St. George with the BFs

Well the girls' last day of school was Thursday, and that evening (around 5:00 as Ben and I both had to work that day) we headed to St. George - with Aidan and Patton along for the trip. We ended up renting a car so all 6 of us could fit in one car and, honestly, it wasn't much more money than if we had to take our 2 cars. It worked out great and I loved just being all together. However, the car had pretty much ZERO storage room. It was tricky and squishy getting our paddle boards in and 6 people's belongings, etc. Yikes. But it was okay and Aidan and Emmy were troopers to sit in the back and be squished together - I am sure they loved it, haha. 

We got to St. George by about midnight that night. Friday was paddle boarding at Sand Hollow. It was a perfectly beautiful and hot day and so perfect for the water. We only could fit two paddle boards in the car (we have one and borrowed two more) and so the teens were mostly out on them, but I did go out a few times and Ben maybe once. Ben tried swimming, but got nauseous again (just like last year when he was practicing for his 1/2 Ironman). The clear water and not having ear plugs are his problems, we think. Anyways, the teens had a blast.

We had told the kids that they were each over making and preparing one night's meal while in St. George. Thursday night was Lucy's and Patton's turn and they had decided on making lemon poppyseed pancakes with homemade syrup and strawberries, plus sausage. I started helping out a bit much in the beginning, to which Lucy kept kicking me out and then would promptly ask me "How do I . . . ?" or "What do I . . . ?" Once the mix was basically done, I left them completely alone. It was a yummy dinner and we all loved it. Afterwards, we went to the park for a little bit and then out for frozen yogurt. Then home and we started watching Karate Kid. All so fun and good. A great day.

(Ugh, these are out of order and it is such a huge pain to rearrange them . . . so out of order they will stay.)

Eating frozen yogurt at 9:30 at night. The best.

Handstands at the park!

Patton flipping pancakes.

Lucy making the syrup.

Our Thursday night chefs! Adorable.

Sand Hollow - so pretty!

The teens in front of my parents' place. I told them their goal was to get as tan as Aidan. They didn't. :)

On Friday we got up early to get a start on our hike - we hiked Water Canyon in Hildale (about an hours' drive). We did a big loop hike of this a couple of years ago - but it was like 13 miles long and so we just did a nice (but so steep nonetheless!) 5-miles total out-and-back hike. It wasn't super hot nor super busy and it's just an awesome hike!

The beginning . . . 

I liked the sandmen. :)

This was our destination spot. And while it was still awesome, there was no water! So sad! Last time we came, there was this awesome wide/shallow stream flowing down the sand. It would have been amazing and the teens would have loved playing in it. But oh well. 

It was definitely warm enough to want to eat in the shadow of the cave. :)

Lunch time!

The kids went ahead (well as soon as we were done with making about 10 "wrong turns"! It's a difficult hike to navigate for sure) and enjoyed a few extra minutes cooling off in the river. It was a great hike and just beautiful.

We stopped by Judd's on the way home for some refreshing ice cream. I think all the girls got huckleberry - yum!

That afternoon naps were taken, Karate Kid was finished, and Ben and I took Aidan to the 3 Amigos grocery store to shop for Sunday's dinner. Then it was out on the town for dinner. :) Ben wanted to eat at George's (his favorite restaurant there), but the wait was 1 1/2 hours! So we opted for the Pasta Factory, but ended up at the Pizza Factory because we sent Lucy and Patton in to put down our names and apparently the Pasta Factory was downstairs . . . haha. But we had a great dinner anyhow! Then we dropped the teens off at Fiesta Fun - a place to bowl, laser tag, go-Kart, mini-golf, etc. Ben and I lucked out with my parents' friends' tickets to Tuachan that night - and we didn't want our teens alone all night in the house . . . So I thought Fiesta Fun would be great for them - and it was open until midnight, so perfect! (Our show didn't start until 8:45 and wouldn't be over until about 11:30). 

The girls were so worried about spending all the way until midnight there. But as our show got over a little earlier than expected, I texted the girls that we were on our way. . . "Noooo, please! Can we stay until midnight please?!"  Haha. So we let them stay until it closed and they had a great time. Apparently all they did was bowl and go-Kart. But they had a blast. Ben and I totally enjoyed our show at the Tuachan, The Wizard of Oz. I mean, it's not our favorite play or story, but it was just awesomely done at the theater and just being outdoors watching it was cool.

A fun date at the theater. :)

Sunday was truly a delight and restful day - much needed. The church right down the street had an 11:30 sacrament meeting - perfect! So we all slept in (teens more than parents ha) and then got ourselves ready for church. Church was good and Aidan and Patton were good sports to join us. That afternoon we just chilled and relaxed . . . oh and watched my favorite movie, While You Were Sleeping.

Emmy and Aidan were in charge of dinner and made carne asada tacos - soooo good and fun! We ate outside and had a lovely and delicious dinner. We played a boardgame and then went and played some pickle ball and that was fun. The evening was decently pleasant out and so that was nice. We got back a little after 9pm and the teens went to the swimming pool and had a great time staying until it closed at 11.

On our way to church. I missed the pink-dress memo (but I don't have one anyways ha).

Prepping dinner - the meat and onions and potatoes. 

Emmy seasoned the meat just right and Aidan grilled it perfectly. (Emmy and Aidan actually went over to Aidan's house on mothers' day and she taught them how to do it - cute!)

Fun and yum!

Pickle ball ya'll.

Lucy and Patton purposely posed like this to be silly. It turned out awesome!

On Monday we got up and Ben and I both had a nice run that morning. The teens got ready and Ben dropped them off at the mall. While they were there, we were able to clean up and pack up the car, etc. It worked out well really. We picked the kids up at noon, grabbed some more frozen yogurt (at the second place in town) and then headed on our way home. The drive was just fine and all was well.

It was a great trip and a fun way to start the summer break!

School's Out and May Ends

Well May had a lot going on . . . some fun end-of-year things and then the stress of end-of-year finals. But the girls survived and did decently in all their classes (some better than others, of course, ha!).

Aidan graduated - even though he had finished up his course work last December and has been working full-time until he attends CMU in the fall. Aidan was awarded multiple scholarships and was awarded what I will call "Senior Head Boy." I don't know the official name, but it was quite an honor. We are proud of Aidan and his awesomeness in life. :) Emmy went to graduation and was quite tearful, but happy too. Oh Emmy girl.

We got to chat with Jonas one evening while he was on post. It was pretty cool! A Border Patrol agent came over several times to talk with Jonas and Jonas was so professional and articulate and confident - he's turning into quite a man now. He's re-growing his mustache . . . He's surviving. Laredo is tons better, but he still doesn't love it of course. He switches to night-shift tonight (which he was excited about actually - his best buddy from here, Kolter, is also on nights) and so we'll see how that goes. We were hoping he could come home for Miles' welcome-home, but he isn't able to take that time off sadly. He's best-man in a wedding in September and is hoping he can get that time off! We'll be anxious to see him whenever we can!

Emmy's end-of-year candy gram. I got lots of food because 1. I am used to shopping for 4 and so I just went a bit crazy and 2. We were heading out that day for St. George and so I knew car-treats would be wanted and shared. So perfect.

Emmy,

Well, even though your JUNIOR year wasn’t always MOUNDS of excitement, you made it through another year of high school - despite saying you wanted to drop out of school multiple times . . . You managed a few FUN times - especially involving that BIG HUNK you began dating this year. You two dazzled at Prom, enjoyed movies and walks, got a lot of food and 7Brews, and even began playing pickleball. Yay! You also loved your teaching cadet experience at Northside with P.E. teacher Mr. Warren! Teaching kids how to jumpROPE, shoot hoops, and more. You loved it all. Your other classes, however, weren't your favorite. You had to read The Great GATSBY, learn algebraic equations, study the stars, understand economic concepts, and more. But you did it and you now enter your final year of high school - yay! And while you might not have loved your job as a LIFESAVER (i.e., lifeguard), you did love both making and spending money, ha! You soared at gymnastics with learning big new skills and connections - your FLIPZ on the beam, over the bar (i.e., giants), and on the floor were always impressive. Keep at it Emmy! You’re almost there! We love you!!

Lucy,

You had a ZINGER of a freshman year of high school, I would say! You and Patton made adorable SWEET*HEARTS* and were both nominated for Homecoming Royalty. We sure hoped and WONDERed if you’d win - sad when you didn’t, but also not too sad because what an honor to have been nominated! You did well with your classes, but mostly loved your MINGLE-time (lunch) with friends! You and Patton spent a lot of your Friday nights learning FLAMIN’ HOT dances for your friend’s quinceanera this coming July. You did great in your extracurricular activities. You got a couple almost-GOLDEN medals at state (2nd on vault and beam)! You were also a speedy 100-dasher and competed at the varsity level! Go you, Lucy! Keep up the good work and remember to be kind along the way! We love you!!

I hardly post anything of our dogs, but they are cute (and annoying). I had started videoing them playing but realized I wasn't recording anything. Brigham was the aggressor and much more playful than this video. But whatever. They are cuties. 

So long  May.