Wed.1st--After discussing it at great length during our “walk talks” around the neighborhood in the evenings, Jared and I decided to keep the kids home for the upcoming school year. First of all, the school district, while asking parents for their thoughts on the matter, indicated that if someone at the campus were to test positive for covid, they would shut the school down. If that's the case, the schools won't be open a week and we might as well just start the kids at home so they won't have to worry about making the transition. Another concern we had was more for our temporal and financial well being. If someone gets sick, our whole family would have to lock down for two weeks--minimum. That’s two weeks that Jared would have to take off, using his vacation time to supplement our income. Jared could swing two weeks, but not three months if this virus gets passed around the whole family. And while we were at it, we also came up with a plan for quarantining. We’d use Karcyn’s room because it has a bathroom and we can isolate whoever we need to up there. Even still, it would be pretty miserable to be in the same room for two whole weeks. And then if someone else got sick, we’d have to start again. Fortunately, the kids understood our perspective, even expected it, I think, and accepted the decision.
*Jared was cutting the lawn in the backyard and almost mowed right over a little barn swallow by one of the fence posts. He said it looked like it had a broken wing. We called for Karcyn, our resident animal whisperer, to see if she could get it into a box so we could try to help it.
*Our backdoor has a long, vertical window in it. Which is really nice. And I love living in a place with so much sunshine. But I don't like the glare of the sunshine coming in through the window on our TV, which is any time during the day, except at night, obviously. I have zero creativity and crafty skills, so this was my solution to the problem. Taping 14+ sheets of black cardstock (I just happened to have on hand) with scotch tape inside the window to block out the sun. And actually, it's worked really well for a quick fix.
Fri. 3rd--Governor Abbott called an executive order for masks to be worn inside all businesses beginning Monday, 6th. This was the toilet paper aisle at Sams Club that morning when I went on my usual "pay day" run. 
*Loving JJ's long hair. :)
*Hahahaha!
*Cooper and Karcyn watching the release of "HAMILTON" on Disney+. Jared wasn't really interested in watching it, so even though he was working late that night, I chose not to start it.
Sat. 4th--Happy Independence Day! One of the kids' favorite is orange pull aparts. I haven't made it in a while so I decided the 4th of July would be a good excuse. Jared, Karcyn, and I can't eat it though, so we gave half of it to our neighbors the Uptons. Apparently, my friend Melanie thought it was amazing. :) Bread and sugar. What isn't there to love?
*Karcyn and Calvin using rare sibling teamwork to cut bacon. My knives are so dull that bacon has to be cut with scissors.
*After living in this neighborhood for almost six years, we've learned that we don't need to spend any money on fireworks, because our countryside neighbors and even those within the subdivision will spend all the money for us and put on an incredible fireworks display. We live outside of College Station city limits so just about "anything goes."
We're grateful for generous neighbors who are willing to share and let our kids launch some of their fireworks.
Sun. 5th--The approach Jared and I take to making decisions is that we study it out, ponder/discuss pros and cons and pray about it. Then we we make the choice that we feel makes the most sense for us. And we proceed until we don't feel that way anymore. Less than a week after deciding to keep our kids home for the school year, we didn't feel good about that choice. Jared and I talked it over again and basically decided to have them do on-site/in-person learning at school, a complete 180 from what we had previously determined. We might as well give the kids a chance to be in school as much as possible. We already decided to purchase an upgraded desktop computer (a gaming one to support Cooper's audio/visual needs) and a third laptop so we would be prepared for any shift to online school. And as far as getting covid--we hoped for the best and would take what comes. We don't want to live our lives in fear. Jared has been working in a covid clinic since the middle of March, constantly around covid, wearing essentially only a mask, not full PPE. So if he can go this long without getting covid or even needing to be tested, then we believed that wearing masks in school would work as well.
*The kids were watching some old home videos when we stumbled across this gem--one of our special times that we were at the McCulloughs. That's little JJ and Wes. 
They were buddies from the beginning.
This is seriously the cutest!!!
*Jake having some fun with a couple sisters from his MTC district. He and Sara Frandsen (left) decided to take a road trip from Provo up to Tremonton to see Sariah Rees.
Sariah always makes sure everyone knows that Tremonton is "The Pearl of the West." Haha. :)
*Jake "MacGuyver" Hough showing us his mad upcycle/recycle skills. Someone left an empty golf bag in his apartment, so....he used it to design and build a stand in which to put his movie projector on. He reports that it works spendidly!
Wed. 8th--Karcyn finally getting in for her 14-year-old well child check. She's not growing at the rapid speed that she did after her celiac diagnosis. She's leveling off, so we might have all the growth out of her that we get. Just to be sure, we checked and her thyroid is normal, too.
*Cooper finally got to pick up his yearbook from junior year!
Calvin was asked to fill out this survey and I thought he did a good job of being self aware.
*Calvin tossing the ball around with Dad after work. It's still warm outside at 8:30pm, but at least the sun is no longer in the sky.
*We learned that our friends from the Caldwell branch, with three of the cutest little girls, were having their first little boy and sent them a card of congratulations to them. I love what JJ wrote: "I gess the girls tired you out!" Hahaha!!!
*Pizza Night! Trying Howdy's Texas-style grilled pizza. JJ and Calvin got their own pizzas and drinks. Jared, Karcyn, and I tried their keto grilled pizzas which also qualify as gluten free because the crusts are made out of cauliflower. They were actually pretty tasty all things considered.
*Only three months delayed--we were thrilled to finally get back to the pool!
*Jake had a very unique opportunity where he was invited to join three other former Hungarian missionaries for a special gathering complete with dinner. What he didn't know is that it was held at the home of Elder Stephen Snow, former General Young Men President of the church. The purpose of this gathering was a pilot program the church was trying in the midst of covid. These returned missionaries, joined a large group of other returned missionaries. They recorded videos of what they experienced in their mission country with the people, the culture, the food, what they learned while they were there and concluded with their testimonies. But they did these recordings in their mission language so the videos could be sent to the respective mission presidents to be used as a finding tool to help connect with nonmembers in the area. It might even be made into a training video in the future. Jake had no idea that's what was going to happen, but said it was a really cool experience.
Mon. 13th--Jared had to run to his mom’s house up the street on his way to work that morning and noticed a baby barn swallow had fallen from its nest just above the front door. As he drove to work, he called to tell me about it to see if we could put it back up in the nest. On our way to the store, Calvin and I stopped by to attempt the rescue mission.
After we got the ladder in place, Calvin was worried he might scare the little guy off, so he kept his distance and squatted down before starting to “chirp” at the bird. And the bird chirped back! They had a whole conversation together.
But before the bird could even get his bearings, he immediately fell out of the nest and toppled to the ground! Calvin thought that was a bit strange so he took a picture of the inside of the nest. Looks like there was “no vacancy” and Calvin wondered if the little bird might have been pushed.
*Calvin's baseball team won their playoff game, 8-3, which means they are headed to the championship game on Thursday!
Tues.14th--Yep! There are just a couple months where it is exceptionally toasty outside. Otherwise, the climate here is gorgeous.
*Jake and his twin cousins, Cole and Connor, went to go play at a cool new spot Jake found. Fun with hammocks and a rope swing and water!
Thurs. 16th--Calvin is now one of College Station Little League’s 2020 champs! Calvin got a hit the second inning, but the ball went right into the pitcher’s glove. In the fourth inning, Calvin had a good eye—after four balls, he walked to first base, got to second, stole third, and ran home. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Calvin was playing right field. We were leading 13-1, but the other players were getting some strong hits. One batter ripped the ball into right field. We were all holding our breath to see if our guy was going to catch it. He did!!! And then I realized totally after the fact that it was Calvin and I cheered even louder! Haha! (I may or may not have teared up momentarily with pride!) The other team got an RBI on that hit, but because Calvin caught the ball, he kept the Rockies from scoring one more run for sure. Maybe two. Our pitcher struck out the next batter and then we got them out at first base. At that point, the officials decided to call the game because our team had more than a 10 run lead. We’re so happy for Calvin!! He’s made a lot of strides in the sport this year. After the game, I was so surprised and touched when one of the team dads came up to me and said he got Calvin’s outfield catch on video that he wanted to share with me! And as the winning team, the Braves got championship rings!!
That's our Number 3!
*That ring is heaaavy.
Fri. 17th--Cooling off at the pool some more.
JJ doing a cannonball. :)
Nice height on that one, JJ!
Calvin capturing a poor little lizard at the picnic table area.
Trying to plan menus around keto and gluten free dietary restrictions makes camping very tricky. Takes a little bit of the fun out of it if you ask me. But it is possible. I wasn't about to toss in the towel and start eating carbs again just for a few days of camping food. Not even worth leaving ketosis! I had already lost about eight pounds.
These pictures are to help remind me of the things in each camping bin and how it was organized. :)
Beaver Lake is really big. It took a good thirty minutes of driving off of the main road and winding around to get to our campground.
When we entered the campground, there was no one at the attendant station, which wasn't surprising. We arrived well past 6pm because of our morning incident and our unplanned stop at Bass Pro. As we slowly drove down the road looking for campsites, the lake was on the left and on the right was a very steep hill. Our campsite was supposed to be closest to the water. We could only go one way, right...up the hill...and discovered that our campsite was the first one we came to.
We parked the car and then got out to look around for the tent site. Where on earth, on this rocky slope, were we going to put the two tents? The description for the campground boasted there was room for three tents. Have they even SEEN this location? There isn't a spot for even one two-man tent, let alone three regular sized tents. Seriously ridiculous. Maybe we've been spoiled with the beautifully groomed, extremely level campsites all over Oregon. But c'mon. Look at this site. It's on a hill! The only level area was the paved parking spot. As I looked up the hill, I noticed that all the other campers were, not in tents, but RVs, sitting on the very level paved parking spot.
After dinner the three littles wanted to go fish, so Jared went down with them to the bank, which was comprised of small boulders, but the kids didn't seem to care. It was nice to be able to see them from the campsite even if we couldn't hear them.
It was a warm night. But not hot enough that we wanted to skip s'mores. Karcyn had Rolos and marshmallows. Jared and I had sugar-free pudding.
We loved watching the lightning bugs come out. We must live a little too far south for lightning bugs because we don't see them in our part of Texas.
*I appreciated these observations from Calvin's Sunday School teacher from the branch once she learned about Calvin's baseball victory.
Sat. 18th--This was the day we needed to get ready for our camping trip to Beaver Lake in Arkansas. I keep telling myself to avoid Mondays as the departure day for any trip (because the Sabbath is a day of rest and not used to prepare for such things), but I always forget, until the Saturday before and then I kick myself.
*Every time!!! ;)
*JJ came running in from playing outside and asked where my everyday Book of Mormon was. He and his buddy, Lane, were talking about families and death. The kids also brought up Jesus and JJ felt that this would be a good time to share the Book of Mormon with his friend. JJ said he hoped he liked it. But I think Lane gave it to his grandma because she goes to church. Regardless, I'm super proud of JJ for following a prompting to share the gospel with others without delay.
Mon. 20th--We left the house right on schedule! We hadn't gotten ten minutes down the road when the lid of our car topper when flying up and our camping gear when flying out, scattering along and on the side of Texas Highway 6! It was so scary!! I still cannot believe that none of the flying debris a) hit another vehicle or b) caused an accident. In fact, I don't think there were any vehicles around us at all when it happened, which was miraculous considering it was right around the time of morning traffic. Jared pulled over and Cooper and I were able to retrieve all of our supplies with the help of some kind drivers, who slowed their cars to a stop and blocked traffic to allow us access onto the highway. Four of our six fishing poles were destroyed, one of which Grandpa Hough had given to Cooer. As sad as that loss was, we could not deny the safety and protection that was upon us (and others) and the rest of our camping gear. Jared determined that while the topper had been closed, it must not have been locked. He made sure it was very secure before we drove on again, however, for a good hour or so, he and I were on edge and had a hard time relaxing, as we just waited for the topper to fly open again. As we maneuvered through Dallas traffic a few hours later, Jared and I shuddered at the thought of the topper malfunction there instead of right as we got started. We were convinced it would have been disastrous on many levels.
Once we arrived near Beaver Lake, we went to Bass Pro to replace some of the fishing poles. Unfortunately, they were horrifically picked over. Turns out they weren't picked over, the supply chain has been disrupted and they were out of over 60% of their stock. We finally settled for a couple new poles and then headed for our campsite.
This map was displayed at Bass Pro. We are camping at Beaver Lake, but Table Rock Lake is just up the road, near Branson where we like to take the kids for family trips.
We had the kids jump out so they could explore while Jared and I tried to figure out what we were going to do. Where were we going to sleep in just a mere few hours?? I tried calling the number on our reservation, but no one answered. Of course. What were they going to do about it at this hour anyway?
A small doe wandered through the area and JJ went to go say hi.
Across the small road going up the hill from our parking spot was the water spigot for the nearby camp sites. There was what looked like half of a paved parking spot, but not far from the water pump I noticed was a small patch of level ground and up a step, was another small area. Just big enough for two tents. That was not our designated campsite--or any campsite, but it was the only option we had and I suggested it to Jared. And then I verbally dared any camp ranger to challenge me on the location of our tents because I refused to sleep at a 45 degree angle. So for the moment, we had solved our sleeping problems.
While Jared and the little boys set the tents up, I started to prep dinner. The kids had the standard foil packs--ground beef with potato and carrot slices, butter and onion soup mix. Jared and I can't eat the potatoes or carrots on keto, so I made shrimp, asparagus, lemon and garlic foil packs for us.
Cooper was the fire master and did a fabulous job because those dinners were cooked perfectly and were absolutely delicious!!
Tues. 21st--You can't come all the way to Beaver Lake and not be on the water. The month before our arrival, we rented a 24 foot pontoon boat for our first full day camping and were super excited to spend it on the lake. The only catch is that we were not allowed to fish from the boat. But we decided that was okay. After eating omelets in a bag for breakfast, some of the kids went down to the shore and played in the water while I got our lunches and snacks and other gear packed up and ready to go.
Our four legged friend came back to say hello.
We got to the marina a few minutes early, but I'm grateful because we were able to get a parking spot up front so we only had to haul our stuff down three flights of stairs, instead of the additional haul to the stairs. Did I mention there are lots of hills here? Jared got the low down on the pontoon boat, then we loaded up and were off!
Calvin enjoying the ride.
The party pontoon with a slide. Maybe we'll get that one next time. Haha!
Calvin helping steer.
JJ enjoying the lull of the boat.
Karcyn, too.
Jared in his element. Oh, how he wishes he had a boat. I'm all for a boat (paid for with cash), but he and I differ on just what kind of boat we'd get, however.
JJ was sitting with me on the front lounge seats in between my legs. When he rested his hands on my legs, it was hard not to notice the stark difference between his brown arms and my pale skin.
When you can't find your 9-year-old son anywhere on the boat and don't recall anyone falling in, your heart seizes until you find him lying on the platform on the other side of the rear gate.
It took us 35-45 minutes to get to the Rocky Branch Marina from our launching point at the Starkey Marina.
By Jared's calculations and memory, he determined that his grandparents' retirement home was along that shoreline.
It's changed a lot, but it was still neat to be on this little family history adventure as he recounted stories of his time as a young boy at Beaver Lake.
We had a beach ball that I got from the dollar store and the wind caught a hold of it and blew it far, far away.
So Cooper went to swim after it. Without a lifejacket. Jared, in a lifejacket, went after him. Lakes are deceptively bigger than you think until you get in over your head. Jared told us about a time when his dad actually almost drown. Doc was in the lake helping people with skiing. They took off in the boat and he said he'd swim back to shore, about 50 yards away, but cramped up and almost didn't make it. Fortunately, he did.
And fortunately Cooper did, too.
Time for me to get in!
After a good long swim and lunch, we went exploring some more. The boys loved to wave their towels in the air like flags.
Jared loving the boat life.
It's the "Cliffs of Insanity"!
We slowly slid up to the shore, tied the anchor to a rock, and jumped out to investigate. We fondly dubbed this spot "the drop off" because there was hardly any shore and the bottom of the lake dropped off less than two feet from the shore.
I think the side of the island wall was made out of shale. It easily breaks off in chunks and paper-thin pieces.
Swimming in deep water by the shore.
The drop off. Also unstable to walk on. It was a slid-fest, hard to keep yourself steady. At least it didn't hurt to fall on.
So Cooper and Calvin jumped out of the boat and swam ashore to give it a try.
And JJ wanted to try it, too. They all jumped a few times!
This is our campground that we passed on our way back to the marina.
Our campsite is right through those trees.
A full length picture of the boat.
Whoopsies. I guess I forgot to reapply the sunscreen on my knees.
Such a fun, memorable day on the lake!
The Starkey Marina.
We headed back to camp and unpacked and I got started on dinner--walking tacos...personal bags of nacho Doritos with taco meat, tomatoes, lettuce, green onions.
For me and Jared, we used the Quest Nacho Cheese protein chips and it was spicy and delicious!
The kids went off to do some more shoreline fishing after dinner.
And they caught a few.
Having fun with a walking stick. Or some similar insect.
I had to chuckle that Calvin wore his bathing suit and swim shirt home. He said it was the only dry thing he had.
When we got home later that night, our only goal was just to unload the car. We'd wash, clean, dry out, and pack up the next day after we got a good night's rest. But while we were in the middle of unloading, this cute little pup wandered into our yard. If it were up to Jared, we would have kept him. After a little bit of investigating, we learned that someone in our neighborhood was looking for him and we personally saw to it that Yetti was reunited with his owners.
*Special Agent JJ got a very special gift from Wes McCullough. A super dart gun rifle that Wes didn't need anymore so he bestowed it upon the youngest Houghling.
He was so excited and loved the "special" instructions and letter.
He was ready to take out his siblings. Haha!
Sat. 25th--I was going through some old files on my computer and came across one of my favorite pictures of the Oregon coast. This is the Haceta Head Lighthouse that I captured from the Sea Lion Caves a couple miles down the road back in 2009.
*We finally got to return to in-person church at the Caldwell Branch! Our stake had resumed monthly Sacrament meetings a couple weeks prior, but the branch is meeting every Sunday. At first, Jared worried about going back because of his exposure in the respiratory clinic. But then decided we needed to go and as long as we're following the protocols, everyone should be safe.
*Yep!
*I'm not sure if it was Calvin or JJ who planted the stuffed snapping turtle on Jared's chest and snapped a picture, but here it is.
Mon. 27th--JJ loves pancakes and he makes them any chance he can get. Unfortunately, these aren't the gluten free kind. But fortunately Karcyn is a good sport about that.
*I tossed Cooper the sunscreen the day we were on the lake. He declined it and said he'd do it later. Well, later came, but without sunscreen. Consequently, he torched his left arm (which matched my left knee). And then he started peeling a week later.
Wed. 29th--This is JJ's birthday wish list. I love his little handwriting and spelling.
And I love how JJ returned to his letter from Wes that came with his massive dart gun, getting joy from reading it again and again.
*We love playing games, especially cards, and Quiddler is one of those. On the last hand, you're dealt ten cards. We have a Hall of Fame and have recorded all the big words, that are eight letters or more. We have never had a ten letter word played--until now! It was only nine cards because the CL was a double letter on one card, but it was ten letters total and I was super, duper proud of myself for making Hough/Lee Quiddler history! :)
Thurs. 30th--I had to drive up to Waco, TX to receive training and materials for my part-time job as an enumerator for the United States Census Bureau. I got a kick out of this sign in the bathroom of the very large church we were meeting in.
I wasn't sure what to expect at the census training, but on this day, we spent an hour in one room going through about 15 pages of government paperwork and they were holding our hands the entire way, telling us which box to check, what to write, where to write it, for which I was most grateful, otherwise, it would be have a beast to do on our own. Oh and we were sworn in as federal employees. We took an oath and swore to God that we would not divulge any of the information we collected--for life. Pretty intense.
Our first stop was an "expo-tition" as Tigger calls it. Jared's grandparents (GW and Colene Hough) retired on Beaver Lake and while no one remembers their address, Jared did recall that they could see the Rocky Branch Marina across the lake from their property. So that's where we set out for first.
Jared and Cooper consulting with the GPS to verify our location. With JJ at the wheel. :)
After visiting Rocky Branch, Jared drove around until he found a little cove area and we tossed out the anchor so we could eat lunch and jump in for a swim. The water felt great!
JJ wanted to "help" Cooper in.
I think Jared was trying to find some "cliffs" for cliff jumping. I wasn't super thrilled about that idea, but didn't shut it down completely. Enter this fun little island.
After about an hour, there looked like there might be some weather producing clouds forming near the drop off, so we packed up and started to make our way back to the marina. But Jared kept his eyes open for a place the kids could do some cliff jumping. He found a small spot that might work. Not super high, but doable.
And we made our way back to the Starkey Marina. Took almost an hour.
*It was hot when we went to bed that night and Jared and I took turns sharing the small, portable fans, letting the air blow on the older kids. Cooper was on Jared's other side and Karcyn was on my other side. Calvin and JJ were in the small two man tent on the small rise above us. We finally drifted off to sleep only to be awoken just before midnight when we were slammed by a powerful and unexpected severe thunderstorm. It came out of nowhere.
The rain flys were on our tents, but it didn't matter in a storm that intense. The rain poured down in torrents. Anyone who really knows me, understands my love for severe weather. But not in a dark, wooded area with only a thin piece of nylon separating me and my loved ones from the elements. I had never felt so vulnerable! The storm was right on top of us. I was worried about my babies, Calvin and JJ, in the two-man tent nearby. I didn't want them to be scared, but I wouldn't be able to hear them over the storm if they were. Jared and I debated about taking cover in the suburban, but Cooper and Karcyn were still asleep, so maybe the little boys were also? And we'd get utterly soaked in the process. As the thunder and lightning blasted and exploded every which way, shaking the ground around us, I prayed. And prayed. And prayed some more. I prayed that the storm would let up and stop. I prayed that my family would be physically protected. I prayed that my little boys would continue to sleep, but if not, that they wouldn't be afraid. I prayed that Jared and I would recognize the prompting, if it was truly necessary, to seek shelter in the truck. And then we waited. Jared and I "listened" as best we could, but we never felt prompted to leave our tents. The storm did eventually end...two, loooong hours later. We learned that the little boys slept through most of it. They were surprised by the storm, but blessedly, they were not scared. We were all kept safe and after it passed, managed a few restless hours of sleep until we couldn't put off the inevitable.
Wed. 22nd--Obviously, ev.er.y.thing was drenched. We did have the storm flys on, but Jared left the screen flap open on the two-man tent so that the little boys would have some air circulating throughout the night. Which meant the rain came blowing inside and soaked them to the bones--all their clothes, their sleeping bags, their books that they brought to read. Our own belongings in the bigger tent were soaked, too, from the sheer volume of water soaking through the sides of the tent wall.
As we emerged from the tent, I was surprised by what I didn't see...lots of debris scattered all over. We had fishing poles propped up against a tree and they hadn't moved an inch. The hanging garbage bag, however, had been shredded open, by an animal we're guessing, and left a soggy, gross mess.
We were under quite the cover of trees when it came to blocking out sunlight (but not rain, as it were), so it didn't seem likely our stuff would dry out anytime soon. It didn't take long for us to decide to pack up and head home a day early, especially since there was a radar prediction of daytime storms rolling through the area later that day.
We sent the kids off to fish while we made breakfast, broke down camp, packed lunches, and collected the water-saturated supplies. We were grateful that somehow, we were spared from mud.
We got off to a late start--so it was going to be a long drive home.
We swung through a very busy Chick-fil-A drive through for dinner near Dallas courtesy of a holiday gift card from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Steve.
*Speaking of dogs...
Even after spending just two nights and one full day at Beaver Lake, Cooper pointed out that we were able to do everything we set out to do--camp, have a campfire, fish, and spend a day on the lake. This special 2020 edition of camping has taught me that sometimes we go through certain storms to protect us from even greater ones. Sometimes we're protected from storms we are never even aware of. I am super grateful we had the topper incident while still in College Station and not Dallas. And though experiencing the severe storm in our tents at midnight was disconcerting to say the least, I am also most grateful we weren't caught in that squall out on the lake in a boat. We got wet. And now we dry out...
Thurs. 23rd--What a blessing that there was no rain in the forecast in College Station and we could toss everything out in the backyard to dry out. It didn't take very long. Less than an hour.
The only casualties in the storm were three chapter books. But still a great loss, nonetheless.
*We had a summer reading program and once the kids read five (never before read) chapter books, they would get a special Sonic treat. After reading five more chapter books, they earned a lunch of their choice. We were thrilled that Calvin finally earned lunch status. He chose Olive Garden.
Fri. 24th--Another fun day at the pool.
Calvin trying to flip JJ off his shoulders. He came up a little bit short, however, but it was still fun for JJ to go flying.
*An excellent point!
Sun. 26th--With hurricanes building in the Atlantic and covid-19 everywhere, it waas hard not to wonder if our long awaited vacation to the Florida Keys would come to pass or pass us over. This meme really speaks to me. Haha!
We sat in the far back corner. Which was just fine. Corners are good places for the Houghs. And Cooper and Calvin did a great job at blessing and passing the Sacrament with the new procedures in place. Still very dignified and reverent. While it has been a very special opportunity to receive the Sacrament in our home and to have spiritual discussions as a family and extended family, it felt great to gather with the Saints again.
*We were grateful to finally get Cooper some covid counseling under a program provided by our insurance. We already have three free counseling sessions under our mental health coverage each year. But they doubled it for 2020. Even back to work, and securing another part-time job at Whataburger, Cooper was struggling a bit. His sleep is also really messed up, so we pulled the trigger to see how counseling would help. I was with him during the first session to provide background, family information. It was also helpful that Fran still allowed in-person counseling...at 6 feet apart. Her assessment halfway through the visit was that Cooper has major depressive disorder or clinical depression. Which wasn't a surprise. It's something I've suspected for years, actually. To that point, Fran explained that irritability is a classic sign of depression in boys, which Cooper has down to a T. :) Ages 11-14, right after moving to Texas, were especially difficult with and for Cooper. We chalked it up to a big move, puberty, an adjustment period, awkward age, etc. There were two times, however, that I suggested to Cooper that we try counseling and he rejected them both with mortification. Unfortunately, you can't force anyone into counseling. When Fran told us he has depression, my heart went out to Cooper--that he has struggled with something for so long and thought that this was just the way life was for him. To that point, we are super proud of Cooper, too. He has trudged through a lot and has had, we think, tremendous success with good grades and all the extra curricular sports and activities that he's participated in over the years. We are grateful too, that we learned of his depression now, before he left home for college and his mission, and told him that the goal for his senior year is to focus on getting healthy (balancing the depression and figuring out the sleep issues) and to simply graduate.
Then we moved to another room to be prepped on the government issued phone devices we'd be receiving. We picked up our iphones, then we went to get them set up with our passwords, etc. and then we were cut loose. The real training would be online, on our own, thanks to covid. Oh goodie, I don't like learning on my own, let alone online. We were also told, just prior to getting our phones, that the government had decided that instead of giving us until the end of October to get the enumerator follow up operation done, it now needs to be done by the end of September. So we just lost a whole month's time. They emphasized that there was a LOT of work to be done and an opportunity to earn a LOT of overtime. We get a time differential if we work past 6pm. The overtime opportunities, however, are if you work on Sundays. So that won't be something I'll get to take advantage of, but I'm not too upset about that. I'm going to be making $18 an hour.
Because we had been sworn in, we were now official employees of the government and they pay 58 cents per mile. So my entire drive back home from Waco was paid for in time and mileage, which was nice. I wasn't sure where they'd assign me to go, but there's a lot of area to cover in our county in Texas.
I drove Jared's Outlander to Waco and back. He found this in the front grille when I came home. Murder hornet?!
We looked it up and learned that this is actually a cicada killer--the largest wasp in Texas, about half an inch shorter than the dreaded murder hornet. The coloring is a little off as well. In any case, it was quite the find. We'd never seen one before.
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