Weekend

Friday after school we went to Sea World. Rob and I were very anxious to see Lincoln play with the dolphins. It was really cute. We like SW a lot and it’s not crowded or expensive to go. It rained on us, which was welcome because it was very hot and I was feeling more peckish than normal about the mask.  We had a fun time and then came home and took showers. 

I also had book club. That was a lot of fun. I didn’t finish the book but it was fun to talk to my friends. I wish we all lived in the same place. It’s fun to have friends all over the place, and also sad because they are all over the place!

Saturday our ward had an unofficial beach get together. After some disagreements in the morning Rob and I went. Ethan had to work and Grace a) doesn’t like the beach and b) had her clarinet lesson (virtual). We had a nice time. There were 6 families there and it was fun to talk with them and to swim in the ocean and to enjoy the fresh air. We talked to Abba on our whole drive there and that was fun. 

 Today we went to church. Which I love. I made spinach and egg crepes for breakfast and Rob made tri tip for dinner so we ate well. And now it’s back to work tomorrow. 

brownies

 

The days highlights: FaceTiming with Cora and Ruby while they made brownies.

Talking to Tatum about the book she’s reading and did she find out the secret of the chicken yet.

Eating yummy turkey, green bean stir fry with Bub and hearing about his first day of work.

Admiring Ezra’s little toes and making him smile (again on FaceTime)

Walking the dogs with Grace and chatting about her day. 

Low points: classified staff grievance meeting.

Getting in the oven of a car for the drive home (next car has to have a remote start!)

The one where Bro Williams teaches us

 Marshall started kindergarten today! He said he loved it! They went to PE and he played Rock Paper Scissors with his legs. They read the Kissing Hand and he wrote his name. He’s getting so big! I love Marshall. He is a mommas boy, which is so sweet. He loves Mario. He can sing, ride his bike, and is an trampoline expert. He’s also so so sweet with Ruby and Cora. We got a good one:)

Bro. Williams came over tonight for our last temple prep class. It was a delight to have him come. He brought such a strong spirit of goodness and peace. His lessons were well thought out, comprehensive, interesting and I learned a lot. I’m sorry there aren’t more! More importantly Ethan enjoyed them and we are so looking forward to the day when he will go to the temple. Hopefully it will open soon. I have missed it desperately and long for its reopening. 

Lovely night

 For YW we had a pool and pizza party. It was so nice. First of all Laurie’s home and her pool are beautiful. The water was warm, the girls were so excited to be there. We swam and ate and listened to my disney summer playlist and it was great.

change

 

Yesterday Grace and Julia went back to Sea World. This time with Lincoln. Those dolphins ❤️❤️❤️ him so much! She brought back the most darling videos of them playing with him for the longest time.  The girls had a really fun time. I was sad I didn’t go with!

We had lots of Saturday chores and since Rob and I were the only ones home we did go out to dinner. Ethan was also out with friends. I guess our nest is really near empty:(

Today our stake split. Our ward is in the new stake. The meeting to split it was a powerhouse. At first they announced the south stakes new stake presidency and I was a little bummed because I love all those men and their wives. (Mostly the wives) and I think they will be so awesome and also so fun!  Then our new west stake got their new presidency and when they spoke I felt the spirit testify that these men were called of God and I was so happy to be in their stake. I’m excited to see the growth and change we will have.

1st day of school (sort of)

 Today was the first day of face to face. It was also Lincoln’s first day working for real. Grace had a good day, Linc had a great day. She was happy to be back to band and to see her friends. It was very weird having only a quarter of the students there but everyone was in good spirits. We had some issues with schedules and freshmen getting lost and kids not having lunch with their BFF’s but I felt like for the most part everyone was patient and things went better than expected. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come. 

 

Ethan got his first job! I’m very happy about that. He’s working as a trainer at a kickboxing gym. He will have to learn how to kickbox of course. He starts next week. 

Our newest little neighbor, Mia, sent me a cute thank you text laying on a quilt I made her:)

Jenna and Clayton are away on an anniversary weekend. Today they went white water kayaking. They love to adventure. The girls are staying with Dani and she sent this cute picture from their morning adventure.

Tonight Grace and her friend Julia went to Sea World. Rob and I also went to Sea World for a date (and because we were their ride home). We didn’t get there until 6 and it was raining a little (thanks to the first time in recorded history 2 hurricanes simultaneously heading toward Florida - 2020) but we had a great time. We spent a lot of time watching the belugas and seals and walruses.

The viewing areas are amazing.

We stayed for the evening fireworks, which were amazing and then headed home. It was a perfect date night. 

cookies

 This was our second activity since we’ve been locked down. We met at my house to make cookies. We wore masks. Everyone was happy to be out so it was a small price to pay. After the cookies were done we took off the masks and ate them while we shared our favorite scriptures. (I don’t even know) That was a very sweet time. The spirit was strong as these girls shared their “favorite” (Or favorite of the day) verses and they were all full of hope for the future and in their faith in Christ. I wish the world were different for them, but God is in charge so I just have to trust in His tender care.

 

Lainey, Cameron, Lilly, Ella, Sage, Grace, Maya and Lettie

 

Animal Kingdom

 

We almost didn’t go. Right now you have to make a reservation to go to a Disney park, as well as have a ticket. I made these the day the tickets opened thinking we wouldn’t be in school yet. Anyway, the school district has been all over the place and has changed our start date a couple of times as well as everything else it could be changing and doing (Covid).  Grace had an appointment on campus with Lincoln in the afternoon and she was done and waiting in my office for me to be done when it started to thunder and lightening outside. We discussed not going since we’d only have a few hours at the park before it closed and now it was pouring rain, but decided to give it a go.

That turned out to be a great choice. The rain stopped, the weather had cooled down a little, and the park was empty.

We literally walked onto everything. We rode flights of passage twice, Navi river, kali river, Kilimanjaro safari, And we walked around looking at the animals. It was great!

The gorillas were fascinated by Lincoln. Two juvenile males stared at him and tried to get him to come close to the window. It was pretty funny to watch.   We had a great time and made it home in time to make dinner and have family scriptures. 

Weekend

 Ethan went wake boarding for the first time. Hung out all weekend with friends.

Grace went to Katie’s. They went roller blading and played their instruments.

Rob and I went grocery shopping. We also looked at some lake properties. We are not nuts about our house and we know we’d like a change. There are a lot of variables though. I’d like to move west AFTER Grace graduates. Job is always the biggie. Will we be here until retirement? I’m okay with it if we are but we’ve moved before and it feels like we may move again ( based on no facts. ) Also Grace wants to stay at her school and graduate there. I’d like that for her, if we move I’m committed to 3 years working there so she can stay there no matter where we live.

21

Yesterday was Hannah’s 21st birthday. She officially made it to adulthood. I had fun looking back at photos of her growing up. She was a delightful sweet girl (eventually) lol! She was a tough baby and very willful for awhile but then she mellowed and became so delightful. 

Hannah loves to have fun! She is always up for an adventure and an outing. She loves to go out shopping, out to eat, to theme parks, and national parks, she’s up for anything all the time which is joyful. She’s almost always in good mood too.

 

Hannah is almost done with college and has been a great student and also has grown so much creatively. 

Family is so important to Han. Her siblings lover her, her nieces and nephews love her, her grandparents, parents, in laws, cousins, aunt & uncles, husband and son all love her so much.

Hannah also has a gift for making friends and has many good friends who admire and enjoy her. 

I’m so excited to see the wonderful, confident, future she will have!! Happy Birthday Hannah!!!

Also, why does it go by so fast??

 

Hi ho hi ho

First week back is done. It was exhausting. We had many months of sleeping late in the morning, staying up late at night, lots of free time. Getting up and going to work was a surprise to my psyche. It was nice to see my work friends and it’s been super busy at school so that was nice. 

Ethan’s been hanging out with the Roddy’s a lot. They are going to BYU, leaving next week, so I think all the boys are trying to log as many fun hours as possible. 

Grace has a heavy schedule this year and has found herself a little overwhelmed with online learning and getting back into a routine. She’s taking jazz band, the highest concert band, ASL, AP world, AP calc, AP chem, AP music theory, and Honors English. That’s a lot. 

Ethan, Jackson and Conner were team shark bait in the watermelon carving challenge.

Bro Williams came over on Thursday night and taught Ethan the first two temple prep classes with a little mission prep thrown in. Since it’s just him Rob and I sat in. It was very sweet. The spirit was strong as we talked about the things of God. I think Ethan will make a wonderful missionary. I’m so proud of him.

We also had our first YW face to face meeting since March. The Bishop taught us about the Second Coming and I think most of the girls really enjoyed it.  I hope we can plan some meaningful activities. 

Favorite photo yet

What a happy day, I got two of my favorite photos ever. Well the last two days. From yesterday Ezra’s one month photo. How stinkin cute is that?!

And today Jenna took the girls to the museum and this is the cutest picture of the four of them. Now I just need an all time favorite of Marshall!

Things have been good. Work is busy with lots of issues with schedules and technology and people not knowing if they want face to face or online. It’s great to be back with friends. Not great waking up early every day though.

We had mutual tonight and we were so happy to be together. I miss those girls. We wore masks and sat apart but it was still good. Now we just need to think of some amazing things to do in the future.

 

Back to work

This boy will be one month old tomorrow! I love his cute little toes and darling face. 

I talked to this beautiful lady after work today. She’s been doing lots of hiking lately. 

These two are back to keeping me company:) Grace started online school today. She’s a sophomore and has a full and heavy load that includes 4 AP classes. Hopefully in two weeks she’ll go face to face but for now the learning has started.

Ethan hung out with Jackson, did some chores and practiced the piano today.

The girls made it home safely:)

Work was good. It was good to see my work friends and it was a busy day. 

Now we are enjoying another thunder storm. 

 

Lightening

 I’m sitting at the airport. The girls are on the plane and I am at the gate. Lightening has started and they are delaying the rest of the boarding and the flight until is passes. Hopefully it will pass quickly, it’s very typical to have thunderstorms here in the afternoon and evening. Hopefully they will have a safe and uneventful flight home. Last night the girls and I were piled in my bed watching Pan. We had the cozy blanket up to our necks and all the lights were out. As the movie ended we lay there a little longer chatting. They said they couldn’t believe how fast the trip went, that it felt like 3 days! I agree! It was just so fun and full of the magic and the delights of childhood.  To be completely frank when I was the mom and my kids were the kids it was magical and amazing too. I recognized in the moment that this was it, as good and wonderful as life can be. But it was also hard and hectic. I was distracted and tired and in a hurry. While I really loved raising the kids it wasn’t all rainbows and cupcakes. With grandchildren it is. It’s a chance to step back and relive and remember. It’s also an opportunity to make new amazing memories, to try to be a good influence and a support. Anyway, it was great. Our pool got a lot of use. We watched a few movies, read aloud a lot, went some fun places, baked some delicious treats, talked and laughed and planned when we’d be together next. 

Today we got to go to church, first time for me since March. I knew it would be different but I was still excited & it was still great. 

I felt some melancholy as I saw my friends in masks, sitting apart and we were NOT able to visit or hug. Seeing the YM prepare and bless the sacrament with gloves and masks on was also eerie and just weird. 

The talks though were so good. I felt the spirit and my eyes filled with tears of gratitude. 

After our meeting just a few of us, Bishop Cole, Bro. Gooch, Bro Williams, our family, and the high counselor gathered together and Ethan was ordained an Elder and given the Melchizedek priesthood. He was given a beautiful blessing and I teared up again. He is such a good young man and has always taken the challenges and trails that have come his way in a calm and measured way. This, Covid, is not the way we pictured him getting ready for his mission and who knows when he’ll go to the temple, if he’ll do home MTC or Provo, if he will go straight to Madrid or if he’ll have to be reassigned somewhere else first but whatever happens I know he will do great. He will serve valiantly, he will be who God wants him to be.

Baptism

Laci and Sophie got baptized today. We went to the baptism and it was very special. Laci is 15 and has been going to YW and seminary this last year. I am so excited for her and her family. 

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for some airplane snacks. The girls are going home tomorrow. It’s been a wonderful and special visit. I’m grateful we got this fun time together.

The rest of the day was spent baking things, swimming, watching movies, etc.

Ethan made it home safely and he had a good trip. 

Magic Kingdom

We spent an amazing fun delightful sweaty (brutally hot) mask-clad magical day at Disney!

There were hardly any lines so we never waited more than half an hour and sometimes we just walked on to rides. We got to do everything we wanted. 

Penny was brave and conquered the mountains. She had to be bribed but quickly decided she loved it and raised her hands in the air like a pro!

We opened the park and shut it down. Thankfully an afternoon thunderstorm got us wet so we felt a little cooler and were able to make it the whole day. Did I say it was hot already?

These girls are so fun. I know their parents are missing them and are anxious to have them home but I will be sad to see them go. I am very grateful that Dani and Greg let them come, and that they are such amazing parents. 

This was my dole whip hat’s farewell photo. Seconds later it flew off my head and was trampled by every other log:( That was the only bummer of the day though.