June 2025 - Summertime!

Well, summer if officially here and I’m trying to take a page out of my brother Ethan’s book and documenting some of our adventures and moments of our lives. We decided to kick off summer, by putting together a summer bucket list to make the most of the kids sabbatical from school.

The kids were playing in Papa and Grammy’s backyard and found a lost chicken. Gary swore it was a little turkey, but it ended up being the neighbors lost rooster. That boys were sad to let him go, but glad he found a good home.

Donovan and Thomas boogie boarding.

Seal Beach Pier

Good times at the OC Zoo.

Lucy and Roxy showing some love. After having 3 sons and finally getting my girl, I’m amazed at the difference between sons and daughters. Roxy is so affectionate, loves to do whatever her mom does, but also quite adventurous.

Summer wouldn’t be complete without a good ol’ Cherry Hill session. Lauren grew up going here and it’s fun to see her keep the tradition alive and bring the kiddos.

Lauren being pregnant and all sometimes comes with some cravings, and this particular craving was for some pepperoni pizza from Nicos. If anyone ever comes to Utah, check out Nico’s Pizza in Provo and make sure to get the pizza extra crispy. I’ve never been to New York, so I can’t compare it to NY pizza, but in my opinion, Nico’s is the best in UT.

We were able to wrap up a fun season coaching Donovan’s machine pitch baseball team with a bunch of the neighborhood boys and cousin Thomas. I hate participation trophies but since they never lost a game, I thought they deserved the medal. Go Blue Komodo Dragons!

Summer isn’t summer in Lehi without a windy as crap weanie roast over the fire. Kai and Zoey had a sleepover. We are lucky to have such good friends close by.

Another bucket list item this summer was to go to a rodeo and six different splash pads. To cross off one of the splash pads, we hit up Harvey Park in Cedar Hills and they had a Hokulia Shave Ice shack that we couldn’t resist. The only downside is that the park further solidified our opinion of how idiotic of a planner we had with Holbrook Park in our neighborhood. Harvey Park park has a splash pad, pickle ball, tennis, basketball, baseball and Hokulia. Holbrook Farms has pickle ball, weeds, crappy corn hole, and concrete ping pong tables in the windiest city in Utah. It never ceases to amaze me how incompetent government employees can be.

We didn’t get great photos at the Strawberry Days rodeo, but we went with the Dennison’s and had a great time. We tried to get the boys to do the muttin bustin, but didn’t register in time, but at least we got to watch Sonny take his turn riding the sheep. We ordered a few too many strawberries and cream, Lou dropped his water bottle through the bleachers into the cow corral and was completely distraught until we retrieved it. Quick sidebar, the bleachers at Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove are absolutely atrocious. Make sure to bring a blanket to sit on to avoid splinters in the booty, and buy the row in front of you can afford it so you don’t have your knees in your throat. Or check out Fiesta Days Rodeo in Spanish Fork

Overall, June was a great month, and I’ll wrap up this post with a story I heard while having a visit with my older young mens leader, Bruce Ball. He told me a story of a lesson he learned while visiting his dying grandmother. Bruce told her that he was very lucky for having such an amazing wife and kids, to which she grabbed him by the arm and said, “you’re not lucky, your blessed.” I’ve been thinking about that lately, about the difference between luck and blessings, and I love how “blessed” acknowledges God’s hand in our lives. So needless to say, I feel very lucky to have such an amazing wife and kids. God is good.