June

June is always a busy month with the end of school and the start of summer. We are loving summer break and are just starting our adventures.

The month started with Paige's final orchestra concert of the year. They did an amazing job, and orchestra is Paige's favorite class. Her teacher is incredible. This time, Baylor and McCall stayed home with Pops, so Nate and I just got to sit and watch, which was kind of weird but also nice.

We celebrated Nate's 40th birthday.

Baylor had her end of year carnival at her school and all the girls had so much fun. Baylor loved seeing her friends there and it was so cute to see all these girls hanging out and playing together. The girls loved the petting zoo and the inflatables the most.

McCall was too small, but Paige was able to take her down once. If you could zoom in on McCall's face on the top right picture, it is pure terror but then the one on the bottom right she has a huge smile. :)

Then, the weekend of June 8th, we went down to Hillsboro and stayed one night at Mike and Christy's house. We were there for Jake's mission farewell, so Anna and Scott's family were there along with Nona and Pops. Saturday afternoon and evening were spent at Next Level. It is the most amazing arcade where you just pay for the day and can come and go and play any of the games as many times as you want. It is overwhelming in a good way when you first go in because it is so cool. We were there for a couple hours with everyone before dinner. Then took a break to have dinner at Mike and Christy's. Then most everyone went back. Baylor and McCall were done so I stayed home with them until I got them to bed. Then I went back and by this time Anna and Scott were leaving with their family and they took Paige back, so Nate and I just had a little date for about an 1 1/2 hours doing lots of games together which was so fun. It was fun to see the girls having fun. My favorite memories were doing guitar hero with Anna and doing this scary one with Nate where you shoot zombies and they jump out and scare you because I was screaming so much and Nate was just laughing at me. 

Sunday was the farewell which was wonderful, and then we had lunch and headed back home. It was a pretty quick trip, but it was fun to be with family, and it was fun to stay up late with Nate and Mike visiting after we got home from the arcade.

Three cute girls enjoying a summer evening.

When the girls were in school, about once a week I would go with Celina and her two kids and go on an outdoor adventure. So far, we have gone to Seahurst Beach, Lake Wilderness, Gnome Hike, Flaming Geyser, and the park. It is fun having a friend that wants to go out and do things.

Here's a few pictures from the gnome hike. It was their first time going and they really enjoyed it. The girls loved all the gnomes.

Baylor joined us for Lake Wilderness since she was "sick" that day. I'm pretty sure it was dehydration from the warm day before. We had some lunch, the kids played in the water, and we found some cool rocks.

This little girl with all our adventures has been taking naps in the afternoon especially if she is in the car which also means for some late nights.

Nate had to change the brake pads on his car, and they were worn all the way down. The fun thing was that he had to take the tires off to do this and I had never changed the tire before. I had been told how to do, but never actually done it. So, I had him walk me through it and I was able to take off and put a tire back on and Paige did one too. It was fun to do and just sit by him and watch as he worked. He answered all my questions and commented on how he just liked my presence as he was working on a task that he didn't really want to do but needed to be done.

Paige was in charge of one of our young women activities this month and did a self-care night. She thought of all the details, and it was super fun. We first did face masks. Then while they were drying, we did some journaling, and she even had some prompts. Then we made some shower fizzies.

The 14th was graduation. In the morning, we watched Mikey graduate along with other youth in our ward. That afternoon I went to my two young women's grad parties which were so fun and sweet to see them. I've watched them both grow and progress over the past few years, and it is amazing to be a small part of their lives. One of them is Polynesian and it was a PARTY. They had so much food, a DJ, everyone got a candy lei when they walked in, there was a raffle, so McCall and Baylor came home with a big stuffed animal and some cookies. She also did a traditional dance where people threw money at her and her stuffing money in her dress. It was the coolest experience and so fun to be a part of.

The day before school was out, Baylor had field day and McCall and I got to join her for lunch and an all school recess and then it was finally the last day of school!!!!!

The next day to celebrate, we went to Big Air and there was hardly anyone there, which was so nice. Baylor and Paige stuck together so I didn't get as many pictures of them while I followed McCall around. The girls had so much fun!

I got to go with the youth to the temple and one young man it was his first time baptizing and there were some nerves and mistakes but it was fun to watch his progression. 

One morning, the girls woke up in a mood. Everyone was pushing each other's buttons and there is just this transition struggle from school and structure to summer schedule. By lunch, I was done and knew I needed some nature therapy. So, I took Baylor and McCall and we went and walked around Soos Creek Botanical Garden for an hour. It was wonderful and my girls truly do their best when they are outside. We ended up finding 30 slugs on our walk, saw lots of beautiful roses and flowers in bloom, threw some rocks in the creek, and the trees even acted as nature's umbrella when it started raining towards the end. It was a beautiful way to change our day around and I'm so grateful that I live on such a beautiful Earth.

We had some late nights with family in town this past weekend and the night before McCall's birthday, I went home with just McCall to put her down. She was fighting sleep, and I ended up rocking her to sleep. I haven't done that in a long time, and it was the sweetest thing. It was my last night with her as a two year old and I just love this little girl so much.

We got a new car! Meet Fritz! We ended up buying this van from Mike and Christy. I never wanted to be a van mom, but I know I will love the space and being able to take extra people with us will be a wonderful bonus. They gave us an amazing deal and we are excited for all the places and adventures this new car will take us on.

Paige is a big Benson Boone fan and this week he had a special Crumbl cookie and she was so excited to get it.

What a wonderful month!