The Pollard Place: June 2025

There are times in my life where I feel like I am failing as a mom and that I am not giving them the experiences that I want them to have. That happens quite often actually, but there are times that I am feeling so guilty about that that I am persuaded to do something to change it. Generally speaking, I then feel overwhelmed and regret my choice haha. THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES. I wanted the girls to have a summer tea party with their friends. So we made little invitations, made scones and cupcakes and sandwiches, and then threw a little party! But they each wanted one of their own so I ended up doing two parties one right after another. That was also a choice I regretted. But the girls had a great time and I did not regret that at all.

The only picture I got of Della. I gave her and her friends a lot more space, but that means I didn't get any pictures!

Soccer Camp Take #1! I asked Jamie (Beckham's mom) if they wanted to do a soccer camp with us and she said they really wanted to do the BYU one so I said that would be great! And Beckham was going to go with Owen, so the three kids went. Henry was so excited! The first day I got a call and Henry had gotten smacked in the face by someone at the camp, gotten a bloody nose, and had been tested to see if he had a concussion. They held him out for the rest of the day because they felt like it was best for him, and then helped me get an appointment for Henry the next day after camp. Day two he went and we were just thinking that he would take it easy, but partway through the day he was really feeling bad so I went and picked him up and we got lunch while we waited for our appointment. The doctor looked at him and said that he had gotten a concussion, and didn't want him to participate in the rest of the camp. That was a real bummer, because Henry only got to play for the first part of the first day but we mostly wanted him to be safe. Another stressful thing was that Rusty was out of town during this time and I was so scared that something would happen to Henry while he was sleeping. I ended up having a little panic attack about it, but the third day was our day to carpool so we picked everyone up and went for the last day. Henry didn't get to play any of the games but he still had fun watching the game film and being with his friends.

Coach Broccoli, and Lance

Italian Night! This became our first of many because it was so fun. While we were making some pizza (which is not that uncommon) we put on Italian music and started dancing around and singing to it! It was really fun! I will say it was a little less fun and I don't have many pictures because that was the day that I picked Henry up and he had gotten a concussion and I was so scared and Rusty was gone. BUT the idea was fun and we have done it a lot since then!

Colton's Wedding! Wow my first nephew to get married; I'm so old! We flew out to Ohio for the wedding and I was actually really pleasantly surprised with Ohio. I hate Ohio, but this area of it was actually really cute and I liked it. We landed and then went to a cool little bar to get some food and tried some weird things like succotash.

Cool thing in the airport!

SUFFERIN SUCCOTASH

Della being a walrus. Obviously.

We checked into our hotel to get ready for the festivities! Dad and Rusty took the kids swimming and I tried to take a little nap- I hadn't been feeling very well. But we ended up chatting (Jess and Mom and I) so I didn't get any sleep anyway.

Frozen grapes

Colton and Stacey got married! We hadn't met Stacey before, so it was the first time meeting her for my kids and Rusty and I. I was a little bit nervous about it but when I saw Colton's face when she came down the aisle I just died inside. I wish them all of the happiness and love in the world!

When he saw her!

Dinner and toasts! There were some really lovely toasts and Porter gave a great one too. There was a slideshow of pictures of them when they were little, and my heart just couldn't handle Colton being a grown man!

The dance party was the real highlight for the kids, and it was really fun for us adults too! We all danced and had the best time. Colton and Henry were extra psycho and just went crazy and had the best time ever. The girls were obviously in heaven and loved every second of it. Rusty even danced with us for a while!

Henry taking a rest between songs and dances

It was pouring rain the entire time we were at the venue, and then someone came in and said to go look outside and the entire parking lot was flooded! We were so lucky that we had parked on a different side of the parking lot that was uphill and so it didn't fill with water. But Emilie and Dave and Stacey's mom were not as lucky and their cars got full of water!

The next day we were going to go to a theme park, but Emilie and Dave's car was so flooded that it had to be taken into the shop and get insurance all worked out. And honestly I was okay with skipping because we were all so tired and my kids were pretty beat! So we went and hung out at their AirBnb until it was time for our flight!

I felt so bad for Henry about how soccer camp went that I wanted him to get another chance. This time he did it with Brayden, which was super fun for him but less fun for me because we couldn't carpool haha. BUT I felt bad enough for him that I was willing to do it. So we did Soccer Camp Take #2! He loved doing it, and he was already kind of a pro because he knew how everything would go. He learned a lot and had a great time!

Bluebird Concert!! One of my favorite things that happens in the summer! IT IS SO GLORIOUS AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It was just as awesome this year! We didn't get seats on the benches so we just did the open seating and ended up getting the best spots ever!

Boating with the Cowleys! It was fun to get them out on the boat and get them surfing! I was holding Alora and trying to get her to not hate that Larissa was gone while Larissa was surfing, and I said, "Where's Mommy?" and then she FREAKED out because her mom wasn't on the boat and I felt bad haha. So I showed her that her mom was in the water and that made her FREAK OUT even more. It did look like we were drowning Larissa behind the boat and then we would drive away and leave her when we circled back around so... I get it.

It was finally able to work out so that we could make a trip out to Colorado! We stayed for a few days and it was a blast. The first couple of days were were at the group campground, with only Kirk and Phyllis there, and then we went to the cabin and parked our trailer there for a few days and the rest of the family came up. We did all kinds of things! We went fishing, played at the pond, went to the waterfall, and did some work around the cabin. Rusty and I even took a four wheeler up to North Fork Reservoir! I've only ever been up there one other time I think, maybe two. Phyllis did some things with the kids like boy scout training, but for sure the highlight for the kids was being able to see their cousins! And we got to see all of Rusty's sibling, and granddad and Grandma Joan, and meet Levi's new girlfriend, Cheyenne. She seems really nice! Her small dog did not like Henry at all, and chased him around the fire pit barking at him and nipping at his heels. I started laughing so hard and then in all of karma's full glory the dog came up and started biting at my butt that was sitting in the camp chair! Hahah!

FOUR GENERATIONS!

So cute

One new thing that we did was to go and see the Ponderosa. Granddad started this when he moved to Colorado and then sold it. It was fun to see inside this place that I have heard so much about! This is the lodge.

This little pond is where Aunt Karla used to ice skate growing up!

The fireplace

Grandma C made all of the door numbers

Trying to play games but there were lots of bugs

Fathers Day! Look at this handsome man. We had dinner up on the patio with the new pergola, and Wes Cowley dropped off dinner so I didn't even have to make it! I love summer dinners outside. And I love a chance to celebrate this guy and how dedicated and serious he is about being the best dad he can be. We are all so lucky to have him! He is a wonderful dad.

I finally went and did lake yoga with my workout group and it was a BLAST! I had been so nervous, and to be fair there were a few times where it was a little wobbly and I was nervous, but man it was awesome and so beautiful to be out there doing that on the lake.

Book club

Fishing club

Friends overs

Lake day

Boating! I don't know what order the boating things all came up as, but this was our first time boating where Henry really wanted to try surfing. We tried and tried and just couldn't get him up. He never gave up though, and got dragged around a fair amount but never complained or whined. The next time we went boating we put him on a different board and he got right up! Proud of him for doing hard things!

Larissa said that there was something called a Faith Walk that they did at Girls Camp that was absolutely amazing. She somehow got us tickets to take the older kids and it was such an incredible experience! It was a self guided audio tour, so you listened to headphones and walk through different stations as it narrates it and gives you some really beautiful music. There are different stations set up along the way, and they are each unique and so impactful. One of my favorites was that you all wrote something that you were struggling with on a piece of paper and then they took the paper with them and hung them up and lit them up with lights. It was really sobering it go through and read all of the things that people are struggling with. Life can be so hard! Another time, we got to a picture of the Savior and it felt like He was looking straight at you. Then you wrote down what you think he would say to you if he could see you right now. Thinking about that personally was very spiritual, and reading other responses was as well. Especially when I helped Henry and Della write theirs. What an incredible experience! Both of my kids talked about how amazing it was and how it grew their testimony so much.

We finally got the Pattersons on the boat! Kaden and Porter couldn’t make it, but Emilie, Dave, Colton and Stacey came. We had such a fun time! Colton, Stacey and Dave all tried surfing, Emilie and I went tubing and laughed so hard we almost peed our pants, and Henry worked a little bit more on getting up on the surfboard.

Henry's Highlights:

Asked the kids what were some things they'd want to do for a bucket list:

See the 7 Wonders of the World
Scuba diving
Submarine
Go deep sea fishing: yellow fin tuna
Paragliding
Cook homemade brownies on his own
Climb the highest mountain in Utah
Visit the biggest zoo in the world
Visit the biggest aquarium in the world
Go on a safari
Go dirt biking in Morocco with Rusty

"Respect the big belly"
Wrote me a note on my phone on June 15 while we were at church: "Just so you know, I love Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother more than I love you and dad. Because I love you more than anything on this Earth, but without them I wouldn't have you and that would be very sad because I love you. I'm sorry if that makes you sad, but I wouldn't have you without them."

Adeline's Adventures:

Asked the kids what were some things they'd want to do for a bucket list:

See the 7 Wonders of the World
Eat pizza where it was invented
Own horses with pretty land so she can ride
Go to Bethlehem
Go to see Paris- see Notre Dam. Eat crepes!
Learn how to ride horses
Learn how to ice skate
Paint a picture of Paris- be a painter in Paris

Della has been having some really bad tummy problems. When she eats her stomach hurts so bad that she has started choosing not to eat. It started a couple of months ago, and we have been trying some new things. We took her to a chiropractor to try to get her allergies tested and she has started doing acupuncture; which she hates. But we're hopeful that will help her little tummy!

Amelia's Updates: