June Miscellany

In one week we will pick up Abe (!!!), bring him home, and, before he's had a moment to even think about catching his breath, command him to pack a bag full of very different things from those he's carted around in suitcases for the past two years, then run him by our stake president's house to be released as a full-time missionary, load groceries and kayaks and kids and suitcases into our van and our truck, and head to a large family reunion at Bear Lake.

It's all very exciting, but the house and trip readying for all this upcoming excitement is really almost more than can be done. (And it's certainly more than can be done if one pauses to write a blog post! [Or three.] Of course it's also more than can be done if one pauses to feed their kids or brush their teeth. And certainly more than can be done with birthdays thrown into the mix. [Goldie! 17! Impossible!]. But we are doing all those things anyway. So ... [shrug] I guess this too. And fingers crossed about all of it.)

Mike called me to look out on our back deck the other day. Here was what I saw:

Dear girl. She gives him more attention than anyone else. And he still occasionally tries to bite her for no particular reason. But then ... Shasta has never pretended to be anything he is not.

These two girls sang a little Father's Day medley together in sacrament meeting a few weeks ago (Daisy accompanied them). It was pretty cute. and I was surprised (due to the bouncy, upbeat nature of things such as, "I'm so glad when daddy gets home ... clap my hands and shout for joy") to see quite a few tears in the audience.

And here they are with all their sisters right after church. And with Hans. And here is Penny matching Starling (a stroke of good fortune I hadn't even realized I was making happen when I bought Starling that dress).

Our temples are fully open again! I went back for the first time in over a year at the beginning of June. And am going again this week! (Another thing that can't possibly fit in with all the arranging of things this week. But is happening anyway.)

Summer is full of such late nights; no matter how much I intend to maintain normal bedtimes. Here is poor Hansie paying the price:

Jesse went on his first little backpacking overnighter. And his first campout without Mike! I was a little nervous to send him off, but we sent him with plenty of treats, made sure he had a buddy to tent with, and lent our giant rope swing to one of the leaders to carry up, so he had a pretty good time.

Speaking of Jesse, he was able to do a bit of 3-D printing in 6th grade and loved it. He has been dreaming and dreaming of having his own 3-D printer ever since. He'd been asking advice about good printers from those who had them, and watching the prices closely on Amazon, and working out in his mind how many times he'd have to mow the lawn to even get close to being able to afford one; and then, upon realizing that $5 a week (which is all the poor boy gets for mowing) would make earning enough money take practically an eternity, asking if maybe, if he got nothing else at all for his birthday or Christmas, he might be able to get a 3-D printer. (Though the wait would be painful.) 

When cousin Devin heard a bit about Jesse's dream, he insisted it was a dream that must be realized this summer and that Aunt Leisa (who has somehow been gone eight years now) absolutely wanted it to be so. And so it was that Jesse had quite the shocking and wonderful surprise of having a 3-D printer show up, totally unexpectedly for him, on our doorstep. When we told him how it came to be, he texted Devin to thank him, but Devin insisted it had nothing to do with him and was all Aunt Leisa, so Jesse called up a thank you to the heavens and has spent the majority of the last week figuring out 3-D printer stuff. (And I do think Aunt Leisa is delighted. Not just in Jesse enjoying this, but in her son being the instrument in making it so.)

And, to end, ... a few other glimpses from around here: