Jazz Band Camp = Trip to Idaho (Part 2)

One thing I failed to mention in my last post is that Wednesday was the first day since the codes got wiped on my van that the warning lights started flashing again. It happened mostly in the evening. I started to worry again since I still needed to travel around and back home but fortunately I said some prayers and the lights turned off again on Thursday. They did not turn on again until Saturday right before leaving to go home. Again I said some prayers and we made it home safely Saturday evening. 

Back up to Thursday again and it was another day for seeing friends. I contacted the mother of a couple of friends of the girls (their names are Alice and Layla) and they were able to get together with them for several hours. Garrett contacted some brothers that he was friends with from our rental ward (30th) and he hung out with them. The funny thing was that at Garrett's orthodontist appointment that morning we happened to see friends from 37th ward, Sarah and Kayla Karl. Garrett had already made plans to get together with Kayla on Friday. I talked with Sarah and we decided we should go to lunch. At first we were going to do that on Friday but a little later I called her up and said since all of my kids are gone this afternoon, how about we do it today? So after dropping off Garrett to his friends' house a little later I drove over and picked up Sarah. We were going to do Mongolian BBQ but they were closed until 2pm and it was 1pm when we got there. We did not want to wait an hour so we decided to go over to City Buffet for Chinese food. It was nice being able to get together with one of my old friends and visiting for awhile.

Sarah and me.

The girls with their friends.

Later that same evening we had several friends come over to grandma's to hang out. Jack had Porter come over after he got done with band. Garrett's friends brought him from their house over to grandma's to hang out. Then I invited Whitney and Tamara over to work on a puzzle and play games. Dad and Laverne and Blake came to play as well. Blake didn't play long but it was fun while he was there. I learned this week that he is going to propose to his girlfriend after she gets home from her mission. She comes home in a month and I think he'll propose Labor Day weekend up in the mountains. I'm excited for him! 

Our finished puzzle.

Garrett helped with the states (the middle) part of the puzzle but this is the group that finished it.

Friday morning I decided to go exercise at the Rec Center with Dad and Laverne and Grandma. I had dropped the girls off to play with their cousins at Tamara's house. Then dropped off Jack to camp. Grandma and I met Dad and Laverne at the Rec. I had one extra pass I thought I was going to use but it turned out to be a free day at the Rec Center that day so I didn't have to use it. We were there for a couple of hours. Grandma did her own thing but I walked the track with mom and dad. I was a little extra tired that morning so I only did a few arm exercises in the weight room before I was done. Grandma and I left while mom and dad finished their workout.

Laverne needed to bake some cupcakes for their ward pioneer day activity for Saturday and I thought it would be fun if the girls helped but we took too long getting ready and over there so mom already had them baking in the oven and the girls just played with toys and watched a video. The Butterfields were having a potluck and I had decided to make deviled eggs to bring so I left for a little while to go boil and prep the eggs at grandma's house. Then I needed to pick up Jack. After dropping off Jack I went back to get the girls and we got a picture.

Playing with grandma's toys and watching a movie.

I decided to go with straight hair that day, something I haven't done in years. It's fun to be able to do an old hairstyle again. I did straight for the next 4 days!

As soon as we got back to Grandma's, I finished making the deviled eggs and then we were off to my in-laws for the Butterfield potluck dinner. The potluck was starting at 6 but Jack and I had to eat a little and then take off at 6:15 to get him to his final jazz band camp concert. He needed to be there by 6:30 and the concert started at 7:00. I dropped him off and then picked up Grandma so she could come watch. Dad and Laverne couldn't come watch because they go to bed at 7pm on Fridays for working the early shift at the temple on Saturday. Jack had told Blake about his concert and not only did Blake come but he got his dad, Nathan, to come along as well. I was so excited to see both of them because they were the only family to come watch Jack and I know it meant a lot to him. Although, afterwards Jack said that he got nervous when he saw Nathan. He says Nathan scares him. Ha ha, I used to be scared of a couple of my uncles too. We really enjoyed watching Jack play in the band. He had 3 solos and he's improving all the time. Nathan gave grandma a ride home afterwards so I could get back to the Butterfield potluck. However, I ended up dropping Jack off at Stella's ice cream shop because the band kids that went to South Middle School that were at camp were getting together there after the concert. The band teacher is switching schools and so it's kind of a last good bye for him.

On the way back, Garrett texted and I called him. He was in tears and feeling upset and wanting to go home. I had a talk with him when I got there. He doesn't really know why he was feeling that way he said. After calming him down everyone was leaving the party and so we started packing up as well. Jack got dropped off by Porter and his dad. They had gone to his concert as well and to the ice cream place (even though Porter isn't in the band). We love Porter and his parents. They are good friends but also distantly related. Tracy Ballantyne is Melvin Ballantyne's nephew. Melvin is married to my great aunt Ada.

At the beginning getting ready to start.

Jack is wearing Curtis's Australian hat. He loves wearing it.

Garrett was able to cheer himself up after we got back to grandma's by watching one of his favorite tv shows with the girls. I let the kids put themselves to bed that night since we weren't waking up early for anything. We all slept in and took our time getting up and moving. I got the bed sheets in the wash that I had used so I would have time to dry them and put them back on the bed before leaving. I was in no hurry to leave so I contacted mom and dad after they got out of the temple to see if they wanted to come play a game before we leave. They had a couple of errands to run but then came over. We played a couple of rounds of golf before I had the idea to show them the videos from Jack's concert. We were able to connect my phone to the Roku and watch it on the tv. I'm glad they were able to watch it that way. At about 3:30 we started packing up the van and got a couple of pictures before hitting the road.

Alice playing.

Grandpa Tony playing a game with the girls.

Picture with Grandma Vernie while the boys and I were packing stuff.

And with Grandpa Tony. Dad also helped me load suitcases and stuff into the van so it went very quickly.

Picture with grandma.

And picture with mom and dad.

It was a great trip and I'm so glad we got to see so many friends and family. Garrett was doing better on Saturday and when we got home to Kennewick, we were happy to see that his Zelda tie had come in the mail. He was happy to wear it on Sunday. We went to our ward on Sunday but then rushed over to Lewiston so we could be in person to watch our nephew Alex open his mission call. We made it just in time, even with the van check engine light on the whole way. Alex got called to the Ventura California mission and he's excited! He'll be speaking English. I'm so glad we went because it got BOTH of our boys excited about going on a mission. Jack said he can't wait to get his mission call and Garrett said he wants to either go to Japan, Italy or England. It was totally worth it to make the trip just to hear those words from both of our boys!! 😁

Wearing his new tie and clip.

Alex reading his mission call.

Jazz Band Camp = Trip to Idaho (Part 1)

Jack has been looking forward to this for a whole year and jazz band camp finally arrived again last week! We made the trip back to Nampa last Monday so that Jack could be a part of the Gem State Jazz Camp this year at NNU and he had a great week. My in-laws planned to have Nic's kids the same week so that they could see cousins their age. Monday afternoon/evening after getting into town Garrett was anxious to go see his cousin Taelynn. The rest of the kids got excited as well. It was kind of quiet at first but eventually Garrett and Taelynn played some card games and the girls played with Taelynn's dog, Roxy. Jack and I had to leave for a little while to go to the jazz camp kick off that evening where we watched the teachers play a couple of the songs the kids would be learning that week and to answer questions. Then we went back to my in-laws long enough to get a bite to eat. We needed to leave because I still had some grocery shopping to do so we would have breakfast and other food to eat while staying at my grandma's house for the week.

The other kids had made some bracelets earlier and the stuff was still out so my girls each made a bracelet with grandma.

Sawyer, Garrett and Taelynn playing cards.

The next morning I took Jack over to camp by 9am. Then we decided that maybe we should do some bowling today since it was $1 day at Nampa Bowl. I called Gaya but the grandkids weren't up yet so she needed some time. I had wanted to do some shopping for tops at Ross so I took this opportunity to do just that. I came home with 6 new shirts so I'm happy! While I was waiting in line I got a call from Gaya saying they were ready and so I hurried back to grandma's to get Garrett and the girls. Grandma came along so she could watch. It turned out just being the kids playing and the adults watched and it was fun. The 4 oldest kids were on one lane and the 3 youngest on the other lane. We almost thought we would have to wait an hour for two lanes to open up next to each other so grandma and I went back to her house for some Uno cards and other games. By the time I got back in the van, they called and said the lanes were open! The kids bowled two games.

Our bowling crew, with Grandpa B and GG in the background. Jack said he was okay with not being there since he was at jazz camp.

After bowling we went our separate ways to get lunch and since we were so close to my parents' house we decided to drop in for a bit and visit. Then it was back to grandma's to eat sandwiches and chips for lunch and relax for awhile.

The kids found flags and I'm wearing one of my new shirts.

Gaya and I made plans to go to the Rec Center that same day right after Jack got done with camp. We wanted to go when he could be there but also so the slide and diving pool would be open. We got there around 4:15 and to our disappointment the slide was still off! I asked the life guard and she said there weren't enough life guards to open it yet but more would be coming at 5:00. The kids made the best of it though and were having lots of fun in the pool anyway. By 5:00 they opened the diving pool and turned on the slide. Yay! Grandma came with us and got in the pool as well.

Thanks to Laverne for coming to take pictures after she and Dad finished walking the track.

Grandma showed us that you're never too old to swim. Although we did try the hot tub and it was a little too hot for her. And that hot tub just has way too much chlorine. It bothers my eyes very quickly.

We swam at the Rec for two hours. I have to say it was kind of weird going in and using guest passes to get us in for the first time ever. Our membership expired the end of April but we still had a few passes from when we did the fun run last Fall. After swimming we went back to grandma's to shower and relax. Later Dad and Laverne came over to play Golf (the card game). 

Wednesday morning I got Jack off to camp again and then spent some time looking at hair styles I might like since I was going in to get my hair cut by my sister Melissa. I was nervous (like I usually am) because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted but I knew I needed something done because my hair was just not cooperating and I needed something different and some length taken off. We decided to cut shorter layers than I did last time and took about 5 inches off the length. I love this picture that I took afterwards with Melissa but I'm still not sure if I like this length with my curly hair. I think I like my curly hair better when it is longer. I had gone home and kept looking in the mirror and not liking what I was seeing and tried playing with it. I want to give it some time though and see what I can do. 

That same evening we made plans to take the girls over to our old neighborhood to see their friends and hang out with Ashlie and Jim. I dropped Jack off at the church so he could go to mutual with friends from our old ward. Garrett hung out at grandma's. The girls had fun swimming, jumping on the trampoline, going down the slide and eating snacks. We were there for 4 hours.

Alice and Sydney had a makeover. Charlotte has her bubble pipe.

   

Summer Fun

We recently bought a used riding lawn mower and I was the first one to get to try it out on our lawn. Within a few minutes I got stuck on a little hill in our front yard and it cut down to the dirt. Jack had to help me push it over the hill. Fortunately, I didn't break anything on it. We have since decided that that spot still needs to be mowed with a push mower, as well as the perimeter around all the yard. That big mower has a more difficult time getting around the smaller trees because it's so tight and the corners. The next week Jack was excited to learn how to use the riding mower also. I had him do the perimeter first while I used the weed wacker/trimmer. Then he got on and was whooping and hollering because he was having so much fun. He said it was like driving a go kart. The following week we had to tell him to slow it down though so he wouldn't miss spots. I think he'd be happy mowing all of the time but this weekend will be Garrett's turn and we'll see what he thinks of the riding mower because he does not like going outside anymore and especially doesn't like mowing lawns.

When we went to the Gale's for the 4th of July they sent us home with a bunch of peaches from their tree. I had no intentions of doing any canning this year but that soon changed. I ended up making some peach jam, something I haven't tried making since I was a newly wed. I found an easy recipe for it online. I also found an easy and really good recipe for homemade peach cobbler. Garrett really loved the cobbler. He would even eat it for breakfast. I ended up making 3 cobblers and they were all so good!

My first pan of peach cobbler.

All of the jars of jam I made.

One of the ladies in our ward posted about some different events and activities happening at the libraries and other places. I took the girls to the library to do a perler bead activity on Monday. The enjoyed that. Alice did a bunny and Charlotte did a dog. Alice wished they had a unicorn but they didn't. They had to pick from the templates they had available. They would place the beads on and then one of the library workers would iron them so they melt together. After finishing their project they picked out a bunch of new books. I signed all of us up for the summer reading challenge and they needed something new to read. Curtis and I finished on the same day we signed up because we had listened to Harry Potter on our Utah trip. The boys just finished up their reading this week. Garrett has been reading the Harry Potter books. He's on the 4th one, The Goblet of Fire. Jack has been reading The Hobbit. The girls are just over 1/3 of the way there. I have a more difficult time getting them to read but we have another month to get them there. 

On Tuesday we went to the library again and they had a fun retro video game escape room activity. They had to solve some clues to get numbers for the code. Our group was able to finish with 20 minutes to spare.

These are the other two kids that were in our group. I guess Charlotte knew the girl on the left from school.

Tuesday afternoon my van started wigging out. The check engine light came on and the dash kept flashing different messages. After taking it down to a Chrysler dealership here in town they did a code read and it looked as though a bunch of things were experiencing low voltage. He suggested getting a new battery to see if that would take care of it. I took it straight to O'Reilly's and picked one up. I remember the last time we bought a battery it seemed like it was around $75-$100. This one was $210 plus tax! Sheesh! After Curtis installed the battery Tuesday night, the check engine light turned off and we didn't have any more problems. 

The next day I drove Garrett, Charlotte and Alice (Jack was at FSY in Moscow) out to Prosser for a border collie dog show in the park. The girls have been super excited to go to this event all week. This event was put on by the libraries. Prosser is about a 35 minute drive but it was a pretty drive. Garrett didn't want to go but I made him go and made a deal that he could play his videogame in the car on the way. He ended up enjoying the show too. We went out for milkshakes afterwards. I honestly think he would have enjoyed the escape room also because he likes solving those kinds of puzzles. The dog show had 5 border collies that did sports tricks. First it was catching footballs, then basketballs, then soccer and then frisbees. All of them are softer balls and frisbees so that it doesn't hurt the dogs. It was fun to watch.

Jumping in the air to catch a frisbee.

Meeting one of the dogs after the show.

Milkshakes from DQ. Alice wasn't holding hers until she got home.

Charlotte also pulled out our portable ping pong game and got me to play with her. I loved playing with her but wow, it exhausted me more than it should have! Clearly I need to exercise more and eat less sugar. I had to take a short nap afterwards.

I told Garrett on Wednesday that he couldn't play more videogames unless he played some ping pong. I made him play with Charlotte, then me and then Curtis. He doesn't want to admit it but I think he enjoyed playing at least a little.

Wednesday night my brother Stillman drove into town for a business trip and he came to visit and even though he was exhausted the girls talked him into swimming with us.

They loved swimming with Uncle Stillman.

Like I said, Jack is at FSY in Moscow. He is room mates with a friend from school and so his friends mom dropped them off on Monday and she sent me this picture. Curtis and I will pick them up bright and early tomorrow morning. Jack called last night and has been loving FSY! He said he even bore his testimony during a testimony meeting yesterday. I loved hearing that! He's excited to have another day before coming home. Maybe he can talk Garrett into going next year. We're so glad he went and I know he's glad also. Lots of fun activities and spiritual moments.

Getting set up in their dorm room. Jack actually paid Alice to let him borrow her pink hat because he thought it would be funny to wear it. He reminds me of Cindy's son, Michael, with the way he is dressed.

A Relaxed 4th of July

This year we did not make any plans with anyone for the 4th except for watching fireworks in the evening with an older couple that lives in our ward, Don and Glenna Gale. We spent several hours swimming outside in our pool and the boys also played videogames. We cooked up hamburgers for dinner and then we headed over to the Gale's house who live in our neighborhood, to watch fireworks from their back porch. It was beautiful and we could see fireworks going off everywhere. We also lit some of our own fireworks at home, a little before and a little after going to the Gale's. We finished close to midnight. That's not how late I wanted to stay up but that's how it went. There weren't a whole lot of people lighting fireworks in our neighborhood, which is a change from Idaho. But it was a nice and relaxing day. Curtis did do a little work on the house as well. Maybe next year we'll be ready to invite some friends over for a party on the 4th.

I love that we have flag pole.

The kids watching fireworks and eating popsicles.

Curtis sitting with the Gale's and another brother from the ward. I think his first name is Paul but I didn't hear what his last name is. He used to be a teacher here in the Tri-Cities.

Our last firework for the night that we lit off at home. They were all fountains this year and some Pop Its. The stand we bought from was out of sparklers.