August Chatbook 2023

We're not so far away from August that the warm days are not remembered with fondness, especially by June who is hating this cold weather that is descending upon us. So let's get some pictures on here to remember the good ole days.

I got my hair cut. I was waiting for June to get home and then it was time.

We had a few more days with Baby B. She featured at the end of July and beginning of August. I miss that cute face.

Analena had a birthday. I think we were going to be gone on the cruise for her actual birthday, so we celebrated her before. And then she carved cool designs into Beau's head. Pretty epic, but it doesn't last long since hair grows quickly.

Found myself a 'Stewart.' He was quite the friendly guy. I love the close up detail.

After a nice rainfall, we found a lot of snails. Lots of baby ones too. Did you know that snails hatch out of eggs with a small shell already there?

Ivory and I went to Treasure Island. It didn't seem to end the way I'm used to, but I liked the changes.

Pearl has been puzzling again. I don't really count the color one. That is so easy, you can finish in less than an hour.

More mice..ug. I'm hoping this isn't a precursor to our winter. Meanwhile, we've had people in to seal holes and stuff. Hopefully that keeps them outdoors.

I saw a lovely rainbow when I was thrust outside during a fire drill. Also a double rainbow. Can you see the faint second one?

June and I went shopping for some school clothes and found these awesome lobster shirts. We didn't buy them, but we did send a picture to Jonny, saying we were shopping for Beth. :)

June and I are working steadily on our new stitching projects. You can tell what that is right? (It reminds me of a flea circus.)

Sunday Selfie.

We had twin day at school and my favorite duo was Annie and Emma in these huge hats. Excellent.

Pearl's finger came in contact with molten starburst at a Young Women's activity. Apparently, skin doesn't like that. Pearl had quite the burn, which looked worse when the skin sloughed off.

Cotton candy clouds. Love the pink and blue.

June and Beau both moved out. They each share a room with another person and have pretty good roommates I think. They spent a lot of time together buying apartment essentials and helping each other get settled. It's good bonding time. They actually only live a few minutes from each other which makes it nice since there is only one car between them.

There was a blue moon in August. Sadly, it has nothing to do with color, but instead has to do with the fact it is the second full moon in the calendar month. I was a little disappointed. But it still looked cool. Tyler and I went on a date to the top of the parking garage to watch it rise.

I have no idea what is happening here. Pillow case? Bird drawings? I'm confused, but I approve.

June went to the Together in Christ, Area YSA Conference. She missed a few events because of the cruise, but she caught some other ones when she got back. Pretty cool idea.

Pearl got a trim too. You can't really tell since her hair is still ridiculously long, but it is now straighter at the ends.

We finally told June about the Owl City concert we got tickets to. It was for her birthday, but we had to tell her early since she needed to get work off. We each wrote down a word and she had to guess what they meant. She figured it out easily and was so excited!

June is now a temple worker at the Provo temple. I am a temple worker at the Orem temple, but it is cooler for her since her temple is open and I have to wait a few months before mine is open. 

Stunning God-rays this day. Lovely.

And we'll end with an evening walk. Can you see the Orem temple in the background? It's so pretty at night. I'm glad we can see it frequently.

From Bubbles to Beauty

(August 27th, 2023)

I believe it was the same evening as Fete Day when June came downstairs and said, "Has there always been that bubble in the ceiling?" 

Um...no.

Right above the dining room table, the ceiling was bubbling out as if it was slowly filling with water. It's not one of those things you want to see in your house, ever. 

Tyler is not shy when it comes to things like that. He doesn't sit back and call someone. No, he immediately cuts a hole in the ceiling. Then after some sneaky detective work, he deduced the cause of the leak and cut another hole in our bathroom.

Our shower has been a problem since we moved in, a decade ago. We actually could tell something wasn't right with the shower when we looked at the house. We told the owners we wanted them to have a professional come in and fix it. To them, that meant calling the neighbor who does plumbing to have him "check it off" as satisfactory. But let me tell you, it has never been satisfactory. The water has never been the right temperature, the fixture leaked, which apparently led to the pipes leaking as well. Thanks for "trying so hard," previous owners. 

The leak wasn't severe. It was enough to bubble the ceiling of course, but Tyler rigged an ingenious way to make the leak lead straight to the toilet while we waited for repairs.

We had a guy come in and fix things up for us. (Not the neighbor guy...shocker.) That meant a new shower head and pipes. (Oh, and the temperature thing is fixed. Glory be. My shower doesn't go immediately cold when the girls turn on their water. Yay!!)

We sealed up all the holes, but it is very like Tyler to improve upon a space when it's already under repair, so that meant can lights in the kitchen. No more chandelier. 

In the bathroom, that meant paint. Tyler never liked the brown ceiling and this was the perfect time to continue our light gray on the walls.

Then we had a fun date where we picked out décor for the bathroom. It's so fancy and cute now. I really love it. See? Pretty.

I think Tyler has been redoing so many rooms at his Air Bnbs, that he wanted to bring some beauty to his own house. I approve. And it does feel much nicer in the bathroom.

Fete Day 2023

(August 27th, 2023)

This is possibly the latest we have done Fete day, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I had a whole thing planned with a scavenger hunt and three teams and then Tyler and Robyn got Covid. Well, didn't that just put the biggest kink in our plans. So, we scrapped all that and had Fete day a week late, on a Sunday afternoon, after church, when we were all free for a hot second. 

It was a total blast though. We invited the Turner's to join us. We all love their family so much. Daisy decorated our window and it looked super cute.

Since it was Sunday, I dressed in yellow twice! Gotta wear the Fete Day color. It's mandatory.

Plan B involved a game of Water Balloon Battleship. There are many ways you can play this, but we opted for our own unique version that was really fun. First off, our teams. Team one: Analena, Ivory, Beau, Tyler, Caroline, and Andrew.

Team Two: Pearl, June, Olivia, Jason, Annie, and Daisy. 

We chose some throwers. These people had to be blindfolded and they stood at the corners to chuck balloons at the opposing team. (Anyone else think Jason looks like a pirate?)

We roped off an area and each team spread out on the grass, becoming the battle ships.

The rule was that you had to lay down and not move. Teams were allowed to aim their cannons, meaning they could tell the throwers to turn right or left and about how far to throw. Even with precise instructions, it didn't always work.

The first game we played, splashes counted as a hit. Daisy never was hit with a balloon, but she was sunk quickly.

Here is Tyler receiving instructions about where to throw.

The second game, you had to actually hit the target. Lots of people got wet with no sunk ships. There were lots of laughs and some great throws.

I was running the balloon distribution. Someone had to hand out water balloons. When we finished playing, we used up the rest of the balloons in a mini water balloon battle. And then we picked up all the pieces, took some group shots and went home. :)

I made ice cream cake as usual. Besides that one cheesecake year, we've been very consistent.

Then time to eat cake and exchange gifts. Everyone looked great in their yellow. We all got some great gifts. 

It was a really fun Fete day, even with the last minute changes. This is a happy tradition that we love to share with others. Until next year...

Out for a Walk

(August 1st, 2023)

I love Summer months. They are the best for random walks in the evening. The sun lasts forever, so you can go later when it has cooled down, but it is still light outside. June and Pearl joined me on a walk one evening. They've been doing construction in a nearby neighborhood and there are all these huge pipes out on the side of the road, waiting to be put somewhere. This particular evening, there were what looked like, huge cement pipes. They were so big, we could climb and sit inside. I know they aren't pipes because cement is not the right material, but I don't know how they use them. But it seemed right for a couple photos.

Later, weeks later, Pearl and I came across more long black pipes, piled five rows high on the side of the street. We had so much fun going to either side and seeing if we could find the face of the other person peering down the pipe. Life can be such fun in simple ways.

Back to that August night, after playing in the pipes, we came back and inked our cruise shirts. They turned out so cute. Beau did the design. You already know we had a blast on the cruise. Glad those posts are done. :)