The 4th of July Week

On Monday we had one more day in Flaming Gorge to play on the water before heading home. We could see that the weather was a little questionable, but we weren't ready to give it up. We gave the girls and Matt a nice, easy tube ride, heading north to try and get to blue skies. The problem was that there were several storm systems and it looked as if they were trying to converge, so, after eating some lunch, we headed back south to get closer to the ramp in case we needed to get off the lake in a hurry. In the 2nd picture we were trying to cover up as the rain started coming down. The towels in between Roy and me in the picture are the three little girls trying to protect themselves. As we neared the ramp, the rain had mostly subsided, so we decided to try the beach and hope for the best. We were there for about an hour and the kids had a ball. At some point Crista pointed upward and suggested we get going, so we got everyone back in the boat and headed across the bay to the ramp. We pulled into a slip and Matt decided to take all four kids with him to the truck to see if he could save them from what was coming. Unfortunately, he didn't make it in time. We were pelted with rain and hail! Matt told us that all of them were screaming. Although it was stormy, it was miraculously not terribly windy, so getting the boat off the lake wasn't as big a problem as it might have been. By the time we got back to the cabin it was nearly 5, so we had quite a bit of lake time; more than I had thought.

Ruby tried out the paddle board. Kneeling was all right, but with the little bit of breeze, she had a hard time controlling where she wanted to go. In the picture at right, Ruby has just finished a puzzle. She wanted a picture of herself with her puzzle, and then another one of just the puzzle.

Happy birthday to grandpa Rasband. He's officially 94! Dan and Jieun made the trip to Santaquin in honor of this milestone. Yuli, Yuna, Hyeji, Dan, Doyeon, and Dojin. Jieun's taking the picture.
I'm sure that this visit was the best birthday gift they could have given him.

On the 4th of July, we joined the Dan Rasband family for dinner and fireworks in their front yard. Dan made homemade, sour dough foccocia, and tender beef for french dip sandwiches. He's an excellent cook. On the right is another picture of Cub. He is already growing, but in this picture it looks to me like he's thinning out.

The above picture is Doyeon pitting cherries. Nan and Bruce invited us to pick from their two trees. I took Doyeon, Yuna, Dojin and Ila to help me. They were amazing helpers. Bruce and Nan came out, too, and Bruce helped us (especially Ila) with the ladders etc. Nan helped, too, even though she just had her 2nd knee replacement a month ago. After a little bit, though, she sat in a chair and kept us company. Nan told me that Bruce got a kick out of Ila because she took charge. She said to him, "Okay, you hold the bucket for me while I pick the cherries." My grandkids warmed right up to their great aunt and uncle. The fact that Nan and Bruce are taking care of Hayward's dog for the summer may have helped. I was able to put up 14 jars of bottled cherries, prepare 2 cookie sheets of cherries of freeze, give some to Adrienne, some to Dan, plus keep some to eat. They were delicious. Roy loves bottled cherries and was appreciative that I took the time to put them up for him.

We're proud of Matt. He's working hard to get his new business off the ground. This week he had the opportunity to present in San Antonio. Crista said the other speaker was a paid speaker, but Matt did a lot better. She said the other speaker was really full of himself.

We've been able to see most of our kids this week. Friday night Nick and Sara made soup and took it over to Dan's to eat it. On their way they called us to see if we wanted to join them. The above picture is not the soup, however. Yuna Dan and Nick filmed a "challenge." Those are spicy noodles they are eating. The challenge was to see who could eat them all. Nick ate them the fastest, but I think they all succeeded in finishing the noodles. They all like spicy foods. Then someone (Sara, I think) asked them, "What's the spiciest food you've ever eaten." Nick said a whole jalepeno; and Yuna said that it was probably a "fertilized jalapeno," it took us a second to realize she meant a "fermented jalapeno." Dan said that he had a Chinese soup that was so spicy it numbed his tongue.

Our family pictures are back. It's rare to have everyone together but we managed to get a picture this year while Elise and Andy were here with their family. Cub has already made this picture out of date, but he is in the picture as you can see. We love our beautiful family and feel blessed by each one of you!

Today in Relief society we discussed President Nelson's talk, Peacemaker's Needed. When I first heard this talk I have to admit I was thinking it would be good if so and so heard this... Then President Nelson said,

"At this point you may be thinking that this message would really help someone you know. Perhaps you are hoping that it will help him or her to be nicer to you. I hope it will! But I also hope that you will look deeply into your heart to see if there are shards of pride or jealousy that prevent you from becoming a peacemaker."

This time, as we listened and discussed, my heart was open to see and feel where I need to improve and where I need to work on instilling peace. I felt a few daggers to the heart, to be honest. Our family's not perfect, but for the most part we enjoy unity and love. I think that this is portrayed in the above picture!

We ended our week at Adrienne's for a nice dinner of salmon, green beans, salad and fruit. The beans were from our garden and Finn had four servings. Crista stopped by on her way home from Mapleton to pick up Ruby's watch that she'd left at Flaming Gorge (we picked it up and brought it home, then brought it with us to Adrienne's). I was able to hold and love Cub for a little bit. And, I got to hold Ollie and tickle his back, too! He loves to sit on my lap so I can rub his back. Another year and I probably won't be able to hold him.