Importantly, we attended the funeral of our dear grandmother, Geraldine Wood. She was such a wise, funny, beautiful, hard working woman. It was an honor to celebrate her and Nancy did an incredible job organizing and planning her beautiful graveside. Loved the memories that Stacy detailed from the grandchildren. Loved hearing Nancy and Kathleen describe Geraldine's life and history. Evelyn sang a beautiful song, as did Lynn and Sharon. Blake gave the closing prayer and Herb dedicated the grave. It was truly wonderful to see so many family members who came to show their love to Geraldine, Nancy and Kathleen. Just a beautiful sweet day. Loved the treats that Nancy put together at the end of all Geraldine's favorite goodies... such a special touch. We will miss Geraldine! She was just one in a million. For my memory... I had so many I could've chosen but I chose the special times we would gather around the piano and sing Christmas songs and old time tunes. She had little books with lyrics she had gathered for everyone and it was always a wonderful time. I love those memories. She loved music and loved singing and dancing. Blake wrote about the time their family traveled to Africa and Geraldine desperately wanted everyone to see a "kill". She looked the entire time for this event to unfold for her family and it just wasn't happening. Then at one point she thought she spotted the anticipated attack! She yelled out "KILL" and everyone's attention was directed to a few zebras bending over a log. Bless her heart she just wanted everyone to enjoy and see it all. So sweet. We love you Geraldine! You will be greatly missed.
Blake's one and only lab technician had a very special month-- sealed in the San Diego temple and then a beautiful ring ceremony and wedding reception the weekend afterwards. It was such a special beautiful event that Blake and I were so thrilled to be a part of. Loved every minute celebrating with the beautiful couple. Except for the minute when one of the wedding guests told me I had a wonderful son!!!!!! She thought I was Spencer's mother!!!!! I know I'm no spring chicken, but I didn't think I looked old enough to have a son in his 30's!!!! Man, it was a blow. But other than that, a very sweet experience. PS... probably the biggest highlight was watching Blake DANCE into the wedding reception with the wedding party. That's how they do it and he was a part of the team. He did an awesome job though he hates to have all eyes focused on him. HA!
And don't forget the fun bachelor party the weekend before! The guys had an awesome time.
Anna promoted from elementary school to middle school this month. It was a bitter pill to swallow as she is my last little one and absolutely CANNOT grow up this quickly! I have adored being a part of the elementary school scene. It hurts to say goodbye to this era. Probably the hardest milestone I've faced thus far! I will still be working in the schools, but it's just hard to watch your kids grow up and move on through life when it all flies by so fast. Anna was just adorable in her blue dress. There were so many festivities leading up to the big event and afterwards.... awards from her teacher, beach parties, after promotion parties, breakfast out with all the friends. Loved the written piece she created for her time at Tierra Bonita and her artwork. The night before the big day, Anna felt MISERABLE at learning that I would be the only fan in attendance. I had not figured Blake needed to skip work for promotion and didn't tell Grandma and Grandpa to come down.... because, well.... my other children didn't seem to care much and it just seemed like no big deal! But oh it was to Anna. She was DEVASTATED. She cried her little heart out. Then she meagerly asked if Grant could skip school and come??? And also her second mom- Elizabeth (Kate's mom). Gosh, I didn't want to ask Elizabeth to leave her little one at home and come watch Anna- but she was just so concerned! So I did and it was so nice to have a three person fan base watching Anna promote! Grant was a little angel to do the hard thing and SKIP SCHOOL..haha. He was kind to Anna though and she loved it. A beautiful day and week of celebrations. Grandma came down the next day to watch Anna do the hand clap goodbye! So sweet and tender. We're going to miss Tierra Bonita and all the fun times. But so excited for Anna and the adventures that lay ahead in middle school!
Had such a fun trip to Lake Mohave with the Hoovers, Dicksons and Lords. Really enjoyed spending time on such a beautiful lake and being on our boat again! It had certainly been a while with the colder weather and also just last summer flying by so quickly without much time to get out on the lake. It was just a really nice time. Of course we did devotionals and desserts and had all sorts of yummy dinners. Enjoyed meeting the Lord family whom we hadn't seen since college. Our kids had a lot of fun together and then with the big gang. On the last day of the trip, Dane fell off his board while wake surfing and then the board came back and hit him in the head. Not a great situation because he suffered a concussion and a cut on his scalp. THEN, Blake accidentally ran over a sand bar that NO ONE saw out in the middle of the lake and the boat could no longer run! The prop was broken. And THEN..... Blake and Grant's friend Kai, who we brought along with us, became violently ill with the stomach flu which they had caught from the other family on board. It was a rough ending to a very nice week. Now that a few weeks have passed, most things are just fine, except that Dane is still not feeling 100 percent and that's a bit of a worry. Hoping he's able to gain his strength and recover before soccer camp at BYU next week! So with all the runaround and Blake being deathly ill.... we set up for Father's Day but never actually had the chance to celebrate! And it's been a whirlwind ever since- we are STILL PLANNING on a big Father's Day dinner.... maybe tomorrow?? I hope!
Yummy chocolate chip cookies made by Kai's mom, Nikki-- made for a wonderfully yummy road trip!
Also enjoyed SO much having Mike, Jess and their kids out to visit us last week! Wade, Molly and especially Ricky are all so cute. It is so fun for me to have my family in town and this week was no different. We just took a vacation from our typical daily routine and had fun swimming, playing ping pong around the world, pickleball, volleyball, soccer, watching movies and playing games as a family. We hiked Torrey Pines and played at the beach! We walked around Old Town and made candles and of course, went through the Mormon Battalion again!!!!! Fun times. We really had a wonderful visit. Love these guys so much,
Let's start oldest to youngest here with our personal updates. So Blake and I ? Well.... we've kept busy organizing staff appreciation day- which I think the girls at the office enjoyed! A yellow sunshine-y summertime basket with an amazon gift card. I used the same idea for teacher appreciation the following week! FINALLY and I do mean finally as it's been sine February.... the floors, bathrooms and walls were repaired from our leak!! So nice to have everything good as new again. Lots of church stuff- Blake is still in the Bishopric and that keeps him mighty busy... planning for high adventure, temple trips and all the callings that shift and change throughout the month. I'm busy playing the organ and teaching singing time each week-- which I absolutely LOVE and would not let Blake release me when he tried to a few weeks ago! Hahah! I just want to finish the year! Who says the Lord is in charge of callings? I wanted to weigh in! We loved seeing James Cahoon- Blake's old mission companion who stopped in for a quick visit. We sure miss Paige but are so happy James is happy with Stacy and a new little son- along with Esme. Sameen took over Blake's office while we attended Geraldine's funeral last week. Love the selfie I had her take:) I was quite busy subbing the last few weeks of school along with teaching a middle school prep course to Anna's 5th grade class. Love those kids! Now that summer is here, I spend most of my time cooking up meals, driving kids everywhere, cleaning up after everyone and planning fun adventures like this day out at Encinitas thrifting and eating Taco Stand. Or a visit to the Del Mar Fair to watch one of Anna's little friends at her lamb show! It's really been an amazing summer thus far! As always, memes from my monthly storage to help convey our current life phase!
one of the kids I sub for created this during his choice time and was so happy. I laughed.
Or when you ask me for my password for anything at all
summer singing time
Every Sunday
Its been wonderful having Evelyn home. It's also been a little rocky with all the drama between her and her boyfriend. Whilst on our vacation just a few days ago- she actually broke up with him.... it's been sad to see her sad but we are also proud of her for doing what she knew she needed to do. Very strong and I for one am quite impressed. But again, it's very hard to see her broken up like this. But let's back up and talk about before the breakup; Ev was really quite enjoying her time off from school and nannying. She's been picking up little babysitting jobs here and there and uber jobs from my friends who need drivers, and babysitters. In a few weeks, she is holding a camp for kids so she can earn some money. Ev has been having a blast at all sorts of country western concerts, Stampede, the fair with Amaya, Disneyland with Amaya and Emma, laying out with Reha and learning Tik Tok dances with Anna. Ev is the best big sister to Anna and I cannot tell you how adored she is by her lil' sis and her brothers too! Everyone loves having Evelyn home. Kind of hard to post all these pictures of Eli and Ev over the month, but it was a big part of her life and I do want to document it all. There is never just good or bad.... it's always a little of both and that's what makes life so difficult! Figuring out what to do when it's not so black and white. Something tells me she's going to be just fine.
Evelyn-- always creating and doing really crafty things
As previously mentioned, Dane had a rather rough month-- dealing with that darned concussion. Felt really bad that he couldn't play soccer, exercise or do much with friends.... NOT great timing to start out the summer. Oh and did I mention he had to skip High Adventure????? But slowly but surely, he is getting back to his normal self. HXP India is coming up in just two short weeks!!! We are all so excited for this kid to do something so hard but so wonderful. I pray this is a good, no GREAT experience for my special guy. He is such a good kid and life has been a little rough this year. I wish he didn't have to go through anything at all, but that's not the purpose of life now, Is it?? Dane helped me put together gifts for Rhett- -his buddy up the street who has been driving him to seminary for 2 years now! Rhett's leaving for college and Dane is sure going to miss him! He also wrote a kind note to his seminary teacher Brother Smith, and gave him a big hug and a thank you! Before the concussion, Dane worked hard for two weekends in a row- at soccer tournaments and and also enjoyed hanging with friends. It's just been one of those months!
If Dane had a hard month, Grant had the opposite. He's been having the time of his life. It started at the beginning of the month when he won the award at Twin Peaks for Ram Outstanding Student of the year!!!!!! It was a SHOCKER! What a stud! Out of 500 kids- only 7 won outstanding department awards. I seriously was so proud of my kiddo. Grant continues to bake, and he does it really well. He made snickerdoodle and home made ice cream this month. Kind of fun to have him around... haha! Grant is a planner and is constantly scheduling movies with friends, bike rides, beach outings! He signed himself up for volleyball camp with his buddy Kai, he attended the temple with the ward. Grant loves to lift in the garage gym with his friends and practice soccer out back. He loves getting together with the group for birthday parties and fun times. In fact he's currently planning a party at our house for his buddy Sam. He is just a social organizer, I tell you! Biggest highlights this month: High Adventure-- SO much fun at Zions National Park and Bryce Canyon. Blake went too and it was a blast for the group. Loved seeing the pictures later, as neither Blake nor Grant ever speak much about their experiences- haha! And then the football playoffs as well.... Grant just had a total blast with this team all spring and although they didn't necessarily go out with a bang - they had fun. We loved having Grandma there to watch his last game! She'd been busy taking care of Grandpa and had missed a few games. It was a sweet night for sure.
These two were about to fall off a cliff and so they grabbed onto each other to pose and then one of the other leaders thought it would be funny to make this wedding invite...ha!
And Anna.... well I'm sure you can sum up from all the above mentioned festivities that she's had the time of her little life this month. SO MANY CELEBRATIONS!!!!! So much going on! I mean.... parties? every weekend. So many of her little friends have birthdays this time of year- Regan, Annie, Audrey. She had a blast celebrating each friend. And then of course the big Girl Scout Farewell party at our house was absolutely precious. These girls have been doing Girl Scouts together since kindergarten with the same two darling leaders/moms whom I adore. And it's just all been such a lovely experience. My heart is so full thinking of all the fun times and camps and activities over the years. Really has been amazing. On top of the Girl Scout party, we also hosted a Welcome to Middle School party for all the incoming 6th grade girls in our stake-- attending Twin Peaks. It just so happened to be one of the gals birthdays that day - so we had a great time celebrating her, and getting to know all the girls. From this fun party, Anna made a lot of new friends- including Adele whom she has been having over for playdates and really enjoys. Another highlight this month: Anna's dance recital! We drove home early from the houseboat in order to be there ALL day for dress rehearsals and the big evening show. Anna was incredible and it was seriously so fun to watch her do her thing. She absolutely loves dancing and I love watching her in her element. So proud of her~! A few smaller moments: Anna with Sophie, teaching her to ride a bike and pet Louie. Anna's art work... going to miss these sweet elementary school art lessons. Anna still colors with me though, so I can't be too sad. She also loves to do yoga with me- in fact, it's always her idea. I tend to be "too busy" but she makes me slow down and I love her for that. Loved the blue dress she found for promotion-- we went shopping with Kate and Ruby and had a blast. Anna is getting more into cooking and this summer she has learned to make eggs and she's made these ham and cheese sliders a few times for me! It's been amazing. Anna got her hair cut with me and then of course we took selfies. She thought we looked pretty cute. Anna won the product award in her 5th grade class for always multiplying the joy in the classroom. She won the Dove candy bar peacemaker award in Girl Scouts. Anna's teacher was so excited to show me at the end of the year that her reading and math scores had jumped quite a bit. So proud of her hard work, always completing her homework and reading each night- along with extra tutoring with Jasmine. A couple of funny stories: Anna is practically a part of the Judd family. The other night for their family Sunday dinner, in which cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles are all invited, Anna doesn't like to miss! She and Kate and Zachary created a spa and rubbed Kate's uncle and aunt's feet... haha! We were laughing at how cute/creepy it was. Anna saw the invitation for Dane to attend Olivia and Grace's surprise 17th birthday party. She FULLY assumed she was invited because she considers those two her great friends. She literally would not accept no for an answer and for sure wanted to be there. Thankfully, Elizabeth didn't mind since Kate and Sophie were there anyhow. Kate and Anna were tasked with cleaning and organizing Anna's room. They hilariously made a 7 minute video as if they worked for HGTV called the Barb and Pam show. It was hilarious. Anna cracks me up.
