My latest project.

Here it is:

The finish looks white, but it's technically Revere Pewter. I am happy with the end results, but still adjusting from going from a dark table to a light table. 

(I looked for a "before" pic, but can't find a good one right now and don't have any more time to search.... sorry.)

The finish is SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER, however. The original finish was horrible. If I recall correctly, you weren't supposed to wipe the table with a wet cloth... ever. IT'S A TABLE, for goodness sake. Needless to say, it now wipes up, with a wet cloth, like a charm. That, in and of itself, is worth the tedium of the project.

The most tiresome part of the process HAD to be pulling out the dang staples from the seat cushions.

One of the chairs was not like the others, and had a boatload of rusted staples. They would just break off as I tried to pry and pull them out. I had a nightmare the other evening that I had to re-cover ALL the chairs again, and I woke up feeling sick.

I didn't take any pics of the process, but let it be known that it was tiresome and tedious and that I got blisters on my fingers and on my knees.

I'm so glad it's done.

Pretty much.

I will probably make tie-on seat covers in the near future. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to sewing them, but know it will be worth the effort in the end.

Utah: EFY and the rest.

Our primary purpose for planning a trip to UT was for Mar to attend EFY.

It's highly likely that this will be her last year.

She was excited to be rooming with her cousin Hannah again, and couldn't wait for the week to begin.

Monday, July 2nd

We met up with Jill and Hannah (and Hannah's friend Danielle) at our usual place - Target in AmFork. We shopped for a few necessary items (this year it was a mirror, chapstick, and LaCroix), then hopped in Jill's car and made the drive to the beautiful BYU campus. Mar and I stood, yet again, in one of the longest lines. I don't know why they insist on putting S and T's together, when clearly most of the other lines are much, much shorter. I really think they (those smart people at BYU) could divide the lines a bit more equitably. The reality is, however, that you do, in nearly all cases, eventally reach the front regardless of how long the line and how hot the day.

Once they were checked into their room, their beds were made, and they were changed, we went for a quick bite at ChickFilA, and a quick swig at... Swig haha. Then we kissed them goodbye and sent them on their way. 

Mar LOVED it. I didn't really expect any less, since she has LOVED it every year.

This year, she says, was her very best very favorite year.  It's definitely been worth every penny we've forked out over the years. Mar has always paid for half of the cost and has never complained about it. I love that.

Here are a few of Mar's pics she {and/or others} snapped during the week:

 This is Andrew from Michigan.
Mar and Andrew have face-timed EVERY. DAY. since she's been home. They do gospel study together (and then chat a bit...). I guess I can't complain about that haha. Seriously, tho, Mar came home on such a spiritual high and I'm hoping it will last ALAP (as long as possible).

Sunday, July 1st, and Sunday, July 8th

On both sides of EFY, Austin took Mar's senior pictures.

Yes. My baby is a senior. I'm freaking out on the inside about that little fact.

Here are a few of my favorites from the two sessions Austin did:

There are many more that I really love, too... good thing I don't have to make the decision on what pics to use for grad announcements. I'll leave that important business up to Mar.

(I still can't believe she's a senior.)

As for the rest of the week... I got hang out with Wonderful Sweet Scarlett, L (my new creative/inventive/genius nickname for Ellis), and M (same for Emmett... and "V" for Evie... genius, right??).

I love this pic of Scarlett because it reminds me of a very similar picture of Mar:

(Mar was about a year younger than Scarlett is... but similar, right? SHE'S A SENIOR NOW)

Great Grandma and Grandpa Syddall brought this doll house over for Scarlett, and she spent hours getting it set up just right.

Friday, July 6th

The girls and I went to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple for a session. We originally wanted to do Initiatory, but when we learned there was over an hour wait just to get in, and that we would miss the next endowment session, we decided to do sealings. Still such a lovely experience.

I am so blessed to have these lovely women in my life! 

Doubly blessed to be their mom.

Little Billy stayed home and babysat for us. It was a little funny that the girls were so concerned about him being able to handle 3 kids (one a 4 month old, one an 11 month old)... they should probably realize that he's a pro. He's had years and years of practice. He rocked it, of course.

That evening Jill and my mom invited us out to Bountiful for a yummy dinner. Jill had searched all over town for "flap steak" (it was the first I had heard of it... Britt and Austin were familiar with it), but couldn't find any, so she had to substitute something else, which ended up taking a lot more time and effort than she intended without the perfect results she was hoping for. Everyone thought the food was delicious, though.

 Again, I didn't take many pictures, but I happened to snap this one... I fit in between these two cool people in our family lineup. I have been told that my {older} sister looks like my daughter... but I can live with that haha. She is aging more gracefully than I... she wears Pink Floyd t-shirts and I wear stretchy polyester Grandma pants and usually pull my hair back in a messy bun, which tends to make me look very much like "Mother" in Psycho hahahahaha. Maybe someday I'll have a little more time to work on my style {fingers crossed}.

 Saturday, July 7th

After an early morning EFY pickup, Mar and Hannah spent the day at Lagoon with some of their new EFY friends. Months ago Jill and I had purchased tickets to Newsies at the Hale Theater for that evening, so it was a pretty tight schedule for these girls. The show was fabulous, though, so definitely worth the effort!

 Sunday, July 8th

Up at 5:00am to pack up and get Mar to Lo's house in Orem for make-up before meeting Austin at 7 in downtown Provo for #sesh2 of senior pictures.

I couldn't help taking a few poses of Little Billy while we were traipsing around with Austin and Mar.

I also couldn't help taking this shot... 

2018 Provo, UT

...reminiscent of Lex and Cheyenne's antics during Shi's senior photo shoot:

2013 Littleton, CO

After the shoot, we started our long journey home. Mar slept most of the way, Bill and I switched off driving so we could both catch up on some shut-eye, too.

We paused for another picture at the border...

 ...then patiently waited out the traffic on the way down the other side of the mountain.

It was such a fun and productive trip! 

I love that!

It was good to get back to our peeps that stayed in CO, too.

I missed my little V in particular.


One thing I neglected to memorialize via picture is that we took this entire trip in a loaner vehicle because our car was in the shop. It was a beautiful new white 2018 MDX... with a big, bold decal on both sides stating clearly that it was a COURTESY VEHICLE (from Courtesy Acura of Littleton). It was a hybrid, so we got excellent gas mileage, and we saved pert near 2000 miles on our own car, so I guess it was worth driving around with the blatant advertisement :-)

Utah: the Fourth of July.

It was super fun to be in Utah for the Fourth this year.
Bill and I planned a picnic at Liberty Park (so fitting, right?) for lunch, visiting, and games.

We were able to secure the perfect shady spot near the playground AND the restrooms. 

The only thing it didn't have was a picnic table, and although we had brought a couple of folding tables, we determined that another table would be ideal. Once a few more manly men showed up, we sent them to nab one. It was not an easy job haha. Thanks, fellas!

We had two Spike Ball games courtesty of Lo-and-Ko and Rachael. I had never played before, and it was super fun.

L loved sitting in his own little chair...

...especially when Ceci was sitting next to him :)

Sam brought a game called Kubb, which was super fun, too.

 All games worked great with all ages, so everyone had a fun time.

I believe the kids beat the grown ups in the pic below. Way to go, peeps!

It was awesome to have Jill in town, and so fun to have Rachael and Sam join us, too.

Our shade lasted just long enough for us to have a few hours to relax, eat, play games, and celebrate the holiday. So perfect. 

That evening Lo-and-Ko were attending the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Britt and Aust had friends coming over (we stayed with them while we were in UT), and we were invited to Matt and Lia's for dinner, games, and fireworks.

(Scarlett's ready for her party with her stash of fireworks...)

I didn't take many pictures that night... so sad to have missed a pic of Lia's yummy spread, Matt, Lia, Lincoln, Jill, Rachael, Sam, my dad, and people playing games! And we celebrated Lia's birthday with strawberry pie, apple pie, and homemade ice cream. I took a few random shots, though, so I'm glad I at least have a little something to share.

M was pretty tuckered out... I thought it was so sweet that he passed out on his dada's shoulder.

When I got my hands on M, I couldn't help snapping a few pics... some of my faves!

Once it was time for the fireworks to start, we made our way out to Matt and Lia's driveway. They have a neighbor that puts on quite a show. 

It was also fun to hear all the firworks going off all over the place. Since they were banned in CO this year, it was definitely good to be in UT.

I couldn't help but think about the story of the writing of our National Anthem The Stars Spangled Banner (you can read it here) as I listened to the commotion going on all around me.

It was so fun spending time with family and celebrating the holiday together.

I'm realizing, however, that summer is passing at a crazy rate of speed.

Stop! Slow down! I just need a little more time!

"And our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream..." 

(Jacob 7:26)

Still feeling this.