Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Celebrate!

Whew! Whew! (Note the double whew.)The last two weeks have been a wonderful blur! Family, wedding, family, wedding, a bit of Young Women, playtime with Ty, getting the house ready for all the festivities, etc... I'm finally starting to surface before jumping into the balance of this summer's activities which include Stake Young Women Camp and the Stake Youth Conference Trek within a week of each other.

Brief rundown:
July 14 Grandpa Miller arrives after his roadtrip from Texas to our home
July 15
July 16 Michael, Carynn, Jamie and Grandpa Miller bike the Hiawatha trail. Ty and I have lots of fun! Stake Pre-camp activity 7:00 PM that night.
July 17 Carynn and Jamie go to Silverwood. Michael, Grandpa Miller and I have Ty for the day. We had lots more fun. Ty loves playing in the water!
July 18 Michael, his dad, Carynn and Jamie float the Spokane River. They had quite an adventure! Ty and I had lots of fun too!
July 19 Church today.
July 20 Melinda comes to finish packing up her room. She, Carynn and I move the piano out of the rec. room. (Three determined women can accomplish alot--that and using physics principles.)
July 21 My brother Grady's flight gets in from Colorado; My mother, sister Erin and niece Taurie drive in from Selah, WA; my sister Karra and two of her children arrive. Karra finishes up wedding jewelry. Thanks Sis!
July 22 Karra's son Issac arrives in the evening. Melinda goes to the temple. It was wonderful to be there with her and to also have many of the people who care about her in attendance as well.
July 23 Family movie time-Most opt for Harry Potter; we have one for Transformers and two for Up. It was nice to take a break from everything and relax for a few hours. Post movie it was time for a major Costco run (thanks Erin and Taurie for helping!)Karra's husband Carl arrives.
July 24 I finally finished the table runners for the reception. I go with Joann and Margaret to get flowers for the wedding reception. Sun Rentals drops off tables, chairs, linens. Paul Halversen (our Home teacher from church) stops by to help with set-up. Bret and Laura drive in from Utah; Lynette, boyfriend Sam and dog Sammy drive in from Seattle. Barbecue by Fisk's this evening.
July 25 Early Saturday-the marriage and temple sealing for Melinda and Landan was beautiful! Florist (Sabrina) delivers wedding bouquet, etc. to temple. Photographer Marianne and her assistant Mike take loads of pictures of Melinda, Landan and everyone else at temple grounds. It is VERY warm outside. We all disperse. I stay to help Melinda get out of the wedding dress and into her regular clothes. Melinda and Landan take off and are given assignment to be back to our home by 4:00 PM so they can get ready for pictures.
The rest of us crank it up into high gear for the reception. EVERYONE pitches in to help. I'm rushing around trying to finish last-minute things. Thanks to my family for sharing and caring!
Melinda and Landan are a bit late getting here. Photographer is on time. Carynn and Lynette get Melinda ready for pictures. I'm rushing around still. Lynette makes me take some time so that she can do my make-up. I throw on clothes. Time for family pictures. 5:30 PM the first shift of friend helpers arrive. (We have two shifts.) Family and friends are wonderful! Watch next post for more reception details.

Monday, July 13, 2009

At the Lake Parts 2 and 3

At the Lake Part 2 (July 3 and 4)

Ty LOVES riding in the golf cart round and round our neighborhood at the lake. He lives to drive down to the "Water" which is what he calls the lake and then back up to the cabin again. He LOVES playing in the sand on the beach there. He is a bit more tentative when it comes to actually being IN the lake. To me it seems like he views his sit-in floatie a bit suspiciously. I can almost hear him thinking/asking, "You want me to get in that and do what?" I think it's because lake water is not as warm as pool water...just a theory. He can get a bit concerned when he sees his mama, daddy, papa, etc. actually swimming. He's not quite sure how that works yet. But I know he'll figure it out.

At the Lake Part 3 (July 10, 11, 12)
We took the boat out of the garage and put it into the boat slip. Carynn and Ty had come up with us and Jamie drove up after work. Carynn got Ty all cinched up in his bright orange life jacket and we were off on our first lake cruise of the season. Ty wasn't sure that he liked or even wanted to be part of the cruise at first. I think the rumbling of the boat engine and the feel of riding on the boat was something he couldn't find a reference in his current experiences (he doesn't remember last year it seems) so at the beginning he was holding on tight to his mom.

To help "lighten the mood, I would call out "Weeee!" so he would know that going on the boat was a good time. Carynn did this as well and every now and then Michael pitched in with his own "Weeee!" Talk about the power of positive thinking....for whatever reason it worked! Ty loosened up and actually began to enjoy the ride.

I think he still prefers golf cart rides to boat rides, but he's definitely making progress!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Traveling Ty

Last Monday Carynn and Ty followed my sister up to her place north of Omak. Karra (my sister) had been at our home the previous weekend to participate in Melinda's bridal shower. Since Jamie had Scout camp last week, and Karra had a major project she wanted help with, Carynn and Ty decided it was time for a road trip. Since Jamie had the big car with the DVD player, Carynn borrowed my portable DVD player to help Ty pass the time. One of my sister's children also rode with them. All went well on the trip up. Carynn worked hard to help my sister achieve her goal of reorganizing her craft room. What a difference! (They sent me pictures via phone to keep me updated.) The Dynamic Duo of Carynn and Ty started their trip home on Thursday, the 25th. We invited them to stop by the cabin to visit us and break up their trip. They thought that was a great idea (Jamie was still at Scout camp) and made the 3 hour drive in good time considering it was just the two of them. (Thank goodness for portable electronics!)I really needed a Ty fix so I was glad they could. Papa was too.

Ty loves riding in the golf cart that we keep at the cabin. As soon as he could, he made his way to the garage and climbed in and waited. He eventually got his ride. Or I should say rides. He played a bit on the beach with Papa, and even got wet, but the water was a bit brisk.

The four of us had a relatively quiet night as we were all tired from our various adventures. Traveling Ty went down for the night at a good time and the rest us stayed up a while longer but were very low key. It's so relaxing just to be at the cabin.

Early the next afternoon it was time to head for home. Traveling Ty and his mom left just before I did. Michael had left an hour and a half earlier as he was riding his bike part way home. All arrived home safely.

More travels to come!
NS