Tim, Sasha & Family: Thursday, July 23, 2026

How is summer already half over? It feels like we've packed an entire year's worth of adventures into just a few short months!

Jacinda—or should I say Sister Fisher—is doing wonderfully on her service mission. She spends her time serving at the temple, the food pantry, and with Church Productions, especially Concerts in the Park on Friday nights. I had the chance to go watch her in action, and it was such a proud mom moment. There is something special about seeing your child serving others with such joy.

Xadia spent two incredible weeks in Taiwan on a foreign exchange trip. She visited several schools and was able to reconnect with students we've hosted over the years. Somehow, wrestling and hacky sack became universal languages, and she had a blast playing with the students.

She barely had time to recover from jet lag before it was off to Girls Camp! I was lucky enough to go with her, and it ended up being just as much fun for me as it was for the girls. We made beaded hair wraps, experimented with henna, painted rocks, climbed a rock wall, and tried archery.

Archery was easily my favorite activity...despite earning a magnificent bruise on the inside of my elbow from the bowstring. My solution? I simply started shooting "gangster style" by turning the bow sideways instead of holding it upright. I'm fairly certain that's not what the instructors were teaching, but it worked surprisingly well!

Father's Day was one of my favorite days of the summer. Rather than just giving Tim gifts, we created something he'll treasure forever. We interviewed each of the kids and recorded them talking about their dad, sharing memories and telling him why they love him. It turned into a priceless keepsake.

June also seemed to be wedding season. We celebrated our anniversary, Chris and Tricia's anniversary, and then Liza and Caleb's beautiful wedding. Their wedding dinner was held in the courtyard of a charming church in Salt Lake City that was built in the early 1900s. The wedding itself was at the Orem Temple. There happened to be a wildfire somewhere in the state, so tiny bits of ash occasionally drifted through the air like confetti. It was oddly beautiful.

If you're wondering why Teagan isn't in any of the wedding pictures, it's because he was off making memories of his own at All Stars Camp.

We also had family pictures taken this summer. We posed in front of the red brick wall outside our church building, but afterward I couldn't resist a little Photoshop magic and gave us an elegant ballroom backdrop. Personally, I think they turned out great.

Xadia completely disagrees.

She insists the photoshopped version "doesn't even look like her."

I remind her that it is, in fact, literally her face.

She remains unconvinced.

Tim also got a new office/camper van this summer. After giving it a successful test run at All Stars Camp, he decided it was ready for a real adventure. So he loaded up me, Jacinda, and Fozzie, and we headed to Willard Bay for an overnight camping trip.

Everything was going perfectly...

...until Fozzie broke the screen door.

Tim wasn't exactly thrilled. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop laughing because having a dog sometimes feels exactly like having another toddler. Thankfully, we managed to fix the screen door the next morning.

That night, as we were trying to fall asleep, Fozzie repeatedly whined because he wanted to sleep on the bed. After enough persistence, Tim finally surrendered. Fozzie immediately settled himself between Jacinda and me like he had won the lottery. Mission accomplished.

For the Fourth of July, we went to see Young Washington. Kade McPheters joined us, and Teagan fully committed to the experience by wearing his colonial-style costume. The movie was outstanding. It left me feeling incredibly grateful for the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for our country's freedom and reminded me how much strength people can find within themselves.

Because June was so incredibly busy, Tim and I postponed celebrating our anniversary until July. We finally escaped to London and Scotland for our 27th anniversary, and it was everything we had hoped it would be.

The locals kept apologizing for the "terrible" heat wave of 85 degrees. We just smiled politely while thinking about the 109-degree temperatures we'd left behind in Salt Lake City.

I absolutely fell in love with the architecture. Standing inside buildings that are more than three times older than the United States gives you a whole new appreciation for history. Everywhere we turned seemed to have another fascinating story to tell.

We visited Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey, and so many other incredible places. One experience I especially loved was attending church in another country. One congregation mentioned that nearly 80% of those attending were visitors, which made for a wonderfully unique Sunday.

Scotland was breathtaking. Everything was lush, green, dramatic, and wonderfully gothic. Walking through castles and historic sites brought my tenth-grade European history class flooding back into my mind. Seeing the places where so many religious conflicts occurred made history feel much more personal. People literally gave their lives rather than abandon their beliefs or convert to another religion. It helped me better understand why so many early settlers sought religious freedom in America. I definitely would not have wanted to live during those centuries.

My favorite stop was Holyrood Palace, where the King stays whenever he visits Scotland. The palace is still filled with magnificent tapestries, elaborate woodwork, antique furniture, and beautifully decorated rooms. The closer we got to the King's bedroom, the more extravagant everything became. Every room seemed to outdo the last. It was wonderfully ornate, delightfully over-the-top, and I loved every single minute of it.