Robotics
The last week of July/first week of August Graham took a robotics class at UVU Wasatch Campus. He was really looking forward to this all summer but had no idea what to expect. The uncertainty mixed with the fact that it was held at the college had him pretty hesitant the first day. I parked and we walked in together to figure out where his class was. It sort of felt like I was walking him in to his first day of kindergarten and I instinctively reached for his hand. He pulled away (haha). We found his classroom with a few kids sitting quietly. His peppy teacher is a newlywed from our Stake. I knew Graham would be in good hands. On my way out I saw a mom pull up and a kid hop out of the car as she sped away. This kid looked completely confused as to where he was supposed to go. I asked, "Are you here for Robotics?" He nodded. "I'll show you where to go." He seemed grateful. Graham really enjoyed building and coding robots during the week for a couple of hours each day. On the last day parents were invited to watch the robots in action. This was a good thing because the things Graham explained to me each day went right over my head.
Saying Goodbye to Friends
McKyla and Baylie have lived next-door for the last four years. If you remember they replaced Graham's bestie, Tyson, who moved. It was a trade-off, we were sad to loose Tyson but Callie finally had some pals. These girls have been inseparable and they are all so sweet together. Their family is headed to Idaho and Callie is really going to miss them. I suspect they will be friends for life, just like Graham and Tyson are.
Fair Days!
We attended the Talent Find at the fair grounds and saw our friends the Krull's who have SIX daughters. They performed a song from the Sound of Music that Mallerie wanted us to record for her.
We don't hold regular Young Women's during the fair because after all it is a family affair. However, we meet for snow cones earlier in the day. This activity was called, "Taste the Rainbow." The girls chose a goal to work on depending on the color of their snow cone. I know it's a bit of a stretch.
I have my new presidency in place, which has really breathed fresh air into my calling.
I took the three youngest to the fair that evening and Graham decided he wanted a churro. There was only one person in line in front of us but then we noticed another line on the other side of the truck. There was only one guy working inside and boy was he not in a hurry. It took 35 minutes for Graham to order. I finally had to go wait on a bench because I was tired of standing.
We went to the exhibits to see how the kids faired ribbon-wise. The judging system was wackier than we have ever seen in the fifteen years we have been going. It was as though they didn't judge at all but just placed random first, second and third place ribbons all over. Graham was finally laughing hysterically that a sloppy painted ceramic had a blue ribbon, while someone's carefully drawn sketch had a white. For this reason he wasn't as disappointed when he saw his Titanic Lego model hadn't done as well as he had hoped. Phew.
Say YES to the Dress!
Mallerie wrote to me in February about a fun YW activity the ward she was serving in had done. A gal came and brought wedding dresses for the girls to try on and it was, "So fun Mom!"
She was writing to let me know that the lady had since moved to Utah so she gave me her contact info. In August our theme was "Marriage and Family" so I gave this gal a call and she agreed to come to Heber. My Presidency came up with this cute invite:
The week before at our class activity I taught the Laurels how to make roses and they each decorated their own 6" cake. Then I decorated this one the next week for our desert after the activity.
The chatty part the gal gave before the dress part of the activity was a bit awkward, but the girls looooooved trying on the gowns. You can tell by these photos the fun they were having. I asked Matt to bring a full-length mirror up to the church. When Callie brought it in I asked her if she wanted to stay. She did. It was cute to see her quietly watching the girls.
One of Two Weddings
The wedding theme continued in August when we attended Becca and Andy's reception (my Uncle Ross's daughter). Her cake was awesome. Her mom Suzy made it and it was, "so fun". Katrina noted, "Its very anthropology." At the reception they served tiny desserts and it was all so lovely. I ended up chatting with Lindsey till after the bride and groom ran off. As soon as they did, the clouds parted and we ran to the car in a downpour.
Matt and the boys were backpacking to the top of Timp that night along with Jon and his two boys, and Shafer and his two boys. Ava stayed over night in Provo, so it was just Callie and I who got up early the next morning and attended Christian's baptism. My most favorite thing was watching his face BEAM as he saw cousins walk in to support him.
A Long Weekend
When we came out to parking lot we could see the top of Timp, where the boys were at that exact moment. Matt was worried they wouldn't have a view because of the smoky air, but they could see okay. From the church we went over to Pizza Pie Cafe. After lunch, while the kid ran around outside, I chatted with Eliza till the kids were actually begging to go (never a quiet moment when I am with my sisters). Matt texted the below photo before the boys left on Friday. Matt had driven back from St. George that day and so he packed in a hurry. He forgot two of his water bottles so he only had his Life Straw. His equipment was heavy (an 11 lb. tent!) and he couldn't sleep because of the wind. He was under extreme stress and though it was great to conquer a hard thing with the boys, it was honestly the worst weekend of his life. He said, "I am never doing that again." I assured him, "No one is ever going to ask you do that again." But if you ask the boys, it was the highlight of their summer.
...I am surprised they didn't say it was their outing with me! We went back-to-school shopping and we couldn't believe these size 18 and size 21 sneakers! They went to Nickel City while I went on some errands of my own. We had lunch at Arctic Circle. I took Callie back to Burlington later in the month to choose a backpack. When we were walking through the parking lot I reached out for her hand. She squeezed mine back tight. Made my day.
I also took Graham on a drive up Memorial Hill one evening for a 360° view of our valley. We also chucked some eggs;)
I had to take the van to Toyota in Orem to get several things serviced, which we were told would take half the day. They offered a shuttle but told us it would be a long wait. The boys and me had each just filled a big cup of hot cocoa when they called our name. We were not expecting the shuttle to come so soon. We did our best to climb into the pristine van with our piping hot cocoa. There we sat with a bunch of strangers trying not dribble hot cocoa down our arms through the bumpy ride. The driver kept telling us to make sure we didn’t spill! As Grayson recounted the experience it was rather humorous.
EFY August 6-10 2018
Ava was having the time of her life that week at EFY in South Jordan. Alivia came and both of them stayed with the Taylors, which we appreciated so much. She said it was the best week of her life. That sounds like success.
Odds and Ends
One morning when I awoke I could hear that something wasn't quite right. I looked at the garden sprinklers and saw that a pipe had burst and the window well was rapidly filling with water. I hurried to the garage and turned off the water and then scooped out as much water as I could with a Home Depot bucket. This is one of many times the basement storage room has flooded for one reason or another. For this reason I don't think we will ever finish that room. I have learned to not leave anything valuable on the floor. Instead I enjoyed the smell of wet concrete.
Graham and Callie chose to plant watermelon this year. The last time we tried this we didn't get any melons because our growing season is so short. This time the wild vines gave them hope. The day after Matt fixed the pipe we went out to see that the watermelon plants were ripped out. I guess Matt thought they were weeds:/ One Sunday as Sacrament meeting ended, for some I reason turned to Graham and said, "You haven't given a talk in Primary for quite a while." He got a strange look on his face, "I am giving a talk today! I just remembered." I didn't believe him (what are the odds that I would ask that question right then???) He pulled out a slip of paper from his scriptures and, sure enough, he had been assigned to speak that very day about service. He didn't seem too phased and said he would come up with something. I stood in the hallway to listen to him share that opportunities to serve are all around us. That week he had spent time sitting with Grandpa Mike, helped his sister move, and taken food to a funeral for his mom.
During Sharing Time they brought cupcakes to celebrate the 140th Birthday of Primary. However, they were vanilla cupcakes and Graham does not like vanilla. I asked him, "So what did you do? He said, “Good thing I had some sugar packets in my pocket, I just ate those instead.” ???
Room Re-do!
By August was a time to finally get going on my summer projects. Callie was staying in Elko so it was the perfect time to re-do her room. It has been 15 years since I painted the stripes (Grayson was only a few weeks old) in what was then Katrina and Mallerie's room. Through the years I have had to touch up dings and nicks, but now I am out of all the paint so the walls just continue to nick and ding. The baseboards and molding needed a re-fresh as well. It was time! Still, re-painting over my beloved stripes was hard! It symbolized the end of an era. I listened to my extensive Celine Dion library of CD's in order. Boy, that was a walk down memory lane as well.
Before:
I repainted the walls Touch of Almond, like the rest of the house because I could drink that color. Then on one wall I pained Deep Ocean Floor, which was the trial color I painted the accent wall in my room but it looked terrible. It is a great color so I was happy to find the perfect wall for it. When I re-loaded the room I did a lot of editing. I was hoping it would be like the tray game; Callie would know items were gone but not be able to pinpoint exactly what. We were really racing against the clock to finish before Callie got home. Matt put Graham on his shoulders to wash the outside windows. Ava was bringing Callie home so they stalled at dinner and a movie. We waited in her room as we watched where the girls were at on our phones.
Callie walked in with the look of ahhh. It was great.
AFTER!
There really is nothing like a freshly re-done room. The clean feel, the smell...
Her room is organized and easy keep clean. I even found a place for her Grumpy Cat poster, which Callie bought with her own money at the school book fair;)
She even has her own cat language, as she calls it. It is when words end in the er sound.
For example: we were driving to pick up Graham from Tysons and I pointed out, “Look, sheep in the meadow." She repeated back, “The meaders.” And if you tell her "Hello", she says back, “Hellers!” She has been saying "Hellers!" for a while and she said she is going to keep saying it every day till Matt says it back to her.
Oh, and she just finished the book Matilda, "Matilders."
Raegan and Tyrell August 17, 2018 - Wedding Two of Two
We celebrated bride-to-be Raegan at a shower in Lehi just the week before her wedding day in Salt Lake City. What a beautiful bride she made!
Boy did I appreciate hugs from my siblings that day.
We drove to Elko the next day to assist Sadie and to celebrate at their home. Though we have stopped at the Salt Flats numerous times, this is the first time I have gotten out to walk on the salt. Callie looks like she has a little person on her head in the photo.
Sadie had been bustling around all day, but the time was getting away from her. When she saw me show up with the Lindseys she said, "I could cry." Ashley came shortly after. The Goulding's backyard was so lovely with the pergola they built themselves and a white tent set up. They had white lights strung across the yard, and it gave such an elegant feel with the hanging baskets.
The reception was so lovely. It was a perfect night. Ava was the videographer. I said, "Ava you should get a shot of my brothers on the deck." She said, "Moooooooommmmmmm." Oh. I guess being the videographer is stressful. Matt got a picture for me instead.
The beautiful blue Bridesmaids at the house after church the next day.
Ava did a grand job on the video:
On August 17 told Callie that it's Black Cat Appreciation Day. She straightaway went and took a picture of Poe. "How will we remember that date?" we wondered. Oh, it is also Raegan and Tyrell's wedding anniversary!
For this road trip I brought along my "playlist." I showed the kids how bulky a playlist used to be!
With Callie's room finished it was time to move on to another project...the next room would not be so simple. We had our master bath torn out! The guy that did it kept the door closed to contain the dust but we could hear saws and hammers. He filled bag after bag of debris that he carried out to his truck.
Callie and I stayed in her room and read "Because of Winn Dixie" from start to finish while he worked. We had to get used to having only one bathroom upstairs for the next couple of weeks.
Back To School Aug 22, 2018
Graham started a brand new school this year at Timpanogos Middle. He did not want to attend back-to-school night. He thought it would make him feel like a baby I guess, instead of a 6th grader. I insisted and we went and toured the school the night before. He soon saw that it was a wise decision. There are two different levels with wings and he has a different schedule each day. He wondered how he would ever figure it all out. I assured him that after a while it would be second nature to him.
In Graham's excitement he forgot his carefully prepared lunch his first day. Since he leaves an hour before Callie she was a sport and she ran it into the office at his school. I watched her walk across the crosswalk in her new duds at JR Smith.
This is the first time in fifteen years that I have only had one child at JR Smith Elementary School. After school I went to pick her up but she was not there. Her teacher asked, "What was your after-school plan?" I realized we hadn't made one. I explained, "I usually have two kids who walk home together." She said, "Well if you don't find her let us know." I assured her, "You will!" Callie was already home waiting for me.
Back to School August 23, 2018 WHS
They got to start a day later than the others. Ava is beginning her junior year, which is always a doozy. Grayson is excited to no longer be the baby at school. His sophomore year looks promising.
These are all some good-looking kids!
Twenty-Four Year Anniversary August 26thIt is weird to reach the amount of years your parents had been married when you got married!
During dinner at PF Changs Matt said, "I didn't' know green beans could taste like this!" Too bad we also got a parking ticket. Matt has had Hale ticket since May he has been trying for us to use. We saw Newsies at the Hale in Sandy.
Highlight of the night was to run into our dear friends Shane and Chy who were sitting just across the isle and a few rows down. We met 24 years ago so it seemed fitting to see them on our 24-year anniversary! Oh, and we are also currently watch 24.
Meme of the Month
I came across this meme online. I laughed out loud not only because we had recently re-watched Cocoon, but also because this is how I felt most of August. Funny. Not funny.
Sunflower Analogy I sent to Mallerie on her mission
When we lived at the townhouse I carved out a
little garden area in the backyard. Together, we planted a kids
pack of seeds. It was a mystery pack of seeds, which meant we didn't know
what would grow. As the summer went on we enjoyed radishes and other things
from our mystery garden. However, there was one plant that remained a mystery.
We watched in wonder all summer as it grew like a bean-stock up past the
second-story deck, "What could it be?" we wondered. One day we were
driving home and we saw that it had bloomed into a giant sunflower, as big as a
dinner plate. We all squealed with delight.
Waiting for the
mystery sunflower to bloom is a lot like faith. We don't always know what the
future holds. But we plant, we nourish, and we wait; hoping that one day our
efforts will result in something beautiful. Some results we will see right
away like the radishes, others we have to wait on like the sunflower. We
don't give up and quit trying just because we don't know what the future looks
like.
