Summer Book Reviews 2023

 1.) Homecoming by Kate Morton

Kate Morton is an auto-buy author for me and her genre is my reading sweet spot. I love her books! They are true pleasure reads. Her books are always atmospheric, immersive, and propulsive. This is the perfect book for summer reading.

From Goodreads:

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital. Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora's housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small. At loose ends in Nora's house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora's bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find…

Homecoming is historical fiction meets mystery meets true crime. The setting is in Australia but the timelines alternates between 1959 and 2018. This multigenerational mystery saga covers 60 years of the Turner family's secrets, tragedies, and lies. This is a book to savor especially as the mystery of what happened to Isabel Turner and her children builds slowly through the dual timelines, multiple POVs, and backward storytelling. There is even an novel within the novel. I loved it all. Kate Morton did a great job creating an interesting way to have the story unfold.

The imagery is beautiful. Morton describes the flora and fauna in Australia and not one but two beautiful old estates with secrets to tell to perfection. The story is transporting. The times, the places, and the characters. There was a fantastic and interesting array of characters in both timelines. Their complex family dynamics kept me turning pages. This 500 plus paged book is a rich slow burn. I enjoyed it immensely.

My Rating: Captivating. A great summer page turner.

2.) The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

This was my book club's pick for July 2023. This is my 2nd Jennifer Ryan novel. I read The Kitchen Front a year ago and thought that it was okay. I much preferred this book. It is actually Ryan's debut novel and was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Awards.

From Goodreads:

In the idyllic village of Chilbury change is afoot. Hearts are breaking as sons and husbands leave to fight, and when the Vicar decides to close the choir until the men return, all seems lost. But coming together in song is just what the women of Chilbury need in these dark hours, and they are ready to sing. With a little fighting spirit and the arrival of a new musical resident, the charismatic Miss Primrose Trent, the choir is reborn. Some see the choir as a chance to forget their troubles, others the chance to shine. Though for one villager, the choir is the perfect cover to destroy Chilbury’s new-found harmony. Uplifting and profoundly moving, THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR explores how a village can endure the onslaught of war, how monumental history affects small lives and how survival is as much about friendship as it is about courage.

I know. I know. Another WWII historical fiction novel. There are so many. But this one surprised me. I actually really loved it. Don't be put off by the title which sounds like a bit of a snooze. I found The Chilsbury Ladies' Choir to be just as charming and delightful as the blurb makes it out to be. The novel has a bit of a lighter take on the somber topic of WWII. 

the war has just begun and the story is told from five different points of view of five very different women who are left behind to manage the home front while the men go off to fight. The women are of varying ages: older women, young adults, teenagers, and a Jewish refugee child. They are all members of the Chilsbury Ladies' Choir. Their stories are told through their letters, journal entries, and a few newspaper articles. I loved the epistolary format but it is the cast of extraordinary characters that made the novel unputdownable for me. Kitty was my favorite but I loved them all even the dastardly Edwina Paltry. I highly recommend listening to this on audiobook. The characterizations are fantastic and music is included which gave the story a wonderful mixed media touch. 

The author does an excellent job of writing this story in a warm and funny way despite the mix of sorrow and grief that comes as the characters face the realities of life during wartime in a small English village. It was inspiring to see our beloved characters challenge traditional societal norms as they contributed to the war effort and endured loss. I loved rooting for all of them as they changed, grew, and found their inner strength all while supporting and taking care of one another.

The tender themes of friendship, grief, resiliency, and hope interspersed with dry wit was the perfect combination. I was fully engaged. I was sad to see the story end with five more years of war ahead of the women and their long-term futures still unknown. I loved this endearing story of friendship. It had great heart! It would make a wonderful BBC series!! 

My Rating: 5 stars! 

3.) Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano

This book was raved about by one of my favorite bookstagram follows, @maryreadsandsips. She said that is was spooky and fun but not scary. That is just the level of spookiness that I prefer. I wanted a quick and propulsive fun summer read.

From Goodreads:

On a creepy island where everyone has a strange obsession with the year 1994, a newcomer arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son's death--but finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the bizarrely insular community and their complicated rules...Clifford Island. When Willow Stone finds these words written on the floor of her deceased son's bedroom, she's perplexed. She's never heard of it before, but soon learns it's a tiny island off of Wisconsin's Door County peninsula, 200 miles from Willow's home. Why would her son write this on his floor? Determined to find answers, Willow sets out for the island. After a few days on Clifford, Willow realizes: this place is not normal. Everyone seems to be stuck in a particular day in 1994: they wear outdated clothing, avoid modern technology, and, perhaps most mystifyingly, watch the OJ Simpson car chase every evening. When she asks questions, people are evasive, but she learns one thing: close your curtains at night. High schooler Lily Becker has lived on Clifford her entire life, and she is sick of the island's twisted mythology and adhering to the rules. She's been to the mainland, and everyone is normal there, so why is Clifford so weird? Lily is determined to prove that the islanders' beliefs are a sham. But are they? Five weeks after Willow arrives on the island, she disappears. Willow's brother Harper comes to Clifford searching for his sister, and when he learns the truth--that this island is far more sinister than anyone could have imagined--he is determined to blow the whole thing open. If he can get out alive...

I loved the premise of the story and the 1994 loop. 1990s nostalgia is a thing! It definitely had a fun vibe. I also really enjoyed the way that the story unfolds through the POV of siblings Willow and Harper through emails, text messages, letters, interviews etc. That was really fun. There were parts that were genuinely creepy. The Mother Olga story for one. Unsettling. Unfortunately it was the ending that didn't do it for me. I felt like it was a lot of page-turning build up and then just...meh. I give it an A++ for the cover which is awesome but overall the ending was weak.

My Rating: Disappointing.

4.) The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

I've read two other Emily Henry books and loved both of them. She is an auto-read author for me. This book sounded really fun! It had great ratings and many of my friends loved it! It sounded like perfect summer reading!

From Goodreads:

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

I love a friends-to-lovers trope in my romance novels. It is one of my very favorite romance plots. I eagerly dove into this book at the start of summer. And then... I just could NOT get into it. I tried. Over and over again. I tried it in book form and I tried it on audiobook. I took it with me on two different vacations and STILL couldn't get into it. I was so bummed!! I liked both characters but the set-up and start of the book was SO SLOW. I was 100 pages in and still not hooked. I was so close to DNFing the book but my friends told me to keep reading! So many people love this book. It won the Goodreads Best Romance Novel of 2021 for heavens sake so I kept trying and it messed up my summer reading. I got behind it and couldn't get around it. Finally through forcing myself to keep reading and alternating between the book and the audiobook I finally got into it but it took a LONG time.

My other problem was that the book counts down 10 summer vacations. By the 8th summer I was getting bored and wanting the story to resolve. This book is definitely a slow burn. Perhaps too slow but I liked the characters of Alex and Poppy. I liked their dynamic. I was rooting for them. But for whatever reason the pacing just didn't work for me.

Once I was into the story I enjoyed it. I was happy with the storyline and how it resolved. Was this rom-com a bit overrated? Perhaps. 

My Rating: Good but took some time getting into.

5.) Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons

From Goodreads:

In the near future, advances in medicine and quantum computing make human cloning a reality. For the wealthy, cheating death is the ultimate luxury. To anticloning militants, it’s an abomination against nature. For young Constance “Con” D’Arcy, who was gifted her own clone by her late aunt, it’s terrifying. After a routine monthly upload of her consciousness—stored for that inevitable transition—something goes wrong. When Con wakes up in the clinic, it’s eighteen months later. Her recent memories are missing. Her original, she’s told, is dead. If that’s true, what does that make her? The secrets of Con’s disorienting new life are buried deep. So are those of how and why she died. To uncover the truth, Con is retracing the last days she can recall, crossing paths with a detective who’s just as curious. On the run, she needs someone she can trust. Because only one thing has become clear: Con is being marked for murder—all over again.

I read this near future sci-fi while on a road trip. I was intrigued and pulled into the story right away. This is a crime mystery with a mind-bending sci-fi twist. It was fast-paced and kept me turning the pages. I was forever questioning who that main character could trust. I thought the ethical, philosophical, religious, and legal questions that were posed were fascinating. The ending got a bit convoluted (and a bit cheesy at one point) but it is the first book in a series so maybe book #2 will flesh things out a bit more. I enjoyed the book for what it was...a fun fast-paced vacation read.

My Rating: Good (ish) but better than okay.

6.) Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey

Celebrity memoirs are palate cleansers for me. They are great books to read in between other books. I was curious to read Jennifer Grey's memoir. I wanted the scoop on her infamous nose job and all of the details on Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing, and all of the other 80s gossip. She was engaged to both Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp!! Tell me ALL about it!  This seemed like a good book to wind down summer. It was!

From Goodreads:

Jennifer Grey takes readers on a vivid tour of the experiences that have shaped her, from her childhood as the daughter of Broadway and film legend Joel Grey, to the surprise hit with Patrick Swayze that made her America's sweetheart, to her inspiring season eleven win on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Throughout this intimate narrative, Grey richly evokes places and times that were defining for a generation--from her preteen days in 1970s Malibu and wild child nights in New York's club scene, to her roles in quintessential movies of the 1980s, including The Cotton Club, Red Dawn, and her breakout performance in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. With self-deprecating humor and frankness, she looks back on her unbridled, romantic adventures in Hollywood. And with enormous bravery, she shares the devastating fallout from a plastic surgery procedure that caused the sudden and stunning loss of her professional identity and career. Grey inspires with her hard-won battle back reclaiming her sense of self from a culture and business that can impose a narrow and unforgiving definition of female worth. She finds, at last, her own true north and starts a family of her own, just in the nick of time.

This had all of what I was hoping for and more. Grey definitely shares all of the gossipy details on her famous upbringing, celebrity friends, love life, 80s movies, and nose job drama. It was all there. Did this book make me a fan of hers? No. Was I able to put her book down? Also no. I just kept turning the pages. It is definitely candid and sometimes cringey. She delves deep into her relationship with Matthew Broderick...including naming the actresses with whom he cheated on her. Yikes. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes info on Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze, Red Dawn, a little Ferris Bueller (I wanted more), and Dancing with the Stars. So good!

Jennifer Grey has lead a life of privilege and it shows. She tells you over and over again with no apology.  A little rich girl who was entitled and coddled and is the definition of nepo-baby but it certainly made for some interesting reading. There are also some truth bombs and then loose ends. Grey draws no conclusions from some of the information that she drops on the reader so I'm not sure what we are supposed to glean from them. She leaves a lot of ambiguity at times. Despite all of that I liked this name dropping, gossip filled, celebrity tell-all, that's a fast read with great 80s nostalgia. 

My Rating: Interesting.

7.) Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

Another memoir but this time it is from the world of reality tv. Having watched 19 Kids and Counting back in the day and now with all of the information that has come forward since then...Josh sexually abusing the younger girls and his criminal history...several of the daughters cutting ties with their faith... I was curious to hear more about what was *really* going on.

From Goodreads:

Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting , Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married. But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore. For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members—they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.

In this quick read memoir,  Jill tells her story of growing up Duggar and gives a lot of behind-the-scenes details about her childhood and the tv show. She doesn't shy away from tackling difficult topics and her complicated relationship with both her faith, having grown up in the Christian Fundamentalist IBLP sect, and now with her family. Particularly her father. Jim Bob is NOT likeable. At. All. Jill isn't as critical of Michelle, her mother. I think she feels like Michelle is also a victim of IBLP ideology and Jim Bob.

This is not a salacious tell-all but rather Jill's side of the story. It is clear how hard she is trying to be fair to all involved and yet still relate the facts. She talks honestly about the manipulation, abuse, gaslighting, and hypocrisy that she has suffered from both family members, IBLP, and quite frankly from being on a TV show. Having your life on display for the whole world would be incredibly difficult especially when going through trauma. Jill discusses the abuse she suffered from her brother Josh and its aftermath but without going into great detail or sharing stories that are not her own. I felt like she tried very hard to share her side of the story without causing any further pain to her family.

Jill went into detail about what it was like to be raised in an IBLP fundamentalist sect. It was very interesting insight into that group. I felt for Jill as she started deconstructing her toxic patriarchy and harmful ideologies. I had sympathy as she attempted to disentangle herself from her past and tried to  move forward with her husband and children. Extremes of any kind can be so damaging whether it is religion, controlling parents, family estrangement, or reality TV. The truth is not always comfortable especially as you are exposing greed and abuse and yet she does it in a way that doesn't feel vindictive.

Jill seems to genuinely want relationships with her parents and siblings but needs her boundaries respected and what happened to her validated. Family discord and estrangement isn't easy and talking about it is even more difficult. Family relationships can be complicated, painful, and private. I appreciated her honesty and candor. I felt that she handled those topics well. I applaud her ability to move forward with hope while maintaining her faith in Jesus Christ. I hope that her siblings are able to do so as well.

My Rating: A quick read.

August 2023

August was a month of travel! It was so fun! It felt like we were gone for most of the month. It was a little crazy and yet exhilarating! I felt foot-loose and fancy-free since I was done with my class and had a nice little break from school for the rest of the summer.

Karson is 6 months old! He is CRAWLING now!!

The month started off with Bryn attending her first concert. She and Tyler are huge Foo Fighter fans and went to the concert together! They had a great time! Tyler said that the concert was phenomenal! He has seen them in concert many times. The Foo Fighters are his favorite band. 

Tyler was raving to Kirk about how great the concert was and then Kirk ended up going when they went to SLC after Spokane. Tyler took Kirk to his first concert too (and many after that!) Tyler's co-worker Tracey was sitting right behind them. They had such a fun night! Ailey and I had a mother/daughter night while they were at the concert. It was basically...how places can we eat different food from?!  A progressive dinner if you will. LOL.

Ailey got all of her blood test results back. Negative on everything which in many ways is good news except for the fact that her blood sugar is still out of control. The working diagnosis... Reactive Hyperglycemia and most likely prediabetes. As we thought...the last gasps of a dying pancreas. The bad news is that it's kind of a waiting game to see what happens and insurance doesn't like to cover CGMs for things like this which is ridiculous and terrifying. Ailey's endocrinologist really wanted her on a CGM but told us to expect that insurance would only cover test strips. By some MIRACLE our insurance is covering CGMs. What a HUGE relief! 

I had my big summer stake primary activity. The theme was missionary work. The kids did a service project and played a human Candyland game inside. They also did a role playing game with four newly returned missionaries who talked all about their missions and the things that they learned and did. Then the kids came outside for a big obstacle course relay race with various stations and then a bounce house/slide at the end of the race.

Ailey and Bryn helped me with my station which was called "Roll the Dice!" The kids had to roll the dice to see where they were serving their *mission* and what they might get to eat there. It was a *gentle* Fear Factor". LOL.

They dined on: 

Hawaii: Spam

Austria: Vienna type Sausages

Japan: Seaweed

Thailand: BBQ crickets

Germany: Sour kraut

India: Buttermilk

The crickets were a BIG hit! 

Bryn also helped with the potato sack race where the kids had to hop in their sacks and race to the end while dodging the "fiery darts of the adversary" aka being pelted with wet sponges! It was hilarious!

I took my two little helpers out to lunch afterward at our favorite Rockwood Bakery. They are the best and are so incredibly helpful and always willing to pitch in and help!

After that it was go time for travel. Bryn and I got mani/pedis prior to our trip. 

Reilly and Karson came over for a visit so that we could snuggle Karson before we headed out of town.

Aunt Ailey got in on the snuggling action even though she wasn't leaving town. Poor Karson snuggling up with a girly quilt but oh well it was made by my mom and that's all we have around here that is accessible. I need to dig out Kam's old baby quilts. Although Karson doesn't seem to mind. Ha ha!

Karson showed off his newly acquired crawling skills as we rolled a car for him to follow after. This grandparent stuff is truly the best!!

AND... if you want to see the most hilarious trio of pictures here you go! It is Karson trying a banana for the first time!! Apparently it was HORRID! 

This trio of pictures is on my phone lock screen and I laugh every single time I see them!! 

Then it was travel time! Or actually...almost. The day before we were supposed to leave, one of our flights got cancelled. We were supposed to fly from Spokane to SLC and then to Houston but there was something wrong with our plane. They completely pulled it out of service. Tyler was on the phone for hours trying to get new flights lined up. The airline suggested several insane options...one was Spokane to Minneapolis to Atlanta to Houston. No thank you. We eventually got a flight from Spokane to LA to Houston. The crappy part was that originally we were going to arrive in Houston at 1:30 pm and we would've had that afternoon and evening to have fun in Houston and The Woodlands. Now we weren't scheduled to leave Spokane until late afternoon and we wouldn't arrive in Houston until 11:30 pm. It was frustrating to lose that much time. We had all kinds of things planned. Thank goodness it still worked with Kameron's schedule to drop us off at the airport.

Finally we were headed out on our much awaited vacation!! We had such an incredible time! It will be its own post.

While we were gone the kids had some fun without us. LOL. Tyler's Summer work party is a night at the Spokane Indians Game with free food and activities. The kids all went together and had a fun time!

Also my cousin's daughter got married and our kids attended the wedding reception. They were a little hesitant to go...extended family isn't our jam these days...but it was good for them. Karson got to meet some family and that was nice. The kids had a good time and were glad that they went.

Sadly, while we were out of town, Spokane was burning. Seriously. It was so sad and tragic. The main fires were in the town of Medical Lake and the whole town had to be evacuated. When we returned from our trip it was still burning.

The air quality was off the charts hazardous. It was over 500 on a 500 point scale.

Church was cancelled. Our ward had a mini zoom meeting and families were able to administer the sacrament in their homes. Our local LDS churches became Red Cross Evacuation Shelters. Members supplied the shelters with everything that was needed within hours. Having Tyler and Kam bless the sacrament in their white shirts and ties in our living room gave me flash backs to COVID quarantine. After about 5 days the much prayed for rain finally came and put out the fires. The destruction is heartbreaking.

When we got home from our trip we didn't have much down time. Bryn immediately had volleyball tryouts. She was a little worried because this is a fairly new sport for her. She has only played for one year. She was injured early on in her 7th grade volleyball season and missed it so 8th grade has been her only year of playing. She was very nervous! She made the freshman team and was super excited about that! Most of her team from last year are all on the freshman team too. She is really looking forward to her upcoming season and so are we!! We've never had a high school volleyball player before! Exciting!

Bryn also had freshman orientation, daily volleyball practice, and a volleyball parents meeting. We crammed in her sports physical, a cognition test (a new thing that athletes are supposed to do now), a dermatology appointment, and the orthodontist. All in less than one week. Bryn is almost ready to have those braces come off! Woohoo!

Then we headed to Hayden Lake for several days for our own family getaway. We stayed in the Honeysuckle House again (the same one we stayed in last summer) and loved it! I love traveling and seeing/doing all the things but I also REALLY love a lake vacay. This what I did every summer. It was always our family vacation and now that we've unloaded the toxic family members it really is perfection for me. Our time at the lake will be its own post too. 

The day that we headed to Hayden Lake...Kameron bought his first car. It was very exciting! Since he ended up getting a full scholarship to BYU-I (have I mentioned that enough times?!) all the money he saved working two jobs this summer went toward his car. He did a ton of research and was very prepared walking into the car dealership. Tyler came with him but let Kam do most of the talking. He did great! He bought a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. It's so nice and has low mileage. He loves it! We are so proud of him for accomplishing this major goal and milestone.

Kam's new car!! 

During that time we got the news that a sweet friend of ours (and my mom's) had passed away. We visited one of my mom's best friends, Mary Jane, the last time we were in Houston. Mary Jane has been a rock of support to me in the wake of my mom's death and aftermath. She has truly been an angel in my life. We were planning to visit her while we were in Houston but Mary Beth who we also visited with the last time that we were in town was very sick and in home hospice with cancer. Our beloved Mary Jane was helping to care for Mary Beth and things were so serious with that situation that we didn't get to see either of them while we were in Houston. A week after our return Mary Jane let us know that Mary Beth had passed away. It so hard to believe that only 4 summers ago three vibrant women got together, laughed their heads off, and had a ball! Now there is only one of them left. It is shocking. Also one of our best friends was diagnosed with diabetes. Tyler was a great resource and sounding board as he and his family navigate this new diagnosis.

After our days at Hayden Lake it really was go-time for getting prepped for back-to-school. High school and college edition. Bryn had volleyball practice daily. The kids were working like crazy up to the last minute. We were cramming in back-to-school shopping whenever we could. Kam kindly kept us all supplied in Nikes with his sweet discount. One night he wanted us all to come downtown to the store because there was a big sale and we could use his friends/family discount on top of that. Reilly and Karson came too. We all bought a ton of stuff! Thank Kamers!! 

We had a fun family night downtown and tried out a new restaurant and then headed to Pig Out in the Park for some dessert. 

The days were going by so fast and the college kids were just about ready to head out of town and back to Rexburg.

We ended the month with hot temps. We were walking Beverly at night because it was so darn hot. 

Bryn had her high school launch conferences which were a complete waste of time. Please tell me why Tyler and I needed to go in and sit with her advisor and hear about basically nothing that we didn't already know from the millions of previous emails from the school and district. Bryn wasn't even there! She had a volleyball jamboree with her team and they were playing volleyball at another high school. We attempted to cancel because our *student* who was supposed to come with us was at the jamboree and the school requested that WE still come. I am feeling such last child in high school rebellion...parent edition...and the school year hasn't even officially begun. Don't even think about asking me to sell concessions!!! LOL.

And that was August!

July 2023

We've hit the half way point of the year! And...we need to see this picture again! LOL. Karson is five months old! He continues to be an absolute joy! It is so fun to see his personality emerge and I LOVE seeing the love and affection that he has for all of us. It is the sweetest! He is also a BIG boy!! He is the size of an eleven month old in our ward. No joke! He also has a deep little voice. He is ADORABLE! If we send Tyler a picture that Karson is at the house...he immediately responds with, "I'm on my way home!" and he is!

Another big reason to celebrate...

Congratulate me! I officially hit MENOPAUSE!! One full calendar year without a period. Tyler got me a strawberry boba to celebrate. See ya period! It's been a *fun* 37 years! (eyeroll!) I informed all of my children about my menopausal status and demanded that they congratulate me which they did! Did you know that menopause only lasts one day? After that you are now considered "post-menopausal". So I guess...Congratulate me! I am POST-MENOPAUSAL. Hmm...what does this mean? My only good symptom is no more period and that ain't NOTHING folks! But I still have weight gain, irritability, hot flashes, and migraines. My doctor said that those symptoms should calm down...in... you know the drill...5-10 years. I'll keep you posted. As far as I can recollect I think my mom and I are right on track with each other. Maybe my girls will hit menopause around the same time too.

We celebrated the 4th of July! Which was grand! Then our lives were taken over by a dog named Harry Potter. He belongs to my friend Summer and her family. Bryn was dog sitting for them while they went on vacation. Harry Potter became quite the family project. He is delightful but the temps were in the 100s and Harry couldn't be outside that much like his family had planned so we ALL got to spend a lot of time with Mr. Potter who is a large, loveable, (and well-trained) Bernadoodle.

Harry and Beverly spent some time together and basically ignored each other. He wasn't interested in her in the slightest and she wasn't interested in him. The only time that Beverly got competitive was one night when Tyler, Bryn, and I were walking both of them at the park. Harry's slow and lanky stride was a sprinting marathon to Miss Beverly who nearly killed herself running to try to keep up with Bryn who was walking Harry. Beverly was wheezing and Tyler ended up picking her up carrying her for her *walk*. LOL.

This month Kameron continued to work hard at both jobs. He has decided that shift work is NOT for him. I don't blame him. That 3am shift sucks. He really likes working at Nike though. I did steal him away on one of his days off which was fun!

He came with me to Coeur d' Alene to help me bring some items into my booth and we had a little mother/son day and we even got ice cream!

Kam is my ice cream kid. It is his very favorite treat so it was fun to try a new-to-us place that wasn't far from Midtown Market. It was delicious!

We also found the cutest little ride on tractor for Karson. We brought it over to their apartment. Karson is going to out grow it before he can actually make it work! 

Kameron has also been giving Bryn more driving lessons at the middle school and took her out for ice cream too!

Bryn has been a very busy bee this month. She headed off to girls camp right after the 4th of July. She was extra excited about Girls Camp this year because one of her best friends, Audrey, who is a non-member was coming too. That made Girls Camp even better!

Bryn had a fantastic time and Audrey did too!!

Here are a few camp pictures:

Tyler and I were assigned to be one of the pick-up vehicles. We headed up to Sandpoint earlier in the day to enjoy the area before it was time to pick up the girls. They were at a camp that is off of Lake Pend Oreille. 

We grabbed lunch from here. We tried this cute little café that over looks Lake Cocalalla. 

Then we did some exploring at Round Lake before we headed to the camp.

I love all of our lakes! It is the very best part of living up here. There are so many. There are 76 lakes within an hour's drive from Spokane. At Girls Camp we picked up a carload of very tired campers! I handed them a giant bag of Costco candy and told Bryn to be the DJ. They basically slept the entire 2 hours home.

The next day our family headed out to the lake to spend the day. It was gorgeous and it felt so good to be on *our* lake! Even Kameron had the day off!

We were just a little further down the lake than our old lake house. This property belongs to one of Tyler's work buddies' family. They weren't going to be out at the lake that weekend and offered it to us. Our lake seems so little now! We had a great time! Lots of wakeboarding and swimming. All of the kids can drive the boat now and it is awesome! Tyler gave Bryn her first boat driving lessons now that she is 14.

Bryn behind the wheel!

 

We were greeted by all of our favorite animal friends...

the Loons, Harold the Heron, and the bald eagle too!

Twin Lakes you are still our place!!

Ailey has been busy with work too. Some mornings she has to open and she has to be there at 4:30am. So some days Kam has to be at work at 3 am and Ailey at 4:30 am. I am super proud of our kids for working so hard this summer! When Ailey has days off she likes to shop! 

Ailey has been extremely helpful with back-to-school and cruise shopping! 

Ailey also had the pleasure of speaking with Tyler in a different ward as his speaking companion. She did an incredible job!! 

At the end of the month Ailey had her appointment with Tyler's endocrinologist. Ailey's case is baffling. Blood sugar highs and lows...no real rhyme or reason. Her doctor ordered a ton of lab work which Ailey had done and now we wait. All things point to her being prediabetic. The last gasps of a dying pancreas.

Bryn came home from Girls Camp on a Friday and on Monday headed to Moscow, Idaho for a week for FSY. She was a little nervous about going and being at the University of Idaho with only one other person that she knew but she was also excited! Tyler, Ailey, and I took her and got her settled. It felt much like a college drop off! That will be here before we know it. :(

Bryn was assigned a roommate that she didn't know and they got to live in the dorms for a week.

A little room tour:

Bryn got there before her roommate did so we got a good look around and helped her unpack. She was a little teary when it was time for us to leave but we knew that she would have a great time and make friends which she totally did!

After the drop off Tyler, Ailey, and I went out to eat at The Breakfast Club in Moscow. We've gone here before with my mom and it was delicious!

We hung around in Moscow for a couple hours and did a little shopping while we waited to make sure that Bryn was doing okay. All the FSY kids were to meet up with their FSY counselors at 1:30 pm. We drove around the U of I campus and also the WSU campus. When we got the thumbs up from Bryn that she was fine; we headed back to Spokane.

Bryn, of course, had an AMAZING time at FSY and absolutely LOVED it!! She met so many new friends and learned so much spiritually and actually really loved all of her classes. She got a taste of independence and what college will be like in the future. She was a fan! They had quite a bit of free time and the kids could roam the campus. She had a ball!! There were two dances and all kinds of fun activities!

Bryn had an incredible time and was so happy that she went! She had all kinds of fun experiences to tell us about when we picked her up a week later! 

Beverly came out of her dog depression when Bryn got home. LOL! Her Brynnie has been gone too much this month!! Bryn also had some open gym time for basketball conditioning and volleyball at the high school. I still can't believe that she will be a freshman this year.

We've seen quite a bit of Reilly and Karson this month which has been wonderful!! Kam helped Reilly at her work with Karson one day and then at the park while she was photographing products for her job.

This little guy loves his Uncle Kam and his Uncle Kam sure loves him!!

Tyler's month consisted of being extremely busy at work and planning and putting together our stake's Pioneer Day celebration. It was a HUGE event. Tyler was stressed out about it for most of the month. He rented out one of our local pools and part of the park. He ordered over a thousand cookies of various varieties and multiple kinds of ice cream. The stake wanted ice cream sandwiches and popcorn to be the treats. Families were to provide their own picnic dinners. He procured all of the supplies and got someone to make popcorn and people to provide lawn games. All without a committee. The last person had a whole committee to help him. Thankfully one of the counselors in the stake presidency jumped in to help. As did most of our family. I didn't even get to attend the event because I was taking my final. Thank goodness for Ailey!! She was Tyler's right hand woman and did such a great job!!

This is but a portion of the thousand cookies that were ordered. Thankfully Kameron went with Tyler to pick them up. They filled two shopping carts and the back of our suburban. Those bins are full of cookies. Not to mention the huge commercial gallons of multiple flavors of ice cream. Tyler was THRILLED when this celebration was OVER!! Despite all of his stress it turned out to be a big success!

Tyler also had two different doctor appointments this month. He met with his endocrinologist. This appointment was awesome! His A1C is the lowest it has ever been. 7.6 !! So that was great news! He also had his yearly appointment with his cardiologist. That appointment was so-so. He was put on more meds which wasn't exactly great news but glad that he is on them and that they will help keep him healthy.

A friend of ours...out of the blue...had a massive heart attack and ended up being life-flighted and in the ICU. He had surgery and five stents were placed. This was someone who is very active, healthy, and a good 5 years younger than us. Heart stuff is the worst. So glad that our friend is okay!

In some really happy news...Tyler's sister Lori moved back to Salt Lake. She has been living in Washington DC for the last several years. She is temporarily staying with Tyler's brother and his family while she finds a house. It is so great to have her closer!!

My month has been spent studying. My class ended, all of my assignments needed to be turned in, and I needed to take my final by the end of the month. I managed to get everything done a little early so that I had some extra time in case I needed it.

I requested my final and was able to do online proctoring which was quite the process. Although this is the way that most students take tests now. Ailey and Kameron take their tests this way at BYU-I. They don't want kids using the testing center. They can only use it so many times. This is the wave of the future. It's kind of crazy. For me, the technological parts added to the stress of studying for my final but it all worked out and was pretty slick! 

I took my final and got an A on it and got an A in my class. My graduation plan is now mapped out and I am on track. My next class will be a literature class and then I am on to neuropsychology and writing for the social sciences and *fun* things like that.

But speaking of fun things... one of my good friends, Jayni, came for a visit! She and her family used to live in Spokane and moved to Utah around the time that Bryn was born. She and I served in a YW presidency and used to do Joy School together. It was so fun to see Jayni, Jake, and their family. We all went to church together and attended our old ward. We spent all of church out in the foyer laughing our heads off with my dear friend Valynn who was also in our presidency with us. Sometimes attending Foyer Church is just what I need! LOL!

Jayni, Valynn, and me. 

This was a definite highlight of the month!!

Ellie and Ailey our Joy School students!! LOL. 

There were two other little girls that attended Joy School too.

The rest of Jayni's family.

Tyler also had one for his good friends come for a visit. James' daughter is going to college here in Spokane. It was so fun to see and hear from all of these old friends!!

I spent a good portion of the month helping to plan a big stake primary activity. Multiple meetings and so much marco-poloing. One of the members of our stake primary presidency asked to be released. Too much on her plate right now. I don't blame her. Sometimes this calling feels like A LOT and sometimes not so much. This month it was A LOT. I guess we will see what happens with that.

This month has also been spent prepping for our cruise. So much is involved...so much random stuff needed to be purchased...and then there are cruise clothes and new swim suits and all of that. Cruising seems like such a process. Give me a lake and a dock and a boat. But I am really looking forward to spending time with my brother. Lots of phone calls and texts between our group and a lot of excitement as we plan and prep.

During all of this shopping and prepping Tyler and I had two different cards that we had to report for fraud and Ailey had fraud charges on her debit card too. Good grief. It is so annoying but glad it was all caught early.

All of the stress that everyone was experiencing for various reasons...work, finals, activities, upcoming trips etc... made for a rather depressing vibe around here the last week or so of the month. Those of us that weren't going on the trip were NOT happy about it and those of us that were were stressed about it. Everyone was working long hours and it was hot. I've been dragging us on walks and to the gym. Lifting weights has felt particularly good. I've also been making Tyler and I do some "grounding/earthing" every night. It's a little woo-woo but I swear I feel better, less stressed, and sleep better too. Bryn was in a mood one night and I made her do it too and even she said that it helped.

For our particular type of "grounding/earthing" we stand or walk around barefoot on the lawn for about 10 minutes. I know. It sounds weird. But it oddly seems to work. On nights that I am super stressed, like when I was studying for my final, it really did help calm me down. It is supposed to electrically reconnect you to the earth and that the electrical charges from the earth can have positive effects on the body. It is supposed to reduce inflammation, pain, stress, and improve blood flow, energy, sleep, and generate greater well-being. 

In other woo-woo news... apparently aliens are real...UFOs and bodies (nonhuman biologics) have been found. They may be "interdimensional beings". Reverse engineering of the alien craft has been occurring. Two former military and one former intelligence officer testified before congress about it this month. They said that UFOs/UAPs pose a threat to national security. So there's that... good grief. 

What did we do about that bit of information? We went boating on Lake Roosevelt. I don't care about UAPs or Aliens. Just give me some water and sunshine. 

We boated to our favorite little beach and set up for the day. 

The rest of the day was spent wakeboarding, swimming, floating, catching frogs, and being silly.

The day was absolute perfection! We also had a bald eagle soaring over us and sitting in a tree near us. I am starting to think that bald eagles are a sign from my mom along with pink skies. Every.single.time that we are boating or having family time...a bald eagle seems to show up. They are more common here than other places but in all of my 22 years of living here I've never seen so many bald eagles!! Let alone one perched in our tree!! That eagle took care of the annoying crows that roosted in that tree and were pooping all over my deck. Those crows never returned after the visit from that bald eagle. LOL. We've never seen that eagle again either.

Also our garden has started producing like crazy!! So many tomatoes and zucchini!! I've nearly perfected vegetable tempura and Southern fried green tomatoes! It's been fun to have a garden again...especially because it is Tyler's domain. I just get to eat what it produces. LOL.

July was a whirlwind!!