June 2023

 June 2023

June was a delightfully busy month celebrating some of our favorite people.  Our dear Joy turned 7 this year.  She loves all things fancy.  She has traded out pink for black and silver for her favorite colors.  She love accessories and shopping.  (She wants to spend money as soon as she gets it so we have encouraged her to wait two weeks after declaring she wants something before she actually buys it). Losing her wallet at the store has helped slow things down as well.  She loves to perform and is always up for a party.  She absolutely loves show time and can spend and entire day counting the minutes until showtime at 5pm.  She's naturally athletic and enjoys being outside.  She's a great friend to everyone; quick to smile, laugh and forgive.  She's creative and kind and though she has a lot of questions about the priesthood she is excited to get baptized next year.  I love this little bundle of joy.  She had a delightful party with friends and planned every last detail.  

My dear boys turned 10 on the 11th.  

Smith chose to have his core group of friends (2 girls and 3 boys) over for laser tag.  He is delightful and a wealth of knowledge.  After learning all about Star Wars for months, he became very interested in MineCraft (even though we don't have video games) and read everything about it he could get his hands on.  That lasted a few month and he is now into Lord of the Rings.  He loves reading and learning things that interest him.  I caught him the other day with a plate of 20 chicken nuggets he had made for himself.  His appetite is growing and his feet are the same size as mine.  He is stronger and smarter than he knows. He and Summer were both selected for the town's honors choir and it was fun to watch them practice together.  After intensive testing we have learned he has ADHD and are learning how to tap into his superpower.  

Boyd chose to have some boys from class over to celebrate his birthday.  He loves playing games; especially laser tag and gel gun battles.  He is currently obsessed with origami. He is constantly reading books, folding paper, and coming up with his own designs.  He is a veracious reader and is quite particular about what book series he deems worthy of his time.  His latest love is the Brotherband Series (as you can see by the t-shirt he made).  Though he doesn't love going to church, he his diligent about his prayer and scripture reading and he asks deep questions about the gospel.  He and Smith participated in a fencing camp the first week of summer and they loved it.  

Rose continues to keep us on our toes.  She is a spit-fire with a melt-your-heart grin!  She graduated from preschool and though she tells everyone that she will not be attending Kindergarten in the fall, I'm sure she'll come around.  She continues to love animals and juice and Bluey and her daddy.  

Summer has been a delight this month!  We've been able to cheer her on as she won many first place ribbons at swim meets.  She was chosen as the school's Student of the Year and was honored with the recipients of the other school by the Superintendent.  Her principal gave a beautiful speech about how Summer is an exemplary human.  She has had a great group of friends in both school and church and enjoyed elementary school to the fullest.  She and her YW group got to go see Wicked on Broadway.  Middlesex Middle School will be lucky to have her.  

Summer attended a camp at Tober with the Arvada Stake. Here are a few of her thoughts: 

1. During the trip, I went out of my comfort zone, met new people and had new experiences.
2. At camp, I learned that some of the best things take a sacrifice. 
3. When I got homesick, I came into the cabin to talk with Nana and Grandpa Peter.

4. My favorite thing that I did at camp was when it was raining so hard that my ward had to go to our tents. We all got together and played the card game One Night Werewolf.

5. I think that the hardest part of the trip was on the first day, I was so tired and out of energy. I could barely talk to people. 

6. Something I would like to do again is go to TreeHouse and go on the Colorado Trail .

I actually snuck it some fun as well this month as I met up with friends and took care of our growing beehive.  I had been quite casual with protection when taking care of the bees until I got my first sting.  It turns out that I am very allergic and we now have an epi-pen on hand just in case.  

And then there is our dear Elias.  I love him.  He really is the best.  He has officially accepted the position of apiary assistant and a bee suit has never looked to stunning.  He did get stung on his chin right through his veil and his skin hardly reacted at all.  Figures.  Rose woke us up on Father's Day and asked Elias to go make her breakfast.  I quickly volunteered to go make it so E could stay in bed and Rose interjected: "No! Mom, Dad gets to make my breakfast.  It's Father's Day!  You can do it for me on Mother's Day." I talked her into changing her mind so she delivered some breakfast in bed along with a massage while he ate (as documented below).  

I'm thrilled to report that his knee seems to be healing properly this time.  It's a slow recovery but he's being very mature about it.  I don't know what else to say about his life lately except he is trying so very hard.  He loves his children immensely (as one who is sometimes looking to slip away, his overwhelming love for and desire to be with his kids is astounding). He is always willing to share his food, help someone out, and get up in the middle of the night.  He is patient and kind.  He is trying so hard at work.  His performance has been amazing but the marking team is dealing with internal struggles and there are so many inner-office politics that inflows haven't matched the fund's performance as one would expect but E has taken it in stride.  He keeps plugging along, doing his best without complaint and adding value where he can. And wow...his church calling.  Elias is trying hard. It's a non-stop, fairly thankless position but he is putting in all the love, energy and time he can muster.  I'm often blown away by the wisdom and grace with which I see him handle certain situations.  

I think we're all trying to become better versions of ourselves but real change comes slowly.  We often talk to our kids of how your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your character, and your character determines your destiny.  We encourage them to decide their destiny and then work backward down to their very thoughts.  I've seen Elias change over the past year.  It's like his frequency is just slightly higher or his aura brightened a shade.  It's been small, nearly imperceptible moments; replacing one moment's task with another, exchanging one word with another, focusing on one idea over another.  I can't perfectly describe it, but his character has changed, brightened, deepened.  He's a better version of himself.  I love him.  

We have loved the first few weeks of summer vacation with a bubble party, lots of Sky Zone, hiking, picnics at the local beach, fun at home and movie nights.  

The month came to a close as Elias and I joined the Stake Youth as chaperones for a youth conference in Palmyra.  It was so special to be in that grove of trees where we could feel the lingering presence of an encounter that changed the world.  

Love you all, 

Brittany et al.