Tyler's First High School Baseball Game & 15th Birthday

 Tyler had his first high school baseball game on Saturday.  It was supposed to be on Tuesday but because of the snow, it was postponed.  He played in the JV game.  He got to catch for the last two innings and also got a hit that got him on base.  It was fun to watch him play, even though their team lost the game.  

Tyler is such a great kid.  He has gotten all A's in school and seems to like it.  He likes being on the baseball team and going to school.  He is a good big brother and is getting stronger and taller all the time.  We are lucky to have him!

The next day was Tyler's birthday.  He turned 15 and seemed pretty happy about it.  He can now test to get his learner's permit.  He has done a little research into it, but he will need to do some studying before he is ready to take the test.  We gave Tyler an overnight hiking backpack for his birthday, and he seemed to really like that.  We are going to have a family party in a couple weeks for Megan and Tyler.  They always like that.  

Family Achievements

The three younger kids have all received awards for their last quarter grades, achievements, and/or citizenship.  They got a certificate and a picture with the principal.  They are all great kids and it's nice to see them recognized for their hard work.

Tyler officially had baseball tryouts and officially made the team.  We are proud of his hard work and look forward to seeing him play.

Family Bingo Night

 

Julie and her kids came into town for the weekend, and we all got together for dinner and a rousing game of BINGO.  It was actually lots of fun playing with the family.  It was nice that the little kids could play with everyone else, and everyone got a prize.  Family time really is the best time.

Josh's Temple Trip

Josh got invited to go to the temple with some friends to do baptisms for the dead.  He had a really good time and was glad he got to go again.  He even learned about putting names in the prayer roll and was excited to put his Aunt Wendy and Uncle Gabe's name in the temple.  I thought that was super sweet.

20% Growth Assembly

Josh and Allie got awarded with a 20% increase award.  Megan didn't quite make it this time, but hopefully she will get it next time.  

Weekend Getaway - Day 4: LAX to SLC

We didn't have to be at the airport until noon, but we had to check out of our hotel at 11:00.  It worked out well because it was Super Bowl Sunday in LA, and the traffic was a little bit heavier than usual.  We did get to see the busses with the football players going to the stadium on our way to the airport.  That was pretty cool.  Our Uber driver was a lot quieter than our first, but he got us to the airport without any problems.

We had no problem going through security and had plenty of time to eat lunch and then walk around.  Our flight was quick, and it was nice to be home.  We always miss our kiddos while we're gone and they seemed to miss us too, even Koda.

Weekend Getaway - Day 2 & 3: Disneyland and California Adventure

After eating breakfast Tony and I walked to the park.  It was a little over a mile to from the hotel, so not bad at all.  We had to wait in a few lines before getting all the way into Disneyland, but it wasn't bad.  We decided to go on the Jungle Cruise first and then Indiana Jones.  We figured most people would go on the bigger, newer rides first so we wouldn't have to wait long for our rides.  We were correct and we were on the first cruise of the morning.  Pretty exciting.  

During the day we took pictures by or on the rides that our kids like the most and then sent them to Margie to show them.  It was supposed to make them feel special that we were thinking about them, but apparently it just made them jealous. Allie even sent a sad face when we sent her a photo, so we sent a sad face back.  It was pretty funny.  

We did go over to California Adventure at lunch time.  We were able to go on a lot of rides and it was a lot of fun.  After doing all the rides we wanted to do there, we went back to Disneyland for dinner and a few more rides.  We took a risk of waiting in line for the Rise of the Resistance.  It said it was like 75 minutes, but then it ended up being closer to 50 minutes.  After walking around Star Wars land, we then decided to go back to the hotel.

We saw that they had a shuttle to the parking lot that was right by our hotel, so we hopped on that and that got us much closer to our hotel.  Tony walked to Joe's that night for some Italian Ice and brought it back to our hotel room.  

The next morning Tony and I walked back to the park.  We started at California Adventure and went to ride Toy Story Mania.  Unfortunately, the ride was down.  Tony went on the Incredicoaster while I waited for him.  After we went on Ariel and then went back to Toy Story.  We were able to ride that a couple times before moving on to Cars Land.  We did the single rider line for the Cars ride and then went on some more rides before having lunch.  After lunch we rode the rest of the rides that we wanted to ride in California Adventure before moving on to Disneyland.

We were able to ride more rides, buy some souvenirs, eat yummy food, and enjoy ourselves in the park.  After we did all that we wanted to, we shopped our way out of the park before going back to the hotel.  It was a lot of fun and we both had a great time.  

Weekend Getaway - Day 1: SLC - LAX

Tony and I started our trip by driving to the airport.  I dropped off the kids while Tony was getting off of work and then we both went to the airport.  We parked our car and then took the shuttle to the airport.  We had no problem getting through security and then had plenty of time to get some dinner before our flight.  

The flight was smooth and without problems.  After landing in LAX we then went to the designated area to be picked up by our Uber driver.  It didn't take long, and he drove us to our hotel in Anaheim.  He was very friendly and chatty.

After getting checked into our room we enjoyed the rest of night relaxing and then got a good night's sleep.

February Happenings

We've had a pretty cold and slow February.  Allie's teacher sent me a picture of her reading a story to her class.  The three younger kids got to participate in an extra activity for doing extra reading.  Megan also got to go skiing with her class for the first time and really liked it.  

January Happenings

It was a cold January with not much snow and not much going on.  We did refresh the bathroom downstairs with a new vanity, mirror cupboard, towels, rugs, and décor.  It looks a lot better down there and I think the boys really like it.  

We also redid my parents' floors in their front room and hall.  They had carpet that they needed to replace so they decided they wanted to go with the wood flooring.  Instead of paying a company to install the floors my dad decided to pay us to do it.  It took us over two full days to do it, but it looks really good.  I think they will like them.

We have also enjoyed lots of snuggles with Koda.  He is starting to act like an older dog who enjoys snuggling on the couch.  His favorite person to snuggle is Tony, but he lets the kids get in on the action too.  

The kids had a week of distance learning in January.  The first week of the new semester.  The new strain of the Covid virus (omicron) hit a lot of people so the numbers got really high again.  They hoped that having the kids stay home the numbers would go back down.  I think that it did help the covid numbers and the kids were much better prepared for this week of distance learning.  Hopefully they won't have to do that again, but if they do, I know we would be fine.