June

 This month was a good mix of work and play. We spent two weekends camping/fishing (Panchuela and Eagle Nest) and two weekends at home getting stuff done.

Work wise, we got a section of the paver path on the East side of the house down, built in the back gate, re-roofed the shed, dog sat, helped a bit with the Barrio's move, and published three YouTube videos. I also participated in a seminary training seminar, made two large batches of dehydrated camping meals, and helped get Violet fully moved into her new apartment. In addition to all the work around the house that Matthew has gotten done, his work at Sandia has been very busy and stressful this month, and he's had several church meetings down at the stake center.

While we definitely worked hard, we also played hard. The kids were able to get together with the Jolley's, Jensen's, Susan Brown's, and the Baraja's, in addition to several activities with various members of the Jeb Brown's. They got to swim at Cecilia's three times this month, and played lot's of Fortnite online with Luci, Cora, Haley, and Ace. We had the Barrio's over for dinner, and celebrated Luci's birthday. The kids also slept several nights out either on the trampoline or in the hammocks.

The kids have been fully invested in swim team this summer. The boys are working really hard, and have really improved. Both have slimmed up and are building muscle, as well as noticing increased endurance. They both participated in a meet this month and were far more pleased with their results than in years past. Mercy started off so nervous, but has given it a fair effort and after four weeks in the water can finally go all the way across on her back. She is heavily dependent on the wall/lane dividers and what she does isn't close to being an actual swimming stroke, but she is giving it a solid effort and we are very proud of her.

We had a week of record heat this month, followed by almost a week of cloudy days with rain. Mabel spends most of her time laying near the back door hoping someone will come out and feed her a treat. She's definitely become more friendly and a bit less adventurous since getting spayed. She really seemed to like having a friend while Remy with with us.

Goals:

Mercy passed Khan Academy's third grade math course with 100% on her first try. Abraham passed the fifth grade math course, but it took him several tries. We are very proud of both of them. Hyrum had a really hard time passing the unit on expressions, equations, & inequalities, but with a lot of effort managed to do it. He then went on to pass the geometry unit with relative ease. Just one more unit until he's done with seventh grade math! The kids' main exercise this summer has been swimming. Matthew and I have been doing our morning walk with heavy packs and he shoots archery a couple times a week, but neither running nor cycling have featured heavily in our routines this month. Matthew broke his pinky toe, so he has something of an excuse, but I've been busy and just haven't made it a priority. I have tried to make getting up before 6am to study my scriptures a priority, however, and that has been a big blessing in my life. The kids have taken turns being very diligent in their scripture study, and also not so diligent. It is usually very clear looking at overall happiness and productivity who is reading and praying regularly, and who is not. As a family, we are steadily making our way through Come, Follow Me, which has been such a wonderful resource.

Meals:

Hot dogs

Pork chops and salad

Breakfast bowls

School lunch pizza

Gnudi and salad

Broccoli cheese soup and biscuits

Quesadillas

Carnita tacos

Various dehydrated camping meals

Papa John's pizza

School lunch chicken wings and salad

Lasagna and mixed vegetables

Pizza

School lunch

Pork enchiladas

Leftovers

Tacos

Instant pasta packets and homemade breadsticks

Scones

School lunch chicken wings, lima beans, potato wedges, and fruit cups

Shrimp scampi and lima beans

Sausage and ricotta calzones with corn

Treats:

Lemon soufflé

S'mores

Churro cookies

Peanut butter revel bars

Vanilla soufflé (fail)