We had a wonderful visit from Carlys Rodgers early in the month and it was so fun to catch up with her and RaeLyn.
WE cooked the burgers and hotdogs ahead of time and had them warming in crockpots so it made it easy that day.
Austin's family showed up at the end which was awesome!
Some cute cousin pics!
We had our own WORLD CUP WAFFLE PARTY later that evening. The funny thing was that we served BELGIUN waffles for the game of Belgium vs the US and we LOST! BOO!
The kids made the cute pretzel sticks.
We celebrated SYLVAN's 9 MONTHS IN and 9 MONTHS OUT...
IN and OUT!!
He was all for a good burger bite!
We all were!
While Evan was at BYU Sports Camp and Brooklyn was at BYU Writer's Camp, the girls and I kept busy!
They had SWIMMING LESSONS every day and we swam a lot afterwards...and we LEARNED TO SEW!
We kept it simple with Clara and she chose to sew a pillow cover for her room!
Mackenzie chose to make a CRAZY QUILT for her American Girl Doll. She chose all the fabrics and cut them out and sewed them all into the pattern we designed and it turned out so cute!
We also top stitched it and hand tied it into a sweet quilt.
SYDNEY TURNED 2 on July 10. We got to celebrate with her and her family!
It was a cute Sesame Street Theme and the decorations were just adorable!
Sylvan is practicing up for his first birthday in October!
Mid July we packed up Jenna's DOLLHOUSE to take to New Jersey. This was no small thing! Lots of wrap and time fixing it all up!
Early one morning we set Fang on the dash and started our ROAD TRIP!
Here is what the trunk looked like loaded with the dollhouse, longboard, wedding dress and many other things from Jenna's closet.
We stopped at the Grand Junction CO temple. Funny thing, we had hoped to bring Braden to Grand Junction to pick up his car from the dealership, but it was ONE DAY TOO LONG in being ready! He had to take the train the very next day. Boo!
Then we stopped in Kansas City at that temple.
Then we stopped at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area to get a little birding in for this trip! It was a great place! We spent several hours there. Fang hung out on the sign a bit.
We never get tired of seeing Cardinals! So pretty!
One of my new favorites...the Scissor-tail Flycatcher!
And a lifer bird, a MISSISSIPPI KITE. We saw a while flock of them! And we saw a Dickcissel, another lifer bird.
We had all Saturday evening and part of Sunday with Susan and Katie and Sophie and Sid. Jordan cooked something wonderful for us and that was also nice. We had a good time visiting and catching up on some things they have gotten done since I was there last month.
We saw the St Louis Temple on our way out.
Traveling cross-country together was pretty fun! We listened to lots of "Church History Matters" podcasts and talked and such.
And we stopped at a BUC-EES just for the experience. It was like the Costco of Gas Stations.
We laughed SO HARD when we set Fang onto Buc-ee's nose and it sort of deflated! HA!
And he got lost in the sea of stuffed Buc-ees. Oh dear! It was such a crazy place! And to think one is getting built one exit away from us!
Our big drama happened getting onto the freeway from Springfield, Ohio...there was a metal thing with spikes on it that we of course HIT! It shredded our tire and Scott had to put on the spare and go back into town to the Enterprise place to get a new vehicle...but that was amazing we did not have to pay for the repair!
This is what the side of the road. Seriously so insane to have to unpack it all then pack it back up!
We made it to Kirtland in time for a tour and it was a lovely experience and place!
Then we went on to Hummelston, PA to Clair and Bernice's home.
The next morning there was a big storm alert so we ended up bailing before breakfast to hit the road to get to Jenna's so we could return the car the next morning etc. We made it before big storms hit so all was well...and the next day we were IN THE POOL!
Walks at Manaquan Reservoir while the boys played Pokemon Go...kept it easy to get them out with us!
Cassidy and Klay had races at Monmouth Battleground where I found this guy while we waited for the race! Cool Cooper's Hawk.
The kids ran really well! They are so cute!
Then we were asked to stay to help pass out water to the adults in the 5K race.
Several bit RISK matches happened on this trip! All the more power to you guys!
We love seeing the INDIGO BUNTINGS here in NJ.
And my all-time favorite woodpecker...the PILEATED WOODPECKER flew over a few times!
We went fishing with the kids at Big Brook Park a couple times. They catch the cutest little fish!
Bree and Elliot, Braden and McKenna and kiddos all arrived safely that following Saturday! And the party really began!
This was a Sunday walk at Holmdel Park.
We had lots of POOL TIME together!
It was so much fun just being together and hanging out. We did not need to go anywhere, just being together!
We realized that Klay was usurped in being BABY BOY OF THE FAMILY!!! So we got a pic of the 2 BABY BOYS!!
More walks at Big Brook!!
We saw a Black Vulture up close and personal in the park...he just hung close to us.
And at the beach we saw another LIFER...an American Oystercatcher. Very cool!
Beach time at Long Branch. Cassidy doing cool tricks...
...some fun Beach SpikeBall.
Trying to get the littles to love the sand and the waves.
It was super windy and lots of big waves so it was a little scary for them.
But it was a fun outing!
One of the many AI graphics Carter made for playing games.
And another game group playing Settlers of Catan I think.
We had a BIRTHDAY DECORATING PARTY the night before Cassidy's birthday on the 30th.
She got some cute FLAMINGOS for her birthday and cousins Charlotte and Max joined us to play that day.
The next night was her BAPTISM!
It was at their church in Freehold. Dad did the baptism and confirmation.
We had all our family there and her Jensen grandparents and Larlee and her kids ended up missing due to Max getting sick. But Starr and Kory were there. Several families in the ward showed up and the Bennett family that are Jewish/LDS mix who always support them.
The family pic.
The Utah aunt and uncle cousin pic!
The blessing dress and baptism dress pic.
And the Taylor grandparent pic. We were so happy to be there for her and to be with so much family!
We all flew back to Utah EARLY the next morning. Bree and Braden families flew direct on Delta. The rest of us including Jenna's family flew on American through Phoenix and right into Provo.
After a 3 hour layover in Phoenix and some Chick-Fil-A for lunch, we boarded our flight which was 2 seaters both sides and I was the only one with no one to sit by...
Yup, surrounded by everybody else...
On all sides...until SOMEBODY BOARDED to sit by me...and I sort of ignored him a minute until it became evident that...
...I KNEW WHO IT WAS!
Ha! Scott planned the whole thing and he had been in the airport the entire time we wandered all over the place. But it was the best surprise ever!
Scott flew him to Utah with us to spend a few days with Jenna and family and with Braden and Bree too.
We had planned a FAMILY RETIREMENT PARTY for Lori on the next day, Sunday. I had cooked all the meats before our trip and we had things mostly ready to go!
Cassidy was my helper stringing the pennants for the Mexican decor.
It all turned out so cute and it was a really nice dinner for all the family!
Grandma with Jenna and Cassidy and puppies!
With Jenna's family.
And with all of us wearing black and white and red. Ha!
Some cute cousins! Collin was getting ready to enter home MTC a couple weeks later!
Fun to see Austin with Grandma!
We took Cassidy and Jenna and Austin and met Bree and Elliot and Sylvan at the Aviary in SLC before the flight back to Seattle.
Here is Cassidy with their Owl mascot.
We had a nice lunch at the cafe across the street and we loved seeing baby Flamingoes popping out from under parents at the Aviary.
The next day we met Braden and Sydney at Thanksgiving Point for a Farm Day! We had a good time seeing all the animals.
The kids loved riding on the train there too.
We got to feed animals, although mostly Grandma did the feeding as the kids were a bit afraid of the licking of your hand by the animals.
Cassidy did love the pony ride though! It was a really fun day! Braden left us earlier and we met Jenna there to take us on up to SLC again I think, to have lunch with Grandma and Lori. We just picked up food for lunch at Cafe Rio.
One of my darling families that I got to teach all their girls, brought me the most beautiful quilt! I was so surprised and grateful! My cute Vivian, Gemma, Reece and Sylvie Merrell with mom Kitsy. Love them!
Sylvan in his daycare at Highland High School! He is so happy and fun that he will be everybody's favorite kiddo!
While Scott was in Brazil about this time, I decided to build a new console table so I could move things around to put a bench by our TV table since we were getting a larger TV. This one ended up cute, but took me 2 days working on putting it all together!
SCHOOL STARTED! I have 11 kids in my AM class and 9 are boys! Peter refused to get his hand painted but I got him to do like 2 handprints! He was really not having it!
And in the PM class, my Gideon was the same...not having it, but I tricked him into it by having him help ME put handprints on his box...and when he got a little paint on his hand, we took advantage to get him to stamp it on as well! YAY!
Lori hosted her own retirement party mid August and we went up to help out too! Michelle and some neighbors were the main helpers, but we were able to be of service. Other than some wind, we made it without rain and it was so much fun...PEACE OUT!
Missionary Collin with uncle Scott in the VW van!
Got this from Amanda recently at the Cody Wyoming Temple Open House! So cool!
Susan has lost more weight since I was there...not able to eat much and get strength back. She ended back in the hospital again so the trip Clair and Bernice had planned to visit happened in the hospital and LeAnn and Mike joined them! It was great for them to get to spend time with her and to help the kids get some critical things completed for her.
Ethan joined Jordan there as well so she had her 2 boys there to help as well! So glad they all got to spend some time together and with her!
Scott and I finished up the month with a wedding reception for our RM Crystal Turner, who has done a great job keeping in touch with us!
AMAZING SUMMER!!!
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