Summer camps, another birthday, and more snakes

Hey Ty—
It was so good to be able to talk to you twice this week! I’m sorry I was a bit distracted when you called last night. We were just finishing up a game of Isle of Cats, and my brain still does not quite understand that one. Dad won of course. I’m really sorry to hear the news about Sister Bybee’s thyroid cancer. Dang it. I hope she is able to get the treatment she needs to bring her back to good health. And I hope it doesn’t disrupt her mission plans. Bah. Poor thing. She’s too young for that! My aunt Kathleen had thyroid cancer too. She had her thyroid removed and takes medication to replace the hormones. But as far as I understand she is still very healthy and active. Bummer about the gym being closed and not being able to go to the temple anymore. Man. Bad timing! Couldn’t they just wait a few weeks? I remember Michael really struggled during home MTC and the first winter of his mission just wanting to be outside. It’s a tough transition to being in class all day. But enjoy the rest of the time you have at the MTC—only a few more weeks! Pretty soon you will be walking the streets of Singapore, dripping in sweat, and fantasizing about the air conditioning in Provo! I love that you are having the opportunity to meet so many missionaries and make new friends. I love that your testimony is growing and that you are learning to love the scriptures. I love that you are challenging yourself to work hard and learn a new language. What growth! What an amazing time of life.

This is what we’ve been up to this week:

1. Tate got to go to summer camp at Miss Amy’s house. He LOVES going to Miss Amy’s. They played outside and did lots of crafts. He came home with all of these delightful little animal art projects, and he is determined that he will go to the session in July as well.

2. Ethan went to Utah Tech for a basketball tournament with his Phoenix team. I guess he was the only player on his team whose family didn’t come down south, so he was sorta stuck begging rides which was awkward. That’s too bad. We should have turned it into a little family trip. I think he played a lot of ball and had a good time. Bonus: the driver avoided an accident on the freeway while Ethan was riding in the bed of his truck. SMH. Ethan’s been working on this daily program designed to strengthen his mental game. One of the things he’s supposed to do for it is drink lemon water with Celtic salt. For electrolytes maybe? I finally got him stocked up on that. He told me he made a plan to keep himself busy this summer. It involves roughly 10 hours of exercise a day, so we’ll see how that goes!

3. Ethan’s voice is changing, and his voice cracks are epic. Nobody is even teasing him about it! Missed opportunity there.

4. Blake had early morning football this week plus had to help with the kids camp until noon Monday thru Wednesday. It’s been super hot, so I’m sure he was just exhausted. He came home every day and had a nice long afternoon nap. Well deserved! I went to help with the camp a couple of times supplying lunch, popsicles and sorting t-shirts. I like being the kind of volunteer who shows up to do the grunt work rather than the one who has to plan. I talked to coach Coats for a few minutes and he told me Blake’s nickname is McQuivey because he is coach McQuivey’s favorite. Blake started a new job working in a warehouse. Apparently he learned how to drive a fork lift. But he’s not going in this week because of football, so we will have to see if he actually gets much time in there this summer.

5. Jett got to spend an afternoon at the beach at Pineview with Salesi. They swam, found clay on the beach, and brought home a hammer as a souvenir.

6. Michael got to train on the main salmon again, and then he was scheduled to run the main again helping with gear. He is absolutely loving life on the river and says it’s going to be really hard not wanting to go back next summer.

7. We celebrated Dad’s 47th birthday this week! His birthday list constituted mainly items he used to own but have been lost or broken. So he got a new mega-sized cot for camping (which will come in handy for high adventure next week), earbuds (wired for some reason?), golf balls, a church book by Sheri Dew, and some BYU shirts from his mom.

8. Dad has been working around the clock on a big deal. As with every deal, the client wanted papers signed YESTERDAY. So Dad and his team have been working nights and weekends trying to get it done. They finally signed Saturday night, and everyone was thrilled to have it all over. But Dad was frustrated because at the last minute the opposing client refused to concede a point that Dad’s never lost before, and he felt like it closed on a bit of a sour note. Hopefully the client doesn’t feel that way. And hopefully everyone can go back to a normal work schedule!

9. Yesterday was the dedication of the Layton temple. Linda Burbank made handkerchiefs for her neighbors with the temple design on them and brought some around to her piano students as well. I didn’t have the heart to tell her we wouldn’t be attending the dedication. I thought they would still be a nice memento for the kids to remember going through the open house. We aren’t technically in the Layton temple district and weren’t invited to participate in the dedication. But grandma and grandpa and Kelli, Mike, and Tyson were able to go.

10. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying summer so far. I’ve been kind of obsessed with audiobooks, and finally have had some time to work on my London puzzle that I’ve had out since Christmas. I’m enjoying plying at Cherry Hill with the kids, and I did a little shopping for myself to update my wardrobe a bit. My tennis elbow has been bothering me, so I’m stretching and icing it. The kitchen is a perpetual disaster with kids constantly cooking and eating, and I feel like I’m washing dishes around the clock. So I assigned everyone a dish day last night and I’m excited to see how that goes! Oh the things that make me happy! On my to-do list this week is to call the plumbers (again) about the water heater that continues to stop working, and to figure out how to rid my yard of snakes. The kids found one under the trampoline this week. What the heck? I think maybe the construction by the bridge is uprooting the snake’s homes and sending them into the neighborhood. Yuck.

I love you and miss you Ty! Thank you for the great emails and phone calls.