Dear Family,
Wow, what a busy summer we are having! I can't believe I survived the month of June, and after I'm done writing in this Lingo you will all know why. We started out with our first born son Casey graduating from Brighton High School. What a mile-stone! Yes, I cried through most of it, probably because I was writing a letter to him at the same time, wondering how 18 years had gone by so fast. We are very proud of him, and are relieved to be done harassing him about homework for awhile. Thank you to all who were able to join us after the ceremonies at Bucca De Beppo's for a really great celebration dinner. I can't believe he is 18 and ready to start a new chapter in his life. He is registered to start SLCC for Fall semester (which actually starts Aug.22nd), but is thinking about possibly spending some time out of the country doing volunteer work before getting back into the school routine. We are checking out an organization called OSSO that takes volunteers to Ecuador to work in the orphanages, but are looking into others as well. If any of you have insight or experience in this please let us know. Currently, he is working part time at Appleby's and enjoying his summer just playing. He always tells us it's his LAST summer to play.
Mitch, Alyssa and Travis started their first two weeks of summer off with swimming lessons, and Alyssa was involved in a community musical play called "The Tortoise and the Hare" right after school ended. She had 3 hour practices a day, so there was no time for summer boredom to kick in. Lucy was in town with Kristen on the day she performed it at the Midvale Performing Arts Center, so that was a lot of fun. She brought two of Wendy's kids: Emilee and Alexander to support her as well. She had a solo, and it sounded sooo good. Very proud of Alyssa. The very next day, she was involved in two dance recitals. One for her musical dance theater class, and one for her hip-hop class. I know, I know....what was I thinking....glad to really be having a summer break now :)
As many of you know, during all of this, John's dad passed away. We have been living with him in his home in Holladay for the past two and a half years. He was 88 years old, but still very independent until a couple of days before his passing. He had just gotten a lot weaker, and John had to help him in and out of bed and with his daily cares. He checked in with him after work on the night of the 13th and told him he was going outside to work in the yard, but to call him when he was ready to get up again. He hadn't heard from him for awhile, and when he went back in to check on him he had passed away in his sleep. It was unexpected, but the family and especially John's mom have been at peace with it, especially knowing that he hadn't been suffering or in pain. It's the way we would all want to die if we could choose right? All of John's siblings were able to come into town in the days following, and everyone just kicked into high gear deep cleaning the house, and fixing up the yard. This included painting the bridge and gazebo, planting, and more planting, window washing, power washing, bringing in wood chips, taking a couple of trips to the dump, etc. One thing John's family knows how to do is work. It was a little overwhelming for John at first because he didn't feel like he had any control overseeing the projects going on around him that week, but it got better as the situation wasn't so ramped up by emotions during the week. I don't know, I think when you have a death in the family emotions eventually come out to an all time high that is hard to explain. It's stressful even when you don't think you are stressed. However, John's family feel it is a blessing that A.L passed away before their sweet mom Mary because now she can enjoy spending their money that he wouldn't let her have before and be able to spend it anyway she wants to know. She deserves it! First thing on the agenda is to fix up the house and remodel so she can move back in. John's dad didn't want a funeral, so the family decided to just have a little memorial service for him which took place a about a week and a half later in the front yard. It was nice, and luckily fairly short since it was so blazing hot outside. It was the 24th, which also happened to be Mitch's birthday. Luckily, he was able to celebrate the next day at Lagoon all day with his friend Britton.
So again, amongst all that was going in our life, we closed on our property on the 22nd. It is finally sold. It has been bitter sweet giving up such a nice piece of property that has been in our family for so long, but the time had come, and was a long time coming. It is time for us to move onward in our lives. Looking back on our situation, it is good that we have been able to stay at John's parents for so long. His mom always felt better knowing we were there with him, and now the timing of our finally being able to look for a house is here coinciding with his dad's passing and isn't so coincidental for us now. We have been doing a lot of looking over the past couple of weeks, but so far nothing that we love, so here's hoping for "the one" to show up soon.
(Oh and the month of June isn't over yet), on the morning of the 27th Mitch and I left for Pioneer Trek with the Big Cottonwood Stake. When I learned six months ago that Mitch was going to be able to do this, I volunteered to be on the medical team. I'm glad I did because it was me, a doctor, and an EMT in charge of the health and well-being of 240 participants. I was a total stress case before going and felt overwhelmed by the weight of my responsibility. However, after getting a blessing by the bishop, and having John's undivided attention for two days prior to going where he could help me prepare, I felt a lot better. I had heard the "war" stories from co-workers who had gone before me, and was worried about having to start IV's on kids that would be dropping like flies on the trail. Luckily nothing like that happened on our trek. Everyone was well prepared, and we kept the kids, leaders, and each other hydrated. It was a really good experience for Mitch and myself. We rode on air-conditioned buses for six hours up to Independence Rock Wyoming, and then back tracked to Martin's Cove where we got our handcarts and trekked on the actual trails that the pioneers had trekked on. It really made me appreciate the sacrifices the pioneers made. Wyoming was extremely hot and windy. I brought a large squirt bottle full of cold water which was a life saver as I walked up and down the trail cooling everyone off. We walked about three miles the first day, seven the next. On the second day after trekking, we got back on the buses and drove an hour to the Willie Center Sixth crossing. We had a great food committee, and luckily didn't have to eat like the pioneers did. The kids had fun square dancing, and dipping candles, making leather bracelets and scones, etc. On the last day we trekked for ten miles where we had the experience of the women's pull, and the first river crossing where they had four young men re-enacting the time when they helped all of the families across the icy river and then ended up dying from exposure. We listened to many heroic and spiritual pioneer stories. On the last river crossing, we all played and cooled off in the water, and were dry again by the time we reached camp. The day ended with a Pony Express rider delivering the kids a letter from home, and more stories around the campfire. It was a great experience. As far as medical issues, we treated a lot of blisters, a few bloody noses, upset stomachs, a handful of sunburns, a couple of rashes and some heat exhaustion- treatable without having to start an IV. Nothing major at all. We felt very fortunate. Thank goodness for leaders and kids who were prepared. I can’t believe I'm saying this, but I would actually do it again.
Right after Trek, Mitch spent a week up at Camp Steiner for scout camp and had a great time. It was John's favorite place as a kid, and he was able to join him for a couple of days. Alyssa and Travis just got done with Gymnastics camp and they all have been having awesome cousin time with Isaiah and Riley for the last week and a half. Thanks Priscilla for bringing them up to visit us. They loved going to the Rec. center to swim, and to the Children's museum.....good times!
Welcome home Marcus, it was good to see you at your open house, and to visit with extended family again.
Looking forward to your letters and to Miles' debut next month! Can't wait to see him.
Also looking forward to a much calmer rest of the summer, and maybe next time we'll have some good news about a new house.
Love,
Emily and Family
Wow, what a busy summer we are having! I can't believe I survived the month of June, and after I'm done writing in this Lingo you will all know why. We started out with our first born son Casey graduating from Brighton High School. What a mile-stone! Yes, I cried through most of it, probably because I was writing a letter to him at the same time, wondering how 18 years had gone by so fast. We are very proud of him, and are relieved to be done harassing him about homework for awhile. Thank you to all who were able to join us after the ceremonies at Bucca De Beppo's for a really great celebration dinner. I can't believe he is 18 and ready to start a new chapter in his life. He is registered to start SLCC for Fall semester (which actually starts Aug.22nd), but is thinking about possibly spending some time out of the country doing volunteer work before getting back into the school routine. We are checking out an organization called OSSO that takes volunteers to Ecuador to work in the orphanages, but are looking into others as well. If any of you have insight or experience in this please let us know. Currently, he is working part time at Appleby's and enjoying his summer just playing. He always tells us it's his LAST summer to play.
Mitch, Alyssa and Travis started their first two weeks of summer off with swimming lessons, and Alyssa was involved in a community musical play called "The Tortoise and the Hare" right after school ended. She had 3 hour practices a day, so there was no time for summer boredom to kick in. Lucy was in town with Kristen on the day she performed it at the Midvale Performing Arts Center, so that was a lot of fun. She brought two of Wendy's kids: Emilee and Alexander to support her as well. She had a solo, and it sounded sooo good. Very proud of Alyssa. The very next day, she was involved in two dance recitals. One for her musical dance theater class, and one for her hip-hop class. I know, I know....what was I thinking....glad to really be having a summer break now :)
As many of you know, during all of this, John's dad passed away. We have been living with him in his home in Holladay for the past two and a half years. He was 88 years old, but still very independent until a couple of days before his passing. He had just gotten a lot weaker, and John had to help him in and out of bed and with his daily cares. He checked in with him after work on the night of the 13th and told him he was going outside to work in the yard, but to call him when he was ready to get up again. He hadn't heard from him for awhile, and when he went back in to check on him he had passed away in his sleep. It was unexpected, but the family and especially John's mom have been at peace with it, especially knowing that he hadn't been suffering or in pain. It's the way we would all want to die if we could choose right? All of John's siblings were able to come into town in the days following, and everyone just kicked into high gear deep cleaning the house, and fixing up the yard. This included painting the bridge and gazebo, planting, and more planting, window washing, power washing, bringing in wood chips, taking a couple of trips to the dump, etc. One thing John's family knows how to do is work. It was a little overwhelming for John at first because he didn't feel like he had any control overseeing the projects going on around him that week, but it got better as the situation wasn't so ramped up by emotions during the week. I don't know, I think when you have a death in the family emotions eventually come out to an all time high that is hard to explain. It's stressful even when you don't think you are stressed. However, John's family feel it is a blessing that A.L passed away before their sweet mom Mary because now she can enjoy spending their money that he wouldn't let her have before and be able to spend it anyway she wants to know. She deserves it! First thing on the agenda is to fix up the house and remodel so she can move back in. John's dad didn't want a funeral, so the family decided to just have a little memorial service for him which took place a about a week and a half later in the front yard. It was nice, and luckily fairly short since it was so blazing hot outside. It was the 24th, which also happened to be Mitch's birthday. Luckily, he was able to celebrate the next day at Lagoon all day with his friend Britton.
So again, amongst all that was going in our life, we closed on our property on the 22nd. It is finally sold. It has been bitter sweet giving up such a nice piece of property that has been in our family for so long, but the time had come, and was a long time coming. It is time for us to move onward in our lives. Looking back on our situation, it is good that we have been able to stay at John's parents for so long. His mom always felt better knowing we were there with him, and now the timing of our finally being able to look for a house is here coinciding with his dad's passing and isn't so coincidental for us now. We have been doing a lot of looking over the past couple of weeks, but so far nothing that we love, so here's hoping for "the one" to show up soon.
(Oh and the month of June isn't over yet), on the morning of the 27th Mitch and I left for Pioneer Trek with the Big Cottonwood Stake. When I learned six months ago that Mitch was going to be able to do this, I volunteered to be on the medical team. I'm glad I did because it was me, a doctor, and an EMT in charge of the health and well-being of 240 participants. I was a total stress case before going and felt overwhelmed by the weight of my responsibility. However, after getting a blessing by the bishop, and having John's undivided attention for two days prior to going where he could help me prepare, I felt a lot better. I had heard the "war" stories from co-workers who had gone before me, and was worried about having to start IV's on kids that would be dropping like flies on the trail. Luckily nothing like that happened on our trek. Everyone was well prepared, and we kept the kids, leaders, and each other hydrated. It was a really good experience for Mitch and myself. We rode on air-conditioned buses for six hours up to Independence Rock Wyoming, and then back tracked to Martin's Cove where we got our handcarts and trekked on the actual trails that the pioneers had trekked on. It really made me appreciate the sacrifices the pioneers made. Wyoming was extremely hot and windy. I brought a large squirt bottle full of cold water which was a life saver as I walked up and down the trail cooling everyone off. We walked about three miles the first day, seven the next. On the second day after trekking, we got back on the buses and drove an hour to the Willie Center Sixth crossing. We had a great food committee, and luckily didn't have to eat like the pioneers did. The kids had fun square dancing, and dipping candles, making leather bracelets and scones, etc. On the last day we trekked for ten miles where we had the experience of the women's pull, and the first river crossing where they had four young men re-enacting the time when they helped all of the families across the icy river and then ended up dying from exposure. We listened to many heroic and spiritual pioneer stories. On the last river crossing, we all played and cooled off in the water, and were dry again by the time we reached camp. The day ended with a Pony Express rider delivering the kids a letter from home, and more stories around the campfire. It was a great experience. As far as medical issues, we treated a lot of blisters, a few bloody noses, upset stomachs, a handful of sunburns, a couple of rashes and some heat exhaustion- treatable without having to start an IV. Nothing major at all. We felt very fortunate. Thank goodness for leaders and kids who were prepared. I can’t believe I'm saying this, but I would actually do it again.
Right after Trek, Mitch spent a week up at Camp Steiner for scout camp and had a great time. It was John's favorite place as a kid, and he was able to join him for a couple of days. Alyssa and Travis just got done with Gymnastics camp and they all have been having awesome cousin time with Isaiah and Riley for the last week and a half. Thanks Priscilla for bringing them up to visit us. They loved going to the Rec. center to swim, and to the Children's museum.....good times!
Welcome home Marcus, it was good to see you at your open house, and to visit with extended family again.
Looking forward to your letters and to Miles' debut next month! Can't wait to see him.
Also looking forward to a much calmer rest of the summer, and maybe next time we'll have some good news about a new house.
Love,
Emily and Family
