We Do the Zoo

Our Tessa turned 8 at the beginning of July, and she was willing to wait an extra month for her baptism so that both sets of grandparents could come for the occasion.  So, our last week before school began was packed full of awesomeness.

First of all, on Monday I had an open house for my new preschool students and my new assistant.  I had debated about teaching again, since Benson was now going to school, but I realized that I'd probably be looking for a small source of income during school, and I already had a pretty good thing going, so I started my trial year without my own kids.  My assistant was also new--a homeschooling 17 year old.  I was a bit nervous about her, but she's the oldest of 8 kids and has a good instinct of where help is needed.  So, with the open house, we needed to finally get all of the downstairs cleaned up--and also because company was soon arriving.  BIG job, but we got most of it done.   That night was also the first night of Meet the Teacher at the school where I was the new treasurer, and since we had a table selling spirit wear and memberships, I had to be there to manage the money.

Tuesday involved cleaning the upstairs.  That evening was Gracie's Meet the Teacher, and since she was at a new school, it was important to go and get oriented.  Then Ben and I left and celebrated our 17th anniversary at a yummy restaurant in Dallas.  I had an amazing Chinese chicken salad and Ben had a sashimi salad (raw fish--he loved it!) and we had a banana cream pie that wasn't even on the menu because Ben is so friendly to everyone, including wait staff, and they tell him about stuff like that.  Then we headed to the airport where we picked up his parents who had just arrived.

On Wednesday, Scott had a split schedule for band camp, so after his early morning session, we packed up and headed to the zoo!  We don't let the fact that it was hovering near 100 degrees stop our fun.  We did have to leave Ben behind so he could work, but we were happy to have his parents join us!

It was fun and hot.  We stopped at Bahama Bucks on the way home for a needed cold treat, which turned our tongues many colors.

Scott had to get back for his next band camp session and Caytie and I went to the second night of Meet the Teacher at her school (she got her schedule and learned the new [for her] school, and I got to be at the PTA table again).

This fun week was only halfway done!

What's He Doing?

(Scott didn't say I couldn't post this picture, because I didn't ask him.)

(I didn't get a picture of later in the week when I taught my two older girls how to shave their legs.)

(I actually really love to see my kids growing and learning and doing.)

Ben is going to be Famous!

Ben put the video I made of the hailstorm on YouTube, and he had some interesting responses to it.  Some people tried to buy the rights to it, but we didn't do that.  One contact was from a film company who was making a documentary on dangerous weather.  Every couple months they'd reach out to Ben to hear more of the story, first through email, then through phone, then Skype, and finally they sent a film crew to get an interview.  So we cleaned the whole house on the day they were to come (not a small task in the summer)--and they didn't make it beyond the first room, because they could control the light the best in there.  It turns out that they are contracted by the BBC, who was making "The World's Wildest Weather," which will be shown in Australia and New Zealand.  We won't get any compensation from it, but they said they'd get us a copy when it's done. 

The interview was only of Ben, and the rest of us were supposed to be silent.  (We did our best upstairs.)  I snuck a couple pictures of the process...

(A close up of his hands)

It was interesting to be involved, and we're interested to see the final product (and anxiously await the acting offers to come rolling in!)

What Ben Did while We were Gone

A Trip to Kansas, for the Very Best Reason

When I heard that my nephew Kevin and his fiancée Kirsten chose to get married in Kansas City, I was so excited, because it's only an 8 1/2 hour drive away from us!  With work commitments for Ben and band camp for Scott, it turned into a Mom Emma Gracie Caytie Tessa Benson trip.

I've never been a Kansas fan, since driving through it on my way to and from BYU, but Google Maps told me how to get there avoiding the toll roads, which added only 25 minutes to the trip, and I have to say, Kansas redeemed itself.  We had a beautiful, uneventful drive north to Olathe and used the last of our hotel points we had earned from the hail storm hotel stay and went to bed.

The next morning (Friday) we found our way to the Kansas City Temple.  The traffic was not bad, but the roads are hard to follow!  Thank goodness for Google Maps.

I left my phone with the kids who waited outside while I went in for the ceremony.  (Yes, I forgot my recommend!  Yes, they can now look that information up online, and I was allowed to enter!)  Here are the pictures they took:

Here are the cousins that were there:

My dad performed their sealing.  I'm so thankful for eternal families--and eternal perspectives.

Kevin and Kirsty!

After the ceremony and pictures and before the luncheon, most of us went one town over to Liberty, MO to see the Liberty Jail Visitor's Center.  I had been here during an EFY trip when I was 18, but I remembered it differently.  The jail is a replica, but it is in the same spot, on the original foundation (I believe...).

Looking down at the basement where the jail cell was, while being taught by the tour guide:

It helped us to know how difficult this trial would have been for Joseph Smith and those with him.

After Liberty, we had a yummy luncheon at a golf club back on the Kansas side, which we arrived to late because I entered the address wrong on my phone.  Then we went back to the hotel with Joe and Rachel and Hannah for a swim in the pool, and I got lost after picking up my phone to check the map and somehow adding an additional destination to our route.  (Sometimes phone maps are not as great as they seem...)

Then we went back to the golf club for the reception, and I made it without getting lost!  My kids were thrilled to eat gelato, crackers, cheese, and Bundtinis for dinner.  But they were most excited about the dancing!

Then we headed to the hotel and I only got lost once after thinking I knew where I was when I didn't.

  (How did I make it through this beautiful day with no pictures with my sister Jenny?  It was so good to visit with her for that short time.)

The next day we joined up with my parents in Independence, MO to see the Visitor's Center there.  We learned more about the turbulent times that were a refiner's fire for the early Saints.

We went over to see the Temple Site, and then the plan was to drive up to see Adam-ondi-Ahman, but as you can see in the picture, the weather was suddenly pretty cold--in the 60's in August!--and we weren't dressed for being outside long.  So we went with my parents to a little diner for lunch, and then they left us to head home, and we left to head back to the hotel.  I only had to turn around twice after missing the roads the map told me to take...

After getting back into Kansas, we found a little restaurant by our hotel that a friend had told me to go to called Fritz's.  They deliver the food by trains that run along tracks above the tables!  So we had to get some dessert to try it out.  Unfortunately, we learned after our food was brought by a waiter that they don't deliver the desserts by train.  Boo.  But we enjoyed our desserts and watching the trains deliver food to the OTHER tables.

(The trains carried the food on a tray below the track, and when it reached the right table, a lever would pop up to push the food onto another tray while the train kept going.  Then the second tray would lower down to the table and you could retrieve the food.)

On Sunday morning, we ate at the hotel, checked out, and found the local ward, where we attended Sacrament Meeting.  Then we headed out for our journey home, which was again thankfully uneventful (with not one wrong turn!).  We were ready to be home with our missing boys!  (And I was ready to be done travelling for the summer.)

Summer Lessons

Ben learned how to change break pads this summer.

I learned how to fit a week and a half's worth of laundry for eight people on my bed.

Adulting is fun!