Summer break is a wrap. We went to Highland Glen and caught bluegill, played at a few parks, took a nature walk up American Fork Canyon, and went on a longer trip to Mirror Lake (like actually Mirror Lake, not a stop along the Mirror Lake Highway). We also visited the Museum of Utah (I recommend visiting, and you can combine it with the state capitol and Pioneer Memorial Museum), and had a couple more visits to Thanksgiving Point and Lagoon. Football season has started again for Curtis, and Henry has joined a scout troop. Zack had a birthday and took his friends to the pool.

The kids have started school again (except for Evie, who will start preschool in a few weeks). We are happy to be back in a routine; all my kids like school pretty well.

Now there’s been some other dramatic news. Curtis was fishing off the deck, checking his setup. Henry walked by, grabbed the line, Curtis yanked on it, and in a freak accident, the giant weight on it hit Henry in the eyeball. It caused quite a bit of damage and has resulted in trips to the ER and the ophthalmologist.

Joe has also been dealing with a herniated disc in his neck since last November. It’s caused some pretty bad pain and numbness. It’s sometimes gotten better, but never all the way, and symptoms come back worse. So he’s going to have surgery to have a disc replacement in a couple of weeks.

Also, something I’ve never mentioned is I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer back in May. I had surgery to remove my thyroid in June (a week before our vacation), and have been recovering from that and adjusting to thyroid medication. I’ve been tired, but I’ve been doing okay. I’m starting to feel pretty normal again. The surgery went well, and potentially got all the cancer. I’ll have radioactive iodine treatment later next month to prevent recurrence.

To sum it all up: we have a good chance of reaching our out-of-pocket maximum for our health insurance this year. Hopefully we are all healthy and happy soon, and we are surviving and doing okay despite it all.

We had a family trip to Wyoming. We started by river tubing in the Green River. I went down on my paddleboard with Evie and a cousin, and we wiped out in a rapid. Everyone was wearing a life jacket; the only thing that didn’t survive was my paddle. The family trip was a lot of fun with a trip to the Killpecker sand dunes, South Pass City, swimming, and boating at Flaming Gorge. It was exhausting to: I was there without my husband and two oldest children because they had work and sports.

We also took a short fishing trip to Strawberry Reservoir. Not many fish were caught, but it was beautiful, and we had a good time. I had a birthday during all that. I got a tenkara rod and paddleboard, both of which I already had, but they were ruined on our last vacation. The paddleboard was in a tow-hitch carrier and melted because of exhaust, and the rod was snapped accidentally by kids. I love paddleboarding and tenkara fishing and sometimes combining them together.

I’ve been quite motivated lately to do the things I want and often don’t take time for. I’ve gone fishing (I’m slowly learning to fly fish), gone out on the lake on the paddleboard, Tiny Tot Triathlon with the little kids, gone to the temple, the park, had friends and cousins over, gone to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point, went to Lagoon with just my husband so we could ride all the more extreme rides we can’t with little kids, hiked five miles to Silver Lake with Curtis and Henry, and went on a 20 mile bike ride to Bluffdale.

Highlights: I’ve now done all the rides at Lagoon. Colossus might be my favorite: no line, love the loops. But there’s a good variety of rides there. We fished up at Silver Lake, and Curtis said it was the prettiest place he’s ever fished at.

Lowlights: Our goal destination was a splash pad for the bike ride. It wasn’t open when we got there. And we ran out of battery on the way back. Also, it’s been hot and smoky.

I’ve found that the reason I don’t do things is often not because of a lack of time, but a lack of determination. You make it work when you really want to do it.

Summer started off quickly. Our first adventure was an overnight trip for Joe and me to Fifth Water Hot Springs. Beautiful place, and worth the five-mile hike in the mud.

Joe and I were then in charge of Trek for our ward. (Translation: It’s a reenactment of handcart pioneers done by our church youth group.) It was a lot of planning and work, but not as much as it could be. We kept it simple and went to This is the Place for their program. After, we did a ward campout. It was a great experience, and I’m also happy it’s over.

Summer so far has been parks, library, fishing, playing in the backyard pool, watching excessive TV, basketball camps, space center camp, and work.

We’ve been fishing some more, and fish have been caught. Not by me, but by Curtis, who loves fishing. He even went off on the bike by himself to catch some fish when he was bored. I’ve enjoyed a few hikes for wildflowers and waterfalls. The native flowers in my own yard are doing great as well.

There’s been a lot of time spent at Lagoon. We’ve already paid for the Lagoon passes and then some. Amusement parks are more fun in small doses.

We finished up the school year. Zack lost his first tooth and finished up soccer, and Peter’s done well in basketball tournaments. And we have also been building a DIY stock tank hot tub that is nearly complete, just in time for summer vacation.

Beautiful days of spring that are full of bipolar weather, and time for outdoor fun. We visited Red Butte Gardens and tried fishing out on Utah Lake (no fish were caught). And I hiked to Horsetail Falls with my sister.

Easter week was nice. I did activities throughout the week, like dying eggs, flying kites, stopping by the Lindon temple open house, and learning about Jesus. We ended with a family Easter egg hunt and General Conference. On Easter, we also took off and traveled down to Mesquite for a mini-vacation. We swam at the hotel, ate fast food, played at an arcade, and watched TV. There was a good amount of chill time for a few days.

But I never plan that much chill time. Monday, we visited the Valley of Fire. Gorgeous park, especially if you get out on the trails. The kids weren’t enthusiastic about it because of how hot it was. (Mid 80’s for the high, which isn’t that hot, but I think we are still used to winter.)

The next day, we hiked Kanarra Falls. It requires a permit and some fore-planning because you walk through water through a good portion of the trail. Neoprene socks kept the feet from freezing, and I did carry Evie for the back half of the trail. All that said, Peter called it the best hike he’d ever been on, and it’s definitely in my top handful of hikes I’ve done as well. Beautiful slot canyons, multiple waterfalls, and at four miles round trip, it wasn’t too long. The pictures don’t do it justice: there are four separate waterfalls, and huge towering slot canyons.

The rest of spring break was spent doing smaller activities around home, like the park, library, and a short trip to Lagoon at the end.

I was a bit buried in March. My business started up a bit. I’m mostly waiting for my landscape contractor license to go through so I can do some installs this spring. I did have a couple of projects to keep me busy, though, and started on garden maintenance. The flowers came out, and we had record-breaking hot temperatures. There’s been track, kids play, and basketball. And annoying things like chores, check-ups. For fun, a bike ride, a fishing trip, a jet lag game in Daybreak, and going out to Thanksgiving Point occasionally. We’ve been working on preparing for Trek, which is two months away (I’m basically in charge…). And finally, a trip to the opening day of Lagoon, where we did lose a kid, but not for long. We have season tickets there this year, so we’ll go back and try not to lose anyone next time.