July Summer Activities

June was so rainy, that once July hit - it was as if summer was finally here. Even so, it's been a busy month. David was out of town 3 of the 4 weeks in July and I've been prepping for two big events (Grandma's 90th and a Temple Celebration). Even so, we had some fun summer things going on - and it was a good month. Slower than usual, maybe, but nice. 

Here are a few highlights: 

-Our kids have really been enjoying slurpees at 7-11 this summer. They saved some of our family money to buy slurpees.  (have we talked about family money/buckets on the blog yet? If we haven't - it's a slight adjustment to our family economy system and it's really working for us right now.) However, we realized that the day we had picked to go with David to get them just happened to be July 11. You know, 7/11. Free Slurpee Day. So that worked well for us! We saved our money and got slurpees and came home and at them on the porch. Joy. Pictured below is one of the funniest things that our kids do. It's called "A taste for a taste." It's when you share what you have at the same moment that they share with you. The kids do this with lots of different things and it's equal parts gross and sweet. 

-Lucy still loves chickens and we decided to go to the farm to see the chickens and other animals. It was a success. 

-Lucy and Sadie are the most darling friends right now. For a long time Sadie and Caleb were the best of buddies, but it's fun to see Lucy getting old enough to be the playmate for Sade. #cousinsmakethebestfriends



-We hit up the pool several times, both our neighborhood pool and also the Provo Rec Center (another activity the kids chose to spend our family money on). Summer at it's finest. 

-I took the boys to the Classic Fun Center in Sandy. They had a great time and I was able to work on some things on my computer while they played. Jenna had Lucy with her in Perry, and Lydia was in Wyoming helping my Dad with haying, so it was just me and the boys. Lest this picture look like we were having too much fun, the only reason that we were there is because our van was getting repaired at a nearby shop. What was supposed to be a 2-3 hour fix took 6 hours, and ended up costing over $1,000 and didn't fix the problem. So it was a painful car-repair-day. But at least we were at the fun center instead of sitting in their waiting room. 

We celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday, and as part of those celebrations we went on a sunrise hike up the M. I try to hike the M at least once a year and I'm glad we squeezed it into this summer. We woke up early and made it to the top as the sun was rising over the east mountains. It was beautiful although I'm always surprised at what a steep hike the M is. It was a small group: Jenna, Melissa, Lydia, David, and I. It was perfect though.  (More details about Grandma's 90th Celebration in a separate post, but I wanted to post all of these hike pictures without taking away from the Grandma pictures.) 

Lydia at the Ranch

Our July was a little busy, especially factoring in that David was gone 3/4 weeks and we were having significant van repair problems. When my Dad called to tell me that they were going to be haying the fields during the last week of July and asked if Lydia wanted to come help, I just wasn't sure how I was going to get her up there. Through a series of tender mercies and help from others, we got Lydia up there. (Jenna took her with her on her way to Perry, Jacob drove from Morgan to pick her up from Jenna in Ogden, and she was there so that my Dad could leave at 6 am the following morning. She was up there for 3-4 days. 

It was such a great experience for her and she was SO helpful. I'm so proud of her. 

My dad said that they wouldn't have been able to finish the haying without her. This is her second year of going and staying at the ranch to help. I was kind of hoping to send Austin this year (or bring all of us so Austin and Lydia could both help), but it just wasn't in the cards this year. 

On the way to Wyoming from Morgan, they stopped at a store and my dad bought Lydia this cowgirl outfit. I sent her with jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeve shirt. She ended up with cowgirl boots (which she loves), a pearl button long sleeve, her own work gloves, and a pink cowgirl hat. 

It was so kind of my dad and Lydia was so happy to look like a real cowgirl. 

One of the most tender things is that Lydia got to spend SO much time with my grandpa, Ramon Walker, she ate meals with him, watched TV with him, worked alongside him in the fields, and went exploring some of his favorite places in their time off. They went to the summer range and checked on the bridge and fence (Lydia's favorite place in the world) and they also went exploring Church Butte together. My dad sent me videos of her feeding baby calves, working around the ranch, and driving the pickup (all by herself). They had such a fun time together and I love this experience for her. 

This is particularly meaningful because my Grandpa passed away on August 11, 2023. I will write more about that in a separate post, but it happened so fast and I am overwhelmingly grateful that Lydia was able to spend his last good days working and exploring by his side. I love her, love him, love my dad, love this beautiful, wild, Wyoming land.

Summer Sewing Classes

Each year our YW/YM programs host a youth auction where members of the ward donate items/services and people bid on them. I offered a couple of sewing lessons for the auction, and then when a couple of friends asked if I would be interested in teaching their kids some sewing lessons this summer I decided to make it a thing and host some official classes.

I taught four different projects, one per week. I had two sessions of Monday/Tuesday classes with four kids in each class.

June 29&30 8:30-10 or 12-1:30 Adventure Banners (for collecting pins, stickers, jr ranger badges)

 July 10&11 8:30-10 or 10:30-12 Quillows (foldable fleece blanket) 

July 17&18 8:30-10 or 10:30-12 Rolled Pillowcases (Fits a standard queen pillow) 

July 24&25 8:30-10 or 10:30-12 Scrunchies and Otter Pop covers 

$15 per child per session. I will have standard supplies and a fabric stash that the kids can choose from. (*Quillows have an extra $15 supply fee)

 I will provide a supply list for kids who prefer to go pick out their fabric themselves.

I had a really fun time with this. It was fulfilling in a way that felt a little different than my normal. I enjoyed sewing with the kids and was able to use the money on some fun extras this summer. (i.e. Sarah Eden's Book Launch Party).

Adventure Banners: 

Rolled Pillowcases:

Quillows (I didn't get pictures of all the quillows, but this was by far the fan-favorite project). 

Scrunchies/Otter Pop Covers (also didn't get pictures of both sessions, but the kids liked this more than I thought they would.) 

I saw someone with this bag at church on Sunday and decided I wanted to figure out how to make it. So maybe next summer I'll add in a bow-bag project. 

I had such a fun time with this, I'm already thinking about doing a few Christmas sewing lessons. It was fun to sew again and fun to teach lessons to these small groups.