Summer Lovin’ and Sad News

Here is what most of our summer has looked like so far:

Luke has loved all the cousin time we have had.

We have spent most of our days playing out in the backyard.

We took all the kids up Payson Canyon to hike the Grotto.

They loved it and ask to go hiking everyday. It’s such a simple, easy hike perfect for children.

The other day we took all of them to Nickel City.

My sister, Andrea, has a friend whose family owns it.

The kids thought they were in heaven, especially Luke.

We had yummy pizza for lunch there and decided to try our hand at Laser Tag.

The little ones stayed behind with Andrea’s friend to ride the mini merry-go-round that they had already rode 72 times.

It was adults against the older kids and we kicked butt, even myself which is unusual for laser tag.

I want to do it again it was so much fun.

We ended our day with a surprise early birthday party for Andrea’s older kids.

They all have birthdays in August and will be in Pennsylvania at that time.

We decided it would be fun to celebrate with them early.

It was a hit.

Of course I don’t have hardly any pictures from the day, but believe me it was fun.

Yesterday I met up with two of my closest friends from my old neighborhood.

One of these friends was the one that I had been worried about in a previous post.

It was so great to see her in person, talk to her and see how she is really doing.

She is such a positive person that I know she will come out stronger through this trial.

My other friend is such a sweetheart and gave me a stack of red fabric called Halfmoon Ruby.

I am brainstorming all the things I can do with it.

She also gave me some awesome yellow shoes that I can’t wait to wear.

I am so thankful for good friends.

My Utah trip is coming to a close soon.

It has been full of laughs, tears, excitement, family, friends, and busy, busy days.

I am not so sure I am ready to get back to the extreme heat, although I am ready to see my husband.

I have an exciting weekend to share with you as well. Hopefully I can share it with you before heading back to Vegas.

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Sad News:

Today I found out one of my favorite customers from my pharmacy days passed away from lung cancer.

He is an older man who would always come to the pharmacy with sunglasses on looking a little gruff.

The more he came to the pharmacy, the more we would talk and the more I got to know him.

He was the nicest man and would always bring us treats. He even started taking off his sunglasses!

He and his wife gave me a baby gift when I delivered Luke.

I was so sad to hear he had passed away.

I like to think that my Ruby will give him a big hug from me and tell him that I miss him.

**All pictures taken by Andrea Swenson Photography**