New Rooms for everyone

Cason has officially moved to Logan, UT and is living at the Factory Apartments. 

We got him all moved in and settled the last week of August.

Cason moving out meant we shifted rooms (again) at home. 

When Kaitlyn moved out, Cason snagged the "big" room but with his moving out the big room was back up for grabs. First dibs went to Jake, but Jake chose to not move so Ty (happily) took the big room and made it all his own.

Jake had been ousted from his room when Kaitlyn came home from her mission, but with school starting (and her stay at home appearing to be longer than initially thought) we shifted her to the bonus room and put Jake back in his own room. 

As of tonight, everyone has a room to themselves and everyone is settled - for now!

{J} XC Night Meet 2021

Jake has been running with the Wilsonville High School XC team all summer in preparation of being on the high school XC team. Tonight was their XC Night Meet (3K) which was Jake's first competition as a high school student and he looked great. 

He got 10:53.08 and took 14th out of 100 runners in the boys freshman race. Good job Jake!!!

I love that Kaitlyn and Grandma & Grandpa Dougall were able to be in the crowd cheering Jake on!

Random Summer Wrap Up

Just a few random photos from this summer....

June 25-26th: Jake and Ty had a ward youth conference this summer. They spent one day at the coast and another day they did service and played games. I have a photo of Ty and Hayden Fish from the coast as well as Ty standing in front of a mural that the youth created.

Aug 14th: Rich and I celebrated our anniversary a week or so late by taking a Willamette River cruise.

Aug 16th: berry picking may be just what the doctor ordered for Kaitlyn

Aug 17th: Rich & Jake's summer date = kayaking

Aug 19th: Rich & Ty's summer date = the Ape Caves

Aug 23rd: Jake used his "ice cream" money to purchase a new road bike

No summer would be complete with a few taste tests...we tested applesauce, fish crackers and peanut butter. I don't remember which ones won :)

{K} many mamas

I love that I have dear friends that love K as her own.

I also love that I have a daughter that loves my friends as backup mamas.

{J} & {T} a return to the temple

On April 6, 1893, President Wilford Woodruff offered the dedicatory prayer for the Salt Lake City Temple.  This portion of the prayer references a time when people could not enter the temple...something we have experienced for over a year now.  

"Heavenly Father, when Thy people shall not have the opportunity of entering this holy house to offer their supplications unto Thee, and they are oppressed and in trouble, surrounded by difficulties or assailed by temptation and shall turn their faces towards this Thy holy house and ask Thee for deliverance, for help, for Thy power to be extended in their behalf, we beseech Thee, to look down from Thy holy habitation in mercy and tender compassion upon them, and listen to their cries.  Or when the children of Thy people, in years to come, shall be separated, through any cause, from this place, and their hearts shall turn in remembrance of Thy promises to this holy Temple, and they shall cry unto Thee from the depths of their affliction and sorrow to extend relief and deliverance to them, we humbly entreat Thee to turn thine ear in mercy to them; hearken to their cries, and grant unto them the blessings for which they ask."

I have always lived within 30 miles of a temple and being able to attend the temple regularly has been something I have taken for granted....until now.  Today J & T were able to go to the Portland Temple to participate in baptisms for the dead.  J had been to the temple once before the COVID shut down but T had never been so today was a very special opportunity to be at the temple together as a family.

Parker and Hayden Fish joined us at the temple as well.

{K} Welcome Home Hermana Dougall

So I guess you could say that Kaitlyn has been transferred again???

The past five weeks have been such a challenge for poor Kaitlyn.  She got so sick the first week of July and kind of got over the worst of that but has continued to have residual stomach issues, namely she has been throwing up every single day, multiple times a day.  She has had multiple doctor visits and so many tests run with no answers.  She has not been able to do the missionary work to the level that she wants to do and has even spent a number of days resting at the mission home.  

Earlier this week her mission president called (we have become good buddies) and he let me know that it was time for Kaitlyn to come home so that we could get to the bottom of her issues.  I have to mention just how much her mission president loves her.  He showered praise about who she is, her abilities, her successes and the light that she is.  He admitted that typical policy is to send a missionary home if they are sick for more than 2-3 weeks but acknowledged that he kept Kaitlyn in hopes that she would get better because he didn't want to lose her.  He also let me know that her coming home for a medical reason will mean that, even if she gets better and can finish her mission, she will not have the option to go to her original assignment in England and that finality weighed on him.

Once President Hendrickson called, the ball got rolling very quickly and we were given Kaitlyn's flight information with about one day's notice.  We didn't get to create the "welcome home" experience that we would have liked to but I got my girl back and I'm so glad to have her home so we can work toward getting her healthy and strong.

Welcome home sweet KK!!!

It's time for a facelift

A facelift for the house - not for me!

After doing so many updates and remodels inside the house, this was the summer to tackle the outside.

First step was to get rid of the round roman columns and to replace them with something squared off...

Then we updated the paint...which I love!

Lastly we added new light fixtures and a more modern house number... 

It feels great to be done...minus the roof that is on the list for next summer.

{UT} Hill Air Force Base Museum

Ty loves airplanes and he knows a lot about airplanes. But I had no idea how much he loved airplanes or how much he knows about airplanes until we visited the Hill Air Force Base Museum in Utah. He was telling me what the name of each airplane was (and he was right) and he knew all kinds of facts about what made the planes unique or what they were used for. I was blown away!

Such a fun visit to the museum and we love that Boppa and Diyah were able to join us.

{K} Missionary and Mom Meet up

I've had lots of contact with K's mission president and the mission nurse regarding Kaitlyn's health as of late.  I asked if I could drop something by the mission office while I was in the area and, instead, was invited to drop it off with Kaitlyn directly.

Seeing this girl and getting this hug at K's halfway point of her mission did this mama (and this missionary) good!

The Newlywed Game

We had so much fun playing the NEWLYWED GAME with my parents as part of their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.... they did a pretty darn good job and what they didn't get a match on usually gave the rest of us a good chuckle :)

MOM         Where did you go on your first date?

 

DAD            Where was your first kiss?

 

MOM         Whose parents did you tell first when you decided to get married?

 

DAD            How long had you been dating before you decided to get married?

 

MOM         Where was the wedding breakfast held?

 

DAD            What flavor was your wedding cake?

 

MOM         Who caught the bridal bouquet at the reception?

 

DAD            What song is considered “your song”?

 

MOM          What was the first movie the two of you watched together?

 

DAD            What was the first meal that mom cooked for you?

 

MOM         What kind of car did dad own when you got married?

 

DAD            If mom were in charge of the remote but had to watch sports, what sport would she choose?

 

MOM         What is the title of the last book that dad read?

 

DAD            What is mom’s favorite movie of all time?

 

MOM         What is dad’s best trait?

 

DAD            What is mom’s best trait?