August Wrap Up

Just wanted to mention a couple things in the August wrap up.

This is Lucy waiving goodbye to me as I head off to work. I love that the kids still want to waive goodbye or will run out to the porch as I'm leaving. One day recently Lucy said, "I want to go to work with you." She was dead set on coming to my office with me, it melts my heart. 

With our garden box project we dug out a bunch of grass where we were putting the boxes, but also dug out some other bad grass that we just need to replace. Right now that is just a bunch of dirt. This summer the boys have asked if they can go out and play with the hose. This has basically turned into them outside playing in the mud. I love it so so much. I remember when I was a kid that we had a garden area that often did not have anything growing and we would go out and make mud and dig in the dirt. Almost every time the boys ask to play in the mud I will say yes because I love seeing them work together and dig and play, it is the perfect things for kids to do at their age. We'll need to put in new grass next year, but I like that they had this summer of mud. (You can see where they have built mud piles and made dams and it is so great). Lucy would often go out and join the boys playing in the mud. 

I don't even remember the context about this picture. Lydia was clear sad about something and Shantel was comforting her. Lydia is at a really tricky time emotionally right now. She can go through big swings of highs and lows and being really really happy and bubbly and then she can be totally sad or extremely angry. As a parent, it is a really big challenge to stay emotionally balanced and validate her feelings and help her work through those. Shantel does a really good job of that, she has good perspective and is able to help Lydia without getting frustrated or angry. I am so grateful for Shantel for her ability to be such an emotional support to Lydia and each one of our kids. 

Grandma Knowles 89

My Grandma Knowles celebrated her 89th birthday this weekend. One of the things that she wanted to do was to go to the Music and the Spoken Word Sunday morning. The Tabernacle Choir had special guests "The Piano Guys" and we were all really excited to attend. It was a beautiful performance and we enjoyed being there together. My mom, Aunt Cindy, and Grandma drove down to Salt Lake and stayed overnight in a hotel. Lydia and I drove up and met them the next morning. 

(Fun side note: Our dear friend, Leah Ward, is in the Tabernacle Choir! She was sitting in the fourth row from the top on the left side toward the center. It was fun to watch her perform in such a big way.) 

Later that afternoon, we had a birthday celebration and any of the grandchildren that lived in Utah and were able to come, came. It was a small gathering, but really, really nice. 

My cousin Eliza Knowles Shumway and her family. My cousin Tiffany Curtis Wintle and her family. 

Jenna Walker Haderlie and her family. Shantel Walker Peaden and her family.

Grandma and all the grandkids. Grandma Knowles and all the Walkers. 

The whole group. 

The fact that I was able to go to Hawaii with my grandma in February is still such a dream. What a special opportunity that was for me to spend that time with her. My Grandma had some health issues this summer and was in the hospital for several weeks. Even after she returned home, it took her a long time to recover, and she's been working hard and doing physical therapy each day. I'm so grateful that she's still here to celebrate her birthday with and am hoping for several more years with her. I'm grateful for her influence on my life and SO glad that she's here in Utah where my kids get to spend time with her. Happy Birthday Grandma! 

Women's Camp

Our stake did a really neat thing this year, they hosted a "Women's Camp" for all of the Women in the Stake ages 8+. They did a kickoff in February and gave the women some goals to work on and this gathering was meant to bring everyone together. The theme was "United through Christ" and I can not even believe the amount of work and planning that went into this event. It was a HUGE undertaking and I loved it so much. I loved mingling and gathering with sisters from my stake and not just my home ward. I loved participating in the classes and activities. I love the music and thoughts and feelings that were shared. I loved camping in the mountains with Lydia and some of our girl-friends from the ward. It was truly a gem of a weekend. 

The first night we were there, I was asked to speak to the group. I didn't get any pictures because I was speaking. As the Stake Primary President I was able to share some thoughts right alongside the Stake Relief Society President, the Stake Young Women's President. It was a neat opportunity to have all of the sisters in our stewardship gathered together and speak to them together. 



Lydia was also asked to speak in front of the group. I would guess that there were about 300 women gathered together there. Sister Amy Taufer from the Stake Relief Society asked if Lydia and Audrey Ward (our neighbor and friend) would speak about their experience with Family History and the Temple. They both did such a wonderful job. Lydia has had so many neat opportunities for public speaking this year and I am so proud of her. I will try to copy her talk to the bottom of this blog post. (We pulled some of it from when she spoke to the Primary Leaders about the Children and Youth program, but I feel like the whole thing pulled together for a really beautiful message to the women of the Stake.) 

We camped in the same tent and Lily and Iris Young (Brooke) and Sophie Teng (Jen). Lydia was with her friends and I was with mine and we played card games and laughed until far into the night. The next morning we woke up at 5:20 a.m. to go on a sunrise hike. It was SO fun. It started our pitch-dark and slowly brightened into a beautiful day. We were left behind by the large group because I was asked to lead the slower group. We hiked until a certain time and then headed back for breakfast. I loved this hike with Lydia and enjoyed the sunrise and scenery. 










The next day was filled with classes and activities and lots and lots of food. Lydia and I taught a finger knitting class and made hundreds of yarn necklaces and headbands. 

 The entire experience was fabulous and even knowing the amount of work that went into it, I would love for the Stake to host this again. I loved connecting with women in our stake and loved this activity even more than I thought I would. 

Immediately after the camp, Lydia and I went to Cowabunga Bay because it was the very last day that we could go. Later that evening we met up with Audrey and Leah Ward to celebrate Lydia and Audrey doing so well with their talks by eating hamburgers at JCWs. It was the perfect end to a great day. 

Cowabunga Bay

In April this year Cowabunga bay sold some buy one get one free passes to their waterpark. Because we can see Cowabunga Bay from the freeway as we drive by the kids always ask if we can go. We decided to buy six tickets and use them as motivation rewards for the kids this summer. We immediately told Caleb about Cowabuga bay and used to to help him push through the last couple months of Upstart because he was really having a hard time wanting to do it every day. We hung up a printed map of cowabunga bay with a bunch of boxes to cross off and all I had to do was remind him that he was working toward a Cowabunga Bay trip and he'd hop on and do his work. He was the most excited for Cowabunga Bay of any of the kids and loved it the very most. 

Lydia and Austin both worked toward a Cowabunga Bay date by doing their summer learning work throughout the summer. We made goals of things that they needed to accomplish (among a few other smaller things Austin finished his language arts book and Lydia finished her Math book). It took them both the entire summer to finish but I'm glad that they had something to work towards so that they were able to accomplish those important things. I took Austin and then due to some bad weather, we didn't take Lydia until the very last day of the open season, barely squeezing it in. 

I loved being there with each of the kids one-on-one. We loved going down the waterslides, swimming in the lazy river, and getting dumped on by the giant bucket. I tried really hard to be present in the moment and not have my phone out even to take pictures but I did snag a few. 

Caleb:

(also bought french fries and a Shark Drink at the park) 

Austin: 

(after swimming we grabbed a hamburger at McDonalds and went to Waffle Love for dessert)

Lydia:

(we went out to eat at JCWs with the Wards to celebrate Lydia and Audrey) 

I just also have to share this story about when I took Caleb. I bought him some french fries because he was hungry but they were super overpriced and I didn't want to buy much more. He LOVES sharks, though, and there was a special shark drink that came with a little toy shark and "a story". I thought that it would come with a little book or booklet or something but when we got up to order they had me sit Caleb right on the counter and turned on a little audio book for him to listen to while they made his drink in front of him. Here is the gist of the story: 

"There once were some kids who were swimming at Cowabunga Bay. (drops some sour patch kids into the blue water of a drink). The didn't know it, but across the road at the aquarium there was a leak in the shark tank and the sharks got into the pipes connecting the two places (holds a plastic shark swimming toward the cup), suddenly there was a shark attack! (dives the shark into the blue water releasing some red grenadine syrup that had been inside the shark making it look like blood in the water)"

I don't remember the rest of the story because I was so traumatized. It was hilariously terrifying. I was watching Caleb like a hawk because he is scared of sharks in pools already. (The Provo Pool has a bunch of posters with pictures of sharks that say things like "Don't pee in the pool or the sharks will get you.") However, he seemed to not even realize what the story was about, thank goodness. 

Still, months later - the thought of this makes me laugh out loud! How terrifying, especially when you can see the top of the aquarium building over the freeway.