Post-Thailand Life and Where the Sidewalk Ends...

Coming home from Thailand was a little rough.  Not only did we have a 13 hour time difference to recover from, but I had a million things on my to-do list, which meant I had to get moving full-steam ahead.   What do we have going on right now?   Mostly just normal stuff and getting Ellie ready to leave for college in a few weeks.   And by normal stuff I meant  I had a RS activity I was in charge of within 3 days of returning home.   Thankfully I had done a lot of the prep-work beforehand and so it was just pulling the details together, which was good, since the jet-lag was brutal at that point and this was the most disorganized I ever felt before an activity.  In the end, the activity was well-attended and  I feel like it came together well.

Here are a few other things we have going on...

I've been logging a lot of walking miles this summer.    Most mornings I just wander around our community, taking whatever route my feet happen to follow.   I am wearing out my shoes quickly and I am realizing that I need thick, good quality socks to walk this much.   I miss walking with Glen, but we log as many miles together as we can on the weekends. 

I ran into this sign on one of my recent walks and it made me laugh and think of this book of poems I loved so much as a kid.  Thankfully the sidewalk's end in real life was not quite as dramatic as the one of Shel Silverstein's creation! 

On one of our weekend walks recently we discovered this little stretch of trail here in Alpine that made us feel like we were back home in Virginia for a minute. 

Last week we celebrated my Mom's 71st birthday with some "Better Than...Anything" cake that Ellie made for her.  Today is my Dad's birthday, so I am thinking of him extra today. 

One morning Emma came over to hear the scoop  about Thailand in person.   Ellie was very happy to have her partner in silliness back! 

 

We had a Vienna Ward get-together last week and it made me sooooo happy.   Our lives have been (and look to continue to be) so nomadic  and it was good for my soul to be among people who love and know us.   I miss that feeling. 

 

 

Speaking of old Virginia friends, Ellie's recently had a couple old friends move to Utah and she's been enjoying the boost in her social life before she heads off to college.   

I don't know if I adequately portrayed in my blogpost about Thailand, how much that experience meant to me, but it felt like a little of the protective wall I've kept around me since moving away from VA got chipped away a bit. I find myself looking through pics and reminiscing about it often.  This was one more collage I created...just for fun.  I'm also working on another couple projects and am super looking forward to a reunion at our house this coming weekend! 

 

This blogpost is getting a little long and rambly, so I'll finish up with a couple pics of my favorite grandbaby!   Lucie is 20 months old, good at making messes, is going through some sleep troubles (trying to skip her naps!), and is learning new words every day!   I LOVE my facetime conversations with her and look forward to a real life visit in a few weeks!  

Here she is wearing of the Thailand dresses I got for her.   She may or may not have been the recipient of the most Thai souvenirs.  She's just so darn fun and easy to shop for (and I know she won't complain)!   Hahaha!

 
And with that, I'll sign off on this post!   Have an amazing weekend!