Ai yi yi

What a week...and it’s only Wednesday Thursday. Our school is a hotbed of problems. We had another suicide on Tuesday. It hit the kids and the adults hard. It was a girl this time, a senior, a frequent flyer of the guidance office. She was troubled but getting help. Suicide is such a tragic waste. It is very draining to work in guidance at times of crisis. There are many tears and troubles that come our way. I do what I can to make sure they are seen quickly, treated kindly, and that I always give a hug and a warm smile (not a joyful jubilant one but a “you are safe, we’ve got you” one). For the counselors it’s way worse. We try to keep a cheerful face, and then at the end of the day we give each other a hug and an “are you okay” then we leave and go home to our families, and our dogs, and our everything else.

Working at the school this year has been eye opening. Shocking and sad in some ways. Every good, and every bad, thing you can imagine is there.

Today NaQuanda and I were twinning! She’s one of my favs!

Last night Ella and Madison planned Minute to Win it games for our combined activity. After we stayed and had a meeting with the bishopric and yw presidency. We really want to seek the Lord’s counsel and do what we can to help our precious youth navigate life’s treacherous waters.

Lincoln went to the groomer today.  Also Sierra, Grace and I took Kit to the doll hospital to be repaired.

One legged Kit wheeling off to become a new woman.

In other news the world is being rocked with the corona virus.
Ethan got accepted into another college.
Grace’s pain has been high this week :(
Ziva is Anorexic, she won’t eat. Dumb dog.
Today while I was driving home a saw a 5 footer sunning itself on the side of a pond across the street from the school. 🐊.
We’ve had some cooler weather.
I made Shepard’s pie for dinner yesterday and it was good.
Nana and Abba are in Australia, which is fun!
Sierra and I went to training for next week's Arnold Palmer Golf Tournament. (we are working for a band fundraiser)
The boys won another basketball game (that the band played at), so we move on to another game on Friday.
And I need more hours in my day!

Saturday

We cleaned stuff.

Went grocery shopping.

Rob went to work for half a day then fishing for half a day.

Ethan played basketball (our ward won and he scored 16 pts) and went to the movies at Disney Springs with friends. 

Grace practiced, took her drivers permit test (passed), sewed and went baby-sitting.

We watched movies and I read my book club book.

School week

Tuesday night Rob and I went to the girls basketball game. The band was great. They lost so it was their last game but they played well.  The game was close and we were ahead of tied until the last 3 minutes...then whoosh! They took the lead and kept it.
Thursday Sierra and I went to the boys game. We won so we move on to the next bracket. It was super fun! I guess I like watching basketball. The band makes it fun too & and I’m learning the rules and intricacies of a new (to me) game.
Wednesday we learned line dancing at mutual. We have our fundraiser next week so we need to do a lot of prep. Hopefully we will make lots of money.

We walked Salt and Pepper twice & started giving Ziva hemp to help her with her anxiety.

Dani decided to go back to college. She’s going to UVU and then Weber State for radiology tech. I am so excited for her! She’s been waiting  and wanting to go back to school and now Marshall is 5 and starting kindergarten in the fall so the timing is right. Proud of her❤️
Jenna also took the job she applied for. It’ll be part time and doing group therapy only, which she likes.
Sierra is looking for a job. It’s fun to have her here, hopefully it’ll be a great move for her.
Hannah has the flu:(. She felt the baby move for the first time!
Rob got a new position at work, which he is glad about. He’s a program manager now.
We are a blessed bunch!

Parenting.  I’m at a weird place now. The end of day to day parenting is looming, the count down is on. A couple three more years and Rob and I will be empty nesters. It is bitter sweet and I feel very nostalgic for sweet baby days, and fun and busy elementary school days, and full house & full dinner table & full calendar whole family home days. But these days, days of grown kids doing great. Smart and responsible adults, adorable grandchildren, accomplished teens doing good things and young families raising their own children, these days are pretty sweet too.

10 day senior challenge

Fun facebook challenge I just finished.

Day off

• Grace went to a leadership conference . She said it was interesting and she enjoyed it. 
• Sierra and I ran errands. We went to Lowes and made her a house key. We went to get pedicures. We mailed a package to baby Crawley. We went to Publix. 
• Sierra went to the gym.
• The flex went to action gator and got a brake job.
• I made vegetable soup for dinner and it was yumm.
• We talked to Cora and Ruby on FaceTime.
• We talked to Tatum.
• We talked to the Nevares fam.
• I talked to mom.
• Ethan did homework.
• Grace wrote an essay.
• We discussed at length what to do with Ziva. She’s been peeing in the house (again) we go for months and then problem rears its ugly head again. Our animals are the single biggest stressor in my life. And I kid you not. I have been through some stuff ( as has literally every person I have ever known...that is the nature of mortality ) and animal stress is high up on my list of life’s difficulties. Which you may think means my life has been easy but no, what it means is this is hard.
• A short list, not all inclusive, but the highlights reel of difficulties to illustrate:

1. I was a dumb kid. Not even kidding, I was pulled out for special lessons, dyslexia and dysgraphia were part of my early challenges. 
2. I wore headgear to school.
3. We were poor, although in fairness I didn’t know and didn’t think it was a challenge... but 7 kids on a teachers salary is poor!
4. I was touched inappropriately in elementary school (1 in 4 ).
5. I was a teen mom.
6. I was in an abusive marriage. (Physical, emotional, cheating, drinking, etc)
7. I got a divorce. (Guilt, and sadness)
8. I had cancer.
9. I blended a family. (That was way harder than I expected)
10. We moved said family across the US a few times (which is fun and hard in equal parts).
11. I have had teens who have had some real struggles and challenges. 
12. And little kids with real struggles and challenges. 
13. I have mourned for friends who have had tragic losses.
14. I have prayed hard and worried hard for beloved siblings with health and personal trails. 
15. I have not been the mom or wife or sister or friend that I wanted to be more times than I can count. And my children, who I love more than anything, have paid the price for that. Which is the hardest part.
16. I have had to repent, redirect and renew my resolve more times than I can count. 
17. I have dealt with anxiety and take meds for it.
18. I have had debilitating back pain (bulging disks) that left me bedridden and unable to walk for over a month. (That was scary and awful)
19. I pee myself a little when I sneeze or jump or...(10 pregnancies will do that to you).
20. We have had 4 miscarriages. 
21. I don’t know how to do many of the things that I have muddled through.
22. I am fat.
23. And a little lazy.
24. And I have pets.

Don’t cry for me though everyone else has the same list, different details.   

Sunday

First order of

Business:

My new favorite picture!!

 We went to the beach after church and lunch today. It was so pretty. The sand was white as sugar.

3 day weekend

We decided to go to St Augustine. None of us had ever been and it has not been a disappointment. It’s actually just about two hours from

Orlando but we decided to get a little Airbnb and make a get away out of it.

Our first stop was the fountain of youth archeological park. It was fun. We drank from its waters (tasted bad), watched the demonstrations, and learned a little history. 

Next we went to the Colonial Quarter and walked around. There were so many cute cute shops and little museums, old building and quirky unique galleries and restaurants. We ate at the burger bucket, everyone liked it.

After that we went to our house. It’s cute, little, old, right on the canal, and allows dogs. We grabbed some groceries and unpacked before heading back to town for our ghost walk.

The ghost walk was more fun than I had anticipated. Our guide was a good story teller and she shared lots of entertaining and historical stories of pirates, raids, plagues, fortunes lost and found, tragedies and love. I think we all enjoyed it a lot. The city is the oldest one in the US and it’s fun to walk on the cobbled streets and past the cathedrals, colleges, fruit trees and to imagine the generations of people who have walked those roads before.

BYU

Ethan got in and got a full tuition scholarship!! So delighted and happy for him!

Valentines

Work was fun today. All the counselors were gone so it was just us lowly clerks. Ms Robbin set up her fire stick. We ordered door dash. I crocheted. 

We did work too but not as much as normal. Also I wore a cute red shirt. 

Penny Jane looked even cuter than I did:) she’s a cutie pie!!!

I talked with Cora and Ruby on the phone. They are now very interactive and say lots of cute stuff. 

Dani and Jenna went to chickfila and accidentally matched each other:) how funny is that❤️

And that’s a wrap for the day of love. 

Oh Sierra went on a super lame date. Men. 👎

Good times

 Grace made cookies for Mrs Boot yesterday. Isabella came to help.  Sadly the band banquet and the choir concert are on the same date. Choir is 60% of her grade so that’s mandatory. Band is her love. She’s hoping to persuade Mrs Boot to let her miss with out the stiff penalty. She’s hoping cookies will help. I am not too hopeful but you never know.

4 days later: the cookie ploy did not work. After some conversations between the two teachers and me it looks like she will go to the concert but leave after her songs are done and attend the end of the banquet. It’s not perfect for anyone but probably the best we could do.

Sierra drove for 2 days straight and moved to Florida. I’m excited to have her here and hope it works out great for her! Love my Christmas baby.

On Tuesday Ethan, Sierra and I went to Disney Springs to celebrate her arrival. We had a fun time walking around, pointing out our favorites to her (even though she’s been before) and eating dinner. 

The week has been busy. School, work, band at a basketball game, YW, a trip to Target, dinners and dog walks.

Tuesday night Ethan met with Bishop Cole to start his mission paper work. So exciting! 

Yesterday was Marshall’s 5th birthday! He’s a smart, handsome little guy!! 

I ❤️ Saturday

I love a good free day. We slept in! Something the whole family loves.

Rob went out on the kayak with Lincoln. They caught some fish. He also went to work for a couple of hours and smoked dinner for us.

Ethan and I went suit shopping. I can’t believe we are getting stuff for his mission like it’s the real deal. Crazy!
Tonight he and Jackson went to the dance.

Grace worked on drivers ed. She babysat this afternoon for Beck and Cooper. Tonight she and I went to see Frozen 2. We are the last two people on earth to see it apparently. The guy next to us sang and said the dialogue the whole way thru (that wasn’t at all annoying).  Despite that we both loved it! My favorite line was Kristoff saying “my love isn’t fragile”. Loved that.

I cleaned, talked to Val on the phone (first time all week since she was on a cruise with Ryan’s family), went grocery shopping, went shopping with E and to the movies with G. And texted the bishop a lot. He’s brand new and we have lots to discuss.

Fun news

Ethan got accepted to Baylor and got a big scholarship from them. He’s not going to go there but it was still exciting to hear.

Grace had her clarinet solo competition tonight. She got a superior and is qualified now to go to states.

It’s the weekend!!! 

Tonight Ethan and Will went to the movies. Rob also went to the same movie but somehow a different theater.  They went to see 1917. 

Ethan had an idea. It involved a rope, a window, a friend named Jackson, and a box of donuts. 

Good news, everyone survived;)

catching up from what??

Where does the time go?


Monday was super busy at work.  Robbin and I had spent days preparing the transcripts for all the juniors and seniors and we finally finished up. In the evening we walked Salt and Pepper and arrived to a huge mess.  One of them was sick in their shared crate.  When the door opened they ran out and spread poopy paw prints on the carpet and rubbed on the walls and tile.  They were like little poop rockets.  Grace and I got to spend a long time cleaning and shampooing and walking them.  We sure earned her $5 that night.


Tuesday after school Grace had an appointment with the eye doctor.  She got a prescription for glasses, it's not very strong.  My bet is she will mostly not wear them but we filled it. I made chicken burrito bowl for dinner, per Ethan's request. 


Yesterday was YW.  Danika planned the activity and I think it went well . She had a couple different things for the girls to do.  First we played "and suddenly", then we did back to back drawing, lastly she had each girl sit in a chair and there was a large mirror behind them.  All the other girls wrote on the mirror things they liked about the girl sitting in the chair.  When they were done she'd turn around and see all the fun things that were written about her.  The girls took pictures and all were pleased to see the nice compliments their friends were sharing with them.
Grace wasn't there because it was the last home basketball game.  After mutual I went over and watched the end of the game.  The band makes those games so fun and peppy.  Our team did great.  We scored over 100 points and won the game.  The stands were crowded and the noise was deafening but it was super fun.
Also yesterday Grace went to the doctor for a refill on her meds.  They don't make the pain go away but they help a little.  Except when she takes them she gets lightheaded more.  (insert sad head shake)


Sierra has been sick, she was supposed to move to Florida last weekend.  I am not sure when she'll come now . Lots of people at work have been sick too, kids and adults.  I hope I don't get it.


Rob worked tons of hours at the beginning of the week.  He doesn't get overtime any more so now he takes extra time off when he works so much.  He had more than 40 hours at the end of Wednesday so today he and Lincoln went fishing. 

Rob's job is going to have him travelling a lot soon.  We've been talking about my job and what to do about it.  I have a hard time doing my paid job and doing my more important mom job and doing both well. It's a really hard decision.  On the one hand I like what I do.  The days go fast and I get to talk to a lot of kids and help them out.  I also love the counselors I work with, and I like being in the know at the  school.  And I like the extra $.  And I like that I "only" work when school is in session.


I miss my house, my free time, being able to clean everything and go to the temple each week, and I miss being a good ministering sister. And I don't have time to talk on the phone or watch TV.  So hmmm

Today is senior field day for Ethan. I remember kindergarten field day like it was yesterday. He’s such a good boy! Love him!

superbowl

Saturday we got an email saying that we were having a special meeting on Sunday, our ward and 3 other wards.  We were going to have a boundary realignment. This is never good news.  Well it is because it means the kingdom of God is growing.  Our chapels are full, our parking lots don't have space and it gets more and more full each month. It's not because we miss our friends who are in different wards.  I was nervous about who we would lose, or if we would be in a new ward.  Anyway we went and it was okay.  Our Bishop and four other families that we consider friends are now in the newly formed Lake Butler ward.  5 young men are in those families, no YW though!  We now have a new bishop.  David Cole, who has been Ethan's seminary teacher since we moved here, is our new bishop.  We are delighted.  He is a good man and will be a wonderful leader.  I am looking forward to working with him and I am so glad that he will be working with Bub as he prepares for his mission. I am sad that he won't have him for the rest of seminary but hopefully the year will end strong for him. Bro Wentzel is the new teacher and I think he'll do a great job.
It was an emotional day.  Saying goodbye to Bishop Hansen.  Of course we will still see him but it's a big change.  When you are called to serve you learn to love so much and that calling is central to your whole life.  I know when I have been released from leadership callings I always feel a loss and feel lost for a little while.  I am sure as a bishop it's even more.  Not being in the ward with some of our friends, especially Heather and her family, it hard too. Luckily our kayaks live at Heather's dock so we will still see them:)
I am also very glad that we are still in the same ward as Ivana, and Shannen, and Jenn, and Wendy, and others of our friends. I did lose Suzanne and she is an amazing, amazing secretary.

The Roddy's had a Superbowl party.  Also Abba came over for dinner.  He is in Florida on a golfing trip and came to see us.  After dinner we all went to the Roddy's.  We always love spending time with Abba.  He's the best.
I only stayed at the party for about an hour.  The kids and Rob all wanted to go but I wanted to go to bed and watch TV.  Anyway, they stayed for the whole game and had fun.  Ethan had about a dozen friends there to watch.  Grace and Sage and Hannah Bravo were there to hang out.  Rob watched with the men.  I visited for awhile, which was very fun.  Then came home and went to bed with the dogs.  We watched an episode of Blue Bloods then went to sleep. Everyone was happy.

The girls got together last night to watch the Superbowl too.  Jenna and Clayton have an Airbnb because their kitchen had a flood and it's being renovated.  It's big and has lots of space so they had a party.  Mom and dad and also JaNee and Michael and their family came.   They sent me this cute picture, which I loved!!

Celebrating

 Today we are celebrating Grace’s birthday. On her actual day we went to Zach’s funeral.

She wanted to spend the day at Disney with her friend Kaylynn. We couldn’t last week so today was the day. It was rainy and cold this morning but we decided to go ahead and go. The crowds have been fairly light and we’ve gotten on lots of rides. I love the fireworks and we got to see them!
Happy 15th!

Katie, Phoebe, Kaylynn, Grace and Emma