....and "ZEN!"......

When Brandon was a little boy he would say "and zen!...." instead of "and then!..." when he was telling a story. So, as I finish this story of our summer 2015.....and ZEN...... we helped watch Tony and Cindy's kids while they were in Twin Falls as session directors for EFY. Lauren and Reagan have graduated to the point where they are able to look after themselves, so we got the three littles plus a bunch of help from Jane Marie. I'd seen something online about making your own giant soap bubbles out of Karo Syrup and dish soap. The pictures looked awesome, just like this photo below.

However, the camera is a crafty devil and makes things look permanent instead of a nano-second's worth of bubbles. I used up all of my dish soap and all of my Karo syrup and we were diligent little bubble slaves trying our best to create bubble makers out of straws and string. As you can see we did have some success but it lasted less than a zip before they popped. (And I love whatever the heck it is that Jane was doing in the pool).

One of the items on Jane's summer bucket list was to learn to juggle and I think she almost mastered it!

And they got really good at badminton! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Hiatt for the memories. I put this up in your honor, really!! When we got married and I found out Dennis could slaughter me at ping pong, (which I'd mastered on the old dining room table in the basement of 1005 "L"), I thought for sure I could best him at badminton. Hah!

I took Jane to get a pedicure as a thank you for all of her help. I got one for myself too as a thank you for all of the fun I had! I actually lost 7 pounds this summer, I guess because I was up and running around. It felt so good to lose it too! And it has been pretty fun putting it back on again too - drats!

We went to a place called "The Egg and I" and had breakfast.

Their pancakes were serious stuff..hence, regaining the 5 pounds....

....and ZEN!.... Andrew, Andrea and the kids returned for Andrea's graduation from Brigham Young University. So proud of her. What an accomplishment. My visiting teacher keeps leaning on me to do the Pathways program and sometimes I even think about it....but....the math...... I had to post this photo of Andrea's graduation gown because Andrea is THE laundry queen - I have seen it with my own eyes. But ironing is not part of being the queen. Not even a princess. So I always have fun teasing her. Ironing is not part of anyone's world who is under 50. But, my gosh, do you kids realize people used to iron their SHEETS? They really did! My mom, who did not iron sheets, but did iron all pillowcases, (which I do for you whenever you come to town, I really do)!, but my mom would begin the ironing process by "dampening" all of the clothes which needed to be ironed. It involved putting her hand into running water and then gently shaking just the right amount of moisture onto the items that needed to be ironed, then rolling them up on towels to await the actual moment where heat met moisture, creating clean, warm steam. Ahhhhhhhh.
Anyway, back to the future, when I saw Andrea preparing to iron her gown I jumped at the chance to be of service and iron it for her. And holy graduation moley - those things are a BEAST! They need to invent gowns that don't need ironing.

Happy family pose!

Andrew bought the kids Idaho Spuds so they could see what they taste like. They loved them!

and ZEN - happy graduation Andrea Gerber Sweat!

Hip Hip....

HOORAY!!!

And just a few final photos - I've never seen the girls so animated as they were in this display of youth bedroom furniture. They went from piece to piece describing exactly what they would put where. It was adorable.

We took a final scooter ride on the parkway....

...with some specatular photos.

Cutie

Beauty

And Grandma Cuca came too! She is a gem and a joy. What a marvelous woman. Thank you for sharing her with us Andrea! Cindy said the funniest thing last week when she saw that puzzle still out in the basement. She said "It's a good thing it's a Christmas scene!" And that's the truth, we might finish it by Christmas. I was in favor of giving up on it - it's too hard. But Cindy and the kids said we could do it. I may have to invite Grandma Cuca and my mom and dad over to help!

And ZEN....The next week after everyone had returned to their various time zones, dad and I went to BYU Education Week and attended Tony's fabulous class on Joseph Smith. It was riveting and wonderful. So surreal to think that's our little boy who was "slow as a child!" I didn't take any photos of Tony but DID take this photo after Susan Easton Black's class, where she is seen greeting President Uchtdorf and his darling wife right after her class ended. You should have seen all of us surrepticiously getting out our phones...................And did you know that Susan Easton Black married George Durrant two years ago? It boggles my mind! Forrest loved George Durrant, and made me love him too. They don't make 'em like they used to! However, I never pictured Brother Durrant as someone who would remarry when he was in his 80's for Pete's Sake! I don't know, I just don't know. I watched a tutorial the two of them recently made about family history, that was absolutely silly and sweet. So, you never know what the future will bring is all I can say about THAT.

...and ZEN one day this summer I drove Old Bessie all by my big self to get my hair colored. I was so proud of myself that I made the girl who cuts my hair take this photo. I should have had her take one of the entire Bessie for dramatic effect. Still, wow, that clutch, I'm so proud. Thanks for teaching me dad!

We also went to one of Vivi's soccer games and watched her play her heart out!!

We harvested a summer squash and cooked it on the BBQ with olive oil like Andrea did! Yum!

...and ZEN - I kinda went back to work (I'm probably phasing out in the next few weeks). This is an example of how many new hires Valley has every week. Well, not quite, usually 10-12, but then they come back for additional training and have combined groups, and this was a big'un! And yes, careers in social services attract more females than males.

And ZEN, we took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Cedar City to the Shakespearean Festival to see "The Taming of the Shrew" with Lauren (who played "Kate" in 6th grade), Reagan and Jane. It was a blast!! The girls got to have an entire day of "stop touching me!" in the back seat of a sedan. It's good for their character!

We ate lunch at a pretty gross BBQ place  (too much information actually letting us watch them cut the meat - maybe Andrea has a point) and I'll never forget the moment when we sat down with our food and the whole restaurant erupted screaming "HE CAUGHT IT! HE CAUGHT I!" and we looked up at the t.v. screen and it was the BYU miracle touchdown throw - the first one in their first game.

And finally - we've heard rumors that sometimes Lauren can "go crazy!" And we got to see it in person. Thanks to Andrea's road trip CD we actually had some songs the girls liked, and one of them ignited this.....

....and this......

XO - Thanks for a wonderful summer.
Mom

Amx and Family Arrive!

Amx and Dave and Jack and Macy and Carly completed the reunion of 2015, pulling into town the day after the Hallstroms pulled OUT of town. Fortunately, Angie and her boys were able to stay with and visit Amy and Dave in Colorado on their way to Utah so they were able to see each other.

Carly and Macy didn't arrive looking like this, it takes some time to get dressed to the nines!
Some of the necklaces that Caroline has on were once Great-Grandma Ranquist's. And the fan Carly is holding Grandma Ranquist brought back from China decades ago. She would approve!

And ya' gotta have a photo driving the lawn mower with grandpa. In a few years grandpa might relinquish the driving duties and we'll see Jack driving all alone?

David at the oars with Macy and Caroline in tow. We spent a day at the newly created reservoir by Tony and Cindy's house in Springville. You can literally walk over to it from their house. People swarm to it from miles around. It is really cool!

Carly and Calvin in the impressive hole the kids dug! "Carly and Calvin" sounds so cute when you put it together! I've always thought that would be good names for twins.

Vivi enjoying the muddy squishiness!

Jack and Eli - all they needed was hard-hats because guess who did lots of digging!

Whitney and Carly - our chesnut-brown-haired beauties!

The teenagers! Lauren and Reagan with Brandon behind them looking like he's in stealth attack mode.

Lots of us relaxing on the sandy beach. If you look at the building in the background on the right, that's the Snow Shack where Reagan and Lauren both worked this summer.  (Lauren usually worked at another location downtown Springville), but that afternoon Lauren worked at the reservoir and made everyone the MOST deliscious snowcones ever!

Then we went back to Tony and Cindy's for the evening and tried our best not to track sand into every crack and crevice of their house from every crack and crevice in our bodies! Carly found this potato bug on the front sidewalk and spent a good 10 minutes gently guiding it around. She loves bugs!

This long shot is of Brandon and Reagan off to explore for a minute in the open countryside surrounding Tony and Cindy's home.

Then back inside where we had another sing-along with Amy joining in on the guitar - such talent!

 And speaking of talent, Jane (and Whitney) win the award for goofiest surprises on my phone!!

The evening ended with some arm wrestling and Brandon doing the refereeing.....

and comparing muscles (go Caroline)! I think everyone slept well that night, and good thing, because the next day we took a hike!

A member of our former Stake Presidency, President Swenson, had posted on Facebook that he took his grandkids to see the beautiful wildflowers in the Albion basin. So I googled it and it looked really fun! We had a fabulous time, and as you can see, it was POPULAR! Like Disneyland popular. Holy Moley! There was about a 45-minute wait for the shuttle, so..............

..............Dave took matters into his own hands and shuttled half our group up in their van, and then we had a ride back down too!

And here's Amx - A real photographer with a real camera. My photos are so lame. Sometimes I look at Amy's and think, hmmmmmmmmm, a camera!

The kids were playing American Ninja Warrior in the trees. Channel 5 carries that show and they've been off the air for a month while negotiating with Directv so we have been without Channel 5! that means no Ninja Warrior, no Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday mornings (yes, we're old now and listen to it) and horrors, no Thursday night football game on opening night. So Dennis went to Best Buy and found out he could buy an antenna for $12.99! And, of course, now they're back on the air. But now we have an antenna, too. I was wondering what would happen if they stayed in a stalemate and General Conference weekend came up. Glad it didn't come to that!

It was so pretty, all along the hike. Ray, Eli and Cal. I like Eli's shirt "I Can Do Hard Things" And that hike was kinda hard for grandma!

 Strong little Macy girl!

Andrea, Caroline, Andrew and Whitney right before they were beamed up!

"High on the Mountain Top!" - a shout-out to Joel Hills Johnson, your relative who wrote those words! Lauren, Jane, Jack, Eli, Brandon and Whitney atop the rock.

Finally, my three cute seven-year-old strawberry-blonde girls, Vivian, Caroline and Macy were together in one place! Their hair is seriously so close to the same color! And next year we'll have THREE baptisms!

And then add to the mix Carly and Whitney with their matching dark hair!

Reagan looking on as Macy swats a bug.

The flowers were gorgeous. The most flowers I've ever seen in Utah, in a wilderness area!

This lake was the destination spot.

 We ate lunch!

We had a great time resting and enjoying the view. A bunch of the family waded out to the rock. As you can see Amy is taking photos too (much better ones!).

And then more of the family joined them, with some getting in the water (although later we found out we weren't supposed to do that!).

Hopefully the watershed will recover!

The gang!

The cuties! Sometimes when we look at pictures of Carly she looks so much like Amy did as a little girl!

The hills are alive!!!

.............with the sound of grandkids!

Macy and Calvin with Grandma doing her best to take the selfie (I hate to even type that word, but, hey, that's what it was!).

 More of cute Caroline and Macy and slightly over-heated grandma!

One more slightly blurry camera photo of all the kidlets.

And here we are, back at the ranch with Dave and Jack playing, is it called fooseball? I don't even know what it's called! They play it the most of anyone else so I'm sure glad they come and use it!

It was so much fun going to church together! Sunday was a special day, and that evening Andrea was making us an exotic dinner and Amy and Dave went to visit grandma and grandpa Hiatt, and then it was time to eat and we had dinner, then went into the back yard and sat around chatting comfortably while the kids were playing in the back yard. And then, oh my heart, Jack fell off the slide and broke his arm. Just heartsick that it happened. I glare at the swingset now....I stick my tongue out at the slide. Amy and Dave rushed him to the emergency room, and then Alta View referred them up to Primary Children's where they were up all night awaiting surgery. Bless his dear heart. At one point later in the evening, Tyler and Jessica (Ranquist) and their new baby girl and little boy dropped by to visit, and I think I served them some strawberry shortcake, but the rest of it is a blur I was so worried about Jack. Dennis wasn't home when it happened, he was en route from Springville. Boy oh boy.

The kids posed for this photo before they went to bed and they texted it over to Jack at the hospital.

I had told them I'd tell them a Bloop and Bleep story before bed but I didn't have the heart, so Andrew, bless his heart, told them one for me! And then he led them in a prayer. Thank you!

The next day, mini-mama Jane had a mini-pedicure and manicure shop and did the girl's nails.

And then Jack came home and he and Eli actually played a game of chess.

I don't know how this happened to the basement photo arrangement, but I had to take a picture of them all askew, because it was exactly how I was feeling!! (Then Amy and I straightened it out).

And to add to the unfortunate situation, Dave's extended Huish family was having THEIR fun entire family reunion the next day at Yellowstone. I'm so glad Amy and Dave decided to go anyway (I hope the Huish family will forgive us for sending them kids with a broken arm and come to find out, a wretched stomach bug!). It always touches my heart when these kids leave, because Macy breaks down and cries. It's so sweet. Bye kids! We love you all! And hope Jack's arm is healing every day. XOXOX mom