Time with Mom

Ali and I drove to Heber to spend the day with my Mom. It ended up being an emotional morning because she told us her wishes for her funeral, who she wanted to speak, what songs, and what musical number. It was hard to talk about it but it was stuff that we needed to talk about. Then she wanted us to get out her jewelry and pick out a ring. She told us about each piece of jewelry. Ali and I didn't want to choose anything without Betsy and Katie being there. We enjoyed looking at it and it was a special time. Definitely a heavy day though.

James's Mission Farewell

 James's mission farewell was a few weeks before but we had to do it early because of Labor Day and Ali and Dan going out of town.

It was really hard to know how many to plan for. I wrote down family who would be there, friends who would be there and added on a few more. That came to around 100 people. So I made 4 full cookie sheet size of breakfast pizza. Each one fed 25 people so I guessed that 4 pans would be enough. I ended up having another half cookie sheet because we bought sausage from Costco. The sausage came in tubes of 3 lbs each. We had three tubes. Each pound makes a half cookie sheet so with 9 lbs, it made 4 full cookie sheets and one half cookie sheet. It was the perfect amount. Then we had parfaits, fruit, and muffins. We had orange juice, chocolate milk, regular milk and water. I bought 3 containers of chocolate milk. I should have brough twice that or more. 

Whenever anyone asked to bring something, I told them muffins, sweet bread, or whatever side. We had people bring muffins, cinnamon rolls, and coffee cake. It was perfect. 

The sad thing is that I didn't take any pictures. I was so busy being the host, refilling food, and such that I didn't even get around to snap any pictures. The weather was perfect so we had tables outside. James's friends grabbed food quick and then left to Jared's so that freed up a lot of space. 

Erin Shephard, my good friend and Ryan's mom, brought flowers. They were beautiful and roses, my favorite! 

Mud Girl

Lynnlee and I participated in the Mud Girl again. We participated in it last year with girls from our ward. We thought the ladies in our ward would do it again but they didn't. It's ok though. We had fun doing it together. We plan on doing it next year and having Sienna join us. 

The obstacles were the same and we had to rely on other girls to help us through some of the mud pits because it is to wet and slippery to get out of the mud pools and over the mounds. It was fun being challenged. We got nice and muddy. 

James at the temple with friends

James missed going to the concert so he could go to the temple with friends. He would have enjoyed the concert but going to the temple was way better prep for his mission.

Muse

Katie's family bought concert tickets to see Muse and then couldn't use them because they had gone back to Texas. She tried to sell them but was unsuccessful. They were in the pit and really expensive tickets. I think she paid $257 per ticket and she had 5 tickets. She was selling them for $150 each. We did not have the money to pay either amount. Since she couldn't sell them, she ended up giving them to us because they would have just gone to waste. The concert was amazing and being in the pit and being that close to the stage made it so much better. It is hard to want to go to another concert again unless I can be next to the stage. 

It seriously was so good and such a fun night!

7th Grade Day and the First Day of School

Tag and Sienna went to 7th Grade day which was the day before the first day of school. It helped calm Sienna's nerves. She was nervous for middle school but she was feeling better about it after that.

It was weird only sending off 4 kids to school this year. 

7th Grade

9th Grade

11th Grade

I went to Waffle Love with my PTA friends. Then I went to the temple with my friend Robin. It was a nice day.

Everyone came home happy and excited for the school year.

Soccer Tournament

 Kade and Tag played in a soccer tournament, like I mentioned in previous posts. Kade's team ended up winning their games and going to the championship game on Saturday. It was at the same time as James's temple endowment. Lynnlee was the best big sister and took everyone to the game. They cheered for Kade and supported him. 

They won the game and received medals!

Lynnlee drove everyone to Costa Vida after the game and they met us for lunch around 2:30. It was a busy day but everything worked out.

James to the Temple for his Endowment

James went through the temple two days after his birthday. We were so grateful to our bishop and stake leaders for helping make it happen. There were a lot of interviews that had to happen before the Melchizedek priesthood and the temple, so it was a blessing that it all fell into place. We were so sad that my parents couldn't be there, so I was very grateful that Ali and Dan could. Marshall was James's escort, and so they had each other. I was feeling very lonely waiting for them to go through the initiatory. Then Ali got there and stuck by my side. It was so comforting. 

He had to be there around 10:30. The session was at noon and then we came out around 2:00.

We had lunch at Costa Vida.

Everything worked out, and it was a great day.