Mom's Headstone

Friday mom's headstone was placed.  We knew it would be done sometime soon and it is nice to have it done.  My dad said it was the last thing that needed to happen.  We went down to see it Sunday afternoon.  It is so nice, dad picked it out by himself and did a great job.  He said it is a little strange to see his name on there.  To me it just seems so final.  This is the last thing and now it's done.  Little things like this make me realize it is final and she isn't coming back.  In just a few days it will be six months since she passed.    

We went over and hung out with Lauren's family for a little while before they headed home.  The cousins played in the yard.  Clara asked me to push her on the swing several times.  I had fun pushing her and giving her some under doggies.  She is so fun.    

 

Birthday Celebrations

Saturday was Anna's birthday.  Jordan and Jenny invited us all over to celebrate Anna's birthday as well as Jordan's which was just a few days earlier.  It was such a pleasant evening and nice to hang out and visit in his back yard.  It has been so long since we have been to his house.  His yard looks so nice, and he has done a great job on his landscaping.  They recently got a swing set for the kids and have a cute garden planted.  They are just the cutest little family.  Seeing them and their young kids makes me miss those fun days when our kids were little.  I am happy my kids are growing up and becoming more independent.  I just think back to those days and have happy memories, they were fun times.  Jordan and Jenny had so many yummy treats for us to enjoy.  It was such a nice evening together.  Lauren and her family were in town as well.  I was thinking how much mom would have loved this.  She wanted to spend time with Jordans kids so much and covid prevented it.  Sweet Henry was just so little, and mom just wanted to meet him and hold him.  It makes me sad we all missed out on so much during covid.  Makes me sad mom wasn't there with us to enjoy such a nice family gathering.  I hope she was able to come look down on us and see the fun time we were having.     

 

Happy Anniversary

When JJ and I attended a chamber event months ago we won a raffle basket.  We were hopeful we would win when we put most of our tickets in, but you never know.  We were surprised we actually won.  It was a gift card to the Brass Rail and a night at the Marriot hotel nearby.  We knew it would be fun to save and use for our anniversary.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Brass Rail.  Their steak was so good!  We then stopped at Culvers for some pints of ice cream to enjoy later.  We checked into the hotel and then headed to the hot tub for a while.  We enjoyed relaxing and watching some shows together while eating our ice cream.  It was so nice to get away.  We are thankful to have won the gift.  It was perfect.  I truly felt like we escaped life for a little while.  It was nice to spend time together, uninterrupted.  Life is busy and it was good to reconnect and be together.  We enjoyed sleeping in and having breakfast at the hotel in the morning.  We picked up donuts for the kids before heading back home.  It is hard to think we have been married for 18 years.  We laughed that it seems about right considering all we have been through.  It was fun to think back on all we have done together the last 18 years.  We are thankful for a good marriage and the love we share for each other.       

 

Last Day of School

Yay, its summer and schools out.  The kids had a great year at school this year.  I think they all learned a lot and did really well.  All finishing with great grades!  I am proud of all of them for all the hard work they put in this year.  There was adjusting to high school and middle school.  Lucy had some adjusting with seminary and sports.  Trying to figure out when to do all her homework while not feeling well and always exhausted.  Garrett endured bullying and growing in middle school.  I hope he can continue to find friends that build him up.  Nolan loved second grade and even though he could never remember to turn in his homework he learned a lot.  His reading has improved, and he still loves math.  I always love the comparison with the first day of school.  They all look older, and the boys are much taller.  We are looking forward to lots of fun things this summer.  The boys will start summer school here soon, it is just for fun and to help keep them busy.      

 

Memorial Day

JJ got up early on Memorial Day and went for a long bike ride.  It took him longer than he had thought.  We headed down to my dad's house for lunch.  He had a bunch of chicken in his freezer that he was wanting to use up.  He is so cute, he put it all in his crock pot with some BBQ sauce.  I have really enjoyed watching my dad learn and grow since mom passed.  My mom did so much and so much for him.  It has been neat to see him learn to do more for himself.  He is proud of things he does, and we all think he is going a great job.  We all brought sides and food to contribute.  It was fun to have my sister Courtney here visiting.  She has been dating a guy named Jesse for a while and he came to visit too.  They had been doing lots of visiting and sightseeing while they are in here in town.  It was so good to meet him.  He is a really nice guy and I think they make a nice match.  I hope things work out for them.  He was so helpful in all aspects of the gathering.  He seemed to compliment Courtney really well.  Jordan and his cute family also came.  We brought Jack with us and Anna and Henry were so excited to see him.  We enjoyed being outside, although windy, it was a beautiful day.  The kids rode the minibike, dirt bikes and 4-wheelers most of the day.  They were in heaven.  Grandpa taught Garrett how to ride the 100 dirt bike and it was fun to watch.  Grandpa is a very good teacher.  He explains things really well and doesn't jump into assuming you know everything quickly.  We got a chuckle as we watched the lengthy lesson out in the field.  Garrett did a great job and caught on well.  He had a blast.  We also brought out our pickleball net and had a fun game with Courtney and Jesse.  We stayed until mid afternoon and then headed to our friends house to swim.  They recently put a pool in and were hosting a get together.  We were late to the party but still caught a good portion of it.  The kids had a blast swimming and cooling off after all the playing at Grandpa's.  It was fun to visit with everyone and enjoy their new pool.  We went home for dinner and grilled some burgers and enjoyed relaxing at home.               

 

Primary Activity and Ward Breakfast

Saturday morning our ward had a activity at Brommelsiek park.  This is the first year we have done a Memorial Day activity like this.  We started with a family fun run/walk.  You could do any trail or path that you wanted.  It was pretty casual and not like an official race.  After the run/walk JJ told me that he realized the only food was pancake mix and orange juice.  The young women's organization was in charge of this activity but no one from the young women's organization came.  We picked up the food Friday night and didn't think to look and see what there was.  I had to go get Lucy and Garrett and after picking them up I stopped at Aldi for more food.  We grabbed some little donuts, muffins and some sausage links.  When we got back the electricity in the pavilion had gone out and they had to take the griddles to the other pavilion.  It was a mess, and there was tons more people there than when I had left earlier.  I should have gotten way more food.  We were able to have the park ranger some help with the power and we got that back working.  It was so much work making all the pancakes and feeding all the people.  We ran out of food and had to send people back to Aldi for more.  It was a mess.  Hopefully in the end people didn't realize how much chaos there actually was and had a great time.  The kids had a fun time playing in the field and on the playground.  It ended up being super frustrating for me and JJ, we essentially were put in charge of this whole activity and that is not what was supposed to happen.

Right after our activity Nolan had a primary activity days activity in the same park.  JJ went with him over to the welcome center.  They had a fun time going on a nature walk and then paddle boarding.  Nolan was so excited! He was a little worried about falling in while doing the paddle board.  I told him it would be no big deal, he would have a life jacket on and then he would just climb back on and keep going.  He did end up falling in but I was glad he had a smile on his face and just kept going.  He had a blast at the activity, JJ said all the boys did.  I am so glad they have continued these activities for the boys and girls that age.  It is so much fun and they look forward to a special activity like this. 

It was such a busy and exhausting day.  We did some yard work that afternoon and by the evening we were ready for bed.  We were sunburned and worn out.  All day long we kept thinking of the chaotic activity that morning and how we would have done things differently.  We all went to bed early that night.             

 

Happy Birthday Garrett

I can't believe how old the kids are getting.  They still seem like they should be little kids but now we have two teenagers.  Garrett has grown so much.  He is getting taller and is proud to have armpit hair.  He is still an inch shorter than me but taller than Lucy now.  He still loves to read and is excelling in school.  He was nominated recently for national honors society.  He still loves to play Minecraft and has recently enjoyed playing Xbox.  I felt bad that we had such a normal day on his actual birthday.  There was school and work but as soon as JJ got off, we headed to dinner.  Garrett picked Sugarfire again this year, he wanted to have ribs.  He loves ribs.  He split a full rack of ribs with JJ.  We even brought home a rib bone with a little bit of meat on it to let Jack chew off.  We didn't let him chew the bone for too long, he was so excited but such a fun treat.  We had cake and ice cream and opened presents.  He had asked for some new games for his Xbox and even wrote them down and rated them on which ones he wanted the most.  We got him a new wireless controller and some new games.  He was so excited.  JJ helped him get them all loaded up so they could play.  We were able to go out together as family Friday night to do something fun.  He wanted to go to the main event and play some arcade games.  We went there with Nolan on his birthday and had a lot of fun.  We ordered some Domino's pizza and picked it up on our way home.  He had a pretty fun birthday!  We sure love Garrett and are so glad he is in our family.  We had fun celebrating with him.               

 

Lately our weekends seem so busy, so many things going on.  Saturday was another busy day for us.  JJ was working, I had camp kickoff, we watched Lauren and Braden's kids so they could go to the temple together, we hosted dinner and the boys went next door for a birthday party for Declan.  I was thankful everything for camp kickoff went smoothly.  JJ was home in time to be there when the Anderson kids got dropped off.  We had a fun time playing with cousins.  I went to the grocery store.  My dad joined us for dinner, and we hung out a little bit.  He asked me and Lauren if we would cut his hair.  We did a pretty good job for not being hair stylists.  Doing things like this is sometimes a reminder for me that mom isn't here to do all these things for him.  She cut his hair for many many years.  I am glad I can help take care of my dad now.  The boys walked next door for Declan's birthday party and had a really fun time.  They played video games together and ate pizza dinner.  It was a sleepover, but we let the boys just stay late and then they came home.  It was fun to have Lauren and her family come visit and dad.  They left to go home, and dad went to the airport to pick up Courtney.  She was flying in to visit, her flight got delayed and we were glad she was able to make it, just many hours after she was supposed to arrive.  Sunday I was exhausted.  Staying out late Friday and then having a busy Saturday was exhausting.  We all enjoyed naps Sunday afternoon.  That evening Lucy had seminary graduation.  She received a recognition award.  Lucy loved seminary and is sad to see it come to an end.  She always told me it was the highlight of her day.  Even when she was struggling and so exhausted, I would suggest skipping and she would always say no, she enjoyed going.  I am so thankful for her wonderful teachers who taught her so much.