A Week With June

(July 17-21, 2023)

It's hard to keep track of the weeks. I'm tempted to restart the calendar based on June coming home. One week since June's been back. Two weeks since June's been back. But that doesn't seem like the best system. I haven't been numbering the weeks of summer anyway, so we'll just keep going with what we have. 

This was our first week with June back and it was such a great one. It feels so normal to have her home with us. She seems to be adjusting well. I'm sure she misses the mission a lot, but she is being a good sport and not complaining about being with us instead of the Dominican people. 

Maybe it helps that we had some fun activities planned for her return. Tyler got tickets to the Avett Brothers. You may recall our famous history with the Avett Brothers. First, it was the concert that didn't happen. Then it was the concert that continued to be delayed until all the original children Tyler was going to bring were gone. Even the other children he might have brought were gone. So he took J.R. and Jack. They had a great time and we figured Tyler's dreams were fulfilled. But when he saw the Avett Brothers were playing (close to home) the week after June got back, he couldn't help himself. So he got tickets and took the OG group. At the last concert, Tyler bought shirts for all of us, so we were repping on the big day. (I wasn't part of the original group, but Tyler got me a shirt anyway. He's nice like that.)

In the evening, they all took off and had a fantastic time. I love concert lights. They look so cool.

Meanwhile, back at home, there was an epic thunderstorm and it poured. The snails came out in full force and Pearl and Ivory counted over 200 in the backyard alone. (We have a healthy snail population to be sure.)

Beau and Tyler have continued their skating journey. I'm glad they have helmets since there have been a few tumbles. Beau is rapidly collecting wounds that will make a nice scar set.

We got to go swimming at the Heringer's again. We had so much fun last year that we bought another night of swimming at the auction in the Spring. Sadly, our timing wasn't great and Beau and Tyler never made it. I only took one picture since I was having too much fun playing, but I think this picture is hilarious because Ivory's feet don't seem like they are attached to her body correctly.

We found out something interesting about June that night. She prunes up like crazy. Maybe it was because she lived in a tropical climate for a year but something is odd about her. In the second picture, that is my hand between her pruned hands. Very raisin-like.

We were able to go on a hike that week. Ivory and I had already decided that we wanted to try out the Ghost Falls hike again and finish the trail. Or at least try to find the falls, although I was skeptical. With a name like Ghost falls, you may end up not finding anything. 

There was actually no water for most of the hike. We ran across several empty stream beds which is odd considering all the precipitation we've had. But eventually the little streams showed up and even a tiny waterfall.

And then we found Ghost Falls. It was a pretty easy hike with a pretty scenic end.

Just down the way from the falls was a funny sign. Is it describing the trail? The people you are with? Or just life in general?

We decided to try it out for a bit. It led to this picture that I love because the sky is lovely, the temple is in the background and you can see the diverging trail? Which way, which way? 

There was some debate from here about turning back or taking the trail forward. We ended up splitting up and Ivory and Isaac went forward and June and I went back. June and I saw some fun things on the way back. We saw a little lizard and a very camouflaged moth. Can you see him?

Ivory and Isaac claimed to have hiked all over the place, but they only got back to the trailhead 3 minutes after us. (Maybe they walk faster??) We all celebrated at DQ with some shakes. It was a great afternoon. I really enjoy hiking.

June made some salsa with Tyler. She made Platanos Fritos for us as well. I don't think I got a picture but they were delicious. They are a Dominican food made for plantains but it tastes a lot like French Fries. Yum. 

We ended the week with a trip to the temple. June wants to go every week now that she has easy access to so many temples. It was fun to go up to the Draper temple since we had just seen it on our hike. 

Our week actually ended with a huge trip to Lagoon on Saturday, but that is another post. It is good to have June back. The family feels complete again and we're going to enjoy every moment until school starts and we all have to go back to a regular routine. (Let's not think about that right now...)