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....

 

August 2021

August was spent working on the house (our new never ending project) and getting ready for school. Emmie got ready for school by getting braces. She had been excited about getting braces for months. She wasn't quite as excited when she felt the pain that comes along with braces. However, she will most definitely love her straight teeth.

Emmie and her crew were off to middle school this year. These girls have had pictures taken together since kindergarten. Its so crazy that I don't have anyone in elementary school anymore. I somehow feel both happy and sad about it at the same time. 

Emmie was nervous about finding her locker and classes, as I'm sure most 6th graders are. We spent lots of time at the school walking her schedule and unlocking her locker. She was well prepared by the first day of school!

Owen officially joined the cross country team. He was super excited about his uniform! He laughed when he realized that his underwear was longer than his cross country shorts. Classy!

That mass of kids is just the JV boys!

Owen had a rough start for his first race of the season. There were SO MANY BOYS! he got caught in a group of boys and hit someone's foot and rolled his ankle and fell right at the beginning of the race. But he powered through and finished. He's one tough kid. His time was nothing to brag about by boys cross country's standards, however it was faster than I ever have/or will run a 5k and he did it with a rolled ankle!

August also brought with it a shower door for mine and John's bathroom. Finally!

And a finished photo of the kitchen...a blank slate ready for some decorations.

First day of school 2021. 

Ainsley: Senior (WHAT?!?!?)

Owen: Sophomore

Emmie: 6th Grade

Ainsley and I met up nearly every day for lunch during August. Leo got a walk and Ains and I got a nice visit during the school day. We were looking for good spots to meet and met at a park one day where pets weren't allowed for 3 months of the year. The city was kind enough to inform the public of this with ill-placed and hidden signage. And I missed the sign. Un-lucky for me, there was a cranky and horrible citation officer working that day, who sited me a ticket for not having Leo licensed (which I didn't know was even a thing). I was super irritated. She was clearly bored and wanted to make everyone else as miserable as she was. Even though I was more than polite and explained that I was not familiar with that law and would immediately take care of it she insisted on writing me the ticket. She took my name and information without requiring me to get my ID (she was too impatient to wait for me to get my license from my car) and I'm certain that I could make her life miserable if I reported her for that. Anyways...After a trip to the court house and John making a phone call the case was dismissed. I am no longer a criminal. 

And I should also note that the vet who I took Leo to for his license laughed when she saw him. Her exact words were..."This is the dog that got a citation?! My dog isn't even licensed. That lady must have been having a bad day." I still get irritated when I think about the whole situation.

San Diego 2021

San Diego! After hours spent on the phone arranging flights, and then a canceled and rescheduled flight, we were on our way to San Diego to visit Syd and her family. The kids and I flew out first and John joined us later in the week. 

It was Emmie's first time on a plane. She was terrified and didn't want to fly. However, by the time we were landing, she was taking pictures and loving watching the miniature world grow as we flew closer to the ground.

We spent our time with Syd enjoying the ocean. She is currently living in Point Loma and took us to and outlook on a Naval base. The views were amazing and we got to hike and see some tide pools.

We also hit the ground running and went to the beach on our first night there. I love the beach. The kids spent hours playing in the water and catching sand crabs in the sand. I spent hours watching for whales and dolphins. No whales this time, but dolphins every day!

On our second day we drove to La Jolla to watch the seals play and play at the beach again. We watched the seals play in the water forever and decided that they are the dogs of the sea world. 

We had heard there was a great spot there for kayaking and snorkeling. We packed snorkeling gear in our luggage on the plane and Syd and I spent about an hour attaching kayaks to the top of her car so we could snorkel and kayak in the ocean. We couldn't find the snorkeling spot, however, we had a spot on the beach next to where the kayaks were launching to go explore some nearby caves. Ains and I attempted to break through the waves to make it out to calmer water. It felt like the scene from Cast Away where Tom Hanks is trying to escape the island on his homemade raft. Emmie was pushing me over the waves. She abandoned me when water got in her eyes and I tipped over (crashed). Owen pushed out Ainsley and she fared better than I did. Eventually, with Owen's help, I made it over the waves. Sadly, within minutes Ains and I realized that we were getting sea sick on our little boats. And so we headed back in, where I capsized again. It was a lot of work for getting dumped in the ocean twice! But it gave us all a good laugh!

John flew into town a few days after us. We visited Coronado Island and hunted for sand dollars...

And we toured the US Midway. It was a huge aircraft carrier that has been retired and now sits in the harbor in San Diego. I was impressed and also claustrophobic as we walked around the boat.  

We also took the kids to Old Town. Sadly, most of the shops we wanted to take the kids to were closed. But we still made it to the Mormon Battalion Museum, where the kids got to pan for gold, and we got some yummy Mexican Food.  

This letter. displayed by the panning for gold was the highlight of our night.

We ventured out of San Diego and away from the water to go to the Safari Park. I'm not going to lie, it was a huge disappointment. Everything was shut down due to covid. But they don't tell you that until after you've paid and have entered the park. There were a couple of cool things that we saw, the safari tram was still going (although I think the safari at Disney World is better), we saw elephants being trained (we were lucky to be passing by during lunch time), we saw a lion active and up close, and we saw a cute dog that was a companion to a cheetah. Other than that, it was horribly hot, and we were miserable. Luckily we had some cups that gave us $1.00 drinks. Those ice cold soda's were the only thing that saved the day! We were only there until the afternoon when we decided to call it a day and go home and let the kids swim in Syd's community pool.

We also did something super touristy and took the kids on a seal boat tour. Normally we wouldn't have, but we had a free activity with out City Pass and so we headed out on the water. The tour was actually fun. We got to see a ton of seals and dolphins being trained by the navy.

On our last day in town we took John back to La Jolla. We went and watched the seals play again, looked at the pretty tide pools, and found where we can go snorkeling (for next time). 

Most importantly...we celebrated Owen's 15th birthday while we were there! His birthday was on a Sunday. So after church we loaded up and headed to the beach. It was our best beach day. The water was the warmest that it had been all week, we played in the waved for hours, Owen tried surfing, we hunted for more sand crabs, and of course we saw Dolphins. It was perfect. Then we headed back to Syd's and had home made sushi and fun-fetti cupcakes. And then he and Cy played video games until late in the night. 

It was such a nice and much needed trip. I am always sad to leave the ocean, and it was a great week with Syd and her family.