August promised to provide eventual cooler temperatures and monsoonal rain showers and we believed it.
But.... wah wah wah....
It wasn't as good as we thought it would be.
But f
First we had to endure a week of 115 degree weather which to be honest I thought might kill me.
Even my temperature controlled car wasn't able to completely keep up with the brutality.
I tried to stay indoors as much as possible, but that makes for long, boring days in our cray cray office.
Our presidency has made a goal to go to the temple once a month
We will just do initiatories so that we can be in and out in an hour.
It is really a fun little activity and I feel so good afterward.
It helps us to feel closer to each other.
We spent about 20 minutes in the Celestial Room afterward and
that is always a really good way to spend your time.
Our darling Peyton turned 17 on the 12th.
We took her to dinner at Texas Roadhouse
and she opened her gift.
Yes..... her gift.
When you are big, you ask for expensive things.
And only get ONE OF THEM.
She asked for a new stereo for her car.
And then she helped Raleigh install it all day.
She will love that.
She loves good music.
The first day of school was on August 13th this year.
So great that it wasn't on Peyton's Birthday
Kaleigh is a Sophomore
She is taking drivers ed,
several concurrent enrollment classes
including Astronomy with Peyton. They have so much fun it that class.
She doesn't have a first period on B days and so she sleeps in
and takes extra time curling her hair on those days.
Her favorite class is ASL and she hopes to
go on a sign language mission some day
She also doesn't have a first period on B days, so
she drives both of them to school late on those days.
She has a couple of classes with her friends.
Her favorite class is lunch.
They go on all kinds of adventures at lunch.
Ryker is a Freshman
he is still at the middle school which is in the same parking lot as the high school.
He doesn't have a favorite class.
He has friends in every single one though.
And he goes off campus for lunch too even though his campus is a closed campus.
He doesn't care.
He doesn't care when he gets caught either.
He is Walter Lund, rule breaker, ask for forgiveness with a big smile and charming words, Walter Lund.
Ryker had many football moments in August
All of them in 105+ heat
I was a top complainer as I sat in the stands in my t-shirt and shorts.
I don't know how these boys ran around on turf in full pads and helmets.
I think teenagers feel heat differently than menopausal women do.
They have to.
I can't walk from my freezing cold office to my car without having an almost heart attack.
I really hope there is always a difibulator on the field.
#11 told me I worry way too much
I do
It's what I do.
This was Scrimmage Night
The kickoff night
His first game was against Snow Canyon.
They won.
He had 4 carries for about 30 yards this day
It was so fun (after it was over)
I was a wreck the entire game.
Especially because there are 85 boys on the team
and 4 of them were on the sideline in crutches
and 2 of them were sitting on the medical table with
20 lb. bags of ice on their ankles
If I am being honest, I would be okay if he never played.
But I know he would hate that
They had to wear dress shirts and ties to school the day of their first game
And on the day of their 2nd game they wore this
SO darling
KK had to attend the Zero Fatalities Workshop for Driver's Ed.
We went with her and watched many horrifying videos about
teenagers making poor decisions and getting into accidents.
It's a real "feel good" time
And little Kelly wasn't paying attention at all because her BFF
who works at Chick fil A was texting her the entire time
asking if Peyton could come pick her up from work.
(she is only 15 and she has a job, but she can't drive)
and her parents always have better things to do than pick their
child up from work.
So she will ask Peyton to come get her.
So KK was texting Peyton begging for a ride for her pal.
While I took vigorous notes.
And at the very end, Raleigh got a phone call from Peyton
"um...... hi...... I just got into an accident.
Can you come help me."
That is irony, I tell you.
She was just driving along in the parking lot minding her own business
and a girl backed out of a parking space without looking behind her
and crashed into the side of Peyton's truck.
There was almost no damage to the truck, but the girls bumper fell off
and a nice man had to help her put it back on.
Just take a gander in your mirror next time
Rals kept making people's dreams come true in the turf world.
Beautifying the greater St. George area, one yard at a time.
What a fun little side gig.
He loves doing it. He says it is therapudic.
We have been blessed with another miracle tree.
It makes me so happy
On Thursdays we take one of the kids out to dinner.
They choose the restaurant.
Then we ask them a series of questions that require thoughtful responses
and we try to connect with them and let them know that we are here for them
no matter what and that we will do anything to help them.
On the 27th of August, we were at Olive Garden with Walt.
We had just ordered our Soup, Salad and Breadsticks and without warning....
The power went out....
and never came back on.
Our waiter came and told us that Soup, Salad and Breadsticks was the only thing he could serve
and so we could leave or we could eat that in the dark.
We chose to stay.
And he loaded us up with food.... just kept it coming until we were full.
It looks bright in this picture. It was actually really dark.
Then it took us an hour and a half to get home.
When we got home, Rals set up the generator and we powered up a couple of lamps
and charged our phones
Papa stoked up his camping lantern
Peyton and her friends sat up on Airport Hill and watched the city slowly
come back on the grid.
She would send us a picture every time a new section of the city lit up.
Little Valley was the very last area to regain power
at 10:00 pm
It was a fun/weird/slightly eerie night.
It sparked some good conversations.
It was a good run through because we had to give really good thought
to what we would do if this had been longer than 5 hours.
We think we need some solar panels.
A few more candles.
A bigger generator.
Cooler temperatures.
Little Hanky Panky is a Kindergartner.
He lost all of his baby teeth this month.
His bites hurt much less.
And he found his voice. He barks when people come to the door now and
he barks at the kids getting on and off the bus.
But he smiles on cue
and learned to "shake"
I almost got to start my new job.
I was supposed to start on September 1st.
And so because that was the day that had been announced, I was planning on it for two months.
But on August 31st at 4:45, the ball was dropped on me that my replacement wasn't quite ready
to take over yet and so it was necessary for me to stay in position until October 1st.
I had some emotions.
I am ready to be done with this horrible job.
It has altered my personality for way too long.
I am ready to stop being a punching bag for people who
have made poor business decisions.
I am ready to not dread going into work.
I am ready to not have to cover for people anymore.
I am ready to be on the more positive side of the business.
But, nevertheless.....30 more days it is.
August was much less emotional than July was even though we are battling through the same stresses.
I guess in "the waiting" we are learning patience, trust and faith.
We are learning to lean on each other for support too.
There is hope on the horizon.
The temperatures are coming down which is such a relief to the nervous system.
Football started. Football sounds in the background of my life sends a signal to my
brain that everything is going to be okay. It does that every year.
I don't know what it is about those sounds.
My spirit feels like good things are ahead finally.
I am looking forward to the new church schedule even though with two callings that will
mean double Sunday duty every week now.
For some reason though, even though it's more, it seems like less.
I will be so happy to offboard my old OSM job and onboard my new job as the
"Onboarding and Design Manager"
Talking to people less and being by myself more sounds like a dream.
I really hope that it is a dream.
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