Lincoln’s Birthday

Birthday breakfast before work 

My 17-year-old

 Lincoln’s birthday was a bit of a dud since he had to do a ton of schoolwork and then go to work.  We tried to make the best of it anyway.  

I was able to make some crepes for him before he went off to work.  Then we celebrated his birthday dinner the next night after he got home from work.  He’s been having a hectic month, taking 12 credits towards his associate degree and working between class assignments.  

Some things we love about 17-year-old Lincoln: 

• He has a great sense of humor- he always makes me and his siblings laugh and is good at joking around to lighten the mood if things get too serious. 
• He is a true teenager with testing limits etc., but he also listens and is a good boy.  If his dad or I really want him to do something, he'll do it.  
• He is a natural public speaker.  He has been taking a Communications 101 class this Summer and has had to give a handful of speeches.  He never seems nervous giving a speech and can memorize them pretty quickly. 
• He has developed quite an interest in golf, though he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much during these hot summer months.  
• He still adores his youngest brother and continues to call him "so cute".  I love his tender heart. 

June 2024

Nyle with his buddies Jayson and Desmond at Cowabunga Bay

Enjoying some Flip N' Out Extreme time while Ned is away at Deacon's Camp

Gwen was so lucky to room with these 3 friends at FSY

West and I created a solar oven to make some s’mores.

Tried to beat the heat and head to the park in the morning to fly drones and airplanes, then kicked the soccer ball around.

Lincoln and I made a quick trip up to Salt Lake to attend Wyatt’s farewell.

Ned and West wanted to test out their hammocks in preparation for our Utah backpacking trip.

 

Tennessee/Florida

We got pretty lucky with our seating.

 As soon as school dismissed, we whisked the kids off to visit Tennessee and our property.  We wanted to give them a taste for Tennessee.  We wanted to make the whole trip as positive as possible so we sweetened the trip with a visit to the beautiful white sands and blue-green water beaches of Destin, Florida. 

Chattanooga splash park

Gwen has a thing for posing on sculptures

We flew into Chattanooga and stopped to visit the park on the first day.  My mom and dad joined us since my Mom had been born in Oak Ridge and my dad had always been curious about what his father-in-law had done for work in Tennessee as it had always been top secret.  

Lincoln can not get enough of West!

On our drive to our property--so breathtakingly gorgeous!

So lucky to have Mom and Dad come with us!

You may be able to tell, but Lincoln was just stung or bit by some sort of insect and I was worried about him passing out at this moment.  His words right before this occurred? "Mom, Tennesse is beautiful, but there are too many bugs."  I think the bugs were offended and let him know it. 

Found a few of these on our property

We hiked all over the property.  We even navigated the lowest area of the property, crisscrossing streams, watching for snakes, and waving down spiderwebs as we bush-whacked our way through the foliage. I was able to manage not stepping in water, until the very end. 

posing around our buried time capsule at the top of the property.

We formed a train to help my Mom get up the hill to the top of our property.

Relaxing in the shade at Roane County Park

After visiting our property, we made our way to nearby Roane County Park.  We played Frisbee Golf and relaxed in the shade.

We played a bit of frisbee golf on this trip.

We stopped in Oak Ridge to attend the American Museum of Science and Energy to learn about perhaps some of the work that my grandfather participated in while they lived there.  Then we went to see Grandma's first home. I somehow don't have a picture of that!! 

More frisbee golf

Sunburn earned the first day at the beach!

After visiting the ward that our property is zoned for, we drove all the way through Alabama to the panhandle of Florida.  The drive was absolutely gorgeous with more greenery.  When we arrived, we went to the beach as soon as we unloaded our stuff.  I stepped in the water and let out an audible gasp because, for the first time that I can remember, the ocean temperature was warmer than the air.  

A friend of Zach’s niece when she served her mission here in the Rockwood ward—which would happen to be our ward if we lived on our property.

Morning jog along 30-A

The boys found these super cute frogs swimming in the condo pool.  They had some frog races with them.  They were so fun to watch swim…so cute!

We came home with a sunburn, not a few mosquito bites and a memory full of gorgeous terrain and good times.  

Can’t wait to go back!