Lake Days with Family Are the Best Days...

We had YET ANOTHER day of fun times together as a family! We had so much fun on the lake!! After a little bit of trouble starting the boat, we were able to enjoy surfing, laughing, eating and visiting! Ben was the first in the water, which was SUPER COLD!! (It only got up to 87 today, so the water temps were freezing!) He did great and picked up surfing super fast! He's been around boats a lot, so it was nice to have him back the trailer later!! I wish we'd thought to let him drive-- I know he was excited about that... We took a pic nic lunch and just enjoyed the beautiful, cool, sunny day! Brooke is a rockstar at surfing and I'm trying to remember how to do it! By the end of the summer last year, I was doing it, but it took a bit today to remember... PLUS, I got hit in the face with my board, so that didn't feel too great-- especially since the water was really uncomfortably cold... I guess I didn't enjoy it as much as I usually do! But it was super fun to share my drink with Luke-- hahaha!! (He loves to share, when it's yours and not his!!!) We all just had so much fun and Luke and Logan have really just taken Ben in and consider him as part of our family now! (I even caught Luke calling him Uncle Ben!!!) Ben definitely passed the "lake test" with flying colors-- A++! And Lukey got to say hi to the donkey's again... they were looking for some food! When we got home, we cleaned up the boat (Ben was especially helpful with this!) and then we jumped in the pool (well maybe not jumped but eased slowly in), and then got in the hot tub and just relaxed and visited! I got to visit for quite a while with Ben when just he and I were in the pool. It was really nice and I learned a lot more about him and his family-- he's very open and also got me talking about my family and upbringing, as well. He really loves to talk and get to know you! We had another AMAZING dinner tonight! We grilled burgers with all the fixings, Todd made his famous homemade french fries and fry sauce and we had our first watermelon of the season! Everything tasted extremely yummy after being on the lake all day! When it got dark, we watched a movie outside with the big projector and screen. Luke has been looking forward to this all week! (Megan put Logan to sleep downstairs.) We watched Emperor's New Groove and Princess Bride. The whole time Brooke and Ben were behind the ramada by the pickleball court just talking... well, we found out later that they were talking about their future and when they want to get married!!! They joined us after the movie for s'mores, but we didn't know at the time that's what they were talking about! (I asked Brooke the next day...) Exciting things coming ahead for our family, for sure!! They are thinking probably an early November wedding! The s'mores were yummy and we all enjoyed visiting around the fire! Todd and Luke fell asleep after the s'mores on the hammock! Hahaha! We are all going to need a vacation from our vacation! After we got Megan and Todd all packed up and on their way, I was sooo tired, but ended up visiting with Brooke and Ben for a bit afterward. He thanked me for the fun few days we've had and took a long time to say goodbye... I guess his family has long goodbye's. I told him I'd see them in the morning before they headed out. They have to leave here by 4am to catch their 6am flight back to Provo. Bill will take them to the airport, and I get to go back to BED!!! It really has been a dream-- a very tiring but FUN dream! We've gotten to know Ben so well and I really think they are such a good match! Ben really does adore our Brookie and treats her like a queen! I noticed that all week as I watched them interact. I look forward to spending more time with him and love that he fits so perfectly into our family!

 

Katelyn Met Kaden's Mom!

Kaden's mom came up for his BYU home track meet and Katelyn got to meet her! I'm not sure her name but they are the Passey's from Surprise!! They are in Surprise West Stake, I think... so very cool that they are from Arizona and so CLOSE!!

 

A Beautiful Day at the Temple!

Today was a little slower day and it ended up working out great, as we all needed to take a breather! Hahaha! I let Ben and Brooke sleep in and got a few things done in the morning. They went outside after breakfast and got to see Dad's garden! They played pickleball and we enjoyed a nice day of just sitting and visiting and getting to know Ben... we all just love him so much! He's such a good guy!! I love that he loves talking about the gospel and his testimony and shares those feelings with us!! Later on, we went to the temple and did an endowment all together. Megan and Todd got a sitter and were also able to be there with us and it was AMAZING!! I loved being in the endowment and Celestial Room together and visiting about the session afterward! What a sweet experience that was! We came home and Bill grilled Carne Asada on his new Blackstone outdoor griddle. We had all the Mexican favorites-- homemade salsa, guacamole and all the trimmings for an amazing dinner! We invited Ethan and Sky and Allison, as well, to come over and join in, as we had SO MUCH FOOD!!! It was all so yummy and we enjoyed visiting as we ate dinner and the conversation afterward lasting way into the night! Another wonderful day together!!!

 

Paddleboarding, Get Out Game & Ah-So's for a Yummy Dinner...

It was another FULL, FUN day!!  Katelyn and I went back to Costco on Saturday and I got 2 paddleboards-- so today we got to use them!!  We borrowed a board from the Moore's just so we had another one...  It was a beautiful morning and the weather has been soooo cool and nice!  (The water was super cold, but we didn't really get in-- just our feet!)  Ben, Brooke and Katelyn went on the first round and by the time they got back, Megan had gotten there with the boys, so Katelyn took Luke around.  We all had fun taking turns and enjoyed the lake!  We hunted for bottlecaps with Luke and a donkey came right up to us from behind and scared the living daylights out of Megan and I-- he tried to get our snacks, but we shewed him away, although he was VERY persistent!  They know people have the good stuff!  They looked really healthy too, so I know they're getting enough food!  Dad took Ben and Brooke home so they could have lunch with Sky and Ethan and we came back later.  We showered up and headed out to a Get Out Game called Runaway AI... It was so much fun and also one the boys could come to as well.  We ended up getting out with like 8 minutes to spare... it was a hard one, but we did it--with a few clues!  Hahaha!  Then we headed over to Norterra for a nice dinner at Ah-So's Teppanyaki for Brooke's birthday dinner!  It was so good and we were all so hungry!  We went to Ah-So's when we met Todd, so we thought it would be fun to go there with Ben!  Dad drove Katelyn to the Mesa-Gateway airport for her late night flight back to Provo.  She had to get back for work and Spring term starting...I'll miss having her home!  After we got home, Ben, Brooke, Dad and I watched The Hiding Place.  We were all in and out as we were  so tired, but it was sooooo good!  Such an amazing story about forgiveness and redemption!  We stayed up and talked for a bit about it and then we all headed to bed.  We have been having so much fun all together-- it really has been such a fun time!