The January Blah

Could there be a worse month?  I don't think so.  Forget all the stuff about new beginnings.  It's the worst.  It's dark and cold and I spend way too much time putting away Christmas decorations and clutter.  I also spend way too much time doing all the Amazon returns which is it's own kind of torture.

Henry and I have started going to the monthly Home Depot kids workshops and Henry is getting pretty good at doing most of the building by himself.  It didn't take him long to realize that I'm not a good builder or instruction follower.  We've done three of these and so far we only had to toss one kit for a new one when we couldn't undo the work we did wrong.  I see this as a good thing. A pleasant surprise if you will.  

We adventured up the canyon and hiked to Franklin Falls.  It was so beautiful.   The last stretch was treacherous as the path was coated in ice.  I was waiting for Marcus to fall and break something but we all survived and I only wish we could've taken pictures of us clinging to the sides of the rocks or hanging on to small branches to keep us from sliding off the trail.  Henry even managed to hike without too much whining.

Ethan went back to college took his cat, George, back with him.  Yes, Ethan has a cat.  Yes, Ethan flew home with the cat in a duffel bag.  Yes, Audrey is allergic to cats (and vegetables).  And it turns out, Landon is also really allergic to cats, even after taking allergy meds.  Yes, we love Ethan a lot to allow George into our family.

Ethan had surgery to repair his torn ACL.  He survived and thrived and I didn't feel guilt for not flying down to take care of him.  Turns out he just needed me for food, which I gladly paid for so he and his caregivers (roommate and Halli) were more than happy to purchase.  Ethan was only down for about two weeks before he was back to driving and going to his chemistry labs that you can't miss no matter what.

Marcus began the final grind before the lax season officially started.  He's still playing D-mid and has moved up on the depth chart so he's getting playing time through the whole game, not just when it's 4th quarter.  Hooray!

We had some beautiful days of sunshine that "sick" Parker took advantage of when he stayed home from school.  I got played but I don't really care.

I broke all sorts of records for how long Christmas decor stayed up.  This photo was taken on January 14th, a week before it all got put away.  I think a tiny voice inside my head kept telling me eventually Randy would take care of it.  Finally a much bigger voice in my head told me Randy hasn't noticed it's still out and to just put the Christmas stuff away for the love!  So I did.  Randy noticed and appreciated it two days later :)

The Amazon truck ruined my lawn.  I am still fuming.

A new year means new cancer.  I only had two suspicious spots and of those, only one is pre-cancerous.  This is also true for my colon so I now I get to start having routine endoscopies every six months because apparently that's what I do now.  And that's ok.  

January means a new round of ward conferences.  This is a lot of work is part of what contributes to the "busy season" of my stake calling.  

They're Gone!

Everyone is back at school and the house is peacefully quiet.  I have two kids in college.  Whoa.  I also have one kid in high school, one in middle school, and Henry bringing up the rear in first grade.  It's a lot of change.  Change is weird.  And hard.  But mostly weird.  I still haven't decided how I feel.  I'm excited for my college boys, super happy to have a quiet house, and wanting to make the most of the holidays when everyone will be home.  Oh, and I'm loving the amount of extra freezer space we have for the first time in ever.  Not having to play Tetris with all the food in my freezer to make everything fit is a nice way to live. I've also significantly reduced the amount of milk I buy at Costco.  We now go through four jugs of milk/week instead of 8.  Hooray! 

It was time to retire this amazing doormat :( I cannot live a lie.

Landon on his first day of high school.  He's loving it and usually stays after with friends or goes to the gym.

Parker didn't even seem nervous for 6th grade.  I actually had to wake him up or he would've been late!  He had no problems getting his locker open so he's off to a great start.

Henry loves the color red and never does anything halfway.  He is so cute and so small and such a stinker.

Walking to the bus stop alone.  For the rest of his life :( Good thing he doesn't care.

Marcus drove himself down to BYU.  I was praying the whole day that the van wouldn't die on him and it ran great.  He had it packed to the gills.  He's on his second day of classes and LOVING playing lacrosse.  He goes on a date with a different girl almost daily.

This is me waiting impatiently to get access to Ethan's dorm room.  He probably took about half of what Marcus did to school.  Utah State is the perfect place for him! Ethan is majoring in biology and thinking about a future in medical/dentistry.

While we dropped off Ethan in Logan, we met up with our Oki besties who we haven't seen in over ten years.  I cried when I hugged Joy.  She's incredible and I'm so glad we got to hang out for a bit and introduce our boys to each other.  Ethan and Calvin are now great friends and Joy sends me pictures of them together because Ethan refuses to. 

I have a feeling we will be traveling to Utah whenever possible so we can see our college boys.

Ethan Graduated!

Ethan’s a graduate!  It was so fun and exhausting doing all the celebrations and ceremonies. It brought back so many memories of when I was a senior and having all my lasts. Like Ethan, I was ready to be done with everyone and everything and just move away to school.  Ethan was a good sport for going to all the things that he didn’t really care about. But we got the pictures and I’m so happy we got to focus on Ethan for a while. Ethan is a good kid and has done a lot of good things. 

This is the last picture we got of Ethan after the graduation ceremony in Seattle. But let’s back up a bit because there was a lot of stuff before the culminating event. 

Ethan graduated from early morning seminary! This is HUGE. This means he did more than just show up for a class that started at 6:15am. He attended, participated, read his scriptures, and persevered.  He doesn’t think it’s a big deal but Randy and I sure do.  I felt like death but refused to miss his seminary graduation.

Baccalaureate is my favorite part of graduation. It’s a non-denominational ceremony and is really what you expect graduation to be like, but it isn’t. It begins and ends with a prayer and there’s great speakers and messages from multiple faiths and it just feels good. Plus, the venue is awesome and the best place to get photos. 

Graduation is always held at T Mobile Park which is huge and impersonal.  The stage is so far away you can barely see the kids. Their name gets announced and as they walk across the stage, they continue to announce the names of the next grads in line so by the time they make it to the principal to receive their diploma, you’re hearing a name being read of a person that isn’t the one receiving their diploma. It’s kind of confusing. Afterwards, thousands of people all convene on one sidewalk so there is no room for pictures and it’s mass chaos. And because nothing ever seems to be easy when all my boys get together, Parker and Henry got lost. We couldn’t find them anywhere. Turned out they made a bee line for the car and one of my friends grabbed them until we could fight the crowds to get to them. Meanwhile, Ethan was impatiently wondering where his family was so we could get the last photos and escape the chaos. It was not great. 

So here is a picture of Ethan getting his diploma while someone else’s name was read. The coolest part was that Ethan did a back flip as he walked across the stage. I had no idea that was coming but luckily I got video of it. 

After Ethan got his diploma I settled in with a book and enjoyed passing the time reading. It’s The Women by Kirsten Hannah and I highly recommend it. 

While we were searching for missing children, a friend snapped this picture of Ethan with his buddies he’s grown up with. Three of them are going to Utah State and one is going to BYU.

Reunited and proud of our graduate!

We had a lot of hangry boys on our hands and were thrilled to eat at Din Tai Fung where the boys devoured so many dumplings. 

This photo wasn’t staged. Henry was that excited to eat a dumpling. 

Ethan, you are growing into a good looking man and we are so excited for your future. Utah State is going to be a blast!

Utah and Family and So Many Blessings

We spent Veterans Day weekend in Utah so Ethan could receive his patriarchal blessing from my Dad.  Landon got his blessing about six months ago and Ethan has been waiting and wanting to get his too.  My dad was recently called to be a Patriarch and can give blessings to members of his stake and family members so we made this trip happen for Ethan. It was a fun trip! 

And lucky for us, the weekend also coincided with Megan's mission farewell so we got to gather with everyone (except for Marcus).  And since we like to take advantage of every moment in Utah, we met up with the Brandt's and Beeson's--two close family friends who moved from Washington who we miss  terribly.  

We also drove three hours down to Cove Fort to see Randy's parents who are serving there.  We got a tour and had a delicious lunch with them. They are 9 months into their 2-year mission. 

Pushing the metal rings around is harder than it looks! After driving back to Orem and hanging out with friends, we even snuck in a quick visit with Randy’s siblings.  We were busy!  We had fun!  We spent way too much time driving in a 4-day period.  

We toured the Orem Temple Open House with the Beeson’s and the Brandt’s.  The temple is absolutely beautiful!  The stain glass windows are unlike any I’ve ever seen before. After fighting the crowds at the temple we went to the Brandt’s giant house (everything is bigger, better, and costs less in Utah) for dinner. The kids played so hard and Henry was reunited with his best buddy James. All felt right in the world. 

The next morning was pancake breakfast at Dad’s. The kids played while the adults laughed and talked together. Chaos reigned supreme, as usual. 

Henry and the second generation of cousins. He was in heaven running around in the basement and it reminded me of when Marcus and Ethan were little. We played pickle ball at the park (hello sunshine!) and had pizza for lunch and then we were off to do the Flow Rider.

My boys improved a lot but it's nothing like surfing behind the boat!

Ethan did some cool tricks and barrel rolls

Then we went to Top Golf for dinner and golfing.  It's the most expensive family outing possible, next to skiing.  But the food is delicious and I got to sit and visit with April and Laura's family so it was even more fun for me.

Henry is actually pretty good.  He consistently hits it over his left shoulder and into one of the goals.

Ethan's not a golfer but he sure can hit it hard and far.

Parker might just have to start golfing with Landon and Randy.  He loves it!

The food is always a nice bonus

Ethan received his patriarchal blessing the next morning before we went to Megan's farewell.  She gave a great talk that only makes us miss her more.  Colorado Spring Mission is lucky to have her and we can't wait to hear about her adventures.

We are getting old!!  Mom and Linz were definitely there in spirit and we felt their
presence multiple times that weekend.  Heaven is closer than we think!

After all the reuniting and saying goodbye, we loaded up in the CIA and drove back home to Washington.  Yes, you heard that right.  I no longer drive a minivan.  I LOVE this car.  It is so roomy and the best road trip car ever.  The boys love it too and Ethan doesn't love driving my minivan but now he's extra motivated to work his tail off to purchase a truck.