Memory Lane

 On Wednesday Mom and I went to the Redlands Temple to go through a session with some family names I had. It was a nice session but for some reason it took longer then usual to get through. Normally that would not be a problem but today it kind of was because we were supposed to meet Heather at Moreno Valley High School for lunch. She is a Science teacher at the school and did not have a lot of time because after her lunch period she had mandatory staff meetings to be at. By the time we got to the school we only had time to either walk around the school or go get something to eat, but definitely not both. Moreno Valley was my Alma Mater and I really wanted to walk around campus to reminisce and see how it had changed, so that is what we did.

My overall impression was that it was a lot smaller then I remembered. MoVal High is the oldest High School in Moreno Valley and so it was in the process of getting some much needed renovations and updates.  One thing that had stayed the same was the big rock in the Quad. The rock has been there since the 70's I think and it was painted for holidays and homecomings, Big games and graduations, start of school and end of school...basically for anything the ASB and/or school wanted to paint it for to show school spirit. I was happy to see it was still there and had Heather take a picture of me with it, she also got the logo on the school gym in the background. It was fun to walk the grounds and to remember the good and the bad. I think it is fun that Heather is a teacher at our Alma Mater and I am glad that Mom and I were able to visit her and see her classroom.

 After we left Heather Mom drove me by our old houses. The 12994 Alona street house was the earliest one I can remember living in. We had a lot of friends on that street and made some good memories. I remember skating parties and water balloon fights in the backyard with my Dad and sisters. We lived on the corner of a busy road and I remember sitting on top of the big wall blocking our house from the road with my sisters and brother yelling at cars as they passed by. I remember Saturday mornings doing yard work in the front yard and my Dad going to get us doughnuts and juice when we were done, also climbing around in the garage with Jeremy and Heather licking the salt pellets my parents had stored in there. The outside has been changed a lot and one of the saddest changes is that the owners took out the brick wall in the front that we helped my Dad build.

After that house we drove by 13290 Fieldcrest court. This house we moved into when I was in the fifth grade I think. We were all excited about the move and I remember helping paint the inside before we moved in. The wall we helped build in the front of this house was still there but the outside was painted a different color. Like the High School this house was a lot smaller then I remember it being. My parents moved out of this house to Riverside the week before I got married and that was a crazy and stressful time. I remember walking home from High School to this house and on the rare times that my Mom was not home and we found ourselves locked out I would jimmy the front window open and crawl inside that way. There was a playhouse in the backyard that was cool and fun to hang out in when we first moved in but got abandoned when we got bored with it. Heather, Emily and I would make up dance routines on the backyard patio and play college dorm inside our bedroom. I shared a room with Heather and Emily, then Erin and then Heather again. I remember Friday nights eating ice-cream watching TGIF and Sunday nights watching the Magical World of Disney movie. This was the house that I was accepted to Ricks college in and the house I came home from Ricks College to engaged to the Man of my Dreams. A lot of good memories growing up in this house with my family.

While I was in California Kenedy got asked to Rocky Mountains Homecoming by Drew Kashyap, a friend of hers from our ward. She sent me the picture of how he asked her and I loved it! It made me really happy to see he referenced The Office. I asked her how she was going to respond but she said she did when he came by with the flowers and box of pretzels. The past dances she has been asked to dances the invite was always left at the house and then Kenedy would respond by dropping something off to them. But Drew came in with his invite and after she read it he asked her "well?" and of course she said yes. 

His Mom came in after the asking was done so that she could get a picture of the two of them. I was really happy that she did that and that she sent me the picture she took.

Friday night, the night before I was flying home Heather, Ashleigh and I went to watch Alec play in his Varsity football game. We got there in time to see him make a touchdown and we were so excited to see that and to hear his name announced over the loud speakers. We found Anita and Jaylynn and sat with them. I had fun watching the game and visiting with my family. Whenever Alec was on the side lines we would yell as loud as we could at him to get him to look up and see us waving at him but he never heard us...or if he did he did a good job ignoring us. 

After the game which his team won we managed to catch him before he went into the locker room. We gave the stinky and sweaty boy a hug and made him pose with us for a picture. It was all good times.

The next day I was to fly home and while it was sad to leave my Mom and Heather I was excited to get back home to be with Kefford and my kids all of whom I missed. 

I am always so grateful when I get the chance to be with my family and am able to participate in things that I would normally miss out on. Life is good.

One Republic and an Ordination

After our race we headed over to Downtown Disney to get some Breakfast. As we were waiting I saw some cats wandering around. Disney encourages cats on their property to help control the rodents but they usually only come out at night, I have never seen a cat at Disney during the day, or ever for that matter. But as we were waiting I saw two cats lazing around and one of the employees fed them some bacon. I took a picture of the cats so that Avynlea could see them, I knew she would enjoy that. 

Here is the breakfast that I got and it tasted so delicious!

After breakfast we walked/hobbled around some of the shops in Downtown Disney and then we headed back to our Hotel room to rest.

Later that evening we got ready for the One Republic concert and then went to Red Robin to meet Andrew Brown for dinner. He was coming to the concert with us. I did my Mom's and sisters hair and I think they look pretty great. I really love doing hair.

Fitz and the Tantrums were performing that night as well and Heather and Ashleigh were wearing their concert t's. As we were walking up to the venue we actually saw Fitz and the Tantrums taking a break by the tour busses. Ashleigh was a super excited fan and she waved to them and said hello. They told her "nice shirt" and then backed away to get away from the crazy fan. It was cute and Ashleigh was thrilled at the "meeting".

Once we got inside we got our concert shirts and headed up to the nosebleeds to get to our seats. 

We then settled in to watch performances by James Arthur, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Republic. It was actually a really great concert, I enjoyed the music and the show but I was so exhausted from not sleeping and the race that I just wanted to go to bed. I am glad that we were able to see these bands and am always so happy anytime I get to be with my family.

Sunday I went to church with Heather and Mom and was able to watch Alec be set apart as a Priest. I was really happy to be apart of that and was even more happy that Anita came to church so she could watch also. He got a really nice blessing from Brother Hill and the Bishop had Mom, Heather and I take notes during it for Alec to keep and remember. 

Mom, Heather, Elizabeth, Jaylynn, Anita, Alec and Lyle Hill

I saw this quote hanging up on one of the bulletin boards in the church and took a picture of it so that I could remember it. 

Run Disney

The end of August I flew down to California to spend some time with my Mom and sisters. Heather got us tickets to a concert and Heather, Ashleigh and I signed up to run a Disney 10k. 

Friday night after everyone got off work we headed down to Anaheim to get our race packets. We got our bibs, corral letters and shirts. We then walked around the convention center and looked at all the fun running stuff for sale.

We got a hotel room close to Disney land because our running call time was 5 am and we didn't want to have to get up any earlier then we needed to. Unfortunately for me it didn't matter since I couldn't sleep that night anyway. I have a hard time sleeping in general but being in an unknown place and excited/anxious for the race I know I did not get more then an hours sleep if I even got that much. It was pretty ridiculous and frustrating but it's my life. We rolled out of bed at about 4 to get ready, Heather got us the Monsters Inc Oozma Kappa tanks (the 10K theme was Monster Inc so we chose to  be Oozma Kappa members), I made the skirts and Ashleigh made the hairbows. We looked really cute!

Mom was with us but she was only spectating so she took pictures for us as we were leaving and then waited a little bit longer to leave to go watch us run by.

We got to our starting corral a little bit before 5 and proceeded to wait for about an hour for our start time. The call time was 5 am and that is when the first group of runners started but because we were in a different group we didn't get started until closer to 5:45ish I think. We were able to see the first runners come in and that was fun. As we were waiting we sweated, it was 80 degrees at five in the morning and I could not believe the heat. Luckily as we were running there was a good breeze blowing and so it wasn't too bad.
We were running 6.4 miles and every time we passed a mile marker we would cheer that we were OK. We saw Mom before she saw us and so we stopped for a second so she could take some pictures. After that we didn't see her until the end.

These next pictures are of us cheering that we are OK!

And here are pictures Mom took of us at the finish line. 

When we finished we got our medals and then they gave us bananas and a box that had cookies, chips, cheese sauce, applesauce and dried fruit in it. I ate my banana but saved the rest of it for later in the day.

RunDisney has photographers throughout the course and these pictures are the professional ones taken by them. 

We held hands while we ran down Main street past the store that Dad used to do his Artist Drawings at. That was really emotional for me. I am glad that I had the opportunity to run this race with my sisters and that it could be more then just a race. I love that it was another way to remember my Dad and to think of how proud of us he would have been. We ran through California Adventure and Disneyland and all throughout the course Disney employees were lined up cheering us on. I know my Dad would have been out there standing in his special spot ready to cheer us on has we ran by and he would have cheered hard! 

I also got emotional as we held hands to run past the finish line. I don't get to participate in a lot of the races my sisters run together because of where I live. I was really happy that I had the opportunity to run this one and it made me emotional to have done it.

I had so much fun running this 10K, we did not really train for it but I am so proud of how well we did , we really did awesome! I would definitely do it again if the opportunity presents itself!

End of August

Friday August 25th was the first football game of the season! I love going to football games to watch the game and to watch and support my favorite cheerleader. After school Kenedy had some of her cheer besties over to hang out and get ready for the game. I enjoyed listening to them chat and talk about different things and love that Kenedy has some good friends on her squad. 

Kenedy, Hannah, Lindsey, Audrey and Emily (hidden behind Audrey :/)

I brought Avynlea and her church bestie Shaeden with me to the game. They spent most of the game walking around and hanging out so I probably won't spend money to bring them again. They can hang out at home for free. Because they were off socializing I was sitting alone for some of the game which is ok but I would rather have a friend to sit with. The ones who I usually sit with, Amber, Lana and Jessica couldn't make it so that was a bummer. Luckily not too far into the game I saw Mady Ray and Emily Johnson two youth from our Ward and I told them they could sit by me. I had a lot of fun watching the game and visiting with these girls. It was nice to get to know them better and they were fun to hang with. 

When I first arrived at the game I noticed Kenedy and a few others were not on boxes, I asked her why and she said because they did not have enough and have to wait for the coach to get more. Way to plan for that one head coach. 

Meridian played against Centennial and the first quarter Meridian did awesome and were ahead by 4 touchdowns. They then lost a lot of steam and by halftime Centennial had caught up to them. After halftime it got really exciting and by the last minute we were on the edge of our seats with it being such a close game. Luckily Meridian won by 1 and we were so excited!! I love the unity and spirit that the Meridian students show for their school and team. It was such a fun night and I am so glad they won!

As we were leaving I got a picture of Avy, Shaeden and me, this was one of the few times I actually saw them that night.

 Then when we got home and after Kenedy got home I had to get a picture with her. I was trying to look for her after the game so we could get a picture but it was too chaotic and crazy with all of the celebrating fans.

Avynlea went to the store with me and we had some time to waste in the store as we waited for an appointment I had to get my bangs trimmed so we played around in Walmart. Avynlea found some fun Dinosaur claws to play with and then I had her put on the animal heads. 

She is cute even as a bear, sloth and a rabbit.

First Day of School Take 2

On Wednesday August 23rd the rest of the kids went back to school. First to leave were Kenedy and Ryker to the High School. This is Ryker's Freshman year and Kenedy's Senior year! This is Kenedy's first year of going to school with a sibling since she was in the fifth grade and I am so glad she and Ryker have this year to be together. I have seen a shift in their relationship the past half a year in the positive and it makes me so happy that they are becoming closer and enjoying each other more. I hope they are able to bond even more this year before Kenedy leaves next year. 

First up for pictures was Kenedy. 

Before she was camera ready I caught her doing what she does best and took a picture. 

A couple days later I found Kenedy's Kindergarten first day of school picture and I made a collage with her First day of school Senior picture and posted it on Instagram with this caption...

"Then and now, from Kindergarten to Senior. 💙💛 2018 is coming too fast 😭"

After I did Kenedy's pictures I took Ryker's. He is now a Freshman at the High School and ready to rock the next four years. I had him hold up 9 fingers to represent that he is in the 9th grade and it confused him a little bit as to why he had to do that. 

What a handsome guy!

A little bit later Avynlea was ready to go start her 7th grade year. I found another picture of a hairstyle to try on her and I think it turned out really cute. She is so fun and such a pretty girl, I know she is going to love being a 7th grader!

Total Eclipse

Mon Aug. 21 was the day Idaho and the rest of the world, it seems, has been waiting for for a long time. It was the Solar Eclipse. I have been seeing signs and information about it for a couple of months but never thought too much about it. It seemed cool but not something to get too crazy about. Luckily we were close to the path of totality and did not have to go too far to experience it. I would not have traveled out of state for it like a lot of people did. We were just blessed to be in the path this time around. The Saturday before Kefford and I thought we should stop procrastinating and try to find some glasses. Unfortunately a lot of places were sold out but fortunately Kefford called Fred Meyer and they had just gotten some in so he and I headed over to get some. Since they had a limited number they were only allowing each customer to buy 4. Kefford and I went in separately and I bought 4 pairs and he bought 2. Kefford was going to Emmett on Monday to make calls for work and Emmett was more totality then Meridian so we decided to all go with him and watch it together in Emmett. He called some of his friends who live in West Emmett and asked if we could watch it from their house and they were absolutely great with that. 

Meagan works for Kefford and Kelsey and they have a house up on a hill with a really nice view. It was fun to hang out up there with them and watch the Eclipse. When Kefford got done with his calls we headed out to their house and the Eclipse had started so we were watching it as we drove up the hill. 

Once we got to the house we hung out and visited while intermittently putting on our glasses and staring at the sun disappearing. 

We were able to have Meagan take a picture of our entire family wearing our glasses before the Moon completely blocked the sun. 

I was surprised when the weather started to get cold, I was not expecting that. I think it might have happened when the sun was about 3/4s blocked and then the last minute it was so cool to see the world go dark. We did not see a complete black out but it was dark! I saw Venus appear in the sky and I was in awe of what we were witnessing. As I was watching this eclipse I was thinking of how lucky we are to witness such a magnificent part of Gods creations. I love the reminders of His love for us and the amazing things we can witness. 

Once the eclipse happened Kefford was messing with the telescope and he got the Crescent shadow on some paper. 

Meagan's next door neighbor had a really big dog that they took us over to see. My girls were really interested and got a picture with him but I was not so I stayed over at Meagan visiting with her.