Pocatello Road Trip!

Friday morning I kept Avynlea and Rylee home from school because we were going on a road trip to Pocatello! Every other year MHS Cheerleaders go to the cheer competition at Idaho State University in Pocatello and this was the year. Alison came with us and was gracious enough to be the driver, I would have driven but I am so glad she was willing because I would rather be a passenger any day! The ride down to Pocatello was pretty peaceful, we had our snacks, the girls had headphones to watch their movies, and I had good conversations with Alison. 

Alison had me call when we were a couple of hours away to check on our reservation at the hotel and find out when check in was. She then had me call when we were about 5 minutes away to see if we could have an early check in since we were about 2 hours early. They asked us if we had any room preference and we said we wanted to be close to the MHS Cheerleaders who were also staying at the Hotel. He told us that the cheerleaders cancelled their reservation which was pretty perplexing to me. I knew that if they made reservations at a different place Kara would have let us know, Kara being the head coach and pretty great at keeping parents informed. By this time we had arrived at the hotel and were waiting to find out what was going on. The guy at the desk was waiting for the manager to get back from lunch so she could figure it all out. I called Kenedy to talk to Kara since I did not have her number so that I could give her a heads up as to what was going on. Finally the manager got back and t turns out for some reason the computer cancelled the cheerleaders reservations and since the hotel was completely booked they could not stay their anymore. The manager felt so bad and was able to call the hotel across the street and get all of us rooms over there for the same low price. I am so happy it all worked out. 

Because we could not check in for an hour or so we decided to drive around Pocatello and explore. We found a Hobby Lobby and went inside for a little bit to walk around. I love Hobby Lobby and never pass up a chance to go inside.

We found some big letters hanging up and all I had to do was move one letter around to make it say Avy. The bottom picture has an r in it making it look like ravy, I did not notice until after that picture so I adjusted for the top picture.

and the girls found some cute shoulder accessories!

After we were finally able to get checked in the girls wanted to go swimming and so Alison and I looked at some family history on my computer while the girls had a blast in the pool. Switching to this hotel worked out in our favor because this pool was huge! SO much bigger then the other hotel pool and it had a 9 foot deep in which my girls loved and a basketball net that they enjoyed climbing on. The one downside is our rooms faced the pool which was fine but the humidity from the pool was pretty gross. Our carpet was perpetually damp and my wallet was wet just from sitting on the bedside table. 

After a couple of hours Sara and her friend Becca arrived from Idaho Falls to stay with us and go to the competition, Yay!

We went out to eat at Cafe Rio because we had buy one get one free coupons on all burritos and salads. My girls and I could not finish our meals and so we boxed them up and left them in the back of Sara's pickup over night and then put them inside Alison's Tahoe the next morning so we could eat them for lunch on the way home. Sara and Becca went to the store to buy a toothbrush because Becca forgot hers and they also picked up some poster board and paints to make posters for the competition. It is not a Pocatello competition without us bringing posted to embarrass our cheerleader. We found some cute ideas on Pinterest and I sketched them out and then Sara and Becca painted them. The next morning because of the humidity the glitter paint was not completely dry and the posters had curled a little on the edges. No problems they dried pretty quick once we got out of there and the curled edges uncurled as well.

While all of this was going on Avy and Rylee were getting pretty tired and Avy tried to keep herself awake by playing with my phone. At about 11:00 I took my girls to our room had them brush their teeth and then we read some scriptures and went to bed.

The next morning I got up and got ready and then had a hard time getting my girls up. They were so tired and wanted to stay in bed but we had to get moving in order to get to the competition. The hotel we were moved to did not have a free continental breakfast and so the manager at the other hotel told us we could go over there for breakfast, which we did. It was right across the street and it was ice to be able to get a free breakfast to start the day.

We made it to the competition and it was fun to watch all of the cheerleaders perform their routines. I noticed MHS was a little bit lackluster and were not as energetic as they could have been which was disappointing. Kenedy told me later that they didn't care about this competition and so they didn't try as hard. I think they should try at every competition because they are representing their school and their reputation. It was fun to watch anyway and I am glad that Sara could be their to see them since she lives further away and does not have the opportunity normally.

Rylee, Alison, Becca, Sara and Avynlea

We had fun taking pictures with Kenedy afterwards and then she had to get to her bus and we had to say goodbye to Sara and head home.

It was a fun weekend and I am grateful for the opportunities to support my kids, cheer them on in their endeavors and be with family!

Bye Bye Birdie

On Thursday I took my girls to go see the High School production of "Bye Bye Birdie". When we found out this was the play for 2017 I was really excited and hoped that Kenedy would be able to be in it because I was in this play when I was in High School. I thought it would be so cool if she were in it also but unfortunately she couldn't even try out because the schedule would have conflicted with cheer competitions. Bummer. But I was happy to be able to take my girls and go watch it, it brought back a lot of fun memories from High School. We were able to see some of Kenedy's friends who had starring roles perform and it was fun and my girls really enjoyed it!

Verona Youth Talent Show

On Wednesday we went to the Verona Ward Youth Talent Show. This is the fundraiser our Ward does to earn money for the years girls camp and scout camp. They asked for a money donation and then we got to enjoy brownie ice cream sundaes and watch the youth perform their talents. One of the teachers, Carson Ray, wanted to show off his strength and he used Ryker as his weight and picked him up and held him over his head. It was pretty funny and all I told Carson was to not drop Ryker which he did not do, thank heavens. 

Ryker shoed off one of his card tricks and although he was really nervous about performing in front of this big of a crowd he did awesome. They had a television set up and a camera hooked up to it and one of Ryker's leaders held the camera over the table where Ryker was ding his trick so that the audience could have a better view. It was very well received and quite the success. I was so busy filming and hoping Ryker wouldn't mess up, which was his fear, that I forgot to snap some pictures. bum deal.

I got a picture of Rylee and her friend Kate Piscione enjoying the show.

Also a couple of Avynlea and her friend Shaeden Albert waiting for their turn to perform.

Avynlea performed with the Beehives and they did a dance to a song from the movie "Moana" called "How Far I'll Go". It was pretty cute and I enjoyed watching her hula.

The Laurel class performed a rendition of the song "I Lava You". One of the Laurels played the song on her Ukulele and the others performed the various parts. Kenedy was one half of the ocean and in the pictures she is the one in the dark blue hoodie. It was a cute number although I would have liked seeing more of Kenedy's face.

It was a fun night of watching some pretty talented Youth and being able to get to know more people in our Ward. We have a really great Ward and are happy to be a part of it!

Christmas Candy and Pictures

I was looking for Avynlea's charger and looked under my bed to see if it happened to have gotten under there somehow but no such luck. What I did find though was a Target bag filled with Christmas candy. I remember getting out the candy on Christmas Eve to put on the counter and feeling like I was missing some but thinking I guess not. I figured I must have changed my mind when I was buying it in the store but nope I had it all along just hidden in the corner under my bed. I do not know how I missed it because I don't have anything else under there, I must have been really tired. Now I have to figure out what to do with this candy.

Ryker was being a little bit of a pill and Rylee and I were trying to lighten his mood by taking his picture, he was not happy about that and after no reaction we lost interest and instead took a couple pictures of ourselves. 

Rylee thought this one was funny and I have to agree, it is a great picture of me with her hand. 

Rylee and Mommy!

It's a Girl!

For Kenedy's parent and child development class she got to take a baby home for the weekend. This baby mimics a real baby and Kenedy had to get up in the night with it, feed it, change it, burp it and hold it. She got a mexican baby girl and named her Shakira. I have to say no one was more excited about this baby then Rylee and Avynlea, they could not stay away from the baby and were constantly begging Kenedy to help take care of her. I thought it was cute but Kenedy was less then pleased and she finally understands why new Moms are constantly telling kids to give them space and back off from baby a little, hahaha. Luckily the fun and newness wore off after a day for Kenedy and she was more then willing to let her sisters help baby sit.

Kenedy also had plenty of help from her friends. While she was at cheer practice McKoy babysat for her and afterwards they went for ice-cream where Hannah and Emily helped take care of the baby there and on the drive. 

Cody                                                                  McCoy

Hannah                                                                       Emily

Even Ryker took a little time to hold the baby, though he was not as careful as he should have been. He was messing around a little bit more then he would have with a real baby because he knew it was just a doll. I have seen him with newborns and he is very careful and loving. He was not too thrilled with Kenedy wanting to take his picture and so I took some pictures of him while he was resisting her. 

Kenedy had some pictures of her changing the baby and feeding the baby, She also took a couple "family pictures" with Wilson and Hannah.

                                                                        Wilson

                                                                        Hannah

Kenedy had to take her baby everywhere she went. We went to Target where she had to change it and feed it in the middle of the store, we went to a wedding reception where she had to take the baby out into the hall to change the diaper, we went to church and literally as soon as they started sacrament meeting the baby started crying and Kenedy had to get up to take her out. It was  pretty comical watching her do all this and I know she has a new appreciation for motherhood.

Kenedy and Ryker were both called to be Family History Consultants and they had a meeting Sunday night to help anyone in the ward with Family History. Of course baby Shakira had to tag along and of course she was being really fussy. One of Kenedy's young women leaders husband was there and he offered to hold the baby for her. Kenedy thought that was cute and took his picture.

Brother Pollock

Kenedy only had the baby over the weekend and it was fun while it lasted but I don't think Kenedy was too bummed about turning her back in. Good learning experience for what is to come.

Last Game of the Season

Saturday was Rylee's last basketball game of the season. I love watching my girl play but I am relieved the season is done because between practices and games she sure tied up a lot of our time. I am so proud of Rylee and how far she has come. Last year she spent most of her season clueless as to what was going on and she has come a long way. It has been so fun watching her become more aggressive and confident on the court. She made her first basket this year and in this her final game she made another basket! She loves playing basketball and I am so glad that she has found something athletic that brings her joy!

Final huddle of the season. Coach Melissa told the girls how much fun she has had with them and gave them all a goodie bag with candy, a miniature basketball and hoop and a little trophy.

What a great end to a great season!

Slime

Rylee came home from school and said she was on the computer feeling a little bored so she typed up a story. She let me read it and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. 

Thursday night was Ward temple night and Kefford and I both had plans to attend. I love going to Ward Temple night in our new Ward because the session fills up with our Ward and it is so cool. In our last Ward it was usually only a small handful of people that are able to attend and I love this way so much better. Kenedy was babysitting for our neighbors so that they could also attend and Rylee had her last basketball practice of the season that night. Kefford and I were doing family names for my friend Elaine Josi and since she lives next to the school where Rylee had her practice I asked her if she would be willing to let Rylee hang out at her house and then take her to and from practice for us. She was agreeable and I was so thankful for her willingness to help us out. 

While we were gone Avynlea and Ryker decided to try their hand at making slime. Apparently there were some kids selling slime at school and Avynlea thought it would be a better idea to make her own rather then spend money on some so she asked the kids for their recipe and they gave it to her!  Avynlea and Ryker tried making it with the recipe they were given and it wasn't working out so great, so while Ryker played with the failed slime, Avynlea looked up a new recipe of google and started creating. 

They used glue, laundry detergent and food coloring and it turned out the way they wanted it to. I am glad they were able to find a way to occupy themselves while we were gone.

Rylee was a little envious when she saw what they did and since the next day was no school for the kids because of teacher inservice she had time to make her own slime. Avynlea helped her with the recipe and Rylee got to work mixing and kneading. She used some red glitter glue that we had and with the blue laundry detergent it made a pretty purple. I like this homemade slime because it doesn't make the kids hands stink like the store bought kind does. Because of the laundry detergent it smelled pretty good. I was joking with Avy about it and told her that this could be a new invention, if you are finding yourself with stinky pits throughout the day just rub them with some slime, problem solved!

It was pretty windy outside that day and Ryker took the opportunity to fly his kite. He didn't last long outside because it was cold but it was fun to see him flying the kite.