July

The girls were thrilled to get a couple of new kittens. We were needing some new mousers and they have fit the bill quite nicely. Ivy named the girl Coco and Brynn named the boy Smokey and they have been coddled and babied since we got them. The girls are like little mother's, rocking them to sleep and wrapping them in blankets and such. They are well-loved!

We were able to squeeze in a family night amidst all the different schedules. When I make baptism appointments, it's usually under the assumption that not everyone will be able to attend but that whoever can make it is better than nothing. It just so happened that, miracle of miracles, everyone was available this time! That is rare! We made a night of it and drove down together to the Provo City Center Temple.  Justin went in with Molly, Stockton, and Brynn. Stockton did the baptisms, Justin did the confirmations. Ivy and I walked around the mall and met them back at the temple when they were done. Then we went out for ice cream at Brookers, where we had never been but had heard was good. It did not disappoint. The revolutionary war period costumes were great and we all giggled when we placed our orders for flavors such as "Martha Washington's Colonial Cotton Candy", "Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Cookie Dough", and "Paul Revere's Midnight Ride." It was really fun...and yummy!

Grandkid Camp is a summer staple. I was so glad Molly could attend this year after being sick last year. Unfortunately, Justin couldn't take the time off work so it was just me and the kids. We drove up Thursday night and the kids were put into their "teams", where they came up with team names and made their banners. They are creative and funny.

The fun began in earnest the next day. Everyone had these shirts for the 4th of July (we were in Washington/Oregon) and my mom decided they would be our camp shirts as well. We had "The Gavajoes" (combination of Gavin and Josie) vs. "The Bula Biscuits" (hello in Fijian and Ivy's nickname at home) going head to head in Grandkid Camp Survivor. Of course my mom had a whole slew of games that they played throughout the day. Ali and I were the photographers so I had a ton of pictures of the games on my phone by the end of the day.

The Gavajoes: Grace, Chloe, Tessa, Gavin, Seth, Josie, Ivy, Spencer

The Bula Biscuits: Abby, Lucy, Grant, Harper, Stockton, Molly, Brynn

Harper, Lucy, Brynn

these cousins genuinely love being together: Spencer, Seth, Gavin, Chloe, Ivy, Tessa, Josie, Grace, Brynn, Lucy, Harper, Abby, Molly, Stockton, Grant

Ivy, Tessa, Gavin, Spencer, Chloe, Josie, Grace, Seth

Ivy, Lucy, Chloe, Josie

Ivy and Josie

Molly, Abby, Brynn, Harper

Saturday was lake day. We found a spot on the east side of the lake where you could walk out forever. The kids had a blast playing on the beach and out on the lake, as well as riding the boat and the tube. It had been forever since I had skied so I jumped in the water and got right up. It was so fun. We left late that afternoon to go home but it had been a perfect day on the water.

Josie, Ivy, Lucy

Brynn and Harper

that would be me!

Ivy and Josie

Brynn and Ali

Molly and Seth

Stockton, Gavin, Spencer

Molly, Tessa, Josie

Chloe, Ali, Molly

Chloe, Tessa, Molly

I took the girls rock climbing one afternoon. They continue to love doing this during school breaks. I had some gift cards so I took them to Quench It on the way home.

 

Molly was delighted when Jackie came to Heber for a visit, after moving to Logan the evening of seminary graduation. They grabbed Amberly for a walk in the mountains. A week later Molly and Amberly hiked Stewart Falls with Regan. (I love when Molly sends me her photos.)

Molly, Jackie Bingham, Amberly Howe

Regan Heywood, Amberly, Molly

**All four of these girls are at different schools, it's so weird to think of the different paths they will all take from this summer forward. 

I told the girls I would sleep on the tramp with them while Justin was away at school. They were very excited and got everything set up just how they wanted it, with me in the middle. They had pillow beds, stuffed animals, and all the other things they thought they might need that night. We set up the projector and started watching Teen Beach Movie before turning it off to get some sleep. We were able to have a lazy morning the next day...with some more kitty snuggles.

Brynn and Ivy each invited a friend and I took them down to the Provo Rec Center pool. This is such a fun pool...and much cheaper than going to Splash Summit. Everyone had a blast, including me as I followed them around and did everything they did.

Kaliyah Pili and Ivy

Brynn, Liyah, Ivy, Oakley Keys

Oakley and Brynn

Justin said goodbye to us for two weeks for his final year of credit union school. He dreaded going but knew he was so close to saying goodbye to this chapter of his life. Third years get put into groups and are responsible for organizing and running a "credit union" while they are there. They still go to classes but it's a lot more hands on than the first and second year. They still have a final at the end of the two weeks. Justin survived, passed the test easily, and was set to graduate at the end of the two weeks. He won't admit it, but this was a big deal for him. To be asked to go back to school when he already has so much on his plate was overwhelming, to say the least. (To be reminded: he is managing four AFCU branches, serving as bishop, being a property manager for one rental house, and has four kids in competitive sports with hectic schedules. It's a lot.) This program required six weeks in California, living in a dorm, eating cafeteria food, attending classes and taking tests, then two major projects in the months following both the first and second year. These projects were probably two of the most stressful things he's ever had to do and totaled 250 written pages all about credit union management. They stretched him to the limit and almost to the breaking point. But he persevered and I am so proud of him. I was not about to miss watching him graduate, even though he told me over and over that I didn't need to go and to save the money and stay home. I laughed at him and said no way and we were both glad I could be there. A huge congratulations to Justin and his fellow graduates. The one bright thing from this experience is the relationships he made, specifically the three women from AFCU that were in the same year as him and another man from Washington who he met his first year-a member of the church and a Braves fan, they instantly connected.

Reunited!

he's up there somewhere

Brad Laing and Justin (Brad is a year behind Justin)

Brandy Kennedy, Liz Escobar, Justin, Jenica Mikesell

Mike Hartley, Justin, Jenica, Liz, Brandy

He graduated on a Thursday night and our flight home was not until Saturday so we had all of Friday as a play day. He had already done Disneyland and a Dodgers game the weekend before so we decided to take a chill day. We rented a car and drove down to Oceanside, where we went on our honeymoon. We explored the beach, ate the BEST tacos of my life, and did some window shopping. It was a beautiful day!

 One of the missionaries from our ward is serving in the San Bernardino mission and was currently serving just 30 minutes from where our hotel was. So we took a slight detour from Oceanside to Rialto, California to take him and his companion out to dinner. It was so rewarding to talk to him, hear some mission stories and see how serving has matured him and deepened his testimony. So cool.

me and Justin, Austin McPhie

While we were gone, the girls drove up to Bear Lake for a couple of days. The Walker's were there so they had some playmates. Stockton stayed home since no boy cousins would be there.

Ivy, Molly, Josie, Brynn

Ivy, Josie, Brynn, Molly

Molly and Josie

Josie, Brynn, Ivy

I read this short little Nancy Drew book to Ivy this summer. Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Sleepover Sleuths.

When we landed in Salt Lake after graduation, I got a phone call from Stockton (who was home by himself) saying that he had been in an accident. The call every parent dreads. But he was okay. He was driving in Daniel and the car in front of him slammed on their brakes and made a quick stop (for no reason Stockton could see). Stockton was able to stop in time but the person behind him was not and slammed into the back of Stockton. Thankfully, he was driving the red truck so he was okay, other than being a little shook up. Poor kid tried calling all of us but no one was reachable...Justin and I being in the air on our flight home, Molly and the girls being on the boat in Bear Lake and without service, even Grandma and Grandpa didn't answer. He knows now to call the police in this situation but the guy who hit him didn't want to involve police and of course Stockton is going to do what someone older and experienced tells him to do. So they exchanged numbers and Stockton took pictures of the other guy's truck and then he slowly drove home.

 This will be a bit of a longer story...once Justin got home, he started trying to contact the guy who had hit Stockton. For two days, he called and texted and left messages but with no response. Fortunately, Stockton had taken photos of the other truck so we had a license plate number. Justin finally called the police station and let them know what had happened and reported the license plate number and, after some digging, they called him back to let him know the guy was not insured and actually had a warrant out for his arrest! Poor Stockton, no wonder the guy didn't want him to call the police! Anyway, the police were able to do a little more digging and found out the truck that hit Stockton was insured through the guy's mom so we were able to collect insurance money. Our truck was deemed as totaled so that meant some shopping around for something different Stockton could drive.

Phew, a little bit of craziness! Molly was the most sad over this news. She drove that red truck for almost 3 years and loved it. She has so many good memories of driving around in the red truck, funny moments with her friends involving the truck, etc. It was such a good car for her to drive all through high school.

Here are some pictures of Molly on her last day of hosting before heading off to school. Julene has been her boss since she started working there as an elf when she was only 13. She has loved this job and it has been so good to have during high school and soccer. She was a little sad to say goodbye, but not too much since she is planning on working there for Christmas trains and when she is home in the summer. Julene loves her and is like another mom to her so there will always be a place for her there. Grateful for people like her in Molly's life.

Molly, Julene Minchey

The dreaded day had come: time to take Molly to school and leave her there. None of us were looking forward to this day, Molly included. She had spent the previous several weeks second-guessing her decision and not wanting to go at all. We couldn't bring it up without her crying. She really, really didn't want to leave home. I slept in her room on a mattress the night before. None of us were quite ready but they day had come. Justin and Stockton were at priest quorum camp that day and Brynn had cheer so it was Ivy and I who followed her down to Price and helped her unpack and organize her side of the room. We made two trips to Walmart. We met a couple of her roommates, fellow soccer players, but the majority of roommates were not moving in for a few more weeks. Then we just left her there. Man, that was hard. I got home and was just wiped out emotionally. I knew she would be okay, thrive even, and I knew it is where Heavenly Father wanted her to be and had led her, but it was just a weird "how did we get to this stage" moment in parenting.

The very next day, I had an appointment with Jeff for the invisalign braces he has been doing for me. So naturally we got together with cousins for a couple hours of play time. They were already planning an afternoon at Classic water slides so we met them there after my appointment. They have raved about how fun this place is for years so it was nice we finally got a chance to join them. It was a perfect summery way to end July.

Josie, Lucy, Ivy

Harper and Brynn