Andrew is Home

When Mack and Sophia decided to get married they considered lots of dates but in the end chose the 12th partially because Andrew would be home by then.  As the time came closer we got his flight plan and realized that he would truly get home just in time for the wedding - 9:35pm the night before.  Not enough time to get his suit cleaned but he would be there.  

Friday morning I woke up and began the back and forth runs from the airport to get all of my family to Middleton.  We enjoyed sitting around and catching up as everyone slowly gathered. 

 It was Claire's bday so we all went to Red Robin to celebrate.  

While there I got a text from Greg saying Andrews flight was delayed... again..again...  We went to Val's house to kill time and talk more.

Then the call from Greg that the flight was canceled.  The next few hours were a blur as we tried to make plans and waited for communication from Andrew.  He was flight home without a cell phone so had now way to contact us without borrowing someone's phone.  He also had no debit card, only some cash for meals.  But God is in the details.  Andrew connected with a fellow passenger on the canceled flight, a 17 year old girl from Middleton who had graduated with Kate.  She was all alone and worried so Andrew helped her figure out what to do next and in return she let him use her phone to call us.

Well things got stranger as we helped them get an uber to a hotel where they learned she couldn't check in because she was a minor and he couldn't check in without a debit card, or $150 cash for incidentals.  They got a three way call going with her parents (the stake president in the other Middleton stake) and us to tell us their plan.  They had just enough cash between them to pay the $150 deposit and get one room.  They would sleep in their clothes, not shower, and just sleep.  Amids all the jokes and laughter we all approved the plan and Andrew spent the last night of his mission in a hotel room with a 17 year old girl.  

It was a wild night as we were working all this out and Natali's flight had also been delayed but thankfully she was able to arrive at 2:00am and Miguel was excited enough to see her that he stayed up late and picked her up.

The next morning we moved pictures back in order to meet Andrew at the airport at 10 just in time to get home and get ready for wedding pictures.  He was released at the church right before the wedding.  We are so excited to have him home but the arrival felt anticlimactic for him since he only spent about 15 minutes at home before bed that night.  However, the mini fridge full of all his favorite drinks right next to his room helped.  

The boys got a quick hello before we headed to pictures.

Ditten got her own hello too!  Welcome home Andrew.

A little piece of heaven - McCall!

The girls had only been home from girls camp for two days when we headed up to McCall after church on June 22nd.  We arrived at the condo with the high temp of 57 degrees that day.  It was chilly when we went to bed that night and we eventually had to turn the heat on.  We started a puzzle that night and played some games before bed.

Monday morning We went into town for lunch at My Father's Place, groceries, and some wondering around town.

Because the weather was so cool we played pickle ball nearly every afternoon.  The girls are getting pretty good.  The two of them beat me in one game and Emily beat me one on one several times.

The fancy cups made yogurt parfaits extra special.

A mother merganser with a dozen babies made for good entertainment.

And of course every night we had to go moose searching - we failed most of the time but did find a marmot.

Thursday morning we went into town for breakfast at Stacy Cakes and then rented e-bikes and biked the 18 or so miles around the lake.

The western side of the lake was lovely and less familiar to us.

We had to take it slow by the meadows to look for our friend, the moose.

After North Beach the trail was unpaved for a little over three miles.  It was definitely less fun and that fun got a little farther away when Lily wiped out on a slightly down hill section.

She scraped up her hands and knee pretty good but thankfully we were less than a mile from the condo so we walked our bikes back and got her all bandaged up.  We ate some lunch then Emmy and I finished the ride back into town while Lily watched tv.

We dropped off our bikes then drove back to the condo to retrieve Lily and her bike so we could end the journey at Ice Cream Alley.

We had a fun early morning chat with Andrew from our beds - can't believe he will be home so soon.

On our last evening moose hunt we spotted this guys crossing the river, making Emmy very happy.

Greg had planned on joining us Friday night and going hiking Saturday, but his plans changed and he wasn't able to join us so we went hiking on our own and lucked out to see this cross fox with a squirrel cross the road right in front of us.

Emily did the research and found us a great hike to Boulder Lake.  Luckily it wasn't too hot and we just enjoyed the scenery on our way.

It was a beautiful hike and we finished just in time to make it back to McCall in time for the Saturday market then home to pack and clean...until the tire pressure light came on.  Apparently the rocky road had punctured my tire.

We were treeing to get the jack set up when a kind man and his wife pulled over.  He got our spare on and would take no payment - we were so grateful for his kindness.  We drove to Les Schwab, dropped off the car and walked into town for lunch (we had missed the market by this point).  We enjoyed our sandwiches at Stax and the girls got ice cream on our way back to the car.  My tire had a puncture wound large enough it couldn't be patched.  The tires in McCall were $800 more than in Middleton so we were going to drive home on the donut.

We packed up and did some cleaning then I let the girls swim while I napped and finished the clean up then we hit the road.  It was a lovely week filled with time together, time outdoors, exercise and relaxation - fabulous.

Girls Camp

A few weeks after school got out Emily and Lily headed up to Kathrine's Creek for girls camp.

Emily was brave and tried the repelling.

I came up on Wednesday night for Bishop's night.  When I took the donuts to the fridge to keep them from melting I discovered Becky, who had been sampling her own jelly filling.  Sherry kept the girls entertained with all her pranks and games. 

Greg joined as well and we enjoyed an evening of good food, thanks to Robin M., and a lovely message from an old friend of Sherry's.  Greg and I shared a few things and then shared the donuts.  It was fun to be with the girls.

The girls loved their time with their friends, leaders, and cooks.  Emily even got a special breakfast one morning when Aleisha M noticed she wasn't eating the egg sandwich (it helps to know all the cooks).  They were tired when they got home but it was a great week.