August 1-9, 2023

 (published 9/11/25)

While Suz and Whit were still in town for Newsies, we had a few more adventures. First was a hike to The Grotto (on the Nebo Loop) and a picnic at a park with the Fields.






Whit and Luke also enjoyed time to build forts and do some Just Dance videos.

"Nooma Nooma" is the favorite.

Meanwhile, Cat and Liza engaged in other activities.

And Jack had to learn a lesson.



I took Jack and John Morgan to meet up with Zerin for a birthday movie!


We brought the Fields with us to Lindon Days's Huck Finn fishing night and once again
came home with a big fat nothing. I didn't mind, but the kids were disappointed.


Luke just caught grass.

Sawyer got lucky!

At least jack got a pic.


Sydney stayed dry and fish-smell-free by playing on the playground
the whole time. We all went out for ice cream at Maceys afterward.



Luke finished swim lessons!

A picture to commemorate the last time I'll take any of my
children to swim lessons. I might have been more excited than Luke.

While Cat and Liza were with friends, Ben and I took the boys to
The Great Salt Lake Truck Show (actually held at a park near Ben's office
in Lehi). It was dozens of large tractor-trailers, washed and polished and lit up,
many of them with unique modifications or paint jobs, parked all over the sad,
soggy grass (which is now full of deep tire ruts). It was actually pretty cool. And while
we were there, Jack decided that being a truck driver is his number one career goal
.


Ben and I took the boys on a little kayaking excursion at Deer Creek.
I always love getting out on the water on a warm, sunny day.
I was glad to have some company!



That night Ben took these guys to the Jordan River Temple to do baptisms.

Back at home, Cat played games with Luke.


After church on Sunday, we all went to a Church building in Orem where we visited a replica of an Old Testament Tabernacle, which was actually pretty cool. As many paintings and diagrams as I've seen, it was great to have a 3D visual to help me understand and remember the layout and the symbolism. I was afraid the kids would be miserable, but they actually enjoyed it. Luke even knew a lot about it before we arrived from learning about the OT last year, which was really impressive to me. I was reading to everyone from the Bible Dictionary while we were driving and he would say, "Mom, we already know that!" and then he would describe things correctly - including the three sections of the Tabernacle and what they contained. It was awesome. The kids were a bit rowdy, and they didn't want to answer any of the hosts' questions, but overall they were good and they learned a few things too.



On Monday morning we slept in and made cinnamon rolls.
Definitely one of my favorite traditions.

That night we had a fun sushi dinner at Sushi 38 & Noori Chicken,
then we saw The Sound of Music at the outdoor theater at Sundance.

On Tuesday we finally went to Splash Summit. It was crowded but fun.

On Wednesday, Jack got his Learner's Permit!

July 22-31, 2023

(published 9/8/25)

The night Cat and I got back from Los Angeles we gave everyone the souvenirs
we brought them from the Philippines. The clacker toys were a hit.

As was the frog bag.

It was nice to go back to Choir again after being gone for a few weeks.

Cat was anxious to get a second ear piercing as soon as she turned 18,
but because of our HXP trip starting the day before her birthday,
she didn't get a chance until July 24th.

She was pretty excited.

Meanwhile Liza was experimenting with makeup.

And doing some awesome Barbie-Movie-inspired (?) nails.

Ben kindly made a campfire for us so we could do s'mores.

I love a good campfire. And a good s'more.

Cat got her wisdom teeth out.

All smiles before the surgery!

But it was a little harder to smile afterward.

We helped take care of our neighbors' pets while they were
out of town, including several sweet guinea pigs, and one active dog.

Got the dog!

The kids, especially Jack, were very excited for the movie
Go West, from JK Studios! Everyone was dressing up for
Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer so I convinced Jack
we should dress up too, at least a little bit.

All grown up and learning to shave.

Looking good.

Liza biked to and from swim lessons all summer.

My little garden in the front yard (away from the chickens)
did okay. The weeds were all part of my plan to keep people from
pilfering produce as they walked by.

Playing with the dog. And jumping on the trampoline. With a cousin.

Lowes Xtreme Air Sports in Provo is a favorite.

Building the US Capitol

Help! There's a Liza under the bed!

We finally saw Barbie Movie!



Playing the princess matching game with Sydney.

Playing the princess matching game without Sydney.

Playing the princess matching game while Sydney is in another room.

Baby guinea pig!

Lindon Temple construction progress.

Newsies at the Hale in Sandy was wonderful!

Harry Potter's birthday is one of my favorite excuses to eat cake.