June-at-a-glance

June was busy.  The first week Tennie went to EFY (Especially For Youth) at BYU.  Wow.  It was built up by all sorts of people and it didn't disappoint.  Tennie was literally transformed.

Meanwhile Adele and Ceci went to BYU Soccer Camp every morning.  Adele was lucky enough to get her favorite BYU soccer player, Niki, to be her coach again.

In the afternoons we kept busy too.  Joann and cousins Tag and Pack were in town and we went to The Gateway fountain to cool off.

It was Geoff's sister Nikki's birthday and we met at Sundance and hiked Stewart Falls.  What amazing scenery!
 

Geoff and I attended the sealing of my stepmom, Babs, and my deceased dad.  It was a very sacred experience.
 

Our friend from New York, Allison, came to Salt Lake for a visit.  We enjoyed good dinner conversations with her and took her to hike Stewart Falls in Sundance.  We didn't get enough a few days before...

Tennie, Adele and I went to Youth Conference at Utah State.  This was a four-stake conference and our stake hosted.  It was a hecka lot of work!!!  But the effort paid off.  The youth had a great time.  I'll post those pictures later.

Meanwhile Geoff and Ceci got some daddy/daughter time.  Ceci's first request is always Best Friends so she can play with the animals.  This time it was kittens.

Geoff's family came together to run a race that benefited cancer.  All ages participated.  Good times.
 

Ian and Liz were in town for the race and we got to see them a little when we got back from Youth Conference.  We played around on the Salt Lake Temple grounds.
 

We celebrated Father's Day at Geoff's sister Emily's house.  The girls did their skit to "honor" (it is really a roast) Geoff, and all of us put one on about Geoff's dad.
 

We met some sister missionaries that served in our ward in Auburn for yogurt.  Happy reunion!  They became dear friends.
 

Ceci hosted a "Sister Sleepover".  She put up an invitation for her sisters to see and they painted nails, ordered pizza, watched a movie and stayed up late playing "Truth or Dare" (with dares like, "Go out on the balcony and yell, 'Good mornin', Matey!")
 

The girl's and I went to Lavendar Days at the Young Living Lavendar Farm with Geoff's sisters, Nikki and Britt.

They had a real jousting competition!

Adele and Ceci were itching to make some money with a few of the items we cleared from their closets so they held a sparse garage sale at Em's with cousin Bailey.  There wasn't a lot of business.  I think they made about $6.25 total.
 

Ceci brought her face paints which was her biggest money maker rolling in two bucks.  Bailey was her practice model.

Geoff has been doing quite a bit of mountain biking.  He and Nikki biked at Sundance.

My brother Nate and his wife Kim rented a place in Park City and we went for a visit.  We'll be visiting them in the Colorado Rockies later this summer.

Adele owed them a painting of a dragonfly...

And that brings us to the end of this first month of summer.  (And for the record, so far the reading bingo and raffle tickets are working their magic.  Reading is happening every day without any reminders!)

Summer's in Session!

It is summer.  I'm really looking forward to a change of pace.  I still feel busy in the summer trying to do all the things I didn't have time to do during the school year, and preparing for the next year's activities and curricula, but I feel an overall exhale.  Popsicles, outdoor concerts and explores, family gatherings, late night movies, watermelon and peaches, and road-trips and camps.  Let the fun begin!

With all the fun I feel that some of my kids need to read over the summer, and they aren't naturally inclined in that direction.   With a little inspiration from Pinterest, and a few ideas of my own, I put together a little motivation to pick up a book.  Here's how it works.

First we have a Raffle Jar.  At the end of summer we will have a drawing for prizes.  Every book you finish you get a raffle ticket in the jar.

Next we have a Bingo game.  For the first bingo you get a ticket to put in the Raffle Jar, and when you get blackout you get a Golden Ticket.  If you get 1 Golden Ticket you get a trip to the gluten-free bakery downtown.  If you get 2 Golden Tickets you get to go on a date with both mom and dad.  If you get 3 Golden Tickets you get to go to Seven Peaks at the end of summer.  So once one bingo card is full you get another, and then a third, with the goal of getting all three Golden Tickets.

There is a lot of excitement and energy around this summer reading challenge so, so far so good!

I also feel like summer is a good re-set for doing jobs.  I'm hoping to get my kids cooking with me more.  I want to teach them to make bread and yogurt in our yogurt maker.  And I want them to WORK by doing jobs so I created a new job chart for a fresh look.

 
On Saturdays they pick from the Job Jar (their idea) which has deep cleaning jobs like wiping down baseboards and the insides of cupboards.

I also want them to get into good habits.  We make this effort every summer but over the school year some of the habits fall by the wayside (I won't tell you which ones...).

It feels good to go into summer prepared and organized, but I'll be honest that it rarely works as I would like it to.  I just have to believe that some effort will create great results in the long-term!

Happy Summer!

Smile Maker

How can I not laugh when this comes around the corner...

Oakley

One of Geoff's work colleagues invited us up to his ranch in Oakley last Saturday.  By the time we finished soccer games we only had a portion of the afternoon, but we're glad we made the trip and can't wait to go back.  Tennie was at home writing a final essay for her online Lit & Comp class.  She is learning about time management by her own painful experience...

A fresh, cold, spring water drinking fountain

We planned to float down a canal built by Mormon settlers in the 1850s but a neighbor was taking his 2-hour share to flood his fields and the water was too low.  Not deterred, Adele and Ceci found the only "pool" of water and played in the rafts awhile.