I had such high expectations for every single one of the events.
We were busy almost every single day with one thing or another.
Our events started with the announcement of the new teachers.
Ryker is in first grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Gott. I hear from friends that she is a great teacher. We of course, think that there is no one better than our Mrs. Brent (KK's teacher last year). It was so sad to walk by her classroom and not go in. But, I know that we can love another teacher just as much. And actually we already do.
The second event was back to school night. We are getting so good at this elementary school thing. Here is the trick: Back to School night was from 4-7. If you are smart (like we ARE), you show up at 4:05. This way, you are literally THE ONLY family in the school. Your children are the first children that the new teacher sees. They get tons of attention because the teacher is fresh and happy, not bugged or tired. You get all of the correct information with undivided attention. We blew through the joint. We were in and out in 23 minutes and sitting in a restaurant before 5:00.... the same time all of the spazzy families were showing up at the school.
Nana traditionally takes the kids on a shopping spree a few days before their birthdays. Every time it is the same experience. They wander up and down every isle 25 times choosing like 100 different silly toys that no child should ever own. And Nana gives them several reasons why they should keep looking for something better or less expensive or more useful. This year we decided that we would pre-decide what the gift would be. We decided that Nana and Peyton would go shopping for a new backpack.
She was focused and determined to find the coolest backpack in the store.
She finally made her selection and it was only $10.00
So, Nana said "I can't get you something that only costs $10.00"
Pick a little something else.
...................................................................
Wandering Commenced.
Silly Toys Were Selected.
Persuasive Arguments Were Expressed
Compromises Were Made
The Least Of The Silly Toys Was Purchased.
It's the experience that counts.
It's the memories that are made right?
Nevertheless, I have played the role of "the customer" (buying an apple and bell pepper sandwich) no less than 50 times this month.
The next event was....
PARKER
I cannot do this event justice.
Two years ago this was Morgan.... hyperventilating on the floor after she had been sobbing for over 2 hours. I didn't think that we would survive THIS DAY much less the next 730 days.
But somehow, we (she) did.
Every 13th day of the month, she would rip a link off of her chain.
Each month a little easier than the last.
And in-between those days, she stayed completely loyal.
She put her life on hold for her South African Missionary.
Against everyone's advice.
She didn't date or even look at another boy.
She spent her nights in her room or at the temple or at institute.
Her days she worked 3 jobs and saved a ton of money.
Two years passed by.
The days were long
The years were short
And all at once, the day was upon us.
Parker was in cahoots with Nana to "surprise" Morgan.
We really didn't know his plan.
We knew when his plane landed, Nana was stalking him from the airport parking lot.
But, beyond that.... we had no clue. For all we knew, he could just show up at our house and we wouldn't be ready.
So we all had to be ready for anything.
Quincey and Vince
One by one, our entire family showed up at our house and we essentially sat around and looked at each other until he finally sent a text giving us a slight hint of what he was up to.
And this is what it looked like.
He is about 25 pounds lighter and sort of seemed like he was in a daze on this first day (I guess 30 hours in the plane will do that to you) but he looks the same and sounds the same and when you hear them talk to each other and work out the "awkwardness" of a two year break, literally it feels like he left on Thursday and came home on Friday. They picked up exactly where they left off. Which is both a good and a bad thing.
He rolled up in a brand new car
Parker's mom
Parker's "Mama"
Here are a couple of pictures of Parker's last day in South Africa.
These are 4 of the 7 members of "The Squad"
The man on the far right is going to be a branch president soon.
And the tall boys on the left are going to be missionaries soon.
This was a very successful conversion.
Good job P-Town
Everyone in the Lund/Koenig house knows that if your birthday is on a Sunday, it's going to be a huge bummer birthday. Peyton's birthday was on a Sunday this year... We vowed to make it a good one. First we celebrated on Saturday at Fiesta Fun.
And then we went to Yogurtland
Then on Sunday, we got ready for church like normal and then we let her open one of her gifts.
She opened her "gizmo watch". She was SO excited she could hardly stand it.
Later that night everyone came over for cake and ice cream
And we finally had Parker all to ourselves to ask two years worth of questions.
Look at Raleigh in the background fully engrossed in one of Peyton's presents.
Like I am not kidding, he was focused. Sort of missed the party altogether.
She said it was a great day and that is all that matters.
The very next day, our next event happened.
The First Day of School
For the second, first day of school in a row, Peyton took birthday treats for her classmates
She agreed to wear her hair down today and she even let me braid her bangs
This is huge for a tom-boy soccer girl
The Lund parents nailed The First Day of School as well.
We were there 35 minutes before it started.
We got front row parking.
We were the first family there.
Our kids were the first kids in their classes.
Their teachers made a HUGE undivided fuss over each of them.
We were in and out in 18 minutes. And we were sitting in our seats at work at the same time all of the spazzy moms wearing yoga pants were showing up at the school.
She is so pretty and I really love her.
She is always happy and stress free and drama free and easy going and fun.
And she has the cutest body. I wish I could take some credit, but I can't. She looks nothing like me bodywise. She is better in all the right places.
I really LOVE it when Quincey comes over at night and eats with us and we all get to sit around and talk.
Allie attended the AGKO Kendama Competition in Portland Oregon.
She wasn't nervous to compete, but she was nervous to fly in a plane.
Her trip was paid for by her sponsors.
And she had a wonderful time exploring Portland and seeing what everyone means by "weird"
She saw old friends and met a ton of new ones.
She signs Kendamas and gives them away to people who treat her like she's a celebrity
She made several videos for her social media sites
AND THEN SHE WON THE COMPETITION.
Like it was no big deal.
She finally beat a girl from Japan who was 26 and had been playing since she was 5.
Allie is truly amazing.
The next day we had stake conference and it was such a good thing because we
had to be to Grant's ward for his farewell at 9:00
And then to Parker's Homecoming at 11:00
Both boys gave unbelievable talks and I could not be more proud of both of them.
2 hours after Parker's Sacrament Meeting was over, he and Morgan left to go up North to start school.
I am so excited for all of their adventures.
So my tire literally exploded and I unknowingly drove on it
for 20 miles.
My sexy lover rescued me and had it repaired in 28 minutes in 113 degree weather
This right here is what dreams are made of
On Monday, we had our Big FHE at Nana's
to bid Grant a glowing farewell.
We celebrated him and told him how much we loved him
He is the most outstanding kid.
Kami and Brent
Monday was Parker's birthday as well
Morgan spent so much money making sure he had the best day ever
They ate at Roof
in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
and rode the Alpine Slide
And she gave him concert tickets
He was giving us updates all day and keeping us in the loop.
I think he was REALLY happy.
On Wednesday we bid a final farewell to Grant at the airport
He "wasn't even nervous"
and he asked Brent and Raleigh if that was weird?
And then I boo-hooed on and off for the rest of the day
Allie got asked to Homecoming by our bishop's son, who she is just good friends with.
He has been a pain in our *$$ for 3 years.
He has a dynamic personality and he thinks it is super funny to TP our house every month.
And put forks in our lawn and silly string all over our garage and throw things up really high in our trees. He's just a doll.
Well..... he must have spent $100 in solo cups.
There were at least a thousand of them all over our front yard
It looked like legoland in the kids bedroom and they played with them for hours
Finally, the kids have been begging us for two summers to go to the beach.
It didn't work out for us last year.
And we pretended that it wasn't going to work out this year as well.
When they started school and we hadn't been to the beach, they were so mad.
But, Dada had some tricks up his sleeve and we surprised them.
We began our California Adventure in Las Vegas
Picture this:
We are driving to Las Vegas.
It's 6:00pm on Thursday the 30th.
We are driving west and so the sun is straight in our eyes.
I am on the phone with my boss trying to hear very important words.
Raleigh is driving AND WATCHING
yes that is right, I said WATCHING the Utah game on his phone.
It's all propped up on the dash board and he's hootin and hollarin.
Meanwhile Morgan and Parker send us these pictures:
I don't know how we arrived in one piece, but we did
My Little Darlings
I wanted them to see the Dancing Waters.
I thought they would think it was the coolest and they would make a memory.
We parked across the street at The Paris to save some money and walked over.
On our way, we almost got attacked by a bum, but our dad has big muscles and saved us.
And we saw two men peeing in the bushes and they weren't shy about it either.
My little darlings were NOT impressed with the water show, but you better believe
they will never forget our journey over to it.
Pulling into California MUST begin with lunch at Miguels in Corona.
I probably ate here 3 or 4 times a week in High School and it still tastes exactly the same.
Then we drove over to Corona High School, home of the Panthers
and I took a stroll down memory lane.
30 years later.
All the kids sitting on the wall, waiting for rides, just stared at me as Raleigh took my picture.
"CLASS OF '89"... I said to them....
nodding my head and walking all slow....like I was so cool.
I am sure they were thinking.... I hope that I can be half as cool as that cool chick when I'm almost 50.
Cuz that is what high school kids think when they see old ladies at their school taking pictures by the gigantic painting of the mascot.
I am sure they were thinking.... I hope that I can be half as cool as that cool chick when I'm almost 50.
Cuz that is what high school kids think when they see old ladies at their school taking pictures by the gigantic painting of the mascot.
The next day was BEACH DAY
We arrived at 11:00 and it was overcast,
we set up our canopy.
Now, let me pause for a moment.
To tell a little story.
I used to go to the beach A LOT when I was a young girl...
Like A LOT.
I would jump in my 1972 Volkswagon Bug with no air conditioning
and drive the 91 to the 55 toward Beach Cities
and layout, with NO sunscreen.
LIKE A LOT
And 'nery a single time, did I ever see a canopy.
A little umbrella MAYBE, but never a canopy.
And I don't know why, but the thought of a canopy on the beach was just weird to me.
Because I had never seen it.
So when Raleigh said, "I'm bringing the canopy right?"
I was like "OH NO, you don't take canopies to the beach."
UMMMMMMMM.......................
A YESSS YOU DO
Things have changed since 1989
(Like the invention of the canopy for instance.)
Back then, we freakin' had two choices...
1. Lay in the blazing hot sun and fry like a lobster
OR
2. Go down to the water for some relief and continue frying like a lobster.
What a genius idea it would have been to bring something like a canopy
to sit under and prevent our skin cancer.
But, there was no such thing available to us at the time.
(P.S. And only Grandmas brought umbrellas to the beach)
Grandmas and uncool people.
It was a perfect day.
The kids were NON STOP in the water.
Peyton had set a goal to catch a fish with her bare hands.
We said "yeah right, Peyton good luck with that"
I said that because 'nery have I seen a fish in the rolling waves of Corona Del Mar
in all of the thousands of times I have been there......(in the 80's.)
But, that little girl had her hands on a fish TWICE.
I would not have believed her, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.
She is amazing. She is going to accomplish great things in her life, I just know it.
Because she truly believes she is going to accomplish the wild ideas she comes up with.
I guess the fish in the rolling waves started showing up about the same time the canopies
began making their appearance.
We finished our day with a good swim in the hotel pool, dinner at The Claim Jumper and ice cream in the back of the truck
And every one was dead asleep by 9:30
The next day, we went to The Balboa Pier.
Which was an emotional kick to the crotch.
We literally circled the neighborhood for well over an hour looking for a place to park.
My patient husband was optimistic and pressed forward vowing to circle "one more time"... like 50 times.
Finally, he kind of lost it and whipped our car into the parking garage of an apartment building and parked there like we lived there. And he jumped out like we were going to stay parked there. And then he stared at me, through the window, like I was holding him up. I sat there pondering the wrongness of this decision and I ever so reluctantly exited. Knowing that my husband lives a charmed life and nothing bad ever happens to him and plus, he seemed so confident and proud of himself.
And so off we went to enjoy our day.
Only, I couldn't enjoy our day because looking at this realistically, like a realist should: our car was going to get towed and to some seedy garage where they weren't going to treat us kindly and then they'd demand thousands of our dollars for it's release..... I just knew it. And this was our only way to get home. We were never going to be able to get home now...
I made the children walk at turbo speeds
I kept yelling at them to hurry up.
"no we cannot stop to tie your shoe, we have to make a quick memory and promptly get back to our car"
Searching for fish and whales
We SHARED a shake at Rubys
Ruby's is pretty gross
Ryker scared off every bird in the immediate area
And I am SO happy to report that our car was still parked in the place we left it when we returned.
Why. Is. He. Always. Right?
August was such a fabulous month.
I am so happy with August and all of it's adventures.
We were invited to go to dinner with Uncle Jamie and Aunt Amy and it was one of my favorite nights of the month. They are such wonderful people and they are so good to us.
They gave us some good advice and lots of compliments and we left feeling like we were really loved.
August also brought with it some surprises.
I got a very substantial promotion and a hefty raise which I was NOT expecting.
And I have total mixed emotions about the whole thing and I guess I will just
take it all day by day and not let the enormity of it overwhelm me because it sure could.
Being in charge of $40,000,000 in other people's real estate is daunting.
I have had to remind myself like a million times that
I am not the Kaci of a decade ago.
I am the new and improved Kaci, that can do big things and who no longer listens to the inner-voices telling her that she can't.
It's time for me to prove to me that all of this hard work was not for nothing and that maybe it was all for preparing me for the bright and glorious future that I envisioned for myself and set out to have.
Gone are the days that I listen to other people's opinions of me and believe them.
Gone are the days that I am okay with mediocrity.
Gone are the days that I sit idly by and wish things could be better.
So with that, I will press on and learn by making mistakes and gain some knowledge and leadership skills that will hopefully make me better.
August was a month of being with family and experiencing the things that bring us lasting joy.
I keep thinking that there is something to this Plan of Happiness we hear so much about.
And it is our duty to do all that we can do to be apart of it.
We are the most blessed family.
What a joy it is to get to be with ALL of them.
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