Sunday August 9, 2015

Hello Cass! I hope you've survived your week there. I looked at your weather a couple of times and it looks like it was really HOT this week! I'm sorry for your no air conditioning. You'll be forever grateful for that when you get home! And you'll probably never think our house is cold in the summer again:)

I cannot believe you and Sister Medley are together and staying again! You two must have some important work to finish up there in Gera! Maybe with the Meckels? Maybe they'll have some more pets that need spiritual messages!!! Ha! That was hilarious!!! I didn't put that on the blog, but I forwarded it to my family, all of whom were dying over it!

You didn't have much time last week, but you didn't say why? Dad says you sound like a missionary that's been out for a while now! I think your letters are still wonderful and are the best I've seen from any missionary! Keep it up!

About our week here...

Monday Colten flew to Vegas. It rained all night Sunday and most of Monday. The weather combined with the fact that they're doing MORE big construction on the freeway meant it was going to take us forever to get to the airport. We ended up using Google Maps, taking a few alternate routes and saved ourselves 45 minutes, got Colt to the airport with plenty of time and it was stressful. He did just fine. He didn't feel like he needed me to go in with him, or do anything so he was pretty much on his own. He picked up his own luggage and met Brittney outside the airport in Vegas. I'll let him tell you about his week but it sounds like he had a great time.

I had our girls & Lexi with us and after we dropped Colt off we went to Temple Square. We did the Beehive house tour (Brigham Young's house) and the Conference Center tour. There were lots of non member people on the square. We asked our tour guide at the conference center and she said in July they had people from 26 different countries tour there! Anyway - we had fun and parking is terrible up there.

Tuesday and Wednesday were school shopping days with the girls. Separately of course. River was all sorts of opinionated and wouldn't let me in the dressing room with her, didn't like me to ask questions and she asked me to stay in one spot while she looked for her school supplies. So basically I was there to pay for things. She chose Red Lobster for lunch. Hadlie was actually more fun. We mostly looked around a lot. She needed boring things like socks, underwear, pe shorts, etc. and just a few regular clothes. She's discovered the beauty of the Forever 21 $7.90 skinny jean. She saved some of her money for our weekend of the Taylor Swift concert coming up with the Johnson's. She chose the Waffle Luv store for lunch.

Thursday we helped at the horses, River had gymnastics and then I went grocery shopping. Grocery shopping particularly in the summer is a big pain. Trapnell Orthodontists had their 7 Peaks party that night. Dad and Hadlie went to that. River started her period that day so I stayed home with her.

Friday we went to Lagoon with Dad's work! We really missed you and Colten. We had a lot of fun though. There's a new big ride there called Canibal. It looks VERY scary. The line for it never got to be under about an hour and a half so we didn't go on it. We brought ponchos for the River ride plus it was a little rainy again that day so we had them in case of that. We all stayed relatively dry on the rapids ride but then we went on the log ride and I got soaked. Dang it. At about 7:00 we were finishing up dinner and the girls were making their plans for the night (Dad was more than ready to go home. He gets so sick on the rides now) and there was a huge storm that came in really fast. All of sudden there was lightning, big wind blowing tree branches off, one of the carnival game places lost all its balloons so there was balloons flying everywhere, and dirt hitting our faces. We made a run for it and it was pretty chaotic getting out of there. The drive home was pretty crazy. Then Colten got here about 9:30pm and it started raining here and rained all night. That's a wet beginning to August!

Yesterday we spent getting ready for the ranch, helping at the horses (I look and smell like a regular ranch hand these days), and we went to the Farmer's Market! Yay for the Farmer's market! So this is our last week of summer and we're all excited about the ranch. Except for Hadlie woke up last night with a fever and diarrhea so hopefully that ends today! And Bryton had a crash on his bike and broke his collarbone on Friday! Pretty terrible! He can't have any bouncing movement so no 4 wheeler, horse, etc. Sad! And Marlee's trying out for volleyball and might not come at all. Maycee is coming up today to Utah with some friends and will go to the ranch with Grammy and Papa. Tyler has to work Monday and Tuesday so the rest of them will come on Wednesday. So as our family grows up it's getting harder and harder to plan a time that works for everyone.

Well - I'll send some pictures now - not super exciting ones but a couple. I hope you have a great week and survive the heat. It looks like it may be a bit better this week. I love you so much!

Love - Mom