More Gymnastics, of course, and a few other things . . .

Well the week after Emmy's state competition, the girls' gym hosted a meet. It was Lucy's first "home meet" of the season and so she was really excited. She spent pretty much the whole day at the  gym - she helped out on beam for the 8am meet, competed at her noon meet, and then stayed after to help again on beam for Emmy's meet. She loved it all! She did well at her home meet - she didn't get her highest scores, but she looked awesome. She had her first fall on beam this season, but still got a really good score. She's so fun to watch!

It's good I take pics because I never remember their placings anymore . . . 1st on vault!

3rd on bars.

4th on beam.

3rd on floor.

2nd all-around, whoop, whoop!

Emmy's meet was more of a "showcase" meet. It was only her gym girls, but included the Golds (her level), Platinums, and Diamonds. It was so much fun! The girls were trying out different skills they didn't compete during the regular season and so it was just less-pressure and more-fun. The judges were still there to give scores, but it was just really fun. It's so awesome to watch the upper-level girls, too. One girl did a back-tuck, back-tuck on the beam. It was amazing. Another did a front-tuck to a back-handspring on the bream. Lots of twisty flips on the floor (they would tumble into the soft mats). For beam some of the girls who were adding different skills, would hop down to a lower beam to attempt it. Lots of cool bar skills, etc. It was just a really fun event.

Emmy fell twice, again, on beam. Darn! But luckily her full-turn was a complete turn and so her score was better than state. :) She scored a 9.5 on floor - wowzers!!! She did a round-off, back-handspring, back pike. It looked great. Her bar routine was different and she nailed it (which was good because she wasn't in the warm-up . . .). Anyways, fun, fun.

Out of her 11, I think, Gold teammates, Emmy scored 2nd all-around. Whoop, whoop.

You can check out their routines on my YouTube. Look for the ones titled "home meet 4/24." Emmy's routines are a little different, so they might be worth watching.

That day was a busy one . . . Ben was off on his first in-person drill-weekend and enjoyed it for the most part. 

His sleeping quarters . . . 

Luitenant Maxwell.

This was how my Saturday was, since I don't want to write it all out nor describe it really, I am just going to copy what I posted on Facebook and Instagram, ha. I'm lazy sometimes.

Got up at 5:30 to get my always looked-forward-to long Saturday run in. 

5:45-7:15 - Ran. 

7:35-8:15 - Dropped Lucy off at gym to be a meet-helper. Dropped Jonas off at the rec for lifeguard class. 

8:30-10:00 - Created a dinner menu for the next 2 weeks. Ordered groceries online for Miles to pick up later. Started my laundry. 

10-10:30 - Picked up Lucy from the gym. 

10:30-11:30 - More laundry. Braided girls’ hair for their gym meets. 

11:35-12:10 - Picked up Jonas from the rec. More laundry. 1

2:15-4:45 - Watched Lucy first and Emmy next compete. (So fun! And so proud of all the amazing gymnasts I got to see!). 

5:00-5:30 - Grabbed dinner at Crash Burger, ate, helped Emmy get ready for her first church dance (!), and dropped Lucy off at a friend’s for the evening. 5

:30-8:30 - Drove to and from church dance in Delta, visited with other ladies while the youth awesomely and awkwardly danced. 

8:30-9:00 - Picked up Lucy. Drove to Sonic to treat my strong gymnast-daughters to a shake. Saw Jonas and friends there post-dance as well. 

9:00-9:30 - Put away all the groceries. Reorganized the fridge groceries Miles had put away. 

9:30-9:50 - Went to City Market because my pick-up order from Walmart had forgotten my broccoli- which I had to get tonight because it’s on the menu for tomorrow! 

9:50-10:00 - Bored everyone with typing this super-long post. 

10:00-???? - Waited for Miles to come home from his post-dance party at the Stake President’s house.

#lifeisgood #benisplayingsoldier #iwillsleepgoodtonight #iwoulddoitallagain

Emmy's first stake dance we a hit. She had fun with her friends and got to dance with all the boys she wanted to, ha. Especially Aiden. They even did some cool lifty thing in the middle of the circle at one point. Fun. Emmy asked Aiden on the girl's choice dance. :)

On Sunday, Jonas made homemade Angel Food cake. (We have so many eggs from our chickens and needed to use them. I made the kids eat eggs for lunch. Ha.) While he was gathering his ingredients, he came to inform me that we didn't have cornstarch . . . 

As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, I was like, "Are you serious Jonas?!"

Really!? Really?! Man he just lived up to that stereotype of men not being able to find anything . . . :) His cake turned out delicious by the way.

Okay, now for a few professional photos:

Emmy and her Gold team, 2021.

Emmy and her Volleyball team, 2021. Her Coach is Mrs. Richmond, also known as Sister Richmond. Also known as a counselor in Young Women's in our ward. Also known as our bishop's wife. :)

Lucy's 4th grade class with Mr. Stammler. 

Lucy and her Silver team, 2021.

Emmy and Reese at the Colorado Gold State Meet, 2021

The week of state there was also volleyball happening with the middle school girls. Which meant 6:10am practices and a Tuesday and Thursday game. Reese is on the A-team and Emmy on the B-team. 

Here they are getting ready for their first volleyball game for Centennial Middle School. Such awesome, active girls.

Then it was time to focus on the state gymnastics meet . . . Emmy wanted to make a candy-gram for Reese and so this is what she made:

We surprised Emmy and each family member picked out a candy and a sentence and made a candy-gram for Emmy. Fun, fun. 

The Gold state competition was in the Denver area on April 17th-18th. Luckily both Emmy and Reese were scheduled for Saturday and so they were able to compete. Reese's parents were not available to take Reese, and so we did and it was so much more fun for my girls to have her along! In fact, Emmy had her first "sleepover" (x3) and so that was doubly/triply exciting. :) The middle-school girls only had a half-day on Friday and they were just watching a movie, so they didn't go and we were able to head out to Denver by 10:30. (Reese stayed the night on Thursday - fun! I guess there were some quiet "awkward" moments before they fell asleep . . . ha, ha.) We checked out Lucy and made our way to Denver without too much trouble. A snow storm had come through Thursday night, but the roads were decent enough on Friday for us. 

It was great to see Jim and Diana again! It had been quite a while . . . maybe like 1 1/2 years?! I don't know - long enough that none of us can remember, ha. (Looking through my blog, it looks like July 4th 2019 was the last time we were there . . . Wow.)

On Saturday I went on an always-delightful run on the Highline Canal paths. Then I got back and we got the girls ready for their meet. Reese's meet was at 11:30 and then Emmy was to follow at 3:00. It was hard for Emmy having to wait all day long. Her nerves were pretty fired up for this. I was happy to have been able to have Lucy join us as they only allowed for 2 spectators. But I had called earlier and explained my situation of bringing up another teammate and they were okay with it. Yay! So Lucy hung out and watched with me all day.

What cute friends and gymnasts! This was right after Reese's competition and right before Emmy's.

We love Reese!

Reese and Emmy did well - not their best meets, though. But they looked great out there! State is obviously harder as you are competing against only those who qualified. Emmy unfortunately had a very poor score on the beam (fell off twice - but she was the only gold I saw doing a back-handspring on the beam, plus I don't think she got credit for her full-turn as she didn't fully complete it). It was a total bummer because I knew it would take her out of placing in the all-around. However, she was able to place in all three other events and so that was super and better-than-expected!

2nd on vault!

2nd on bars!

Tied for 6th on floor. (Floor was a bummer because she usually scores quite well - like a 9.35, but only got a 9.1 at state even though I didn't see any difference from all the other meets she had done. Oh well.)

Afterwards we enjoyed a fun dinner at Olive Garden!

We had a fun, albeit it stressful and nerve-wracking for some of us, weekend! Sunday we had a good drive home and started back up with our normal lives in Montrose!

P.S. Videos are posted on my YouTube channel. They are all pretty much the same as before! (Oh, Emmy did have a big oops on bars but still managed a great score. Phew!)

Blythe, Instagram, Calendar, Braces

If I can't have a favorite, I can at least have a favorite Sister missionary! And there she is - Sister Blythe Hardy. How adorable is she?! We LOVED her. We got to love on her for the whole 7-months she served in our ward. Lucky us. She was the perfect combination of being super cool (she water-skied, snowboarded, played soccer and swam in college, had a Pearl Jam sticker on her water bottle, and so much more - she was just all-around cool) and super faithful in the gospel. Such a great combo - especially for my kids! We loved having her and her companion over each Sunday as they shared a message with us. We were so sad to lose her, but knew others needed a chance to have her. :) (Side-note: Jonas is Instagram friends with her younger brother. :)) We're excited to hang out as "normal" people someday after her mission!

The girls always ask me if they can do Instagram on my phone. And then I end up with dozens of weird pictures . . .

Bye bye March! You're a pretty awesome month.

Emmy got her top braces on! So cute! They would be awesome if they didn't gauge her gums and cause huge canker sores. :( Poor girl. But it's getting better already!

A few updates/what's happenings:

Ben will go to his first in-person Army drill weekend in 2 weeks. He's excited! He just got called as the EQ president. He's less excited about that, but of course willing and of course will do a great job.

We just refinanced to a 15-year loan and that was exciting. It cut off about 8 years and tens of thousands of dollars. I signed up for a half-marathon in Utah in June. It's my first half in a long while (8 years maybe, whoa). Emmy will run a 5k. Pretty exciting. Kind of. Ha. I just hope my old body can still do it.

Miles and Jonas are doing the climbing team. They've had a few competitions - in fact, today they are up in Eagle. Because there are less climbers this year, Miles has a good shot at going to state. He told me today he climbed well and his score might be good enough to get him in. Jonas won't make state, most likely, but he enjoys being part of the team!

Emmy joined the volleyball team at school. They have practices at 6:10 every weekday morning! Luckily it's only for a month and it usually works out that Ben rides with her and drops her off on his way to work. So that works out pretty well. She just found out she didn't make the "A" team, which she wasn't really expecting. It's just hard because all of her good friends made it and they keep talking about taking pictures "with just the A-team," "just the A-team" going to Dunkin Donuts next Friday, etc. That's what makes her most sad - not being included. Sad. But it's life and I am trying to teach her two things: 1. Make sure you don't exclude others and 2. Be a positive and strong leader with your teammates. I'm not sure my lesson sunk in. Sigh. She was quite upset on Friday. 

Lucy and Emmy are still in competition season. Emmy has state next week! Lucy's state isn't until June, but she has a couple more meets in between now and then. Fun, fun. We are contemplating having Lucy skip 5th grade . . . For several reasons, none of which is because she is smart. But, because she is smart, we do feel it's possible. It's quite a big process and involves the school counselor, her elementary principal, the middle school principal, her teacher, a 6th-grade teacher, her GATE (gifted and talented - which I hate saying and hate the acronym) teacher, and herself and parents! Plus an Iowa Assessment, etc. So we'll see. We're going through with the application process and will see what happens.

That's enough for now! 

Spring Break 2021

 Spring break was just that - a break. We did a lot and were all over the place, yet it didn't feel like too much. So it was just about perfect.

We had other plans - as in a 4-day backpacking trip. But the route we had decided on was still icy and cold in many spots. We tried coming up with other routes, but they just didn't work out. So we were scrambling to find a whole new plan. Which we finally did and it was a mix of adventures and so it was really fun. Plus, the boys' best-friend (and Emmy's longest-crush) Aiden came along and so that added to our adventures.

We began by heading out on Tuesday evening to St. George. My dream of working all day and coming home to a packed car by Ben was destroyed as Ben's work needed him (he was supposed to be off that day) - and then added on cases. GRRRRR. So I got the car ready. I mean, my boys helped (mostly Miles), but it was still mostly me. Sigh. Someday I will not have to pack up and get everything and everyone ready . . . :)

Anyways, we got St. George late and went to bed around 1am. We got up Wednesday and headed out to Kolob Canyon (part of Zion's). We had amazingly found one campsite that was available (there was literally one campsite in like 2+ months that was available) for the 31st, so we took it. The hike started out freezing. It was 37 degrees at the trailhead and windy. Brrrr. But we quickly warmed up as we hiked with packs on our back. The hike that day was just fine and dandy. We made it to our campsite after 4 hours of hiking. 

We set up camp and then chilled (some took naps) for a couple hours. Then we were on to more hiking . . . There was a waterfall up a canyon I head read about and so we journeyed there. About 30 feet from entering the Beartrap Canyon, you could feel the temperature drop like 15-degrees. The canyon was short, but had a lot of navigating so it took a little while. But we made it to the waterfall, which was a little unimpressive to Jonas ("Huh, it's pretty small," said Jonas - or something close to that). But it was still cool! We hiked back to our campsite and ate our Mountain House dinners, which were pretty tasty for backpacking food.

The kids played hot-lava and other games while Ben and I hiked another 40-minutes round-trip to fill up water bottles. We camped right along LaVerkin Creek, but supposedly there is cyanobacteria in Zion's waters and so we were not allowed to drink it. So there were a couple of springs on the trail where it was safe to filter and drink the water.

We slept well that night and got up Thursday, ate, packed up, and headed back out. It was a bit harder as we were hiking up, especially near the end - the hike descends on the way out, and so of course ascends coming back. But we made good time and it was all good.

We got back to the condo in St. George and chilled for a bit. The kids watched a movie while Ben and I ran errands, tried to figure out where to eat, etc. We ended up eating at Panda Palace which was pretty great as none of us had ever tried it. We went to Cottonwood Park where they kids had a lot of fun playing (more hot lava!) and then it was back to the condo and swimming for the kids.

Friday we cleaned up and headed out. We stopped off at BYU for some ice cream and a softball game. The game was super fun. The girls were impressive players! We finally made our way up to Midway and there we stayed until Sunday. We had a great time watching conference, Onewheeling, walking, riding the side-by-side, eating yummy food, etc.  

We left back for home after the Sunday morning session. We were able to listen to about half of the afternoon session in our car - thankfully we heard the announcement of the temple to be built in Grand Junction! Yay! There was a lot of happy screaming in the car and a couple choked-up adults as well. It was amazing to hear.

Now for the endless pictures:

The trailhead - so cold!

Lunch break!

We had quite a few creek crossings. Including in the canyon to the waterfall. Emmy slipped and totally got all wet. Remember, it was freezing in that canyon. So having wet pants didn't help at all. So I came up with a brilliant solution: take off your pants and use your sweatshirt for a skirt. Perfect and fashionable! (Lucy photobombed this picture perfectly.)

The small waterfall up the cold canyon. I was the first one to dare jump the freezing water. You can see how successful I was in clearing it. Actually, I didn't even try to jump it - I just walked through it. :)

Ben filtering at the spring.

All done!

BYU ice cream - that was my lunch and was well-worth skipping out on Burger King. :) So good!

Here we were at the softball game. It was hot and sunny and I didn't want my forehead and head burnt, so I fashioned an awesome hat-thing for myself. 

The kids really enjoyed the game, too. Fun, fun.

Dressing up is always awesome at mom and dad's.

(I should have gotten a picture of the kids playing on the new shuffleboard my parents got. It's awesome and tons of fun and we spent a lot of time playing it!)

A drive in the side-by-side with Grandpa. He took Jonas and Aiden to pick up our pizza later that day and let Jonas drive it. Cool.

Derek has an extra Onewheel hanging out all lonely like at my parents' place. So the kids, especially the boys, spent a lot of time on them. They had a great time - including the girls. Emmy said she has gotten worse and Lucy way better. :)

The girls did their own photo-shoot and had tons of pictures. Here are just two:

The Easter Bunny came on Saturday and that was fun. The kids spent a decent time searching for their baskets. But it was Grandma's special Easter basket that stumped them for about an hour. They even knew the EXACT room it was in - ha!!!! It was so great and so funny. My mom was quite clever and hid it in one of the food storage buckets. Awesome.

What a good time! We were especially happy and lucky to have Aiden join us - since he's moving after the school year. Sniff, sniff.