John's 20th birthday!

 John turned 20 on July 22, 2021 which is pretty cool with all the 2's!  We were lucky that Grandma and Grandpa Stay came out to take Ben on his 12 year trip over the weekend of John's birthday.  

Of course Grandpa Stay could still beat everyone at stick wrestling and arm wrestling, but it is getting harder to beat my boys!  

We grew sunflowers this year and every Wednesday night we have the missionaries over for dinner.  Elder Ploucha and Elder Kelly are featured below as an awesome companionship!

4th of July, 2021 at the Shill's

 We have some great friends named Emily and Otto Shill.  We love playing Hand and Foot with them, chatting, and eating together.  This year they invited us to their house for the 4th of July.  They have the most amazing fireworks in their neighborhood and we had a great time!

Ben's Triathlon

On Saturday July 24, 2021, after a month of practicing through Ankeny Parks and Rec, Ben competed in his first Triathlon coming in 16th place for his age category!  Grandma and Grandpa Stay had arrived the night before so Grandma was able to come watch early the next morning.  Grandma and I cheered Ben on through the swimming, biking, and running and couldn't believe what an amazing job he did against kids who were competing for the third or fourth time!  Way to go Ben!  The next day, Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa took Ben after Sacrament Meeting on his 12 year trip to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas :)

Sarah's 15 year Surprise Birthday Party!

 Sarah was pretty bummed on the day of her 15th birthday, July 9, 2021.  She thought our only plans were to have a family party in the evening.  Luckily, we had other plans!  Richard took Sarah to HyVee to buy cool socks and then bought a little more time by going through the carwash to get TFA (tri foam action) with Sarah while the guests were arriving.  It was a complete success!

Once Sarah got over her shock the girls headed out to manicures!  Followed by dinner at Panda Express, one of Sarah's favorites!

Then it was time for crazy party games and presents.  Taste tests, dares, piñata, would you rather, name that movie, etc.  Everyone had fun! Leah ended up sleeping over.  Sarah had a very good birthday!

Utah Family Reunion June 28-July 1 2021

 We left in a caravan with Marci's family Sunday morning and arrived at the cabin rental in Heber, UT on Monday afternoon.  It is an amazing property with video games & a ping pong table in the basement with tons of bunk beds where all the boys stayed, and a bedroom where Cesia and Chris stayed.  The main floor had a huge kitchen, wrap around deck with a hot tub, and a large living room.  The upstairs had another large room full of bunk beds where the girls stayed, an enormous master bedroom for my parents, and 4 other bedrooms that Marci & Rob, me and Richard, Kirsa and Mike, and Trace and Jane & kids stayed in.  

Every day we had one big activity planned which I scheduled before hand. The first night was Monday and we rode the Heber Creeper.  Grandma took grandkids one or two at a time to get a special treat from the trolley.  Everyone enjoyed dancing and singing.  It was also fun to sit by cousins and aunts and uncles and get to know everyone a little bit better.

The second day we went zip lining in a beautiful location.  We were such a large party that we had to divide into two groups.  Our kids loved it!  Sam rode tandem with Richard so our entire family was able to participate.  We didn't realize the ziplines started a mile away from the first parking area so Chris drove by and picked us all up and took us to the start.  Then we had this enormous truck transport us to the top!

On the third day we went to Deer Creek Island Resort where Grandma and Grandpa Stay rented paddle boards, single kayaks, double kayaks, and 2 wave runners.  Sam had to wear his plastic cast guard and was sad he couldn't swim, but we enjoyed paddling the double kayak to the other side of the lake together.  Jeremy loved learning how to drive the wave runner and John enjoyed building the sand castle with Trace and Jonah.

Every night tons of kids hopped into the hot tub.  It was Sam's favorite part!

We loved seeing family members!  Trace and Jane came from California where Trace is working at Stanford, Cesia and Chris came with my parents as they are living together in Utah, Kirsa and Mike came from Arizona, Richard & I from Iowa, and Marci and Rob from New Jersey.  Unfortunately Brice and Jeanna couldn't come.  Australia's boarders have been closed for over a year due to Covid.  

On Thursday we packed up and drove to Mom and Dad's house in Cottonwood Heights to unload and regroup.  Richard took our kids and headed to his brother Daniel's house to stay the night while I went with my mom and sisters on our first ever girls trip!  It was absolutely amazing!  We went to a painting class (we've done one at the same location previously at a different reunion), we got delicious ice cream, we went to an escape room where we won with a few hints, we went to dinner, we went to a movie called In the Heights, we went to the pool & Jacuzzi at the hotel & did face masks, and then we went to bed.  What a fun time we had and I can't believe we got it all in within a few hours!  The next morning we ate breakfast together at a super yummy restaurant, and then Richard and Daniel picked me up in Daniel's Tesla to back to Daniel's house to see his cute family.  

Daniel and Jen were so gracious to host my family and then let us visit for just a little while before we had to drive home to Iowa.  Matthew and Olivia are getting so big!  It was a fun, if too quick, visit.