November 2021

We kicked off November with Emmie's 12th Birthday! My kids are getting old! Emmie requested Syd and Cy's sushi for her birthday...and we aim to please, so we all enjoyed sushi that night. 

The highlight of November was our long awaited trip to Cabo. We were supposed to go the year before, but...Covid. But this time we made it! The week was full of hunting for sea shells, snorkeling, water aerobics, poolside bingo, Oreo Carmel blizzards from Dairly Queen, baby turtles, whale watching, and eating lots of good food (with only one casualty...sadly John got sick). We had to wear masks everywhere and had to take a covid test to get back into the US, but it all worked out and we had a great time! 

We got to see Kort's family on our last 2 days there. They were coming for the week of Thanksgiving. it was fun to spend a few days with them. We went back to the snorkeling beach with them and I'm glad we did. The visibility was so much better...it was amazing! Ainsley loved snorkeling the most in the family. Ains could have spent hours floating out in the ocean looking at all the sea creatures. I'd love to go again, but I'm going to invest in some better snorkeling masks. 

When we got home from Cabo it snowed the next day as I was out grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was great. We ate, played games, shopped online, and enjoyed a day with family. And I appreciated that a lot of big stores legitimately shut down on Thanksgiving and opened their doors early on black Friday, instead of opening at 6:00 or so on Thanksgiving...hopefully we did learn something from Covid. 

 

October 2021

          

October was a rough month for Owen. He missed out on going to the big cross country race in Kennewick Washington by one spot. There are only so many seats on the bus, and the best times get to go. He was beat out by one boy, who has now become his cross country nemesis. 

And then during his last race of the season he got two stress fractures in his shin. I wasn't at the race, I was out of town at my Aunt's funeral (more on that later), and John watched him finish in pain. After a trip to the doctor and some x-rays it was determined that Owen would be on crutches and in a boot for 6 weeks. Which put a bit of a damper on our upcoming trip to Cabo. But more on that later as well. 

Ainsley, Owen, and I took  trip back down to Utah to go to a BYU tour. It was a quick trip. Highlights of the trip were getting disgusting Wendy's frosties in Tremonton. They were literally vanilla froth that were perhaps frozen vanilla frosties in another life. The disappointment will stick with us for years. We spent some time on BYU campus and then hit IKEA before heading home. 

Also, Ainsley submited her BYU application, but BYU won't send out acceptance letters until Fabruary. She was also accepted into Utah State for a full tuition scholarship. Exciting times. 

We also finished painting our house. Almost. It took us three months, but we tackled it bit by bit and finally finished. Except for the laundry room. Which at this point might never get painted. 

My Aunt Melody (Dode) passed away from complications due to Covid on October 15. When she was admitted to the hospital her daughter Aubri and my Aunt Kelly were there with her around the clock while her husband cared for their grandson (Ali's son) at home. It was all a confusing time. Dode had blood clots in her lungs and was having a hard time breathing. And even though everyone knew if she went on ventilators her chances of survival were low, she needed the oxygen and chose to be intubated. My mom drove down and spent hours with her at the hospital, but after several days it was determined that she would never recover and her family decided that it was time to take her off life support. She passed away peacefully on the morning of the 15th surrounded by her children and siblings. 

 I took a trip to St. George with my mom a year or two ago and we stayed with Dode. I'm so glad that I had that time with her. We spent time shopping, walking around her neighborhood, talking, and helping with Carson's wedding. I have great memories of time spent with her that weekend. She needed a new skirt...so she just sewed herself one! She had my grandma's paintings hanging in her house. We went to the craft store to buy supplied to make Chloe a corsage for prom. She had the idea to use sage from Kelly's yard in the boutonnieres, and they smelled wonderful   Dode had some hard trials in her life. And I remember her talking about her sadness about some of her kids not being members of the church when I talked with her, but that didn't change the way she felt about them. Dode had a gift for loving her children and for being able to work around the clock to make sure they were taken care of. And she wasn't afraid to reach out to the family to ask us to pray for her kids with her. 

I have a lot of memories of Dode. She sewed Aubri's wedding dress. She sent a text to everyone in the family every holiday to let us know she was thinking of us. She had the most contagious laugh. And I always loved that she let me come to laundry at her house when I was at BYU and she was living in Orem. 

On the morning she passed away I was texting with Tifani. I was at home at the time and really struggling. We both felt a little helpless just waiting to hear that she had passed away. So I decided to make my families recipe for wheat bread, since I remember Dode often having that bread at her house and her often baking it. I had a dream about Dode the night before she passed away. She was in a hospital room but she was up and walking around, and everyone was stopping by to visit her. My dream was vivid and I remember being happy that I was able to be there to have a chance to hug her and say good-bye. 

I drove down for the funeral with my dad. In hindsight I wish I would have taken my whole family, but at the time it seemed like a lot. Syd had just had her baby, so my mom left St. George after Dode passed away to spend a few days with her. Kort flew into Vegas and my mom drove back up to St. George and picked up Kort on the way and met my dad and I there. It was so sad to be there, but so healing to be with my mom's side of the family. I love being with them so much, and there is always fun and so much laughter when I'm with them. The weekend was full of crying and laughing and was a wonderful celebration of her life. 

We got home from the funeral and life picked up right where it left off. It's funny how life has a way of doing that. There was YW, corn mazes, soccer, and Halloween. 

September 2021

Emmie was asked to give her first talk in sacrament meeting. She did a great job! However when the meeting ended she came to our bench and was clearly upset. She was crying and telling us how horrible her talk had been. The exact words out of her mouth were "The deaf group was silently judging me!" Which just made us laugh. 

September brought some changes for Ainsley as well. She was asked by her piano teacher Miss Amy, if she would like to work as a piano teacher at her studio. Which was expecially awesome because she would make $20 per hour! Ains couldn't pass up the job, but this meant that she would have to quit working at Welch Music. So after a lot of stress and worry, she eventually told her grandparents the sad news. Although, while Ainsley liked working with her grandparents, she hated working retail and really didn't like working when her grandparents weren't there, so it was a good change for her all the way around. 

Ainsley and Emmie also got to work together for a bit during the soccer season. They both worked on the PAL soccer fields. Ainsley as a field coordinator, and Emmie as an assistant ref. The both only worked for the fall season but it was nice that they were able to be there toegher and earn a little money at the same time. 

Owen also officially started his cross country career. His first race had about 20 schools at it. And it was crazy to watch. He was on the JV team and there were hundreds of runners with him at the starting line. His first race was a little rough. He bumped into another runner and had a misstep and rolled his ankle and fell. He ran the rest of the race with a hurt ankle. It wasn't his best time, but he did great for his first race and under the circumstances. 

Ainsley also got her senior pictures taken in September. We did one photo shoot down by the river in Eagle. And on another day we drove up to McCall for some beautiful fall shots. Sadly, there was a problem with the SIM card for her McCall photo shoot. Ains and I were both completely disappointed. I'm so sad about it. But we got some great shots of her for her grad announcements.

I also took the kids on a trip to Salt Lake. Ainsley's friend Elisabeth had a sister getting married. We weren't able to make it to the reception for Sarah, but we still managed to get the girls together for some fun. Ains and I went bowling with their family, and the girls spent most of the day together. 

I also took Owen and Ainsley on a tour of BYU while we were there. There was a lot of talk about BYU applications and getting these girls into BYU while we were there! These two have been planning on being roommates at BYU since they were 10. 

And last but not least, some random fun from the month. Swing dancing at the church...

Leo enjoying his favorite spot in the sun...

And a family lip-sync....