R is for Responsible Rylee

I got a letter in the mail from Rylee's school telling me that she was being awarded the Responsibility award for the month. I was really happy for Rylee and tried to keep it a surprise for her. She came home from school a week later telling me that Mr Thornburg sent me an email and was asking if I had seen it. I assumed it was a secret but Rylee seemed to know about it so I let her know that I had received a letter. 

I was happy to go to the assembly recognizing the award winners and am super proud of Rylee for the responsible person that she is. I am also happy that her teacher recognizes her good works, she is such a great kid. 

All of the Responsible award winners!

I was able to see Kenedy working with her third graders and that was really fun. 

Cheer Districts and Dog Biscuits

One evening I was hiding in my room from the madness that is family life and looking at filters on my instagram. It was fun playing around with them for a bit.

Kenedy had cheer districts and Meridian High was hosting so we had signups sent around to volunteer to help. I signed up to help with team check in because I could get it done before the competition, get in free and also get there before anyone else and save myself a seat. I don't mind getting up early but Avy and Rylee minded a bit since they had to go with me. Kefford and Ryker had a campout they were at and I did not want to leave Rylee alone at the house for that long since Avynlea had already committed to going with me. Rylee also had a basketball game which was taking place during the competition so I had to leave midway through to take Rylee to her game. Alison came to watch the competition with us and she also came with me to watch Rylee play her game. It started snowing when we were at the competition and was coming down really heavy at the point that we had to leave. I was super grateful Alison was with us because she volunteered to drive her expedition which was a lifesaver since I only had our Pontiac and was worried about the roads. 

We made it back to the competition in time to watch Kenedy's final performance and Kefford was able to get back from his campout to catch the last one as well. Alison had to leave but she was able to watch Kenedy perform which was fun. Kefford, Avy and I stuck around to the end to hear the results. Meridian made it to State in all three of their categories that Kenedy was in, the only one that did not make it was Stunt. I think the girls were pretty happy with their results.

I found some bows for Heather and I which I was really excited about because I have been looking for some good ones at the different competitions.

For Avynlea's life skills class she had to do 4 hours of community service. She decided to make cat toys and dog biscuits for the humane society. Her friend Brooke Williams helped her with the cat toys and Avynlea made the biscuits after finding a recipe on Pinterest. She did a great job and the animals are going to love what she made for them.

Esther Simplot Park

Sunday evening we decided to go explore the Esther Simplot park. We have never been but have heard good things about it and since it was such a nice day we figured we should go check it out. Rylee was in Emmett with her cousins and we missed her but we had fun discovering this cool park. There were a lot of trails to walk around, there was water and a fun park to play at. The kids had a lot of fun finding things to climb on.

The next Sunday was another nice day so we went back to the park this time with Rylee. We had fun with the video camera taking video and I was able to get some more pictures. It was another great Sunday spent with my family.

Amos goes to the Capital

One night I had a dream that I was with Amos and I was so happy when I woke up because I got to play with him and cuddle him in my dream. One Sunday night not too long after that Joshua called us on Hangouts and I got to see little Amos running around, I told Joshua about my dream and I also told him that it made me happy that he called so we could see them. 

A couple of days later I woke up to see a message on my phone from Joshua that he wanted to bring Amos with him to come and visit us in Idaho for a quick weekend trip and if that would be ok. I was so excited and I quickly responded with a "yes"!

They flew in on a Saturday morning and we had fun visiting and playing with Amos. Rylee had a basketball game and it was fun to have Joshua and Amos come with Kefford and I to watch her play. Later that evening Rylee, Avynlea and I went on a walk with Joshua and Amos to the park in our neighborhood. 

The next day was Sunday and it happened to be regional conference for us. Amos was pretty restless and Joshua took him out to walk the halls a bit but at one point he came over to sit with me and he had fun playing with my bracelets. I love those chubby cheeks of his.

After church we had lunch and naps and then we took Amos and Joshua over to the Meridian Temple grounds. The gate was locked which was a bummer because we could not get too close to the Temple but we were able to walk around a little bit.

Amos loved exploring our house and he loved discovering that he could open the doors to our office. He spent a lot of time playing with the doors and running through the room and out the other door. 

Monday morning all of the kids left for school but since Rylee's school starts a little later she was able to spend a little more time with Amos. I set up my laptop and turned on a sesame street show for Amos and told Rylee to pose next to him for a picture. He was super concentrated on the show he was watching. When it was time to take Rylee to the bus Joshua bundled up Amos and walked with us to the bus stop, it was nice to have the added company.

I promised Joshua we could take a tour of the Capital so after Amos took his nap we headed to downtown Boise. Amos did not like being in his stroller and Joshua let him run around, it was quite fun trying to keep up with the little runner.

After the tour we went home so that Joshua could finish packing up their stuff because they were flying home that night. It was a short trip but so much appreciated, I am so glad Joshua was thoughtful enough to come for a visit. It really was just what I needed.

Happy Golden Birthday Kenedy!

For her 18th Birthday Kenedy wanted to have just her girlfriends over for a night of cake and treats. But she did spare one invitation fora boy, she also invited McKoy because he is her best friend and basically one of the girls. They played a game where one person closes their eyes and has to find a person to touch and then listening to their voice goes who the person is. It was quite comical to watch because McKoy had no chance, one deep voice in a sea of girlie voices and he was doomed form the start no matter how hard he tried.

Kenedy wanted an ice-cream bar instead of a birthday cake so I bought ice cream and a bunch of different candies and toppings for them to choose from for the toppings. I also made a double batch of brownies to use for their ice-cream base if they wanted.

Once all of the girls arrived they visited, ate their ice-cream creations and then Kenedy opened her presents. Most of her friends were on the same page and she got a lot of bath salts and bombs, they must know of her love of baths.

Lauryn and Ashlynn chipped in a brought her a shark head, she will have a lot of fun with that up at college!

top row: Bri and McKoy

middle row: Lauryn, Sophie, Makayla, Megan, Kelsey and Anna

bottom row: Lyndsey, Audrey, Carlee, Kenedy, Hannah and Sammy

Kenedy had a paper due a midnight that night that she needed to finish so while the party was going on she tried her best to work on it. 

Procrastination

The next morning, Sunday, was Kenedy's Golden Birthday day. She turned 18 on the 18th in the year 2018!

 Kenedy first opened her card from Grandma Bonnie. 

Some of her favorite candy and a $20. I told Kenedy once you turn 18 you stop getting money according to age and just get a $20, she seemed totally fine with that.

Kenedy's big birthday gift were a pair of Jordans that had not arrived by her birthday so she just had a few really small gifts to open that day. I bought her some pans I found on the Way-Mart clearance table to take to college and I also bought her some gel pens. She likes to doodle during sacrament meeting and is always asking if she could use my pens. I do not like to let my pens be borrowed by anyone because that is when I start losing them and never see them again so I bought her some of her own.

For dinner I made Kenedy her favorite, Chicken Bruschetta Pasta, so delicious! I made a double batch so that she could have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I made her a chocolate cake so she could blow out her 18 candle.

Later we got a knock on the door and it was Bishop Danny Ricks stopping by after all of his church meetings to wish Kenedy a Happy Birthday. We all enjoyed having him over and I managed to sneak some photos of Kefford and Danny talking together. 

Kenedy's Favorite Things

Food: Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

Dessert: Almond Joy Brownies

Candy: Reese's PB Cups

Book: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean

Church Song: Nearer My God to Thee

Friend: Mckoy 

Scripture Story: 2,000 Stripling Warriors 

Color: Blue

Thing to do: Eat

School Subject: Education Assistant

5 things i love about Kenedy:

1. When our Ward split and we were put in a new Ward Kenedy decided that once she turned 18 that she wanted to be done with Young Womens and move on to Relief Society. If we would have stayed in our old ward Kenedy would have stayed with Young Womens until Graduation but since she is with a brand new group she just wants to be done and I do not blame her. Kefford and I convinced Kenedy to get a calling in the primary rather then go to Young Womens and I love that they gave her a calling in the nursery and that she loves it. She enjoys being with those little ones and looks forward to it every Sunday, I always loved being in the Nursery and am a little envious of her new calling. 
2. I love so much that Kenedy is willing to drive for me. I really do not like to drive and I feel that I have to do it a lot, especially after school getting my kids to and from their different activities. When Kenedy is home she is usually willing to do the dropping off and picking up and that just makes me so happy.
3. I think Kenedy is sooo pretty and I love how she has learned to do her make-up so well. It never looks too much and it is really flattering the way she does it. She has asked me to help her with her make-up for fancy dances but I think she is way more qualified then I am. I think she is just as beautiful without make-up as well.
4. I love that Kenedy wants to go to college to be a teacher. She has had this desire for a long time and it is exciting to see her working towards this goal. This semester she is taking a teachers assistant class and she gets to help out at Rylee's elementary school every other day. She loves going and it is getting her a taste of what her job will be like after college. Pretty cool.
5. I will always say how much I love Kenedy's testimony because it impresses me all the time. She is light years ahead in her conviction that I was at her age and it makes me so happy to see her doing things that bring the Spirit into her life. One of my favorite reasons for being called into Young Womens this last half a year was because I had the opportunity to hear Kenedy bear her testimony and it is amazing.

A new driver

We finally got Ryker signed up for Driver's Ed so that he could start working on getting his license. I was trying to get him signed up through the school district because it is a bit cheaper then going through a private driving school but after applying twice and him not getting accepted I called it quits and signed him up wth Hatch's. The school district was hard to get into because they have limited spaces and a lot of kids trying to sign up through it, it was the cheapest after all. But I was happy with Hatch's, Ryker did all the bookwork online which was way nicer then having to drive him to a class every night and his driving he did in the morning before school. I took him to Hatch's and dropped him off at 6:00 am and then his instructor would drive with him for an hour and then drop him off at the high school at 7:00. It wasn't really that bad, I liked having it done with before school, after school can get too crazy for me. 

So Ryker passed his class and now has his Permit so he can drive with me whenever he is around and able. So far he is doing a good job at listening to my instructions and I don't find it scary at all having him be the driver. It will be nice to have another licensed driver in the family.

Avynlea just being silly because Ryker got his picture taken and so she wanted her picture taken.

Bishop Ricks came to Kenedy's Seminary class to be a guest lecturer and Kenedy was so happy to see him. She loves him a lot and they have a great friendship, he even pulled her up to the front of the class to talk about how great she is and he also mentioned how much he loves her Dad and in his order of people of importance, he said, it goes, his wife first then Kefford and then his kids. ha ha ha 

 Our new ward was having a minute to win it game night on a Friday night. I really do not like minute to win it games and did not plan on going but at the last minute we decided we better show up for at least a little bit. I was a pretty small crowd and we ended up sitting with most of the people we knew from our subdivision although I did talk to my new YW's advisor and got to know her a little bit better. They had us in teams according to where we were sitting and then had volunteers come up from each team to play whatever game they were doing. Kefford got roped into doing the cookie unicorn game and he had to stack cookies on his forehead and keep them there for a certain amount of time. He got it eventually but he did not come in first. 

 I volunteered to do the bubble game where I had to blow a bubble and then keep it in the air and get it across the room and through a hula hoop all with only my breath. Nobody took pictures of me doing this but I rocked it and got my bubble through the hoop first and in no time at all. 

Avynlea did the puzzle building game. They were each given a puzzle, with out the box so they didn't know what it was supposed to look like,  and the first one to build it won. Avy didn't come in first but she did a good job and stuck with it.

Kefford and I have been talking about getting some new couches for our downstairs living room and on Saturday we took Rylee with us, since she was the only one home, and went around looking at couches. Rylee was not thrilled with the idea of going but she brought a book and I think she enjoyed testing out the comfiness of all the couches.

Valentine's Day

Rylee and Avynlea have been obsessed lately with making slime. They have found many different recipes and have tried all of them and have found the one they love the best. I came up with a great idea for Rylee to make slime valentines this year for her classmates at school. I found a really cute printable online and on Sunday after church Rylee, with some help from Avynlea, made her 

Valen-Slimes. They had a lot of fun making the perfect pink Valentine Slime and the finished product was so cute! 

On Valentine's Day my family woke up to pink heart shaped pancakes, Oreo Truffles I made for them and a Valentine where inside I listed things I loved about them. 

Ady and Rylee also let me braid their hair in a heart shape which looked really cute. 

This is Rylee's last year of having a school Valentine's party and I am ok with that. I did not want to have to deal with coming up with another idea for a Valentines box and so I encouraged her to use her Monster Book of Monsters one we made last year. She came home with the box filled with Valentine's and she said her classmates went crazy over the Valentines-Slime's she had made! Last school Valentine's party was a success!

Kefford and I celebrated our Valentine's Day a day early this year. I needed to be at the church Wednesday night because the Young Women volunteered to baby-sit for couples so they could go on dates. For our date Kefford and I went to Olive Garden for a delicious dinner and then we went to the movies to watch Pitch Perfect 3.  I thought it would not be as crowded because we were doing 

Valentine's day a day early but I was wrong, it was still really busy, maybe everyone else had the same idea?

I know Valentine's Day is not too popular with many people but I love having the opportunity to celebrate the day and to show love to my family. It was a great day!