Oh how I love Summer SO much!!
These pictures explain why.
Busy, productive, interactive with family
and friends, restful, and rejuvenating!
A good Summer is good for the soul, and this one was just that!
We were shocked Lane had some of his friends over!
It is a rare occasion, as he claims our house is boring
and there is nothing to do.
We relish the few times this happens...of course without being
overbearing so he will bring them back:)
Rusty worked for School Source most of the Summer.
It is a perfect gig for his age, and he makes dang good money!
I joke with him that I might apply for a job, ha!
He has an early morning wake up call at about 5:30.
Some days are longer than other, but mostly he has time to hang out with
friends later on in the day.
They are usually way the heck out in Phoenix in schools
replacing their furniture.
He usually carpools over, but for some
reason I had to drop him off this morning.
I snapped this picture a little too late, but he was
unloading the semi and wheeling the furniture in to the building.
His job is to unbox/unwrap and get it ready for assembling.
I have heard from multiple adults how amazed they are at his
work ethic, and couldn't praise him enough.
Rusty IS such a great kid, and he makes me proud to be his mother!
It must had been a long day at work, because he never naps!
Youth Camps:
It was a ward year for both the YM/YW.
They both went up the same week but at different locations.
Casey felt torn since he is over the Priests, but
absolutely loves Girls Camp!
He started with the girls for the first half, then
ended with the boys.
I don't have any pictures.
I only have the video he sent me gloating about how
he whooped them in foot race.
These girls get a kick out of any sort
of challenge against him.
And more giggling from the girls watching Casey
and Aaron Blaylock in a twister competition.
Miche, my neighbor and friend, is the YW's president.
She sent me this picture of testimony night.
It was well past 10pm when I got a text from Casey saying he just left
girls camp to head to the boys.
I mentioned it was kind of late!
He said he didn't want to leave, and was soaking in every ounce
he could before making the switch.
He also mentioned how much he loves the girls, and how wonderful they are.
I was surprised by his comments, as he doesn't share his feelings very often.
The youth have opened a special place in his heart
while serving as bishop.
That text gave me a glimpse of how much he cares for them
and their happiness. Being a bishop can't be easy.
I won't even pretend to know how hard it is juggling
a ward with all of it's different aspects.
I am grateful for the youth who bring him joy, most of the time, ha!
Oh the difference between the boys and the girls!
No hair tinsel, painting nails, cute banners
or an ounce of decor in site!
Instead it's playing with fire, tree climbing, no
brushing teeth and farting contests!
Case in point...
Good morning, Lane!
This has never happened, but we ended up at the lake
with only the 2 girls in tow!
I figured we would get home earlier than normal.
Nope! We pushed it to sundown with them
begging for more time on the tube.
It was fun having time with just them, allowing them
freedom from all the teenagers hogging
the surf boards!
Juniper is still the favorite as she is the only baby on the Goodman side!
I think she loves all of the attention.
We love getting last minute texts with cousins asking to
use our pool!
And helps our kids to know that our pool can still indeed be fun!
They also love it when it gets timed just right for Uncle Casey
to jump in after work!
These pictures.... I die!!!
Maverick was taking all of these pictures and then editing
them to look like he belongs on an Abercrombie bag!
He does have a darn good smolder.
Free lunch at the school all summer!
It cracks me up that my kids refuse to buy lunch during the school year,
but then are all for it on break.
Whatever.
I got to spend a weekend up in Utah!
More on that later!
While I was gone, the girls had their end of the year dance recital!
I was burned out from dance, so I was not sad to pass
the torch over to Casey for that!
The neighbor girls were thrilled to do their hair and makeup, which
helped out a ton!
I don't have any pictures of them on stage,
but they performed the same routines from the
whole year, so nothing I hadn't seen.
Fathers Day!
They girls and I sweated our brains out, hand picking the perfect
rocks from the canal for his "cards".
We do have a rockin' Dad!
These 2 hooligans had a lingering cough
that was driving me insane!
Last ditch effort to get rid of it, I took them
to a halotherapy place.
You sit in this booth and it shoots Himalayan salt dust
for you to breath in and kill all the bad bacteria.
They didn't argue against it, so they must have been miserable!
Happy to report, it worked!!
WHY do they make you go to dance the whole month of June, even after
you had your final recital???
Don't they know everyone is over it by now?
Boredom Busters for the win!!
I think we only did one week with cousins this year.
Its a program every parent appreciates!
Right when that witching hour hits of them getting bored at
home, you drop them off for 4.5 hours.
They do crafts, play games, watch movies, etc.
It's a life saver!
I met them at Mesa High on swim day.
Marching back to bus to head back to the school.
Rusty went to FSY in Flagstaff with his friend, Trey!
It was his first time attending and from the lack
of communication during that week, I think it meant he
was living the dream!
Anna, one of our sweet neighbor girls, is getting married!
We had her bridal shower at our house.
My girls were PUMPED for it!
It turned out lovely!
My love language is bridal shower food.
I stood here most of the afternoon munching non-stop!
The bride-to-be!
Can you see how giddy the girls are watching her
open her gifts?
I remember living for bridal showers and weddings at their age.
We dropped Lane off at the airport
for a humanitarian trip to Belize!
More on that later as well.
I'm still trying to figure out the extreme dance moms in the world.
This was the scene of Della's end of the year party.
I am grateful for the overachievers out there.
But I think I'll save my energy for other things.
Don't ask me to help, I'll just gladly send over a venmo!
It was for the girls and their moms, but I got to head to the ER
last minute.
Della didn't seem to mind I wasn't there!
I WILL toot my own horn on the gift she gave everyone!
These personalized towels from Amazon
ended up being way cheaper than
the little trinket crap I DISPISE!
The last week of June we headed out on our first trailer road trip
to TEXAS!!!
