July 2022

We started off July in Park City

I just couldn't take another minute of it and took some of my 131 hours of vacation time.

I was almost a wreck the entire time.  Leaving during busy season is never smart if you want to relax.

I watched the schedule and the commentary on our apps the entire time, trying to head off catastropies before they occured.  Luckily for me, everyone did their jobs perfectly and we didn't have a single problem... miraculously.

We dropped the little kids off at Allie's apartment, so that they could hang out with the big sisters and watch Stranger Things.  They went to dinner at Raising Canes (Peyton wanted to try it and I don't like it, so I paid The Big Girls to take them there).  Worked out perfectly

Raleigh and I were then finding ourselves all alone.

Which incidentally,  is my favorite situation to find myself in.

We went shopping at a few outlet malls.

We went to dinner at JCWs and had a delicious hamburger.

We walked around the Freedom Forum, a festival/4th of July celebration going on very near our resort.

It was actually really fun... live bands and tons of weird people.

We watched a couple of shows and went to bed early and slept in late.

It was a perfect date

We typically stay at Mountainside Resort, but couldn't get in there this year... so we chose a new location Grand Summit Resort

It was so great.

We loved it

We went into Salt Lake one of the days and ate at the Cheesecake Factory

We shopped at another outlet mall and bought tons of shoes.

Then we drove in to Salt Lake to check out the progress of the Temple and found ourselves at the 

Conference Center.

It was SO. MUCH. FUN

I loved every minute of it

I am so glad we thought to do this

We met the cutest sister missionary who's family relocated to Florida from Haiti after the catastrophy there.  She had the cutest accent and she loves living in Florida and was missing it.

She took extra special care of us and promised if she ever made it down to St. George, she would look us up

Another one of the days we layed out by the pool

It was a perfect day.  Not too hot

On the 4th of July, we met Allie and her friend Ethan for lunch

Ethan had forgotten to pack a holiday outfit, so they ran to TJMaxx

and the only red shirt he could find was this "Dad" shirt

Hilarious

He's a cute kid

We had a good time and we are glad we were able to go.

The kids had been begging us to take them somewhere since we returned from Europe.

BUT...

They are NOT good travellers.  

They really just like to be at home, we've concluded.

Which isn't a bad thing.

I am so happy they love our home and consider it a safe place where they love to be.

More on THIS later.....

Brent recently made the leap from his old stupid company to Raleigh's new company.

It was a bold and difficult decision for him to make

but we think he will be so happy he did.  AND it's so fun for he and Raleigh to be back at the same place again.

Kami and Brent came into town, so he could meet the new team and he worked at our house for three days.

One night while they were here, we went out to dinner with the whole family and got all caught up

that was such a good thing for all of us.

Kami and I are very stressed out and completely frustrated right now professionally and it was good to talk each other off our ledges

 One of my saddest days in July was saying good bye to my cute Jaden

He is moving on to start his career.

I always knew he wouldn't stay and when he told me he was leaving, I wasn't even shocked

and I could only be happy for him.

He gave me way more than a month's notice, but I was in complete denial until his last day.

I know this will be so good for him.  He got out just in the nick of time.

And his departure caused me to re-evaluate myself and my future with our going off the rails company.

Early in the month, we had a watermelon for dinner.

There were a few black seeds in it and Walt gathered them up and washed them off and asked if I would help him plant them.

I said I would knowing they would NEVER sprout.

Well....  imagine my surprise when they did.....

And imagine my further surprise, when they continued to grow throughout the month

He is SO proud of his little plant.

He worried about it and kept checking on it during the rainstorms.

I really hope it produces fruit, he'll think he is so cool.

Speaking of rainstorms and lightning and thunderings and flash flooding....

I LOVE monsoon season in the depths of summer hell.

Everyday for a whole week, it looked like this at some point.

I loved every single second of it.

Could there be a more glorious sight?

We wrapped up the month with Girls Camp...

Oh boy... Here we go!

Peyton was an 8 out of 10 excited to go...

Kaleigh, several numbers less.

We spent days, I mean days... packing their bags.

Trying to think of every possible scenario that could occur there and then preparing for it.

Medicines, golashes, rain slickers, plastic bags, warm blankets, night lights, head lamps, tampons.  I packed a gallon size baggie with secret food for in case the camp food was wretched, which invariably it would be, so they could at least go back to their tent and have a slice of bread or a bag of fritos and not STARVE.  

Raleigh was asked to go up as Priesthood really early on and he was happy to go for some odd reason.

No one wants to go to girls camp.

But that dude loves camping.  And he never gets to go.  So he'll even go with the chicks if it means he gets to sleep outside.  What in the world is wrong with him????

I was so, SO happy and relieved that he was going up.  Even if it was just going to be for the first night.

I told him...  "DON'T you dare leave until you have made DANG sure they are both okay.  And if they are not both COMPLETELY okay, you bring one or both of them home with you.  Now is NOT the time for tough love.  You are NOT allowed to decide that you are overriding them if they express an emotion.  You DO NOT get to choose to abandon them because this will be a character buiding experience for either of them.  If they are displaying even the slightest hint of discomfort, you pack their stuff up and bring them back to me.  And if I hear that they expressed saddness and you left them, I will never let you forget my disappointment."

He signed a verbal contract.

We spent the morning putting their hair in braids.  Yes, even Peyton let me braid her hair.

Even though their hair looked identical, they could not have looked more opposite

And Raleigh spent the very early morning loading up the trailer with thousands of bags and camp gear

They arrived safely and set up camp

Peyton "thuglife" Lund was on the pink team

and the Pioneer Woman was on the blue.

Here they are next to their cute tent

And then they did a skit

And they all made it through the first night.

Everyone managed to stay dry.

Raleigh slept in a tent that connected to the bed of his truck.  Other than the fact that his truck was on a decline and his head was lower than his feet, he did well.  The girls did well enough to stay and they  allowed him to leave and go home in the morning.  

Thursday came and went without incident.

All seemed to be going alright, until Raleigh received a call from his buddy, Rick on Friday morning that Peyton had a fever and they were sending her home.  He said KK felt like she could be okay to stay without Peyton, but Rick told Raleigh that he thought it might be a good idea for Raleigh to come back up later that night if he could, because if he was reading her right,  he felt like she was just trying to be brave, but might not quite make it.

I was SO happy when Raleigh called me to say that he was going to go back up.

I have trained him so well.

We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, he took a quick shower, packed a little bag, downloaded a couple of movies on his iPad, put the tent back on his truck and headed back up the mountain.

He had to drive through a downpour.  He drove into camp about 9:00 pm.

Kaleigh saw him drive in and before he could even park, she ran out to the truck and jumped in and burst into tears.  She told him she had been upset all day.  The second she watched Peyton drive away, she knew she had made a bad decision to stay there without her and she felt completely alone.  Severe anxiety set in and she was in full blown panic attacks on and off all day.  Kaleigh has the uncanny ability to be in extreme distress almost undetected.  She does that all the time.  I have learned how to read her and so I know when she is not right or when she is about to pass out.  I can usually stop it before it happens.  But, she is really good at hiding her symptoms, because she doesn't want to burden anyone.  People at camp could tell she wasn't herself, but didn't know the extent of her trauma.  But they all did her a total diservice when.....  No one told her, her dad was coming back up.  Had she known that, she probably would have been able to calm herself enough to enjoy herself a little bit.  Instead, she worked herself into extreme emotions.  So when she saw him pulling in, she LOST IT.  She fell apart and would not get out of his truck and wouldn't let him get out either.  She sat there and sobbed for a half an hour releasing it all.  And he just sat there and let her cry, while he held her.  She was shaking uncontrollably, but she wasn't cold.

She finally agreed to let him get out to go get her sleeping bag and air mattress, which had a hole in it by the way, and was completely flat.  He set up a little sleeping arrangement for both of them in the back of the truck, where there was most definitely not enough room for both of them, but that was never going to matter.  She wasn't going anywhere.  And she got the good air mattress and the good pillow and the warm, dry sleeping bag.  She watched 12 1/2 minutes of The Italian Job before she fell asleep snoring and holding his hand.  And woke up with A FEVER...  

Stupid Girls Camp

OR

Camp Covid 2022 as it will forever be known from now on due to the fact that over a dozen girls from our ward alone came home sick.

Everyone is going to have to forgive me, but I am most likely not going to be able to send them next year.

I am NOT a fan of Girls Camp.  I do not have warm fuzzy Girls Camp memories.  I was there every year because I was obedient and I loved Jesus and I thought that is where He wanted me to be, but I was not a happy camper the entire time I was there.  My hands and feet were perpetually dirty and the food was SO GROSS, so I was freaking starving the entire week.  I myself got really sick one year at camp and had to go home early.  THE ONLY reason why I went every year was because my mom was Stake Young Women's President.  I never would have gone, if she wasn't going to be up there with me.  Girls Camp embedded a lifetime hatred of the outdoors that I will never overcome.  Don't get me wrong, I am NOT sad about that.  Nevertheless,  I am so sad they both had a rough time.  I was hoping they would have opposite experiences than mine.  However, they will have my full support if they decide it's not for them in the future.  I won't lead them.  But, if they arrive at the conclusion themselves, I will not hesitate to lend my full support.  I don't think anyone should ever sleep outside unless they are forced to flee in exile or have no other option because their home was destroyed by a catastophic storm or some other natural disaster.

I think my little girls should just stay home and sleep in their own beds where I know they are safe and comfortable and where I can take care of them if they get sick.  And they should never have to feel alone or abandoned.  

In July, I made some HUGE decisions that will play out in August.

That's exciting.

We may be past the time in the year when we are plagued with 115 degree whether.  So okay with that.

I loved being inspired by Esther and her story this month.  She gave me some much needed courage.

I loved seeing so many of my family members this month.  They make me feel better.

I love my darling little family.  I love going through life with them.  

Another crazy insane summer season has come and gone.  THANK GOODNESS!!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.