Wedding

 We went to a friend's wedding reception, and it was so wonderful to have something fun to celebrate. It's been a terrible and unbelievably hard few weeks, and it was nice to have something to celebrate and to have joy. I was grateful. Anna looked beautiful.

Sophia Payne

 While at the lake, I got a terrible text from one of my best friends, Molly, She lives across the street from another best friend, Rachelle. She said there were 4 firetrucks, 3 ambulances, and 2 cop cars in front of Rachelle's house and she was rushing over to find out what was going on.

An hour later I got the devastating news that their beautiful daughter Sophia, a dear friend of our whole family, but who was especially close to Claire, had committed suicide.

Ben was golfing with Mac. I immediately started calling him, but he didn't answer. Finally he answered and I told him. We came up with an impossible plan of figuring out how to tell the girls.

When we got back to the cabin, together we told the kids.

Telling them was one of the worst moments of my life.

We decided we needed to cut our trip short and would drive home Saturday instead of Sunday. I needed to be there for my friend, the girls needed to be with the YW, and I needed to be there as RS President.

While at the beach, I was very distracted as I was on my phone determining what I needed to do as RS President.

I talked to our RS teacher. She said there was no way she could teach a lesson after this tragedy, and she had a beautiful idea to do a testimony/hymn singing instead- sisters would share their favorite hymn and testimony and we would sing the hymn.

There really are no words for this tragedy. We will remember Sophia forever. Our hearts are absolutely shattered.

Disney Dinner

 Our ward and friends have really stepped up since Matt's passing. Even my Disney friends, who I have only met once or twice in person, rallied together and made us a Disney Dinner. It was so incredibly thoughtful of them! The love we have felt from so many has meant the world to us.

French dip sandwiches and No Way Jose. Perfection!

Torie was the ring leader and chef.

O'Fallon Park

 We had a great time with our dear friends the Leubners today. We got up early to head to O'Fallon and made it there at 8:50 and got one of the last few parking spots available. Ben had never been here and he loved it- it is a beautiful hike. The weather and company were simply perfection!

And then Camille went with Ben and me on a date to DQ and we played Castle Panic while Claire and Audra went out with friends. It was a great night.

Broncos Pre-Season Game

We went with our friends the Burnhams and the Paynes to the Broncos pre-season game, and they won, 41-0. It was a lot of fun- a lot more fun than we expected. The atmosphere and stadium were excellent. The food was delicious. And the company was the BEST!

 

Seattle Day 7: UW

 

Camille has decided she wants to go to UW. She has a whole plan, which includes being close to Grandma and Grandpa in case she ever gets lonely. I have to remind her that she is only 11.

At any rate, my dear friend Danielle offered to give us a tour of campus. I think it just made Camille fall in love more.

We also went to the troll. My dad suggested it, and why not?

For work, I had to get pictures of this pink duck in various places we traveled, so there's a couple of duck pictures thrown in here, too.

She took us to U Village, too, for lunch.

This library is stunning! I like to think I would study here everyday if I went to school here.

The boys and girls would NOT stand next to each other and barely communicated. It was hilarious.

Then, afterwards, the Hale's came over for a tea party which Alicia organized.

Audra and Jayson

 Jayson has been such a great friend to Audra- he is truly such a blessing for her and we are so grateful for him. Here they are after their band concert:

Escape the Room

I went with friends to Escape the Room and The Cheesecake Factory for Dinner. It was kind-of a VERY belated Birthday for me, and it was a lot of fun. We did a Jurassic Park themed room which was really fun. And, we made it! With about two and a half minutes left, though admittedly we needed a lot of clues.

I have the best of friends! I have always been blessed with really great friends. I love it when I get to go and hang out with them (though Ben and the kids are jealous we did an escape room, so we may need to go as a family to do one again soon!)

 

But, not to be outdone, we DID, as a family, finish our at-home escape room that the Hale's got us for Christmas. We survived it! It was great.

P. F. Chang's

 I have awesome friends, and we were able to go and have a wonderful dinner at P. F. Chang's. We laughed so hard we cried! They are the best- I am so blessed!

Rocky Mountain National Park

 We went with our favorite friends. the Leubners, for one last "HURRAH" of summer. I took the girls camping up at Rocky Mountain National Park. We did the Emerald Lake hike, which I would love to do again. It was stunning, but we had to rush it because of some lightning heading our way.

We didn't get much sleep, and came home exhausted, but it was a lot of fun. 

These girls are the best troopers. I tell them all the time that the reason I can take them places and do fun things with them is because they are so well behaved and they do such a great job of helping and having positive attitudes.

But I have to admit...one night a year is enough for me! Especially when we also had girls camp this year.