I promise we’re still alive.

Every summer I convince myself I’m going to stay caught up on the blog, and every summer I let that plan carelessly fly out the window. Before I know it, weeks have gone by, we’ve added thousands of miles to the car, my camera roll has exploded, and I’m hopelessly behind.

And I’m okay with it.

Summer is the time our family connects in so many ways, not only with each other but with family and friends. And this summer has been extra special having Hallie back home with us and creating new memories together.

So yes, the blog is a little behind.

But life isn’t.

I know eventually I’ll get around to documenting everything (which I actually really enjoy doing) but for now we’re just living!

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We’ve got kids in all different stages of change and it’s taking a lot to navigate it with them. Similar to Bennett, after a tough year, Cannon has decided to hang up the soccer cleats – for different reasons than Bennett, but ultimately, the same result.

I think family culture plays a large role in what our kids gravitate to. Cannon’s older siblings played soccer, so that’s what was being played in the backyard and he was excited to join his band of brothers. He worked hard and he was so excited to make the top team this year. But Cannon has had a rough 18 months and I’m not sure anyone on his team knew of his silent struggles.

Unfortunately, his medical emergency back in December 2024 has yet to fully resolve itself and we started to see it rear its ugly head on the soccer field. Cannon, who was once the fastest on the field, was struggling to keep up and after a run down the field, was winded. He ran more in his free time, trying to regain his endurance. But it didn’t seem to matter how much he worked at building endurance; he still struggled. We talked with the coach, who also noticed the change and we continued to work with doctors to dial in his medication. But I could see the flame of interest start to die with every passing game. At times, he looked miserable and my heart hurt for him.

As we watched him slowly regress, we continued to seek medical answers. Every doctor told us this would be resolved in a few months. Which turned into 6 months. Which turned into, “We’ll need to biopsy his kidney if his numbers don’t improve by a year.” A year came and went. He’s an anomaly – a medical unicorn. He’s not following the standard path to recovery. We’ve heard it all.

By most accounts, he’s healthy. He’s growing, he’s gaining weight – both very important markers. He has had significant recovery in many areas but his labs continue to lag. And playing soccer on seizure medication and two blood pressure medications just didn’t work out for Cannon. He didn’t feel well while playing and that makes you lose interest real fast. So after some tearful discussions, he opted to step away.

Because very few of his teammates knew what he had been dealing with, there wasn’t a big announcement or emotional goodbye. As everyone talked excitedly about next season’s tryouts, Cannon simply listened. After their last game, his teammates were talking about next week’s practice/activity and as we walked to the car, I could see the tears welling up in Cannon’s eyes. Even when you’re finished, it’s still a little hard to close the book.

Sadly, he couldn’t even participate in the team’s final activity because he was wearing a 24-hour blood pressure monitor and as much as I encouraged him to attend to see everyone one last time, he didn’t budge. He didn’t want to answer everyone’s questions as to why he wasn’t participating and I couldn’t disagree with him. The quiet exit seemed more like Cannon anyway.

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After the high school soccer team, Hunter’s club soccer team dissolved. He is on the younger end of his team and they didn’t have enough returning seniors to field a team (many of them were moving on to track to finish out their high school career). Lucky for Hunter, a path was opened for him to play on the older U19 team in our club to finish out the season. Hunter was participating in tennis at the same time so he wasn’t able to make practice with this new team and I could sense he didn’t feel much commitment to them.

They weren’t his team. They weren’t his teammates. And I could totally see where he was coming from. The players he had played with since he started club soccer 7 years ago were gone. They were all graduating and he was one of three players left on his team. It was actually really sad for him (and us) to watch his very talented team dissolve.

He started to question whether he should continue playing all together. What would it look like if he gave all his time and attention to tennis? We were standing in the kitchen one evening when he vocalized his idea to us.

Steve and I both sat quietly – not wanting to overstep. I wanted him to know we supported him in his decisions, but inside I was screaming, “You’re too good to quit!” And he had already been made captain for the next high school season. Luckily, I didn’t scream. I listened. He talked about the loss of his team and the opportunity this could give him for tennis and he was experiencing some burnout after a physical high school season.

We talked, we counsled. And no decision was made. It didn’t need to be made right then. We didn’t want to force him to play if we was done, but we also wanted him to have a broader framework when working through this decision. Hunter has proven to be a capable individual and his decision making skills far exceed his age but his experience is limited. He agreed to club soccer tryouts a few weeks later to keep the door open as he processed evertying.

I’ll be honest, I left the conversation a little sad. As much as I love watching him play tennis, I really love watching him play soccer. And I started to imagine the conversation he would have to have with the club/high school coach that’s coached him for years, and how disappointed a coach is when an athlete of that caliber just stops playing.

Even though those thoughts had been swirling in his head, he had to show up for several weeks for his new team for the State Cup tournament. It was an existing team and his position was already filled, so we weren’t sure what his playing time would look like.

We attended the first game and I was instantly worried for Hunter. These boys were older (many in college and playing for college teams), bigger and faster. I didn’t want Hunter to have to show up for the first time and let these boys down in their most important tournament of the year. Hunter looked a little nervous as he subbed in for the first time but within a couple of touches, he was at home – he looked like he belonged with these boys. He rose to the competitive level and his teammates celebrated his victories and cheered for him. He proved to be an asset on the field and he only grew more confident as the weeks went on.

The last game of the tournament was a late night game. Both Steve and I attended and we sat on the sidelines recording his every move. What if this was the very last time I saw him play – I felt the need to document all of it! And then my thoughts shifted to, “there’s no way this can be his last game – he’s too good.” I even requested a picture with him just in case it was his last.

This tournament, he proved himself against the top players in the state and I was proud of how he showed up even when it was a little uncomfortable for him.

Somewhere along the way, he decided he didn’t want to walk away. We didn’t really have any further conversations about it, but days after the tournament ended, he showed up to tryouts. And then I made a comment about tennis and he corrected me and said he would be sticking with soccer.

I think that is the right move. His caveat was he would like to finish with the high school season and not return to club soccer after high school which is totally understandable. He’ll be in his final two months of his senior year and will likely have his mission call and his focus will have shifted.

I’m looking forward to his final season.

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Bennett’s choir career was short-lived. He joined in 8th grade with friends and enjoyed it enough he decided to do it in high school as well. It didn’t take long for him to realize that was a mistake. Just a few weeks into school, he wanted out. I thought he was being dramatic and adjusting to the new teacher and environment but he was insistent. Even though he had several friends in the class, it wasn’t where he wanted to be. Unfortunately, it was too late to switch classes without getting a W on his transcript (withdrawal) and we had already rented the tux, so he really didn’t have much choice. I think he enjoyed it a little more as the year went on but not enough to give it another try his sophomore year.

It really is too bad – he has a great voice, loves the stage and he sings at home all the time. He just wanted to sing for fun and not as a competition or to try and make some elusive regional/state choir. I think his teacher was probably great, but not Bennett’s vibe. And the program heavily emphasize sight reading and that wasn’t Bennett’s idea of fun. So he closed the chapter and we enjoyed his final concert/recital with a solo.

Bennett also had his freshman capstone project: A Ted talk on something he was passionate about. If you know him even a little, you know he oozes passion. For so many things. Random things. He came home one day confidently knowing what he was going to talk about – card counting. He gave me a rough idea of his presentation and then he went to town studying. Reading articles. Listening to podcasts. Watching youtube. And then his presentation started to shift in great way. He memorized it and as he practiced at home I kept telling him he needed more Bennett personality to shine through. Just like he oozes passion – he oozes personality with plenty to go around.

Steve and I planned to go listen to his presentation – of course, accompanied by a Swig drink. Even Hunter decided to leave one his classes to come listen to him. The morning of the presentation, he sent me a text, “I actually don’t know if ur supposed to come. I don’t think any parents have. Nvm I saw ur location.”

Steve and I were already at Swig grabbing his drink. I told him I didn’t have to come if he was uncomfortable but I knew the teacher and she would probably think it unusual if I didn’t come! We let him decide and I think his desire for the Swig drink outweighed any embarrassment he may have had with us there.

Spoiler alert – we were not the only parents there!

He did a great job. His topic was interesting and he had his whole presentation memorized. He was very professional but I wish that a little more of his spicy personality would shine through. I love his fire. And I love that Hunter came and listened to him with us – to the very classroom that he was in just two years ago.

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The kids have been out of school for four weeks and it feels like we’ve lived 2 entire summers in that time! I have so many photos of adventures to go through but for now, I’m just playing catch-up on things that happened before school ended.

My brother came to visit and we taught him the balloon game – a game our family made up and everyone we introduce it to loves it as well. It happened to be Bennett’s birthday and my brother and his family were in town and instead of calling and leaving their traditional happy birthday song, we heard it in real-life for the first time and it was better than I imagined!

Steve and I taught seminary for the day and it was fun to see our boys and their friends. I loved standing in the hallway outside our classroom door to see so many familiar faces coming and going to their classrooms.

I lucked out at Brainfood one week when four of Steve’s siblings joined. (Two from out of town, and one local who hasn’t been before!) It was fun to serve together.

The very next week Hallie was home and she got to join for our last day of the school year.

The morning after Hallie got home, she requested a family tennis match. Bennett was confident he could take Hallie since she was rusty…he underestimated her abilities even though she was rusty and after three shots he determined she was better than he thought.

We attended a mario birthday party for our nephew’s child and we brought the fun.

Hallie is trying to catch up on a year and a half of no sunshine.

It feels as though Bennett’s hair grows faster than anyone else in the family – he’s always needing a haircut. I usually push him off for a couple weeks, and by the time I cut it, it’s past the unruly stage.

I still can’t believe she’s home!

There was a one-day overlap with Hallie coming home from her mission and our best friends’ daughter leaving for her mission so we spent an adult day at the lake and Hunter and Grace joined us once their AP testing was done.

Another tennis banquet!

We’ve made a few visits to our friend’s city farm.

Steve and I have almost been married 23 years and we finally upgraded to a king bed as part of our master suite remodel and it looked really large until Hunter was sprawled out on it!

One of Hallie’s companions came down for her homecoming and they made sure to hit the tennis court. They also managed to play pickleball each night and found friends to join them. Add to that a lake trip and a high school state volleyball championship game – she was a good sport on that one.

Saturday hills with the strength and agility coach is not on all my kids’ bucket list but somehow Steve and Hunter convince them to go. And it’s usually not one of those “You’ll be grateful you went” experiences! Hallie joined when she got home and she was worried she wouldn’t be able to keep up but she ran them just like the rest of them.

We made it to the lake for the first time as a family when my parents were still in town for Hallie’s homecoming which was the first time they’ve been on our boat (they avoid Arizona when it’s warm enough to take the boat out!!) I was excited they got to see my kids surf for the first time since it’s an activity we’ve grown to love so much.

My dad didn’t bring work clothes for the shorter trip but we did manage to spend just a few hours working on some trim outside. 🙂

Steve and I got to escape for a Friday evening to the temple for a friend who was taking out their own endowment. A nice quiet reprieve from the fun and chaos that came with the last day of school.

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