TX Trip, Bar J & Keith Urban Concert

Mom's love to find their kids showing kindness towards siblings.
Thanks Tanner - for your notes and treats to Jantzen & Anna.

Several years ago, we flew Tanner and Brinley to TX with Tif & Abigail after their annual summer pilgrimage to UT.  Jantzen and Anna have been patiently waiting "their turn" to spend a week in San Antonio with Tiffany, Shawn and Abigail.  Coordinating such events with various calendars can get tricky but the time finally arrived.  Since Tanner and Brinley had to work, Aaron and I took Quinn and Elsie along for a day trip to CV to drop Jantzen and Anna off.  We squeezed in a little cousin play-time and a few foot zones before saying our good-byes.  Somehow, we didn't actually say good-bye to Anna because she went to the movies with Jenna/friends.   Jantzen, Anna, Tif and Abigail flew out of the SL airport Tuesday morning and have been playing ever since.

Abigail & Elsie

Elsie is already counting down (the years) until she and Quinn can spend a week in TX.

Saying good-byes!

Anna, Abigail, Jantzen at SeaWorld

Although I don't have all the details yet, I do know these three have been kept very busy.  We have tried to FaceTime but our schedules haven't meshed very well.  Good thing I know Jantzen and Anna are in good hands with Tif and Shawn!

Riverwalk Boat Cruise tour of San Antonio

Shawn & Jantzen

 Saturday's outing included time at the ultimate indoor playground.

Tif sent me these pics via text.  We are looking forward to hearing more about their many adventures when we pick up Jantzen and Anna from the IF airport on Tuesday.

Maybe Shawn has been giving Anna private instruction in the 'gun-shooting department'.

After our frustrating attempt at swimming lessons earlier this summer, we were blessed with an opportunity to try it again.  A new environment, a new teacher and many mighty prayers brought about a few miracles.  I will forever call Rolayne W. the "Swim Whisperer".   What she accomplished with Quinn and Elsie in six lessons is nothing short of incredible.  Yes, there were tears and moments of great uncertainty (how to get a certain someone in the building let alone the pool) but by the end, these two were actually swimming with their faces in the water!  

Rolayne let Quinn wear nose goggles and they focused on other skills.  Elsie gained more confidence in the pool and worked on how to properly breathe and swim at the same time.  My "Swim Whisperer" may only be here temporarily (from AZ) but I hope to have the chance for these two to learn from her again in the future.  Nonetheless, I'm grateful for the breakthroughs this past week.

A few years ago Aaron was invited to speak at a conference (via Bahamas cruise I joined him for) and this organization has been trying to get him back ever since.  Lane K., the CEO of a private duty home care franchise company was smart enough to schedule their annual franchisee's educational retreat in Victor, ID this year so he could include Aaron in the line-up again.   After speaking in the morning, Aaron, Quinn, Elsie and I joined the group in Jackson Hole, WY for the Bar J Wranglers dinner show.  Tanner and Brinley had work and other commitments so they weren't able to join us.

 It was a first for Quinn and Elsie and they really enjoyed the mountain ranch atmosphere, tasty food and funny cowboys.  Quinn pretty much licked his tin plate clean!  Aaron and I caught up a bit with Lane and Tammy (and their 5 children) and it was fun to have the Twitchell's along also (because of their involvement with Lane's horses/rodeo stuff).

With an average of 75-85,000 guests each season (Memorial Day through end of September), the Bar J Chuckwagon is a well-operated machine.  Our quick exit from the parking lot capped off our beautiful evening in a very lovely way.  The first thing I usually do when attending a large event is decide upon an exit strategy.  I don't like to 'waste time' when it comes to crowds, traffic at events, etc.

Speaking of large crowds and traffic at events, Aaron and I were invited (along with Ryan & Valerie Robinson) to attend a Keith Urban concert Friday evening by Matt and Jane Smith.  After dinner together, we dropped the others off to stand in a crazy long line while Aaron and I scouted out parking options.  Woefully inadequate (parking) is an understatement! 

 Urban performed at a beautiful new outdoor venue in Pocatello and we had amazing seats up front.  Row 21 - center stage.

Jane, Matt, Valerie, Ryan, Heather, Aaron

Aaron and I actually brought pillows to sit on which we used during the opening performers.  We stood the entire time Urban was on stage.  I was so happy to NOT be one of the thousands sitting on the grass hill behind the seating!  So. Many. People.

Yep, I actually wore these nifty ear plugs throughout the concert.  The music was amazing - but I'm also interested in protecting my hearing.  Wow - I must be in the 40+ club!

Keith Urban knows how to put on a good show.  He is a real performer.  Our exit strategy was almost as impressive as the show.  We didn't stay for his entire encore performance so we could beeline out of the facility.  Not sure the Robinson's were prepared for the pace I insisted on but since only Aaron and I knew where the Yukon was parked, they had to keep up.  Ha-ha!  We seriously escaped a potential traffic nightmare and jumped onto the freeway in record time.  Truthfully, I was giddy about how quickly we exited, especially since Aaron needed to start filling the baptismal font at the church at 5:00am.  We attended the triplets' baptisms Saturday morning - Quinn is a great friend to them.

There has been a lot of this going on.  Tanner has been packing up his stuff and preparing to head out in a few short weeks.  It's a bittersweet time of life for all of us.  We have enjoyed having a few weeks together (once school ended) and his final work day at HCP will be tomorrow.  Tanner has been attending an institute class each Wednesday evening this summer and he commented on the dwindling class size as his friends are all mission-bound.  He and Aaron were able to attend the temple again on Friday morning and he helped Ockler's move yesterday.  Along with cleaning 3x's a week all summer and helping G-pa LaVerne most Saturday mornings, Brinley started watching Greta and Faye every day from 3-5pm a few weeks ago.  It's good money and she is learning a lot through the process.  She also cut 7 inches off her hair yesterday - and it's still very long.

Tanner watching the Olympics

Aaron, Quinn & Elsie

Aaron was able to figure out how to access local channels (again) so the kids enjoyed watching some of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics last night.  It's so inspiring to witness the hard work and dedication of these talented athletes as they compete at such an intense level.  We love the Olympics! Looking forward to the coming week...