Our first month of summer was a good one.
Aubrey has had the most variety out of us: Speed and Strength workouts, Lubbock trip, San Antonio trip, Girls Camp and FSY.
Tanner has been working at HEB and mowing lawns and enjoyed a brief three weeks off of school before college classes began. He enjoys hanging out with Erin everyday and has found time to play frisbee golf with Uncle Chris, basketball with friends and the missionaries and even fit some bowling in. I am impressed with his ability to pack so much in to each day.
Parker has been very busy in the mission office. He has always been a hard worker and always been happier the busier he is, so it's a good fit I think. He has had to mentally adjust to serving the mission as a whole rather than teaching the people of Ghana as much as he did when not in the office. He and his companion help get new missionaries settled, help gather needed supplies for zone conferences, help with transfers, run errands and more.
Bryn is loving life working as an assistant coordinator at FSY. More info about that below.
Brian is working hard for us everyday as the safety coordinator at a trucking company. I have been doing the usual household stuff plus finishing up my Next Level business course. It's been rewarding and exciting to have new things to learn and goals to set and accomplish.
And on to random June events and pictures...
Lauron is SIXTEEN!!!
Aubrey was invited to go to Lubbock with Lauron, Chris and Ang to celebrate La's sweet 16. These two cousins love each other. They had a great two days of shopping, eating out and relaxing at the bed and breakfast.
This picture is a BIG deal. Aubrey actually went on a walk with me. It doesn't happen often, but once every 2-3 months is better than nothing.
Bri looking cute and studious working out the measurements for the bathroom he is remodeling.
Aub left for girls camp and kept commanding me to not hang out in her room. I have been known to take a nap on her bed if she is gone and Brian is already resting on ours. However, her bed is not that comfortable, and I really have no desire whatsoever to hang out in her room.
She kept bringing it up and demanding that I stay out. I had to take action! Everyday while she was at girls camp, I tried to take a picture in her bed and with her stuff. Then, on Saturday when she had her phone for the drive home, she would have many pictures to enjoy. Love teasing my teen girl.
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| Me and Fluffy. Grandpa gave her that when she was in preschool. |
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Just chilaxing in her bed   |
Then, due to our small YW group, she ended up sharing a tent with two 11 year old girls. She is 15 1/2. It was a rough start. However, she survived and thrived. Whew. Brian and I were definitely praying on our end and asked both Brinley and Parker to include her in their prayers. I know those prayers helped.
I'm grateful to ward and stake leaders (shout out to Ang V. and Shauna S.) who worked so hard to make this camp fun and a good experience. Aubrey made some new friends, was buoyed up spiritually and loved hanging out with Trinity and doing the rock climbing wall. 
Gram and I were on our way to try some clothes shopping when her friend Shari and Cathy stopped by. So sweet to see them go out of their way to visit their friend even though conversations are pretty tricky.
Erin and Tanner napping in the play room. This is were they spend 98% of their time...but usually just watching tv and hanging out on their phones. They were both beat.
My niece Caroline Gwilliam entered the MTC. She has been called to serve in the Georgia mission. (The country, not the state.) Andrew, Jeff, Caroline, Sarah and Sam (Missing Emily and her husband Jackson and Ruby who is Aubrey's age)
Parker was driving and on his phone. It was on speaker but he was holding it. He got pulled over and didn't have any money on him. Usually small bribes/payoffs is norm in Ghana to take care of violations. When the elders did not pay up, the officer took them to the police station and the potential fine went way up! Luckily someone from the mission office was able to come to the station and help take care of the issue before the price/situation escalated too high. I sent Parker this picture with the photoshopped handcuffs. He was a fan!
The APs and the office elders. On the left are the APs, Elders Essiam and Robertson and on the right are Elders Gee and Gwilliam (Park is backseat on the right)
Aub was super bored and agreed to play a game with Brian and me. We had fun playing Settlers. Hope it happens more often.
Also, she has been reading more. I am sooooo happy and make time to take her to the library as often as she wants.
We did a small indexing activity for FHE the other day. I thought Tan and Brian snuggled up on the couch was pretty cute.
Sister Applegate requested two of Tanner's t-shirts to make a baby gift. She made these adorable sweet pea sleepers with matching hats for T.J. (Tanner Jr. That is not his name. That is just what some of us call him.) Tanner loved them. She gave them to me right before sacrament meeting started. I loved his reaction when he saw them. He got a big smile and then passed me a note saying how cute they were.
Some of her group
Poor Aub. She was feeling pretty sick for several days. By the evening of day four she was finally feeling a lot better. She showered and tried a new hair style with using a curling iron. She has been really congested, achy, and tired, but by day five she was ready to break out of the room. 
Day five. She felt great. She took a morning walk and then we took a late afternoon walk together. She was loving being outside so much, we pulled the lawn chairs out of storage and continued chatting. She was finally talking about FSY to which was fun. I guess she just needed to feel better physically before she was ready to share. I've missed this girl. It was fun being with her again. I've spent a lot of time delivering meals and drinks and an occasional back rub, but I've mostly avoided her/her room. We do not want this contagion to spread. We have grandparents to visit and a baby on the way! It sounds like she had a great time at FSY.
July here we come!
I brought Gram to my house for an hour or two one day. Here she is making my bed. She is good to make her bed each day. It is one thing she still seems able to remember and do pretty consistently. We went on a walk from room to room just looking around at my house. (It's all new to her on some days.) Well, she was in bed making heaven over here because we never make our beds. Thanks Gram!
Brian and I were able to go to the temple together for the second time this year. We need to do better. It's been a little hard getting back into the routine since Covid. Also, he is on call many weekends and also has the bathroom remodel he works on each Saturday. I'm glad we made the time.
Brinlely is on the left in the blue shirt. Her summer job is working as an assistant coordinator (AC) for FSY. (For the Strength of Youth church summer camp) She has actually had many additional opportunities already. She has been an AC, a youth counselor and the travel counselor/coordinator. She is EXHAUSTED but also seems really happy.
We had a rain storm, and Tanner was at work taking groceries out for pickup orders. He had a wet work day.
Elder Gwilliam, Chris and family and Elder Gee
FSY at West Texas A&M. I'm so glad the church is doing this week long youth conference program. It got delayed a couple of years due to Covid but we were able to go this year! (And...it was a Covid super spreader event...but so worth it.) Seva K, Aubrey and Ainsley L.
She was brave and chose not to go in with a roommate beforehand. It would have been really easy to room with her cousin or a girl from the ward, but she felt she needed to stretch her wings a bit. It wasn't an easy choice, but she did it! And she had fun! And she still got to hang out with Lauron and friends from the ward. I am proud of her.
She was in the same group as her cousin Danielle. Danielle's mom, Laurel, is my first cousin, but I'm not sure what that makes Danielle and Aubrey. (First cousins once removed?, Second cousins?) They are 3 1/2 years apart in age but 4 years apart in school. Aubrey really enjoyed growing closer to "D" during FSY.
We heard almost nothing from Aubrey during FSY. NOTHING. But we wanted her to be present where she was, and we figured she would be calling like crazy if she was unhappy. I sent her a picture of her favorite family member (Buttercup) and didn't even get a thumbs up or anything in response. She was definitely giving us the cold shoulder. Turkey girl.
At the end of the week, the kids were bussed back to Midland on Saturday morning. I figured I would hear more about her experience on the 30 minute drive home...nope. She shared a little bit, but she wasn't feeling well. We tested her when she got home and she had Covid. (Lauron left Thursday morning with Covid so we suspected she might have it too.) Braddock got it too as well as several other youth in Odessa, Midland and Amarillo.
And to wrap up June, we had this excitement. Lightning struck our telephone pole around 11pm one night. Luckily our neighbors saw the fire, called 911 and then called us.
This part broke off. For several hours the sparks were blowing onto the house, our trucks, the grass, and the neighbors yard. Luckily it was lightly raining because it's pretty dry out here in West Texas. The firemen stayed and kept an eye on the pole and sparks until Oncor (electricity provider) came out. Electricity was off for several hours in the night but by 4:30am we had a newly installed top part of the pole and electricity.
Some of the debris from the pole.
