Summer happenings and Idaho trip

Hello Michael! I hope you had a great week. It was great to be able to talk to you on Monday and I loved your letter! I’m always so surprised when people tell me they love your emails—because who has the time to read emails from other people’s kids?! Lol. I think a lot of people enjoy following your mission and hearing what you are working on. I’m looking forward to hearing how transfers went and where you will be! I’m so glad you had the opportunity to ordain Patrick Ling, and hope that was a great experience for both of you. I love that you appreciate and enjoy all of the different people and personalities that you get to interact with. Keep working hard!

We had a busy couple of weeks. This is what’s going on:

1. The week before last, Ethan had all-day basketball camp at FHS. He was in heaven. Jett and Tate took swim lessons at the Jacob’s house. Tate is sooo excited about swim lessons. 

2. On Wednesday I threw out my back. It’s bad. I wasn’t even doing anything strenuous, but this is the worst my back has ever felt. I was just telling Alison and Dana that my back has never felt so good, and that walking everyday has helped it stay in good shape. And then. Ugh. I tried to go about my business like usual, but by the evening I couldn’t even get myself out of the car. Dad took me to the instacare and I don’t think I could have done it without him. I got a muscle relaxant to help me sleep, but basically spent the next two days in bed. I couldn’t even tolerate sitting in bed, and getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was an ordeal. On Friday my dad came over to help give me a blessing. He said I really needed to start moving around, and that was good advice. It started to improve a little every day. I’m able to get around, but still in a lot of pain. Probably going to need some physical therapy. I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now, and I’ve got a lot of work to do to get myself feeling better again. I signed up for a 6 month health challenge 2 months ago, and since then I've gained 5 pounds. So. That’s not good. I’ve decided I need to recalibrate my tastebuds a bit, so I’m going off sugar for awhile. Wish me luck!

3. Ty came home from the Dominican Republic on Saturday. He talked to you about it in the car, but I think it was a very good experience for him. He loved being there. Loved the fun activities. Loved the food and meeting new people. I think the service opportunity was meaningful and helped him see how other people live. I’m so glad he went.

4. The Fourth of July was a bit of a bummer this year. I wasn’t feeling especially patriotic. And then I threw my back out. Dad and the kids at least got to go over to the Roylance’s for food and fireworks on Saturday night, but I scheduled a last minute massage. Mick Hewitt recommended that I go to the Grand America, and it was amazing (and crazy expensive!) Good thing I had a gift card! Monday was the actual holiday. We decided to skip the parade and get packed up to head to Idaho. I’m so glad we did. There was a terrible accident at the parade very close to where we usually sit. An 8 year old ended up dying from her injuries. So very sad. 

5. We drove up to Idaho on Monday to spend time with your Dad’s high school friends and their families. Of course we stopped at Reed’s dairy for ice cream on the way. We stayed in a very nice home close to the Palisade lake. The area was just beautiful, and I couldn’t believe how uncrowded the lake was. Jake and Linn brought their brand new boat, and Gabe & Spencer brought theirs as well, so we had three days of boating. I wasn’t able to ski or surf, but everyone else was able to learn how to surf—even Tate! Connor got out in the water with Tate and pulled him up on his board. It was crazy! Dad says there is no better place to be on a hot day than in a boat on the lake. We fantasized for a minute about owning a boat of our own, but then we remembered that all of our Saturdays are filled with soccer and baseball. On Wednesday we drove in to Jackson Hole and everyone went rafting on the Snake River. I stayed with Tate and we rode the tram up to the top of the mountain, and wandered through shops and had ice cream. Tate LOVED the toy store. At the house we spent time playing games and the boys all played ultimate frisbee on the back lawn. We also enjoyed the hot tub. It was a great trip. 

6. Yesterday dad took my car for a carwash and filled his gas cans for the lawn mower. But the gas cans spilled in the back of my car and now it reeks. RIP my car. This is actually worse than the milk spill. And also worse than the chicken curry soup I spilled back there. Blake and Ty helped me clean it today, and I’m hoping the fumes die down by tomorrow so that I can drive it. Did I tell you that the door pull broke? It’s got this cheap little piece of plastic inside that snapped in half. I am told that the only way to fix it is to replace the entire for panel ($$$). But they can’t even do that because they are no longer manufactured. What a joke. The car is only 10 years old! So I’ve gone down the rabbit hole watching YouTube videos of people attempting to fix it with liquid concrete and duct tape. Wish me luck. 

7. Ethan recently downloaded DuoLingo so he can start learning Chinese. I bet by the end of the summer he will know more Chinese than Ty!

8. We played a game of Catan tonight. Dad is once again mad that he’s going to bed past midnight, and Ty is once again mad that he lost. Jett has decided he doesn’t care about winning. He just likes to wreak havoc. He’s been practicing this crazy laugh, and it’s getting a bit old. He’s such a little weirdo. We couldn’t find his church pants this morning, so he ended up wearing khaki shorts, and he was SO EXCITED to be able to wear shorts to church. Anything to be a little different.

9. Tanner has finally finished his residency in Long Island! It's such a major accomplishment. He has worked so hard, and by extension, so has Dana. They took their kids to the graduation party and had an excellent time celebrating. They moved out of their house and are not taking a road trip across the country doing fun things all along the way. They will soon be in Utah, where the kids will stay while Dana and Tanner go to Hawaii for two weeks. I think the kids are going to come with us to Bear Lake in a few weeks. It will be fun.

10. Rob and Leisja have found a new builder and floor plan and have decided to go ahead and start building their home in Idaho. They are super excited, and of course, your Grandma is sad. 

I’ve decided that teaching primary isn’t so bad. It still gives me the opportunity to study the lesson material, but there is not so much pressure to prepare such a long lesson, or have every detail learned. Today we learned about Elijah and Elisha and the miracles they performed. It was a good reminder to watch for miracles (both small and large) in our everyday lives. On our trip we talked to Linn and Jake about when their niece Maddy went missing. It was truly a miracle that she was brought home alive. God watches over us and doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want. But he is always aware of us and our needs.

I love you! Hope you enjoy your week and stay healthy!

Mom