August

I thought this month wouldn't be too eventful, but once again,  I was wrong.  There were many fun and wonderful happenings that I'm so happy about.  The first one being meeting President Monson for my second time- Mike, Cam and Carol's first.  Carol and I coincidentally signed up to help at the outdoor Cafe  during the Utah Festival's matinee production of Fiddler on the Roof on August 2nd.  When we asked Gary a few weeks before that if President Monson was coming up this year for a performance, he said that he was coming to the matinee of Fiddler on August 2nd!  Sweet!  So Mike was happy to agree to come to his first UFO performance and help serve refreshments so he could meet President Monson.  Gary said Cam could come and meet him as well, even though he wasn't there to help or attend the musical.  It was a special experience and one we'll never forget.  As a bonus, Elders Oaks and Hales were there as well so we got to see them, but not shake hands.  In this picture President Monson is either shaking hands with Mike or Cam.  We're not sure.  They both like to say it was them.

The second happy event happened soon after meeting President Monson when Jessica arrived back in town after her summer in Texas 2 weeks before she had told me she was coming and pulled off yet another great surprise.  With the help of her friend Mikell, she hid in this box and when I answered the door and lifted the lid off the box, there she was!  It was such a fun discovery!  She must really love the thrill of seeing me surprised, because this is the 3rd time in two years she's surprised me by coming home early from Texas!  We had a great time having her to ourselves for 2 weeks before Brad got home. We went on many evening bike rides and walks, watched a few shows, and worked on a few projects. 

We let Cam go a couple months longer than we wanted before we made him get another haircut.  He hadn't had one since March.  Stacie was kind and agreed to do it one Sunday after our extended family dinner at the Weyerts.  Notice what a magnet Jess is for all the little kids?  The bottom 2 pictures are from the next Sunday when Carol asked her kids, us, Bundy's, Ann, and Mom to come and help her get ready for the start of school in her kindergarten class at Providence Elementary.  The work we all did in 1 1/2 hours was greatly appreciated by her and fun for us to help her out. 
We FINALLY got some pictures and video from Jake after waiting for 2 months.  It was worth the wait though as he sent over 100 pictures (all labeled) and 5-6 videos.  It was so wonderful to see his handsome, smiling face and hear and see him on video.  It definitely was a highlight for the month for me.  These pictures are from Redmond when he was with his trainer Elder Haviland whom he LOVED.  From top left around clockwise:  Chilling on the hammock at a members home- when they ran for steak at a ward party on July 4th, their last night together before Jake got transferred (how did he luck out and have a companion as goofy as him?), and outside the Seattle Temple. I'm so grateful that his first 2 companions are men who taught him so much and that he became such great friends with.

Jake thought it would be fun/interesting/memorable to cut his own hair because that's what Elder Haviland does.  So the first picture is of him cutting it, then of him thinking- this doesn't look too bad- then of him realizing what the back looks like.  HAHAHA.  That gave me a laugh out loud moment when I saw it for the first time- and every time since actually. . . the other picture is of him putting a Mormon.org card on the gum wall in downtown Seattle where he's serving now.

This is on transfer day- their last day to be companions.  Jake was very sad.  Even though in this picture he looks happy.  He was really very, very sad.

All too soon summer was over and it was back to school and work for me and Cam.  This is Cam on his first day of his Senior year.  How did this happen?  It seems like only a very short time ago that he was starting kindergarten.  Oh how grateful I am for this happy, obedient, fun, and loving last child of mine.
 

It was a bonus to have Kylee come for a weekend to attend her friend Maryn's wedding.  I picked her up from the airport late Thursday night and Mike took her back Sunday evening.  So even though it was a short trip, and she was tied up most of Friday with wedding festivities, we managed to squeeze a lot of fun into the time she was here.  As always, I love it when she comes home and spends even just 10 minutes playing the piano.  I miss hearing piano music from the girls on a regular basis.  Saturday morning me and Mike and the girls hiked the Wind Caves and had a fun time doing that and talking the whole way.  We each took turns coming up with a topic of conversation, so we had interesting and varied things to talk about.

Ky and I got haircuts from Stacie, then we prepared tin foil dinners and joined by the Bundy's, had a wonderful evening in the canyon eating, playing cards and talking.  That has to be one of my favorite summer activities.  The next day we went to church then prepared dinner which the Bundy's, Andy and Chelsea and Mom joined us for.  Andy and Chelsea decided to come to town for a couple days, so we were happy to have them join in the fun. Brad surprised us all by coming back from Texas early.  He knows how much fun we always have when the cousins get together, so he didn't want to miss out!  Kylee- as the oldest, feels like a shrimp next to her "little" brother.  Cam loves that he has one cousin he can look up to!  He hopes this fact remains true as he doesn't want to grow any taller. He's 6 foot 3 1/2 inches right now.

Mike and I missed out on the fun for 1/2 hour when we went to the church for a meeting with our Stake President where Mike was given the calling of Stake Executive Secretary.  He got released from our bishopric 2 weeks ago, and really enjoyed that short break.  So now he goes from the frying pan into the fire.  Yikes- this calling seems very overwhelming and time consuming, but with his mad skills of organization and attention to detail, he's going to be awesome.  He took Ky back to the airport while the rest of us went on a bike ride around USU and the cemetery, to Hillcrest to play on the playground, then back to our house for some fun backyard volleyball.

 
One of Mike's summer projects was building a shed on the west side of our house.  He and Cam worked at clearing the ground, shoveling the gravel, and laying the frame over a couple Saturdays.

Then it was time to assemble it.  Mike worked on it all day- 12 hours, and got it mostly done.  Here is Emma lending a hand- doing what she does best- being helpful.

And here is her sister Lydia doing what she does best- be a princess and be waited on and served.  Haha.  We enjoyed tending the girls for a day and night (with their grandparents doing the other days) while their parents are in Ft. Collins visiting Ky and Brody for Labor Day weekend.  

And here is the finished product. . . 

It's going to be awesome to have for some extra storage around the house and yard.  I'm sure we'll wonder how we ever survived without one.

One other exciting thing that happened in August was Brody finding out he passed his qualifying exam for his PhD program, so now for sure he'll have the title of Dr. before his name once he writes his dissertation.  I'm already planning on just calling him Master Doctor.  We've very proud of him and how hard he's worked to get to this point.