Thursday, September 1, 2016

Summer 2016 Top Ten

Just for some clarification--I create these lists at the beginning of each season to (1) help me look forward with anticipation to what we will be doing, (2) give me seasonal goals to accomplish, and (3) remind me of what we've been done (because I have a very forgetful memory, and looking at a completed list of what we've accomplished helps me remember!). When I post a completed list, it's not necessarily a list of our top FAVORITE moments of each season (although sometimes they do include some favorite moments), but rather a check-off list to see if we've accomplished each season what we set out to do at the start of it!

1. Go to the Tolman Reunion
Completed 6/11. It was a rather rainy reunion at the Honeyville park. It wasn't very well attended, and we only went for one afternoon of it, but it's always nice seeing family we haven't seen for a year! Plus I took the boys to Crystal Hot Springs for a few hours, because since they were going to be wet anyways, they might as well be warm, too! We spent the night at my mom's house, which is handy that she lives so close to a lot of Josh's extended family!

2. Kanyon's Swim Lessons
Completed 6/23. Kanyon passed Level 4! He loved his teacher Rachel, and there were only 3 boys in his class, so that was a great environment for him to learn and practice his requirements. He was the best diver in his class, and he did every dive (from the side, from the springboard, stand-up, kneel, sit) with ease and success! I loved watching him! And he had a great time, too!

3. Build a Garage
Completed 8/20. The building itself had its final inspection signed off on June 28, but we didn't get the concrete poured until August 19th and 20th, and that's when it felt complete to me, because when that was done, we could finally move all the shelves, hooks, and storage items in! We did use the garage for 4-wheeler and motorcycle storage for 2 months until the concrete foundation was in, though, so it was nice to have the building done at the beginning of this summer! We put a lot of sweat equity into preparing for and completing this building, although we had MQS out of Montana build the actual structure. It's been a dream come true having a functional garage for the first time in our 18 years of marriage and I'm so grateful that we were able to finally get it this summer!

4. Celebrate the 4th of July with the Tolmans
Completed 7/4. We floated the river with Rawhide Outfitters on Friday morning, and it was fantastic! We all had so much fun! We missed a few of our family members who weren't able to join us that morning, and we missed the parade, too. We celebrated the 4th that weekend with family meals, celebrating birthdays, going to the demolition derby, and floating the Salmon River again on innertubes in the stretch closer to our home.

5. Ammon's Golf Tournaments
Ammon didn't go to any Jr. IGA tournaments this year, he was too busy working at the golf course, going to summer camps, running with the summer running program, mowing lawns, and hanging out with his girlfriend Hannah. But he did participate in a few of the home tournaments at the Salmon Golf Course that occur each summer; his favorite being the Ranch Tournament in June that he played in with his friend Tim.

6. 21 Pilots Concert/ Big River Play

Completed 7/16. Josh and I want to take each of our kids to their first concert when they're 16--because neither of us ever went to one until we were married adults. Now that Ammon is 16, it was his turn first. Ammon's favorite music group is 21 Pilots, so Josh bought 2 tickets to see them six months prior to their SLC concert. When I found out my friend from high school was in the play "Big River" (one of my favorites) at the Hale Theater in WVC on the same night, I bought tickets for my sister and I to go. We all met up and had dinner together first (with Tabbi and Bryce, too), before separating to our different venues. It was an all-around awesome night! Ammon loved his first concert!

7. Jonah and Micah's Scout Camp
Completed 7/16. Our scout troop was originally planning to go to a week-long, BSA camp, but our scoutmaster moved and it never officially got set up. Instead, our new scoutmaster and youth leaders took the boys on a 3-night camp to Wallace Lake. The boys worked on several merit badges while there. They were supposed to take their swim test in the lake, which they were really nervous about, but it ended up raining and was cold that particular day so it never happened. Josh and I were disappointed about that, but the twins were relieved. They had a great time with their friends camping out!

8. Visit Grandma and Grandpa Parsons
This never happened because Great Grandma and Grandpa were sick the days we had planned to visit them. Unfortunately, we couldn't reschedule due to our hectic schedule, either. Instead, we used that vacation time (that we'd already planned for) by going on an overnighter to Lava Hot Springs, and it turned out to be one of our best experiences of the summer! We will visit Grandma and Grandpa Parsons in Montana next year instead.

9. Celebrate Kala's birthday
Completed 8/14. I went to the Shakespeare in the Park play "Comedy of Errors" with my friend Darcy on the 11th. Then on the 13th, Josh surprised me with a pre-planned date: we went with Darcy & Phil to the 28 Club for a yummy dinner, we played Settlers & watched a movie at their house afterwards, and Darcy made me the most delicious French Pastry pie! On Sunday (my actual birthday), Josh made me my birthday meal of ham & au gratin potatoes, and the boys did a clue scavenger hunt for me to find my gifts. I had a fabulous birthday this year!

10. Go camping somewhere new
So...technically, we didn't go camping to any new places this summer (however, we did go to Crystal Park in Montana with my parents, which none of us had ever been to before, but we didn't camp). In fact, we only went camping twice the entire summer. BUT, we did go camping for more consecutive nights in a row, which is new for us! We usually go camping just overnight, and once a year, we camp for two nights. This year, we went camping at Meadow Lake for FOUR nights in a row and at Stanley Lake for THREE nights in a row, so that was definitely a first!!

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