Table for Eight

 Jr. and Dad at the Salt Lake Real (soccer) game last Saturday. I'm not sure how this is possible, but as of TOMORROW Jr. is officially 16 years old.   Yup. SIXTEEN!   You know what that means, right? He's going to be the 4th Meehan kiddo to drive!   (Psst: Dave and I are dyin' here. Two-thirds of our kids drive. It's nuts--just ask our insurance agent.)   We are super excited to celebrate Jr.'s bday, so we kicked off the Sweet 16 festivities with a Bowling/Laser-Tag/Frisbee/Glow-In-The-Dark Soccer/Pizza Party last Friday. It was SO fun. Jr. has a great group of friends. And aside from taking a Frisbee to the lip, I think Jr. would say it was a pretty PERFET NIGHT.   Happy Birthday Jr. We love you!       Jr. and two friends (brothers) he's known since he was 10. The whole gang. Meanwhile ... on a lane nearby, Zu and Lu and their friend bowled. Papaya and Bam tended our favorite neighbor and bambino

One thing I love about our church is that there are weekly activities for the young men and young women (teens).  The leaders who work with these groups are AMAZING. Truly amazing. They not only plan and attend activities, camps, and Sunday School lessons, but they are awesome examples and mentors for our kids.  I'm so thankful for these leaders and the activities they host. Today they took the YW (young women's group) bowling and it was SO fun!   PS: Jr went along for moral support. (Uh-huh--that's why he went. It had nothing to do with the 20+ teenage girls that were there.)

It's been so fun to have Jonah home from his mission. After two years away, I'd forgotten how funny he can be. He's kind of like our own Jim Carrey--full of impersonations, wild facial expressions, and pranks. Our home has been completely different since he returned. As our family gets older (especially Dave and I), and kids' social lives extend way beyond our family circle, nights like this seem pretty special.  PS: we need a selfie pole; Dave was our photographer and not in the pic. 😦 PPS: Jonah brought a friend for FHE last night and we loved meeting her.

Today was a super exciting day: Bam got her Driver's License! We now have 3 "kids" who drive (and 1 more who will drive in a month).  TRANSLATION = We need an Insurance Fairy over here because 3/4 of the Meehan Gang will be driving come September. 

Yesterday our dear friends John and Neola moved back to their home state of Nevada.  During the past 9 years, Neola  has been a friend, sister, and mentor to me. (We even began calling her "NeYoda" because she taught us so each much.) I ❤️ NeYoda: --She was my workout partner (and worked out longer and harder than me).  --She gave me notes and quotes from books she'd read (and then typed them up and put them in a binder).  --She tended Zu and Lu while Dave and I were in Samoa (for Survivor). --Anytime a kiddo would go to visit her, she had soda pop and candy stocked in the fridge.  --In winter she gave Jr and Jonah jobs shoveling snow. --She celebrated bdays with cards and cake.  --And as she battled and beat leukemia two years ago, she taught us "we CAN do hard things."  I'm so thankful for this season of life living near NeYoda and John. They are special people. 

Jonah and me--a month after his mission homecoming.     Soooooo much has been going on in our family these past few months!   We have had the highest of highs: our son returning from his service mission, birthdays, summer fun ...   and we have had the lowest of lows: Bam in the hospital twice, two kids with severe mono, sports injuries (Dave and I are getting old--hahaha), allergic reactions to wonky shots, and your typical family-of-eight chaos.   But we're good now. Today.   And so, I thought it would be best to post all of the photos from the last blip of time in one post (if only so our kids have a journal of this time).   PS: I tried to emphasize the highs vs. the lows. It's always weird to photograph the hard stuff. Who wants a 2-D color reminder of that?   Selfie: Zu and her friend. Zu (she edited it--I love this). Selfie: CityKitty and me (PS: She "gets" one mouse a day. Literally. We are at something like 95 m