Just June...

I'm pretty sure this will go down as the busiest month of the year. We returned from Colorado on Sunday, June 11th and on Thursday, June 15th, we were off again! However, not before we attended the Strawberry Days Rodeo. I have to admit that I've always wanted to attend this rodeo because of the strawberries and cream they sell. haha! What can I say? I love the food as much as the experience. In all honesty though, I do love going to a rodeo. I love the sense of family and patriotism. Danny, Jonas, Jeff and I were the only ones to attend, but we met up with the Tanners and Don & Sandy's family. Jonas participated in the "cash cow" event with his cousins. There were TONS of kids chasing a few cows to try to grab the dollar bills off of them. Jonas said he got close to the cows but the cash was already gone. It was a chaotic 5 minutes! Poor cows. The evening ended with fireworks and even though it was raining but then, it was a fun night!

The next morning, we (Jeff, Dallin, Danny, Jonas, and I) headed to Lake Powell with five of Danny's friends. This was the trip Danny most wanted to take before he left on his mission. I had my concerns about that many young adult males on the boat, but they all did great! Jeff and I were super proud of Jonas too! This was the first boating trip where he was fearless in trying everything. He was determined to master surfing, and he did. He can get up and stay up on his own. Sure, he doesn't know how to carve or do any tricks, but that will come with time. He was also willing to go kneeboarding and enjoyed tubing too. All of the boys enjoyed jumping off the cliffs. We spent half of the day Thursday and all of the days Friday and Saturday on the water. Thursday and Friday had some afternoon storms. In fact, on Friday, we got caught in quite a little squall. The wind whipped up the waves and the rain was pelting us so hard that we had to seek shelter in a little cove before we could make it the rest of the way back to the marina. It was a little scary and a little uncomfortable, but we survived. To be honest, the cloudy weather was actually heaven sent because Friday morning, Jeff and I found ourselves in an urgent car. Jeff had some skin irritation that turns out to be shingles (or at least some form of viral infection) and the sun would make it worse. Poor Jeff! I think he might be done with Lake Powell. This is two years in a row of unfortunate events. However, Saturday was a perfectly sunny day to end on, and I think the trip was success for all the boys. (Oh...and I ran into Shannon! It was fun to bump into a friend on vacation.) We came home on Sunday, June 18th, which was Father's Day. We got home in just enough time to host a simple family dinner for Jeff. (His face was too swollen to get any pictures.) I am so grateful for the father (and husband) he is. He is my best friend and the most incredibly present, invested, generous father our kids could ask for.

Monday (19th) was Juneteenth. I have appreciated embracing this holiday and discussing its significance with Jonas. We talked about the significance of that day and the fight that still continues for people of color. We discussed how messy our history can be but how important it is to be aware so that we can change it in the future. In honor of this holiday, we decided to complete an act of service. We discussed different ideas but ultimately settled on donating food to the free food pantry downtown. We talked about how there are kids who don't have enough to eat during the summer months without the breakfasts and lunches the school provides. Jonas helped me pick out some kid-friendly foods that we could donate then we took them to the pantry. That night, I made a little "southern" feast with oven fried chicken, mac and cheese, corn salad, and biscuits. We added some strawberry soda and red velvet cake to top off the evening.

Towards the end of the month, I had the opportunity to go to girls camp. I have served the young women in our church in various capacities over various yeas in various locations...and it's still pretty awesome. I love associating with and constantly being humbled by these incredible young women. This year's camp was organized on a stake level, which meant more girls. All in all, we had nearly 200 people there. It was a short camp due to the fact that we had to change the location at the last minute due to road damage up Payson Canyon following the spring runoff. Instead of 4 days, it was only 3 days/2 nights. Still, we had a blast! There were awesome activities sprinkled with spiritual moments.

While I was away, Nichole and Kate flew up for the annual Utah summer vacation. Since I wasn't around and both Jeff and Danny were busy, Nichole and Krystle picked up Jonas for a couple of fun days with him. He could have just hung out at Krystle's house playing with his cousins and would have been just fine, but they did a few fun things too. They hiked Battle Creek falls, went to the fairy festival at Gardner Village, and ate TONS of sugar. 

Once I returned from camp, I picked up Jonas so he could get a good night's rest before meeting back up with Krystle, Nichole, and all the cousins to go to Lagoon! We try to hit Lagoon at least once every summer. Last summer, we met up with the Tanners as well and Jonas had way more fun than just being with me. This summer was no different. He was so excited to roam the park (under adult supervision) with his cousins. We did all the big rides and even some of the small ones. I would say it was the best way to end the month of June! More to come in July!