Where did the time go?

 It is 2023. I have been terrible at this but I am finding I need a place to share my thoughts. Social media is a pain so here I am.

Mackenzie graduated this past week. Where did the time go? She is sticking around and going to MCC. At first inward dad she wasn’t accepted to BYU, but now I am grateful because I get a little more time. Joey’s service mission has about 5 months left and then he gets to figure out what he wants to do. Joseph says he will help get him the job after he gets his certifications but he has to prove himself. And seeing how Joseph is in Denver this is a good thing! 

Britt and the kids are doing well with us I think. I had to be hard to come home but I think she is doing ok. I love having the littles around. They really do keep me young. And I love it when Natalie wakes up early to cuddle with me. It makes me miss those sweet days when mine were little too.

Ashley was here this past week to celebrate a Mackenzie’s graduation. I miss her and her family! It wasn’t long enough! We are headed up in July to spend a few days with everyone!!! It will be a lot of fun but I think I will Need a vacation from it! We are headed to see my dad in Utah afterwards. 

I miss my dad. I miss who my dad was with my mom. Part of him is with her. I wish I knew how to communicate better with him. I guess I should write. My BFF once told me I was good with words. Maybe I should do better at writing him so I can share with him what is in my heart since I can’t seem to get it out through words. 

Distraction is going to cost me!

Joey is a mystery more often than not. Okay, not really. He is actually very predictable. For instance, in the mornings he thinks he needs to be on the computer. And usually it involves games of some sort, lately watching a youTube video of one or another. The rule is he needs to wait until Mackenzie is off to school and his teeth are brushed (his teeth have never been cleaner!) And he has swallowed his pill as opposed to hiding it somewhere he thinks mom will not find!!!
Thursday morning my parents and I planned a visit to the temple and we left a little before he had to leave for the bus stop. I came back from my parents just to tell him to make sure he locked the door. It does not include gaming at all so you can see how that would go unnoticed, right?
Well, after the session my mom wanted to go get lunch but I had this feeling I needed to check at the house, only because one time Joey was so distracted that he missed the bus and ended up walking to school and missed two periods (and never told me!) and I needed to make sure he was gone. Well, I got to the house and the door was locked! I was pretty impressed that my little man remembered but then as I unlocked the screen door I realized the front door was wide open! And it was hot!
Yep, my little man had left the door open when he left for school! FOR THREE HOURS!!!
I was spending good money cooling off the front porch!!! I was going to ring his little neck!!! All I can say is it is a good thing school had a few more hours to go because I was going to throttle the kid. (I didn't, by the way! I had calmed down and it has become a good story. I am sure when I get the electric bill, it will be a whole different story!)

Joeys coming Home!

After three weeks of blissful quiet, we headed up to Flagstaff to bring home my little man. Even Mackenzie missed him! And he looked so happy to see us! I think this the longest he has been away from home! But what a mess he was! His ankles were almost brown from caked on dirt, his face had not been washed in days. And if the lake had been close enough, I think I would have thrown him in! He insisted that he did a lot of laundry, you know, cuz last time I made a big deal about it. When I asked him how many times he showered, he admitted he only showered twice.

IN THREE WEEKS!!!

Apparently getting his swimming merit badge counted. (four times in the water) Thank goodness chlorine has its own cleaning agents! Needless to say when we got home that boy and I had a date with destiny!! We cleaned his face with facial cleanser for the first time ever. After the experience he promised me he would shower every other day. Why don't I think of these things before he goes to camp?

HIs phone came back unharmed from camp. I was somewhat surprised. And the 300 minutes, 300 messages died as we pulled into camp to pick him up. I was impressed! I thought he would use up those minutes long before he finished his job.

 

All fun aside, I love my kid! I really did miss him and I hear he wants to do it all again next year! I am proud that he wanted to give up so much time to volunteer and that his heart is growing fond of service. He is growing up to be someone I am proud of. 

 

Speaking of growing, please keep him in your prayers,  We are hoping and praying every day that he gets taller and every little bit helps :)

 

 

 

We dropped Joey off at camp and then I headed up 10 days later to make sure he was okay. Travis could not get off so Tami and Jim were going to come with us. Tami totally forgot she had a presidency meeting. You see, she was just called to be the first counselor in the Relief Society in her ward. So I went up with Jim, Zach, and Josh. Mackenzie stayed with Emily. Yeah, she has had enough of Camp Raymond, lol!

 

Joey's job was the quartermaster, or he was in charge of the equipment shed. He loved it and he was good at it! He checked stuff in and out every day. He was so proud of his shed!!!

 

I  must admit I didn't miss him as much as I thought I would. Actually it is probably because he did call me. In fact, he called me at least 4 times a day! -And the reason I came up in the middle of his session is because I got a call from him a few days before that was unbelievable.

It was 5 in the morning and the call came in and he was crying and screaming that I needed to come and get him. It was raining so hard and the wind was blowing the tent in all directions. He cried and cried and wanted to come home. No matter what I said, he could not calm down. He even put the phone down and was hysterical for a bit until he realized I was still on the line. I told him to go to the mess hall and wait the storm out. He would feel better. He finally said he would. I called him back about three hours later to see how he was doing. He said he was fine and in regards to the conversation we had earlier, I should forget about it. He didn't want to come home after all. That must have been one storm!!!

Meanwhile, when I got there his tent was a mess! And I made him clean it up. Jim just laughed and Joey decided I didn't need to visit him anymore but I threatened him that I would be there every day unless kept his laundry up. Jim kept laughing. (Joey did find three shirts that he insisted were left at home.) Zach smiled and thanked his lucky stars that it want him! Hah! Wait till we get home, buster!!!

 

Meanwhile, Mackenzie got new glasses. Aren't they cute?

The Fourth

We kind of spent his and hers fourth of July this year. Britt wanted to go to Benson to celebrate their traditions. My favorite was the parade. I took Loren, Britt, and Mackenzie with me and we left Sunday night. The next morning was the parade. Mackenzie was in it. The rest of us watched from the sidelines. It was pretty good for a small town. Tons of tractors, even Ronald McDonald showed up on a tractor. There was a band but they performed on the back of a flatbed truck. I was not impressed.

But I was impressed with the Barney Auto Sales entry. They had a bunch of trucks on top of a trailer with kids riding on the vehicles and walking next to them. Dakota, Cheyenne, and their families were there and even Mackenzie got to ride up on the white truck. But best of all was this girl!!!

 

She is the reason I come here and I love her to death. This trip was a bit hard and this girl made sure I was taken care of. She gave me her time even though so many of the Barneys were there and I will love her forever for it!!!

We stayed for fireworks and then headed home.

 

Mackenzie's First Year at Girls Camp

 

Mackenzie went to girls camp for the first time ever! I was so worried! She was held back in school because she was too immature for first grade. She still acts a little childlike but that's okay. She is the baby and I gotta hold as long as I can, right? Anyway, she did very well! Tami was there and she kept an eye on her and Angela was her YCL. -  One leader commented that she always had a positive attitude when a lot of the girls didn't. That makes me so happy to hear! She is always making sure everyone around here feels better, Joey is her exception, of course, but that is a whole other story! I think she will be even better when her friend Alex  is old enough to go next year!

Special thanks to my awesome sister who took these wonderful pictures!!!

 She loved adventure day the most and but really she loved everything about it. She loved her leaders and said they were a lot of fun! One was Marie Montgomery, the 1st counselor in Stake Primary to my second. Wonderful lady!!!
 

Our Little Trip

 Such a busy week! Joey reported to Camp Raymond on Sunday, Mackenzie is headed to girls camp, Zach is going to  comic-con for a few days at the end of the week, which leaves Ashley and Travis here on their own. Oh, well. They are adults. They will figure it out!
 

With Joey and Kenzie busy for the week, I thought about it and decided I wanted to do something too! Britt and I played around with the idea of going to Salt Lake and doing Lagoon and what better time to go than the same week the little ones are busy! If Joey continues to go to Raymond I think this might become a tradition.
 

We bought our tickets and we left the same day Mackenzie headed up to camp! ME being the most responsible person in the world forgot my drivers license!!! They finally let me board with my insurance card! (Yeah, I called Travis as soon as I could and he promised he would send my Drivers License to Jeff's house ASAP!)

We flew into Provo and then took the FrontRunner into Bountiful where Jeff and his little family picked us up! They are so cute! They talked and talked the whole night. They didn't know our names but they called us friends. 'My friend this, her did that'. So cute!!! I can't wait to be a Grandma!!! 
Their front room window looks up to the Bountiful temple! It is so beautiful!!! And the girls had a lot to say about it! They went on and on about how Moroni got hurt and had a hole in his back. A few weeks ago lightening struck the Moroni statue on the Bountiful temple and it needed to be replaced.  The Meridian temple was not ready for theirs yet so Bountiful got it. and the girls were so excited that Moroni was better! If life were only that easy!!!
 

The next morning we woke up and Jeff called me into his office (He works at home). He was so cute, concern all over his face. Apparently I did not plan very well after all and it turns out that Lagoon opens the next day! I talked with Britt and we decided to play in Salt Lake for the day instead.

WE went to Temple Square, Joseph Smith memorial,  the conference center, and then to the mall for shopping and lunch.  Jeff picked us up early and we headed back to his house, stopping to get a kiddie pool first. We set it up and the girls and I played in the water while Britt had a nap. It was so nice catching up with Jeff. I really miss not having him closer!!! And he is so cute with his girls! They had the best time showing off, trying so hard to not to get wet in the pool, and enjoying having someone new capturing their attention. And honestly, I loved it too! Did I mention I cannot wait to be a Grandma?

 

Lagoon was the next day and I had a great time with Britt! The lines were short enough that even though we only had four hours to play, we still accomplished all we wanted to. We even caught the FrontRunner back into Provo. Funny, I had never seen Salt Lake that way before. It was very cool! (I barely got my drivers license in time!)
 And, to top the whole night of, we ended our trip with a four hour delay!!! We did not get home until probably 1 am. Luckily Mackenzie wouldn't be home until the next afternoon.
And I did get a glimpse of Travis before he headed up to Flagstaff that morning to get Joey! It was a great little trip and I am so in love with those two girls!!!! My parents are headed up next week to see them and I hear they have a big surprise, I kind of have an idea but I will keep that to myself for now!!!

Britt's favorite ride!