July 2020

JULY 2020

On July 1, Kory and I met up with Lori’s family and Jared and Josh and spouses for dinner at Fuji. 

Lori and her family were just getting into town for the 4^th of July weekend. On the 3rd, Kory went up to Teton Valley and golfed with the guys. On Thursday, me, Kory, and BJ went to the same links course in Tetonia to golf again. I had fun driving the cart and enjoying the incredible view of the peaks. 

After we finished golfing, Kory and I went to Ashton and hopped on the rail trail and biked down to the Conant Bridge. It was a gorgeous day and ride. We usually do that trail around Labor Day when everything is brown and close to harvest. It was fun to see everything so green and lush. After our ride, we went to Rexburg and stopped out Broulims for some lunch. We got back to Idaho Falls and picked up Morgan, so she could join us for Sorenson’s Driveway of Fire. It’s such a fun tradition in the neighborhood! We were all enjoying the fireworks until about 11:00 p.m. On the morning of the 4^th, we got up and headed to Rexburg to meet my parents for the Rexburg parade. We sat right on the corner near Broulims, but it was really hot and the parade was a little mellow—no candy or anything. Kory, me, and Morgan left after about an hour. We headed to Victor and spent the rest of the day visiting, eating, and chilling. Morgan had a blast riding the 4-wheeler. We got to meet Karen Hazel, LaRell’s fiancée. She’s a really nice lady and we’re glad that they found each other.

On July 6, we took Chloe and Phoebe to Reed’s Dairy for some ice-cream. On July 7, we had a little cook-out with Austin and Leah and the girls and then everyone went for a bike ride to Sunnyside Elementary and played on the playground. 

Throughout the week, Kory and Phoebe went car shopping, since Phoebe decided she’s ready to buy a car. They ended up buying a Nissan Versa and Phoebe is pretty excited about it. Especially excited not to be driving our old car with no air conditioning. We were tempted to get rid of it, but Caleb might need to drive it for a while.

On July 11, Kory, me, Isaac, Phoebe, and Caleb drove down to Utah for Brad Kunz’s wedding. We checked in to the Hyatt at Thanksgiving Point and then Kory and I went to the ceremony, held in someone’s back yard that lives right on Utah Lake. It was a beautiful location, although it was 100 degrees. The ceremony was beautiful, and I cried a little when they said their little speech to each other. After that we had dinner there in the yard. Then Kory went to get the kids for the reception, and I went to see Bob and Wendy for an hour or so. When we all got back to the reception there was dancing and visiting and Phoebe caught the bouquet, so who knows….. Kory impressed us all with his dance moves. We got back to the hotel around 10:00 but then Phoebe realized she had left her purse, so Kory drove back again.

On July 16, I went to lunch with Kristi, Mom, and Amy to celebrate Kristi’s birthday—and a belated birthday for me and Amy. It was so fun to visit with them and we decided we need to do it more often.

On July 18, Kory and I went to the Tetonia golf course again. We met LaRell there for nine holes, and then Kory went the back nine on his own. I had fun driving the cart and enjoying the view. We’ve decided that might be our favorite golf course so I’m sure we’ll be there more often. After that, we headed to Grand Teton National Park. We parked at one of the turnouts and biked about six miles to Jenny Lake. The view was AMAZING and the trail was great—not too steep. We had so much fun. We took a quick look at the lake and biked back. Next time we want to ride the ferry across and hike.

On July 20, we met at McKenzie Grill with some of Quinton’s family and friends and had dinner and cake to celebrate the upcoming wedding. 

On July 21, I had my last class day of BYUI. So nice to wrap up the semester and have a break for a month or so. That night, we went to Reed’s Dairy with Austin, Leah, and the girls for a treat. On July 22, we went on a bike ride with Austin, Leah, the girls, and Caleb down to Snake River Landing. We ended up biking over to Manwaring Cheese where they serve amazing gelato. I had the mango and it was awesome! 

When we got back, Caleb wanted to go driving, so we took him to the church parking lot to drive around. He’s done with the online part of the course, and now he gets to start the driving portion. It will be nice when he has his license and is all set to drive. 

Phoebe and Isaac got registered for classes this Fall at BYUI. Covid or not, Fall semester is happening. I have chosen to teach face-to-face, but it’s socially distanced, so I can only meet with half of the class at a time, all wearing face-masks (including me). It should be weird and interesting. Thursday we got ready for Madi’s wedding. We also had the painter show up and start working on the family room. It will be nice when that’s all done. He’s painting the entryway and the family room because they have 30-foot ceilings and I don’t want to try painting it myself. That night I went to a viewing in St. Anthony for my friend Angela Buchanan’s son. He was killed in a car accident with a few other teen-agers from Sugar City and St. Anthony. Very sad. That night, Kory went to the wedding rehearsal to practice walking Madi down the aisle.

On Friday, we did some last-minute things for the wedding and got ready. We stopped by Love at First Bite to pick up some refreshments around noon and headed over. The girls had fun getting ready with Madi, while Kory and I prepped stuff and waited. The venue, The Barn on First, was cute and they had decorated so nicely. We would definitely use them again. The ceremony was held out in the garden and Quinton’s brother officiated—he got his license online—and did a good job. Afterwards, we had pictures for about an hour while Bees Knees set up the buffet.

The food turned out great and we had a nice dinner, then everyone shared thoughts and memories of Madi and Quinton. We had a break for about an hour as we got ready for the reception/dance. We planned to mostly serve wedding cake, but I got a few other things just to be sure to have enough, so I set those up. The reception was fun with aunts and uncles and a few cousins. The Kunz Family really rocked their dance moves the whole night. By the end of the night, Kory and I were exhausted. But everything went well and it was a great, memorable day for the couple.

On Saturday, most of us headed up to Victor for Grandpa Kunz’s wedding. The wedding was held at a neighbor’s/relative’s house in their backyard, with a beautiful view of the mountains. All of his and many of her children were there. Kory walked him down the aisle and their bishop performed the ceremony. He married Karen Hazel, a friend he and Deanne have known for years in St. George. Karen also lost her husband and she and LaRell started dating a little bit and decided to get married. She’s a sweet lady and we all like her. After the wedding, there was a delicious meal and some Swig thanks to Nicole. Everyone enjoyed visiting and then a storm kicked up and we headed out.

On Sunday, the 26^th, Kory turned 57. Hard to believe—he looks so young. He had a bunch of meetings and we did Come Follow Me and went to sacrament meeting. We grilled burgers on his new grill and then later other kids came over for some strawberry shortcake and gifts. I got him a bunch of Kansas City Chiefs paraphernalia, since he doesn’t have any and he grew up in Kansas City and is a big fan. Phoebe got him a book and a puzzle which we immediately started working on.

On the 27^th, Caleb started his drives for Driver’s Ed. He completed them throughout the week, so he now has his permit and gets to do his 50 hours of driving before he takes the for-reals test. He seems pretty comfortable with it. On Tuesday, July 28, Madi and Quinton took us to dinner at Red Robin. I also submitted my grades for BYUI and was officially on vacation.

On the 29^th, Kory and I packed up everything but the kitchen sink and headed up to Island Park to the Gee Reunion. This was a reunion with me and my siblings’ families. My parents rented a cabin on the reservoir from our relatives and we had a great time. We missed David’s family, but everyone else came, with a few kids missing for work, etc. The kids loved being right on the water. They spent most of their time on Evan and Jodi’s boat tubing, knee-boarding, etc or kayaking and swimming in the water. The parents kept on eye on the kids and visited. That night, Dad wanted all of the adults to go on a boat ride, so we did, and we ran out of gas! Haha. It was pretty memorable. Some of the guys started rowing us with an oar, then a boat took pity on us and towed us back to our dock.

Thursday was more of the same, with a talent show that night. Jodi’s family did a kazoo chorus. Nate’s family featured Andrew playing the piano and Charlotte doing some nice dance moves. Kristi’s family had a few of the kids do a TikTok dance. From Shawn’s family, Kami and Caden did a guitar/mandolin duet and sang. For my family, Kory and Terry did a trombone duet to the Sound of Silence and Sweet Caroline. Everyone got into the second one, singing along. Dad did a spoof of Blue Bayou with Abby on the guitar. Then Mom shared memories of each kid from the family histories. It was a fun night.

On Friday, some of us went to Harriman and biked the Silver Lake trail. The kids and hardcore mountain bikers did some of the steeper hills. It was a beautiful day! 

That night the men blessed Bridger, Jodi’s new baby. Each day we had a morning and evening devotional, with each family taking a turn sharing a thought, leading the song, and saying a prayer. Each family also took charge of a meal. It all turned out so great and we were so glad we did it, despite all of the uncertainty with Covid.

When we got home, the painting was done!