Chill Week

We took it easy during the past week. I've still been sick but without any respiratory symptoms, and Joseph and Katie are improving quite a bit. It's easy enough to manage fatigue during these days at home. Instead of trying to go to every community activity, I've stayed home and taken naps, read books, and watched TV while doing my regular daily stuff. We haven't done any big projects either, which is completely fine since we head to Ecuador next Tuesday. I'm both excited and terrified at the same time since it's all new to me.

I did leave the house last night to go to a movie with James. Fly Me to the Moon was pretty funny, and we got ice cream cones afterward.

Katie and Lewis have their last day of tennis today. They've really enjoyed it and are always so happy when we pick them up.

We have a dinner today for the Primary teachers and staff at Sis. Hall's house. Last year's was great, and I hope today's is too.

I shared an album each day of the slides I did for my dad. They turned out really good, definitely better quality than prints I've scanned in the past. I also worked on videos, cutting them into clips, editing them, and uploading them to YouTube. I'm not done with them yet, but I'll work on them again after Ecuador when I have time. We have a lot to do to get ready for school, and it starts on August 20th this year. The summer has really flown by.

Rexburg, 4th of July, FSY, Slides

June ended with Zak Redden, one of James's old mission companions, coming over for dinner. His kids played with our with Zak and his wife went to the temple. We then had dinner together. It was a pretty fun time, and it was the first day I felt completely better from that nasty cold.

Monday morning, we dropped Joseph off at the stake center for his bus ride to Provo for FSY. We then continued on to Rexburg with stops at Smith and Edwards and Chick-fil-a.

Tuesday, James, his dad, and the 3 middle kids hiked the wind caves while Melodie and I went to the temple. We had a good day at the house with Samantha and Juliana, then we got pizza from Righteous Slice for dinner. The hikers didn't get back till late.

Wednesday, we celebrated Summerween with the kids and shopped at D.I. in the afternoon. James and I left for our anniversary dinner, a Brazilian place in Idaho Falls called Tche's. It was absolutely delicious, and we had a great time walking around the mall afterward. We stayed in a cheap Moab-themed room in Shelley.

For the 4th, we got up and drove the 10 minutes to Grandpa Lee's concert and breakfast in Firth. It was delicious, as always. We got back to Rexburg just in time for James to take the kids to the parade in Rexburg. Samantha was in Victor for that parade since Grandpa Head was the grand marshal this year. I stayed at the house and organized all the pictures I'd brought back from digitizing at my house. We had dinner with Lars, Emily, and the Lees in Rigby. We then watched fireworks in Rexburg.

Friday was also really busy. We went to Bear World, the Renaissance Faire, and Macbeth in the park.

We drove home on Saturday with no problems and got unpacked. Joseph got home before us and had an uneventful day playing video games.

This week has been busy, but not in the same way. Katie and Lewis have tennis at the high school every day Monday - Thursday from 9:30-10:30. They have loved it so far. I had a presidency meeting, and we attended a ward party last night. I also took Kenny to the dentist for a filling today.

I got my slide scanner, so I scanned all the slides I got from NC. I've also finished cropping, rotating, and organizing them into albums, so I'm sharing them one at a time with my family. It's been so fun to see my dad's old mission pictures as well as some other trips he took in the 80's before I was born. Next up are videos, then photos, then cassette tapes and hopefully more slides when Rex finds his from his mission. I don't know how long all of this will take, but the process of scanning the slides was much easier than I expected. I've now seen over 1,000 pictures of South America, but I'm still nervous to go there in less than 2 weeks. Haha.

A Week of Calm

Things have been a little tough since we got home. I am sick with a cold I picked up in NC, and I thought I had escaped the worst of it, but it peaked on Sunday. I was able to do a lot on Thursday since I didn't feel truly crummy yet, but I barely left the couch on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. All of this week, I've spent a lot of time on the couch trying to rest. I've had chunks of a few hours where I've felt okay enough to go do things.

Monday, I went to dental appointments in the morning and a funeral in the afternoon. We went to Inside Out 2 for FHE and really enjoyed it.

Tuesday, I went to the temple to do baptisms with the boys in the afternoon. We got some tacos afterward, as is tradition when they go with the ward.

Wednesday, James took Joseph to the orthodontist while I got things done at home.

Today, we had a training for OSSO, which was really informative.

James has been working hard on projects all week. When we came back from NC, the yard was really overgrown. He's spent hours tackling all the weeds, adding hooks to the laundry room, and taking care of me while I get over this annoying cold. I seem to be done coughing, but the fatigue is still very real. I'm glad for those moments of clarity and energy where I can still get things done. I sorted through all the old pictures from NC and made a to-do list for all the digitizing I still need to do. I plan to digitize the photos, slides, and cassettes myself. I sent off all the videos (3 different formats) and should have them back before we go to Ecuador. I hope the company is able to digitize them all because there is a really old film reel that might be video footage of my great-grandparents!

NC Trip

We had a wonderful, grueling trip to NC.

6/4: We drove all the way to Salina, KS, with a stop at the Denver mall for lunch.

6/5: After driving the remaining 3ish hours to Kansas City, we enjoyed a BBQ lunch at Arthur Bryant's (as recommended by a friend). It was absolutely delicious! We then visited the WWI museum and rode to the top of the tower for an excellent view of KC. We finished our day by staying near St. Louis in some Star Wars pods, which were a lot cooler than I expected.

6/6: We drove into St. Charles for the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Museum. It was small, but cool. For lunch, we got Imo's, St. Louis style pizza. The manager there treated us like royalty and even gave us extra food. It was delicious too! We drove to Philadelphia, TN, to a home with a cool video game theme.

6/7: We explored Smoky Mountain Knife Works and stopped in Black Mountain, NC (the setting of a book series I read).  After a dinner at Cook Out, we got to Myles and Skyla's home around 8:30 P.M.

6/8: I taught canning to Mara, Ceci, and Skyla. We did strawberry jam, pickles, and potatoes. Myles and Skyla bought us yummy BBQ from Smithfield's.

6/9: We attended church with Myles and Mara's families and watched Saturday's Warrior after dinner. I had never seen the new one, but it was pretty good.

6/10: We took the kids to the splash pad in Clayton for the morning.  After dinner with Christian and Rachel, we did gel blasters with everyone.

6/11: Dad drove and gave us a tour of Columbia and Lexington, SC, where we used to live until I was 7. We visited my grandparents' graves, our old houses, and 2 favorite restaurants, LaBrasca's and Zesto.

6/12: Carmel and Matthew moved into their own apartment, so we helped with that. I gathered up old pictures, slides, and a few other miscellaneous things that I intend to digitize soon. Christian and Rachel fed us a yummy dinner, and then Rachel took family pictures over at a sunflower patch.

6/13: Beach day! We toured Ft. Macon State Park and spent the afternoon at Atlantic Beach. It was an amazing day with the perfect weather. No one wanted to leave. No one got sunburned either, not even me! We had dinner at Waffle House on the way back and stayed with Mara and Ricky that night.

6/14: After a delicious breakfast with Mara and Ricky, we headed over to Christian and Rachel's to do tie dye. I took random shirts that were mostly white, and all but one of them turned out. (One was polyester so it didn't work.) After lunch, we got some ice cream with Christian and Rachel, then headed over to Brinson and Ceci's for a relaxing afternoon and dinner. We played some board games afterward.

6/15: In the morning, Ceci, the girls, and I went to Colbey's baby shower. I made pinwheels the day before and helped set up and clean up at the end. It was pretty fun. We played some games, ate snacks, and opened presents. For dinner, we went to Phil and Laurel's. I knew Laurel as a youth/in college and James had a class with her in college. Some of our kids are similar ages, so they had a fun time playing too. We played some more games with Brinson and Ceci.

6/16: After attending church with Mom and Dad, we hung out with them in Apex. We met the whole family for a dinner at the church and took some pictures by the temple afterward. It made it convenient to say goodbye to everyone. After getting back to Brinson and Ceci's, we packed the car.

6/17: By some miracle, James tetris-ed everything into our car. Our first stop was with Claude and Tracey. All of my local Phenix cousins came! I've now met all of their spouses and kids minus one. The 2nd cousins had a wonderful time playing together, and we had pizza and caught up. It's like seeing old friends.

6/18: We drove to Salina, KS, and stayed at the same hotel as on the way in. The day was pretty uneventful.

6/19: Home at last! One small hiccup happened. When we stopped for lunch, I noticed that one of our tires was coming apart, almost like a slash mark, but likely caused by road damage. We drove .3 miles down the road, bought a new tire, and less than an hour later were on the road. It did set us back, obviously, but we were home by 11 and got a good night of sleep.

Though we never stayed at my parents' house, they came to dinner almost every day. Mom had also given every household a different flavor of muffins or biscuits for us to snack on while we were there. We also had the entire day in the car with Dad for the SC day trip. We didn't have as long with Mara and Ricky either, but James was able to go play games with him 3 times during the week.

I didn't sleep much and came back with a cold, but I'm so glad we made the sacrifice to make this trip. It was incredibly fun, and I fully believe that God watched over us every day. We felt especially loved by each family since we had a few days at each house. Everything we planned worked out, and the food was delicious. The car worked perfectly (minus the tire, but that's different), and we had a lot of fun.

Today will be the usual after-trip chores like shopping, laundry, and tackling this overgrown mess of a yard. We probably won't finish everything until tomorrow, but that's okay. I can't wait to sort through the pictures and remember it all over again.

First Week of Summer, Joseph's 14th Birthday

It's been a crazy week, and things won't slow down next week since we leave for NC on Tuesday.

Saturday ended up busier than expected. We helped James's coworker Katie move, then the older boys and I went to vacuum out the van at the car wash. Katie had given us some furniture, so we rearranged the living room, got rid of a broken cabinet, and cleaned everything in the process. The girls also cleaned their room to make space for some new shelves. It took pretty much all day, which meant I didn't get to some of the other things I wanted to do.

Monday, Memorial Day, we went into Dinosaur National Monument to see some petroglyphs and a few cool overlooks. We had lunch at a campground before returning home. James and I played a board game and then relaxed somewhat for the rest of the day.

The rest of the week has been so busy that I've had to rewrite my planner by the hour. By Friday afternoon, I will been to/done 4 birthday parties (1 hosted here today for Joseph), 3 play dates (one of which was a long drive), 3 dental/ortho appointments (1 that got added last minute), 2 haircuts, and 1 presidency meeting. There's also a doctor's appointment on Monday. Oh, and there were also activities for Katie, YM for the boys, and a lunch date with Kenny to use a few certificates he got from school and a lunch date with James while he was working.

Naturally, James has been working since Tuesday and will do all of this week plus Monday. I've grown weary of driving places, even the fun ones. I know I won't write again until after I return from NC, so here's the rundown of the next few days:

Today: Joseph's 14th birthday. He invited a few friends to play board games and video games. I'm making several kinds of pizza, chocolate PB cheesecake, and PB fudge ice cream.

Tomorrow: Last playdate of the week, chores that I don't want to do on Saturday.

Saturday: chores, a baptism

Sunday: the usual

Monday: prep for the trip

Throw in a couple of small organizing projects on the side with a dash of "I'm bored; what should I do?" and that's my summer so far. I'm really looking forward to the trip next week while also dreading the really long drive.

Last Week of School

All the cars are back! The Yukon has a few things that could be fixed but don't have to be if we're not taking it on any long trips. The van was leaking transmission fluid, so we took it back in and got it fixed under warranty (bad gasket) since they'd just done work on the transmission. I'm crossing my fingers, but we should be good to go for our trip after I get the oil changed today and the kids clean it out this weekend.

It's been an okay week. It's seemed like a month long, not just a few days. I keep thinking that it's a day ahead of what it actually is, and that doesn't help. Tomorrow is the last day of school!

We did a short game night with Katie since she's moving this week. It's sad, but I get it.

I helped with Field Day for Kindergarten on Tuesday and today I'm going to see a skit done by the 4th graders. Katie says she's the narrator. I think she's started to come out of her shell this year and isn't just the quiet kid in the back.

This next week will be spent sleeping in and getting things ready for the long trip. I'm really hoping it goes well with NO car problems this time. Having a much newer car should help, and if it doesn't, I quit!

Logan, Almost There

We had a wonderful trip to Logan. We left on Friday around 1:45. James actually came home from school a bit early and realized he had a fever, so I had a mini breakdown because I was worried about him. He took some meds and a little nap before we hit the road, and the fever never returned. I was a little tired during the weekend, but I finally feel like I'm 100% better. A few of the kids are coughing a tiny bit still. Our drive to Logan was uneventful. Dad had meetings in Salt Lake last week, so we met him for dinner at KFC in Bountiful with Nash. It was a really nice stop, and the rest of the drive to Logan during sunset was absolutely gorgeous. I don't know what I was expecting the city to look like, but I was blown away by how much bigger and greener it was than what I expected. We went swimming in the hotel pool, and the kids went to bed way too late.

Saturday, we went to the Pepperidge Farm outlet, Big Deal, Gossner's (a cheese factory), and Costco. We got enough snacks for our NC trip for very good prices. Then we went to the temple to wait for Elizabeth (James's cousin) and Spencer to come out. (They ran out of room in the sealing room, but that's all right.) After pictures, we went to a park on the USU campus to eat Costa Vida. The reception followed afterward at the art museum. We took the kids swimming again and gratefully retired for a better night of sleep than the one before. (The girls' coughing kept me up a lot.)

Sunday morning, we quickly got ready and attended a 9:00 Sacrament meeting in town, finished packing up, and drove home, which was uneventful. James got me a bunch of random snacks for Mother's Day. We got home around 3:30 and got everything unpacked and cleaned up (mostly).

I'm glad for the time I've had to recover this week. It was also really good to take the van on a "test trip" before we drive it cross country. There were no problems, but I noticed that it's leaking a tiny bit of something (oil, maybe?) on the driveway, but we have plenty of time to get it fixed before we leave. The Yukon is currently at the shop for a few weird noises it's making, but after talking to Dad, they are probably nothing to worry about, just a sign of its age. Either way, it needs a new seatbelt in the front since it constantly locks up, which is really annoying. Yes, it's been quite a saga with the cars, but we should have them all fixed up within the next week and then not have to worry about them again for a while, I hope.

School is almost done for the year! One week and one day to go! I can't even express how excited I am for this. Of course I'm excited about our trips, but I also look forward to sleeping in and really enjoying the nice weather. I enjoy the time in between trips as much as the trips themselves because we get to do small outdoor adventures in our area, work on projects, and keep a more relaxed schedule. Bring on summer!