springdellgirl

July is here and it's been *interesting* to say the least...

The best part about July was that Kameron hit his year mark! Woohoo! He's on the downward slide from here on out and I couldn't be happier about it! The countdown is on!

The next best part of July was that we had a week long vacay in Utah. This was partially a birthday trip for Ailey and partially because we wanted a good ol' Utah county 4th of July celebration. Provo does it up right! I've celebrated the 4th of July in Kansas City, Houston, Spokane, and CDA, and give me Provo! It is so nostalgic and reminiscent of my childhood and how I grew up celebrating (Tyler too!) After our difficult June we were definitely up for some fun and relaxation! I needed the comfort of old friends, Springdell, traditions, and more family time.

We got a lot of time with Kirk and Meki and their family this month which was wonderful! We saw them the last week of June and then the very next weekend we were in Utah visiting them and then three weeks later they were back up here for their week at the lake. Kirk and I needed some good bro/sis time to deal with all that we have had going on. The kids were happy to have all the cousin time! (That has been the saddest part for my kids... the loss of their cousins. Not on my account. I would never do that but some people will. It has been rough on the kids.) The 4th of July was on Sunday this year which caused the holiday to be spread out over three days. More on that in a later post.

On our way to Utah we stopped in Rexburg for a little college campus tour for Ailey. She and Kam will most likely be headed there next year. It's gotten *slightly* better. LOL. Ailey was excited and thought that BYU-I looked like fun! Perfect!

Just as we were coming into Utah; Reilly called us. She was house/dog sitting for us. She gave us the great news that our basement was flooding. AGAIN. Remember this happened last year? Once again our next door neighbors left their sprinklers on for 24 hours and flooded our basement. Good grief. Thank goodness it didn't reach our family room or any of our carpeted areas. The water stayed in our laundry/storage room. Also THANK GOODNESS for Reilly and Hunter who grabbed our shopvac and dealt with the water (there was over an inch) and our neighbors!!

Then while we were on the phone with Reilly dealing with the flooded basement situation our realtor was madly calling to tell us that we had an offer on the lake house. It had only been on the market less than 3 days and the offer was $50,000 over asking price! Thus began the week long first right of refusal time frame that Stacey, Kelley, and Jordin had to see if they could/would match the offer. Jordin responded that day to say that she would not be matching the offer and privately emailed our realtor her joy and elation with the offer. Stacey and Kelley dragged it out all week despite the fact that there is NO WAY that they could match the offer. It is so annoying that they have known this for almost two years and had to deliberately drag out the process and waste so much time and money. The selfishness and entitlement is off the charts. Thank goodness Kirk and I were together in Utah while dealing with this nonsense.

Our trip to Utah was amazing and we came home to a clean house, dry basement, happy dog, and all of my flowers THRIVING despite the over 100 degree heatwave that lasted all month. In addition to returning home with our emotional buckets filled we also all came home with TERRIBLE colds. Nasty ones. Our immune systems haven't had to battle anything in over a year and a half and we were pretty miserable.

We also found a buyer for my mom's cargo trailer and what a nightmare that has been. This situation STILL isn't resolved and it is now August. I am so tired. Nothing has been smooth or easy or has fallen into place in dealing with my mom's estate. My mom's ex-husband's name was still on the title despite the fact that he wasn't given it in the divorce decree (of which I had a copy) and didn't claim it during probate which is long over. Nothing matters to the Idaho DMV. Trying to go to the one closest to me in Post Falls, Idaho I would have had to wait until September. The girls and their attorney have been particularly harassing us about selling this item. (Yet another thing that Kirk and I are tasked to do while they do absolutely nothing but complain and cause petty issues). But if we can get through with all of these stupid items we can be done with the estate and just done.

I ended up having to drive up to Sandpoint (an hour and a half away) and wait for two hours to be told that I needed to get my mom's ex-husband Ken (who we aren't in contact with) to sign a form to release his interest in the trailer then get my siblings to sign forms to give me Power of Attorney for the sale of one item (which Stacey refused to do). There is a form given to me by the DMV that specifically says "For the sale of one item." All logic and common sense is lost on these three.

Then I had Jordin calling me to say that she will sign the documents and that she is moving and don't lump her in with the other two. Um...hello... Jordin! You ARE lumped in with them as you are also represented by their attorney. Then, Stacey and Kelley, despite refusing to sign documentation to allow me to sell the trailer...sent multiple nasty texts Kirk and I... and had their attorney send an email to our attorney. First, thank goodness for attorneys. I am so over dealing with my sisters. Second, thank goodness we have a good one.

So that has been a month long hellish process which included tracking down our mother's ex-husband and having to met him in person to sign off on the trailer. After meeting up with Ken (the ex-husband) we found out that he has been in contact with Stacey's husband. How interesting. Ken was up to speed on most things pertaining to my mom's estate and our sibling issues. He knew that we had purchased my mom's boat and other quite specific details. Hmmm... I guess this was another attempt at character assassination for Kirk and I but that is quite low. My mother and Ken did NOT have an amicable divorce so the fact that Stacey's husband has been keeping in contact with him is unbelievable. And they question our family loyalty? Luckily Ken was pleasant and happily signed the documents and kindly asked about everyone but still...good grief.

On a happier note...

Ailey got her first paycheck which was pretty darn exciting for her!

And...on the same day she ran over a racoon. Yikes. Her first road kill. Dance team practices have also started up again. She was named head captain of the dance team and she was really excited about that! They had a car wash fundraiser this month too.

In addition to the scorching hot temps...still high 90s and 100s...the smoke also moved in from the big fires in Oregon and some in our area too. It has been horrible but not as bad as last year. It has definitely made being outside unpleasant. Our local amusement park, Silverwood, was threatened. Our kids were freaking out! Luckily it was spared!

Reilly came over by herself one day at around 11am and hung out until late that night. I am still so happy and grateful that we get to see her IN PERSON in this crazy COVID world. It was so hard not being able to see her for most of last year and I never take it for granted.

On this particular day she did eyelash lifts on Ailey and Bryn. According to her it is like a perm for your eyelashes. Reilly is our all-things-beauty-expert.

Their eyelashes look amazing and have stayed like that for over a month including a lot of swimming! Pretty amazing!

Reilly and Hunter went to the Cheney Rodeo and had a blast! She texted us some cute pictures of them.

They are doing well and we have seen a lot of them this month! I love it!!

We finally got a boating day in! Wow...this summer has been so different from last summer. Last year we had all of this time on our hands to do things like this and this year it has been quite the opposite. Tyler took a day off of work (Ailey had to work) and we grabbed Bryn and headed out early in the morning to Lake Coeur d' Alene. Our favorite boating lake.

Look at that sapphire beauty! Kirk and Meki really put the pressure on us to try to convince us to move back to Utah and be near them. Hmm...Scofield Lake (We went there while in Utah. Tyler used to go to scout camp there as a kid. He remembered it being *so beautiful*. LOL. Our kids were howling with laughter!)...Deer Creek...Jordanelle...or lakes like this?? No comparison. We love the Pacific Northwest!

We are definite lake snobs. According to Ailey we also like a *bougie* lake...one with gourmet food that we can pull up to in our boat and pick up our order. She's not wrong. LOL.

It was fun to have this little boating and wakeboarding babe all to ourselves too! We played on the water for about 10 hours. It was heavenly! Then we had to head back home and get ready for a wedding reception. That's where things took a turn for the worst. When we were about 8 minutes away from home a deer jumped out in front of us. There was no way to avoid it. There was a kid tailing us super close so there wasn't even a way to slow down without being rear ended. We hit the deer broadside at about 55 miles per hour while pulling the boat. It was pretty miraculous that we were all okay. It was also pretty miraculous that no one was in the other lane as the deer flew into it. So scary!

It was also miraculous that our boat was unharmed...not the same can be said for our car. It was still drivable. Kind of. We made it home but barely. Since then it is NOT drivable. Thus began weeks of dealing with our insurance company and getting it repaired. Good times. And...we missed the wedding reception of a kid that we love and the daughter of good friends. That very same night Tyler's mom and step-dad came to town. And...our AC stopped working. When it rains it pours. Not fun in 100 degree temps. Thank goodness Tyler aka MacGyver fixed it! Hallelujah!

We had a good visit with Judie and Joel. They were doing their yearly PNW tour. They start with us and then visit some of Joel's kids who live on the west side of the state. We had a lot of fun family time with Judie and Joel. One day we spent in CDA. We took them on the CDA Lake Cruise that the resort does.

They enjoyed seeing the lake from the water and hearing the history of it; while staying cool and drinking lemonade from inside the boat. After that we had a big family dinner at the resort.

It was fun to have everyone all together!

The next day was Sunday. I was speaking in another ward and my in-laws chose to watch their baby boy sit on the stand and do his official bishopric duties rather than hear me speak. LOL!! (I would probably do the same if it was Kameron.) But it's always really nice when family comes to church with us. We love it!

After church Tyler wanted to do the typical Utah style KFC picnic. We both love these! I grew up doing these kinds of picnic with my Grandma and Grandpa McKinnon and Tyler grew up going on these kind of picnics with his parents and grandparents. It's a fun little tradition!

Judie and Joel always bring their trailer to stay in as they make their way through WA. It's nice for them (and for all of their children) and it gives Judie an opportunity to be a hostess too. While we were *visiting* their trailer (which really is very big and very nice); Grandpa Joel pulled out some of his latest creations.

A "canjo" (banjo made with a tin) and an electric cigar box guitar.

Grandpa Joel was so cute teaching us how to play them and they were actually really fun!

Living out my Hee-Haw Honey dreams! (My grandparents LOVED Hee-Haw!) I mastered Farmer in the Dell! LOL. Ailey and I were at about the same level but Bryn was actually really good for the first time ever playing any kind of "guitar".

Grandpa Joel taught her a song that required a bit more skill!

Tyler got some time with his mom. He was helping her with all of her technological problems. Her computer, phone, tablet, and Joel's computer all needed Tyler's help. He's wearing Joel's glasses in this picture! LOL.

It was good to see both of them and we had a very nice visit. They are both starting to slow down and these PNW family tours might be winding down. It takes a lot of energy out of them to travel. We had to really scale back some of the things that we planned to do with them while they were here.

Kam got some sad news about a man that he had taught the new member discussions to and ordained to the Aaronic priesthood while living in Blaine. Winston was much beloved and he passed away unexpectedly. The missionaries were very sad.

After Judie and Joel left my Stake Primary Presidency had a giant Primary Activity Day Camp for all of the Primary kids ages 7-11. It was a boot camp theme i.e. B.O.O.T (Build Our Own Testimonies) Day Camp. We had different activities that represented all four categories of the new children and youth program: spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual. It turned out to be AWESOME! The kids had a ball!

How could it not be a success when the kids arrived and saw this bad boy!!

Ailey and Bryn volunteered to be helpers and they did a FANTASTIC job!!

I was glad that it went well and I was SUPER glad when it was over!! LOL.

It's been another non-working-out month. Just a few scattered walks here and there. It's been terrible for me mentally and physically. There's just too much to do and not enough time to do it. It's also been super hot and our gym still isn't back to normal and it sucks. Spokane isn't like Utah. Cool breezes don't blow down canyons and cool the nights. (I forgot how much I love that!) It just stays hot until the early morning hours. It can be 90 degrees at 11pm. One night Tyler and I took back our lives and went for a late night walk and on that particular night we saw a SKUNK. That ended our late night walks.

The weather was hot all stinking month. Spokane is now in the worst drought on record. I have never seen extended heat like this in the 20 years we have lived here. We moved to WA to get away from the Utah heat! It's not just been hot...it's been hot and HUMID...that is a doubly whammy. Add in the smoke and it's the triple whammy of hell.

Speaking of hell... we spent the rest of the month dealing with insurance and fixing our suburban. It's now August and we STILL have a rental car. Then Ailey and Bryn were exposed to COVID due to kids in our ward. Thank goodness for vaccinations!! Our closing date has been postponed twice due to delays with the appraiser. We also had to drop the price by $7,000 after the inspection. Not a big deal but it required another week of waiting to see if Stacey, Kelley, or Jordin could match the new price. Again...Stacey waited until the last possible day while another sister texted out rude memes to us. Are we in junior high? Kirk and I just ignore them and continued to communicate via our attorney as much as possible. They just want to fight to fight AND they want connection. Even if it is dysfunctional connection. They never learn. We don't respond to it. Can the house just close???

One day to escape the heat we went to Reilly's bosses house. It is gorgeous and up on a mountain top overlooking Newman Lake. Reilly house sits for them all of the time and watches Emmy. Anyway...they always tell her to have her family come and enjoy and we finally did!

It was like a perfect little piece of paradise!

We got to hang out with this little cutie too!

After that Kirk, Meki, family, and friends were in town for a week at the lake. The last hurrah. Meki, the kids, and Julie drove up earlier in the week. Kirk flew in later that week and was joined by another group who all came to stay one last time and to say goodbye.

It was really disappointing when Meki, Julie, Kirin, and Kaiya all arrived at the lake. The house was a filthy mess. My sisters were supposed to remove the items that were theirs (and of course help remove items that belonged to no one) to clear out the lake house for the new owner. Each one of them had a week out at the lake prior to this and they had all just been together to remove items a few days before Meki's arrival. (Jordin and family moved to Kansas City a few days later.) It was heartbreaking for Meki and the kids to walk in and see the lake house looking like bad renters had just left. It was dirty. Trash and broken glass were on the floor. There were damaged walls and stairs. This is the respect that my sisters have for our family "legacy" that they keep referring to? This is the respect they have for the home of their grandparents, their mother, and essentially their own house? It speaks volumes of who they are. Despicable. Meki and Julie lovingly cleaned and scrubbed down the lake house. Meki said that she was glad that neither Kirk nor I had to see it left like that. Who does that? Especially to a place you love? Disgraceful.

Also rather than take any items of theirs that they didn't want to Goodwill or to the dump; they put multiple "free" boxes of crap out on the road for us to deal with. Rescued from one of the "free" boxes was my mom's digital camera that still had the memory card in it. On it were these gorgeous and priceless images of my mom. I literally have no words.

These are only a few of the almost 400 pictures that were on the camera that was tossed into the free box like garbage. These pictures are beyond price to Kirk and I. I am so glad that Ailey found the camera, retrieved it, and with tears in her eyes, told us that there were still pictures on it.

We were out at the lake every day that Kirk's family was there. We tried to combine some fun with the incredible amount of work that was left to do. My sisters didn't even take all of "their" items. They simply removed the tape with their names from so many things and left them (and everything else) for us to remove. We did probably did 15-20 goodwill and dump runs. The whole house needed to be cleared out and deep cleaned for the upcoming walk thru with the buyer's agent. Our friends that were there helped so much too. We were so grateful. On Kirk's week we got all of the big items out and a good portion of the leftover junk.

Bryn stayed out at the lake the whole week and Ailey stayed out for most of the week. She had to work a couple of shifts but headed back to the lake as soon as she was done. They both got some good cousin time and got to enjoy the lake for one more week.

I am so glad that Ailey and Kaiya have each other and have been such a strong support for one another!

Bryn raked in the babysitting money while staying out at the lake. She watched and entertained all of the kids! She is amazing!!

Emmy came and hung out with us one day!

My nephew Kirin!

It was definitely an emotional time for me and Kirk. We had a lot to process (in between SO MUCH WORK). We were absolutely wiped out. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Thank goodness we had each other. It's so difficult to say goodbye to a place that is more like a person in your life. It's a hinge point in time. There is no going back. What is there to go back to? The future is uncertain. We are wary and bruised. We often found ourselves upstairs in Lilac Lodge away from the others... talking, reminiscing, processing, coping, mourning, and trying to find our way through what has turned out to be a very lonely and isolating process. What should have been experienced by a giant extended family of 75...or even our own extended family of 22...has come down to just the two of us. It has been a heavy burden to bear. As we sat on the twin beds upstairs in the dormitory and processed there were a lot of tears. We felt the extreme heaviness of the reality of...and then there were two. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that the responsibility of all of this would be placed solely on the shoulders of Kirk and myself. I absolutely did not see that coming.

We tried to soak in and commit to memory every feeling, memory, sight, sound, and smell of a place that has been a protector, comforter, solace, and savior to us. When you grow up in an unsafe house this place was a safe haven for us. While hanging out upstairs in Lilac Lodge I told Kirk that one of my favorite memories from childhood at the lake was lying on the blue couch at the far end of the kitchen and trying to keep my eyes open while listening to my grandparents, mom, aunts, and uncles tell funny stories from their childhood growing up in Bonners Ferry. My grandparents would shake their heads laughing at all of their "tall" tales. I can still hear the distinct laughs of each of the people I love the most. I told Kirk that I felt the most safe and happy in that kitchen. Then we talked about how sad it was that "safe" was even a word we thought about as kids.

We also unearthed a pair of stilts. We laughed our heads off speculating who had made them (Grandpa) and who was the clown who walked around on them making everyone laugh (Uncle Mike)!! Kirk picked them up and carried on the tradition.

One morning Kirk, Meki, Tyler, and I drove into Coeur d' Alene to sign our portions of the closing documents. Jordin had already signed hers before she left town. Kelley had an appointment to sign them a few days later. Stacey and her documents were MIA. Of course.

While Kirk was here we received a barrage of angry communication from my sisters and their attorney. They were on the warpath and made sure that each day was such a joy. Our attorney talked to their attorney and finally seemed to get through to her. Let's just say that she is very similar to her clients. She told our attorney that her clients were "About to lose it!" but assured our attorney that they would sign the necessary documents. Good grief.

One morning an otter was spotted on the long dock. This is a sight that I have never seen in my 49 years at the lake! It turns out that seeing one has some cool symbolism.

We will take all the positivity and good vibes that we can get!

The night before Kirk left a huge windstorm hit out at the lake around 10 pm. Warnings were sent to take shelter immediately! It was insane!! Kirk and I were like...now what?! Luckily it was short lived and no damage was done.

The Summer Olympics were also this month. We started out strong watching the events and then life just got too busy. I was kind of sad about that. Watching the Olympics reminds me so much of my mom. Especially when I *forced* Ailey and Bryn to watch the opening ceremonies. They were like, "Why are we watching this?!" and I said, "Because Grandma Vic would want you too!!" LOL. And...she would.

July was a blur...an emotional, messy, exhausting blur. But as our realtor, Janna, loves to say to us (and Kirk and I have now taken as our new mantra) "Full Steam Ahead!!!"