Wrapping up Lubbock

I FINALLY talked Linq into a haircut --the perm was growing out again and it was summer anyway so I told him he was getting a buzz, ha!

My sweet friend Stephanie held one last ladies night for me...complete with everyone in PINK and some of my favorite desserts!  I love the time to just be together and chat - these women have truly changed my life, I'm so so grateful for each of them! Gosh, saying goodbye just stinks!!

The movers showed up and in only two days had the entire house packed up...it was like magic!

Linq and I escaped to Texas Roadhouse!

And Linq found his dream RC at the hobby town !

July 6, 2026 - -Lasts & a First

 Loa had one last party with her closest besties 😢

I had a last lunch with my besties, ugh!  I really hate this!!

And LeGrand had a BIG FIRST DAY of work...after 3 years of being 'unemployed' in the traditional sense he went back to work.  It feels weird, and relieving, and sad all in one.

Independence Day!

 The two youngers and I went to the Lubbock parade.  Loa had spent the night at Jordyns house.

After the parade we got to have one final BBQ and party with friends at the McKee's, another thing we are sure gonna miss! 😞

We finished out the day watching all of the awesome fireworks in our neighborhood and neighborhoods around us from our driveway-- it was quite the show!  After an hour and a half of straight fireworks we called it a night but they continued on until around Midnight.

Linq's B-day & LeGrand leaves for TN

 We tried our best to make Linq's birthday a good one but it was bittersweet as LeGrand had to leave for Tennessee that same day.  We sure love this caboose of ours, 11 years old!  He's laid back, until he isn't (ha)!  He loves all things fish and fast cars.  He is tender-hearted and kind. He is always the first one to be thankful and is happy to help out.  So grateful for him in our family.

Saying goodbye to LeGrand was tough, ugh!  I just didn't want to stay behind and deal with all of the house and moving stuff alone and I know he didn't want to head off to Tennessee and head off into his new job and new life alone -it just sucked.  Also, just knowing that life as it had been would never be the same...so many changes. I made him take Maggie with him and the Fish tank cause I didn't need the pets to worry about on our trip we were taking after leaving the house.  It was funny, him loaded down in the box car but he made the best of it, like always!

Linq had fun trying out his new bb gun

Finished out the night with Fireworks with neighborhood friends

Rounding out June!

These kids always beg to do a Lemonade stand at least once a summer...this time is was Blue Raspberry Lemonade and Rice Crispy treats - - they made a killing on tips and nice generous neighbors!  We will miss this neighborhood SOOOO much!

We got invited to see Toy Story 5 with friends.  The girls were at girls camp so it was just LeGrand and I with Linq and the other friends. SUCH a cute movie!

Trying to soak up all of these amazing Texas sunrises, so gonna miss this!

Squeezed in one last visit to the temple before LeGrand has to head out the Tennessee without us...man I'll miss this place!

But I WON'T miss these dust storm/haboob's, ha!

 

Moss visit

When we got back from Tennessee we had a visit from Mercedes and the kids --they were on their way to Vegas and Utah to visit family and stopped in for a couple of nights to hang with us.  We loved having them and were excited that they would be returning a few weeks later.  The youth got to do baptisms and we went golfing and just hung out, it was a fun time!

 

Weekend Visit to Tennessee

 LeGrand and I along with Lytzi and Loa took a quick weekend trip to Tennessee looking for housing.  Linq got lucky and was invited to spend the weekend with the Dalley's instead of come with us.  He really didn't want to go anyway so it was like a dream come true!  He had the BEST time, we just LOVE the Dalley's!

Our trip was packed full of looking at houses and driving around areas, we didn't find anything but we did get to get a feel of the area and go to a couple of wards.  Still can't believe this is our life right now!

No more Braces for Loa!

Loa FINALLY got her braces off...and mostly because I wasn't willing to transfer her to ANOTHER orthodontist.  She has been wearing them waaaay toooo long in my opinion BUT I just couldn't get her to wear her dang bands!  Yay for being braceless!

 

Trip to Utah/Idaho

 We decided on a whim to make a trip to Vernal, knowing that we had a move likely on the horizon and who knows when that will happen again.  So Loa got home from Trek on Saturday and early Sunday morning we headed on the road.  She WAS NOT thrilled with us for planning this and springing it on her.

After a looooong day of driving we arrived at Grammie and Papas house.  We hung out there for 4 days.  The kids got spoiled and everyone had a great time!  Avi is in Vernal working at the 7-11 Cafe for the summer so we stopped by to have breakfast and see her.

We were then headed to spend a night with Brad and Candace in SLC...but, I decided if we were that close I REALLY wanted to see some Grace friends so we took the long way and went to Grace first.  I was able to have lunch with my closest friends at Gonzales (and it just happened to be my Birthday, so it was perfect!) and then we made a few more quick stops to see others that the kids wanted to visit and we were on the road to Brad and Candaces!

I love these ladies and Mya SO DANG MUCH!!

Our stay was short and sweet, just one night.  We had brunch together, then we stopped by to see Jen for a minute and we were back on the road!

We made it to Gallop NM for the night and Saturday stopped for lunch and a little shopping in Albuquerque before making it back to Lubbock Saturday evening --I had a RS lesson to help with on Sunday.

TREK

 Loa had the awesome experience of going to Trek the first week in June--I don't think she was super thrilled about it but so glad she had a good experience. 

 Loa got asked to join the 'advance party' with her friends Jordyn and Annie and got to go up a day early and help prepare and set up everything before everyone arrived the next day.

The next day everyone arrived and they got the party started!

Our stake did Trek in Cloudcroft NM.  They got to do some really hard things and have some awesome experiences and best of all feel the spirit and bond with other youth and adults from the stake.

One of Loa's favorite experiences to tell was of the Women's pull during Trek where they have all the girls an women pull the handcarts up a steep hill.  They has a short devotional before it and as soon as they started pulling it started raining.  They were only able to get 3 of the 6 handcarts up the hill before they were just in a river of mud.  The boys joined and tried to help with the last 3 but it was just slippery and they weren't making progress.  They decided to clear a path beside the actualy trail and then were able to finally, with the help of basically everyone, get the last three handcarts up.  She said everyone was SO excited!  Lots of cheers!!!  And then....it stopped raining, just as they all got to the top!  So many great lessons from the example but also she was so impressed that not one person was complaining or mad, they all just helped out and were so excited to get the last of the carts to the top!

I'm grateful she was able to have this experience, make new friends, and feel the spirit through doing hard things!