Summer Friends

We had lots of adventures and activities this summer and blessed enough to be able to celebrate Summer with real people again. (Remember last summer where we were basically quarantined away from people the whole time?) These pictures are only a snapshot of the fun that we had. We also went with friends to the pool, kayaking at Highland Glen, and lots of other fun things. 

Middletons

Early in the summer we decided that we were going to try to go adventuring with the Middletons every Thursday. We made it about two weeks before emergency stitches (them), being out of town (us), a month long Covid diagnosis and quarantine (them) and continued sickness (us) put a huge damper on our plans. 

(Above: Their magical backyard, Below: The Conservation Gardens in West Jordan)

We spent our first few Thursdays of the summer together and magically were able to go on our "Last Adventure of the Summer" with them, too. The perfect way to open and close the summer - we only wish we'd gotten more mid-time in there, too.  (Below: South Pines up Big Cottonwood Canyon)

Barclays

I'm just going to repost my Instagram words here with the addition that I'm grateful that these high school friends continually reach out to me and keep me connected to them. I'm not great at staying in contact with people, even when I love them dearly, and I'm grateful that they ARE good at it and that they keep me pulled in the same way they did for me in High School.  

"It's not really summer until we get to meet up with this crew. I wish the five of us as high school girls could have seen a glimpse of this day: 22 kids running and splashing in the water- the moms chatting in the shade. Happy lives with meaningful connections to each other. It would have been balm to my worry-prone teenage self.
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We also realized that we are now/are approaching the age that many of our moms and the moms of our friends were when we were friends. 🤯 Its strange to see those mothers through the lens of our own motherhood. But also gives me hope and encouragement.
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I can only hope my kids will gain good uplifting friends like these friends of mine."

Haderlies

We've spent a good amount of time with the Haderlies this summer, which of course we love. Plus, we got to babysit Rugby when my parents when to Boise to help my mom's parents and that may have been the highlight of the summer for my kids. 

Friends

The kids started putting on performances/plays in the basement this summer and it's the best. 

"Pizza at the Mansion" 

We love our Shields and Perkins, and we are so grateful that we made this fun get-together happen even though we had to cancel the first time because we were sick. Derek's parents own a huge, beautiful home in the Avenues of Salt Lake. Amy has told us about their house many, many times with it's hidden slide and movie theater and backyard pool. They invited us have a pizza/pool party there with all of our kids and it was as amazing as it sounds. 

More Haderlies

We love this crew. 

Matt and Julie

Matt and Julie came to Utah to visit and we were lucky enough to be able to spend time with them two separate times. The first time we were able to go to the Children's Museum with them. We loved chatting with them and hanging out with Ryan and Luke. The second was to have a family BBQ at Wendy&Sam's house. We love Matt and Julie and their family and even though they live so far from us, they've been great friends to us and we are grateful for them! (And now I'm dreaming of another trip to Indiana in a couple of years.) 

VIVO

"It's the BEST MOVIE EVERRRR" - Lydia

(But why? "Because Aunt Brooklyn made it and it's so exciting." - Lydia) 

Brooklyn has been working hard for years in her Animation career and this was such an exciting milestone for her. Her first released film, VIVO! She was on the Art/Animation team for this movie when she worked at Sony but recently has started working at Netflix instead. In a fun turn of events, Sony sold the movie to Netflix before releasing it. Not only was the animation top-notch, but the movie was darling as well! We are pretty careful about the shows we watch in our house and this one will definitely be a favorite for a long, long time. 

Brooklyn is an amazing animator and also an amazing mom and wife. We are so glad to have her in our family and exited for her, Matt and their family. Also, one of our favorite things is to watch for the "production babies" in the credits because my niece Juniper is listed. (Because she was born during the production of the movie.) So so cool.

We had a great time having a viewing party with all the family together. 

The following week Matt and Juniper came to stay at our house and I love watching the two girls together.