John and Kylee: FSY

At the beginning of July we hit our patio project hard. We had not making very progress up to that point so we buckled down and did it. You wouldn't think it would be that hard of a project, but it was intense. First we ordered expensive 6x6 12foot long cedar beams that were expensive. We sanded and treated them. They looked kind of like giant toothpicks. The green treatment is supposed to help with rotting underground. Obviously we didn't want that showing above ground. Then we stained the top 2/3s to help the wood last longer. We were a little sad that although we picked the transparent cedar stain, it turned them quite orange.

Then we rented the largest hydraulic auger that Home Depot rents to dig the holes. We had to tow it behind the work truck. Thankfully it worked great to dig the holes, but it was exhausting. Dig it down, pull it up, dig it out, repeat and repeat. It was a long, hard day. There were so many rocks that it would get caught on, and we'd have to dig out. I don't know how we would have done it without the auger. We probably would have had to pay someone to do it. The auger only dug down 3 ft, and we were supposed to get the posts 4 ft in the ground. Digging it out the rest of the day was pretty challenging. A deep, skinny hole is hard to work with, even with a post hole digger. It got to the point that I couldn't even reach the bottom--my arms weren't long enough. We ended up calling it good at 3.5 feet deep. Really, even that deep is impressive.

The next step was to cement in the posts. We had to carry so much concrete mix. It took four trips to Home Depot to get it all, and then we had to carry it from the van to the patio. We ended up using the wheelbarrow and hand truck to move them. Each trip to Home Depot was for about 1,000 pounds of concrete mix. That was a hard day too.

Then on the 4th of July we rented the cement mixer and actually poured the concrete and cemented in the posts. It was a job. We were so tired. I remember that after we were done for the day, some friends dropped off a treat, and we invited them to have a nice dinner and games with us. I remember being so tired that I just couldn't make conversation the way I usually do.

I can't believe the branches at the top of the Madagascar Palm.

This amaryllis bloomed for the third time!

So. Much. Cement. Thousands of pounds.

The garden boxes are growing! We tried using hog panels as a cheap, easy trellis for the peas and cucumbers.

We planted berries!

We had so many issues with ants this spring. To see all that corn growing is wonderful! The ants ate so many of our seeds!

We got the base to the new washing machine, and it is a mini washing machine!

Holland is hilarious!

Just getting the beams into the holes without knocking a bunch dirt in the hole was a feat!

We did it! It was way harder than it looks.

The kids swam in the pool, which had a leak in it while we worked. Since we had some water in it when we found the hole we thought they might as well play in the water.

After dinner and games, we watched the fireworks in the cul-de-sac. There were so many...everywhere. I can't believe that people spent so much money on fireworks. We get a little pack, but it isn't like the arial after arial that everyone else seems to get.

Darcy didn't like it and watched from the car.

Chilling in my eye surgery recovery sunglasses.

Eliza's present to Holland this year for her birthday were supplies and lessons to teach her to crochet. It was so cute.

We love the evening swimming sessions plus dinner outside.

New, non leaking pool liner!

I found this paper from Holland and loved it so much.

I love my girls!

We did a little craft day, and our neighbor participated too. We tried to do "Fun Friday" this summer, which meant that we didn't do chores on that day, but tried to fit in the fun things that we always don't seem to have time for. This looked like friends coming over, games, fun food, and crafts.

I love how Darcy is so loving with my mom. She tells her that that she loves her every chance she gets.

I love Darcy's giggles at the "Down By the Bay" song. The girls are all so happy and cute singing it.

Darcy said the the cutest lunch prayer one day. She asked that Heavenly Father and Jesus could live with us and heal again after Jesus died on the cross.

Darcy went through a phase this summer when she said, "Fire camp," instead of "Campfire." I loved it so much.

She is so adorable. I love her monkey hugs and kisses. I love her cuddles. One day, she was cuddling me and said, "I wish I could nurse." It was so sweet and kinda heartbreaking. She started learning how to ride on the balance bike. It is adorable.

A heat spike required some shade for the cucumbers.

I love sleepy sister cuddles.

Holland gave a talk in Primary. She is so expressive when she speaks. A couple of days later she wrote a Primary talk just in case she needs one. "Hi my name is Holland. You all probably know the scripture "If you love me keep my commandments." John 14:15. God wants and helps us to keep his commandments. It helps us learn and grow. So YOU ALL should do that. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Miriam, Holland, and Darcy with their hypothetical questions about if they marry billionaires. "What if I marry a billionaire by accident?" "What if I don't know he's a billionaire?"

One day I wasn't feeling well, but when I was finally feeling better Darcy gave me a big cuddle. I could tell we both missed cuddling! Also, that day Holland wanted to hold my hand during a scary part of our movie on our Mommy-daughter date.

One day Holland decided that Miriam's left over birthday balloons were her children and named them creatively with a nod to their colors. It was fun to see the other kids really get into the game.

Our friends, Cherilee and Jess, invited us to dinner. Jess is immune compromised so we have to eat outside. They ended up bringing us dinner to eat on our back patio. It was so nice. Holland was being super chatty. She asked them, "If you could go anywhere without any cost, where would you go?" After listening, "She prompted them," And now you ask me the same question." It had me laughing for weeks!

Another day, Holland asked me, "Mommy, do you think I could pull off side bangs." Oh she is so funny. She loves, loves would you rather questions. I am surprised that her love of those questions hasn't waned yet. She is so creative and detailed in her questions.

Nursing some kind of stuffed animal.

Another day's sleepy cuddles.

Our first harvest this year.

I took the girls to get the free lunch at the school. I got in trouble for eating a little bit of Darcy's because it was too much for her. Whoops! They were so cute walking in.

During this whole time, my mom took a big downturn. Her anxiety went through the roof. She kept trying to get out of bed, but didn't have the strength to. This led to her hurting herself trying to get out of bed. It was so hard to watch her get so much worse so fast. Although it was what I always hoped for--that she would have some quality of life until the end, and then she would decline rapidly and go. I didn't want her to have to suffer bed bound for too long. This was our last visit with her when she was mostly herself.

So many warm swimming pool evenings.

Part way into July we finally did a teen Tuesday with Eliza. We played the world's longest round of Rummikub. She is such a fun girl to hang out with.
Another day Eliza gave a talk about Young Women's Camp. She was nervous but did a great job!

This kids did the community swim team in the summer, and at the end they did a parents' swim meet too. John was a good sport and swam in the cold water with the kids.

Our fortunes...

With the help of some friends, the Menas, we bolted in the cross beams and diagonal supports. It was a long, hot day, but they helped us out tons by helping hold them.

That evening we went to our last ward party in the Slate Canyon 6th ward. It was in our cul-de-sac and actually really fun. It was weird that our ward boundaries changed so quickly after we moved to Provo. We lived in that ward for not even two years. Our cul-de-sac and the apartments near us got moved to the Slate Canyon 15th ward. This ward seems good too. There are a lot fewer older people, but it is nice that Ellie already had so many friends in the ward. I am just hoping the Miriam and Holland can make good friends with the new group of people too.

One thing that the ward change makes me think of is that there was about a month there when hearing the hymns at church just made me cry. My mom played the organ for Sacrament Meeting for years and years. All of the hymns I know are because of her. On the last Sunday in the 6th ward, we sang the song, "Each Life that Touches Ours for Good." And it absolutely destroyed me and John. We were practically sobbing. I am sure people though we were just really upset about the ward change? That kind of makes me laugh. But really though, church hymns felt very tender. Also, Darcy telling me that Grandma died and is so happy now kind of killed me too. She told me when she turned three that Grandma was going to die when she was three, I guess she had an inkling.

On a lighter note, after this step of installing the crossbeams, we paused on our patio project and organized the shed and garage. That felt so much easier and so satisfying. A good organization project is my jam.

The next week we visited Mom she could hardly keep her eyes open. She still seemed to enjoy the visit though. Darcy climbed into bed with her and cuddled. She exclaimed "I LOVE you!!!" I really am amazed at how loving she was with my mom from Day 1. My mom really liked the beef stroganoff that I made and kept calling it yummy while I fed her.

I dropped of Eliza and Siqi to FSY. They had a great time. I need to have Eliza add more photos and write about it. I can't believe she is big enough to do that. She and Siqi are so sweet together. I am grateful they are friends.

Eliza: FSY was so fun! Siqi and I went together. We shared a dorm with four other girls: Maya, Taylor, Kaitlynn, and Izzy.
We would get up, get ready, and have a mini devotional with our group. Our group was all the girls in our dorm plus Aliza, Elodie, and our counselor, Amy. After that, we would go to breakfast and then meet with our full group for gospel study. That was our group plus Matthew and Jess (the other two counselors), and their kids. There, we had 1/2 an hour to read scriptures and write stuff down. It was so nice to have all that time! After that, we went to Morning devotional with everyone there. It was so great! Our session director, Sister Davis did them. She is such a good speaker! They were on a variety of topics connected to the theme (I can do all things through Christ).

They gave us these books with everything in them. We wrote stuff down and they had the schedules and stuff. I doodled on mine to make it cuter!

After morning devotional, we went to classes. They were amazing!!!! We had four every day for two days. It was so amazing to learn about all these different things. My favorite classes were called Repentance and Hear Him. I felt the Spirit so much!

BYU was so pretty! It was so fun to walk around to all my classes and things.

Every day, before dinner, we had free hour. This extended into dinner, so we just needed to meet up after ready to go and fed.

On the second day, in our free hour after classes, we went to the MOA! It was really cool to see all the pieces. That night, we had our first dance! It was really fun! We did the sandwich dance, which was great. We did so much jumping, dance circles, and yelling/singing my calves and throat were sore the next day.

On the third day, we went the the Creamery. Me, Siqi, Aliza, and Elodie all got ice cream. It was so fun and yummy! After that, we make jewelry in Aliza and Elodie's dorm room. They are so fun! That night, we had Games Night! We did a lot of funny games and dances. After, we had pizza and did hair with my little group of girls in mine and Siqi's room before R&R.
Every day right before bed, we did Reflect and Review. It was just a little time to talk about the lessons that day.

On the fourth day, we went to the library! It was so pretty! We were trying to find the fiction section and got lost. Siqi and I were wandering around in the physics section, looking around, and a librarian asked us if we need help finding something. I guess it was obvious we weren't trying to look in the textbooks. :)

After the library, we went to the science center. It was so fun! We liked trying all the exhibits and wandering around. That night we had testimony meeting. It was good. My favorite part was when Tray, the biggest goofball in our group, bore his testimony about how Heavenly Father wants us to have fun. According to Amy, he was also doing the sandwich dance in his seat. :)