July 2025

The first week of July was the 2nd and final week of swimming lessons. Tessa was induced that morning and had Landon, who couldn't keep his oxygen levels up, and ended up being life-flighted to IF. Evan decided to hop in the truck with Justin and help him drive over there to stay with Landon while Tessa finished out her own stay in the hospital in Afton. They arrived after dark, and Evan stayed the night at Katherine Jensen's house, which was located near the hospital. He came home the next day, catching a ride home with Clyda, who drove Tessa. Landon ended up spending the next 27 days in the NICU, after which he was finally able to hold his oxygen levels. It was a tough time for Tessa and Justin, whose family was split during that time. 

On Wednesday (2nd), Evan was back to Mark's, this time setting doors from 7 am to 5 pm. We had swimming lessons again, and Thomas went to Jagger's birthday party that afternoon. Cassie and Colts yard is absolutely gorgeous, and Thomas was a major pill about sunscreen when I dropped him off (only one of his friends to do so). Luckily, he didn't burn, and he had a good time at the party to boot. James is getting pretty jealous of how many parties Thomas gets to go to. 

We ended swimming lessons on the 3rd, and I will not miss waiting at the construction light every day on the drive or trying to keep Renee in control. She just wants to swim! =) The rest of the weekend found us parading once again - the kids love it! We went to the parade in Thayne and parked by the canal overpass across from Maverick this year. It was the perfect spot, especially because we were 10 feet away from our car. We hung out at the house for the afternoon, let Renee nap, then took the Chevy up to Afton for the evening parade. Evan took the boys to Dani's to watch the fireworks this year, and they had a blast once again!

The 2nd week of the month was the beginning of another set of swimming lessons, this time just across the field in the Merritt's pool with Simone helping the boys continue to practice their skills. It was the best $80 I ever spent to give them 2 more weeks of swim time. They loved hanging out with Simone, and I loved having them there. The location couldn't be beat, and Renee didn't have to miss her morning nap either. Win-win!

Other activities during week 2 included Thomas attending Easton Knowles' birthday party, which took place out a Guam's Pond, and was a blast that kept on going! He was gone for 3 hours and probably wouldn't have minded staying even longer. Evan spent the first 3 days of the week insulating from first thing in the morning until 6:30, 9:30, and 5:30, respectively. I like to think he welcomed the break that the weekend of the 10-13th gave him. That weekend was my annual girls trip with my college girlfriends. While I was gone, Evan took the kids to their swimming lessons then enjoyed time with his family (immediate and extended) at the Call Barn (it was SV Marathon weekend), and at Palisades with Hannah for a bit on Friday.

This year's girls' trip was to Casper to help accommodate Anna, who just had her 5th, and final, baby, Arthur. He was just over 3 months old during the trip and was with us during the evenings, nights, and mornings. We stayed in a cabin up on Casper Mountain, and we dropped Arthur off at Anna's mother-in-law's house each day when we went into town. We spent the days shopping, eating, walking, and gabbing. Ellie gave of a tour of NHS, including her classroom, and showed us the house she grew up in (as well as her own house where we changed before the fancy dinner). We got pedicures, painted pottery, and we even went on a hike! It was another wonderful break/reset/catch-up/sustaining/filling/etc trip! 

The day I drove home, I missed listening to Evan speak in church, but he did fine without me! On to week 3 - The boys had their last week of swimming lessons, the dogs headed to the vet for a long overdue wellness check, and Evan worked at Mark's M-Th then insulated F-S. On Tuesday, I watched Layne and Jenna for Justin and I think they had fun. They got to swim in the Merritt's pool at the end of lessons then we went up to Mark's after lunch. The kids got to play on the paddle boat in the pond, then the boys stayed with Evan and I took the girls to Becky's for a visit. When we got home, I made some dinner and Justin gave us several quart bags of fruit to make some higher quality jam than the store-bought stuff I served on the Monte Cristo sandwiches. 

That weekend (19th), Evan insulated for the morning (7-12), then the whole Call family met up at Cottonwood Lake. The lake was highly popular that day, with most campsites occupied, and the entire parking lot overflowing. We had to park up where Dale, BethAnn, Hannah, and Ethan had a camp set up, and ride motorbikes down to the lake. We hung out lakeside for several hours with many trips out in Dale's little blow-up boat or on Hannah's paddleboard, and hardly any tears thanks to Elise's seemingly endless supply of goldfish to keep littles happy.

When it started to rain, we went back up to the campsite to get under some cover (trees). After the storm blew over, most of the brothers hopped on motorcycles to take Ethan up the backside of Balls. Meanwhile, the kids ran amuck in the campground having all sorts of fun, and the remaining adults chatted around a nice campfire and tended babies. When the riders returned, we had a weenie roast, let the kids play a little longer while bikes were loaded, then headed back out. It was fun to get everyone together during the busy summertime, and hear some stories from everyone. On Sunday, we all got together once again to have a pizza night at BethAnn's - the kids love running around and playing together!

Starting that next week, Evan was back at it, insulating again. He insulated every weekday, and we tried our best to stay entertained at home. The kids and I went to the library, hung out with Becky, and took a walk with Tawny. On Friday, we took a day trip to Logan to attend Lyle Jensen's wedding. The kids stayed outside with Ethan and his other siblings, and thanks to Emily, Renee did scream for us the entire time. We took the kids to eat at a burger place afterward that was actually really yummy (Habit Burger). We use the free meal tickets we got when we went to the zoo in June. We were going to go to Sam's Club, but decided to forgo it so we wouldn't be late for the wedding luncheon in Preston. We ended up being the first ones there and waiting at least an hour for it to get started... so lessons learned. We thoroughly enjoyed all of the extra visiting with Evan's aunts, uncles, and cousins. They are always full of such fun stories, and I truly enjoy the time we spend with them. BethAnn rode home with us, double buckling in the back with the boys so that her car could be shuttled down to SLC. It looked like a tight squeeze, but everyone was a trooper about it; James loved the extra snuggle time with Grandma.

Evan insulated the next morning up in Etna at a spec job for Greg Johnson and Joe Heywood. We got the yard mowed and the weeds sprayed that evening. Sunday, the 27th, Evan left at 2:30 am to hike up to Olsen's and try to find some deer. He spent the night up there, and came out around 11 on Monday. Would you believe me if I said he was gone to an insulation job by 12:30? It's true! He works so hard for us! 

We ended July with lots of friend time. Thomas went to a birthday party for Deacon Lorimer on the 28th (James really wants to go to a friend's house, and takes it pretty hard when I don't let him go to all the things at Thomas's friends' houses). On Tuesday, we pulled the camper up to the top of Grover Park where the Simpson's met us for a multi-night campout. Everyone had a blast! On Wednesday, Evan was up and gone before anyone else (insulating), and we ate breakfast without him. After breakfast, Kristen and I planned what we could snag from home for food in order to extend the fun for another night. Ready, break! We all headed down the mountain - back to town for the day.

We stopped by the house to grab a few things, then headed to Afton to pick up Tawny. She went on a walk through the trees at Canyon View with us while she waited for her tires to get changed at Point S. We dropped her off there afterward, then came home and put Renee down for a nap, following which we headed back up to the camper for another evening of fun! Evan showed up as we were finishing dinner (after 12 hours of insulating), hooked the truck back onto the camper, and spent time with all of us, laughing and keeping kids out of the fire. He left again by 6:30 the next morning. The kids and I enjoyed breakfast with the Simpsons, then packed up camp. Allen, who planned to come back up to grab his own camper later (because he had a basketball lesson to get to in town), was kind enough to drive mine down the mountain (my kids in tow) while I rode down with Kristen. We got things and people cleaned up in time for Terynn and her kids to join us for a little lunch. And just like that - July was over!