June Chatbook 2020

Hola! Happy Tuesday or whatever day you happen to be reading this. It is fun to go back and remember what we were doing in the middle of the summer when life was mostly quarantined and we were all packed together like a tin of sardines. Luckily we all like each other most days. Let's see what we were up to between the larger moments in life.

Tyler and I took a walk down by Utah Lake. It is amazing the amount of houses and development that is down there now. It is crazy to think that no one was really down there when I came to college 20 years ago.

Let's get our Nova pictures out of the way at the beginning. She can be quite cute when she wants to be.

I can't remember what caused this circle to appear on the floor, but I do remember one of the kids bursting into song, "It's the Circle of Light..."

Yep, some of my kids still sleep with stuffed animals and you can't tell me it isn't' adorable.

In June, there was still plenty of painting going on at the rental. Even Granny V came down and took a turn. She is so generous and helpful. And she is a pretty darn good painter. We left the really high spots to Daisy.

Ivory filled in as dog sitter when Grandma was here. Turns out you only need one hand to pull weeds off a fence. The other can easily hold Pip.

Also out at the rental, the cherries became ripe. They were super tasty and lovely to behold. Sadly, many of them were beheld to be quite high up in the tree. They weren't within reach but I'm sure they were a feast for the birds.

These were delicious. I can't remember what they were called. Maybe chocolate caramel pretzel bark. So tasty.

Any guesses who was taking pictures during a prayer? I sure don't know. After all, my eyes are closed.

We made a new thing called a Raspberry roll. It's a recipe straight from Mitt Romney's wife. Actually it may be straight from heaven. We made several and every single time I was delighted by the melt-in-your mouth quality of this dessert. The only sad thing is that Daisy doesn't like raspberries. Who doesn't like raspberries. (I mean, besides Daisy?)

Stitching was in full swing. Projects were being knocked out. And by that, I mean it was only taking us a few weeks or months to finish things that often take a year. Here are some ice cream bears I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

June worked on this amazing piece called Garden Prelude. You may have seen it before. Here you can see it before and after outlining. And beads of course.

Tyler took a picture of this sign and I found it on his phone. I'm not sure why he didn't buy it. It suits me to a tee.

We found a cool snake skin in our backyard. And later we found a snake. I don't know if the skin and snake go together, but it was cool to find each of them. I think snakes are super cute. 

Tyler found some friends he liked much less. While cleaning at the rental, he was stung multiple times in the neck by some wasps. I'm sure that was an unpleasant surprise.

 Sometimes you need some alone time in a space all your own. Pearl looks pretty comfortable here in the hall closet. The next step is putting her bedroom under the stairs.

If you ever wondered if Spikeball is dangerous, wonder no more. It isn't. I mean, you could still step in a hole and twist your ankle or run into another person, but the ball is plastic and soft. I've been hit in the face multiple times and been fine. But June's glasses didn't survive our game of Spikeball. Primarily because she took them off her face to adjust them and while bending them, they promptly broke. No ball or net involved. She did an efficient job of making them unwearable. 

So we got her new ones. And she still plays Spikeball in them. Daisy also snagged a new pair of glasses. We buy a LOT of glasses around here, and it is always fun to get a new pair. (Well, I'm assuming. I'm the only one who doesn't wear glasses.)

You've heard of a milk mustache, but what about a yogurt mustache? Tyler ate something too spicy and his upper lip was really hurting. He read that a little yogurt would help. And if you can bear the ridicule, I'm sure it might help.

Daisy is always coming up with crafty ways to stack and dry dishes, but I like this new rinser. I never would have thought of it.

Robyn took her driving test and passed with flying colors. Ironically, she didn't finish the worksheets for another month and a half, so she didn't get her license until the end of summer. I guess this proves that Robyn enjoys driving more than writing and testing about driving. I would say she is a typical teenager.

Look closely. Pearl has a small square of chocolate on her face. How did that get there? What is it from? 

We made some homemade oreos. They were just okay. I would rather just eat the store bought ones. Much easier to consume lots of calories in one sitting.

At our library, they have a tarantula (in a cage of course). I have never seen it out of its hole, but we got lucky one day. There you have it. I think her name is Libby.

And we finish off the month of June with Daisy and I going to a play. It was one of the first ones that played after the theater reopened. We saw Matilda and it was excellent. The Trunchbull was played by a guy and he was amazing and the selfish mother made me laugh a lot. It was quite a great play. I'm so glad Daisy asked if we could go.