What a beautiful month. School wrapped up, summer arrived in full force, and it felt like every week held something worth celebrating. Anna officially promoted from 8th grade and is now a high schooler! Grant strapped on a 40-pound backpack and tackled High Adventure in the Sierra Nevada, and Anna had her first experience at FSY—which she absolutely loved. It was a month full of milestones, adventures, and some of my favorite kinds of memories.
Summer has always been my favorite season. When the kids were little, it was equal parts exhausting and magical. Now it's mostly just magical. I love driving Anna from one adventure to the next and shamelessly begging Grant and Dane to hang out with me as often as possible. Of course they prefer their friends....can't imagine why?!
One of our favorite memories was a quick trip to Utah to visit Evelyn and the Rustands. We hiked with Ev, Blake and Evelyn spent some time at the shooting range together, and we enjoyed several days catching up with the Rustands in their beautiful new home. Weddings are wonderful, but they're so busy that you rarely get to simply enjoy each other's company. It had been far too long. We ate at all of their favorite restaurants, hiked the canyon, wandered through Old Town Midway, watched the rodeo, laughed a lot, and left feeling so grateful for friendships that pick right back up where they left off.
Later in the month we headed to Washington to spend time with my family. Grant went on a fishing trip with Wade and Uncle Mike and caught more fish than he could have hoped for. We played games, laughed, barbecued, hiked, went to the movies, enjoyed our favorite Japanese restaurant, and watched the cousins stay up much later than any of them probably should have. I never take for granted how blessed I am to have parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, and nephews who love each other so well.
Girls Camp was another highlight. I loved spending the week with Anna, her friends, and such incredible young women and leaders. Between the ocean views, crafts, devotionals, and surprisingly delicious camp food, it was an unforgettable week. I had the opportunity to speak the first night about present-day miracles, and I felt so grateful for how attentive and thoughtful the girls were. It was one of those experiences that filled my heart.
The biggest miracle may have happened after camp—Anna came home with a completely different attitude! Somewhere between camp and home she traded cranky and sassy for cheerful and helpful. I don't know exactly what changed, but I'm certainly not asking too many questions. We'll happily take it!
We celebrated Father's Day with Blake and Grandma, complete with Dane's famous chicken parmesan—one of Blake's favorite meals. The kids gave Blake a new camping chair with an oversized sunshade for soccer games and beach days. It may not sound exciting, but considering how many hours our family spends on the sidelines of soccer fields, it may end up being one of the best gifts he's ever received... at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Another unforgettable experience was the reopening of the San Diego Temple after three years of renovation. It was such a blessing to walk through it with friends and family during the open house. I also had the opportunity to volunteer on opening day for invited community leaders. Somehow I found myself welcoming the mayor of San Diego, members of Congress, the chief of police, religious leaders from across the county, CEOs from local businesses, and Elder Neil L. Andersen. Later I was able to serve as a guide in the endowment room and then return with the kids. It was a very special month centered around the temple.
As for the kids...
Dane and Kenzie had a great time at the Pitbull concert. Dane continues to keep himself busy cooking incredible meals for the family, pet sitting, assembling furniture, helping around the house, and faithfully putting in the work to improve his mental health through therapy and other healthy habits. Some days are harder than others, but he keeps moving forward, and I'm proud of him for that.
Evelyn finished her clinicals! She now has only six months of coursework left before earning her BSN and becoming an RN. We could not be more excited for her. Watching her discipline, determination, and work ethic over the past few years has been incredible, and I know she is going to make an exceptional nurse.
Grant has spent the month doing what Grant loves most—waking up before sunrise to surf or fish before heading off to soccer or spending time with friends. He successfully completed one of the toughest backpacking trips he's ever done during High Adventure and later guested with an older soccer team during their playoffs, where he played incredibly well. He finished the school year with straight A's and completed another year of seminary. One bittersweet part of the month was saying goodbye to his good friend Luke as he left for BYU. Luke has been one of Grant's closest friends, and his absence has definitely left a hole.
Anna packed an entire summer into one month. She promoted from 8th grade, celebrated on the harbor cruise and at Silver's swim party, cheered on friends at dance recitals and acro meets, attended FSY, spent a weekend boating at Lake Arrowhead with Scarlett's family, organized her room, baked cakes, made meatballs and rice, and sausage and potatoes for dinner and even completed her very first official babysitting job. She's watched Sophie many times at our house, but this was her first real client. She made dinner, entertained two adorable kids for four hours, and did a fantastic job. High school is going to be such a fun adventure for her.
As for me, I mostly enjoyed tagging along for everyone else's adventures—which is one of my favorite roles these days. I loved seeing Andy and Charis, celebrating so many graduates at parties throughout the month, creating executive functioning curriculum and summer printables for work, making dot cakes (thanks, TikTok!) with my Young Women, spending time at youth activities, and squeezing in a trip to the San Diego Fair.
June reminded me that a good life isn't built from a handful of big milestones—it's built from countless little moments spent with the people you love. This month was full of those moments.
