Anna said Yes to the Dress

 

Kenedy was invited to go with Anna and her family wedding dress shopping. Kenedy had a lot of fun and sent Rylee and I some pictures of Anna trying on dresses. It came down to these two dresses which were both so beautiful on her but ultimately she chose the one on the right. I love it and love that she looks so confident and feels so good in it. She is beautiful!

There is someone who goes to the Lacrosse games to take pictures and then posts them on Social media. I found him because Rylee's coaches will repost the pictures on their Lacrosse account. I love finding the pictures that have Rylee in them and in this set I found two with my favorite player number 7.

Alison came to watch one of Rylee's games, it was a little rainy but not too bad, it was fun having her come and support Rylee.

The Seniors Moms decided to surprise our daughter's and get FatHeads made of them. I had Rylee's at this game and when she spotted it she was pretty embarrassed. I think she looks beautiful in the FatHead and love waving it around whenever she does something amazing which is often.

The girls played against Vallivue and won! It was a great game and I am so proud of our team, they just keep getting better and better.

Dustins family was coming through and they stayed at our house for one night. Kefford pulled out some of Ryker's cars and trucks for their youngest Nathanial to play with. Unfortunately, when no one was supervising, Nathanial got into Rykers cars collection and opened a bunch of the packages that had never been opened. Dustin felt really bad and promised to try to find them in the stores so he could replace them.

Shooting

 Another day another Chocolate cake doughnut with nuts, my favorite doughnut! Yum! I took a picture so I could send it to Stephanie since I found out it is also her favorite doughnut.

My friend Stephanie had me cover her dance classes for me because she was going out of town. Her niece went on the Bachelor and made it to the final two. Stephanie needed to go be with her family for the home town dates. He niece Litia did not get the final rose which was sad but I did try to watch the b ache lore this season because I wanted to watch her niece. Honestly the show is so boring and I really do not like it, the bachelor makes out with all of the girls and it is just icky to me. I would fast forward through a lot of it  just to get to the parts Litia were in. After a few episodes I gave up on the show but I did have to watch th hometown dates episode to see if I could spot Stephanie. I had Rylee watch with me and it was so fun when I did manage to catch a view of my friend. I took her picture and sent it to her, she looked beautiful. She was not shown a lot bu the few glimpses of her we did see she looked amazing.

Kefford's Cousin Coby works as a manager at a lot of the buildings in downtown Boise. One of the newest buildings is Boise's now highest High rise and he talked Coby into taking Rylee and I to see it. It is an apartment building and the apartments were beautiful with amazing views of Boise. After the tour we stopped and got doughnuts and then went home.

Found this online and thought I would screenshot it. I really am not sure why other then I am a Scorpio and it was interesting to me.

More .5 picture taking at church by Rylee, at least she got a few non .5's in the mix.

Kefford took Rylee out to shoot some guns and I have to say she looks really tough. I love these pictures of her and love that Kefford likes spending the time with her.

Happy 18th Birthday Rylee!

my baby is 18!! I cannot believe how fast the time is gone and while I do miss the baby she was I love RYlee and have so much fun with her as an Adult. I found these cutie pictures of her to post on Instagram for her birthday and I am diving over how cute she it. Those big blue eyes are just something else.

Her birthday falls on a Sunday so we went to dinner Saturday night and Rylee chose Olive Garden. It was yummy food and the server brought out a slice of cake for Rylee to celebrate her birthday. After dinner her friends, Shay, Esther and Brinleigh  came over and we took them all to go axe throwing. 

We split up into two groups, Rylee and her friends in one and Kefford, Ryker and I in the other. Axe throwing was actually a lot more difficult for me than I thought it would be. It was hard to get the axe part to hit the targets and I had the handle hitting the target a lot and just falling down. I was super excited when I got a bullseye and made them take a picture for me.

Rylee

Ryker

Kefford

Kefford

Ryker

I won the first game which I was really proud of of course I had to get a picture of proof that I came out on top at least once in playing a game against Kefford. 

Shay, Rylee, Esther and Brinleigh

Kefford, Ryker and Elizabeth

Rylee, Kefford, Ryker and Elizabeth 

The next day on Rylee's actual birthday she got to open her gifts which were two dresses, headbands, lip oil, Dr Martens and the newest Hinger Games book.  We had Spaghetti and meatballs for her birthday dinner and a delicious Costco Chocolate Cake. 

We love being able to talk to Avynlea and Rylee was able to talk to her on her Birthday.

Rylee's Favorites:

1 Dinner: Any type of pasta

2 Dessert:Chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream

3 Candy: Cookie M&M's and Gummy Bears

4 Color: Pink

5 Scripture Story: Helaman and the Stripling Warriors

6 Primary Song: A Child's Prayer

7 Radio Song: Memories by Conan Gray

8 Book: Percy Jackson Series

9 Movie: Emma (2020 version)

10 TV Show: Phineas and Ferb

11 Thing to do: Be with family or in Lacrosse game

12 Place to go: Beach

13 School Subject: English

14 Restaurant: Red Robin

15 Holiday: CHRISTMAS or Thanksgiving

5 Things I Love About Rylee

1. Rylee is one of my best friends. I have loved having just Rylee at home for the past 2 years and have really loved how close we have gotten. She has been good to include me in her fun and lets me be a part of things and isn't ever embarrassed to have me around. I love being with her and will miss her so much when she leaves for College.
2. I will always say how much I love Rylee's laugh. Rylee is so joyful and she really can light up the room with her joy. It is fun to watch her experience joy because it really lights her up and she spreads the joy around.
3. I have always loved watching Rylee play Lacrosse, she is so good and has come so far from when she first started playing. I am amazed with how fast she learned the sport and became so good at it. She has been a positive leader on her team and has brought a lightness to her team as well. I am so proud of her for how hard she has worked and have loved being at her games.
4. Rylee has such a strong testimony of the gospel. I love that she has never complained about going to church or attending her seminary classes. She has been a leader in both and I always think her teachers are so smart to pick her as class president, she is an amazing leader and is very spiritually mature. I love that she loves the Gospel and her Savior and she is a really good example to me.
5. I love how hard Rylee works in school and that she has been able to maintain A's for her High School classes while also earning her Associates degree. She is so smart and has never had a problem with school. I am so proud of her for her ability to work hard and stay on top of her school work.  

 

Tree removal and Lacrosse

 Kefford and I have not been happy with the willow tree in our front yard for a long time now. What was supposed to be a small decorative tree turned into a massive monstrosity that looked too big for the space. Kefford has talked about pulling it out for a couple of years now and this year is the year we got it done. Ryker was in town for Spring Break and Kefford took advantage of him being around to have help pulling out the tree. I took them a couple of hours but they were able to get it pulled out and now Kefford and I need to find a small tree to put in the space. I am wanting a Lilac tree so we can shop around for one of those.

Schools in our area have started putting up sports banners for their seniors. I think this is such a fun tradition and I love Rylee's banner, it makes me happy every time I see it.

Ryker got to watch Rylee play in her Lacrosse game and she did a good job on defense. It really is so much fun watching her play and being a defender.

Rylee has enjoyed having Ryker home because she can play video games with him, it is fun to watch them play together.

Ryker and Anna are Engaged!!

 Heather and Jackson have been "talking/dating" for about a year now. They are both in their 40's and Jackson cooled things off in December because he thought Heather did not want kids and he does. Heather absolutely wants kids and when she found out why Jackson took some steps back from her they had a conversation and realized they were both on the same page. They started back up dating again and are now talking marriage which makes me so excited. I called it back in July when they were just talking and said I thought they were end game. looks like I was right and I am so happy for Heather, she deserves the best!

Ryker proposed to Anna and she said Yes! They have been talking about getting engaged for a while and Ryker was able to get a ring made from his friend Maya Thompson's Dad who we know from the Verona Ward. Steve made a beautiful ring for Ryker and shipped it out so that it would get there before Sunday which is the day he wanted to propose. Unfortunately it did not arrive when it was supposed to and despite Kefford's best efforts and relentless calling of FedEx the ring did not arrive until Monday. None the less Kenedy and Ty drove down on Monday so that they could help Ryker get the spot all set up and so Kenedy could take pictures. Ryker did the proposal and Anna said yes and I couldn't be happier with Rykers choice. Anna is super sweet and easy to be around and I am so happy to have her be a part of our family.

The two couples went to dinner after the proposal and took a couple of pictures. I am glad that Kenedy and Ty were able to help out and be there for the proposal.

Avynlea sent. message to her missionary besties group chat which I thought was so super cute.

Lacrosse and Steak

 Lacrosse has started up again and I am so excited! I love watching Rylee play and am so glad she decided to learn a new sport her Sophomore year. Since Kenedy and Ty were still in town they were able to come and watch with Kefford and I.

In Rylees government class they each had to pick a US President and then brackets style go against each other in a debate about why they were great and the class would vote on their favorite and they would move on. Rylee chose Gerald Ford and somehow was able to talk him up to the class so well that she got to the final two. During one of the debates Rylee talked about a steak recipe that Gerald Ford loved and she promised the class that if they voted her to the next round that she would bring them steak. Of course she was voted through and so the night before her class Kefford helped her cook up a couple of steaks to take to her class. We cooked two and then cut them up into bit sized pieces so we were not feeding everyone their own steak. Not to many people ate any but it was ok because Rylee was a woman of her word and fulfilled what she promised.

Owyhee High School has an Associates degree program that we enrolled Rylee in and through taking College level classes and college classes during the summers she earned her Associates before Graduating from High School through Boise State. She was supposed to pick up her Boise State cap and gown but was in school during that time. I was available to go after I taught dance class on Monday so I drove over to BSU and got in line to get her stuff. I stood in that line for about 2 hours but I was finally able to make it through and I got her graduation regalia. When Rylee got home from school she tried the cap and gown on and she looked so cute, I cannot believe my baby is graduating.

Avynlea was ging a talk on her mission in her Ward and we were able to watch and listen because she sent us a zoom link. I am so grateful that we have these opportunities to see our missionary doing her thing. I am so proud of her and love her so much!

I have taught Raegan Young dance since she was three years old until she aged out of my classes at 6 years old. I now have taught her younger sister Harper for the past two years and it has been fun having another Young in my class. Raegan had to do a class project on someone in the community she considers a heart and she chose me which was so sweet. He Mom brought her over after church one Sunday so she could interview my about my job and she really was the cutest thing. The next Sunday in church she came to show me her completed presentation poster. I loved it and loved seeing our pictures from Dance recitals through the years including the last one with Harper. I love that I have made a difference in her life thus far and that she considers me someone to look up to.