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!
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!
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!!
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