The Rest of July 2025

July 2025

July happened so long ago. (It's mid-September.) Here are a few pictures:

My mom had a good morning. She was playing the piano, and we went on a walk. Then she started feverishly cleaning the house: unloading cabinets, emptying drawers, hurrying from one room to the next to shuffle piles and fluff pillows. It was hard to keep up with her. Sometimes her mind just won't let her body relax.

Two of the areas she rearranged.

She finally saw this chair and collapsed for a much needed rest, and then I was able to coax her to the floor to be a little more comfortable. The couch was so close, but she was out of energy!

I am grateful for the days I get to spend with her. I'm often exhausted, but it's also a sweet experience to get to love and take care of my mom two days a week.

Sunday night fun, and Lauron was in town too.

La, Aub, Erin, Kaide, Tanner & Hudson

My dad playing with his great-granddaughter Gracie. It's so impressive to me that he still gets down on the floor to interact with the grandkids. I hope I can be as involved and as in shape.

Spiderman was spinning webs and showing off his agility one moment and asleep on his daddy's lap the next. It was pretty adorable. (Adam holding Noah)

Our Sunday night gatherings can at times be boring and feel monotonous, but they really help us connect as a family too. I'm glad we have this tradition. 

I love the four distinct groups in this photo. 1. Becca, Lincoln, Braddock, and Char playing speed. 2. The teens on the couch. 3. My dad talking with a sister from church. 4. Brit, Adam, and Megan

Moving on to GiGi and Kaide day. I try to have him over for a morning each week. We fill our special time with obstacle courses, walks to Grandpa Vores, games, snacks, bike rides, Play-Doh, and whatever his heart desires.

He has really been into puzzles lately. I love seeing him use his thinking skills to figure things out. Since he has been so interested, I made him a family puzzle: a blank from Amazon, a photo collage, a DTF print, a heat press, and a razor blade...It was a pain in the neck...I would recommend ordering one online.

This was one of our snacks. He had tomatoes....so many tomatoes. I had Tru Fru (chocolate covered frozen strawberries). He had absolutely no interest in trying mine. He knew he had the best treat already.

Aubrey and her friend Maci work at a delicious and expensive barbeque restaurant called Brantley Creek. They can bring food home after work. (Aubrey never does, and Bri and I give her a bad time.) One day, Maci brought this whole rack of ribs! We were impressed and envious!

We made it to the temple together one Saturday. It always feels like such an accomplishment. The Lubbock temple is 2.5 hours away and fills up early for weekend sessions, so it takes a little bit of planning on our end. I'm always glad when we make it happen.

We celebrated two big birthdays in July: Grandpa Vore's 77th and Kaide's 3rd

This year, I ordered these tattoos of my dad to surprise him. All throughout the day, family members stopped by and showed off their lovely/awesome tattoos. I was working that day too, so it was fun to have so many visitors.

Tanner went for the face display.

Brit brought over his favorite chocolate pound cake that his mom, our Gran Vore used to make for him each year.

Gram represented!

I was impressed that Adam and Megan brought the whole crew to celebrate. Later, one of Adam's coworkers was like, "Oh, I didn't know you had a tattoo!"

Lincoln, Adam, Noah, Megan, Gracie, Gram, Grandpa & Christian

Kaide's birthday party was amazing. Tanner and Erin always go all out. Well, I think Erin really makes it happen (invitations, tons of food, party favors, etc.), but he is all hands on deck with set up, clean up, and being present and involved. Tanner reminds me each year how I made him stop having birthday parties after the age of twelve and basically ruined his life. This year, I told him I was glad he was breaking tradition and making Kaide's day so special. I don't think I mentioned that we also didn't start having friend birthday parties until they turned five. Life is so hard sometimes.

But I digress....

The Birds were so kind in lending their backyard and shop for the big day. Tanner & Erin ordered this giant waterslide for the b-day bash. They also set up a Slip-N-Slide and cornhole. 

Kaide was very brave to try the huge waterslide and ended up loving it.

Kaide & Ella

Kaide & Papa

Kaide has really been into Spidey and Friends, and his b-day theme was Spiderman. I thought we had the perfect gift picked out, a Spiderman costume. He was wigged out by it and wouldn't even touch it. It was kind of hilarious. I think/hope he will eventually warm up to it.

There were four large tables for guests and two food tables set up inside the shop. I just kept thinking of Aubrey's grad party we threw six weeks before. It was a lot of work. Erin throws Kaide the equivalent of a grad party each year, and she makes it look so effortless. It's impressive.

It was fun to have a reason to gather with friends and family. Kaide was super cute greeting everyone with a huge smile and excitedly saying, "Happy Birthday!" He was also cute opening his gifts and being thankful.

Happy 3rd birthday Kaide Tanner. We love you!!!

Wrapping Up Our Utah Trip

July 6-8, 2025

On Sunday morning, we decided to go on a hike before church. We chose to go to the Bear Canyon suspension bridge. I really love being in a place where we can enjoy the outdoors a little more.

We got home about 15 minutes before one of the wards close by started, and my crazy girls were like, "We can make it!" Well, some of us are more than half a century old and take a little more work to look presentable, but I tried. Brian and the girls went in one car, and I followed shortly.

I was expecting church to feel uplifting, but I wasn't expecting church to feel so relaxing. It was Fast and Testimony meeting. I didn't feel any angst about who was giving their testimony for the fifth time in a row or if someone might be attending for the first time and feel uncomfortable. I wasn't worried about teaching a lesson or passing around a sign up sheet during the second hour. I just got to sit there and soak in all the testimonies, lessons and comments. It was an unexpected experience, and soothing for my soul. 

I had a great surprise after waking from my Sunday afternoon nap: a FaceTime call from President and Sister Vore! They were grinning from ear to ear as they shared some about their first couple of weeks. Their schedules are packed. They are extremely busy doing good things, and their joy was contagious.

A week or two before we were coming, Denise sent out an invite to the extended Gwilliam family for a picnic in the park gathering. She was able to get a sitter for Tyson, so we switched it to their beautiful backyard instead. Bruce and Denise took care of the burgers, and everyone else brought sides. We feasted! (chips, dips, Cowboy Caviar, fruit w/ fruit dip, salad, candy bar cake, etc...)

Bryn, Aub, Derek, Sarah, Grace & Kyle

Kyle and Sarah spent the weekend with her family. We were glad when they were able to join in the barbeque. 

Denise, Kyle, Sarah

I feel like I haven't seen Blake in years! He is Keith's youngest son and the same age as Brinley. It was fun to catch up.

Keith, Kristen, Brinley & Blake

Brinley and Derek were the cutest with the girls. They played all sorts of outdoor games with them. I'm pretty sure Grace (5?) thought Derek was her best friend and just there for her.

La drove up from Provo and met everyone/joined in the visiting. Then she and Aub headed back to Provo to have a sleepover...just like the good ole days.

Denise is the sweetest Nannie to her grandchildren.

On Monday, Brian was able to fish a little more. I was so happy for him because he doesn't get that opportunity very often. There is no place remotely close to the Big O to fly fish, and when we go to Utah, our schedules are usually packed. 

Brinley took the day off work and that morning we met at BYU to participate in research for her thesis. We had to be in a soundproof room and listen to recordings of individuals answering questions. We then had a scale to rate how we perceived their intelligence based on what we heard. I'm not sure how much I can share here, but that was the gist of how we participated. Aubrey and Brian met up with us and had a turn as well. 

Then we had a quick lunch at Zupas Cafe, and Aub & Bryn headed to the Splash Summit Waterpark for the afternoon. I can't remember what Brian and I did but later, we met up with the girls and Derek for dinner at the Purple Turtle and a play at the new Hale Theatre in Pleasant Grove.

I had high hopes for this play because you pretty much can't go wrong at the Hale. The actors/actresses did great, but the slapstick sense of humor isn't really my sense of humor.  However, two preteen boys behind us were totally cracking up, and that made me happy! 

On Tuesday, we didn't have to be at the airport until 2:00, so Denise and I were able to fit in a Costco run and a mid-morning walk. SO FUN! I love that girl and wish I could go walking with her every day. We talked kids, grandkids, gospel podcasts, books...we fit a lot into our morning time together.

Unfortunately, on our trip home, our flight was diverted from Dallas to Lubbock due to thunderstorms. We were so close to home (two hours!), but we couldn't get a rental car. Also, the couple of food places available in their small airport were already closed for the night, so for dinner, the vending machine was our only option. I almost always pack some healthy snacks and peanut butter crackers, but this time I did not. My dinner was two packages of chips, a Hershey bar with almonds, and some fruit snacks.

Sadly, by the time we arrived in Dallas, we missed our connecting flight. It was after midnight before we made it to the hotel, but it was so easy traveling with just the three of us. We had a nutritious (ha!) hotel breakfast and made it home Wednesday afternoon.

Overall, we had a wonderful little vacation in Utah celebrating Independence Day and spending time with family.

Utah Trip, Day Two

Utah Trip
Saturday, July 5th

On Saturday morning, Brian got up early to go fishing, and Aubrey and I drove from Draper to meet Derek and Brinley at the Provo Farmer's Market. It is legit, over 200 vendors, and we had a great time meandering among the booths. 

Aubrey tried a specialty drink, and I purchased home-baked cookies from a confident teenage boy who was handing out samples. Then we all decided to split a Dubai chocolate strawberry cup. 

I was starting to get hot, hungry, and dehydrated, so I was glad when Aubrey decided to ditch the BYU campus tour she and Bryn were considering and head to our next activity: a picnic lunch and paddleboarding at the Provo River Delta. 

We found a bit of shade and some rocks to sit on and pulled out the delicious sandwiches that Brinley made for us. (The thick, homemade bread was the key ingredient.) 

Sadly, this was the only group picture I took. I think I must have had mayo or something on my phone lens.

Brian finished swimming and drove over an hour to meet up with us. (No picture of Brian chomping down on lunch because he joined us towards the end of our feast.) He was very kind to help us work, in the blazing heat, on the black asphalt, to inflate our giant paddleboards with a foot pump. He then took a few pictures of us before he headed back to Draper for the afternoon.

Aub

Bryn, me, & Aub (Derek was already exploring.)

Bryn

That evening, we enjoyed dinner and an evening outside with Bruce & Denise plus Megan and family. Megan and Griffin only live a couple of miles away and come to hang out w/ Nana and PopPop (aka Denise and Bruce) nearly every day. It makes it lots of fun for us when we are in town too. 

Some of the girls plus baby Hendrick--I'm not sure where Lindsey or Denise were when we snapped this.

Aub, Megan, Denise w/ Grace, & Griffin-all enjoying the new firepit.

S'more's, visiting around the firepit, and board games were a nice way to enjoy our evening.