Wow, so much to catch up on! Once summer hits, this household is going nonstop every day and I can't find a minute to sit down and blog.
School is officially out, and we are enjoying the lazy days of summer! There was SO much rain the last week of school, and we were under tornado watches for several days. After picking up the kids on the very last day, I drove through our neighborhood which looked like a river and took this photo.
As soon as I took that last photo, the thought occurred to me that all this rain might topple the wall Ryan had slaved away on a couple years ago. As I drove up to the house, this is what I found in the backyard. My heart sunk as I thought of all the blood, sweat and
The next storm, which came a few days later, toppled much more of the wall so it actually looks worse than this right now. We have gotten several bids from companies, and none of them have come in under $16,000. And that's if they use the same blocks and don't tier the 12 foot wall! I think the saying "when it rains, it pours" is literal in this case.
This is just a cute picture I took of my cuddly bear late one night. In order to help him be successful in staying dry at night, we have been waking him up when we head to bed so he can use the potty one more time. After using the potty in our bathroom this night, Ryan and I both assumed he had gone up to his own bed so we turned off all the lights and started going to sleep. Suddenly Ryan sat up and realized he hadn't ever seen Logan come out of our bathroom. We turned on the light in our bathroom and found him fast asleep on our rug. What a goofball!
Speaking of Logan, he is a great businessman. He lured us all into giving him money last week when he "sold" us popsicles I had purchased at the store that day. On this day, he begged Ryan to let him help trim the edges of the lawn. Ryan explained how dangerous the trimmer can be, but allowed him to tag along with the blower, getting all the grass off the long driveway. Logan felt like the most important little dude ever. And what do you know - he lured money out of Ryan again for "helping" with the yard work.
A couple updates about Ryan:
He was in Washington DC for a few days last month. He went there for a "government fly-in" for ERSP (the self regulatory body of the ERA). He met with head lawyers from Venable, which is the most prestigious lawfirm in the US. He also met with Lee Peeler, who is the head of the National BBB and Loise Grishman, the FTC director of e-commerce. He spoke with all of them about political and business campaigns, bills, and actions affecting businesses. Then he went over to the Senate and House buildings to meet with the Senators and State representatives and lobby for different actions. I wish he'd taken more pictures of his busy few days, or at least slapped Claire McCaskill in the face (haha), but at least he had this one random picture of the White House on his phone.
This is Willie, who was baptized into our ward last month by Steve Thorne. Ryan was able to confirm him a member the following day in Sacrament. Willie has been taking the missionary discussions for a couple years, so it was an exciting day when he took the plunge.
Ryan also has been involved in some awesome business ventures lately. He continues to get and seize more great opportunities for increased involvement and ownership in his different ventures.
My sister, Kara, cracks me up. After forgetting to send me money for a gift, she wrote me a check and lost it somewhere while running errands one day. So she wrote me a second check and thought she sent it to me with this note. When I got the note in the mail and opened it, this note was inside with no check! I busted up laughing and had to record the funny moment! A little ADD, are we?
I've spoken about this wonderful, tiny woman before. Mrs. Lisa Haney was the most amazing teacher of all time, and we were lucky enough to celebrate with her at a retirement party a few weeks ago. She has been such a wonderful influence for my children, and now gets to spend more time with her husband and ailing parents.
Brevan rocks! If I could ever figure out how to upload a video, I would share the songs Brevan played at his recital last Sunday. The first song he played was "How Firm a Foundation," because he's been wanting to learn to play more hymns, but the second song he played is AWESOME! It's a super fast song that uses the entire keyboard, and he took bits and pieces of a song and mixed it with his own arrangement. He's so musically talented! I wish his grandparents could attend one of his recitals someday.
Brevan surprised me one day toward the end of school by telling me he had tried out for the school talent show and made the cut. He's so hard on himself to play perfectly, so he wasn't positive he wanted to participate. Plus the boys who made fun of him weren't much help for his confidence. I was proud of him for following through and playing one of his songs for the show. I was pretty ticked that the school wouldn't allow parents to attend. I would have disobeyed the school "rules" (which I like to take more as "suggestions"), but Brevan forbid me to attend the talent show. Bah humbug.
Brevan has kept busy so far this summer by working hard on his Eagle Scout project. He attended a board meeting last week to have his project approved, and he gathered all his materials, so he should be able to start working on it this weekend.
One more thing about Brevan. There wasn't much going on at the Junior High the last week of school besides some chaotic social events, such as yearbook signing day. I told Brevan he wasn't required to attend those days unless he chose to. The school called to ask why he wasn't there, so I was honest and told them he was staying home since the teachers were done giving schoolwork. On the last day of school, Brevan got online and realized a couple of his teachers had given him zeros on "participation" those days, even though they had never given out participation points before that week. Brevan was upset because one of his grades went from an A to an A-. Not a big deal to most kids, but Brevan emailed the teachers and principal. I was annoyed they would drop Brevan's grade, when it's well known that he's the teachers pet in most classes. He did some extra credit work and finished off the year with near-perfect grades!
We've had fun attending pool parties, playing with friends, and doing all the typical summer activities. The girls have been very busy every day practicing for the upcoming production of "School House Rock," a community play where they both have large roles complete with speaking parts and solo numbers in songs.
I ordered my official transcripts in the mail from both Utah State University and Utah Valley University (previously UVSC). Let's just say I'm rather ashamed of the grades I got while in college back then. School always came after social life. I am determined to redeem myself and no longer be the dumb one in my family. My brother just got accepted into a doctorate program! What an great accomplishment!
I taught Relief Society last week, which was my second time ever teaching adults. I was nervous again, but was fine once I started teaching. I think the Spirit was strong, which made me happy because it's the Spirit that teaches each person how to apply the lesson to themselves. I hope I continue to get more comfortable speaking in front of large groups. I love to talk one-on-one with people, regardless of whether I have anything in common with them. But stick me in front of a group where I'm supposed to lead a discussion and I'm a wreck.
Well, that's it for this post. We've already adjusted to the lazy summertime schedule, because the kids are still up running around until 10 or 11 at night, and we all sleep in until 8 or 9. Ahhhhh, gotta love summer.
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