4th of July, Goodbye to Porter, 40th Birthday, Avery at Girls' Camp, Gabe goes through the temple, Family pictures

I feel like it hasn't even been a full month since I last wrote a post, but we have been trying to squeeze so many things in! Today it's Wednesday, July 17th and Gabe gets officially set apart as a missionary on Sunday, so he only has about 3 more days of "real life" freedom for the next two years! It's kind of crazy! Today he is out boating with Josh, Caleb, Devin, and Caleb's friends Cole and Benson. I was going to go, but it was kind of last minute and Avery had her tennis lesson at 2:00, so it ended up becoming a boys' trip. But, I don't have the pictures of that yet, so let me write about what the past few weeks have contained!

Fourth of July

This year for the 4th of July, I was a little bitter because Gabe spent basically the entire day except for two hours with Sophia and her family. He and Sophia drove to Grand Teton and went hiking at Phelps Lake, which was fine. But then they got back at about 4:00 and went straight to her house. We only got to see a glimpse of him when we went out to the Milner's house for a BBQ from about 6:00 - 7:00. He came and ate and then went back to Sophia's house. Then, at about 9:45, we drove to the Teton Lakes Golf Course (Caleb's workplace) and watched fireworks. They were really good. They lasted about 20-30 minutes, but we sat right on the green and it was really perfect. Gabe and Sophia came and watched them too, but then left again and he didn't get home until midnight. I get that Gabe is trying to squeeze in as much time as he can with Sophia and friends, but I'm also sad because I think it's hitting me that he's leaving for his mission, then he will get back and be busy with school, then he will get married, and then we will never have the mom and Gabe time again. That makes me tear up just typing it. We really get along so well and always laugh together. I'm really going to have a hard time without that for the next two years. 

Anyways, I also should probably tell what we did on the Fourth of July while Gabe was with Sophia! In the morning, we took Avery over to the junior high to join up with the orchestra kids who were walking in the parade. We had to be there at about 8:30 and then just Josh and I went to Main Street to find a spot to sit. The parade started at 10:00 and it was probably almost 11:00 by the time Avery and those kids came by. She was walking and throwing candy, and I think she had a good time. She was a little disappointed that there wasn't an actual float to ride on, but oh well. At least she got to be in the parade! Josh and I sat by Milners in front of the Family Crisis Center and then Claire and her family came and sat by us too. Caleb had been at home, sleeping in, but then he did drive over in the Buick for a minute before getting bored and deciding to leave and go golfing with Benson while everyone in town was busy at the parade.

After the parade, we went home, ate lunch, and got our swimsuits on. Then me, Josh, Avery, and Caleb floated the Warm Slough in tubes with the Hughes and the Milners. It was soooo hot, I was grateful to be doing something that involved water, even if there were a million people there. Once we were out on the water, it didn't matter that there were a lot of people there because everyone was spread out. After floating, we got home, showered, relaxed for a couple hours, and then went to the Milner's for a BBQ. I took fruit pizza and scotcheroos and they grilled hamburgers. It's always a tiny bit weird when we go out there and pull up right next to the house that we spent a year building, then lived in for a month, then sold. But I honestly don't ever regret the decision we made. The only sad feelings are the feelings of slight guilt that Gabe (and Josh)worked so hard on something that we then sold, but other than that, I don't feel sad about it. I truly don't feel like it was the house we should have stayed in. It would've made it impossible for us to ever feel like we could go on a vacation or for me to work part-time, which I'm REALLY excited to be doing this fall. 

Anyways, so then I already talked about the fireworks and that was fun. Josh and Avery also went out to the Milner's at about 10:30 to watch Jay light some fireworks, but Caleb and I came home because he had to go to bed so he could get up for work the next morning at 5am. He has been working at the golf course this summer with Benson and loves it. It's the perfect job for him because he can kind of just drive a mower around and it's pretty laid back. Then he usually golfs after work!

Goodbye to Porter

Gabe's best friend, Porter, is about two weeks ahead of Gabe in the mission timeline. So during the week after the 4th of July, Gabe spent a lot of time with Porter and his friends playing pickleball, hiking, and just goofing around before Porter had to start the home MTC. He did home MTC for a week, and then he officially flew out to the Mexico City MTC on July 11, where he will stay for about 6 weeks I think! We went to his church farewell and to their house for a dinner the next week. It's crazy that these boys are all starting missions! I think it's pretty cool though that they are all starting within the month of each other and that Gabe and Porter will both be learning Spanish. 

My 40th Birthday

So, I turned 40 on Thursday, July 11th! A real surprise came two days before my birthday. My friend, Claire, told me she was picking me up at 6:00 and taking me someplace for a surprise. I had no idea what she had planned, and I was a tad nervous. I was hoping she wasn't taking me someplace weird. Luckily, she drove me to Da Pineapple Grill, and when we walked inside it was a whole bunch of my friends waiting for a surprise birthday dinner! It was so nice. She had called Josh and gotten lots of phone numbers, so it was people she didn't even know. It was me, Claire, Charm, Melissa Clark, Nicole Stucki, Nicole Rawson, Lindsey Summers, and Janell. It was so fun to have most of my friends in one room! 

Then, on my actual birthday, Avery was gone at Girls' Camp with our whole stake, so it was just me, Josh, and the boys. We decided to drive to Grand Teton and spend the afternoon at String Lake. We took the inflatable canoe, some tubes, and some lunch. We got there at about noon and stayed until about 4:00. It was really crowded, but luckily we found a parking spot as someone was leaving and then we found a little spot on the side of the lake to put our towels and bag of food down. I spent some time paddling around in the inflatable canoe with Gabe and that was really fun. Then, when we got back into Rexburg, we picked up some food from Da Pineapple Grill and also a cake from Ashley Wheeler's house! I told Josh, "I know she doesn't really make cakes anymore, but tell her it's all I want for my birthday!!" It was soooo good! Definitely made my birthday amazing! Gabe also got me this really cute necklace that some local lady made that has a picture of the outline of Spain on it and a heart in the middle where Madrid is. It's so nice. I'm currently wearing it! It was a good birthday!

Avery at Girls' Camp

Unfortunately, Avery did not exactly love girls' camp. This was her first time going, and I think it didn't help that it was super hot (90+ degrees), they were kind of in the middle of nowhere at Badger Creek, they didn't really have a nice swimming lake, and the mosquitoes were really bad. I dropped her off at the church on Tuesday morning and they loaded up the trailers with all their stuff and drove (about an hour) to Badger Creek. By Wednesday morning I think I got the first tearful cry from her, telling me she was not having fun and she missed me and wanted to come home. I told her to try and stick it out and to call me with an update that night. She called again that night and was still sad, but said she would try to stay. I think we also heard from her on Thursday, but she seemed better. Then, they drove back on Friday morning. When we were passing through on our way to and from Grand Teton, I kept being like, "Should we go check on Avery?" and Josh and the boys were like, "No, she's fine..." I think she would have definitely come home if we showed up and gave her the option, but it was good that she stayed. She got home and showered and then sat on the couch in her robe for literally the rest of the day. It was kind of dramatic, but she said it was the "worst week of her life." haha Hopefully she gets over that and decides to still go next year.

Gabe goes through the temple

On Friday at 8:00am on July 12th (the day after my 40th birthday) Gabe went through the temple for the first time to receive his own endowment. He was surrounded by friends and family, including Josh’s parents, Bryan and Jada, Jack and Shannon, and my friend Claire (and me and Josh). I think I had tried to kind of prep him for it by telling him, “Some things might seem a little weird,” because that’s what I remember thinking, but I swear as we were going through the session, I was thinking, “Ok this is different from a few years ago… this isn’t as weird…” lol So maybe I was just overwhelmed when I was 20 and going through the temple for the first time I guess! He didn’t really say he thought anything was too crazy afterward! Once we got done, we went outside and took pictures with Josh’s family (Claire had already left), and then we hurried to pick up Avery from the church because she was just getting back from girls camp. I was thinking she wasn’t going to get back until around 11-12:00, but then they were texting us while I was just coming out of the temple at 9:45 and saying, “We are back at the church! Come get your girls!” So it was kind of a crazy morning! Luckily, she ended up riding home with her friend, Nora, and then going home and showering and just vegging on the couch the rest of the day! 

Gabe and I had to run back over to Deseret Book and get his garments sorted out later that day. He tried MANY different fabric types before making his decision. He only had the one pair he had taken to the temple, so we needed to go back and buy about ten sets. Luckily, I think there is a distribution center in Madrid, so if he changes his mind at least he should have access to buying some more. 

Family Pictures with Josh’s family

The last thing I need to include in this post is that we got family pictures taken! I feel like I have to preface this by saying that I wanted to get some with Brad and Diane and Josh’s extended family, however, I’m a little bummed by the way ours for our own family turned out. The girl taking them was the same girl that did Gabe’s mission photos, and I do think she does a nice job with editing them, but I wish she would’ve taken a few extra minutes to pose us better. It was like she was hurrying because there were so many different families and the mosquitoes at the nature park were really bad, so it was like 30 minutes tops and we were done! I’ll post some of my favorites below, but I don’t know if I’m going to run out and print a huge one for my living room wall! It’s crazy to think that our next family pictures (with Gabe) will probably be in August of 2026, right before Caleb leaves on his mission!

Washington DC, Wisconsin, and Montana

The past month has felt like nonstop traveling. We basically had about one week at the end of May/beginning of June where we were out of school and didn't have to go anywhere. The boys started their summer jobs (Caleb at the golf course, and Gabe at the city doing sprinklers and stuff again) and Avery and I just kind of hung out and relaxed. Then, on June 5th our traveling began! 

The kids and I were shuttled to the Idaho Falls airport (courtesy of Gabe Appleby, whom I paid in Pop Tarts), and then we flew from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City to Washington D.C. We arrived just after midnight and Josh picked us up. We drove about an hour to our hotel in Quantico, and then slept for about 4 hours. Josh's graduation started at 10:00 am on Thursday, June 6 (also Caleb's 16th birthday) but he insisted that we needed to arrive there early, by like 7:30 am. So we got up, got dressed in our Sunday clothes, and made the 15-minute drive over to the FBI Academy base. We got through security in about ten minutes and were seated in the auditorium over 2 hours before Josh's graduation started! lol (We definitely could've slept longer...) The graduation ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, and by the time Josh said all his goodbyes and we got out of there, it was about noon. 

We started driving north towards Washington D.C., and Josh wanted to stop at this Marine Corps. museum on the way. It actually ended up being my favorite museum of the whole trip. It had an exhibit for every major U.S. involved war (Revolutionary, Civil, WW1, WW2, and tons more) and there were really cool lifelike things to see in every area. It really felt like you were in each war. 

After we spent about an hour or two there, we drove the rest of the way to Washington D.C. Josh had reserved a night at this Holiday Inn that was downtown right near everything, but when we got there, we realized they had put us in a room that only had two queen beds (and no couch bed!) I called down to the front desk and was asking if they could bring up a bunch of extra pillows so my son could make a bed on the floor, and the lady was soooo nice and upgraded us to a bigger suite type of room for free! So we had this huge room with two queens and a pull-out couch and it was really nice. But we didn't stay there long. We basically just threw down our stuff and then started to walk around to see the DC sights. 

It was super hot and humid, so as we were walking around (on four hours of sleep) we all were pretty exhausted. We ended up finding a bus to take us to the Lincoln Memorial, which was good, but then we walked all the way back to the hotel (which was probably about two miles with all of our little stops to look at things.) We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, some other things I don't remember, and then we ate at McDonalds at about 9pm! ;) It was a big day! Poor Caleb didn't really get a lot of attention for his 16th birthday. I guess that's the classic middle child problem. Maybe next year we will have to take him on a special trip or something. 

The next morning, (Friday) we woke up at about 8:00 and got ready. We checked out of the room, but we could leave our truck parked in their garage until 5:00, so we took advantage of that. We went to three museums: The National Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the Natural History Museum. The Holocaust Museum was the most interesting, but really sad of course. 

By about 3:00, we were done seeing everything that we really cared about, and we got into the truck and drove to the Pentagon. We briefly stopped there and looked at the 9/11 memorial. Then we drove to Arlington Cemetery. By this time, I was officially overheating and cranky, so when Josh said we had to walk up to the top of the hill to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I was not doing well. I was literally dripping sweat. After sitting through that little hot, silent presentation, we walked back down to the truck and I refused to get out of the air-conditioned truck when the boys went and took a picture in front of the famous statue of soldiers putting up the flag during WW2 (?) I will post the picture. 

Then, we drove about an hour to this BBQ restaurant. I got the salmon and it was really good, but I ended up having a poop attack as we drove away from the restaurant, so that wasn't good. Our hotel that we were staying at for the night was only about another hour or so away, so we made it there and got checked in at about 7:30pm. I think it was in Maryland, or maybe southern Pennsylvania. 

The next morning (Saturday), we checked out of there and continued our drive towards Wisconsin. We stopped in this field in Pennsylvania where Flight 93 crashed down on 9/11. That was really sad. They had this little visitors center where you could see pictures of all the people on the plane and hear recorded messages they left family members when they called from the plane. Then this big balcony overlooked the field where you could see where the plane crashed.

Then, we continued our drive. We drove about 8 hours that day and ended in South Bend, Indiana. We found a nice Marriot right next to a Culver's and we ate dinner there and went to bed early.

The next day (Sunday) we only had about 3 hours to make it to Fond du lac. We drove through Chicago and then up through Milwaukee and finally to Fondy! We arrived there at about noon on Sunday. We were hungry and my mom hadn't planned on us for lunch, so we ended up meeting her over at A&W. It's kind of weird with her living on the north side of town now instead of the south side. I feel like it makes you go to places to eat that I never really went to that much growing up!

Anyways, we spent the next week in Fond du lac staying at my mom and Jesse's house. This was the first time my family had ever seen their new house on Kennedy Drive, but I saw it in November when I flew out and just visited by myself for a weekend. I had a feeling it was going to feel a bit less comfortable staying with them this time compared to staying at my grandma Dahlke's nice condo for the past 11 or so years. I think my grandma had that condo from about 2012 - 2023, and it was so nice she had that because we would always stay there when we visited and we had the whole basement to ourselves (bedroom, living room, TV, full bathroom), plus then she also had a guest bedroom upstairs that Gabe usually slept in and another full bathroom. So we really had two full bathrooms and two bedrooms, plus the living room where we'd put an air mattress down for Caleb. It was nice because we didn't feel like we were in anyone's way. But now, staying at my mom's house, it's like we are cramming this family of five into a house that only has two bathrooms total and three bedrooms, so it feels really cramped. Plus Jesse always kind of gives off the vibe that we are inconveniencing him by being there. So, I don't know how often we will be visiting there in the future. Now that Gabe is gone and my mom is retired, it just seems like she should come out and see us and stay in Gabe's bedroom instead! 

While we were there, Josh and the boys were put in charge of framing up two walls in the basement. So they were busy doing that about two of the days. Then on the other two days, we went to Mount Olympus in Wisconsin Dells for one day, and we went to the Fondy Aqua Park for one day. Those were the two biggest "fun things" that we did. Josh and the boys also went golfing with Norb, Jesse, and the missionaries one morning. We also spent one morning going to garage sales and Caleb found this Batman costume that he was pretty excited about. We ate a lot of Culvers, went to Brayden's soccer and baseball games, went shopping a little bit, worked on the wall, and visited with my grandma, who is at the assisted living home now. Rachel, Brayden, and Jasmine are still living in the house on Mequon Avenue. I asked my mom when she plans to list that house, and she just kind of shrugged and rolled her eyes. (Rachel will probably end up living there for free for the next 20 years.) We also got to see the Schmidt's new house in Whispering Springs. They haven't moved out of their old house yet because they were waiting for it to sell and Norb said it would show better with their furniture in it, but while we were there they accepted an offer! So, I guess we were good luck. So they will be moving over by Gini into that new house by the end of July. It feels weird with all the changes of them moving, my mom moving, my grandma moving.... but that's life! Nothing can stay the same forever!

After our time in Wisconsin, Josh and the boys drove home in his truck on Saturday and Sunday. They made record time. They left at about 7:00 am on Saturday morning and were home by 3:00 pm on Sunday! Avery and I flew home from Madison to Idaho Falls on Tuesday, so we had a couple of extra days with my mom. We had a delay getting home and we missed out connecting flight in Minneapolis, but we finally got home at about 11:00 pm. I was glad we didn't have to spend a night sleeping in an airport!

We only had a few days to relax at home (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). The boys weren't really relaxing. Gabe was working every day for the city doing sprinklers, Caleb was working at the golf course and going to football camp in the evenings, and Josh was working. Me and Avery were relaxing! But then on Saturday morning, we drove up to Montana and checked into an Airbnb near Lake Como. My dad and Melissa flew into Missoula that day and my brother picked them up and drove them back to their house. We all met up for dinner at Aaron's at about 5:00 and we stayed there until about 10:30 just talking and eating. 

The next day (Sunday) we spent from about 10:00 am - 3:00 pm at Lake Como. The water was super cold, but we floated around on inflatables and sat on the "shore" and chatted. Then at about 3:00 we had to leave to start driving back so all the boys could get a decent sleep before starting work again Monday. It was a quick trip, but the Airbnb we stayed at was nice and it was a good, fast way to check seeing my dad off the list!

Now we are back home and trying to figure out the next big things. The biggest thing happening in the next month is that Gabe will be starting his mission! We have just under a month until he gets set apart and starts home MTC on July 22. Then, we have to drop him off in Provo at the MTC on July 31. I'll be bursting into tears at any moment spontaneously for the next two years starting now! My office is a disaster filled with tons of Amazon purchases for Gabe's mission. We have been going through all the pants I ordered today and I made him try on every pair one more time and narrow them down to his top 8 pairs (I had bought about 15 of various brands, colors, and sizes!) I'm trying to figure out which 2 suitcases will work the best and it's stressing me out because all suitcases nowadays have spinner wheels and the moms who have missionaries in Spain have said, "Spinner wheels don't do well on the streets of Europe with all those cobblestone streets!" So now I am fretting over that! 

It's going to be an emotional summer filled with lots of ups and downs, and I feel like I'm not ready for the change of not having Gabe in our home every day. It's going to be very hard for sure. I'm hoping the next month doesn't fly by, but it always seems to do just that!