NASHVILLE & NORTH CAROLINA!

 Kati bought a place out in North Carolina called "The Dragon's Rest". It's 6 cabins set at the end of the Dragon's Tail where bikers come from across the world to ride and then they need a place to stay so they book a place there! Kati invited me and Amber along for the weekend to help her fix up her cabins and make them cuter. We packed workout clothes, had plans to hike and shop....boy were we wrong! We flew out to Nashville on Saturday morning so we could play all day in Nashville! We shopped at some famous cute little boutiques, checked out 5 Sisters Donuts, Biscuit Love and then went to the Grand Ole Opry! It was the best day and the Opry was so fun!! Then we drove 2 hours to stay in a hotel for the night and then got up and went to church in a little ward building and then found ourselves a Bucees and changed our clothes and got lunch and headed out to Kati's place. We drove the Dragons Tail and man oh man - that's gonna make anyone sick! It is 318 curves on an 11 mile stretch of highway - its gorgeous though! Then we got to Kati's place and got right to work and didn't stop until Tuesday when we loaded up and headed back to Nashville to fly home. We learned why it's called the "smokey mountains" - every  morning when you wake up the clouds are so low it looks like smokey mountains! I used a power drill left and right - I was like some kind of construction worker with all my tool usage - Jared would have been so impressed! It was non-stop work, but non-stop fun at the same time! It was a great escape for me mentally and I loved being with these girls and laughing, crying, talking and having the best time! We can't wait to go back again! We are so excited for Kati and her new adventure! 

ELI NHS INDUCTION!

 Eli fought me on it and did NOT want to apply to NHS. I mean what teenage boy wants to apply to be apart of something that's going to require you to maintain good grades, write an essay to apply and oh ya, complete 50 hours of community service and attend meetings...none of them. But I made him do it. And he got accepted. His baseball friends teased him and gave him crap for it in a loving way...but hopefully someday this will lead to free schooling - that's why I made him do it! So proud of you Eli! Sadly - I didn't get to go to his induction ceremony, but Jared did - it sort of made up for the fact that Jared couldn't go to Emma's and I did - the roles are revearsed this time! 

HERSHAL STAYS WITH US!

 Hershal was set apart as a missionary and is doing at home MTC! His family is heading up north for a family reunion but Hershal isn't allowed to go and he isn't allowed to be left alone either...so he came over for the weekend and crashed in Emma's room! We loved having him...it was interesting and we felt like we had to be extra careful what shows we were watching, he would wander out of her room a lot and get snacks, poor kid was bored I think....but at night the boys and all their friends would come over and they would gather around Hershal and he would tell stories and crack everyone up! 

ELI'S TEXT MESSAGE!

 Sophomore year for Eli in seminary just hit differently for him, I am not sure what it was, possibly the teacher?! We get random very sweet texts from him while he is in seminary! We love this kid! 

PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT!

 Eli and Jake decided to spend their summer training for the pickleball circuit! Doug got them a trainer, got them some good raquets, they got pickleball shirts and they trained for their first (and turned out to be only) tournament! They made it pretty far, crushing a lot of the competition, playing for over 4 hours! Me, Jared and Brady followed Eli and Jake around from court to court cheering them on! They beat old people, people my age, but they eventually lost to some younger boys who apparantly are homeschooled and travel all over winning tournaments - cheaters! Should have been entered in a higher division. Oh well! It was still a fun night! 

HOT DOGGING!

 I am not even sure what to call this?! But we woke up and found hot dogs scattered throughout our yard! We watched the video and discovered it was Jackson and his buddies....so lucky Eli got to help clean it up! ha ha! 

STORMS ROLLING IN!

 Jared and I love being out here at the new house on this property and getting to watch storms roll in - we are officially old people! Monsoons bring the most exciting weather!