We had another full week at home! Yay! What a nice place home is. Especially in the summer. It's been hot, but we have air-conditioning so, it's hard to notice. I even got far enough in my to-do list that I thought, hmm, I should read a book. And I did! It wasn't even middle-grade which is more like homework for when I become a Newberry-Award-Winning author, don'chaknow.

I did convince Beth and Ben to go swimming at the Springville rec center a couple of times this week and they played with kids in the neighborhood and we had the Francoms over. Mostly, though, I feel like I surrendered more times than usual in the battle against too much screen time. Aargh. Hopefully playing Roblox (if it's with friends, is that better?) and watching Yu-Gi-Oh and Johnny Test isn't too detrimental to the growing mind because Benjamin did a lot this week.

Cali and Cheyenne did a lot of tennis this week! If they come out with a study about the detrimental effects of time on the tennis court, then I will probably be in trouble there, too. (Actually, there is all that data about sun exposure, so, yeah.  I do insist on them wearing visors, though, so that's something.) They have both surpassed the team goal of 100 hours of summer practice and are headed more to 120. That's cool! They played in a small singles tournament on Saturday. Chey got to play three matches and Cali got to play four. They had a ton of fun and I think their dad had fun watching them, too!

Mariah has been working on sorting things in her room and getting ready for her upcoming move to Dixie. She's still spending lots of time with friends, too, and that's been fun for her. For Pioneer Day, we even had a giant softball game against her friend Kolby's family. Kolby is their oldest with five boys and two girls. Their aunt and uncle's family came, too and we got the aunt and uncle. Don't tell my kids I said this, but that probably helped in our stunningly decisive victory. Kevin did teach his girls how to play good ball, though, too!

Sarah worked her last 5am to 8am shift doing custodial at BYU. Being up that early was really hard on her but I'm glad she had a job! She'll take the next couple of weeks off and then start school with the teachers at Brookside. This week, she did come to the softball game with us and played some board games with her sisters and dad. Kevin and I also came across an electronic Simon game and bought it for the family. Sarah is the reigning champion remembering a sequence to 27!

Savannah ordered a new computer for herself and eagerly awaited its arrival all week! When it finally arrived, though, she was disappointed in the size of the screen and needs to send it back. Poor kid! She'll have to start all over again. She went to a game night this week and went on a date and continues to log hours at work. Her car also stopped working and she rolled it all the way down our hill popping the clutch the whole way before she decided to call her mom, pull over, and park.....in that order!

Kevin continues to work hard and get his 11,000 steps a day. Tomorrow we will have been married for 25 years! Can you believe it? We will celebrate our silver anniversary. The present I got for him came in the mail this week. We had a lot of fun reminiscing while I surreptitiously double checked details with him! What a great life we've had. I am grateful for him.

Mariah was the only one who traveled this week! Mariah helped coach at the Ankle Breakers Basketball Camp in Idaho again. She left Sunday afternoon and was back late Wednesday night. She had a terrific time, again, and felt that her confidence and ability in coaching were 100x improved so I think she enjoyed it even more. It's been a great opportunity for her! The rest of us were happy to stay home all week. Ha ha!

I took Beth and Ben to the Spanish Fork Pool on Monday at Bethany's request. She said it just wouldn't feel like summer if we didn't go. It was super fun for me because I've been going since Savannah was five and I've always had little, non-swimmers with me. I always thought, "Someday I'll come when everybody can swim and I'll be one of those moms who sits in the shade and reads a book." On Monday, I got my moment!

Monday night as we were going to bed, we got a text message from some neighbors alerting us to a fire on our mountain. We went out in our pajamas and saw the flames about a mile away. It seemed like we should be worried, but we trusted we'd be evacuated if the fire got too close and went to bed. The next two days saw hundreds of fire fighters, two airplanes, and four helicopters work to get that fire contained. They managed it within the week. I am always so inspired by the immediacy and sacrifice of those workers. So grateful that no one was hurt!

That's our mailbox!

Cali and Chey have been busy with tennis and basketball and running and piano still. They get a little reading in, too. This week they planned a party with their friends. Boys were invited, too! They played nine square and card games and watched the Spanish Fork fireworks from our backyard. I was so proud of them for planning a party and making it happen! They had a really great time.

Beth and Ben had a belt test for karate on Saturday. I watched a lot of it. They worked hard! They started with a mile and half run and then did strikes and kicks, sparring, forms, and weapons. Four hours later, they were deemed worthy of green belts--six levels from black! They both are sore today.

Savannah worked all week until she got sick Thursday and Friday. Poor girl! Sarah continues to work early mornings and when I went hiking on Wednesday with Robin, she took over driving kids places so I could go! We hiked Slate Canyon. We left nice and early to avoid the heat but then took too long before turning around. So the first part of the hike was fun and beautiful and the last part was miserable. We're going to work on being smarter about these things. In the meantime, I got some pretty pictures!

So, because we drove so far on Saturday, we got to spend all of Sunday at home. First thing Monday morning, though, Mariah, Cheyenne, Calianne, and I were off to Young Women's Camp. We were not psychologically ready for another trip! But, you know what? It turned out just fine. In fact, I feel really blessed that I "had" to go because it was really great. I learned a lot from the other women there and I got closer to the girls and was inspired by their testimonies and growing understanding of the gospel. We stayed in total comfort--beds and bathrooms in the lodge, great food served to us right on time, and activities to remember: horseback riding, boating, hiking, archery, swimming, and mountain biking. Add singing, skits, and spiritual devotionals and you've got yourself one terrific camp!

I still was super happy to see my bed again and be back in my own little domain by Wednesday afternoon. Sarah took care of Beth and Ben during the days and Savannah helped at night. Kevin left Tuesday morning for a business trip and got back super early Friday morning. It was a rough week for all of us! We were super grateful that Grandma Gazdik took B&B to her house on Tuesday for some fun time for them!

The rest of the week saw a lot of laundry getting done. I spent the rest of the week doing my clients' financials for June. Cheyenne and Calianne got back on the tennis courts trying to "get the rust out." Beth and Ben played with friends. Mariah went straight back to the softball fields to ump the final two days of the end-of-season tournament!

Friday night we had a treat as attended a pool party for the families of the stake presidency. We ate great food, watched as the men played a rousing game of watermelon ball, and watched the kids go down the slide and try to make it across the pool on the slackline. It's beautiful weather here and my favorite time of year!

Last Sunday we drove from Newport Beach to San Francisco. What a beautiful city! After we checked into our hotel, we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was stunning! As the sun went down, we drove into the city to find "The Painted Ladies" which the kids wanted to see since it is shown so often as the Tanner residence in Full House. While there, we got to talk to Megan who completed our "count off" and made us feel whole for the only time on the trip. We miss that gal!

On Monday we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and headed north to the Redwoods! We drove all through The Avenue of the Giants in the afternoon. We got to see the drive-thru tree and lots of other fun gimmicky stuff. We also stopped in one of several groves and just looked up, dwarfed by the majesty of these incredible trees. By the end of the day, everyone (except Ben) owned a new Redwoods sweatshirt (because they forgot to pack a sweatshirt!) and we arrived at our campground in time to put up the tent and walk by the ocean before being lulled to sleep by the pounding of the waves.

Ben spent a solid ten minutes laughing in front of this mirror!

Gold Bluffs Beach Campground

On Tuesday, we awoke to a foggy world but we still enjoyed the beach for a while in the morning and then headed out for some hikes. We hiked Fern Valley and Lady Bird Johnson Grove and the Big Tree and every time we entered the paths into these forests we felt like we had entered lands of myth and magic. There just isn't an ugly spot in all of Redwood National Park! Such beauty everywhere we looked. We ended the day back at the campground with s'mores.

On Wednesday, after some time at the beach, we went further up the coast following the 101 through forests into Crescent City and then into Oregon (so we could all say we'd been there!). The lighthouse tour was closed because you can only get there at low tide which is only an hour a day. Hello? But we saw it and took pictures anyway. We roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner on this night and after the last of the s'mores, spent our most time on the beach. We were told it was too dangerous to swim (although the kids certainly wanted to, cold or not!), but we found lots of beautiful rocks and the sand made for great city building and we even met a seal who came up on shore each night to sleep. (Wub wub wub). We loved our beach.

The lighthouse was on the island behind us.

Playground in Crescent City

Making "Os" for Oregon.

Coastal Highway

Our Seal, "Wub-wub"

On Thursday, we packed up and headed inland. Halfway home was Lake Tahoe and we had a reservation at a campground nearby. We took some beautiful roads but it was mostly just a long day of driving. It's a good thing we had Harry Potter to get us through! We listened to and finished Goblet of Fire during all these long days of driving. Ben may have liked it best of all.

Tahoe Donner Campground

On Friday, we drove to Donner Lake and went to the Donner Memorial Museum. What a sad, sad story. On the upside, I decided no matter how many things I forget to pack or don't plan for adequately, I will never do as poorly as the Donner party! Poor people. Afterward, we dove over to Lake Tahoe so we could put our feet in and let the kids swim for a bit. The crowds were CRAZY. There were so many people there. But we did get a parking spot in Lake Tahoe City and we walked around the shops, enjoyed the view, and had some pizza. Fun times!

Kevin made us pancakes every morning we camped!

The snow was as deep as this plinth!

This is a BIG lake!

On Saturday, we had to get up extra early to pack up camp and then head to Sacramento. My niece, Emily got married in the Sacramento temple that morning! We were so happy to be there and to see my sister, Maggie, and her family and Grandma and Grandpa and feel the sweet spirit of the day. They provided a yummy lunch under the trees at the park across the parking lot. We hugged everyone one last time and decided to drive all ten hours in one last push to get home to our own beds. It was a great trip!