Keilie

Keilie came over to drop Bailey off so we could watch her while she went to work.  She is a Paraeducator for Richland School District and will be working at Tyson's Middle School today.   As she snuggled with Bailey in her new "Fall" outfit she was excited to show me with her newly-natural hair color, I was struck by how beautiful my daughter is as my girl and a "mommy."  She loves her little Bailey so much.  She is going to make a wonderful Mommy someday.

I'm the luckiest Grand-Paw-rent in the world!

Subtitles

 I have a hard time hearing sometimes, so we always use Subtitles.  Always.  I read along with them to better understand what is being said, but I also learn little tidbits as well.  For example: we learned from Seinfeld last night that a particular tune that is well known not only by sound but also by taps/knocks/honks has a name!

Shave and a Haircut

"Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff, or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect.  It is used melodically or rhythmically, for example as a door knock.

Subtitles are knowledge!

Happy-Sad

 The kids are back in school.

I remember a time when I counted down the days to First Day.  I was exhausted and overwhelmed from the daily grind of raising five littles.  The messes they made that were "too big" for them to clean up without my assistance, the clothes they wore that needed cleaning (especially socks), the food they needed to eat; the necessities were hard enough.  But wanting to be a Fun Mom, I would set aside those necessities until it became a chore so I could focus on them, my beautiful babes, as much as possible.  This meant I was swimming in the current of wonderful activity, yet drowning in waves of unending chores.  School was the breath I so desperately needed between those crashing waves.

But today, my house is clean.  The kids made their own lunches, packed their own backpacks, and chose their own clothes that they washed themselves.  I've had years of easy breathing, especially without cancer care.  I don't need a break.  I'm no longer drowning.

Motherhood: I'm happy they are happy, even when it breaks my heart.

Shelby- Junior, Brennon- Sophomore, Tyson- 8th (last year in Middle School)

What heat?

 Tyson had his very first soccer practice tonight for the Libby Middle School team  We've had warm temps the past few days, but tonight was the hottest we've had for a few weeks at 103 degrees.  Because school doesn't start until tomorrow, we needed to work out getting the kids to and from practice.  I took one for the carpool moms team and signed up to take and pickup, thinking it would be good to get a few steps in by walking around the track.  Did I know it was going to be so hot? NOPE!  

Randy was a good sport and came with me.  When I was getting water bottles ready, ours and Tyson's, they both asked if someone else was going because I'd gotten an extra water bottle filled with ice and water as a backup.  They scoffed.  Even that was not enough.  How grateful Randy and I were that they built a corner market just up the street from Libby because we went through all three water bottles within the first HOUR of practice, and there was still half an hour to go.

I was a nervous wreck the entire time because of how Randy and I were feeling.  Just walking around a track, not even trying to get our heart rate up, had us feeling beaten down.  Each time we took a drink, I worried that Tyson hadn't had as many opportunities and was simply miserable.

Tyson, telling Keilie all about practice: "I didn't even notice the heat until we stopped for a water break, and there is Mom and Dad complaining about walking around the track!  I was running and it wasn't even that bad."

103 degrees, running in full-on sun, for an hour and a half.  Incredible.

He may not care, but I am beyond grateful that tomorrow's high is supposed to be 82!

Reunion

 The Sunday after Shelby returned from FSY, one of her "Company" asked if they could do a reunion down in Nampa, ID because her Grandparents were leaving for the weekend and they could use their house as an Airbnb of sorts to host everyone.  With a prayer that it would turn out better than her week at FSY, we handed her money for gas, food, and fun, and sent her on her way.

She drove an hour to Walla Walla on Friday and met up with Sadie (the host) who drove them down to Nampa where they hung out for the rest of the night with all of the other friends that could make it.  Saturday morning, at 6:00 a.m., they did a Baptism for the Dead session at the Meridian Temple and then went boating, getting nice and burned for a back-to-school glow.  Sunday, they all attended church and then made the trek back to Walla Walla, Shelby arriving home at 8:00 p.m. Whirlwind weekend of FUN!!!

When telling the dentist about her weekend, he asked how long it had been since she'd seen these friends, to which Shelby replied: 24 days.  Not a reunion of that much time, but one just the same!

Dudes

 Randy isn't one that does much with other guys.  I can think of only one or two guys from both Casper and here that he's become close enough with to do stuff with, and even then, it's few and far between.  Matt Porter is that friend here.  In fact, in all of the years we've traveled, Matt is the only friend he's ever purchased a souvenir for, asking my opinion if I thought Matt would like a certain Belizian Hot Sauce flavor.  It wasn't a big bottle, but it was a BIG gesture from a guy who basically doesn't even want to buy his kids souvenirs!

7:00 am- 5:00 pm, Randy was out enjoying dirtbikes and nature while I stayed home and got much-needed work done that normally gets put off because Randy is such a goer.  Win-win!  

How grateful I am that Dara and Matt moved into our Ward.  I found out just a few weeks ago that they had a home Under Contract in Kennewick.  Matt said, "Let's just go look at this house," and the rest is beautiful history.

Perspective

When I saw these drone pictures Cameron captured of an angle of the temple I have never seen before, I was once again just blown away that I not only live close to a temple but that I now get to work there!

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Fair

 Brennon's friend group made plans to go and support a little sister at the fair, so we decided to tag along later in the afternoon for our first-ever trip to the fair here.  Brennon met them there at 8:00 a.m., we met Brennon there at Noon.

Throughout the day, Randy would make his way to the entrance to see if he could talk with a mortgage guy about investment opportunities that have just come up.  I laughed that with all that was there to see, eat, and do, this was the thing that brought him the most happiness.

We shared Dole Whip, funnel cake, pizza & breadsticks, soda, and maybe something else that I can't remember right now.  It was a true Fair Experience.

When I asked the kids if they felt like they'd missed out the last 10.5 years that we've lived here and haven't gone, they all said that the Fair is a one-and-done for them-- three rides in and they were all nauseous!

And just like that-- we never have to take our kids to the Fair again!  Sweet!  $207, and that didn't include food/drinks.  No wonder we have never gone...  One thing we learned about the Fair-- prices are anything but!

Boys at Barbie

 I have wanted to see Barbie in theaters for a few months now.  I'm not sure why, exactly, I just think it looks fun.  Due to schedules and such, and maybe a lack of real motivation, I haven't gone yet.  So I find it so funny that Tyson, my teenage son, put together a friend-group date to go see Barbie in theaters before anyone else in our family has seen it.  Three teenage boys met at the theater to see Barbie!

Not only that, but Tyson asked if he could purchase a shirt just for the occasion while we were school shopping.  "It's not just for that, because I really do like it, it's just not one that I'd normally buy without a reason."

After the show, I asked if he liked it.  "Yeah, it was good.  I wore sunglasses the whole time."

As one who needs to wear sunglasses in theaters, because I have flashes and floaters in my eyes that really hurt without ambient lighting, I worried that he, too, had the same issues.  When I asked him why, his response made me smile:

"I just wanted to look cool."

Brunette Keilie

I woke and immediately called Keilie to wish her a Happy Birthday only to hear the kids in the background.  She'd come home to play with her siblings!

Cheater's Edition of Monopoly.  I do NOT understand why they like to play this!  Monopoly is one thing, but to hear the bickering and arguing because those are the rules just drives me insane.  But it is Keilie's birthday, so they played the game Keilie wants.  At one point, Keilie joked, "Today is all about me, Brennon," which got us all laughing for minutes and minutes.

Bailey is just the cutest.  Napping with her nose in Keilie's "shoes."  So funny!

Do you see a difference between Monopoly Keilie and Token Picture Keilie?  She dyed her hair back to her dark brown.  "We just don't have the money for me to do my hair every six weeks."  Adulting is lame sometimes!  But I do love her dark hair-- I have missed it.

We went to Greek Islands for our family dinner and then had her cake choice-- half Regular and half Strawberry cheesecake.  I sure do love my Keilie-girl!

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY, KEILIE!!!

Sister...?

Soon after becoming a Temple Ordinance worker in April, I started to notice a trend-- people were getting me confused with/as "Sister Balero."  People would ask me if I was her sister, if I was her twin, or simply introduced me as her.  It made me giggle every time, especially since I was asked every single shift.  

Her real sister, Kathryn, was setting up appointments to meet with the Stake President (Randy is the Stake Executive Secretary) and said, "Also, your wife is confused with my sister in the temple all the time," and sent him a picture of her.  Crazy enough, I had a picture wearing a blue, v-neck shirt, hair pulled up with a few fly-aways, smiling just as cheerfully as she is for a comparison.

It has been fun making connections like this.  It's made Sister Balero and I closer as we giggle (because she's been working there longer, I was the one to be confused at first.  She now gets asked if she is MY sister, too!) and laugh about it, but it has also made Kathryn and I closer as we call each other Sister-- the familial kind this time-- with cheeky grins.

One day, we'll get shirts that say, "I am Sister ___" and get a selfie together so we can print it off and put it in the break room so everyone can have a good laugh along with us.

For the record-- when we are face-to-face, I don't see what others see, but I do see similarities in pictures.  The chin, the jaw, the nose, the forehead, the dark eyes and hair.  Kathryn said "It is also the mannerisms and the way they glow with their love of others," and I tell you, I love her even more for her kind words.

Bailey's Coming!

Bailey's coming!!

She really is our baby.

 

Seahawks

We met Ash & Russ in Seattle for a Seahawks game.  This was Ashlee and my first Seahawks game, which made it even more fun.

As we were walking to a burger place near the stadium that Randy had found on Yelp, we passed a Peruvian restaurant and all made the decision to try some of Russ's mission cuisine.  It was delicious!

No, we weren't this close.  But it was fun to sneak in just to see what the other 1% sees:)

 Here is my knowledge of football: If the team you want to win gets more points than the team they are playing against-- SCREAM!  I was also told how rare it is to have an interception and a safety in the same game.  Feeling blessed I got to witness such a miraculous game!  For the record: I stopped myself from screaming at the point where my throat was raw, but I knew I'd be able to do Singing Time the next day.

Dallas: 14  Seahawks: 22

We got onto I-5 at 11:09 pm and got home at 2:10 am.  It was a great day!

Holy Smokes!

The yearly Youth Boating activity has been planned all Season.  OF COURSE it's going to happen that we all wake up to severe smoke blown in from Canadian fires!

If there is a chance for Tyson to get up on a tube and surf, he's going to do it, no matter that he hasn't been boating since we sold our boat.  Love that kid!

You should be able to see the Angel Moroni and an entire mountain in the distance!

Color & Spell

I got two texts on the same day, one from Ashlee and one from Russ.

Ashlee: Everly just asked me if I would help her print off a coloring page that says, "Aunt loves child and child loves Aunt."

A few hours later, Russ sent me a text with this picture...

"Dad, how do you spell 'always?'"  

On the back of the one you can already see is colored, Everly wrote, "Aunt loves child and child loves Aunt," and on the one you can see she is writing, it says, "You will always be the best Aunt."

 Being an Aunt is one of the best positions in the world! 

I'm the luckiest girl in the world

Chicken Salad

 Conversation with Sister Missionaries:

Me: We are hosting you for dinner tomorrow.  1) What time works best for you? and 2) What sounds good?  I love doing requests!!  If you want dessert as well, let me know what sounds good.  If not, I will not have one.  We are excited to have you in our home.  Would you possibly come with stories of temple experiences that made an impact on your lives?

Sisters: Sweet! Thanks so much for having us! 1) 5:00 pm and 2) Chipotle Chicken Salad.  We would love to share stories of the temple experiences we've had!

Me: You are going to laugh, but we need clarification.  When I told my family the request for tomorrow, no joke, we all interpreted it differently.

1) The actual restaurant, Chipotle-- Chicken Salad, 2) Chicken Salad that you put on Croissants that is flavored with Chipotle seasoning, 3) Sald with Chipotle ranch-style dressing, 4) Chicken that is marinated in a Chipotle sauce that is served over salad.

Sisters: #3.  Sorry for the confusion!!

Me: No worries!!  This is one of those instances where we're shown in a simple way that we don't all think the same, but no one is wrong.  Just fun.

For the record: Randy is the one that interpreted their meal choice correctly.  He was right.  I was less-right.

The Stand

Since last year, the kids have been excited for the Wilstermans to come and do an Italian Soda Stand with them.  Today was that day!

Austen made cookies, Tyson and Brennon set up the Stand, all other girls made signs, and they were in business!

It was another $100+ day for this stand!  The girls were adorable with their dancing moves, which made it that much more fun for everyone, including those that stopped.

There are times that I loathe living on a street that people use so often, but today was not one of those days.  I am so glad it was such a success after and entire YEAR of waiting for it to finally happen.  Cousin time is the BEST time!
 

Surpr-ice cream

 Ashlee's family left for home today.  When I went to grab something from our deep freeze, I noticed this...

Austen had left an individual ice cream cup gift behind for "Uncle Randy."  Love it!!

Moses Lake Temple Open House

Moses Lake Temple Open House

Announced: April 7, 2019

Ground Breaking: October 10, 2020

Dedication: September 17, 2023, by Quentin L. Cook

 Keilie and Dallin met us in Moses Lake after a week spent with Justin & Megan in Priest Lake, ID.  It was amazing to look around the Celestial Room at all of my kids, hoping with my whole soul that Caden was able to join us for those few minutes of peace.  It was a wonderful day!