were invited to come up on the last night for the testimony meeting and closing dinner and fireside. We brought donuts from Harmons. The theme this year was Crossing the Sea with Christ. They talked about how Christ can help the girls carry their trials. Each night they asked a few girls to share some of the trails they had gone through that year. It was powerful. Then President Miller spoke about holding fast to the rope with Christ. The testimony meeting was wonderful. What amazing young women we have. A few of them got up multiple times to add to what they had already said so it went a bit long but it was spirit filled and powerful. I forgot how amazing the stars look from the mountains and how quiet it is. We smelled like smoke for days afterwards. I am so glad I got to be part of it. Then Jeff and I had to drive home. We didn't get there until 1:30 AM- Yikes!

Melinda invited us to go with them to Taylorsville Days. We got there about five so we were able to get a really good place to sit and watch the fireworks. We brought pizza for dinner and then Melinda and I took the kids around to the carnival.  Ethan and Brody went and rode rides together. It was hot- really hot. I took Bronson to get a snowcone. He told me he wanted a blue one. So every time the man made a blue one he said "He's making my snowcone" The band Abbacadabra played some awesome music. This is one of the best firework shows we have been too. I'm glad Jeff was a good sport about going. He hates carnivals. It was a fun night.

2022- Week 24(Jun 13- Jun 19)

I went to lunch with Amanda Luker and Shanda Blake to catch up and see how Shanda was doing. It has been one year since Ammon died. I hate that we don't get together anymore with the bud couples since there are a few that are or are getting divorced. I love these girls. We are going to plan a trip together for next year.

Ethan got his visa paper work request so we have been working hard to gather all the things he will need. I had to have Brienne help me do a photo of him so that I could take it to a photo lab and have them resize it. It was not a normal passport size. 

Wendys is now selling a strawberry frosty. All my dreams have come true!!
I got Tate a little flower arrangement for Pride Month this year. He wasn't in the office so hopefully the flowers are not dead when he gets back. I also wore my pride shirt.

Kim took Traci and I to a work lunch at Ruths Diner. It was so good! I had a salad. It was fun to catch up with them.

Whitney and I went to dinner for a girls night while Jeff and Ethan were gone to AP camp and Ashtyn was out of town at a wedding.

Aaronic Priesthood camp was in Flaming Gorge this year. They let Ethan go one more time even though he is now an elder. They had a blast.

Ashtyn went up to Idaho to a wedding for one of her comps.

This week was Fathers Day. I made Jeff ribs, potatoes and salad for dinner on Sunday. I also made a homemade strawberry pie. Why don't I make these more- they are so so good!

I decided to try making real sour dough bread for dinner. It takes a few days to get enough starter and then do all of the stretching, kneading and rising. It was a lot of work. I borrowed Trendas cast iron dutch oven. Everything was going well- they didn't rise perfectly but they looked good and I was finally ready to bake them. You have to preheat the dutch oven. I pulled it out of the oven to put the first loaf in and without even thinking I grabbed the lid with my bare hand and burned my thumb and first two fingers and side of my hand. It hurt like heck. After running it under cool water for a few minutes I immediately put burn jel all over it and let it sit for a few hours. It ended up blistering but not as much as I expected. I am a big big believer in burn jel. It did hurt so much and I had to sleep with a cold rag that took the edge off the pain. The next day it felt so much better but I do have a burn blister now. 

2022- Week 23(Jun 6- Jun 12)

I have done a few fires by myself. I have decided that I can't wait for anyone else to make me happy. If I want to do a fire then I just do one and usually when I do everyone else trickles out.

Lindsey is doing as well as can be expected with her cancer treatments and she has the very best attitude.

Ethan got his temple recommend to receive his endowment.

I've started something new called Summer Nights in my neighborhood. Every Thursday I sit out in front of my house and the whole street is invited to join me. This was our first night. The Sims came, Leslie came and Aleah came with Zaylee.

This time of year we get lots of duck couples taking up residence in the neighborhood.

Crystal and I went and worked at the Gail Miller Resource Center feeding the homeless for a welfare assignment.

Jeff and the kids went to see the new Jurassic Park movie for a work party

We took all the Activity Day kids to This is the Place. This year we had 27 kids and 11 adults. Our boys are so fun. We got a new boy named James that joined us. It was mountain man day at the park so we got to meet some real mountain men. We panned for gold, rode the mini train, made bracelets at the NAV, weighed our gold at the bank, went to the barber shop, ate lunch, saw the animals, pulled handcarts, met the mountain men, got donuts and ice cream and then headed for home.

Ethan and Porter went through the temple on Saturday night. The session was at 7:40 PM. From my family my mom and Liz and Jeremy came and from Jeff's family everyone was there except for Paul and Kellie. It was amazing! It was awesome that Ashtyn could be there as well and I can't wait until the day that Whitney can join us. We also ran into Jonah Black who is the son of one of my coworkers. He was also receiving his endowment in a session before us.

Jeff turned 46 on Sunday. We had all the Activity Day kids sign a little star and we hung them on his office door. I also filled his office with a few balloons and cinnamon rolls for him to eat for his meeting with chocolate milk in the fridge. He is our everything! I love his birthday because it's the only day he really lets me go all out and celebrate him. He is the most patient, hard working, strong, spiritual and amazing man. I am so lucky that he has been mine for 24 of those years.

Sunday night was Shaw family dinner. Tom made ribs and I stayed up till really late on Saturday night making chocolate cake. I also taught Relief Society on Sunday about Elder Hollands talk- Fear Not. Ashtyn told me I cried a lot. I think some of that was the spirit and some of that was how tired I was ha ha. It was also the first time that the new people from the 5th ward portion we got were joining us. 

2022- Week 22(May 30- Jun 5)

When the kids were little we use to go on "Family Dates" where every person got to choose an activity and we would do them all so Monday we decided to do one. First we went to Smiths and let everyone choose something to buy for $7. I had some Smith's gift cards that we used so this was free. Next we headed to Barnes and Noble and checked out the books. We love to read so the bookstore is a favorite place. We purchased a game- Forbidden Desert to play later. Then we drove downtown to Jeff's office and grabbed dinner from PF Changs on the way and ate it at his work. He had a gift card that his work had given him so this was free as well. We ate like kings, there was so much food! Then we came home and watched the movie and played the new game then got fries and ice cream from McDonalds to end the night.

One of the items I bought was a quince. It is a fruit that you have to cook- it is gross and I will never buy one again ha ha. 

Our family finally got to see the new Top Gun movie. It did not disappoint! I loved every second. The girls have seen it three times. Tom Cruise is one of the greatest actors of all time.

Paris and Marseille are thriving so I decided to try making Ambers Kitchen Sourdough Sandwich loaf that Malia recommended. It turned out so good but I didn't love the slight sour taste. It was also a bit frustrating to me to have to take care of my starters every day and I was complaining about it to Paige and she told me to not let flour and water ruin my life ha ha. I think I was starting to see them as actual living things that needed my time and attention- they are living but if they die it's so easy to revive them. After I made the bread I put the rest of my starter in the fridge to give myself a break.

The highlight of this week was that Ethan graduated and received his mission call to Tokyo Japan North!!! What a whirlwind of emotions. How can all of my kids be adults and done with school? It was like we were closing the book on this chapter of life and I felt all kinds of sadness, excitement, anxiety and the like thinking how different our life is going to become. Graduation was held at the UCCU center at UVU like Ashtyn's was. It was at 9 AM. We invited Tom and Sharon and Grandma Hughes to come. Whitney could not get anyone to take her shift so she wasn't able to be there. It was really crowded but luckily since we had done Ashtyn's here as well we knew a short cut into the parking lot the back way. A few days before a group of about 60 seniors broke into the school and did thousands of dollars worth of damage as a "senior prank" they are all now facing misdemeanor charges and at least 45 of them were not allowed to walk at graduation. I am so glad Ethan was not part of that as many of them now have scholarships and mission calls that are in jeopardy. It was a great ceremony and not too long. I know Ethan could have cared less about graduating but I am glad he sucked it up and did it for his dear sweet mom who it meant a lot to. Afterwards we went to lunch at In- N- Out per his request and he invited Melinda and her kids to come because he knows how much he means to Brody.

Ethan with Carson Reid

Ethan with Christian Jones

Ethan with Luke Esplin

I had been wanting to take a picture of all the Chinese kids that Ethan has gone to school with his whole life as we are also at the end of that era so we gathered the ones who could and took them to the elementary school. Seeing them all grown up also made me a little sad. What an amazing group of people these kids have become. They are going to change the world. Then we rushed home so Ethan could open his mission call. It is mission call season and we have seen lots of these kids open calls and every single one of them has been called Chinese speaking so I just assumed that Ethan would be as well so when he read Japan I was so shocked! Our former bishop Scott served there and he told Ethan the first woman he baptized was a Chinese lady so he has no doubt that Ethan will use his Chinese. We are all very excited. Lots of friends, family and neighbors gathered in our basement to see him open the call and we also live streamed it to Facebook so others that weren't there could see.

Whitney and I went downtown to buy Jeff an Ipad from the Apple Store for his birthday and we saw this perfectly intact and perfectly dead butterfly.

I went to Hale Theater with mom to see The Light in the Piazza. Liz couldn't use her ticket so I got to. It was beautiful and mostly in Italian so my mom kept asking if I understood ha ha. It was a lovely story about a girl who had some mental challenges and her parents never thought she would have a normal life or be able to get married but she proved them wrong and ended up having a beautiful life.

My bushes are in bloom and I love it!

Seminary graduation was on Sunday. It was so cool that the bishop and his wife who happen to be us got to be the ones to hand out the diplomas. Ethan is the only boy in our ward that graduated along with five amazing girls- McKayla, Jordan, Ashley and then Shelbie and Hollie who were not there.