September

My wellness room.  I love it.  It's made my job so much easier.

The YSAs had a boating activity and so Dad, Alyssa and Christian were gone all day.  They had a great time hanging out with the YSAs.

While they were off partying, I took the girls on an adventure.  We went berry picking and then hiked to some falls and had a picnic.  Then we made the raspberries into shakes.  Mmmm.

Mission prep is pretty intense.  Christian had a lot of interviews--for his patriarchal blessing, becoming and Elder and getting the Melchizedek priesthood, and to go through the temple.  Then we had all the shopping to do.  Which I loved.  I love seeing him in nice clothes.

We threw a baby shower for Brittany as well.  She's such a cute pregnant lady!

Christian's farewell talk.  They told us we couldn't invite anyone, but Scott called Nick and Holly at the last minute.  He did a great job.  

I don't even know when this is.  But I love this guy.  I love the way he eats, moves and breathes.

The girls haven't had many youth activities so I decided we would do our own.  One week we made macarons, we also learned to do something and they wanted to do a tour of the temples.  So we went to 3 of the temples in the valley and took pictures and talked about what happens inside.  It was fun!

August

So many girls!  We watch Brave and did masks.   

Christian requested going to Lagoon for one last time before his mission so we splurged, took a day off and went.  It was a perfect day!  The weather was nice, there was no one there and we had a great time together.

This year we took advantage of the $2 Tuesdays and went to Thanksgiving Point a couple times.  We did the butterfly biosphere and the gardens.  

Amber and Livi played a lot of tennis this summer.  Thank goodness for getting them out of the house!  Amber went on to win 4th in Regionals and Livi won first in Regionals.  They are getting good!

We scrounged up some change one night and went to Nickelcade before Alyssa went back to school.  The kids worked together to earn their prizes.  It was fun!

Probably the most exciting news of the month was Christian got his mission call!  He opened it on mom's birthday, we had a lot of people over to celebrate.  He's going to California Sacramento speaking Hmong.

My birthday present!  Lyssa bought us a fondue experience at Taste.  It was so yummy and thoughtful!

And then of course we went to do our yearly moonlight ride at Sundance.  He's such a romantic.

First day of school pics.  One kid at each school.  It's weird.  Livi'sin 8th grade at Dixon, Soran's in 6th grade at Lakeview and Amber's a junior at PHS.  They have to wear masks while they are at school, and the day is shortened.  They all started out going every other day, with Fridays off.  Soran and Livi are back Monday-Thursday, Amber has still been every other day.  But it's nice to be back on a schedule and seeing friends!

July

This 4th of July was like no other, but we still found ways to party!  We went camping with the Henlines the few days before, it was beautiful!  But so cold!

Then on the 4th we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's land and rode 4 wheelers, did some archery, had a barbecue and hung out with our family. 

And then that night we went and watched the fireworks on top of the church parking lot.  It was a perfect view of the valley and we could see so many fireworks.

The girls and dad had the chance to go to a modified 2-day Girls camp and so Soran and I went to the aquarium with Aunt Xela.  Dad and the girls rode jet skis, boats, did crafts, had a testimony meeting and enjoyed being with other people!  Oh, and dad got sunburned to a crispy critter.

For Aunt Xela's birthday we went camping at Mill Hollow Creek.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We hiked, went paddle boarding, made tie dyed shirts, told scary stories and hung out in the hammocks.  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed being away from the heat.

Grandma Thompsons birthday!  We went out to eat with the adults for kickin' Cajun!

And then this girl got married.  Alyssa was a beautiful maid of honor and helped a lot that day!

My girls (Soran is off somewhere eating some food.)

And then the highlight of the summer--we went to Bear Lake!  We borrowed Taylor's boat and headed to a nice cabin for a few days.  We tubed, skied, had famous raspberry shakes, watched a movie in the theater room, rode scooters and had a fire with s'mores.  It was a great way to end the summer.