Woodworking and Fun with Friends and Family

January 30: Hannah posted this cute picture of her and Avynlea on her Instagram stories. Avynlea has such good cheer friends and I love the ones she chooses to be around. They are supportive of her and her values and love her for who she is, she is a lucky girl.

Ryker wants to try his hand at woodworking and has been talking with Kefford about buying a scroll saw. He went across the street to try out Katie's scroll saw and had a lot of fun using it. Braxton her little boy loves Ryker and really enjoyed hanging out and watching Ryker work. Ryker picked a Batman design to try out and Katie was really impressed with how well he cut out the intricate parts, he is natural.

The finished Project!

Rylee had a late night with her friends Tayci and Ella and Tayci's Mom took a picture of the three of them on a little bike ride :)

January 30: Avynlea had cheer pictures Saturday morning and after pictures she and her besties, Natalie, Paige and Hailey went out for brunch. They went to Denny's and it ended up being a long wait. I think the girl told them an hour so they hung out in the car for an hour and took these beautiful pictures and then when they got inside they waited at their table for an hour before getting any food. Sounds like they should have tried a different place but it all worked out and they had a lot of fun together. 

January 31: On Sunday we went out to Nyssa to visit some family. Kefford's Mom was in Idaho Falls so out first stop was to visit Bob. When we came in her was making frosting for some cupcakes he had baked, he said they were for his mistering families but as we were leaving he had us take all of the cupcakes. I don't even know. I did not want all of the cupcakes so I put a bunch on plates to take to some of Kefford's siblings. We stopped in at Whitneys to say hi and see their new house. My kids were up in the playroom playing with their little cousins and I think Maddie wrote out a conversation Sadie and Ryker were having. When Whitney discovered it she thought it was pretty cute and sent me a picture. Next we stopped in to see Trevor and Michelle and then we ended up at Jeremy and Gwens. It was fun to visit with everyone and to do something different then our usual hang out at Alison's all day.

Kylie and her family were going to Idaho Falls to visit Sara and Trista and they invited Alison to come along. They also called Kenedy and had her come to IF for the weekend and they all had a lot of fun together. Kenedy loved being able to spend some time with her Grandma and her Aunts and she always loves playing with Amelia. Alison brought some crafts along with her and Kenedy enjoyed painting and crafting with Trista and Amelia. I am glad that Kenedy got to have a fun weekend and spend time with family!

Family Shenanigans and Instagram Famous

 

Jan 23: Ryker has for a long time had an issue with being around us while we are eating. The fastest way to get Ryker to leave the room is to pull out a bag of chips, he just can't handle the sound of us chewing. My friend Michelle Ray seems to have the same problem and she posted one of her solutions to it on Instagram. Kenedy sent. screenshot to our little family chat and we all got a kick out of the thought of Ryker wearing these. Maybe if she makes a clip version we cn talk Ryker into it, LOL

Jan 24: Sunday evening found Avynlea and Ryker in a crazy, tumbling, let's be silly type of mood. Ryker was trying to get Avynlea to stand on his shoulders which she was really nervous about and did not seem inclined to do. Normally she has no fear while flying but she is performing with girls who know what they are doing and have been practicing these stunts for a long time. She does not have the same trust in Ryker and so watching them try to have her get on his shoulders was pretty comical.

Avynlea wanted to show off her headstands and of course Ryker had to get in on the fun and do the same thing. It was fun hanging out together and watching our kids have fun with each other and getting along. 

Jan 26: With some of my Christmas money I ordered a Princess Bride sweatshirt from a company I really like, ByKy Studios. She does Disney and pop culture designs and puts them on pillows, shirts, sweatshirts, cups, stickers and Iphone cases. Heather got me a Harry Potter pillow and a Disney pillow from this company for Christmas and I love them! I posted a picture of my sweatshirt on my Instagram hair page and ByKy Studios reposted it in their stories! That was a lot of fun to see!

Hide and Seek and Scripture Study

  Jan 20: Kefford took this picture, sent it to Kenedy and challenged her to find Rylee. It took her a while and she had to enlist 3 of her friends to help but she eventually did it. Well, her friend finally found her, I don't know if Kenedy ever would have. Her first thought was to send a picture of Rylee's name on our name pillow which was not the right answer. After more searching they were finally able to find the little hider, she was really hard to find.

There she is...behind the pots drying on the counter. 

Avynlea asked me to get her a book that was only The Doctrine and Covenants. I went to Seagull Bookstore and they didn't have what she was looking for so I went to Deseret Book and the only thing I found was a pocket sized copy. I sent her a picture to see if that was what she wanted and it was good!

Jan 21: I bought myself a set of The Doctrine and Covenants made easier and while I was reading D&C section 5 I was intrigued by verse 19. In the study guide the author said it could be a spiritual sickness the Lord is referring to but I know scriptures can mean different things at different times and right now it sure reads to me like it could be about the Corona Virus. I sent a text to my mom about it and she sent me a screenshot of her scripture study and said she was thinking the same thing. She also mentioned to me that when we are reading a commentary, that it is someone's opinion and that it could certainly mean something else to us. She said that God's words can change meaning as we go through life all of which I already had in mind but I sure appreciated the reminder. 

I was playing with different filters on Instagram and I like these two that I found. It's interesting how filters can soften a look or even make us look really different. I think Social Media is hard when all we see are people with filters living seemingly perfect lives and I especially need to remember that it's most likely not their true reality and I am comparing their filtered best to my unfiltered worst and I need to stop and remember that everyone has hard times, not just me.

Braiding

Jan 17:  For Family Home Evening we were talking with the kids about their Church Youth goals for the year. One of Avynlea's goals was to become better at braiding, to which Ryker scoffed at and said how easy it was and he could do it. That led me to invite Ryker to come and braid my hair and show us all how good he is at it. It took him quite. while but he was able to do it, maybe it wasn't the best looking braid but he did do it. 

Avynlea told him that a regular braid wasn't impressive, she can do those, she is talking about French braids and fishtail braids. Ryker was intrigued and wanted to try those braids so I briefly showed him how and he got to work. He started off with attempting a French braid but then quickly quit and said that was too hard. I then showed him how to do a fishtail and even put my hair in a ponytail so it would be easier for him. He started and then after struggling for a bit he added another hair elastic and called it done. That did not go as well for him but it was really fin having him try. Maybe he should be making learning to hair braid a goal for himself. His future daughters would love it!

After watching Ryker play around in my hair Rylee wanted a turn. She did one French braid and then decided she didn't want to do another one so on the other side she made a regular braid. She did a better job then Ryker but she also has had more practice, regardless it was a pretty fun turn of events.

Covid and Jackson Hole

While I was in California I started to feel a little sick. I didn't think it was anything other then a cold because Andrew Brown was sick and he tested negative for Covid and the flu and I was around him and around Atticus who was sickly himself. After I got back home I quarantined myself in my room so that my kids and Kefford wouldn't have to quarantine and miss more school and or athletics. I lost my smell and so I assume I had covid even though I never got tested to verify. I do not see a reason to get tested and I felt me testing positive to covid would make me one more statistic which I didn't want. I want our lives to go back to normal sooner rather then later and I think my getting tested is one less number they have. I recovered pretty quick and I don't think for me it was that big of a deal . I know that everyone experiences the symptoms different and it is really bad for a lot of people. I am just glad that I had it a little easier. Avynlea and Kefford both got sick but their symptoms were even easier then mine and they recovered really fast. Kefford went and got an immunities test and they said he either had covid or he had it right then. I don't know where the sickness came from, Mom, Heather, Erin, Mary Beth, Ashleigh and Andrew Brown all got sick also. I don't know if they got it from me, if one of them gave it to us or if we got it from some stranger, it's hard to tell but everyone recovered and for that I am grateful.

Jan 14: Emily sent me a couple boxes of Limeade when she heard I was sick and that was super thoughtful and made me feel good. While I was sick I was getting depressed because nobody was calling to check in on me but then I remembered that a lot of my family were sick and the ones who weren't didn't know I was sick so I quickly shut down that thought process. I am a lot more private and don't typically share a lot on our family's group chat, that's just my personality.

Jan 15: SexyModest is a clothing company that I like to buy from. They do pop ups in Costco and for two weeks in January they were having a pop up in the Nampa Costco. I got a gift card from Cyndi for Christmas and I was excited to use it at the pop up especially since the clothes are about 20% off what they are online. I picked out three shirts and one dress and then I sent Heather pictures of me wearing what I got. I love all of them but I ended up taking the dress back and exchanging it for the same dress just navy.

Jan 15: Kenedy took a day trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming with a group of friends. I am so happy for her that she is able to be back in Rexburg taking classes and having a social life. As much as I loved having her around during the whole covid quarantine I know it was hard on her not having peers to hang out with. She is back to loving the college life and I am loving the pictures she sends me.

l-r: Scott, Ryan, Bridger, Ashley, Myra, Cassie, Kenedy, Ty, Alexa and Jean Luc

 

Return to Cheer

Avynlea was super excited to show me her 80's/90's look today jan.6. The cuffed jeans and scrunched socks were 80's staples while the ripped jeans, converse and hoodie were total 90's. She looks adorable in any decade and I love her style!

Jan 8: Because of Covid no spectators were allowed at the Stinky Sneaker game, is it even a Stinky Sneaker if no fans are there? Seems to me it defeats the purpose and is a huge disappointment. We always love going to the Stinky Sneaker and it is so sad that we couldn't this year. It was held at Mountain View this year and one of the Mountain View peeps live streamed the game so we could watch it on YouTube. Kefford and I watched it at home and Avynlea went to MHS to watch it with the Varsity Cheerleaders in Kara's classroom. I am glad we were able to watch the game but it just wasn't the same and I pray that next year everything will be back to normal and we can start participating in these fun events again. Meridian smoked Mountain View and won the game and as far as the Sport Competition part of the night the Student Council's of both schools decorated the gym with banners and posters and that is what they were judged on. Mountain View won the spirit but it really was not a real win and I personally think it was a pity win since they have lost so many years in a row, no school can beat the spirit that Meridian students have! They can have it this year but next year...watch out!

In the above picture Avy is in the front in the grey sweatshirt with the purple water bottle.

Jan 16: Since Basketball season has started no fans have been allowed at games. The cheerleaders have been able to go and cheer at home games only but they are cheering to empty bleachers, so sad and not exciting at all. Just recently they announced that only 6 cheerleaders are allowed at a game but they can have two tickets each so parents can come and watch but only at home games. We have to sit 12 feet apart from any other spectators and we are sitting in the upper bleachers. Since only 6 cheerleaders are allowed at games this really limits the number of games Avynlea cheers at and we are thus able to go to. Since this new schedule has started Avynlea is scheduled for one game, ONE! But that is how it is for all the cheerleaders and I am grateful to at least have this one game to go to. Kefford came with me and we sat towards the bottom of the upper bleachers so that when the girls did their stunts I could get up and video without being in anyones way and close to the front. Avynlea did such a good job cheering, I love watching her and am so glad I was able to come to this one game. Boy is her cheer experience a lot different than Kenedy's, so crazy and again, I am praying for this all to end soon so we can just get back to normal life.

Avy is second from the right

During half time Avynlea had me come out to take pictures of her and Dreya in front of the Meridian wall. Of course I also had to take some pictures of Avynlea and then some of me and her. 

 

New Years Day

                                            I am switching it up again with my postings. I kind of enjoyed doing the postings weekly but I am so tired of everything Covid and I am tired of stupid quarantine and I am hoping that things will go back to normal sooner rather then later so I am going back to event postings. It's a new year and it's out with the old (hopefully, fingers crossed) and in with the new so my blog will be reflecting that. 

For the past year and a half I have been teaching the 16 and 17 year olds in Sunday School and I have loved it! I was really intimidated at first teaching the oldest group but I very quickly learned to love those kids and had such a great time in class with them. About a day ago I got an email from our Sunday school President letting me and Arin Lamb know that he is switching us from the classes we have been teaching to pairing us together and having us teach Course 13, which is Rylee's class. I am actually super excited to be paired with Arin and I am really excited to be teaching Rylee and the girls her age, no boys in this age group which is funny. But I am really sad to not be teaching Ryker's class anymore, I will miss teaching those kids. Luckily Ryker is friends with most of the kids in the class and they hang out all the time so I will be able to see them just not be their teacher anymore.

 On New Year's Day I sent Rylee a text telling her I know who her new Sunday School teacher and she responded with a "Who?". I sent her the selfie I took and she responded with a "You?"  to which I said "Yes". She was so excited to find out I was her new teacher, thank heavens, how awkward if she was not happy about it, and she very quickly told her friends who were also very excited. New Year, New class and it will be great!

Per tradition on New Years day Heather and I along with the Brown family and Erin hiked Mt Rubideoux.  

The first time we did it was two years ago and it was just Heather and I along with baby Atticus, his parents were at the Hospital because Ashleigh was having complications. Last year the three of us were joined by Ashleigh and Andrew Brown and this year Erin came along. It was a lot of fun and the weather was so nice. A couple of months ago Heather, Ashleigh and I signed up for a sloth virtual run which we never got a chance to do so we wore our tanks and counted the three mile hike as completing the virtual run.

We wore our masks while we hiked to be safe and took them off briefly for pictures. I wasn't thrilled with having to wear a mask but it is what it is. Atticus rode in his stroller most of the way and had fun playing around and getting his wriggles out at the top of the mountain. I am glad that I was able to be here to continue this fun tradition and am glad to be with my family.