Week 15 in Quarantine (Fathers Day and Girls trip to Seattle)

This Sunday we got to celebrate Father's Day. I am so grateful for Kefford and for the role he plays in our family, he is a good Dad and he loves our kids so much.

I got the kids up in the Am to make their Dad some breakfast. They made pancakes, scrambled eggs and he also got a nice big glass of Apple Juice.

Our big meal on Sundays is lunch and for lunch Ryker grilled some steak, Kenedy made a salad, Avynlea made french fries and Kool-Aid and Rylee made a cake. Right after Kefford ate his meal the kids were anxious to give him his gifts. Rylee got him the newest "Deep Thoughts" book he has been wanting...

Ryker got him a tailgate Football Toss backyard game that looks like it will be a lot of fun and Kenedy got him a "Duke Kaboom"motorcycle toy from Toy Story 4. Avynlea was not finished with her gift yet so she spent the afternoon finishing her present.

After naps and resting we congregated out in the backyard and watched the girls do tricks on the trampoline and Ryker also put together the football toss game. Kefford, Ryker, Avynlea and Rylee played with that for a while and it was fun to watch them.

Kefford and Avynlea were watching a church video a couple weeks ago about a girl who made sock monkeys. Kefford mentioned to Avynlea that she should make him a sock monkey and so she did for Father's Day. She took a pair of her clean, old fuzzy socks and made a cute little monkey. I am really impressed with how well she did and I think Kefford liked it.

On Tuesday I took the girls to Sweet, Idaho to get our brows waxed by Doris. We haven't been able to go since we were put in quarantine and it was nice to be able to go get groomed again. While Kenedy was getting hers done the girls had a little bit of fun with my phone.

On Wednesday Avynlea, Rylee and I drove to Seattle to spend a few days with Joshua and his family. Mom, Heather and Jaylynn were able to fly in from California the same day so they could meet all of us there. 

Rylee and Fredrick

On Thursday we went and got doughnuts and then we went to a park that is right by the water. The park was closed but we could enjoy the green grass and the area right by the water.

Heather and I had to do our heart picture while looking at the Seattle skyline. 

We are so glad that Jaylynn got to come on this trip. It will be fun for us all to spend more time with her and Rylee and Avynlea can do some more cousin bonding.

Avynlea and Rylee wanted a jumping picture with Amos and it looks like they are dragging him up for the picture, hahaha. It was fun watching them try to get a good jump shot.

Avynlea took my phone so she could get some beautiful shots of nature

Amos really enjoys having Rylee and Jaylynn here as they have become his playmates. He likes to go into the basement with them and play games and have fun. They are such good older cousins and are really good to play with Amos 

When we first arrived at the Lutes Home Amos was just getting up from his nap and was being a little shy with us all. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled over to him with a big smile on my face to get him to open up more with us. Right as I opened my mouth to say something to him Wendemere, Joshua's dog, appeared out of no where and licked my mouth. I got dog tongue on my tongue and it was gross, yuck. I am not a dog lover and everyone cracked up because of course this would happen to me. From then on any time Wenemere came near me everyone would laugh and tease me about my "boyfriend". On Thursday night we were doing family yoga with Ashleigh and after we were done we were sitting around talking when Wendemere came and cuddled right up to me. Seems I have a new friend :)

Amos and Fredrick have really enjoyed having Avynlea and Rylee at their house. They have been giving them good fun attention and they really liked having them read stories to them.

Friday we went to their beach and the kids had fun playing in the water. Avynlea and Rylee did not bring swimsuits but did a good job improvising and used some shorts and t-shirts to wade/swim in.

After swimming we stopped at "Dick's" to get some hamburgers and milkshakes to bring home for lunch. Avynlea really liked the mural of Seattle painted on the side of their building.

Mallory is an awesome baker and likes to bake lots of yummy things and Amos likes to celebrate birthdays. So on Friday we celebrated Heather's birthday, she was the one with the closest birthday, and we got to eat the cupcakes Mallory made which were Lemon cake with a lemon curd filling and cream cheese icing. They were so delicious and I wanted to eat the entire batch they were so good.

Mom has to do exercises every day for her physical therapy and Amos enjoyed being her little shadow and did them with her.

Saturday night after the kids went to bed we played a family game of "ticket to ride". I had never played this before and it was fun to learn and to play with my family. Heather and I were on a team and we did a pretty good job considering it was our first time.

Week 14 in Quarantine (Cheer Banquet, Audrey and Isabelle visit and Sara gets Married)

Another Sunday went by without a family picture. I don't know how I kept forgetting to take one. 

On Tuesday Ryker, Avynlea, Rylee and I went to Costco to get some things we needed. Costco has a mandatory mask wearing police and so we all went in with our masks on. I don't mind wearing mine although it does take some getting used to breathing through it. 

When we were done we loaded up our car and then waited for Alison and Whitney to get there. Audrey and Isabelle were staying at the farm for a couple of weeks and I invited them to come hang with us for a few days. Ryker was going back to the farm to work and so I took the girls while Alison and Whitney took Ryker. 

On Wednesday was Avynlea's cheer banquet. She and I were the only ones who attended from our family and it was nice although little bit boring. Being the Co-captains Avynlea and Pam had to get up and present their coaches with the gift the team got for them as well as say a few words. This was sprung on Avynlea right before she had to get up and she did a good job speaking but didn't say a ton and was quick to sit down. She said she was so nervous and was not happy about having to speak but I am proud of her for doing it. 

Once all the speeches and awards were handing out we were able to take some pictures.

2019/2020 JV Cheer Squad

Pam and Avynlea

The last two standing Cheer Captains. I am beyond proud of Avynlea and how she performed in her role as a Cheer Captain her Freshman year. She really stepped up to the task and was able to be a kind and fun leader to all of the girls on her team.

Coach Bailey, Avynlea and Coach Nicole

Avynlea will miss having these two Ladies as her coaches, they were so kind and supportive and made her first year really great.

Hailey, Avynlea, Landon, Natalie, Paige and Dreya

The tumbling six

Carrie and Hailey, Elizabeth and Avynlea, Diana and Natalie, Amy and Paige, Griscelda and Dreya

Cheer Mom Besties and our girls. 

I am so grateful for these women, their friendship and helping to make this year so much fun. 

Being on JV together this year has brought these three even closer and they have had so much fun cheering together. They took a pictures like this all the time and had to get one more to cap off the year and of course their mothers had to do a copy picture.

Avynlea got the "Most Daring" award For always being so willing to try new stunts and just "winging it".

I thought this was a good award for her. She had no fear as a flyer and was always willing and wanting to try new things. She told me that no matter who she was stunting with that she always trusted them and was able to learn so much because of that trust. 

After the banquet we came home so Avynlea could change and then we went over to the Hansen's along with Kenedy so Avy could talk to him about a cheer sponsorship. It was pretty fun to see this family again and we spent a long time hanging out and visiting in their backyard. Blake always expects a cheer performance from Avynlea if she wants him to sponsor her so she and Kenedy did the Warrior Fight Song. It was pretty cute to see these sisters cheering together and they got $500 from Blake which was pretty awesome!

Sara surmised us all by announcing a couple weeks ago that she and Jaime were getting married. They decided to do a courthouse wedding and most of the family were not invited but we were doing a family BBQ later that evening to celebrate. Sara asked me to do her hair and she came over that morning so I could do it and then she got ready to go get married while at my house. Once I finished her hair I had to take Rylee to her Golf lessons and I wasn't able to stick around to see the finished look but I made everyone promise to take pictures for me to put on my instagram page. I was excited to finally have a hair picture of a bride in her wedding dress but then was a little disappointed when I got the pictures and Sara was wearing her jean jacket. I asked them if they cold take some in her dress but this was her wedding look. She borrowed the dress and it wouldn't button up all the way and so she wore a jacket to hide that. Plus Sara is a big Tomboy and the jacket gave her a little bit more of a Tomboy look. 

I really love how her hair turned out and she was really happy with it and that is all that matters to me.

For the family BBQ I volunteered to bring a veggie platter and I brought the best veggie platter around. I had 8 different veggies and Ranch Dip, Hummus and Onion Dip to go with it. I used the platter that Grandma Marge had up on a shelf in her house and I inherited when she passed away, it is huge and was the perfect platter for all of my veggies. Basically it was a beautiful contribution.

While I was curling Rylee's hair with the wand Audrey came in and asked gif I would do her hair. She had just gone swimming and her hair was soaking wet and we had to be ready to go in about 30 minutes so I told her I didn't think we would have time. She said she would dry her hair really fast and she would be ready. I didn't think I had time but Audrey never lets anyone do her hair and I thought she must want this really bad so I said ok. That girl got dressed and dried her hair so fast I was shocked. We had time for me to cure her hair while RYlee did her nails and she had a little bit of pampering time which I think was fun for her. Curling her hair didn't take too long and she looked really cute when we were done. Everyone at the farm kept asking how I talked her into letting me do her hair and I just kept saying it was her idea. She was very protective other curls and I watched her make them just right for the family picture we took together, she is so sassy but so cute.

While at the BBQ I got into a conversation with Gwen, Michelle, Mikell and Brit about our comfy clothes and how Gwen and I were so ready to get home and into our joggers. As soon as I got home I changed and then sent them all this picture to let them know I was home and happy in my comfy clothes, maybe I should have smiled to better convey the happiness I feel for joggers ;)

Week 13 in Quarantine (cheer uniform try on, sunshine box love, Rylee gets stuck and Kenedy Nanny's)

Sometimes we get Sunday Family pictures and sometimes we don't. Often we forget and then it just doesn't happen.

On Monday Avynlea had her Cheer Uniform fitting. While at the fitting Kara mentioned that if it fit she could wear Kenedy's Varsity Competition Uniform and then we wouldn't have to buy one. We also could use her Nike cheer shoes from last year and Paige gave Avynlea her Varsity Name Shell she outgrew so we don't have to buy that either. I am very happy to not have to spend as much and am grateful that we can use some of Kenedy's stuff that she is no longer using. Eventually I will buy Avynlea her own Comp Uniform so she can have her own to keep forever but it will be nice to buy that next year when we already have other Varsity things from this year we don't have to buy. When we got home we pulled out Kenedy's cheer stuff from the attic and I took pictures of Avynlea in her uniform to send to Kara. She said it looked good to her and that Avynlea will have to work on her facials LOL

I have been having a hard time lately with depression and I was really struggling with missing my family and feeling left out of fun they were all having without me. I was lonely and sad and praying to Heavenly Father that I would get some kind of acknowledgment that I was not forgotten. I prayed about it on one day and nothing happened and then the next day I prayed about it again in the morning and then later that day I got a call from my Mom, Heather, Ashleigh and Emily who were all together at Mom's house. We are not a calling family, I call my Mom every week and Heather usually calls me about once a week but my Mom rarely calls me and I don't usually get calls from Ashleigh or Emily and so I knew when I told Heavenly father I needed a phone call that if it happened that it was an answer to my prayer. We chatted for a bit and then I told them that this phone call was a literal answer to prayer from heavenly Father and explained to them what I have been going through and feeling. It was a good talk and I felt better after hanging up. 

On Thursday I got a package in the mail from Mom, Heather, Ashleigh and Emily and it was filled with Sunshine and affirmations of love for me. It was the sweetest surprise and so appreciated. I have a hard time talking about my feelings and talking to my family about when I am struggling and so for them to reach out to me in this way when I put myself out there was really nice. 

Avynlea, Kenedy and Rylee bonding over something on Kenedy's phone 

Avynlea and Rylee went with me to run some errands and one of the errands I had to run was putting a check in the bank. While we were in the drive through waiting Rylee was messing with the window and I convinced her to put her upper body out the window. While she was hanging out I started to roll the window up as a joke and had Avynlea take a picture. I thought it was funny and thought Ryle would think it was funny but then I saw the pictures of Rylee with tears in her eyes and I felt so bad. I let her back in and apologized over and over while she ignored me and stared out her window. Eventually she did accept my apology and started talking to me again, she said it hurt and she couldn't breathe while she was stuck in the window and I felt even more horrible. Not quite the funny prank I had thought it would be.

Kenedy has been able to hold onto one of her nanny jobs during this pandemic and has really fallen in love with these kids she watches. She likes to take them to the park when the weather is warm and on this day I took Avynlea and her friends Sadie and Madison to meet her there. When we arrived we saw Kenedy at a picnic table with Ammon and Blair the kids she watches and McKoy and I thought they looked like a cute little family. McKoy stopped by to visit her for a bit but then had to leave to go to work. While we were hanging out Kenedy had me try to take some pictures of her with the kids. They were not too great at cooperating but Kenedy looked great.

Happy Birthday Kefford

Today we celebrated Kefford's 44th Birthday. For dinner I made him steak and onion rings with watermelon and chips on the side. I thought it was a pretty great meal. 

Rylee thought it was a little too bright and needed to wear her sunglasses while we were eating. Kefford is not a big fan of getting his picture taken so I didn't have him pose for a picture I just tried to keep the picture taking a little more casual.

He really likes german chocolate cake so that is what we made him and Avynlea did a great job making the delicious frosting. We found the shark candles while we wee getting birthday stuff and the girls talked me into getting them for his cake. I think it gives the cake a fun festive shark flair!

For his birthday Kefford received, Beef jerky, Peanut M&M's...

A case of rootbeer and Caramel M&M's. He didn't want anything for his birthday but I cannot let anyone not have anything for their birthday so we kept his gifts small and yummy :).

The birthday boy loves his cake!

Family Selfie!

5 things I love about Kefford

1. Kefford is one of the funniest people I know. He has a great sense of humor and I love listening to him tell stories and crack jokes. One of my favorite things is how he laughs when he finds himself being funny and I love how he looks to see if anyone is paying attention when he is randomly making jokes. He keeps us all laughing.

2. Kefford has a great work ethic. That is one thing I always admired in my Dad and I love that Kefford has the same quality. He works hard to earn money for our family and while he does like to have relaxing time he doesn't usually like to sit around and chill, he likes having things to do. I am so glad that my kids have his good example in their lives.

3. He has a strong testimony and puts his all into his church callings. I love that no matter what calling Kefford has he does his best to fulfill that calling. He loves the Gospel and is a good example of a righteous Father and in leading our kids to do what is right.

4.  Kefford loves spending time with his family. He doesn't really care which of his kids he is with he just likes having them around and I love that about him. He is a great family man! He watches movies with them, goes to the store with them, hangs out in the backyard with them. I love it and love that he loves to be with us.

5. I love when Kefford surprises me. He is good at listening and remembering when I mention things and then will surprise me with whatever it was on my birthday or for Christmas. I love it!