Tuesday, July 12th
Bryce drove to pick up Eli, and drove back to Mesa for our family "staycation" (when we do fun things each day, but sleep at our own homes at night).
Wednesday, July 13th
We (Paul & Shirleen, Michael & LeAnn, Bryce & Amelia & 5 kids, and Eli) celebrated Michael's birthday by going to dinner at Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert:
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| Melody, Eli, Karsten, Shirleen, Amelia, Bryce, James, LeAnn, Michael, Maylee, Lizzie |
Then, following dinner, Amelia took Eli, James, and Melody home to be with a babysitter. She returned, and joined the rest of us at the Hale Theatre for a live production of The Little Mermaid.
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| Michael & LeAnn Shirleen & Paul Amelia & Bryce Lizzie & Karsten Maylee |
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| Michael & LeAnn |
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| Lizzie, Amelia, Maylee, Bryce, Karsten |
After the production we got this photo of the Gilbert water tower:
Thursday, July 14th
We had lunch at Chic-fil-A.
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| Karsten, Maylee, Eli, Melody, Lizzie, Amelia James |
We then travelled to the Arizona Science Center, in Phoenix.
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| Melody Lizzie Eli Maylee (fun with an air vent) |
There are a lot of things to see and do!
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| Shirleen, Karsten, Melody, Amelia, James, Eli, LeAnn, Lizzie, Maylee (a coin vortex) |
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| LeAnn, Maylee, Melody, Amelia, James |
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| Maylee, Karsten, Eli |
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| James, Amelia, Maylee, Lizzie, Karsten (in an area focused on the forces of nature) |
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| Karsten, James, Eli |
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| Eli |
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| The Amazing Paul D. (aka A'Gong) |
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| Karsten |
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| Eli, Melody, Maylee |
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| Live shrimp in a glass-enclosed ecosystem |
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| Maylee, Karsten |
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| Karsten (Ouch!, or No problem ...?) |
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| Lizzie |
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| Karsten LeAnn, Maylee Shirleen, Melody |
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| Shirleen, LeAnn, Eli |
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| LeAnn and Melody |
That evening we had take-out from the My Thai Bowl.
And we had pie afterward.
Paul & Shirleen went to their morning shift at the Mesa Temple. LeAnn, Amelia, and the kids went to the Gilbert Town Square splash pad.
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| Karsten, Eli, Lizzie, Amelia, Melody, Maylee James |
That afternoon we received a call from Craig; he may need open-heart surgery to replace a valve and bypass his aorta. This was sobering news, since he had heart surgery some years ago, and we hoped further surgery would be in the distant future. More testing will occur, and more professional opinions will be secured before any final decisions are made.
Amy & Bryce & 5 kids & Eli and Michael & LeAnn came for dinner & games at our house. We started a Splendor tournament. The younger kids watched a movie: Night at the Museum.
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| Karsten |
Saturday, July 16th
Sarah's birthday! We missed them at our "staycation" reunion. LeAnn, Shirleen, Eli, and Amelia & Bryce & children enjoyed some time at the Mesa High School aquatic center.
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| Eli |
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| Lizzie |
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| Melody |
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| Shirleen Karsten |
Later, everyone gathered at our house for games. LeAnn and Amy went to the Joyride Taco House, and got a takeout supper which they brought back to our house for an evening feast. Later, we went to Mesa Frozen Yogurt for dessert.
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| Karsten, Eli, Melody, Lizzie LeAnn, Shirleen, Amelia, Bryce, James |
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| Shirleen, Amelia, James, Bryce, LeAnn |
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| Karsten, Eli, Melody, Lizzie |
Sunday, July 17th
Amy's birthday!
We sang a special musical number in the Harmony Ward Sacrament Meeting. Shirleen accompanied on the piano. Amelia, Bryce, LeAnn, Michael, and Paul sang three verses of Hushed Was the Evening Hymn; Lizzie, Karsten, Maylee, Melody, and Eli sang two lines of The Still Small Voice; arranged as follows:
Women (Verse 1)
Children (two lines)
Men (Verse 2)
Children (two lines)
Men and women (Verse 3)
Children (two lines)
We had practiced during the week before and it went well. That evening we had dinner, celebrated Amy's birthday at our home, and ended our "staycation". And the wind picked up... Storm!
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| The view from our front yard |
Monday, July 18th
While out riding his bicycle in the morning, Paul got this interesting post-storm photograph on the street where Michael & LeAnn live.
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| A couple of streets north of us |
We had our Zoom Family Home Evening with LeAnn & Michael leading the discussion.
Tuesday, July 19th
That afternoon we went to Bryce & Amelia's home to visit with Stephen & Ari, who came to pick up Eli.
There's a trampoline in the Griner's backyard that Eli enjoyed.
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| Eli |
Stephen has some history with guitar playing, as demonstrated:
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| Stephen |
The out-of-town threesome:
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| Stephen, Eli, Ari |
And there was a group photo before they left:
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| Amelia, Shirleen, Paul, Stephen, Ari, Eli |
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