Roommate Adventures

A few of Brinley's roommates passed through on the way back to BYU..  They came in on Wednesday night, had all day Thursday to play, and left on Friday morning.  It was fun to have them here and especially fun to see Brinley so happy.  I loved hearing the chatter and squeals and laughter coming from the group.

Brinley packed the schedule.  They went to the Sandhills, ate at Rosas, played games, went swimming, made Tic Tocs, did a scavenger hunt through town, laughed, talked and just soaked in the time they had together.  Bryn was really cute to include Aubrey in a few of her adventures as well.  Here are a few pictures. 

They drove to the Monohans Sandhills State Park.  The sand dunes are fun to climb and slide down on  cardboard or disks.  Unfortunately, due to Covid, they weren't renting the disks, but the girls didn't know that.  They still had fun climbing the dunes and making this giant BYU.  (Aubrey was more adventurous and rolled down the sandhills.)

Brinley worked hard helping me clean.  She also made the meal for Wednesday night.  It's definitely a bonus having guests when you have a willing and capable teenage daughter.

Elena, Ashlyn, Katelyn, and Brinley  hanging out in Bryn's old room.  Park was nice enough to give up his new room so Brinley and friends had a place to stay.

They did an ABC scavenger hunt through town.  I know they made it to H because I have a picture of them at HEB.  I wonder if they made it all the way to Z?  

Game night.  Elena looked on her phone and noticed Crumbl Cookie had a new flavor: brownie peanut butter.  She was was wishing we had one close because she needed to try it.  Then, at 10 pm the doorbell rang.  It was Grandpa Vore.  He had just come back from Lubbock and happened to buy us Crumbl cookies...which we have never tried before.  He also new our household would probably be up so he swung them by that night.  One of the three flavors he brought was the new peanut butter brownie cookie.  How about that for a wonderful coincidence?  Go Grandpa!

 

We loved having them stay even though it was a really quick trip.  I am so grateful for wonderful roommates that helped make Brinley's Freshman year at college amazing.  

  

Tanner

After going back and forth a few times the past six months, Tanner decided to drop football and just do basketball this next year at school.  I am thrilled.  For one, the football coaches do an excellent job of taking over your entire life.  Secondly,  Tanner's real love is basketball.

They started Speed and Strength training at Permian a few weeks ago.  I love that both Tanner and Parker have something that gets them out of bed early and working hard.  It's nice to have a little bit of a schedule after living in this Covid-19 time.  Parker goes to work afterwards, so he is really busy.  Tanner usually does his chores and then does an additional workout at home.  He plays lots of basketball and he has put the box Brian built to good use.  (He is a lean, mean, muscle machine.)

Tanner has worked hard the past two years with Brian mowing lawns and he has been refereeing soccer since he was twelve.  Both of those jobs are not available right now.  He was willing to work but kind of shy about putting himself "out there" to find a job.  He was also getting pretty frustrated at not having his usual income.  And one thing I've learned in my parenting of teenage boys...you've got to keep them busy!

Luckily Grandpa hired him because his lawn guy wasn't coming around often enough.  That gave Tanner the courage to make flyers for the neighborhood, and he was able to pick up a couple of more houses.  He also goes with Brian to two additional houses every Saturday.  He works for several hours each Saturday and hasn't complained at all.  Bless Brian for being willing to load up equipment and help him out as needed as well.  

He works hard and plays hard as well.  He has been able to hang with his friends several times in the past few weeks.  I love it when my children invite friends our way.  Tate, Julian and Mason came over to swim last week.

The Birds were still at the pool, and Tanner loves holding their baby kitten, Gus.  He showed him off to his friends like a proud Papa.

Mason, Julian, Tate

After swimming, they came back to our house and played some sting pong, air hockey and Xbox.  It was a miracle that the air hockey table got turned on.  I haven't heard that noise in weeks.  

Here are a few other pictures of Tanner from the past couple of weeks.

Here he is hanging out with the girls watching clips of  "The Office", I think.  I love that he has his cute smile.  If he knows he is being photographed, he just glares.

This weekend he and Parker hung out at Gram and Gramps pool for about an hour.  I liked watching them have fun together.  

I'm not sure what we were doing here...but we both look pretty happy.  

Tanner has a magic touch with his smaller cousins.  They adore him.

I think this almost 16 year old is pretty great too.  Love you Tan Man.

Lake Trip with Cousins

Aubrey and Tanner were invited to join in on the Vore's lake vacation a couple of weeks ago.  I was so happy for them.  The only vacation we had planned this summer was our Hawaiian Cruise, and it was cancelled.  This is going to be the longest summer in the history of summers too, so I loved that they had something fun to enjoy.

Aubrey sporting her new Nike swimsuit that we found at Burlington for $10!!!  Honestly, I would have spent $75.  We have ordered seven swimsuits from two stores trying to find a more modest one that fits.  Tanner is sporting Lauron's shades and a sunburn.

The Vores rented a boat for two of the days they were there.  The kids had a blast tubing and wake boarding.  They rented jet skis one day as well.  On the other days, they hung out, played lots of games, swam in the lake and just had fun together.

Aubrey w/ Perry, Lauron w/ Blair

The Merkleys came up on Thursday.  Tanner and Aubrey were so glad to see them again.  They live too far away.  (All of my siblings live in the big O except for Nathan and Becky.  They live five hours away.)

Here is a picture of some of the group.  Left-rt: Charity w/ her boyfriend Jake D., the newlyweds Kate and Joseph, Erin Meisje and Adam w/ Perry and Blair, Lauron, Aubrey holding Sutton, Tanner and Griffin

Thanks Chris and Ang.  We appreciate you!

Skin Care by Aubrey

Aubrey is killing me.  She is obsessed with skin care products and is willing to spend way too much, in my opinion, on them.  Recently she has earned some money by babysitting, dog watching, painting and mowing our lawn.  She promptly turned around and spent $60 on skin care.  She also has a few more products she wants but they are out of stock.  Parker just shakes his head and asks "Why???  You don't even have any pimples or acne?"  Aubrey insists her skin care routine is the reason she doesn't.  

Here are she and Lauron painting at La's house.  They worked for several hours over 3 days to finish this.  I love it when my teens have ways to work hard and make some money.  They learn the value of  work, and then they are able to pay tithing, put some away in their missionary fund and spend the rest however they choose.

When Aubrey's latest skin care products came in the mail, she explained each one to any family member who would listen.  When I realized she purchased ROSE WATER, I really had to bite my tongue.  She really was so pleased with her purchases though.

She gets a lot of her suggestions of the most important products from her cousin Lauron or from a guy named Hyram on social media.  One of Hyram's catch phrases is, "I may be gay, but skin care is not."  

So, if you need any skin care advice, you might check with Aubrey.  She's up to date with what is trending for teens. 

Sunday Night

We had our Sunday night gathering at the Birds.  Usually we just have a few snacks set out, but we had  feast this week.  Gram and Gramp brought brisket.  Others contributed homemade bread, split pea soup, potato casserole and dessert.  We had a nice evening visiting and hanging out. 

These first few pictures are actually from the week before, but they were too cute not to include.  I especially love the ones of Brinley and the little girls.  They loved having her undivided attention.

Char and Ella took turns putting on shows.  They loved being in charge and having the spotlight.

Ella "dancing" for her show.  She and Charlotte actually took the opportunity to jump on the bed, which I'm sure is not allowed.  It was pretty cute though.  Brinley and Char had great seats to watch the show too.  I like Char's window.

These pictures are from this the most recent Sunday.  Quetta filled us in on how she is doing now that Dylan has been away a few weeks at boot camp.  She has her ups and downs.  She was so very sad at first.

Gram, Brinley, Me, Ang, Emily (Martin) and Brit.  You can see the guys hanging out at the kitchen table in the background.  We heard some about the Vore's lake trip and Emily's course work right now for her Masters.  Honestly, I am not sure what all we talked about...but we found enough I guess.  Megan and Adam were here but were busy with kids a lot of the night.

Grandpa, Ella, Char and Dave (Martin)

Chris, Ang and Lauron

The big and little kids ended the night with a Nerf war.

Isaiah (M.) was hilarious when he would get shot.  He has some good acting skills!

Isaiah, Aubrey, Hud and Tanner.  

Until next week!

The Troublemaker

Well, before I post Sunday night pictures, here are a few from Sunday lunch.  We had my parents over to join us for our Father's Day meal.  We had pork chops over mashed potatoes, broccoli, fruit salad and homemade french bread.  Yum.

Brian offered to salt anyone's food with his new gun.

After lunch, we moved into the den.  I appreciate the seat Grandpa and Brinley chose.

We gave Grandpa his gifts.  I made a Super Dad water bottle and personalized a couple of notebooks.

  

One notebook had the Super Dad emblem and this was the other one:

That troublemaker line is so fitting.  Let me share his latest.

A couple of weeks ago, when Grandpa saw Parker's Axis mounted, he wanted Parker to help him play a trick on Gram.  He started laughing and said, "You have to bring that over on Father's Day and pretend you are giving it to me."  We could just see the twinkle in Grandpa's eyes.  He was so excited to tease Gram and make her think she had to find a place for this deer in her home.

Well, Sunday they headed our way for lunch, and Parker brought out the gift.  

Gram's eyes got a little big as she watched Parker present Grandpa with his Father's Day gift.  Then Grandpa thanked him profusely and went on and on about were they might mount it.  Gram shot me a questioning look...like..."is this for real?"  

My favorite part was watching my dad though.  He was positively gleeful playing his little joke on Grandma.  After about twenty minutes, when no one said "just kidding!" my mom quietly said to me, "I was sure this was all a joke."  I fake apologized and said, "I am sorry, but I'm also kind of relieved it's going to live at your house and not mine." 

We were all trying to stifle our snickers and smiles.  Gram was very graceful in her acceptance of Parker's gift to Grandpa.

As they were leaving out the door, I asked my dad, "shouldn't we tell her now?"  Nope!  He wanted us to bring over the deer in a couple of days so he and Gram could go through the house and find a place for it to be mounted.  

I called on Tuesday night and told my dad that we needed to end the joke soon because Brian and Parker were feeling a little badly about teasing Gram too much.  My mom must have been in the room because my dad then loudly said, "Oh, I don't want your boys to feel badly.  Bring it over now and we will find a place for it."  See?  He's a troublemaker!

We headed over.  Grandpa had that mischievous twinkle in his eye as he went from room to room with the deer.  Gram was taking it all in stride.  I was impressed with her acceptance.  Pure class on her part!  They found the perfect spot.  They named the deer Fredrick.  And then FINALLY my dad told her it was just a joke.

My dad has always loved pranks.  I remember one time I was about four, and he was shaving.  He had a big pile of shaving cream on a plate.  He asked me if I would like to have his whipped cream for a snack.  I was thrilled and then disappointed as I learned it was definitely not whipped cream.  (I can still taste the soapy shaving cream flavor in my mouth.)

Or the time when he rigged a firecracker to got off under the hood when one of his teacher's started her car.

Or the time he was taking my mom to the formal homecoming dance and he had the florist deliver a  flower he made from toilet paper instead of the real corsage....

Or the time he put a toilet on her front lawn and had spotlights shining on it for all the neighborhood to see.

 

Or the time time he squirted disappearing ink on his teacher's white shirt.

Or the time he pranked his secretary at work.

Or the time....

Or the time....

Definitely a troublemaker!

Father's Day

We were able to celebrate Brian on Sunday.  He is a wonderful father: kind, patient, helpful, a good example, a hard worker, funny, spiritual.  We are very blessed to call him ours.  We had a little celebration before (home) church at 11:00.

Don't mind Parker's non-expression.  At 10:45 he still wasn't quite awake. He gave Bri some Red Vines.

Aubrey made the cutest booklet/card and gave Bri a package of Coke Zero.  Here is a picture of her working on the card the night before.

Tanner backed up to Brian and said, "My gift is best because I'm the only one who took time to wrap it."  He then had Bri lift his shirt.  Crazy boy.  Bri laughed and said the last couple of Twix bars were for him to keep!

Brinley wrote a sweet note on a homemade card and also ordered a cooling towel.  Just in time too because it was 107° today and Brian had to work outside all day.  When I texted to see how he was holding up in the heat, he sent this picture:

(Isn't he so cute?!)

We gave him a gun that shoots salt to kill flies.  Lately he's been casually mentioning the need for a real gun for our home.  I teased him we could see how things work out with this one first.

After gifts, we moved into the kitchen table for church.  We are trying a new set up.  We felt like some of the kids were getting too casual with church on the comfy couch.  It was getting to easy to slip into lounging rather than sitting, and then hard for us to kindly correct because we were on Zoom with a group.  

Also, we loved our Zoom church with my parents and a few friends from the ward, however, we decided it might be best to just do it in person for now.  It got a little complicated and maybe not as engaging for our teens at times.

Aubrey gave a great talk on The Family: A Proclamation to the World.  She really is a natural teacher and can put together an outstanding lesson or talk in thirty minutes or less.  It's impressive.  I loved the topic she chose.  She spoke about the importance of marriage being between a man and a wife.  She also pointed out how the proclamation was given in 1995, years before gay marriage was a big issue here, and noted how blessed we are to have latter day prophets to guide us.  She talked about what one can do if they feel attracted to the same sex, and how we should love everyone.

I was the other speaker.  I prepared a talk on scripture study and then realized I had a great opportunity to speak about fathers instead.  Because it was just our family, I was able to point out the many ways we are blessed by Brian. (See list at the top of the page!)  I looked up the father's blessing he had given the kids at the beginning of the school year and read the notes I had jotted down for each blessing.  Remembering the counsel and guidance given brought a special feeling.  I noticed, and I hope the kids did as well, how much of that counsel was spot on for their school year and still so applicable.  Both their earthly and Heavenly Father know them and want to bless and guide them.

I mentioned how lucky Brian and I were as well to have faithful, kind and loving earthly fathers.  Not everyone has that in this life, but we all have a loving Heavenly Father.  

I shared some of the lyrics to A Child's Prayer and then three scriptures that help us know of Heavenly Fathers love.  

Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?

                        Pray, he is there;

                        Speak, he is list’ning.

2nd Nephi 32:3 "...feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."  

He gives us scriptures to guide us.  

Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 

God has given us prophets in the past and today to lead us.

And of course, God provided a Savior for us.  He sent his son to show us the way and to provide a way for us to be forgiven of our sins.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hope you had a blessed day as well!