Stuff

So we've been up to some stuff lately - but mostly just the usual stuff. Ben is training for his up-coming Ironman 70.3 (a half-Ironman) and has also been working a ton. Long days for sure! But he's getting some swimming, biking, and running in and so it should be good come May 4th. 

I was to go on a hut-trip with some friends at the end of February. This was our second attempt to go - and we got weathered-out again! The days before and after our reservation dates were gorgeous. But 35mph wind gusts and -65 wind-chill factor . . . no thank you. So in came plan B - Moab! We found an awesome airBnB and headed west. It was still a bit chilly and windy that first day, but we hiked in a canyon and it was perfect! We had a lot of fun eating out, visiting, watching a movie, laughing, etc. that night. Then on our way home the next day, we did another great hike. It was a perfect plan B. And the amazing thing - Csilla came! I always invite her but it has never worked before. So that was extra-awesome.

Jaymie, Brianne, Heather, Csilla, and me.

I'll do a separate post on Miles in a a bit. He's good and happy and having some of his first mission-struggles with a companion. Not bad. Just not great.

We did celebrate Miles' birthday - a day late because we were up in Junction for the girls' meet - oh, but we did get to talk to him on his birthday and while at the meet. It was fun! But we ate a classic Miles' bday dinner: elk pasties and mini-cheesecakes for dessert. :)

Jonas is busy with school in the mornings and working in the afternoon. He was able to become a lead guard (more money, less work - what?!) and so some of his shifts are in that capacity. He bought some type of gun (a really long one is how I would describe it ha) and enjoys going out and shooting at those clay pigeon things. He's enjoying his car, but something is wrong with it I guess. I mean, he's still driving it daily - but doesn't trust it at the moment for a long drive. We're working on getting him all set up at UVU and hope to find and secure housing soon.

Emmy had a big funk (with a capital F, cough cough) in her schooling recent. It was quite tragic for me. Her, not so much. Sigh. She just hates school. She got behind and then rather than motivate her to catch up, it just demotivated her even more . . . So we're slowing trying to get her caught up to at least some decent (or not even decent, but just not Fs or Ds) grades. It's tough. She had a pretty good gymnastics season, although she would say it was bad. She improved her All-Around score each meet and so I think that's great. She has some things to work on and hopefully next year will be better. But she did relax a bit on her last two meets and seemed to maybe even slightly enjoy them . . . Maybe. She's getting her giants on the bar and that has been super fun and exciting for her. 

I found this cutie pic on my phone one morning . . . 

The girls played around with my phone on our way to Junction for the Legacy meet. It was a good meet.

Emmy took 5th all-around. 

I think they were the only team with more than three gymnasts and so they ended up taking 1st. Yay. :)

After the meet, we headed over to Texas Roadhouse, per Emmy's pleading request. It was actually really yummy and a fun way to end the night. We were there at 9pm and so it was a late dinner and a late night - but all worth it.

Emmy actually screenshot this from her floor video at the home meet. What a perfect split - and this is actually from a split leap so even more impressive! Love it.

 

Go Emmy, go Emmy, go! After this video, Emmy put her giant on the uneven bars - yay!

Check out Emmy's Legacy Meet here and her Home Meet here.

Lucy wanted to make some money so she could spend it all within days! Which she did - both make money and spend it all (okay, not all - but a lot!). She texted a bunch of moms in the ward and told them she wants money for spring break and clothes and wa-lah! She has now babysat three times this past week. Go Lucy. She had a really great gym season, ending with an excellent meet at Legacy and taking 3rd All-Around. She was really happy with how it went for her. She most likely will not compete at state as I am 99% sure she'll be scheduled for a Sunday. Which she is bummed about, but also okay. (Contrast that to Emmy who is hoping to be on a Sunday so she can opt out - haha.)

Lucy had an awesome floor score and ended up getting 2nd. Her score was a 9.45!!

3rd place all-around - wow!!

The team taking 2nd. Go girls!

Lucy is always wanting friends over or going over to a friend's house. Here we have Jordyn, Lucy, and Ruby enjoying our hot tub.

Check out Lucy's Legacy Meet here.

Bella turned 6 on the 12th. I celebrated her by giving the dogs pumpkin with their food and taking Bella on a nice walk. :)

Happy Birthday Elder Maxwell!

Crazy to think that Miles is now in his 20s - a whole new decade. This one will be a big one with big things possibly happening - college, post-grad, marriage, babies, oh my! We'll have to see what it brings. . . 

Here's what the missionary has been up to lately: 

His most recent P-day not only included bowling (which he continues to win at. . . ha) but also paint-balling. What a "blast" hehe.

This is something Miles purchased (all the way from England), called a concertina. Similar to an accordion, but not an accordion. 

Yummmmm.

This is so Miles! I love it!

Happy 20th Miles!! Your family loves, adores, and misses you! :)

February Came and Went . . .

 Here are the odds and ends of other events that happened in February:

So while Ben, Jonas, and I were in Whistler, the girls had an adventure of their own - going on a travel meet to Corpus Christi, Texas. Of course the meet is just a side note to the trip. :) But it sounds like it was a fun trip for the girls. They flew out Friday, had their meets and did some shopping on Saturday, went to an aquarium and did a sunset horseback ride on Sunday, and flew home early Monday morning. Their place was on the beach and so there was plenty of beach time, too. This picture is of Reese and Emmy.

Emmy and Reese again - this time at the aquarium.

Eleven team girls went - only those in Platinum or Diamonds are invited on the travel meets. So this was Lucy's first time and she loved it.

Here are all the girls, plus the two coaches doing some weird squat things, getting ready for their horseback ride.

Lucy and June. I don't know why there are yellow rectangles around their faces . . . But the pink flamingos are fun!

The team girls at the airport.

Lucy taking a .5 while riding her horse.

Gracie, Lucy, June, and Ruby.

Platinum girls placing as a team. Lucy had a great meet. Emmy did okay, but wasn't super happy with it.

Gracie, Ruby, Lucy, and June again. :)

Jonas and Abby atop of some abandoned building in town. There's not much else to do in Mo-Town. . . 

Lucy and her bestie, Ruby N. (as opposed to her gym Ruby - whom Lucy loves as well) enjoying the hot tub.

Jonas and the parents bought new cars . . . 

Jonas got a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX. I guess teen boys know what this car is . . . As well as racers . . . As well as those into the Fast and Furious movies. I sure didn't ha. But it's fun and he loves it!

And this is what we bought: a 2022 Toyota Rav4 XLE. It had just under 9,000 miles on it - crazy! I am not sure we've ever bought anything under like 70,000 miles! We love it!

Lucy and Nixon on Valentine's Day. It's a .5 and so they look both cute and silly. :) And it makes Nixon tower over Lucy even more!

We sent our favorite RM some toffee from our local factory here - Blythe loved it. :)

Our cute and super simple but delicious Valentine's day dinner. :)

Bella is such a princess. She has to find herself a comfy spot in the back.

And that's a wrap on February!

Jonas' 18th trip to Whistler-Blackcomb, BC

Well Jonas' pick for his trip was a couple days of snowboarding at Whister-Blackcomb. We had thought of this because 1. Jonas loves to snowboard and 2. This resort is part of the EPIC ski pass and 3. The military rate for the EPIC is $165!!! Which is insane considering that the resorts on this deal each cost at least $200 for a DAY pass. So to get a season's pass to all those resorts is just plain crazy.

So Ben, Jonas, and myself woke up early Wednesday morning and drove straight to the Denver airport. We flew out of Denver at about noon, had a layover in Seattle (that turned out a bit longer due to a delay on our next flights) and we arrived in Vancouver, BC at about 5:30. We got our luggage (we got free luggage for all our gear and bags due to the military - yep, some perks!) and then got our rental car. The funny thing at the airport in Vancouver was the wild rabbits that were in the parking garage begging for food. Hilarious.

We got our car and began the 2-hour drive to Whistler. We stopped about half-way in a town called Squamish. We got some dinner and loaded up on a few groceries. Then we continued on the Sea to Sky highway - unfortunately, due to it being dark, we didn't get to enjoy the amazing scenery (spoiler alert: we do on the way back!). We found our Airbnb in Whistler and got all settled in for the night.

Thursday morning I drove the boys down to the gondola pick-up area - about a 1-minute drive. :) The boys had an amazing day and just loved the terrain of the mountain. The best they've ever experienced. Even though it hasn't been a great snow year for them, it was still so good. While they were out and about, I drove about 25 minutes to Whistler Olympic Park. I enjoyed miles and miles of cross-country skiing. The trails were gorgeous and so fun. It was perfect. That late afternoon I picked the boys up (they totally could have walked we were that close . . . ) and I think Ben and I drove around the town for fun. We cooked up some dinner at our place and then Jonas headed out to the rec center to do some weights. Haha. Ben and I had checked it out on our tour of the town and thought it looked decent. Jonas said a ton of people were there.

Friday was basically a repeat. But the boys did journey over to Blackcomb mountain - taking the 2.7 miles (sometimes 1,400 feet above the ground) gondola. That, in and of itself, was quite an exciting adventure! They loved Blackcomb as well and just had another all-around great time snowboarding. I went back to the olympic park and basically did the same trails as the day before because they were great. I checked out a few small little trails at the end. I ended up skiing about 25 miles in those two days. It was exhausting.

That evening Ben and I went and walked around the Whistler village shops and each got a shirt. Jonas had bought one earlier in the day at a place somewhere on the mountain. We went back and got Jonas and ate out back at Whistler villiage. It was good! We walked around the village - which is just huge and impressive! And that was pretty much the trip! 

We left Saturday morning a little before 8 and loved the gorgeous drive to Vancouver along the Sea to Sky highway. It was just incredible and pictures just don't do it justice. The ocean on one side and mountainous cliffs on the other - amazing. All went well with our flights and we made it back to Denver that evening and then drove to Joe and Britt's home for a nice dinner and evening visit. Jim and Diana joined us as well and so that was great. We went to church at Joe's ward Sunday morning and then drove back to Montrose.

A great trip and fun to experience it with Jonas. 

Here's our cute place at Creekside Village (as opposed to Whistler Village). 

Here the boys are the first day getting dropped off. Fun!

So pretty!

And here are pictures I took from my adventures:

On our way out we realized we didn't get any pictures of the three of us. So we stopped along the beautiful highway, but it wasn't the best place to capture the beauty. Oh well, we got the three of us at least!