June 2011

Birthday Boy

We began June like we do every year, by celebrating J-rod's birthday.  The night of his birthday, J-rod met us at M's school for their "Museum Night."  After visiting M's classroom and taking a look at all the projects on display, we took J-rod to dinner.  J-rod opened presents once we got home.  Shopping for him is often difficult as he never has requests for anything he might need or want.  His one and only usual request is one we can't give him, "more time."  Fortunately this year was different, he actually came right out and told us not only what he needed, but also wanted--yay!  In preparation for a hike/camping trip with the YM to the Grand Canyon later in the month, there were lots of things J-rod needed: a good hat with a BIG brim for shade, a collapsible water jug, a head lamp, various other camping sundries, and a replenishment of his cologne he had ran out of (plus some of the bigger equipment he had bought for himself last month.) Shopping for the birthday boy was actually lots of fun this time around!

~One year older and wiser too!~

The Kids

"Museum Night" at M's school was an evening where every classroom and hallway was decked out with displays of student work & projects from throughout the year.  The floor of the hallways was covered in red paper to resemble walking on a red carpet.  Each student acted as a "museum docent" to whom you could ask questions about the displays.  The docents each wore a "badge" around their necks that had their name photo on it, very official.  It was a fun and different way to put on a traditional "open house" and we enjoyed being there with M.

~M and some of his projects on display at Museum Night.~

The rest of the first two weeks of June were filled with various end-of-the school-year activities for both M and Li'l J: field day, concerts, and award assemblies, plus all the usual after-school activities of Cub Scouts, swim practice, and piano lessons.

End of year festivities:

1-2. Li'l J visits his class on field day.

3. M playing trumpet in the band.

4. Li'l J and M all dressed up for Nerd Day.

5. Li'l J and his bud J.

6. Li'l J and his teacher Mr. P at the Kinder awards assembly.

7.  M receiving his end of year award Honor Roll award.

8-9.  Last day of school: M with Mrs. F and Li'l J with Mr. P.

Early in June Li'l J ended up home all week from school again with another really bad asthma flare-up--very low oxygen intake and output levels.  This time we went directly to the allergist for help.  The reason for Li'l J's flare-up?  Memorial Day weekend while J-rod and I were out of town and our kids (and Copper) were staying with the H family, Li'l J got really sick.  The allergist said their tea-cup chihuahua and the miniature pincher-chihuahua mix weren't the issue, but the big chocolate lab and all his dander throughout the house were the culprit.  Guess it's a really good thing Copper isn't a lab!  Poor Li'l J!

Li'l J significantly improved since the weekend we were gone, but at his follow-up the allergist told him he was still not allowed to attend Field Day at school nor take part in his first swim meet because his lungs needed a bit more time to heal and strengthen.  What a big bummer for Li'l J!  At lunch time during Field Day, Li'l J's class was having a pizza party and a movie between the morning and afternoon activities so I took Li'l J and C-sta to the school for that portion of the day and Li'l J seemed to very much enjoy being a part of that.

~C-sta and Li'l J take part in lunch time at the kinder Field Day.~

Mom's Thoughts

The first weekend in June, J-rod and I had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a new temple coming to our area.  President Monson first announced the temple three years ago and ever since then there has been quite a bit of concern expressed by the neighbors through the immediate surrounding area where the temple is to be built.  After much effort on both the part of the Church and the neighborhood, an agreement was finally reached and the Church was given the green light to begin the building process and hold a groundbreaking.  

To help ease the concerns of the neighbors, the groundbreaking was not open to the public so as to not overcrowd the area that morning.  All those in attendance, members and non-members from the community were sent special invitations, parking passes, and were strongly encouraged to carpool to the event.  There were also many members from the local police department to help direct traffic and discourage any protesters that might have felt it necessary to try and disrupt the event.  Fortunately, this was the first Saturday in about three years that the temple site did not have any protesters present and the groundbreaking was a very peaceful and uplifting event.

~A memorable event for J-rod and Zippy.~

The entire event was broadcast via closed-circuit to the 18 stakes that will be within this temple district so that the general membership could view it and feel a part of the special day.  We are SO very excited to have this temple built in our area.  Distance wise it will only be about 12 miles closer to us than the current temple we attend, but since we won't have to drive through downtown to get to it, it will take a lot less time to get there.  

After the groundbreaking services were completed that morning, J-rod and I got a chance to talk to Elder Walker of the Seventy who oversees the building of temples for the Church.  While talking to him he mentioned we'd like to attend a dedication session for the temple in my Dad's hometown of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in December.  Elder Walker said, "well you certainly came to the right person!" and asked that we send him an email when the time got closer and that he would help us get tickets.  Being able to return to Guatemala and attend the dedication of the second temple to be built there, and in my Dad's hometown would be absolutely wonderful!  Stay tuned for a post about December to see how it all turned out.

~Artist rendering.~

Date Night

The second weekend in June (a couple of days after the last day of school for the boys), J-rod and I went on a double-date with some friends to see Les Miserables--another one of my all-time favorite Broadway musicals.  I was first introduced to the music Les Miz when the middle school choir I was a part of spent a lot of time learning and preforming the music. It's been a great many years that I've enjoyed the music and so was very excited to go see it again!  My goal had been to finish reading the 1400+ page book before we went, but I only got about 1/5 of the way through it.  All the historical info and French references I'm unfamiliar with made for really slow reading.  Having seen the musical re-energized me and I hope to get back into reading the book soon.

Pool Fun

The rest of June was packed with swimming, swimming, and more swimming.  We did pepper in some summer movies, play dates, and sleepovers here and there.  When we were not at our town pool or other town pools for practices or meets, we could be found in our pool trying to beat the heat.  This summer there was no such thing as sleeping-in for the kids and I as we had to have Li'l J to the pool for practice by 8:30 am, followed by M's practice at 9:30 am.

~On your marks, get set, GO!~

C-sta took two sessions of swim from an amazing private instructor that had her swimming by the end of her lessons! I spent each Thursday evening cheering my lungs our for the boys at their weekly swim meets, all while trying to avoid heat stroke, ha!  At one of the meets in June Li'l earned his first 2nd place in the butterfly for his age group and his first 1st place in the breast stroke--he is an awesome little fish and I love to watch him swim!

~"I not a fishy Mama, I a Whittle Mer-naid!"~

Family Fun

The day before Father's Day, our HOA hosted a neighborhood wide yard sale (which is to say they paid for the advertisements in all the local papers and encouraged the residents to have individual yard sales).  As it was rather late in the year for a yard sale, it was brutally hot but there was still quite a bit of traffic throughout the morning.  We decided last minute the night before to round-up everything we had put aside to take to the D.I. donation pod that sits in our stake center parking lot, as well as a few last minute entries and the next morning set it all out to see how things would go.  We went out at 6 am to set-up and by 6:30 we had a steady stream of customers...officially the neighborhood wide sales weren't supposed to start until 7 am, but there were some eager beavers out there for sure.  We heard later that there were some neighbors that had customers waiting for them as early as 5:30 am!  

As it turned out, our last minute decision to take part in this HOA activity was pretty profitable not only for us but for our boys too.  Even though they didn't get up as early as we did, with all the traffic our boys decided that this was the day to check-off one of their summer-time goals and put up a lemonade stand.  Too bad those boys didn't get up earlier or they might have made quite a bit more than the $10 they cleared in profit from their efforts!  Guess the heat was helpful in their case.  In the three hours we sat out there baking in the heat, we were able to sell about half of what we set out and then immediately loaded what didn't sell into the truck which J-rod took right over to the donation pod.  All around, our impromptu yard sale was a definitely a success and a step toward continued organization around our house--who-hoo!

~Li'l J, C-sta (in back ground), friends C & E, M.~

Tradition

Father's Day the kids and I made pancakes for J-rod--something we rarely do for him on Sundays as he leaves long before we do so this was a pretty major accomplishment for us.  Then at church the boys sang with the Primary.  After the Primary sang the YW presented all the men in the congregation with baggies of homemade cookies some of the Relief Society sisters had baked.  Once J-rod got home from church, we have him his presents.  What do you think we gave him?  More necessary items for the hiking trip he would leave on the next morning: more dehydrated meals: yum!; a pair of shorts, and LOTS and LOTS of wool hiking socks.  He was a happy man!

~Enjoying Father's Day together.~

Road trip

Bright and early the next morning while the kids and I were getting ready to go to swim practice, J-rod loaded up his truck, strapped on his +40lb. hiking pack (for this trip they had to pack everything in and everything out), posed for picture, and off he went to meet up with the YM, their leaders, and two other wards from our stake.

~Ready for a great adventure!~

Once they were all together, they made their way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where they hiked and camped for a week in the lands of the Havasupai Indian Tribe, enjoyed the beauty of the many water falls there, logged close to 40 miles of hiking, and had some pretty incredible experiences as they had opportunities to serve one another, other scout troops, YM groups, and other campers.

~Photo courtesy of a friend.~

Their third day there, the YM from our ward and stake answered a rather unique and urgent call for help.  A gentleman (they later discovered as an LDS bishop from the San Diego area) had broken his ankle when his foot got lodged between two rocks at one of the waterfalls, four miles from anything.  Many of our boys who were playing shirtless in the river, didn't think twice when the call came to go help and off they went to work.   Since the terrain they were in was rather rough and not suitable for the Medi-vac helicopter to land and the helicopter didn't have a basket big enough that could be lowered & would support the weight of this man, our boys had to hurry and make a stretcher out of rope lashings and sticks to hike this man over and out of the rough terrain to where they could meet the helicopter and then load him into the helicopter.  

~Photos courtesy of the family of the injured gentleman.~

Many of our boys ended up with big sunburn blisters on their backs and shoulders from the experience, but none of them complained and all said they were grateful for the opportunity to help when and where they were needed.  It was neat to hear them share their experiences during Sacrament Meeting and to see how they each had been touched and how each had growth experiences thanks to that week spent at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Back in December 2010 when plans for this hike were first being made, I thought they were all CRAZY to attempt it as only a couple of the leaders are avid hikers.  However now that they've all returned, I'm grateful they were able to go and that they all came back better for having gone.  The week J-rod was gone was just as much about his survival on the trail as it was bout the kids and I surviving without him. We all survived, but were SO happy to have J-rod back at home with us!  The biggest challenge for me while he was gone was at night during the dinner and bedtime routine as I had no one to defer to as I usually do. How do single moms do it 24/7?