August was a busy month. We spent the first week at the military family camp at LoneHollow Ranch (Utopia, TX). We were so happy that they let us come again this year with Travis since he didn't get to go with us last year. Austin came home at the end of July, so she was able to come with us again as well. It was still super-hot, but the silo/cabin we were in was air-conditioned, so that was nice. When Travis was helping Austin set up her hammock, I was below in the bathroom putting things away, when I heard a huge crash! I ran back up to the room to figure out what happened. Travis had hung up the hammock on a hook on the bed and then tested it out, the hook broke and Travis crashed to the ground. Luckily, he was okay, and he learned he needed to hang the hammock on the bedposts, not just a hook. There were two other chaplain families there with us this year, so it was nice to know some people, there were also a few people who recognized us from last year (Gideon is pretty unforgettable). We enjoyed the free food (Gideon just kept asking for fruit loops, since he didn't like most of the food). Travis, Samuel, Caleb, Malachi, and I would get up early and play pickleball almost every morning for an hour before breakfast. It was still pretty warm, but not too bad. They had lots of fun activities just like last year. The lake was covered in algae, so the girls and I didn't want to go in, but the boys didn't care and managed to have fun in the lake. Samuel and Caleb got to do night games with the other teenagers and would always come back really late. We played a lot in the game room, with ping pong, air hockey, basketball, foosball, darts, and a digital table game that Gideon liked a lot. The skits and games they played at the Club times were a lot of fun too, our family played a game where the dad had shaving cream sprayed all over his face, and the rest of us had a bowl full of cheese balls, and we had 30 seconds to throw as many cheeseballs towards his face as we could and try to get them to stick. We didn't win, but we sure had fun throwing cheese balls at Travis. Caleb competed in the rope swing jump competition on water competition day, and Travis and Malachi were in the blind canoeing race (Malachi ran them into the wall) but they still had fun. On the rodeo competition, Samuel kicked the ball the farthest and made a home run, and then Caleb was in our team in the field and Travis was throwing water balloons and we were trying to be the team who got the wettest, we won that one. We also had a volleyball competition and collecting tokens day. They had this weird pointer game, where you had to grab hands with another person with your pointer finger out and then try to touch the other person with your finger, if you touched them first then you won, and got to go on to another person. Caleb won that game and got to go on the stage and do it against the person in a big eagle costume, (the eagle won). We didn't win the volleyball tournament, but our team collected the most tokens by doing other things like catching frisbees and doing tricks. One evening they had an activity that was called "silent disco". We all had headphones on and listening to our music and dancing. They had several different "stations" of music we could listen to, and it was a lot of fun. The kids danced, Travis and I danced, and we all had a good time. On the fiesta night, besides the confetti eggs, the kids could earn, they also had a huge pinata, and Malachi got to be the first one to hit it since he was the soonest birthday. He hit it pretty good and stabbed it, making a good-sized hole. Tons of candy poured out of it, and the kids loved collecting all the Mexican candy. We got to play archery tag (still too hot for it, so I didn't last more than one round, but the others played longer). We also had a bingo night. Caleb had a bingo two of the rounds, the first time he had to do rock, paper, scissors with another bingo winner for the prize. He won! He got a $50 gift certificate to the snack shop. On his second bingo, he didn't win a prize because he had already won one, but he was still excited. He took us all to the snack shop afterward and let everyone get an ice cream or treat, then the next day he had enough to get himself a few more snacks. On the last two days, we got $50 each to spend at the gift shop, and we loved going and picking things out, and then we all got another free item from the snack shop on the last day. We had a wonderful week filled with fun, and making a lot of good memories, we are so grateful for the great trip that we all had.
School started on August 16th, and I was happy to send them all off to school to learn for another school year. The boys all seem to like their teachers pretty well. Caleb is going to have a pretty busy year with being in band, choir, and tennis! We got him an electric scooter to use to get himself to school early for tennis practice. He likes riding it to and from school and beating the bus home. Samuel is learning that school is hard sometimes and that he has to work hard on algebra and physics. I volunteered to be the treasurer for the elementary school PTO and has been a lot of work to get it set up and going. The primary calling takes up a lot of time as well, so I am trying to get a lot of things done before I start school in September while I still have time, while the kids are at school. Betsy had her birthday in August as well, it was a nice quiet birthday, probably the way she prefers it, but it was still nice. Austin also left on August 14th and flew back to Salt Lake City, then picked up her car (from Maia and Jamie's house where she had left it when she flew here), and then she drove to Jacob Lake Inn in Arizona near the Grand Canyon to work as a server for the fall semester and take a few online courses as well. We really liked having Austin home for a few weeks and will miss her, but we're happy she is doing well. Joseph and Jessica have been living in an apartment in Saratoga Springs, UT since the end of February 2023. Shortly after Joseph lost his job at Tyson Foods and Travis and I have been paying their rent ever since, since we co-signed on the lease. Joseph was able to get a couple different jobs but then lost them pretty quickly.
