Random

 I used to love the month of August but now that it is the month that school starts again, it is hard not to be a little sad when we turn the calendar to August. The last two weeks have been nice but I definitely feel like summer is slipping through my fingers. 

Lily has been doing summer dance so she is gone every afternoon and she still has one more week. She did get into studio company, which is a big deal and I am very proud of her. The girls in studio company came last Saturday morning at 7:30 am and went into her room and woke her up with a big surprise and welcome to studio company. Then they took her to IHOP for breakfast. It was really sweet and I'm excited for her. I'm nervous about the cost and the commitment but we'll make it work. Dance has been so good for Lily and it brings her so much joy. She's learned to work through tough things and communicate with adults better and make friends, as well as be disciplined and work hard and challenge her mind and body. 

I knew who was getting called into our new bishopric so Monday I planned a pool date with Missy and we talked for hours and it was good. She is wonderful and I love her family and I'm excited for Micah to have the opportunity to serve in a bishopric. It can be overwhelming and I just really want to be a support to the women who give up so much and work so hard to take care of their families on their own so their husbands can serve our ward family. It is an awkward place sometimes and I often felt like no one really understood how I felt so I hope to be a support to them so that they don't ever feel that way. Tuesday Curtis went to King's Dominion with Max for his birthday and had an awesome day. Wednesday I had invited Leisa over and so I went to the gym and then she and I walked for almost two hours around my neighborhood talking about the calling and being a bishop's wife and life in general. I love the Wiests and am excited to have Sam as our bishop. We had them over for dinner Thursday which was fun because we haven't seen them all summer, plus Josh wanted some time to meet with Sam. We played some games and it was fun to just relax and be together. 

Josh worked on his Friday off and I honestly can't remember what the kids and I did. But Josh did take me out to Salsa's for dinner that night when we took Lily to a goodbye party for a girl at church and then we went to 7-11 for some surprisingly good churros and slurpees. Saturday was a chill day and I always go back and forth on hey, we don't have anything scheduled so we should use our time well and do something fun but then it is also nice to sometimes not do anything and just relax at home so that was what we did. Josh was pretty nervous and emotional about the next day because he was getting released but we did have a fire and cook brats for dinner and then smores and it was a lovely evening to just sit on the patio and talk. Last Sunday Josh was released and Sam was sustained and set apart as our bishop and it is funny but I feel totally different. I felt the weight of responsibility but also the strength and blessings be lifted from our family and I wasn't expecting it. It was a beautiful meeting and I'm so glad I got to share my testimony; it was also surreal because I had thought about that moment so much and then it was so strange when it was actually happening. Josh's service as bishop was hard and required a lot more selflessness than sometimes we both felt but I know our family has been immensely blessed and I'm so grateful for all the Lord has taught us and given us and helped us accomplish. Serving and loving others has changed us for the better and I'm grateful. 

This week has been more summer dance, piano lessons for my kids, laundry, grocery shopping, gym time and kind of letting the kids do what they want when they have their stuff done. Lily did some babysitting, and actually Curtis too because Lily forgot to tell the mom she had dance at a certain time so he stepped in and filled in the last hour and did a great job. We went swimming with the Wiests at their pool one afternoon and then the next day they came to our house for the day. Leisa came to the gym with me and Lily helped Vera with her clarinet and I taught her piano. There was a youth service project that night and normally Josh would have gone and I would have taken Brandon to his pre-season baseball clinic but since he isn't bishop anymore, we swapped and I took the kids and he got to be a dad and hang out with Brandon. Instead of just sitting around I helped out too and it was so moving to watch twenty people all working together to help this military family (dad is deployed for a year) deal with a big tree that had fallen during a storm. There were four chain saws going and kids dragging the branches into the woods and other kids splitting the logs and other kids (and adults too) stacking the wood and I got teary-eyed just being a part of this wonderful community of saints who serve and help each other. I felt a little bit that the other adults were disappointed I wasn't Josh and I was only one of two women there but I worked hard and tried to show the young women a good example. 

Leisa had a lot of work to do for the class she teaches so we had her kids over all afternoon so she could work in peace. It was great for me too because it kept my kids busy to have friends over so I got some house stuff done. It is so hard to want to be responsible in the summer but somehow my kids still want to eat and have clean clothes and so the work goes on. Friday we ran a bunch of errands and got Brandon new cleats and Curtis new baseball pants and went to the library and got the last of our school supplies. Josh and I also went to see Barbie and we were both disappointed. 

 Yesterday we went up to my sister's house and my sister from NY was down for the weekend so we spent the day with cousins and aunts and uncles swimming all day and then we went to Annapolis for dinner. We got home late and my kids are tired but it was fun. I enjoyed the time chatting with my sisters and catching up with some nephews I haven't seen in awhile and Kristi even made me a birthday cake and everyone sang to me, which was super sweet. I have a great family and I'm thankful for them.