July 14th lunch at Camp Zion

My parents are serving a mission at Camp Zion!! It is an awesome calling a perfect marriage of my parents strengths. Dad fixes everything and my mom welcomes all the campers and sets up service projects. I called up Lindsey to ask if she wanted to grab lunch and go up to camp and have lunch with our parents.... because we can do that now that Lindsey is in town!! She did! Mom made this sign to greet us. I literally called her that morning 😂

Mom and Dad's beloved Gator, John Deer

 

July 12th Swim team championships!!

Another great season of the Tiger sharks!!

The kids swam their hearts out! 

Adrian got 2nd overall in Butterfly, 3rd in Freestyle and 5th in the individual medley. She placed 3rd  overall in the entire league...even though her relay teams are full of beginner swimmers. She was the high point winner for the 11-12 girls on our team.

Parking swam butterfly, breast and the IM and both relays. He was the anchor for the boys 15-18 freestyle relay.  He was the high point winner for boys 15-18 for our team

Holman swam valiantly despite his terrible concussion from the fall. It was an absolute test of his fortitude getting up and working out even though he hasn't felt close to 100%. He swam the backstroke, butterfly, freestyle and both relays. He brought points to the team and finished strong.

 

July 7th, retirement ceremony for Chris Byrne

Our dear friend Chris retired from 23 and 1/2 years of military service 💕 We flew up to Denver to be there for his ceremony. It was very moving and inspirational. Chris was a counselor to Benjamin when Benjamin was a Bishop. He was deployed 3 times while he was Bishop. I love his wife, Sandy and our kids were great pals. Once a month we hosted the deployed families over at our house for dinner. This family was there the most, 1 because Chris was deployed so much and 2 he was a counselor to Benjamin when he was home. They truly were like family to us. It was an absolute honor to be invited and to celebrate their whole family's sacrifice for our country. Benjamin gave the opening prayer and got choked up with his admiration for this incredible family!!

 Our flight ✈️

 Silly kids 🥰

 

June 30th, The Smiths move into town!!

The Smiths after a 20 year break from Tucson moved back to the Old Pueblo!!! To say I'm excited would be an understatement!! Ryan got his dream job of being the dean of the college of architecture, and I got my dream of having my twin back 💕🥰

Oh the places we'll go.....so far the zoo, Patagonia lake, 4th of July in Sierra Vista, the pool, camp Zion and homemade dinners by Lou..I'm in heaven.

Here is a picture of Norman and Parkin at the zoo, our two youngest son's 😅

 

June 18th, Emma and Joshua get married!!

My niece Emma Webster married a delightful man Joshua Weatherford in Ogden Utah. I flew up early with Bella to help with the decorations and food. We had a blast! Hillary is an excellent cook and she helped direct Lindsey and I in making 150 servings of panna cotta and chocolate moose. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was SO. MUCH. FUN!! Benjamin flew up to meet me and Sam flew up to meet Bella and we shared an Airbnb. We rented scooters to get the the venue. It was total blast. There is something magical about the hills of Ogden.

I bought Benjamin a matching tie to match my jumpsuit.

 

The ladies got manicures and nails done..

 

Look at all those flowers!!

Olivia goes to France!!

 Olivia has taken a French class since the 7th grade. She has taken to the language like a duck to water. In high school she was nationally ranked in French. It's kinda a big deal!! So when she found out that the UofA offers a study abroad program in France she eagerly applied! She even got a couple of scholarships for the adventure. To make the trip even better she is staying with a grade school friend who basically took every French class with Olivia. They got assigned the same host family to boot!!  So because of this adventure our family gets to live through her. She created a GroupMe that she updates nightly with the sights she is seeing, food that she is consuming along with Olivia wit and humor.  I am so incredibly happy that she is getting to live out a dream that she has had for nearly a decade! It's fantastic 😊 

She eats yummy foood like this and walks miles per day. Sinn me up for this healthy life style!

Some highlights so far: She ran into the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!! Secret service tried to have her back up but Olivia wasn't taking any of it!

Olivia texted the family:

"I was talking with my host mom at dinner and she told me she had lunch with a friend who knows some Mormon people and then she told me that a couple years ago one of their mutual friends moved it utah because he got more church responsibilities. Turns out her 'friend' is Gerard Caussé. As in the bishop of the whole church. I was like girl, that man is lowkey a big deal in our world and she was like "we're pals" 

So far another highlight for Olivia's was that her best friend Cai visited her in France. Cai was in Prague for her University trip and visited Olivia before heading back to the States.

Holman's graduation!! Class of 2022!!

This is a description that Bella wrote sumerizing Holman's graduation:    "This year has been a doozie for Holman Howe. He started the year as a Junior at BASIS and ended up graduating early at Sabino. His concussion changed up his plans but he didn’t let it get him down!  Holman plans to work for the next six months and then head out on his mission. When he returns, he plans on starting college, becoming wildly successful, marrying a cute girl, and having a happy family. Holman is a smart, kind, and funny guy. The future is looking bright!"

This is a sign that the lovely Wright family made for Holman. COVID brought this tradition. High schools would post a sign for all the graduating seniors. I was talking with Michelle about how frustrating this process has been for Holman. He was no longer going to be able to graduate with Basis and Sabino was dragging it's feet that there would be no sign (maybe Juniors don't ever get signs 🤷‍♀️). It was so thoughtful when we got home to see this sign in the driveway 💕 

Sabino knows how to throw a graduation. Fireworks and a giant Saber cat that the students walk through. Both sets if grandparents were there along with the Claridge family and the Scott and Suzie family. It was a lovely night with ice cream at our house with his friends.