Mid-Summer 2013 Update

Why is it that when we are in school summer feels like a far away dream and when it is summer it is hard to believe that we ever lived (and will live again) our crazy school schedule?

Aaaaah.  I love summer.  I love everything about it.

Even when I occasionally I get overwhelmed at being everyone's activities director, complete with transportation to fantastic events, treats for any friends who drop by, and a reasonably clean house to accommodate the perpetual parties in the Porter house. When I said this very thing to Dan this morning he immediately went into "stern Dad mode" and told me that I need to make the kids clean more so I'm not doing too much.  There is definitely more that they could do, but for the most part this summer everyone has happily done their daily chores and piano practice. It's just that summer is messy. There are projects and toys and wet swimsuits everywhere, and it's a full time job to keep on top of kids to take care of the messes!

I love the fact that we are all able to stay up later and sleep in late. Truth be told, I'm a night owl, and so is the rest of my family. It is particularly wonderful to not have Dan and Bailey doing early morning Seminary right now. We are blissfully unconscious when 4:45 a.m. rolls around, and that is generally a good thing. Soon enough we will be back in the swing of the school schedule, with a day that starts early and goes hard until we drop into bed exhausted.

I love to see the kids developing social relationships this summer and making friendships or strengthening friendships. I'm glad that they feel like they can invite friends over anytime. I'm glad their friends don't judge our piles of laundry or unwashed dishes.

 (above: Joseph and his two buddies playing a game they made up using the high powered spray on the hose and the garbage can: "soap monster")


I appreciate the unusually warm summer we have enjoyed this year. This is the first summer in my memory when it didn't rain continuously until July 4th. In fact, the weather has been lovely since May. I even find myself happy when the occasional cloud crosses the sun, just for variety. Now, that is something that will change soon, when the clouds cover the sun for months at a time! I need to just soak in all the Vitamin D now and relish the warmth.

My vegetable garden is a bust . . . . there was an unfortunate incident involving my lovely raspberry plants, so no raspberries this year. My tomatoes are doing pretty well and loving the sunshine, but I STILL can't get zucchini to grow here. I don't think I can even call myself a gardener if I can't get zucchini to grow. I never had a problem in Utah, but for some reason I can't get all the horticultural stars aligned here in the NW in order to successfully grow veggies.  So, we visit the farmer's market every week.

Our goodies from the Farmer's Market, including incredible salsa and sourdough bread

I have a stack of about 20 books I really want to read. 6 of them need to be read by September for book clubs. I'm having a hard time focusing enough to read an entire book straight through, but I keep books in almost every room and read a chapter or two whenever possible.

Some specific Porter family highlights from the summer:

• We went to OMSI three times, including a trip to see the Mummies exhibit, which exhibited at least 50 unwrapped mummies. It was gruesome and cool. We brought a family with us to OMSI each time, which makes it even more fun. We also watched a new laser show each time.

• Bailey turned 16 and has gone on two fun dates! Her first date was in Utah, a double date with her cousin Mianna. The second date was last weekend.  Three of the guys her age asked out three of the girls. Her date was Logan Warnick, who moved to Missouri two days after the date. They went mini golfing, thrift shopping, and other fun and random stuff. Bailey actually came up with the idea for the date and then masterfully suggested it to the guys, who then followed through.  Her goal was for the guys (who are pretty nervous about dating) to see that it is possible to go on cheap and fun dates with the girls who are their friends.

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• Bailey also bought her first formal dress while in Utah! It is beeyoootiful and fits her perfectly. And, thanks to her Grandma's incredible KSL.com classifieds shopping, she got it for $75!
   
  •  Joseph has turned into a big time entrepreneur. He diligently completes his chores every day, so as to not have to "pay" me to do them and thus lose some of his allowance. But, his aspirations are higher than his measly allowance, so he constantly devises money making schemes. Several times he has created a Joseph Diner and invited us all to eat at his restaurant. The most memorable time was when Bailey and her friends gathered at our house for ice cream prior to a Stake Dance. Joseph scurried around and set up his diner and then invited all our guests to be seated. They gathered in the living room around tables created from upturned boxes and laundry baskets. He took their orders and then served them a mixture of fake food and real food (carrot sticks, red pepper slices, Almond Roca, and chocolate candies).  And at the end of the "meal" he presented the diners with a bill for the food and services. Dan and I grabbed a handful of spare change for the owner of the Joseph Diner, and everyone was happy.

 

 

 

 On another day he washed my van for a few dollars.

• Aubrey has spent many happy hours this summer creating works of art. She painted this trio of watercolors for the wall behind her bed.

 
 Aubrey has also been a busy social bee this summer. Almost every day she has plans to invite friends over or go hang out with friends. She has gone to the fair, the mall, played night games, and has watched numerous chick flicks and Disney movies with friends.

Aubrey, Bailey, and I have had a good time shopping for school clothes. We don't want to think about school actually starting, but we've had fun buying clothes for that inevitable fact. The girls are doing a good job budgeting their clothes allowance.

 

 In Brandon news, he is having a wonderful time at BYU for Summer term. He loves his classes and his apartment complex and ward. And he is dating a very nice girl named Angela.

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  Just about everybody in my entire family (siblings, nieces, nephews, parents, etc) have met Angela, but we have not. So, she is going to come with us to the Oregon Coast next week so we can get acquainted.

And that's our summer so far!  It's been a good one, and we plan to keep on playing and having fun . . .

Road trip to Utah - Summer 2013 (a ridiculously long post)

Almost the very minute that school ended this year we loaded up the car(s)- the van and Brandon's car - and took off to Utah. Brandon needed to be to BYU for Summer Term by the next Monday and Bailey and her friend Nina also needed to be at BYU on Monday for EFY.  Oh my - we were very loaded down, what with all of Brandon's stuff for his apartment and college.

Joseph was in the third row of the van in a little "hole" - he was surrounded by stuff! Aubrey rode in the second row

and Bailey and Nina rode in Brandon's car.
 
Sadly, Dan wasn't able to come with us. He had to stay and work until the last few days of the trip, when he flew to Utah and drove home with us.

 First up - 7 1/2 hours to Boise.

Brandon's sunglasses were an unfortunate casualty of the trip. They somehow snapped in half.
 
 We did our best to have fun along the way, and the kids were all pretty happy travelers.  Aubrey, Joseph, and I listened to the entire book Fablehaven while driving.

Once in Boise, we checked into our favorite Oxford Suites and then beelined over to Cafe Rio.  Woohoo!  Pure happiness on these faces.  We seriously plan our trips around Cafe Rio stops - no kidding.

We were awesome packers, so we only had to unload a few small bags rather than the entire car each night.

The next day we drove 5 hours to Rexburg so Bailey and Nina could tour BYU-Idaho. We were impressed with the beautiful campus and the small class sizes. We were unimpressed with the rule banning capri pants for the girls. Really? Skirts above the knee are fine but showing a little ankle with pants is forbidden? I am seriously going to write a letter to the president of BYU-Idaho and tell him that this rule is an undue hardship for students who are tall.  But, we had a great tour and loved the campus.

The following shots were taken by Joseph as we walked around campus.

Next we drove 45 minutes to see the Yanceys! We were so excited to spend a day with them. We ate a delicious dinner and laughed and talked until late.

Joseph was in heaven in Shelley, Idaho, where kids can safely roam the neighborhoods. He even had the chance to play night games with his cousins all around the neighborhood. Awesome!  And we had to take a picture of the local newspaper, where the talks at Stake Conference are written up in a long article and each departing or returning missionary is spotlighted.

And, of course, we stopped by the famous Sno Shack in Shelley. The best shaved ice anywhere!

 

It was very cute - Joseph slept in Jayden's room. I was in the room next door, and I could hear them talking until almost midnight. I had no desire to stop them and tell them to go to sleep, because staying up late and talking to a cousin is one of the true joys of visiting family.

Along the way, I took several photos of Brandon's pre-BYU facial hair rebellion. I think it looked great, but, sadly, it had to be removed prior to his first day at the Y.

Finally, we arrived in Draper, Utah, where we were lucky to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Springer. That night we went to Draper park and had a picnic. It was a perfect place to explore and run around.

 

Before leaving to his apartment in Provo, Grandpa helped Brandon fix something on the back of his car.

Saturday morning Brandon and I headed south to Provo to check him into Monticello Apartments. When we got to the address of the apartments, we drove around the block three times before we finally noticed the tiny sign on the decrepit old brick building.

Yep, his apartment building hasn't been updated since the 1960s and is literally falling down around the residents.  The grass is brown and dead and there are weeds everywhere. But, Monticello is so popular and difficult to get into that people camp out in the snow for days for the opportunity to register. (Our friend Rebecca McDonnell camped out to get a spot for herself, her brother, Taylor, and Brandon). Why is such a rundown place so popular??  It has a great location (directly south of campus) and a stellar reputation for being a fun and social place to live.

As Brandon and I started to move in his many boxes and bags, guys came out of almost every apartment and introduced themselves and offered to help. I've never seen such a friendly apartment building! He has loved Monticello. In his words: "the people are very down-to-earth and fun. No one lives in Monticello because it is a nice apartment. They live there because they value being social."

 It was a very long Saturday. Despite the friendliness of the apartment, Brandon got pretty overwhelmed after awhile and we retreated for a Cafe Rio break and stopped by Target to get some organizers for his closet. Then I drove back to Sandy where I met up with the kids at Sullivans. I was hoping to have a chance to visit with Laura and Matt, but I had to leave after a bit because Brandon had forgotten his backpack with all of his toiletries in the house in Draper. So, at 10:30 p.m. I dropped Bailey and Joseph off at Grandma and Grandpa's and Aubrey and I drove back to Provo to deliver the backpack!  Did I mention that it was a very long day? 

Back in Draper, here is Joseph and some of Grandpa's hats.

On Sunday we attended church in our old ward, Eastridge 8th Ward, per Bailey's insistent request. My vote was to go to Music and the Spoken Word, but I acquiesced.  And it was really fun to connect with many old friends.

Joseph occupied himself for many hours doing puzzles. We had brought four puzzles from home but had to make an emergency stop to get some more puzzles.

On Monday morning I drove Bailey and Nina to BYU for EFY.  I was WELL acquainted with Provo and BYU by the end of this Utah trip!  For the rest of our Utah trip I only had the two younger children.  They had a fantastic time at EFY, and I will try to include that in a different post.

Monday evening we drove up Millcreek Canyon to a Springer family Reunion. It was so much fun to see many of my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids!

Eating yummy s'mores! And Aubrey bonded with my cousin Steve's little girl and was the baby tender the entire night.

The cute little 2 year old Jones relative in purple was hilarious.  She played in the freezing water for a long time, fearlessly splashing all the other kids with water.

There is just nothing like a good Utah canyon stream. I love it!

We drove directly from Millcreek Canyon to Grandma and Grandpa's new mountain home in Heber.
 
We had a great time relaxing there for a few days and exploring their incredibly well-decorated home! They have done a fantastic job.  Below, this bugle belonged to my Great Grandpa Leo Howe Young (grandson of Brigham). He was an avid Scouter and blew this bugle at Scout Camp for many years.

And this quilt was made by my Great Grandma Bailey out of the scraps of my Grandma Palmer's childhood outfits.

The pretty view from the dining room window, where we all watched birds. We also saw an incredible amount of wildlife on drive around the mountain. We saw an entire moose family, five bucks grazing in a meadow, beavers in a beaver dam, and many more deer.

Joseph really liked the basement and he and Aubrey played foosball frequently.

And he really liked the fun cowboy bunkroom, but decided not to sleep there alone this time. Maybe next time! Below, he was touching the *fake* bearskin. That picture was taken just before he hit his head really hard on the upper bunk and fell to the ground in great pain.

Grandma and Grandpa, Aubrey, and Joseph

One of the days in Heber the girls went shopping and the cute stores in downtown Heber. We looked at lots of rustic/cowboy furniture and decorations (like the chair Aubrey is sitting in below). Meanwhile, Grandpa took Joseph to a fun park, where he ran around and worked off some energy.

Then we met up at a yummy ice cream shop, Dairy Keen.

We ate very well while in Heber, including this watermelon which was so delicious, I had to take a photo of it. Can't you just taste the pure summer deliciousness?

On Thursday we drove back to Draper. I took the kids to see a movie and I did a little shopping (Tai Pan Trading!). Then we sampled some deliciousness at Sweet Tooth Fairy.

 In the evening I drove Aubrey and Joseph downtown to see Temple Square and a rehearsal of the Tabernacle Choir. It was great to watch them rehearse, and then watch the same songs on the Sunday broadcast.  We enjoyed our Temple Square tour with only a fair amount of fighting between the two children. After a few hours we drove to the airport to pick up Dan!

Joseph and Joseph Smith

On Friday Dan and I took the younger kids down to Provo so Dan could see Brandon's apartment.  Then we walked around campus, and Aubrey's sharp eyes saw Bailey and her EFY friends walking the other direction.  She chased after and caught Bailey, and then we took a quick photo with the EFY girls.

After which we proceeded to the fudge in the BYU bookstore? Need I say more? I might have indulged a bit. I might still be paying for this indulgence with increased workouts at the gym. But it was definitely worth it.

 Brandon met up with us around this time, and Dan bought everyone a Jamba Juice. 
Then we visited with Brandon for awhile in the HFAC (Fine Arts Center) before we did a tour of some of the strange art pieces on display in the HFAC and the Fine Art Museum. 

This art piece includes 1,000 pictures depicting a different way to eat a marshmallow.

This art piece includes two plants. You are supposed to whisper mean words to one of the plants and kind words to the other.

And this big art installment at the Fine Art Museum was actually my favorite. At first it looked ridiculous, but when I read the description I liked it.  It represented the many complicated threads that make up a woman's life.

After returning to Draper that night, Dan, the kids, and I got a snowcone and enjoyed the summer night while looking at the mountains. 

  

And now I will end this post with one more picture of Cafe Rio. Because it was such an important part of our trip and I lost count of how many times we ate there. That might be another reason why I am needing to redouble my efforts at the gym!

 

On Friday and Saturday Dan, Aubrey, Joseph, and I drove back to Vancouver. It was strange to leave the older kids in Utah, but Bailey was staying for a week with her cousin Mianna and Brandon was obviously staying at college. The ride home was uneventful, and it was great for Dan and I to have lots of hours to talk.

Sadly, just two weeks after we left Utah, all three of my siblings and their families were in Utah. They were able to meet up for a few days. We were so sad to miss the mini-reunion!