Let me preface this month by saying that this was a very full and exciting month! A few pictures may be out of order. I got a little lost and didn't want to have to reformat everything.
Christian got some awards at the Spring Sports Awards for track.
V is still having a great time at work! She loves all of her coworkers! (Wear whatever you want day!)
Baseball is still going on! Grant's team struggled a bit this year because they were definitely much younger than the other two teams that they typically played. Did you know that Grant was a manager for CCHS's JV team? This was cool because he helped them prep and clean and get water and so forth, but he also was able to practice with the team quite a bit. Doing these two things definitely encouraged growth in baseball. He still loves it!
Through hard work, Kate is getting better every day too!
One day, Katherine even got to try pitching. This is definitely not her normal position and she hasn't had much practice, but she gave it her best shot. We were proud of her for going outside her comfort zone in the game. Maybe she will try again sometime?
Did you know that Grant is full of spunk and energy and playfulness?! He truly is hilarious. We are still working on "time and place", but know he will master it one day. Also, currently Grant is not a fan of being still for pictures, so I have to take them when I can. He is still when he crashes. Usually, his naps are in the car on long drives, but afternoon one was pretty adorable.
We had a special outing to one of our favorite places! V had several opportunities to go with friends and missionaries, but the rest of us hadn't been able to prior. The DC Temple has been renovated and was open for an open house. We were very excited to go to the sacred place where we were sealed for time and eternity together.
I love this contemplative picture of Christian admiring God's creations.
We are often very crazy and reverence is not our family's strong point (not going to even try to pretend that we were reverent for the whole time), but we did feel the beauty and importance of this special place.
Summer started! I don't know all of the details of what we did first. I think Christian took a couple weeks to enjoy summer and started lifeguarding again after FSY (next month).
We enjoyed things like going to the pool, going to thrift stores,
and fast food lunch (not daily, obviously)!
Danny was a good sport and came with me to scope out the hike that I would lead at YW Camp at Pocahontas State Park. Pretty, right?!
It worked out great because we went to a special Boy Scout Celebration honoring his uncle, Tom Clayton, and his best friend, Ben Estes' dad, Dave Estes at Camp Brady Saunders first. It was a cool reception and brought back a lot of special memories for Danny. It was especially nice to catch up with Ben and his family!
I had a fun "prepping for camp" morning with the YCLs.
V went to the temple open house again. This time she took Camila and Camila's boyfriend, Landon, and the YSA Elders, Elder Risenmay and Elder Allred.
As an afternote, Camila and Landon broke up before she went to college. However, Landon learned about the church and was baptized!
Unpictured, but fun, Victoria invited Camila and her friend Taylor to dinner. We had a bunch of Elders and Sisters as well. We love Sis. Robinson and Sis. Copeland who are serving in our ward. We often put out a text,"Whoever doesn't have a dinner tonight, come on over!" It was actually Elder Bingham, one of the Spanish Elder's birthday! YSA Elders came too.
She and Taylor and Bryan and the Elders set up a booth of sorts (They pulled this together totally quickly and it was so cute) to give info about YSA to the seminary graduates. "Take a shot on YSA"
Paige and her family spent a quick night here after they toured the DC Temple Openhouse. We had such a fun time staying up late catching up. Grant and Christian were especially hyper and entertaining that night.
V enjoyed a YSA activity- the rodeo in Gordonsville. Megan and Camila were there too!
Fun night!
K and friends have fun at softball, even when they are on different teams!
Young Women's Camp was an awesome week! I attended as a member of the Stake YW Presidency. Sis. Julie Ellis, our president, was not able to make it at the last minute, but Sis. Ogden and I were still able. Sis. Amber Smith was the camp director and did an amazing job running camp! The girls had a lot of fun and had many opportunities to learn and grow, enjoy nature, make new friends, and strengthen their testimonies of Jesus Christ. The theme for camp this year was Strive.
There were so many cool classes available at camp and the girls were able to sign up for the classes and activities that they wanted. The classes covered each of the 4 goal areas that our child and youth program emphasizes: spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual. I was able to lead several group exercise classes. It was pretty open-ended and I did dance fitness for several of the groups, but we did exercise cards and jump rope competitions too. Initially, I felt hypocritical leading because I am not in tip-top shape (in fact, I am overweight.) However, I decided to do it because there was a need and I have led group exercise classes many times before. Also, because the camp's theme was "Strive". I can try again and do my best.
I loved watching the YCLs in action, leading songs, devotionals, and more! They are amazing young women with the capacity for greatness!
On Thursday, I was able to lead 4 hikes and loved it! It was such a good time to talk to and get to know the YW as well as other leaders! I hiked at least 10 miles that day, not including the multiple miles around the camp back and forth to different units and the dining hall etc! I slept well that night! Being able to do that fairly easily reminded me that "my body is an instrument, not an ornament!" I was very proud of what it can still do.
Ali had a "grey squirrel" competition between leaders. Holly and Amber are so fun and cute!
We had a really special musical night where each ward or branch sang a song. They were all unique and beautiful and we loved the talents and the spirit that they shared. During it, we had to move inside because of really close lightning, but it worked out so well, especially when we sang, "Though fires may burn, And storms may rage, When darkness comes, We'll find our way back home. We will trust in the Lord."
Epic dance party with the YCLs the last night.
We had a really nice testimony meeting before we left. It was bright and sunny.
It was totally fitting that we sang There is Sunshine. Have I ever shared that the Spirit often speaks through me through good uplifting music? Answers and peaceful feelings often come to me this way and I love that Heavenly Father speaks to me in a way that I understand. I have a testimony that He loves us and always wants us to be able to Hear Him.
It was a great week away, but I felt so happy as I was approaching home!
Almost there! "Country roads take me Home!"
You can probably imagine my delight as I pulled into the neighborhood and found this duo!!!
They were having so much fun spending time and making money together!
I got some good hugs too! And they looked older!(For real, this happens when moms go away!)
The next day was opening ceremonies for all stars! (Full disclosure, Grant was also invited to be on the team, but because he was told that he would likely not get much playing time. That coupled with how rough the last couple years of all-star play was for the boys and he opted against it. Sad, but it takes up a lot of time, so we were on board with his decision this time.)
Softball was a go for Katherine and Danny though!
Announcer Dad and All-star Kate
Rival minors teams and even a couple majors players combine for all-stars!
I have a feeling that they are going to go far again!
Danny knows what I like- quality time and ice cream! This ice cream truck,
Lety's is amazing!
They have "Puffles!" (Trust me! Try one!)
Katherine and Grant impressed me again by making this mini-golf course in our yard!
Danny got to coach on Father's Day weekend!
On Sunday we went to church,
made a low country boil
and went on a family walk. If memory serves me, we also played mini-golf in the yard again. We love you, Danny! What a blessing it is to have a good father and righteous priesthood holder in our home!
V was away this weekend on a fun getaway to Phili with a bunch of her friends who sell pest-control. In the back left side is one of our missionary friends, Jackson Keeler, who served here a couple years ago. He is recently married and he and his wife sold here this summer. Several of the guys served in the Richmond, VA mission, but never served in Culpeper. Devon served in Italy and finished his mission just after Donovan went there! Small world right? We got to know a few of these guys when they came to the house for Bachelor Nights, dinner, or before a hike. V loved having more friends attending the YSA this summer. It was nice that they let her be one of the guys.
V and the "sales boys"
On Monday, I got to take the boys to YM Camp! Even the ride there with them was fun and our drive through experience at Cookout was straight hilarious. These are the only pictures that I got dropping them off, but I heard that they had a fun week. I am going to ask Grant and Christian if they have any pictures or stories that they would like to add.
Aren't they adorable? Sunny! I love my boys so much. You can just see that Christian is going to look out for his brother.
Guess what?! They were district champs!
Katherine and I did some fun things while the boys were away. Buzz Lightyear!
She also got to help Danny fix our dryer! Thanks, Danny!
V is still busy doing beautiful work! I love looking at her before and after pictures. Check her out!
We ended the month with a trip with the Marshall side of the family to OBX! My mom rented a really awesome house in Rodanthe. It was very generous of her and we all looked forward to it! It should have been perfect, but I had some emotional problems that week. Maybe because my dad wasn't there? I think it was hard for my mom because it was the first big family trip without my dad. She and I did not get along well. She said some terrible things to me. I will not be outmatched, so I definitely said hurtful things back. In turn, I had a hard time getting along and connecting with anyone and did a good deal of self-isolating to preserve my mental health. I was mean to V and Danny at points and was a bit snappy with a few other family members too. It was overall rough for me, but there were some good moments too. However, I think the rest of the family had a great time! Looking back over the pictures, I can see a lot of good. (A lot of these pictures were sent to me by V and Lorel.) I typically only post the good, but we can remember the hard times too. We can also do better in the future. People and life are fascinating. Anyway, here are a bunch of cool beach pictures!
Overall, great June (and a couple days into July)!
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