Big Family Changes

 Me and Jerry on a walk

I was convinced I was still blonde until I saw this picture

James, Emily, Morgan, Andrew, Marie, and Christian

We were asked to dress in a certain color scheme for Andrew's wedding. Thankfully, my Venice dress was the perfect color and weight for a summer wedding. I also wore it to Connor's wedding. 

The ball is a melon. We often call Mel "Melon"

The kids were so funny. They lined up and practiced doing flips off of the diving board. Kamiko and Mel got in on the action. Cute Mac figured it out after some coaching from one of Jame's and Hailey's girls. 

Jen and Scott came home from their 3 year mission to Angola on Saturday, June 28. That was the beginning of a very busy family week. 

Saturday, Jenny and Scott got home

Sunday, Jenny and Scott spoke in church

Monday, family dinner for Andrew Sykes and Morgan before their wedding

Tuesday, temple sealing for Andrew and Morgan

Friday, 4th of July family pool party at Jen's

I was mom's handler. It was a crazy week, to say the least. I picked up mom to be at the airport Saturday afternoon around 2:00. We waited quite a bit for them to get off the plane and through customs. Marie, Eli and kids were at the airport. So were James, Allison, and kids. Kristen, Doug, and Debbie were also there. They look great. It was fun to have 4 sisters together. Karen came to town in time for the Monday dinner and Tuesday sealing. After the airport, mom and I went to walk through Kamiko and Bekki's house, then back to Mapleton. Kamiko and Bekki are finally under contract on a home in Orem. Poor Bekki never wanted to live in Orem. She also didn't want a 2-story house. BUT they found a home that checked off all the boxes - lots of land, privacy, natural light, space for Jerry, office for work, etc. Their realtor, Jen, worked on all the contracts during Jay and Aysa's wedding. Jen is great. I'm excited for them to get into their place. It's about 4,000 sq. ft. on 1/2 acre. It has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, including a basement apartment with kitchen. They don't plan to rent it out, but it will be nice to have for guests. They can really grow into the house. They felt prompted to sell their home in Vineyard in April. They found a number of houses that interested them, but something always went wrong...until this one. In the meantime, they've been in my basement. It's been great. They watched my house while I was in Europe. I walked Jerry most mornings. Most mornings he was good. 

Jen and Scott's ward met later in the morning, thankfully. I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to take mom. We got up there in time to get a seat with family. They gave great talks. We really weren't aware of any plan, so we figured we'd just grab lunch at a restaurant on our way home. Jen and Scott had sandwiches and sides at their home after their talks, so we went there. We got a great picture of family. Kamiko came to hear them speak. Scott spoke of people having experiences with visions. He said that many Africans speak the language of visions. One pastor really wanted to find truth. He dedicated himself to fasting and prayer in his backyard. One night, he had a vision where 2 white men and 1 black man gave him a blue book. Later, that pastor found himself at a meeting where a branch was being organized. He met Scott, who was busy making callings, etc. So, Scott asked the elders to visit with the man. It was a trio that day (2 white elders and 1 black elder). The man knew what they were teaching was true. Allie watched Jen and Scott speak virtually. That's one good thing that came from Covid. We can share church with our loved ones who are far away. 

Monday and Tuesday were a marathon. Thank goodness the dinner wasn't until 6:00 pm. When I got home from Europe and started asking, I found out that nobody had room for me and mom for Monday night. I got an airbnb for me and mom for Monday night because I was NOT going to drive 1.5 hours to and from Ogden Monday and again on Tuesday. We got to our place in the late afternoon and went to the grocery store to buy some food. We bought stuff to make sandwiches and bought yogurt and fruit. Mom walked the store looking for a pastry. We got back to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed to the dinner. I texted Kristen, Karen, and Debbie and told them that I needed them to take care of mom at the dinner. It was a nice dinner and a fun program to celebrate the newlyweds. Each of Andrew's siblings gave Morgan something to allow her to survive living with Rod and vice versa. Her siblings gave Rod a survival kit. It was really fun. We got back to our room, which had cooled off a bit, thanks to a wall air conditioner unit, and went to bed. I had turned down the A/C a bit. Mom got downright cold during the night. Oops. I was on a sofa bed in the living room/kitchen area. It was a really cute little place. It was a place to sleep and shower, and it was close to the temple and Jen's house. Perfect. 

Tuesday at 1:00 was the sealing. Scott's parents are divorced, and have been so for years. Before the sealing started, his dad came and sat right next to his mom. WHAT? So weird. Scott came over and quietly spoke to his mom. He said "hey, mom, Marie is on her way here and wants to sit next to you. Come with me." So tactful. It was great. The sealer talked about a talk given by President Nelson at Sister Holland's funeral. The basic sentiment was that the day of your sealing is the most important day of your life because it starts a new family. It was sweet. We went to Jenny and Scott's house to relax and gather until the reception that night at the Ogden Botanical Garden. Mom and I stayed long enough to see Starlyn and Lee come. It was a beautiful night and it was really fun to gather with friends and family. 

Friday was the 4th of July and we all gathered in Ogden AGAIN for some pool fun. By this time, Jen was worn out and SICK. She hardly got out of bed. Hunter had come into town. Kamiko, Bekki, Mel and I went up there. Kristen and Doug, Allison and James and kids came. All of Jen's kids and their kids were there. We enjoyed bakery cake to celebrate Jen's 60th birthday. We also catered in Javier's Mexican food. It was a fun day. I took mom up and back. We didn't stay too late because we wanted to get back home before things got too crazy with fireworks. 

Overall, it was a great week. It was a lot of driving.