June 2021

 We made it through the worst of the remodel with all the crazy of May, right? Wrong. But we also managed to have a little fun. Emmie's YW leader sent me these cute pictures of the Beehives. Actually technically they are the 12-13 year old girls now. 

And I also got called to Young Women's again. I was asked to work with Ainsley's group. Strangely I accepted with conditions. Which I've never done before. John has been in Young Men's for years, and we have been struggling on Wednesday nights to get everyone where they needed to go. Often times all 5 of us were at different locations. While I was a primary activity leader this was only a problem twice a month, but every week felt overwhelming. There had been rumblings that John was going to be released soon, so I asked that they not call me to YW until after John had been released. I also felt like that would give me time to get the remodel more under control, and maybe even move back into our house! I had also been asked to be a camp cook with Heather, so now I was going to be doing double duty at Girls Camp the end of June.

We (the girls and I) got to celebrate Olivia Demars' wedding with her at her bridal shower and at a party the night before. For her Bachelorette party she chose to go to a restaurant/bar in Caldwell for appetizers and line dancing. It was actually a lot of fun. Although the highlight of the night was when people started taking turns on the mechanical bull. It was the highlight of Emmie's night! 

The beginning of June also brought with it the end of the school year. School got out late this year (because they started late due to covid) so they were in school until June 11. It seemed like the school year would never end! Emmie finished up her last year of elementary school with flying colors. She won an academic award, had an awesome music program, and (as per 5th grade tradition at River Valley) got to ride in a limo. A pretty good graduation for a 5th grader if you ask me!

Emmie had a busy June. As soon as her graduation party was over she and John hopped in the car and took off for Rexburg for a soccer tournament (The Yellowstone Cup). They did a bit of sight seeing in between games and got to have a fun father/daughter weekend. 

Ains and I were originally supposed to go, but that ended up being the weekend she was going to be taking the ACT for the second time, so I opted to stay home with her. In hind sight it wasn't worth it. The test organizer at her location was a disaster and had all of the kids start over an hour late. Ains was off her game due to all of the confusion that morning and ended up scoring lower than she had the first time. Her first ACT score was a 33, which is awesome, so this test was just an experiment to see if she could get any higher. Had i known she wouldn't we would have gone on the trip with John and Emmie!

As soon as Emmie got back from Rexburg Owen took off for Lagoon with his friend Logan and his family. It was a nice little get away and a fun way for Owen to end the school year. And as soon has he got home from Salt Lake he started summer workouts for cross country. He decided to join the team which I was thrilled about. They practiced 4 mornings a week during the summer and had a few "Fun Friday" activities where they went out to different locations for a change of scenery. He went to a lot of the practices and improved his distance and time a lot!

After the ACT, Ainsley jumped into her summer jobs. She was working at Welch music and teaching swimming lessons again. She was busy!

Up next...a unique piano recital. Due to covid, Emmie and Ainsley's piano strudio had small groups record their songs and then put together a video to be shown at a drive-in theater out in Parma. It was a really cute idea. Ainsley opted not to come, but me and Emmie and my parents trecked out there and had a nice night. 

Progress was made on the house. And more drama. My cabinet guy had a heart attack and needed bypass surgery. My plumber threw out his back and I had to search for a new plumber. I got several referrals, most of whom were booked out for months, and then found someone who wasn't my favorite but could hopefully get the job done. 

I was grateful that our new tile guy agreed to take care of our showers and floors as well, even though he was originally only scheduled to do our back splashes. Our bill would be about $1500 more than we were planning on but it was well worth it to get it all done earlier. As soon as we gave the go ahead, the demo and tile setting all happened quickly. Even with me changing my mind on the floor tile in the master bathroom at the last minute. I didn't end up loving the tile that I had picked out for both bathrooms and after it was put down in the kids bathroom I decided to go and buy new tile and just take the loss of $200 of the tile that we couldn't return and wouldn't end up using.

(Kids Bath)

(Master Bath)

I also had a melt down over the discrepancy in counter depth from one side of my oven to the other. It ate at me for a long time. But to be honest, I don't even notice it anymore.

Despite my cabinet guys heart attack, his assistant got our doors installed and got us to the point that we could at least move in. Which I was grateful for. Is it currently October and we're still waiting for finishing touches? Yes. But you can't win them all!

Oh, and we also made ourselves into cartoons. While still living at my parents. Because we have our priorities straight and still made time to do the important things in life.

How the heck is this John?!?!

A few other random highlights from June:

Owen started doing summer workouts with the cross country team. He wasn't sure about actually joining in the fall and this was a perfect way to decide how much he actually liked running. 

Owen finished drivers training and got his permit. Teaching kids to drive is the scariest part of parenting.

I noticed a few tender mercies throughout the month as well. One morning as I was sad and frustrated and headed from my parents to our house Syd called. It wasn't much, but it somehow made me feel a lot better that day. And then that Sunday in church someone gave a talk about how no matter what, "Everything would be OK." Which was just what I needed to hear. Sometimes I lose perspective and forget little things like that. 

I asked my parents if they could live in one decade for the rest of their lives, which decade they would choose. They chose the 90's. Was it because the 90's were that awesome or because that's when they still had all of their kids living there? Then I started wondering what other people would say. And now I want to interview people and find out what the most common answer to that question is. 

We also got to spend some time with John's parents in June. They came to town for Zach's graduation and priesthood ordination. Its always good to spend time with them, but sadly, I rarely think to take pictures.