Temple Trip

Our Stake President challenged our Stake to take at least one family name to the Temple before Easter this year. With the kids having their Family History callings and with this challenge I have been feeling the pull towards doing Family History but not knowing how to start. On the 2nd of this month Kefford and I went to the Temple for Ward Temple night and after wards I was talking to my friend Angela Ricks about the challenge and how I have not had luck with learning how to do Family History. She is a Ward Family History Consultant and she said she would help me get started and teach me all that I needed to know. I accepted her help and made plans to get together with her the next week so we could start. 

When I went over she was able to show me my line and how to look for my ancestors. My Dad had done some on his line as well as one of his cousins but there was still a lot to do. With Angela's help I was able to find names, enter them in and get them reserved so I could take them to the Temple. It was a lot of fun and I really loved the feeling I felt from it. As I have been doing them and finding names I have been praying that I could feel a link with my Dad so that together we could work on this, him on one side of the veil and me on the other. 

I had 8 names ready that needed baptisms so I took the older three to the Temple after school on Tuesday so that they could do them. This was Avynlea's first time going and doing baptisms and I was really excited for her because she was so excited. 

I took a picture of her before we went into the Temple. She is so cute!

We told the guy in charge that it was Avynlea's first time doing Baptism and when it was her turn she got in the font and he announced to the other workers that this was Sister Peterson and it is her first time doing Baptisms in the Temple. It was so cute. It was such a great feeling watching my kids be Baptized for my ancestors because of the work I was doing. When I was a youth my Dad took me and my siblings who were old enough to do Baptisms for the names he found and it felt full circle being at this Temple with my kids doing names I found. 

After they were done and as we were leaving I made sure to get some pictures of my kids with the Temple. How fun it will be in two years when Rylee can join us and we all can be in the Temple together doing this great work!

Old State Penitentiary

Sunday morning was really nice and relaxing. Usually the kids are off playing or doing their own things upstairs and I am alone downstairs getting dinner prep ready and hanging out. But today the kids are gathered downstairs when they woke up and hung out down there the entire morning. I realized it was because Heather was there and they wanted to be around her which I thought was nice. We talked and laughed and enjoyed being together. 

Monday after the kids went to school Rylee, Heather and I packed up some snacks and headed out to go hike Table Rock. When we got there we discovered that the trail was closed because of mud from all of the rain we have been getting. We were really disappointed but then noticed that the Old State Penitentiary was open for tours. We checked on the prices and saw they were really reasonable and decided to take the tour. Before we paid the girl mentioned that a guided tour would be happened at 12:30 if we wanted to wait for that or we could go around ourselves. It was 11:30 and we didn't want to wait so we decided to walk around on our own. We paid, got a map and were sent inside. Some of the buildings were closed and some of the buildings were destroyed from prisoner riots in the late 1970's but we were able to see a lot. 

One of the buildings had wooden paintings that you could take pictures with and it also had prisoner clothing to put on so we could take mugshots. Heather and I both found it interesting that unlike the jumpsuits prisoners wear today, their prisoner uniform were pants and a suit jacket in the black and white stripes. They had a lot of pictures of former prisoners with crimes they were in for as well as signs telling about life in the prison back then.

The grounds had a gun museum which we walked though but it wasn't too interesting. Rylee liked looking through this big gun and pretending to shoot things while making shooting noises. Kefford and Ryker would really enjoy walking through this gun museum.

We saw the actual cells where the prisoners lived and they were so small. Rylee thought it appalling the lack of privacy for when they went to the bathroom and that the shower room that had no privacy.  I told her they were criminals and had to be watched at all times. 

We saw the "Siberia" building which is where trouble causing prisoners get put in isolation. The most disturbing was walking through death row and see the observation room and hanging room. They had stairs to go down and see where the trapdoor opened for the bodies to go down.

Walking through the penitentiary was really creepy but cool at the same time because of it's history. I want to go back to take the rest of my family but would never want to walk through there at night!

That night for FHE Avynlea had the activity and decided to do a competition. She showed the rest of the kids some tricks she can do and then had them try and do them, the person least successful was out. She obviously geared this so that she would win and really took it seriously. It ended up being her and RYlee in the finals and they had to see who could hold a plank the longest. Avynlea ended up winning but I think she cheated and Rylee was the real winner. It was quite comical to watch her being so competitive.

State Cheer Competition!

Back in November Heather sent me a text saying she wanted to fly out here to visit for her Spring Break and asked it that was a good time. I checked my calendar and saw that it was the week before our spring break but that Rylee would be on Track Break and home with us, perfect time! I was really excited when I found out that the day she was flying in was the day that Kenedy would be competing at State for cheerleading! I was really looking forward to having my sister there to hang out with and watch Kenedy compete! 

I was supposed to pick Heather up from the airport at 12:30 but around 10 I got a message saying her flight from Salt Lake was delayed and she was going to land closer to 2. I was bummed she wasn't going to get in sooner but still felt like we had time to make it to the start of the competition. Well her delayed flight kept getting more and more delayed and I was getting more and more upset, why couldn't things just work in my favor!? I was definitely having a pity party for myself and I needed to get over it, so I left to go to the Idaho Center where the competition was taking place to save seats. I told myself at least Heather was coming and it was all going to be ok! I finally got word that she was boarding and that her flight would get in around 4, I left the competition around 3:45 to go pick her up, I knew she would miss one of the routines but I was confident that we would get back in time to watch the rest.

It was so fun having my sister there with me, I miss being with my family and am always so excited when I get an opportunity to be with them.

Kenedy had a lot of support at this competition and it warms my heart to see so many of her friends and family come to cheer her on. 

Alison came with Ally and Mikayla.

Wilson. Cody and Quinn came to watch Kenedy.

As well has McCoy, Bri and Isaac

Kefford came to watch and help me save seats. He left to go to War-Mart when he was getting bored and while Kenedy was not performing, he got Kenedy some snacks and a drink for me.

Kenedy and Aunt Heather

The boosters made fatheads for the cheerleaders this year. They had the kids take a picture of themselves using a snapchat filter and Kenedy chose a deer. It was pretty fun waving that around, we also had all of the posters we had made from the past two Pocatello competitions with us to hold up and cheer them on with.

Meridian placed 4th overall in the 5A division which was really awesome and they were super excited! They beat out every other local team including the one that took first overall at divisions! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We were lucky this St. Patricks Day, the Leprechauns came but they didn't cause any mischief. Instead they left a trail of chocolate gold coins from the kids bedrooms downstairs to a box of Lucky Charms that were left on the counter by the Leprechauns. 

Avynlea found a cute green bow for me to put in her hair and she looked pretty cute!

I took a picture of Rylee with the cute scripture case Brit made for her birthday. She was wearing a green shirt under that pink jacket and had a really cute green bow in her hair that I forgot to take a picture of. 

It was a beautiful day and so Rylee and I decided to take a picnic lunch to the park that is in the subdivision across the road from us. I walked and she road her bicycle. We swung on the swings and climbed the big rock. Rylee liked jumping off of the rock but I did not dare, I probably would have broken something. 

Rylee has been wanting fake nails for a while and while I was at my boss's house doing some admin for her that morning Rylee mentioned going shopping after so she could buy herself some nails. Cyndi mentioned that she has a box of nails that she will never use and offered them to Rylee. I talked Rylee into waiting till we got home from the park to put them on and even tried getting her to wait until after we got done cleaning her room. She could not wait any longer so I helped her apply them right when we got home from the park. Sure enough by the time we finished cleaning they had all fallen off. They made her hands really pretty and elegant for about 5 minutes. 

Rylee is 10!

Rylee turned 10 on March 16th and that means we don't have any more kids in single digits! These kids are growing up way too fast! Rylee was so excited for her birthday and has been talking about it for the past month letting us know often what exactly she wanted for her birthday. Of all my kids she is always the most specific with what she wants for gifts, I think it is pretty cute. 

I made Raspberry muffins for breakfast and Rylee really liked those. After she ate and before the other kids left for school she asked if she could open one gift, the gift from her Grandma Alison. I told her of course and she was excited to open the gift which was a virtual drawing and design game and 5 crisp $2 bills. I also let her open the card from Whitney and she got a cute CTR zipper pull. Whitney is always so good to remember the kids on their birthdays. Rylee just spent  couple of days at her Grandparents house and she was happy to show me the dream catcher her Grandma let her have.

Rylee is on track break and the morning of her birthday our Wards Relief Society was doing a Humanitarian Project at the church. They were putting together bracelets and headbands for refugee kids. I thought RYlee would enjoy creating and decorating these so I took her with me. We were only able to be there for about an hour but in the time we were there we got a lot done and made some pretty cute accessories. 

After the Humanitarian Project Rylee went with me to dance class. Kim is out of town so I was teaching the adult class and then I had Rylee come in with me and help me with the Kinders class. On our way there I took a picture of her so that I could later post it on Instagram for her birthday. We then decided we needed to have some silly pictures and Rylee made sure to do her crazy white eyes face. It is pretty creepy.

After dance I was going visiting teaching but Rylee was over being my sidekick for the day and asked if I could drop her off at home before I went on my visit. I was only visiting one sister and she lives right around the corner so I dropped Rylee off at home with my phone and the instructions of no electronics. When I got home after about a half an hour I found Rylee looking at some of our family albums and she showed me her newly painted toenails.

For dinner we had Rylee's favorite, Spaghetti and meatballs with a side of Texas Toast garlic bread. Rylee was very happy with her meal but regrets putting an entire meatball in her mouth to eat. 

After dinner she got to open the rest of her presents. Avynlea got her a minecraft bunny shirt with some new capris, She got a case for her Kindle, and a copy of her favorite movie "Into The Woods". She has made it a habit to turn on the soundtrack for this movie whenever we are in the car waiting for the school bus to come. She likes listening to her favorite songs and claims it makes the bus come faster. Brit and her girls sent over a scripture carrier they made which was really cute and she loves, they were so sweet to think of her!

Rylee also got a new leotard, a new jacket and a little Jasmine polly pocket doll. She was quite happy with all of her new things.

Rylee had mentioned numerous times that she wanted an ice-cream cake for her birthday, when I expressed my doubts on being able to make one she said an oreo cake would be great also. My friend happened to have some cookie shaped cake pans so I decided to try and give Rylee all of it. I made a chocolate cake with crushed oreos inside and frosted just the inside with chocolate icing. I then added a layer of mint chocolate chip ice cream which is one of her favorite flavors. When I pulled the cake from the freezer to serve it I saw that the cake had cracked and the ice cream had leaked out even after following the directions to the letter. But it tasted delicious and Rylee loved it, success!

Avynlea wanted to light the candles so we let her light a few and then Rylee wanted to light some so we let her light a few with Kefford finishing off the job.

Rylee then wanted to cut her own piece so we let her go for that as well. She managed to get the job done with a little effort.

Rylee's Favorite Things:

1. Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs
2. Dessert: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-cream
3. Candy: Skittles
4. Color: Navy Blue
5. Friend: Serena Ioset
6. Scripture Story: Alma and Amulek
7. Primary Song: Gethsemane
8. Radio Song: House of Gold by twenty-one pilots
9. Book: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
10. Movie: Into The Woods
11. TV Show: Project MC square
12. Thing to do: Draw and Read
13. Place to go: Cousins House
14. School Subject: Art

5 things I love about Rylee:

1. Rylee doesn't write me as many love notes anymore but she does like to send me Pins she finds on Pinterest. I consider that her modern age love notes because it means she is thinking of me and likes to send me things she thinks are cool or funny. One time she commented that I never send her any pins and so I try to find a few throughout the week to send her to let her know I am thinking of her. It is a little strange but it is cute the things she likes to send me. 

2. I love that Rylee is a big reader. They do the Accelerated Reading program at her school and she has already reached her goal twice this year and is on her way to hitting it a third time. She has read all of the Harry Potter books and loved them and is now reading Fable Haven. 

3. Rylee loves going to church and has done such a great job wth reading her scriptures. She finished the Book of Mormon this year and her Dad promised all of the kids a big "Treat/reward" when they finished reading. Rylee did not let him forget that and asked if she could have a bicycle. We were already planning on getting her a new one because she has outgrown her old one so this was perfect timing. I love that she made the commitment to read the Book of Mormon. She also loves Activity Days and is almost done with completing all the goals in her book. This girl is well on her way with growing her testimony and I love it!

4. I love that Rylee loves to eat apples, given the choice between eating an apple or eating a sweet typically she will pick an apple, I think it is cute and I like that she prefers the healthier option. 

5. Rylee is my little buddy and I love hanging out with her. She is fun, funny, sassy, kindhearted, and a little bit crazy. I love her a lot!

Sunshine, Trolls and Hospitals

On Tuesday Avynlea had a choir concert at school. As we were walking into the building we were talking about how beautiful the weather was and how much we love the sunshine. I had to capture our moment in the sun because it was so nice to not be cold after such a long and hard winter. Avy did really well in her concert and I enjoyed listening to her songs. 

Our Kinderstars are doing a dance to the song "Hair Up" from trolls. I saw an idea on Pinterest for some fun hair accessories and after talking to Kim about it we agreed that they would be perfect for them to wear in the recital. I got the materials and with Avynlea's help made the headbands. We are having them wear them every week to practice their dance in so that they are used to them. These girls are so cute I had to take a picture before we took them off and put them away.

Kambree, Josie, Quinn and Chloe

Hayden Rose, Ainsley, Abby, Hayden, Addie and Lynden

On Tuesday my Mom had to go have surgery on her Kidney. I had the kids write her some get well notes and I put together a care package for her with her favorite black Jelly beans, our love notes and some pictures. I tried to get Kenedy to write  a note but she didn't make it home in time and we had to send it off so that it would arrive when I wanted it to. Kenedy sent her Grandma a really sweet text the night before letting her know she loved her and also letting her know that she fasted all day Monday for her. I knew Kenedy was fasting but was not aware as to why. I called my Mom on Tuesday a few hours after her surgery to check in with her. She was still pretty doped up and it was quite the fun conversation. She was really sentimental and told me how much she loved me and how proud she was of me as a Mother and a daughter. She said she really appreciated my call the day before and she commented on how well I am raising my kids and she was the one that told me that Kenedy fasted for her and how happy and touched that made her. 

On Wednesday Ashleigh sent me a text saying the package arrived and asked if she should take it to the hospital with her or wait for Mom to get home from the hospital. I told her to take it with her and Ashleigh is the best because she sent me pictures of my Mom opening her package. She said that opening it and looking through it all really wore Mom out but that she loved it and it made her so happy. I am glad that I could help my Mom have a bright spot in her Hospital stay.

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!