Party of 4

Back down to a party of four. The six of us went out to breakfast Friday, said our goodbyes after the football game last night, and then Kari and Joel drove off on their own early this morning, heading back down to CBU, Kari in her last year and Joel in his second. Soon, the rest of us will be packing those lunch boxes on the top of the fridge (Greg would be quick to point out that he never stopped packing his lunch. 😏) Last weekend of summer!

25th Anniversary

Celebrated our anniversary tonight—Monday, August 25th, will be 25 years! Monday is when I have to go back to work, though, so we went out tonight. I am so thankful to get to do life with this man. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a faithful husband who is a great father, supports me in my work and home projects, takes his faith seriously, serves others well, kills spiders for me, and makes me laugh. I have been richly blessed. May we have many, many more anniversaries to celebrate, and may at least one of them be back in Maui!

Summer winding down

 The last days of summer are upon us. Kari and Joel are gearing up to head back to school soon, and Aubrey and Grant have been going to polo daily doubles together, getting in shape for the fall season. Grant is the only freshman on varsity! We're excited to watch them play. 

I went into my new classroom to finish setting up the room, to get things up on the walls, and get ready for the new school year. I'm so happy to have windows this year. 

We helped out with the Powell Valley clean-up, and Aubrey washed cars with her tennis team to fundraise for their next season. Soaking up the last bits of summer. 

Backyard Project Progress

After a year or two of Greg asking if it was time to get rid of the trampoline, I finally gave in, mostly because I started thinking about Aubrey's grad party next summer and how I'd like to fix up the backyard before that event. When we were in Sisters for Ashlynn's wedding, Michelle talked about how much she enjoyed sitting in her backyard area that they had redone after getting rid of their trampoline. Taking down the trampoline led to many weeks of backbreaking manual labor. At the end of July, we tore out the garden boxes, which were falling apart anyway and discovered they were full of tree roots. No wonder I was having trouble getting things to grown in there! My vision was to level the area, add a retaining wall, lay down pea gravel and have outdoor furniture, a firepit, and a glider rocker with planter boxes and a trellis behind the seating area by the fence. It sounded so simple. 

It was not. The roots of the neighbor's trees and the two trees in our backyard had infiltrated our entire backyard, and getting them out was a massive chore. Greg and I spent many hours digging up roots, sawing roots and pick-axing the hard clay dirt. I was determined, despite Greg's urging to wait until next spring, to get it all done before the end of the summer when I had to go back to work. I dug in the dirt with a pick ax and shovel day after day, digging a trench and trying to level it for the bricks. I made multiple trips to Home Depot and ended up hauling and moving 140 bricks that weighed 23 lbs each, along with multiple bags of fill sand and rock. It was a workout! I was determined, though, and within three weeks we got it done. Greg made multiple trips to Mt. Scott Fuel Co. with the truck to get pea gravel, and we shoveled and wheel-barreled, and moved rocks until we had a nice level surface. Again, hard, back-breaking work. Never again will I take on such a massive project, especially using only hand tools. I'm excited to get furniture and make the space pretty next spring! Kari has been determined to have green grass in our little backyard, so she's been working on that project. Hopefully, all our efforts will make for a nice backyard oasis next year. 

 

Driver's Permit for Grant

I made a DMV appointment for Grant two days after his birthday, so that meant he had to pass the test (online) before we went. He studied, and I helped quiz him, and he passed! Just had to do paperwork and get his photo. 

Last one to teach to drive! 

Grandma's 91st Birthday

I went with my mom to visit Grandma on her 91st birthday. Mom had made her favorite marionberry pie, and so we chatted and ate pie. Grandma was extra funny today. She can’t remember things even 20 seconds ago, but she still knows who I am and lights up when she sees me. And she tells me I look good. 😂 Glad I could celebrate with her today and hold up some of the ever-circular conversation. 😊

Grant's 15th Birthday

Grant had a big family pool party on the day of his birthday. There were lots of college kids and a few high schoolers--that's what happens when you're the youngest! We had pizza, salad, and watermelon, and he requested the yellow cake with lemon filling and chocolate frosting. This year it was a cool 75 degrees, very different from most years when it's super hot on his birthday. Made for a pleasant outdoor party. 

I didn't take many photos, but I did capture his most unique gift, a lasso from Maya. :-) She got it on her road trip to Michigan and was excited that it had been used by "real cowboys" and had "real cow poop" on it. Not sure what he's going to do with it, but it was funny.