Father's Day and Lehi Roundup Rodeo Week

We got together as a family at the Atkisson's house to celebrate Father's day and say goodbye to my Mom and Dad. We did our best to keep everything happy so there wouldn't be too many tears. It was great to have one last family dinner before they left early the next morning.

My Dad is such a good person: selfless, sweet, patient, smart. He is an inspiration to me. I know he will be a fantastic missionary and take good care of my Mom.

Warren is also a good person (hardworking, spiritual, selfless, and kind) and such a great Dad to our children. I am grateful for the way he leads our family each day. I am grateful for the way he honors his priesthood responsibility to lead our family.

Melanie's selfie with her Dad in honor of Father's Day is now her most liked photo on Instagram.

On Tuesday when I got home from work, I found Melanie and Tyler in the backyard shaving Milo's hair. They had set up the canopy for shade and were working together to complete the task. He is so wiggly when you try to cut his hair but they are so patient with him. They would give him fetch breaks during his haircut to get out his wiggles. They also took turns petting and talking to him to calm him nerves while the other person shaved. It is a job that takes hours. After I got home, I enjoyed sitting in the shade of the backyard, listening to the water run in the fountain and watching them work together to complete a big job.

 When Jessica graduated from High School I decided to give each of my children a t-shirt memory quilt as a High School graduation gift. The idea is that it is a great way to introduce themselves to new friends when they are at college. We were good about collecting Tyler's shirts and had close to 75 he wanted to include. We worked together over the course of three days to cut out the logos on the shirts as tightly as possible so that we could include all of his memories. All of the t-shirts have now been cut and we laid them out into this design. The goal is to have it all sewn together with a border, quilted, and bound before he moves into his dorm on August 20.

 We participated in some Lehi Round Up Rodeo week events. Warren and Melanie attended the picnic and concert in the park on Monday evening. Melanie's friend, Thomas, joined us in watching the horse parade on Thursday evening and the Grand Parade on Saturday morning. We then walked to the carnival in the park where we watched some of the entertainment on the stage and walked around the booths. Melanie and Thomas visited the Arts Council tent where they colored visors and decorated a cup. We got to connect with some old friends in that tent. Saturday afternoon was spent on household chores and yard work. I'm proud to say, I have not killed all of the flowers I planted in the spring. Now that they are weeded and edged, the flower beds are looking pretty nice.

 The weight loss program I started in January had its final weigh in and our "after" pictures were due. This is where I started and how I look now. I had a great support group from my trainer, Tina, and from my training group as part of the program. My friend, Melanie C, who was not in my group but was also doing the program has also been a great support. Melanie C. and I get on the treadmills for 30 minutes during our lunch break as many days a week as we can and we enjoy going to water aerobics classes in the evenings. Neither one of us our at our goal weight yet, so we have committed to help each other continue on with the program and then to maintain our new healthier lifestyles. I appreciate the support and words of encouragement I received all along this journey from Warren, the kids, and my family and friends. They helped keep me going and committed.

Quiet Week

 A surprise gift from Italy

 Jessica and her boyfriends

 Who knew there were so many 8-9 year old boys in Lehi

Warren and I ran the marble station.

Tyler helped with soap carving.

They fed us well.

Boy did my feet hurt.

 Happy 26th Anniversary (June 19)

Orchestra Concert at BYU

Temple Session - Witness couple

Prime Rib dinner with Graigry

Sealings

Beautiful sunset on the way out in the West

Full moon rising over Rock Canyon in the East

She is a beauty and she spend the week at "girl's camp" aka, luxury vacation.

Baptisms in the Manti Temple

VRBO in Manti

Her flirting skills didn't get rusty

Manti Pageant

Homecoming

It was great to get to welcome home Sister Katie Henrie today. We got to hear her talk in church. You could tell her heart is still in Missouri which is a sign of a good missionary - it was very hard for her to come home. She gave a great talk on personal revelation where she shared stories from her mission of how her investigators received revelation in different ways. I loved sitting between Tyler and Warren in church and listening to them sing. Lindsey Draper made a short visit with our family on her way to BYU music camp. It was great to host her as her family was so kind to Jessica years ago. It was a great day.

Home Again

Jessica was very good to take action to find Buddy. She posted an ad on the KSL Lost and Found Pets page and was alerted that a lady had posted a picture that looked like Buddy on a Utah County Lost and Found Pets Facebook Page. Turns out the lady picked up Buddy from the Meadow field and took him home a few blocks away. Jessica, Tyler, and Melanie all went right over to pick him up. He seemed glad to see them. We had been praying and were glad for the miracle.

Federica's dad sent this picture to us when Federica finally arrived back in Italy. She had a lot of flight delays. It is nice to see her safely home with her family. She said it took her family a minute to recognize her.

Lost without them and The worst part of having an exchange student

 We lost two important family members this week. Our little dog buddy, the one who sleeps with Tyler each night ran off on an adventure and didn't come home. We think he wiggled under our back fence when he went outside alone for a potty break. He has run off before but has always come back. He is such a cute and snugly little dog that my theory and hope is that a nice family decided he was homeless and decided to adopt him. We have done everything we can think of to find him and continue to pray and hope that he will find his way home.

Warren, Melanie, and Tyler took Federica to the airport early Saturday morning to head back to Italy. Some of her friends came up to see her off as well. There was a little stress as they realized that her flight time had changed and her plane was leaving 30 minutes early. The airline was understanding that her two large suitcases were slightly overweight and she got to take home most of what she wanted to. She got through security and on the plane fine but flight delays kept her in Houston for most of the day. She will have been traveling for more than 24 hours by the time she gets home. I always put together a photo album for our exchange students so they can show their families what they did in Utah. I am grateful for all of the many happy memories we made with Federica.

"To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture. Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you. He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears. It matters not how you became lost—whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control. What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children."

Elder Uchdorf
April 2016 General Conference

My faith tells me that God will be watching over Federica and Buddy. He knows where they are and they are important to Him.

An Advantage to being the youngest

Jessica has Fridays off work and so she, Melanie, and Federica decided to go to Seven Peaks. It was a beautiful day and they had a great time. It was a fun way to spend Federica's last day in Utah. True to her bubbly outgoing personality, Melanie found a nice boy, Tait, to flirt with in the wave pool. She and Tait had a date (her first) on Saturday night. On Friday evening, we barbecued chicken and had some of Federica's closest friends over for dinner. It is great to see how many good friends she made in Utah.

Melanie is not so sure she wants to be an only child at home with Mom and Dad. We are looking into the possibility of getting another exchange student next year that would attend UCAS with Melanie.