From Desolation to Wrestle-Your-Father Day

We got home from our trip in 6 pieces, which is the proper amount for a family of 6, but not without stopping  to eat our packed lunch at the most amazing rest stop ever. Check it out. Turns out to be the gateway to the "40 Mile Desert," a notoriously horrific place for early settlers to travel.

I didn't crop the photo, because it's not of people, it's of desolation. Not pictured is heat, bugs, and dirtiness.

We all used the stinky port-a-potties, and dealt with the fact there are no sinks anywhere at this place.  When we were getting near time to leave, suddenly Josh yelled out, "Noah, I found water!" It was hilarious, like he was a thirsty desert-traveler. I told Josh, "Don't forget to prime the pump!"

We got home late on Monday night, and lucky us, Gary's brother Christian and family were in town. I didn't feel like cooking, fresh off a getting home late from a vacation and all, so instead we went to Heber and stayed up really late there. Ha! It was fun, though, how can we leave early when we're having a great time talking and laughing with people we rarely see? We can't. The pictures of kids on the trampoline with cousins are blurry, but they were having a blast!

Michael, Josh, Noah, Christian, and Jill

Noah, Andrew, Josh, Christian, Jill, Michael

Christian, Lissy, Gary - enjoying dessert and also brotherly bonding via comedian on TV.

No pictures of me, but if there were, I was handing out with Sara and Candacy, solving the world's problems and laughing about it.

Then a few days later was the surgery, then the conference - already talked about those elsewhere. What we have here is Noah being an awesome big brother. Lissy loves to play dolls, but my boys normally don't. I didn't teach them these gender roles, it just happened, so I think that says something. Anyway, sometimes one of them will do a great job of playing babies with her, and she is in heaven. The best is when all the boys said they would play dolls with Lissy, and how did they play? They gave the diolls showers with Super Soakers.

Our van is officially a sports vehicle, what with its spoiler and hubcaps. Andrew added in the missing pinstripe with a sharpie while I was talking with a friend. She had been awesome enough to watch them all day while I was at a conference, and they had a blast. Andrew apparently decided to add art time when I returned, and this scene goes all around the car, plus extra styling on the handles and back.

Poor Josh's eye was getting puffier and redder over the weekend, we even had him stay home from church because we thought he had pink eye. Borrowed antibiotic drops weren't helping, so we let him play with kids on Monday and I took him to the doctor right after dinner. A fun kid-date, all things considered. Turns out it was allergies. This kid has them something awful! So, we went to Walmart to get his prescription filled, and he picked out Father's Day cards - slightly irritating talking ones he was sure the dads in his life would love. I have to say it - he is adorable.

You can't really tell how awful his eye was in this picture, but I do like his pose  he decided was right.

Our neighbors let us know about Pastor Pete's Fun Kids' Sports camp, put on by a local church. My kid will play sports any day, and we thought it would  be a great way for us to interact with the community. Josh chose baseball camp and Noah chose soccer camp, and they really learned some stuff. Noah will show you his scissors, fundamentals . . . It's cute with the way he talks. So, all week long, from 6-9 p.m., wow. It concluded the last night with family night, where we got to watch some scrimmages and do a fun awards ceremony.

As part of the camp, they were collecting peanut butter and jelly for the food bank. The sports were competing against each other to see who could bring in the most. The day after he found out about the contest, Josh brought Gary a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had made and said, "Here, Dad, this is to give for my sports camp." Such a sweetie. When Josh found out his donation wouldn't work, he begged me to get some real stuff. It was a hard week for us, with me going to the conference and post-op and all, so I didn't make it to the store until the last night. My donations got rushed into the count . . . and soccer won by a single jar of jelly! If it hadn't been for my kids' begging, Noah's team wouldn't have won. The kids were pumped because Noah got to bring home a little soccer ball for winning. Oh, and Noah's soccer coach was very impressed with him. I wish I would have seen it, I'm so glad he has something he can enjoy!

I had such a fun time talking with some of the people after the ceremony, I was very glad we came. I love the feeling of different churches coming together. Also, now my children are singing, "Give your heart to Jesus" to the tune of Hokey Pokey, so it's a win all around.

Noah's soccer group

Awards for participating, he's pretty pumped.

Josh's baseball group

Josh loved the whole thing!

Andrew and Lissy had a fantastic time dancing afterwards. Yes, it was a bit cute.

Noah got this ball for winning the pb and j contest - until he traded for the mini-soccer ball.

The week wrapped up with Father's Day. Our fathers live far away, so we stayed here to try our best to spoil Gary with cinnamon buns and hugs. I was trying to give him a break and not have him do anything, but being as he's an amazing dad, while I was cooking dinner he let the kids wrestle with him on the couch. It started out with just Andrew, but then they all joined in with various techniques. Andrew did the Kickboxing Kangaroo, then Noah performed the Tornado Ninja, then who knows . . . what a guy.

It all started pretty tame, with a mini-wrestle while Gary rested . . .

Then, on to this - does this say Happy Father's Day?

This one was especially awkward . . .

I like Gary's face here - he was actually not in pain at the time, but this also says "Happy Father's Day" to me.

And then the big one got in on it . . . phew. Maybe cooking was easier?