Hiya

Ethan has been signed up for Karate for the last few months. The other day he had his first belt graduation and he graduated from a white belt to a yellow belt. He has had so much fun learning the karate moves, getting new friends and improving his physical strength. Has been so fun to see him be interested in his muscles and he has improved his running speed. It will be interesting to see how much he has improved for soccer season.

another thing that's been fun with soccer is Ethan's cousin James is also signed up at the same Karate studio. It has been fun for them to learn together and improve their bond.

Girls camp "JOY" serving Jesus, others and yourself

I was able to go to girls camp this year and spend a week a few days with the girls in our Ward. We wanted to go down to the manti pageant because it's the last year the pageant will be presented.

We had so much fun. We hiked, toward the manti Tabernacle (which was really cool and it actually functions as a church)h the girls had fun in the swimming pool and I enjoyed having a break from all my motherly duties 😀

As fun as it was it was sure nice to come home and sleep in my own bed again.

Parade of homes

Last weekend was the Utah valley parade of homes. Brett got tickets from City council so we thought we'd take our family and go see the houses that were around our area. I was worried the kids would get bored and think it would be terrible but I was pleasantly surprised. My kids really enjoyed exploring each home and seeing all the different ideas. One house Carrie fell absolutely in love with there was a playroom in the little girl's room and it was painted pink was every girl's favorite Dream.

Till we meet again

My sweet Grandmother Hill passed away on Father's Day. The following Saturday we spent the day recalling the legacy she created. I'm forever grateful for Her sweet, kind heart and the many ways she made an impact on my life. I'll always cherish my memories of Her. My favorite memories are sitting on the piano bench listening to her play Once Upon A Dream, her incredible way of keeping a home, many times playing games like Hand and Foot, Rook and Sorry. I will miss seeing her sweet face and enjoying her loving embrace. I'm so grateful that families are forever.

Summer

Hello again.

Summer is always a rough time for me. Trying to keep my children happy, teach them to be independent and be able to self manage themselves is quite a bit of work. So to say the least I desperately find ways to keep them busy.

For Ethan, this summer has started off with a stem camp at the ALC in Salem. He has had a blast coding, making model airplanes, and looking forward to the airplane simulator. All of these this are right up his alley.

So, while he's away. Todd, Carrie and I have had such a good time doing things that Ethan does not want to do. Such as going to the library for storytime and a craft, going to the park, going on walks, and just having a good time together.

Another thing that makes Summer hard is Brett often will go away for work for weeks at a time. On Friday he's supposed to leave to go to Chicago again to work on the remodel of the temple. For the past few years he has been doing fire sprinklers be Chicago temple and this should be the last year for the shutdown. While Brett is away it's really difficult for me to keep things going smoothly. I often wonder how single mothers do anyting. So, while he is away I plan on trying to find a way to have something to look forward each day. I would like to invite Clair Wade and Rowen over to decorate a cake, go to the swimming pool another day, take the kids to the new toy story 4 movie and maybe something else that will fill the days while he's away.  I sure hope and pray that it will go well.