Danny's (Second) Third Birthday Party

On Sunday, we congregated for monthly family dinner for August at Mom's house. As it is still technically summer, even though more than one of the kids was bummed about having started the new school year earlier in the week, we barbecued hot dogs and chicken and also enjoyed watermelon among the many goodies.

We also celebrated Danny's third birthday (again) for the benefit of those who could not go to the party Saturday at West Bountiful Park. Afterward, the kids played "Pass the Parcel."

Here's the birthday boy, alongside his daddy, enjoying his birthday cake:

Danny's Third Birthday Party

On Saturday, we congregated as a family at West Bountiful Park to celebrate my nephew Danny's third birthday. There were Frozen-themed games for the kids (Frozen is currently Danny's favorite movie), such as "Pin the Nose on Olaf," and cake and goodies for everyone.

Ten-month-old Ike was among the many who showed up to join in on the fun.

Here's Danny blowing out the candles on his cake:

It was a lovely summer evening, and of course good times were had by all.

Wednesdays with Grandpa

For the last several months, we've been going to dinner most Wednesday nights with Jana's 90-year-old Grandpa Arbuckle. (Prior to my being invited to join in on the fun, which occurred a few months before we got married, Jana had already been doing this with Grandpa for quite some time.)

Today, we ended up at Rumbi Grill for dinner. The food was wonderful.

These meals are always a great time. Grandpa always has a number of stories to tell us about his incredible life. And I love having the opportunity to call someone "Grandpa" in my adult years; my own grandparents have been gone for many years now.

Weekend at Bear Lake 2018

For the second consecutive year, we went on a family vacation up to Bear Lake. Except this time, everyone (all 27 of us) from the whole Plowman clan went, and JB and I were among them for a four-day weekend of good times and good fun.

Day 1: On our way up to the lake, we stopped at Gossner's in Logan for some cheese curd and ice cream, because that is how we roll.

Following, we also stopped by the Smithfield City Cemetery, where Mom and the kids spent some quality time with Grandpa.

After that, we made our way up through Logan Canyon to the lake, where we spent our vacation at a very large house in Laketown, right on the lake, that Mom rented out to fit all of us.

Christian flexed his muscles on the beach:

. . . while Mike and Ike also enjoyed some time in the sand.

After everyone got settled in and we had some dinner, Kate and I joined a few others for a viewing of Disney's Frozen.

Day 2: Most of the gang went out on the water on a boat we rented for the day, while JB and I enjoyed the fresh air and got in a lot of reading. Like you do while on vacation.

In the afternoon, JB and I ventured out on our own to Zipz in Garden City to enjoy what else but a Dole whip and a raspberry shake, respectively.

That evening, we enjoyed a family "RiffTrax" while watching an '80s classic, The Neverending Story. To their great credit, the kids (Dallin and Jackson especially) are much better at riffing than I had initially supposed.

Day 3: Some of the boys buried Jackson in the sand, because TBH you just can't resist the urge to do that while you're around him.

Our final night at the lake included a talent show, during which those more musically inclined than myself performed a few numbers. Ben and Steve performed a couple of Bluegrass Thunder numbers, while Kylee and McKenna sang a duet together, with Kenna accompanying them on the ukelele (quite an impressive skill set I didn't know she had until then!).

Ben and Steve goaded me up into joining them for a karaoke rendition of that "Weird Al" Yankovic classic "One More Minute," with Steve playing the guitar for us:

Toward the end of the evening, we posed for this family photo, with all 27 members of the Plowman clan (including four Woods) present:

On Day 4, we were on our way home to Bountiful, wrapping up an enjoyable four-day family trip.

We look forward to hopefully doing the same thing in 2019.

Our Dinner with the Aronis

Over the weekend, JB went with me down to the very smoke-filled city of Spanish Fork (due to all of the wildfires currently raging in the state) to visit some old friends of mine from Peru.

More than 22 years ago (jeepers, that's a long time), I served for 4½ months of my mission in the Barrio de Dios Branch, which later became the Villa Unión Ward, in the city of Cusco. During my time there, I became acquainted with the Aroni family: Hno. Armando and Hna. Epifania and their kids, including five-year-old Armandito.

Well, Armandito is all grown up now; he and his wife, Mariela, have a couple of kids of their own, and they recently moved to Utah on student visas. Armandito's mother is in town for a couple of weeks, and they were good enough to invite us down for dinner and to be reacquainted after many years. We also got to meet Hna. Epifania's two daughters, who had not been born yet when I was last in the area.

One of my favorite pieces of news: Armando (senior), after literally decades investigating the Church (including during the time I served in Barrio de Dios), was finally baptized just two years ago.

We were served a delicious dinner of lomo saltado, along with chicha morada (never a favorite, but nostalgia is what it is) and Inca Kola. Better than the food, though, it was good to see my old friends and to introduce JB to them. Time has been good to these good people.

Dallin's Mission Call

Last Sunday, our 18-year-old nephew Dallin opened his LDS mission call as family members, friends, and neighbors anxiously awaited the verdict.

On October 24, he will be entering the Provo MTC to prepare for two years of service in the New Hampshire Manchester (English-speaking) Mission. Few were as thrilled about it as was JB, because that is the very mission she served in just a handful of years ago.

We're very proud of our nephew. Golly, they grow up so fast. (Where has the time gone?!)