Little things

 Here are some little fun moments from January through March that don't fit with other posts.

This was something I begged to do, and got asked to do, and loved.  Combined YM/YW on a 5th Sunday- a lesson about how to teach lessons!  I got to teach it with a member of the SS presidency, and I was THRILLED at the guy they assigned. He was great to work with, he respected my ideas and we used most of them, including having the kids sit with others in their birth month to mix them up!  It was super tight in the space we were given, but it worked and I thought it went great!! We had them create sample lesson plans about a valiant youth from the scriptures. And spoiler alert, my teaching partner?  was called as bishop of our ward 8 months later! Bishop De La Fuente is fantastic with the youth- as I learned back in january when we taught this lesson.

I was on BYU campus one time, while they were actively demolishing the HFAC!  It was CRAZY to see the giant theater come down in a huge crash and cloud of smoke just minutes after this photo.

More youth activities!  Temple trip and speed-friendshipping. We have a HUGE class of girls 15-18 years old. They are awesome and I'm so grateful to be in there with my own girls and all of them.

and a combined activity- making ice cream sundaes while blindfolded and zip-tied to an other-gendered partner!  Here's Katelyn tied to Landon.

Katelyn in action as Student Director of Three Musketeers!  She was in charge of the warmups.  And on the left, she's sitting by the famous Dylan Bradford. Proof that she was friends with someone who will be famous!

A herd of Elk I saw in the fields in Salem while on a run! And Maris getting a well-deserved treat for completing 15,000 soccer touches on her own during the winter!

Emma's first note to a crush!! She was embarrassed to show her face in the picture but was okay with having a picture!

A good picture of Owen I missed in the indoor post!

Loved this YW class activity!!  helping at the local food pantry. The girls did AMAZING, getting out of their comfort zone to serve.  We need to go again! Whitney and Jocelyn, and Keira and Rowan.

Liz, Sophie and Ady

Me, Whitney Sulice and Celeste all got to speak some Spanish, it was SO COOL.
Katelyn, Katie and Sulice

A gorgeous sunset!  And Katelyn in an improv show!!

Emma wanted a picture of a rainbow she drew :) and Whitney experimenting with food- cucumber sushi!

A Christmas decoration I found in late March, that had been buried under the snow for months!! And a pic of Whitney that got missed in the Indoor post.

And last but not least, this hilarious picture that came up in my facebook memories. Lydia, Owen, Ryder and Maris when I went to help Katrina for a day when Hazel was a baby.

Owen is now 11!!

 Yay for the birthday boy! One of his favorite presents was this hilarious green robe- he is so skinny that he's always cold. So he wears this thing all the time, even in summer!!

We went to the Provo rec Center to swim on his birthday- of course- this time with cousins!  They don't have a brother, so Vivian and Naomi ADORE Owen!!  Cleo really enjoys being around him too.

Eating the rest of the cake at home after swimming. We sure love our Owen!!!

I told Owen if he had a smaller party we could buy Legos for it...so that was fun!! He invited 5 or 6 people and this is who came- Max, Abby, Hannah and Cole- who kind of invited himself lol.

We did 3 Lego building challenges for 20 minutes each, easy party!  Here's Hannah and Owen's Castles!

 Owen's plate of food- Lego meals!

Cake time!  We wanted to do Lego candy on the cake, but couldn't find it ANYWHERE the week of his party!!  So I had to improvise and spend forever making Legos out of fondant haha.

All the castles.

Abby and Hannah's food!  Abby made a frying pan!  And Hannah made a salad, so cute.

Emma and Maris joined in on the challenges using their own Legos. and me and my Lego-loving boy!

Cole with a robot- can't remember what challenge that was!  and a tank!

It was a great easy and happy party!

Happy January

The kids are back in school so it's time to start on this year's blog :) 

I actually kind of hate writing this in August, it makes me want to go sit outside where it’s warm!! But, here we go!

In January we had 3 kids playing indoor soccer!  Here's Owen at his post in center D....

Whitney playing in one of many physical games!

And Maris having fun playing different positions than the outdoor season.

I may have posted this on last year's blog, but it was in january, so- one day Eric took just the big kids and they skied in the clouds!  They said it was pretty cool.  Check out Whitney's frosty hair!! There was so much moisture in the air but then it would freeze on the way down, so crazy.

Meanwhile I built a snow fort with the girls back home.

We had snow about every 3 days all winter it seemed like!  But this must have been one of the respites, we went down to the park and played with the big chunks of ice from the frozen puddles.

A pretty January sunset they wanted to document.

and a cool rainbow sundog!