My summer was super busy and full of daily manual labor. This was probably one of the hardest summers for me. In April, we found out that we had an opportunity to go to England for a year for Alex's job. We were excited to take the opportunity to go, but that also meant a lot of preparations and work to be done to get ready to go. I started right away trying to de-clutter our house and get it ready to show potential renters. It was a big job cleaning and clearing out our house. Alex was gone most of the summer for work or scouts. He went to Spain for 1.5 weeks, more work related things in New Mexico for 3 weeks, and 1 week of scout camp. So for 5.5 of the 7.5 weeks of summer, Alex was gone. The remaining 2 weeks he had to spend most of it at work too. That left me to clean and show our house, find renters, yard work, box up and clear out our house, pack, clean, make travel accommodations, vacation arrangements and baths and vet appointment for the dog, swimming lessons, dentist and doctor appointments, and being a "single mom" all summer with the kids home. I did 95% of our move all on my own. I barely survived and several times wanted to call it quits. I had friends help out a few different times when I really needed help - couldn't have done it without their help.
We didn't have much time for fun things this summer, but managed to go bowling a couple of times, swimming lessons, and a few play dates with friends.
We all had dentist, doctor, and eye doctor appointments this summer. Savannah did well at her first teeth cleaning at the dentist.
We went as a family to the LA Temple in June - last time until sometime in the fall of 2018. (I went one time by myself in July).
I traded watching kids with a friend some this summer. She had a few times when she really needed help (as a single mom) and I had a few times when I really needed help (when Nathan wasn't around to baby-sit). I got the better deal with sending 3 kids with her... having her daughter Sunny over was fun for Savannah. Savannah really latched onto her and loved when Sunny brought her tea set over to play. Owen was a good sport and played waiter to Sunny and Savannah.
Owen, Weston, and Savannah did 2 weeks of swimming lessons. They all did well. It was Savannah's first swimming lessons. Weston made progress in doing strokes, Owen continued to get better at swimming, and he jumped off the diving board for the first time.
Weston got glasses (Nathan is our only kid who doesn't have glasses yet). Weston loves to eat sardines, but we have to send him outside to eat them because they smell so bad.
The 4th of July was a pretty fun day. We had a church function - playing baseball and potluck lunch. (I spent the afternoon working.) We rented a movie and had cookies and ice cream in the evening, and I took the kids to watch fireworks.
We got in a quick visit with family before we left. I met my sister-in-law Carrie and her boys one day for lunch and beach fun. It was nice to catch up.
...but then it was right back to work!
The good part of the summer was the couple of evenings we spent with friends, who threw farewell dinners for us. It was sad to say good-bye, but fun to hang out. Didn't get any pictures from Alex's work party or pictures with all our friends. Wish we had time to hang out with all of our friends.
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