Tropical Flowers In My Yard

These bright yellow tropical-looking flowers bloom in my yard at the end of June and into July. I think they're a type of lily (right?).

They're so cheerful and happy! I love all of the flowers that bloom around the yard in the spring and summer!

June 2019 Randoms

Happy inspirational things that I liked from catalogs:

And something funny from a catalog...

"For fans of Bronte ball and hoops (in skirts)" -- "Jane Air" 😂

Things from newspapers that I liked (okay, one newspaper, and you know which one it is!):

Paper planners forever!

Sometimes pro-abortion people accuse anti-abortion people of not caring about the babies once they're born.
I liked that this editorial addressed that particular accusation.

Bernie Sanders and socialism. Sigh.

I want to do this someday. It's meant to be--the lady's name in the quote is Donna!

This was an interview with a roller-coaster designer. He designed the Manta at SeaWorld that we've been on (and that made me nauseous the last time I rode it). This would be the perfect job for Sam someday!

I love this. It's so true.

This was the most adorable article I've ever read in The WSJ.

 A few years ago I decided to do the Personal Progress program all over again on my own because I think it's a great program for women and I ended up not fully completing it in high school, even though I got credit for doing so, and I've always felt bad about that. Last June I officially finished it!

Sam made his own Fortnite board game. I was impressed. It was pretty fun to play, too!

My mom and I went to visit my grandma's grave for the first time. I miss her.

Her gravestone is with those of other members of her family, which is wonderful.

Our yard got mulched and it smelled like my high-school prom. It looked pretty too.

I continue to be jealous of John's long, thick eyelashes (as well as his perfect nose). This kind of beauty is wasted on boys who could care less!

These bumper stickers cracked me up. They were on a car in the temple parking lot. 

Harry Potter owl merch at Barnes & Noble.

I saw this somewhere and liked it. Sometimes I'm a sparky parent and sometimes I'm stodgy.

Lunch outside. I miss my screened-in porch in Iowa but this is nice too.

Boo Boo was getting the dog days of summer started out nicely.

My little darling expanded his Fortnite game, which you can see to the right on the floor.

Owl things I bought on my day trip to the Berkshires with my mom. I'd never seen owl bath bombs before!

I love socks. My feet are often cold (except for in summer, and sometimes then too) so I like getting good socks. At a cute shop in Stockbridge, I got a pretty pair of Jane Austen socks for me and a cute pair of yoga socks for my sister Jennifer (she's a yoga instructor). I got the owl socks above,too. 

The pool tired Sam out that day!

Visiting IOWA!

When we moved to Massachusetts I promised the boys we'd go back to Iowa to visit the following summer, and I made good on my promise. We spent five full days there last June after school got out, plus two days for travel there and back. It was so good to be in Iowa again! It felt like home, because it was home for eight years. That's where the boys grew up, from kindergarten to seventh grade for John and from being an infant to a second grader for Sam. We loved seeing friends again as well as familiar sights and going to some of our favorite places.

Iowa City FINALLY got a trampoline park, which they opened about six months after we moved. Where is the justice in that, I ask you!? I took the boys there several times with their friends while we were visiting. 

(John wasn't supposed to be doing that!)

John and his BFF Craig. They've known each other since around 1st grade. They still talk almost every day on the phone or over Fortnite. They would have had a lot of fun in high school together. 😞

We went to our favorite playground, where I had forgotten to bring insect repellent for the gnats.

We stayed at the same hotel we stayed in before we moved almost exactly a year earlier.

Some of my good church friends threw a barbecue get-together for us which was so nice. I wish I'd taken pictures. I also went out to lunch with some of my other church friends at Monica's, where I ordered one of my favorite meals there. I took a picture of the meal and not my friends, what's wrong with me?

The parents of one of Sam's friends threw a little dinner party playdate for Sam and his friends and their families. I'm telling you, people in Iowa are the NICEST! Sam was so happy to see his old friends again.

When the boys were busy with friends and sleepovers, I enjoyed some time to myself. I went back to my favorite massage place and got an excellent massage (though not from my therapist Jerri because she wasn't in that week), and I went shopping.

I went to Von Maur and was very tempted to get this pretty Coach bag. But the price was high and I've always thought it was silly to pay that much for a purse. So I thought about it for a couple of days. And then I went back and bought it. 😁 I have no regrets. I use it for various months in the spring and summer. I love it!

I had to go to Hobby Lobby, which I had dearly missed. I'm happy to report that since then, two nearby Hobby Lobbies have opened up here in Massachusetts! 

I bought these owl bookends because they were too cute to pass up.

I met my friend Lucienne for lunch at Red Lobster like the good old days. I visit taught Lucienne the majority of the time I lived in Iowa and she became a good friend.

This lunch and that peach lemonade were so good. This post is making me hungry.

Some other cute owl things I got. I love those  socks.

At Coral Ridge Mall, which I had definitely missed! Sam got a Thor hammer at Target that he'd been wanting.

The Sunday that we were there we went to church at the wonderful ward that we'd only been able to be a part of for less than a year (after ward boundaries in the stake changed), and then we went to the nearby cemetery where our dear cat Brody was buried. I miss Brody so much. I'm glad he's buried in a peaceful spot that we can always go back to visit.

He's buried under that tree. It's a pet cemetery with flat memorial stones, so you don't even know that it is one unless you go over there and look down. It's a lovely little spot.

John spent a few days with Craig. He also got together with his friends Abe and Isaac.

We went out to dinner with my friend Sarah and her son, who was friends with John from the ward and from school. I miss John having church friends at school like he had in Iowa.

I went to Scratch and got my favorite cupcake there.

We stopped by their old school playground.

This was the morning that we left to fly back to Boston. That was the rental car I drove all week. I think Sam looks cute in these pictures, and so happy, so I'm including all three of them. The visit to Iowa really was good for the boys and I'm so glad we did it.

Adios until next time, Herky.

Presenting...Herky's butt.

💛🖤💛🖤