February except Rodeo Break

 February was a short month, but we packed a ton into it. Book Fair, Pre-FSY activity, Vail Pride Day, b-ball tournament, Ventana Canyon Resort getaway, Valentine's Day and more.

Megan finished her first set of piano books and moved up to the next level. 

Annie's rock tumbler that she got at Christmas finally finished polishing her rocks. Good thing, because at least she got some pretty rocks, even though we skipped the Gem and Mineral Show this year.

The first full week of February was very busy. With the PTA, I helped run the first in person book fair at our school in over two years. It was a big success and we helped all the classroom teachers be able to get some new books from donations.

That week was also parent-teacher conferences, so we had to provide dinner for the teachers on the day they stayed late. That happened to be the weekend Todd had reserved Jacob and me a night at the Ventana Canyon Resort for my birthday. We had a delicious dinner at the super fancy restaurant and enjoyed a nice view.

I had salmon with caviar on top. My first time tasting caviar, and it was a bit salty, but mixed really well with the salmon. 

Earlier that week we found out that Rachel had a basketball tournament on Saturday. So we had to cut our relaxation a little shorter than we otherwise would have and headed to the tournament to watch her play and help in the snack bar. 

Between games Grandma had all the kids over to decorate their valentine's day cookies. Sugar=love.

And there was yet another activity that day to top off the crazy busy week: a stake Pre-FSY activity. It was exhausting, but also super fun. I spent a full 10 hours at the stake center setting up, helping with the activity, and cleaning up afterwards. The youth had a great time doing different activities and hearing speakers and eating food. The people running 9-square had something come up, so I spent the rotations out there. We talked about how 9-square is like repentance. We know we're going to mess up over and over, but we if just keep getting back in the game and trying again, we can progress until one day we reach the top spot (exaltation). 

The night ended with a Valentine's Dance that was the first stake dance of the year, so there was a lot of people that came. The kids decorated by writing messages on hearts and taping them to the walls. Many were pick up lines, that were very creative: Are you the Iron Rod, because I want to hold onto you thru eternity. Or You're so hot you could've burned Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. 

Rachel with some of her buddies at the dance: Mariah, Maryanne, Evelyn, Rachel, Sophia and someone else. 

This was at the beginning of the dance. By the end there were nearly 300 people in there and it was packed! Everyone seemed to have a blast.

Ryan and Megan made stickers for their friends for Valentine's Day with their names on them. Annie and Ryan both were sick, so they sent their Valentines to school for Derek and Eloise to pass out for them. They were sad to miss the fun, but getting the valentines (especially the candy) made up for it. Megan got quite a lot of loot:

Megan bought 2 weeks with Pooh Bear with her Diamondbucks. She got to take him wherever she went and take pictures and write in his journal for him. She had fun with him and was glad to get to take him up to the snow, even, when we went for Rodeo Break.

At Vail Pride Day we looked at the art displays, checked out some of the sherriff's stuff, and watched Ryan compete in the Math Bowl.

They did a great job, and even though their team didn't win, Ryan still had a lot of fun. I wish they had a math club at school this year because he would totally love it. 

And of course, we had to snap a picture with the Chick-Fil-A cow. 

Rachel's basketball season

Rachel had a good time playing basketball this year. She made the A team and it was exciting watching them because they were a great team. Rachel had some friends on the team that made it pretty fun: Evelyn Allen, Hayley Sanders and Adrienne Howard all have siblings that would cheer them on, so the younger kids had fun together. 

Our neighbor, Joanne, came to a few games and took some pictures that she shared with me. 

The team played well all season, only losing one game in the regular season and they ended up winning the league championship for the first time in 13 years for the school. They were very proud of that great accomplishment.

At the banquet Coach R recognized the players for their hard work all season. Rachel's nickname was Socks since she always had fun and sometimes mismatched socks.

The girls qualified for the state championship hosted here in Tucson. There were 4 teams and they beat 2 pretty well, but the 3rd team was really tough and they ended up losing to them and coming in second in the tournament. Still, not a bad showing. After the first game of the tournament, Coach took them out to McDonalds for a special treat. They all had fun hanging out and eating whatever they wanted. 

It was a great season and Rachel had a lot of fun. I am looking forward to not having practice until 6pm every night and games most Mondays and Wednesdays. It definitely complicated our already very full Wednesdays. 

January

Time has gotten away from me and the blog is not being kept very up to date. So here's a shot at trying to catch up, a month at a time.  

We wrapped up Winter Break and got ready to head back to school. No one was ready to get back in the swing of things. It definitely took our brains a while to reengage.

Since Megan's birthday is in July, I went and ate lunch with her at school on her half birthday (birthday lunch is a tradition I try, but don't always do). She was, of course, ecstatic about getting a sub sandwich for lunch. Definitely her favortie!

Ryan got to go to a special primary activity at the scuba place. It was the birthday package and they got to use scuba gear and breathe underwater. The boys sure had a lot of fun and Ryan would love to go back sometime. Ryan's best friend, Derek, has been going with him to primary activities, so combine that with having his cousin, Ben, and they sure have a fun time together, though I sometimes feel sorry for the leaders to have to try and wrangle all that energy.

The beginning of the year is heavy on Ward Conferences, so I missed our ward a few times as I went and visited other wards as the stake YW secretary. It was good to get out and meet the young women a bit. I put my new Cricut to work and made stickers for all the YW in the stake with the youth theme for the year: Trust in the Lord. It was a lot of weeding, but the kids pitched in and we got it done.

Jacob tickling or checking for gnomes or something:

Ryan finished up his karate class and moved up to a green with blue stripe belt. He also earned the most improved award out of the whole class. He loves karate, but is taking a break right now, trying out Urban Gymnastics.

Random pictures Rachel probably thought would never see the light of day:

Her hair is down nearly to her butt, but she wanted to see what it would look like if she cut it. 

For my birthday I decided to try and collect 41 pair of pants for Casa Alitas since I was turning 41. I way surpassed my goal because of great friends and ended up donating 67 pair of pants.

Annie and McKenzie got to go to the temple for their first time! Good times were had by all (despite Rachel's face trying to persuade us otherwise).

Mom, Savannah and I went to Wicked for an awesome girls' night out! We should do those more often. The show was great and I know Annie and Rachel would have loved it. Maybe next time!

The next day we were all up early to head to the Bubble Run. It was the worst weather possible for a race, especially one that involved bubbles. It was super windy. In fact they cut the race down from a 5k (3 miles) to 2 miles because of the wind. These are those brave souls who ran the race: 

On the actual course the bubbles blew off to the side before they even hit the ground so the runners didn't really run through bubbles, but at the finish line they had a bubble cannon so the kids could get some bubble fun in anyway. Even though they were all cold and ready to get out of the wind, they still had a fun time playing in the bubbles. Our neighbor, Shannon, was even good enough to come out and cheer them all on. We have the best neighbors. I almost opted out because of the wind and I was driving them.

End of 2021

 The last week for the year was nice and relaxing. Jacob didn't have to work. We didn't have anywhere to be for the most part. Rachel was invited to special basketball practices for players the coach was considering for A team. She went twice over the break, but skipped most of them in favor of relaxation. She also went to the temple with her YW group. 

Cari came to visit, which is always exciting. We went to the park to play with friends. The Reimanns and the Allens and some Howards came. The kids played kickball and the moms stood around and talked. Fun was had by all.

Our neighbors, Joanne and Eileen brought over a bag of toys they said Santa had left at their house for us. The kids loved all the toys and games they brought over: bingo, balls, colored pencils, games, and more.

A big hit while Cari was here was playing drawing games. They played blind portrait where you draw someone without looking down at the paper, fake artist, and the monster body game.

^Doesn't Rachel's portrait look beautiful?

We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum to explore all the cool planes: 

That NASA helmet says J. Campbell! It was meant to be!

The playground at the air and space museum is pretty awesome!

Haircutting party! Cari and Ryan both got their hair cut. Ryan wanted an R cut into his hair.

I got lots of puzzles for Christmas and spent some good relaxation time putting them together. Ryan also likes puzzles and helped a lot. I think Rachel pitched in on this one, too.

We went to the park again while Cari was here. It started raining, so we headed home, but Megan wanted to run (she's been enjoying running since she ran in the Mica Mountain 5k) and Cari was willing to run home with her despite the rain.

They got home dripping wet and ready for some hot chocolate!

For New Year's Eve we went to Todd and Savannah's house for the party. Besides food we enjoyed some games and fireworks and sparklers.

Pie Face was a big hit.

And an indoor snowball fight with Grandma took place.

We topped off the evening with a piñata and watching the countdown to the new year online. 

After the countdown and more snacks we headed back to our house where all the kids tried their best to stay up until midnight. And they all made it! 

Rachel went to the New Year's Dance at Sahuarita Stake and had a good time. She got back pretty late, so I had to stay up even later than just midnight, and I'm not good at late nighters like I used to be in college, but I survived.

Happy New Year! 2021 was not as drama filled as 2020, but we were still happy to say goodbye and move on to 2022! Cari headed home New Year's morning and we got ready to get back into our regular routines again (though that proved to be very difficult-a relaxing break made going back to work very difficult!).