The month of June was certainly a busy month for the Copeland family--first let me talk about birthdays and anniversaries:
June 6th - Happy Birthday to our wonderful daughter-in-law, Kim! I was so fortunate to be in Utah to help celebrate her birthday early. We had such fun spending time with some of the family at Top Golf, then the next day enjoying a yummy BBQ prepared by Kyle, topping it off with birthday cake! Kim is such a great person to be with--she is always up for anything, loves her family dearly, and is always so appreciative for others. We appreciate Kim for all she does to make life great for all those in her community, her church, and the entire Copeland family!
June 14 - Watching our granddaughter, Lauren, grow up through the years has been such a joy! She is the same beautiful girl she was when she was a little girl--beautiful inside and out! She's such a hard worker at everything she does, always with that beautiful smile and a laugh that fills everyone around her with joy! Happy Birthday, Lauren! 
June 21 - Fourth wedding anniversary of our oldest grandson, Taylor, and his wife Ellie! They have worked so hard in the last four years and have saved up to buy their first home. Can't wait to see it all decorated since she is an interior designer! So proud of them!
June 21 - Happy Birthday to our son-in-law, John! What a joy he has been in the Copeland family! He works so hard in his profession, but always takes time for his family. They all feel his love and devotion to them, to his fellowmen, and to the Lord in all that he does!
June 22 - This beautiful little baby grew up to be a beautiful woman! She is exactly 20 years and one month to the day younger than I and was born just before I started my junior year in college at BYU. Many people thought she was my baby, but I proudly told them she was my little sister, Natalie! I've never quit being proud of one of the sweetest, most loving people I know.
June 24 - Happy Birthday to our daughter-in-law, Natalie! (Yes, a sister and a DIL both named Natalie--gets a little confusing sometimes!). She can be glamorous or at times a little zany, but she is constantly thinking of ways to serve and make others' lives a little easier or happier! She's a wonderful wife and mother and is always so kind to George and me!
June 27 - Today marks the 25th Wedding Anniversary of our daughter, Alison, and son-in-law, John. Can it be that many years ago when we were all looking forward to the first marriage in our family! I can't imagine the Copeland family without John. He and Alison have made a beautiful home for their four great sons where they have both worked so hard to teach them, as well as show them great love. So proud of these two and their great love and devotion to each other.
June 27 - It's a happy birthday for our sweet granddaughter, Ella! She is such a loving, kind young lady who has more ideas of things to do--she loves to keep busy! She is an excellent piano player, horse rider, and dancer. when she was a baby, we couldn't believe how flexible she was, so when she received the "Most Likely to be a Rockette Award" for her amazing high kicks at her dance awards party, I wasn't a bit surprised! She is a loving "mother" to her two horses, one dog, and two cats who she cares for daily.
THIS AND THAT
We have really enjoyed our life here in Washington. One of the things I love are the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. They are truly amazing!
This is about the extent of my gardening, but I'm pretty proud of them!
We love going to grand kid activities, so it has been nice being closer to at least some of our grand kids since we moved here. It's just too bad that we can't get to all 27 grandchildren activities! We were able to attend Ella's year-end recital for her dance team, which we really enjoyed.
Ella - (far right)
Ella in between the first two rows at the right.
Ella in the lime outfit, third from left on front row.
Ella with her Grandpa George and Grandma Laura and her brother, Ethan. I love when brothers and sisters support their siblings in their activities.
Ella with her dad and mom, Kent and Natalie.
Then after the dance recital, we went over to the gym to watch Ethan play a basketball game! It's kind of a funny joke in the family that Ethan plays for the Grizzlies because in the Copeland family, Kent and Craig were called the grizzly bears when they were little! Such a coincidence!
Watching Three Grandkids while their Parents Were on Vacation
I try to keep an organized calendar, but when I double-booked on the babysitting responsibilities, I didn't want to disappoint either family. However, it was solved quite easily when Kyle and Kim put Brady on a plane and he flew to Washington from Salt Lake City. It worked great, and he was so excited to come and stay with Ethan and Ella.
Practically as soon as Brady was picked up from the airport, we stopped by Uncle Kent's dental office for him to pull one of Brady's teeth. Brady was a great sport, and Kent had it out in no time!
Brady and Ethan were so excited to see each other when we stopped by Ethan's middle school.
Brady and Ethan were so excited to see each other when we stopped by Ethan's middle school.
We stayed around for a special awards presentation. You could definitely tell Ethan--the one with the Curry shirt on!
We were all so proud of Ethan! He received the Presidential Award of Excellence in Academics. He has received straight As for his entire three years at Middle School.
Ethan with two of his basketball teammates who, also, received this award: Dominic and Sergio.
Another evening, we attended a talent show at Ella's elementary school.
It's so fun to listen to the marimba band that Ella is a part of. They are really very good!
Ella, also, played a beautiful piano solo. She is really getting good at the piano!
Since Ella and her friend, Brielle, both have summer birthdays, they were able to celebrate at school on a day of their choice. It was really fun for George and me to attend this special "birthday."
The students loved the refreshments Ella and Brielle brought while watching a movie.
Two such darling girls!
The last day of school, I snapped a pic of both Ethan and Ella.
Also, on the last day, it is a tradition for all the students and any parents who would like, to line up in the halls at the elementary to wish good-bye to all the fifth graders who will be starting middle school next year.
It was a very emotional time, I got tears watching Ella go by. She has loved her elementary school, and it's always difficult thinking of new places and experiences.
One weekend, we went back to Tri-Cities for a big basketball tournament there. It worked out great because we could just stay at our house while we were over there. The games were against teams from all over the state. We saw some great games!
We were so proud of Ethan and his team. They did very well against some of the best teams around.
Father's Day - We tried to make it really special for Grandpa George. We had everyone talk about their grandpa and their dad. Ethan and Ella's dad and mom are on a European Cruise starting in Barcelona, Spain. Brady's dad and mom are in Tahiti at Bora Bora.
We didn't decorate the table nearly as fancy as Natalie would have done, but I thought it was pretty cute. Ella made the cute bow ties out of napkins.
Kent and Natalie have a really fun pool that has a great pool house--which isn't quite finished, but slowly but surely it's getting done.
I had a great time watching the kids jump off the pool house . . .
and watching Ella learn her many dance maneuvers in the water!
One day Ella had a little swimming party with some of her friends.
Ella has taken horse riding lessons since she was probably five years old. Her trainer is now in college, but the trainer's sister now teaches Ella. Both of these beautiful horses are Ella's--Ember and Vader. Ella absolutely loves riding horses!
Today Ella was learning to jump with her horse, Vader.
Grandpa George enjoyed watching all the activities with Curry, the barn cat, curled up beside him.
While Kent and Natalie were gone, we worked with many of their workers who were finishing projects they had been hired to do. This loft kitchen is going to be so beautiful when it is all finished!
A few more projects that were being worked on. Some of the workers didn't speak English. I found myself running to get some of Ethan's friends to translate for me! Hah!
One evening we met in the Prosser City Park where the year-end party for Ella's dance team was being held.
Ella received the "Most likely to be a Rockette" Award. She has always been so limber, it was just a natural that she could kick so high!
Ella in her beautiful bedroom.
A really funny thing happened while we were staying at Kent and Natalie's. With horses and there comes a necessary activity--cleaning up the barn area and stalls. Brady was such a great sport to help out--although he wondered if we had a clip for his nose (he actually wanted a clothespin! Hah!).
Ella assured him he would get used to the smell if he lived around it all the time! Hah!
They actually ended up doing a pretty great job!
After eleven days, it was time to take Brady back to the airport for his flight home. His parents had returned from a great vacation and we had a great time having Brady visit us here in Washington!
FINAL THOUGHTS
My brother-in-law was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a little over a year ago. We all envisioned that it would affect him physically, but we had no idea how it would affect almost every facet of his life! Here he is with my sister, his wife, at Christmas time.
After taking several bad falls, he fell and broke his hip and had to have a hip replacement in June. It was so difficult to see him become so weak. I love how attentive and loving my sister has been with him.
His children, also, have really rallied around him and their mother to give her strength through this difficult time. We are all hoping and praying for the very best for him.
In addition, we all appreciate my siblings who check on my dad and take him places with their families. My dad, who is 94 years old, still lives alone at home. He is amazing.
This month, Blair and Denise took my dad to St. George to a condo there, along with some of their children and grand kids. My dad really enjoyed himself.
He loved the hot tub with his great grandchildren.
On the evening we returned back to Tri-Cities, we saw some gray clouds in the sky. I checked the weather and it only said a 10 percent chance of rain. We were puzzled because it looked pretty bad. By the time we were driving into the garage, it had started raining and then started hailing with the wind blowing terribly. Soon, it was lightening and thundering. It sounded so close! Suddenly it cracked so loud, I was sure it was right outside our backyard. In a few minutes, we looked over our back fence and saw that it had actually hit our neighbor's home on the street right behind us!
Even with it continuing to rain and four or five fire trucks, they still couldn't get that fire out!
Finally, after several hours, the fire was put it. 
We drove past the house the next day--completely destroyed! All because of a lightening strike! So sad for this family!
With Ella's parents back from their trip, she now was able to celebrate her birthday big time with a pool party for her friends.
Grandpa helping out!
Such a fun birthday!
Amy found this little picture and dog tags of our little dog, Lady, who we all loved for 16 years. It made us all smile to see these remembrances of her!
Some dear friends, The Johnsons, stopped and stayed over with us for a night on their way to Seattle. We loved the visit!
Jeff and Amy's family took a trip over to Adam-ondi-Ahman one day. I have wanted to visit this very sacred place for so many years and was excited to see that Amy's family went there. The significance of this site is because it is where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. Through modern revelation, we understand this will be the gathering spot for a meeting of the priesthood leadership, including prophets of all ages and other righteous people, prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
I included this because our son, Kent, was able to attend his class reunion in Gainesville, Florida. This picture had to be included because this was one of Kent's dear friends at high school. They were both on the debate team together and always enjoyed each other's friendship.
How cute is this??? Roxy and Rosco got all dressed up to celebrate the Golden State Warriors National Championship over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Copeland family always has a contest to try to guess the winning team, the amount of games to determine the winner, the MVP, and the total score. This year's winner was John! Congrats to John! Winner of the $100 award!
AND FINALLY! The news that is the most exciting of all--George and I received a mission call from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to be volunteers for 23 months in the Europe East Area, headquarters in Moscow, Russia. We leave in September! We are so excited and can hardly wait!
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