Summer of the Monkeys--opps, I mean Mondays

We have had a wild and crazy summer. It has been so much fun and so busy! I keep thinking that maybe one of these days we'll have a day with nothing planned, but so far, that hasn't been the case. It seems like we are constantly running here or going there. We feel so blessed to have such good friends here and wish that we could spend more time having people over, which we've done a fair amount this summer too. Despite being so busy, we've really had a great time. I already mentioned our two week trip to Utah, which we loved, but I forgot to mention that prior to that we took a day trip to the Ohio Caverns with a law school buddy of Michael's named Bill Michael and his family. The Ohio Caverns are located about 45 minutes away from here and are filled with stalactites and stalagmites and all sorts of other cool rock formations. We were really excited to go, but for some reason, Alden freaked out as we were walking down the steps to the caverns and decided that it wasn't for him. Fortunately for him and for the rest of the group, Michael was there and agreed to sit out with him, despite a lot of coercing to get him to go and not letting him do anything while the rest of us took the tour. I don't know who suffered more, me or Alden. I had touchy Thobe and handy Hyrum--both wanted to grab all the formations, which of course was forbidden. I ended up carrying Hyrum the whole way, and only had to remind Thobe a few times not to touch. Although he only weighs 20 or so pounds, Hyrum got really heavy. As much as I enjoyed seeing the rock formations and learning the history of the place, I was glad when it was over. I very much enjoyed the picnic we had afterwards with our friends.


The Monday after we got back from Utah, I started teaching sociology at a little community college near my house. It has kept me really, really busy, but I have loved doing it! I especially enjoy my class. They are really great to discuss the material and seem to come prepared to class. We've had a lot of fun. Perhaps my most interesting lesson so far was when I was teaching deviance and came to class wearing a bathrobe and slippers. To ham it up, I started class late, brought them cookies that I told them I made but had actually bought at the store, pressured people to take cookies that didn't want them, and asked for a volunteer to give the opening prayer. It was really fun to see their reactions. I was very nervous about doing it, but it was fun. I was relieved to take the bathrobe off and wear the clothes I had underneath. I've really enjoyed teaching the class and am reminded how much I love teaching. The nicest thing about this is that I teach 5 hours a week and get to be home with the kids the rest of the time. I love being a stay-at home mom, but this is a fun thing for me to do. Writing lesson plans, making PowerPoint presentations, writing tests and quizzes, and answering students emails does occupy most of my computer time; thus, I have been very bad about keeping my blog and my email updated.

Also, shortly after we returned from Utah, my sister Amy came out to visit us. We had so much fun with her. She got sick a lot, which I felt bad about. I'm not sure if she ate something bad, but she spent much of the trip with a stomach ailment. During her stay, we went to visit Superman at one of the local restaurants. When we were leaving in the van, Michael did some circling driving maneuver to which Amy said made her car sick. She didn't feel well the rest of the night; however, Michael's guilt was eased when he found out that Amy had bowel issues. Michael said, "Whew, that makes me feel better. I'm pretty sure you can't get diarrhea from motion sickness." Poor Amy. Despite her being sick, the boys had a great time with her. They love their Aunt Amy and loved spending time with her. She's so good to them. We were happy to have her come and sad to see her go. We hope she'll come visit us again soon.

In July, Michael and I were asked to be a parent couple at a Youth Conference for our church. My mom and sister Emily came and stayed with the boys while we went to the camp from Thursday night until Saturday. The boys were as happy as can be with their grandma and Aunt Emily. They were spoiled rotten and loved to pieces. Michael and I had a wonderful time. We had some incredible youth assigned to be our "kids" for the conference. Thursday night, we made nicknames for everyone and got to know one another. I became Red Eagle, and Michael was El Dorado. Our group had a Superhero theme and made a banner to represent our group. When we were done there, we drove to a camp near Sidney, Ohio, and were told that we need to walk a muddy trail through a forest in the dark without any flashlight. We did have a full moon, but it was very difficult. It was really neat to see how the kids helped each other and learned how important having a light to follow in our lives is. The next day, we played a bunch of team building games and had little to eat. That night we made dinner together and had a testimony meeting together. The next day we each went into a secluded part of the forest to pray and get answers to questions from God. It was an experience I hope I'll never forget. It was really amazing how in that short amount of time, I really grew to love those kids. I am amazed at all they have to deal with and go through. They were an inspiration to me. I think even more than that I grew to love Michael more. It was neat to see him outside of the normal life that we live--don't get me wrong, I love that "normal life," but I think sometimes it's easy to get annoyed with things that don't matter. I really married an incredible man. I hope that I can keep that perspective and remember really how lucky I am. When we finished with the conference and said goodbye to our kids, I was very excited to get home to my own kids and see all the fun they had with Grandma and Aunt Emily. I also enjoyed spending time with my mom and sister until they had to leave.



A week or so after my mom and Emily left, Michael's sister and her family came to visit us. This was also so much fun to see them. Alden and Thobe love their cousins so much. It was a lot of fun for them to run around the house and play outside. Every time I see both Michael's sister and my family, I wish that we lived closer. I do love being here, but I really see the importance of family. I'm really grateful that both my family and Michael's family have made a concerted effort to be close to us, despite the miles between us. Alden and Thobe love all their cousins a lot, but they were especially enamored with Elijah, Michelle's 10 year old son. He was great to them. They also spent a lot of time playing with Calvin and Levi. Like I said, I just wish we lived closer to one another. I also really enjoyed visiting with Michelle and Eric and all our nieces and nephews. They came to our house on Wednesday, and then on Friday we all went up to Toledo. We went to a Mudhen's game and to the Spaghetti Warehouse and again the kids had a lot of fun playing. Michael and I got to go out and do a little shopping, just the two of us. We really need to do more things like that. It was so much fun. We also found an incredible Mediterranean restaurant called Messmerize in Toledo. I can't wait to go back there.

Speaking of that my incredible husband and Mediterranean food, he's been in Turkey this week and went to Germany today. I'm sure he'll be excited to post some of his pictures here. I can't wait to see them. The boys and I have stayed very busy. We've played with friends, gone swimming, gone to swimming lessons (they have those on Monday and Wednesday for a half hour after I get done teaching), and even had a very fun visit from Grandpa and Grandma Monday. I am so grateful for all they do for our family. I love that they're only 80 miles away. When they came down, they took us out to eat at McDonalds' playland. Alden tripped and fell and cut his head open. I took him to the emergency room and he got about 10 stitches and was so incredibly brave! When the doctor shot the numbing stuff into is eyebrow with a gigantic, malicious shot needle, he laid completely still despite the horrific pain. I can't believe what a brave little guy he is. I was so, so, so grateful to have Michael's parents there when that happened. They were such a great help to me and also allowed me to mow the lawn and get a few things done around the house.