Peter's Birthday and Family Reunion

The beginning of this week was spent getting my Mom and Dad ready to move.  They are moving back to the house they own.  While we will miss them every day, we know that this is a great move for them, and there are a lot of good reasons they need to be there.

Thursday morning, we left together, me driving the 26-foot U-Haul

with a trailer behind it,

and Mary driving Grandma and Grandpa in their car.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it, but this is what it looked like:

It was pretty awesome!  The hardest part was getting in and out of gas stations, but we made it all right.  It is really something though, when you think about driving 99% of someone's earthly possessions down the road!  But Peter and Libby were with me in the cab of the U-Haul, and they helped me a ton.  Bruce said he felt comfortable with it as long as I had Peter with me.  I said, "I might take offense to that except for the fact that I felt the same way."  ha ha

When we arrived at Mom and Dad's house, a bunch of cousins and Aunts and Uncles were waiting for us there, ready to unload the trailer.  So fun!  The Bishop and 3-4 other neighbors came, 21 people in all, to help unpack, and we were done within an hour!  We had a fun dinner at Angie's house, with Jumex no less!  And then Bruce & Julie set up beds, tables and the china hutch, while I unpacked boxes in the kitchen.  Clark played Risk with Ethan and Peter and got skunked!  :)

Mary took really good care of Grandpa through the whole move.

Mary, Grandma and Julie taking a break from unpacking.

Julie, Uncle Bruce and Clark

The next morning, we got up early and sang to Peter for his birthday!  Happy Birthday to Peter!  Mary, Libby and I sang Las Mañanitas to him, with Aunt Angie helping along.  Later in the morning we were counting, and Peter has only had a birthday at home two times that he can rememeber!  We're always on some kind of reunion or vacation!  But we are having a Birthday Party with his friends on Tuesday night, so we will celebrate some more then.

After singing to Peter, we got ready and  headed over to Craig & Jenette's house and ate some great pancakes that Angie and Clark cooked for us!  Then we took off to climb a local butte. We climbed up the back side of the mountain.

Josh, Peter, Mary, Caleb, Alyssa, Libby, Darcy, Lucas

Aunt Julie and Uncle Bruce

Josh, Peter, Libby, Lorena, Mary

 It is a lava rock formation.  It was a beautiful view form the top and overall a great hike!  Bruce didn't come with us because of his foot, for one, but also because he didn't come until that night because of work.

After the hike, we went up to Ricks Gardens and had a beautiful walk around the lovely gardens there.  I had no idea they had gardens there!  And Craig gave us a great presentation at the Special Collections in the Library.  So interesting!  One of the items he showed us that was my favorite was the hand-written Bible in Latin.  Amazing!

That evening, we ate dinner and relaxed in Craig's backyard. 

Peter had a request for his birthday - that we play Wizards, Knights and Dwarves.  OK!  We got teams together and played back and forth, back and forth for half an hour or more.  So fun!!

During the game, Jesse and Kevin (Jesse's boyfriend) arrived!  You can see Jesse in the middle on the right side, lining up for the game.  And check out Peter here - he's already running before they've even done the signal!  (Cheater!)  Peter says that he did the signal, and then took off.  :)  And check out Hannah too!  She got run over one time, and bounced right back up like nothing had happened.  That girl is going to be an amazing soccer player!

And then we got the idea to do one-on-one competitions.  So here's how it matched up (according to age!):

Clark vs. Bruce

Julie vs. Lorena

Angie vs. Craig

Jarom vs. Darcy

Lucas vs. Adam

Lindsey vs. Kevin

Josh vs. Jesse

Mary vs. Peter

Ethan vs. Libby

Alyssa vs. Caleb

Caleb vs. Carson

The funniest ones were Caleb vs. Carson.  I wish I could show the video that Angie took.  They did Wizards and Knights, and stood there for probably 3-4 seconds, trying to figure out who should run where.  We were laughing so hard!  If I could pick out a favorite moment of the reunion, that was probably it.

 

Aunt Julie made a chocolate cake for Peter's birthday!  Kevin said later that he was really surprised at how many Birthday songs we knew, even ones in foreign languages.  Ha ha!  Bruce arrived that night - it was great to see him!

The next morning, our family cooked Breakfast Burritos for everyone, and then after discussing the reunion for next year, we took off to a local waterfall.  The drive up there was beautiful, through luscious farmland with pine tree covered hills in the backdrop.

The falls were gorgeous!

Kevin and Jesse

Peter and Jesse

Clark, Peter, Mary, Lindsey & Adam

Clark, Lucas, Jarom, Josh, Adam, Bruce, Darcy, Lindsey, Mary, Lorena, Angie, Peter, Jesse & Kevin

Josh, Lorena Peter, Bruce, Mary, Jesse & Kevin  (I don't know where Libby was!)

That afternoon, some people relaxed on couches, some played Settlers of Cattan, and Clark, Craig, Jarom, Bruce and I discussed current events, especially in the Middle East.  We pretty much figured out the who and what behind everything and anything.  ha ha ha  And then we were off to float the river!  We pumped up 19 tubes at the local Les Schwab Tires, and then went to float the river.  It was a really calm river, so there weren't any rapids to worry about.  The water was cool, but not too bad once you got in.  "Man, we're having fun!" was the general sentiment.  Towards the end we had an interesting discussion about who had kissed who.  Revelations were made that I'm still trying to process...  ha ha ha!

The next event was Grant's blessing!  There were many in the circle, including the Bishop, and more sitting around the living room while Craig gave Grant a beautiful blessing!  What I remember the most was the impression of Grant being one who brings peace.  I was honored to be there for his blessing!

Here's our family enjoying that adorable little Grant!

On both Friday and Saturday night, a lot of the "younger set" went down to the park and played basketball, ultimate frisbee and other games.

Overall it was a wonderful reunion.  I was so grateful for all those who made an effort to come, and missed everyone else who couldn't make it!

Today we went to a married student ward for Sacrament Meeting and then drove home in the Impala.  We had to fit a lot of Josh's stuff with us, since he is moving home for 7 weeks, so it was a tight squeeze, but we made it!

We made it in time for the fireside put on by the Stake Presidency, inviting us to be more involved in missionary work.  Our Stake is going to host an Open House periodically, and we are to invite people to be a part of that.  It is a great challenge and I am looking forward to the extra impetus.

It's Hot in July

Monday morning we went over to David & Elysia's to watch the final of the World Cup.  Previously, we had plastered this all over Facebook!

Peter had been on Instagram the day before and knew the score, but none of the rest of us knew.  It was a great game, and I thought Argentina played their hearts out. And even though we were all cheering for Argentina (loyal to Joseph who's serving there), it was sure fun to watch the Germans because we had come to appreciate their players.  Overall, our family had a ton of fun with the World Cup.  Viva Argentina!

With Bruce on crutches with a pretty severe ankle sprain, it was up to me to go out to the farm and help him with irrigation.  We had a really dry spot, so I had to lay some pipe.  It's not that heavy, but it is a balancing act.

On Thursday, we had to go again and pull the pipe off the field.  This time it was me, Mary, Peter and Libby.  It took us about an hour, so it wasn't that long, but it was in the middle of the day, so the heat was oppressive.  We were glad that it was only an hour!  I did tell the kids, "Don't you just feel really cool when you're working on the farm, like you're worth something?"   Haha.  It's an interesting feeling, something about doing manual labor and not complaining about it, or worknig as a team, or I don't know.  But I often feel it!

Josh and his partner won the Cha-Cha competition this week at BYU-I, competing against all the other 180 (beginning) Social Dance classes.  Way to go Joshua!  He reported that the girl he danced with is engaged, so we shouldn't be getting any ideas about her. Too bad - she's pretty cute.  :)

Josh got to do down this weekend to the Homecoming of his mission president and his wife.  He sent this picture, which made me cry. 

He loves these people so much!  And I love them for how well they took care of Josh in El Salvador.

On Friday night at 11:44 pm, I got a text form Jesse that said, "Well I'm hiking Timp tonight so wish me luck."  I immediately texted back with big NO's written all through my message.  She finally answered the phone, but was totally set on going, so I couldn't talk her out of it. They went for the sunrise from the peak, and they made it.  They arrived home exhausted, but happy.  She did get a nasty cut and swelling on her ankle.  Let's hope that clears up quickly.  :)  She knows which oils to use!  Here are the pics she sent me, the first two at 5:39 am:

The rest she sent at a more reasonable hour.

Kevin & Jesse

 This is Bruce's reaction when he saw this picture, "What the?"

Jesse, Kevin, Jordan

It's a classic hike!  I'm glad she made it OK.  :)

Mary took a job delivering fliers for a chiropractor on Saturday.  She delivered hundreds of fliers over 2 or 3 neighborhoods.  It took her all day, and she was exhausted by the end.  BUT, she managed to pick herself up and get to the Stake Dance. 

And Peter went to his first Stake Dance!  He's not quite 14, but the leader in charge said that a few days wasn't that big of a deal, and she wanted him to come.  He said it was fun!

Jeff, Libby's piano teacher, said that Libby was playing with a lot of musicality in her pieces and he was really pleased with that.  Last week she was assigned Burgmuller's Ballade, which is a classic piece that I played back in the day.  She'll master it within the week!

The swelling in Bruce's ankle has gone way down, so the pain management is easier, but he is still on crutches.  At one point during the week he said, "It's amazing what a person can do when they can walk around."  Ha ha!  Even so, this didn't keep him from accomplishing some good things.  Here is a saddlebag, or a pannier, that he made this week.

 He's really proud of it, as he should be!  He borrowed a saddle bag from a friend, and then copied the design.  Only he says his design is better.  :)

I spent a good part of the week helping Grandma and Grandpa get ready to move.  Mary, Peter and Libby all put in some hours crossing off the things Grandma had put on their list.  They were good sports!

Have a good week everyone!

Jumping June!

I titled this blog post Jumping June, because we literally hopped around from one fun thing to the next.  It started off in Akumal, México, and I am going to post all about that trip soon, once our friends share their pictures with us.

I got to teach a Foot Zone class to four lovely ladies over two days time.  I love teaching this class!

Bruce's brother Gary and his wife Heidi were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mount Timpanogos Temple, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It was wonderful to be there!  I felt so much peace and joy in that sacred ceremony, and I'm very happy for Gary and Heidi!  We had the privilege of sitting by Aunt Leah in the sealing room.

Aunt Leah is the only surviving sibling of Bruce's mother, LuJeanne.  Leah looks and talks so much like LuJeanne that it really tugged at our hearts to be with her.  Bruce especially felt that tug!
 And here is Grandma Deloris with cute little Harper, Josh and Rachel's daughter.  We sure love having both of them around!

The next day we were privileged to go to Brianna and Jon's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple!

I loved watching Brianna through this whole day.  Her brilliant smile reflected her inner beauty and joy.  We are so thankful she found someone as good as Jon to share her life with!

One of the most fun things of being down in Utah that week  was that we got to see the newest returned missionary in our family - Derek!  Here is a picture of Derek and Jesse.

The joy of summer days in Idaho are depicted here with Peter and his friends jumping off a cliff at an undisclosed location.  (We have our secret places, you know!)  Well, actually Peter was the only one to jump off from that height. 

Here he is doing a gainer!

                                     

We brought Jesse home with us from Brianna's wedding.  She got sick the first day home, though, and was sick for 3-4 days.  Doesn't that happen to all college students when they get home?  She had started focusing on eating gluten/dairy free about a week earlier, so I think her body was trying to detox as well as recovering from many months of tremendous stress.

But Jesse is not one to lounge around, so Mary and I took her down to school at BYU in Provo on our way to the Young Living Convention.  We got to meet her roommate and see where she is staying for this Summer Term, and then Fall and Winter also.  The first week of school have been great and Jesse is LOVING the summer term at BYU!  She has already met a ton of new friends.  Go Jesse! 

Mary and I went to the Young Living Convention in Utah at the Salt Palace.

  With over 9,000 people attending, it was an energetic gathering!

 It was a ton of fun to be with these ladies!

As part of the convention, the pop group Train came and performed at the Salt Palace.  What a party that was!  Lead singer Patrick Monahan was awesome!

Mary even got to go up on stage and dance.  At one point, he grabbed Mary by the hand a twirled her around a few times.

 She even got a selfie with him up on the stage!

To top off the week we went down to Farm Day, at the Young Living Farm in Mona, Utah.  This is one of my favorite moments of that day.  We just planted a Lavender start, and then we got to go in the Lavender field and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and valley.  I took a panoramic view to try to get it all in.

Mary sat and talked and petted this Percheron horse for 20 minutes or so.  It was incredibly gentle and loved Mary's touch.

 And here's me, nestled in among the Lavender!

Oh, and I have to end up with this lovely field of Einkorn grain that is being grown at the Farm. 

The most ancient strain of wheat for which seed can be found, Einkorn only has 14 chromosomes, compared to the 42 chromosomes that modern-day hybrid wheat has.  Easily digested, this strain of wheat has very little gluten and tastes delicious!  Young Living will be growing more and more of this wonderful grain, and is already selling pankcake mix and spaghetti made from it.

Jumping June was awesome!