August in the Leake Home

 Hello!

Well, the month of August clearly flew by and we are already into September, and we also have our Leake birthday week all wrapped up, having celebrated Gretchen, Richard, and Marshall in just the last few days!  Always a whirlwind, but a good one!  I think I will actually send out a mid-September email with all the birthday recaps for those three.  

I am going to just jump right into the school update, and then I'll circle back to our last few summer highlights.  

School started on Monday, August 18th.  I do believe this is the first time school has started on a Monday for my kids since we moved to Utah, so it was kind of a looooong week for us all, but we survived!  And we are all settling into more of a routine now with three weeks of school under our belt!

Marshall is a JUNIOR!  A junior.  I cannot even believe it.  A couple of weeks ago all our kids had dentist appointments and when the hygenist asked Marshall what grade he was in and I heard him say in his own voice that he was a junior, I swear a piece of my heart broke.  Time flies.  I remember my own junior year of high school like it was yesterday, so I really cannot believe we are here.  So, while I am over here with all my feelings, I would say Marshall is thriving!  He is taking 4 AP classes:  BC Calculus, Physics, English, and US History.  And while this seems super extreme (when he told us his planned schedule in the spring Richard and I tried to talk him out of it!  Ha!) his schedule has flushed out nicely.  Because he cranked out 4 semester classes required for graduation last year, he has way more flexibility the next two years so he was able to get home release for first period (gives him more time to sleep!) and his sixth period is Directed Research, a fancy name for homework lab, plus his calculus class comes with a dedicated lab!  This has all been awesome, because he has been able to get to bed at early to normal times-Richard and I are very jealous of his sleep schedule!  He pulled SO many late nights in 9th and 10th grade, so even though his classes are intense, we are so relieved he has more time to get homework done at normal hours and get the sleep he needs!  Marshall and his friends also started off the first week of school with a bang by asking girls to Homecoming.  Our house became the hub for that activity and I loved it.  We had teenage boys in and out of our house for two nights and even though Marshall refused to tell us who he was asking, we had fun observing it all!  We have since discovered who his date is, a darling girl on the cross country team named Hannah.  She answered Marshall back while he was in the front yard looking for Ziggy and I was in the doorway in my nightgown, so that was a less than ideal situation for him, but something that I am still chuckling about!  

Bridget is a freshman, but thankfully for my heart, still at the junior high!  She is doing AP Human Geography this year and has been a bit surprised with the amount of homework that is required.  She has pretty much coasted through junior high with hardly any homework, but she is doing a good job adjusting to the extra load.  She loves being back in jazz band and regular band.  She has an interior design class that she is also really enjoying.  She is rocking her busy schedule with school, straight to cross country practice, and also working at the farm 1-2 nights a week.  She loves those goats!

Rachel is a darling little 7th grader and is loving being at the junior high with Bridget.  Rachel 100% lucked out and has her best friend, Sara, on her bus, which is nothing short of a miracle because our kids' buses have never picked up west of Main Street!  The stars have aligned for Rachel Louise!  Rachel really loves her English teacher, and likes her math teacher, despite hearing all sorts of things about him prior to school starting!  She is really liking choir and I am thrilled to finally have a child in choir!  She is surviving first period gym!  Ha!  Luckily, her class is loaded with friends.  She has done a good job staying on top of homework and managing her time and fitting in as much social time as she can when not at dance!

Gretchen, darling Gretchen, is a third grader, and will never have a sibling with her at school again, unless college lines up with someone years down the road!  She has had so many feelings about this all summer long, but overall, she has done well.  She is usually waking up in the mornings right as Rachel is walking out the door, and a couple of times Gretchen has called to her from the front door and Rachel will run back and give her a hug.  Melts my heart.  The junior high has late start on Wednesdays and Rachel had talked to Gretchen about walking her to school those days and it finally happened just this past Wednesday.  It was so cute.  Rachel helped Gretchen pick her outfit out the night before, laid it all out and sprayed it with body spray!  Ha!  Then they planned out Gretchen's hair and make-up before going to bed.  They both woke up at 7:35, had breakfast together, Rachel helped Gretchen get ready (the best Gretchen has looked all school year!) and at 8:25, they were out the door, along with Ziggy.  It really was the cutest thing to observe.  Gretchen might have let out a couple of squawks while Rachel was trying to do her hair, but other than that, they got along great!  Anyway, back to Grizz.  She was pretty nervous about her teacher, but has loved her so far.  She is having a blast at recess, and even though she will tell you she hates school, she seems to be enjoying it!

Okay!  There's the school recap!  Now onto other August news!!!

Rachel turned TWELVE!  Richard, Marshall, and Bridget were all out of town on Rachel's birthday (she was NOT happy about this), but we did our best to make sure that girl felt loved, and I think we were successful! Before those three went out of town, Rachel opened the gifts from Marshall and Bridget and she loved them. We did a family lunch of Cafe Rio take-out and told her all the things we love about her.  On Rachel's actual birthday, the three of us girls slept in and then FaceTimed Richard while Rachel opened the rest of her gifts.   I picked up Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and then we quickly got ready and headed out the door for some back to school shopping.  Rachel had a short lived meltdown during shopping because she wasn't finding anything she liked, but in the end, she left with full bags and a smile on her face.  After a super quick lunch at home we left again and met her five closest friends at the Farmington Pool.  Gretchen also invited a friend and all those girls swam all afternoon.  We brought all of Rachel's friends home with us and did Zupas for dinner.  The girls played and watched a movie and we ended the night at Target!  Those girls are a party!  We did a big friend party for Rachel two days later when more of her friends were in town.  They all just came to the house, we fed them dinner and they did s'mores for dessert.  And then they ended their evening at the park with boys.  :)  I think our cute girl felt loved and celebrated all week long.  Rachel also got her birthday outing with my parents and her favorite cousin, Jaxon, a few days early.  They went to see Footloose in Ogden, and had dinner at my parents' house and played games.  

Rachel kind of ran us through an emotional roller coaster in August.  I am chalking it up to her birthday and all the build up to junior high, but I am so relieved to say she has mellowed out!  But gosh, it was wild there for several days!  Rachel has become a hair professional, the things she comes up with are very impressive.  She still loves to imagine and create and play with Barbies in the loft.  She is usually a good sister to Gretchen, but towards the end of the summer they were at each other's throats.  Friends have become super important to her.  She doesn't want to miss out on a thing.  She is terrified of contacts and is sporting some cool new clear rimmed glasses.  Rachel remains loving, affectionate, outspoken, and has developed quite a quick wit!  She is almost always pleasant to be around and we sure love that girl!

Richard and the older kids missed Rachel's birthday because they were at High Altitude Camp for cross country.  They went down to Richfield and stayed at Snow College's satellite campus down there.  Richard was a chaperone, and Marshall handled this much better than he did in December when Richard went to California with the team!  Ha!  Both kids enjoyed having their Dad around and both talked to him during the trip, though they never rode in his car.  :)  By all accounts, everyone had fun.  The kids worked super hard, played super hard and came home happy and tired.  Aside from being a chaperone, Richard was in charge of gathering, inflating, deflating, airing out, and repacking 200 tubes!  Haha!  He did a great job though and the river float was a success!  

Gretchen also did Mini Vykelles this same week and had a blast.  She had several friends with her and she just had a ball.  She had two morning clinics and then those cute Mini Vykelles performed at the football scrimmage that weekend.  Gretchen, despite being so shy in many social settings, sure is a performer.  She just beams while she is performing and you can tell she is just having the time of her life!  

We really tried to pack in some last minute summer things the last two to three weeks of summer.  We squeezed in a couple more Cherry Hill trips.  Marshall and I went to Hruska's Kolaches one morning for breakfast...so good!  We owe that find to Kevin and Audrey.  And speaking of them, my girls had been begging to baby-sit their darling little cousin Alice all summer long.  Our schedule finally aligned with Audrey's schedule and I took my girls up on a Monday afternoon to baby-sit all three of their cousins.  Audrey got to leave and do whatever the heck she wanted for 2 1/2 hours while the girls played with their cousins.  It was a win for everyone!  And thanks to a tip from Audrey, I majorly capitalized on Seagull Book and Tape going out of business and bought a ton of clothes and dresses all for 75% off!  Amazing!  We also fit in one more family temple trip.  This was a great one.  Richard and I did sealings first and then the three older kids drove up and met us in the baptistry.  After the temple, we went to lunch at El Matador.  And Gretchen played with a friend that whole morning!  Bridget also spoke in sacrament meeting a couple of Sundays ago, she would not say that it was fun, but worth mentioning!  And the girls and I all got our nails done before the school year started, so that was fun! 

One funny story I have to write down about Gretchen because I never want to forget it!  Gretchen got her ears pierced at the end of May/early June-I can't remember!  Regardless, she was finally able to change her earrings out in early August.  She was SO excited.  A couple of days before, I took her to Target and she picked out a bunch of new earrings and was planning which ones she wanted to wear on Rachel's birthday, which ones to wear on the first day of school and so on.  She took them out of the packaging and put them in her jewelry box and was just so excited.  Well, the day came and of course she needed my help.  Without too much of an issue at all, she sat at the kitchen island while I took out an earring and put the new one in.  She didn't cry, was nervous, but calm enough that I was able to help her without a problem.  Well, that girl only let me do one earring and has REFUSED to let me or anyone else, or herself for that matter, change the other one!  So for weeks now she has been walking around with mismatched earrings!  It is hilarious!  I keep reminding her she handled the changing of the one earring so well and that sure, it was probably tender, but she didn't cry or flinch!  Not even her birthday or the start of the school year could persuade her to try having her earrings match.  So funny!  We will see how long this lasts!

Marshall and Bridget now have two cross country meets under the belts.  They are both running well and running strong.  Marshall is in a bit of a mental battle, but for the second meet, he taped over his watch so that he wouldn't look at it and freak out about his heart rate (this happened at the first meet and really slowed him down).  He is happy he taped it and felt like that really helped him stay in it mentally.  He also made a real good pass in the second mile and caught up to one of his teammates and was able to stay with him for the rest of the race.  And Bridget met her goal in the first meet of just getting a time somewhere in the 23rd minute.  For the second meet, her goal was to just beat her first time, and that girl shaved off 40 seconds with a time of 23:02.  Bridget took 46th out of 310 freshman/sophomore JV girls!  We are so proud of her!  The kids were able to have a great family cheering squad for their second meet, and it was so fun to be there with them.  Their cousin Benson was also there running.  He ran in Marshall's race and ran great!  It was fun to cheer him across the finish line too and catch up with Lisa for a bit!  

A couple of weekends ago Richard and I had a great Friday night.  Remember the show Boy Meets World?!  I loved this show growing up and Richard watched it some too.  A handful of years ago, back when our kids went to bed semi-early, Richard and I would watch an episode or two a night before going to bed ourselves.  Three years ago the actors who played Sean, Eric and Topanga started a podcast called Pod Meets World and Richard has loved it.  He listens to a few different podcasts where the actors rewatch their episodes and do a podcast about it and he thinks Pod Meets World is so well done.  Well, they have been doing a tour doing some live shows and Salt Lake City was their last stop and we got tickets!  It was such a fun night for us.  You can tell they are great friends with great banter and it was just so fun.  Plus I think it's been ages since we've had a date!  We did Crown Burger for dinner and had great conversation and then went to the Capitol Theatre to see the show.  Such a fun night!  

Well, by golly, I've done it!  The August recap!  We sure love each of you!

Love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)

Fingers crossed I can get a birthday email out sometime soon so a September recap doesn't seem quite so daunting!  Ha!

July in the Leake Home

 Hello!

July flew by!  Packed with travel, running, holidays, swimming, and lots of general fun, with as much relaxing squeezed in between all of that as possible.  Here are the highlights, minus the trip to San Diego with Rachel that I already wrote about!

*The 4th of July!  The 4th was an absolute blast.  We were missing Bridget who was still at FSY, but the rest of us lived it up!  But, as I am writing this, I realized I have yet to watch my beloved musical 1776...maybe I can still squeeze that in!  Haha!  Anyway, we were up nice and early on the 4th.  Both Gretchen and Rachel had chosen to be in the Centerville Parade and the West Bountiful Parade with Project Move.  We dropped them off by 8:15 and made our way to the seats my Mom had so wonderfully put out for the three of us the afternoon before.  We had a most relaxing time, just me, Richard and Marshall, talking to my parents as we waited for the parade to start and get to us.  We enjoyed the shade and the slightly cooler temperatures for the 4th and just had a great time.  We saw all the Viewmont things and Marshall tried to contain his embarrassment as I cheered for everyone.  :)  As soon as Project Move passed us, Richard and I said good-bye and made a beeline for the car.  We had agreed to help drive dancers from one parade to the other.  Marshall hung with my parents and they were so kind to bring him home after the parade.  We got the girls to the starting point of the West Bountiful parade and then Richard and I opted to just drive through random neighborhoods of West Bountiful and then we met the girls at the ending point.  To say they were exhausted would be an understatement!  Ha!  But, they had a really great time and were happy to have done it.  We gave ourselves a handful of hours at home to relax and I also made a divine berry cobbler and then we headed up to Danny and Stacie's for a 4th of July extravaganza!  Ben's family wasn't able to join us, and of course, Jordan and Meredith, but everyone else was there and we had a blast.  Danny and Stacie just recently finished a backyard remodel (do you call it that?!) and it is amazing.  We played basketball, pickleball, the kids swam and did the slip n'slide, we ate amazing food (hello grilled Hawaiian chicken) and consumed almost the entire berry cobbler.  We did have to move inside after dinner because of a significant rainstorm, but that did not dampen the fun.  The little grandkids got out every toy imaginable and the bigger grandkids played games at the kitchen table with Grandma.  Once the rain stopped and things dried out, the kids moved back outside, and then we walked to a big grassy area in their neighborhood for a fun activity I had come up with the day before...human pinata!  Danny and Marshall were our human pinatas (I got cheap shirts and taped candy all over them).  Nobody knew about this fun surprise except our little family and it was a huge hit.  Danny and Marshall popped out from behind this massive pine tree, covered in candy and started running around.  It was hilarious.  It didn't take long for the kids to catch on and soon enough all the candy had been claimed.  Huge win!  It was such a fun, fun gathering.  We hung out at Danny and Stacie's a bit longer before calling it a night.  My parents left soon after us, and I am pretty sure Kevin and Audrey stayed for fireworks!  And speaking of fireworks, Marshall has seemed to hit every firework display in Davis County with his friends for the month of July.  And to my complete relief, has made it home safe and sound after each one, hello traffic and pedestrians in the dark, I am so thankful he has navigated it all safely!  

*The 5th of July!  Haha!  The last couple of years, Centerville has spread out their 4th of July celebrations, and even though I know not everyone loves it, I sure do!  Gretchen and Richard went to the park twice that day to do carnival games, I volunteered at the quilt show, Rachel and her friends helped run carnival games for two hours, Marshall played pickleball, and we all went to the fireworks that evening.  It was a fun, fun day!

*Girls Camp!  Bridget, Rachel and I had girls camp July 21-23.  It was only a two night camp because of the 24th, and considering we were sleeping in tents, I had zero complaints about easing into my girls camp adult career with only two nights.  :)  We met at the church at 8:30 am that Monday morning and were on the road by 9:00.  We camped at Cinnamon Creek, a church owned property somewhere between Logan and Paradise.  We got to camp around 11:00, got things set up, ate our sack lunches, and then headed for Porcupine Reservoir.  It was a hot day, so of course, the water felt amazing.  Both me and my girls were in the water within minutes and spent most of our time there.  Bridget swam and was on and off the two big inflatables we had.  Rachel and I paddleboarded and swam and she also spent a lot of time on the inflatables.  That evening after dinner the girls did crafts, played games, we gathered under the massive pavilion white it rained, and we had a wonderful devotional and personal spiritual study.  Bridget stayed up in her tent with friends until 12:30 am, but then slept great.  Rachel's cute little tent of 11 year olds all went to bed relatively early, but I don't think any of them slept particularly well!  And I slept just as I expected...not good!  Ha!  My watch told me "Non-restorative".  Yep, completely agree!  Tuesday morning we did a 3-plus mile hike to Rosie's Mine.  Some girls explored the mine, others did not.  My ankle did not fail me, and with the help of wonderful young women, I didn't fall into the river the two times we had to cross it.  Post broken ankle, I think because it involved a wet surface, I get super nervous walking on anything wet, so I super appreciated all the help and support I got from all the darling young women!  After lunch we did axe throwing and archery had so much fun.  The missionaries helping us were awesome and the girls did great!  Back at camp, we filled our afternoon with crafts, a paint by number, and downtime.  After dinner we made beautiful sun catchers that represent the details of the creation-they are stunning!  We assembled the paint by number to reveal a picture of the Savior.  We made a fire and highlighted our favorite Book of Mormon verses for each other.  We had a lovely testimony meeting.  We went stargazing, did more crafts, talked around the fire, and everyone just generally tried to maximize all their time that last evening.   All except the cute 11 year olds who went to bed about 11:00.  I just love them!  They are seriously the cutest.  I called it a night about 12:30 and slept SO much better!  Pure exhaustion!  Bridget partied until 2:00 am!  Wednesday morning was breakfast, clean up, rock climbing, more clean up and lunch, and then we left about 1:00 pm for home.  All in all, a HUGE success!  Our camp director was amazing and left so much to the YCL's and all of them just did a great job.  I loved being there with my two oldest girls, especially for Rachel's first camp.  Rachel had a ball with the three other girls her age.  None of them are best friends, but they sure bonded at camp and it was so fun to see it.  They spent a big chunk of time playing in the river together on Tuesday afternoon and it was so fun to see them run off together for some adventure.  And get ready for bed together.  :)  Just the sweetest.  Bridget has had a rough year with friends, and that has impacted her friendships in our ward too, but I was proud of her, and really all the girls her age for breaking down some walls and having lots of fun together.  And despite the sleeping situation, I had fun too!  I shared a tent with one other leader and she was so much fun and I loved getting to know her more.  I was on meal clean up after each meal (along with a rotating tent of girls) and I honestly loved spending time with them in groups of just 3-5 girls.  A great experience all around!  But I am also so happy it is done!  Ha!  

Between Richard home in the evenings, Marshall driving Gretchen around during the day, and my Mom and friends for Gretchen, all went well here at home!  We calculated it out, and Bridget's last year at camp will be Gretchen's first year at camp, and I am desperately hoping I am involved in the YW's program in some capacity at that time!  

*Running!!!  Lots to write about here-I am so proud of my people!  

I'll start with Marshall.  In mid-July, the cross country team held a time trial and Marshall made the varsity team!  We are SO proud of him.  Now obviously, varsity is a bit fluid in cross country, because in the end, it all comes down to race times and sometimes you make the cut, and sometimes you don't, but we are so happy for him and so proud of him.  Both he and I had to sign this agreement full of expectations and Marshall has really leveled up.  It has been so fun to see, but also shocking at the same time!  He is required to average eight hours of sleep per night and has been going to bed around 9:00 most nights, it not before 9:00 sometimes!  He will slurp down any protein shake creation I put in front of him.  He makes himself an electrolyte drink mix every day.  He eats fruit and vegetables with every lunch.  This is mindblowing and equally amazing.  Marshall also ran the half marathon in Salt Lake on the 24th.  So the day after girls camp, he and I got up at 3:30 am, left the house at 4:00, and I dropped him off at Rice Eccles at 4:30 to catch the buses going up the canyon.  I drove down to Liberty Park and slept off and on until 6:30 am.  The half marathon started at 6:00 am with ten miles of downhill.  Marshall got a blister on mile 3, fell on mile 7 (got tripped up at the water station) and a portion of his blister popped on mile 10.  Bless that boy!  After all that, he didn't drop out, and finished in 1:31.  

Bridget is also rocking cross country.  They have had some hard runs (time trials, up to the V, the hills of Bountiful, etc) and she has picked girls who are faster than her to run with.  She has done this all on her own accord (after listening to Richard tell this to Marshall for two years) and I am so proud of her.  This means not running with Cambria and getting to know new girls and that is a HUGE step outside of her comfort zone.  The head coach told Richard this last week, "Everytime I look at Bridget she has a smile on her face, I can't get a read on her."  Richard assured him that smile is real and she really is a happy and truly delightful person nearly 100% of the time.  We sure love her!

Richard!  Yes, I am writing about Richard and running!  In all the time we have been married, Richard has hardly run.  He has had brief stints of working out here and there, but nothing has stuck.  In mid-May, he started running at the Centerville Park before work, and he has stuck with it!  This summer, the cross country coach started "Track Tuesday".  Anyone who wants to can meet up, usually at the track, to run in the evenings together.  I couldn't convince Richard to go to the first couple, but he has consistently been going in July and has been loving it.  I am SO proud of him!

Technically this event happened in August, but I am writing about it anyway!  Every August, the cross country team helps host an event called the Travis Thurgood Memorial Run.  Travis was a super involved parent on the cross country team, who passed away from Covid in early 2022.  He was only in his 40s and could run a 5:07 mile, his sudden passing was such a shock to all.  We did not know the Thurgoods at this time, but we know them now, and they are an exceptional family.  They have a boy Marshall's age and they have run together since 9th grade.  And Travis' wife is seriously the nicest human being, I have loved getting to know her.  Anyway, since we have been a part of the team, this run has been through the streets of Centerville, but this year, they reserved the track and hosted a track meet-free and open to anyone.  Marshall and Bridget obviously ran, but so did Richard and Gretchen!  Rachel and I were there as loud cheerleaders!  It was such a fun, fun morning and I am so proud of my little family and it was just a really great way to spend a Saturday morning.  

Marshall, before the meet, ran 5 miles, but then came out and ran the 3200 and 1600.  He ran those in 11:46 and 5:29.  His times look very promising for cross country!  So fun to cheer him on!

Bridget, ran one mile before the meet, and then very begrudgingly ran the 3200 per the coach and Richard's advice.  And she rocked it!  I was SO proud of her!  She did the first lap with her friends, near the back, but after the first lap, she broke off and ran between the front girls pack and her friends-doing the last seven laps alone.  She came in 6th place with a time of 15:33.  It was so fun to watch the coach coach her with every pass she made, he told her to catch a specific girl in front of her and she almost did it!  At the end of the meet, she ran the 4x400 Twinkie relay with her friends and had a hilarious time doing it!  Ha!  

Sweet Gretchen ran the girls 100 meter dash.  She went through the gamut of emotions days ago when we told her about the race, obviously giving her the option, but before she had even gone to bed that night she said she wanted to do it.  The night before the race, she was nervous, but also excited, and surprisingly went to bed so well!  She woke up at 7:00 to her alarm, got ready great, and was so chipper in the car.  But, once we got to the track, she started to panic.  She told us her stomach hurt, her legs hurt, her hands were shaky, she hated the starting gun (who can blame her?!) all the things.  While other races were being run, I walked her around and showed her where she would start and where she would finish, and then I hung out in the shade with her and Rachel until they called for the girls 100.  She willingly walked across the field with me and hesitated a bit when she had to go with the lady gathering the girls, but I gave her a gentle push forward and off she went.  I told Rachel to stay at the starting line, I was on the football field about halfway down, Richard was on the bleacher side near the end, and I had Bridget and Cambria by me and then I asked them to run once she passed us and meet her at the finish line.  Well, that gun went off and off went little Gretchen and she ran with the biggest smile on her face.  I was so proud of her, she ran it in 27 seconds.  But, by the time Bridget and Cambria brought her back to me, Gretchen was a mess of tears and crying and the occasional laugh.  She was all over the place!  She told me her legs, hands, and lips were all shaking before the start, she told me her foot hurt, her hip hurt, and that she would never run again because of me!  It was a very intense ten minutes with her post-race!  She felt all the things!  But, I am pleased to say, she did calm down, and had a lot of fun cheering on Richard, Marshall and Bridget in their remaining races.  I asked her just before I wrote this if she was happy she ran and she said no, but she said it with a smile, so I don't totally believe her.  :)

Okay, onto Richard!  Richard ran the 1600!  I am beyond proud of him!  He has not done a race the entire time I have known him, and he told me the last official 1600 he ran was in 1999!  He did a great job, running a 7:12.  It was huge for him to put himself out there and I know he still battles what he was capable of as an 18 year old versus now, but he already has goals for himself for next year and I can't wait to see him accomplish them!  

So there is the running summary!  I am so proud of my people!  And Rachel and I had so much fun cheering everyone on and comforting cute Gretchen.  In true Rachel fashion, she was happy to yell all sorts of things at the runners, she came up with nicknames, and had comments for some things the runners were wearing.  :)  The girl never changes.  She's been doing this since she could talk!

*Sleepover with Jax and Cal:  My girls have been begging for a sleepover with their cousins Jax and Cal all summer long and we finally made it happen!  Stacie dropped them off on Tuesday at 4:30.  They all played, we had dinner, and then I took all my girls and Jax and Cal to Island View Park.  Sadly, within minutes of being there, we realized that park offers zero shade in the evening so within 30 minutes the kids were red-faced and exhausted.  I cured them with a trip to Snelgrove's.  :)  Back at home they played some more, got ready for bed, watched a couple of shows and fell asleep sometime after 11:00 pm.  :)  The morning brought more playing, pancakes, and some video games before heading home.  Yay for cousin time!  

*Davis County Goat Show:  Bridget had her second goat show of the year just this last Thursday.  She took second in showmanship, otherwise known as Reserve Champion.  She got a huge ribbon and another massive belt buckle to add to her collection.  So happy for our little goat lover.  My Mom, Gretchen and I were there to cheer her on.  Gretchen was able to do the Pee-Wee show again and loved it.  And this time they gave ribbons to all the cute little kids so she is very proud of that!  The actual goat portion of the show only took about two hours, which was so nice for us, but it was still a long day for Bridget.  I dropped her off at the Garlicks at 6:00 am that morning to help load up and then Bridget stayed to watch ALL the livestock showings and didn't get home until after 6:00 pm!  That girl-I don't know how she does it!  

Other fun random things have included Richard going to see Fantastic Four and Superman with a couple of kids.  Gretchen hosting a karaoke party for her friends.  Lots of park mornings, and a couple of park evenings.  A couple of Cherry Hill trips.  Bridget doing amazing manicures on her sisters and herself.  Rachel striking her signature pose and making the Instagram ad for her dance studio.  Our girls keeping us up too late, and our alarms waking us up too early.  I am super envious of Marshall's current sleep schedule!  School starts in two weeks and we are all having major mixed emotions about it.  Richard and I are holding our breath and hoping to survive another nine months of crazy evening schedules.  But, the summer has treated us well, and we will keep packing in the fun for these last two weeks.  

All our love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)

Oh, I do have to mention that Ziggy turned FIVE the end of July.  We just love this four-legged creature so much.  He brings immense joy each day, multiple times a day.  Five seems old!  We hope we get him for another good ten years!

Bonus Edition!

 Hello!

I know, I know, I just sent an email a week ago and when was the last time you got two emails a week apart from me?!  A rarity these days!  However, this was an exceptional week, one for the books, and I wanted to do it justice by giving this lovely week its own stand-alone email.  So here I am, back in your inbox again.  :)

This last Monday was great.  Richard had the day off, so that is always a great start to any day.  After Marshall and Bridget got home from cross country practice the six of us had breakfast out on the deck...baked eggs and homemade cinnamon rolls.  It was completely delightful and leisurely and left us all wishing every morning could be a morning such as this!  After breakfast, we all scattered a little bit, therapy for me, and haircuts for the boys!  We all came back together for lunch, meeting up at Penny Anne's Cafe, for a sup-par meal, but hey, it was relaxing and I didn't have to make anything!  Ha!  That afternoon, Gretchen went to her first dance class in July, and had a good time.  That evening, Bridget worked at the farm, Richard and Marshall went to a cross country dinner and summer meeting, Rachel was with friends, and I went to a wedding reception for my first young woman to get married!  She was a senior in high school when I got put into YW's the first time in this ward, in 2019.  It was a lovely reception and it was so good to see her and give her a hug.  And of course I loved visiting with neighbors.  A wonderful evening.  Oh, another Monday highlight was Marshall got his AP test scores back, and got 5s on both his world history and physics exams!  Super happy for him.  

Tuesday morning, Richard, Rachel and I gave everyone hugs at 9:00 am and left for the airport!  Rachel's much anticipated trip with us was here!  Per her request, we flew to San Diego and spent the next four days living it up in pure Rachel fashion.  

We had a bit of time at the Salt Lake airport to relax in the Delta Lounge and Rachel's mind was blown, as was mine in February when Richard took me in there!  Haha!  Comfortable chairs, drinks and food at our fingertips, and fancy bathrooms!  After experiencing that level of bliss, we boarded our plane and had a quick and smooth flight down to San Diego.  Before we knew it, we had our luggage, took an uber to the hotel and arrived at the Marriott Marquis (right next to the hotel Rachel and I stayed at 2 years ago for nationals).  We got there about 1:00 pm, but we got an early check-in and were up in our room on the top floor (25th).  Our room had a balcony, which Rachel and I very, very much enjoyed.  We had a fantastic view of the pools, the bay, and Coronado and it was just so pretty.  Richard set one foot on the balcony, and promptly stepped right back inside-a little too high for him!  After we got settled, we took off in search of lunch.  We ended up walking to The Melt and had a really, really good lunch.  It was fun to walk the streets of San Diego and remember so much of it from two years ago, Rachel loved it!  After lunch we got back to our room and played games, took naps, relaxed/watched TV before heading out for a late dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  A great dinner and delightful conversation with Rachel Louise.  After we got back to our room that night, we watched a movie before calling it a night.    

Wednesday morning Richard got up early and went running along the bay.  Rachel and I slept in, but by 9:00, we were all up and at 'em and headed out the door.  We walked a few blocks to Richard Walker's Pancake House.  Rachel and I ate breakfast here two years ago and it made an impression because this was seriously the one thing she knew she wanted to do on this trip!  Haha!  We didn't have to wait at all, got seated outside, and had a yummy breakfast.  Rachel ordered the same thing as two years ago, French Toast with fresh berries and gobbled it up.  After breakfast, we walked a few more blocks to the Museum of Illusions and had a blast in there for a solid two hours.  We were enamored with all sorts of illusions: some that you just observed on the wall, or through a glass case, others we got to play with, and others we could walk into and experience ourselves.  It was honestly SO much fun.  We laughed and were wowed and had a really fantastic time.  After the museum, we walked a few more blocks and stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks and then made it back to our hotel for some well earned downtime!  Richard and I both napped, Rachel watched Heartland, and once we were all awake, we played some card games before heading out again.  We took an Uber to Old Town and had so much fun walking around there.  We actually hardly did anything historic, but I think we hit just about every single souvenir shop.  It was so fun to follow Rachel around.  She didn't ask for a single thing, but honestly touched everything.  This is one thing I LOVE about these one-on-one trips.  You just get to observe your kids and watch how they take in the world and watch them navigate new places.  It is so fun.  Anyway, after probably two plus hours of window shopping, we ate at Casa de Reyes and had a fantastic Mexican meal.  Rachel doesn't love Mexican, but she does love guac and devoured that!  We had so much fun talking with her.  She asked so many questions and was just the happiest little dinner guest.  After dinner, we did even more window shopping and watched a couple perform on a stage doing some ethnic dances from Mexico.  By then, we had enough room in our stomachs to eat the most delicious churros we have ever had.  They were perfectly crispy on the outside and completely divine and soft on the inside.  Oh my.  Needless to say, we left stuffed!  Once back at the hotel, we watched another movie before quickly falling asleep!

Thursday morning we let ourselves sleep in a bit, and then as decided the night before, Richard and I had breakfast at the hotel, while Rachel kept sleeping, and then we brought her a pink drink and warm chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks!  Haha!  This girl knows how to live in luxury!  And on a trip like this, of course we are happy to oblige!  Rachel had just woken up when we got back to the room, so we all lounged a bit while she ate and then got ready and took an Uber to the San Diego Zoo!  We were in by 10:15 and spent the next 5 1/2 hours having an incredible time!  We made a bee-line for the pandas and just had a short ten minute wait to see them.  The female panda was a complete delight!  She was active and moving and eating and so fun to watch.  The male panda was in a separate area, and was sound asleep!  But, we had a great view of his back and a bit of his profile.  :)  And then the poor red pandas, we glanced at so briefly, but they were on the other side of the walkway and the other pandas completely stole their thunder!  At Hogle Zoo, the red pandas are the highlight of any zoo day!  Anyway, after the pandas, we made our way to the hippos, and let me tell you, those hippos were a complete surprise!  I really don't know if I have ever seen a hippo move, but there were three hippos in this huge area and they were having the time of their lives!  Two were completely underwater and just trotting all over the place.  The third hippo was front and center, and mostly underwater, but every minute or so, his head would come out of the water, he would open his huge mouth and get sprayed by this giant hose thing.  It was so fun to watch.  And all the while, a mama duck and all her ducklings were swimming all over and just making us giggle.  We probably spent a good ten minutes sitting on a bench watching all of this play out, it was incredible!  Other animal highlights were monkeys of all kinds (including babies) and the whole bunch or orangutans.  One orangutan just kept walking around in a blanket and it was cracking us up...reminding us of a certain 16 year old who we live with!  There were also orangutan babies and the whole bunch was so fun to watch.  The koalas about killed me with their cuteness.  There were many, and they were all tucked up in the trees, but we did get to see one's little mouth moving, munching on leaves.  Last animal highlight...Rachel loves elephants, and has for years.  She was so sad when the Hogle Zoo got rid of their elephants.  We visited the elephants after the hippos.  The San Diego has four elephants: one female, and three males.  When we stopped by in the morning, we could only see two elephants and both were quite far away from us.  So, we made sure to circle back before we left, and I am so glad we did.  We were able to see all four elephants, and they were all active.  Rachel carefully read every sign she could in order to figure who was who.  We spent a huge chunk of time here, and again, so fun to take a step back and watch her sweet mind taking in all she could about these elephants.  That tender heart of Rachel Louise!  Sure love her.  And we all loved the zoo!  It sure was a fun way to spend a day.  We got back to our hotel around 4:30 and crashed for a good while.  We had a late dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and actually ran into our past bishop and his wife!  We got to visit with them twice that night and that was a real treat.  We think the world of both of them and it was fun to run into them down there.  

Friday morning, we slept in, and repeated the same breakfast plan as the day before!  Starbucks in bed, what a life!  Haha!  We got a late check-out from our hotel, so we did some more sightseeing that morning after breakfast.  We walked around "Mexico Town" as Rachel calls it, also known as Seaport Village.  :)  Rachel and I spent a lot of time there two years ago, and it was fun to be back.  Just lots of shops for window shopping and cute restaurants, and you're just right there on the bay.  So pretty!  After that, we went back to our hotel, packed up, and took an uber to the airport.  We had time to kill, so we played card games and hung out in the Delta Lounge again.  Safe flight home and walked in the door about 8:45 pm.  

We loved our four days with Rachel.  She is one of a kind, that girl.  She is so grown up in so many ways.  She loves fashion and nails and hair and make-up and has for years!  But, she has the most childlike heart, and is not at all embarrassed by it.  She came home with five new stuffed animals, all of whom she named, and talked to and was so sincere with each of them.  This sounds weird to type, and maybe even more strange to read, but seriously, just the sweetest thing to observe.  Rachel is confident in who she is, and I just love that about her.  She is thoughtful and kind and also cracks us up.  We love her so much.

And, because we do have other children, I have to give them a huge shoutout.  Per their request, we did not ask grandparents or anyone else to come and take care of them while we were gone.  This made me VERY nervous, but we came up with this plan weeks ago, so I had some time to let it settle.  Marshall, Bridget, and Gretchen did GREAT!  Marshall drove Bridget and Gretchen everywhere they needed to go (piano, dance, tumbling, friends' houses).  Marshall even took Gretchen to her therapy appointment and had a good visit with Cody himself!  Jaw on the floor!  They took care of the dog, took turns cleaning up the kitchen, made dinners, helped Gretchen, and just really rocked it.  My Mom texted Bridget once just to check in, but Bridget told her everything was great, and that's all that was needed!  I am so proud of them, and I love them lots!  

Okay, that is all!  Thanks for reading!  This should make my July email more manageable!  Ha!  

Love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)