Sorenson Day!

We kept trying to make connections with Sorensons for a family day and things kept coming up but finally when Carter had a game in Eagle Mountain, we made a day of football and fun. They came to Carter's game and then we grabbed lunch and then went to Jace's game that was later that day. We got to see Lilly cheer at Jace's game too and that was so fun! 

These boys haven't lost touch after 12 years and I'm so very grateful. 

Look at these tiny boys at Carter's 4th birthday! And then again almost at their 12th! What cute boys!

They enjoyed pushing each other all over the house in their pads. 

After a pizza dinner we were off to the pool! 

The kids played and played until dark. 

We sure love this family and we all had a great day together! Love my friend Jenna and her strength and faith! She told us while we were visiting they will get to be sealed to their little baby they had planned to adopt when temples open a little more. Oh that made my heart so happy! And I know it has helped fill a small part of the hole in her heart knowing that he will be theirs in the resurrection. What great news this is!!!
 

I got a J.O.B.

A few months ago, my friend Jennie mentioned an idea of having me take over her tumbling class. I jumped at the idea but it took a few months to get things all in place. She asked me a day or 2 before I would actually start, but I was so excited, i didn't care! I've always wanted to teach a gym class so it's like a dream of mine coming true! And it is with the perfect aged girls who are just learning back handsprings! 

An added perk is that Mollie can come with me for free! So far I've really enjoyed it but it does take a little organization every week and a lot of PATIENCE with giggling chatty girls. But that ok. I love seeing them improve and grow in their confidence! Some of them are super spectacular and are catching on so fast! Wish me luck! 

Oh also it has the perfect hours....Tues at 7pm for just 1 hour! And its $20/class!

 

A FILLING outing

It's not often we find our selves without somewhere to go or kids to run, so when we realized we had a free afternoon, we splurged to go get some ice cream at LEATHERBYS! It's always so yummy it is worth blogging about! Well you can't go clear over there and not get fries and fry sauce so we got that too. Rylee cracked me up with her Chocolate chocolate sundae. She loves chocolate! I went for the Almond Joy! 

Carter had Peanut butter cookie dough...he said he didn't want peanut butter again for a while! And Bri went for superman.

Mollie had bubble gum and Chad had the apple pie sundae. We sure love this place but don't love the cost, so its an every once and a while thing! Our belly's were FILLED!

Afterwards we wanted to go walk around a temple. With temples being closed we have REALLY missed being able to go. We tried to go to the Jordan river temple but they were just closing their gates. So we went to the Oquirrh Mtn Temple and we were able to walk around the grounds and see all the flowers. 

The moment we stepped on the grounds I saw Chads demeanor change. I could tell he was feeling what I was feeling. Its always amazing to me that the second you step on temple grounds you can feel the spirit. I had forgotten that and I'm so glad it was so powerful for both of us. It was a good reminder of the peace we can still find, even if we can't go IN the temple, we can still prepare our homes and our "grounds" to invite the spirit into our lives. 

 All of our hearts were filled with the beauty of this earth and the spirit that dwells at the temple. We went home with full bellies and full hearts. I love to see the temple and I can't WAIT to go back some day. 

2020 first day of school

Along with everything else right now, there was nothing normal about the 1st day of school. I was so stressed about sending the kids in masks all day but I let them choose. They all quickly let me know they would do whatever it took to get to go back to school. They have all missed it quite a bit and I think they feel like they were cut short on last years fun. 

So here they are....my shaggy Carter with quarantine hair is going into 6th grade! This is his last year in elementary school! I'm not sure I'm ready for what comes after this!

Mollie is in 4th grade and probably the most happy of all of them to be back! She is such a social girl and thrives on contact with people. 

Miss Sassy pants Bri is off to 1st grade! The first 3 weeks of school were only a half day to help the kids adapt and teachers too!! She was so ready to take on the school world!

Since Carter walked into preschool I've always walked my kids to class, taken their picture and held back tears as I walked away. For 8 years that has been the norm...but this year, this is all you get. Their first day of school pic at the school. No parents were allowed in the school and I could only walk Brielle to the place where her class lined up to go in. EVERYONE was in masks. And I think I was blessed to notice how cute some peoples masks were instead of the horror of what it looked like of little kids in masks. Still makes my skin crawl.

But kids are resilient and not much phases them and they are ok with following rules. After they got home I worriedly asked them how wearing a mask for that long was. "It was fine, mom." "Not a big deal." Were the responses I got. Man I want to be more like my kids!

Me and Ry had the day to ourselves so we went to lunch and just hung out. After a looong 6 months it was sure nice to have a mostly quiet house for a few hours. 

And just for fun, the kids did tie dye shirts with Alex for fun Crazy shirts for a crazy year! AMIRIGHT?!

 

SPORTS!

Wow, I couldn't believe how ready and excited we ALL were for sports to get back in! Everything was so uncertain and even up to Carter's first game they didn't know for sure if they would have a season. Everything was different. Masks were worn, spectators were limited, distancing measures were put in place.....but hey, we got to play! 

Carter was SO excited for his first game and maybe a little more excited to just be wearing the gear. He ended up having to play up a year with the 12-13 year olds. It was a learning year for sure for him but he really learned to love it. 

Go #75!!

Mollie's season was also put on hold for a while and her coach tried to do zoom practices to keep the girls in touch and keep them practicing at home. We totally appreciate his effort, but it just wasn't the same! The girls wanted to be back on the pitch and giggling together again! Masks were issued, gear was sanitized and the games went on!

Brielle may have been the most excited to get out there! Her best bud Brightyn was on her team! These girls play awesome together!

And when she ran into her other bestie at her first game there were smiles all around. We are so glad that these kids get to have something that feels normal-ish to them and give them opportunities to work hard for a common goal. We love seeing them succeed and are so grateful their leagues decided to let them play!

 

Stupid Covid

A few weeks after our trip I developed a sore throat. Not wanting to get a qtip stuffed up my nose, but also wanting to be out of pain, I went to the doctor for a strep test. I knew going into it I might have to get a covid test but I was pretty sure I had strep. And I just wanted an antibiotic! My strep test ended up being negative, and after hearing I had been traveling, the doctor orded me a lovely covid test. The girl came in the room completely in a suit with every inch of her body covered and wearing a hat that resembled a bee keeper hat. She looked just as scared as I felt for the test! 

I'm not afraid of catching covid, because for our family, I think it would just be a cold and cough. We are not high risk and we have no underlying conditions that would give us reason to worry. I AM however afraid of quarantining our whole family! 

Anyway, after the test the doc came back in and told me very seriously that my whole family needed to stay home and quarantine until I had results. Well..that meant no soccer, no football, no work for Chad and no going anywhere. I went home a little bummed.

Chad let his work know and they agreed he should stay home. This was on a Saturday morning. We stayed home the whole weekend and tried to enjoy the simple things. And as ugly as this virus is, it sure has brought some beautiful moments into our home. As much as I DON'T like being forced to stay home, I do enjoy the opportunity to slow down and focus on what is important. 

Like playing with my Ry Bug!

She always asks why we can't do certain normal things and then follows it with, "Is it because the 'bywus' Mom?"

We enjoyed quiet days Sat-Monday and I woke up Tuesday morning to a text that my test was NEGATIVE!! WAHOOOO!! I felt so great! I hopped out of bed and went and taught my step class. Chad called his work and they told him they would see him on Wed! A whole other day to be together!! So what did we do? We packed up the boat and kids and hit the water at Willard Bay!

We only had a few hours to kill so our kids could get back in time for their things. But we made the most of every second. 

And it was a beautiful day! Carter accidentally hit Mollie in the mouth while trying to get on a tube and knocked her tooth out! Yay, that thing had been dangling. 

Yes, the virus is ugly. Yes it has taken away so much from us. But it has created opportunities we would not have normally had. Like church at home, lots of time to play games and do side walk chalk. We took lots of bike rides as a family and went for many walks. Dinner was much less stressful because for a few weeks we had no where to run off to. We got to know our neighbors better and created memories with them. Our kids set goals and had time to work on them and we used technology like we never have before reaching teachers, leaders, friends and family. 

 And at the end of the day, we look forward to going back to how things always were. But until then, we will hang on and lift eachother and make the best of what we have been given. I sure love this little family and I can't imagine life without them.