June in the Summertime

Scout spends the better part of each day bug pet hunting- she has several jars full of caterpillars, spiders and earwigs. Yesterday, she tried to coax a mouse out of the garden bed...

Our deck removal project is stretching into eternity as we hit a delay, getting the HOA approval is an extra step we didn't plan on.  I'm really hoping we wrap the project up in time to use the space this summer.

And cousins... so many cousins this week. We had an average of 11 children in the house until Dan and Mark took the children camping. At which point I headed to mom's house so she could watch Scout and Moses while I tried to hit some deadlines. We visited Grandma Dawn which necessitated her babysitting 7 children while I earnestly hunted down a bathroom for Lydia) and had a moose in the front yard, blew a tire and almost lost the spare wheel, lots of excitement.

Dinner at the Merkley's

Now that we're officially out of quarantine, life has picked up.

Mary was counting the days until she could see Zoe. She was the first in the car to drive up and the first one in the door. I felt thankful for Zoe. (Cousins are the best.) And as usual the food was so good. I love being in Abby's home- they are the perfect hosts and my children were so busy with cousins and pets that I hardly saw them on Sunday. Apparently the Merkely's have a reputation for good food and good company and they have to disinvite family/friends all the time. 

Maeser accidentally hit Julianna's cat with a stick and cried so hard because Sydney got in trouble for it, Maes gave me hope for this world actually, though he was sorrowful, his tears were beautiful as he really felt bad for both the cat and Sydney. Mark spent some time with Maeser reassuring him that everything was ok, I felt thankful for Mark.

After dinner, Abby carefully helped Hannah make some firm decisions about the wedding and handed out assignments for the next few days. She is so organised AND creative. The wedding will be beautiful. I felt so thankful for Abby who was prepared to help even after being sick and so busy with school.

Hannah stopped by this evening just to say hello. Dallin and Fenton were also with her, but she stopped by to ask if she could take the girls hiking tomorrow or help with Julie this weekend. I felt thankful for Hannah. She is beautiful and kind and thoughtful and the older girls love her. This is the second time this week she has popped in to see if someone wanted to walk or hike with her.

Speaking of Dallin and Fenton, the two of them are such peacemakers. With Fenton's abrupt but funny conversation changers to Dallin's humour and helpfulness, they are always appreciated and welcome. After 2 months of quarantine with Dallin, Moses and Scout think his visits are for playing legos and reading books. Dallin has continued to show up for FHE and offered to teach Come Follow Me even here in Sundance. So definitely feeling thankful for Dallin.

I hope it warms up in Utah before Stewart and Bonita get back (see photos of our freezing children). Sleet, a little snow and under 35 degrees is almost painful.

Isolation: Singapore to Provo

As if 2020 didn't need any more highlights- here's our week in moments because we seem to move from one event to another.

Today we finish our quarantine and grandma and grandpa Skousen are coming up for dinner. Mom decided that yesterday was long enough and she came up with Dad to help us strip our deck. After 8 hours of work, it looks beautiful. There are still hours left to go.

It's a cold rainy day today. The children are all happily cold and wishing it was cold enough for snow.

More moments:

Last Saturday morning we watched Space X launch a rocket with American astronauts and began stripping the paint from the deck.

Provo bakery delivered fresh apple fritters to mom and dad's and they drove them up with a few tools from dad's garage. It's supper handy knowing someone with tools and the knowledge to use them.

I finished reading the book Persuasion.

Abe and Mary finished school on Tuesday and we are officially on summer break.

We took the first of many hikes this summer. Despite his complaints, Moses walked the whole way. As we crested hills, "Yay, it's not uphill." Then was completely exasperated as the downhill rolled back into an uphill.

We shared a few excerpts of protests and riots from across the country with the older children- which led to many conversations about ignorance, privilege, and change. We are determined to learn and be better informed.

It's great up here and smells so good.