Emmy's First Day as a Teen

 Okay, so technically Emmy didn't turn a teenager until about 10:30pm . . . but whatever.

Lucy and Jonas both had their first day of school (I'll post on that later). Miles was off work for a change and spent most of the day working on some classwork. 

So Emmy had the whole day sort of to herself! We walked Lucy to school. Then we took Bella for a walk. Then we made her special ice cream (we were doing that instead of a cake) - cookie dough ice cream. That was pretty fun. Then it was on to making donuts . . . 

Emmy had asked one of her coaches if she could make donuts for all the team girls and was told yes. So make donuts she did - 3 dozen of them! I helped a bit with her first batch. Then we took a break and got some lunch at the bagel shop. Then Emmy worked on the second batch by herself. She was pretty excited about how awesome they were looking. :)

Emmy had gym that evening from 5:20-7:50. The boys are also gone at that time for mountain biking. So when everyone got back we had dinner (Frank 'n beans) and then Emmy finally opened her gifts. She loved them all and was excited about everything, so that was fun. We ate "cake" (leftover donut holes) and her ice cream. Yum. We watched a Middle and then it was time for bed . . . (We had her dinner choice of Broccoli Bowtie Pasta and a movie on Friday night to celebrate more. The movie was Clueless and was a bit raunchy . . . but I think the kids enjoyed it, whoops.)

Making the ice cream . . . 

Working on the donuts . . . 

Looking amazing!

Hummus on bagels with a mango smoothie - delicious.

So cute! Emmy was really excited about them and excited to hand them out at gym!

Emmy enjoying Miles' gift to her: bluetooth headphones. He took the girls to Walmart when school was over and Emmy picked these one out. Awesome.

Emmy's friend has a Caboodle and Emmy thought they were awesome and wanted one too. Done. She loves it and has all her make-up (!), scrunchies, lotions, etc. in there all organized and re-organized daily. :) I am pretty sure my sister and I had Caboodles growing up . . . I had no idea they were still around!

Happy birthday beautiful Teenage Emmy! Happy birthday to you . . . 

Dear Teenage Emmy,

Happy birthday teenager! Although you've been "practicing" being a teenager for years, today you are officially one. :)

It's been quite the year - or at least quite the last five months. You turned 12, life was good and normal and then BAM. Covid came. BOOOOO. You were rocking being a 12-year old: loving middle school, making a lot of new and good friends at school, doing well in all of your classes, staying fit through gymnastics and ski club and running with me, etc. Then it all sort of fell apart and it was so sad (it's actually making me tear up as I write this :( ). You handled it all pretty well, considering it was a major shock to your life.

You were super bummed and super mad about school getting canceled. You had a really good friend-group that you loved hanging out with at school. You missed them most of all. But after the shock wore off a bit, you rocked our little "homeschool" plan - which was extremely basic: math (via Academy), reading (whatever book you chose), some science, and PE. PE was fun - I really miss our bike rides, pickballing on our drive way, seeing you girls jump-rope, running with you, and more. You and Lucy were such great "home students" and loved my little schedule and stuck to it beautifully. Then your middle school decided after 5 weeks to throw together a school plan and so we did that. You did okay with it - but it was such a mess. So what an interesting end to your first year of middle school!

You continue to be quite a little runner - even if your brothers beat you at our races. We ran the GOTR 5K as a family since there was not an official race due to covid of course. We practiced together and I love running with you! The boys still beat us (you beat me as you sprinted at the end - yay), but your time was great! Then I organized a Black Canyon Ascent run for friends and family. I didn't run with you as I thought you would run for a bit and then end up walking with Dad, Miles, and Lucy. But run you did - the entire 6 awful miles. You amazed me! You are a strong and determined young lady.

You continue to love gymnastics and are enjoying your new gym a lot. It was so hard to leave Coach Kirk and Snow Shadow as it was practically a second-home to you, but the change has been good and you truly love it and are learning new and awesome skills all the time. You continue to be such a beautiful gymnast. You and Lucy create these "routines" (more like yoga routines) all the time and they are so fun and creative and athletic. 

You love the Young Women's program at church and excelled in completing the Personal Progress program - which was its last year.  You were self-motivated and worked really hard on each value. I loved watching you mark up your scriptures for "faith," work on an embroidery for "integrity," make donuts for "good works," and more. Your strength and determination are also manifested in your desire to do good and be good.

You are in this almost in-between stage of still loving to play, yet also wanting to be older and hang-out with the boys' friends (which makes Jonas mad; Miles just welcomes you). You and your friends will get together and play these cute and silly games and it's fun to watch. Then the next day you put on make-up and such and I see that you are actually growing and maturing. And it's fun to watch, too. I love the childhood innocence and freedom; yet also love the getting-older experiences, too.

You continue to crush on and love boys - but make sure your dad is always #1 on that list. Which I think he is . . . Continue to strive to be a better human every day and every year and you'll blossom into a lovely woman. I will enjoy watching you do so.

I love you.

love,

mom

Our 5+ months of Summer is Just about Over . . .

 Well I guess this past week was our last week of summer . . . kind of . . . and until the kids get out of school again because of Covid . . . Haha. But not really haha - there will be lots of crying (from the girls) and complaining (from girls and boys). But we are also prepared for a shutdown this time around, so hopefully it won't be quite as painful when/if it happens again.

This past week was pretty busy! We got back from backpacking and celebrated Lucy's birthday on Sunday. On Monday we had a pool party (from 4:30-8:30) with about 50 of us - we all chipped in and reserved the pool. We brought our own meat and then potluck items. The kids had a blast and it was fun chatting with the other moms and adults. (I let Ben stay home as he had a long day from work and I knew he didn't really want to come anyways . . . ) There was gymnastics, babysitting, and putting in sod on Tuesday. On Wednesday we had our big End of Summer youth activity at Taviwach and it was awesome. We had 30 youth show up. I rented 4 paddle boards and we brought pizzas, etc. The kids had a great time! Friday afternoon we headed up to Junction for Old Navy back-to-school shopping. The kids, girls especially, greatly enjoyed it. Miles got a jean-jacket that he is thrilled about. Jonas found nothing in his size and to his liking . . . so he'll try online shopping and see if that's any better. On Saturday Emmy went back to Junction and to the mall, Olive Garden, Starbucks, etc. It was one of her friend's birthday party and Emmy loved it. Anyways, it was a good and busy week to end our summer with.

Yay, grass in our backyard! Soooo exciting. Ben's work didn't have any cases on Tuesday, so Ben took the day off and he and Jonas worked all day - in the awful smokey heat - and got our sod in. It's looks awesome.

Come Follow Me happening in our backyard. . . 

It's harvest time for most of our garden. We canned a bunch of tomato sauce and pizza sauce yesterday. Ben is drying some corn (on our pergola's roof . . . haha) to make into corn meal. Soon we'll have the smell of fermented cabbage in our house, too, perhaps . . . 

School. So here is the plan - as of right now, seeing as things change all the time! Lucy: she will attend 4th grade in-person, full-time. Emmy and Jonas and Miles are on a 1-week in-person and 1-week remote plan for schooling. Too many families opted for in-person learning that the district had to divide the kids in to two groups to house them all together. So Cohort A goes in-person one week while Cohort B is doing remote - and then the next week if flip-flops.

Jonas' high school schedule came out and looked like this:

OH MY! How ridiculous of a schedule is that?! I don't even know why they are still doing study hall when they are only doing four classes. This schedule had one real class for Jonas that quarter. Jonas looked at it and said, "This is so stupid." So long story short, Jonas (who is totally fine and accepting of this plan) is going to be doing BYU classes like Miles. And, like Miles, he will still take one class at the high school. Jonas will be taking creative writing this block and then PE next block. Miles will be in ceramics II this block and PE next block. 

Oh, and seminary is happening every day and in-person. Yay! The boys are super thrilled about this as well. And, unlike the high school, it will be every week in-person. Super cool.

Lucy starts school this Thursday. Jonas has orientation at the high school on Thursday as well and so he'll go to that. Emmy has her orientation day on Friday. Miles on the following Monday. Then it's real wacky for the rest of the week, until we fall in to a routine of every-other-week, etc. for the middle and high schoolers. 

So we'll see how this school year turns out . . . We are excited to give it a go!

Lucy's Backpacking Birthday!

 So Lucy decided that it would be fun to go camping for her birthday - car-camping, specifically. So I found an awesome campsite (Brittany mentioned it once to me and so I wanted to try it - Oh Be Joyful in Crested Butte). Well, Covid ruins a lot of things and it ruined this, too. :( I could get online 2 weeks before the day to register for a campsite. I was on a few minutes before 8am - when registration opened. I tried at 7:57, 7:58, and 7:59 - but it was too early. I tried again at 8:00:01 - and all 7 open campsites were taken in that nanosecond. :( BOOHOO. With nothing open but the great outdoors, everyone is getting out!

So we decided for plan B: to go backpacking. I didn't want to take a chance in a "first-come first-serve" site . . . so I really felt backpacking would be our safest option. Plus, some of our good friends decided to come with us - they have 2 girls Emmy's and Lucy's age and it would be their first time backpacking (the mom's, too!). Ben was on-call Friday night to Saturday morning at 7am (and he got called in and had to work from 11pm - 3am!), so we decided to leave Saturday and come back on Sunday. With still being given the option of doing home-church and sacrament, we thought it would be cool to do church outdoors.

So we met our friends, the Coon family (they have 2 younger kids they left with friends), on Saturday morning and drove to the Highland Mary Lakes trailhead - about 2 hours away. The girls rode with the Coons and had a great time.

We headed out after eating lunch at the trailhead and had a good, yet also hard because backpacking is always hard (!), hike to our campsite. We found a perfectly delightful spot to set-up camp - and the girls (Miles is too old to do it without a license and we didn't have one; Jonas did it once) had a delightful time fishing! The girls each caught 2 fish, and Jonas 1 - so 9 fish total. All beautiful trout. 

We ate dinner, played some games, ate PopTarts, got cold, all went in to the girls' tent for more games, then called it bedtime. The boys slept outside and were warm and cozy all night, even with frost on their sleeping bags in the morning. Ben and I slept miserably, but expectedly, all night - it was cold, etc. Heather and Aaron (the other parents) slept probably similar to us. The girls slept together in a tent ("It's like a sleepover!" My girls were beyond thrilled . . .) and had quite the night. They fell asleep around 10:30. Awoke and chatted at around midnight. Then again around 3am (I heard them this time). Then they were up by 5:45 or so. At 5:55 (close to Lucy's actual birth-time), they had a count-down and then shouted, "Happy Birthday Lucy!" They were so loud, but it was also cute. I think they tried to start a fire, but it was tricky as we were above treeline. :) Then they went back to bed and woke up close to 8am. Haha. They had a horrible, but also fun, night in the tent. They sisters ended up getting into each others' sleeping bags for added warmth. :) Cute.

We got up, packed up, ate breakfast, and then had a sacrament meeting. Heather and I each shared a little thought and we had the sacrament. It was pretty great. Then we hiked out. We made it a loop, which made it a little more challenging as we had a bunch more climbing to do (as opposed to just heading straight back down the trail), but it's always nice to not go back the way you hike in. The kids did great, even though it was exhausting. The worst part was the steep and slippery and downhill switch-backs near the end - I hated it! I much prefer going up steep climbs than descending . . .  We got back to the trailhead and then drove home . . . 

And Lucy was finally able to open her gifts! Yay! She got her much-requested Polly Pocket house and was pleasantly excited that it was so much bigger than she expected. She also got adorable clothes, cash, an art set, a whole bunch of cute unicorn stuff from Emmy, 11#s of candy from the boys, etc. 

We had her dinner request of tilapia, rice, and green beans. Then we watched her movie-choice: Smurfs. We ate homemade avocado ice cream (delicious, my family LOVES it). Plus, later on had some cake. It turned out cute, but wasn't really that yummy . . . Haha. Anyways, it was quite an adventurous birthday!

The backpacking chicks. :)

The backpacking Maxwells.

The cool rocky section!

Fishing time! This was the magic rock - 8 out of the 9 fish were caught while standing on this rock. :)

Pretty and vibrant flowers near our campsite.

Our grassy meadow campsite. 

Good morning and Happy Birthday Lucy! (Lucy had mentioned a day or two before that she was sad not to have crepe paper on her door on her birthday, so . . . )

The boys as snug as bugs.

The Rocky Mountains are impressive.

Cute friends: Lila and Lucy.

10 years ago this little wonder was brought into this world. Lucky world.

Lucy did a fashion show of the clothes she got - adorable.

The boys were going to buy Lucy a pinata (after she saw how fun her cousin's Ollie's was). But there weren't any good ones, I guess. So the boys bought 11 pounds of candy from the Mexican store. Then put it in a box. Then put a picture of Jojo Siwa on it. The kids all "hate" her (she is quite weird and creepy) and thought it would be fun to whack her picture . . . awesome? It was a good gift from brothers, I guess! :)

What do you do when you love Unicorns and Harry Potter? You look it up on Pinterest and find this cake and ask your mom to make it. :) The funny thing is that I had to make it on Friday (because we'd be gone and getting back later on her birthday). When we left, the frosting (marshmallow fondant) was all smooth. By the time we came back, it had slumped - but totally looked like the Sorting Hat! It was perfect!

Happy Birthday Ms. Lucy!

Dear Ms. Two-Digit Lucy,

 

Happy Birthday Lucy! Welcome to being old and being 2-digits. . . In some ways it's crazy that you are 10, in other ways it's crazy that you're just 10. :)

It's been quite the year for you - especially as the last 5-months has been during the Covid-19 pandemic. It really messed up things! You weren't able to finish up 3rd-grade in school. Which was extremely sad for you because you love school, loved your teacher (Mrs. Reich), and loved your school friends. We had many tears from you that first month or so of pandemic life. It was hard - life (and freedom) was getting canceled left and right. Gymnastics was another hard one to lose!

But you got excited about our "home school" and you and Emmy did so well in doing your little assignments each day. We enjoyed a lot of "PE" bike rides, pickle-ball playing, jump-roping, etc. You had some fun times, even though you greatly missed school and all that comes with it.

You continue to care greatly about what others think - and not in a "What do they think about me?" type of way. But, rather, a "How will they feel if I do this? Will this make them happy?" etc. You care and are very aware of others. You want to please others - but not in a negative, push-over way. In a very selfless way, really. You are quick to do what we ask - well usually, not always. You like helping others and truly find joy in it. You think your dad is funny and he really likes you for that! :) You continue to make friends easily and are fun to be around. You continue to rock as a backpacker - we went on a few trips this spring/summer, including one on your birthday!

One way that lemon was made into lemonade during this time was in regards to gymnastics. Coach Kirk had to shut down his gym, as did the other gym and other such places. That gave us some time to consider things . . . I started thinking it would be a good time to try the other gym in town. I brought this up to you and Emmy. Emmy was ready for it, but it was really hard for you to leave your gym and your coach. Again, tears were shed. But, in the end, we felt it was the right thing to do. You and Emmy had a little "try-out" of sorts and you loved the gym and other coaches immediately. You've been there for 2 1/2 months now and it's been awesome. We'll always remember Coach Kirk and that awesome experience we had with him and his gym - but we're grateful for the new gym and all the new coaches! You're doing well and getting new skills and making new friends. You and Emmy aren't on the same team - she's in Gold and you're in Silver. Which is probably good for you girls to be on your own for a bit!

You still love to play with dolls (Polly Pockets especially, but also your American Girl doll), love the color purple, adore all things unicorn, love to eat sweets but also you try to be healthy, love to ride your bike, love to camp, love to play with friends, love to read good books, etc., etc.

And we love you! Very much. It's been a blessing to have you these 10 years and are excited for many, many more years with you and your adorableness.

Love, mom.

Jonas Gets a Car

 Well this could be a longish post, too! But I'll try and make it as short as possible. We know a young man named Logan. He's an awesome kid and has an awesome family. Ben works with Logan's dad - he is a Nurse Anesthetist. Logan and Miles were on the wrestling team and mountain biking team. Logan is just a stellar kid, really. Anyways, one day a couple years ago, Logan brought Miles home from mountain bike practice. My boys checked out Logan's Mini Cooper - and Logan told Jonas that he wold sell it to him in a few years . . . 

So we would always half-joke about it, but also took it kind of seriously. Then Jonas got in to a truck-phase and all he wanted was a truck. But then he realized he could get a license or something which would allow him to ride his dirt-bike on the road (which was the reason he wanted a truck - to transport his someday dirt-bike). So then he went back to talking about the Mini-Cooper. Plus, Logan also began bringing it up . . . 

Long story, short: Jonas "bought" Logan's car last Wednesday night (August 12th). I saw "bought" in quotes, because he still owes us his part of the bargain - we tell our kids we will match them equal to what they pay (plus, my dad donates some $$ as well . . .). Our kids have to have at least half of their amount for us to give the loan, which Jonas does. So that's that. We all went on Wednesday and had a fun visit. Ben and I enjoyed visiting with Chris and Twyla (the parents). Logan drove my boys and Audrey (his 13-year old sister and maybe one of Jonas' crushes . . . ) to Sonic. My girls played in their house (they have a gym tumbling mat, a climbing wall, etc. in their house!) with Ruby Jane - who is Lucy's age and looks very similar to Lucy! Anyways, Logan was a bit teary-eyed as we drove away with his old and Jonas' new car. 

Logan and Jonas . . .

It's a deal!

The inside dash - I love the big speedometer!

What a good-looking car!

Ben loves driving it, too. . . It is a standard, so I can't drive it. Which Jonas loves. :)

Here is an adventure I posted on social media of the boys and the car:

"So my 14 and 2/3-year old bought a car. . . It’s a beaut and just about as opposite as can be from Miles’ car. . . So today my boys thought they could have Miles drive it around - although their experience with a stick-shift is limited to their motorized bikes (“It has a clutch, mom.”) and a 6-minute YouTube video. . . Miles made it a few blocks before he couldn’t get it back into first up the “big hill” (which was really a big dip in the road). I was in the house, but came out to check on them (although I couldn’t have helped seeing as I can’t drive a stick). As I am walking the couple blocks to the car, I see a car drive, turn around, and then pull-up behind my boys. A gentleman gets out and goes to the car and the next thing I see is Miles hopping into the passenger seat and the man hopping in to the driver’s seat (My boys later told me the first thing the man asked my boys was if they were high on drugs). They drive around for a few minutes. Then I see them stop and Miles hops out and then into the driver’s seat, and the gentleman into the passenger’s seat. They then drive around the neighborhood for a good 5-10 minutes. After the joy-riding was done, I thanked this kind man and enjoyed visiting with him and his wife. They gave my boys some good advice (like, “Practice using the clutch with the car off” and “Practice driving in a parking lot before trying the neighborhood streets.”) Pretty similar to what their mother had suggested earlier. . . Oh to be young and dumbly confident! #stillgoodpeopleoutthere #drivingintheparkinglotasIpost"

Haha, what a story! Ben took the boys driving that night and, as I expected, Jonas picked it up pretty quickly. Miles does okay and is getting better. :) I would say Miles takes after me - but he's probably better; at least, I hope so!

Well this could be a really long post, so I will try and condense it as much as possible! But about a year ago, Ben became interested in the joining a military reserve unit. He researched the National Guard and the other military divisions before deciding that the Army was what he wanted. Why did he want to do this? Ask him, ha. It's a multi-faceted answer . . . I joke it's his mid-life crisis. But at least it wasn't a rash or impulsive one as he's had a year to think about it. But I think he's eager to advance his skills and to gain new experiences, to serve his country as well as his fellowmen, and to be an example to our kids. He has always enjoyed the stories and legacies of his grandfathers as well as my dad's service as well. Ben works with many individuals who have served in the Army and they are all extremely supportive and encouraging.

When he first began the application process, he was thinking he would be a part of a Denver unit. However, at the very end he was invited/requested/wanted to be a part of a "frontline" unit based out of Salt Lake City. Frontline = M.A.S.H, in my great way of explaining. :) His unit is basically be a triage unit for injured soldiers and civilians, until they are stabilized enough to send to a hospital. While Ben was sad to not get to see his family each month, he was thrilled with the assignment and at least he'll get to see my family each month. :)

The Captain Ben has been working with, Captain McGee, informed Ben that for his commissioning he could have any military Captain perform the commissioning. So Ben asked my Dad - who was very happy and excited to do so. After a lot of scheduling back-and-forth we were finally able to settle on Monday, August 10th, for Ben's commissioning. My mom was able to get out of work and come down with my dad that Monday (she's working with the Census . . . well until she quits. :) ). Captain McGee left that afternoon from Colorado Springs . . . only to get stopped and subsequently turned around at Glenwood Springs (big forest fire). We were all so bummed. But, luckily due to Covid-19, Zooming these commissionings has become a thing and so we were able to get permission to Zoom it. Yay! It was awesome - it was our family, my parents in-live, Ben's parents via Zoom, Captain McGee, and another Captain/Sargent?

There we all are - on the computer in our backyard. :)

It was my dad's first time commissioning someone, and they both did great. "One of the best," said Cpt. McGee. But maybe that's what he always says . . . :)

Here is the link to the commissioning: https://youtu.be/jZL8CgOL7vs

The newly commissioned Ben. I wish I would have gotten a better picture - and one with my mom and other children! Oh well . . .

I had promised my mom I would make gyros with homemade naan - so we did. My mom helped a bunch and it was sooooo delicious (my dad is not a fan at all of gyros, so Miles brought him home a Crash Burger and fries - which he loved, so win-win). Ben and I had made this pie on Sunday - awesome!

A new adventure has begun . . . 

Sweet . . . 15

Last weekend on Saturday night we all attended our very first quinceanera. Jonas was asked to be a part of the dancing group and has been practicing weekly for about a month or so. Unfortunately I asked Lucy to video the dancing, and so it's not that great. Plus, Mia (the 15 year-old) and her big dress get in the way. :) Also,  a couple of kids dropped out and so Jonas' partner ended up being taller than him and blocking him. :) Ha. But he did a good job. The kids had a great time dancing at the end - it was probably the girls' first "dance." No slow-music here, though! Just a bunch of kids dancing and having fun. We *finally* left at 10 . . . The kids loved attending their first quincearea!

Here's some videos: (Or just one because Blogger is now annoying . . . )

Since Blogger won't let me add it, I added it to my YouTube account and so maybe you can access it through this link . . . https://youtu.be/3E5UMgdnpeE

Fun times!

July and Gym

 

July was a pretty great month and almost felt like "normal" times! I already miss it . . . 

The girls have been doing awesome in gymnastics and continue to get new skills. They had a little "showcase" for parents to come and watch this past week. I had to miss out on Lucy's as I was working, but I did make it to Emmy's. The gym posts a bunch of videos on their facebook page, but unfortunately I cannot download those. :( But here are a few I got sent to me:

Videos and skills I can't show of Lucy's include Lucy's back walkover on the beam and her handspring vault. Emmy had an awesome day on Thursday (after the showcase) and ended up doing back walkover to a back handspring on the beam. It was awesome. Plus, she did giants on the strap bar. She was beaming with excitement.

I am so grateful that the girls have gym!!!

Cake Wars & I Am Malala

The girls invited their friends over one day and had a cake war. Each team made and decorated a rice-krispie cake. Jonas even joined in - although he didn't stick with the theme of "summer." Ha.

It was our turn for book club in July and we chose the book I Am Malala. It's about a Pakistani girl (Malala, of course) who was shot on her way to school one day. She's pretty awesome. And it was pretty awesome reading the book right now - so many similarities with not going to school, wearing a burqa to cover yourself up, etc. 

For book club, the girls came over and they each wrote Malala a letter - we'll mail them off and see if we get a response. :) We did another craft thing with the girls creating an artwork of "Their name . . . A girl who . . . " (Based on "Malala, a girl who changed the world.")

Then the girls watched the movie.

Then the girls played of course. :)

(Pictures lamely out of order . . . )

Jonas' cake - pretty awesome.

Random selfie. Why do girls always do that with their lips?! I hate it . . . :)

Team Lucy and Lila's cake!

Team Emmy, Holly, and Reese's cake.

I have wanted my girls to do this nifty chalk-art - and they finally did. It's so cool and beautiful - and easy. My kind of craft!

Lila and Lucy working on their cake. Super fun . . . and messy.