Memorial Day Weekend, part 2

 Meanwhile, back at home, Ben and the boys and I went on a Sunday walk in Rock Canyon.

Then on Monday we went on a real hike to the G in Pleasant Grove.  It turned into a bigger adventure than we bargained for when the it started raining, then sleeting on us, but we made it out alive!

Luke wasn't very happy about being forced to go on this moderately-challenging hike.  I tried to motivate him by telling him how proud he would be when he got to the G, and then challenged his pride by saying that we shouldn't let the family with 3 little girls who started after us get in front of us.  He said, "I would feel more proud if we could trick the little girls into thinking we finished the hike already."

When we finally did arrive at the G the boys spent a few minutes climbing around and exploring.

Jack: Be really, really careful.

Luke: Jack, isn't that what I tell you every time you do something dangerous?!?

See the precipitation behind us?  It moved in fast!

   

That afternoon, we had a potluck cookout with cousins!  The kids mostly played and the adults mostly talked and we all enjoyed good food.

Gideon had a hot dog with his ketchup.

Jack was impressed with Shilom's ukulele skills.

Lindsey took this picture of the 3 cousins who were born within 4 months of each other.

Same three boys, back in 2008 (with Jack and Z, in the middle and on the right, switched).

Tuesday was Grammy's birthday so I took the boys to CFA for chicken minis and Diet Dr. Pepper, two of her favorites.  While we were there we found out that during the pandemic, when indoor playgrounds were closded, Luke outgrew them.  Just another thing that was lost during Covid.  We had free time in the afternoon and when I asked the boys what they wanted to do, they chose the trampoline park.  (I'd been hoping we'd go to the pool but since the high temperature that day was 64°, the trampoline park was definitely a better option.)

Memorial Day Weekend, part 1

Memorial Day weekend, we went in a few different directions.  While Cat worked on Saturday, Ben and I took the other kids to Scheels and enjoyed a ride on the Ferris Wheel.

 

On Sunday, Cat and Eliza attended an early Sacrament Meeting then headed down south to see family and friends in St. George!

Cat and Eliza went to Suz's and hung out for a bit, then Cat left to meet up with her friend Robert and his family.  Cat drove back and forth for a couple of days, going hiking and boating with Robert's family during the day and sleeping at Suz's house.  She had a blast!

Eliza had a blast with Suz and her crew!  They enjoyed good food, went swimming, did some rock climbing and rappelling, and visited Grammy's and Oma and Opa's graves.

End of the Year

Eliza had a great little graduation ceremony to mark her passage into middle school.  She was the recipient of an art award from Ms. Kasi, and she was one of a handful of students to receive the President's Award for Educational Achievement, which our principal was based on standardized test scores.

{laughing through the singing of the school song}

Cat was finished with her exams so she came along to with us to show Eliza some love.

We told Eliza she could choose a place for us to go for treats one night during
the last week of school and she chose a churro place in Provo,
which was super yummy.  (The boys were there too, just not pictured.)

Official last day of school!
(E & L didn't have to wear uniforms, and E is
wearing the shirt she made in class the day before.)

Eliza was in tears when I picked her up on the last day last year,
so it wasn't surprising that she had an even harder time this year,
since her friends are all dispersing to different middle schools,
and almost none of them are going to her school.  It did surprise me
that Luke was also upset, though.  He said he'd miss his friends
over the summer, and was sad that one of his friends would be moving.

Eliza and I put together a little brunch for her two good friends and
their moms the day after school got out.  After we ate, we played a mother-daughter
version of the Newlywed Game, which was great.  It was really nice to have some
time together and for the moms to get to know each other better.

Jack's Birthday!

We arrived home from Hawaii shortly before the kids had to go to school on Jack's birthday.  Cat stepped in and made Jack's birthday fun from the very beginning by hanging the birthday bunting and getting out an earmarked box of Lucky Charms for breakfast.  She made him a birthday sign and first thing in the morning, she went into his room with Luke, with his sign and Hector (the inflatable llama who has become part of our birthday celebrations since Christmas, haha) and the Birthday Headband.  I love that she went above and beyond to help Jack start his day off right! 

Jack's birthday was kind of low-key since Ben and I were fresh off of a red-eye flight from Hawaii but luckily he didn't have high expectations.  He wanted Krispy Kreme doughnuts, so I took him to Krispy Kreme in the morning, then while he was at school for a little while (it was Advisory Friday) I put up some streamers.  He opened presents and we ate ice cream cake in the evening, and we had Papa John's pizza for dinner, per his request.

Since Eliza was invited to a party that night and Cat and I wanted to take care of some things we needed to do, Ben took the boys to Boondocks to ride go-karts and play arcade games.  They had a blast!

The next day Jack went to see Sonic 2 for the second time, but this time, with cousins - and he was so excited about it!

Hawaii & New Home Decor

 Ben and I went to The Big Island with his company's President's Club at the end of April and had a great time exploring and enjoying the sights!

We stopped at beautiful Punalu'u Beach to see sea turtles on our way to
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Lunch overlooking a volcano!  We also hiked through a rainforest,
walked through a big lava tube, glimped moten lava from a distance, and saw a sea arch.

We biked to ancient fishing ponds and found this cool little shack.

Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site,
a temple built for King Kamehameha in the late 1700s.

Sunset at the company farewell dinner.

We explored Puako Petroglyph Park.
Do you see the turtle in the far right of the picture?

Suz and her family came up the weekend we left to help with the kids and - BONUS! - she also took on the project of giving our family room a facelift.  We'd talked ahead of time about changes that needed to be made and I'd ordered the products we needed, and as soon as she arrived she got to work.  It was so fun to see the finished product when we got home!

This is the before picture.

Suz at work putting on removable wallpaper.

Whit and Luke enjoyed having some time to hang out.

I love the new bookshelves!

The whole room looks great!

Thank you so much to Suz and Ben and Whit for coming up to help with the kids and taking on the family room project!

And I need to give a huge shout-out to Cat who took care of the kids the rest of the time we were gone.  She had some help with rides, and Eliza and Luke planned to spend time a couple of friends after school, but Cat still had a significant burden.  She even took an AP test that week, and stayed home with Eliza one day when she woke up feeling sick.  She really stepped up and we appreciate it so much!