Another Friend Visits

 After we returned home on Sunday and unloaded the truck, we decided to relax for awhile. Curtis and I watched Relative Race. We are still behind on watching the last season, so we watched two episodes. Then since the sun was going down we decided to go on a walk. We found a new spot that has another beautiful view. Pictures just don't do it justice. Sometimes you just have to see it for yourself.

Curtis found out over the weekend that his mission president passed away. He spent some time reminiscing with many other people who had the same mission president and made plans to go down to the funeral, which is tomorrow. He thought about staying in Idaho so he could travel down to Utah for the funeral but we were already expecting our friends to come hang out with us in Kennewick, Matt and Chrystal Hayes and their family. We sat by them at church on Sunday in Nampa and the very next evening they came to our house for a BBQ and swimming in Kennewick. It was so great to have them here. Matt is from Kennewick and has been wanting to move back but is waiting for a position to open up for working here. For now, they make a yearly visit every summer. We have been looking forward to this visit ever since we moved!

Their whole family was in the pool. Jack wasn't feeling good and Garrett didn't want to swim.

Curtis shooting the water gun for this picture.

The girls saw their friend, Elie, wrap her hair in a towel and wanted to do the same.

Titus, Everson, Charlotte, Alice, Elie

We have been friends with Matt and Chrystal since Charlotte and Elie were in nursery back in 37th ward and have attended several of their Harry Potter parties. We love them and love being their friends!

Curtis and I got our van dropped off at the dealership this morning (another thing we needed to come back for). We tried to tell the guy to check the fuses and transmission stuff but he still seems to think it's the battery and didn't really listen. Hopefully they figure it out. Curtis is leaving tonight after work to go back to Nampa and then on to Utah early tomorrow morning with another old companion who lives in Boise to go to the funeral of their mission president. It's at 11am Thursday morning in Bountiful. He should be back by Friday and then we are planning to do some serious work on our master bedroom. We need to get this done!

Ellie is Home!

Last weekend was the weekend that our niece Ellie came home from her mission, so we made the trip to Nampa again, this time with Curtis. I didn't trust driving my van to Idaho again, especially after trying to use it to take Garrett to his therapy appointment and it wouldn't let me move the gear shifter. It was the truck from then on that I used. I told Curtis that we will be driving the truck to Nampa because I'm nervous about driving my van any more until it gets fixed. Thursday at noon was Garrett's appointment and then we hit the road after Curtis got home from work. We left around 5:00 our time and arrived to my in-laws' just before 10pm mountain time. 

It was kind of a nice change of pace not having the dvd players this time. Garrett did bring the Nintendo Switch videogame system but he didn't play it the whole time. We actually started out the trip by playing a game. We chose the topic of Harry Potter and went through the whole alphabet picking something that related to our topic with each letter of the alphabet. Jack didn't feel like playing and Alice had started the game with us but then stopped after a couple of rounds. Each of us had to repeat everything we already heard before adding on to the next letter. It was fun. At one point I started writing down all of them on Charlotte's doodle board so it would help her but by the end we challenged her to do it without looking and she did really well. Jack actually said he doesn't like watching movies or listening to audiobooks while driving. It makes his stomach queasy or head hurt. We did ride in silence for awhile and the kids actually looked out at the scenery and were enjoying it.

Charlotte was so happy to sit in front with us.

Having fun in the back.

On Friday Curtis got a ride with Eric Roundy (our previous bishop who works at the same office) to work in Meridian. I had scheduled to go to the Meridian temple in the afternoon with Dad, Laverne, Grandma, Joyce, Stillman and Michelle. Jess and Diane ended up coming to town also and joined us, as well as Kevin and Jan Poulsen, who are the parents of my friends Ashley and Brittanie. Dad and Laverne invited them along because they are friends with them. Most of us did initiatory first and then all of us did an endowment session. It had been years since Stillman and Michelle have been able to go to the temple. We all drove to Boise afterwards to eat at Chuck-A-Rama. Curtis got home before I did and took the kids out to eat at City Buffet, the same place I went to lunch with my friend Sarah the previous week. That reminds me, I saw my friend Sarah again and her husband and a couple others from 37th ward at the temple after our session. I think they had just finished doing baptisms. It was fun to see them there! 

Our temple group: Joyce, Kevin, Jan, Jess, Diane, Grandma, Dad, Laverne, Me, Michelle and Stillman.

After I got back and Curtis got back with the kids, we just relaxed and watched some Sherlock with his parents and the boys. I decided I could only handle one episode and went to the room to finish my book, Holes. The movie Holes followed the book extremely well. I felt like I was watching the movie. There were just small differences. This was a book I had grabbed out of the little library in front of the school recently.

It was nice sleeping in the next day. My in-laws were subbing for someone at the temple so they left around 10am. And the whole reason for making this trip was to see our niece Ellie return from her mission. Her plane did not get in until 5pm so we had some time to kill. Alice's suitcase is falling apart so she went shopping with me and Curtis to look for a new used one. We went to D.I. and Saver's. Neither store had one she approved of but we did find a bunch of other things. Alice got some shirts and a jacket, shoes, a toy alicorn (unicorn with wings), and camping chair. We also found some more ties for the boys and church slacks and a pair of flippers for swimming that is the boys' size. Jack had been wanting some so I was excited to find them! We also found a white desk that we liked for the girls to have in their room. It was a good thing we brought our truck! 

Anyway, after dropping off all of our thrift store finds and picking up the other kids, we headed to the airport. There were lots of family and a friend that showed up to welcome Ellie home. 

Alice and her alicorn. It was only .75 cents at D.I., which is why I let her get it. It pays to go with mom and dad to the store sometimes, ha ha.

Someone made some signs for the airport and Alice held one of them for a little while before handing it over to Keaton.

And she's home! Even Aussie their dog came to welcome Ellie home.

Everyone that came. Even Colby, Cindy and Lehi made the drive up from Utah and got there just in time.

It was a great reunion. Later, most of us went to my grandma's to eat and play games and visit. The Cleaver's did their own thing so they could get Ellie released from her mission, feed her and get her settled at home. 

This was the crowd playing Golf. I have never seen so many people playing this game. I would have liked to join but there wasn't room, so I went back and forth between the rooms, watching and visiting. Katie and Curtis ended up in a tie for first place. This was the first time Katie ever played and I think she enjoyed it.

We had to make sure we got back to my in-laws' and in bed at a decent hour Saturday because the next morning was Ellie's homecoming talk and their ward starts at 9am. It's been awhile since we've gone that early. The girls were all ready to go to church before the boys this time! 😁 We ended up being a few minutes late but we made it. Afterwards, we saw a few people we knew from our old wards in the hallways. We had even sat by our friends, the Hayes' family. It's fun running into people we haven't seen in a long time.

Ellie did a great job on her talk and it was fun to listen to her speak Spanish at the end when bearing her testimony. After Sacrament meeting we went back to change our clothes and pack up our stuff. The Cleavers' had an open house and we got there early so it was nice to have some one on one time. After visiting and eating cake and soda we got on the road to head back home. It was a great weekend and visit!

My brother Colby, me and Charlotte at the open house. I love this picture and I'm loving my new hair cut more and more.

I wanted to get a sibling picture of who was there (5 out of 7). Laverne took this one.

Charlotte took this picture with my phone. We may not all be looking at her but it looks like we're at least all looking in the same direction.

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.