Summer is officially here and we've taken full advantage of the lazy mornings, camps, concerts, out of town visitors, afternoon swims, parties, playdates, lunches out and late night movies. It's been everything you could ever hope for in a summer break thus far. Along with the good times, we've also experienced a very heartbreaking event... the loss of Ryan Farr. The Farrs are dear friends of ours and watching our dear friends grieve and move forward without their husband/father has been devastating in so many ways. It truly has been overwhelmingly sad. For 2 weeks, Blake watched over our kids so I could be there for Helen. Friends we hadn't seen in ages flew into town. All the friends came to Emily's basketball game where Ryan was a permanent fixture to support Em. We hosted a beautiful celebration of Life for Ryan at our home; it was a special memorial and well attended by everyone in the Farrs' life. I loved being a part of that and being there for them but now time marches on and life continues to be heartbreaking for my dear friend and it makes my heart heavy. Life can be so unfair and also so very fragile. This experience has certainly taught me that... along with so many other life lessons.
Before life slowed to a stop, we enjoyed celebrating Leticia's birthday at Original Pancake House. We enjoyed our first boating day of the season and LOVED the play Hadestown with Rachel. It was a winner! Set up for the last day of school to host a summer party that never actually happened because we needed to be there for the Farrs. But setting up for summer is always a special time of year and I'm sad to think that here we are halfway through it all! Dang- why does it fly by?
Loved celebrating Father's Day with Blake. He is truly the best father on earth and such a great dad to our kids. Don't know what we'd do without him and so grateful for everything that he is- kind, hard working, patient, good. We had a special Father's Day singing time where we decorated the dads and that was hilarious- Blake was a good sport!
The Rustands came to town for the week and we loved having them around between soccer games for Ella and Quinn. Life is just more fun when they're in town and this year we set Ella up with Rhett and that was super fun for Ev and Eli to have a double for their dates! Cathy also came down with her kiddos and loved spending a morning with her and seeing how grown up her kids have become!
Loved seeing Indigo Girls in concert with my friends -it was Helen's first night out since Ryan's death and it was very low key but reminded her of a time before she had met him and so it wasn't as painful and it was good to be out with friends.
I've enjoyed watching my friend and neighbor up the street (Elizabeth) set up her flower business! She even created an incredible spread for the Celebration of Life! She is amazing and I'm so proud of her! And speaking of business... I've continued working throughout the summer but my schedule has not been super demanding. I'm working with two families- one 6th grade student I adore is just a joy to work with and I feel our training sessions might help her out in life so it's very rewarding!
My David and Goliath singing time was a hit with the kids- they loved slinging a stone at my life size poster of Goliath. I cannot say enough how grateful I am for my calling... it brings me a lot of joy.
Life has been busy for Evelyn who is preparing to head to college next month!!!! She enjoyed yet ANOTHER prom-- this time she and Eli were crowned King and Queen of the prom. Special night for her! She works on music with Eli all the time. He likes to write songs and play them on his guitar and she likes to sing along and create harmony. Ev was hired to be a model for a local painter along with her old best buddy Rhea! She dresses in old fashioned garb for these photo shoots and it's adorable. Can't wait to see the final project. Ev enjoyed celebrating Emma's birthday this month at the fair to see Sam Hunt. She is super busy with her summer classes at Palomar- Economics and Political Science. She's all set with her schedule for fall at BYU: music 101, writing 150, Book of Mormon, Psychology 101, country swing dancing! Eli graduated last month and Ev enjoyed being there with him.We went out to dinner afterwards and celebrated his 18th birthday. These two have been pretty close the past month and I'm thinking it will be a little sad for her to leave at the end of the summer.... I'm bracing myself for all of this! But Ev's a pretty balanced kid and I love that she is still spending a lot of time with her buddies, watching them perform in plays, supporting them, hanging out at the beach, etc. Still working at Target, and spending quite a bit of time on schoolwork! It's a lot. Eve and Dane attended FSY this month and they both had an incredible time. So proud of them for giving it their all, making new friends, feeling the spirit and just putting themselves out there. Neither one was particularly excited for FSY- yet both of them absolutely loved their experience.
Dane came home from FSY more helpful, less moody, more inclined to study his scriptures. He is an excellent kid who makes life more fun. This month Dane's enjoyed not only FSY but also High Adventure where he rode his bike 180 miles down the coast of California. He prepared every Saturday for 2 months prior to his trip in order to accomplish this physical feat and it was no small task! I'm so proud of him for working hard and showing such strength in this endeavor. He loved being with old and new friends along with his leaders, camping along the way and pushing himself more than he ever had before! In his spare time, you know... when he's not biking across the country or playing in one soccer tournament after another, Dane has enjoyed hanging out with Aidan and his other school friends, cooking, going out for lunch and donuts whenever possible! He loved celebrating Brother Leeson his seminary teacher at this retirement party earlier in the month. SO proud of Dane for getting great grades though it was looking bleak for a few months with all the missed school days! Dane had a terrible sore throat and it was hard to bounce back after missing so many days. Grateful he came out with only a couple of B's. Trust me- this was a great report compared to what it could've been! I've missed seeing all of the highschool kids after school since it's summer time... Sienna even dropped off flowers and a gift card to thank me for hosting them every day. Such a sweetheart.
Grant has had a busy month as well! Soccer tournaments... I wish I had pics of him playing soccer like I do for Dane, but one of the mom's on Dane's team does this for us! Deacon's camp up at Big Bear for the week, biking, Seaworld with Brandon, parties with his buddies every Thursday night! A friend in the other ward set this up for all the middle school boys and it's been brilliant. At the end of the summer, Grant invited all the 8th graders over for a end of year party. I was SO HESITANT because he's a 6th grader! Seriously???? I wondered if the kids would even come? But they did and they had an awesome time and I just can't get over the confidence level of this kid! He truly loves his friends and is such a great kid. Proud to have celebrated him at the 6th grade awards ceremony for getting straight A's all throughout his school year. He works so hard and stays so organized. I thought I would have to be the one to keep him on track, it's quite the opposite. One quick story about Grant: He wins a stuffed animal EVERY time he plays a carnival game.... because he studies how to do so from YouTube videos. He learns the tricks and then is able to nail it every time- it's hilarious!
Anna has kept busy with loads of playdates and swimming with friends at every turn. She adores her friends and is never happier than when she has her buddies to play with. And she sure does have a LOT of buddies to play with! This month Anna celebrated Reagan's birthday at Belmont with her friends- so fun! She went boating all day with the Judds and loved every minute. Took every towel, sheet, fitted sheet, pillow and mattress we own to create a pleasant camp for her sleepover with Kate! Little did we all know that a thunderstorm was on it's way and ruined the entire set up! Oh man!!! Anna attended MANY baptisms to support her friends: Zara and Kamri to name a few. Oh- and loved the afterparties too. Anna performed in her dance recital and blew us away with her amazing skills. She is an incredible dancer and has decided to try for the performance team in 6th grade so she is currently signed up for 6 classes come Fall! I hope this doesn't burn her out! Anna is now a proud member of the Safety Patrol at Tierra Bonita! My first child ever to want to do this- she was bound and determined to be a part of this team and she's a pretty cute patrol kid if I do say so myself. Ha! Anna attended Horse Camp with her buddies and loved it so much-- this was 8am to 5 pm -- all day in the heat and sun but Anna is an animal lover and she adored learning how to take care of horses. So proud of her. She also attended Activity Days Camp where she received a mission call to Singapore! She loved being a missionary for the week!
This month the dreaded lice made it's way back around to our house and we spent many a nights combing out and searching for lice. ALL OF THE FRIENDS had it and so it was a never-ending nightmare of comb outs. I HATE LICE!
So it's been a lot. Good times but overwhelmingly sad times too. Grateful for a God who watches over us in the good and the bad and offers us strength to manage the heartbreaking experiences we face.
