It's all good . . .

Finishing Up July with Fun

Getting home from our trip out west, we only had two weeks left of summer, and even less time before Lily was going to be set apart as a missionary. Because the school year is looming, we tried to make sure and squeeze in some fun. Lily was especially impressed with our new swim spa and loved getting to play with the boys in it.

On Tuesday, Lily and I were able to attend the San Antonio Temple, which was wonderful.  It really is amazing going to the temple with my sweet girl.

Tuesday night, I was able to sneak out with my friends Erica and Jana (Rice) to go see the movie "Where the Crawdads Sing," which was so good!! I loved the book, and the movie was super well done.  It was also just really nice to take a moment to recline in the fancy movie theater chairs and relax.

Wednesday was our activity that we had in July for our primary girls.(Summer is crazy with people out of town, and so we only had one activity in each June and July.) We had a movie night and watched the remake of "The Parent Trap" - you know, the remake that was made 24 years ago - ha ha! I borrowed a screen and Kevin hooked up our projector, and then I made tons of popcorn and the girls brought treats to share.  they had a blast, loved the movie, and ate their weight in popcorn. The only snafu was that the movie was over two hours longs, so even starting early, we went way late.  Oh well.  That's why we did it in the summer ;).

Thursday morning found me back at the temple, but this time I was there to take portraits of a little girl who is going to be baptized.  She was adorable, and the lighting was fantastic, and so I stayed longer so I could get some great shots of the temple.

When I got home, the kids and I loaded into the car to head to the church parking lot. I had Lily help Derek practice parking, while Arthur and I worked on his bike riding skills.  Between some pretty hefty fears he is trying to overcome, as well as moving and such, he had forgotten most of what he knew about riding a bike.  He was getting pretty good, he just needs to stop panicking, and he will be fine.

Friday had some special plans that included Derek getting in some "night" driving hours, so the kids and I were in the car and on the dark road by 6am.  We drove the back way to Bourne, giving Derek a good chunk of time in the car, and stopped for breakfast tacos at Mary's - so good!!  (And since they were bigger than I remembered and I bought two for each of us, including Kevin, we had leftovers for dinner. Nice!)
From Bourne, we drove back down to San Antonio, and went to Eisenhower Park to go on a hike.  We were starting early to try and beat the hottest part of the day, and we succeeded. It was still hot, it is Texas in the summer for goodness sakes, but it was comfortable and we had a fabulous time.

Arthur was especially happy once we got off of the paved trail and were on the dirt trails.  And his favorite thing of all were the "natural stairways" made of rocks, and not made by men.  He went on and on about it, and really did love them.  It was so great to be out in nature and playing with my kids again.  We have really missed our weekly Go York hikes back in Pennsylvania.

What really made Arthur's day, however, was the fact that there was a playground and climbing wall right next tot the parking lot.  Lily and I happily took it easy on a bench while they played before we headed home.

Saturday was a busy day, but the biggest thing we got accomplished was emptying out our storage unit.  We had rented a storage unit back in October when the movers brought all our stuff.  We couldn't even move because of all the boxes and things, and so we just threw a bunch of it in storage just to get it out of the way while we finished renovating.  Then a lot of it was still there, and although we have been making progress on moving it back to the house and organizing it (and finding things we were missing), Kevin and I took three last trips with the van to get it all out.  It was so freeing to have that gone, and not have to worry about it anymore.

For our Saturday night date, we went to BBQ at Smoke Shack BBQ, which was very yummy.  But then we followed it up with the best part - gelato at Paciugo. I had the Stracciatella (divine chocolate chip) and Fondente (a fudgy chocolate) and they were so very good!!  The only problem was when we walked back to the car in the 105 degree heat, and it immediately started melting.  I ended up a chocolatey mess of melted ice cream as I tried to eat it faster than it melted, all while still trying savor the deliciousness.  It was pretty darn hilarious.  But still delicious ;).

We finished off July with a super fun family game night, that actually stretched into a second night, as we had to go to bed before we finished it on Sunday night. We were playing Wonder Woman, this really awesome cooperative game where everyone works together to defeat the enemy.  It was pretty fabulous, and it was so great to have a super fun, thinking game, where we all had each others' back, and were trying to win together. So glad my friend, Becky, gave it to us :).  It was the perfect way to end our July.

Western Adventure Part Three: The Rest of the Fun

One of my all time favorite things to do when we are in Twin Falls, is to walk on the canyon rim trail.  And from Kevin's parent's house, it is a three minute walk, and so my workouts on Thursday and Friday were watching the sun rise over the Snake River Canyon - so beautiful, and it makes four miles just fly by to be in all that beauty.

On Friday morning, Grandpa Dennis took us out to ride the horses. He and two of his friends have three horses, and they are such good horses, that it has become a tradition the past few years to ride them whenever we visit. We always start by feeding them apples, as we need to butter them up.
Then it is time to ride. Arthur started on Doc, Lily on Honcho, and Derek on Ringo. 
The older kids are getting really good at riding the horses. Arthur is still a little small and a bit nervous, and so he asked if I would ride with him to start, but then he decided it made the saddle too crowded, and so he rode by himself.
Kevin also got a chance to ride, which he really enjoyed.
The kids really loved being on those horses, and I am grateful for cool experiences like this, that expand their skills and knowledge of the world.  What a special thing it is to ride a horse.  I even got to hop up and ride again, this time on my own, but I ended up with the horse Derek was riding, who does whatever he wants, no matter what you do, and he was done with walking around, and just wanted to eat the fresh cut grass - ha ha!

One of the other favorite traditions the kids have when they come to Grandma and Grandpa's house, is to play with the pipeworks. Arthur even knew exactly which thing he wanted to build - the slide.  He poured over the plans and carefully laid out all of the pieces, and then he got his older brother to join him on the building.  They did a great job of working together, which is not always the case, and the slide turned out perfectly.  Good times!

To finish off our last day in Idaho, Arthur had to read a book with Grandma Valerie, which is another wonderful tradition. I am so grateful that my kids have such wonderful and loving grandparents.

Saturday morning came all too early, and before we knew it, we were back on the road and heading home to Texas. For our way home, we decided to go by way of Colorado.  It only added about 40 minutes to our total drive, and it meant that we got to stop in Pueblo for the night to see our dear friends, the Gowens. Natalie was my best friend when we lived in Colorado, and although we have kept in touch, it had been six years since we had seen each other last.  We had the most wonderful time talking, catching up, going on a fun walk through their neighborhood, and staying up late to play games. (We played a cool new game called Splendor, and I won!  Wahoo!)

And while the adults played, our kids had a fabulous time together. Arthur, Max, and James were a bit too small when we moved to really remember each other at all, but Derek and Sam and Lily and Ian were such good friends as kids, that they picked up where they left off. It is crazy to see Ian and Lily all grown up. Time flies too fast!

We left early the next morning and made it to our home in San Antonio right around bedtime.  It was a wonderful, albeit quick trip, but it was packed full of amazing experiences and moments and memories we will not soon forget.

 

Western Adventure Part Two: Our Lily

Yes, yes, I know that Lily had technically only been gone since April, but to say that we missed our girl is a huge understatement. She is a very special piece of our family, that is for sure.  She had her last final on Wednesday morning, and so we left Twin Falls and headed to Rexburg so that we would be there in time for her to be finished.  The test an a little long, and so we sat outside her apartment building and tracked her on "Find my Friends" watching to see when she moved. Once she was headed our way, the boys stood on the sidewalk and scanned in the direction she was coming from, until they finally saw her.  Once she had crossed the street, they were running for each other and had the biggest group hug.  It made my heart so happy, and I love that they love each other so very much!

Once we had Lily, it was a mad dash to get all of her belongings out of her apartment and into the back of the van. Kevin and I quickly discovered that she doesn't have our experience with packing, and so we sent her off to show the boys around while we repacked everything, finishing just in time for them to come back and help us get it all to the van.  After we were loaded up, we went on campus for lunch at one of Lily's favorite places, the Teton Grill, where we got burgers and talked.

We did have to run some errands in Rexburg before we could leave, like stopping at the distribution center to get Lily temple clothes and some other things. Oh, and we got frozen yogurt too, but mostly as a reward for how patient the boys were with all the craziness. Before we knew it, we were in the van and headed back to Twin, but this time, with our Lily in tow.  Just the way it should be :).

Thursday was a busy and exciting day, and Lily and I started it off bright and early, getting her stuff organized and most of it stored at Grandma Lynn's house. We had to drive it over and get it stored, since we stayed the second half of our time in Twin at Kevin's parent's house. Not a big deal at all, and actually easier that way to separate it all out.  After getting that taken care of, it was time for a much desired haircut for Lily.  She wasn't sure where to go in Rexburg, and so ended up waiting.  Now it is back to the cute shorter style she adores.

The biggest and most exciting thing about our whole trip happened in the early afternoon.  Lily was able to receive her endowment in the Twin Falls Idaho Temple, which was the culmination of years of preparation on her part and the beginning of a lifetime of service. She and I went an hour early to the temple session to prepare, since it was her first time. (If you would like to know more about what happens in our temples or what they are like inside, just click on this link: TEMPLES)

There is nothing quite like having your child in the Temple with you and to watch her make sacred covenants. Kevin and I were both full to bursting with love for our sweet girl.
We were also very blessed to have my mom and Kevin's parents there with us, as well as our dear friends (and adoptive extra pair of grandparents for our kids) Brent and Marilyn there. My sister, Heather, and my nephew, Paul, were also able to come, as well as Stuart's new wife, Sherianne.  We loved getting to share this wonderful day with other people we love, and I truly felt the presence of my daddy while we were in the temple.  I know he was there, just watching over us all and sharing the experience with us.

After the session, we went across the street to my in-law's house for a dinner and celebration.  We got food from Cafe Rio and had a taco bar, and then had cheesecake for dessert - two of Lily's favorite things. We had a wonderful time visiting together and were all just so happy after being at the temple with Lily.

That evening, Lily and I went back over to the Twin Falls Temple so that I could take some portraits of her. We sure do love our Lily and are truly grateful for the amazing, kind, and strong woman she has grown up to be. We can't wait to see what the next chapter of her life holds as she begins her mission in a couple weeks.

Western Adventure Part One: To Idaho, By Way of Utah

Our yearly trek out to Idaho was different this year, because instead of coming from Pennsylvania, we were coming from Texas, which shaved ten hours off the drive - ten hours is lot of hours in the car. We also decided to take our old, but reliable van, which led to us stopping overnight so that she could have a rest. She is 15 years old with 230,000 miles on her, so driving her non-stop doesn't seem wise anymore.  

We also took advantage of the drive to get Derek some experience driving and knock off some driving hours. You can see how serious he takes his driving, but what you don't see is me gripping my arm rest and doing everything I can to remain completely calm while my son is driving 70mph on the New Mexico highways. He did great, but teaching a kid to drive is not for the faint of heart. My goodness. (Kevin moved to the back seat and "took a nap" during this time, as he can't handle it.)  I just wish we had had him drive on the straighter stretch of road, instead of in the mountains. At least the scenery was beautiful.

That night, we stayed at a small motel in Farmington, New Mexico. I was reminded, yet again, why I cannot sleep in the same room as Derek.  He is a very noisy sleeper, and at one point he yelled out in his sleep, "Korean! I speak Korean!"  What a dream he must have been having, and he does not, for the record, speak Korean. Ha ha ha!  The next morning, the boys were beyond excited to get to eat the continental breakfast - mini waffles and orange juice for the win! And I loved that I could fill up all the water bottles with cold water for the next stretch of our drive.

If you have never driven through or been to northern New Mexico and southern Utah, you really need to go there, if only to experience the indescribable beauty and uniqueness of the landscape. And my cell phone pictures going 80mph through bug and rain splattered windows do not at all do it justice - you will just have to take my word for it. Come and see the mountains and the desert - it is spectacular.
Friday was actually a pretty short day in the car, only about six hours, and then we were in Orem at the Draper's home! I was just there last month, which was awesome, but there is nothing quite like a Kevin and Rob reunion. We had less than 24 hours with them, but we made the most of it, with a dinner date, late night pinochle, and a lunch date on Saturday.  We always have the best time with Rob and Angela! And our boys had a blast getting to swim in their pool, but their favorite part was talking about and playing games with Elijah. Good times!

Before we knew it, we were crossing the Idaho border on our way to Twin Falls.  We had meant to have Derek drive again, but by then, we were just anxious to be home, so Kevin drove . . . and fast. Ha ha!

We got to my mom's house and immediately made ourselves at home.  Arthur even found a book for her to read to him, which is one of their favorite things to do together.

On Sunday, we went to church with my mom, and I witnessed the cutest experience of Kevin teaching Arthur to tie his tie. I have a very similar picture of Kevin with Derek doing the very same thing.

After church, my sister, Holly, came over to visit. It was so wonderful to get to see her and catch up, especially because she will be out of town half of our time here.  After her visit, I made dinner and we had Dennis and Valerie over to eat.  It was so much fun.

Monday morning I started the day in one of my very favorite ways - I walked down my mom's road to the wheat field just in time for sunrise.  When I am her house, I often get my workout in with a few miles along her road, and it never disappoints.

After my walk, it was time to get to work on projects at my mom's house, and that meant enlisting my boys in the "fun" of weeding and clearing some things out of her front yard. And we may have had to be strategic about fitting everything in the trash can. Ha ha!

Arthur even got to say hi to the goats my sister, Heather, is keeping in my mom's back pasture. They seemed like they were ready to do anything to get over the fence to that bucket of food, but luckily Heather fed them right after I got the picture.

All of the chores and work of the morning, were followed up by movies and games with Grandma Lynn in the afternoon.  Something that was repeated on Tuesday, except without the work ;).

On Tuesday morning, I had the rare privilege of getting to play golf with Kevin and his dad. We played at Highway 93, a course I had heard about a lot, but had never actually played, and we had the best time! And I actually played really well and got my personal best of a 113 for 18 holes (I think the lack of water on the course helped me out) and even getting two pars (and on holes Kevin bogeyed - what!?!). Such a great time!
We filled the rest of Tuesday with hanging out with my mom, watching movies, talking, and doing things around the house (like installing her new camera doorbell). It was a great few days before we were off on our next adventure - getting our Lily.

Beginning July

To begin the month of July, Kevin took advantage of getting off of work early for the holiday weekend, and took Arthur golfing with him. Arthur loved getting to be out on the golf course and act as Kevin's caddy. He even got to play a little bit. It is so fun for them to get to do these fun things together! I have high hopes for years of golfing adventures together.

We also got to break in our new pool. This swim spa is awesome, and we are just loving it. Kevin has even been trying to figure out how to swim against the current - it is a little tricky, but I think he will get it soon.  It is definitely a different kind of swimming.  The boys sure are loving it!

One side effect of having the spa, is that we had to take down a large section of fence for them to get it in the yard, which meant that Kevin had to build a whole new gate, since our old one was trashed, as you can see from the picture.  Ha ha! He did a great job building the new gate though.

As the summer goes on and continues to be in the triple digits, I am so grateful that the mornings are always in the 70's, and so I can go out for 3-4 miles without melting.  And I get to enjoy the sunrise as a bonus :).

One super exciting thing for me, was that I finally have the giant empty corner in my room all put together - complete with furniture (chair from Costco,  table from Hobby Lobby, and lamp from Target).  I love how it turned out!  And I think I will move my gray basket with my cozy blanket in it over next to it, since it will be perfect to just reach out and be comfy in my chair.  Also, our TV rotates, so I can sit in my chair, work and watch TV.  It's awesome.  And so pretty.

This summer has been interesting, because I have been trying to get in lots of hours designing and bidding cabinets for Premier Woodworking.  Like I have mentioned before, I work remotely, and usually not with customers, but the other day, I had a two hour phone conversation with a client as we were trying to fine-tune her designs.  Unfortunately, just as she called, I was making hardboiled eggs in my Instant Pot, and so instead of sitting for four minutes before I put them in the ice-bath, they sat for one hour and 57 minutes.  Oops. Luckily, it didn't seem to ruin them.

One of the best parts of this week, however, was when Kevin surprised Derek with tickets to go and see "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Majestic Theater. They even bought matching t-shirts, and on the back of it, it showed that it was the same 50th anniversary tour that Kevin and I saw back in December of 2019. I guess that is what happens when there is a Covid shutdown in the middle of the tour.  Derek absolutely loved it, and said it was like he was at an awesome rock concert.

We have trying to take time to play as a family this summer, in spite of still being pretty busy, and so playing games and watching fun shows/movies is always a good time. The other night, we played "Play Nine" and I WON!!! I never win - ha ha!

We had another exciting event this week when Derek's friend Michael got his mission call to Honduras, which is awesome.  When he read his call, they invited the whole ward and other friends, and the place was packed and a little crazy, but Derek loved getting to be there to support his friend.

Arthur also got to have some time with one of his good friends.  He had Jack come over, and they played Legos and then had a blast swimming in the spa. They really had so much fun, and I am so grateful that he has good friends here.  It was the perfect way to usher in July.

Celebrating Independence Day

Our Fourth of July celebrations began the night before, when a group of us got together on Sunday evening to watch a fireworks show from the top of the hospital parking garage.  We got there early to get good spots, and then sat around and talked and ate.  It was good times!

Eventually, we brought out some games for the kids to play, and Erica even brought poppers for everyone (which helped Arthur deal with his crushing disappointment that there were no fireworks of our own to light off - he got too used to Pennsylvania where everything was legal). Of course, as soon as we sent them out to throw poppers, the parking lot started filling up and there was a constant stream of cars.  Oops.
The sunset from the top of the parking garage was gorgeous, and made even better because I had good friends to hang out with (Erica, Janilee, and Karen)
As soon as the sun was down, we started seeing fireworks, but they were all far away. Unfortunately for us, the church that had the nearby show we were waiting for, took FOREVER to start lighting theirs off, which also didn't bode well with Arthur. Oh well.  He was fine once it finally started, and he loved the show

On actual Independence Day, our ward had a pancake breakfast at a nearby park.  It was so much fun, the food was tasty, Derek and his friend Paul did the flag ceremony, and Kevin led the music.  And there were fun games for the kids, including a "cake walk" where you earned prizes instead of cake, and Arthur won like five times - ha ha! It was awesome, and getting to sit and talk with friends was the best.

While we were celebrating in Texas, Lily was off having fun in Idaho Falls with my sister, Cheryl.  (I am so grateful for all the amazing things she has done for my girl while she has been at school!!) They went and saw a parade, had yummy food and played games. She had so much fun, and I was so grateful that she wasn't spending the holiday alone.

Our celebration continued with two types of homemade ice-cream - Dole Whip Pineapple and chocolate peanut butter cup.I made it earlier in the day, and so it was ready for the fun with our friends.

We had Megan and Ben Quigley come over with their two boys, Charles and James, and we had so much fun.  We had burgers, the boys played in our new pool (which was finally ready late the night before), and we played Cover Your Assets.  It was seriously a blast, and I am so grateful for good friends - especially those we have kept in touch with for 14+ years.

They headed out around 8:30pm to watch fireworks closer to their house, and we had to try out the lights on our new spa, which are pretty fantastic.  After staying up late for fireworks the night before, we were content to call it a night early, but wow, it was a wonderful weekend of celebrating our nation's birthday.

Saying Goodbye to June

Finishing off June came with some fun times, my favorite being when Kevin taught our Primary kids the I Will Be Valiant song, and then put on his Army boots and red beret, and proceeded to have them march around the church while they sang it.  It was the best!  I am so glad my friend snapped a picture, because I was too busy marching and singing along with my class.

On Monday night, a group of us girls got together for a little goodbye for our good friend, Brandi. (We sure are going to miss her when she heads to Las Vegas! I am not sure whose idea it was for us to do it, but for our celebration, we went and did aerial yoga.  Yep.  Up in silks and everything.  It was quite the adventure.

There were a few things that were tricky, but for the most part, I loved it! It stretched you more and the silks were really fun to use. Not to mention the awesome ladies in our group.  I love these friends of mine!
For a few of the moves, you cocooned yourself in the silks, and it was so relaxing, it made me wish I had one at home to hang out in :).
The hardest move was this crazy one where you rolled yourself up and used your arm strength to get to the top of the rope.  The competitive part of me had to do it - and hold it for a picture - but man it hurt!  The silks were cutting into my legs because of how tight they wrapped.  Oh well, it was worth the pain to be one of five of us who did it.  And it was just one big laugh-fest.  Good times.  After we finished, we all went to dinner to end our goodbye party, and we had so much fun, and we even had an Italian place in the tiny town stay open just for us.

One thing we have not been getting enough of this summer (or this past spring), was rain.  We are in a drought here in Texas, and so when we got rain the other day, and it cooled things off a bit, we were pretty excited! Hallelujah! Now we just need some more, as the rivers are getting really low.

On Wednesday night, we had our one Primary Activity Girls activity for June, and we had a swim party in the backyard of our primary president's house.  They have a fantastic yard, and the girls had so much fun swimming, eating pizza, and just getting to be together. I love these cute girls I get to work with at church.
Another fun thing, was that I think the dove that I am always spying on outside our downstairs bathroom window, finally decided to build a next on the window sill.  Although, there have been other false starts and nests that were there and then gone, so it may not last.  I just love looking out the window to see the dove staring at me - ha ha!.
One of the most exciting things to happen recently, was that after months and months, our swim spa finally arrived.  When we first started trying to figure things out in our yard, we realized that a very expensive (having to dig/blast through solid limestone) and very small pool in our backyard may not be in the cards, and so when we found this 15'x8' swim spa at the home show, it seemed perfect. And it has special current jets to swim against.  So cool!
And one last thing, and because I never get pictures from Lily, let alone hear from her, I had to add this picture she sent me of her with some new friends at an ice cream social.  They have even hung out a few times since then to play video games.  Good times!

A Busy Week of Summer

Wow, this week was packed full of all the things, and most of them with fun.  We started the week with Arthur's Sunday night activity of erupting a volcano.  He had brought this giant thing home from school, telling me that his teacher said he could have it - just what I always wanted - ha ha! I told him that he could use it, and then it was going in the trash, and so on Sunday, it was finally the day.  It wasn't the best eruption, but it made Arthur happy - and I no long have to walk around it in his room ;).

On Monday, Kevin had off of work for Juneteenth, and so we decided to take the boys golfing.  We went to a small nine hole par three course in San Antonio, and had so much fun.  It was perfect, because the boys had just had their golf clinic the week before.  They played great and we had so much fun!

That night, we had the missionaries over for a visit, and they taught a great lesson about how we can make our way to Christ.  Arthur especially loved getting to walk on the footprints through the "hot lava" for their object lesson.  Good times!

Tuesday was an especially awesome day, because I got to go and play with my cousin, Wendy.  I hadn't seen her since we went to her wedding, and since she was going to be in Dallas visiting some people, we decided to meet up halfway.

Derek had to work, and so it was just Arthur and I that got to go, and he had such a wonderful time playing with her boys, Simeon and Isaiah.  We started out at a fun arcade, where they had a blast! After that, we had a wonderful lunch at Chick-fil-A - where the boys got to play in the play place while Wendy and I talked.

After that, we headed to Lion's Junction, a fun little water park in Temple, TX.  We all had a great time, but the boys had the time of their lives. They played and played and played, and especially loved the whirlpool in lazy river - although sometimes they would get stuck in it, or it would shoot them out.  Ha ha!

Their favorite thing, however, was going on the giant waterslides.  They could even race each other, which Arthur and Simeon did, over and over.  Good times! It was such a fun afternoon, and I really loved getting to reconnect with my cousin. And Arthur made new friends in the bargain.

On our way home, since we would be going through Austin, I texted my sister, Wendy, to see if she was home so we could stop by to say hi. She had just gotten home from playing tennis, and so it was perfect timing.  We got to spend a half hour catching up, while Arthur was in heaven making friends with Wendy's dog, Leo - who is now his favorite dog ever.

That night was book club, which is always one of my favorite nights each month. I had just gotten a couple new fun book themed shirts, and so I had to wear one of them. I also have another one that says "Warning: May spontaneously start talking about books."

Wednesday was a big day for Derek, as he left on a four day Stake Young Men's High Adventure Camp. While Derek was starting his adventure, Kevin and Arthur had an adventure of their own. Arthur had asked Kevin if he could take him to see the NY Mets play sometime, and so of course, Kevin had to look and see if they were playing nearby anytime. When he saw that they were playing in Houston during the day on a weekday, he bought tickets for the two of them to go.  They had the best time, and even though Arthur (and Kevin) was totally heartbroken because they lost to the Astros, Arthur loved it. He said his favorite part was that he almost caught a ball that came into the stands.

The rest of the week was pretty low-key, and Arthur got to experience what life would be like as an only child. Because it was just him with Kevin and I, he got to play a lot more games with us and watch a lot more movies with us.  He loved it, even though he really missed his brother.

Derek made it home on Saturday evening in time for Kevin and I to still go out on a date, which made Arthur extra happy. And I loved getting to go out with Kevin. I was feeling really sad this whole week about my flowers that are dying in my yard, and missing my garden in Pennsylvania, and so he bought me some hydrangeas from Trader Joes. I love them!

We finished off our date night with Kevin teaching me how to use his new golf simulator, which was so much fun. It was the perfect and relaxing way to way to end a very busy week.

A High Adventure in West Texas

So A few days ago I had the opportunity to go on a camping trip with a bunch of the youth in my stake. It had been almost a year since I had gone camping so I was really excited for this chance to be out in the wild. I'm very excited to share what went down on the trip. When we first arrived at the campsite, it was really hot. And having to set up a tent that is supposed to be very easy to set up when its being stubborn doesn't really mix well, but after I got it set up, I had a great time getting to know some of the members of the quorum I was assigned to. They taught me a pretty fun game that requires you to think "outside the box" quite literally. I also had fun playing Infection and Ghost in the Graveyard with some people I knew, and some people that I had just met. We also had to make our own dinner which was fun.

In the morning, after we had breakfast, everyone began heading out to the place where we would be going on a hike. It was this pretty tall mountain with a trail that went on for about 4 miles. For most of the hike, I was hanging out with one of my friends from school, Chase. He taught me a few songs that he and his family sometimes sang on hikes, and the two of us also talked a lot about timeline theories for the legend of Zelda. It was awesome.
At first the trail was pretty straight forward, and it was pretty easy going. But then it started to begin to rise up as it began to go around the mountain.  The higher we went, the rockier it became. Due to the fact that the sky was clear, the sun was making us feel pretty hot. And did I mention that this mountain was like a desert? It was so hard to bear. They told us to bring a water bottle to drink on the hike, but mine ran out before we even got near the top. Pretty unlucky if I do say so myself. As we began to get higher up, the temperature also began to rise. The trail became very narrow as it wound around the mountain and I could see so much of the area around the mountain. As we reached the summit, the view reminded me of the beginning of The Legend of Zelda Breath Of The Wild, where the character Link is looking out off of a cliff. It was so worth it.

When we got back to the camp, we had some time to hang out. After dinner, we headed off to a open space that doubled as a theater, to watch a movie called "Spirit of The Game". Its a movie about Australian missionaries who helped train the Australian Olympic Basketball Team. It was a lot of fun to watcha, and afterwards, we went back to the campsite to have a devotional to end the day and my quorum talked about how it felt to reach the top of the mountain.
I forgot to mention. When the adults were trying to get the movie to work, we were playing floor is lava using the benches around the theater. It was pretty intense and it also got really chaotic. There were also some boys sneaking around the back part of the theater area. Kinda of suspicious if you ask me.
The next morning, after having breakfast we did some service around the campgrounds, and spent time together. I had a lot of fun playing spike ball with some of the guys. And after a lunch of hot dogs, we headed out to San Solomon Springs, a huge pool that was fed by a natural spring. I'd show you some pictures but I didn't want to have to deal having to ask people if they would be okay with being in a picture (I also did not want to loose my camera).But it was so amazing! I had never seen anything like it before. There was so much space, fish in the water, and people having fun. They had a 10ft high diving board, which we used to hold a small little competition that was totally not ripping off a 2013 reality show called Splash. I may have yelled some crazy things.Afterwards, we came back to camp and got to work on dinner. It was fun to get to know so many amazing people in our church. It had been so long since I had been able to get together in big groups like this. The last time I remembered being in a group with over maybe 60 people, was youth conference in 2019. And many people actually liked the same video games, movies, and tv shows I do. Pretty sweet.
That night, we went to go to a star party being held at the McDonald Observatory. The sky was clear and we were able to see so many different stars in the sky. It felt like a whole new world (don't start singing) and it was amazing. There were so many songs I was singing in my head that I wanted to sing out loud. Looking at the stars reminded me that every one of those stars could actually be one of the many other worlds created by our Father in Heaven. I wonder if they're all the same as earth, or if they're like something out of a movie or book.
I had so much fun getting to spend time out in nature, feeling the calming breath of the wild (joke intended). I really hope I can do this again. Adventures always make me feel alive. And those stars I see in the night sky? They are motivating for me to dream big, and to make my mark in the world.

Celebrating Father's Day

Although my daddy is in heaven and so isn't here for me to celebrate him, I can still celebrate Kevin, the amazing father of my children. I love looking at these pictures of when each of our kids was brand new, and the absolute joy on his face - and if you look at the one of him with Lily, you can also see the happy tears he shed.

After nineteen years of fatherhood, he may have a few white hairs and a lot more facial hair, but he still loves being a dad to these crazy kids of ours. They loved getting to give him a special gift - Star Wars themed, of course ;).

The plaque says "I am their father" and then has each of the kids names carved onto a lightsaber (in their favorite color).

Lily didn't forget her dad either, and she sent him the cutest picture that she drew for him with her as Link from the Legend of Zelda :).

For dinner, I made ribs, but the star of the show was the eclair cake for dessert. Yum!  Kevin had a wonderful day, and not only did he lead the primary kids in singing to their dads, but he also got to watch lots of golf because it was US Open weekend.  Definitely a winner of a Father's Day for Kevin.