Undercut Mikayla's Hair

Mikayla has a ton of hair that has a tendency to frizz underneath. I think Maxine suggested that we undercut it. It was a little scary but it turned out great and she still has so much hair!

We tried our hand at a pattern. That was fun! 

 

Let Summer Begin!

Yay summer is here! We drove a truck to Toquerville and the boys rode dirt bikes. Talon came too!

It was really nice except for some little bugs that were trying to bite us.

We took a bbq grill and some hamburgers. 

Perfect way to start summer!

Graduation 2024

Mikayla ended the year by earning a jag valedictorian award.

Juliet won in student of the year in AP Calculus, Psychology, and got a 4.0 all year. Jack won student of the year in auto tech and the school mentioned that he won the Dixie Tech auto competition. Jack didn't want to go to the awards night but we told him.  

Jack graduated on the honor roll.

He wore his Dixie Tech medal and his Baja 1000 medal. Those were big accomplishments for Jack! Maxine was barely able to attend and then booked it to BYU for her first FSY counselor job!

Jack and Leighna, so cutesy!

Wahoo, he did it!

We're proud of him!

Juliet and the senior sunrise kids. Now she's a senior.

Someone tried to talk to me about Juliet being a senior now and I was like, nope! Jack is graduating and getting on a mission. That's all my brain can handle at the moment.

Jack's Seminary Graduation!

Wow! Jack's got so much stuff going on because he's a senior. Today, he graduated from seminary! We're proud of him. 

I've got a list of things on my brain and I'm just plugging along and checking stuff off. Jack's seminary graduation, wahoo! Yes, done. On to high school graduation! 

Pit Bike Race at Dillon's house

Jack was really getting after this year's pit bike race. He wrecked a little and his face got dirty. He's okay though.

Fun afternoons filled with tasty food and good conversations. 

We Love You PNW!

Maxine asked if I wanted to go to Portland, OR for a Lizzy McAlpine concert. She wasn't touring anyplace close and plane tickets were like $25 each way. That is so cheap! We spent a few days there looking at all the freaking water!

As someone from the desert, the Columbia River astounds me! We spent the first afternoon finding beautiful waterfalls!

Multnomah Falls.

The lighthouse at Cape Disappointment. Lol.

Maxine's hair and the humidity go crazy!

When we were on this beach, a random dude was like, "Look at your hair! It's amazing!"

We saw Cannon beach! Famous in Goonies.

Such lovely coastline!

The boys were goofing off while we were gone.

Last time I was in PNW, I couldn't get anyone to jump on my idea of visiting the Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream Factory. Maxine was down! Love her! We found a group of Elders on Pday and said hello!

Closer to Portland, we toured this cool old house called the Pittock Mansion.

We hiked to the Witch's Castle. Not really a castle but a small abandoned house. We hiked there and the legend goes that a young woman and young man wanted to get married but the dad forbad it. They eloped the next town over and when they returned, the dad shot the young man dead. Sadness.

The hike was lovely though. This .6 shot looks odd but I wanted to get the trees!

The smallest park in the entire world. It's located on a crosswalk.

We visited the largest bookstore in the world! Maxine purchased B Dylan Hollis' cookbook and I bought a new canvas bag.

We saw Lizzy McAlpine and Maxine knew all the songs!

We had to have breakfast at this cute cafe the next day.

When we got to Vegas, I'd never seen the Sphere up close and wanted to. We drove by and took a pic before heading home. 

I'm grateful that Maxine and I were able to spend the long weekend together!

New York, DC, and a Tahoe

Merril took Mikayla on an adventure. They flew to New York to pick up my new Tahoe. It's cherry red and it's going to replace the Expedition. The Expedition has been a workhorse and been amazing but it has 270,000 miles on it and it's time for an upgrade. Empire State Building

They took the subway down to the ferry.

They saw the Statue of Liberty and talked to some people on the Staten Island Ferry. 

They visited One World Trade Center.

They bought a beanie in Time Square.

They went to New Jersey to stay at a "sketchy airbnb" and they locked the Tahoe but one of the doors doesn't lock reliably. (We didn't know that yet because it's a new car.) A few items were stolen including: a spare phone, wireless earbuds, a set of real pit vipers Merril got from rampage, some cash, and my favorite item, a bag of apples. Because when you're thieving in the middle of the night, sometimes you need a snack. Easy come, easy go. Onward to Washington D.C.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Washington Monument in the rain. It was a Sunday and it was rainy so no one was there.

They visited the war memorial for the Vietnam war and found Ken Maxwell, Merril's great uncle.

The White House.

The highlight of the trip, hotel waffle makers. I'm kidding but our kids really like them.

And then they had to drive home from the East coast. The Tahoe used to be a government vehicle, we're thinking fire truck. It's got fewer miles, only 115,000! The alternator was acting up on the way home and Merril got parts on the way home and fixed it in the parts store parking lot. Then it was fine.

Look at that shiny thing! I'm hatching a scheme to make a new license plate. The state of Utah came out with black plates with white letters and I think they look amazing! I want one that says MPLUSJ. So cutesy!