Reagan was successful at keeping his mission call a secret from Levi and he was able to surprise him in June when he opened it. What’s even better is that he was also able to surprise me as well! There were many close calls, many times one of us almost slipped and gave it away but finally the day came when we thought he might get his mission call. About mid morning Reagan checked the little loophole you can do to find out if you will be getting your call soon (you’ve been assigned a missionary email account) and told me that he wasn’t going to get it that day. Because of the way it all happened and because I also had checked the loophole and found nothing, I believed him. That evening I was out doing a Relief Society visit with someone I really needed to talk with and the visit lasted a while. I started getting texts from Reagan asking when I was going to be home and then calls, which I ignored, even telling the woman I was with, “He’s 23! What can he possibly need me for so badly?” And I kept talking. Then I got some texts from Libby. And then finally Rock called and said, “You really should come home”. So I finally left thinking the kids must be trying to surprise me with something completely different. I got home and nothing seemed out of the ordinary but Rock came in and said I needed to go in the office. So out I went, humoring them with their crazy plan-still not thinking it was the mission call. Finally I was allowed to go back in the house. At the exact same time Levi, who had been led around town for an extra hour by his friends came in. When I walked into the room, Cade, who was in Rexburg that morning was sitting on the couch! Then it started to click. Levi and I both saw Reagan standing on the fireplace at the same moment and finally knew what was happening!

South Africa!!!! How crazy is that?! He was really hoping to leave before the end of October, but it takes a long time to get a South African Visa. All of that work to keep it a secret was worth it for this moment:

Reagan starts Home MTC on Oct. 28th and heads to the Provo MTC a week later.

Also in June, Libby went to FSY. She had a blast.

Lots and lots and looooots of World cup watching happened in June as well. Based on how much my husband watched it on a side screen during the work day I’m surprised the US economy didn’t take a little dip that month!

In June we had flood number 2. There have been a total of three floods at our house in four months time. The first one, when the water heater sprung a leak, was in April. In June we had the craziest Thunder/Hail storm we’ve ever had here in Boise. It came down so hard and so fast that it brought down tons of leaves and clogged our outdoor basement stairwell drain. The stairwell filled up with water and in came the water under the door. Rock and Allie, who was here visiting, ran out to the stairwell to bail water while I did my best to stop the flow into the house. It only came a couple yards in onto the wood floor, so it could have been much worse. And we found it almost as soon as it started. We managed to get it mopped up ok and ran tons of fans and a dehumidifier we borrowed (again!) from our neighbors for a few weeks and it dried out. After the storm we were literally shoveling hail away from doorways. There was a giant lake in the road out behind our house that went over the curbs on both sides from Bellflower to the school. Levi tried to body board in it. The house was not the only thing damaged. Every plant in my yard was hurt by the hail. :-(. Our biggest maple tree lost several big limbs. My hostas were completely shredded. And the leaves on my newest trees were shot through with hail bullets leaving them looking mangled and brown the rest of the summer. It was so so sad.

Here’s a video that shows what towns near us looked like. It dropped nearly 8 inches of hail in some places. It was not this bad where we were, but it was still bad. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1K5FUSC2Qo/

Crazy times here in Boise, Idaho!