Wanted to make sure I document a couple of summer purchases that have been a lot of fun:
Rhiannon's post about this on social media:
"I had the time of my life today at WalMart when Mom and I found this gem!! I waved at people on the way home and got a lot of smiles, waves, and an older gentleman rolled down his window so he could take a picture of me. Day made."
Oh my goodness, we were laughing so hard that our sides hurt and I had tears running down my cheeks!
The funniest thing, though, is that Rhiannon and Wade went back to WalMart within minutes and got a tiger mask for Wade and a bunny rabbit for Jason (his request). We spent 60 bucks on animal heads that day, and I'm still laughing about it.
Another fun purchase was a letter board. A friend posted that there was a killer deal on them at JoAnns, and I could. not. resist. We've all had some fun this summer adding things to the board.
On the Wednesday after we got back from our summer trip to Utah and Idaho, Rhiannon had surgery on her left foot to correct a bunion that had been giving her trouble for a long time.
It was a scary day for her. Here's a special memory from that day that we both shared on social media:
"Rhiannon is having foot surgery this morning. Understandably, she was pretty nervous when we got to the surgery center at 6 am. The second person we saw was her high school drumline coach, Art Atencio, who works there. He gave her a big hello and then came back a few minutes later and asked to offer a prayer with us. It is hard to put into words how much that meant to us! We had already been saying a LOT of prayers, haha!, but that one in the waiting room, with a caring friend, was very special."
Rhiannon took her recovery time seriously and stayed off the foot for many weeks, transitioning to crutches, then a walking boot, and finally to tennis shoes. She still has swelling and can't wear any shoes besides her sneakers, but she's doing well and her podiatrist, Dr. Nguyen, is happy with the results.
I had to include this picture of the craziness Rhiannon and I were trying to follow the first couple days after the surgery, getting up every two hours to take either antibiotics, codeine, or ibuprofen. We were total zombies and needed some help. And, once again, God was watching over that girl and sent an angel friend, Cathi Judd, who just wanted to stop by with some ice cream for Rhiannon but also gave us some wonderful nursing advice on pain meds. Both of us slept 10 hours straight that night, we were exhausted!
This was a fun moment, too--Rhiannon's first time riding a jazzy cart, at the grocery store. We laughed and laughed!
We are so proud of Rhiannon for weathering this experience--it wasn't easy and she had some hard days, but she is on the mend and doing great.
After 3 lovely days at Bear Lake, our big crew worked fast and furiously to clean up and pack out and get on our way to Burley, Idaho for the Beck reunion. This is an annual event that's been happening for many years with my mom and her siblings taking turns to organize it. It was the first time for our family to be there, and my mom's turn to do it. What an experience! For Jason, it was the first time since our wedding day that he'd been with Becks, and Rhiannon and Wade's first time ever. Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back, I wish I'd spent a little less time that afternoon on "reunion details" and a lot more time with my Beck relatives. It sure was good to see them, though! And we were very appreciative of Beck family members helping with most of the food since we were travelling the furthest to get there that day. And kudos to Mom for the amazing family picture booklets she worked so hard to make--they were very well-received that day!
It's a Beck reunion tradition to have a "candy cannon" of sorts for kids. Since we didn't have access to that this year, Grandma Donna put together a terrific alternative--she glued candy to shirts, and Jordan and Tommy raced around the baseball field, trying to keep away from kids coming after them. It was hilarious! They were such good sports!
One final pit stop remained. And it was the perfect end to our time with family. We loved seeing Uncle Max, and cousin Raul and his wife Audra there. Jordan and Amelia and crew were there, too, but had to get on the road before we took this picture.
I loved walking around the yard, checking old places made new. What a rush of memories for me and my brothers, especially as we watched our own kids playing around doing the same things we'd done at their age, whether it was playing with dogs or pretend-riding the lawnmower. What a great afternoon!
We said our goodbyes, sort-of, haha! After that we went to a Cushing family favorite, Steve-O's, and had a delicious meal with Tom and Lyd and Derrick and Traci and kids. Then we made our way to Twin Falls where we spent a quiet night before making the return trip the next day, on Father's Day.
For our quiet, mellow family, getting together with relatives can sometimes feel a little overwhelming and loud, haha! But, boy, are we grateful for the memories and for our time with these people that we love so much.
Our next big item on the summer trip list was Bear Lake. Boy, what a gorgeous drive. Our family was the first to arrive at the house and were pleasantly surprised by the amazing view and the house itself. My favorite part was the huge porch on the second level--so fun to sit out there and watch boats on the lake! The tiny driveway made things interesting, and there wasn't a backyard, but there was plenty, plenty, plenty of room for our big crew, quick access to the lake and town, and all the amenities we needed, including a key to the neighborhood pool.
Some highlights from Bear Lake were:
Being with Sheens!
Visiting on the porch
Golfing for Jason and Wade
R-A-S-P-B-E-R-R-Y milkshakes, oh my!
Sheens, Beans, and Macaroni t-shirts
TALENT SHOW
Driving the boat at Bear Lake--Uncle Brant let Rhiannon take a turn and she was ecstatic!
UTV experience--thanks, Traci and Derrick, for talking us into it! And thanks for treating us, Grandpa and Grandma!
So. Much. Good. Food.
Sitting on the porch late at night watching a lightning storm come in--a family favorite moment
Horseback riding--again, thanks to the Houston and Denton Sheens' encouragement!
Field Day games
Bear Lake walk by the house
The house at Bear Lake!
Swimming with Amelia, GPA and kids
Card games and squishing the two big tables together
Again, I took v-e-r-y few pictures, but I'm thankful to family members who took some AMAZING ones to document our time together! Here are a few (of many) favorites:
"These are the days.." The lyrics from that classic 1990s song have been stuck in my head tonight. School is right around the corner. Life is busy with a too-full-too-fast calendar, work stress, online classwork, hard cross country workouts, AP summer reading and this hot/hot/humid summer heat. But thankfully there is also an abundance of memory making and fun times together.
These are the days for excellent movie choices. Movies we have loved this summer include Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spiderman: Homecoming, Transformers: The Last Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Wonder Woman, and Dunkirk.
These are the days of many small jobs for both Rhiannon and Wade. Both were a little concerned about how they were going to make some dough this summer, but they've kept busy with all kinds of jobs, from pet-sitting to trench-digging.
These are the days of backpacking for Jason and Wade. As I type this, the two are downstairs packing for a 3-day backpacking adventure with friends this weekend. I love that they have this tradition, and I hope they have a blast! (They have also had a lot of fun on some golf trips, either out of town or to the local golf course on base).
These are the days of Parks and Rec watching for me and the kids. After finishing (and re-watching) The Office on Netflix, we moved on to Parks and Rec and have gotten some big laughs from it.
These are the days of Girls Camp/Boyz Gone Wyld Week. That was last week. Rhiannon and I had a really good experience up at Camp Wilderness with our stake, and the boys had some good bonding time here at home. More on Girls Camp in a later post--I could write a book about it!
These are the days of healing. Rhiannon had her foot surgery on June 21, right after we got back from our UT/ID trip. The surgery went very well and she has done a great job following doctor's orders. It sure has been a work-in-progress, though! She has moved from the walking boot to tennis shoes, but the foot is still too swollen to wear flats to church. She's been a good sport about it all and we are very proud of her.
These are the days of Wade trying cross country with other middle school students. It is HARD for Wade, really hard, but we are hopeful that he'll continue and learn that he is indeed capable! Slow and steady wins the race!
I'm glad for the thought I had tonight to come and capture this night, this summer. There are many more things I could type, but for now, I just want to remember this night of fish foil packets and fried rice for dinner, of the boys bustling around packing for their mountain trip, of Rhiannon grabbing the Star Wars Force Awakens movie to go watch at a friend's house (Katie J), of desert humidity and a cloudy night sky. I wanted to capture my grateful heart in this moment. I am so thankful for these days!
