Beth started college this week! Right there is a life event we didn't know if Beth was going to get. We are all so excited for her and it is wonderful to see the excitement she has for herself! On Monday, she and I drove down to Snow College. She'll have her own car while she's there so that she can make the 80 minute drive home when she wants. She got there in time for orientation that morning. Afterwards, we got her checked into her apartment and met her roommate and brought her stuff upstairs. Then . . . I left her there! What?? Crazy! She is emotionally ready to be an independent person and I love it! She had a good week. She went to three dances, met people, signed up for institute, ate so much free food that she didn't need her meal plan, and started classes. Yesterday, she came home to visit so that she can keep her connections and support with us alive and she'll go back on Monday, this time with the t-shirt quilt her grandma made for her to put on her bed!

Also on Monday, Cali and Richmond did a gender reveal for their first baby who will be arriving at the very beginning of February. It's a girl! Cali created a tic-tac-toe game board and revealed each square separately until the last square won the game with three pink pictures in a row! We are so excited for them and for this new member of our family!

My mom and dad came to visit on Thursday! It was so fun to see them. On Friday we drove to Heber to see Mandy's new baby and that evening we were back home to celebrate Cali and Chey's birthday. We had such a good visit. We love those two people very much!

On Friday, Cali and Chey turned 22! What?? Crazy. We had Poke bowls for dinner, had brownies and ice cream, opened presents, and played a truth or dare twin version game created by Megan. It was super fun and what a great reason to celebrate having Cali and Chey in our lives! We love them so much!

On Saturday, Ben ran in another cross country meet. It was a beautiful day and he ran well! He even cut another 20 seconds off his time. Go Ben!

Ben will be released today as YSA Bishop of the BYU 189th ward. So, last night, he and the ward had a party in the park and invited all current and past members of the ward. We had yummy food and a lot of people showed up. It was a fun way for Kevin to spend time with these great young people he has served and loved!

Ben started school this week!! He is in a brand-new school this year right next to where they bulldozed the SHS of years past. I went with him to the open house so I could see the new building. I loved that he was comfortable enough to let me come along! It is a beautiful building – all clean and shiny and modern with lots of brand new tech. Lucky kid! The seminary building is also new and I love it, too! It’s full of light, open, and beautiful. He is going to have a great year!

He started school on Tuesday with early-morning 6:30am seminary. Then he had history, choir, lunch, math, and biology. Wednesday was B day and he started the day an hour later catching the bus for the advanced learning center (ALC) where his first two classes were architecture 1&2! Then he took the bus back to SHS for lunch, economics, and AP Lang (English). So far, he is really liking his schedule. The new seminary building also has a new ping pong table so friend hang-outs are able to happen just like last year! He has cross country practice after school and he takes the car to school so he leaves in the morning and we don’t see him until 5. We are happy to see him busy with good things.

 

First day of school junior year 11th grade.

Beth had her last week at home this week. She and Mariah and I worked on moving her stuff from her room into the bunk-bed room with Chey. That helped her go through her things and get rid of things she doesn’t need anymore to be ready for her new phase of life! She also took a math placement exam that needed to get done and finalized her schedule. On Friday, in some quiet time, we watched all the rest of The Other Bennet Sister together and had so much fun! She also had some fun times with her sisters—watching movies and going to Mariah’s pool. On Friday night, all the siblings got together for dinner and Chubby’s and games afterward. We will sure miss that girl!

Chey continues to be busy with school and work and Tyler. She had a bit of a “que sera sera” moment and is much happier this week as she let some of the stress go from last week and became more accepting of life right now. It’s good to see!

Savannah was not well the beginning of the week but was doing better toward the end. On Saturday, she even got out to take care of her bees—and she got stung! But she still came to Grandpa’s with us that day!

On Saturday we drove to Idaho! Matt and Lynzy’s son, Connor got home from his mission and we went to hear his homecoming report. It was so great to be there and see Matt’s family and also so good to see Kevin’s dad and Maria! We needed some Idaho family connection and were so glad to have this reason for it. Our kids all love Kevin’s family so almost all of them came! Kevin and I, Savannah and Peter, Mariah, Kolby, and Evelyn, Cheyenne and Tyler, Calianne and Richmond, Beth and Ben. What a crew! It was a quick trip but very fun.

Kevin and his dad cooking breakfast together as they do.

Poor little Oliver fell and bit his tongue this week. He is on the mend and healing well now, but that meant that he spent seven hours in the ER with his parents and that someone needed to watch his sisters. That was us! They colored with Beth and jumped on the trampoline with Cheyenne and Tyler and read books with Grandma. They also spent the night. We were so glad we could help and that they know our house and love it here!

Speaking of Tyler, he moved in this week! He has a couple of months between the ending of his lease and the start of where he and Chey will live together, so he's staying in our guest room. He is a great guy and we are working hard for their wedding coming up on October 10! Cheyenne is back in nursing school this week and her every minute is full. Sometimes she believes she can handle school, work, relationships, upcoming wedding, etc,. and sometimes she doesn't. Keep on running, Chey. You will make it!

Benjamin's school starts next week, but his first cross country meet was on Saturday! Go Ben! It was a beautiful day. The heat broke earlier this week, and we had a couple of days of clouds that brought rain throughout the state putting out all the fires. What a joy! It was a great day to be out at the park cheering for our son while he challenged himself and pushes himself to see what he can accomplish.

Beth's school starts in two weeks, so Beth and Ben and I tried to do some fun stuff this week. Ben had a lot of shifts at work, but we planned around them! Monday afternoon we played Pay Day (a classic that we remember playing together!). Mariah joined us, too! Tuesday morning, we went to an early showing of Young George Washington in the movie theatre. We really liked the movie and loved being in the theatre! Thursday evening we planned a pool party with all our family who could come at Mariah's pool. It was one of the days that it rained so we shivered and ate our picnic dinner with raindrops on it but we still had so much fun! We must really like being together! I love that.

Speaking of Thursday, Wednesday night Beth had a scare when she momentarily lost sight in her peripheral vision. I called her neurolgist's office the next day and he called me back! Then he ordered an MRI for the same day and called and told me the results as they came to him over his computer. There was NOT a regrowth of her tumor. What a relief! We are so grateful for the quick investigation to put our fears to rest and for the good news so we can continue with plans for Beth to go to Snow College. We even found her a car on Saturday! Yay!

Savannah and Peter went to the regional YSA conference this weekend. They stayed at Peter's parents house so they'd be closer to the festivities in Salt Lake City. They went to a lot of breakout sessions and classes and had a great time!

So . . . It's been a full week! Life keeps rushing on.

It's been hot this week and the skies are white with smoke. I think I'm getting the winter blues in the middle of summer. Ugh! Actually, I didn't get either job at New Haven that I had interviewed multiple times for and that has me down. You know, questioning my worth and how to imagine an uncertain future. Just the usual! I really do know that is a normal feeling/thought process we all cycle through. It's not super bad for me--just kind of a malaise that happens to be mirrored by the sky right now. Funny but true!

Benjamin went to FSY this week! He said it was his best FSY yet! He went with his friend, Brayden, and they had a great time making friends with guys and gals alike. They played games and made up dances and studied scriptures and shared insights into the gospel. When he got home, he turned on the FSY playlist and sang along. We're glad he had a good week and are also so glad he is back!

Bethany worked three days this week. Woot! She also went to her trainer twice and to therapy. She went with her sisters to Megan's house Wednesday night for dinner and a movie. On Friday morning, all the grandkids, their moms, the twins, Beth, and I went to Mariah's pool! That was really fun. Beth, Chey, and I went to McDonald's afterwards. Kevin and I looked at a car for Beth on Saturday but we haven't committed, yet!

This was Cheyenne's last week of summer vacation. MTech starts for her next week! So, she and Tyler have been paddle boarding at the rez, playing tennis, and meeting with friends to play ultimate Frisbee, and trying to soak up every free minute. Chey also worked her two nights in a row as she does.

Savannah helped Peter celebrate his birthday yesterday! She took him to an escape room and Megan, Cali, and Richmond joined in the fun. They came to Oliver's birthday party, and then came home to watch old movies. They both had a good time!

Oliver is one-year old!! Sarah had his birthday party yesterday night. We had hamburgers and hot dogs with watermelon and macaroni salad. Megan made him a soccer-ball cake and Oliver had great fun demolishing it. He got lots of fun toys and smiled a lot. We love that little boy with his big blue eyes and easy-going temperment. He puts up with a lot of chaos and generally rolls with it--sometimes even literally! He is a treasure.

We got to be at home all week this week! Crazy! We did still have an important date, though. Wednesday was our wedding anniversary! Kevin and I have been married 32 years. Even crazier! For Father's Day, our kids gave Kevin a gift certificate to see a play and go to dinner on the day of our anniversary. Isn't that sweet? So we went to see the play, which was The Scarlet Pimpernel, and we loved it! I love Kevin and I am so glad that we got married 32 years ago and that we have each other as partners in this crazy life.

To further celebrate on Saturday, I had him take out a brick wall for me. Just kidding! I really was willing to do it myself, but Kevin didn't want me to do it alone because, well, we are partners. There were 778 bricks that made an alcove for some long-since departed wood-burning stove. It just happened to be right where I want to make a kitchenette for the downstairs. I thought, how hard could it be? It turned out . . . very hard. Kevin says it is the hardest thing he's ever done beating out even a marathon and the Red Rock Relay. Cheyenne, Benjamin, and I helped carry out the bricks, clean the bricks, and clear out debris, but Kevin worked the hammer rotary drill that we rented. We worked from 10:00 to 2:00 and got it done! Afterward, our basement was covered in dust, but we had a wall of bricks stacked outside, not inside, and we felt like heroes! So we went to Chuck a Rama to treat ourselves. Kevin had a hard time walking to get himself food. Today he is sore and his eyes are swollen from the dust. It was a hard, hard thing to do.

In other news, Ben bought himself an X-box so he could better play Minecraft and Rocket League with his friends and it finally came on Friday. He was super excited and likes it very much! I like that he paid for it with his own money and that he gets to experience some of the independence that comes with having a job. So cool.

Bethany continues to get ready to go to Snow College at the end of this month! She registered for classes this week and chose a place to live on campus. It's getting very real! She worked three times this week at Funfinity and is looking forward to her last day! Ha ha! Another benefit of going to college!

We are hard at work planning Cheyenne's wedding! She tried on lots of dresses this week, and we combed the internet looking for just the style she wants. We think we might have some good possibilities! We met Tyler's parents on Saturday night and they are lovely people. We think we have a venue and a date, so we are making progress!

Savannah's health has been up and down this week, but she did get to spend some time with Peter and she always enjoys that. She also did get some days in at work.

On Saturday, all my girls came over to help go through some things for DI. It's always so fun to have them all together. Of course, this also meant that all the grandkids were together. It's so fun to see them play together! What a blessing to have kids and grandkids in my life!

Evelyn, Lyla, Micah