June

 Noble's birthday party!

Uncle Kent was at Grandma's when we showed up and it was really fun to visit with him. I guess his health has been pretty bad since his stroke.

Look at me! I took Olive and Tanner to the library to get books for the summer. We ended up reading them all but definitely never got around to logging them for the summer reading program. 

They both shaved their heads and bleached them. Whyyyyy??? I hate this trend. Lots of judgy parenting comments came with it too. 

Tanner is 7!!

Olive tells me regularly that I'm too soft on him. I'm trying to encourage independence and hold boundaries but I also recognize that being flexible is easier than being a hard a**. Call it developmental parenting.

Mostly I just notice that the other kids treat him like a nuisance and he just loves them all so much and imitates them constantly. 

He loves playing sports. 

Travis and I still trade off laying down with him at night until he falls asleep. We should probably stop that, but he's my last one!!

He LOVES crunchy veggies. Especially onions and bell peppers and salad. Caesar salad is a favorite. 

He hates potatoes in almost all forms. Lasagna is his veto dinner. 

His favorite food is lettuce wraps and pot stickers. Also a big fan of burgers, tuna on pita chips and meat in all forms.

If I raise my voice or act upset with him AT ALL he instantly cries and hides. 

He thinks he wants soda but if he gets it, he asks for water. 

His bestest friend is cousin Landon, but he also loves Noble Monahan.

I finally put my foot down on him sitting on my lap at church haha. He did not understand the issue. He was so big I couldn't see past his head!

He likes watching Dude Perfect and whatever dumb Youtuber his older brothers are watching. 

His favorite activity is riding his electric dirt bike and doing little jumps in the dirt. 

It was a birthday party year and he only wanted to invite his cousins. I tried to talk him into a friend party multiple times but he would have none of it. Just cousins. All of them. He even asked if Lane would come. We rented an inflatable slide and bought pizzas and I made some sides and everyone came! He doesn't have any cousins he plays with on the Evans side so it was a Lindblom party. And everyone came. I hope he felt so special that all his aunts and uncles and cousins came to party! 

I felt like I had hosted a rager after everyone left haha.

We got him a new bike!

We went to Sunsplash with the Porters!

Scarlett had a Hawaiian birthday party at mom and dad's house. They were so cute learning a hula dance.

The Halls invited us over for a BBQ. Their house was so beautiful and had the most amazing pool!

I love these two! Of course they showed up to church, matching!

I swear we grew up going to firesides every other week. The kids hardly ever go to firesides anymore but we were invited to this one by a neighboring stake and I filled my car up with the boys' friends and went!

We support Roco Swim haha! Tanner has the most swimsuits of all of us!

Tell me you're the youngest without telling me you're the youngest.

So.

I was at Tanner's swim team practice at Greenfield Elementary and put the car key in the cup holder of my lawn chair. After the practice was over we walked back to the car and it sensed the key was near and let me open the trunk. I threw my chair in and closed the back. Then walked around to the drivers side to find the door locked. Oh crap. The key was now inside the car and wouldn't let me unlock it!! How could this happen?! Luckily I still had my phone with me. I called the boys but neither one could drive their bikes to me with the spare. I figured it would take forever to call a locksmith and I didn't want to pay for one either. So I walked Tanner back to the pool and told him to wait on the bleachers until I got back. There were swim lessons going on so I knew he'd be fine there. Thankfully, I had already gone to the gym that morning and still had on my running shoes. It was bloody hot. But could have been worse if it was noon. Olive was waiting for me to come home to take her to Olivia's house for a playdate. I called her to tell her what happened and that I was on my way but would be late. It's only 2 1/2 miles so I thought it would be fine but I was running faster than I normally would and on man it was scorching hot and I had no water and hadn't eaten yet and had already done a killer workout at the gym. As I approached our house, Olive was on the driveway with a big glass of ice water for me! Such a sweet girl! I got the spare key and didn't want to run back so I got the Super 73 bike and figured I'd let Olive ride with me so that when we got to the car I could take her straight to Olivia's and not have to backtrack again. I rode so slow and carefully. I did NOT want to crash. I am not used to riding these bikes so I felt very cautious. Even still, as I was crossing a road and coming back up onto the sidewalk, I realized I'd have to make kind of a sharp turn and felt like we would be too heavy and fall so I decided to ride over the corner of grass so I could keep the tires straighter. Bad move. I thought the tire would just go over that bit of grass and easily onto the sidewalk but it was deeper than I though and the tire sunk down and slid along the side of the edge of the sidewalk instead of going over. And we crashed. We fell off to the left and I went sprawling on my stomach with arms forward, superman style. Olive went over the top of me. I was so panicked about her safety and immediately asked her if she was OK, and thankfully she was. Then I just laid there for a minute until the pain subsided enough I could take stock of myself. I had scraped up my left knee and ankle pretty bad. I didn't know what else to do though, so we gingerly got back on the bike and kept trucking. I was shaking and the wind on my wounds stung so bad. We still had almost two miles to go!! Ugh!! We finally got there and loaded the bike in the back of the car and got Olive to Olivias. When I got home, the cleaning lady was still there so I couldn't shower and then the air conditioning guys came to install a mini split in our bedroom, so I couldn't use my bathroom all day! Of all the days. Not going to complain though because finally having a bedroom that isn't sweltering all summer is going to be amazing!! Our room faces the west wall and is above the garage and is always so hot during the summer. I have to document something Olive said. I limped around a good week, in pain. I even ended up getting x-rays and an MRI because it hurt so bad I thought surely I had done internal damage. Nope. I'm just a big baby, it turns out. Well, after about a week, I was limping up to my room, in obvious pain and Olive followed me, very concerned. I had been telling them not to worry and that I was fine, but she wasn't convinced. In an effort to stop her worrying I said, "Honey, I'm really OK, it could be worse". She immediately and indignantly proclaimed, "YEAH?! Well, it's a lot WORSE than it COULD be!" 

I DIED laughing!! How had she come up with that so quick?! I seriously laughed out loud for a long time. I'm just trying to look on the bright side but she was not having it!!

Tanner has long begged for a cool design in his hair. I refused to let him buzz and bleach it so since school was out I obliged and did a lighting bolt. Such a tough guy.

Happy Father's Day to our amazing dad!

He really is the best and so involved and generous with his time. He is the kids' hero. He loves me and respects me and talks me up to the kids constantly. Everyone is happier when he is around.

Tanner got to join in with the Figs FHE one night.

Collin and McGuire were roommates at FSY again this summer. They went to NAU again and had a great time!

The first night he was gone, Trav and I both got sweet texts from him. We love FSY!

While Tanner and Olive were at Boredom Busters with cousins, I went over to the Evans to do some blogging so I didn't have to drive all the way home just to come back again in a couple hours. 

Olive had an end of the year dance swim party.

My Boca date.

We try so hard to take the kids regularly to the temple. We let them invite friends and sometimes go to dinner afterward too.

Travis was put in as bishop of the Bloomfield ward. 

Our current bishop was coming up on 5 years so we knew a change was coming. During general conference a couple months ago, the Spirit told me that Travis was going to be the bishop. It surprised me because I had thought another man in our ward was a shoo in. We were driving to Collin's dive competition listening to conference when Elder Eyring started speaking. The Spirit whispered to me and I was pretty surprised. I was pondering the revelation when Elder Eyrings words came clearly. He was describing his wedding when then Elder Kimball counseled him and his wife to live their lives so that when the call came, they could walk away easily. What that meant for them was that when he was called to be the president of Ricks college and they had to leave their idyllic life in California living by her parents, they would go. I felt the Spirit confirm to me the power of those words. I hope I always remember them. It's true for all of us. When the call comes, be living in a way that you can answer easily. 

My brother was being put into his bishopric as a counselor the same weekend. My parents chose to be with him and I was feeling really sad, honestly, that neither of them would be there to support us. We were only supposed to invite our parents but late Saturday night I reached out to Marcie. And of course she came. Marcie is the most wonderful sister anyone could ask for. 8:30am church with all her kids because Austin was in bishopric meeting. It meant so much to me that she came. Travis's parents also came and I'm so grateful for them. Then, we were sitting in the chapel as the sacrament hymn started and Jefferson walked in. I had been holding it together up until then, but the moment I saw him, I lost it. I was a mess. He will never know how much that meant to me. I felt SO loved and so grateful. The stake president had warned me that I would be asked to speak so I shared what was on my heart and I was so happy I got to bear my testimony while Jefferson was there. The Lord is so aware of us. Many ward members shared their love and support of Travis. Many shared personal experiences of having it confirmed to them that Travis would be the bishop even before he was called. Their love and support felt so comforting. We went home afterward and had brunch with Travis's parents then went back to the church so they could all be set apart. I really wish I could have Travis's blessing written down. The stake president gave him one of the most beautiful, instructive blessings I've ever heard. Brian Libby was set apart as his 1st counselor and Scott Rowan as his 2nd. They are both great men. It was a very special day. 

Bishop Milius and I had a habit of parking in the same spots. I'll be so sad to be released as the Relief Society President. I told Travis he's not allowed to release me until I've gotten to participate in at least one ward council with him haha!

Tyde Taylor has been a friend since preschool! He has a sweet pool in his backyard. Our backyard has a pretty sweet pool too. 

The boys latest hobby is shooting doves and eating the meat. Usually the Payne's kitchen is used but lucky me, it was our house this day.

Playing school!

Tanner lost his first tooth!

Although the nerf gun method didn't work so well. 

Grandma Ann turned NINETY!!

I helped throw her a party and it turned out so fun! She doesn't feel comfortable leaving her house so we did it in her home. So many friends and family came and it was really nice getting to celebrate her. 

Kids were not invited but I snuck Olive in so we could take a 4 generation picture. After most of the guests had left, some of us hung around visiting and it was fun to listen to my aunts and uncles share stories. I feel very lucky to be a Udall. Grandma has been such an example of family history work. She was a librarian for most of her career and I treasured the beautiful, thought-out books she would give each of us grandkids for Christmas. I spent the night at their house a handful of times and I remember each time we always ended the night with prayer together. It's been really nice getting to know her better these past few years as she's home bound. I try to visit as often as I can and enjoy our visits. Her mind and memory are sharper than mine! She is a marvel!