Back to School

Back to school! Kate and Liam started their first year in the brand new Greene School as 5th graders in the Green and Orange teams. A bit later, Torin headed off to Maple Dale as a 2nd grader.

Pretty soon, they were riding their bikes

The next day, Jacob and Claire went back to school as juniors (!), nice and early, on the 30th! 

But, this time, they could drive themselves to seminary!

The kids went to school on Monday, and on Tuesday, they had the day off while the other half of the kids had their first day, so we met for brunch at First Watch in Norwood.

 

The rest of the summer

Father's Day at our house with Papa. We love having Papa and Nana at our house for holidays and other events.

FINALLY a birthday party - weeks after the actual birthday! 

Liam and Kate had friends over for pizzas, and snow cones

The boys found some fun things to do downstairs

We are so excited for our 12 year olds!

 

Mucking mud after Kentucky flooding

Southeastern Kentucky was hit with historic rains and flooding. The church organized a big service project. We heard about it and a few days later, Claire and Jared headed to help. Ben Peterson, who was just moving into the ward, joined. We stayed with the Goldies and Bagleys.

We dropped a few people off at a house that was flooded but was not in as bad of condition and drove to try to find another house. The bridge had been washed out, and we were about to leave, but a car pulled up, and the daughter of the owner let us know that the home was needing help. We moved a heavy steel i-beam to act as a bridge to cross the creek and were able to access the home.

It was a quad level. We did not go into the bottom level because it was still under some dark water. The level above is where we worked. Upon arriving, furniture and mud was everywhere! It honestly felt overwhelming - we couldn't imagine what the homeowners were experiencing. We worked most of the day to pull out everything until we got down to the concrete flooring (we had to pull up boards nailed to the concrete!) and the studs. By the time we left, it was much better - but so much work was needed.

 

After we finished, we went to another home to try to get a little work done in the afternoon before coming back the next morning. This home was in even worse shape. One of the supports to the deck was missing, and the entire basement (where we worked) had been under water - there was mud on the ceiling boards! We really weren't sure we would even to make a difference. 

We went back to the Air BnB in Pikeville and found our way to an incredibly delicious steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We felt very happy to be staying in a home with showers - even if there was just 1 bed that Claire and I shared.

When we got back, we decided to go for it and clean. Claire went to the first house due to the presence of dogs. We hauled heavy, wet furniture out and shoveled so much mud! We ended up getting to the concrete and were able to take all the drywall off. It was SO MUCH work! The homeowner, Gina, was very grateful. Near the end, Claire and the other group came and joined, and Claire was able to be with the group even around the dogs.

It was an unforgettable experience, and we were grateful to be able to help. I was so proud of Claire's willingness to work and how helpful she was. Claire wrote about the experience as one of her college admissions essays:

Last summer, Eastern Kentucky experienced historic flooding. When I heard this, I knew I wanted to join in the effort to help clean out houses. It was short notice, and I was scheduled to work, so I found someone to cover my shift.

Inside the first house, the couches were crumbling, the walls were moldy, and the floor was thick with mud. It was overwhelming, and I did not know if we could get it clean. We started by removing the saturated furniture, which fell apart as we moved it. Then we began the monumental task of shoveling the dense mud out. We had to remove everything: the walls, the floorboards, and the shower.

Before removing the desk, I looked through the drawers to find anything salvageable. I looked through many photos and found some that were not ruined, which I saved for the owner. This gave me hope that we could make a difference and help these houses become livable again.

In the second house, the work was different. I wiped off studs so they could be sprayed for mold and refreshed mop buckets. The final house seemed like it was going to collapse, making us question if it could be habitable again. The next morning, we felt more optimistic and decided to try. Although we did not complete the cleaning of the house, we got a lot done. When we finished, the woman who owned the house said a powerful prayer of gratitude. Like the salvaged photos, her tangible sense of gratitude helped me feel like I had made a difference in the lives of those I served.

Dani LOVES her water bottles! The latest - Owala

The Stanley Cup was last year's favorite cup.

This year... The Owala. Dani has fallen in love with it because it has a straw, closes all the way, and you can drink without the straw.

Dani decided to get the kids their own bottles, so she ordered some. Then, there was a half-price sale! So we have lots and lots of them - 17 total! Ready for gifts as needed. And a few ready for return.

 

Kaci and Travis come for a visit

Kaci and Travis came to Cincinnati for a Zak Brown concert, so we got to bring them around Cincinnati and show them the highlights of our city. They also got to be some of our first guests in our new loft guest room!

Of course, we had to eat at Skyline - chili over spaghetti covered in cheese is a unique experience for non-Cincinnatians.

We took a trip to Kings Island, and Jared joined mid afternoon to ride the big rollercoasters with with Travis and the older kids. Travis loved the coasters!

Meanwhile, Dani and Kaci rode a few rides and hung out with Torin.

Torin brought Kaci on the bumper cars - definitely NOT Kaci's favorite!

We stayed for fireworks, and it was really cool because they added a drone show that spelled things out

designed rollercoasters, had Snoopy and the Red Baron, and other highlights. It was worth staying late.

We took a bike ride on the Loveland Bike Trail to the bullet factory.

Jared was offered tickets to a suite for the tennis tournament, and that worked PERFECTLY because we were planning on going, but we got free food and much better tickets!

We also got to see Serena Williams practicing in what would turn out to be her final time in Cincinnati. What an incredible legend.

We also got to see Rafael Nadal in a warmup match for a few points.

It was so much fun to hang out with Kaci and Travis in Cincinnati.

Summer in Cincy

Jacob and Pratt! These handsome gentlemen's schedules don't overlap very often, but they enjoy spending time together when they can

Torin had a day he wasn't feeling very good. We found him singing with his head in the bucket. So I guess he wasn't feeling all that bad!

It turns out, Jacob brought home some sort of bacteria from the lake in Georgia. YUCK!

Adele was in town while the primary had a big activity, and they had a great time together.

Jared's work had a small summer activity kayaking on the Little Miami. By small, I mean there were only 12 who came! More joined when we got lunch at 50 West. But for the 12 of us who came, it was a lot of fun! Kim kept falling off her kayak (once was a little scary) - and Jared joined the intern going on the rope swing.

Kate and Liam took a tour of the ride to the Greene School. They are pretty excited about being able to ride their bikes to school.

More pizzas!!! One came out with a HUGE bubble! We have found a little shortcut - rather than 12 or 24-hour homemade crusts, we get Trader Joe's pizza crusts.

While the cousins were over, we spent some time at the lake. As usual, Nolan was begging for more bumps, more speed, etc, and Hayley preferred the calmer ride!

We got a nice day and got to have some skiing and some lake time.

We also spent a day with our Texas cousins at Kings Island.

Jared got to ride the "Beastie" (Woodstock Express) with Conner - who LOVED it!

The younger boys rode some smaller rides while the older kids took T for a ride on Orion and a few of the other bigger coasters.

Torin found a creative way to use the excess disposable blinds - which became somewhat permanent for quite a few months! Very classy!

We got to see lots of Papa this summer. We love having him over!

Summer time means finding time for exercise, so the a trip to the Loveland Bike Trail was good  mother daughter bonding time.

Makeup training!

SUMMER IS AWESOME - says Liam!