Since the 4th of July was on a Sunday this year, it meant Aaron got Monday off from work to celebrate. Sunday evening Daniel got to receive his Patriarchal Blessing. It was an awesome experience to be there when it was given to him. He has some amazing things he will get to experience throughout his life!! Later that evening we did have G&G T over for dinner. We had hamburgers and they were yummy. It was nice to visit as well! The next morning I had won some tickets to Sea Quest Aquarium that we needed to use. Since we got in for free I splurged and we did a bird encounter where we hand fed the birds. Aaron sat this activity out since he HATES birds, but the rest of us joined in and it was pretty fun! Here’s Matthew with a bird on his shoulder:
Checking out the iguana:
Fish manicure:
Here’s all her teammates after the performance:
Josh and Daniel have gotten pretty close this past year. I think Daniel will really miss Josh when he leaves.
The other morning we went out and did some Pickleball.
Then we went to park to hang out for a bit. Sarah ended up just reading her book under the tree instead. She is such a bookworm!!
Josh got his missionary tags in the mail last week. He had to try them on as soon as he got them out of the envelope! I have been in a bit of denial that he will be starting his mission soon. This made it a bit more real for me. I am happy for him, but a bit sad for me. Looking good Elder Mancil!
Josh’s friend made him a really cute missionary pillowcase:
A few weeks ago Josh finally was able to go through the temple to receive his endowment. We were looking forward to this appointment, however, with any visit to the temple it never is without problems. As we were getting ready to go that morning we didn’t have time to iron. Well let’s be real, we don’t hardly ever iron--who has time for that?! Anyway, we just throw the wrinkled clothing item in the dryer to steam out the wrinkles. Aaron threw his white shirt and suit pants/coat in to get the wrinkles out, however, when he pulled them out there were brown spots everywhere. DOH! We had no idea what it was, we just knew that he couldn’t wear that shirt anymore. He tried throwing in another white shirt when the same thing happened. When he was pulling his suit pants out is when a forgotten chocolate bar he had gotten the previous week fell out of his pocket--DOUBLE DOH!! Aaron has a total of two white shirts that fit him and a possible 3rd in a pinch. Once we figured out it was the melted chocolate bar causing all the brown spots over everything we wiped out the dryer. I then got to work sponging off the brown spots on his suit. Luckily, he has a black suit so the spots weren’t as noticeable, but he sure smelled nice. MMMMM chocolate--haha! The bad thing was we were already running behind schedule when this happened. A few others things didn’t go as planned that morning and it was a rough start. I told Josh this seems to happen whenever you try to go to the temple. As the morning went on all of us got pretty snippy with each other so it wasn’t the best way to start out a temple trip, but, thankfully, we did make it to the temple in one piece even with a few extra brown spots to boot--haha! Here’s what Aaron’s shirt looked like when it got ‘wrinkle released’ in the dryer with a forgotten chocolate bar in a pocket:
I printed out one of the pictures to hang up downstairs. It’s kind of cool to know that that particular picture is one that got taken after a personal visit there!
After talking about the genetic testing she also wanted to do a virtual neurologic exam. What?! My house was messy, so, when she asked Josh to turn the camera so she could see him do some different neurology checks/exercises I was mortified. There were piles of laundry and clutter in the background. DOH!! Oh well, what can you do?! He passed the neuro check and won’t need another follow up for a year unless there are any issues. I am hoping we don’t have any issues, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!! The mission medical person from Salt Lake that is over Josh’s mission called me a few months ago to learn more about Josh. He did tell me that even with people who have been stable with meds, they can have some breakthrough seizures when they get out in the field since it can be more stressful and such a different routine/structure to get used to. I am hoping Josh has a smooth transition and everything stays hunky dory!!
They are completely out of cell service range so I can’t text him to see how things are going, but Josh always enjoyed himself at high altitude camp. I am hoping it is a good experience for Daniel. If anything he will come back in great shape--haha!
The views were pretty!
Luckily, Aaron and Noah got to use a double tube so Noah got to have some help with steering.
After we were done we stopped by and checked out Bridal Veil Falls:
Aaron wanted to stop by the athletics building to look at the sports memorabilia:
We then walked over to see the Museum of Art:
They had a special exhibit featuring the artist Vik Muniz:
Afterward we stopped by and got some yummy Cookies and Cream milk from the bookstore and enjoyed it outside:
He also split his favorite shorts. He has had these a few years and the fabric was getting worn out from being washed so much. They finally gave up on Saturday. Aaron didn’t know they had ripped until I happened to notice them when he turned around--DOH!! He had some extra air conditioning going on--haha! RIP shorts!
Aaron got a gift card to Texas Roadhouse for Father’s Day. He used it last week. He ordered a Chicken Fried Steak. He didn’t realize it was so HUGE! It took up the entire plate! He only got through a little bit and brought the rest home for the kids to split. I still can’t believe how big that Chicken Fried Steak was!!
The morning that we went to the temple with Josh, Sarah and Daniel were able to be in the parade. We dropped her off before we left for the temple. Sarah was in the parade with her dance team:
Daniel got to be in the parade for youth council. At the end of the parade he also got to ride in a limo for fun. Here’s the limo:
His suit looked similar, but I sponged most of the chocolate spots off.
Anyway, here’s Josh and Aaron getting ready to go inside the Ogden Temple:
We were grateful for everyone that was able to come to the Saturday morning endowment session with us. We had the whole session just for our family which was really awesome. Here’s some after pictures:
G&G T:
I am still in a bit of denial that my baby will be leaving soon!
After the temple we had everyone over for lunch. We did a hot dog bar along with chips and cookies which was pretty tasty. Aaron cooked the hot dogs then you could top them with whatever you wanted. We had a recipe for a Sonoran Dog, Chicago Dog, an American Dog, Chili Dog, and a Potpourri Dog.
Later that evening we met up with the Einzingers and watched our city celebration days come to a close with a fireworks show:
After that first temple experience Josh was a bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, we were able to go again for an endowment session the following Tuesday. It was more familiar and comforting experience for Josh that second time. In getting ready for his Home MTC experience I gathered some church art to hang on the walls. Josh saw the stuff I had and then asked for a temple picture. I looked, but temple pictures were either too expensive or too far away. So after the second endowment session Josh and I took some pictures of the Ogden Temple ourselves to hang on the wall. We were there in the evening and got to take some pictures of the temple around sunset. Here’s a few of the ones we got between our phones:
We were also able to squeeze in a Sealing session Thursday evening as well. It is nice being able to attend the temple again after it got shut down due to Covid!
In getting Josh ready to start his mission he had a dentist visit. Thankfully no cavities!! He also had an eye exam. Luckily, his prescription hasn’t changed much so his old glasses will still work great! We will order him some new glasses so he will have two pair just in case something happens to one of them. Here’s the eye exam:
He also had a virtual neurology visit. I thought it would be a quick visit since nothing has changed, but I was a bit wrong in that assumption. We weren’t able to get a visit with his regular neurologist so we got one with a nurse practitioner. She read over his chart. She then brought up the topic of genetic testing since Josh and Aaron have epilepsy. She said it might be a good idea to get it checked out just in case there is something in the genes. I was intrigued and thought it would be a good idea as well. She sent out the kit and we got it. He finally found some time to fill out the forms and collect the saliva today. We sent it off at lunchtime. It will be interesting to see the results. Here’s the kit before we mailed it:
Speaking of exams, it was time for Daniel to get a physical done for Cross Country. We were able get in with his pediatrician on short notice. Daniel came home from Cross Country practice and told me he needed to get a physical done in the next two days. WHAT?!? Don’t you love last minute things like that?! Anyway, amazingly his pediatrician’s PA had an opening so we took it. He did great, but had to get his second Gardasil shot which he wasn’t happy about. He HATES shots or needles of any type so he made me stop by and get him some Chick-Fil-A on the way home--haha! 
In between all this chaos I have still been trying to work. It has really been crazy this last 6 weeks! I thought summer would be a nice break, but it hasn’t been much of a break. I am hoping things will slow down the last half of the summer, but I am not so sure.....
It was also time for Sarah to get her labs done again. We are getting to know the phlebotomists pretty well. They like to talk about the different books they have read since they last saw each other. Luckily, they got Sarah with the first stick which is great!
Daniel left for High Altitude Camp this morning with the Cross Country team. It is where they camp at about 9400 in elevation for 5 days. They do multiple runs and workouts all day. In their downtime they get to hang out, fish, paddle board/kayak, play games, etc. The day before they leave they go on a 22 mile trail run out to Red Castle which is an elevation of 11,295 feet. This whole camp is to get them prepped for the upcoming season. Since Daniel had two weeks of summer driver’s ed and another 9 days of vacation (at sea level), he has not been running daily like he should have been all along. He was really nervous to go on this camp, but I think he will be okay even if he is a bit out of shape. Here he is as I dropped him off this morning:
Sarah is still doing Weber STate Prep. She had a fun field trip last week. They met at the indoor climbing wall. They played capture the flag on the rock wall while wearing their harnesses. Sarah had a lot of fun! She will be finishing up with Prep this week, though.
Noah started a summer enrichment class at his school last week. It is a daily 3 hour class where they work on robotics, math puzzles, lego challenges, etc. He is liking it which I am glad for.
Matthew switched day program groups. He was nervous about the change, but I think he will do better with the new group since there are no wheelchairs and will have easier mobility when they are out in the community.
I asked Josh what was one thing he wanted to do before he started his mission. He requested floating the river. Aaron found a fun route on the Provo river. We decided to go last Friday. After checking in we got our life jackets and hitched a ride on the bus to the beginning.
We had a lot of fun floating down the river.
We then went over to BYU campus. Aaron and I had to stop by our ‘vent’. We dated over the winter and both our apartments were so loud and crazy. We ended up going on campus and sitting on top of this warm vent and talked for hours. We had to stop by and Aaron gave me a kiss while we were there:
We had a really fun day. I am glad we were able to squeeze in a float on the river with Josh!
Aaron hasn’t had the best of luck, lately. He got in a fender bender accident last week. DOH!! Unfortunately, it was his fault. We have an appointment to get the car fixed this upcoming Tuesday. I am just glad no one was hurt except the car:
Here’s Daniel and some other youth council members having a fun time riding in a limo:
It was our city days celebration. That is why there was a parade. There was also a photography contest. Josh, Daniel and I decided to enter just for a fun family competition. Here’s the three submissions from Josh:
Here’s the three submissions from Daniel:
Here’s my submissions:
Wahoo Daniel got 3rd place:
I got second place:
The loser had to buy the winners a soda. Josh ended up getting Daniel and me a can of rootbeer. Yum!
Josh got set apart as a missionary yesterday. I cried a little, but I am excited for him. I still can’t believe it has come so soon!! Here’s the newest missionary:
He was up at 6 am this morning to exercise. Then after getting ready he started his online classes. I sneaked in to catch this picture:
I love my missionary!! He has had a few breaks throughout the day so I have been able to check in to see how he is doing. It was fun to share lunch with him! He has six weeks of Home MTC then he will fly out to Chicago!!
Josh had mentioned he wanted to take some missionary pictures before he got set apart. We did that Saturday afternoon. I had fun taking his pictures! Some of these haven’t been edited, yet, but I liked how they turned out!!
Chicago, Illinois flag:
He had to do a ’smolder’ picture because he is a dork--haha!
We love our missionary!!
You can "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag." We used to feed the chickens, but not for fun. It sounds like a busy life as usual. I am happy for the family and proud of each of them.
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