A Month of Change

Beginning of February I got the flu. It was a doozy- oh boy. I didn't really feel normal again for about 2 weeks and then even then I was left with a cold that seemed to last another month or so. It went through me, Dana, and then Sadie got it. Thankfully, she didn't have it nearly as bad and luckily no one else got it. But I think about half of Gilbert did. It was a bad flu season.

While I was wallowing in misery, the Bishop called me one evening and told me he needed to talk to me. He then told me I was going to need to switch out my counselors. :( I was speechless and then just felt sad. It was a change I did not want to deal with- especially in my weakened state. Then he kinda said, Take your time...but could you please try and give me names in the next couple days? So for the next couple days I would just cry every time I thought about it. I just loved my counselors and felt heartbroken at the idea of them getting released. He did tell me I could keep Mandy as secretary and I was very grateful for that because she does such a great job. Anyway, I finally started praying (and crying some more) and thinking. Our ward is chock full of super-women so I felt blessed knowing so many would do an awesome job. There were lots of tears when they got released, by everyone.

Even though they're still in the ward I miss the close contact we had for 2 years. Here's our good bye picture after primary our last week together.


I'm happy to report that our new presidency is going great! The new counselors jumped right in and are killing it! I was glad that I didn't get released as well. I'm grateful for my calling. It's a huge blessing in my life.

Other changes that happened in my family in February:

• Jeff got called in to the Bishopric (2nd Counselor) in his ward 

• Miranda started dating someone she actually likes!

• Sally moved to Camarillo 

• Amy started working full-time

• Mom geared up for my aunt leaving and being alone for the first time since my dad passed away (which was only for about 2 months). 

And...of course we had birthday month :)

Sadie turned 9.
To her dismay it was not a birthday party year, but we had a fun one anyway :) She chose "Olive Garden" for her birthday lunch.
How I just love this sweet girl and her big smile.


I brought in ice cream bars for her class. Love that her teacher hangs this cute birthday sign for them :) This has been such a wonderful year for her and I'll forever love her teacher, Ms. Gerber.


She loves being my helper in the kitchen and really wanted to help make her cake :)

It turned out cute!


Happy birthday to my baby girl!


Sweet 16!
Our big girl is now driving and dating and I've got the pictures to prove it!! So crazy!!




She chose "Cheesecake Factory" for her lunch with mom. I love picking them up from school on their birthdays.


 I was all geared up for giving her a big 16th party but she didn't want one :( Partly she has 2 groups of friends and she wasn't sure how they would come together. I kept bugging her and she kept resisting, so I finally gave in. Maybe we'll have a big 17th. It took a few days but we finally got everyone together for Emma and Eli's cake (yes I just did 1 for the two of them. Not stellar but life is crazy and I do what I can do and don't beat myself up about what I can't do).


We were "Facetiming" the rest of the family so they could all be part of the party.

I sure love my family!

Here's the fancy angel-food cake that got frosted before it had cooled down enough.

Not super pretty but very yummy.

Eli's 14! (and shaving every few weeks)

Enjoying his birthday cereal and something to read.


He chose "Pei Wei" for his b-day lunch. So yummy! Fantastic choice buddy!






Eli was ordained a "teacher" as well. Dana gave him a special blessing.
Happy Birthday to 3/4's of our sweeties!!

Hole-in-the-Rock and Tempe Town Lake

On our endless quest to find fun, new things to do around here on Saturdays, we found a couple toward the end of January.

We went to Papago Park in Phoenix and "hiked" (walked up a hill) to the "Hole in the Rock".



Several others had the same idea...


Sometimes when I see the kids in pictures I just can't get over how big they are now.


I was ready to go pretty quick but of course the kids have to climb to the top any hill or rock they come across.


While I was waiting, I started to brainstorm what we could do next since the "hike" took a lot less time than planned. We were close to Tempe Town Lake so I called to see if they rented boats. Indeed they did, so we headed there next.



The kids got to take turns driving...



And I got to enjoy :) #hathair





Fun Family Day!

Happy 2016!

Yay! It feels good to now be blogging in the current year!

We started the New Year by welcoming our exchange student "Gwenda" from Australia. It was a short gig of only 10 days and Emma REALLY wanted to do it. It turned out to be a great experience :) We scored! She was very polite, sweet, and easy-going.

At the airport...


It was a little embarrassing because she was brand new to our country and while we were walking through the airport from the terminal to the car, there was a crazy lady yelling at the top the of her lungs for the police (who were not succeeding in trying to calm her down) to stop touching her and hurting her. Welcome to America!!

We did lots of fun things with Gwen while she was here. We celebrated her and Dana's birthdays (she had turned 16 on the trip). As you can see in the video, she was a good sport!

Putting "Vegemite" on toast for us to sample.


She loved the trampoline...


We had some fun getaway plans for the weekend, but here's what the forecast looked like...

When their group went to visit the Grand Canyon, it was snowing so hard, they couldn't even see it. However, most of them had never seen snow either, so they had fun with that too:)

January 2, 2016, the same day we greeted Gwen at the airport, my grandpa passed away in the morning. It was very bitter-sweet. It's sad to see a loved one go, but when they are so ready and so long without their spouse, it makes you feel happy for them to move on to better things at the same time. We weren't sure what to do. We had obligations to Gwen but I really wanted my whole family to attend grandpa's funeral. In the end, we decided to split up. I took the little girls to California, and Dana, Emma, and Eli stayed here with Gwen. It wasn't a perfect scenario but it worked out. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Car Selfies...

Windmills


Finally arrived at my mom's. We all love going to visit "home".


The funeral was very special. He wanted it no longer than 45 mins and we were pretty darn close to that. (I think we just went over).
I loved his table and seeing all these things that reminded me of him so much.


He only had one sister- Aunt Kathy.
David, Nancee, Kathy's daughter Lori, Kathy, Mom, and Steve.


My grandpa had all his grandchildren at his funeral which I thought was pretty cool.





Mom's house was pretty jam packed all weekend. Sally decided to bless Viviana with everyone there at mom's house:)

(So sad to not have my good camera anymore!)

So many amazing priesthood holders there to help with the blessing :)


Everyone enjoyed time looking through memoirs. I love this old letter. Name, city, state. No house number needed.


So sweet! He loved trains and continued to love "toys" throughout his life. Some of my favorite childhood memories are riding on his motor boat in Big Bear.


It was a great weekend saying goodbye and being with family, but eventually we had to drive home and start back with our normal routine. The girls didn't want to leave, and to be honest, I wouldn't have minded staying a while longer either.

Once we were back we had to say good bye to Gwen :(
I wasn't sure what to get her as a gift. Somehow I thought of a "sock poster". What 16 yr-old doesn't love socks right? It turned out pretty cute...



She was alot of fun and now we have a friend over seas that we can keep in touch with thanks to Facebook!

The rest of January...
I got to watch Eli do awesome in Cross Country...


I did alot of subbing...


All 4 of my kids are still okay with me subbing their own classes :)


And finally, as per routine, we practiced piano.

I feel pretty proud to report that both girls are still taking lessons.
Not proud of them (although they're doing great), proud of me that I haven't thrown in the towel!
I have definitely wanted to at times!
I LOVE music in my home.