August 2020

 

August 2020

On August 2, we had Come Follow Me and sacrament meeting, then later Kory and I went to my parents to visit more with Nathan’s family and the rest of the local Gees. Chloe had a fun week in St. George with her Andrus cousins. 

McKenzie’s birthday was the 7^th, but she was trying to stay away from people due to Covid, so Kory dropped off lunch from Olive Garden for her. On the 8^th, Kristi and I rode with Mom and Dad down to Ogden for Aunt Beverly’s funeral. They held it at the funeral home. It was a nice memorial for her and it’s always fun to see my cousins. On the way home, we stopped at Maddox drive-in for some burgers, chicken, etc. When I got home, I headed over to Jeni Fogle’s son’s reception in Ammon. It was nice to visit with her and see some of her siblings. On the 9^th, we had Come Follow Me with the kids and Austin’s family. Austin’s friend Chris arrived and spent the week in our basement. He’s an IT guy, like Austin, and is working at home, so he decided to combine some travel with his work. Austin had fun having someone to work with each day, and then he showed Chris the sites around Idaho Falls throughout the week.

On the 10^th, Caleb started Cross-Country. Kory and I attended the parent meeting. Later, we went to the green belt with Austin’s family and had ice cream at Reed’s Dairy.  The next day, Kory went golfing with BJ Rowe for BJ’s birthday. I started staining the banister in our entryway. It was an intense project that kept me busy most of the week. On the 13^th, Kory and I headed up to Island Park for a little get away. We got a hotel room at the new Marriott at Mack’s Inn. We checked in, then went to Pond’s Lodge for some pizza and poutine. After that, we drove to Big Springs and hiked around and explored a little. When we got back to the hotel, we read on the patio for awhile and enjoyed the scenery. After we checked out the next day, we went to Bear Gulch and hopped on the Rail Trail and biked for a few hours. It was beautiful scenery and we loved the ride. On the way home, we stopped and ate at the Frostop in Ashton. We relaxed when we got home and later Kristi and Terry came over and joined us for a bike ride on the Green Belt. 

On the 15^th, we picked up my mom and dad and drove up to Teton Valley and drove the Jackpine/Pinochle loop. What a gorgeous view up there. Later, Kory’s Dad and his wife joined us for lunch at Agave, a Mexican restaurant in Victor. It was a nice day with our parents. 

We had a relaxing Sunday on the 16^th, with just me and Kory for Come Follow Me. Morgan came to church with us, and had Friend all ready with his face-mask on.

The week of August 17^th, Caleb continued with cross-country practice in spite of the heavy smoke in the air from thousands of wildfires burning in California. He also got a few more hours of driving time in. We bought a few things for school and got Caleb and Chloe registered for school. On August 20^th, my mom and Amy and Kristi went to lunch at Gator Jacks in Rexburg to celebrate by Mom’s 74^th birthday on the 22^nd. On the 22nd, Kory and I took all the kids living at home and Austin and Andy to Lava Hot Springs. Kory played with the kids at the pool and I sat in the hot pools, even though it was 91 degrees outside. Ha ha. On the way home, we stopped at the Fuji grill in Chubbuck and had the whole experience with the chef and the flames and etc. Andy got a kick out of it. 

On Sunday the 23^rd, we went up to Grandpa Kunz’s house for sacrament and dinner. We had a quick sacrament service and then we ate some delicious ribs that Grandpa had cooked on the smoker. Kenzie and Lakyn were there with their families too. It was a nice Sunday up in Victor, although the smoke from the wildfires seemed even thicker up in Victor. That evening, Kory, Morgan, and I went to Sugar City to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

On the 24^th, Chloe and I started another painting project to paint her old room from bright aqua to the beige color we’ve done throughout the house. It was fun to work on it together. I ended up doing a second coat on my own, because the aqua color was so bright, but it was fun to give the room a little makeover. 

We went to a small meet at Freeman Park on August 26^th. It was fun to watch Caleb run, plus Kory knows most of the runners from teaching at Skyline. 

On the 28^th, I kept being a little DIY-er and patched and painted a place in the bathroom where a towel rack had fallen off. I’m kind of getting into this fixer upper stuff. We also bought a new entertainment center for our family room, so we gave the old one and a couch to McKenzie and then they delivered the new one. It looks nice.  On the 29^th, Kory and I went golfing with BJ and Camille Rowe at the Rexburg Golf Course. It was fun to visit with them—the guys golfed and Camille and I drove carts and chatted. Afterward, we went to the Teton House in Menan, which is always delicious. The 30^th was a pretty mellow Sunday. After church, Kory and I watched a recording of a concert he did in Vernal years ago. It was fun to see him so young and adorable.

On the 31^st, our district started school. They are having a four-day school week, with Fridays online , and students have to wear masks in class and social distance a bit, but so far, so good. Caleb is a Junior at Skyline High School, running cross country, and getting his hours in to get his official driver’s license. 

Chloe is a 9^th grader at Idaho Falls High School and pretty excited about all the social aspects of high school and life in general—she has a gang of friends that call themselves the DooDoo Squad and bike all over this corner of town. It’s fun and a bit terrifying to have her growing up.  

Morgan is in 6^th grade at Longfellow Elementary—her last year at the school. She’s doing the PACE program again this year, although it’s just online. We don’t get to see Morgan  as much now that her mom is at home with her, but she still rides the bus from our house, so we get to see her for a little bit each day.  

Caleb and Chloe go to different high schools because we live right on the dividing line between the schools. Technically we live in Skyline boundaries, but our elementary school feeds to both high schools, so our kids have mostly chosen to go to Idaho Falls with friends, aside from Phoebe and Caleb. The only down side is that Chloe can’t take seminary from Kory.