June ~ Beginnings and endings

Summertime and the livin' is easy.

Summer begins. School ends. Jobs end with the hope of new beginnings. 

Last day of 2nd grade. 

Summer break can't start unless school ends. Brynlee's last day of school started great and ended kind of rough. She came home with tears in her eyes and worrying about having a new teacher, if her friends would be in her new class. She got a bit carried away and even went as far as to say she didn't want to go to middle school. We ended the day going out to eat at Red Robin to celebrate the end of the school year and our 11th anniversary. 

  

The first day of summer marked a milestone for our little family. I left Brynlee home by herself for a bit over an hour while I taught my High Fitness class. She did fabulously and was excited even. She said, "I'm excited because there would her any parents here to tell me what to do." (Insert eye roll on my part.) When I got home she was dressed, had eaten breakfast, and was just up in her room watching the iPad. Besides teaching her to scrub her tub that day, we packed up and went to the pool, played some pool tag with friends, chatted, packed up again to hit up the Menchie's to share a treat and then finally called it a day. It was the best start to summer I could've asked for. Still productive but oh so fun too!

The second and third day of summer were rocky with an exhausted child from hanging out at the zoo with Maga and her cousins all day and then a tremendous tantrum the next morning that included her throwing her stuff and sassing me to the point that I had to call Ty to help me deal with it. If this was how it was going to be I was seriously dreading summer vacation. After Ty was done talking to her she literally flipped a switch and turned into an angel (like sickly sweet). Ugh, not sure which was worse. 

  

   

Brynlee electively hitting golf balls while she waited for me to finish practicing High Fitness so we could go get a treat and hang out on a Friday night while dad was gone. We went to the City Hall park for the first time and it was pretty cool with a zip line and lots of rope climbing structures. 

   

And just like that soccer is over. Her coach called her a speed demon. 

Citrus Pear freezer meal night with these cute girls. I left feeling so dang proud and happy with myself. 20 meals prepped and practically ready to go, easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

Chalk art festival with the Lawrence crew. People are amazing. All of those drawings were fantastic! The kids loved playing in the fountains. Ended the night with yummy gelato...mmm. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard parenting moment. Brynlee asked me if she could go to Wendy's with Kambria and Marshall. Ugh. They wanted to ride down there on their scooters and get lunch. I was very much hesitant but decided to let her spread her wings and I made her promise me she would send me a picture when she got there so I know she made it and then call me when she got home. Ty couldn't believe I let her go, he said he wouldn't have. Anyway, they survived and didn't die, which was a legit concern for Ty haha! 

  

One day she will be a good little Mama. She doesn't mind holding babies as long as they aren't crying. 

Father's Day, I apparently messed it all up. Brynlee was upset with me that I slept in and didn't make Ty breakfast. She said it several times that day and throughout the week that it really bothered her. Guess I botched that one. 

I was so shocked, impressed, whatever, that he was reading a book, by his own free will, that I had to take several pictures. I got him the Tiger Woods biography for Father's day because he asked for it. Say what? Yeah, he actually asked me to buy him a book. So awesome. There's hope we may be able to read some books together in the future. 

   

Still lovin' the High life. 

 

They may or may not have planned this. Another first, Brynlee asked to have a sleepover with Kambria. They had been playing all day, like 7-8 hours and set up the tent downstairs in their family room to sleep in. Again, I was super hesitant, but we let her go and it turned out fine. She was so happy and I am so glad these two have each other. They're good kids. 

  

Spending a day with the Williamson tribe down at Thanksgiving Point. It was a good activity and can I just say it's so nice that my kid is old enough that she can be on her own and not freak out and I trust her to always come back..... so nice. 

 

 

Last day of work at American Express. Thursday June 28th. It was such a bittersweet moment. 

I cried when he called me at the end of the day and told me he got choked up saying good bye to everyone. His dad walked him out, he turned in his badge and said goodbye to that place forever. I asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner (hoping it would be a distraction) but he said he didn't have much of an appetite. Luckily the Williamson's gave us a good distraction and offered to go out to dinner so Ty said ok and we got Dough Co afterwards too which was delightful. Plus that night Lauri, Victor and Meagan all came over and brought us ice cream, more just to check in on Ty. The night didn't end there though, we got to go to Mimi's with Uncle Marker to give her a blessing before her surgery. So his night was definitely full of distractions which was a blessing. 

More than a decade of his life. His first real grown up job and so much time and many memories. It is the ending of a chapter and turning of a page and we are very much looking forward to what comes next. He is leaving AmEx with no job offers as of yet but he has a lot of applications out there and has had some interviews and we're waiting to hear back on them. This is going to be a blessing in disguise, I have faith it will turn out better for us. It definitely won't be easy but something that comes easy can leave easy too so it'll be worth it. 

His first day of unemployment was spent being bored in the morning and then going to Top Golf with his best buddy Michael. I'm so intensely grateful he went out to do something because by 9:00 he was already being annoying because he was bored. Plus he got to go again the next day with the Lawrence guys. Lucky dude. He could do that all day every day though. 

 

Free lego day at the library. So proud of her creation. Plus she got her very own library card!

  

Other fun things:

Brynlee told me I had a saggy butt the other day and then in the same week told me I looked cool but she didn't know why because I had my hat on backwards, my aviator sunglasses and a t-shirt and jeans on. Apparently I was trying to be cool like a teenager or something is what she said. 

Also, she asked me what a turd is because I call her that a lot. Well, when I told her it was a piece of poo she got all offended but I laughed and told her it was because I love her and it was meant to be endearing not rude. 

We got to go back to our old ward in Magna (that's no longer the Spencer 2nd ward, sad day) to welcome Greg and Lyndee White back home from their mission in Mongolia. I got to see some of my Young Women, I love their hugs. Miss them something fierce, even a year later. It fills my heart to see them. It was so special and I loved hearing the Whites speak too. We went to their house afterwards and got to chat with some people and reconnect. I loved it, Ty not so much. Brynlee was happy because she got to play with Taylee. 

Herriman Towne Days. We hit up the carnival, ate some yummy street tacos and hung out with the Cutright's. We had a decent view of the fireworks from our front porch/driveway so we opted to not have to deal with the traffic. It was my bad, but we missed the parade. I wanted to go but better luck next year. 

Lots of hanging out with cousins. Always a good summer with them. 

Weenie roast with the Thomas fam and hanging out with our families. Brynlee took these two pictures of the sunset with Ty's phone during one of the weenie roasts. Believe it or not she did it on purpose. 

 

Visiting with Mimi because she had her shoulder surgery. I brought her some books and some homemade bread. That's right, I made bread. Boom! It was delicious too!