These Aren't the Droids You are Looking For

. . . Move along. Move Along. I feel like some Jedi mind tricks are happening with my summer because I cannot believe how fast the summer if flying by. Saturday, evening June 21st, Steve set up a little bike training course for Andrew in the backyard to practice going slow on his bike for mountain biking. I wanted to go for a family bike ride but the wind really picked up which it did all last weekend and was even unseasonably cool (in the 70s) which made for a nice morning of working in the yard while we waited for Lila to get home from girls camp.

 

 

Lila enjoyed having a relaxing week home after FSY, BYUI tour, and girls camp. Her body and mind needed some healing time, (her and I even went to the chiropractor together on Monday, June 23rd for a quick adjustment after all of her camping). She's continuing to work on her summer course and look for a job.

 

Ellie is still enjoying her work as a PA for WSU Prep. This week she even taught the logic course for three days while the professor was attending an international math conference. Friday, June27th was the big WSU Prep Alumni party so we drove Lila to Ogden to meet up with Ellie. The drive should have been short but due to construction and summer traffic it took us an hour to go the 18 miles which should have been a 20 minute drive. Steve and told Lila how important these kind of events are for networking. After dropping Lila off, Steve and I walked across the street for a date night dinner. It was lovely. We cooked a frozen pizza for the boys and they were having the time of their lives playing video games while we were gone. 😂

 

The boys had a little music camp this week with Andrew's violin teacher and they really enjoyed it. Marcus also started playing pickleball in Andrew's ladder league on Monday nights. Then we went an played pickleball as a family after their league, Monday June 23rd. I called it family move night because on Sunday we had a family movie night and watched the new Snow White movie at which point I realized the boys have not seen many of the classic princess fairy tales so we may watch a few more over the summer.

 

Marcus had his big activity day camp on Friday, June 27th, they did canoeing, bb guns, bow and arrows, gaga ball, similar things to last year. He had a blast and popped up happy to go when I woke him up early that morning.

 

He really wanted to buy a pocket knife this year and we told him he could but thankfully we had also done a lot of research because the location they went to his time the trading post was a little bit more pricey then in past years so he came home and bought one off of Amazon. Then he mowed the front lawn on Saturday to make more money to replenish his account.

here they are researching pocket knives online

 

After the boys mowed the lawn on Saturday we were trying to decide what to do. I have been wanting to try Lagoon A Beach. Lila was getting a little frustrated with her school work so we decided to quickly pack and head out for the water park. When we got there around noon the place was practically dead (especially compared the Saturday we went a few weeks ago). We had a really good time. Marcus and I floated the lazy river while Steve, Lila, and Andrew did a few slides then they joined us at the lazy river. After a few more rounds we noticed it was starting to get busier so they went to try the rest of the slides while Marcus and I checked out the little pool area. Marcus had a blast playing over there. It really was a great outing and I'm so glad we went. We picked up food on our way home, ate, and then sent everyone to shower and relax for a bit before we headed out to they symphony to watch Star Wars. The kids were excited and couldn't remember when we did it for Harry Potter several years ago. When we arrived they had some characters out taking pictures with patrons so I hurry and got in line.

Chewbaca put his hand on top of Lila's head because he was so tall and his hand and hair covered her whole head, Steve was laughing. He even made his patented wookie noises. I teased Lila was I was going to crop us all out and leave just her and Chewbaca and label it Lila's first date.

 

There were other characters but we wanted to get to our seats and really Chewbaca was the big one of the night. We really enjoyed the symphony they even played the little 20th Century Fox jingle which made us all giggle. It had been a really long time since I just watched that movie which made it even more enjoyable. It was a fun family outing and a great weekend.

We've also been studying the Emotional Resilience: Finding Strength in Christ manual on Sunday as a family. We're working through some things with each of the kids and I felt inspired to have these discussions on Sunday over the summer. We're having good discussions and hopefully our children will learn resilience and that we can always rely on our Savior, especially when we don't know the answer, He can guide us one day at a time. We continue to fast and pray for each of them and seek direction each day how to help them. 🙏

Another Week Another Adventure

We took the boys to Lagoon Saturday, June 7th after I got home from the baptism of one of my cute primary kids. It was super busy so we hit a few rides then called it good. Andrew and Steve walked right on to Colossus, I kind of wanted to ride it but Marcus refused which is so funny because he has ridden that ride several times before. Anyway, he and I decided to ride Bombora together.

 

The boys started a little city pickleball league and are having fun playing games there (they have 4 days of that on Tues & Thurs). Marcus also started a little learn league at The Kitchen on Tuesdays to help improve his skills. He loves the coach there so hopefully this summer the boys will get some good reps in and keep building their skills.

 

Steve had to go down to work twice this week and worked really late nights trying to get some stuff setup. So the kids and I ordered pizza one day for lunch and made a rootbeer float slushy and we even convinced Lila to take a break from her summer class to get in the pool with us. Lila is crushing term 1 of Gen Fin Lit, like finished the whole term in about 4 days so she would be done with it before girls camp next week. I told her not to worry about job hunting just get as much course work done so when she got home from camp she can hit the streets (well the virtual streets since it's all done online now) looking for a job.

Well the bats are making a big mess on our front porch again. I came home from playing pickleball with the neighborhood on Wednesday to find 6 bats sleeping up in the corner. They were there for almost 36 hours. We had even tried putting out a really bright light to detour them and it didn't work. So Friday morning when we noticed they were gone Steve cleaned up the mess with our power washer, even washing off where they slept. Then he hung some fishing line in little balls. It's supposed to mess up their sonar echoing so they don't want to be there. I also read they don't like peppermint so I soaked some cotton swabs in peppermint essential oil and we stuck that in the corners. So far by the amount of bat droppings we see in the morning it is working. YAY!

 

Friday, June 13th we took off for Idaho. I felt impressed to schedule a tour of the BYU-Idaho campus for Lila and this was the best weekend we could make work. We were hoping to meet Mimi and Grandpa in Pocatello, Idaho to do baptisms with Steve, Ellie, Lila, & Andrew but Mimi's hip was really hurting so she couldn't sit in a car that long. We stopped in Malad Idaho for gas and to get a Free Frazil. Marcus was funny and said, "we make way better slushies than this now." Win for me and the slushy machine and I'm sure it's a lot less sugar than the ones in the store but still a fun memory.

We made it to the Pocatello, ID temple just in time for our appointment. I gave the kids all the family names I had printed and the temple allowed them to do all 20 of them. Marcus and I walked around the temple and talked about how he can be preparing to enter the temple in a few years. I then asked Marcus if he would remember these times we spent together at the temples. He said, "I think so but I can't guarantee it." Truly I just hope my kids know how blessed we are to be surrounded by so many temples. Steve and I talked about how we didn't have youth recommends growing up. We only went to the temple on youth temple trips with our ward once or twice a year (I lived 2 hours away from a temple and Steve lived 4 hours away). It just wasn't common to go on your own or with your family even after we moved to Provo to go to school when there was a temple close by. We are so blessed and we want to go as much as we can to take advantage of the covenants and blessings associate with the temple.

 

I asked the kids if they wanted to go to a sit down place for dinner and they said, no let's just eat in the car so we got off a couple of exits after getting on the freeway to get some food. Then we pulled into our hotel in Idaho Falls and got checked in. The kids went to look at the pool area and said it was slammed so we decided to out and explore the walking area by our hotel and we are so glad we did. It was beautiful and so fun to do. The evening weather was lovely, it really was magical.

 

After our walk we watched a new Phineas and Ferb then put everyone to bed. We got up around 8am the next morning to have breakfast and Steve, Ellie and I had an appointment at the Idaho Falls temple. It's the temple I went through for the first time and haven't been back to it since then so it was fun to share that experience with Ellie. It is an OG temple, the 8th to be dedicated in 1945, so the experience was unique and we felt the spirit. We looked up the LA temple where Steve went through for the first time and it was the 10th temple to be dedicated in 1956. We kind of laughed about how it was 1 temple every 5 years and now they are building 5 temples in 1 year, like I said before, so blessed!

 

When we got back to the hotel we packed up to head to Rexburg to meet our nephew Kyle for lunch. On our way out we drove across the street and explored another area of the falls. We really lucked out with our hotel and the beautiful location.

 

Steve called this the add a kid photo op 😂

 

Finally in Rexburg enjoying some pizza with Kyle and catching up with him. He is in the middle of midterms with tests and projects due so we are so grateful he carved out a little time for us.

 

After lunch we headed to the BYU-I Welcome Center for our tour. They gave us all BYUI t-shirts and then we walked around a portion of campus. Our tour guide was fun and informative. Ellie was in shock of how cheap everything is there. We were impressed with the last little bit of information she gave us regarding class sizes, 25-60 students. She said her professor always knows her name. Steve and I said at BYU we had several 101 level classes where there were 200-300 kids in the class. She said she is taking Psyche 101 with 56 kids. Lila liked the feel of the campus, she will be exploring other options but it was good to get her thinking about things in a fun way.

 

After our tour we went shopping at the BYUI Bookstore. I forgot how much I love the dresses at the BYU Bookstores because they are modest and so cute. They had given us 20% off so each of us girls got a new dress and the boys bought a game. Then we headed over to the ropes course that we could do free as part of our campus tour. Marcus was a little under the weight limit and the wind was blowing so they told us he would struggle with the upper zipline stuff. I thought both of the boys would need an adult with them but turns out Andrew was old enough to be on his own and he slayed it cruising around on different obstacles. I tried to go up with Marcus but I could not do it, I felt seasick up there (guess I should have taken some Dramamine), maybe the wind made things worse or maybe it's just not for me. So Steve took Marcus on some stuff. He was so brave and did so well. He was a little scared to try the zap line so he came back and decided to sit with me for a bit while everyone else cruised around.

Overall really happy with everyone and how they handled the challenge and had fun.

 

 

We asked the kids if they were hungry but they said no so we hit the road for about an hour then pulled off to get some dinner. Ironically as we were at the stop light when I was getting a little deja vu and I jokingly said all these small towns look the same then we realized IT WAS the exact same place we just chose different restaurant. We made it home by 8:30pm showered everyone and sent them to bed. 

Andrew helped me cook Sunday dinner on Father's Day. We mostly enjoyed relaxing and catching up after a full fun weekend. We even watched The Otherside of Heaven with the boys while I massaged Steve's head and Marcus put lotion on his feet. It was supposed to be a foot massage but I don't think there was much massaging with the one finger application. 😂 Then Marcus really wanted to get his head massaged so he kept saying, "I'm almost a father." "Technically I could be a father." Oh boy! I finally said ok I'll massage your head since you are a father in training. 

 

Monday, June 16th after I came home from pickleball and checked on Ellie who had headed out to go rock climbing with the Phelps since she had the day off for Juneteenth. Then I headed down to Lila's room to help her finish packing for girls camp. She needed to drop her gear off that evening. I helped her clean her room and unload from FSY and our trip to Rexburg then we thought through all she would need and found some good clothing options in her closet as we sorted things out. Since I was busy with her, the boys decided to find a Kiwico box from the craft room and start a project which was good and Steve is always a real trooper to help them with these kind of building projects. They were so excited to watch him solder a wire that had come off in the fan Marcus is making.

This morning we dropped Lila off for the overnight backpacking adventure for Jr/Sr girls before girls camp tomorrow. She was nervous but she is prepared. She has hiked with her pack so she knows she is strong and capable. She will have a blast and I cannot wait to hear all about the adventure.

the 6 juniors going from our ward/neighborhood

 

Summer Camps

The boys kicked off the summer with two camps. The first one was at the catalyst center about 5 minutes from our house. Andrew did it last year and had a blast (it was also the first year they offered them and it was dirt cheap). This year was not as cheap but Marcus has been looking forward to doing this camp this year since he was old enough so I signed them up. Andrew did the drone camp and Marcus did the engineering camp. They both had fun and they fed them lunch at the end. It was a nice little half day camp which left us plenty of time for practicing instruments (which we have tried to intentionally increase intensity this summer) and a chore.

I snapped a picture of Marcus getting settled in his first day. Andrew's class was upstairs and he confidently took off to find it.

 

The following week they did the Davis School District Science Summer Camp. It was all day. They caught a bus at Kaysville Jr High at 8:15 and then they took them to different events. The first day they were at a park where they rotated through several stations like making ice cream, splash pad, and they even dissected a frog (Andrew found 2 whole beeetles in his frog's stomach). They also launched rockets, water balloons, spent an afternoon coding, and visited the Hill Airforce Museum, and their final day they went down to Thanksgiving Pointe and visited the dinosaur museum and the farm. They had fun but they were longer days so we skipped chores this week and tried to get in our extra instrument practices.

 

On Monday, June 2nd, We also took Lila down for her week at FSY on the UofU campus. Her and her friend Macey wanted to try a location other than BYU since that is where they went last time. Check-in was from 11-1pm, I had a pickleball league from 9-11am that morning after dropping the boys off so when I got back I made a quick change and could tell Lila was a little nervous as she always gets about things but I think the fact that we were going a little later also stressed her out but I told her we would be fine. We finally convinced her we had time to stop and grab some lunch at In-n-Out so she could eat something good before we got there because they weren't feeding them lunch that first day.

We got there and were checked in and up to her room within 20 minutes (her friend was in a line for over an hour at 11am). We found her room and helped make her bed while we waited for Macey so we could take a picture with her. It turns out Macey's whole stake in Sandy signed up for this session so she knows a lot of people in their company. I encouraged Lila to get out of her comfort zone a little and hangout with Macey and all of her friends.

 

She texted Monday night saying she was having a good time. Then late Tuesday she texted and asked if she could call us which worried me a little. Turns out she just had a little issue and needed some supplies. I told her to just buy stuff at the campus store but I guess they are not allowed out of the student union building during free time. So Steve dropped some stuff off Wednesday on his way down to work. He couldn't give it directly to her, he had to coordinate through the site office but ironically he saw Lila as he was walking in but she did not see him and he he did not want to cause a scene so he just took a picture of her back side as she walked away (she's in the purple shirt with the black backpack).

We can't wait to hear all about her week when we pick her up tomorrow morning at 7am (bright and early).

 

On the last day of the field trip Marcus gave my number to one of his new friends. I got a text Hi. Then I got a text that said Banana which Marcus told me was their secret code word. Then he called three times. I finally let Marcus answer it and they talked for a while. It was kind of cute. Towards the end of the conversation I could here Marcus say, "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" I had to put the breaks on that and I told him you have to ask me before you setup play dates. 😂

 

Today the boys got their chore and instrument practicing done quickly so we could enjoy Free Frazil Friday. Now they are sipping on their Frazils and catching up on their summer scripture reading.

 

Steve is planning to take Ellie, her friend Isaac (they have been reconnecting over this summer which has been so fun to see), and Andrew mountain biking this afternoon. I told them they should stop for free frazils afterwords. The weather has been amazing in the 70s, I cannot believe it. I keep telling the kids they are so lucky to have had these outdoor camps when it hasn't been burning hot. The camps have been good but we're ready for a little more of a relaxed summer schedule with maybe some extra sleep on occasion.

Family Temple Nights

I forgot to post that we went to the Syracuse Temple Open House as a family last Monday, May 19th. It was a lovely evening. We took a minute to sit in the Celestial Room as a family and just soak in the special spirit that dwells there in The House of the Lord.

 

I had also scheduled a baptism appointment on Friday, May 30th for the older three kids since Andrew has not had a chance to go with his siblings yet. Marcus and I went with them to sit in the waiting area of the temple. As we were walking in Marcus realized he wouldn't get to go all the way in with the other three and was a little sad. I told him we could feel the spirit there in the waiting area and he could continue to prepare to enter the temple in a couple of years. He made a few summer goals while we waited: 1. create a new board game. 2. get better at mowing the lawn. 3. finish reading the Book of Mormon.

 

Marcus and I walked outside and found these beautiful orange creme roses then we took pictures of our group as they exited all smiles. It was a lovely evening and a good way to kick off our summer and this weekend with fast Sunday. I have so much that I'm praying for for each of my children this summer and can use all the extra prayers and guidance I can get.

  

Saturday May 30th was a full day. I had a baptism for one of my cute primary girls at 10am. It was lovely. I truly enjoy going to these and feeling the special spirit that comes with this day of covenants and ordinances. Then Marcus had his final football game. The team played hard and had some good throws and runs but alas the scoreboard was not our friend again. The team was so gracious to tell Steve how much they appreciated him coaching and to give all the players opportunities to play different positions and most importantly they all had fun! Go Chargers!

We can home and had a quick lunch and a yummy slushy as it was a warm one again. Then we headed out for Marcus's first piano recital. He had been working hard on his song Imperial March and did well. As a matter of fact during practice time one day Andrew and Marcus tried playing a piano/violin duet with that song so cute!

 

Even after all that Steve and I managed to work on a few more projects. Steve is working on organizing the garage for a bike parking area. Then we decided to put up the pool which the boys thought was so much fun and while it was filling Steve and I finished planting the few little plants I bought for our garden.

 

Summer is in full swing and feeling so busy already. I have to try to soak in every moment like this one of Marcus calmly reading his scriptures to keep up with his goal to read the whole Book of Mormon over the summer.