Saturday, July 29, 2017

Their Home!

After serving as President and Sister Mendenhall for three years in the Denver Colorado North Mission. It's been a whirlwind for them the last few weeks prepping for their departure. It's crazy that its been three years. It's gone by fast but yet slow all at the same time. 

This was their last mission picture with their missionaries. 

With so much happening with our move, I wasn't able to be there for their homecoming to Utah. My nephew had his baptism that weekend so they made their first stop in Spanish Fork before making their way up to Rexburg, Idaho.
I was truly sad to be missing it 










After spending the weekend in Utah, They made their way home to Idaho. We were all anticipating their arrival since they haven't seen their house of 20 years for the past three. 
It was so great to get this picture! 

I am an extremely proud daughter. My parents are special. They just are. They always have been. And I know you think I'm just saying that because I'm their daughter, but truly ask anyone. They have a spirit, a presence about them that makes you draw closer to them. I wish I had that. I'm grateful for their example to me, to my family and to those around them. So much hard work was put in these past few years, work that I could never understand, and I have seen the change it has made in both of them. A good change. I love them. I'm grateful for them and so glad I'm their daughter. 
It's incredibly good to have them home! More to come on their real homecoming later. 




Thursday, July 27, 2017

June Randoms

I'm trying so hard to play catch up with all the blog posts! It has already been a crazy summer and it won't be slowing down anytime soon!

June's Randoms 

June loves doing yoga with me. She is all about it and I love how she tells me to take a picture of her latest yoga pose. 

With moving soon, we have slowly been putting away toys (or throwing them away without them knowing ;) ) so we have been playing a lot with glow sticks. Mostly in the bathroom. 

These little beads are so fun for the kids to play with but they are the worst little things to clean up! I truly hate them, but my kids love them so it's worth the bit of hassle. 

We have been furniture shopping like maniacs since we are replacing 90% of our furniture in the new house. It meant that the kids tagged along some times and it was never a dull moment. Especially in the bed section. They were loving the beds! What kid wouldn't!


June had her end of year dance recital "Into the Woods" Their dance number was a cute number of "Little Red Riding Hood." June did great! 

Miss Lisa was such a great teacher. June learned a lot from her this year. 





After her dance recital we went to her favorite restaurant, Benihanas. 

I love checking in on these kiddos during rest time. We have been working on having very much a lone time where the kids can just quietly play. It allows them to be bored, to think on their own and create the most imaginative things I've seen. It's been so great. Don't get me wrong, we still watch movies and play on iPads but we have been enjoying the quiet time as well. 


Kate's hair is getting so curly. June or Owen have no curl so it's so fun having this blond curly hair. 

One of my yoga challenges required a trip-pod headstand. Dan has been getting so good at his headstands lately so I included him on the challenge. 

Father and son outing. There is nothing Owen loves more than a giant pretzel. 

Lots of swim time 





Lunch with daddy one day at Chick Fil A. Kate was a hoarder with the ketchup. She wouldn't let go of any of the packets. 

June and I one day during naps taking selfies. 

Out running one morning and there were so much wildlife out. There was a mama duck with her ducklings. They were so cute. 

Our friends threw us a going away pool party. Though we haven't moved very far we won't be seeing them on a regular basis. It was a fun little "See ya Later". 

My friend Jenna taking care of both our Kate's. 

June was learning how to tie a tie and after she put it on and said "Take a picture, I'm daddy!" What a goober! 

My personal biker gang

On our summer list of things to do, building a fort and having a slumber party was the thing to do! That fort ended up staying for like a month. Owen loved having it in his room and slept in it every night. 

Early morning time, Owen loves coming and crawling into bed with us. He always ends up falling asleep again. I don't mind because he is such a snuggler. 

The buyers of our home had some major set backs and we pushed off closing for almost a month. At one point we thought the sale was going to fall through. Thankfully everything worked out but it was a lot of stress and worry. They gave us flowers one day to say thank you for dealing with all the hassle. It was a nice gesture and I love having fresh flowers in the house. So it all worked out. 

Random marble play 

It's no secret that yoga has taken over at our house. Kids included. I love that every time I say "Yoga Pose" to Kate she drops and gives me a pose. It's so adorable. This particular day she got real creative with her no hands. 

We took advantage of having the pool as much as we could before we moved. We had playdates constantly with friends. 

Our sweet babysitter Mikeala. We had her babysit one last time before we moved. June adored her and she truly was the perfect example of what all babysitters should be like. She cleaned and did the most fun crafts and tastiest treats with the kids. She just got her drivers license and even said she would be willing to make the drive every once in a while out to Roanoke to babysit. So we may be seeing her again. June would die over that! 

Little Kate not wanting to partake in any church responsibilities. The hall was a pretty regular place until we started nursery. 

The Sunday before I flew home I was released as the Primary President of the Carrollton 4th ward. Definitely bitter sweet feelings. I loved being with the kids, especially my own, and learning so much but it was a lot of work and responsibility, so it feels good to have  a breather. It was a fun calling in the end! 

Owen was beside himself with excitement that the ducks were in our front yard just hanging out. We tried to see how close we could get. 

Splash park days with friends 


I love summer. Well really I love every season. It's all about embracing it, not just enduring it. And summer is one of those seasons that you just have to embrace and enjoy it for what it is. Hot! Haha which means constant swimming, which means constant tired kids and lots of naps!

More playdates with friends 

June created the Ocean one day with play dough. She really wanted to show Dan before we cleaned up so we took a picture to send it to him. 

More yoga work 

We made homemade slime and it was actually really easy and fun. The kids loved it and it wasn't super messy. 

Living the life of floaties and popsicles 

My friend sent me this picture after church one day. Owen and Max are good little buddies. Really Owen's first real friend at this age. It was sad to say goodbye to him.They were always so rough and tumble with each other and exactly the perfect pair. 

End of June Randoms. June seems like a blur. Summer so far seems like a blur. Slow down already.