3,715.8 Miles

Underfoot, Hurricane, and I traveled to see my sister, Katie. Our round trip took us on an adventure of 3,715.8 miles. Sweetheart stayed home and worked. He got to play board games if that is any consolation. Hurricane doubled the number of states he has been to, and I entered Oklahoma. Previously Sweetheart and I had been to every state surrounding Oklahoma.

On our trip we saw:

- Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the bats that flew at night

- Oklahoma City National Memorial

 -  Jared and McKenzie Armstrong

- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

- Oklahoma City Temple

- Iwig Dairy where the milk is bottled in glass bottles and they sell unique flavors of ice cream

- Sunshine Rae, Bubba, and Katie Stokes (We saw Uncle Shaun later.)

- World War I Memorial

- Kansas City Federal Bank Reserve

- Played Catch with Aunt Katie (This was one of Underfoot's request for the trip.)

- Union Station Train Display (Hurricane's request was to see a train.)

- Science City

- Kaleidoscope

- Hallmark Visitor's Center (We got to see bows being made and then took the bows home)

- Kansas City Market (The smells were amazing! The boys had a coconut water from a coconut!)

- Pony Express and Pumpkinfest

- Independence LDS Visitor's Center

 

- Liberty Jail LDS Visitor's Center

- Nauvoo, IL

- Lincoln's Home National Historic Site

- Lincoln Museum next to the Lincoln Presidential Library

- Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri

- Gateway Arch

- Columbia, Missouri for dinner with Uncle Shaun who is doing an anesthesia audition there

- Sadie's Preschool and Aunt Katie as the teacher (Aunt Katie's an awesome teacher!)

- Movie Night Party with cousins, popcorn, candy, and nail polish for the girls

- Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas
- 2nd Lost Tooth

- Soda Fountain in Hays, Kansas

- Lisa and Brian Miller + family in Colorado

- Garden of the Gods

- Sante Fe for supper in honor of our Aunt Jill. The restaurant was super yummy! Jambo was its name-o.

- We watched the Tucson LDS Temple groundbreaking via the internet in Albuquerque, New Mexico after swimming the hotel swimming pool. The only swimming we got to do.

- Returned home.

Once we were home, we returned to school. The men in the family participated in Make a Difference Day last Saturday. It has been a full 3 weeks.

We hope this finds you well, healthy, and happy.

Campfire and Lost Tooth

Hurricane lost his first tooth. His goal was to lose it at school so he could get a tooth treasure box.

I came at the end of the day and encouraged the tooth to leave his mouth so he could meet his goal.

I attended another continuing education class. It wasn't as exciting as the one a week before. The topic was anxiety in children and adolescents.

Saturday was the first meeting for LDS General Conference with the Women's Meeting. I really enjoyed the messages shared and the hope that they give to me.

Underfoot participated in a Cub Scout den campfire. He taught "I Stuck My Head In A Little Skunk's Hole" to the group. There were skits, jokes, and a roving story. They roasted marshmallows at the end to make s'mores.

 This was a family event. Hurricane was thrilled to participate in the Cub Scouts. He wants to every week that Underfoot goes.

The school met their reading goal and were given a day to dress up as a superhero. The boys made their own symbols made out of duct tape and wore them on their shirts.

Be Well.

Boring Week

Parent Teacher Conferences: The boys both got great reports. They are happy in school and learning many good lesson like how to be kind to others and being observant in addition to the ABCs and Math. 

Continuing Education Class: I attended a seminar on The Habits of Happy People. The presentation was one of the best ones I've attended.  Now that's saying something when I have to get 20 credit hours each year. Here is one of the videos he shared during his presentation:

Emergency Responders: Hurricane was asking about emergency responders and what they do. We were giving examples of what the responders do like helping someone who is choking or cut themselves badly. Hurricane says, "Or like when somebody tazes theirselves." We shared with Aunt Mimi, and she said, "That is an EXCELLENT example! If someone tazes themself, they are going to need someone to respond in more ways than one."

 Traffic Reflectors: Hurricane was asking why there were so many on the road. He then wished he could hold out a bat and knock them all over. I said that Grandpa Kirky had that wish as well. Hurricane just smiled.
 

Temple:

We attended the temple and got to visit with Aunt Merris and her family.

Junior Cactus Ranger: On Saturday evening, Underfoot attended his first Junior Cactus Ranger meeting. Because of his interest during Junior Ranger camp, he was invited to participate in activities throughout the year. He had to be nominated for this. The group learned about the moon, its different phases, and then taught their families about it.

Be Well.

Lemonade Stand and Bake Sale

Hurricane planned a lemonade sale then added a bake sale. We called his Uncle Aaron to get some help with marketing the event. As we talked together, we added pre-orders of chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and yummy syrup (caramel syrup.) For Labor Day, we started making things.

Our friend, Shelby Ryckman, came over to help us. We canned 42 jars of yummy caramel syrup and made a few dozen cookies and few pans of brownies. The rest of week was making cookies and brownies and making deliveries. While Sweetheart was out the week before, he printed the flyers Hurricane had made. The flyer explained the purpose of the bake sale.

Later in the week we made another batch of yummy syrup.

On Friday night, Sweetheart and I stayed up to make cookies.

We made 24 dozen in addition to what had previously been made. On Saturday, we sold out of cookies and syrup.

The boys were wonderful with people.

If someone gave them a tip, they sang them a song.

They were thrilled to go to the bank to open an account for adoption.

That night we went to the church's youth road show. The boys enjoyed the different skits and olios.

Previous Week -
Birthday Party: The boys were invited.

I helped with a carpool. They had so much fun.

Garden: I built a flower garden in Underfoot's classroom. She said I could make any flowers I wanted.

I put most the flowers that I can't grow here - daisy, lilac, water lily, columbine, daffodil, sunflower, tulip, and then 2 made up flowers. I had a lot of fun creating.


Bedroom Painting: When we replaced the carpet, we painted the baseboards and door jams in the Master bathroom. It didn't quite get finished before the carpet went in. Since that time, we took off all the doors and painted them. I finished the touch ups. It took me 6 months to finish. That's a little embarrassing that it took so long. The bedrooms are all done. Now we have 1 bathroom and the rest of the house.

Tub: Our bath tub has been dripping. Sweetheart had the time to change the cartridge on his off Friday. He started the process but couldn't get the coupler to loosen.

In the process, he broke the handle. After he called and got help to fix it. It took the 2 of them 15 minutes to loosen the the coupler. Sweetheart fixed it without problems after that. I'm so grateful he has the skills to make things work! He has great skills!

Brevity

Here's our brief note for this week. The boys were invited to join the Jr. Robotics club at school. Hurricane shared while at club and was given an earned club's High-5. High-5s aren't given out at club ideally.

We had family movie night and are considering making it a tradition. After a pizza supper, we watched Million Dollar Arm. The movie created good conversation for our family.

Saturday was a work morning and a birthday party afternoon. In the morning, we worked on preserving the playhouse with linseed, swept the back patio, cleaned the coop, and mowed the lawn.

Sweetheart went and helped someone move. That afternoon the boys went and saw the Minion movie. After an Eagle Court of Honor, Hurricane and I went on a date.

Short and sweet. Be well.

Mormon Battalion

We were approved for adoption through the Arizona court about 2 1/2 weeks ago. We will have a current license until January 2017. Before January 2017 , we will need to renew our license. We are hopeful to adopt because we feel that our family isn't complete. As our friends and family, please keep us in mind if you learn of someone who is looking for a home for a child (boy or girl) that is under the age of 18 months. We are open to multiples and/or a sibling group.

We've had 1/2 days in the last 2 weeks. On 1/2 days in the past we've gone on an adventure. This year we've come home to work - school work, home work, and skill development work.

Hurricane failed his hearing test a month ago. He was retested this last Monday and was his normal self. He still has a slight hearing loss in his left ear.

Sweetheart asks me what the range is. I don't think to ask. I will make a note for that next year, or I can call the doctor's office.

Underfoot was awarded his Wolf Badge.

He finished in May, was gone in June, swam in a swim meet in July (and the pack awarded no awards that night), and was finally awarded in August. He jumped for joy when the Cub Master awarded it.

Sweetheart and I have wanted to improve our curb appeal. I think that we should have a clear, welcoming path to the front door. Sweetheart thought we needed an extra parking spot. After about 3 years of negotiations, we settled on pavers. We really liked how it turned out.

Because the spot was in front of our house we weren't confident in our abilities and hired a company to do it. They came on a very hot 107 degree day and did a beautiful job.

Swim team banquet happened at the pool where we practiced. There was a semi-potluck supper. The boys were awarded water bottled with the insulation in them.

They were thrilled, but they couldn't swim in the pool until all the awards were done. Hurricane attempted to push Underfoot in multiple times. They were hopeful to get in the pool. When they finally did, they were in heaven.

Last year the boys participated in Drama Club at school.

Hurricane wanted to do it again, and Underfoot is to be a mentor in the class. We attended the first meeting last week, and the boys made bad family pictures during club.

We went to a presentation about the Mormon Battalion that was an active military unit during the Mexican-American War.

It is the only battalion named after a religious group. I grew up learning about Israel Evans who walked the 2,000 miles in Company B.

Before we went, we looked up on Family Search to see if Sweetheart had a member of the battalion. He did. His name was Riley Garner Clark and was in Company A.

Hurricane liked the brass band that was there. The only battle that they fought was against bulls south of Tucson.

We hope all is well with you. Drop us a line some time so we can catch up.

Be well.