Soccer, School and Skylines

internet photo...I should
try one of these, though... :)

Hello, Family!!

Somehow September not only started, but is half over...?!? Not quite sure how that happened. I stay on top of Teresa's blog, then I forget about our family one.

School has started, as of last week. Usually we start right after Labor Day, and that's what we did this year. Kara is a SENIOR, can you believe that!! I did get a photo before she jumped in the car that first morning. They write on their windows so the school had lots of "2018" on lots of windows that first day.

Kara's "First Day" as a SENIOR!

I am tutoring 2 days at 2 different elementary schools, like I have in the past. Basically 1 day at each Elementary School. We need to do a little more testing, with new kids, but the schedule is under way.

Kara has started soccer, and they won their game last night! She plays defense on the varsity team, and will play about 2 games a week, now, for the next 2 months. I got a couple of pictures of her playing yesterday...

David "stopped in" for a few days, then he was off again to BYU! He had a wonderful collection of experiences this summer, in and around Milan, and then Eastern Europe. He finished in London, one of my very favorite places. Classes have started for him in Provo. Hi and Bye--Can't wait to see you at Christmas, David!

Frank is in NYC for part of this week.

forming a 'wall' for a corner kick

Frank was not doing anything
glamorous--just meetings. This is
from a couple of years ago...But
I really do need to get back there,
to take some more pics :)

Hurricane Irma went through David and Diane's backyard...well maybe not exactly, but MUCH TOO CLOSE at any rate! They spent the week securing their house, then drove a LOT of hours to get to Dot's, (family member in Valdosta, GA)...yes, where they helped her prepared HER house for the same storm, and then it passed by HER house! Ugh. Unpredictable storm path, of course.

Internet Photo but I don't know how ANY trees
survive wind like that :(

But, she reports that they are home now, and did not get flooded. They lost a few tiles on the roof, and they also lost their banana tree in the backyard. Bummer, but we are relieved that's "all" it was.

(also Internet photo. Awesome Monument!)

I'm listening to a book on cd, on my way to school and all around town, about Abraham Lincoln's speeches and his path to President. Much of my knowledge of him centers around him as President, the Civil War and the Gettysburg Address. He actually had a career before that, too! Ha. Very interesting.

I've been trying to average 10K steps a day, to stay healthy and be part of an exercise plan with Frank's work.

We've had some beautiful days this week! Sunny and high 70s, for temps. THAT's why I'm trying to get in my 10,000 steps a day :) :)

Hope your week is going well! I'll sign off with a couple of pics I took this month, simply For Your Enjoyment:

One of the yards that backs up to the trail
I walk...next to the RR tracks,
which take us to the library

Wayland Library -- this is the "short end,"
by the parking lot. Love the ivy on the walls!

Sum-Sum-Summertime

Before the trip: still clean!

Hello!
Just looking at the date of the last post, of our family blog. It's not only August, but it's August 10th already!

I think of the beginning of July, and the last post...Frank had just hurt his knee and had stitches. It is better than it was, by far. But he did get a "knot" on his kneecap right under the cut, and the Dr. said that may take another month or so to dissipate. Our bodies are wonderful and amazing, and also confusing sometimes.

Taking a water/lunch break!

Park City (Utah) was awesome--it's a beautiful area for a family reunion. I was so happy to be able to see my mom and siblings, and many of their families for a whole WEEK!

All the cousins bent over backwards to make it there even for a short time, and I was so thankful they did. For about a 20-hour window, we had 26 of our possible 30 family members there! Of course still missing the 4, and happy to see the 26.

V for Victory! (Sorry, Kim and Sheree got a little blocked
on this...the camera was balanced on an ATV and there
was nobody standing at the camera to check...!)

Here are some ATV highlights. **If you click on the picture, it should be bigger on your screen.**

Puddle to drive through!

We also had a cool boat/jetski day, took a beautiful hike, and went to Olympic Park Village.

Our last day before flying back, we had some time (our flight wouldn't leave until about midnight that night), so went to a cool dinosaur museum and lunch with Kris, Avery and Mom.

Let's drive through it again...and again! ha.

AFTERNOON ENTERTAINMENT. Then bowling at the BYU Wilkinson Center, and to Wonder Woman. If you haven't seen it, it was a good show! You don't have to know any of the story before going in. The whole thing is a flashback, with Wonder Woman TELLING her story. It's a movie with a good story, with entertaining action. We liked it!

That's a sheet of white icing,
being poured on them
as they pass through
 on the conveyor belt!

KRISPY KREME...Orem has a Krispy Kreme, and all the Krispy Kremes nationwide have a red logo on the outside of the building. When that logo lights up, that means the donuts are being made and are available to be eaten hot, and ultra-fresh! So, Kara has the app (who knew there was an app, right...) that shows when those "fresh" red lights go on. Then you know when the Krispy Kremes are hot. We went in to have an ultra-fresh donut. So cool to see them being made. (Internet photo but that's exactly what it looked like!)

HUMIDITY. After an all-night flight (eeeeeww), we got back to Boston and the T-H-I-C-K A--I-R of New England. It is dry in the west, and your hair behaves. Not so in Massachusetts. It's waaaaay humid out here!

CAMPING. Kara spent the next week as a Youth Counselor at YW Camp! She was over the 1st year girls, and they had a grand time. That's Kara's 6th year at camp: 4 years of her own certification, and 2 years as a "YCL."



Now, August is upon us and we are counting down our summer. Wait! Don't leave, Summer! We still have 3 1/2 weeks!! I am SO loving the warmth: I am comfortable wearing shorts or capris, and bare feet. LOVE THAT!! :) :) :)

FROGGIE. Hope your August is off to a good start. I'll leave you with the frog Kara caught in the backyard before she mowed last week.

Kari

The Day We Could Have Done Without

Hola!

Can't believe we're up to Friday already -- and it's July! We've had an eventful week :)

3rd FIREWORKS. Our friends live in Needham, a couple of towns over, and they do their fireworks on the 3rd of July. After a BBQ with them, we walked to the high school and saw their show. They do a great job!

PIONEER LIVING. Kara is on Trek right now. As in "Pioneer Trek" -- every 4 years, the summer Youth Conference for the kids in this region is "Trek." They get to dress up like the pioneers, and push handcarts through trails and fields, to get a feel for the lives of the pioneers, 150 years ago.

They are also supposed to do a little research and bring the name of one of their own ancestors, one they can try to get to know better. During the 3 days they cook their own meals, walk a LOT, play pioneer games and learn more of the inspirational pioneer stories. So many pioneers wrote in journals, and told of learning and growing through trials and leaning on God for strength. The youth are encouraged to write in their own journals and are given time to ponder and pray. It's a unique experience, very organized and thoughtful.

Kara with Sam, Halle, Don (Halle's dad)--all
family friends...so glad she could go with their
stake and be in their "family" for Trek!

Here is Kara, in pioneer garb...(and you know how fashion-conscious Kara is...she let me take the picture, ONLY giving permission for it to go on the blog, hahahaha :) :) :) ) She's a good sport!

Oh I should also say, that Kara chose this sunflower fabric, and made her own skirt!

ITALY OUTINGS. Here are some pics of David, in Bergamo...he sent them last week.

JULY 4th. Just some highlights, or should I say "LOW" lights...our 4th of July was really lame! Working in the backyard, Frank dropped his trimming shears on his knee. It made a gash on his kneecap, and bled all over the place, but was probably only 1/2 inch long. He went to Urgent Care and got some stitches. He's limping around on it now. Ugh! 

Timing is just bad, of course...next week we have all kinds of fun, outdoor reunion activities planned, in Park City. Lake Day, ATVs, hiking...Well, don't count him out of things just yet! We are baby-ing it like crazy, and hoping the swelling will go down and it will at least half-heal by next week, and he can participate in some of our play activities :)

gross, I know. That's his knee, swollen
so you can't really see his kneecap

He got home from Urgent Care and Kara texted us. She spent a few days with a friend on Cape Cod, with her friend's family. 

She texts us: "Somebody just rear-ended me..." (REALLY??!?) Luckily, nobody was hurt. Another teen driver was behind her, maybe distracted, and Kara put her blinker on to turn left and slowed down, and the girl behind her did not slow down until it was too late.

Kara's friend's dad helped her duct-tape the bumper, and somehow they got the hatch shut, and she drove it 2 hours home.

The insurance guy came yesterday, and thankfully for us it was NOT totaled. It came close, with their numbers and formulas, etc., but we CAN repair it and keep it! So happy about that! Otherwise they'd have given us a bluebook value check (another formula), and they would have taken the car to sell for parts. Blah!

A day we could have done without, but what do you do...?!?

Time has gotten away from me.

Have a good weekend! Kari

Happy Summer and Movies

Hello--

SCHOOL's OUT! Welcome to the last week of June! Ugh-- how did THAT happen? Funny but it seems like school just barely ended...okay, it DID just end! Wednesday was Kara's last day. She was very happy to be finished studying for those last tests...physics and math. Now she has a breather from classes for 2 months! It might even be 10 weeks. YESSS!

Frank was in NYC all week, so it's nice to have him back. It's so fun to vacation there! But when he goes, and tries to just get "quick meals" here and there, he is reminded of how much it costs to LIVE there. Craziness.

One of their team-building exercises during the week was to have a chef come in and show them how to prep and cook a 4-course meal. This time they made Thai food. Yum!

GOVERNMENT WORK. We talked to David this morning, one more week under his belt at the U.S. Consolate. (Frank and I also watched the most recent "Jason Bourne" movie on Friday...those government programs seem pretty dangerous...maybe fingerprinting is the way to go after all, David...)

David will be staying in 3 different apartments (via airbnb) during his Milan summer. He's now into the 2nd place. Less square footage than the first apartment; it's pretty tiny. This one is only about a 4 minute walk from the church building, though, so that's cool. They have normal Sunday meetings, and Institute (scripture class) on Thursdays.


I had my last day of school, too, last week. They never tell me until the end of August if I'm officially working for that school year.  But our number of students won't change dramatically, and we're usually providing fewer tutor hours than the kids SHOULD be getting in ELL. I expect to be doing the same thing next school year, as I did this school year.

MISSIONARY MOVIE. Did you ever see 'The Other Side Of Heaven?" It's a Disney movie, the story of a man who served a 3-year mission for the LDS church in the Philippines (I think that was the location). I think it came out in 2006. Anne Hathaway played the girlfriend, who eventually became the wife of the missionary.

The man that story is about, is the grandfather of somebody in our congregation. So, he arranged for him to come out and do a fireside for our youth! It was a cool thing. The kids had watched the movie a week or so beforehand.

Highlights Kara said, were that the movie did not make things up--the events in the show all really happened. And that Anne Hathaway called his wife 3 or 4 times throughout filming, to hear her tell the stories, etc. He got to meet the two main characters of the movie (Anne included), when it opened in 2006. He also got to watch the last few scenes being filmed. It was a neat experience for him, and fun for our kids to hear his inspirational stories.

Blog time is up! That was just a quick "Welcome to Summer" post. Here is a pic of Frank and I at the outdoor sculpture museum a few weeks ago. There was this super-cool tree where you could climb underneath and sit in the shade.

Have a great week! :)

Kari

Father's Day and Other Important Stuff

Hello, and Happy Father's Day!

It was a beautiful day for Father's Day; we thought it might rain late in the day, but the clouds rolled past us.

FATHER'S DAY. Here is the tribute I put on facebook for Dad: top left corner in 1954, pictured with his mom. Then clockwise, with each of our kids, in different life stages: 1996, 2005, 2006. A wonderful, loving dad and grandpa. Miss you, Dad! (one friend commented that she could see me and my children in Dad's 17-year-old face. Cool huh! :))

And, Frank definitely deserves one too, since he keeps our family grounded and centered, while also tossing humor into the mix. Thanks, Frank, for your true dedication to our cause of growth, as individuals and as a family...helping us all maintain sanity along our journey :) :) :)

Greece vacation, April 2007. Kids are 11, 9, 7!

David's facebook post:
"Where's Waldo, Milano style"

CONSOLATE WORK. David made it to Milan by way of Manchester, last weekend. We skyped with him this morning, and he now has a week under his belt at the U.S. Consolate there. He knew they would not save the exciting work for the interns. They did not disappoint, ha! He has been taking people's fingerprints all week...helping people with the passport process. The cool thing is, he can actually talk to them in Italian, not just follow the 4-sentence script that the other non-Italian-speaking interns get.

He thinks they will rotate him to another job in a couple of weeks, when another intern gets there. The NEW guy can take over fingerprinting.

Also, he is taking advantage of talking to other people who work there, to find out their stories and work history at the consolate. Learning what THEY do all day every day, too.

SCHOOL YEAR DWINDLING. Kara is now finished with tennis, and she just has 3 days of school left: one day of presentations, and then one final per day on Tuesday and Wednesday. At last! School will be out this week!

I will have my last day of tutoring on Tuesday.

6 years ago

BIG APPLE. Frank will be in NYC all this week. This job has him traveling just about every month, sometimes 2 trips a month. Here is a photo from our family trip a few years ago. New York City is a pretty cool place. (Of course, he'll spend the whole time in an office building, in meetings. It's different than vacationing there.)

My blog time is now officially "up!" Hope your week starts out well. Stay cool and may you accomplish baby steps toward your goals this week!

Love, Kari