This is what it's all about - family time!

We were able to have some great visits and great visitors this summer!

Cousin Boji has been able to come sleep over a few times. The boys have a blast!  It doesn't matter what they're doing, they're having fun. 

First up, Emma got to head to Utah to spend the week with family. She started out with Grandpa Scott & Grandma Di and Amber came too. Monday night, they went to W Bountiful fireworks, they made their pioneer bonnets, they did some art work and painted CD's and old records, cooked some good food, had some Gospel discussions about the women in the scritpures, went shopping and more. Emma was going to go to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Dan's but everyone there got Covid so Mayela told her to go there, which she willingly did. They enjoyed doing lots of things but had the best time shopping. 

At the end of Emma's week in Utah, Mayela and Mark volunteered to bring Emma home and they stayed for a couple of days. We ate, talked, played, learned about color guard, had a picnic, and went to the river and park. It's always good to be with them!

Right after that, Adam, Meghan, Steven, Ruby and Gordon came to visit from Michigan. We were the first stop on their trip. They haven't visited us at our house since we lived in Rawlins so it was a treat! The kids got in so much cousin time. We had a meat and potatoes dinner when they got here, the kids played outside and inside and all around and we went on a walk/scooter ride, and then watched "The Other Side of Heaven". Monday, they wanted to check out the river and splash in it, so we did that and caught some crawdads/crayfish and frogs and swam in the river. Amy and the boys came to join us too. Then we went around to some of the fossil shops, and a few of the other stores in town. For dinner, we hit up Artic Circle, which is one of their family's favorites. Then we went swimming at the pool. The kids loved the high dive especially and were doing all kinds of contests. When we got back, it was an ice cream party and another movie night and they watched "Heavy Weights" and laughed until they fell asleep. The last day they were here, we played games, went on a drive, the kids were having the best time making up funny Barbie games, then we went out to the Blue Forrest collecting area to look for fossilized wood. It was pretty cool. The kids and Adam especially geeked out looking for awesome finds. Cal, Emma and Steven formed Team Find Dat Log and wanted to find a big log, which are worth lots of money. We didn't find any, but they were close. We played other games and in the sand too and talked to the experts who were out rock hounding. It was a good time. Then we came back and had dinner and snow cones with them and then they headed out. We had a blast!

Then, that weekend we headed to Logan to stay the weekend. We played games, ate, laughed, played hard, the olders went to do baptisms for the dead at the Logan temple. That was super neat and the Spirit kept telling me that they were doing the work of the Lord. After that, we went to a park and played "Never Have I Ever" and the kids played at the cool playground. We made dinner and then right after that, we had quite a scare. Cal was complaining of his arm feeling tingly, then said his whole side was numb. Then his lip started drooping and he couldn't talk well. I told him we were taking him into the ER to get things checked out. He tried to tell me he was fine but couldn't even formulate a coherent sentance. As we got there, he just seemed out of it and couldn't remember words for things. He even told me his brain was a monitor, which was kind of funny but freaked me out. It was scary! They came out and did a pretest and got him a room ready. We went back and he couldn't even walk straight. We had person after person in the room helping do testing. Adam and Mark came and gave him a Priesthood blessing, which was such a comfort. Everyone in the family started praying for him immediately. And Emma came too which helped cheer him up. Dave got there a couple hours after we did. He left right after we told him and got there about halfway through our stay. He had a CT scan and we did blood work and urine samples and he had electrolytes in an IV going through his system. He said after he really felt so much better after that Priesthood blessing. We are grateful to have access to God's power through worthy individuals.  There wasn't a sure diagnosis, but he was low on magnesium, so he is taking magnesium supplements, and we need to have a follow up with a doctor to check his heart just in case, or a Hemiplegic migraine. We are pretty sure it was the Hemiplegic migraine. All of the symtoms and what we had been doing that might have triggered it matched. Cal used to get really bad migraines starting at about 10, but the last year or so it hasn't been as bad. And Grandpa Scott used to have this as an adolescent. Aunt Meghan also got in contact with some of her brothers who were ER docs and they said they thought that's what it was before we heard back from the doctors in Logan. So we will be careful and try to avoid those triggers. Dave left at midnight and had to be home by the next morning for EMT testing too, but we are grateful he came down and asked Adam and Mark to give Cal a blessing since it took 2 hours to get here. Such a relief he's okay but we are still going to follow up and make sure his heart is healthy. 

Steven came back in August to spend a week with our family. We had a great time playing games, watching movies, being outdoors, tubing the river, and going to Lagoon.  He played lots of piano and was good to play with all of the kids. Glad he could visit!

I love being able to see family so much. This is what it's all about and I'm so happy we are tight with all of our family and have some of the best people in our circle!