Happy 4th of July!

We had such an enjoyable day celebrating the freedom we enjoy and the blessing it is to live here in the USA! Megan, Todd and the boys came over for a yummy steak dinner with corn on the cob, watermelon and yummy honeydew from Dad's garden and Megan brought one of her yummy green salads! Afterward, we went swimming and it was nice with a little breeze blowing-- it was under 100 degrees today! Then we came in and had homemade strawberry/banana sorbet and chocolate ice cream! The boys were super tired so they didn't stay to watch the fireworks outside courtesy of all our neighbors!! (And the city fireworks here in Peoria and Surprise! We can see them both from the pool jump wall!) I watched for a bit from inside and then Bill and I went downstairs and watched a show. It was a fun day and it was nice to just relax this afternoon and evening!

Grateful for Other Mothers!

Ben's mom Megan helped Brooke move to her new apartment condo all day today! Apparently Brooke had been super stressed about the move and getting it all done before the deadline at her old place and Megan just came and helped for the entire day! They almost got everything done, and by herself it would've taken Brooke days to do it-- even with Ben's help at night after work. She even brought Brooke Kneaders for lunch! (She knows Brooke so well!) This was such a tender mercy for Brooke as she's working 6 in a row this weekend and would not have been able to do it on her own with so much work and needing to sleep during the day. She sent these pictures in our family group text and mentioned how grateful she's been to me over the years for doing just this and with all of us so far away and on such short notice, she was feeling pretty stressed all on her own. Looks like she's going to have really sweet in-laws and already seems to have a great relationship with them-- I'm looking so forward to meeting them!! Luckily, Brooke only moved a couple of doors down, so at least it wasn't far where they had to load a car and go far away back and forth! She'll only be here for 4 months and then it's Mrs. Israelsen for her on November 1st! Exciting times and things are falling into place with all the things Brooke was concerned about with her lease-- she now gets to go month to month which means she doesn't have to sign any contracts for a year and then have to sell her contract to someone else! Heavenly Father is really looking out for this girl!

The Boys Are Back in Town!

Megan and Todd and the boys got home on Friday and it was so good to have them over for Sunday dinner tonight! Megan made this beautiful cake for McKenzie's birthday and brought it for our dessert tonight-- McKenzie had requested a "Captain Crunch" cake and Megan came through! The boys were so fun tonight-- Luke had TONS of energy and Logan was a sweetheart and gave lots of cuddles and loves! I missed them a lot while they were gone! They both got to work out there energy with the boxing gloves!

McKenzie's Birthday Weekend-- Day 2

McKenzie opened one of her gifts this morning before church, because it was this cute new dress for a cute birthday girl! HBD officially TODAY!!! I'm making her favorite pasta for dinner and she'll open presents then, as well. Lots of people wished her a happy birthday at church and it's been a nice day!

McKenzie's Birthday Weekend-- Day 1

We started the celebrations today by going out to lunch at BJ's... we had a nice meal and she got an Oreo pizookie and candle lit for her birthday for dessert! She turns 31 TOMORROW, but it's a Sunday, so we went and had a fun meal out today!!! HBD McKenzie! We love you so much!!!

Carlsbad, CA Regional Meetings-- Day 4

Well all good things must come to an end! We all went to breakfast together this morning and enjoyed the sunny, breezy morning! We got all packed up and then helped Megan and Todd with the boys and got them all packed up. We both headed out at the same time, but they headed for Vegas to Todd's family reunion. Brooke didn't have to be dropped off at the airport until around 3:30, so we spent the day together poking around! San Diego is one of her favorite places! It is also Father's Day today and it was fun to spend it doing such fun things with one of our sweet daughters! We decided to swing by the temple to just walk on the ground, but is was completely closed for renovations inside and out! They're redoing all the grounds, so we couldn't even get in to walk around. We were pretty bummed! That's one of Brooke's favorite temples! We drove by our VERBO rental house that we're coming back to in a couple of weeks with our entire family-- including Ben! I'm so excited for that trip! It's a cute little house and isn't far from the beach! There are really cute houses in the area that have been renovated and fixed up-- it's a fun beachy vibe there! Then Brooke wanted to go and check out Sunset Cliffs-- it's a really cool spot and we got several pictures there. (It was a wild goose chase finding it, though!)  We know Ben is close to proposing and Brooke has dropped SEVERAL hints to him that she would LOVE to have the proposal happen at this Sunset Cliffs area, but as we poked around, she decided that anywhere on the beach would be just as perfect and she realized that she wanted Ben to be able to choose that. Instead we'll probably take some family pictures up on these cliffs, while I've got everyone together in a few weeks. Hopefully the proposal will happen sometime during our trip and we know that Ben is purchasing the ring right now... soooooo.... we will see if it happens in San Diego or not! These cliffs are super cool and there are TONS of places to take pictures! It would look good for a Christmas card! Hahaha! After we left the cliffs, we were hungry for lunch, so we stopped at The Habit and got some yummy salads, sweet potato fries, etc. It all tasted so good but we were so FULL when we finished eating! We had the perfect amount of time to do all these things and not be rushed! After we ate, we dropped Brookie off at the airport-- I always hate goodbyes! (It was hard to say goodbye to Megan and Todd and those cute little boys this morning, knowing we wouldn't see them for 2 whole weeks!) I gave Brooke a tight squeeze and said goodbye, but then realized I'd see her in about 3 1/2 weeks when she and Ben fly into that same airport! Ben is picking her up from the airport tonight, and I'm SURE she will be GLAD to see him-- she REALLY missed him this weekend! Then, Bill and I began the LONG and HOT trek home to the reality of the heat of Arizona! We made it home around 9:30pm-- quickly unpacked and went to bed!! What a fun time with family-- even though everyone wasn't there, it was such a fun trip and we did so many fun things and made a lot of fun memories!

Carlsbad, CA Regional Meetings-- Day 3

Today was ANOTHER fun day! I am just soaking in this gorgeous cool and breezy weather! I went running this morning, but Megan stayed back with the boys. It was definitely a lot harder run without someone to talk to and keep my mind off of all the hills! I showered and then everyone went to breakfast a little later this morning-- without the guys. (They had to be at their meeting by 8am.) It was a really nice breakfast. Then we went to the joint "culture meeting" where everyone 12 and up got to go-- so Brooke went with us to that. Luke had a REALLY hard time going to Kids Club-- but he finally succumbed! It was a LONG meeting-- Bill got to get up and talk about how our career with Jones has blessed our lives and our family along with a bunch of other Financial Advisors. Some were really good-- I liked one of the guys who was funny and Karla Thalman's was really good-- and emotional, but there was one guy who just rambled on and on and on! The meeting went over by quite a bit because of him and he was pretty boring! We headed to the group Jones lunch and then Brooke, Dad and I hightailed it to the movie theater where we watched the live action version of "How to Train Your Dragon". The music was amazing and it followed the cartoon exactly! I kept dozing because we've had such FULL days and early mornings getting up and running and late nights partying! But it was still fun and I already knew what happens anyway because it was exactly the same as the cartoon. Megan and Todd stayed back at the hotel with the boys, because Logan wouldn't have been able to sit still for the movie and he was super tired and ready for a nap. (See Picture #2!) He'd fallen asleep right when they got back to their room from lunch! When we got back from the movie, we ventured out to the neighboring resort pool which had a slide and we had fun there for the rest of the afternoon! (We had use of all three of the hotel pools in the area.) I got to cuddle with Logan A LOT because he doesn't like to be cold, and the water was definitely NOT warm! We ordered more smoothies and enjoyed watching Luke play in the water! Brooke even facetimed with Ben while we watched all the action! It was fun to talk with him, too! We had to get back and get cleaned up for the adult FA and guest party tonight. Luke was excited for Kids Club this time, because he was anticipating the pizza and movie party! Brooke swung by the older kids area and grabbed some pizza and went back to the hotel and watched a movie. Our party was fun and rock and roll themed. There was a live band for the entertainment and they were really pretty good! It was fun to listen to all the oldies they were singing-- meaning, songs from my era and before and after! It was a live karaoke band, so they could basically play anything you requested, but you had to go up and sing the lyrics... the lead singer didn't have to do much after dinner! Our table was really nice and we had fun conversation during dinner. The Ramirez' were at our table again this year and it was fun to talk to them-- they are such nice people!! The Schmatko's and Jerry Look and his wife also sat at our table, and some others. There was actually an empty spot and we wondered if Brooke could've come and sat there, but oh well... kind of a waste! Then the party got crazier and crazier (as usual) as people got drinking more and more. Everyone was getting up and singing and it was all fun to take in and watch. Cliff Selsor and Todd got up and sang "Stacy's Mom" which I'd never heard before... they were going to say "Lukey's Mom" but didn't for some reason. They were fun to watch and I'm sure Cliff was a bit drunk too! Todd wasn't!! Hahaha! There were a few members of the church that sang that did not need ANY alcohol to go crazy on that stage!!!! (And they'll remember it tomorrow!) When we got back to the room, we watched "Raising the Bar"-- the story about the LDS high jumper that competed in the olympics who was from Parowan, Utah. I love inspirational true stories! Megan went to bed after the first hour and Brooke and Todd fell asleep during the movie and I dozed throughout it, but followed the story. It was good! We went to bed around 1am! It has been such a fun, long weekend here in this gorgeous place. Wish we could stay longer!!!