Priesthood Session

It's Jonas' first time going to Priesthood session with Ben and Miles.  They'll be back soon to give us the report as we eat some delicious treat (ice cream sundaes this time).

So handsome - long-hair or no-hair, beard or no-beard.  :)

Miles wanted to take a picture so they all looked the same height.  Turns out Miles is a little taller than everyone else.  :)

Easter Bunny Saturday

Lucy was soooo excited about the Easter Bunny coming!  Luckily he came and delivered this morning.  :)

Huh, it loaded my pictures backwards . . . whatever.

 Lucy LOVES the slippers the E.B. brought her!

 Cute tattoos on cute girls.

 We hunted for eggs first thing this morning - well, at 7am.  Brigham helped sniff this one out for Lucy.  :)

 We marble-dyed our eggs.

 Jonas found his basket/bag!

 Lucy finally found hers, too!

 (Huh, actually, the pictures are just all mixed up!)  

It wasn't a shocker that the girls were the last ones to find all their eggs . . . :)

Finally found it!

 Jonas found the lucky egg with the dollar in it!

Fun, fun!

Home Projects

Well we are getting closer to being done with our upstairs' projects - walling off a room, painting it, and getting new carpet.  We decided to have someone paint it as it would have taken us FOREVER, especially because of all the trim we have!  The paint job wasn't as grand as it should have been for what we paid . . . and Ben had to spend time afterwards touching up areas.  We have yet to fix the paint that was dripped in several places on our wood trim.  Not cool.  But, overall, it looks good (right, Ben?!). 

We are also getting new carpet.  The carpet in the home was yucky when we bought it, really.  Then Wilson made it yuckier by occasionally peeing or pooping on it.  So we said when he died, we'd replace the carpet.  So here we are.  We decided to save a little bit of money and tear out the carpet ourselves.  I did the hallway (whoa, it was hard) and the boys did their room, and Ben did the rest - but really helped out everywhere.  He was sooo much faster at it than I was!

It was soooo interesting to see the various layers of linoleum under the carpet - we wondered what year it would have been put in.  Anyways, some fun pictures:

 Wood linoleum (or whatever it is) over wood - funny.

 Our kids thought this linoleum was "so cool!"  It was . . . interesting.

 Just wood in the boys' room.

 Wood floors are cool, but I think carpet will be nice and comfy.

 Our room sweet room for the time being.  Our mattresses are the only bits of furniture we left in the rooms and hallway.  Everything else is in our living room, laundry, and upstairs bathroom.  They will get a start on carpet installation while we are gone.

Ben doing some paint touch-up/fix-up.  :)

Whatever You Do, Don't Smile

I'm another year older . . . and wiser (let's hope!)

So I've got a bunch of posts I want to get done before we leave tomorrow for our Spring Break.  It's been anything but a break here this past week and so hopefully we'll have a great Spring Break!  Here is what I posted on facebook about my birthday -

Thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday! I had a pretty good day, with special highlights here and there. Such as receiving 20 b-day cards from Lucy and her 1st-grade class, treating myself to chocolate chips, eating a delicious PB rice krispie cake with chocolate frosting, my cute activity-day girls who sang happy birthday to me, and watching 2 episodes of Poldark.

And this - Jonas went downtown on his own on Monday to a few shops and bought me some gifts with his own money. One of the gifts was cutting boards with a red bull on it. I'm one lucky gal.

 All my lovely cards, flowers (hand-picked ones from the girls), and gifts.

So thoughtful and nice of Jonas!

Tuesday afternoon was totally crazy:  piano lesson for Lucy, gymnastics for both girls, earlier-than-usual Mutual night for all my boys (so no time to go out as planned for dinner - sniff, sniff), and I was in charge of Activity Days!  We did come home and eat my yummy cake (I had made it earlier that day - along with 4 loaves of bread and dinner . . .:)  ) 

On Friday we finally had time to go out to dinner - Colorado Boy.  I love that we can walk down there, enjoy a yummy dinner, and walk back home.  So lovely.

My last year in my 30s!  Wow.

A Bit of An Update

So here I go:

Lucy - She is doing really well in life!  :)  Except for her current cold.  She got the highest math score on some test in her class and so that was pretty great.  Her reading is coming along well, too.  She now has a back-handspring by herself on the floor.  She's loving being part of the pre-team at gymnastics.  She is almost done with her "pre-piano" classes and will soon begin "real" lessons.

The girls on St. Patrick's Day (although it was night).  This was by-far my favorite green smoothie I've made (I even made it again during the following week.)  Here is the basic recipe:  almond milk, a bunch of spinach, 2 avocados, 1 mango, green grapes, honey, and ice.  YUM.

Emmy - She is getting through the 4th grade.  Her grade has not been known for its goodness.  In fact, quite the opposite.  Ever since 2nd grade these kids were known for being a bad group.  Not everyone, obviously, but there is a bunch of them.  Poor Emmy has to deal with the consequences of her naughty classmates and it's getting old for her and me.  But she still likes school.  I like that there is a bit less drama with some of the girls in her class.  She continues to love gymnastics.  She got to go up with 2 of her gym-mates for a birthday party celebration to Grand Junction, the mall, and Olive Garden.  She came back with some squishy thing and fake nails.  Awesome.

She had her 4th-grade P.E. showcase this past week.  It's a big event for the 4th-graders and she was so excited about it - and nervous, too.  It was fun to watch her.  She pushed it hard the entire hour.  You can tell she's a fit and active girl!

Jonas - He is an ornery boy, that's for sure.  Happy when things are going his way and then SNAP - angry when things aren't.  He hasn't been the nicest sibling lately either.  Perhaps he's just a moody pre-teen . . .?!  Although he's always been on the more moody side.  Okay, now good things . . . He is pretty responsible, does well in his classes, likes to ride his bike and be with friends.  He loves being a part of the YM.  The deacons just made dinner for all their families last Tuesday.  The deacons made/put together all the food and served it to us all.  Miles made 4 batches of delicious lemon bars.  And Jonas made our family's favorite salad - "Olive Garden salad."

Miles - He finished up his last wrestling meet last Saturday.  He lost his first two matches and so he got out early.  It was a bummer - at least for his parents!  Miles didn't seem too affected by it.  I think that's part of his problem . . . :)  But I'm glad he enjoyed his middle-school wrestling experience.  It was really great.  Miles is now taller than me!  Wahoo!  It's pretty great and I hope he can get to be as tall as his dad (but I doubt it).  He's a great student and is generally happy.

 His last match . . . yep, wrestling a team-mate!  This kid was real aggressive.  Miles didn't lose by a pin at least.  Just by lots of points.  :)  But I'm still proud of Miles!

Me - I just spent the past two days involved with a Principal Hiring Committee that I was invited to be a part of.  Our elementary school is one of two schools in the district that is needing a new principal.  I was at our school from 8:30-5 (or so) both days, interviewing a total of eight applicants for the position.  I think we have some good choices and am anxious to see who gets it.  It was great to be among the teachers and staff of Northside - they really are a fantastic bunch and I'm glad my kids go to Northside (for the most part! :)  ).  Other than that, life is incredibly busy - even, and especially perhaps, on the weeks I don't work!

Ben - He is getting in to his calling with the deacons/scouts.  They are planning a Scout Camp of their own (rather than paying oodles of money for a sub-par camp . . . or oodles and oodles and oodles of money for a really great camp).  It will have a Lewis and Clark theme to it if they can make it work.  Ben went up to the Blue Mesa area today to scout out some trails and area to make this happen.  He's doing a great job with his calling - they even have the next 4-5 months planned out.

Brigham - He's awesome.  He is still obsessed with the rats and the second he gets a chance to get in to the kids' rooms, he darts in.  When he gets locked out, he whines.  His life is rough.

Birthday-ing it at Kendall Mountain

Well as ironic as can be, Jonas' birthday party to Kendall Mountain had to be postponed due to the resort not opening because of lack of snow - but we made it to Kendall Mountain after all, on Miles' birthday!

The kids were all out of school on Friday and since Kendall finally opened, I thought it would be fun to go there for the day.  We had invited Miles' friend Aiden to come with us, but at the last moment he couldn't and so we brought Ivan along instead.  Csilla and her kids, plus Wren whom she was watching, came along as well and so that was a lot of fun!  The kids had a blast.  I think there were maybe 5 other people on the mountain that day - perfect!  The weather was the warmest we've ever experienced.  The roads were completely dry.  It was an awesome day!

 This was Miles' birthday-eve . . . he was making his birthday cheesecake!  Last year I helped him a lot.  This year I didn't do much at all - it was pretty much made by Miles.

 Miles' gift was a new bike.  I was so glad he wanted one!  It's so much better than buying junk toys . . . yes, it's more expensive than junk toys, but much more worth it, too!  This was taken in the morning as we were getting ready to leave for Kendall.  It was pretty warm out!  I like Miles' style:  long underwear, my Girls on the Run socks, and church shoes.

 Here is most of the group - minus the two moms (myself and Csilla) and the 2 little girls, Wren and Lexi.  Csilla actually had a leak in her tire and so she took the 2 girls and got that fixed while we started skiing.

 Jonas tried snowboarding for about 1 1/2 hours.  He did pretty good - but he only boarded on his heels, as opposed to heel and toe.  I think Jonas enjoyed it (he really, really wanted to board), but nobody was really waiting for him as he was slower than the rest and so that got a little old for him.  So after lunch he switched to his skis.

 The kids had a lot of fun doing different races down the mountain.  Here they are doing a "squat-race."  :)

 Lucy and Lexi - so cute!

 Jumps are always fun!

 Racing down the mountain again!

 By about 3:15 Lucy was done and so I let her go in to the lodge and play with Lexi and Wren - who were also done.  :)  The cute girls had fun throwing down their snowpants.  Haha.

Emmy ended her day with a big crash.  They all were racing down the "black-diamond" hill (which would most likely be a blue at other resorts . . .) and Emmy was in 2nd.  They all were pretty much down the hill.  I must have turned away for a second to say something to Csilla, then I looked back down the hill and saw a form sprawling and spinning on the snow.  Once I realized it was Emmy, I zoomed down the hill.  Blood was oozing down her face.  I guessed it was her nose, but I couldn't tell as her mouth was full of blood as well.  I got her in the bathroom and did not let her look in the mirror as she would have panicked at the sight of all that blood.  She was complaining of her mouth hurting (and her head, of course), but I couldn't see anything in her mouth.  Finally the blood slowed down and I could finally see that it was just a nose-bleed.  A BIG nose-bleed, though, that's for sure! There was only 20 minutes left of skiing, but Emmy called it quits after that.  She was a little shaken up.

This is the race down the big hill when Emmy crashed at the end.  I'm sad I didn't catch her crash as I wanted to see what had happened!

Anyways, we had a good drive home and once we got home we ate elk pasties and green beans for dinner.  Miles opened a few other small gifts and then we watched an Ice Age movie, with an intermission of cheesecake.

It was a fun day with our newly-turned 14 year-old!

Happy birthday to Miles!

Happy 14th Birthday Miles!

Dear Miles,

     Today you turn 14!  Wow.  In more year you'll be getting a driver's permit . . . and a year after that - your license!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

     Your thirteenth year of life was another good one.  In fact, it was pretty similar to the previous one . . . You continue to do well in school.  I think you have made the honor-roll every quarter.  You don't have much homework as you get most of it done in school.  You are in the honors 8th-grade math class - Alegebra 1 - and are doing great in it.  Once again, you have maxed out in the school's reading program.  One thing new about school this year is that you joined the student council group - called StuCo.  In fact, you became Co-President.  You really like it and love helping out at the activities and sporting events. 

     Once again, you are doing wrestling.  Your last year.  You've told us that you do not want to do it in high school.  Which is fine.  Of course, you can always change your mind.  You've had 2 big meets this year and have won 4 matches so far.  Awesome.  You wrestle in the 95-pound weight group.  It's neat watching you - you do have a lot of grit and stamina and even strength.  You have a lot of friends on the wrestling team and you have a lot of fun at the matches just hanging out with them.

     This could possibly be your last year of public school.  Next year you are going to be our family's guinea pig and will do the BYU High School online program.  You seem excited about it and tell me that you do want to do it (it's not something we wanted to force on you. . . but we are glad you are willing to give it a try).  You'll miss the social aspects of school for sure - but we're glad that you'll be involved in seminary each morning and we are trying to get you in an elective class at the high school.  Maybe you can even start a Board-Game Club with your friends (like you mentioned) and meet up with them weekly.  You really want to take Chinese as a foreign language and you are excited that BYU offers it (our local HS does not).

     You continue to exhibit many of the same traits you've had since toddlerhood - especially annoying your siblings.  Okay, I think you've mastered it - let's move on to something else . . . :)  You have moments of awesomeness with them, but they can be few and far between.  On the other hand, you continue to show kindness and thoughtfulness to your peers that are . . . less well-thought-of by your fellow classmates.  Your dad was doing surgery on one of your classmates - an overweight, shy boy.  When Ben mentioned that his son went to Centennial and gave your name, this boy responded, "Oh Miles is my friend!  He's real nice!"  How cool.

     You like to cook.  Your "Life skills" teacher at school taught you some good cooking skills for sure.  You even came home one day and made some fried-rice . . . chopping up veggies, sauteing them, cooking the rice, scrambling eggs . . . without a recipe.  Just remembering what you did in class.  It turned out delicious.  Over the summer I was with the girls in Utah and you and Jonas stayed her to attend a STEM camp at your school.  One night, you boys came home and got dinner going.  Ben got called it to assist at the hospital, but you and Jonas made homemade chicken pot-pie and a homemade pumpkin pie.  And waited until Ben came home a 9pm to eat it! 

     You love mutual nights at church.  You've (we've) been bringing Malachi along for the past year or so and now you've invited your other friend, Michael, to come as well.  There is already a good group of deacons (8?) and so you all have a lot of fun together.  You talked to Bishop Crim and asked him if you can continue to meet on mutual nights with the deacons . . . he said yes but that you'll need to meet with the teachers and priests (they are combined) on Sundays.

     You're a good kid and we're proud of you and the neat quirks you have!

     Love you,
     mom

A Date on the Mesa

Ben had off last Friday and so he and I (and our trusty companion Brigham) went cross-country skiing on the Grand Mesa.  And it was grand!  We had a really good time and it was a beautiful day up there.  We only got a few pictures, though - none of which Ben was in.  :(

Wrestling season is back . . .

Well wrestling season is back and it is going to be our last one - unless Jonas or the girls decide to wrestle in the future (although that is very unlikely!).  Miles has been going to wrestling practices every day after school for the past month.  So far, he has had 2 meets (is that what you call it in wrestling?!).

His first meet was up in Gunnison and I went to it alone.  Ben actually wanted to go, but he is still trying to finish up our home-project (wall, girls' room, etc.) and so it just made more sense for him to stay home and for me to go.  It was a loooooong day - I took Miles to his school at 5:45am.  I snuck in a good run.  Then I left at 7:45.  We got home at 6pm that night!  Miles won one match and lost two.  He was actually done by noon or so, but he decided to wait for his friend to finish up so we could drive him home with us (as opposed to taking the bus back).  Of course his friend ended up in a semi-final match and so it just took a while to finish up.  But I survived.  Miles had fun goofing off with his fellow wrestling friends.

Miles had another meet today - this time his school was the host and it was held at the high school.  It's a big meet - 18 other schools came.  Miles ended up winning 3 and losing 2.  So not bad at all!  He doesn't ever get many points as he doesn't have many tricks and skills up his sleeve.  But he does have grit.  Oh, he did pin his first opponent in the first period - by putting him in a cradle.  So that was cool and fun for Miles.

He had a good time.  Afterwards he stayed and helped out at the concession stand (because he is part of the Student Council and that's what they do.  In fact, Jonas was there from 7:30-12 selling stuff and having fun.)  I guess when they were driving home, Miles told Ben that he had a fun day and got to do two things he loves - wrestle and work the concessions.  Awesome.

Here are a few pictures from the two meets:

 Miles' first match of the 2018 season - and he won!

 Miles with his coach, Mr. Godbe.  They have four coaches, I think.  They are pretty great guys, all of them.  Our school and wrestlers are lucky to have them.

 Miles wrestling at the Montrose High School.

 Miles ended up losing this one - it was too bad because he was holding up pretty well but gave his opponents his 2 points.  1 point for locking hands (Miles locked his hands and so that gives the other guy a point) and another point because Miles released him (on purpose to try and get him down and win the match).  Oh well.

 Haha, this picture is pretty cool.  Miles just told me, "We were actually talking to each other during the match."  The other boy is from the other local middle school in town.  Miles won this one.

 Here Miles is wrestling his teammate.  They ended the three periods at a tie 4-4.  Miles ended up winning in overtime.

He got pinned in his 6th match and that was it for him.

This was a picture in our newspaper.  :)

Farewell February

Fun stuff!