17 Adventures!

I have to be careful. The last time I said that I wanted to make something "memorable", I ended up with a broken wrist.

And I don't often have original ideas. I usually find something that sounds good, then adapt it, and use it. Not this time. I can claim this one as my own idea.

So, our theme for this summer has been, "17 Adventures". I wanted to come up with some summer activities that would be fun for Emma, and different than everyday activities, so that at the end of the summer, we could say, "Look at all this fun stuff we did all summer long!"

I kind of picked, "17", because this is 2017. Not the best plan though, because I don't want to be upping our number of adventures each year after this! But 17 seemed like a nice, random, odd number, so I went with it.

To qualify for an "Adventure", it has to be something fun, something we don't do every day, and a lot of them are things that you would only do in the summertime. For example, one of Emma's adventures was going tubing on the river with some friends. Since we don't own a boat, this totally qualified for Emma. Because if we went boating every weekend, then that takes away some of the adventurous quality of it.

So, while we're not done yet, .... here are some of our 17 Adventures from this summer, and most of these are phone pictures -- that's what I tend to have with me.

Emma and I went to the grand opening of the new 2nd floor of the library. I have an abundance of opinions about the library that I will withhold. These photos will suffice for now:

(Original, restored, freight elevator in the old downtown building where the "new" library is located.)

Checking out the 3D printers. It was a lot of fun, ....

But THIS was our Adventure:

Virtual Reality.

What you see on the TV screen is what Emma saw in the goggles.

She had a lot of fun with that!!

We also signed her up for some classes at "Kids' College" at our local State College. She had a couple of favorite classes, .... one was Archery:

At home, she requested to have some "cooking classes" with Mom. Who am I to disagree with that?

This first is a glazed lemon loaf, a recipe that came from her cookbook. (Not a winner, but she chose it, and she loved the process.)

Emma helped again this year with the raspberry jam ...

(I'm kind of nostalgic about those two old Pyrex bowls. They were my mom's, and it feels so comfortable to use them!!)

Our trip to Utah to meet Baby Myra was at the top of her list. While we were there we went to the park with the grandkids:

Darcie planned the next Adventure, which was also during our Utah trip. I asked her to come up with a good, family hike that we could take the little kids & they would enjoy. Darcie definitely knocked this one out of the park!!

And to top it off, she & I went to a little place in downtown Provo, where they make kolaches -- a Polish filled pastry. We picked up a dozen, met the rest of the family at the trailhead, and had a really yummy breakfast of warm kolaches!! So GOOD!!

Fast forward a few weeks .....

We did a mother-daughter excursion to an antiques show/vintage market: 

And her other favorite Kids' College class was Fantasy Face Paint:

(That was the final day, when she painted my face, and I put the finishing touches on her face.)

Which brings us to this weekend.

We thought we'd have to miss out on our Shooting Star Sleepout for the Perseids meteor shower, but the weather worked out enough that we slept out last night and got to see a few meteors. It wasn't a lot this year -- just too much smoke from wildfires. But there was one brilliant streak that was way impressive.

At about 5 am, we had to make a dash for the camper when it started to spit rain on us.

But it TOTALLY counted for our Adventure!

There's more Adventures to show, but they're part of our 2017 Huffaker Family Reunion, so I'll save them for later.

17 Adventures might just be another name for a Summer Bucket List. I think by calling them, "Adventures", that it reminds Miss Emma that there's fun to be had all the time, and in a variety of ways.

I have a feeling that she's going to want to do this from now on, every summer. This could get challenging,  .... but it will definitely be FUN!!!

spring forward

Last night, I went around setting all our clocks forward.

Because, seriously -- who ACTUALLY stays up until 2:00 am to do it right then? Nobody.

I've seen quite a bit of commentary lately on my Facebook feed about this very topic. And, most of it is negative.

I can't figure out why people feel so strongly about this. Is it really that big of a deal?
(Apparently it is to some people.)

Sure, it's a pain to change all your clocks.

Except for my iHome, next to my bed. It literally has a switch on the back, just for Daylight Saving time. Flip the switch, and DONE. So easy. And atomic clocks take care of themselves, for the most part. I have a finicky atomic clock that fights the time change.

And sure, we "lose" an hour every spring. You don't hear near the complaints in the fall, when we "gain" an hour. We're not losing or gaining anything -- it's merely a shift of time. They should call it, "Daylight Shifting Time".

I never think of it as "losing an hour's sleep". Of course, I'm probably chronically sleep-deprived, so I can fall asleep ANYtime. When the kids were younger, I would sometimes take a few days to adjust their bedtimes, to help them transition, but REALLY ---- it has never been a problem for my family. I tend to think of it more as "losing" the time to get things done. One ONE weekend a year. (Because I "gain" the hour on the opposite weekend.) And it's the weekend, for pity's sake. When Life is a bit more relaxed ANYWAY.

And I  LIKE  the fact that I have more daylight during those summer evenings. Spending time out in the yard, the garden, the patio, .... I really LIKE that.  And as the days get longer, I LIKE the fact that daylight doesn't start at 3:00 am. But then, I like daylight. I've said it before.

I'm totally fine with Daylight Saving Time. Do I think that we actually save on energy costs? Probably not. We Americans are such energy hogs, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

You may disagree with me about Daylight Saving Time. And that's fine. You're in the majority.

In the mean time (no pun intended), our country still follows it.

SO, ........ I win!

Me and Benjamin Franklin.

Everybody Together.

For a few short weeks this past summer, we had everyone together. In town. At our house. I was fortunate to grab a friend who is a photographer, and get a few family portraits taken. Who knows when we would have this opportunity again? Here are a VERY few of the photos.....

We picked the smokiest day of all the smokey summer days during wildfire season. But it was our only opportunity, so we endured the stinging eyes and just did it. 

Sure glad we did. I know know when I will have my whole family together again.....

Graduation and Blessing Day

Still catching up here. Please don't judge me!

So my [our] Rexburg trip concluded with two big events: Cecilia's graduation, and Blessing Day for our sweet little Giselle. Cecilia has worked hard to keep her grades up and get everything done and complete for her graduation. This is no small task when you consider that she was doing it while pregnant, and then also as the first-time mom of a newborn.

Commencement -- we couldn't even find her in the masses here:

Brandon was pretty proud of her, too.

It's not easy juggling a new baby and school, but she sure did it!

So proud of her!!

The family came down to Rexburg to join us for graduation and the blessing, and one evening we slipped down to the river at Idaho Falls for some pictures.

Oh, it was so beautiful there, and so, so peaceful.

The following Sunday, we went to church with Brandon and Cecilia, and Giselle was blessed. Cecilia's mom made a pretty blessing dress for her, and I made a little memory bouquet for her wrist.

Todd's aunt LaRee came, too -- it was so good to see her again. It's been a long time!

(Do we look old enough to be grandparents? Don't answer that!!)

My sweet niece, Lyndsey and her hubby Ross also came that day -- so fun to see them again and have them join us!

I'm such a sucker for baby-yawns.

At the end of the day, THIS is what it's all about.

Since it's so much later now that I'm recording this, I have a different perspective, perhaps. Or maybe it's just that I've had more time to think about it. Right now, this little angel is pretty far away, and we haven't gotten to see or hold her lately. I think I've got newborn withdrawals. (Even though she's not a newborn anymore!) Just sure am missing this little one.

But oh, what joy comes with a baby!!

Oh, Baby!!

So, this post is throwin' it back ... like to July.

Because that was when Todd and I became grandparents for the first time!

Hard to believe, right? That's what we keep thinking, too.

And after some thought, I finally figured out why I don't "feel" like a grandma. When I was a little kid, my grandparents were already elderly. They were in their seventies. Retired. Gray-haired. Moving slowly. Lots of wrinkles. In fact, three out of four of my grandparents had passed away by the time I was 13 years old. And the fourth grandparent passed away before I got married.

So in my mind's eye, a "grandparent" was a really, really old person. If I stop to compare, I am a quarter of a century YOUNGER than what I remember my grandparents being. It's a completely different place in life than they were.

Yeah. Now I feel a little better!!

So, this is Giselle -- the beginning of the Next Generation of Huffakers!! Isn't she a doll?? We ran down to Rexburg to hold this little sweetie, almost as soon as we got the news.

(She did undergo light therapy for jaundice for a couple of days, but we think she's pretty darn special.)

Her first outing --- to the Fourth of July parade.

While we were there together, we celebrated our anniversary -- 29 years together!!

Cecilia was a real trooper, and got right back into things right away. She and Brandon had three more weeks of school until the end of the semester, and Cecilia was heading for graduating with her bachelor's degree. As adorable as they are, a newborn baby isn't real conducive to classes, homework, projects, and finals.

Since Cecilia's mom was unable to come, we decided it might be best if I stayed in Rexburg until the semester's end, to help out with meals and baby care while her parents worked madly through the end of their school year. We had Emma stay with me, since the rest of the family was busy with work and Girl's Camp and activities that would limit what Em could do.

And Emma absolutely LOVES holding Giselle!!

And I can attest that our two lovely new parent-students ..... were more than just a LITTLE tired!

We had to come up with some ideas to keep busy while we were there, since we don't get to hold a baby ALL the time.

One day, we went to Cameron's apartment, and gave haircuts to him and two of his roommates. How about a before-and-after?

(Yes, he really needed a haircut!!!)

Here's a few other things that Emma and I did ....

Roller blading. And yes, I got up on rollerblades. And no, there are no photos of me here. I was lucky to fit my foot into the skate. (More on that in another post.)

 

There is a city park that has a carousel AND a free kids' splash pad. Score!!! We liked that a LOT!

We bought a cheap little frisbee at D.I., and played frisbee together after dinner at a pizza joint.

Emma likes helping out with food preparation -- but she really only wants to help make things that she already knows she likes. Like brownies. And meat loaf.

We went up on campus a lot and hung out and played games while Brandon and Cecilia were in classes. I think I read three of the "Work and the Glory" series while we were there.

And we took every opportunity to snuggle with this cute little bug! 

Cute little family!

Now, if I can only figure out what to be called ..... Nana, Gran, Gram, GG, ..........

but I'm thinkin' I will stick with the classic, "Grandma".