Milestone Moments...

Aaron & Janene

Aaron's birth 43 years ago was literally almost a birthday gift to his mother but he arrived on the scene 25 hours later.  We celebrated Janene's 69th birthday on Monday evening with lots of family and I made yummy peach dessert.

Aaron's gift to himself this year was taking a day off from work to go fishing - all by himself!

It took some calendaring to make it happen and he didn't go on his actually birthday - he went the day before.  He has a special spot and he took along the 4-wheeler this year.  

For a hobby that Aaron is so passionate about, it sure doesn't happen often enough.  But, the Lord blessed him on his one and only day in the river.  He caught ten nice sized fish!  Ironically, Janene, an avid fisherwoman, has been out ten times this summer and has hardly caught anything.

We celebrated Aaron's birthday by attending the temple together in the morning.  Afterwards, he headed into the office but we stopped by the grocery store so he could buy donuts for everybody.  What a nice boss!

It was close enough to lunch time so we treated ourselves to the delicious sushi rolls that Broulim's sells.  Yes, the best sushi in town is sold at the grocery store. I try it every time it's being sampled:). It's expensive, however, but we felt like his birthday was reason enough to splurge.

 A fun surprise awaited him back at the office.

 There's a story behind the plethora of post-it notes. 

Yes, Aaron is a great man to work for and his employees know it.

 With the family calendar we keep, Bob & Janene knew the best place to wish him a happy birthday was at the office.  

They brought a gift to him and surprised him with a little extra loving'...

Later that evening, I made arrangements to get the kids where they needed to be (soccer practice, babysitting jobs, etc.), so Aaron and I could go to our favorite restaurant that offers a 1/2 off entree b-day special...

...and a free dessert.  We hardly had room for the cinnamon roll sundae but stuffed in a few bites before heading home where the kids anxiously awaited our return. 

 The birthday boy may have been too full to enjoy his favorite treat (peach dessert) but the kids were not.  It's the only time of year I make this delicious dessert - G-ma Aloha's recipe.

 New shirts - always needed and appreciated.

Thanks everyone for the birthday cards/wishes - Aaron had a great day and felt loved.

Another milestone occurred this past week. 

Legally, our responsibility to retain boxes and boxes of old records from a company that no longer exists as we once knew it, came to an end.  Masterfully, Aaron built quite the bon fire.  It would have taken days to shred so many documents.  We have never done our own 'burn' before though it is very common where we live.  On a school night, Aaron and I ended up staying out quite late so we pulled up camp chairs and enjoyed the beautiful windless evening together.  At one point, Jantzen, Anna and Brinley crept out with marshmallows and roasting sticks.  

Good-bye Arbor Senior Care!  

You were a blessing to us and countless others over the years.

The SRC (Senior Research Center) in full swing.

 The work of providing quality care for seniors rolls forward in a different way now.  And this work continues to bless the lives of countless others.  Young and old alike.

In fact, the SRC associates and office staff at HCP celebrated a recent accomplishment and enjoyed an afternoon of bowling, miniature golf and eating all the pizza/pop they wanted.

Quinn, Elsie, Anna and her friend were excited to join the party on Friday after school.

Lillian & Anna 

 Saturday morning while Aaron was conducting stake baptisms, I took the four youngest to the campus gardens for picture-taking after dropping Brinley off to clean at LaVerne's house.

 After having Tanner's senior pictures taken a few weeks ago, I decided to boycott purchasing the classic school picture packages.  Our digital world has changed picture-taking forever but I have always purchased the school pictures as an easy way to keep track of ages and stages of my kids.  Grumbling about the cost, I skipped a year nearly a decade ago and felt badly about it later (that was pre-digital world).  Ha-ha!  No more.  I have a wall in the house where I hang their current school year picture so I need not rely on over-priced school picture packages!

 Brinley had her sophomore pictures taken along with Tanner before school started.

 

Isn't she absolutely gorgeous!?!
I can hardly believe how grown-up my kids are getting.

Anna & Elsie

 I brought along my new phone and snapped a few pictures myself after the photographer left.  Yes, another milestone from this past week.  I joined the iPhone users of the world and no longer feel so technically-challenged.  I realize now that I did not speak the android language very well.  There is hope for me!

Jantzen & Quinn

 So adorable!

 The kids had fun playing around for a bit before we picked Brinley up.  

Of course they enjoyed that G-pa LaVerne gave them each a dreamsicle - his token treat.  Then it was time for Brinley, Jantzen and Anna to clean the HCP office.  With so much traffic at the office, it has become necessary for them to also clean the bathrooms mid-week.  A little tricky with our schedule, but we're making it happen because it allows the kids an opportunity to earn some money.

 The Saturday of Labor Day weekend is awesome because there are no soccer games or other major commitments.  We were all home - working.  Anna has been waiting for her turn to learn how to mow the lawn and Aaron finally had time to train her.  She's pretty excited about this chore.

 And we had time to clean the garage.  Yeah, I felt giddy about starting up this pressure washer (even if it does have issues).  Spraying the filthy blinds gave me a real head start on a project I wasn't excited about taking on.  Too bad we need window coverings in the garage!

Thank you Aaron for being patient enough to work with me on such projects - sometimes I get a bit particular.  Last week marked yet another major milestone in our lives.  We celebrated 5 years of living in this house.  Truthfully, I have never had carpet this old before...:).