March 2025

It's spring again in Texas! I love spring in Texas. It's glorious!

It's a great time for fishing! 

Every time I think these kids don't appreciate or love their dogs, here they go proving me wrong! All parties are definitely attached to each other. If Lyla is crying, Cora will go to her and care for her like a mother hen. It's sweet to watch, even when the dogs drive me crazy. 

Nolan has made some really great friends and I have gotten to opportunity to love their moms! It's been so great for him to have friends with parents I can trust my kids with! 

Lyla has the cutest Primary teachers and one Sunday they gave away stick on mustaches! She was thrilled to wear it and devastated when it lost it's sticky. 

I am fortunate to have always loved my freckles. Even more so, I LOVE watching them pop up on my babies' faces. 

For many years, I have wanted to raise tadpoles to frogs. The cheapie in my REFUSES to play the measly $8.00 you can buy them online for. Tyler was fishing one lunch hour and noticed a group of frog eggs. He scooped them up and brought them home. We filled the kiddie pool, just for them to all die. NEVER FEAR! He went back a week later and found actual tadpoles! He sacrificed life, limb, shoes and clothing to retrieve 13 of the most beautiful tadpoles I ever did see! We feed them old veggies and turtle food. It's awesome. 

One evening we watched a movie. Grayson wasn't interested in the title and said, "no, thanks". He went out side to play, but every few minutes we would look back and see him creeping in on the movie, "he didn't want to watch". Hilarious. 

Kendra chose to go through the temple for the first time in March. We were able to send Tyler so that all of his siblings could be together for the occasion. Good food, fun games and late nights were had by all!

At lunch that day he ran into my Uncle Brian! What are the chances! I know SE Idaho is small, but it's not that small! A crazy coincidence for sure!

Nana always gives the best holiday goodies! We spent Spring break chilling and visiting our favorite library. They were supposed to be looking for books. I turned around and all three were on a computer! Nolan is in PACE and has to do a research a subject and create a project for it. I'm not sure how many kids do their project on their own, but the holes in my dining room table prove he did this project himself! We try to do it during Spring break because when baseball games start we have NO extra time! 

We ended March with a trip to Arkansas to be a Z$(Zacharay) baptism. While taking the dogs to the kennel, Tyler was called into work and Lyla got to tag along! Tyle was also asked to give a talk at Zach's baptism. He gave a great talk and even made custom Pokemon cards detailing the gifts of the Holy Ghost. It was really great. Their stake center shares the parking lot with their temple! How great is that?!

There is NEVER a dull moment when we get these people together. It's a party and I love it! 

The following picture cracks me up. This girl is constantly living her best life! She likes what she likes and better yet, she is going to own it! Lately, she has been a fan of all things rainbow. The more rainbow, the better! 

We missed opening weekend of baseball, but don't worry, there is PLENTY to share! 

Until next time...

February 2025

Whew, we did a lot in February! The weather is still nice enough for Tyler to fish during his lunch hour. My kids cannot go any length of time without water. Nolan made birthday cards for his two friends. We are grateful he has such a great friend group!

Nolan has an odd tooth that still isn't coming into the spot we've tried to create for it. We had to take him in and pull three teeth. Good new tho! He got to take the expander out! That's been the hardest part of the journey for sure! No more weird slurping sounds when food gets stuck in it! 

My birthday and Superbowl ended up on the same Sunday this year! We had lots of treats! I didn't cook any of it and didn't have to go anywhere! It was great! 

 

Valentines day here is crazy! The kids got cute gifts from Nana, but the garbage they came home with from shool was ridiculous! Full bags! Multiple treats/goodies for EACH Valentine. Nolan and Lyla came away with bags STUFFED to the brim with so much junk! Lyla felt so special when she got flowers from Tyler. It was the cutest thing, ever. 

The Stake hosted a Friend to Friend viewing party and service project. We had a lot of fun seeing many friends we all love!

Lyla was finally deemed "big enough" to join the group that goes to the College Baseball Showdown. You don't have to pay $$$$ for good seats so they got so see some good baseball up close! I don't know if they like the baseball or stadium treats more! 

We recently learned that each band student learns a specific piece that they preform before a judge. Grayson worked hard once again and got a I (the top mark) for his performance. He appreciated the praise and good job that he got. He saw some outward rewards for his hard work. So much so that he decided to play French Horn again next year. He was on the fence. In a few blinks the boy is going to be taller than me! 

February is music season in the district. Nolan's Elementary Honor Choir learned and performed two pieces. Tyler and I got to help all day. Tyler slept while I helped in the morning and I slept in the afternoon while he went along to the party. After the performance they get to eat, play and celebrate their hard work! I love our Honor Choir. They sound so good and have an excellent director!

I love to watch my kids be apart or music in their lives. It's such a special piece of my heart, and I hope they keep enjoying and loving music! 

We also started baseball. All hands on deck. It's gonna be a wild season! 

Until next time... 

January 2025

This January we got a HUGE(huge for Texas) snow storm! So much snow came down very quickly! We missed two days of school and Tyler's company stopped production for one! It was a good wet snow, great for making snowmen! I think it's funny when pictures during these types of storms start to show up. It's HILARIOUS to see how creative people get with things to wear in the snow and play with in the snow. But here we are! We've been here long enough that the last pair of snow boots we own, only fit Lyla. They were wearing quite the hodgepodge of things! 

Lyla was SUPER sick that first week of January. Probably the sickest she's ever been! We are pretty sure she had Flu B, but she didn't ever need a visit to be for sure. She was very happy school was canceled so she didn't miss anymore days. Our snow days were the first turn of her feeling better!

Tyler spent a good amount of time helping the kids build a huge snow man in the back yard! They names him Gregory and great fun was had! The next day the surrounding snow was gone and you wouldn't have believed we had had much the day before!

One youth night the youth in our ward surprise attacked our house. Their notes were sweet and it was comforting to know they wanted to be sure we felt welcome not that all the ward boundary changes have begun to settle in.  Grayson is starting to show more and more signs of becoming a teenager. He LOVES to be alone and watch whatever he wants!

Until next time!