Summer camps

June was fully of camps for our kids. During the second week of June, the girls and boys were at simultaneous Stake Girls Camp and Stake Boys Camp. Amber and I realized that this might be the first time ever that we were at home for several days without any of our kids. It was strange.

During the third week of June, Olivia and Damon went to FSY at Lamar University in Beaumont, and during the fourth week, Carmen went to FSY at the same location. They all seemed to have a good, uplifting time at their respective camps. I don't have any pictures, since I wasn't there, so here is a picture of Pepper in a shoebox.

My birthday

This year I turned 45 years old.

My big present was a new running watch. I was sick of my cheap one not connecting to GPS, so I asked for a Coros Pace 3. I also got a hand vacuum, National Parks playing cards, a portrait drawn by Carmen, and a shirt from Pierre, SD, among other things.

It is interesting to be solidly middle-aged, but I'm in the best shape in my life so I'm hoping there will be many more birthdays to come.

New car

After crashing the car, it was time to go car shopping again. I found a place that has lots of low-mileage, recent-year used cars and test drove a bunch of cars. I realized that I'm too spoiled now for a base trim car. I really liked my old Mazda 3, and the new ones were the right combination of luxury and price, but they had just sold their last one, so I kept looking.

Luckily, they got two more in within a week. Amber was in South Dakota by this time, helping Court's family with some home repairs, so I got to do it on my own. There was a midnight blue 2023 Mazda 3, but it was owned by a smoker and they couldn't get rid of the smell, so I bought the black 2024 Mazda 3, which was a little bit more expensive, but newer and with less mileage.

Carmen came with me to pick it up. It's very nice, with a few upgrades like a bigger infotainment screen, lane assist, and moonroof/sunroof that the old car didn't have.

Hopefully this one will last longer than five years!