Nothing too exciting

Pierce got his drivers permit. Heaven help us. I’m pretty excited/nervous about this. 

We went for a walk tonight and we found this mantis on the road. Rex was pretty excited about it and wanted to touch it. We got a stick and saved it from off the road. 

Today Allie had an amazing voice lesson. She sounded spot on. But of course it is the one week her teachers recorder wasn’t working. That’s life for you. After she finished her teacher Jordi issued a dare for Allie to sing to someone outside her family. Allie immediately shut down. She is afraid to do that. I want so much for her to have the confidence. I want her to know how amazing she is. She went upstairs and brought down all these handwritten notes. Oh Allie you CAN do this. I believe in you.   

Bubbas first day of preschool

Today was the big day! My little Man started preschool. He acted excited to go this morning. He has some serious separation anxiety so I’ve worried and prayed that he would do well. Prayers were answered. We got to the school and his friend Eva was having a little bit of a hard time and so he went to console her and while he was doing that I walked away. As I got about half way down the hall I heard him say,” wait where did mom go?” But no crying! When I picked him up he was so excited to see me. But he replied.” I not go back!” But I was so proud of him. We celebrated with a McDonald’s happy meal. Way to go bubba. 

Another Sunday

Today started off with Trent letting me sleep in and he took Rex out to feed the animals and move the water. It was a nice break. I needed the extra sleep. I woke up to them giggling in the living room together. Much better than how he woke me up the first time, by licking me

Repeatedly in the back. 

We got ready for church. It was fast Sunday but Trent has forgotten and made pancakes and I wasn’t going to complain for his generous thought to make breakfast. So we will fast another day. 

We relaxed this afternoon. I watch a nature documentary with the girls about lions and tigers and cheetahs.  

We had our Sacrament meeting this afternoon. I taught the lesson on Samuel the Lamanite and it felt like the kids were throwing stones and arrows at me. They were fidgeting and not being serious. But we made it through and I think they learned something. 

I made bruschetta chicken and White sauce and noodles. 

This evening we went to the Summers house. Today was Jacks birthday so we went to celebrate. We love their family. It was a good day. 

Today was hard

Imagine having to be everyone’s everything. That’s how I felt today. The kids are knee deep into their/our first week of school. Normally it would be a crazy week of me running Kids to and from. I definitely don’t miss that part. But I do miss all the normal routines. I miss our car conversations. I miss hearing all about their days. Seeing their faces when I’m there to pick them up or the simple I love you’s as they exit our car. I don’t have those. I have hard things. I’m solving technology issues. Dealing with emotions, anxieties and stresses. The kids are having a hard time too and I feel bad that they are having to do this too. I guess we are all just trying to figure out this whole new life. Rex has been all out of sorts too. He’s had all the attention from the kids and now they are busy and so he is sad. I just have to try and stay post ya day hope things get better. 

After school we went and got pizza and hung out at home. Later the missionaries came over and filmed our “ Brocky” video. Pierce is going to edit it for our family. 

Yesterday I spent most of the day canning salsa. It turned out so yummy! 

Tonight we measured the kids and Pierce is officially taller than me 5’8.5”! Crazy to believe that. Rex saw us measuring Pierce and kept saying “my turn, my turn!” It was so cute. 

First day of school 2020

This year is different than any other year. The starts of school is all virtual. So that means all the kiddos are home with me and Trent (he is working from home). They all are at different schools this year. Pierce is in high school 9th grade. Brock is in junior high 7th grade. Jaida is at the middle school in 5th grade and Allie is in 2nd grade at Ahtanum Elementary. Rex will start preschool next week. 

We had a few glitches with our internet, but all in all it was pretty successful. It is t was I ever envisioned life would be like that is for sure. The biggest challenge was Rex blasting “baby shark music” on repeat and just being Rex! 

I’m hoping that once we figure it out and the kids get more self sufficient it will be ok. I had to go to conferences after school to meet with some of their teachers. You can tell they are all trying to make this work. I guess we are learning patience. 

But I did feel like laying in the fetal position and crying after is was all said and done. 

Sunday

Today was a pretty normal Sunday, except for having some sick kids. Pierce has had a sore throat and Rex woke up with a fever today. It’s crazy that because of COVID 19 you automatically start to worry that you have it and could be spreading it to others. I hope that’s not the case and it’s just another bug of some sort. We got up and made apple muffins and cinnamon rolls. Rex and I went out and fed the animals. He loves to collect the eggs. He is a little chatter box and talks the whole time. I look forward to this time with him. 

Trent woke up later than normal and felt a little off as well. We had our sacrament meeting.Trent taught about the importance of prophets and it was a great lesson. Rex fell asleep during it and after I transferred him to my bed and took a little nap as well. After we woke up and got him situated with medicine to get his fever in control I started on dinner. I made flank steak (from our cow meat) and it was just ok. We have a hard time with the taste sometimes. After dinner Trent, Rex and I went for a walk in town in an older neighborhood that Trent loves. He likes to look at all the well manicured yards and the architecture of the older homes. He says it makes his heart happy. We got home to hear the older 4 kiddos playing out on the trampoline laughing together. Tonight is like our last night of fun. Tuesday the kiddos start school. It will be all virtual because of COVID. Bummer. So Trent gave all the kids and me blessings to start the year off. We are trying to stay positive. Then we watched an episode of phineas and ferb. The older kids are making a “cozy spot” in the man cave to celebrate their last night before school starts. I can hear them laughing their heads off. Rex is laying next to me now having a hard time getting comfortable. Poor kid. All in all it was a great day. 

And so it begins

When we bought our house 4 years ago we knew it was going to take a lot of work to get it into shape. We have spent a lot of time on the outside of the property and some things on the inside. I am so excited to get new floors! I wish I could snap my fingers and make it happen super quick though. I hope my sanity survives. 

New (to us) table

I’ve been working hard to refinish a table. We have needed one for the last few years because ours is just a too small for our family. 



I had to sand it down to prepare to paint. 



I think it turned out awesome. I love how easily paint can transform something. It makes my heart so happy to see the end result. 

Hayden Lake

August 19-23 we headed to Hayden Lake with our Friends the Summers family. This is our second year. We rented the same house again. It is nothing too fancy, but perfect for what we need. This year we went a little

Crazy with the food and bought a ton of food. We spent your time soaking up the sun most of the time. Kids love when Shawn takes them all out tubing behind the boat. I was proud of both Pierce and Brock learning how to water ski with one ski. We fished. We saw a lot of deer. 











Rex caught a moth bare handed. 



We had fun playing games together. We watched movies and laughed a lot. We are so blessed to have them for such great friends. We love them like family. We had our traditional dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Saturday night. Yum! Then Sunday we shared the sacrament together and then headed back home to Yakima. We already can’t wait until next year. 

Just a boring day

Nothing too exciting went on today. I got up and exercised and then got ready for the day. Tomorrow we leave to go to Hayden Lake with the Summers family. It’s our annual tradition. So I made 4 batches of cookie dough to take with us. The Summers kids came over to hang out during the day. Then Brock and Pierce went over there tonight to watch the NBA games. I packed a few bags and sold our kitchen table. I bought a new one that I’m going to refinish. Hope it turns out how my brain sees it. It was a good day. Just nothing all that exciting! 


Bye old table 

Scary night

On our drive home from Idaho about an hour away from home we started to get texts asking if our house was on fire?! Ahhhh. Turns out the mountain behind our house was up in flames. Luckily we made it home and everything was fine. The fire was about 34 miles away. My friend Irma Philp had to be evacuated and that was so nerve racking. I was so glad that this morning she heard her house was ok and was able to return home. A good reminder that we need to be better prepared for emergencies. So grateful that this turned out good. 

A fun long weekend

This past weekend we went to Idaho Falls. We stayed with Kayla and Brian. All of our kiddos love being together. They could hardly stand being apart. The first day we went to the zoo and then after to Reeds Dairy for some yummy ice cream. Rex loved it until his ice cream started to melt. He then screamed and threw ice cream everywhere. I was proud that I was so patient with him. 









Trent loves to spend his day “working” along side his brother Brady, just like old times. They went and looked at trailers one day. Then they took Davis to Mongolian BBQ for his bachelor party. Cory and Dee got there just I. Time for that fun! 



We spent Friday at Rexburg Rapids. The kiddos swam to their heart’s content. Rex loved all the little kiddie slides. Allie had a blast with Mikayla on the lazy river. Jaida loved the water slides and rock wall. I hardly saw the older boys. We hit up the snack bar and got pretzels, drinks, pizza and cotton candy. Yum! Later that night we had a get together to celebrate Gramsie and Papas 50th wedding anniversary. We had a bbq, played shock potato and laughed until late into the night. 






We went and helped Brady and Sasha get ready for the big wedding day for Sidney. Cory was on kid watching duty. These two rascals kept coming up for popsicles. He helped them catch 5 grasshoppers. 

It was a long day and Rex zonked out before the wedding even started. But it was such a blessing so I could actually enjoy the ceremony. Sidney made such a beautiful bride. I loved the barn where it was! It was gorgeous. 

When it was time to go we were sad to say goodbye. But couldn’t help getting a picture in our matching pajamas. They are so comfortable. 

I love that our kids love each other so much. They talk almost daily. It’s such a blessing to have such close relationships with cousins. It couldn’t have been a better weekend. 

We got to love on this cute little chunk! Allie and Ellie! She is absolutely adorable. 

Allie loves her Auntie Sasha. I am so grateful for their little bond. They stayed up late, had sleepovers, made crafts, and had the best of times.