Secret Spot

I'm glad I did a ride last night cause I was pretty sure I'd end up taking carpool this morning, which I did. After Abi got home, I went to Costco cause I found/remembered we had our cashback check, so I used that to get some groceries for feeding the missionaries today and an Aubergine gift card for date night, yay. (I also bought some Dubai Chocolates, which I shouldn't have bought...I've already had too many). Tonight we went to the Draper Aubergine, which is the one we usually go to. I got the Vitality bowl, which was very good, Corey got the Tri Tip Madiera, and we got a brownie layers too. After eating we went climbing at the Ft. Union momentum, and I'm pleased to report that I did that Red 5.11b as my 3rd route and today was the first time I got it with no stops or rests and without cheating/having to grab an easier hold to continue. I was very happy with myself that I got it! I can get 5.10cs no problem, I'm about half and half on 5.10d's, and we're getting to where we try 5.11a's, but this was the first 5.11b I've been able to send. 

We forgot to plan on date night last night (we got talking politics and shaking our heads at the world) but it was another Aug Saturday of cleaning the chapel, then Corey took Owen to his soccer game. I was going to take Peter, but he stayed home sick yesterday, saying his tummy hurt. The only thing he ate yesterday was an apple, and he threw that up last night. I woke up at 6 am to find him happy and feeling better and playing in his room. I didn't know he had thrown up until the kids showed me later. He slept on our loveseat last night and I was glad I had put towels on the floor around him. A little bit got on the carpet, but it wasn't bad, phew! I would have been sad if he had made a mess on the carpet. I was glad he was feeling better, but knew he wouldn't have energy to play soccer since he hardly ate anything yesterday, so he stayed home and we played legos like all day again. I'm still trying to make Cinderella's castle that K got for her birthday. It's a lot harder to do when they don't put all the pieces in front of you. The gathering is the tricky part! 

So with cleaning the church and soccer, I didn't go on a ride this morning. I didn't go on an afternoon ride cause we were feeding the missionaries at 4:30. We had orange chicken. One Elder from Soldotna, Alaska, the other from Redlands, California. 

Natalie made cupcakes, which she put in the oven before the orange chicken. Her temp was 350, I put in the chicken but it needed 400 degrees, so then the chicken wasn't ready when they came and they had to wait a bit, which I felt sorry for. Natalie's cupcakes were tasty. She's a good little baker of sweets. She has a real sweet tooth too, gets it from me. 

Corey took Natalie on a "Daddy daughter date" tonight, but she had wanted a "Daddy Daughter DAY" and I said no, just a date, NOT the whole day!!! They just went where the wind blew them, ended up going down town and riding scooters around.

Then they got ice cream at City Creek.

Then they went to Target and Corey bought her two shirts. 

They were gone for over 3 hours. While they were gone, I left Sophi in charge and I went on a walk/hike to my secret spot on the moraine. I think the dates with dad is a good thing, and if I were to set policy, I'd say that after they have a date with Corey, the following Saturday morning they get "Mornings with Mom" where I get to take them up on the mountains on a hike or something boring like that. So Natalie, you're up next Saturday morning! I'll take her to my boulder.

This boulder is my secret spot. Shhh don't tell anyone. 

Most people are on the main trail behind me that you can see slightly behind me, that goes to the reservoir, and I like that too, but I like going up to this boulder. It is curved like a spoon and kinda cradles you if you lay down in it, which I did. It was nice to look up at the sky and breath and relaxed as the wind blew around me. 

So we survived the first week of school. Music and chores didn't go so great, neither did dishes, folding clothes, or cleaning bedrooms, but we're all alive so that means we get to try again, yay. 

Abi Has the Van

Abi has been taking the van to school a lot. Tuesdays she needs is for her flute lesson, Wednesday for Lyceum, and Friday for carpool. She's not taking carpool tomorrow cause she has to be there early for "senior sunrise" so she'll have the car anyway and I'll be taking carpool probably. But I did have it today, and since I did, I went and bought a bike trailer for myself so that Katharine and I will have some freedom when I don't have a car. I got it from the KSL classified from someone in Eagle Mountain for $80 bucks. Driving out there felt like entering a very different city and place with it's very desert landscape. Kinda fun to go out there and see it. The trailer we got is a yellow "Kidarooz" trailer, and seems pretty good. The trailer we used to have was all ripped on the seat and on the straps holding the seat to the trailer frame. I probably could have tried to fix it, but in an impulsive moment I got rid of  it  with the bulk clean up I think in 2023.  We still have the shotgun seat (pic 2), but I'm too short for that, or Katharine is too big... I can hardly see over her, and if I move up my seat to see over, I'm so high that I can't touch the ground and then I'm worried about tipping over and making her fall and get hurt. Plus  on the shotgun seat she gets tired and fall asleep, and I'm not as talented as Corey at holding her while I ride so a trailer would be better for her when she's sleepy (pic 12). K and I tested it out the new one by biking to the bus stop after school. It was hard to get up the street, harder than I thought. So now I'm not sure about biking to my mom's house, cause the hills going there are legit hills, not the slightly sloped street we live on. But I'll try that ride sometime before winter I'm sure. 

There are still legos all over the floor. Katharine has been keeping herself entertained in there, and Peter joins her in play after he gets home from school.

And since she's entertained and the kids are home, I used that as my longer exercise time. I can do something in the morning if it's around an hour. Since we renewed our Momentum membership on Monday, I went bouldering yesterday morning for 45 minutes. (The moon and Jupiter and Venus looked AMAZING!) Got to Momentum and did 11 boulders while I was there, but wasn't quite feeling it, so did my copout for something challenging but not stressful and did a kid area race, and I got R>L on the first try! Then did it two more times and didn't get those either. This morning there was no carpool for us, so while Corey was still home, I left for a hike from the 1st bridge to the end of techy. About 80 minutes. Corey was on his way up the canyon when I got back home. I decided to do a ride this evening, at the end of a 24 hour fast, and I did and wasn't too slow considering the fasting. The Alta biking team was up there (lots of shirts said Alta), lots of people, so had to pause a few times for them to pass or waiting for them, still good ride. Pleased to say that I got the 2nd bridge rocks again, that's my 3rd time in a row! Weigh 139.8 after the ride, yay. I've been in the 140s like this whole year so glad to get it under for a moment, even if just barely. 

Oh, and guess what I learned last night while reading Saints to Owen~ Joseph Smith had a younger sister named Katharine - with the same spelling as our little Katharine!! I felt justified before Ethan, who every now and then still expresses disappointment in her name. 

And Joseph's sibling Katharine was three years old in the chapter we read - just like our little princess. 

Snuggle

Ethan reached out a little after dinner and asked what we were doing. I was thinking I'd try and sneak away to go climbing, but I had exercised this morning, so I said I was available for whatever they needed. Soon he and Bella were here (8:30) to drop off Alvie so they could take a little break. I was glad to be able to have him here! He is so sweet. I played with him for a bit (I need to get a new gym mat, and a rattle...) then Abi asked for a turn. He seemed to be very comfortable snuggled up next to Abi's skin, and since he seemed so content, I told Abi she was stuck holding him now until he said otherwise. 

She didn't mind. 

Today was our "extracurricular activities" day of the week. Abi had flute after school, Peter had soccer practice at 5, I got back from that and then got Owen and Daniel in the car so I could take D to Karate at 6:15, then Owen to his practice at 6:30. We signed up for 3 trial classes for Daniel. He seems to quite enjoy it, so after these three lessons are done we'll see what we decide to do. 

Natalie is doing cross country at school, both she and Sophi are in ballroom, Lily is with RISE at Skyline, so yeah, the school year is in full swing with all the kids and it's going good. Now that the boys have started school, I don't have time for the usual morning bike ride, so this morning I took a quick jog along the Mt Jordan loop via tree farm. I was proud that I didn't stop and walk. I had to get that in, because as soon as the boys were off, I took Katharine to her friend Becca's house so I could go to the temple. The ward RS did a session at Draper. Abi had my car (for her flute lesson after school) so I was able to carpool there with Kathy O, one of my favorite people in the world. Lisa E and Jess were also in the car, and Maralee joined us at the temple. I'd like to start doing my 5 am initiatories again, but I've been struggling in the mornings lately. I also struggled at the temple - my big focus during a session in keeping my eyes open. Hopefully one day I'll move past that and will be able to focus on what is being presented and I can learn something!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for the elementary boys. 

I took the traditional pic on the stairs, but didn't walk them to the bus. I would have if they asked, but they didn't, so I just stayed with Katharine. We didn't do any back to school shopping, but hope to do that soon. They're good on backpacks and clothes, but they could use some new shoes. It's cute that Peter still wants to wear the cowboy boots from Wesley everywhere. Tonight I made dinner around 4 (potato salad) and put it in the fridge, then I went on a ride to the ruins. I was back at 6 and then I set the table (!!!) and we had a sit down dinner. It's been a while since we did that. I was pleased to see the kids eating a healthy dinner - some spring greens with the potato salad on top and a drizzle of a vegetarian dressing. 

The plan we made yesterday was: dinner at 6, FHE at 7, leaving for FHE at 6:45 - we went to Waterford and played soccer. We invited Ethan and Bella to join us. They are staying with Wayne for a few days. They joined us and invited some of Ethan's friends from the DR to come. I thought soccer would be an easy activity that everyone would like, but they weren't into soccer. So we had a game of kids vs. parents, and then when they showed up we visited and had some ice cream sandwiches. Katharine guarding the sandwiches until I gave the OK - 

When I gave the green light, they all ate them, and I bought too much and so they each had three and most of them felt sick afterwards. 

So better to have too many than too little? Maybe not, next time I'll just have two boxes, not three. 

So they weren't interested in soccer, but Corey talked to them about climbing and they thought that that sounded fun, so we took them to the Temple Quarry first to walk around there and learn some of the history of the area, and then we went to Momentum. I'm glad that they wanted to do that, cause that got us another month of membership. Corey was wanting to cancel, but then we renewed for another month after they expressed interest in it. 

A butterfly update - I found lots of eggs last week. I gave half of them away, but of the ones I kept, I was worried they were duds - but then when I checked this morning I had 13 that had hatched, fun!

I have some big ones and at various caterpillar stages and should have a few of them change to chrysalides this week. I didn't keep any of the eggs I found in July, cause we were busy at reunions, but I've kept some since we got back from Park City. It's fun, I'm not going crazy, but have been keeping track of the eggs I found. The first ones I found were on July 10 (16 eggs). Here's how many I found on each day: 

• July 10 - 16
• July 11 - 1
• July 13 - 3
• July 14 - 8
• July 15 - 3
• July 16 - 4 before we left for Bear Lake (cause Owen saw a monarch flying around the plants by the AC - Terry came over while we were gone and found 31!)
• July 23 - 1 egg
• July 25 - 1
• July 26 - 7 
• Then park City
• Aug 2 - back from PC, found 21 eggs and 2 babies
• Aug 4 - 4
• Aug 8 - 1
• Aug 10 - 18 eggs
• Aug 14 - 30 eggs 
• Aug 16 - 3 eggs, gave 16 eggs 4 babies 3 big to Alisha
• Aug 18 - one baby
• Aug 19 - 1 baby

I'll put those numbers here for now to compile stats later, if I feel like it. 

First Soccer Games

Hello, coming to you live at 10pm on Saturday night. Corey is over at his parent's house waiting for Sophi to be done at a birthday party, Abi is with friends, Lily is here doing BYU math homework, Natalie is upstairs prob not doing much, maybe playing with Katharine? The boys have showered and are having a little bit of food before bed. They had a good day. Owen had his first soccer game at 9am. We were cleaning the church again today at 8am, so Owen got to leave cleaning a little early. He's on a big field this year! Katharine saw me leaving the church with him and cried cause she wanted to come with me, I told her we weren't going home, we were going to Owen's game, but she wanted to come, so she did and then she cried for a bit there cause she wanted to go home. We will after his game. Sniff "Okay..."  Go #4!

She sat and laid down on my lap and I put my feet on the grass for grounding. Then I found a package of Goldfish crackers in my purse. She was pleased with that, since we woke up and went to the church to clean without anyone having breakfast, so she was hungry.

Owen had fun, lost 3-1. We went home and then Corey took Peter to his game at 11:30. Daniel and Natalie went with him, probably hoping for Wendy's on the way home, which didn't happen. 

After they got back I went and ran errands - Walmart for rice milk and onions, then Costco for food. I kept it pretty tight. We're in crunch time. We're postponing music lessons for a few weeks, hoping to know more about Corey's project by then. We're even going to cancel momentum, sniff. Everything is on freeze.

When I got home from Costco, Alive was here. Ethan and Bella went to the temple so I got to play with him for an hour. I need some baby toys. I had some rings which he liked, but I need a rattle. 

Then he took a nap in my arms. He fell asleep as soon as I wrapped him up and held him right. 

I texted them when he woke up, they came back (were close by eating at Costa Vida) and then I went on a ride (Clarks) before the sun set. 

Yesterday went on a walk in the morning, Corey did a ride, Abi took carpool. I didn't let Sophi and Natalie go to Maceys' with friends after school cause they didn't practice. We are serious. They gotta practice. Date night discussion about kids' responsiblities. Ethan Bella and Alvie came over for last night for date night too. They picked up some pizza (Corey paid, they delivered) and as he looked at the legos all over our bedroom floor, he said we need to set boundaries and bring back the toy monster. That might be a good idea. Corey and I went out to eat at Bandits. We made a pretty good plan of attack for Saturday and the upcoming week as we waited for our food. I made a list of things to discuss, like going to Disneyland after Wesley gets home from his mission, cause Peter's never been and needs to go while he's still little. I think I'll make a list of things to discuss again next week. Back at home we talked with Ethan and Bella until 10:30. I think I'll bring back the Summer binders, which said system never really started, but we'll try again but they will be School Year binders. 

Going to make a calendar for each of them right now. Used this site, looks pretty good! K I just printed those. Ok, yay for me I blogged today! I'm trying to stay on top of it and blog every night. Oh, here's a pic of Abi's thing she went to tonight - it was a "pink party" for all the new Senior ladies. 

AC Repair

Yesterday was the first day of school for Abi Lily Sophi and Natalie, but I didn't take any pictures, cause I was up the mountain on a bike ride. Abi took Lily, who had to be at school early to give the incoming freshmen a tour, cause she is a "RISE ambassador", then Abi came back and got ready. School started for her at 9:30. Corey took jr high carpool, they started at 9:45 as well. 

Owen went swimming with a friend around noon, and today he went to the lake with another friend. He's got a good social life. DPK have been playing legos and watching movies in my crazy hot bedroom ~ watching Prince of Egypt and Curious George. I don't know why or how they are able to tolerate being in there cause it's so hot - the AC hasn't been working for over a week. I thought it was bad Tuesday at 89°F but I knew it would be worse on Wed cause the temp got up to 98°F! So seeing the forecast, I texted our landlord to let her know and she gave me the ok to contact the AC guy Elden. The girls have been sleeping on the main floor on the couches, and did last night too cause it was just took hot. Elden was able to send someone to look at it yesterday. The tiny old AC unit on the right here is the one that cools the upstairs. 

He said the motor wasn't working. And after he talked to the landlord, she gave the ok to install a new AC, so they are here installing that right now (10am) and I trust that tonight everyone will be able to sleep in their bedrooms. Hooray hooray.

So that's was the main thing that went on here today. When Abi got home, I went to the temple, then stopped by Walmart for rice milk and also brought home some hardship ice cream for the kids. They also played trains in the basement. The basement is a good place to be right now. The main floor is comfortable temperature too, and you can feel the heat when you go up the stairs, and feel the cool temperature when you come downstairs. I'm going to post this now but will update later if anything else interesting happens today. 

4PM - the AC guys are still here, I feel bad it's taken them so long! I guess changing an AC unit was a matter of unattaching the outside thing and putting a new one in out there, but they've mostly been working inside close to where the furnace is at the top of the stairs. They started around 8:30 but I think they are almost done. I hope they had lunch. I've just been here making myself available if they needed to tell me anything. I've been able to get some blogging done so that's good. Daniel has Karate at 5:15, and then I plan to go climbing after that.  

Hyrum is 22!

Hyrum is 22 years old today. Sadly, he is away from us, far far away in California. Instead of taking him to lunch virtually (via video chat and venmo) we are going to go out to eat after he gets back around Sept 5, so stay tuned for that. 

This morning, Lily said she had to be at school at 8. Abi went to take her, cause she was going to go work for my mom afterwards. I decided to hurry out and have them drop me off somewhere on Wasatch and I'd walk home. As we went, Lily found out she actually didn't need to be at school, so instead Abi took her to Momentum on Ft Union, which is close to my mom. Corey was at the temple with the other car. I told Lily I'd get her after Corey got back. I enjoyed a 4.75 mile walk and explored the river rocks just a little bit.

Long enough for me to think I wanted to bring the kids here. Corey was longer at the temple than I thought, so I ended up walking all the way back home (thought I might have him swing by for me) and instead I had him go get Lily on his way home. Then I took his car and the kids, minus Lily who already exercised at Momentum, and we went back to the dry river. They didnt' like exporing much at first, but they got into it after a bit.

We were only able to stay for a little bit though, cause Natalie had to babysit at noon. 

It worked out just right though ~ kids that didn't want to be there at all had their patience tested for 30 mintues, and kids who had a good attitude enjoyed it for 30 minutes. Next time I'll have K wear shoes instead of flip flops, cause I carried her most of the time. 

Back on the paved trail, Katharine kept her little Ariel doll safe from spiders (aka any insect on the trail).

Owen and Peter got on top of a bit boulder! 

Daniel, who was one of the reluctant participants in this outing, came over and got on top too. 

Cute picture! I think I'll get this one printed for their wall. We got back home and then it was legos and playing for the boys. It is the last day of summer break for the girls, and so I took advantage of that by having them mow the lawn. I actually would have done all of it, but Corey requested a teenager girl do it, so I had them each do a part. Abi in the front northwest corner ~

Lily doing the back. 

Sophi did the back east side, and I did Natalie's part cause she was babysitting. I was going to go bouldering around 1 before the evening got away from me from 4 o'clock on, but Corey said he'd like to go with me, so I waited and we said we'd try to go around 8pm. Next on the calendar was Peter's first soccer practice at 4. He's the one running in this pic below.

Peter was a bit nervous so I said I'd stay and watch. Katharine saw me leaving and wanted to come, but the slide was too hot so we just sat in the shade of the tree. She colored on my phone until she met a new friend. After that, PK came with me to return library books (didn't read most of them) and then it was time for a neighbor's birthday party. Daniel & Peter were invited, I gave a very small lego set, it was all I had on hand. Natalie told Katharine about the party at Becca's house, then K wanted to go so then I was stuck cause ASN all took off to go shopping. They dropped Owen off at soccer practice which was from 6:30-8. I put Katharine off for an hour and then we went over at 6. She got in the pool for one minute and then was done. She had some pizza and soda pop and enjoyed being there even if swimming and the bouncy house are beyond her level of comfort at the moment.

Such an amazing view from their backyard on the ridge!! A view of the mountains and of the valley. Daniel going down the slide, Peter just getting out at the bottom.

The party was from 5-7, and my kids lingered a little bit, but I got home in time to go get Owen from soccer. They were voting on a team name, so it went past 8 and I was worried it would mess up climbing, but Corey came home and so we were able to go as soon as I was back, from 8:30 - 10. That was good therapy and I feel better now (less frazzled after such a full day.) Back to school tomorrow!

FHE - DIY Coldstone

Corey worked late tonight, but he does a good job making sure we still do FHE, even when we don't plan it out in advance or when we end up not having a lot of time. Ice cream usually does the trick for nights when we don't have our act together (which is most Monday nights!).  

We had talked about how it would be fun to do a little back-to-school shopping, but it was too late for that, plus none of them (or us) have money anyway.... The "summer binders" I made (end of this post) were a total fail, so kids didn't earn anything from us for back to school anyway. Natalie earned some from babysitting, and Abi from working for my mom. The rest of the kids don't have $, which led to a conversation about who would be buying back to school stuff anyway (they have a long list of wants... times that by 7 kids gets a bit pricey...) and that led to a conversation about money, then we talked briefly about a new book on Prince Andrew called "Entitled" and how $ messes up kids and families. That led to a documentary on Ghislaine Maxwell (part 1, 2, & 3) as part of our discussion on how it's good for kids to NOT get everything they want. Just a light conversation ha before we went to Macey's for ice cream. Corey thought it would be fun to do our own Coldstone treats, so first we got Red Button vanilla ice cream ~

then they each picked out their topping of choice from the candy isle. So many choices...

It's hard to just pick one...

FHE treats are our treat. Katharine got Mamba's to mix with her ice cream... I'm not sure how that turned out for her, but she looked happy. They're always up for eating ice cream. Oh, also on Saturday, Daniel went to Macey's with Owen and a neighbor Liam, and there was an ice cream eating contest going on or something and Daniel won for his age category so he got a punch card for a free ice cream cone every week for a year at Macey's! So tonight we first went there to see if that was valid for his family too (he said it was, I didn't think it would be). It wasn't.

 

K, so that was FHE. Today was spent as most summer days are ~ playing legos and games. Peter made a "Prince of Egypt" set with Moses talking to Pharoah.

Flip the set around to see the Hebrew slaves with heavy burdens on their backs.

Katharine played legos too, then took a break to play "circles", first Otrio, then Othello.

We also had a little bit of time to be with Baby Mary! 

Eliza and Mary came down from Idaho last night and they flew back to Ohio today at 5:45. We enjoyed having some time to snuggle with Mary! 

Corey took them to the airport around 3 - they went by a place to drop off Eliza's wedding ring first, to get it resized - it's always falling off her finger! So they are getting it tightened. I'm sure Joseph will be glad to have his girls back at home. He survived the first week of school last week. Eliza said that he said he's 5 days in, and he's only 3 days behind! Only they were gone this week, so he can't blame getting behind on being a new husband and father, lol. 

Last Weekend of Summer

Summer break is about over, and we've all just been taking it easy/lazy while we still can. I haven't made the kids do much, chores-wise (although Abi and Natalie did a fab job cleaning up the main floor yesterday evening). Abi went and picked up Lily and Sophi in Provo this morning. Those of us at home went to clean the chapel at 8am. ALS joined us around 8:30. Owen and Daniel have been playing with friends most days, after a token practice session, cleaning of their room and folding clothes. Practicing hasn't been much cause Owen has had a cold sore, and so if he can't play trumpet, and then Daniel protests he shouldn't need to practice sax if Owen doesn't have to do trumpet. Sophi and Lily have been at FSY this week. Abi has gone with Corey most days to do ACT stuff while he works at his dad's. Natalie, Peter and Katharine are my buddies here at home. There are still legos everywhere - have been this whole week. Peter and Katharine playing at the top of the stairs...

I'm wishing we had a playroom so the legos weren't at the top of the stairs or in our bedroom. Maybe we need to nix the music room and have that be a playroom? Or maybe it doesn't matter now that kids will be in school again soon. Do you like Katharine's hair? Natalie did that Thursday night, K slept in it and was still proud of her Anna hairdo yesterday morning (and this morning... yes she's on day two of this outfit and 'do). 

I called Peter and Katharine to come downstairs yesterday to come and see the butterflies. Terry brought over 6 for us to help release. Peter said "cool" and then went back upstairs. K came with me outside.

They were all rearing to go. As soon as Katharine had one on her finger... 

...away it would fly!

4 flew away right away up high into the trees, one flew down onto the street. Daniel came home while we were outside and he ran and got that one. 

Terry kept it in her mesh cage for a few more hours and then released it later. Fun stuff. She's had 10 emerge so far, has 20+ more to go. I have a few baby caterpillars that I might give away. 

I gave the kids my 4 Lego Story books that I'm saving for my grandbabies. (I've tried to save sets before... it didn't work) Natalie promised they won't lose the pieces, so we'll see... that promise has been made many times before by many different children and yet to have been kept, although I've never made them pinky promise... but I gave the books to Natalie for Peter and Katharine to play with, with the full knowledge of what I was doing. I guess I can love my children as much as my grandchildren, but my children already have SO MANY LEGOS. My goal, after K starts kindergarten in 2027, is to get all the legos organized, and then maybe I'll remake a few of my favorite sets for Katharine to play with when she gets home from school. (Cinderella's castle - see "Thursday"). 

Well, what else... yesterday Corey was fasting, so then I started a fast, so we didn't go out to eat for date night, we went climbing instead. I did the red 5.11b with only one rest, that one is intense. My goal is to be able to do it without a break before Wesley gets home, or before they take it down, or before we cancel our membership, whichever comes first. We might be cancelling momentum, but if we do that I think we should cancel music lessons too. We've either really got to hunker down and get through this and cut off all/any non-vital expenses, or I guess if we're gonna keep playing like we can keep paying for all of this, we'll keep pretending. The kids were invited to two birthday parties today, but we didn't go to either. I'm about at my breaking point and I just can't do birthday parties. I called and talked to Nicole yesterday morning, and she gave her permission to say no to the birthday parties. She said they would not miss me, and I believe her. So I just blew them both off. Probably not very nice, but it was necessary for my survival. The upstairs AC is broken, I woke up at 3am Friday morning and moved to the basement. Woke up, went out for a walk w/o headphones, then called Nicole for the home stretch. I've been thinking of the phrase "You must be the rock that the river cannot wash away." - from a talk by Elder Richard Maynes "The Strength to Endure". That talk helped me in 2016, and here we still are. I'm working on trust. Trust in the Lord. 

Natalie just came up and showed me that she's learned the tik-tok version of the Soda Pop dance, so then I just wasted the past 30 min learning that via this tutorial, then practice at tempo. Back to blogging, I just finished May, yay. Gonna chip away at April June July next. Corey and boys and K are watching Journey to Mysterious Island, and I am blogging until we go to bed. LSN are at a neighbor's house for a party, Abi is sleeping over with friends. We didn't allow sleepovers, but Abi has broken our resolve. She'll be 18 next month, so yeah, we wave the white flag.