My Carter

This kid.....He's growing and changing and maturing so much! He's such a good teenager and I have no doubts that he will keep a good head on his shoulders and make good choices. Every now and then, the teenage attitude creeps out, but he is quick to put it away and do better. Dad makes sure to keep him in line by tourturing him every now and then. 

He's really loved learning to play the guitar. He learned to play some church songs which he was really excited about!

He had his first recital and did really well! 

 And like I said, Chad makes sure to remind Carter every now and then that he is bigger and stronger! Silly boys. 

Freeze Drying Adventures!

We picked up the freeze dryer we bought from Ronald at Thanksgiving time but it took me clear until May to get brave enough to use it! It has been SO MUCH FUN!  I love preserving food, i love feeling like we have food storage for our family. Things we will really use and eat! My kids love the food too. What a blessing it has been! We've did apples and strawberries first. 

Then of course had to try candy! Skittles are super fun and so are jolly ranchers!

We did a test run on a bunch of candy but sadly most of it failed because we were starting to have problems with our FD which took us a few months to figure out that it was just too hot in the garage for the machine to work well. I actually prayed to figure out what we could do for it after Chad had torn almost every piece apart! One day I walked into our garage and realized it was SO hot. Like 100 + degrees! And then it hit me....duh this is a deep freezer trying to work in this heat! I looked it up, and sure enough there is an ideal temp for it to work well at. We moved it indoors and ever since it's worked like a dream.  To date, I've freeze dried, more candy, taco meat, peaches, eggs, & peppers! Thanks to Aunt Sharon who knew how this crazy machine worked and who I'm sure helped with some of that revelation!

I hope this will work forever because I have SO many things I want to do!!!
 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day came and went and as my kids get older, I enjoy it a bit more. They realize the value of having a mom and try to show it in sweet ways and they are more self sufficient so it makes for a more relaxing day. As always, Chad and the kids were very good to me. We just relaxed and ate good food and enjoyed the day together. I know these kids were meant for me! They bring me great joy in my life. 

 

Super Cross SLC

When we learned Chance would be racing at SuperCross in SLC we started lookin for tickets because we had to go! It was at Rice Eccles Stadium and we headed down to see the show. There's Carter with the Honda truck in the background.

Chance and Chris were pretty busy but we did get to see them for a sec and there is Chance's bike in the background. 

We found our seats and checked out the track. Its pretty crazy what they can do in a stadium like this to transform it from a football field to this!

This pro guy always comes out with a fake head on I guess. 

Alot of the Hymas/Dudschus gang came up for it! It was awesome to hear the cheering section for Chance.

The race was intense and the cheers, wild! Chance won the race and scored the #1 plate!

Up on the big screen getting that plate!

The fans!

 What a perfectly fun evening! Great Job Chance!

Brielle's 1st field trip

I was kinda shocked when I realized that this was Brielle's first field trip ever in 2nd grade! Covid ruined all of hers so this was her first one and first time on a bus. All the kids were so excited! And it was was so nice to be able to go with her and see the joy in all their faces! They did sing The wheels on the bus a million times too but they were singing it with such joy and excitement it was hard to be annoyed. 

We went to the dinosaur Discovery Museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved it. 

Watch out for the Shark Brielle!

This history just boggles my mind sometimes. 

Just a little guy peeking over my shoulder. 

 Good times with Ms Heaps 2nd grade class!

Big Test

At the end of April, Chad was encouraged by his collogues and boss to take the final test to test of of training to become certified as a System Operator. I've never seen him so stressed as that test approached. He was studying full days at work and studying at home and dreaming about what he studied! His brain was fried. Not only do they test your knowledge, but they put you under a little pressure to see if you're consistent and still make the best choices when stressed. Most of his co-workers didn't pass on the first time. But Chad did! When I got the call that he passed I could feel this huge burden lift off of both of us! 

He actually had to drive south to Cedar City since there is no testing sites in SLC...lame, right?! When he got home, we surprised him with some Crumbl cookies to celebrate this huge accomplishment. I think he took one bite and went straight to bed. He was so tired! I think he finally slept well with the test behind him. Passing this test means shift work is just around the corner. We didn't want it but right now we don't have a choice. I've been worried about this for a year and here we are going right into it. I'm writing this a few months into shift work and it really hasn't been too bad. There is aLOT of overtime right now as they try to get more people trained and tested out. It's intense right now but the days off are so very nice! Even Jilly enjoys having him home in the middle of the day. He's been able to sleep which has been a blessing and somehow we are surviving sports season! It hasn't been bad at all. 

But I'm very proud of my husband and how hard he's been working to take this test and better himself and our familie's situation. Love you dear. I'm so thankful I have you. 

 

April things

April brought some wild storms but the boys were happy because they could squeeze in a few more boarding trips!

Carter also went to his first school dance! I made sure to embarrass him and show him how to slow dance. He didn't even get to slow dance with a girl because they had no slow songs! Still, he said he had a blast and dance in a group of friends. It was a decades theme so here he is in his best decades outfit.  

I got to meet up with Aub for lunch. I sure love this lady and I love how we always can catch right up and long for the next time we can do it! 

I took my kids to the temple...it was COLD! I love being there with them. I hope they will gain a testimony of the temple at a young age!

Sunday selfie with Brielley!

Soccer selfie with Rylee!

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Fires are starting already!