Joel's Canadian Adventure

Thursday was Joel's last day of being an EA for summer school in the Oregon Trail (Sandy) school district. He had quite the experience with that job, and it was great that he was able to do summer school, too. He worked in the special needs behavior class, and the teacher and students loved him! 

He took off on a trip up to Canada to visit his CBU engineering friend, James, who lives just over the border. He drove up alone and spent the day exploring Vancouver while he waited for James to be done with work. He rented a bike and rode along the seawall and saw all kinds of new places. He was headed to James' family cabin, and he had a great time, except for a little mishap on the dock. He stepped on a rusty nail and punctured the bottom of his foot. He called us, and I looked up when he last had a tetanus shot. It had been 9 years. He took good care of it, but we made sure he got a booster tetanus shot when he got home a day and a half later. He brought home some Canadian treats for us to try. 

Heartwarming Hilarious Story

My Instagram/Facebook Post:

I have a great story for you. I take a walk in our neighborhood almost every morning, and on these walks this summer, I’ve been delighted by the houses with porch geese. (If you don’t know what a porch goose is, look it up.) One porch goose, in particular, has fabulous outfits. Earlier this summer, she had long, flowing locks and a beautiful pink ball gown. Last week, she had a robe and a towel on her head, which made me laugh. I’ve become a little obsessed and even acquired my very own desk goose for my classroom and have been busy making and buying outfits for her. I named her Petunia. After seeing our neighbor goose's robe outfit on my walk last week, I wrote a note, addressing it to “Lady Porch Goose” and told her how much I appreciate seeing her fabulous outfits on my walks and and how she inspired me to host a desk goose. I thanked her for spreading joy in our neighborhood and signed it “a grateful neighbor.” Well, today on my walk, I noticed a new outfit on Lady Porch Goose and a sign with a note…to me!!! This is one of the sweetest, most hilarious interactions I’ve ever had with a stranger. It absolutely made my day. So clever, so kind, and so FUN!!! Petunia got a glow-up! How shall I thank Lady Porch Goose?? 

This clever act of kindness absolutely made my day. I was so excited to share this story with others, and it brightened the day of many friends who read my social media posts. So much fun! 

Later that day, I printed a photo of Petunia in her LBD (little black dress) and included it in a thank you card that I dropped off on Lady Porch Goose's doorstep.  I'm brainstorming ideas for my thank you gift. 

Grant's Pool Party

Grant decided to wait to have a party until just before daily doubles started, since so many kids have been out of town or busy. So, Sunday after church, we headed over with snacks and drinks, and I think there were 21 kids there at one point, a fun, noisy crew. The weather was perfect--80 degrees--and the kids had a great time! 

Lake Tapps 2026

Our Lake Tapps trip started off smoky from wildfires, so this sweatshirt find on our way there seemed appropriate. Our whole family spent four days with four other families and all their kids. There were 28 of us at the lake house, and it was so fun! We all brought paddleboards, and we spent a lot of time on the lake. The kids got creative and a had a blast playing games and hanging out. I'm thankful for good friends and quality time together.