4th of July



 It has been a busy, fun summer week. Last Thursday we saw Jana and Brylee some more and I think I took the younger kids to the pool. Friday was very busy as I prepared for our BBQ that night. There were a lot of families I had been feeling like we should have over for months now and it just hasn't worked out so I decided to just have them all over in one night and have a big bbq, which is what we did. I spent all morning grocery shopping and all afternoon setting up and making sure things were decently clean in case the rain didn't let up and we would be inside. Thankfully it all worked out with the weather and we ended up with about 50 people here for dinner that night. It had been a long time since I had hosted so I was not quite as relaxed as I usually am but I think everyone had a nice evening and besides having a ton of hot dogs left over, it all worked out well. 

Saturday Josh and I went for a lovely bike ride while Lily spent all day with her friends doing manicures and going to Sweet Frog and playing games. We had some pool time and Josh did a lot of camp prep but I had decided we really needed a date. We had hardly seen each other in two weeks and wouldn't see each other this week because of camp so Lily and her friends babysat and I think they had fun. We used some gift cards and went to Outback and to the movie In the Heights and it was a fun night out. Josh really is my best friend and connecting with him regularly is what keeps me sane. It was sad to say goodbye to Jana and Brylee again but certainly not as horrible as when they moved. I still cried and so did Jana but the girls held it together much better.  

Sunday was a nice day at church, although it would be nice if we could get some people to fill in the missing musical callings. I am subbing for two callings right now and helping a lot with another one and it is going to get tiring quickly so hopefully that will work out soon. It is so great to be singing again though and having second hour and we are so close to normal church, which is great. We had a quiet afternoon then I made dinner and we went down to our spot on Solomon's to see the fireworks. It wasn't crowded and some friends showed up (we had showed them our spot a few years ago) and it was a relaxing and beautiful evening. I love sitting by the water and watching the sun set and then watching fireworks. It wasn't the best show ever but better than no fireworks and I was just so glad to be in a crowd of people again doing something so festive and normal. We had glow sticks and the pop rocks Oreos and it was a really nice evening. We got right out of there and made it home in decent time, but the kids were all super tired Monday from such a busy weekend. 

 

Josh was off but he spent all day, literally all day, getting ready for camp. We ran some of his errands as a family and got some Sweet Frog in there to sweeten the day up (using Easter gift cards from Nana, finally!). We had a nice family home evening and made sure Lily was all packed up. Tuesday morning Josh took her to camp and actually stayed for a bit because he taught the young women how to make pizza. They made the dough in the morning, then he went to work, then he went back and they made their pizzas for dinner and he did a devotional. Then he came home and packed for the young men's camp and he ended up leaving at 5:30 am Wednesday. It was a crazy stressful day and I am so relieved that camp is almost over! While they were gone we had a play date with friends and I ended up with Curtis and Frankie at my house. I took them to the pool and read and they had a great time. It really makes me happy that those two are such good buddies. My sister and niece also drove down Tuesday so we had them here for dinner and an evening of games and talking. 

  

Wednesday we went to St. Mary's City and it was super hot but an enjoyable day. Everyone learned something and the people working there were super talkative and informative and one girl was especially fun. We got some ice cream, went home to cool off, had dinner and then took Emma to her first in person primary activity, which she loved. While she was there Kristi and I went to the beach and talked while Brandon played in the sand for a bit. It was really nice. Thursday morning they left and I taught piano lessons and we relaxed the rest of the day since it was rainy. 

Today we picked up Lily from camp (well, her leader's house in our neighborhood because the tropical storm warning last night caused them to move the last night of camp indoors and basically they just had a big sleepover, which Lily said was her favorite night) and then after unpacking and cleaning we went to the beach. It was so beautiful (we even saw a bald eagle and a big blue heron flying by and they were both so amazing) and even though it was just us, it was fun and we stayed way longer than I had planned. We had dinner, smores made on our gas stove and watched Full House. The big kids and I then watched some of The Mandalorian. I am excited for this upcoming week which should hopefully be a lot less stressful for Josh and allow me to have a husband again, as well as have some fun with the kids. I love summer!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oh what fun!

Image
 December is always crazy and I always think, maybe we should cut back, but then I realize everything is related to service or is a kid activity they love so I guess it will just always be a busy month. For family night on Monday, Dec 8 we went down to Jason's house to help him out. He is Josh's co-worker and his wife is pregnant and just found out she has colon cancer. It is a very challenging situation so we wanted to help and he said the best way that night was to put up their Christmas lights. It was literally the coldest night of the year so we bundled up and told the kids they had better not complain and got to work. It took longer than we expected so we got home late but I think it was worth it and hopefully helped their five kids feel like things were more normal.   My mom and dad came on Dec 9 and we had a nice week with them. I had invited them to come for Nutcracker and everyone was happy they were willing to come. I cleaned all day Monday and then drove up to ...
Read more

Party Time!

Image
Friday, Dec 19 was our annual party. It started right after we got married when I decided I didn't want to plate a bunch of treats and have to go deliver them. It seemed so much easier and more fun to invite people over and just eat the treats at our house. So every year since 2003 (except 2020) I have hosted a Christmas party for our closest friends. In some places we didn't really have friends so we used it as a way to make new ones or serve our ward leadership. I used to do pretty much the same thing every year but now that we have lived here for almost 17 years, I've had to get more creative. I still make pretty much the same food with maybe one new something every year because it is fun to have tradition but also to spice things up a bit. We always have two games and then our gift exchange. I have done Family Feud, the newlywed game, minute to win it, all sorts of singing/music games including a lip sync battle one year, bunco, Jeopardy and then board games that I make...
Read more

Hello October

Image
Pickle ball last week was super fun. I love ping pong but for some reason I have resisted getting into pickle ball but I really enjoyed it. We played for two hours and I had no idea so much time had gone by. It was fun to hang out with some ladies from church too and be competitive.  Saturday was our stake service project that Josh was kind of in charge of and it went super well. We had a free garage sale so we all donated stuff and a few of my neighbors did too and then Saturday people could just come take what they wanted/needed. I picked Curtis up from his long cross country run and got there a little after 10 and it was slow but steady for the next two hours with people coming in. There was still a lot of stuff but the estimate was that we gave away about 90 percent of what was donated so that's awesome. It required very little man power, no cost and was flexible in how you could participate so I think it was great. Then I took Emma shopping and since it was rainy we just hung ...
Read more