Laiklie Back-to-School

And then there was one…

So sad that we are left with only one kid at home. This is Laiklie‘s back to school hair, first day of school, and the aftermath of her bathroom after she left that morning. She switched over to the Technical Careers High School this year so that she could do their welding program. She was so excited for school to start! She’s also playing volleyball and teaching dance again. I hope she has the best year ever! About two days into school, she told me after family prayers that morning that she loved that the prayers were all about her since she was the only one in school! I sure love her. 

 

Caleb & Raena

My nephew, Caleb got married the weekend after my dad, and then two weeks later my niece Maddie got married. I don’t have any pictures of Maddie‘s wedding. So sad that I forgot to take some. :( Rhett did take Caleb and Raena‘s bridals though. Here are a few screenshots of that photo shoot. They turned out absolutely gorgeous! It was fun to be able to run down to Utah and be there for their sealing. Raena actually lived with us for the seven weeks between college and them getting married. It was fun getting to know her a little better and to be able to spend some time with her and Caleb before they got married.

Grain Harvest

This is the only picture I got of grain harvest this year! I was so crazy that I only got to run dinner out to the guys a couple of nights. Luckily, they survived and got it finished before the rain storms hit. So many farmers had their grain sprout here in the valley from rain. We were blessed and had ours cut and had moved up to the dry farm before all the storms hit. 

Jax’s First Haircut

Oakley and I give Jax his first official haircut with the clippers in August. He definitely needed it! He is SO WIGGLY and it was a workout to get it done! We definitely didn’t do a professional job, but he looked so much better when it was finished! Such a handsome little babe.

Dad & Diana

My dad and Diana were married in a civil ceremony on Friday, August 18, 2023. They were sealed in the Payson, Utah temple on Saturday the 19th. Both the wedding and sealing were beautiful. We are so happy for dad and that he has found someone to spend his life with. It has been so hard for him to be alone and we are grateful he no longer has to do so. Watching him get married and sealed was hard though. We love Diana. The hard has nothing to do with her. It is just a very much in your face reminder that our mom is not here and that’s heartbreaking. But we know she didn’t want him to be alone, and so we are happy that he is happy!

We got to have Jax with us at the wedding. Oakley and Logan were out of town. Jax sure loved cousin Emmett! So funny!

The Green Girls :)

Hiawatha Trail

I have wanted to bike the Hiawatha trail since I heard about it several years ago, so this summer when my friend Hollie text me to invite me to go, I was all in! 

Hollie took her daughter Lauren, Heather took her daughter Katie and I was going to take Oakley. It ended up being the same weekend Oakley got so sick with her UTI/kidney infection and wasn’t able to go. :(  Luckily she had done it a little earlier in the summer with the Andrus family, so she didn’t miss out completely. It was still so sad to go without my girl!

The whole thing was absolutely incredible! 15 miles, 10 tunnels and 7 bridges of absolutely stunning mountains. The bike ride was downhill and so enjoyable. We just had the best time! I absolutely, highly recommend!! 

 

Volleyball Float Trip

Laiklie got to go with the volleyball team on a float trip this summer. I helped provide their lunch so I got to take a quick picture before they left. It sounded like they had a great time floating the Hoback! 

(Laiklie is in the white shirt, front row)

Andrus Wedding

I got to watch Jax while Oakley and Logan were at the temple for his sister’s sealing. I was able to take a quick picture when I dropped him off to them at the temple. Such a sweet little family!

Oakley’s UTI

At the beginning of August, Oakley and Logan came to Idaho for his sister’s wedding. Oakley hadn’t felt great for about 10 days by the time they came. On the second day they were here she spiked a high fever. Logan was helping set up for the wedding and Jax was asleep. So, we were brave and left him with Rhett while I ran her to the doctor. They decided her UTI had turned into a kidney infection, and they were worried was becoming sepsis. They immediately started an IV and some heavy antibiotics. Logan came and switched me out at the doctors office so I can go home and take care of Jax. By the time I got home though Jax had woke up. Rhett changed his first two diapers EVER and both of them were POOPY! He was an absolute trooper to take care of that little baby! I had to giggle though when I went to change Jax the next time that his diaper was on backwards. So funny! I still have no idea how Rhett was able to put those diapers on backwards! 

Dallin’s Parking Spot

Dallin cracks me up! There were several times this summer that I would look out and have a giant piece of equipment sitting in my driveway while he made himself some lunch. Such a funny kid! I love watching this boy farm!

Clothing Swap

I’m still the Relief Society president in our ward. I had a sister approached me about doing a free clothing swap. I visited with my presidency and we thought it was an excellent idea. We have several around us that are in need and could use the help. Plus…what a great idea in general to just share what you have, and take home what you need. We advertised it for two weeks and up till about three days before the event I hadn’t received any donations. I was in a panic and plead with the Lord that if I was supposed to do this, I needed donations. That night they started flooding in and by the night before the activity, my dining room, kitchen, and even down the hall was stacked as high as my table. Ryan helped me load the suburban, and I ran it over to the church and left the bags between the two front doors. It was overwhelming how much stuff we had received, and to know I still had another suburban full at home was very humbling. That night as I stood between the church doors looking at the amount of donations, I had a little bit of a panic attack about what happens if no one shows up. So once again, I plead with the Lord that the people would come. The next morning we started at 8 AM and there were people nonstop until 1 PM when we shut down. I watched garbage bag after garbage bag after garbage bag, go out of there, and the piles never shrunk down. The people came and took what they needed. It was a little like the miracle of the fishes and the loaves. At about 12:30 I could see we were going to have a lot left over. I have a cute friend whose husband is a pastor at a church in town. They have a free clothing room in their church for anybody that has needs. I sent her a quick text and asked if she was interested in what we had left over. She told me she had just sat down that morning to make a list of the items they needed to try and gather for their clothing room. She told me this was an answer to her prayers. This was such a testimony builder in reminding me that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Even the simple ones about a clothing swap. I needed clothes and they came, I needed people and they came, she needed my leftovers and we were able to donate them to her. So many answered prayers!

Airbnb’s

This summer I got a part-time job cleaning Airbnb’s. Since all of my kids were working full-time, there was a lot of hours I was just home alone. On one of the days I had to clean a house in Iona, I brought some of the laundry home to finish. When I went to take it back, we couldn’t get the door of the Airbnb to unlock. The door had had some issues, but we usually could get it open. This time we couldn’t! The manager of the Airbnb called the owners…they are some extremely interesting people. They were in our last ward, so we know them at least. The husband showed up (with his fake fingernails, permanent make-up, blue hair and bra) to try and help us with the door. So awkwardly uncomfortable! We couldn’t get it unlocked and so we finally were able to find a window that was open and Rhett shimmy in through it. He got the door opened with only about 30 minutes time before the guests were supposed to arrive. The owner worked on the lock on the door while I tried to hurry and finish dishes and folding the laundry. The whole situation was so, so awkward! Just minutes before the guests were supposed to arrive, the owner went into the bathroom and blew it up. Rhett and I both about died. We had to stay and wait for him to finish and leave so that I could re-clean the bathroom. The entire day will be one we never forget! Hahaha! 

 

The Playmill Theater

At the beginning of August (it just happened to fall over my birthday) my sister Arnica, and her daughter Danica came up to do some school shopping. Those two, me, Rhett and Laiklie, and my sister-in-law Diane, and her three youngest girls bought tickets and went and watched a show at the Playmill Theater. We watched a show called The Foreigner. It was absolutely hilarious! We had so much fun over the two days that we got to spend together.