We got to go to the Bear Lake cabin for a little bit at the beginning of the month! We saw some really cool animals up on the trail; ptarmigan and moose! We see moose quite often but it's always cool! We went fishing
Ptarmigan!
Moose
We went to BYU with some homeschool friends to do a little field trip at the planetarium. It was cool and we learned a lot! Rusty got to come with us, and afterward we checked out a LEGO exhibit they had in the library. It was really cool! Afterward we got lunch and ice cream before heading home.
We studied volcanoes this month, partly because they really wanted to and also partly because of our upcoming trip to Iceland. We got to do some fun experiments with them, and one of them was making homemade play dough and making a model of the Earth's layers.
We got to go to a cool Poetry Night put on by the co-op. The kids got to share their favorite poems and then there were two men that are professional story tellers and reciters. They performed four or five poems each for us and it was so cool! Each of them had a very distinct style; one did cowboy poetry and one did classics like Paul Revere's Ride.
I accidentally left the house with my slippers on instead of shoes so I decided to go barefoot and say I was "grounding"
We did the Wax Museum! I was really excited to put this on and the kids were ready! They both did such a great job and they had their little speeches memorized. It was also fun to hear about all of the other people that the kids' chose. My parents and Jessica came to listen to them, and our group went out to get pizza in Provo before going home. The kids, Rusty, and I stopped at Bridal Veil Falls to hike around a little bit.
It was a big month for homeschool events! It was also the Egg Drop. The kids got to make a little contraption that was supposed to keep the egg from breaking when it fell down from the firefighter's ladder. None of theirs worked, but they were excited to try again next year! It was fun to go and see other people's ideas too.
We pulled out the nail/Beauty Salon set and played with it! The girls love these sets so much.
AJ brought his fancy car over that he rents out because he knew that our kids really love fancy cars. Henry learned about AJ's business from him a while ago and has since decided that's what he wants to do. AJ was SO nice and came over to show them and let them go on rides with Rusty.
May 10 came again and I hate this day. But my kids were so great to me! We started the day out at a Nature School party at South Fork. After we got home I was feeling pretty sad so we went downstairs and played Donkey Kong and Della wrote me some notes. Then I took a bath and watched The Great British Bake Off and ate the most delicious eclairs that Rusty drove all the way to Salt Lake to get for me. That night, we had tickets to go see Annie in Salt Lake and it was sweet because when Henry was a little baby we went to see Annie with Beckie in Idaho.
There was a cute little family of mice in this tree!
Alyson was the best and sent me beautiful flowers!
Mothers Day! Rusty and the kids spoiled me and were so good to me. I woke up and they got me presents, we ate yummy food and watched a movie, and then we called Grandma Joan, Phyllis and my mom to wish them happy Mother's Day! And we sang my mom the song the kids learned in primary. It is so sweet and made everyone cry.
Rusty plugging his ear so that he couldn't hear me and Jessica "cackle"
Henry and Beckham
Larissa's birthday was March 6, but things were crazy and busy so I took her out for her birthday date this month! We went for a fun hike and then went out and got breakfast. I love her!
We also got to go out for lunch to the Blue Boar! I had never eaten here other than when we came for our anniversary and had breakfast here. I didn't know you could just go eat there without staying there. The food was SO good and it was fun to get out together!
For our anniversary this year, we went and did sealings in the Orem temple and then ate at P.F. Changs. They actually had some really great gluten free options and it was so delicious!
We did an impromptu tea party! The kids loved it, and my girls wanted to dress up.
One Saturday morning Rusty took Henry to the moto track and I took the girls to a new park! Well new to us. It was awesome! I had heard a lot about it, but it doesn't show up on a map so it's kind of a lesser known thing. Then we went to try to pick out some flowers for the front and back porches.
After the moto trip and the park we met up with the Bartons. We started by doing Lisa Falls, which is one of my favorites and then we went to a different trail and played there for a little bit. It was called Temple Quarry Trail and none of us had ever been there before, but it was fun!
Henry had his first piano recital! He was really nervous, but he worked hard and practiced a lot to get to a good spot with his song. He played "Spoonful of Sugar" and was the first person to play. AND HE ABSOLUTELY NAILED IT! Grandma and Papa and Jessica came out to support him and I was so grateful!
We took Henry on his Christmas solo date! He wanted to go to the aquarium and feed the penguins, which he had done but a couple of years ago. We had the best time! Henry got to blow bubbles for the penguins this time which was new and they just loved them so much! We fed the penguins and then spent time looking around the rest of the aquarium. To end the day, we got some penguin donuts from their bakery!
It was a big day for me when my little girl picked up her lacrosse stick for the first time! I never thought that my kids would really want to play lacrosse, but I had hoped they would! I wanted Della to do a team sport, so she decided to do lacrosse. She ended up really liking it and she was good at it too! She got a goal in one of her games (there were only 4). We also dealt with our first round of "bullying" or friend issues with Della. One of her friends on the team hit Della on the head with her lacrosse stick on purpose and then later told Della's other friend that they shouldn't talk to Della anymore. And the little girl said no, but then she felt embarrassed and did follow the first girl. It absolutely broke Della's heart. I told her that other people's actions are not a reflection of who we are; and nobody's comments can ever change our worth. She was brave and worked it out with her friend on her own even though I wanted to call the mom and sort it out for her. It was like when Henry had that problem in first grade and that boy kept punching his backpack. He told him to stop a bunch of times and then eventually just punched him back. And then they were best friends for the rest of the year haha.
One game Della got to play at the half time of a high school game! She was sooo excited about playing on the big field.
For their final game, we did a kids vs parents game. It was a blast to play lacrosse again! What?!
Rusty finally got his Sierra Car! He got to go out and play with it and had the best time. He loves his little toy car!
Struggles. Wow this is rough to write about, even though it's now November. I had been doing so well I decided in February to stop taking my medication. Beckie's death day was hard but doable, but then on the 17 I went to a friend's house for a party and some rougher topics got brought up; things that are triggers for me. I went home that night and had a really big panic attack; my first since November 4, 2022. This started a whole new season of struggles for me, that honestly lasted until now. I'm feeling pretty good now but it was a long journey. It involved getting back on medication, getting really serious about exercise, doing some more work to try to control thought patterns and lots and lots of prayer, studying, fasting and blessings. I was pretty devastated during this month because I thought I had put this all behind me, but it came back. I was terrified that it would stay forever, or at least for five years like last time. It was another very testimony strengthening experience, and although I do hope that it never happens again I have a feeling that I'm not quite done with this trial. I got a blessing once that said that every time this happened I would be able to get over it easier and quicker, and I am seeing that this is proof of that. It was about six months (I'm still not 100% but really good) and that is way better than five years. And these panic attacks were not as bad as they were before. I had a few stand out ones, like the first night and one in Austria. This made me cancel a girls trip with Chelsea and I was really anxious about Iceland and Austria, which kinda put a damper on both of those. But, trials make us stronger and I do believe that this did it for me. I'm hoping that this time I can stay humble enough or spiritual enough or whatever so that I can be done learning this lesson haha.
Olivia got her mission call to Calgary, Canada and her farewell was this month! Rusty had to be in Colorado at a family reunion, so the kids and I went to the farewell with my parents. Her talk was one of the best talks I've ever heard; it was beautiful. She will do a great job on her mission and the people of Canada are lucky to have her! My parents and I stayed in a hotel and played in the pool and went out to get some lunch.
Rusty went to Colorado for a family reunion at the cabin. He camped in our tent, and he froze to death haha. He got to hang out with his family and go fishing with Chase.
I apparently loved the penguin situation at the aquarium, because I went back again to take Jessica for her birthday present. It was actually so fun again! It was fun to take Jessica and watch her be so excited about it. We got dinner afterward at a new place and it was delicious!
We took the kids fishing at the pond and Rusty made each of us put our own worms on. And it was an awful experience that I hope I never have to do again. I tried to be brave and do it to show the kids and it did not work well. I squirmed and screamed and struggled big time. After we went fishing, we went to ride our bikes home and Amelia's tire was flat so Rusty had to ride his bike home and then come back for us in the truck.
We went to Uncle John's to go swimming and start off the season!
We did swimming lessons again! The kids are progressing well and even after taking all winter off they are still remembering and killing it! I love these lessons.
WE GOT SOD!! FINALLY!! What a glorious day!! We can't walk on it for two weeks but I don't even care!!
Beckie's peonie
Kids so happy for grass they're jumping and dancing
We did a shark party for Mom's birthday! I wanted to do something special for her and she wanted a party, so we did a surprise party and set everything up while she was out shopping! She was genuinely surprised and it was so fun!
Extra Pictures:
I went on a girls' date with Bryndee and took no pictures with her but did take one with Kyle
Micah
I finished this CREATE!!
Bailey NOT feeling bad after she ate an entire plate of pancakes that were on the counter while we were at swimming lessons
Henry's Highlights:
- Came downstairs one night over an hour past when he should have been asleep. He was laughing his head off and just showed me a crayon and said, "It's called Mac N Cheese!"
Adeline's Adventures:
- Ate hummus and said, "... I think there's.... something not right about this."
- I told her about a surprise I got for Larissa and said it was secret. She said, "I never tell people secrets. It's my specialty."
- "I'm trying to feed a bird out of my hand. Is that wise?"
Amelia's Updates:
- We were playing Lava Monster at the park and I reached for her and missed. She laughed and said, "I'm a sneaky one!"
- Always says, "In real life"
- Randomly one day started talking about her "trusty blanket" and wanted to bring it everywhere. We have a cute video of her saying "trusty blanket"
- Henry was whining and Amelia says, "Henry, you sound like an old woman." I said, "Lia why did you say that?" And she said, "Because he said 'I'm being an old woman'". He definitely did not say that haha.
- I ordered pink lemonade at a restaurant and she said, "I've never seen a pink lemon!
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