Brian and Jill moved to Oregon right after the reunion. They needed one of their cars filled with stuff to be driven up there. Sean and I volunteered. We left on a Tuesday right after Sean got home from work and drove to Boise. We stayed at a hotel called the Riverside. It was beautiful! They gave us a fancy room upgrade and they gave us warm chocolate chip cookies when we checked in. There was a beautiful trail right along a river that we took a walk by and it was a delicious breakfast. We were only there for about 9 hours but it was so much fun to be in a fancy place and be together.
We woke up early on Wednesday and had breakfast then we got right on the road. The drive was beautiful! So many trees. Sean and I listened to music, listened to a podcast, talked about all kinds of things, and just enjoyed being together. We arrived in Brian and Jill's new town at about 2 and drove to their rental house. We unloaded the car and then we piled in and Jill drove us to the airport. Sean and I got some food and then we waited for our plane. We had a layover in Portland and then we got home at about 9 (I think). Dad Z picked us up from the airport and we were so happy to be home with our kiddos. We left them at home while we were gone. We bought them pizza on Tuesday before we left and then they went to Grandma Z's for waffles on Wednesday morning. The Ellis family was home and the kids got to play with them. We knew that between my parents down the street and our awesome neighbors that the kids would be taken care of. Alana told me never to do it again, but I do think they had fun and did great! It was a big step in growing up for all of us!
I went to my moms and she let me use fabric to make this tree skirt. I was super proud of how it turned out. It still needs the backing and binding, but I cut it with her fancy machine and pieced it together.
There is a space center that does Star Trek like simulations in Pleasant Grove. Brett and Alana have both gone and Sean has gone to a few of Brett's birthdays there. Lizzie finally turned 10 and could do a mission now, so we booked one for our family and Mimi! It was so fun and we all really enjoyed our mission and the story. We were successful, but just barely! After the mission we went to Village Baker for some delicious food! 
While Alana was gone, Lizzie had lots of playdates with her friends and had fun playing with Grace. She got to go to her friend Amy's birthday and wanted to give a squashmallow. The squashmallow apparently needed a top hat and bow tie. 
Alana went to a girls camp called Oakcrest this year. I went when I was 12 and it is still my favorite! You get to pick one roommate and then you meet a ton of other girls in your cabin. There are awesome counselors and so many fun activities. There is a cafeteria and a trading post and also a zip line and lots of music. She went with her friend Hazel and had so much fun! She was gone for 5 days and we all missed her like crazy. The house is weirdly quiet without Alana!
I had so much fun making the first tree skirt, I went to Mom Zs and made another. 
Alana did some babysitting right when she came back and she found a little injured bird on her way home. Lizzie, Alana, Sean and I spent some time with the bird and brought it water and seeds. He liked snuggling under Seans leg. The bird had a big lump on its neck and we were pretty sure it was going to die, so we gave it a little box to stay safe and then we left. When we came home it had flown away so we are hopeful it somehow healed.
We went to see the live action Moana with Mom and Dad Z and had some yummy popcorn and icees. The kids were super happy and the show was good! Sean said it was kinda like the Dwayne Johnson show staring Moana. But overall it was very enjoyable!
Brett has been really wanted a Redcat camera for astrophotography and he found a killer deal. I think they are normally about $900 and he got a used one for $400! He's been able to use it a few times and has really enjoyed it so far! Here is a photo of the dumbbell nebula he took. 
While we were watching Winston, the Saffrons came to visit. Baby Evelyn loved Winston and he was so patient and sweet with her. Oreo was fascinated by her as well. BreAnna and I were super careful to make sure Evelyn and the doggos were safe while they said hi!
After the tour, we went to the city creek food court and got a big lunch. We had fun eating and chatting and then we headed to our house. Sean and Steffan took all the kids except for Brett and Evelyn to go swimming and BreAnna and I stayed home so Evelyn could nap and I could make dinner. 
I started going into my classroom to do some work! It was fun to get back in there and make things fresh and new for a new school year. 
While my parents were in Oregon I wanted to sneak in and paint their loft. It was the last big space that needed painting in their house. I went and taped on Thursday night and then Sean helped me take down the lights and get things the rest of the way ready. Sean had Friday off for the 24th of July, so we went and painted for 5 ish hours. We got it all done and it looks so good! They were surprised when they came home, although I think they suspected something because they have alerts from their front door camera and their garage door being opened. 
We met up with Lily, Abby, Maddy, Hannah and Hazel at the show.
When I put the bacon on the plate for our BBQ I cut the pieces in half and it made them into this bacon firework! I was so proud =)
Here is what the window has looked like with our blinds and curtains. 
We painted the front hallway the same color. It was just in desperate need of a new coat of paint.
Brett and Alana both had plans one night, so Sean and I took Lizzie to try a new restaurant called Basta. It was delicious from scratch pasta. We all loved it and had such a fun time just the three of us! 
While Alana was at Girls camp, Lizzie had some fun playdates with Amy and Poppy. They painted dragons, played 3d prints, and entertained each other for hours and hours! I am so grateful Lizzie has such good friends. Amy is in her class this year in 5th grade and she is soooo excited!
We have had such a disappointing garden this year. Sean planted our beans at least 6 times and they have died and withered for so many different reasons. Usually they just thrive and we get so many delicious garden beans, so we have been super sad this year. Our strawberries didn't produce any berries, our peach tree grew no peaches, and even our zucchini plant only produced about 5 zucchini! Its been so weird. Sean has been studying what we need to do to help the garden do better next year. Here is our biggest harvest of the year. Our biggest zucchini and 2 blueberries.
Mimi asked me to make a t-shirt quilt out of many of Darrells t-shirts. It has been such a fun project so far.
Brett has been taking piano lessons from Sean and practicing a lot! I love watching their lessons!
We took the kids bowling the Saturday before school started. It was a lot of fun to just hang out together and eat lots of pizza and french fries.
I told Brett to look annoyed at me and this is what he did.
He bought some super heavy duty new hardware for the new beam. The old beam is on the bottom and the new beam on the top.
My dad came over for the final part and it was super helpful to have him there!
The swingset looked funny with no top!
Many of the old screws were rusted completely through and just broke right in half. The swing set is about 7 years old and has been the most used toy we have ever bought!
When we were first married Sean and I went to see the Scarlett Pimpernel and we fell in love with the music and the play. It was playing at The Ruth theater and I had decided we just didn't have time to fit it in. One day Sean texted me to say he could still get tickets if I wanted and I said yes. I was stressed with everything that was going on with the start of school, but once we were there I had so so much fun! And it was SOOOOO good! Like I couldn't stop thinking about it for a week and was trying to figure out if we could get tickets and go again before it closed. Sean had a hard time sleeping because his brain kept waking up and going over the lyrics again.
I am so pleased with how my classroom turned out this year. I did a puppy dog theme and I love it so much! 
Brett started high school on a Tuesday. His bus comes so early at 6:26 AM so he needs to get up at 6 or earlier! He has been a trooper so far and we have needed to help him a bit, but I am so impressed with him. He is taking AP European History, AP physics, Seminary, Health, PE, Math, Language Arts, and Band. He seems to like most of his classes except he doesn't love PE. Although they started flag football this week and he says that is pretty fun. He did go back to cross country this past week and he renewed his injury so we are taking him to a sports doc in the next couple weeks. 
We invited the Ellis family over for a BBQ on the 24th. It was so fun to have them over. We also had Mimi come. We ate yummy food and visited for awhile, then Mimi had to go home. The Ellis' and us played an awesome round of skull king and then we did some fireworks. Fireworks were canceled on the 4th of July because of fire danger, so they did our big neighborhood show on the 24th instead. It was such a fun night. The Ellis' did some fireworks here at our houses and then we went to the show and then we came home and finished the Ellis' show.
The time has come for me to finally add some shades to our family room. I am really excited!! Here is the fabric I picked and they will be installed in a few weeks.
Sean took them down and patched the holes. We tried to dust the walls and fan and all the things while we had the ladder out.
While Alana was at Girls camp, Lizzie had some fun playdates with Amy and Poppy. They painted dragons, played 3d prints, and entertained each other for hours and hours! I am so grateful Lizzie has such good friends. Amy is in her class this year in 5th grade and she is soooo excited!
We have had such a disappointing garden this year. Sean planted our beans at least 6 times and they have died and withered for so many different reasons. Usually they just thrive and we get so many delicious garden beans, so we have been super sad this year. Our strawberries didn't produce any berries, our peach tree grew no peaches, and even our zucchini plant only produced about 5 zucchini! Its been so weird. Sean has been studying what we need to do to help the garden do better next year. Here is our biggest harvest of the year. Our biggest zucchini and 2 blueberries.
Brett has been running cross country every morning this summer. After 2 weeks of 40-50 miles, he was feeling a significant amount of pain. He took 4 days off and then went to run the time trial. He was in pain during the trial and was in severe pain after. 
He was supposed to go cross country camp the next day, but he was in so much pain he was really not wanting to go. Sean and I were able to talk through it with him and the decision was made to have him stay home. He was most concerned that he had said he would be roommates with his friend Noah and he felt like he was letting him down. He has been away from running for almost 3 weeks now and his legs have healed almost completely. He is still struggling with his ankle a little bit, but is planning to try running this week hopefully. (I'm picking up writing this a week later) Brett ran in gym class and his ankle started to hurt a lot again. I took him in for an x-ray to see if there was a stress fracture and it came back saying there was not fracture detected, so thats good. He is feeling better as of now, so we will see how this week goes. I set up a sewing corner in the basement for myself again.
Brett got this hat at a free Bluffdale event. He said he couldn't wear it because he would look like a Republican =) We don't claim to be part of any political party and just vote for the candidates that most align with our beliefs.
I asked Oreo one morning if he wanted to go for a walk with me and he said no (by putting his ears down and going into the bathroom). When I left he sacked out by the door waiting for me to come home. Sean took this picture and sent it to me =)
I told Brett to look annoyed at me and this is what he did.
Our swingset was making some pretty concerning noises and we really felt like it wasn't safe anymore. So we decided to retire it. It just sat there for most of the summer. But the girls wanted to use it more than we thought they would so Sean figured out how to replace the overhead beam.
The swingset looked funny with no top!
Alana started 7th grade the same day as Brett. They do a shorter schedule on the first day just to help the kids get used to their classes and where they should be going. Alana liked it. She hasn't been enamored with school so far, but she does seem to like it and she enjoys her friends there. She is taking math 7/8, Language Arts, Science, PE, Orchestra, art class, and college and career readiness.
Alana has also been sleeping with my orange quilt that my grandma made me when I was little. Old quilts are the absolute best because they have been washed and used so much that they are the softest things ever! 
Lizzie started fifth grade on a Wednesday. She is in fifth grade this year and has Ms. Pease. She has been super happy so far with a lot of things. I think the best parts are that she has Amy and Arden in her class and they are allowed to play with 3d prints at recess! Lizzie is doing great with Orchestra and Choir and helping with the bus Kindergarten kids in the afternoon when its her turn. She loves going to the park after school with Amy to play while I finish at work.
I also started my 6th year of teaching Kindergarten and my 4th year teaching at Mountain Point! I can't believe its been that long! I love my job and I love those I work with. I have a bigger class this year than the past 3 years. 21 kinders feels like A LOT, expecially when a few of the kids feel like 6 kids in one, lol! They are all so sweet and I am already completely in love with them!
Brett had a birthday and turned 15! He is an amazing guy and I just love him a lot! It is so fun to talk with him. He is funny and kind and talented and spiritual and sometimes a little moody and overall the best son a mom could ever ask for!! He celebrated by having all the girls from their group over. They played games and ate pizza and cookies and then we went to snelgroves for ice cream in the evening. The next day we had Rebecca, Kaden, Lexi, Mimi, Grandma and Grandpa over. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and soda and cheesecake. It was a lot of fun! Alana got Brett a poker set, Lizzie got him a butter squishie, Sean and I got him candy, soda, and money. He was happy! And also he got his Drivers permit and Sean has been teaching him!
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