Elder Steenblik Update

Tyler has been a missionary for almost 10 months (in two days).  He just started his 7th transfer out in the field.  In his second area he had another hard companion.  He just didn't treat Tyler very well and it was another hard transfer.  Tyler killed him off.  

But the Elder that came after him was great.  Tyler was with him in the same area for two more transfers before he killed him off also.  He loved him and they worked hard and played hard.  They worked hard with the members and went out often with the branch president.   

Now Tyler has been transferred to a new area with a new companion.  It was hard for him to leave his last area after being there four and a half months.  He really loved the people there.  But he is excited to get to know the people in his new area.  His new companion is from Utah and only has this transfer and one more to go before he goes home.  So, it'll be funny to see if Tyler kills him off too. This area also has a branch that is even smaller than his last one.  They have a lot of work to do and he's excited to see what they can do in this new area.

Megan & Allie Awards Night

While Tony and I were in California the girls had their awards night at the Jr. High.  Josh was a good big brother and took them over there to receive their awards.  They both got awards for their good grades, Theater, and Choir and then Allie got an award for ELA.  They really should have given Megan an award for math since she has been doing 9th grade math at the high school and got all A's all year.  So, I give her a mama award for Math.  

They are both great girls who did great in school this year.  They had lots of fun and made lots of friends this school year. 

Mom & Dad Trip - Day 4 - Travel & Tuacahn

We were able to sleep in a little this day, since we went to bed later.  We just got up and got ready and packed up to head towards St. George. 

We decided to stop in Victorville to go to the Costco there.  The timing worked out well because Tony ended up having a work meeting as we pulled into town.  So, Tony did his meeting in the car while I walked around the store.

We stopped and got lunch on the other side of Vegas.  Then we drove to St. George and checked into our hotel.  It was another hot day, but our room felt so good.  

We then went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  It was super yummy, per usual.  We walked around the local Costco to walked off some of our dinner. We then went back to our hotel to get ready to drive to Tuacahn.  

We got to Tuacahn nice and early to get the parking spot we wanted.  We had good seats and enjoyed the show.  It was of course AMAZING.  The singing was fantastic.  We love seeing the shows at Tuacahn.  They are Broadway quality shows.  

We then drove home the next morning and didn't have any problems on the drive.  We picked up Koda's tile paw print from the place that put him down before going home.  It was nice to be back home, and it was nice to be back with our kiddos. They did a great job being on their own for a few days.

Mom & Dad Trip - Day 3 - Disneyland

We got to Disneyland nice and early again.  We decided to get Lightning Lane passes this day since DCA was so busy the day before and Disneyland is so much bigger.  

We had a great time going on all the rides and eating all the yummy foods that we wanted.  It was another hot day and pretty busy but didn't seem as busy as the day before.   

Tony got us reservations for The Carnation Cafe, but then when we were waiting to get a table, we looked at the menu and saw that it had changed.  We weren't interested in the new menu, so we canceled our reservation and went and shared a Birra sandwich at Jolly Holiday.  I think that worked out for the best.  We really enjoy that sandwich.

We had lots of yummy snacks and had dinner at The Plaza.  We shared the chicken.  It was good, but not as good as it usually is.  

We were able to see the light parade from the line at the Matterhorn.  The side we were waiting in ended up breaking down, so we had to move over to the other side.  That was a new experience.  Gotta love the single rider lane. 

We did shop throughout the day and got a locker to store stuff in.  So, by the time we were done we were able to just grab our stuff and walk back to the hotel.  It was a fun good day at the parks.

Mom & Dad Trip - Day 2 - California Adventure

We started bright and early by walking to California Adventure from the hotel.  We don't sleep in so well, so we were there early waiting for it to open.  Tony went on Guardians first while I did Monsters, Inc.  I then waited for him to get done for only a couple minutes before we went on and did more rides.  We picked up a breakfast burrito on our way to ride Toy Story.  

This day was way busier than we thought it was going to be.  It was also a hot day.  We did ride everything that we wanted to at least once, if not twice.  We ate lunch at Flo's and got some caramel popcorn.  

After we rode everything, we wanted to and ate everything we wanted to try, so we left the park early and went back to the hotel.  Tony found us a local pizza place where we got a very small pizza and some cheese bread.  It wasn't the best, but not the worse.  We then relaxed the night away.

Mom & Dad Trip - Day 1 - Travel, Temple Open House, Downtown Disney, & Joe's

Tony got us tickets to go see a show at Tuacahn for my birthday.  We then decided that since we were going to drive down to Southern California, we should go a couple days earlier and go to Disneyland.

The timing worked out perfect for us to go to the Yorba Linda temple open house.  This is the temple that we visited in February, and it was so pretty and unique on the outside.

So, we drove straight down to Yorba Linda and went the open house.  The inside was beautiful but looked a lot like many other newer temples.  The outside is what was super beautiful and unique.  

After the temple we drove to our hotel in Anaheim.  We checked into our room where they upgraded our room to a king sweet.  So that was super cool.

We then walked to Downtown Disney.  We got some dinner and then did some window shopping.  

We then walked to Joe's to get some ice cream before going back to our hotel for the night.  It was a good first day.

Josh's End of Year Choir Concerts

Josh had his last choir concert with the Concert Choir.  They sounded really good and he has enjoyed being in the choir this year. 

He is looking forward to being a Madrigal next school year and even got to sing with the current Madrigals for their final song at their showcase.  I am so glad that my kids have found a love of singing and being part of the choir.   

Koda's Last Day

Our poor old grandpa Koda dog is no longer with us.  He has been having problems with his back legs for a few years now and it had just gotten so bad that they kept failing him.  He fell off the porch a few weeks ago and even fell down some stairs at Margie's house.

We had taken him to the vet in January when he started whining in pain when he would go to lay down.  We really thought the vet would say that it's time, but he gave us doggy pain meds and said he still had time.  

We are grateful that we had four more months with Koda, but at the same time we had to see him go downhill and struggle to do the things he loves.  Even going poop was getting hard for him and he would end up getting it stuck on his back side.  

Tony and I took him back to the vet and it was a new guy.  He came in and told us that we know our dog better than anyone else and if we feel like it's time, then he would write the note to say it's time.  

Tony then called the Spay and Neuter place that also puts down dogs and made an appointment to put Koda down later that day.

When it was time, we all piled in the car and went to the Spay and Neuter place.  They put us in a nice peaceful room and said we could have as long as we wanted.  When we were ready then they would take Koda and put in an IV and then they would bring him back in the room with us.

That is exactly what happened.  We all loved on Koda and let him smell all around the room before we pushed the button and let them know we were ready.

They took him back and brought him back to us a few minutes later.  He then had line in his leg.  We said we were ready for the vet to come in and get the process started.

They told us exactly what they were going to do.  First would give him meds that would make him fall asleep and then they would give him the meds that would stop him heart.  They reassured us that he wouldn't feel any pain.  No stinging or pinching.  

After they gave him the first meds he quickly fell down and went to sleep.  She then gave him the second meds and checked his heart.  He was gone.  It was sad, it was hard, but we all knew that he was no longer in pain.  Tears were shed, love was felt, and major deep appreciation for the dog that was so good to us for almost 15 years.

We didn't want to keep his ashes, but we did choose to get a mirrored tile of his paw print.  He was a great dog, perfect for our family.  

It is hard not having him here anymore.  It's hard not to see his water and food dish by the garbage can.  It's sad not to have him welcome us home at the gate or back porch.  People ask if we will get another dog, the answer is no.  Not for a while.  That phase of our life is over for now.  But maybe in the future we will start that adventure again.

Running for School Board

I am running for Granite School District School Board.   

Josh Finished Tennis

Josh played with his partner Benje at Region.  They didn't win the match, but they did win two games.  The other team was very good.  I was proud of how hard they tried.

Josh has officially completed his first year of tennis at the high school. He even lettered in Tennis. He really liked playing and is excited to continue to practice this summer and fall and play again next Spring.