Reunion, Facetimes, Blood, and Birds...

Here's a  little glimpse at the past week at our house: 

I tried to send a bunch of graduation cards out to graduating seniors and was thwarted when the post office decided that they were "non-machineable" and will cost extra postage.  I'm kind of feeling grumpy about it, but don't know that I have any options other than slapping on the extra 45 cents each.   Hope all the graduates appreciate how much I love them!  😊

Denali got groomed again this past Thursday and we are very much keeping Kiwi and Denali separated again.  We did a soft reintroduction a few days in, but Denali still seemed very nervous, so we are taking it slow and easy!  No more injuries!

Glen and I donated blood last Thursday.   It went very smoothly and it's fun to have someone to go with again now that having lived in England for the two years of his mission is no longer a hurdle to him donating!   I also appreciate not having to stress about my iron levels when donating anymore! 

On Friday, I took my Mom up to Rexburg for a Clarence Joshua & Rose Ellen Hepworth family reunion.  I mostly planned this same reunion a couple summers ago, so my interest was piqued to see another one in action. 

   We were the sole representatives of the Fay/Florize Hepworth family there and honestly the main reason why I made the effort to go was to see Ellie while we were in Rexburg.  Fay and Florize were my maternal grandparents and I have several aunts and uncles and over 60 first cousins that COULD have been there, so the fact we were the only ones was saying something. 

It was fun to spend some time with Ellie and to see some long lost relatives as well.  And when I say, "long-lost," I mean LONG LONG lost...in that I'd never met the vast majority  of them in my life before.  It was fun to be able to see my Mom interact with several of her first cousins there though.   Apparently Rexburg is a hub for other lines of the Hepworth family.  I had no idea. 

While we were gone,  Glen played golf with his brother, Alex, for his birthday and then disc golf with Spence...

Then we celebrated Father's Day on Sunday by looking through old photos and enjoying some yummy food!   I can't believe how little my kids look here!    What was probably 17ish years ago seems like yesterday!  How am I that old? 

I've been enjoying my Lucie Facetimes lately.  The previous few weeks for them have been a little extra crazy with a family reunion with Garrett's side of the family, several houseguests, a  road trip to Chicago where Garrett was giving a work presentation, and Cami back to working full-time.  Additionally, Cam was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which was a relief in one way to explain all the symptoms she was having, but also added an element of stress to their lives. In other words, for a few weeks they didn't have a ton of time for Facetimes, but just the past week or so, things have finally started to settle down for them and, I, once again, have been eagerly looking forward to my sweet Lucie conversations.  Usually the conversations involve at least one of the following requests:   1.  to see our umbrella, 2. to turn on the facetime filters, usually the octopus or giraffe,  3. to see the lollipops which she requested me save for her and Bear Friend for when they come in August, 4. to have me read her a book.  

 

She is currently obsessed with "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?" by Eric Carle and "If You Find a Rock," by Peggy Christian... both of which make me super happy!  She is delightful to talk to and a little smarty pants too!   I can't wait to see them in August again! 

I got this awesome postcard from Belarus from my Postcrossing exchange.   It's a great spotted woodpecker and it totally made me smile. 

Speaking of birds, I found this photo of a very pretty bird in  Norway in the camera roll today...where Emma is currently on her public health study abroad.   I haven't kept track of how many countries she's been to, but she is traveling all over Europe and seemingly having a great time.   I hope to be able to talk her into writing a blogpost about it when she gets back. 

 

Here's a random photo of Ellie and her roommate, Claire, from the camera roll this week...

Also, last week was the first week Glen started working remotely from the home office.  I rather enjoyed having him around more...and I think Denali did too! 

This week, he's back to Saint George again. 😑   Only 4 more times (I think) and he will be fully working remotely from home!

So that's it.   A week in the life!    Hope you have an amazing week!