Friday, June 30, 2023

This and That in June!

Wow!  June was a busy month.
Daniel was promoted from 8th grade on June 1st
And Kathryn graduated from High School June 2nd
Here are two screen shots while we were watching at home:
Michael had soccer camp
Amelia got her driver's license
Nathaniel attended a 4 week summer school.  He made this robot whose name is Robo-Life
Daniel had basketball camp and later in the month he and Michael went to a pickleball camp
Camille went to Girls Camp.  Sarah was there early as a YCL.
Camille helped her Mom at a Primary activity about the Good Shepherd. Here she is with a lamb.
And she got her braces off!
Elizabeth enjoyed her two weeks at the MTC in Provo.
Courtney and Ben moved to Orem.  Before they left,
Caleb got in some splash pad time:
He's ready for summer...
...and growing a lot!  There's the onesie he used to wear.
Hannah graduated from Seminary on June 11th and she gave a fabulous talk at it.
On June 16th Hannah, Joshua and David came over for lunch after baptisms at the temple.
We got playing a game of Phase 10 Twist and it lasted for 2 hours!
It ended in a tie!  Isn't this a cool shot of the end of the game?
We celebrated Father's Day
Our Primary class was excited to make root beer floats for all the Dads.
Elizabeth made it to Georgia and is in Macon.
Sam finished up in Hyde Park and moved on to Box Elder County.
Monday, June 19th the Melanchuks went to check out the dam at Lake Shasta--lots of water!
75th Birthday for Grandpa!
Peter and Jeff were at Young Men camp.  This is called Prairie Surfing and not as easy as it looks.
Here is a link to a video:
June 27th Perrys and Melanchuks at the temple.
John, Sara, Aubrey and Bethany spent a week camping in Yellowstone!
This is their campsite.
They saw lots of bison and had some rain.
They also saw bears including a Mom and her two cubs.
These were friendly bears.
Junior Ranger Bethany
Aubrey helping the Ranger give a presentation during the rainstorm outside.  This was the Ranger's 51st year at Yellowstone!
There were lots of birthdays in June including Sophie, Matthew and Charles.
On Monday, June 26th Nathaniel celebrated his 10th birthday.  
He got his own pocket knife.
Michael made him this drum set.
Here is a video of how it works:
We played Camp Scramble and Minecraft UNO, games he received for his birthday.
Amelia made a powerpoint about Nathaniel  Here are a few of the slides:
How many different doctors does he have?
How many doctor appointments did he have in his first year of life:
We are so glad to have Nathaniel in our family!  He frosted his own cake and had fun blowing out the candles.
We saw some other interesting things on our trip including these two temples:
Las Vegas
St.George
We also enjoyed seeing the Joshua Trees.  They are so interesting and reminded me a little of the Saguaro cactus.  We got the best pictures we could while whizzing by.
And on our way home we drove through Zion National Park to see that spectacular scenery.  Here are a few of our favorite shots:
"I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me."

Friday, June 23, 2023

Happy 75th Birthday!

A 75th birthday seems pretty impressive and so how to celebrate?
Grandpa said he would love to go to the Grand Canyon!
We planned a trip.
It had been 37 years since he had been there with our family.
Here he is in our cabin at the Kaibab Lodge:
And here he is at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon:
But here's the best part about this amazing guy.
He said he wanted to hike down part way which means he would also have to hike back up.  He wanted to see the Canyon from the perspective of being down in it.
The North Rim is over 8,000 feet elevation, so if you're not used to it, it can take your breath away.  The North Kaibab Trail is a steep trail down and of course back back up.  Here he is waving good bye. 
 I wondered if I would see him again as he started hiking a little before 6 p.m. and promised to be gone only 2 hours.  No cell and no wifi.  And I had just finished reading this book:
He made it and thought it was hard but great! 
Here are some of the awesome pictures he took on his hike:
Happy 75th Birthday!!!
We've made the best memories together!!