MK is 26! nbd

MK and Oveth's plan is to officially break up on June 1st, MK's birthday. 

(They've done this before....)

So, Oveth (hoping June 1st would never come) was sure to throw MK a surprise birthday party on the Saturday before her birthday and then take her out to dinner the night before her birthday.

Rob got MK her favorite flowers 😂 

As for gifts: (first of all, there are Carrot Cake Oreos on store shelves!) second place goes to two varieties of peanut butter Oreos. I heard her say the other day, "If they cut me open, they'll find peanut butter in my veins." She hadn't tried those Oreos yet, so we had them ready for her birthday.

Dan and Marie, Anna, Lily, and Scarlett came from Colorado and were staying with us for a couple days, so we all headed to the Pond to play volleyball, parents vs. kids (and I forgot to take pics😝)

MK had requested smoothies instead of a birthday cake, so I made strawbana and tango-mango, and Rob replaced the sunflowers 😊

MK was dreading turning 25, but said 26 is nbd. She's been hanging out with us a lot more during quarantine, and we're so happy about it!

She works out at the gym with Cy and gives him training tips

Always keeps tabs on Getty and Mia

Plays ping pong with Rob and the boys (apparently I'm not good enough) and plays pickle ball with us

Plays Nertz tournaments with us on Sunday nights

Talks shop (homemaking) with me and chats late into the night

You're just the best, MK, and we all know it!

P.S. The break-up didn't take 

Memorial Day, 2020

Rode our bikes to Elle's grave and had a picnic. Mia didn't show. Getty went earlier with friends. That's how it goes these days with those two. We miss them.

Granny and Doug happened to be at Elle's gravesite after visiting Dad's and GG's, and Granddad's graves, so they ate fried chicken, melon, and our favorite drinks with us—

Cy: Protein 20 Strawberry Watermelon

MK: TruMoo chocolate milk 

Rob and I: no Lemon Dasani, so we settled for Coconut Lime and Mango waters

Cam: Peach Propel

Then we all walked the curb from the cemetery to Snoasis for shave ice. Favorite flavors—

Me: Sour Blue Raspberry with cream

Rob: not a dessert guy

MK and Cam shared: a side-by-side Pink Lemon Sour and Vanilla

Cy: Blue Ocean (Coconut and Cotton Candy mixed) with cream and ice cream

Getty picked these flowers on the headstone ledge from someone's yard👇😳 

Earlier in the day, Rob and I were feeling pretty down, so we hiked together, and that made all the difference 👊

Bits of Cam

Gotta love it when Cam's school assignment is setting the table and making dinner with me👌

On the menu: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and artichokes

And now a blast from the past with 

Griffin and Sienna...

In other news, Cam came home with a red eye one day and said a branch had swiped it. He said it was fine, so I didn't worry too much about it. THREE days later he found this twig👇 that had made its way out from under his eyelid while he was asleep 😱 

Excursions to St. George with 

"E-so-bella" and Cade

Cam was selected for student government again this year, and since he'll be a 9th grader, he's considered a student body officer and can run for President or Vice President. I received an email with the application process, so I let Cam know and asked if he was going to apply.

Cam: "No, it's too much work and not enough benefit."

Me: "What do you mean more work? Like what? More responsibility, time commitment, and decision-making?"

Cam: "No, student council does just as much work as the president does."

Me: "So what extra work then?"

Cam: "You have to write an essay to apply."

Me: "So... you don't want to apply for student body president because you have to write an essay?"

Cam: "Well, ya. It's so much extra work for not enough benefit. You maybe get 10% more respect."

Rob: "Student Body President of a large middle school on your resume and for college applications says a lot about your leadership and communication abilities, enthusiasm, responsibility, diplomacy, community spirit, and dedication. Thousands of dollars in potential earnings and scholarships—that's a significant benefit. All for the price of one essay."

Cam: "Everyone is applying."

Me: "For the cost of one essay, you have a shot. If you don't want to apply for other reasons, that's different."

Cam: "I just don't want to write the essay!"

Me: "You don't have to turn it in, but you're writing the essay. You have until end of next week."

Amen.

The Parents

Rob kissed me back with my lipstick on 😂, and then he asked me not to write love letters to him anymore. It makes him feel guilty that he's not being a good enough husband... 😱

My baby LUCY! 😍

First pictures of Rob and I together

I never know where I'll find Rob asleep. Sometimes it's kneeling over the couch, other times it's on the floor right next to the bed....

Today it was under the kitchen table...

Always he crowds "my side" of the bed 😏 ... and sleeps with his head at the footboard

The other night I came down the stairs to find this... 

 "Try it, Ren, it's nice and cool."

Sometimes he sleeps in Mia's old room so he can stretch out completely. On those nights, this is what the bed I slept in alone looks like in the morning... 👆👇

This is what the bed he slept in looks like in the morning...

Notice there are pillows at both ends of the bed so he can switch. There's a pillow on the floor in case he wants to sleep there. The flat sheet is completely untucked and shoved to a bottom corner along with a light blanket, and the comforter is twisted up in the center of the bed. He's got this whole set-up. There's just one thing missing...
ME!!

After ten YEARS we discovered we had a hiking trail in our backyard that goes for days!😱 ... and we call ourselves hikers 🙈 We hiked for almost 3 hours and along 8 miles of trails in the mountains until we were satisfied for the afternoon. 

I've been organizing and updating my kitchen decor...

Sending missionaries encouragement during CoVID 19 quarantine

And this has become a regular coronavirus activity... lining the main neighborhood street to welcome home missionaries with a honk parade as they drive home and wave through their sunroofs. Here we were waiting for Parker H. to make his appearance.

A 2-hour hike up Horsetail Falls

The backside of Horsetail with Clint and Cassie

😂

My favorite tree in our front yard

Silver Lake in May was frozen over

and so beautiful! 

Afterwards, Clint and Cassie stopped by. Culver's had drive-thru only, so we ordered and sat in their car to eat and talk about moving to St. George with them... someday.

Cassie and I hiked to Bell Canyon waterfall a couple weeks later...

I could not believe my eyes 😍😍😍

This hike is literally 10 minutes away from where I grew up, and I had never been there before.

I spy...

There is beauty all around...

Megan and I have started our May to Oct/Nov biking routine 3x/week. When we saw these yellow roses lining the Murdock trail, we had to stop 😍

Grant & Tonya's youngest graduated during quarantine, so our neighborhood threw a parade, Rob made the banners, and I made her a cash pizza... (Pinterest)

Quarantine has lasted longer than we ever thought it would, and we're starting to wonder if life as we've known it will be different from here on out. Going back to school in the Fall is up in the air. Church is just starting a new phase where each ward in our stake will meet for 45 minutes a month—one sacrament meeting with one ward per building per week. Our huge ward is divided into 3 meetings, 90 minutes apart, to provide time to sanitize the building for the next meeting. 

Riots broke out downtown SLC yesterday. Getty happened to be down there with a friend, so I texted him to stay away from the crowds. But of course he was all about the adrenaline and texted me... 

...not awesome

So, life has been interesting and a little scary. I saw part of the video of George Floyd's death, and it was surreal. Unbelievable that he was treated that way. And I'm so disappointed that rioting was the way people chose to address the issue. I think it had something to do with the quarantine, too—frustrated people with nothing to do, out of work, bored, irate....

 

Beauty, memories, home life, friends, and tragedy all ended up unexpectedly in one post. It's just life.