Happy Father's Day!

Every year, I ask Jeff what I can do to make the day special...and every year he tells me the same thing, "Every day is Father's Day for me, except for Mother's Day!" He's actually not wrong. Haha! Every day, I cook the meals and serve the family so making a special dinner for him isn't too unusual, but at least he gets to pick the menu. And, thankfully, the kids came home to celebrate. That's all Jeff could ever want. He just wants to gather his family and enjoy being together. Still, I am grateful there is a day where we get to shower him with all the honor and adulation he deserves. Jeff exemplifies what it means to be a father. He will be the first one to admit that he is not perfect, but he loves fiercely. He wants nothing more than for his kids to be happy. He may often differ with the kids on what it takes to bring about that happiness, but he has never swayed from that goal. He works tirelessly to provide fun, meaningful family activities. He shares his faith unceasingly. He is the most generous, service-oriented, determined, hard-working, loving father these kids could ever ask for. I was grateful that they were all (minus Dallin) here to celebrate him. Happy Father's Day Jeff!

Family + Water = Endless Summer Fun

This weekend, Nichole and Ryan flew up for Ryan's cousin's son's wedding. It was a quick trip, but we definitely made the best with the time we had! We met up with other family for a day at Highland Reservoir and then spent another day out on the boat. I have a feeling this is going to be the summer of water activities! It has already been abnormally warm for this time of year; couple that with a boat, and voila, you have tons of water fun. Jonas (nor Danny) is definitely not complaining. He is a little fish boy! I am so glad we got him in swim lessons. He is doing so well and it makes me slightly less anxious to see how well he can swim. When we weren't in the water, we were just chilling at home. One evening, I hosted a big dinner for all my siblings (minus Mikey), their families, and a couple cousins too. It is just fun to be together. I know I've said it before, but family is everything! We don't always get along. We may be offended by or offend another. We may be angry, frustrated, disappointed, etc., but we still keep coming back. We still keep moving forward. I feel lucky that our kids keep coming back. I am so grateful that they want to come home. It hasn't been an easy road. Some of us have really struggled, but we have never given up. We keep showing up. We keep caring. 

In any case, we picked up Nichole on Thursday morning (6/17), grabbed a quick breakfast, then headed for the reservoir. We picked up the Tanner kids and Sandy and Cooper on our way. The little boys loved the water! At first, they all wanted to use Sandy's kayaks (Jonas did really well maneuvering it and paddling), but they quickly abandoned them when the realized they could all get on the paddle board. However, the hit of the day was the giant foam mat! Sandy's son-in-law, Spencer, and Cooper had fun wrestling the boys off the mat. Kenzie (Sandy's daughter) said that Jonas was a fighter. She reported that he would exclaim, "fight for your life!" as he would scramble back on the mat. Oh boy! I guess that's what you get with significantly older brothers. Once we were done with the sun, we headed back to the house but not before stopping at The Barn for some yummy ice cream and apple cider donuts.

The next day was the wedding. Nichole and Ryan were in and out all day. Krystle brought the kids down and we all just hung out at the house. I am so excited that the boys are getting old enough to not require constant supervision (although frequent supervision is still wise). On Saturday (6/19), we took the boat back to Yuba Lake. Nichole, Ryan, Scott and Kaia joined us but Krystle opted out of this trip. We had a blast just hanging out on the water. Danny, of course, loved getting on whatever board he could. He is getting good enough to actually clear the wake when he jumps on the wakeboard. Jonas was finally brave enough to try kneeboarding again and rocked it! He even got to the point where he would start leaning to make the board move back and forth. Once everyone tired of the boards, we just blew up the tube and let all the boys wrestle their way on and off of it. I just love being on the boat with the family. It isn't always serene, but I love being together. Here's to more water adventures!