So many fun memories to report on this month! A visit from Dave and Jenny and kids, a trip to Lake Powell with our BYU buddies, High Adventure for the boys in Northern California at the Sequoias and Kern River, Father's Day, 8th and 5th grade promotions, dance recital, last day of school, birthday parties, retirement parties, weddings and last but certainly not least- a fabulous Marston family trip to Midway Utah with Herb, Nancy and Aunt Stacy for the 4th of July!!!! WOW.... it was an amazing month to say the least and what a way to kick off summer.
Loved having Dave and Jenny, Ellie, Julie, Penny, Mary and Christopher in town. What an adorable and fun loving group. Penny and Anna became instant friends and had such a blast together- playing all day, swimming, chatting, running and swinging. So fun to watch these two little besties. We enjoyed boating with the Stevens- ALMOST got Ellie and Julie up; Dave was an old hat and did really well at wake surfing. All of the kids enjoyed tubing with their cousins in a major way. We loved our hike at Annie's Canyon and beach day at Fletcher's Cove, despite the cold day. Loved walking to Lake Poway to feed the ducks, barbecuing and making s'mores, watching Soul Surfer, and The Meg (we had a sharked themed movie thing going on) loved seeing Cruella Devile at the movie theatre with so much popcorn and candy- we ate ourselves sick! Loved swimming in the pool and chatting and catching up all throughout the day. So grateful whenever family comes to town to visit. Means a lot to the kids and I.
No more than 24 hours after the Stevens left, we packed up and headed off to Lake Powell for a boating trip with the Calls, Hoovers, Mulliners (all the way from Texas) and the Gourleys. Wow- SO much fun to see all of these old friends who we knew Freshmen year at BYU and have kept in close touch with ever since. The Mulliners we hadn't seen in 10 years after they moved to Missouri and then Texas- and found it so fun to catch up! We loved tubing, paddle boarding, cliff jumping, swimming, wake surfing, water skiing, docking it for ice cream and eating yummy dinners at the harbor. It was a long drive (10 hours) but worth the effort to spend such a fabulous few days on such a beautiful lake- it was our first time but hopefully not our last!
Moving along.... loved that both boys were able to attend High Adventure near the Sequoias. I've never been myself and have always wanted to visit. Grant was a little nervous to leave; Blake wasn't heading up until a couple days into the trip and Grant is, after all, only 11 years old. The young men had decided to bring their deacons- and so there were a few nervous kiddos at send off. But all's well that ends well; Grant had a wonderful time and did so well. He is the type to enjoy every moment of his life- and this was no exception. Dane also enjoyed being with his buddies, river rafting and hiking. Brother Leeson made all the food and did an amazing job of course. Blake had planned the whole thing so he was thrilled to have it go smoothly for the most part. Proud of Blake for putting his whole heart and soul into this trip for the youth. Not an easy thing to plan, but he stuck with it and I'm so grateful my boys were able to be a part of it all.
Speaking of Blake and his fabulous qualities- loved celebrating him, along with Grandpa and Papa for Father's Day this year. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of strawberry waffles, cafe rio pork for dinner, a lovely hike to lake poway, and then chocolate chip skillet cookie for dessert. We lucked out in the Dad department in every way possible. Blake is the most amazing father to our children. He puts his own needs last (see last pic of him packing Dane up on Father's Day!) and is there for us through thick and thin. He learned from his father how to take care of a family- we are so grateful for Grandpa and his loving supportive kindness in our lives. Also so grateful to my own father for teaching me all that I needed to know; for loving me and guiding me and helping me to grow into a productive adult.
Ok... let's talk about the last week of school for a minute. WOW. It was a LOT. A lot of goodness and craziness and happiness and there may have been a tear or two shed by dear old mom. Can hardly believe that Grant is now a middle schooler and Dane in high school! One of my favorite traditions is the high five hand clap that the fifth grade students do on the last day of school throughout the courtyard. They high five all of the students and the parents and teachers who are lined up along the classrooms as they exit the school for the last time. It's seriously so sweet and it makes you question how on earth could your sweet little baby boy be finished with elementary school????? Loved celebrating that cute darling skater boy of mine. He is one in a million. And then the very next day, we had the chance to attend an amazing 8th grade promotion ceremony for Mr. Dane Marston. All the cool kids wore Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. Dane attended not one, but two promotion parties after the touching ceremony. One of the parties, his mom put on.... so yeah, he kinda had to attend. The other was a bunch of school friends and the boys had a blast swimming, playing volleyball and eating tacos and snow cones from a truck. So excited for Dane to move on to bigger and better things. The kid loved middle school.... we'll see how he enjoys high school. He's so social and loves spending time with his friends. He's smart and witty and handsome as can be. And he's just plain fun to be around most of the time. Sad that I'm not allowed to hug him as much as I used to. If it were up to me, I'd hug him every hour. The last day of school brought a fun boating adventure with Dad for Ev and Emma, Grant and Carson and Anna and Kate. Anna was sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Ramirez and Mary- her best school buddy. But boating helped cheer her up!
It was a super duper fun day for everyone involved. And I felt that I might collapse at the end of the week after throwing an End of School Party for our old neighbors and friends on Wednesday, helping with Grant's promotion party on Thursday, throwing Dane's party on Friday and then a retirement party for Evelyn's 2nd grade teacher- Mrs. Clark on Saturday!!! PHEW! It was a lot. And don't forget Mel's 50th birthday on Monday of the next week! But that was just plain fun.... hiking, toasting to sparkling apple cider at sunset, hot tubbing and dessert afterwards with some of my very best friends. Loved every minute.
Last but not least a few little highlights sprinkled throughout the month: Anna's first dance recital. Anna performed a hip hop routine "This is How we Do it" and was literally the star of the show. She was so cute. Now, Anna has refused to take anything beyond hip hop (her favorite genre) up to this point, but after the recital, she was so thrilled with performing that she decided she'd take jazz and lyrical next year! She loved every minute and especially dressing up and having her family in the crowd cheering her on. We were all very excited to be there for the little girl who is all of our biggest fans.
Grant had an amazing adventure this month when he met Faze Rug- the famous YouTuber at the skate park! The guy came up to all the skaters and asked them to do a cool trick for $100. Of course Grant was the first to volunteer and he won that $100 plus was featured on Faze Rug's episode with over 3 million subscribers. To say he was star struck and in his own personal nirvana would be an understatement! So cool and so happy for Grant!
Surfing lessons with Tanner and Ben! Grant and Evelyn have 6 lessons this summer-- hopefully they'll be pro by the end:)
While the boys were away at High Adventure, the girls had an amazing week reading by the pool, shopping, visiting Sea World, going to the San Diego Fair with the Jones, hiking, morning walks, eating out and celebrating Emma's 16th! SO quiet, so lovely to have a week with my two girls and no boys to care for! Sure, we missed them at the end, but it was definitely a relaxing change of pace.... haha! Now it's Evelyn's turn to go on her own adventures with Girl's Camp around the corner and a fun week's long overnight trip to the beach with her friends. For Girl's Camp, the leaders asked that we write down a few notes about one of the girls' ancestors along with a couple of pictures. Nancy helped me out and sent me this write up about Ruby Clark- Evelyn's' great great Grandma. So sweet and I think she'll love hearing about what an amazing woman Ruby was. I never personally had the chance to meet her but have heard so many lovely stories. Hope Ev has fun!
More to come on our Utah adventure!
