July 2021- Week 4- McKenna Temple with Friends, McKenna Girls Camp, Swimming at Gunnerson's and Winegar's, Ensign Peak Hike, Priest's Campout, Seussical,

 July 22nd- Thursday my legs were so sore from my workout the day before. After breakfast I read books with Bethany and Anna in my bed. My mom came to hang out because she had no power at her place and was worried it would get too hot with no air-conditioning. After lunch we went swimming at the Gunnerson’s. McKenna and Ben had rehearsal. Bethany's swim lessons had to end early that night due to a storm rolling in. After kids were in bed, I blogged. 

July 23rd- Friday: I watched the Olympic opening ceremonies while I exercised. We watched the Days of 47 Parade and then Dan got home from his camp out! We helped him clean up and after lunch McKenna had a Temple appointment with friends to do baptisms. We had the girls come over for otter pops and creamies afterwards. Then we cleaned up the house, Dan picked up pizza, and we had the Moultons, Pugsleys, and Lewises over to watch the opening ceremonies. *Alice had fun dressing up and Anna made a paper backpack for her bear.

July 24th- Saturday: Dan and I went with his parents to see four homes in the Parade of Homes. Baylee's dad had one of those homes. We had lunch at Chick-fil-A with Jake and Abril, Swa and Ellie, and Adam and Baylee. We picked up groceries and then chilled for a bit watching the Olympics.  Dan left to go golfing in Park City with his dad and brothers. I rested and McKenna made sandollar crackers from the princess cookbook. Anna wanted to use a bath bomb she got for her birthday, so she had a relaxing bath to herself.  After dinner I agreed to be spontaneous and took everyone swimming at the Winegar‘s pool from 7-9pm. We washed the girls hair there in the outdoor shower and then came home and put everyone to bed.  After golfing, Dan and grandpa went to the ER to get Dan's elbow checked on. He had another case of bursitis coming on, most likely from repetitive sawing motion when he cut down branches during his YM camp out. :( I watched more Olympics that night. At the ER they made a small incision and drained the fluid and left some gauze hanging out of the incision to act as a wick.  

July 25th- Sunday: I did a spinner of Pioneer Day songs for Primary singing time.  We had a normal afternoon where I watched my Don’t Miss This video and had my family conference call. Dan stayed home from church because of the pain in his elbow and getting very little sleep the night before.  After dinner, Dan and McKenna walked to the Hamblin’s and we watched more Olympics.  I also talked with Dan that night about the possibility of auditioning for the Tabernacle Choir. 

July 26th- Monday: McKennna started summer band (three weeks, M-Th). After breakfast, I started laundry cleaned the family room. We went to school lunch, and Alice was not feeling well. She had a low fever.  We ran some errands to the Dollar Store, Five Below, and the music store.  I looked over the Tabernacle Choir auditions information, and Dan went to Dr. Cope‘s for a follow-up on his elbow.  Ben had rehearsal, we watched Olympics, and Bethany had swim lessons.  We got some new bins to hold craft stuff in the office and I working on organizing all that stuff.

July 27th- Tuesday: After summer band, we went on a cousin hike to Ensign Peak with Brynn’s and Abril's kids. Just our family played at a park afterwards.  We got special juice and bread for lunch and Anna had her friend Bailey come over to play.  Henry and Desi also came over to play. I messaged my friend Desiree about the Tab Choir.  McKennna and Ben needed hair and make up done for a dress rehearsal.  After they were gone, the rest of us went for a hot dog roast up Mueller Park Canyon with most of the Websters.

**July 28th- Wednesday: Dan and I went to an early endowment session. When we got home, the kids were doing well and I always feel so blessed that our kids are taken care of while we’re at the temple.  I helped McKenna pack for girls camp and prep her secret sister stuff. Desi came to play and after lunch I had a Lasik consultation. Ben had his first Seussical performance, and Bethany went to the Pugsley‘s to play.  Bethany had swim lessons after dinner. After kids were in bed I called Desiree to ask about Tabernacle choir stuff.  I worked on writing the Nelson News and watched the Olympics.

July 29th- Thursday: after breakfast and exercising I worked on singing time plans and we went swimming at the Winegar‘s.  McKenna had the first girls camp event at Louis Park where they did crafts and have lunch.  Anna worked on her Unicorn pillow she got from Mickelle. Mia came home with us after swimming then McKenna and Ben had a performance for Seussical that night.  Mia came home with us after swimming and after dinner Bethany had her final day of swim lessons where she jumped off the diving board and swam to the side unassisted!  

July 30th- Friday: McKenna and Dan left for girls camp around 8:30 in the morning.  When they arrived, they learned about a huge storm the night before that soaked so many sleeping bag, pads, and clothes! We learned that Alice learned how to use the remote and has a really hard time turning off shows. Desi came to play and been played with Henry after lunch. We took one last picture of Bethany's healing burned bum. So thankful it healed so nicely! Bethany went to Adam’s to play with cousins.  Anna and Alice played with her train set then Anna also went to Adam's after Desi went home.  He took them to play at Hatch Park. My mom came around 4 PM to babysit while I left with Kylee Nelson and Melanie Olson to head up to girls camp for the night.  Ben had a Seussical performance.  We enjoyed visiting at camp, dinner, games, then testimony meeting. We drove home and got home pretty late. I'm very thankful for my parents sacrificing sleep to babysit!

July 31st- Saturday: Ben had baseball practice then a Stake Primary Activity. McKenna and Dan made it home from Girls Camp. She showered and got ready for the Matinee show of Seussical. Our whole family went to see it along with my parents, Mickelle, and Kaite and Whitney. Alice did better than we expected being quiet and attentive. After the show, we drove to Layton and helped my dad load his old desk into his car. Then we hung out and Ben ate so he could go back for the evening performance. After our dinner, we had otter pops outside and set up McKenna's new GABB CELL PHONE! I weeded and cleaned up the basement while Dan bathed the kids. I also worked on my primary stuff.

Videos: Bamboleo dance, Alice Dancing to Gummy Bear, Swimming at Gunnerson’s, Alice counting pine cones at park, More swim lessons, Swimming at Winegar’s, Girls Camp game.

July 2021- Week 3- Bethany's 6th Birthday, Camping with Websters, Get Air, Ben's Paper Rubik's Cube, Eli Here to Play, Priest Campout

 July 15th- Thursday was Bethany‘s 6th birthday!!  After breakfast we gave her presents and packed and McKenna and Ben had an earlier rehearsal. We went out to lunch at In N Out and stopped by the Pugsley‘s lemonade stand. We finished packing to go camping and then picked up the kids from rehearsal. We got to the campsite a little after 3, hung out and got camp set up. We had dinner around 6pm (quesadillas) and had s’mores and sang happy birthday to Bethany. The kids loved hanging out and running around with cousins and McKenna and Ben slept in other tents with cousins. After kids were in bed we hung out at grandma and grandpa‘s campsite, played Uno and talked.

July 16th- Friday: We woke up around 7:15, the girls got dressed, and we had eggs for breakfast. The kids left to play with cousins, some played the nail game with Dan, some did crafts, and McKenna went rock climbing with the cookies, Brian, and Jake. We ate lunch and then went for a walk around Silver Lake. It was noticeably cooler up there even from our campsite. The water level was very low and apparently the summer heat killed a lot of the fish. Back at camp, McKenna and I rested in our camp chairs in the shade for a while. She was nervous she was having a migraine.  Dan played the nail game with more kids for a while. Bethany and I went and played with baby Will in the Hammock and Ben took a turn rock climbing. After dinner, we all congregated to the Winegar‘s campsite, enjoyed peach cobbler and told stories around the fire while celebrating Katie‘s birthday. 

July 17th- Saturday: We woke up a little later at 8:15. We had breakfast and packed up and left the campsite around 11.  At home, we unloaded, unpacked, and did laundry. Dan organized some things in the garage and I cleaned out the van.  After lunch we did showers, more laundry and I worked on my primary stuff. Ben worked on his paper Rubik's cube. We had Chick-fil-A for dinner in the Backstage parking lot then Ben and I stayed to watch The Jungle Book play to see his friend Luke play Mowgli. Ben and I watered the plants outside when we got home. Then it was bedtime! 

July 18th- Sunday: We had all youth speakers and Dave Mudrow speak about youth conference.  Alice started getting a cold. I worked on Anna‘s baptism book with her and did Anna and Bethany‘s birthday interviews. I had my family conference call. We had pasta salad for lunch then we had dessert to celebrate July BDs at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Grandpa also dedicated their home. 

July 19th- Monday: I started a 4 week exercise program with Abril. Jasper came here to order some stuff on Amazon with Dan. I took Ben to rehearsal and picked up groceries.  That evening we went to Get Air to celebrate Bethany.  It was way too hot inside there to really enjoy it. But the kids still had fun. My parents and Mickelle came over afterwards for dinner and cake and presents to celebrate Bethany. 

July 20th- Tuesday: Dan and I went to the temple early in the morning to do sealings then we had Kneaders for breakfast.  I cleaned up the kitchen when we got home and Ben worked on his paper Rubik’s cube. McKenna and Ben needed hair and make-up done for dress rehearsal after lunch. I ran errands and worked on my primary lesson. Dan had church stuff, so I took everyone to Bethany’s make-up swim lesson (her bum had healed by now) and sadly Alice was awful the whole time because she wanted to get in and swim! After kids were in bed, Dan did some camp prep. 

July 21st- Wednesday- After breakfast, I took the kids to the live action "Dora the Explorer" dollar movie. It was really funny! Abril and her kids met us there as well!. We traded kids afterwards; I took Eli, and Anna and Bethany went with her. We took Eli to get school lunch with us. I finished singing time prep and McKenna went to Lia’s. Ben and Eli made a fooseball table out of a shoebox, skewers, and clothes pins. Dan left for his camp out with the priests. McKenna and Ben had a tech rehearsal and Abril met me at Backstage to swap kids. Bethany had swim lessons and we had baths that night.  I worked on picture collages.  

Around the time we would begin planning for a summer campout, COVID restrictions were still tight...which would make planning/adjusting within a short time a challenge. Couple this with the boy's schedules, we knew we needed to keep the campout simple.

The Priest campout took place on private property in Box Elder County belonging to an uncle of a fellow ward member, MaryLyn West. Their sons were in the priest quorum. We provided service by clearing trees and branches from the property, set up camp, fished, the nail game and enjoyed dinner together. 

After breakfast the next morning, we hiked to the Wind Caves up Logan Canyon. It was more challenging than we expected, but we all enjoyed it. After a picnic lunch and soaking our feet in First Dam in Logan, we drove to Gossner's cheese factory for a treat. We then drove to Clarkston to see the grave site of Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.

That evening, my former 1st Counselor, Steven Day (who had recently moved from the ward) traveled up to our campsite to provide a shrimp boil for the boys. A few miles north a microburst weather event had occurred; thankfully we got no rain but plenty of wind. This delayed our meal time while we held down tents/gear and waited for the wind to die down. Gratefully, it did and we finished preparing the food. Always a campout favorite, the food was devoured and we all slept well that night.