Bye Joseph & Eliza!

Hello hello! Life has been going 100 miles per hour and I am way behind on the blog here. We are up at Park City this week and today seems like the first time I've sat at the computer for a few weeks. I registered the older girls for school (can't believe Natalie is starting junior high) and that made me tired, I had to take a nap half way through. It's been a busy past two days, with the Provo River on Monday and Jordanelle yesterday, so I don't feel bad for needing a nap. I just caught up Wesley's mission blog and my workouts and now I'm here doing a post for today before I begin to try and catch up on family documentation. I have to finish Mar-June plus I've only done 7 posts for July. I don't know if I'll have much time up here, maybe next week? Or I'll catch up after the kids are all in school and it's just Katharine and me at home. So today was Joseph and Eliza's last day here. They left this afternoon to go to Boise for a family reunion on Eliza's side up there, and then they will be flying out to Ohio for 4 years of medical school. I wanted a group pic of the kids, so I'm glad we got that - 

I think a pic on the Park City couch will become a traditional photo for us (2020 installment below). 

This morning, Corey and I went on a ride with Joseph. Took a pic at the top of HAM before we started our descent.

It was Joseph's last ride through the Rocky Mountains for a while. He borrowed our neighbor's nice nice mountain bike, and Joseph says he LOVES mountain biking now! A nice bike does make a big difference! After we got back, we said bye to Joseph, he passed out shells that he brought back from Playa Conchal that he and Eliza gathered last week, and then I sat at the computer (school registration, reunion stuff, Wes blog, etc etc) while the kids did crafts with Mel - making popsicle stick "boats" today - mostly little rafts that she said they would have a race with.

Owen wants to be an engineer, and he went over the top on his boat! Natalie was impressed!

He said it did float when they tested it, so good job Owen! Not sure how/why he knew how to make a seaworthy vessel, wow. Nancy had dinner today - taco salad, and then we played hotel tag, which the kids had been begging for. It was fun. We had a had as the sign that you were "it" - which was Ethan in this picture.

Hyrum was like me - I took off my flip flops so I could sneak around better. As quiet as a mouse

Hyrum was it when we were about to wrap the game up - 

Hooray for hotel tag. 

Then we all went swimming while we waited for the House finale to upload.

We swam for like 30 minutes. Katharine is a little possessive of Corey. He had to go in the pool she was in. Bella and Ethan let us know that ice cream was ready and so we walked in. K's got Corey.

We watched the House together until past 11:30. Corey doesn't think he'll make it on a ride in the morning, we stayed up too late. I have an ability to not get sleep yet still get up in the morning (and take a nap). So Ethan really did an amazing job on this video gift to our family. I don't know how much he could reasonably charge other people to make something similar for them, but I wish I could give him a lot of money for the sacrifice of time he's put into this. It's a treasure that will last for many years. I'd put the link, but he took it down to finish a few last errors that he noticed as we watched it. One of my favorite parts was Ethan's interpretation of Katharine's jibber jabber in the subtitles, it was funny and so cute. I sure love being a wife and mother and having all these kids in my life. 

Jordanelle

It's been another nice day at Park City with the Wrides. Corey and I did an early morning ride up Armstrong and HAM and down Seldom Seen, and then I gave Corey the day off and I took the kids with me and we spent the rest of the day was spent at Jordanelle. My favorite pic for the day was Katharine looking back to give me a smile as she built her castle ~

She was working on it very hard and was proud of her work.

Mark was so nice to put this day together. He rented the pavilion, brought the chairs, canopy, all his kayaks and water fun items, AND he rented jet skis this year too! Plus provided all the food for lunch: Sandwiches, watermelon, pineapple, and plenty of snacks and treats. 

The kids took turns out on the jet skis. When I arrived, our 4 girls who had gotten a ride over with Wayne, were all out on the water (Abi Lily Sophi and Natalie). The little kids, Hyrum and Joseph and Eliza drove over with me. Joseph only stayed for an hour before he had to leave for a lunch with friends, so he and Eliza wanted a turn before he left. They took one jet ski, and Peter and I took the other. 

Peter didn't really want to go, but I promised him we'd go slow. He was a good sport, only got scared a few times (when I did try to go a little faster)...

I took Peter back and then went out for a bit more with Abi and Natalie on one ski, and Sophi on the jet ski with me. We put the ski in Sports mode and went faster, and that was fun! Sophi wanted a turn, but I didn't want to share (I don't like letting the kids drive the car, and didn't think I'd like her driving the jet ski either... plus she is a bit too young to drive it, right? but she and Natalie both said that Mark had already let them) so I moved back, let Sophi get in the drivers seat, and within 60 seconds, she hit a big wave (made by Abi and Natalie who had crossed in front of us) and I was thrown from the jet ski. I think I landed on my head and felt like I'd had the wind knocked out of me and like I'd just gotten off the tire swing. Good news after that - she didn't nag to let her drive again. It was a little scary holding on in back. I was holding onto Sophi when I was behind her, but admit that I was not committed to it. She was not a sure foundation or a secure anchor. I didn't want to hold on to her so much that I'd pull her off, so when she hit the wave and my commitment was tested, I let go and went flying. I thought I was going to lose my flip flops, but they float, hooray! After that, we went around the water a little more, got to 41 mph, and then I was done. Abi really liked the jet ski and was happy to take whoever wanted a turn. 

We went back to the beach to sit with those waiting a turn or who had finished their turn and were staying in the shade enjoying the view. 

Katharine is a cutie pie. She liked playing in the sand as she ate (not always a good combination!) 

She did not mind eating cheese puffs sprinkled with sand. She actually held on to them for quite a while and did end up eating all of them. Whatever makes her happy.

Peter had a sandwich first, with a side of oreos, but I'm not sure how much of his sandwich was eaten... 

The boys seemed to mostly drawn to the processed stuff... Peter with a bowl of Cheetos and MnMs.

I didn't have much energy to take a stand on anything diet-wise. Everyone enjoyed getting warm in the sun.

I was sure to coat myself and everyone well, after my shins got burned yesterday on the Provo River. K still playing in sand.

She did that the rest of the day, and it was only at the end of the day that she learned the difference in consistency that water makes to sand. That was when she made her castle with another little girl on the beach. She didn't want to leave but we eventually had to grab her. After Joseph was back, people we packing up, but he wanted one more go... the jet skis were gone though (needed maintenance) and so he and Eliza took a swim out to a little island (you can see it behind them). 

They were swimming against the wind on the way there, so that wore them out, but it helped them on the way back. Wayne made dinner for us all tonight - lasagna, a salad, and gluten free pizza for Bella. 

Then we watched the House 5. Ethan has a goal to finally finish all the episodes up here. He's been staying up until 3 am working on it for quite a while (weeks? months?) He's been sending pics of his blood-shot eyes at 3 am the past few days, and let us know that "the House is ruining" his life. It's a self imposed burden. It was his idea and we will give him full credit for the masterpiece it becomes. It will be a treasure that will last many years into the future, to be enjoyed on Anniversary dinner nights. Because we watched that, Corey and I didn't get out on an evening ride again, but we've just been having too much fun I guess! We'll see if we pull off a double ride tomorrow. 

Provo River Float

My week up here at the Wride Reunion did not totally start off on the right foot... Katharine wanted to sleep with us last night, and for some reason I thought it would be ok. I had to keep her from Corey though, so I put myself in between them, but the bed was smaller than our king, so she was literally kicking me every 3-5 minutes from midnight to 3:30 am. At 3:19 I texted Corey and said "This is the worst night's 'sleep' I've had in a while..." When Corey woke up, he said with some relief in his voice "That wasn't so bad sleeping with Katharine!" I didn't agree, and said "I texted you..." and he checked my text and saw the time. I was still able to make it out on our first ride, but I did take a morning nap. We rode Mother Urban with Joseph, then came down Mid Mountain, Jenni's, and Loose Moose. It was a good ride. Then I took a nap while Abi made breakfast, I did reunion and Relief Society stuff from 12 - 12:45. Terry texted me that she'd had a busy morning greeting 6 emerging butterflies, yay! I'm ok that I missed sending them off, even though I still think it would have been fun to share it with family and people here. It would have just been a bit much to try and carefully transport them up, as we were already pushing ourselves and had reached our max stress capacity. 

So today, Mark had arranged and planned for all of us to float the Provo River. I would have been ok to miss it had the opportunity presented itself, but since I'd never gone, and because everyone was going, I  followed along and it was good. It was about what I expected, it was fun and nice. Peter and Katharine are ready to go!

Sophi, Natalie and Abi at the "put in" point 

Everyone chose their water vehicle, found a life vest, and put on sunblock. I got a yellow boat for me and Peter. But then he ended up going with Rhyan, so I followed Corey who had Katharine.

It was Katharine's first time too, and she was definitely out of her comfort zone. It was a bit cold getting in, and then anytime she got a little splashed, she was very sad. 

Next time I think we'll go for a larger boat. My phone was safe in a floating waterproof pouch that was secured to my vest, but it did make it challenging to use, and also I could not really see in the full sunlight, so I took a blind video of us doing my best to guess where the focus should be. These are two screen shots of it. She was not screaming out in terror in the pic below, she was saying "I sad!"

She was ok if Corey kept one arm around her belly, but when he took it off to paddle, she felt vulnerable.  It was good for the two of us to stick together. I didn't have a paddle, but I was able to hold onto the rope on Corey's tube and turn him around, that way one of us was always facing forward and could see. 

We avoided most of the low hanging branches and baby rapids. Ethan and Hyrum were on kayaks and were chasing everyone down and soaking them with their water guns. Especially Mel and Lily. Lily's raft got a few holes and she joined onto us near the end to keep her from sinking. There is one point where you have to exit the river and put in again, and at that spot, Corey got out with K and they walked the rest of the way. He thought it was just a short walk but it was kinda long. But K was happier to be out of the water. I took Lily's deflated raft as my back cushion and I was almost on a chair, so that was good. I joined up with Bella and it was great, everyone had fun, Wayne was waiting for us at the bottom and took 3 drivers up to get the cars. Kids played on the playground until they were back, then we loaded back up the boats and hurried back to the hotel. We made dinner tonight - Corey and Jeremy had agreed this past Sunday (J came to apologize for Pineview) to a fatted calf peace offering (tri tip steak) and so they grilled that up. 

It's been a long while since we've had Corey's Brazilian steak. Abi made mashed potatoes for the side and steamed mixed vegetables, plus a salad and rolls. It was a feast. Thanks Abi. (She's agreed to be our main chef this week.)

We watched episodes 4 and 5 of "The House" tonight with extended family and ate leftover dessert bars for the treat. Ethan has been staying up late every night and is almost ready with the finale to show us before Joseph and Eliza leave on Wednesday. :) He did a good job, these videos will be a treasure for many years to come. 

Wride Reunion

We have arrived up at Park City for the annual Wride reunion. 

We're looking forward to biking this week! Corey and I went shopping yesterday afternoon to get stuff for the wedding open house yesterday AND to get food for this week at Park City. We had two full carts when we got to check out, and spent over $900, yikes. I wasn't up for shopping for both, I thought it would be easier to just focus on the open house and then come back on Monday to do Park City, but Corey was determined and now I'm grateful that we don't have to worry about going down again for food. We have a ton here - a ton of food and a ton of stuff. Lily stuck in the packed car.

7 bikes, two bins of roller blades, two saxophones... Here's Hyrum loading up the bikes.

...I also brought 6 books (goal is to read atleast a little bit from all of them! Right now I'm 1/6), plus clothes and luggage for 14 people (CTJ&EME&BHALSNODPK) And I had packed my butterflies so that I could bring my chrysalides that were going to come out tomorrow (they were all turning dark) but at the last minute I decided it would be too much. It would have been fun to share with family and strangers at the pool, but I guess they'll be safer at home. I gave two chrysalides to a neighbor Amy, and 11 to Terry, and then I had Hyrum take Terry the last 6 that I had been hanging onto for myself. It made it a bit easier to unpack and get into the room. We had three male monarchs come out today. You can see it at 8 o'clock.

I might let my butterfly conservation efforts be done this year. I've been thinking it might be good to just have it be a July thing? We'll see if I can resist looking for eggs. A few pictures from church - Melodie and I taught Peter's class. They were a cute little bunch!

Teaching them about Alma 32 and taking our seed of faith and helping it grow into a tree of life that will bring forth good fruit! 

They were a cute little class, I love kindergarteners. They are so sweet.

Owen is 9! & Open House

Happy Birthday to Owen! Owen got kinda short changed for is birthday last year, though he didn't complain about it at all (it was the same day as JeNeal's funeral). Still, we tried to make sure this year was a good one for him, even though there was another event happening on his special day again. This boy is our early riser, so he was up at 6 am on a "you're free to sleep in" summer morning, as I knew he would be, so I had his stuff ready before he woke up. 

He didn't care to wait for his siblings to rise, cause that wouldn't be for another couple of hours, so it was just him and me, and that's ok. He's the birthday boy so he can call the shots today. 

He opened his gifts and played with his legos, and then Corey and I left to go on a ride with Joseph and his father in law Scott. We did Canyon Hollow and Brocks up, and then Rush down. 5.41 miles, 48 minutes. I got a PR for the end of Brocks, .23 in 2:24. Also a PR for Exist Stage left (which is what you can take instead of the trees) .36 miles, 1:31, previous PR was 1:36 on June 12 this year, so 5 seconds faster, oh yeah. We got back and cleaned up, then my mom came over at 10:30 with birthday gifts and cake for Owen. 

Happy Birthday to you!

His siblings were awake for his one. 

Checking out the loot.

Helping him put things together and play. 

Then Wayne came by to take Owen to the Natural History Museum as an outing together for his bday. 

I really like that Wayne does that. I think time together is a true gift, especially one on one time. With all the grandkids and birthdays that I see in our future, I assume that one on one time will be something that won't likely happen on it's own, so I plan to do something "one on one" like this for birthdays for our children as they leave our home and their children as they come. So yay, kids are busy and taken care of. Time to go set things up in the Morgan's yard... 

Mel and Abi were great help. We took a few car rides over with folding tables and big framed photos. We set up the tables and were able to pull together chairs from the neighbors who all share that big back yard along the ridge. Put on table clothes that Eliza's mom brought down from Idaho, and other decorations, etc etc... Hyrum went to Provo to pick up the dessert bars. He was surprised when he saw the receipt at how much we paid just for them. We  took the opportunity to tell him that we are happy to give him and his future bride that much or more in cash in exchange of not doing an open house. He said he'll think about it. Yesterday I went to Zurchers and got some balloons and a few other things. Katharine wanted the big "Mr & Mrs" balloons, and as she briefly held it, the Mrs promptly popped. Yay. So then I let her have the other one. That was a waste of $35 bucks. I shall not get those next time. K was cute, and also sad cause Sophi took a crumb of her dessert bar. 

She tried to fix her error and point out that she still had plenty of dessert...

But K wasn't having it. She left the table and went to mourn the injustice of life. 

She knew she had been robbed. 

Haha, she's so dramatic sometimes! But I'm glad that she just goes away by herself to cry, rather than totally throwing a fit. As for the open house, we had lots of extended family, neighbors, and high school friends come out to congratulate Joseph and Eliza. 

Not as many as we had prepped desserts for, but that's ok. 

The deck where the refreshments were served.

Beautiful view of the valley. 

We had music for a little bit of dancing, which the other teenage girls participated in. Most of the college plus people took the opportunity to visit with people they don't see often, like the Hibbert cousin closest in age to Joseph, Emma Smart and her boyfriend Nik. Neil and Hyrum and my parents sat to visit with them. It was so nice for everyone to come out. 

There was some concerning wind at the beginning, that kept blowing over the photos and other things for like 30 minutes, but it died down right when guests started to come and the rest of the evening was perfect. Nice cloud cover so it wasn't too hot, and we saw a lovely sunset. 

Thank you Lord! It was perfect. We are all done. Terry helped with the refreshments and water again, she is an angel friend. When I went and got lemons and grapes for tonight, I stocked up on food for Park City for our breakfast and lunches and the night when we are in charge of dinner. And yeah, we'll be serving dessert bars on the two nights that we are in charge of dessert, so we are ready to go.