Our Fourth and Climbing Kyhv Peak

Between lots of out of town visitors, planning for some upcoming travel, some health stuff with my Mom, two of our kids moving, and some other random time consuming responsibilities, life has been a bit chaotic lately.   For a while, I kept hoping that things would calm down once we got past a few certain calendar items, but now it's looking like the pace is about to escalate even further.  And on an indefinite basis.   As such, it's definitely going to be harder to find the time to sit down and blog, however, I still have the desire to keep up with it, so here I go adding blogging to my to-do list, so it actually happens in between all the other things!  

This blogpost will be all about our Independence Day happenings.   

Glen and I decided to take advantage of his day off and do some hiking in the mountains.  We log a lot of miles in a week walking around our community on our morning walks, but it's actually pretty rare for us to venture into the mountains.  It's mostly time and a little bit of an intimidation factor that keeps us away, so the holiday was a perfect excuse to set all that aside and hike Kyhv Peak (formerly known as Squaw Peak).  

Adam had told us that it was the perfect hike for someone at our level (generally fit, but not super into hiking mountains).    

Some of the uphills were definitely challenging, but with views like this along the way... 

we did our best to enjoy the journey...

The view from the top was lovely in all directions...

And it was fun that we arrived to the peak at the same time as some college kids who'd toted a flag up there for the Fourth.   They were kind enough to let us take a few pics with it, so we felt a little extra festive.

I slipped in some loose gravel on the way down and ended up with a minor sprained ankle.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad and I was able to make my way to the car without difficulty.  The pain didn't actually set in until later and I did end up hobbling around for a bit, but I'm back to 100% again now, so thankfully it wasn't too bad.   

Because of my hurt ankle, we just hung around home the rest of the day while I put my foot up.   Despite the injury, I consider the hike a success and we would totally recommend that hike for someone looking to hike a mountain without committing to an all-day adventure!   

 And that was pretty much a wrap for our Fourth, so here's a look at other family members' experiences.  

Cami and family had just barely moved to Rhode Island a week or two before, so they spent the day in a cute New England town, just exploring and enjoying the old town vibes, including a parade and fireworks!  

Lucie was a little cutie pie in the festive clothes I'd sent in a package for the occasion ! 

 

Emma did a little hike with her friends...

And went to the balloon festival...

Adam had to work during the day, but spent the evening with friends...

Ellie (currently known as Hermana G) didn't do much in the way of celebrating that day, but this photo is dated July 4th, so shows a little glimpse of the amazing things she was up to that day!  

I have no pics of Spence from that day, but he did have the day off, so I'm sure it was enjoyed!  

And that is all for this blogpost.  

Have a beautiful day!  

Mid-Summer Visit from Some of Our Favorites

A few weeks ago, my sister and her kiddos came to visit!  Then my brother joined the fun.    

As always with their visits, it meant life got a little extra chaotic for a bit, but it was a {mostly} happy chaos, so we loved it!  

Highlights of the visit included: 

* lots of time with J, Manuel, and Isaiah!

* Denali LOVED all the extra attention with them there

* With three of the four C. girls (and Mom) there, it meant we got to do a lot of talking time

*  My Legos got well-loved again 

*  We took a trip to the aquarium

*  Silliness and potty humor was abundant

* I got to expand my repertoire of music to way more "exciting" genres (according to I, M, and J anyway)

*   Lots of combined family dinners and culinary offerings not normally found at our house...

*  Pete came to town and we  had a big family dinner down in Provo to include the college kids

* 7 of the 10 boy cousins were all together...just missing Ben, Jack, and Lincoln

* Had 2 of the 8 girl cousins together...just missing Cam, Ellie, McKenzie, Lauren, Bridgette, and Anna

*  4 of the 8 siblings together!   

*  We don't see Pete often enough, so it was fun to have him there! 

* Pete's son, Davin, is a superstar baseball player who had come to participate in a BYU sports camp.

Lowlights included: 

*  I had a  major meltdown that I can only assume was fueled by hormones,  lack of sleep, and lack of routine.  It was of the epic sort I have only once every few years, so that was stupid.  I got to practice all the skills I had recently learned in my emotional resilience class at church (FSITL).  

* Nate came into town a few hours after Pete and Davin left, so we barely missed having 5/8 of the siblings together

In other news:  

* Some big changes are happening and life has taken a turn for busyness in the extreme and the next few months/years are going to be crazy {and good...we hope!}  I'll probably share more details eventually...

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Breaking Down the Wall

  I've mentioned this here a few times here before, but we recently got called to serve in a YSA ward down at BYU.   This has absolutely been a time consuming, but life-changing / life-enhancing calling for us and we feel so deeply blessed to be able to serve in this way.   

This post will be a little glimpse about this new part of our lives: 

If you are a fellow member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then you are probably aware that in recent years, there has been a big initiative to help young people become more independent in their participation with the church, as well as in the development of their testimonies.   Youth teach more lessons, plan their own activities, and, in general, have more opportunities to lead.   It's no different with the YSAs (young single adults).  Us older adults are just there to mentor and train, while they lead and serve in the way they feel inspired to lead! 

My specific calling is to work with the Relief Society presidencies to train them straight from the handbook, to be there as a mentor, and to just love them.  And loving them is easy, because they are some of the most down-to-earth, fantastic people on earth.   

I haven't actually taken a whole lot of pictures with them, but this past week or two, I decided I need to change that.  These pictures are me with the RS presidency (in shifts, since we couldn't all meet at the same time that night)

Susie, Me, Malia, and Zuzu

This night we were out making visits to ward members.  We brought birthday treats to those with birthdays, visited a new member who'd just moved in, and then just visited with some members they felt inspired to visit.   We did some of the visits together and split ways for some of the others.   

Me, Malia, Allison, and Zuzu

I send a lot of postcards in my new calling--for birthdays, after talks and lessons, for encouragement, for good luck, thank yous, etc.   I figure it's a way to serve that's authentically me and it makes me super happy when one of the members of the ward mentions receiving one in the mail.  I even designed my own batch of postcards and had them printed for  this calling!  😁

We spend a lot of time down in Provo now (2-4 times per week), including this recent stake pool party...

This group is mostly members of our ward

This is a group of Emma's friends from the same pool party. (She's in a different ward in the same stake)

The pool party ended up quite stormy, so the actual time in the water was very short, but it was a fun experience anyway! 

Ward members:  Karris, Malia, and I at the pool party

The YSAs take care of most of the details for planning, serving, and leading within the ward and stake, but us older adults definitely help with some logistical things...like buying a bunch water and fruit at Costco for the pool party.  

I love the opportunity to participate in ward temple days with them...

I also love participating in things like a recent ward camp-out (something they don't do in our regular Utah ward)...

Adam is not actually in our same stake or ward, but we've talked him into coming to a few of our ward activities (including the ward camp-out).  We figure that we may as well use our proximity to another big group of YSAs to expand his network  of people as well!   

We are busier than we've ever been before, especially as empty-nesters, but serving in this way has cracked open the wall I keep around myself (that's been even higher here in Utah) and I can feel my heart opening up.  💗

One more thing to add to the tally list for good parts about living in Utah.   The list is slowly growing.  

Spencer's Summer Update

Hello, friends!  Welcome back for the next installment in our series of  What Our Family is Up To where I go person by person and give a little update on what our family is doing this summer.  You can see previous updates  here:  
 Ellie
 Adam
 Emma 
 Cami 

...and if I get my act together, I'll do updates on Glen and I soon too, but in the meantime, here's SPENCER!   

NOTE:  Spencer has not outgrown his aversion to picture taking, so his update will be less pictorial than the rest.   

  For the last couple years Spence had been working as a relationship banker at a local branch of a big bank, which gave him some great experience and proved to be a  confidence booster for him. However it did not prove to be as upwardly mobile as promised when he was hired and he did not enjoy getting shuffled around to work at several different local branches, despite being hired to work at the branch 5 minutes from home.  

Eventually, he decided it was time for a change and he quickly found a job in a related field, but not before winning a prestigious performance award at his old job.   The reaction of his soon-to-be former manager when he found out about the award confirmed to him that he'd made the right decision by leaving.  

His new job seems very promising.  Not only have most of his co-workers worked there many years (which seems like a good sign), but part of the training is helping him receive licensing and certification that will increase his earning potential and future marketability, wherever he works.   He also enjoys working from home every-other-week, so the longer commute is less of a factor than it would otherwise be.   

The last couple of years he's gotten a few tattoos--each of which has special meaning to him.  

In addition to being busy with a new job, Spence has been enjoying the long hours of daylight by taking Kiwi out on long walks most days.  He still loves to read, listen to podcasts, play disc-golf, rock-climb at the gym, and play Magic the Gathering whenever he can talk Glen and/or Adam into joining him!   

His health remains good and we enjoy having him live close! 

Cam's Big Summer Update

Alright, here we go with the next installment in our series of  What Our Family is Up To where I go person by person and give a little update on what we're all doing this summer.  You can see previous updates on Ellie, Adam, and Emma here and more will be coming soon.     This update is the only one that will feature more than one person, since Cami now has a couple cute little attachments (and a tall handsome one) that come along with her on her life adventures!  

Speaking of cute little family members, I guess I'll start off with the family pictures they had taken in May.  They were taken by a photographer friend of theirs on the grounds of the apartment complex they've lived in the last 3 years (Tributary Rise).  They turned out quite adorably if you ask me and it's fun that the photos captured a glimpse of the place that they've grown to love so much!   

 Next, I'll get on to the biggest family update of all...

 In June, Garrett finished up his internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama - Birmingham and Cami worked her last day as a nurse at Children's of Alabama and they packed up their apartment and moved approximately 1200 miles northeast for Garrett's fellowship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.   

The moving crew consisted of 5 full-time missionaries, Garrett's parents, and of course Cami and Garrett...

And Lucie and Oliver...

Sadly, Rhode Island is approximately 500 miles further away from us, but I am happy to report that plane tickets there are cheaper and more plentiful than they were to Birmingham, so we are taking that as a win!  

Plus their state bird is a chicken, so that's fun... 😆

They took three days to drive to Rhode Island, hitting a new state along the way (South Carolina), visited Garrett's sister Ashley and family in North Carolina, and spent a night in Virginia where they visited the house we raised our family in...

and visited with AnnaLisa and Tim where Lucie and Oliver apparently charmed the socks off them and quite enjoyed playing with Tim's cat, Ash...

Then on Monday, they rolled up to the house they'll likely be living in for the next 3 years!   It's old and doesn't have AC or a dishwasher, but after apartment living for the last several years, they're excited to have a little room to run around!   

In the meantime, Oliver started walking (finally!) and Lucie is really excited to make new friends.   I was also quite delighted with Lucie's reaction (shown above) when she received her first postcard from me in their new mailbox.   She didn't realize that postcards could come to Rhode Island too!   Each new discovery of something familiar in Rhode Island (like a farm, Lifetime Fitness, primary, etc), makes her happy!

Now, I am eagerly trying to figure out when I can come visit  my favorite  new New Englanders!   

Update On Our Emma Girl

Hello, friends!   I know you've been waiting on pins and needles for the next update in our summer  series about what everyone's doing in our family, so I'm here to give you what you came here for...the update on our Emma girl!  As you all know, she's had a very eventful couple months and if you need a reminder about why it's been eventful, check out here to read about her recent graduation from BYU and here to read about her injury and subsequent surgery.   

  Here's Emma's update:  

1. Update on her broken collarbone/ surgery/recovery 
Emma's got a fiercely independent streak and I think the hardest part of her injury has been not being able to do everything herself.  There are just things that she can't do one-armed (including drive), which means that she's had to open up and accept help from those around her.   Her roommates and Adam have been very helpful to her and we are grateful for them.   

Weekly grocery trips with Adam have become a tradition

 Though I know well that a collarbone break is a painful injury (I broke mine when I was 9), she was determined to be off any and all painkillers within a couple days of her injury and subsequent surgery...including Tylenol and ibuprofen!   She still wears the sling full-time, but does have a few movement exercises that she's begun.   Her 4-week post-up appointment was earlier today and she is set to start physical therapy now, which she's hoping will mean that she'll be able to drive soon.

Her x-ray from today showed good healing! 

   The day of the triathlon she was training for when this injury occurred was this past weekend.  I think that that day was met with a little disappointment on her part, but, all in all, she is taking the change of plans for her last summer in Provo in good stride.  

2. Trip to LA and Disney
  FIVE days after her surgery (with the doctor's permission), Emma and her friends went on a long planned for graduation trip to Los Angeles together.   They explored a lot of iconic LA area sites, including Disneyland, Ghirardelli, Griffiths Observatory, Hollywood, the LaBrea Tar Pits, and the Getty Museum.   I was honestly pretty nervous about the whole trip and didn't breathe easy until she arrived back home unscathed.  I worried that she would overdo it, wouldn't be able to sleep well, and/or that she'd re-injure herself on some Disney ride...but thankfully none of the worst of my worries came to fruition.   I think she likely did overdo it a little, but the joy it brought her was worth any extra fatigue that may have resulted.  

3. Activities with friends
Emma has a great group of friends and it's fun to see what creative activities they came up with.  They've done flower arranging, game nights, have regular tea parties, field trips to local sites, and most recently decided to hold  their own  "Great British Bake-Off".  They put Emma on judging, since her mobility is limited, and she took her role seriously enough that she started brushing up on her British accent for the occasion!  The pictures and videos in our shared camera roll crack me up  and it sounds like a good time was had by all!   

4.  Church callings  
She's been serving in the stake RS presidency for the last year or so in her BYU stake, which has been a busy, but deeply fulfilling calling for her.  When we got our calling to serve in her same BYU stake, we quickly realized how loved and known she was, as we are still often referred to as  "Emma's parents," rather than by our names!    She is  known for being reliable  and organized  and we are fairly certain our association with her is  how our names got on "the list" for the calling in the first place.   In addition to her calling within the stake, she also has a weekly shift volunteering at the Provo City Center Temple.  One of her biggest concerns after her injury was whether she'd still be able to do her temple shift and how attending the temple would go without the use of an arm.  Neither has proven to be an issue with her injury and she has not missed a shift due to her injury.  

Her "team" at church! 

5. Moving onward...
Emma is moving to Rhode Island in about a month to work, to help with Cam's kiddos, and to figure out what she wants to do next!  Perhaps grad school...perhaps not!   Time will tell, and in the meantime, we are going to really, really, really miss her around here!   

The doggos have really enjoyed having her around a little extra lately.

Stay tuned for more family updates coming soon...