Sunday, January 13, 2019

Happy New Year!, Part 3

August 1 - John finally got behind the wheel (he got his permit in April!).  You can tell he's thrilled...


August 2 - I continue my almost daily bike rides.  The sunrise on this day was particularly spectacular.


August 11 - One of the things Lyn wanted to do before she left home was "Glow in the Park"--a nighttime ropes course.  It was super fun!


Lyn is in her happy place.
John on one of the elements.  We all split up, and Dan and Lyn went on the more challenging courses, so I don't have any pictures of them.  Plus, it's difficult to take pictures in the dark! 
August 13 - Lyn got a job at Lakeshore Learning, a teacher supply store.  I snuck in to take a picture of her first day on the job.


August 16 - Happy Birthday to me.


August 25 - To celebrate my big 5-0, I planned a day filled with all the things I love...

First stop, Beyond Sushi--a vegan sushi restaurant!
Second stop, Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.  It was amazing!!
Final stop, Blossom--"New York City's top vegan destination."
September 11 - Lyn's room is shockingly empty (and if you saw it before, you would be genuinely shocked!).  Why?  She's headed off to college!


Look out Idaho!  Here she comes!
September 12 - We stayed the night with friends in Murray, Utah, then decided to play tourist in Salt Lake City on our way up to Idaho.
Lunch at City Creek mall.
Walking tour of the temple grounds.
Meeting up with friends at Crown Burger so Lyn could try some fry sauce--a Utah delicacy!
September 13 - We stayed with some college friends in Rexburg (where the school is) and then headed to Idaho Falls (the nearest major town) for some dorm room shopping and lunch.


September 14 - Moving in!


Look closely--it may never be this clean again!
She's in Apartment 13--Hopefully that won't bring bad luck!
Our last night together...  sniff...  sniff...

September 15 - I spent the night--this time without Lyn--at the home of my dear college friends, Chris and Susie, and headed back down to Utah.  I was the maid of honor at their wedding.  Chris is the librarian at BYU-I.

Of course we all look exactly the same...
Incredible evening sky in Logan, Utah.
September 16 - I spent the night at another friend's spot in a campground in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. She had driven all the way from Hurricane to see me!  The next morning we went on a lovely hike before church.


My friend Jennifer--another bestie from college.
September 18 - From there I spent the next few days with another college friend, Mary.  I spent one day on my own, just contemplating life and my future.

I had an amazing vegan breakfast at Guru's cafe in Provo...
Attended a session in the newly constructed and exquisitely beautiful Provo City temple...
Enjoyed an incredible vegetarian buffet at the Krishna temple in Spanish Fork...
Said goodbye to Mary at a construction site, because we had run an errand to pick up some cookies for her missionary son, who is serving just across the river from me.

September 24 - John had his last piano lesson.  

End Part 3.  Part 4 coming soon!




Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Happy New Year!, Part 2

And now for more of our summer!

July 3 - John came back from High Adventure with this...  Every time he comes back from an event, I say, "Tell me everything!" So this time he was smart and kept a journal.  Ha ha!


July 4 - We received a surprise visit from Seattle relative, Jen Harris, who is married to Dan's brother, Tom.  We had thought about going to see fireworks, etc., but in the end we just wanted to hang out, each dinner and chat.

July 9 - Lyn left for Young Women's Camp to be a Youth Camp Leader (YCL) for the final time.
First year, 12 years old (almost).  Last year, 18 years old (almost).
She had fun destroying a unicorn piƱata with a hatchet...
Climbing a ropes course...
...and shooting arrows! (Among her many other adventures...)
July 11 - John enjoyed his favorite day of the year--free slurpee day (7/11)!

July 14 - John celebrated his half birthday (a little early, due to EFY) by playing laser tag with the boys.

July 16 - The kids left with other youth from church to attend Especially For Youth (EFY) at Southern Virginia University--their favorite activity of the summer!

July 19 - While the kids are away, the parents will play!  Part 1:  A trip to B Doughnuts.  For months, every time I would ride my bike through Old Town, I would see this new donut place under construction.  I noticed that they were finally open, so I stopped in. Turns out they're not just donuts--they're "malasadas", which are Portuguese pastries very similar to donuts. Of course I had to get a few of the more exotic flavors to try--savory chive, ube (purple yam), and pandan (sweet leaf). When I came home, Dan was rushing out the door to work, and I said, "But I bought special donuts!" Not knowing quite how special they were, he just shrugged and said, "Meh...donuts.." Ha! Anyway I saved them for after dinner, and they were delish!!!

Once he realized what they were, Dan was excited to try them!


July 21- Our next adventure was a wet bike ride.  We had fun despite the rain!
Death came to visit along the riverbank!


After the ride, we had an Ethiopian breakfast for the first time.  It you have never tried it before, you should.
It was amazing!


July 22 - Since we were unable to celebrate Pi Day, we celebrated the European style "Pi Approximation Day", 22/7.


July 31 - Well, this is it!  Lyn turned 18 and is now officially an adult!  It's been a great ride--what a lovely young lady she has turned out to be.

She celebrated with a terribly nerdy and completely awesome Dungeons and Dragons party.
End Part 2.  Part 3 coming soon!

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Happy New Year!, Part 1

Well, it's the new year, and as always I have recommitted to updating the blog and keeping you in the loop.  Let's see how long this resolution lasts!  LOL

Of course, if you got our Christmas letter, you've gotten the gist, but this will provide more details and pictures.  When last I wrote, it was Mother's Day.  Let's see what's happened since:

May 13 - Margie got the lighting equipment for new YouTube show and needed to test it out.  I ended up capturing this great picture of Lyn!


May 18 - I filmed my first episode of The Declutter Show!  This episode was just me cleaning out my own linen closet, and unfortunately, it never aired, because, you know, life changes.

May 24 - I filmed my first guest episode.  We made great progress:
That night, Lyn attended the Thespies, which is the Edison High School version of the Tony Awards. It is also the night they recognize graduating seniors, and Lyn was presented with the recognition cords that she wore with her graduation gown.


May 28 - Margie and John attended a "Mormon Gambling Night"--i.e., playing for cookies instead of money.  John quickly realized it was better to be the dealer because "the house always wins".


May 30 - The church youth leaders held a senior recognition night.  They asked John to say a few words.  Lyn was presented with a gift of chocolate, "because she's so sweet."


June 2 - Lyn's day ended better than it began.  She had gotten a job teaching art for a 6yo birthday party.  On the way there, she got into her first car accident (in the parking lot, no one injured, thankfully, and no damage to our car--only the other guy, which insurance paid for).  Then the birthday party was a mess because she and the mom hadn't communicated well.  BUT she ended the evening by gong to "Mormon prom."  She didn't have a date or a group of friends, but she went anyway.  She found a flouncy dress that she loved and altered it to make it modest.  And she invited a non-member friend, Rhea, who eventually met her there.  She had a fun time.


June 5 - Last day of school ever!  Well, not ever--she is heading off to college, after all.  But you know what I mean.

First day of school (kindergarten) and last day of school.

June 10 - Yet another senior recognition/graduation.  This time, it was Seminary, the religious education program that Lyn attended every morning before high school (i.e. very early in the morning!)


June 11 - Graduation! This time, it's the real deal.

We were lucky enough to have a friend on the School Board, who was sitting on the stand and snapped this picture of Lyn shaking hands with the principal.




June 13 - I filmed my third and final episode of The Declutter Show.  It was fun (but a lot of hard work) while it lasted.

Before
After
June 17 - We visited Dan's father Gene at Sunrise in Reston for Father's Day.  He and Cecile were living there for a time after Cecile suffered a severe accident in May.

Three generations.  No family resemblance at all.
June 18 - John started his new job!  It was a volunteer position working at a new summer-long Cub Scout Day Camp.  He manned the games station.



June 25 - June 29 - John attended High Adventure.  He did a lot of fun things, including rock climbing!


Margie went to camp, too!  This year, instead of walking around with the Cub Scouts as she has done in past years, she was on staff manning the folklore station and introducing scouts to a different special guest from around the world each day.


End Part 1.  Part 2 coming soon!

John's Wish List

John will be 17 on January 16, 2019. He is in high school at Edison High School. He is a Boy Scout Life Rank and is looking forward to being an Eagle Scout within the next few months. He loves money and is looking for experience in the field of finance. 

John would be very interested in receiving gifts of money or gift cards to Chipotle, Olive Garden, or Amazon.  He has plenty of Wii U games. He has been saving up money to buy a new game system (Nintendo Switch) and would like any contributions.