Thanks to the help Dad received from Kirsten and Jim (and the paint sprayer), the house has been painted on the front, sides and back of the great room on the outside. Now we just have all the trim on the old part of the house to complete. I keep thinking that I will help but I just haven’t.
We had Erin and Donovin for a visit the last of August. We are having withdrawal pangs now that Erin has started school and doesn’t get to visit anymore. In fact, it will be very quiet around here since all of our summer visitors have gone back to school.
Kirsten and girls were a joy to have visit. We really had a good time. I got to read lots of stories and I like that. Plus, it was good to get to have the girls learn to know us better. Grandpa, as he is with all the grandkids, is the hands down favorite. Whitney learned to ride a two-wheel bike while she was here. She is quite proud of that. Kirsten told her that she learned to ride a bike on the same street that her mother (Kirsten) did. They left on Monday and the house is too quiet. We are used to the sounds of kids and now there aren’t any. What a bummer!
It was fun helping AnnMarie and Rachel and all the siblings, and of course, Brandon out this past couple of weeks. Kirsten, Julie and I took turns going to Provo to do what we could to help, such as fix a few meals (her ward members brought in a lot of food), wash a few clothes, do light housework and drive kids from point A to point
B. Rachel has pretty red hair and fits in with the real redheads: Whitney, Emaree and Donovin (and the other family members who are “just strawberry blondes”).
We had fun at the annual family camp. We watched a video or two (on the little television Kimberly and Shawn gave us) during some unexpected rainstorms and the kids played around camp (as usual). They went on hikes, collected rocks and flowers, and we all ate and ate (as usual). All of the cousins blew bubbles. The little ones rode big wheels. Everyone enjoyed visiting and hiking (and eating, as usual). Jim and Jared tried to listen to the Utah football game on Friday and Jim tried to listen to the BYU game on Saturday. (The Waites went to the game.) The canyon was beautiful and green and, though it was filled to capacity, our campground seemed secluded. There had been a brown bear sighting the day before we arrived so we were a little nervous. Dad thought up a fun activity for the kids for Sunday evening. The parents stood at key locations around a rope. The kids, by age, and one at a time, followed the rope from parent to parent. They had a lot of fun and learned a few things as well.
We missed those who were not there. Alyssa and Brigitta missed their compatriot in camp—Michael. All of us, kids and adults, missed having Grandpa Pitts, the Boltons, the David Trauntveins and the Todd Trauntveins (cousins, Aunts and Uncles) there. We invited Siovhan but she was too busy to come. (She did get to spend a fun day with Auntie Kirsten and girls a few days before camp. They even went to Brick Oven.) We enjoyed having Auntie Helen at camp. She is a lot of fun and brought her red and black licorice to share. Unfortunately, Mary got ill (Roseola) on Saturday so she had to go to the doctor and then had to go home and miss the rest of the camp. She is doing OK now.
Ask Jim how long it takes to blanch and freeze 150 bags of corn. He had himself, Dad, Whitney, Julie and me shucking corn, blanching corn, cutting it off the ears and bagging it. It was quite an accomplishment. We got it done it one day but it took more than two hours. He picked it all and filled the whole trunk and back seat of his car with corn, some in gunny sacks. On another day Julie and I also made apricot jam and, recently, froze peaches for future use.
Dad has been called to another position in the temple. He is now the coordinator over training for the Friday evening shift. It is another two year calling.
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