Memorial Day weekend...and beyond

As if graduation wasn't enough of a celebration this week, we continued the party through Memorial Day weekend and beyond. By Friday (May 26th), my parents made their way to our house to stay with us the remainder of their trip (they flew up the Friday before and have been staying with my sister, Krystle). For the first official day of summer, Jeff took all of us down to Levan where we have some friends who own some property. Jeff planned to stay overnight and camp with Jonas, but Mom, Dad and I just decided to go down for a few hours in the afternoon to simply enjoy being outdoors. There is something very therapeutic about being in nature. We all went on little hikes. Mom, Dad, and I just hiked up the road while Jeff and Jonas hiked up the mountain ridges that surrounded the little valley.

The next day (Saturday, May 27th) Danny went through the temple for the first time. Danny has always been that kid that is going to do things his way regardless of the rules, consequences, etc. He has made a few choices in his adolescence that we wished he wouldn't; yet, through it all, he hasn't wavered in his commitment to his faith. That faith has grown from feeling forced to finally fully embraced. He has done a lot of growing up this year and to see him dressed in white in the temple was the culmination of a crazy teenage ride!

Monday (May 29th) was Memorial Day. We started our day with our ward breakfast. I love this annual event. We get to gather with those in our community to celebrate the brave men and women who sacrificed all to allow us the freedom to worship as we desire. After the breakfast, we went to the Payson City Cemetery to place flowers on the graves of servicemen and women. I am grateful for this opportunity to teach my kids (and grandkids) the real meaning behind this holiday. I think too often it gets glossed over with camping trips and BBQs (not to say those are bad things!), but I think it's important to remember the real reason we celebrate this weekend. That afternoon, a few of us went to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy 3 movie before meeting back at the house for a BBQ and more swimming. 

My parents remained in town until Thursday (June 1st) morning when they drove home. On Tuesday (May 30th), Jonas, my parents, and I met up with the Tanners and Laurin and her kids at the zoo. It had been more than a year since we last went. It was so much fun to have others join us! Carter wanted to hold the monkeys like he did in Honduras. We had to explain to him that this wasn't that kind of zoo. Instead, he found fascination with the elephants pooping. Haha! That was his favorite moment. Dad, of course, loved the elephants too. Everly loved seeing all of the animals, especially the tiger. She tried so hard to get at it through the glass. The other kids just enjoyed running around together.

That evening, we took Mom and Dad out on our boat for its maiden 2023 launch. This was my parents first time on the boat. We didn't stay out long...just long enough to make sure everything was in working order prior to taking it to Lake Powell in a couple of weeks. We mostly cruised around Yuba but Danny did do a little wakeboarding and surfing. Jonas even went surfing and stayed up for almost a minute! It finally clicked for him. He was also able to get up once by himself without Danny in the water with him. It was fun for all of us to witness!  It has been a crazy few weeks between the cruise, end of school, graduation, Memorial Day, etc. I wish I could say things will slow down, but Danny and Jeff leave for their church history trip on Friday, then Lake Powell, then Danny's farewell, home MTC, girls camp, the 4th of July, and finally dropping Danny off at the Provo MTC. It's crazy to think of how many things we still have coming up! But for that one night, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and serene waters.