Yep I’m going back to June. Skip this post if you’re yawning at summer and on to carving pumpkins and making soup.
The beginning of June found us with these two girls just finishing their adventure at girls camp together:

It was the sweetest experience to have them there together, Claire’s wings so firmly wrapped around her little sister. All about that back HERE. We were so happy to be all reunited.

The theme of camp was “Love,” and these were Lucy’s notes at church that Sunday:

Accidental matchers:

Sunday bike rides:

So crazy how much Lucy has changes in such a few months. More information about the clinical trial she’s involved in back HERE.

Max turned twenty-two over in China. He likes to keep his birthdays low-key so he was over-the-moon about this celebration the office threw for him:

Ha! So nice of them! Here we are hanging before bed on FaceTime with the birthday boy across the world from us:

Worked with our neighbors to “heart-attack” our other neighbors who were going through a pretty rough time.


We worked hard on the final stages of preparing for our trip to Africa…the girls worked on gathering some extra things for the school we would be helping with in Africa:

And in the middle of it all I was sitting at the computer for hours doing my defensive driving course. Ha! (lots more on Africa prep HERE and why we went back HERE).
And then we were off!

First to Dubai:


(The post about our experience in Dubai is back HERE.)

Then on to Uganda where we floated down the Nile River:

(More about that adventure back HERE)
And then on to help build a school together with some new friends:

All about that project HERE.

And more about Uganda HERE and HERE.
Then we headed to Kenya where we got to see some pretty amazing things:



More on the safari and 34 gazillion pictures back HERE and HERE.
The day we got home (traveled home on our twenty-fourth wedding anniversary…pretty great way to celebrate!) we had some teeth business to take care of. Lucy pulled off and awesome surprise (she surprised the rest of the family with showing up with her braces off…video of that back HERE), and Grace got her wisdom teeth removed:

Then the two days later Grace turned EIGHTEEN.

She was tough still with a tad big swollen cheeks from that surgery, poor girl, but it’ll be a memorable birthday! The post on what we did that day is back HERE.
I liked this:

Claire’s phone broke. I provided a ride to the Apple store to fix it, but she worked out everything else and learned a lot.

I prepped for my “Organization Summit” talk I was recording on “organizing your dreams” showing our “dream books:”

And my “spiritual creation book:”


(More on dream books back HERE)
Dave and Lu took a little date to Wisconsin for Lucy’s doctor visit:


We got to spend some pretty great family time at Newport Beach:

All about that back HERE.
Lots more about the “summer expectations” we had there back HERE…loved those things…not sure my girls agreed! This is one of the scriptures we memorized that I happened to take a screen shot of:

(From a devotional I loved over HERE.)
And there we go, that’s a wrap of June!
So many good things! xo
Agree! So many good things! On a different not I’ll be in your area in Nov. and I’m wondering where’s your favorite place to workout and where’s your favorite place to get a bit to eat? You can email me… Thanks!!
Hey send me an email and I can let you know some of my fav. places.
It’s probably right under my nose, but I can’t find your email address on your site. The icon with link for email doesn’t include your email address. Thanks! š š
Can I just come be part of your family for a week?? You guys are amazing. White water rafting on The Nile!! Unbelievable!
Shawni-i love your blog and thoughts. Thanks for sharing. Randomly enough, I memorized that scripture this summer too! Iād love to know what devotional you were referring to so I can give it a listen, now that I am tied to that scripture in a new way. I hope you will share! š
It’s such a great scripture! Here is the devotional it was from that I fell in love with: https://video.byui.edu/media/Sandra+Rogers+%22Easily+Entreated%22/0_tcuf9nrh/11602882
Your blog is always a light… im sitting here a little emotional about timing… and wanting to get pregnant and student loans… and a million other things. I know i need to pray and read my scriptures to find my peace but i couldnt do it tonight. Reading that last scripture helped put me back where i needed to be! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad. Sending love!
xoxo