Odds and Ends, Feb.march edition

 We got to take a quick trip up to Pocatello for Great-Grandma's 90th birthday!  We were so glad we could work it out to go. Here's the kids playing with some second cousins.

Here's Great Grandma and Grandpa with the great grandchildren who were there- only about a quarter of them.

Brad's whole family. and Maris, Emma and cousin Amaya.

I promised Maris last year that I would take her to the Color Festival this year. The weather was good, so I kept my promise haha.  Everyone else wanted to come along, except for kate and Eric. We only lasted about a half hour, as usual, but it was fun.

Owen got into it, throwing chalk at random people like a pro!

I found more pictures of ice skating!

Here was Maris' amazing checkerboard gap-tooth smile for a while! And note the beanie trend with her!

Emma continued her drawing trend this year, and added words to her notes! So cute.

Owen wanted to be able to see when he went skiing, so we agreed to let him try contacts. They were challenging to deal with at first, but he has gotten great at taking them in and out. And we have gotten used to seeing him without them often!  He now wears them for all sports and performances.

I got to help my friend Crystal with a youth activity for her ward, by pretending to be on crutches with a hurt knee at the grocery store. I hung out by where they would need to go for a scavenger hunt item, and the test was to see if they would help me.  One out of the 4 groups did. It was a super cool experience.

I had a great few months teaching Relief Society this year, before our ward split and I was called into Young Womens!  Here was the chalkboard full of people's good comments after a lesson.  And Owen's cute face.

Katelyn went to the Sweetheart's dance with a group of friends-- because Drama was in charge of the dance and she had to help with it. But she had fun!

And lastly, a random infinity shot while casting onto the tv downstairs.

February out!

Winter Sports Showcase

Whitney decided not to play on the Salem Bantam team again this year- it was too stressful. She ended up playing one last season of basketball, on the ALA Junior High team!  They were terrible, haha. But she had a lot of fun and was chill about it. I was thrilled because Ellie Walquist was on the team, so I took the opportunity to sit by and get to know her parents! They have incredible kids all my kids' ages, and I have been wanting to be friends with the mom, Ruth, for years! So that basketball season was a blessing for me just for that reason, it started a friendship that has grown since.

Also Whitney played great and was a good teammate, so win/win!

Maris enjoyed playing "basketball" too!

This was Owen's soccer team's service project, Valentine's Day decor for a rest home. The masks are so weird to see 9 months later!! They were was cute and had fun doing it.

More of Maris!  She had fun!

Emma tried gymnastics (since she was already doing 100 cartwheels a day at home!) and loved it! She learned a round off and handstand before we took a break for the summer.  Now in the fall she is working on her handstand to back bridge, and back bridge to a handspring.

Indoor season was super fun for Whit!  She loves getting to score a few goals on the shorter field and occasionally play different positions.

Whitney helped with a few Hershey track timings in March! Since it was during her Student Government class that I needed help. This is Owen's class, he's on the far left. I'm so glad she stayed at ALA as long as she did, so things like this could happen!

4 of the kids did ice skating, it was fun! Emma learned a lot.

Maris and Owen both got faster.

Katelyn really worked on turns, and looked cool doing it!

A little more indoor soccer!  Whitney going down to score:

Whitney and Eric put together a 5v5 team for a tournament in Orem in March.  It was SO fun and they won!! This is a rare picture- Whitney and Eric sitting on the bench together!

UVU tournament champs!! Abby, Whitney, Rylee, Megan, Ruby and Avary

And last but not least, I convinced the city to have a boys volleyball league!  They had a pretty good turnout for their first year!  I had fun but Owen didn't love it, I don't think he will play again. But I'm glad he tried it, and he could totally overhand serve as a 4th grader- none of our girls have been able to do that! 

I guess I should have included skiing in winter sports-- they went 10+ times!  I got to go once and it was fun, but still scary for me.  But Eric has gotten his wish, all 4 older kids LOVE it and want to go ALL THE TIMES. I am proud of them for being brave and active!