Keeping up with the Lunds: June

I'm super old

and unfun.

I know this because

Our garden thrills me.

We go look at it every night
it's my daily highlight.

We sit in the backyard when the sun goes down and listen to the kids say the funniest things.

The other night Peyton was asking Raleigh over and over to make her a PB&J

and he was working on something, so he kept putting her off

and finally she said

"Okay, that's it!! I have had enough of your horsing around

do me the honor of making me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with

apple cottage jelly"

~Apple cottage is apricot~

We cracked up because she talks like an adult albeit, incorrectly sometimes.
But, it is so funny.

Since the wedding, we have been working on so many projects.

Project #1 Bachelor Pad Conversion

We worked an entire Saturday dismantling Brayden's room.

His room is a giant room above the garage with a full bath.

It took us the whole day to overhaul it.

We changed it into a family room and it is spectacular.

I love it up there.

Morgan's friend Kylie came over that night and Peyton took her by the hand and said

"Come on Kyle (she calls her Kyle), come up stairs and see what my dad has done up there.

He has made some great pro-gress."

Project #2 Repairing the Backyard Haircutting Fiasco

All three kids + Dull Kitchen Scissors = Three New Summer Haircuts

I was okay with Walt's butchered mess

I was a little sad about Peyton's prelude to a darling bob

but, I have been devastated over KK

Like.... I am still kinda not over it
and it's been weeks.
At least they held off until after the wedding.

Her one length hair was down to her butt is now almost up to her shoulders.

And the only thing that is saving her is her darling face and her freakin' fabulous personality

She is pulling off that mullet for sure.

She is magical.... maybe her hair will magically grow 8 inches over the summer and all will be well in the world again.

Kori has started treatments.

For the next six weeks she will have radiation and chemotherapy.

Her emotions are running wild as they should be.

This is all new territory for everyone involved.

No one is dealing with it very well

Cancer Sucks So Bad.

We try and keep life as normal as we can by doing the things we have always done

but it's hard.

We took the kids to see Inside Out. It was darling. Way over their heads, but such a creative movie and gave me a lot to think about

this is totally Peyton, always taking care of everyone... making sure they are where they are supposed to be a being safe.

She is a very old soul, mature beyond her years like Morgan.

For our 7th anniversary, we went to Anasazi. We love cooking beef on a rock.

Our anniversary was on a Monday. So Raleigh picked me up at work and we went to an early dinner. Only the restaurant's air conditioner wasn't working and in and of itself, that is miserable.... but when you have a 800 degree stone sitting in front of you it's excruciating. Raleigh had sweat dripping down his face and we were kinda in grouchy moods when we left. I am a pro cooker through... I am not bragging.... it's a fact. And I LOVE steak more than any other food.

Mom's birthday was next.

All she wanted was to go to lunch with the three of us.

It was more complicated than in years past.

But it was really fun and I wish we did this more.... like every week.

Father's Day was the next event.

So happy that we were all in the same state unlike mother's day.

We tried to get a picture with dad as we always do every year,

but this year was so difficult for some reason and we mostly just kept cracking up and took really bad pictures

"I don't know... my boobs are pretty great, but yours may be better.... I just can't tell,

can you stick out your chest a little more..."

Really? This was the best we could do?

Apparently....

Here.... I'll apply a filter. Oh yeah, took years off.

Then we took Kori for a blazing hot walk around the neighborhood.

Raleigh and KK having a discussion

My mom said that Raleigh is not allowed to buy my dad electronics anymore.

Dad LOVES them and wants to know how every feature works and Raleigh has to show him. What my mom doesn't realize is Raleigh LOVES showing him. So, he'll never stop buying them. He LOVES when my parents call him and say "please come over and fix our iPads" or "our printer isn't working". He can't get over to their house fast enough to save the day.

Then Raleigh had a birthday.

We took balloons and cupcakes over to his work so he could pass them out to his friends.

He has THE GREATEST job and he is SO GOOD at it.

He really loves it and they really love him.

It is such a good feeling to know that he is so happy there.

He is such a hard worker and makes me so proud.

The next big event was our AC that went out AGAIN for the THIRD year in a row.

Only this time, it took a week to get fixed.

And it just so happened to be the week of 113+ temperatures.

There was one night, I woke up at 3:00 am and I literally thought that my body was dying.

I had been having crazy, wild dreams and I felt like I was going to throw up and I thought...

"if I feel like this and I am in my bedroom which is 5 degrees cooler than any other room in the house, my babies are probably dead."

And I went in search of them.

I found 5 girls and Walt in the tent in the backyard...

all lined up like little sardines.

But, at least it was 20 degrees cooler out there than in our house.
And every one woke up alive... which is always a good thing.

We literally didn't wear clothes for a whole week.
And I'm not going to lie... I kinda liked it.
But, on the flip side, we were all in horrible moods and super grouchy.
And we for sure couldn't touch each other, so what's the point?

Raleigh would come home from work and take the kids to the splash pad to cool them down.

And then this little guy joined us sometime in the night and parked itself right next to the toilet in the girl's bathroom and I've never heard such screeching.... from Raleigh.... jk

Then my friend, Doug loaned us his portable AC unit. And Morgan's room was the only one with the correct window configuration. And so we set it up in there and had a slumber pah-tay.

A family that sweats together stays together... Ya know what I mean?
8 lives were saved.

And these little kiddies slept comfortably for the first time in 4 days

from 5:00 to 9:30pm...

UGHhhhhhhhhhh

Raleigh got a fondue set for his birthday and we took it over to Papa and Nana's cool house

And gained 50 more pounds added to our water weight from drinking 10 gallons of water a day and being all bloated because our bodies were not working correctly because they were 130 degrees on the inside.

And then Allie turned 13. And her birthday was so crappy because we were too hot to celebrate. So I took her shopping and then out to froyo

And she was sweet and said it was fun.... but it wasn't. I know it wasn't.

I'll make it up to you next year because what are the chances that our AC will go out the week of your birthday next year?.... It will go out.... that is for sure, but maybe not June 29th right??

So, Quincey works at Victoria's Secret. And she is notorious for saying that she can't babysit because she "has to work" when she really doesn't have to work and so it ticks Morgan off.

So I get a frantic phone call from Quincey saying "I have to be to work in 10 minutes and Morgan isn't here to babysit." So, I leave work to cover her and I call Morgan on my way home and I am a screaming at her for not being there and for me having to leave work etc. And she is all (in a valley girl accent) "I am not covering her so that she can go hang out with her friends.... she wasn't wearing all black when she left, she had a blue stripped dress on... she isn't going to work."

And I start thinking...... Mmmmmm, maybe she really isn't at work. There's only one way to find out. So I go storming into VS and there she was wearing ALL BLACK, not blue stripes. And so we took sassy pictures and sent them to Morgan, the "problem causer". And I told Quincey she was my favorite child that day.... what a great day for her.

And then....

About a month ago, we discussed as a family, the possibility of being able to pull off our annual

H.E.L.L Fourth of July Trip.

It was all contingent on Kori and how she felt.

Of course, she couldn't predict the future but she felt like she could do it.

So we booked rooms at the NASTY La Quinta Inn in Orem solely because they had 24 hour cancelation just in case.

But, Kori was a trooper.... and she made it.

Our trip always starts off the same way...

With the men rising at the crack of dawn, heading up the canyon and playing 18 at Hobble Creek.

They frolic around the course without a care in the world.

They don't have cell service, so our many texts don't reach them.

They are relaxed and calm, unaffected by the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Meanwhile....

The womenfolk are back at the crappy hotel with 10 children.

Running to Walmart to buy pool towels that someone forgot to pack

Loading up the cars with the typical items needed to get us through a day at Seven Peaks

And there are 45,000 of them

And most of them are too heavy for any of us to lift

We make a pit stop at some gross, but affordable fast food restaurant and we give STRICT instructions to the children to "eat up" because there will not be ANY purchases of ANY food at the water park because they take below average food and jack the prices up 98% so for instance, you pay $37 for an overcooked hot dog and a bag of Lays Potato Chips or should I say crumbs and then they

DON'T ALLOW OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES.

This naturally causes 2 behaviors

1. Snack food must be stashed in places that will not be searched at the check in gates

A. In Canopy bags

B. In camping chair bags

C. In empty tampon boxes

(who'd ever ask to search a tampon box?)

No one.

But you can stuff 25 granola bars in those things.

D. under the shirts of your small children

Because who'd ever search a small child?

No one.

2. Cases of water must be launched over the barbed wire fence when the designated camp site is chosen and set up.

Once we have made it successfully through check in.... we start setting up camp.

With NO MEN.

We set up 2-3 canopies

25 camp chairs

tarps

towels

And the men (we are convinced) are watching us with binoculars from across the street.

And as soon as we have the last chair set up, they pull up next to us at the fence pretending that they are JUST ARRIVING FROM A LONG, HOT, STRESSFUL DAY OF GOLF.

We pass their tickets to them through the fence and they wander in... wearing their golf clothes.

And sit down in the women-set-up chairs like they are beat.

And we play along and give them massages.

This is Scott and Tami Bauer and they are the FABULOUS

couple that took care of my dad and Kori in Houston and have become

like members of our family. They own a home 2 blocks from Seven Peaks and when

they found out we were there, they came over for a visit. It was so fun

to finally meet them. They are just as great in person as I hoped they'd be.

Later that night we ate at
JCW's

We used to take our little new born babies to JCW's every Wednesday after I got off work.

When little new born, Ryker came along... We had toddler Peyton and toddler Kaleigh.....

so, we would opt out of a stressful situation and we'd wimp out by driving through the drive through and we'd eat in the parking lot while all three kids slept.

Such good times....

What a fun memory to re-live.

The Fourth of July

We decided not to go to the parade this year because...

Peyton: said she hated the cannons from last year and didn't want to hear them again

My Mom: said she didn't want to stand on the HOT asphalt.

I: couldn't fathom parking and walking with three little children for 4 city blocks only to fight traffic afterwards.... I am old and un-fun like that.

Instead we woke up at 9:00 (for the first time in 10 years)

And got everyone ready (which took less than an hour miraculously)

And drove through the drive through at Burger King

And headed up the Canyon to Heber for Garrett's Baseball Game

We arrived in the final inning.

Sigh.