July 2023

 July was a busy, fun and crazy month in our family. Take a look:

We started July still in charge of Evan while Megan and Mitch were in Hawaii (SO MUCH FUN!!) and then Megan, Mitch and Evan were here for the first couple of weeks before we all went to Yellowstone for a Finch family reunion and we enjoyed spending time with them here. We celebrated Canada Day by taking Evan to visit Grandma Ririe and then we celebrated the 4th of July with a very chill BBQ and turning in pretty early. No party animals this year. :)

Autumn finished out her time serving as an STL in the Waverly Ward in Winnipeg before being transferred to the Wildwood Ward in Saskatoon. She was sad to bid good friends she has made in Winnipeg and her leadership position goodbye, but is loving her companion and her area in Saskatoon.  It's a great ward with lots of teaching opportunities AND has the only Crumbl cookie store in her entire mission, so she is super happy about that. :)

We traveled to Island Park, Idaho on July 11 for a 4 day reunion with the Finch side of the family. We had 68 people there and had such a great time getting to spend time together.  We spent time exploring Yellowstone Park as well as spending one day all together on the lake that was close to the cabins we were renting.  It was just a really fun time!! We were sad to be missing Seth (who couldn't come because of a work retreat) and Autumn, but really enjoyed our time together as extended family.

Levi got his first "big kid" job when he was offered and accepted a job as an operations manager at Goldman Sachs.  We are so excited for him and proud of all of his hard work.  He and Devin sadly said goodbye to their amazing ward in Logan and packed a uhaul to move here for a few weeks until their apartment in Salt Lake is ready for them to move in and then they will move in there.  Devin will start his graduate program in Medical Lab Sciences at the University of Utah in August.

After the reunion, Megan, Mitch and Evan went home to Boise while the rest of us traveled back to Utah just in time to use our tickets to see "Newsies" at HCT.  It was so amazing and we really enjoyed the time together before Levi and Devin headed back to Logan and Delaney moved to Las Vegas to start her job as a high school film teacher there. She and Seth, who are still best friends and very close, were also officially divorced this month, which was sad for everyone involved, but we definitely hope all the best for her in her new job.

We got new shutters on all of the windows in our house and I LOVE them so much! They really add to the beauty of our home.

We went on several hikes with Seth again this month and continue to love the mountains around ourhome. We are so blessed to live here! Seth also moved home for a little bit and is continuing to work on the Ballard Brief at BYU as well as doing research for a couple of professors there.

I took a week-long trip with my sister Kim to the Redwood State and National parks in northern California and we had the BEST time reconnecting and hiking in one of the most beautiful areas of the world! We hiked more than 30 miles in 3 days through old and new growth redwood forests and saw trees too huge and too majestic for words. I've wanted to go there for as long as I can remember and it did not disappoint! After our time in the Redwoods, we drove to Manteca and spent a day with Bill and Mia and their family before flying home. Awesome, once in a lifetime trip for sure!!