This Weekend:

* The "Ladies" spontaneously put together a breakfast on the spot Friday morning; 

 we went to Sill's Cafe. 

(home of the scones as big as your face)

By the time we left there, they were serving lunch to all the tables around us!  :)

* I was planning on going to the temple afterwards - I'd gone to breakfast dressed for it...

But, first I went to a store,

then to get gas,

then to a grocery store,

then to drop off two garbage bags full of stuff at the D.I. from our closet clean-out.

And by that time, the kids who'd gotten home from school were calling me.....

So, I returned home.

* I sent Kyle off on a group date he had planned with his friends.

The went to the Ice Castles up in Midway, UT.

(sidenote: this girl's mom was one of Kyle's preschool teachers!)

* Matt & I had date night at Sizzler.

We were seated in THE SMALLEST booth ever!

There was NOT enough room for me, my coat, AND my purse.

* On Saturday morning, I took Kyle and Katelyn to go audition for 

the Farmington Youth Theatre upcoming production of... 

There was quite a long wait to get in to audition,

and some good silly, young teenager watching in the meantime, too!  ;)

The fact that Kyle is a 16 yr. old MALE auditioning, made him very noticeable to the directors!

Not a bad position to be in at auditions!  :) 

* My official [write-on] calendar was finally delivered,

so I spent the afternoon filling it in with all the things we have going on this month/year.

It felt so good - I've been a bit unsettled without my "brain."

* Matt & I went on a group date of our own - I think you'd call it a quintuple date.

Our friends had reserved a court at the Rec Center and we played wallyball.

We first did girls vs. guys - I was told that it was so the girls

would actually get a chance to touch the ball!  ;)  haha.

After that, we mixed it up - and I quickly learned it was very 

advantageous to be on Matt's team!

We were reaching/lunging/jumping/hustling in ways we

are not accustomed to.....and boy, have we felt it in our bodies ever since!!!

#gettingoldstinks

Two of the couples had to return home to their young babies/toddlers,

but the rest of us went to Dairy Queen for "cool treats" 

and visited for another hour - or two....

* Church-y Church on Sunday.

This year we changed to the 9:00 a.m. time block - my favorite [at this season in my life]!

* We watched our 2015 Year-in-Review 

slideshow that Matt makes for us every year.

Always fun to reminisce!

(BUT do I REALLY look like that lady in some of the photos???)

* Brookelle got on a crazy-hair kick,

and did her own hair first....

...and then she moved on to Kyle!

* We got a surprise visit from Grandma/pa.

* I ended the day by writing my weekly email to our missionary.

Perfect Timing

Last Monday late afternoon, the person assigned to Family night treat had NOT planned ahead, and we didn't have anything around our home for them to use. 
Surprise, surprise!

And THEN....in the middle of dinner prep, Matt spotted a car of girls parked out front of our house, with another girl out walking/standing on our front walk and driveway, and then when she got back in the car, they drove away.   

Hmmmm? 

So I opened the front door to see what was going on.....


And WHAT did I see?

Manna Ice Cream from Heaven!!!

Yes!  Our Family Night Treat predicament had been solved!

  {Actually, it was all for Kyle - he was getting asked to Christmas Girls' Dance -

but he "gets to" share with his whole family in our time of need! ;)}

It turns out, Brookelle was out playing on her bikes & ride-in cars out in our driveway when the girls came, and she saw the whole thing, so the girls, not wanting to be caught while it was still light outside, set it up on the porch, then asked Brookelle to go ring our doorbell AFTER they had left.  But, I opened the door too early, when B hadn't made it over yet, and I caught her sneaking across our front lawn to "doorbell ditch" her own home!  haha.  ;)

This [UEA] Weekend:

Every year, the second week of October, we get Thursday & Friday off school for U.E.A. (it means Utah Education Association, and there's a 2-day convention for educators).  But, working in the airline industry, we know U.E.A. actually stands for: Utah Escapes to Anaheim!

Although, many Utahns do go to Disneyland over this long weekend, we do not. (the crowds!)  We usually go somewhere, but this year, we stayed right in Utah.

We:

* Celebrated "Wingtoberfest," and got half-price boneless wings at Sonic for lunch.

* Went to the WitchFest at Gardner Village

And, while there, we HAD to go to the Chocolate Covered Wagon (a sweets shop) for caramel apples, Utah shaped chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats on a stick,
old-fashioned candy sticks, etc. (of course!)

We did the "Witch Scavenger Hunt" and we were on a mission to find them all, so we could take our completed list to the Naborhood Bakery to get our cookies for $0.50!
(We did it, getting "help" on just the last [elusive] one).

* That evening, Haylee & Brookelle went to play night games and have a sleepover with their cousins.  Katelyn went for a late-night at her friend's house.

* Matt & I picked up our Bountiful Basket, went to donate plasma, and then to Station Park to do some birthday shopping
for a couple of our children in between taking our kids places.

* On Friday, I took Katelyn out to her favorite smoothie joint: Roxberry's. 

(since she was the only girl at home - the others were still at their cousins, 

and Kyle just wanted to hang out at home and rest for once, after so much XC running/practice!)

* Matt & I had date night at Joy Luck Restaurant.

(It seems they "replaced" some of the shrimp in our Walnut Shrimp dish with broccoli florets - pretty disappointed!)

* We went over to Matt's brother's house to catch the last half of the USU vs. Boise State football game.

It was a great day to be an Aggie!  :)

52-26!  

* On Saturday, Matt & I went out to breakfast at a new place I've been wanting to try, Criddles Cafe.

It seemed their menu was very close to our favorites; the former Doug & Emmy's, and Sill's Cafe.

I had a cinnamon roll the SIZE OF MY PLATE 

(I only could eat a couple of bites, and took the rest home to my kids - they didn't mind at all!)

* We took the family up to the Ogden Temple

Matt, Kyle, and Haylee went in and did Baptisms for the Dead.

I walked around the temple block with Katelyn & Brookelle (too young to go in still) while we waited.

 Katelyn was excited to be almost as tall as one of the stop signs we passed!

We also thought we could take a tour at the nearby D.U.P. while we were killing time....

but it's only open Memorial Day to Labor Day - too late!

So, we found somewhere else to go!  ;)

* We finally helped the kids with one of the "bucket list" items, by taking them 

shopping at Smith & Edwards - the Country Boys Store.

Ya know, the one with the slogan, “We’ve got anything you need....IF we can find it!” 

To say the girls were THRILLED about the largest Schleich toy inventory at a store they've ever seen, would be an understatement!

From Schleich to saddles....this store has it ALL!

*  Then we had dinner at the Burger Bar on our way home.  It’s been featured on the Food Network’s show, “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dive’s.”
Even though their specialty meat they were highlighting that week was ALLIGATOR....none of us opted for it!  ;)
(But we did get deferred when trying to donate plasma later, due to us being lipemic = fat levels in blood too high) I wonder why?  ;)

* Churchy-Church on Sunday 

* Third Sunday dinner/FHE over at the Brenchley's.
Haylee commented on our way home, "That was SO MUCH FUN tonight with the cousins!"  

*  I wrote my weekly novel letter to our missionary son.

This Weekend

* On Friday, we went to a new place at Station Park, Brixton's (a baked potato restaurant!), for my birthday lunch out with 'The Girls.'
I didn't realize S.P. was such a happening place in the middle of the day - I saw several other people I knew there.
I guess I'll have to 'make an appearance' there more often!  ;)

* The afternoon was spent carting my daughters to and from friends'/parties.

* We went to The Roof with Matt's parents for our "anniversary dinner" on Friday night.

 (they want to take out each of their kids/spouse on an annual basis, so they use their
anniversary date to keep track of who they've taken out and whose turn is next)

* After returning home (and consuming much food & dessert), we thought it prudent to go out in our neighborhood in an attempt to WALK OFF dinner.

* Saturday morning, I did my first (of the required five) turn of being the chaperon/volunteer at the Bye Bye Birdie rehearsal that Katelyn is a part of (and will be performing in November).
Side Note: it was an interesting "study" in human behavior.
Each participant is suppose to sign in with their name and time of arrival prior to each rehearsal.
As background information, there has been a lot of emphasis put on the importance of being at and ON TIME to every rehearsal.  The directors have said that they will be giving out additional parts to those who do well in this area, and taking away from those who do not demonstrate dependability in this area.
One of my jobs is to check in all the kids.  So, when not everyone was there by the starting time, I wondered what those other kids would write down when they finally did arrive....
AND I observed that the majority of the kids (who were anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes late) STILL wrote down the time that the rehearsal started (when they were suppose to be there by) on the sign in sheet.
Hmmmm....See?  Interesting, huh?

* Matt & I took a jaunt up to Snowbasin...

for a Gondola ride and afternoon mountaintop dining,

followed by some hiking.

Apparently, we didn't get the memo about the XTERRA Utah off-road triathlon that was going on up there Saturday!
(notice all those cars down in the parking lot?  Normally, you wouldn't expect to see that AT A SKI RESORT in late Summer/early Fall)
So, we shared the area and our lunch table with that crowd!  (talk about some amazing athletes!)

* I attempted to go donate plasma....and was rejected. :(
The snag? Low protein.  I guess I better start eating more liver and tofu!  Yippee! (not.)

* Matt & I went up to the Bountiful Temple to do a session.

(I did pretty good staying awake this time!)  ;)

* We made sure to end the evening with a treat at Dairy Queen.
A Cherry float always hits the spot.

* Since we have afternoon church, I like to spend the morning reading/viewing things on www.lds.org.

I first read this blog post.

Which led to/referenced this article.
Valuable things to ponder. 

* We did our "yearly measurements" on the kids (height, weight, shoe size, waist/inseam).
It was only about 2 months late, I usually like to get to it in the Summer PRIOR TO going school shopping, but oh well.....
I write these all down and keep it in my purse, so I don't have to keep it all in my brain,
and I can look at it when I'm out shopping.
It's also fun to see how much they've grown from the year before!
Although everyone has grown and gained weight, the most unanticipated are:
Kyle now sports the same size shoe as his dad - a size 12!
Katelyn is just 4 inches away from being taller than I am!  She is only 10 yrs. old!

* Churchy-Church

In Sacrament meeting, we heard from a returned missionary who'd served in New Zealand.
THAT'S where I dreamed of going on my mission back in my youth!

While sitting there, I tuned-in to the fact that Matt needed me to rub his neck - he was not exactly
displaying a great deal of calmness at the moment - because of his first Gospel Doctrine lesson he had to teach in Adult Sunday School the next hour.
He prepared A TON on this lesson - and only taught a small portion of it before time ran out.
(Ya never know how it'll go with the class participation factor)

* After church, I made squash casserole.
(we've still got an overabundance from our garden!)

* We had dinner and FHE at Brenchley's

While talking together afterwards, we had an intriguing conversation about the lesson many of us had had in our Relief Society/Priesthood classes today titled,
 "Beware of Pride."

Bottom Line:  We ALL have it in some form.
(withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, won't change our mind to accept truth, comparison, fault finding, jealousy, love the praise of man, don't receive correction easily, rebellion, puffed up,  defensiveness, not happy for another's acheivement, etc., etc.)

AND we all need to overcome/repent of this sin!

* I started my [Sunday night ritual] weekly letter to Ryan out on his mission.

Two Months of Summer - Gone?!?

July is over and done with - gasp! 

Here's how we spent it...

Watermelon smiles

The Logan fireworks show @ USU stadium on the 3rd
that my Uncle (waving from behind, in the red shirt) started clear back when I was a child....and I've loved going ever since!

Summer nights sunsets...

Fireworks...

...and family rounded out our 3rd of July!

Neighborhood party on the 4th of July - shaving cream and cheese puff game!

Summer cockroaches - bleh!

The girls and I went to "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" that my cousin was the Musical Director for!
And then out for shave ice - the BIG Kahuna - afterwards!

Kyle went on a High Adventure Scout Camp in the Tetons July 8-11.

Farmington Festival Days!

Hooray for the full-time missionaries in the Farmington Festival Days parade! 

(Sister missionaries in the red convertible behind the Elders)

Matt caught TWO shirts that they were throwing out at the evening festivities in the park - Brookelle immediately donned it as her new dress!

We {heart} our Farmington Festival Days

Family Night activity - climbing to the top of a neighborhood tree.

Annual read-a-thon and pizza picnic in our family room.

Katelyn got her long locks cut off!

Katelyn fed her obsession got crafty making bracelets

Katelyn & Brookelle were in the Days of '47 Children's Parade in SLC

Fresh Lime treats!

When the school supplies hit the shelves, we jumped on it! 

(Haylee's back pack pick) 

Lagoon

The new ride, Cannibal!

It's description: Cannibal lifts riders 208 feet and plunges them into a 116° beyond vertical free-fall into an underground tunnel

We ALL survived, although there WAS some crying and closed eyes involved. We also rode it while it was raining, so we were privileged to get pelted in the face with rain drops during our ride; the ride that was not open by Lagoon's season opening day because the dummies were falling out on the test runs; the same ride we noticed, as we waited in line, had a swaying/wobbling inverted loop when the coaster went around that section of the track  - Oh, my!

 

Road trip to St. George in the EARLY morning hours, as the sun is just coming up.

Nothing quite like the hot days of Summer, standing by Port-a-Pottys watching a Pioneer Day Parade!

Hooray for the full-time missionaries (again!), singing, "Called to Serve," in this parade in Washington, UT

Kyle got the silver medal running in the 16 yr. old foot race (because he was the only 15 yr. old who wanted to race, he "ran up.") and won In-N-Out Burger coupons, too!

Sparklers & firecrackers in the street to finish off the Pioneer Day weekend.

(including the "grand finale" that sent many of us RUNNING & SCREAMING, like last year!)  ;)

4-Wheeling in the property behind my parents' house

Our Annual Movie Marathon.  This year's titles: "Penguins of Madagascar," "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," and "The Book of Life"

I attended the first day of this 2-day Women's Conference to close out the month of July.