With Cousins

Rylee has been complaining about her vision not being so great and so I took her in for an eye appointment. She has 20/20 vision but she does have a slight astigmatism so her Dr recommended very low prescription glasses for when she is in school. On Saturday March 20th Kefford took her to try on some frames, they found the ones they like and ordered them and now we wait for them to come in.

While studying Come Follow Me I read this verse in Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This section is a revelation through the Prophet Joseph to his wife Emma in regards of the will of the Lord for her. I have been struggling a lot with understanding the Lords will for me and being frustrated with not knowing why things are the way they are. Verse 4 gave me some comfort in helping me to know that I am not being ignored by the Lord and that I need to trust more in His wisdom and timing. It is so hard not being able to have answers and I am trying to have more Faith in my Heavenly Father and trust that He does love me, is aware of me and that the right things are happening for me.

While I was Facetiming Heather on March 22 my phone took a screenshot of her. My phone has a feature that just by touching the back of the phone a certain way it will take a screenshot, I don't know the magic touch but it happens quite a bit. Most of the screenshots I accidentally take I just delete but I liked this one so it was kept.

On Tuesday of Spring Break Ryker took his friend Scotlyn to Nyssa to go flying in Bob's plane. While they were out there Ryker took her in the side by side where they took a couple of pictures together. Ryker loves spending time out at the farm and was really excited to take Scotlyn out there to show her around. They had a pretty good day.

On Wednesday Kefford took Avynlea and Rylee out shooting. They also brought along the little motorcycle so the girls could ride around if they wanted. These two pictures are the pictures that I was sent of their fun outing. Avynlea on the bike and Rylee with the gun.

My good friend Amber stopped by with a special treat for me. It was so fun for her to come by and to be able to visit a bit. I sure do love being around her and with her nursing schedule and my teaching schedule it is harder to find time to get together. Hopefully we can find more time to hang out.

On Friday Avynlea, Rylee and I dropped Kefford and Ryker off at the office in Emmett to get some stuff done while we went on to Sweet to have Doris wax our brows. When we were done we picked up the guys and then stopped in a Kelsey and Brits to chat with them for a minute. Our two families are planning a trip to Hawaii in May and we wanted to talk a little bit about where we were staying. The kids got to visit with their cousins and see their baby bunnies which made them happy. Hazel went back and forth between Avynlea and Rylee showing them her book, she is pretty cute.

Later that day Kefford was helping Ryker fill out some of his mission papers. He needed information about when Ryker had his seizure in elementary school and it gave me great satisfaction to be able to pull out the blog book for that year and give it to Kefford for all the information he needed about that incident.  

Saturday we went out to the farm for the day to visit and to see Whitneys newest baby. She had a little baby boy that they names Dylan and he is so tiny and cute. Kenedy is moving to Texas on Monday for a long term Nanny job she got and she drove home from Rexburg that day and met us in Nyssa. She wanted to see her newest cousin along with all of her cousins and grandparents since she won't be able to for a long time once she leaves.

We all enjoyed the warm weather and spent some time outdoors. Ryker,Kenedy, Rylee, Avynlea and Mikayla all had fun playing on the swing set. 

Ryker and Bob worked a little bit on Bob's model airplane.

We got a picture of Kenedy holding her newest Cousin, the oldest and the youngest of the Grandchildren, for now.

Avynlea and Dylan

Elizabeth and Dylan

Kefford and I left the kids in Nyssa to stay a little bit longer and we took the opportunity to go out on a date. We have heard about a local restaurant called "The Hungry Onion" and we decided to go check it out. We took Ryker's pickup and got our food and then we stopped at a local park to sit in the back of the pickup and eat. It was nice to be outside having a tailgate picnic and I enjoyed being able to spend some time with Kefford.

Sunday we went over to Aunt Vickis for a potluck dinner with her, Jared and Brittney, Todd and Andrea and Darla and Tim. It was fun to hang out and visit with them since it has been a long time. We decided we needed to do it more often and told them to let us know when we could get together again.

After that we stopped in at Mikell and Steves to see them. We love all of their kids but Jason is at an especially fun age and he kept us entertained.

 

Cheer State Competition!

Our boundaries are changing within our school district and starting with Fall 2021 we are in the new Owyhee High School boundaries. Since Westada has an open enrollment policy I told my girls if they wanted to be at MHS that we would put in a transfer for them. Avynlea wanted to stay while Rylee decided to go to Owyhee. Both of them wanted to be where there friends were and I did not blame them one bit, its important in High School to have good friends. We put in transfer papers for Avynlea thinking it was going to be no big deal for her to stay at Meridian but then we kept hearing that it was going to be harder then we thought. Owyhee is a new High School and they want the numbers so it was going to be hard for kids to transfer out. We kept seeing and hearing amazing things about the cheer coaches at Owyhee and so Avynlea was talking herself into being ok with going to Owyhee. Luckily we got the email saying they are letting Avynlea stay at Meridian, yay! I later found out that only 30 kids were accepted to stay at MHS, I do't know how many applied but that does not seem like a lot that got to stay. I am glad Avynlea was one of the ones given the opportunity to stay at the school she started at.

This week was the long awaited State Cheer Competition Week. Every practice this week had a different dress up theme and Tuesday it was Disney. Avynlea and two of her cheer friends, Dreya and Hope, decided to dress as Fairies, Avynlea was Tinkerbelle, Dreya was Vidia and Hope was Fawn. I helped Avynlea with her bun and she looked pretty cute!

Friday was the say for State and it is tradition for the cheerleaders to not go to school and to have a team brunch. The brunch wasn't until noon and I did not see a point for Avynlea to stay home from school so I told her to go to just her morning classes. She said that there was absolutely nothing going on in her first class so I let her sleep in and go to her second class. She had a good time being with her friends at the brunch and the story Kara posted on instagram had her on it so I took a screenshot.

The cheer team got ready all together and then travelled to the Idaho Center for the Competition. Spectators were allowed and we were told that we had sections for our school to sit in. We were on the opposite side of the teams performing and it was not close. We moved up a section so we could see better but they were still super far away. I didn't mind too much because I have seen them perform so many times. Whenever our team performed Kefford would get closer so he could video and I just watched, it was nice. 

Team prayer before hitting the mat. I love that they do this.

Rylee, Ally, Kefford and Alison along with me came to watch Avynlea perform at State. The only teams competing were the 5A teams, all the other levels performed at different times throughout the day to enable social distancing. I like watching all of the other teams so it was a bummer to miss out on that but it made out night end a lot sooner which I can't complain about,

Kara invited the JV team to come and be with them while at State and Hailey was one of the girls who came along. I managed to get a picture of all 5 of the cheer besties after they were done competing.

Dreya, Paige, Hailey, Avynlea and Natalie

Coach Amanda, Avynlea and Coach Kara

The team placed 2nd in Coed Show,  4th in Sideline, 4th in Pom and 4th Overall which is a huge accomplishment since they beat out every other Coed and SIC team! I am so glad that Avynlea was able to compete at State this year with her team and that we were able to go and watch. Slowly things are getting back to normal and hopefully next year normal will be the new normal!

Happy 14th Birthday Rylee!!

Rylee decided she wanted a birthday party this year and I said she could but knew there was a big possibility she would back out and decide against it. The last time she had a friends birthday party was for her 5th birthday. She always had options after that to have parties but after saying yes to one would back out later and say no. She stuck with it this time, designed and sent out the invitations, planned the food and the games and decided to invite everyone in her Young Womens class. Brynn, Allie, Ella, Tayci, Saylor, Mikayla, Claire and Kenzie all were able to come. She decided to have everyone over Friday night the week before her birthday, have the party and then have her two best friends, Tayci and Ella, stay the night afterwards. Wouldn't you know that I was so concerned with staying out of Rylee's way and letting her do her thing that the only picture I took was of her and her two besties at their sleepover. I cannot believe I forgot to take pictures of her party, super big Mom fail.

She had a good time and it went really well. She didn't want to open her gifts in front of everyone because she just feels too awkward doing it and told her guest that and that she would open them later. They all understood, except Mikayla had a hard time with it. The girl is overly emotional about everything and she came downstairs for a break from the fun and found Kefford alone in the Living Room so stopped to chat with him. She got pretty weepy when she told him that she really wanted to watch Rylee open her present but understood after he explained the reason why. 

Tuesday March 16th was Rylee's 14th Birthday! Of course it was a remote learning day so she was at home for this special day, gotta keep with the tradition of never being in school for her birthday I guess.

Rylee had doughnuts for her Birthday "cake" at her party and I knew how much she loved doughnuts and since she had a cake for her actual birthday I got her doughnuts for breakfast, chocolate and maple with sprinkles!

I told Rylee I would buy her lunch and asked her what she wanted. She was in school and didn't have enough time to go out on her break so I stopped and picked her up the McDonalds meal she wanted. Chicken nuggets, fries and a sprite. She also asked for a cheeseburger but that one I completely forgot to get. She was ok with it and enjoyed her yummy lunch.

Tayci and Ella stopped by with a Birthday sign and balloons to celebrate the Birthday girl. I think this is the remote learning version of decorating the locker. It was super sweet of them and Rylee felt loved.

For dinner we had Rylee's favorite, Spaghetti and meatballs! I also made a sale and had garlic bread to go with it. 

After dinner it was present time! From Brielle and Qiana she got a water bottle, a journal and an Idaho necklace. From Grandma Bonnie she got candy and money, from us she got 2 new dresses, 

A hair wrap, 3 new shirts,

A bluetooth label maker, Jasmine themed wet brush and piano books from Avynlea...Newsies and Oklahoma.

For her birthday cake she wanted a chocolate one from Costco and she wanted to light the candles herself

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl, We Love You!!!!

After the cake she wanted to try out her new label maker and labeled her new piano books. :)

Alison's birthday gift to Rylee came a couple of days later, she got a pineapple, soap, water bottle, succulents and some cash. Spoiled girl!

Rylee's Favorites:

1. Dinner: Spaghetti and Salad
2. Dessert: Ice Cream
3. Candy: Skittles
4. Color: Purple
5. Friend: Tayci Olsen, Ella Eaton, Taylee Price
6. Scripture Story: Nephi and the Gold Plates
7. Primary Song: Army of Helamen
8. Radio Song: Kings and Queens
9. Book: The Maze Runner Series
10. Movie: Tangled
11. TV Show: Phineas and Ferb 
12. Thing to do: Hang out with Friends
13. Place to go: Grandparents Houses
14. School Subject: Photography and Art

5 things I love about Rylee:

1. Rylee is still my number one reader and it brings me joy every time I see her with a book in her hands, which is all the time! She finished reading" the Work and the Glory" series which she really enjoyed and I had her start reading "Children of the Promise" which she is breezing through. It's fun to see her reading more and more of my recommendations, books that I have loved, and having them love them as well.

2. I have my kids FaceTime with my Mom every Sunday and I love that Rylee is usually the first to want to chat with her. Rylee is developing a closer relationship with my Mom which makes me happy since the in person time she has with her is rare. I also love that Rylee has maintained close relationships with her Cousins on both sides of the family. She loves spending time with all of them and I love that she text messages the Cousins that are closer to her age and is able to communicate and keep in touch that way.

3.  Lately it has been just Rylee and I around when dinner is ready. I love the time spent with her and I love that she wants to say the prayer on dinner...always. Every time I say we need to have prayer she wants to say it. She says it gives her more blessings and also if she says it she can make it fast so she can eat sooner but I have noticed her prayers are not that short and she doesn't speed though them. I love that she wants to take the opportunity to communicate with her Heavenly Father and show him gratitude for the food we will eat.

4. I have been getting text messages from Rylee's leaders since she has started in Young Womens telling me how wonderful she is and how much she contributes in lessons. Multiple leaders have told me how blown away they are by the comments she makes in class and how thoughtful and mature she is with her participation in class. I love that Rylee is a natural leader and tries hard to be inclusive and loving to everyone. She is developing a strong testimony and I am grateful that she is such a positive and kind person.

5. Rylee is her own person, she marches to the beat of her own drum and she is unapologetically herself. I love that she knows what she wants and that she isn't too influenced by those around her. She is what she is and that's good enough. She has her own style and her own way of doing things and I love it. I love that she is comfortable with her she is and doesn't try to change herself to fit in with anyone else. 

3.14= Pi Day!

On Thursday March 11 I met up with Cristal after dance class at Blaze pizza. I haven't seen her in a while and it was good to catch up and hang out again. While I was eating I noticed a salt crystal on my pizza in the shape of a heart. It warmed my heart and I love when I see hearts in random things.

Later that day I was checking Avynlea's location to see if she was on her way home when I noticed Kenedy's location was in Boise. I thought that was really weird and assumed she was coming home to surprise us. I followed her tracking and when she was close I watched for her and went outside when I saw she had arrived, basically the app lets me be a stalker:). I went out the front door while she was entering the garage code and asked her what she was doing. She had an opportunity to come home for the weekend and last minute decided to do it surprising us all, except for Kefford, he knew she was coming. It was a fun surprise and I was really glad to have her home for a couple of days. 

Friday night Ryker's friend Scotlynn came over and while we were all hanging out Ryker decided to practice braiding her hair. It was kind of cute and he had fun playing with her hair. He did a better job then when he practiced with my hair but he still needs more practice.

Saturday, Kefford, Kenedy, Rylee and I went on a walk to enjoy the nice weather and to get out of the house for a bit. Rylee decided to wear her roller blades on our walk and then had us stop to take a picture of her wearing them. Kefford was riding the little motorcycle next to us but I forgot to get a picture of him doing that. So I guess, Kenedy and I walked while Rylee and Kefford rode wheels. 

Also on Saturday Avynlea's cheer coach posted on instagram all of the cheerleaders that made the Academic Honors list. The SIC, Southern Idaho Conference, honors all Varsity athletes who maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Avynlea is a 4.0 student and I am so impressed with how she is able to maintain a high GPA while being so involved with cheer. The sport requires a lot and Avynlea is very busy but it is important for her to keep her grades up so she puts in the late hours in order to do that. 

Sunday March 14 was Pi Day and I love to celebrate Pi Day! Kenedy was leaving in the early afternoon to go back to school so I told everyone we were eating our big meal at noon that day so that she could be a part of it. I made pizza dough and I made a big pizza pie for everyone and then divided out the remaining dough so that everyone could also make their own pizzas. Earlier in the morning I also made a chocolate pie because you can't celebrate Pi day without a yummy treat of pie!

I didn't get a picture of everyone making their pizzas or pictures of everyone with their cooked pizzas but I got pictures of everyone doing something with pizza either making, posing or both. 

All of the food was delicious and I look forward to this day every year! 

Happy Pi Day!